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American Morning
Igor Batters Bermuda; Tea Party Gets Religion; To Cut Or Not To Cut; Dying To Help; Weather Warriors; The Black Wealth Gap
Aired September 20, 2010 - 07:59 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. Thanks so much for joining us for the Most News in the Morning. It's the 20th of September. I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Still standing.
ROBERTS: Or sitting as the case may be.
CROWLEY: I'm Candy Crowley.
ROBERTS: We haven't tried the standing thing yet.
CROWLEY: That's later.
Kiran Chetry is off this morning.
We want to get you caught up on overnight happenings. The tiny island of Bermuda battered by hurricane Igor. Trees were knocked down, thousands without power, and the wind is whipping. Reynolds Wolf with the report from the hurricane zone -- ahead.
ROBERTS: The comments are more than a decade old but Christine O'Donnell's admission that she dabbled in witchcraft is causing new concern among Republicans just as the religious right is wooing the Tea Party to form a powerful political alliance.
CROWLEY: And the place where saving lives can cost lives. Our Kaj Larsen embedded with aid workers in flood-ravaged Pakistan, many of them no longer willing to help at a time when the need is greatest because they're human targets. Kaj is back with the CNN exclusive.
ROBERTS: And the amFIX blog is up and running, as it is everyday. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CROWLEY: It has been a bruising night for Bermuda, the center of Hurricane Igor roared right past Bermuda's coast overnight, missing direct landfall by just 40 miles. Igor was enormous, generating huge waves, pummeling the island with powerful winds and driving rain.
ROBERTS: Of course, CNN is your hurricane headquarters. Rob Marciano is tracking Igor. He'll ill tell us where it's heading next in just moment.
First, though, let's go live to Reynolds Wolf. He's in Elbow Beach, Bermuda, this morning.
And, Reynolds, looks like the wind is finally beginning to die down.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. The wind is beginning to die down a little. We're still having tropical storm- force winds that are coming through here, John. Also, some rain is now beginning to fall. We had a little bit of break for about 15 to 20 minutes, but you know how these work, it's one of the on and off kind of process as the bands move a little bit further to the north, we're on the center of the storm circulation.
The situation here at Elbow Beach is very similar to other places around the island. There's lots of tree damage, roof damage reported in some places, the waves which were just tremendous just yesterday, and, of course, last night, and some this morning, are beginning to subside a little bit, but not before causing some flooding around parts of the island.
Let's talk about things that are not working. We've got power outages across the island. In fact, two-thirds of the population without power as they're getting up this morning. Another issue that we have, tree damage throughout the island, knocking down some of those power lines. As I reported again, we have some extensive roof damage, windows damaged throughout much of the island.
So, certainly, it's going to take time to clean up. So, there's a lot of things not working.
Let me tell you what is working, though, that we do have some power in some places and, thankfully, just as it moves away, people are going to get up and start restoring things. I can tell you that in some cases, it may take a while, especially in the remote areas around Bermuda to restore some of that power.
Back in 2003, when we had Fabian, where it came through, it took up to three weeks in some locations. What we've been seeing here at Elbow Beach, most of the beach, at least 70 percent of it, is gone. That's what we're told by management this morning.
There is some damage here, some structural damage, but here's the key phrase. From what the manager told us, everything here is manageable. And that's the situation around much of the island, guys. There were, thankfully, no fatalities, no major injuries, people did go to the emergency shelters. But all things consider, considering just a few days ago this was a very strong hurricane and weakened before it made landfall, it could have been much worse before passing off to the north.
Let's send it back to you in New York.
CROWLEY: Reynolds, this isn't the first hurricane you covered. And I -- we saw it kind of -- Igor kind of moving toward it and it looked huge and it looked powerful. And then it seemed to kind of die down even though it stayed pretty big.
Compare this to other hurricanes. Was this basically a battering but not huge for Bermuda?
WOLF: Well, I'll tell you. It's -- the only thing that locals really compare it to is what happened back in 2003 with Fabian. What I can tell you from personal experience -- it's really not the sheer strength of the storm because it really wasn't that strong compared to some other hurricanes that we've dealt with.
