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American Morning
Sherrod and Vilsack Meeting; Primary Tuesday: Five States; McCain Vs. Hayworth; Texting At School; Chilean Miners Trapped Alive Underground; Van Gogh Painting Stolen From Museum in Egypt; Amtrak Temporarily Suspended; "The Big Uneasy"
Aired August 24, 2010 - 07:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again. It is Tuesday, August 24th. It is just about 8:00 in the morning here in New York. That's exactly where we are. I'm Kate Bolduan.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jim Acosta. John Roberts and Kiran Chetry off this morning. But lots to talk about so we'll get right to it.
After a scandal over race cost Shirley Sherrod her job, this morning she finally meets face to face with her former boss, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made her an offer to come back. But, will Sherrod take the job? We are live from D.C., coming up.
BOLDUAN: And in five states, voters are heading to the polls in critical primary races today. Incumbents fighting to stay in office. The race is turning nasty into the homestretch. And some challengers with big bank accounts are throwing down some serious cash. We're breaking down the biggest races, coming up.
ACOSTA: What to do about your kid's cell phone when they go back to school. For too many students texting is a huge distraction from learning. That's why one New York school - get this -- decided not to ban the phones, but to use them instead in class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When did you make a movie? Did you make movie during home room?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it was actually was in math. It was about decimals. You can sync it which means the teachers will get it. And they can grade you on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: My goodness, what's that all about?
Coming up, Deb Feyerick joins us with more about how teachers are getting students to focus with their phones and doing what they can with those phones to achieve higher grades.
BOLDUAN: And, of course, the A.M. Fix Blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. Just go to CNN.com/amfix.
ACOSTA: But, our top story first. This hour, for the first time -- she was fired last month in a race-related controversy. Former USDA staffer Shirley Sherrod is meeting face-to-face with her former boss, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, this morning. Vilsack is offering her a job at the department aimed at improving the USDA's civil rights efforts.
BOLDUAN: During the scandal, CNN was the first to give Sherrod the chance to set the record straight and debunk the bogus claims of racism.
Our Brian Todd joins us live from USDA headquarters in Washington.
Hey there, Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kate. Hi, Jim.
We are waiting for Shirley Sherrod's arrival. She should get here any minute now. Officials here at the USDA are very eager to put the political fallout from this incident way behind them.
You will remember this all came to a head last month when Sherrod was forced to resign in the wake of comments posted on the Internet, comments from the speech she had made, comments taken way out of context. In those comments, she mentioned she didn't go all out to help a white farmer save his farm, but what really she was saying in the full context that wasn't posted on the Internet was that there was a need to move beyond race and she was using that incident as an example of that.
Shirley Sherrod has since been vindicated. She has gotten an offer to return here. She's going to meet with Tom Vilsack, the Agriculture Secretary in just moments in the building behind me. But what she indicated to CNN a few weeks ago is she's not sure if she's going to take the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FORMER DIRECTOR., RURAL DEVELOPMENT, GEORGIA USDA: He told me he would send the offer in writing. I haven't had a chance to see that yet. I'm not so sure -- I'm not so sure that going back to the department is the thing to do. I know I have lots of farmers and others in Georgia, I have been getting messages saying, "Shirley, please come back to work with rural development in Georgia." But that's not what the offer is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Now, to clarify what we are told is that the new job that she's being offered possibly could be with the department's office of advocacy and outreach. That is a department -- that is a division of the Department of Agriculture kind of charged with improving their civil rights record and the department's image nationwide. Her old job was as the department's director of rural programs for the state of Georgia.
So, not clear yet if Shirley Sherrod is going to take that job. As we mentioned, she's going to meet with Agricultural Secretary Vilsack in just a few moments -- Jim and Kate.
ACOSTA: And, Todd, obviously, one of the issues that Shirley Sherrod is going to want to hash out with the secretary is whether or not there was pressure from the White House to force her out, and whether or not the White House will be poking its nose into her business once she takes this job, if she takes this job.
TODD: That's right. And, you know, there has been some conflict about that. Shirley Sherrod has indicated that there was strong pressure from the White House to force her to resign.
The White House has denied that. They say that the president did not take a role in this, did not play a role. Neither did his aides, that there was no pressure from the White House.
Tom Vilsack has said the same thing. Vilsack himself has taken the full brunt of blame for this incident but he kind of misunderstood what she had said. He reacted too quickly.
Here's what Mr. Vilsack had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: She's a good woman. She's been put through hell. And I could have done and should have done a better job. I want to learn from that experience. I want the agency and department to learn from that experience. And I want us to be stronger for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Now, Shirley Sherrod has said she has no criticism of President Obama in this incident. She also does not necessarily criticize the NAACP, which had called for her resignation in the immediate wake of this incident, and the NAACP has since apologized to her. They've done an about-face and she says that the NAACP was kind of tricked by the video posted online.
