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American Morning

Chile Miners Alive & Waiting; Texting at School; Shirley Sherrod to Meet with Vilsack this Morning; Voters Heading to Polls in Five States

Aired August 24, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again. It is 7:00 here on the dot in New York. It is Tuesday, August 24th. It is time to get out of bed, my friends.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, if you're not already.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

ACOSTA: All right, I'm Jim Acosta in for John Roberts, Kate is in for Kiran.

BOLDUAN: John and Kiran are off.

ACOSTA: And lots to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.

After a scandal over race cost Shirley Sherrod her job, this morning she meets face to face with her former boss. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has made her an offer to come back to her old department. But will Sherrod take the job? We're Live from D.C. coming up.

BOLDUAN: And hope from below and a long wait ahead -- 33 men trapped deep inside a golden copper mine in Chile for three weeks are alive and well, but rescue workers may not reach them until Christmas. A report from Chile ahead.

ACOSTA: And if five states, voters are heading to the polls in critical primary races today. Incumbents are fighting to stay in office. The race is turning nasty in the homestretch and some challengers with big bank accounts are throwing down some major cash. We're breaking it all down with the best political team on television.

BOLDUAN: This morning it's being called the miracle of the miners in Chile. It is really a miracle. The 33 men have been trapped underground since August 5th. Their families prayed they were alive. Those prayers have been answered against really all odds, and proof that they're alive is right here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING) (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That was the Chilean national anthem from 2,500 feet below. The miners also sent a message from below, a note that said "All 33 of us are well inside the shelter."

But really it is just the beginning for them. Karl Penhaul has the latest from Chile. He's on the phone with us. Karl, what's going on at this hour where you are?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, you heard them there, those miners singing the national anthem. That was yesterday evening when finally the rescue workers managed to drop a line of communication 2,300 feet down into the bowels of the earth. That was certainly an indication that these men are in good spirits.

What we now know is that over the next hours of today, hopefully, another drill will be arriving here at the San Jose mine in northern Chile, and it will be that drill that will then start the painstaking process of trying to get down to the miners and drill a big enough hole that they can pull them back to the surface.

But it's a very highly sophisticated drill, but it can only drill at 60 to 90 feet a day. They estimate two passes of the hole to make a hole about shoulder-width, and this is what they're saying could take until Christmas so the challenge now is to keep these men physically fit, but above all, to keep them in mentally good shape so that they can survive the coming days and weeks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Are Karl, are there plans in place, experts on the scene? How are they accomplishing that, helping these men stay physically fit and really in a healthy mental state when they have four months possibly ahead to wait to get out?

PENHAUL: Exactly, four months and terrible conditions as well. Down at the depths where any are at, the temperatures are around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It is constant. That's why we've seen these men in earlier pictures stripped down. It is very hot down there.

Also the 33 of them are in a space of about 530 square feet. That's equivalent to around a small studio apartment, so certainly pretty cramped conditions.

And until now they've been surviving, eating only every other day from cans of tuna, mackerel with a fork that was stored down in a refuge shelter down at that depth.

But medics now are beginning to put down glucose water through a tube, first starting off with liquids and rehydrating salts, then in the coming days will put more solid food down. But psychologists says really it is the mental health that's the real thing. They have to make sure on a day when somebody is feeling down, depressed, that the others keep him there to cheer him up.

The families on the surface will also play a role as well, establishing communication with their family members to tell them to keep strong, but above all, to stay patient. They could be down there until Christmas, Kate.

BOLDUAN: After the elation of making contact, now the realization is setting in of the long road ahead. That cannot be an easy thing to face. Karl Penhaul in Chile for us, thanks so much, Karl.

Coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to speak to Davitt McAteer, former director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration about the conditions that Karl was talking about right there that these miners are dealing with down there and whether that tiny lifeline they have right now is enough.

ACOSTA: A high-level meeting today over the planned Islamic center and mosque near ground zero. New York Governor David Paterson says he plans to discuss it with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church here in New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Both have suggested that moving the Islamic center would be a noble gesture.