But the thing is the difference maker, not the power but simply the duration. It was such a big storm, moving so slowly. So, this island was -- or the Bermuda islands, subjected to quite a pounding for at least 24 to 36 hours. And it's not over yet.
CROWLEY: Reynolds Wolf in Bermuda.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano has been keeping an eye on Igor throughout the morning. So, Igor headed from Bermuda now, up to the squid- jigging grounds. Is anybody really in harm's way?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think the Newfoundland may see tropical storm-force winds. But other than that, it's going to be the shipping lanes. And as Reynolds mentioned, the size of this thing is just immense. So, over 340 miles the radius of the tropical storm- force winds and you want to compare it to a U.S. hurricane of recent history, compare to the Ike. That was a huge storm and pretty much they have the same sort of winds when this came ashore.
Now, it's about 200 miles north of Bermuda. It's accelerating north-easterly at about 20 miles an hour and that will continue to be the case as it gets picked up in the jet stream, again, skirting the coast of Newfoundland potentially with some tropical storm-force winds. But the core of the storm will be heading quickly off towards the north and east, actually over towards to Greenland.
But some of those waves, a lot of those waves, propagating westward towards the U.S. We've already seen pounding surf all the way from Georgia and Florida, up to Maine. And we're going to see heavy surf and also rip currents potentially dangerous for the next couple of days.
And then this also could be a dangerous situation, our next tropical disturbance could develop into a depression or tropical storm before too long. It's that time of year.
Guys, back over to you.
CROWLEY: Rob Marciano, it's good to see you here.
MARCIANO: Likewise.
CROWLEY: Developing in Utah this morning, a mountain size surrounded by smoke and flames. A wildfire is burning out of control in Herriman, just outside Salt Lake City. National guardsmen and soldiers were training when one of the rounds sparked dry brush. It spread so quickly crews couldn't contain it.
Now, winds are making it unpredictable and the guardsmen are helping firefighters to try and get a handle on the fire. More than 1,600 homes are under mandatory evacuation orders.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, BP says its ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is finally, ultimately dead. And the cement poured into it over the weekend seems to be holding at this point. But now, there is a matter of more than 200 million gallons of oil that spilled into the water.
Earlier, I asked the lead commander for the disaster, Thad Allen, about the threat of long-term pollution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, the well is dead but the response goes on. As of Friday, there were 2,600 vessels out there, 25,000 people working on cleanup operations.
How long, Admiral, is that process going to go on?
THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Well, it's going to go on as long as it takes to get the marshes and the beaches clean. We have detailed plans that we've negotiated with the states and the parishes in Louisiana, to determine, if you will, how clean is clean. And in some areas, we're going to stay with this for quite a while.
The marsh areas in Barataria Bay for instance, down by South Pass, still have oil in them. We still need to work on it.
And some of these places, we're going to just have to negotiate when we agree there can be nothing further can be done, then we'll say that's it. But right now, we're still at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: President Obama has stressed now that the focus should be on repairing and rebuilding the communities that were affected by the disaster.
CROWLEY: Coming up: she's the newest face in the Tea Party movement, but Christine O'Donnell may have some explaining to do to her fellow conservatives after comments of dabbling in witchcraft during her high school years. Jim Acosta is following that. He's live report -- ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CROWLEY: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. Just over six weeks until the midterms, the Tea Party movement carried Christine O'Donnell to victory in Delaware, and the rise of the Tea Party is raising the prospects of a powerful alliance. That was on display at a political conference this weekend.
Jim Acosta is live in Washington for us -- Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Candy and John.
You know, at these submits, they often have straw polls. Well, check this out -- there was a straw poll this weekend at the Values Voter Summit and sort of a surprise winner in this, it was Mike Pence, the Republican congressman from Indiana who was on AMERICAN MORNING in the last hour. What's interesting about Mike Pence, he beat Mike Huckabee, who was last year's winner, by the way, but Pence also has the support not only of Tea Party activists but of religious conservatives. And these are two movements finding out: these days, they got a lot in common.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): For conservatives, it could be a match made in political heaven: nation's growing Tea Party movement joining forces with the religious right.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Would you like to alter your Congress?