We'll know probably within an hour whether Shirley Sherrod is going to rejoin this department.
ACOSTA: All right. It will be good to get her reaction as she comes out of that meeting. It should be an interesting one.
Brian Todd, thanks.
Also developing this morning, 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 Dolmans' death. Those haven't been released.
But emergency officials say the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to an emergency call at the couple's home on Saturday. Short and Dolman were married for 30 years and have three children.
BOLDUAN: Trapped underground for three weeks and this is just beginning. An amazing development in Chile, 33 miners trapped by a cave in have sent a message saying all of them are fine. The rescue workers say it could take at least four months to reach them.
ACOSTA: Former President Jimmy Carter is going to North Korea. The Obama administration says that is a private humanitarian mission to free another American, 31-year-old Aijalon Gomes, from Boston. He was detained in April at the border with China and sentenced to eight years hard labor.
BOLDUAN: No word on - if the government will appeal a preliminary injunction granted yesterday which blocks federal funding and halts stem cell research. A judge ruled the work destroys embryonic stem cells, 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.
ACOSTA: Also new this morning, the feds still checking the nation's egg supply for traces of salmonella linked to two Iowa farms. They say don't expect the recall to widen. So far, it's pretty big in its own right. Half a billion eggs have been pulled from the store's shelves. The recalls hit 17 states coast to coast. There's too many to name.
But if your state is highlighted on the map, make sure you check your cartons. For a full list of which eggs are affected, just head to our Web site, CNNhealth.com.
BOLDUAN: The FDA announcing another national recall, this one of deli meats produced by Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York. Three hundred and eighty thousand pounds of meat may be contaminated with listeria, bacteria that can cause potentially a possibly fatal disease.
The feds say the meats are in Marketside Grab and Go Sandwiches with "used by" dates between August 20th and September 10th. The FDA's Web site states at least some of that meat went to Walmart stores.
ACOSTA: And, Kate, as you know here in New York, we've been noticing things cooling down in the Northeast -- wondering if that's happening across the country. Let's go to Rob Marciano and extreme weather center.
How is it looking out there?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Just where you, guys, are, for the most part, it's cool and rather damp, heating up in the topics. We've got the Hurricane Danielle. It's now a category 2 storm, with winds of 100 miles an hour, still way out there. So, we're not too concerned about it at the moment.
But there's another way of (INAUDIBLE) and that may develop into a storm by the end of today as well.
A storm that came through the Northeast yesterday with wind and rain still kind of hanging around, bringing in that cool ocean air. And that's why the temperatures will be held down today. And some heavy rain across parts of North Carolina and central Virginia, where there's a couple of flash flood warnings out because of the persistent rainfall there.
One hundred in Dallas, it's hot; 96 in L.A., excessive heat warnings there; and 69 degrees up in New York. So, yes, definitely one of the cool spots in the country.
We'll see you, guys, in about 30 minutes. We're going to -- you're going to have to brush up on your weather trivia. Couple of big things happening on this date in weather history and will share that with you in the next half hour.
BOLDUAN: All right.
ACOSTA: Always love the trivia. Thanks, Rob.
BOLDUAN: I think I'm going to pass that test.
ACOSTA: And for all of you science geeks out there, get this: While the Big Bang theory tells us that the universe is expanding, our moon is shrinking. NASA estimates that the moon's width shrank in total about 200 yards or two football fields.
That sounds like a lot. But the moon's diameter is 2,160 miles. That's a drive from Manhattan to Albuquerque. They figured this out looking at ridges on the moon's surface.
Apparently, the man in the moon wasn't responding when they placed some calls.
BOLDUAN: He said no comment.
ACOSTA: He said no comment.
NASA says this could have taken as long as 1 billion years to happen, but since our solar system is 4.5 billion years old, that's just a blink of an eye in space.
BOLDUAN: Just a blink of an eye.
ACOSTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Big story today: voters in several states are heading to the polls. What are the races to watch? How about Arizona?
ACOSTA: How about Arizona?
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Can Senator John McCain make a political comeback today? We'll have more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ACOSTA: Well, Ben Folds in your honor. I like it. Terrific.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's primary Tuesday and voters in five states are having their say today. Looking at the big races -- in Florida, Miami, Democrat Congressman Kendrick Meek is facing a bitter battle from Jeff Greene, a celebrity linked real estate billionaire. Congressman Meek calls Greene a meltdown mogul. Greene fired back, challenging Meek's commitment to Israel.
Over in Alaska, incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, a senator there, is facing off against a little known candidate, Joe Miller. Miller, by the way, picked up the backing of the Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin, no less.