The governor has offered to meet with the people behind the Islamic center. That imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is on a government-backed trip to the Middle East. At the bottom of the hour, Randi Kaye will take a closer look at the trip. Why are his critics so worried about it and why weren't they when he was doing the same thing for the Bush administration? That's coming up.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, former President Jimmy Carter is going to North Korea. The Obama administration says it is a private humanitarian mission to free another American, a 31-year-old from Boston who was detained in April at the border with China and was sentenced to eight years hard labor.

ACOSTA: No word on if the government will appeal a preliminary injunction granted yesterday to halt federal funding of stem cell research. A judge ruled the work destroys embryos, which goes against the will of Congress. The president signed an order last year that did away with the policy limiting funding for human stem cell research.

BOLDUAN: And the USDA announcing a national recall, another recall. This time deli meats produced by Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York, 380,000 pounds of meat they think may be contaminated with back tear that that can cause a possibly fatal disease.

Feds say the meats are in market-size grab-and-go sandwiches with used-by dates between August 20 and September 10. The FDA websites says the some of the meat went to Wal-Mart stores.

ACOSTA: Check this out, a cruiser's dash cam catches a car sailing through the air and exploding into pieces as it hits a bridge. Police believe the driver was going at least 100 miles per hour when he lost control on the highway. Unbelievably, the driver was awake and alert when he was taken to the hospital.

That looks like a stunt out of an action movie or something. He went off of something that made it -- it looked as if he was going off a ramp or something into that bridge. Just incredible. But the guy's OK.

BOLDUAN: It is just eight minutes after the hour

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ACOSTA: Well, get this -- there's a new record for the largest Mentos and diet coke eruption in the world. Yes, there is a record for that. Have you seen pictures of this?

BOLDUAN: I have not actually. Here we go -- 2,500 people dressed like they were front row for Gallagher.

ACOSTA: You know the guy that used to smash the watermelons?

BOLDUAN: They all gathered in Mexico City to set the new Guinness world record which China held with over 2,100 people.

ACOSTA: Look at that.

BOLDUAN: That's a lot of coca-cola.

ACOSTA: That's about as much diet coke as I drank before coming on this morning.

BOLDUAN: We can tell!

ACOSTA: Just to wake up.

If you didn't know that Mentos made diet coke shoot six feet into the air, then you probably don't go on to YouTube too often. Just go on YouTube and type "Mentos" and "diet coke," and it is just a plethora of eruptions and explosions.

BOLDUAN: Now you know what to do.

ACOSTA: Not that I do that at work. I never do that.

BOLDUAN: No, you don't.

ACOSTA: Moving on. There is new information about that incident down at SeaWorld. Remember that, where a trainer died at an accident down there? Well, OSHA has made its ruling. Is it the park's fault? Could it have been prevented?

BOLDUAN: Plus, more than half a billion eggs recalled. At least 17 states now affected. So what should you be watching out for to keep your family safe? Some answers coming up in our "A.M. House Call." It's ten minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. SeaWorld has been fined $75,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This is in the wake of February's deadly killer whale attack on a trainer. The agency said SeaWorld knew of the inherent risk of allowing trainers to interact with dangerous animals but still allowed them to work within pool walls, on ledges and shelves, dangerously close to the animals.

BOLDUAN: A representative for actor and comedian Martin Short confirms that Short's wife, Nancy Dolman, has died. No details about the time, location, or cause of dolman's death were released. Emergency officials say the Los Angeles fire department responded to an emergency call at the couple's home on Saturday.

ACOSTA: Tiger Woods and his former wife are now officially divorced. They wished each other the best and promised to put their children first. The couple signed the paperwork in Panama City, Florida, in a courtroom there yesterday. The divorce comes nine months after Woods was accused of having a string of affairs.

BOLDUAN: And now back to our top story this morning and the latest on those 33 miners trapped more than 2,000 feet underground in a Chilean mine. Crews are working around the clock to get supplies to them down a small six-inch wide hole they've drilled. You see animation there.

They could be -- it could be a four-month dig ahead as crews try to bore through 2,500 feet of rock to get to them. Davitt McAteer is the former director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration and is now the CEO of sponsored programs at Wheeling Jesuit University. He is live with us this morning in West Virginia.

Good morning, Davitt, thank you so much for joining me.

So we've been hearing this morning, they're moving forward really on two fronts, drilling holes to get supplies down to these miners, as well as beginning the massive project, trying to drill a hole to get these miners out.