(CHEERS)
ACOSTA: In years past, the Values Voters Summit staged this weekend in Washington was a haven for social conservatives. But the speaker schedule was packed with Tea Party rock stars. That, say the summit's organizers, was no accident.
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: 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 Voter 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 to 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 pointed Delaware's Republican nominee for the Senate, Christine O'Donnell, as the perfect hybrid candidate for both movements, embraced by the Tea Party and social conservatives.
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: They call us wacky. They call us wingnuts. We call us "We the People."
(CHEERS)
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? BILL MAHER, "POLITICALLY INCORRECT" HOST: Yes, she was a witch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were a witch?
O'DONNELL: I didn't join the coven. I didn't join the coven. Let's get this straight.
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.
AMY KREMER, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: 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 this summit argued Tea Partiers and Christian conservatives were already a natural fit.
Take this mother and daughter. Laurie Slough worries about the national debt.
LAURIE SLOUGH, VALUES VOTER SUMMIT PARTICIPANT: I mean, I lose sleep over it at night sometimes. I really do.
ACOSTA (on camera): You lose sleep over the national debt?
SLOUGH: I do. Yes. I'm serious, I really do.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Her mother, Faye, says she's a born-again Christian who doesn't believe President Obama is honest about his own faith.
FAYE HARDIN, VALUES VOTER SUMMT PARTICIPANT: 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.
HARDIN: Absolutely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: The question in the end is not whether these two movements are joining forces -- in many ways, they already have. Many of the Tea Party candidates out there are also religious conservatives. The real question is whether they can win.
And we should point out that President Obama, in reference to the lady's comment at the end of our piece, he did go to church this weekend and it was an Episcopal Church right by the White House -- Candy and John.
CROWLEY: Almost everything political in this midterm time.
We want you to stay with us. Coming up in less than 15 minutes: we'll be breaking down the big political stories of the day -- including President Obama hitting the campaign trail -- with our senior political editor, Mark Preston.
ROBERTS: And we're breaking down a pretty heated debate that has captured everyone's attention: the Bush tax cuts, where everyone stands and what it means for your bottom line. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes now after the hour. We have 110 days until the Bush tax cuts are set to expire and the debate over whether to extend them has absolutely consumed Capitol Hill. The strongest impact will most certainly be felt in the bank accounts of millions of Americans.
CROWLEY: "Minding Your Business," this morning, CNN money's Paul La Monica, President Obama's suggesting that the tax cuts should expire only for the richest 3 percent of taxpayers but there are economist who say that may not be the best idea. So, is it?
PAUL LA MONICA: Yes, we surveyed 31 leading economists and majority, 18 of them said that their top priority if they were a Washington policymaker would be to extend the tax cuts for everyone.
ROBERTS: So in terms of extending the tax cuts, what that does for the economy, run the numbers for us. You have got an example here.
MONICA: Yes. You have a middle class family, $75,000, you know, two children, you would have about $2600 in higher taxes if the cuts are not extended.
ROBERTS: So for the average family that's a lot of money. But particularly in these hard economic times.
MONICA: Yes.
ROBERTS: When you know you are worried about am I going to keep my job, should I buy that or not to get hit with an extra bill of $2600, that is substantial.
MONICA: Definitely, that's why I think there is urgency in Washington to get something done. It does seems that the main issue is, obviously, just trying whether or not to extend them for everyone or to exclude the wealthiest top percent of the country. I mean a lot of people both Democrats and Republicans think that extending it for the middle class is obviously the right thing that has to be done, particularly in these tough times.
CROWLEY: You know these tax cuts are already in place, so I'm going to assume that keeping them doesn't really change the job market, it simply -- the argument is things will get worse for America.
MONICA: Exactly. It's similar to two years ago when the financial crisis was really first starting to take hold, a lot of things that Washington or you know, is hoping to do right now is preventing the economy from deteriorating any further. I mean we've had obviously hopes of a recovery earlier that started to fade this summer. And that's worrying a lot of people on obviously, you know, in Washington and on Wall Street.
ROBERTS: So when you look at the calculation, Paul, you have the rock and you have got your hard place. The rock being you want more money coming in to the economy itself so you want to put more money in the pockets of people, particularly when you look at unemployment over 9 percent. But then at the same time you have these deficits that are running at a frightening rate.