BOLDUAN: And the GOP is slugging it out in Arizona. Incumbent Senator John McCain is spending $20 million in his own -- on his campaign against former congressman and conservative talk show host, J.D. Hayworth. Hayworth is accusing McCain of not being a true conservative.
Listen to what he told our Jessica Yellin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. HAYWORTH (R), ARIZONA SENATE CANDIDATE: Twice denied the presidency. Mr. McCain believes that his place in history is to now become the lion of the Senate. Well, you only become the LION of the Senate by LYING to your constituents in Arizona.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: For more on McCain's challenge, we are joined by Dan Nowicki, national political reporter for "The Arizona Republic."
Good morning, Dan. Thanks so much for joining us.
This has been a big turnaround, a major turnaround. Describe it as you will, but it has been a turnaround. Back in November, Hayworth was nipping at McCain's heels and now, McCain really is seen as having a double-digit lead. What happened?
DAN NOWICKI, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, ARIZONA REPUBLIC: Well, I think it's a sign of how serious Senator McCain took this threat. Senator McCain knew that he was potentially vulnerable -- you know, some other establishment lawmakers this year underestimated the threat. McCain did not. He conducted a serious hard-hitting effective campaign, you know, targeting J.D. Hayworth challenge, even before Hayworth officially got into the race.
So, you know, as of about June, McCain really opened up a lead. The last three polls, McCain had a lead from anywhere from 20 percentage points to, I think, 45 percentage points was his largest lead.
ACOSTA: And, Dan, a lot of people think this race may have turned on pretty interesting ad that John McCain ran targeting J.D. Hayworth. Let's take a look at that real quick and get you to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAYWORTH: -- may think what you heard is too good to be true. But let me assure you, it is real.
ANNOUNCER: Well, it was too good to be true. Twenty-four attorneys general condemned this company for promising people free government money, then ripping them off. J.D. Hayworth, pork barrel spender, lobbyist. Huckster?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: That word "huckster." Wow. That's a tough charge, especially in this political environment where, you know, establishment candidates are getting tossed by the wayside. What did you think of that ad, Dan? And did it have a big effect on this race?
NOWICKI: I think that really was the turning point. The revelation in June that J.D. Hayworth has appeared in this infomercial. And you really had to see the video footage to appreciate it. Hayworth really came across as sort of a late-night huckster and McCain had the money to exploit that in a series of really round-the-clock television ads.
And what was really effective about it was that, you know, throughout this race, you know, people in the Phoenix area of Maricopa County, they were familiar with Hayworth, because he was a congressman from this area. He also had a conservative radio show on a local radio station.
But, you know, around greater Arizona, people knew him as sort of like -- took the conservative challenger to McCain. But they didn't really follow him that closely. And those statewide TV ads focusing on the huckster issue --
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: Sort of went viral, I guess.
NOWICKI: Yes.
ACOSTA: Yes.
NOWICKI: It really was effective in defining Hayworth around the state, the people who really didn't know him that well.
BOLDUAN: Well, let's talk about the money factor.
NOWICKI: Drove his unfavorable numbers up.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: I'm so sorry. I want to talk about the money factor. McCain's 20 million to Hayworth's, what, 3 million?
ACOSTA: Right.
BOLDUAN: How big of a factor has it been? Does this really come down to, you know, resources? How much you can put into it?
NOWICKI: Right well it really does shows you the power of money in politics. McCain had lot of money. Hayworth knew this going into it. But I think Hayworth kind of underestimated McCain's ability to spend and willingness to spend so much money so quickly. The $20 million figure is really unprecedented at least in Arizona politics for the Senate race and maybe he just can't keep up with that.
ACOSTA: Yes and Dan and during this battle, senator McCain moved to the right and had another ad that came out and said complete the dang fence and this is somebody who worked with Ted Kennedy on immigration reform a few years back. And at one point said that he wasn't a maverick anymore. He's sort of shed that maverick label. How -- do you think senator McCain's image has taken a hit down in Arizona? I mean, I suppose not if he will win this primary challenge. But what do you make of the fact that he has sort of changed his M.O. a little bit.
NOWICKI: Well, I think for years, as you -- as you folks know, senator McCain had a special standing in the American politics. He -- like you mentioned, the maverick reputation. And he you know would frequently pop the list of the most admired politicians -- that sort of thing. And -- the maverick image is really a casualty of his campaign. I think from McCain's perspective, he didn't mind jettisoning. I don't think he needs it anymore.
ACOSTA: You can't really go back and call himself the maverick in the general election or from this point --
NOWICKI: Right. People are saying he can't really credibly, you know, run back too far to the center if he wins the nomination today. I guess --
ACOSTA: We will have to see how this plays out and it will be an interesting race today.
BOLDUAN: A new job fair.
ACOSTA: A lot of the experts are saying senator McCain is going to win this challenge. And Dan Nowicki, thanks for breaking it down for us this morning, appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Dan.