What kind of challenges do they face going forward? I'm sure there's quite a many.

DAVITT MCATEER, FMR. DIRECTOR, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: Well, Kate, they've got a twofold problem. They've got the immediate problem of getting supplies and food to these individuals who have been trapped for 18 days now, and they've got to get that down to them, and they've got to -- satisfy their basic needs.

Then they've got the secondary problem, the longer-term problem of drilling a 28-inch, 30-inch hole and getting it down 2,500 feet in very unstable rock conditions. And to do that in order to make it successful, they have to go slow. And that's the problem, is that despite the fact that everybody wants to rush, the fact is they have to use a slow drill in order to try to stabilize and get stable the hole so that they can in fact pull people out from that entrapment underground.

BOLDUAN: Davitt, is the concern that if they drill too quickly, that it could force further collapse around these men? MCATEER: That's exactly right. This geology -- the formation there is rather unstable. And if you put a high-speed drill in, what you'll do is disturb the strata, and as you're drilling it will create more rockslides, more rock falls that would gum up your drill, but also imperil the miners as they get closer underground. So you have to be very cautious and have to go slow.

There are also people around the world in the mining community who are looking at this and trying to come up with solutions which might be helpful to the Chileans. They're doing a good job, but we're going to make some offers of assistance from both the United States and other countries. Any help that is needed I'm sure that it can be provided.

BOLDUAN: So, it's amazing that they survived this long, and they have such a long road ahead. Thirty-three men, and our Karl Penhaul described it as like 530 square feet, is the space that they're dealing with.

What are the conditions that they're dealing with down there, and how can they manage?

MCATEER: Well, it's difficult. It's the size of a studio apartment, and it's dark. Well, now there will be some lights put in, but the conditions were very, very difficult.

You have to deal with bodily functions, and you've got to deal with that kind of question. Then you've got to deal with the psychological impact.

Now, I think the fact that they've made it these 18 days is very, very positive. But the euphoria of making contact with the surface is going to last a couple days, and then it's going to be a long slog. But I think that the fact that the Chilean government is involved and that they will be bringing in counselors -- and these miners are resilient people, but I think also it's a new era.

And I see no reason why you couldn't pass cell phones down to them, or computers, tethered down to them. So, we're in a new day. And something will need to be done to divert their attention.

BOLDUAN: Right. Absolutely.

Real quickly -- as always, we're running out of time, Davitt, but with your experience -- you have so much in this area -- what is top priority here? Obviously, top priority is getting to these men, but is it the physical or psychological state that needs to be the biggest focus here?

MCATEER: Well, obviously the physical. If someone were to get sick, you have got to deal with that immediately. And they've lost a lot of weight, so that's problem one.

But problem two is more the psychological. How do you come up with things for them to do and arrange things so that they can get their attention diverted from just sitting there waiting? And that's going to be a real challenge for the Chileans and for t he rescuers. BOLDUAN: An amazing story unfolding, and it's nowhere over yet.

Davitt, thank you so much. So great to get your expertise on this. Have a great morning. Thank you so much.

MCATEER: You're welcome.

ACOSTA: Well, we all know this -- your kids are not supposed to text during school. But that doesn't stop most of them. Just ahead, how some schools are going with the flow and giving kids phones to encourage learning.

Plus, if you have an iTunes account, here's a story you'll want to hear. Hackers are ripping off customers, taking hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Were you one of them?

It is 19 minutes past the hour.

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BOLDUAN: Always the belle of the monster ball, Lady Gaga has been crowned the new queen of Twitter. The singer edged out Britney Spears with the most followers on the site, more than 5,720,000.

Huh, it sounds like how many people follow me. Just kidding.

In her acceptance speech, Gaga said, "May you never have carpal tunnel while tweeting."

That's cute.

ACOSTA: How does she tweet with all those crazy sunglasses? That's what I want to know.

BOLDUAN: And sometimes she has really crazy nails.

ACOSTA: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: So you'd think it's like -- ah.

ACOSTA: I think she has people.

Hey. Guess what, Kate?

BOLDUAN: What?

ACOSTA: We win again!

BOLDUAN: What do you mean, Jim?

