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American Morning
Igor Batters Bermuda; Tea Party Gets Religious; To Cut or Not to Cut; Obama's Sunday Prayer; O'Donnell's 'Witchcraft' Comments; Freed Hiker Back in U.S.; The GOP's Feminine Side
Aired September 20, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning to you. And thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It is the 20th of September, I'm John Roberts. Good morning.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Candy Crowley. Kiran Chetry is off this morning. We have lots to talk about on this busy Monday, so let's get right to it.
Tiny Bermuda battered overnight by Hurricane Igor. Trees knocked down, thousands without power and the wind is still whipping at this hour. Reynolds Wolf with a live report from the hurricane zone ahead.
ROBERTS: In Utah, they're running for safety this morning. A wildfire threatening more than a thousand homes outside of Salt Lake City. Hundreds of firefighters are on the scene there, including national guardsmen who are being blamed for setting the fire in the first place.
CROWLEY: Some special forces are trained to go into deadly situations armed with high-powered weapons to track the enemy. We've got the unit just as skilled, trained to track storm clouds. Our Rob Marciano introduces us to these combat weathermen.
ROBERTS: And the amFIX blog is up and running this morning as it is every day. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CROWLEY: It has been one bruising night on the island of Bermuda. The center of Hurricane Igor roared right past Bermuda's coast overnight, missing direct landfall by just 40 miles.
ROBERTS: It's a large hurricane generating enormous waves. It's pummeling the island with powerful winds, driving rain. Trees there are shredded. Power lines are down.
CNN is your hurricane headquarters. Our Rob Marciano is here with us in New York. He's tracking Igor this morning. He'll tell us where it's headed in just a moment.
First, though, let's go to the scene. Our Reynolds Wolf live in Elbow Beach, Bermuda. Reynolds, it looks like not a good time there this morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, things are improving considered -- actually compared with last night where the brunt of the storm really came just to our west around 11:00 local time through midnight, really the worst of it. This storm, although it did not make a direct hit, you've got to remember Bermuda is a relatively small area. And this storm, when you include the outflow, is nearly 1,000 miles wide.
When you think about Bermuda, it's actually not one island, but 138, and joined together is about the equivalent land mass of, say, a third of Washington, D.C. So a very easy target for this immense hurricane.
The effects we've had here, some tremendous waves that are right along the coast. We've got some video that we took just yesterday right around sundown. Huge waves crashing onshore that not only, of course, caused some major beach erosion, but at the same time, flooded some roadways right along the coast. The heavy rain, that, too, was a factor flooding many people, causing people to go to shelters. In fact, nearly 70-plus people heading to some of the shelters. Didn't sound like a high comparable (ph). When you compare it back with Hurricane Fabian in 2003, it's nearly seven or even eight times the number of people that went to those shelters.
Here's the good news. Despite power being out for a good part of the island, despite the airports being closed, road closures, main (INAUDIBLE) will be closed, no major injuries were sustained. That is excellent news. They do expect that as the storm contains to chug its way to the north, conditions as you can imagine will gradually improve. But then the cleanup begins. And we've had widespread reports of roof damage, a lot of windows broken, and again, a lot of tree damage as you can also imagine on many side streets. But again, it's just going to be a step-by-step process as we go through the afternoon into tomorrow getting things back into shape. Let's kick it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, how much longer is the heavy wind expected to be blowing there in Bermuda?
WOLF: John, I'll tell you, I think for the time being, we're going to be dealing with maybe an occasional hurricane-force gust wind to the northern half of the island but in our present location mainly tropical storm-force winds. And that's basically from about 73 to around 39 miles per hour. We could be dealing with that into the afternoon maybe into the early evening. But it does appear, as Rob will tell you in a few moments, that this storm is really going to accelerate as it goes to the north. It's going to get caught up in a trough, and the trough is going to push it farther to the north, and as farther away it goes, the weaker thankfully the winds will become -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning in Elbow Beach, Bermuda. Reynolds, thanks so much. We'll keep checking back with him throughout the morning.
CROWLEY: You know, we can say this because no one was hurt down there, but there's something sort of starkly beautiful about the power of Mother Nature sort of just coming in with all that wrath. I mean, I wouldn't want to be out in it, and good for -- ROBERTS: Those storms are amazing things.
CROWLEY: Yes.
ROBERTS: No question about it. And thankfully a lot of the construction in Bermuda unlike other islands, very, very strong. You know, most things are built to code there so the amount of damage sustained should hopefully be minimal.
CROWLEY: That's the key, because you can't stop the storms from coming.