ACOSTA: And getting up early.
NOWICKI: No problem.
BOLDUAN: Yes, no kidding. ACOSTA: Thanks for your time, appreciate it.
NOWICKI: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Well, a new twitter record. Not among Kate and I. That would not be the case.
BOLDUAN: No.
ACOSTA: Which celebrity is number one in most followers on the social networking website? We will take your guesses. And please weigh in and we will see if you are right it. That's coming up.
BOLDUAN: Yes and also a $50 million Van Gogh painting is stolen from an Egyptian museum. Was it an inside job? Who knows. A former FBI undercover agent, Robert Whitman, with us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: That is in honor of you, my friend. The music this morning.
ACOSTA: Awww, I'm not feeling left out.
BOLDUAN: I know we love you. You know what else we are having fun with? Miss universe. There's a new Miss Universe.
ACOSTA: Stop.
BOLDUAN: Stop it. There is a new Miss Universe this morning.
ACOSTA: I will not take part in this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First runner-up is Jamaica. Which means Mexico, you are Miss Universe 2010.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I always wish we could have a thought bubble --
ACOSTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: On the first runner-up when they have to hug. You just got second place. I love you. That's right.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
BOLDUAN: That's right, Miss Mexico is Miss Universe 2010.
ACOSTA: She is second hottest in the universe. I mean that is -- I think it is small potatoes.
BOLDUAN: Jim is not getting of this morning. She beat out miss Jamaica and 81 other contestants for the crown in Las Vegas last night. Mexican president Felipe Calderon he says congratulations in the only way that you should these days, via twitter.
ACOSTA: Good for him.
BOLDUAN: Good for him.
ACOSTA: And I'm glad the rest of the universe is that we only judge this by the women on the planet.
BOLDUAN: Well the kind of -- we are the best.
ACOSTA: We are the best.
All right well, speaking of -- unbelievable video, check this out. Police cruisers' dash cam catches the moment of impact -- look at that. A car flies flew the air and hits a bridge and explodes into pieces. Witnesses say that the driver was going at least 100 miles per hour. I would say so the way he went airborne there. When he suddenly lost control. The 19-year-old driver -- get this -- and this is the only reason we are having a little bit of fun watching this, he was awake and fine when he was taken to the hospital.
BOLDUAN: I hope he is OK.
ACOSTA: That just unbelievable.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Unbelievable. Obviously, we don't know entirely the circumstances around it. Geez Louise.
ACOSTA: I tell you.
BOLDUAN: So check this one out. Why do I get these this morning? For one reality star, it is all about the abs. It is. MTV's "Jersey Shore," Mike "The Situation" Sorintino is a multimillionaire or so -- or soon will be.
ACOSTA: I like the way he flexes his bicep with the jacket on. That's good.
BOLDUAN: Well yes. You should see the conversations I had with Wolf Blitzer about this. The best situation in the SITUATION ROOM, I don't know.
ACOSTA: Yes there's a copyright infringement there.
BOLDUAN: The 29-year-old will likely rake in more than five million dollars this year for his TV role --
ACOSTA: What.
BOLDUAN: And various endorsements. His appearances alone typically fetch tens of thousands of dollars.
ACOSTA: I'm going to start showing my abs by golly.
BOLDUAN: Good morning to you situation. ACOSTA: And Lady Gaga has been crowned the new queen of twitter. Can you believe that? Tweet that. The singer edged out Britney Spear with the most follow others the site, more than 500,720,000 in her acceptance speech, is there an acceptance speech?
BOLDUAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: Gaga said may you never have carpal tunnel while tweeting.
BOLDUAN: Live long and prosperous as well.
ACOSTA: Profound.
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
ACOSTA: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: And our "Texting Too Much" series, teachers are desperate to keep their kids -- students' eyes on the textbooks and off of their cell phones. Is the distraction robbing some kids of their education?
ACOSTA: As long as they are not tweeting?
BOLDUAN: Deb Feyerick coming up more on that.
ACOSTA: And it could be more than months before those Chilean miners that are trapped are freed. That -- I mean, this story we have been following all morning, and it's just been unbelievable to watch to think that they could have survived this long. How are they going to survive perhaps until Christmas? That's what some of the experts are saying in terms of how long this could all last. A live report from Chile coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Oh, come on, like she needs more Twitter followers. I mean, please.
BOLDUAN: Oh, come.
ACOSTA: "Top Stories" only minutes way. But first, an "A.M. Original" something you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING. Survey shows most kids take their phone to school and they use them a lot. Even when it isn't allowed, unfortunately.
BOLDUAN: Quite exactly but now some schools are trying to capitalize, kind of jumping on the bandwagon on cell phone obsession and using it to their advantage. Deb Feyerick, this is really interesting. You just read me the headline which was kids use -- are using their phones at school and teachers are allowing them. I would be like oh, my god!