ACOSTA: For the 58th year in a row, Miss Universe is a human! Miss Mexico took the crown this year. She beat out Miss Jamaica and 81 other contestants for the crown in Las Vegas last night. Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent his congrats on Twitter, by the way. And isn't it good to know that we kept it in the solar system this year? Because you know, those other girls --

BOLDUAN: That Russian judge was tough.

ACOSTA: -- from those -- that's true. The Russian judge or the East German judge. You've got to look out for those guys every time.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Oh goodness. OK.

So taking to another story that we've been talking about for weeks now, an important story, the imam behind the Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero, he's on a government-sponsored trip overseas. But critics say he is too extreme and question whether he's raising money for it in the Middle East.

We look at the facts this morning.

Twenty-two minutes after the hour.

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BOLDUAN: Welcome back, everybody. Good morning to you.

If your child is like most, they probably can't live without their cell phones at this point. But the ability to communicate with texting at any time can become a real issue when your child goes to school.

ACOSTA: That's right. And surveys show most kids are distracted at school because they're too busy texting.

Well, some schools are learning how to use that obsession to their advantage. Deb Feyerick joins us now with that.

And I guess a lot of these kids, they're just looking at mom and dad, and it's monkey see, monkey do. And what do you do about it?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

From the time you are an infant you see your parents e-mailing and texting. But you know, there really is a huge debate right now across the country on what to do with all the tsunami of cell phones in schools.

Some principals threatening suspension. One principal actually looked into the possibility of jamming cell phone signals around the high school. But still, some are going in a different direction. They're letting kids as young as 11 use cell phones during class.

That's right, during class. But there is a catch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Seventh grader Cayleb Coyne has texting in class down to a science. CAYLEB COYNE, 7TH GRADE STUDENT: Open it up, put the phone in there and act like I'm looking for something and send a text message.

FEYERICK: Hallways are also good.

COYNE: It's harder when you go on hallways.

FEYERICK: Because you're moving?

COYNE: Yes.

FEYERICK: You're like a shark. Always moving.

COYNE: Yes.

FEYERICK: Coyne says his cell phone has been confiscated six times in six months. And he's not the only one despite constant reminders from his principal at Haverstraw Middle School.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your cell phones are supposed to be where? Yes, in your locker, not in class.

FEYERICK: But class is exactly where they end up. According to the Pew Research Center, even in schools that ban cell phone use, nearly 60 percent of all students admit texting during class, a growing problem in schools across the country.

ROBIN NOVELLI, PRINCIPAL, BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL: Why are you so addicted to this technology?

FEYERICK: At Bayside High School in Florida, students risk being suspended if their phone is confiscated more than once. So for this year, 200 kids have had their phones taken away.

NOVELLI: Students need to be fully 100 percent authentically engaged in the classroom and pulling out a cell phone and texting their friends about whatever it is they might be talking about is not the learning environment that I, the principal, want to promote.

FEYERICK: And despite that zero tolerance policy --

NOVELLI: We still daily collect cell phones from students that have them out when they're supposed to be learning in the classroom.

DR. MICHAEL RICH, DIR., CENTER ON MEDIA AND CHILD HEALTH: I don't think we're going to stop the tsunami.

FEYERICK: But pediatrician and media expert Michael Rich says the reality is kids use more than seven hours of media a day. Depriving them of it could back fire.

RICH: Pandora boxes open here. The technologies are here. What we need to do is take control of them instead of letting them control us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't put the genie back in the bottle. The cell phones are here. FEYERICK: At Haverstraw Middle School --

RONALD ROYSTER, 5TH GRADE TEACHER: All right, guys, turn on your MODs (ph) again, please.

FEYERICK: Teachers like Ronald Royster have decided, if you can't beat them, join them.

ROYSTER: It's not really a phone, it's their computer for class.

FEYERICK: The school handed out 75 cell phones to fifth graders as part of a unique pilot program.

ROYSTER: Click on (INAUDIBLE)

FEYERICK: Texting and calling features are disabled and Internet sites are filtered. Phones are used for things like note taking and research.

For 11-year-olds Kiara, Ryan and Naya, learning is different now.

FEYERICK: When did you make a movie? Did you make a movie during homeroom?

RYAN GUZINSKI, 5TH GRADE STUDENT: No, this is actually in math. It was about decimals. And you can synch it, which means the teachers will get it and they can grade you.