Rob Marciano has been keeping an eye on Igor throughout this morning. Rob, is any other place in harm's way?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Newfoundland, Canada. As a matter of fact, tropical storm watches had just been posted for that area. So as this storm begins to accelerate, folks in Canada are going to have to deal with it, as well. And I think the big story with this storm is how big it was. And because of the actual size of this thing, they had tropical storm-force and hurricane-force winds in such a long duration just that constant battering of the island is where you're seeing most of that damage. But as John pointed out, the building codes are pretty strict. But about half the people at one point, at least, without power. So they'll be picking up the pieces and struggling to get back to normal here for several days yet.
All right. There you see the storm now. It's about 135 miles to the north of Bermuda right now, and it is accelerating north/northeast moving at about 20 miles an hour and that will continue. It is still a hurricane with Category One strength. And this is the forecast track.
Again, it'll probably scoot the coastline of Newfoundland, and then get out into the shipping lanes, a Category One storm, and then eventually getting to in what we call extra tropical -- more like an Atlantic type of storm with winds, though. That tropical storm force winds go out over 300 miles from the center. So as Reynolds pointed out, they'll still be dealing with this probably right on through the afternoon, right through the evening as well. So that long duration event is really what's been the sticking point with Hurricane Igor.
We'll talk more about what else is going on with tropics later on in the program.
ROBERTS: Seems like we've been talking about Igor for a couple of weeks.
MARCIANO: Yes. He's been spinning around for quite some time. Luckily, he missed the U.S. And luckily, you know, it could have been a lot worse for Bermuda, that's for sure.
ROBERTS: But there's another one out there, right?
MARCIANO: Just off the coast of Africa. Pretty high probability of it developing into something. And we're also getting to the area, the time of year, guys, where things can pop just off the coastline of the U.S. at any time. So we just have to keep an eye on things.
ROBERTS: All right. Good to have you on the job this morning, Rob. Thanks so much.
New this morning, a Utah mountainside is covered in flames. It's an out-of-control wildfires burning in Herriman, just outside of Salt Lake City. National Guard soldiers were training when a spark from one of the rounds from a rifle ignited dry brush. They say that they got on it right away, but unfortunately didn't have enough equipment to contain it. There's a lot of wind there as well that whipped up the flames.
Firefighters from surrounding counties have been called to the scene. More than a thousand homes are under mandatory evacuation orders and the strong winds continuing today. People worried about their homes might be in harm's way. This is what one of our iReporters captured for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting this view from Riverton, Utah. We are less than three miles away from the mountain, which a fire has just crested. There is a haze over the whole valley.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Not much more frightening than seeing that fire crest the ridgeline and start marching its way down the hillside towards those homes.
Coming up at our next hour, we're going to talk with the mayor of Herriman, Utah. Plus, if you've got some good pictures there from Utah, the area of the fire, send them into us if you would, CNN.com/ireport.
CROWLEY: And some success under the sea. BP says it has permanently capped the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico five months after an explosion sparked the worst ever oil spill in the U.S. Tests have confirmed the cement seal is holding so far. More than 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the gulf. At 7:30 Eastern, we will talk to National Incident Commander Thad Allen about what lies ahead in the gulf.
ROBERTS: Time for leader host in Bratwurst. The swelling of beer, lots of it. In Munich, they're celebrating the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest. There are 14 beer tents spread out over an area of about the size of 60 soccer fields, close to 2,000 toilets to handle all that beer once it's processed. For the first time this year, by the way, smoking is banned during the 17-day-long beer festival.
CROWLEY: A little tiny too much information. Coming up, she's the new face of the Tea Party Movement, but Christine O'Donnell may have some explaining to do to her fellow conservatives after her comments about high school in which she said she dabbled in witchcraft.
It is seven minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CROWLEY: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. Just over six weeks now until the midterm elections and conservative voters are reading the tea leaves.
ROBERTS: Yes. The rise to the Tea Party Movement which carried Christine O'Donnell to victory in Delaware recently is raising the prospects of a powerful political alliance that was on display this weekend at the Values Voter Summit. Our Jim Acosta is following that for us. He's live for us from Washington. Quite a weekend they had, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true, John and Candy. And you know at a lot of these summits they have these straw polls. Right?
Well, Christian conservatives made their choice for president for 2012 in a straw poll held at this year's Values Voter Summit over the weekend. It was Indiana Republican Mike Pence, who's not only a favorite of the religious right, but a Tea Party activist too. But he's not the only politician who is liked by these two movements which, incidentally are finding they have a lot in common.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): For conservatives, it could be a match made in political heaven. The nation's growing Tea Party Movement joining forces with the religious right.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Would you like to alter your Congress?