ACOSTA: Outrage.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's exactly right. What do you do? Do you jump in or do you just stay away from it all?
But you know what I'm always amazed at? People who in the middle of the conversation will basically reach for their cell phones or BlackBerrys if the unknown incoming text is somehow more important. And it is those kinds of interruptions that schools across the country are wrestling with, spending huge chunks of time trying to come up with rules and policies that actually work. Is suspension the answer? Jamming signals. One principal found that and found it wasn't legal. But one school is going in a different direction. Letting kids as young as 11 use cell phones during class, yes 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 hard to get caught in the hallways than it is in class.
FEYERICK (on camera): Because you are moving, like a shark, always moving.
(voice-over): Coyne says his cell phone has been confiscated six times in six months and he is not the only one despite constant reminders from his principal at Hawart Straw 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: Well 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 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 to a friends about whatever it is they might be talking about is not the learning environment that I as a principle 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 are supposed to be learning in the classroom. DR. MICHAEL RICH, DIRECTOR, CENTER ON MEDIA AND CHILD HEALTH: I don't think we are 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 backfire.
RICH: Pandora's box is open here. The technologies are here. What we need to do is take control of them instead of letting them control us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't put the genie back in the bottle. The cell phones are here.
FEYERICK: At Havart Straw Middle School --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right guys -- again please.
FEYERICK: Teachers like Ronald Royster have decided if you can't beat them, join them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not really a phone. It is their computer for class.
FEYERICK: The school handed out 75 cell phones to fifth graders as part of a unique pilot program.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Click on Ellis Island.
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 and Niya learning is different now.
(on camera): When did you make a movie during home run?
RYAN GUZINSKI: No. This was actually in math. It was about decimals. You can sync it. Which means the teachers will get it and they can grade you on it.
FEYERICK: So it really is helping reinforce the lessons?
GUZINSKI: Yes. Because we are like memorizing things so much easier on here.
NAYA RIVERA, 5TH GRADE STUDENT: It is like you want to look at the screen. It's almost like a mini TV where you are like, you want to look at it, you don't want to go look at a piece of paper.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The district superintendant says that dollar for dollar, buying phones is more be efficient than new computers.
FEYERICK (on camera): There are some educators who just say these should not be in school. What's your response to that?
ILEANA ECKERT, HAVERSTRAW STONY POINT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT: I think we are in the middle of a new revolution. It is 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 --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I started texting less when I had it.
RIVERA: Now that I have this, it is more fun to go on the Internet on this and experiment with it instead of texting all day, like doing nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is like bye, phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, the kids in the pilot program said their grades went up. And the superintendant told me that she could equip an entire classroom with the personal devices of what it would cost to purchase and maintain a single computer in a lab.
So this really becomes an equalizer with all kids of all income levels having access to technology, and perhaps more importantly guidance on how to best use it. You heard this little boy. He is making a move with you about decimals. It is fun and creative, and it takes the emergency nation in different directions. These children are really thinking in a very different sphere than older generations.
BOLDUAN: And at the very same time while you may be anti-having a cell phone in class, these kind of technologies, this is what people are using and at work, I mean, all different modes and all different modes and aspects of their lives. So it is just teaching them how to use the tools they have for research.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. Even when you think about the number of e-mails you are getting in any single day, there is no rule book that says how do you best manage that information if you get 1,000 a day? You know, these kids will have a much better handle on getting rid of extraneous things. The danger is that it is a huge -- in words of one teenager, a time-suck. It just sucks all the time.
ACOSTA: I'm worried about 20 kids in a classroom just doing this.
FEYERICK: Exactly.
ACOSTA: How does a teacher get their attention?
FEYERICK: Teacher doesn't need the attention. He is working on the blackberry.
BOLDUAN: He will ping them.
FEYERICK: Instant message them. See how it plays out.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Deb, that was really interesting.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Deb.
BOLDUAN: It is 32 minutes after the hour, time for this morning's top stories.
Another deadline beat and another milestone in Iraq. The military announced that there are now fewer than 50,000 U.S. troops left in the country. This comes a week ahead of the official declaration of an end to the combat operations there. Last U.S. combat brigade left last week, but troops remain in an advise and assist role.
ACOSTA: 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. Both have suggested that moving the Islamic center would be a noble gesture.
BOLDUAN: Right now, former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod is heading to a meeting with her old boss. Secretary Tom Vilsack offered Sherrod a promotion after she was forced to resign over bogus claims of racism. Sherrod said she will make a decision about the job after today's meeting. She will be talking with CNN afterwards, so stay with us for the latest.