FEYERICK (on camera): So it really is helping reinforce the lessons?

GUZINSKI: Yes, because we're, like, we're memorizing things so much it's easier.

NAYA RIVERA, 5TH GRADE STUDENT: It's almost like you want to look at the screen. It's almost like a mini TV, where you like, you want to look at it. You don't want to look at a piece of paper.

FEYERICK: The district superintendent says dollar for dollar buying phones is more efficient than new computers.

(on camera): There are some educators who say they should not be in school. What is your response to them?

ILEANA ECKERT, SUPERINTENDENT, HAVERSTRAW STONY POINT CENTRAL SCHOOL DIST.: I think we're in the middle of a new revolution. It's part of who they are today and why not use something in a positive way that they are bringing with them.

FEYERICK: As for these fifth graders --

RIVER: I actually started texting less when I had this. Now that I have this, it's kind of more fun to go on the internet on this and experiment with it while I'm home instead of sitting there texting all day, like doing nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like, bye phone. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, the kids are using those mobile devices and they call them mobile devices, not necessarily cell phones as part of this program say that their grades actually went up last year because they were using them and the school hopes one day to tailor a learning program using students' personal cell phones so they don't have to buy them, they're going to use them as learning tools. So it is really experimenting with technology in a very positive way.

ACOSTA: Wow. And I noticed they're calling them mobile devices, not cell phones.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right.

ACOSTA: (INAUDIBLE)

FEYERICK: Other students say he's got his cell phone, they can just say, no, no, no, it's mobile learning device.

BOLDUAN: It is really interesting though because when you hear about texting in school or you know, on the face of it - no, no cell phones in school, get to your books. But you can see very innovative ways of trying to bring it all together.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right.

BOLDUAN: A revolution occurs.

FEYERICK: It depends on how you want to spend your energy.

BOLDUAN: Right.

FEYERICK: Confiscating or in fact integrating.

BOLDUAN: Yes, very interesting.

ACOSTA: Great stuff.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Deb.

ACOSTA: Yes, appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: So it is a high-level meeting today over the planned Islamic Center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. New York Governor David Paterson says he plans to discuss it with the leader of the Roman Catholic church in New York, Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

The governor has also offered to meet with the people behind the Islamic center. The imam Faizal Abdul Rauf is on a government-backed trip to the Middle East and many critics are saying he should be taking a closer look at where he's going. But is that fair? Randi Kaye has our "A.M. Follow-up."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're wondering what Imam Faizal Abdul Rauf is doing in the Middle East, these pictures tell at least part of the story.

This is the imam addressing guests at a Ramadan meal in Bahrain just yesterday. This photo shows the imam praying at the ambassador's residence there. He's the man on the left. It is the imam's fourth - again, fourth outreach trip overseas for the U.S. State Department.

In 2007, he made two similar trips to the Middle East for the Bush administration and in January this year, he made his first trip for the Obama administration to Egypt. The Imam Rauf needs about $100 million to build a mosque and Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero.

If you believe the imam's strongest critics, then you might also believe he's overseas raising that money from extremist groups in countries that sponsor terrorism.

New York Republican Congressman Peter King told us, "it might be appropriate to withhold details of his itinerary for security purposes while he is traveling. However, as soon as he returns, the State Department must make full disclosure of everywhere he went and everyone he met."

Keeping them honest, has the State Department really been withholding itinerary details or anything else about this trip? We asked a department spokesperson and we're told, "we've discussed where he's traveling to, the dates. We've been pretty open." Listen to this State Department briefing from August 18th.

PHILIP J. CROWLEY, ASST. SECRETARY, STATE DEPT.: He will be traveling to the region at the end of this week, starting, as I recall, in Bahrain, then Qatar, then the United Arab Emirates. He has participated - I think this is his fourth trip as part of an international information program.

KAYE: The State Department has also offered up more details. It is a 15-day trip focused on outreach to Muslim countries and the imam will be traveling with rabbis, priests and other religious figures. So why do some, like conservative blogger Pamela Geller, continue to fuel the outrage? Geller recently on Fox News.

PAMELA GELLER, BLOGGER: They're hooking him up with the biggest money in some of these countries that have very, very questionable ties to terrorism.