MONICA: Yes.
ROBERTS: Of a trillion-plus dollars a year. So you got to bump up the revenue stream but at the same time you want to keep your money coming into the economy. So how do you reconcile that calculation?
MONICA: That's very difficult. It's the classic short-term versus long-term solution right now that people are trying to weigh. What is more important? A lot of people that we have spoken to at CNN money say that really Washington has to do everything in their power to help the middle class extending these tax cuts is likely something that can do that even though it could add to the deficit in the short- term. The hope, and admittedly it is something that could bear out over time but you know, you don't know for certain is that if the economy starts to finally pick up steam and consumers spend more, primarily because maybe they aren't getting this bigger tax hit the deficit could help take care of itself because a stronger economy leads to higher tax revenue from not just individuals but businesses over the long haul.
CROWLEY: Thanks for breaking it down.
MONICA: Thank you.
CROWLEY: And for more on the CNN money economist survey and the money news that matters most go to CNNmoney.com.
ROBERTS: Seventeen hundred people have died, nearly 2,000,000 homes have been damage or destroyed by flood water but help is increasingly hard to come by in Pakistan. Aid workers finding themselves targeted by the Taliban. A CNN exclusive. Our Kaj Larsen imbedded with workers in Pakistan's humanitarian hot zone. We've got that report coming up next, 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty four minutes after the hour. A country ravaged by flooding help is hard to come by right now in Pakistan. Nations are promising millions of dollars in aid but humanitarian workers suddenly finding themselves targets.
CROWLEY: One Taliban leader suggesting they are fair game. Our Kaj Larsen has been bringing us stories from the most remote and dangerous parts of the country. He was embedded for weeks with foreign aid workers and has this CNN exclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There's over 100 registered international aid groups in Pakistan. Increasingly they are taking more security precautions. This is the U.N., like a fortress, armed guards, Constantine wire, walled compounds, it's just the reality of operating as a humanitarian here.
(voice-over): Thomas Conanc A 13 year veteran has witnessed the growing threat.
THOMAS CONAN, DOCTORS, WITHOUT BORDERS: It's true still that Pakistanis, I can't say it's an easy environment. It's difficult for workers to work with. They have been numbers of security incidents, not only on aid workers but the civilian population.
LARSEN (on camera): But it's not just Pakistan. In conflict zones around the world aid workers have gone from helpers to targets.
(voice-over): In fact, in the past three years, over 400 aid workers have been target ordinary killed. And now Pakistani Taliban have specifically threatened western aid workers helping with flood relief. Increasingly, aid groups are relying on locals to do the work to lower risk. We met up with Amir Gamaryani over tea, a local Pakistani who works for relief international, delivering aid to flood victims.
(on camera): Is it safer for you to operate, for you to provide the relief than the western organizations because you're local, you speak the language?
AAMIR GAMARYANI, RELIEF INTERNATIONAL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if the western deligate was going there, they would be a very attractive target.
LARSEN: With Amir, I looked at some of the damaged flood areas and talked security. What is the biggest concern for aid workers?
GAMARYANI: I think it's the image of Pakistan which has led to quite a confusion, confusing situation. The people are afraid they will come they will be harmed.
LARSEN: And in fact, during our time with Amir when we did run into foreign aid workers they were accompanied by armed security. Protection the locals often do without.
RUTH FABER, MISSION EAST: Working 12 years in relief and development I can definitely say that when we started relief worker, you had a certain amount of protection.
LARSEN: So why is the humanitarian space shrinking? What makes it so difficult to be an aid worker? One theory is the blurring of the lines between traditional military and humanitarian operations. As the military becomes involved in more humanitarian ops the difference between a soldier and aid worker is becoming fuzzier.
(voice-over): Increasingly in pack is stand and conflict zones aid workers one in the same, the enemy which increases their risk as potential targets.
CONAN: You have relief being provided but protected also with weapon, of course, it's participating to the blurring of lines.
LARSEN (on camera): Our Pakistani military base about to go on a humanitarian aid food delivery mission with the U.S. Marine Corps.