ACOSTA: In years past, the Values Voter Summit staged this weekend in Washington was a haven for social conservatives. But the speaker scheduled this year was packed with Tea Party rock stars. That, say the summit's organizers, was no accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's a natural alliance between social conservative voters and the Tea Party voters. In fact, I think if you were to poll people here, 99 percent of them have been to a Tea Party event.
ACOSTA: Such an alliance would combine as Values Voters who helped George W. Bush win two terms with the nation's fastest growing political movement. Republican leaders in Congress like Indiana's Mike Pence see the potential.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: We've seen since the days of Ronald Reagan that when we are united around a commitment of fiscal discipline, a strong national defense, and traditional moral values, that's when we experience the most success and we have the most impact on the life of the nation.
ACOSTA: Conservatives point to Delaware's Republican nominee for the Senate, Christine O'Donnell, as the perfect hybrid candidate for both movements. She's embraced by the Tea Party and social conservatives. CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: They call us whacky. They call us wing nuts. We call us we, the people.
ACOSTA: But O'Donnell will have to explain to values voters what she meant when she said in 1999 that she experimented with witchcraft.
O'DONNELL: I dabbled into witchcraft. I never joined a coven. But I did, I did --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute, you were a witch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she was a witch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were a witch.
O'DONNELL: I didn't join a coven. I didn't join a coven. Let's get specific.
ACOSTA: But there are some Tea Partiers who aren't ready to join forces. They insist their movement is simply about getting the nation's fiscal House in order.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been very successful and we are focused completely on the fiscal aspect of the economy. We're not focused on the social issues.
ACOSTA: Others at the summit argued Tea Partiers and Christian consecutives were already a natural fit. Take this mother and daughter. Lori Slough (ph) worries about the national debt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean I lose sleep over it at night sometimes. I really do.
ACOSTA (on camera): You lose sleep over the national debt?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm serious. I really do.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Her mother Fay says she's a born again Christian who doesn't believe that President Obama is honest about his own faith.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a Christian. He touts all the time, but when you get down to his actions, he elevates Islam, and he suppresses Christianity. If you want to say death to America, vote Democrat.
ACOSTA (on camera): You really believe that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: By the way, we should point out the president and his family went to church over the weekend, a Christian church. And a question in the end is not whether these two movements are joining forces. In many ways they already have, but many in the Tea Party have also proven over the last year and a half that they are also religious conservatives. The real question at this point is whether they can win.
And, John and Candy, one thing I wanted to point out just to show you some of the synergy that's going on between these two movements, I picked up this bumper sticker over the weekend at the summit. And it says please don't tell Obama what comes after a trillion. Obviously, a fiscal message there. But this is from the Family Research Council. So the Family Research Council focusing on the deficit.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ACOSTA: Synergy there.
ROBERTS: They're getting on the fiscal conservative side of things.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CROWLEY: John, is there any uneasiness? I know, this was a (INAUDIBLE) conservative gathering, but did you sense any uneasiness at all? Because in some of these Tea Party folks really have stuck on the economic issues. And now you're bringing in something that is way controversial. Was there any uneasiness at all in that kind of alliance that they're trying to put together?
ACOSTA: You know, the only unease that I picked up on, Candy, was from Amy Cramer (ph) with the Tea Party Express, and I went after her, you know, over and over and over again about this issue about whether they're joining forces, and she says, you know, we're just focused on the deficit, fiscal issues, limited government and so forth.
But everybody on the social conservative side of thing at that summit over the weekend were very enthusiastic about the prospect of these two forces coming together in a - you know - you know, for the upcoming elections in the fall and looking on to 2012. And then you only had to look at the folks who were at this conference over the weekend to see that they really are sort of one and the same. Jim DeMint, liked by both sides; Michelle Bachmann, liked by both sides. So it makes a lot of sense, politically.
ROBERTS: All right. Jim Acosta for us in Washington this morning. Jim, thanks.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CROWLEY: You probably have not been counting, so we did it for you. There are five female candidates for Senate in this election cycle from the Republican Party.
At 6:40 Eastern, we will talk about the GOP getting in touch with its feminine side, with Republican Strategist Leslie Sanchez, Democratic Strategist Kiki McLean, and Patricia Murphy, Capitol Hill Bureau Chief for PoliticsDaily.com.
ROBERTS: And coming up at 7:40 Eastern, we're going to talk with Indiana Republican Congressman Mike Pence who was the winner of that straw poll at the Values Voters Summit about whether or not there can be an alliance between the Tea Party and - and traditional Christian conservatives.