KAYE (on camera): Hooking him up with terrorists looking to invest in a mosque and community center near Ground Zero? Hardly. First of all, as far as we can tell, not a single penny has been raised for this project. And on top of that, the State Department says the imam knows the rules. The department has tried over and over to set the record straight.

MARK C. TONER, ACTING DEPUTY DEPT. SPOKESMAN: Speakers are prohibited from raising money and using this program to raise money. He is aware of the prohibitions.

CROWLEY: He is there to promote this kind of international dialogue. They're there to provide perspective on behalf of the United States. And they're not to engage in personal business as part of the program that they're participating in. He has agreed to that.

KAYE (on camera): Zeeshan Suhail who has worked in the community with the imam says he's a peaceful man who's so effective at bringing people together that the State Department keeps calling on him.

ZEESHAN SUHAIL, MUSLIM CONSULTATIVE NETWORK: He's doing what he does best and what he's done for nearly 30, 40 years now which is interfaith bridge building, bringing communities together.

KAYE: Rabbi Irwin (INAUDIBLE) has known Rauf for more than a decade. He's traveling with him around the world.

(on camera): Is it all about stoking fear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what it is there really is fear in the country. What fear and anger does is it always clouds judgment and what we have right now is it's like a wildfire.

KAYE (voice-over): A wildfire that no matter what the truth just keeps getting stoked.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: All right. It's a Tuesday during an election year so that means voters are heading to the polls today. We have five states with some critical primary battles. We're breaking it all down with the best political team in television. That is coming up next. It is 35 minutes past the hour.

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ACOSTA: Incumbents fighting to keep their jobs. Political newcomers armed with tons of cash. It is primary Tuesday in five states across the country. Helping us break it all down, the best political team on television.

With me here in New York, we have independent analyst and CNN contributor John Avlon, along with former aide to the Clinton White House, Lisa Caputo. And with us in our Washington bureau, CNN senior political analyst and Republican strategist Ed Rollins. Good morning to all of you.

And Ed, I'll start with you first because we got a hot race down in Arizona. It was hot. It cooled off a little bit between John McCain and J.D. Hayworth. You know, all the betting is that John McCain is going to walk away with this but J.D. Hayworth did make Senator McCain sweat for a little bit in this race. Ed, what do you see there? I mean, do you see anything materializing in terms of an upset here?

ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No. I think - you know, he certainly gave McCain an early warning and McCain has spent more money, spent over $20 million, which is more money than he spent in all of his entire Senate races in the past. John had to basically get in there and fight hard to win this nomination. I think the critical question here if he wins, what kind of a senator is he going to be in the fall? Will he be the ultimate lion, independent? He clearly wins in November if he wins today, which I think he does easily.

ACOSTA: And J.D. Hayworth has been warning that. If McCain wins this primary today, he's going to start lurching to the left and John Avlon, you know, it is interesting to see some of the back-story on the McCain-Hayworth race. Apparently, McCain took this race more seriously than a lot of people realized. He made inroads for the club of growth, which has made it's presence known in a lot of primaries across the country. So did John McCain play this right?

JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR: Well, look, I mean, there is a lot of bad blood in this race. John McCain, I mean, the fact that the former nominee of the party was being attack from the right, you know, somebody who's got an impeccable record on spending, was one of the few Republicans in the Senate to protest out-of-control spending when Republicans controlled Congress and the White House.

The fact that there are so many folks on the far right who dislike him, when allegedly spending is the number one issue, trying to (INAUDIBLE) calling him s rhino. That was the pressure. But McCain's done a great job of flanking himself, he's got a pretty comfortable lead over Hayworth at this point.

The fact that it was a race is what made it a bellwether but it looks like John McCain will ride into the sunset either way.

ACOSTA: OK. And Lisa, let's go to you. Because down in Florida they've got a really interesting race in that Senate contest, the Democratic primary between Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene who is a billionaire, made a lot of money during the housing collapse and has been called a meltdown mogul by Kendrick Meek. Jeff Greene apparently also has been known to hang out with Mike Tyson, from what I understand.

LISA CAPUTO, FMR. CLINTON CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: (INAUDIBLE)

ACOSTA: Exactly. Not sure if his tiger showed up in Jeff Greene's bathroom, a la "The Hangover." But what do you make of this race? Are you surprised it has been as close as it had been?