(voice-over): The ongoing flood crisis is a perfect example. The U.S. Military is directly engaged in humanitarian operations in Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean I've never seen anything like it. Water world is what somebody called it.
LARSEN: As we completed this military aid mission I thought about the challenges facing traditional aid groups.
FABER: There is the risk to come actually to help people to stand alongside people and communities cost so much is something that we're willing to take.
LARSEN (voice-over): In countries like Pakistan, doing good has never been more dangerous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Kaj Larsen is back and with us in the studio. If you look back over history, humanitarian teams traditionally off limits. How do they suddenly become fair game?
LARSEN: I think part of the answer is there has been a shift in the nature of conflict. Conflicts used to be fought between large nation states and now they are actually being fought between non-state actors so humanitarian groups have become, like you said, more fair game. And that's unfortunate because they are trying to deliver aid.
CROWLEY: And there's politics involved, too, with the reason the Taliban, for instance, would be targeting these workers makes them look better.
LARSEN: Yes absolutely, Candy. Yes, I mean this is a story that I've been actually tracking over several years, when I was in Yemen, when I was in Afghanistan, when I was in Somalia, I noticed this trend line of the humanitarian space getting smaller and smaller, becoming more difficult for these aid workers to operate. I think Pakistan and you saw that with the recent threats by the Taliban, is on the brink of becoming the next hot spot for humanitarian workers.
ROBERTS: Did you see Taliban or you heard the stories?
LARSEN: We heard lots of stories and we were actually restricted from actually going to many areas because the threat was too high. CROWLEY: So what's the answer here? Do you just fly over and drop stuff? I mean you, because people need help.
LARSEN: Yes, that is the crux of the problem. There is no perfect solution, there is no panacea here but the real dilemma is the paradox is, is that, in the places where the people need the most help, those are the most difficult areas because the situation in Pakistan with the floods being a perfect example.
ROBERTS: Well it was a great series of stories you brought to us at a level we had not seen. Looking forward to your next assignment wherever in the world that might be.
LARSEN: Exactly, thank you.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks so much. We're crossing the half hour now. It is time for this morning's "Top Stories." A fierce battle under way to save hundreds of homes in the Utah mountainside near Salt Lake City. Authorities believe a raging wild fire started when guardsmen were practicing with automatic weapons. Now an entire mountain side is on fire and residents in more than 1,600 homes have been told they have to evacuate.
CROWLEY: BP says it's permanently plugged its ruptured well in the Gulf almost five months after the explosion that caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Crews successfully completed their bottom kill operation this weekend, pumping mud and cement into the well 18,000 feet down.
ROBERTS: And hurricane Igor ripping up trees, knocking out power on the island of Bermuda overnight. Residents report enormous waves crashing onto roads, the center of the storm passing to the west of Bermuda's coast overnight, which really put the island in the worst part of the storm.
CROWLEY: It did. It took damage. The rain is still coming down and the winds still whipping in Bermuda this morning. Reynolds Wolf is live in Elbow Beach, Bermuda, this morning. Reynolds, have you been able to survey the damage?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: From what we've been able to see, we have seen quite a bit of tree damage, some tile damage that we heard throughout -- pardon me, folks. There we go. Thought we had tree branch coming this way.
There have been reports of a lot of roof damage, a lot of window damage throughout much of the island. But here on these grounds the biggest thing really has been way down to the beach, 70 percent of the beach washed away.
The proprietors here at this particular resort tell us that a lot of that will come back naturally, and all things considered, for the duration of the pounding this area received from those strong winds and heavy waves they really -- they are fortunate, and they said that all of the damage is manageable.
CROWLEY: So water is OK? I'm assuming so the biggest problem sounds like electricity?
WOLF: Electricity is definitely the biggest problem you have on the island. With 67,000 residents, about two-thirds are without power this morning, so they are waking up without power. Back in 2003, they had a storm that followed a pretty similar path. It was a smaller storm but with stronger wind speeds, referring of course to Fabian. Fabian caused parts of Bermuda to be without power up to three weeks.