CROWLEY: The furious debate over extending the Bush tax cuts. The fate of your bank account is in the hands of Congress. Will they or wouldn't they? We'll have a breakdown of the debate and how a vote in either direction will affect your bottom line.
It is 16 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CROWLEY: We have 110 days until the Bush tax cuts expire. The debate on whether to extend them has consumed Capitol Hill, but the strongest impact will be felt in the bank accounts of millions of Americans.
ROBERTS: We're "Minding Your Business" this morning and CNNMoney's Paul La Monica is with us.
President Obama suggesting of course that the tax cuts should expire for the richest Americans, stay in place for middle-income Americans. But there are some economists and other analysts who are saying, maybe that's not such a good idea. What are people saying?
PAUL LA MONICA, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. We have a survey of 31 leading economists up on the CNNMoney site right now, and 18 of those that we surveyed said that they thought the number one priority for Washington right now should be extending the tax cuts for everybody.
CROWLEY: So, let's take a family of four, $75,000 a year. What does it mean for them?
LA MONICA: Yes. According to Tax Policy Center estimates, it's about $2,600 more in federal taxes that they'd be probably paying, and pretty much for everyone what you would wind up having is you would have the - the taxes would go back to the 2001 levels, before the Bush tax cuts came into effect. So everyone would feel some sort of pinch if there is no action in Congress and they all expire.
ROBERTS: $2,600 for a family income of $75,000. In this economy, that's a lot of money for them.
LA MONICA: That is definitely a lot of money, and that's why many economists are worried about what will happen if there is no action in Washington. The economy's just so fragile right now, any little bit of extra income for anyone really can help.
ROBERTS: So what does happen if there's no action come January 1st? Where will we be?
LA MONICA: Yes. You'll wind up going back to - everyone will have higher taxes. They'll go back to - revert to the pre-Bush tax cut levels of 2001. So a lot of people would feel a bit of a pinch if that happens.
CROWLEY: And let's just say - just to try to explain this, this is - if you take money out of people's income, the problem is, as I understand it, then they don't spend money on consumer goods, which means that businesses don't hire because they're not selling as much.
LA MONICA: Exactly. It's the cycle that we're in that's really painful right now. It's why unemployment remains so high. So many consumers are worried about every little nickel and dime.
So, if you increase taxes, that's very likely to happen. People probably would retrench. They'd save even more. They'd be paying even more attention to what they're spending even on the basics, and that's what businesses are waiting for.
Businesses are waiting for people to actually start spending more again a little bit more freely and then that's, I think, what they're hoping can, you know, justify actually hiring more people again. But that's just not there.
ROBERTS: You have these two competing issues, though. On the one hand, you - you want to stimulate the economy by putting more money in people's hands so that they can spend it. But then, at the same time, you've got these enormous deficits, $1.5 trillion plus, that we've been running for the last couple of years, and you've got to do something to increase revenues to get those down.
LA MONICA: Right. Right.
ROBERTS: So how do you reconcile those two?
LA MONICA: Yes. Economists are very worried about that. For the long-term, you do have - the deficit is this - this, you know, big cloud hanging over the health of the economy longer term.
A lot of people do think, though, that for the short-term, you probably need to do anything you can, even if it does add to the deficit, just to get the economy moving forward again. Because, as a lot of people do point out, the deficit can kind of take care of itself if the economy improves to the type of level where people start spending again and you have all types of tax revenue going up, not just individuals, but corporate, as well.
ROBERTS: Paul La Monica from CNNMoney.com. Good to see you this morning.
LA MONICA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thank you for coming in.
And for more on the CNNMoney economists survey and the money news that matters most, go to CNN.com -- CNNMoney.com, not CNN.com/slash money. But if you go to CNN.com, we'll get you there anyway.
CROWLEY: And they'll be mad if we don't say it right, so CNNMoney.com.
And the military unit trained to spot dangerous storms to keep troops out of harm's way. Our Rob Marciano got a high altitude view, and he introduces us to these Air Force weather warriors. That is straight ahead. It is 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Most meteorologists spend their day in front of radar and weather maps. And - and if you think that life couldn't get any more exciting than that, we're about to introduce you to a little known group of the U.S. Air Force - meteorologists whose office is oftentimes in the middle of enemy territory.
CROWLEY: It's a warrior weather squadron of sorts. Say that 28 times.
Our Rob Marciano is here. He got a frighteningly close look at what they do. Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
You know, throughout history, weather's played a huge impact on - on warfare. Be it covert operation or a D-Day invasion, an accurate forecast is critical to a successful mission. And a good forecast requires good observation, or, as the military likes to put it, good recon.