ACOSTA: And we want to share some transportation news with our viewers out there, because we have a lot of folks here in the northeast who may want to know about this New Jersey transit as reporting that service on the northeast corridor has been temporarily suspended because of an Amtrak power problem.
Some trains are being rerouted into and out of Hoboken terminal instead of New York Penn station. Clearly we can expect some substantial rush hour delays and we will bring you more information on this as soon as we get, and obviously many implications for all those Amtrak riders out there, it is a domino effect. We will try to keep you posted on all of that.
BOLDUAN: Trapped underground for three weeks, and this is just the beginning. We have been talking about it all morning and it deserves talking about it. It's an amazing development in Chile, 33 miners trapped by a cave-in except sent a message saying all of them are fine.
ACOSTA: Unbelievable. They may not see daylight until Christmas, though. Rescue workers say it could take at least four months to reach them. Karl Penhaul is live for us in Chile with the latest.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is something that's really united Chile when that news came that the message taped to the drill bit and come back to the surface saying "We are well, all 33 of us are in the shelter." There was spontaneous gatherings in many of the public squares across Chile.
And then last night, when the first communication equipment got down 2,300 feet underground to those miners, the first thing that the miners did was break out in a rendition of the Chilean national anthem.
That, again, lifted the spirits of the rescue workers on the surface, because that to them is an indication that these miners are in good spirits and they are in mental good health. They are ready to fight and they are ready to be patient to try to make it up until Christmas which is how long it could take to get them out, Jim.
ACOSTA: Well, Karl Penhaul, I know you will be covering this some time, because if the indications are this could last until Christmas this will be an amazing story to follow. Our Karl Penhaul live for us down in Chile.
BOLDUAN: And $50 million, a $50 million Van Gogh painting stolen from an Egyptian museum, just gone. Was it an inside job? Former FBI undercover agent Robert Wittman will help me figure that one out next.
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BOLDUAN: A box cutter taken to a Van Gogh painting, beautiful Van Gogh painting, to free it from its frame, hit with a well-executed heist of painting worth more than $50 million. It hurts my heart even to say that. Thieves stole the Van Gogh from the Mahmoud Khalil museum in Cairo.
Joining me with the details to figure out how this all happened is an expert in the field, Robert Wittman, a former FBI undercover agent who has recovered more than $200 million in stolen artwork during his 20-year career. Robert, thank you so much for joining me.
How does this happen in this day and age essentially, it seems, in broad daylight. How does this happen? Is this a usual art theft? Using box cutters?
ROBERT WITTMAN, FORMER FBI UNDERCOVER AGENT: Well, good morning, Kate. Yes. It is a shame. It really is, because when someone goes into a museum or anywhere and they can you a painting out of a frame, they are doing irreparable damage. I mean, that's the type of damage that, you know, many times cannot be conserved.
Especially with Van Gogh. When Van Gogh did his paintings, sometime the paint was very, very thick. And, you know, when you have painting like that where you cut it out of the frame, you lose pain and lose pieces of the actual canvas. It's a terrible situation.
BOLDUAN: So I was looking at the details of the situation at this museum. Only seven of the dozens of surveillance cameras were working. None of the alarms were working. My first though was, really? Are you serious? Does this imply to you in your experience that this might be an inside job?
WITTMAN: First, you know, I think the economic downturn around the world has affected museums internationally. Not long ago just in May in a Parisian museum of modern art there was a heist where more than five paintings were stolen worth more than $120 million. In that situation, again, the alarm systems were not working properly. We also know that more than 88 percent, Kate, of museum heists have some type of insider component. It doesn't always mean someone that works there is involved in the actual theft, but people talk and talk about situations. When security systems are down for a long period of time, the word gets around.
BOLDUAN: So where do the authorities go from here? Obviously the hunt is on. Even though there was some misinformation to begin with when they actually thought they retrieved the painting.
Moving up from that, where do they go from here? Lack security, the security system is in the first place was not working. What clues do they have then to work off of to find these people and find the paintings?
WITTMAN: Well, there has to be forensic examination, the frame, to see if the individuals touched the frame. I think there was some video in the museum itself. It has to be checked very closely.
I think the next thing they should probably be doing is looking for any kind of video outside the museum during the whole day. I'm sure there are areas within 100 yards of the museum that have video, cameras, see a suspicious vehicle, something of that nature.
And then put out feelers. I think the Egyptian have a very, very good intelligence service, law enforcement service, and I'm sure they are out scouring the streets.
BOLDUAN: One thing that came up when we started talking about the story this morning is that -- and on the flip side of this story, what happens to the painting? Is there actually a market out there for this Van Gogh now that we are all talking about it? Is there a market there? Can it be sold?
WITTMAN: You know, that's one thing I say in my book, "Priceless." The true art, art theft, is not the stealing. It is the selling. Throughout my career, we had done numerous undercover operations and cases. Usually, Kate, we recover these art works when they come back to market.