I have to tell you that this area was founded in 1609 by sailors trying to get to Virginia, and they settled here. And I can tell you from 1609 to present day, they know how to handle these tropical systems. They were well prepared for this, they were willing to accept the damage from the tree, the roof damage and the shattered windows, blocked roadways. It goes with the territory, so to speak.
Some of the flooding that we had along the coastline is caused by some of the nine to 12-foot waves that pushed by the wind. You're going to have that. That's water is now since receded which is good news. But there are other issues in terms of the main causeway in Bermuda. And this time, that is shutdown. The airport also is closed at this point.
When the winds subside, what they will do is take a team of engineers out by the causeway and check for structural damage. If it appears sound, they will open it back up and hopefully shortly thereafter the airport.
CROWLEY: Reynolds Wolf doing yeoman's service for us in Elbow Beach, Bermuda.
Sarah Shourd, the American hiker who spent more than a year in an Iranian prison is back on U.S. soul but her heart is in Iran.
ROBERTS: Shourd's fiancee and close friend are still being held, accused by the Iranian government of espionage. She is appealing to the Iranian government on humanitarian grounds. CNN's Susan Candiotti is following the latest developments for us.
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."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 an indistinguishable.
CANDIOTTI: Iran's 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? MAHMOUS AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (via translator): We're always prepared to talk but under fair conditions and respectful conditions. If somebody thinks that they can, like, order us around or rule us, and 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 companions.
SHOURD: I stand before you today only one-third free. That was the last thing that Josh said to me before I walked through the prison doors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Shourd says doctors in Oman have given her a clean bill of health, adding her spirit is bruised but not broken. John and Candy?
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti this morning. Susan, thanks.
A rift is forming among some Republicans after the Tea Party knocked out several established candidates. So what's the direction of the party? We've got "The Best Political Team on Television" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CROWLEY: Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. Crossing our Political Ticker, President Obama plays the role of chief fundraiser.
Our senior political editor Mark Preston is live in Washington for us with that and other news. Good morning, Mark.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, John, good morning, Candy. Last hour we talked how President Obama went to the Congressional Black Caucus foundation dinner and really tried to rally those lawmakers to get their constituents to get to the polls in November.
This week he's on a campaign trail as is vice president Joe Biden. President Obama will be in Pennsylvania and New York City this week, raising money for Democrats and Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, Vice President Biden will be in Ohio, in Massachusetts, in Maryland, and he will close the week in Florida raising money for Democrats.
Moving along, Christine O'Donnell, a name that you will hear more and more and more over the coming week, she is the new rock star of the Republican Party. Some would call her a liability. She's taking incoming from both sides, John and Candy. She's taking it from Senate Democrats who have a new ad up questioning her fiscal decisions in the past. She's taking it from Karl Rove for some of the comments regarding witchcraft. And in fact, O'Donnell addressed the Rove criticism, trying to infuse a little bit of humor into it. Let me just read you what she wrote on twitter just a few hours ago. "I did comment that if I were rich, Rove would be a supporter. I would have turned him into Newt because Gingrich says we win."
Of course, she's referring to the former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who thinks that O'Donnell has a shot in the Delaware Senate race.
And lets' close it out -- the Republican Party is on a surge. They are expected to do very well in November. They are expected to perhaps take back the House of Representatives and pick up several seats in the Senate.
But the question is what direction is the party going into? The Tea Party express pushed this economic message which played well with an electorate very upset by the economy. But you have your moral voters, you have your social conservatives, John and Candy, who are upset that those issues are not addressed.
So the party is certainly in a quagmire when it comes to its direction. John, Candy?
CROWLEY: I talked to some Republican -- top Republican people on Capitol Hill last week. They said, look, there's always civil wars in a party that's out of power because that's what you do running up to the next presidential election. And mostly those wars get settled when you pick a presidential candidate because he then becomes the head of the party. Is that basically pretty solid theory?
PRESTON: Yes, it is. And look, the Republican Party, Candy, it is not going to abandon the idea that they are against abortion. I'll tell you, this whole issue of gay marriage, though, is really starting to split apart the party.
The problem for the Republican Party is that there is no leader and there has been no leader, of course, since President Bush left office. And we won't get a nominee until 2012. So the Republican Party certainly has to work out issues.