Well, I went to go meet these meteorological tough guys.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (on camera): Here in the Florida Panhandle is the Air Force Special Operations Command, and this is the 10th CWS - Combat Weather Squadron. Let's go see what they do.
In a hopeless attempt to have me fit in, they provided me with some fatigues and some safety gear.
This is my country. Special Operations Weather Team - SOWT, baby, at least for a day.
MARCIANO (voice-over): There's less than 100 SOWTs in the Air Force. From World War II to Afghanistan, they've deployed on to the battlefield, working with the likes of the Army Rangers, Navy Seals, and other special forces. Their weather call and environmental recon are key to a mission's success.
MAJ. DON GARRETT, U.S. AIR FORCE SOWT: Now, if you did lock into the floor with this and then the plane crashes, this is how you get out, and you just grab this and pull this one.
MARCIANO (on camera): What -what is that about a plane crashing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be off to the west of the airfield.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Today is jump day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sound off for equipment check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sound off for equipment check.
MARCIANO: They rehearse on the ground what they'll do in the air.
MARCIANO (on camera): So we're on the tarmac now. They've got all their gear typically that they would bring on a real mission. This is the plane they're getting on.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Lieutenant Colonel General Joe Benson commands the Combat Weather Squadron.
MARCIANO (on camera): How important is what you guys do to the overall mission?
LT. COL. JOE BENSON, COMMANDER, 10TH COMBAT WEATHER SQUADRON: Well, most of what we do is the collection part of weather. In other words, we go out into places that are either hostile, inaccessible to other troops, and we go and we collect weather observations. We'll go and we'll assess a river condition. We'll do terrain.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Sometimes getting there requires a parachute.
MARCIANO (on camera): So this is the main?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Don't - but please don't pull that.
MARCIANO: I'm sorry (ph). What is this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the reserve.
MARCIANO: Loaded into the back of the C-130 are 18 Special Operations Weather soldiers. You want an accurate forecast on the battlefield? Sometimes you've got to jump out of a plane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys ready back there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MARCIANO: One minute before they go out the back door. I legally can't jump. I'm not disappointed about that.
MARCIANO (voice-over): With the static line guys out at 2,500 feet, we climb higher, and the spotters eye the next drop zone.
MARCIANO (on camera): With six weather jumpers left, we're at 10,000 feet now. These guys are going freefall. They go as high as 30. When you need weather data or forecast behind enemy lines, they're the ones who do it.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): What comes next is an adrenaline-filled minute, falling as fast as 200 miles an hour.
Deploy the chute and get on the ground ASAP. This could be hostile territory and the weathermen have arrived.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Oh, yes, an eye-opening experience to say the least. But these guys are not the weather nerds I went to college with, that's for sure. Kind of rocket scientist meets Rambo. And tomorrow, we'll have the second part of the story and you'll get to meet some of the heroes out there getting weather data for an accurate forecast.
CROWLEY: Can't I just ask: why -- can't just find all that from a satellite? What are they getting that we don't get through other means?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, nothing replaces good observations as far -- you know, and your weather forecast is only as good as those observations, even the computer models that we use, you need good observation on the ground.
But they do a lot more than just forecast weather. If you think about what the military does, these guys forecast avalanche. They go out there, they assess a terrain.
Can we get over that mountain? Can we get through that pass? Can we get through this river? They'll go out into the river and they'll gauge whether or not you can get across a river -- all things that are critical to a mission's success.
ROBERTS: So, they wouldn't let you jump, huh?
MARCIANO: No. I've done it before for the show and I would have loved to actually, but not this go-around, maybe next time.
ROBERTS: Great report. Looking ahead to part two tomorrow.
MARCIANO: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
Crossing the half hour now -- means it's time for this morning's top stories.
Hurricane Igor roaring past the coast of Bermuda overnight, sending huge waves crashing on to the island, knocking out power, uprooting trees. All up and down the East Coast this morning as well, dangerous rip currents are posing a real threat. We're going to go and get an update on all of that just in a few minutes.
CROWLEY: An adrenaline-filled fight to bring a wildfire under control in Utah. Authorities think the fire started when national guardsmen were practicing with machine guns. Now, an entire mountainside is on fire. And people in at least 1,400 homes have been told to get out. So far, no one has been hurt, but the fight to save these homes is far from over.
ROBERTS: And more violence in Iraq to tell you about overnight. Two mortar rounds landing inside Baghdad's Green Zone, home to Iraqi government offices as well as the U.S. embassy. Authorities say other two bombs exploded in Baghdad neighborhoods, wounding seven Iraqi soldiers and two civilians. The attacks come just a day after two car bombs killed at least 29 people in the Iraqi capital.