And whether it is coming back to market at auction or at a flea market or at an antique shop or being sold to the police undercover, that's when the pieces come back to market and recovered.
This piece, again, there's nothing that they can do with it. It is so well known and famous. Everyone is on the lookout for it. Then to try to sell it, it is not going to work out for them.
BOLDUAN: You mentioned another high profile heist that happened just recently, the one in Paris. Also, there is one in south of France and Zurich, a string of these a heists recently. In your experience, what's the likelihood that this piece of art will actually be recovered, and in what timeframe?
WITTMAN: Well, the -- you know, this piece was stolen in the 1970s as well and recovered within a ten-year period. You know, my experience says that, you know, these pieces will be back. I would say 95 percent chance of recovery.
It might take a while. I remember there were cases I was involved with -- one case was abducted one of the original copies of the Bill of Rights. It took us 130 years, Kate, to get that one back. Other ones, six months. It depends on the situation.
I have a feeling this one will come back quickly because the damage that was done to the painting will make it un-saleable. So at some point they are going to get smart and return it.
BOLDUAN: That's a horrible part about it, the damage. My goodness.
Robert Wittman, thank you so much. Great speaking with you this morning. You can read more about Robert Wittman's work and experience in cracking the case of stolen artwork in his book "Priceless." Pick that up. It is a good read. Jim?
ACOSTA: And Kate, meanwhile, power problems are causing massive delays for Amtrak and other train travelers this morning. We are going to get a live report on the phone here in just a few moments from our Soledad O'Brien who apparently is caught up in some of this. Stay with us. It is 44 minutes after the hour.
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ACOSTA: We are tracking breaking news this morning. It's big breaking news if you are on a train at this hour. The New Jersey Transit is telling us that service on the northeast corridor has been temporarily suspended because of an Amtrak power problem.
We know that some trains apparently the New Jersey Transit trains are being rerouted into and out of Hoboken instead of New York's Penn station. And it's a mess for a lot of people out on the rail.
BOLDUAN: Yes, we've got transit system in the area definitely. Our own Soledad O'Brien is actually on a 6:00 a.m. train out of New York City and she joins us on the phone now.
Hey there, Soledad. Good morning. Unfortunately we have to talk to you now. Where are you exactly?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We are somewhere outside of Wilmington heading into Baltimore. And it looks like the power problem is actually right on both sides of the Susquehanna River. And we're told that this thing's called Pendergrass (ph) which are overhead power wires have failed in some way, shape or form which means that we are stuck.
And everybody else is now stuck because they shut it down. It looks like because of the power drainage, we were put on battery power. We've run out of battery power. So we are sitting here. And we are waiting for somebody to come and fix those overhead wires.
So yes apparently the problem has affected the whole northeast corridor or a lot of it for Amtrak. And I guess it's the second time the conductor was calling in. Last month they had this problem, the last time it was because of the high heat, and we have that heat wave in New York City.
BOLDUAN: Has the conductor or anyone have been able to give you any kind of indication of how long it could be that you could be stuck? Or what's kind of alternative plans are here?
O'BRIEN: They have been really good about every sort of 10, 15 minutes getting on the P.A. system and filling us in about what's going on. But no, I don't think we really have a clear answer because we're waiting for someone to come and fix the overhead wires between who knows, but everybody is sort of just sitting and waiting.
And you know, that certainly no one is panic or freaking out or anything.
BOLDUAN: Right.
O'BRIEN: But certainly I don't think there is any real clear idea of how long it could take. Nobody is allowed yet to work on it.
ACOSTA: Yes and we're looking at live pictures of folks standing at one of the train station along the route and -- and we're not seeing any trains pulling into the station, which is not a good sign.
And Soledad, I've taken that route several times. And I can't imagine the passengers there are too pleased. How is everybody holding up right now?
O'BRIEN: Really well actually. Just sitting around you know it's one of those things --
ACOSTA: What can you do?
O'BRIEN: Right. You are stuck on the tracks and we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. You know I'm looking at some houses and some trees. We're nowhere near a station. So those people are maybe the people who waiting for our train coming in.
But at least really calm and just waiting and again, the conductors have been very good about every 10, or 15 minutes filling us in as far as he knows what's happening.
ACOSTA: It sounds like there is an announcement right now.
BOLDUAN: There's an announcement there right now.
ACOSTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: All right, thank you.
O'BRIEN: Yes, he's right up later.
BOLDUAN: Yes, thank you so much, Soledad. We hope you get to -- I think you're probably heading to Washington. We hope you get there soon. Acosta: That's right.
BOLDUAN: We will keep everyone updated on the developments on when the trains will start moving and how far it affects as we get information.
It is ten minutes to the top of the hour.
We'll be back right after this.