Having said that, they are in a great position. If we were talking back in 2009, February, they were in a terrible position. So, by and large the Republican Party is doing OK.
ROBERTS: Mark Preston for us this morning from Washington. Mark, thanks so much. Mark is looking a little exercised this morning.
CROWLEY: He is.
ROBERTS: Wonder if there are calls to test Christine O'Donnell to see if she is a witch.
CROWLEY: My guess --
ROBERTS: Put her on a scale with a duck maybe?
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: OK. Notice that I have no comment on that.
ROBERTS: Lady Gaga using social media to pressure Congress and bring an end to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gay soldiers. She's going to be at a rally in Portland, Maine, today, trying to convince the state's two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, to vote yes tomorrow on a defense bill that authorizes a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
Lady Gaga using her Facebook page to publicize that rally. Thousands of her fans already responding, indicating, thumbs up, they like it.
And a reminder for all the latest political news go to website, CNNpolitics.com.
CROWLEY: Army Rangers, Navy Seals, they're some of the most feared and highly trained people in all the armed forces. But military meteorology? We'll show you how they use their knowledge of storm systems to protect their fellow troops. It's 42 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 44 minutes after the hour. Most meteorologists spend their day in front of radar and weather maps. 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.
CROWLEY: They are meteorologists whose office is oftentimes in the middle of enemy territory.
Our Rob Marciano is here. He got a frighteningly close look at what they do. Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning guys.
You know, I've heard about these guys over the years but never really saw them or read much about them. And that's kind of the idea, they don't want to be too well known.
Throughout history weather, it's played a huge role in warfare for sure whether it's covert operations or D-day type of invasion. An accurate forecast is critical to a successful mission. And a good forecast requires good observations or good recon, as the military says.
Well, I went to go and meet these military tough guys and see exactly what they do.
(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.
(voice-over): There are less than 100 SOWTs in the Air Force. From World War II to Afghanistan, they've deployed on 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 in, simply put all this and then the plane crashes, this is how you get out of it. And you just grab this and pull this.
MARCIANO: What is that about plane crashing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be off to the west of the airfield.
MARCIANO: Today is jump day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sound off for equipment check.
SOLDIERS: Sound off for equipment check.
MARCIANO (voice-over): They rehearse on the ground what they'll do in the air.
(on camera): So we're on the tarmac now and they've got all their gear, typically that we bring on our a real mission. This is the plane; they are getting on it.
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Benson commands the Combat Weather squadron.
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.
(on camera): So this is the main.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, don't -- please don't pull that.
MARCIANO: One shot. What's this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the reserve.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Loaded into the back of a C-130 are 18 Special Operations Weather soldiers. If you want accurate forecast of 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 (on camera): One minute before they go out the back door. I legally can't jump. I'm not disappointed about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All clear six jumps in the way.
MARCIANO (voice-over): With the static line guys out at 2,500 feet we climb higher and the spotters eye the next drop zone.
(on camera): Six weather jumpers left, we're at 10,000 feet now. These are going free fall. They can go as high as 30. If we need weather data, the forecast behind enemy lines, they are the ones to do it.
You guys rock.
(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: An eye-opening experience to say the least. These are not the nerds that I went to school with, that's for sure. A kind of a rocket scientist meets Rambo type of warrior. And a pretty -- pretty cool stuff.
Tomorrow we'll delve into more of what they do on the ground. It's -- it's pretty detailed.
You asked earlier, Candy, can we get this from satellites and other weather type of instruments, well, not really. In all -- a lot of what they do is more than just weather ops and forecasting. They have to figure out, can we get over a mountain pass, is there avalanche danger there, can we get across a river, things that are very important obviously to a military mission but things that you and I as civilians don't think about.
ROBERTS: And carrying a gun like that too nobody is going to complain about the weather. You might consider that.
MARCIANO: I might consider that. That's a good idea, especially walking down the streets of New York.
CROWLEY: Exactly, exactly. Thanks so much, Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: You bet.
CROWLEY: We appreciate it. ROBERTS: For black families in America facing a wealth gap: learning, earning less, saving less, leaving less for their kids; the numbers are discouraging. We've got a special "Black in America" report with Stephanie Elam just ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, when it comes to making and saving money in this country, there is a huge gap in wealth between blacks and whites.