CROWLEY: And home at last. American hiker Sarah Shourd, released after 14 months in an Iranian prison, says she is happy to be back but only feels 1/3 free.
ROBERTS: And that's because her fiance and her friend are still being held in Iran accused of being American spies. And Shourd is appealing to the Iranian government for their release.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is following developments for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Candy, Sarah Shourd is back in the United States, but her homecoming is bittersweet. Clutching her own mother's hand and staying close to the mothers of her two companions left behind, the freed American hiker called their arrest a big misunderstanding.
SARAH SHOURD, FREED AMERICAN HIKER: We committed no crime and we are not spies. We in no way intended any harm to the Iranian government or its people. If we were, indeed, near the Iran/Iraq border, that border was entirely unmarked and indistinguishable.
CANDIOTTI: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Iran has promised to try the two other hikers on spy charges but has not offered any evidence that they were up to no good. Can their release be negotiated?
PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): We're always prepared to talk, but under fair conditions and respectful conditions. If somebody thinks they can lie, order us around, or rule us and talk -- call it a talk, that wouldn't work.
CANDIOTTI: Sarah Shourd did not stray from a prepared statement and did not discuss her treatment in one of Iran's most notorious prisons. She appeared composed and vowed to work to free her two companions.
SHOURD: And I stand before you today only 1/3 free. That was the last thing that Josh said to me before I walked through the prison doors.
CANDIOTTI: Shourd said doctors in Oman have given her a clean bill of health, adding her spirit is bruised but not broken -- John and Candy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti for us this morning -- Susan, thanks.
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is going to be Larry King's guest. It's Wednesday night on "LARRY KING LIVE," 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
CROWLEY: Female candidates emerging as a real force in politics 2010. It's not just the Democratic Party. The feminine side of the GOP -- ahead.
It is 34 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CROWLEY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
No matter what you think of her, Christine O'Donnell has become the face of two powerful forces in politics these days, the Tea Party movement and the women's movement. O'Donnell is one of five Republican female candidates nominated for the Senate in this cycle. Suddenly, this is no longer your father's GOP.
Joining me now from Washington: Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez, Democratic strategist Kiki McLean, and Capitol Hill bureau chief for PoliticsDaily.com, Patricia Murphy.
Thank you all for being here.
Let me start out with you, Leslie. This increase in Republican female candidates -- is it a Palin wave? What brings it on this year?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, there's a few different things.
Palin was certainly a catalyst. She opened the door and showed that women could pass the money test. But she is appealing to a very specific group of not only voters but also women who have decided to throw their hat in the ring -- pro-life, evangelicals, fiscal conservatives, in many cases, mom who wanted to be part of the system.
They're newcomers. They took advantage of many of these open seats. And they're evangelizing a lot of that base of folks who are concerned about the direction of government.
CROWLEY: Well, Kiki, newcomers is often code for outsiders who are very in these days. So, how much of is it about that?
KIKI MCLEAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think there's a good bit of it about that. It's an opportunity for people from the outside who haven't been part of the process. I sometimes think that drives it a little more than gender.
What I think is interesting about the women on the ballot this year is we're having races now where you have women versus women. Look at the California Senate race, right? That's a great contest between two women. I think it's an opportunity for people to understand the role that women play in politics.
And let me build a little on something Leslie said, and that has to do with the fact that once people saw Hillary Clinton run and compete for president, saw Sarah Palin on the ticket, they saw what was possibility. They could imagine more women in leadership position. This is an opportunity for Republicans because, frankly -- and I think Leslie would agree -- Democrats have been a little ahead of the curve in terms of women being out there running. We've got great women senators out of the Midwest, on the West Coast, all across the country.
And so, it will be interesting to see, I think if it's more about the outsider or the gender. I think it's more about the outsider.
CROWLEY: And, Patricia, Christine O'Donnell -- she's been the woman of the moment since last Tuesday when she won that Republican nomination in Delaware. Let me ask you because we have seen over and over this clip from Bill Maher's show where she talks about her high school dating experience and says that she dabbled in witchcraft and said she had one of her first dates in one of those satanic things but never joined a coven.
Is this -- do women get a rawer deal on the national stage? Any way to quantify that?
PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICSDAILY.COM: Well, I think that women -- I think it's two stories for women. I think that women sometimes get a rawer deal.
There certainly is still quite a bit of sexism in the way that women are covered by the media, I think, and the way that sometimes men -- male candidates run against women. But then there can also be a backlash against those men if they run too hard against these women. And I think Christine O'Donnell may be an example of that.