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MARCIANO: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Hurricane Danielle, now a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 miles an hour; its direction is still towards the west, towards the U.S. but the forecast still holds.
And now we think it will make a northerly turn towards out Bermuda and likely stay out to sea. But it may very well get to major hurricane strength status before the end of today.
Speaking of major storms, on this day 18 years ago, hurricane Andrew made landfall in south Florida, south of Miami, the second costliest hurricane on record. And one of only three Category 5 storms to hit the U.S. in the last century.
A little storm across the northeast last -- yesterday; wind and rain today. Just back side of this. Cool ocean air, kind of damp, kind of drizzly and definitely on the cool side. Heavier rains this morning across parts of Virginia and North Carolina; some of those have been producing some flooding rains.
Check out some of these numbers from yesterday: Sarasota, Florida, almost five inches of rain; Sioux City, Iowa, two inches; East Milton, Massachusetts, over two inches. So a little smattering of some heavy rainfall in spots.
It will be warm out in Los Angeles, 96 degrees, warm in Dallas 100, and not too bad in Chicago with a high of 84.
That's a quick check on the weather. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
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BOLDUAN: Let me give you an update -- very good update actually to bring to you. You are looking at pictures of the transit system. We are told by New Jersey Transit that service has been restored and it says according to New Jersey Transit that there will be 60 to 90- minute delays due to the Amtrak power problem we were telling you about just a few minutes ago.
And since we talked to our Soledad O'Brien, we now learned, according to New Jersey Transit, that service is being restored. You may be delayed but you will get from point "a" to point "b" today.
ACOSTA: Very good news.
And our "Building up America" segment, progress report on New Orleans, nearly five years after Katrina. The city's reinforced levees and flood walls are already stronger than they were before that storm. Are they strong enough?
BOLDUAN: Tom Foreman is live for us in New Orleans this morning. Good morning, Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate. Hey, Jim. How are you all doing? This is a very serious subject today. Many people here are fond of saying there were two disasters five years ago. Katrina, the big storm that came in and then after that, the collapse of flood walls and levees that had simply been poorly maintained and poorly designed are not kept up to the level to stand up to that storm.
They say that's what really caused the extraordinary damage here. The Army Corps of Engineers is in a remarkable, huge, overreaching campaign to fix those problems and put into place a much, much more robust system. They have been making a lot of progress building up.
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FOREMAN (voice-over): All around New Orleans, the federal government's latest promise to keep this city safe from the next big storm is ruse in rising.
ROBERT SINCLAIR (ph), ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Yes. We're going about 15 to 20 years of construction work in about 36 months.
FOREMAN: Colonel Robert Sinclair (ph) of the Army Corps of Engineers is supervising construction of this two-mile long storm surge barrier across one major waterway and improvements to pumping stations hundreds of miles of levees and flood walls all of which he admits were never what they should have been.
(on camera): The walls you are building out here are just fundamentally much, much stronger.
SINCLAIR: No doubt about it. In every way, they're much stronger and more robust.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Public safety is the top priority of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
FOREMAN (voice-over): In promotional videos by the corps, the improvements are billed as technological marvels and anchored by pilings driven deep into the earth and reinforced with clay, rock and concrete. A series of defenses working with natural barriers such as marsh lands to dull the teeth of even the most fierce storm.
Vic Zilmer (ph) is the engineer in charge.
(on camera): If this system were completed and in place when Katrina hit would we have seen the results we did? VIC ZILMER, ENGINEER IN CHARGE: Absolutely not. It would have been very, very different.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of denial from the corps of engineers.
FOREMAN: But some locals and other experts have their doubts and their own movie.
A new documentary, "The Big Uneasy," suggesting the corps bears much blame for not building better levees long ago.
Actor Harry Shearer directed the film.
(on camera): Look, their project looks very big and very impressive.
HARRY SHEARER, ACTOR: Yes, it does.
FOREMAN: But you don't have much faith in it?
SHEARER: If you place the reassurances, the reassurance statement the corps is issuing today against the reassuring statements the corps issued before Katrina, they track totally. They have been giving us these reassurances before.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Shearer and others wants to see more commitment to restoring those protected wetlands, more attention to possible weaknesses in the corps plan. With the project scheduled for completion by next summer the corps can only offer promises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as design goes, the best thing we can do at this time.
FOREMAN: And hope that next time their plans for stopping the big one will work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: So groups like levees.org down here continue to wave the flag of warning saying, we must make sure accountability is in place if it's going to work and the Corps of Engineers for right now says they believe that the proof will be in the performance the next time a big storms comes around and this massive new system gets put to the test -- Kate, Jim.
BOLDUAN: Tom Foreman, thanks so much Tom.
And thank you, sir, and thank you everybody for joining us this morning.
ACOSTA: That's right. And "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now.