CAPUTO: Yes. I think the conventional wisdom was certainly coming into this primary day that the anger would trump the incumbent. And what we're seeing now is that the incumbents are indeed kind of rule the day, that it shows the advantage one has of being an incumbent is an institutional advantage.

I think the key to all these primaries will be the independents. What are the independents going to do. What we've seen over the past several months is that independents seem to be peeling away from the Democrats. They've certainly been peeling away from the president. And so I think they will be a key piece to this equation.

A lot of states are turning purple, not blue or red, but purple and a lot of what's happening here is you're seeing various candidates go to the fringes of their party. So for example, McCain in Arizona, we've seen him do an about-face going back to the Reagan Republican era versus being the maverick centrist Republican that he was.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: He even said, "I'm not the maverick anymore."

CAPUTO: That's right. And in Florida, I think you're going to see an interesting race here. You've got Rubio out there -

ACOSTA: Marco Rubio.

CAPUTO: Right. Saying that he is more about the issues than he is about -

ACOSTA: That "New York Times" article on him was very interesting showing that Rubio sort of moving away from the tea party a little bit.

CAPUTO: That's right.

AVLON: You know, we were expecting today to be a run-off, really a fight between Crist and Rubio. Crist very smartly saying "look, I'm not going to be able to win this close partisan primary fight. So I'm going to live to fight another day in the general election." There are 2.5 million independent voters in Florida. They will decide the winner of the general election. And that's the state in play.

In Arizona which has an open primary and 30 percent of the voters in the state are independent, in fact, the majority in Phoenix, the problem is it is 111 degrees there today. Only the most hard-core voters turn out. But it's independent voters are going to be the deciders in the fall, no question.

ACOSTA: Let me - I've been saving this one for you, Ed. Out in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski facing that challenge from Joe Miller, who is backed by Sarah Palin in and the tea party movement. What do you make of that race out there and I mean, does the tea party hurt itself here?

ROLLINS: Well, this is the family feud. You have to remember, Sarah Palin beat Murkowski's father, who was the governor and the Democrat establishment. It is a small state. They don't like each other. You know, at the end of the day Lisa Murkowski has done what's always worked in Alaska -- I've got seniority. I'm going to bring home the bacon. I will be like the late Ted Stevens, I will bring everything back to my home state. You need someone with my experience to fight and fight for the resources that you desperately need in this state." It's been successful. Joe Miller is a good candidate, and a good guy. May have some future but right now I think Lisa Murkowski's going to win this pretty easily.

ACOSTA: And John, you've done a lot of work covering the tea party movement across this country. I mean, do you think that this is sort of an overreach here for Sarah Palin and is that perhaps a theme that is developing and building as we head towards November, tea party overreach and does that hurt them in some of these races across the country?

AVLON: I think it is a theme. Look, she's 0 for two in the last two primaries for the candidate she endorses. Tonight, it looks like she's going to be 0 over three. When she tweeted in defense of Dr. Laura, you know, a lot of the black conservatives I interviewed were deeply offended by that and said that she is losing her mantel to lead the party.

So there is a trend we're seeing. A bit of backlash towards Sarah Palin, an over extension to the extent that she's backing candidates who just aren't winning the primaries because they can't connect to the general electorate.

ACOSTA: And Lisa, you're a resident Democrat here this morning, is the president, are the Democrats going to lose Congress, the way things are developing? Established candidates going down? Although they may have a good day today. It doesn't look so good heading into the fall.

CAPUTO: Well, you know, there was a lot of speculation months ago that this was going to be a blow-out mid-term. And I don't think that is going to happen at all. And I think that tonight will be an interesting night as far as a bellwether but I think, yes, the Democrats will lose some seats in the fall but I don't think it is going to be the blow-out people were predicting several months ago.

ACOSTA: You think they'll hang on to both?

CAPUTO: No, I don't. But I think things are starting to stabilize. And I don't think they're going to lose as many seats as people once perhaps thought.

ACOSTA: You think they'll hold on to both the House and the Senate?

CAPUTO: I don't think they'll hold on to both Houses. I think they'll lose a House.

ACOSTA: All right. Very good. We'll have to wrap it up here. Lisa Caputo, John Avlon, and Ed Rollins in Washington.

Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

CNN will cover today's primaries all day and night. We've got folks heading up a over the country to cover this on air and online. CNN.com/politics. We've got the best political team to breakdown the issues, races and analysis. That is at CNN.com/politics.

It's 45 minutes after the hour. We'll be back in just a moment.

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BOLDUAN: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

ACOSTA: It is going to be hot out there.

BOLDUAN: It's going to be hot and this is our favorite story -- my favorite story -- of the day. It is finally here. Denny's new fried cheese melt. It goes on the menu today. Look at that delicious goodness. It features four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese, grilled between two slices of sourdough bread. Gooey, greasy, cheese-on-cheese goodness. It's getting racy this morning. Of course, has to come were a side of fries and a side of marinara sauce for your breakfast delight.

Denny's, I know you were wondering this, they have not been so kind to release how many calories it is.

ACOSTA: Thank goodness.

BOLDUAN: But gosh darn it, who cares?

ACOSTA: That's right.

BOLDUAN: When something's that good, it's like an old affair. Oh, I know someone who could tell us about the good, old county fairs.

Fried butter, fried snickers, Rob?

(OFF-MIKE)

ACOSTA: Microphone?

BOLDUAN: Rob?

ACOSTA: I think too many fried cheese and mozzarella sandwiches down at the -

BOLDUAN: Rob's a little busy staring at the delicious sourdough goodness.

We're going to go back to him in a few seconds.

It is 10 minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back.

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BOLDUAN: Time now for am A.M. House Call, stories about your health. This morning, the feds are still checking the nation's egg supply. A nationwide recall has now seen over half a billion eggs pulled from store shelves.

ACOSTA: At least 17 different states from coast to coast are affected. So what would you be looking for to keep your family from getting sick? For more on that let's bring in the senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, this is a great question that's come up a lot. On boxes of egg you see things like "cage-free" and "vegetarian." I mean, I have to admit I fork over the extra dough for the eggs.

Does that reduce your risk?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, if you want to fork over the extra dough, go right ahead. If you feel like they taste better. But you know what, you shouldn't feel like there's a lower chance that you are going to get salmonella.

In other words, you shouldn't feel any safer. And that's from scientists we talked to who published studies who looked at all these different kinds of eggs and haven't really found a difference when it comes to salmonella.

Let's take a look because there's so many different things written on egg packages. For example, take a look at this one. This one says "organic" and that means that the chickens are supposed to be fed only organic food. Well that doesn't mean that they are not necessarily going to get salmonella.

Take a look at this one. This one is "organic and cage-free." Cage- free means that they are in a wider space. They can walk around more than in traditional farms.

Now, if you take a look at this one, this one says "vegetarian" which is supposed to mean that the chickens are fed a vegetarian diet. Again, scientists who published the study in 2004, these are some of the top food scientists, they said they didn't find a difference when it comes to salmonella.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: This is also something I know I asked and it has come up in the past couple days since we been talking about this.

How does salmonella get into an egg in the first place?

COHEN: Yes, a lot of people have asked me that question. So let's try to answer that.

What we're told by experts is that for the most part the salmonella is living inside the chicken and it gets passed along to the eggs and actually lives in the ovaries of the hens. They lay the eggs and it's there. So it's usually not something external, it's usually just from inside the animal itself.

ACOSTA: And the egg looks fine on the outside. How do we know if there is a problem on the outside?

COHEN: That's the problem. That often the outside and the inside will look perfectly fine. So, how do you know? The answer is you don't know. You have to take certain precautions.

ACOSTA: Until you get sick.

COHEN: Right. Until you get sick. Exactly.

So here are the precautions you should take. First of all, you should always cook eggs thoroughly. I know sometimes people love those runny yolks, don't do that. Cook them thoroughly. Discard any cracked or dirty eggs. Keep eggs refrigerated. I know I've seen people keep them out. Not a good idea. Also, don't eat raw eggs. I know that whole Rocky Balboa thing where he drinks those milkshakes with the raw eggs -

ACOSTA: That's how I start my morning, every morning. Absolutely.

COHEN: Well it might have worked for him, I wouldn't recommend it for you.

ACOSTA: OK. Appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Elizabeth. We'll talk to you soon.

Top stories are coming your way in 90 seconds.

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