Now, she has to own those statements. I mean, she's the one who went on a date with a witch and dated on some sort of satanic altar. Luckily, that never happened to me. She has to own those statements. She was out there saying them.
But I think when we saw the way that men came out against Christine O'Donnell, right after she won -- particularly Republican men who came out against her right after she won -- I think that has created quite a bit of this momentum we're seeing for her right now. And women, I think, are more sympathetic to that and saying, "Listen, men what are you so afraid of? Let her run on the issues."
SANCHEZ: You know, Candy, she raises a very good point. And that was -- I think you can look at a bit of a pattern. You saw that happen to -- in South Carolina to Nikki Haley. You saw that happen to Sharron Angle in Nevada.
You see certainly a backlash when you get these surprise candidates. People can't understand where they come from. They're running their own regional campaigns.
And to Kiki's point, you're exactly right. Think about how many women are competing against other women in New Mexico, with Susana Martinez, and certainly Oklahoma.
This is changing. There is a sea change with respect to these candidates and how much appeal they're drawing as good candidates.
MCLEAN: But let me say -- yes, let me say, there is a very important warning flag here for Republican women, though. Your gender and being an outsider is not enough.
Patricia said something very important that Christine O'Donnell's going to have to own the things she said. You're talking about some Republican women, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, who have made some really outrageous comments and substance matters. They're going to have to answer for those things and have an answer for the problems people are facing.
At the end of the day, people aren't going to bank on an outsider just for the sake of being an outsider. They want an outsider with an answer.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. I think the ones that are --
MURPHY: Although, I have one kind of quick point here. If you kind of step back and look at what's happening in politics and with women in general in the workforce, women are the majority of people coming out of med school, coming out of law school, the majority of PhDs. There's no reason women should be in a tiny minority in politics, 16 percent of Congress.
I think women across the board, Democrats and Republicans, are seeing that, and Republicans have more opportunities this year and I think it's a great thing for women across the board.
CROWLEY: Leslie, let me give you the wrap-up question. And that is the sort of overarching theme here. And that is that more women seem to be getting into politics. But still way behind. I mean, the number of women in the Senate is in the teens. Look, the population is over 51 percent.
Are we at a point where the percentages don't matter? Or is there still a lot of work for a female candidate to be done?
SANCHEZ: Tremendous amount of work to do. I think we're very optimistic. There's -- it's a record year, again, in the number of women that have filed for House and Senate. Our big kind of silver lining, not only the Senate races, but the gubernatorial races. It's very exciting.
It's exciting for us because on the Republican side, it is building that back bench of future leaders who could potentially be presidential candidates, move on to different things and it's really -- it's elevating the women who were behind them. We have a long way to go, but it's a very strong position to be in.
CROWLEY: Leslie Sanchez, Kiki McLean, Patricia Murphy -- thank you for getting up early and joining us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Candy.
ROBERTS: It's great to hear from all of them.
Well, the new darling from the Tea Party that Candy and crew were talking about, Christine O'Donnell, facing criticism for old some comments. Among them about witchcraft and the date she went on on a satanic altar. More details on all of that ahead from "The Best Political Team on Television."
CROWLEY: I never really thought in politics we'd be talking about witchcraft.
Nonetheless, CNN is also your hurricane headquarters. We are tracking Hurricane Igor as it bears down on the island of Bermuda. Rob will have more coming up right after the break.
It is 44 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano with us in New York this morning. Good morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, John. Good morning, Candy. Again, let's, of course, look at hurricane Igor. This thing, very, very large in its scope, tropical storm-force winds well over 300 miles from the center. The danger to the U.S., it's ongoing and that is rip currents and heavy surf. High surf advisory is up and down the U.S. So, even though, it's not even getting close to us, those swells are certainly causing some big waves. Just be careful if you're heading to the beach or if you live near the beach for sure.
There's the forecast track. Right now, it's about 130 miles north of Bermuda. It's accelerating to the north and east as they typically do with this type of scenario, and the tropical storm watches are posted for parts of Newfoundland as this gets into the shipping lanes. We should see the last of Igor here in a couple of days. But there's more action in the tropics. A little wave off the African Coastline. This has a high probability of developing into something.
Remember Karl? That went into Mexico. The remnants of it, some leftover showers getting into Texas, and we've seen over 6 inches in Corpus Christi and Brownsville today in the last 24 hours, and more rain is expected. You see all the showers rotating in. Love to get some of that rain in Colorado and Utah. They're battling that blaze south and west of Salt Lake City. Critical fire danger again today with red flag warnings posted. High winds and low humidity.
That will continue for today and for tomorrow. And around the rest of the United States, some cooler weather begin to slide into the northern tier, even some frosty conditions possible in some spots across parts of upper New England. So, seasons are changing. That is for sure -- Guys?