CROWLEY: In fact, blacks typically have less than one quarter of the wealth enjoyed by the average American family.
Stephanie Elam is here this morning with a special "Black in America" report.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's really disturbing, actually. And it's something as a business correspondent I know a lot about but I also happen to be black. So I see a lot of it as well.
So you look at the numbers here and you can see there is a huge problem with the way black people are preparing for retirement. We found one family who is actually trying to make sure they don't fall into the same situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (voice-over): Chris Rock has joked about black people and their money.
CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR: Shaq is rich. The white man that signs his check is wealthy. Wealth is passed down from generation to generation.
ELAM: There's a sad truth in his humor. Studies show black people tend to chronically make less, save less and pass less money on to the next generation than their white counterparts. And if you don't have assets, you can't pass them on.
FAMILY: God bless lord our daily bread, Amen.
ELAM: Marvin and Kathy Dickerson are making sure their family doesn't follow the same pattern.
KATHY DICKERSON, PLANNING FINANCES: One or two bad moves and it's going to follow you.
ELAM: Married for nine years the couple started planning their finances well before welcoming 6-year-old Kaylin and 3-year-old Miles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how is this a fair fight?
MARVIN DICKERSON, IT CONSULTANT: We knew we had to invest because we knew one day we were going to have kids. And we wanted our kids to have more than what we have.
ELAM: The Dickersons developed a budget, paid off their debt, began investing and set up a will, a trust and 529 Plans to pay for their kids' college educations.
M. DICKERSON: We can pass that wealth or those assets on to our kids with a $1.5 million tax exemption.
ELAM: But this family is the exception. According to the Brookings Institution, the median net worth of black Americans is about $28,000 compare that to $140,000 for the median household nationwide.
ELAM (on camera): What were your parents saying to you to make sure that it was so important that you knew it?
K. DICKERSON: You work, you save.
ELAM: While Marvin is a spender, Kathy is a saver so the couple makes all big financial decisions together.
M. DICKERSON: Kathy had this guiding principle. If she spent $100 she got a headache. As we got married and had more resources you can add another zero. It was like a few thousand dollars.
Valerie Coleman Morris who focuses on financial literacy for women, young people and people of color points to a couple of reasons black Americans are so behind in creating wealth and passing it on.
VALERIE COLEMAN MORRIS, AUTHOR, "MIND OVER MONEY MATTERS": Money is still a very much off limits topic in the average family. But in African-American families it's almost taboo. The second thing is 401(k). We are not participating. When we do participate, we're contributing far less than most other people.
But in addition to that, there is this overwhelming need for becoming more financially literate. And we aren't.
ROCK: I'm not talking about rich, I'm talking about wealth.
ELAM: But it's more than just talk for the Dickersons. It's a way of life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: So, as you saw Valerie Coleman Morris talks about how you can talk about your finances now or you could fight about them later. That's really part of the huge problem here that a lot of black families it's just a taboo topic. They do not talk about wealth. And that's something that needs to change.
It's a cultural shift that needs to happen. But there's a couple of reasons why this is like this, you know. And Candy and John, when you look at it the unemployment rate for black Americans is always higher than it is for white Americans.
ROBERTS: Fifteen percent, isn't it?
ELAM: It's 50 percent. The unemployment rate for black people is 50 percent higher than it is for white people so therefore if you're not working all the time, you're not bringing in money. You're now part of 401(k)'s, you're not doing all of that. That leads to a chronic problem but it's got to change.
ROBERTS: Fascinating look this morning. Stephanie, thanks so much.
Fighting a financial crisis; from the pulpit, the black church's fight for civil and human is now waging a war on debt. "ALMIGHTY DEBT," a "Black in America" special coming Thursday October 21st at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
Three minutes now to the top of the hour.
CROWLEY: Continue the conversation on today's stories go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: So, great being with you today.
CROWLEY: It's very nice. I was told we had 20 seconds to say goodbye. Hi, Kyra.
ROBERTS: Goodbye. Goodbye.
Yes, Kyra Phillips with the "CNN NEWSROOM" now. Good morning, Kyra.