ROBERTS: So, the hurricane season is still pretty active?
MARCIANO: Very active, and you know, will continue to be active for the next couple of weeks. Like I've said earlier, even though we're watching these things out in the Atlantic, this is the time of year where things can percolate right in the Gulf of Mexico or just offshore the Carolinas and those are the things were easily concerned about.
ROBERTS: And we've certainly seen some big hurricanes this time of the year in the past. It was 21 years ago tomorrow with hurricane Hugo slammed the shore in Charleston.
MARCIANO: Yes, Hugo's a notable one. And we had a number of notable ones, major hurricanes, as you mentioned it for this year. Luckily, only getting straight by Earl here in the U.S. So, hopefully, our luck continues.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Rob.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Rob. We'll see you next hour.\
MARCIANO: Sounds good.
CROWLEY: President Obama attended church yesterday morning. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but his administration, at least his image people, have been looking with dismay at numbers showing that the number of people in America who think the president is Muslim has gone up. So, this was not in many ways an ordinary trip to church. Is it, the question is, an attempt to alter his image? The best political team on television is next. It is almost 50 minutes past the hour.
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CROWLEY: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. Crossing the Political Ticker now. President Obama attends church for the first time since Easter. Is there any sort of political message here? Is he simply going to church? Our senior political editor, Mark Preston, is live in Washington. Mark, good morning.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Candy. Sure, a lot of questions about President Obama's faith. In fact, you know, there was this new survey that came out in the summer that said 1 in 5 Americans think that President Obama is Muslim, which is amazing given the fact there was all that controversy about his church in Chicago (INAUDIBLE) that really controversial Christian pastor.
Well, he did attend church yesterday. In fact, he took communion. The church is right across the street from the White House St. John's Episcopal. Everyone here in Washington knows it very famous church. But moving on, Christine O'Donnell, she seems to be in the spotlight and will continue to be in the spotlight, but this might be one of those situations where be careful what you ask for. She is taking incoming from both sides now, Candy.
She is taking incoming from the Senate Democrats. They are up with an ad right now questioning some of her past financial decisions. And then she's taking incoming from her own. Karl Rove has been very critical of her said that she's not going to win in Delaware, and of course, there's these controversial comments that she made about how she dabbled in witchcraft.
Well, Karl Rove has said that she needs to answer those questions. I'll tell you, Candy, just in the last half hour or so, Christine O'Donnell has tweeted. She's put out a message to Karl Rove. She says, I did comment that if I were a witch, Rove would be a supporter, I would have turned him into a newt because Gingrich says we can win. So, perhaps, she was talking about some of her super powers as a witch.
And let's close it up here with Republicans. A republican party on a high. They're expected to pick up at least 30 seats from the house, perhaps more than 30, enough to take back control of that chamber, as well as a handful of seats in the Senate. But the question is, what's the direction of the party? We had social conservatives here in town over the past couple of days.
They said don't forget about the moral issues, but as everybody will know, it's all about the economy of this election. In fact, that is what has fueled the tea party and that whole movement -- Candy.
ROBERTS: So, Mark, Christine O'Donnell tried to disarm this whole thing using humor, which, obviously, it's a very adept way of doing things, but what's the sense there among the folks who are going to have to campaign for all of these people and throw their support behind them? Is she coming forward enough with, you know, what she said obviously was back in high school.
And we all did a lot of silly things back in high school. But it's an unusual thing for a candidate to say. Is there a sense there that she does need to go further to clarify?
PRESTON: Yes, you know, I think it's one of these situations, John, where, you know, look, the problem for her right now is that it's actually on camera. And she emphasizes the fact that she actually had done it, and she's running as a social conservative. Had it been me, you, someone else, perhaps she would have been able to get away with it, but really, what this is saying to the establishment Republicans here John is that she was a mistake. They're not happy that she is the nominee.
And what I expect we'll see from Christine O'Donnell, John, you know, in the next few weeks leading into the election is that she will just focus on Delaware. She's going to focus on the social conservative voters, and she'll talk to outlets, but they will be very friendly to her, perhaps, very socially conservative radio shows or what have you, John. But I don't think we're going to be seeing her do a lot of national interviews. In fact, we saw just yesterday she canceled appearances on Fox and on CBS. So, that's where I think Christine O'Donnell's heading. ROBERTS: All right. Mark Preston for us this morning. Mark, thanks.
CROWLEY: We are going to check back in with Mark next hour. And for all the latest political news, go to our website, CNNPolitics.com.
ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way right after the break. Don't you go away.
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