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American Morning
New Terror Threat; Airline Security Summit; Women And The Corner Office; Obama Discusses Faith; New Poll Shows Americans Divided on Health Care Reform; Tony Danza Stars in Documentary Series About Teaching In a Public School
Aired September 29, 2010 - 07:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Wednesday, September 29th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for joining us.
A lot to talk about this morning. Let's get you caught up on what happened overnight. New information on a terror plot that has officials in the United States and Europe on alert this morning. Sources say al Qaeda may be fighting commando-style raids on so-called "soft targets." We'll speak to Jeanne Meserve and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about it in just a few minutes.
CHETRY: Well it's now tropical depression number 16. It's bearing down on south Florida, it could become the next named storm, Nicole. Storm warnings are up from the Keys, through Palm Beach, and the system could produce nearly a foot of rain in parts of Florida.
ROBERTS: He's not a taxi driver or housekeeper but he's played them on TV. Actor Tony Danza is a teacher, though, and he spent the last year showing 10th graders at a Philadelphia high school, who's the boss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I read it five or six times and I still don't remember it. I don't know if it doesn't catch my interest or anything but.
TONY DANZA, ACTOR: What's on your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to see if we can make this classroom a little more challenging by adding extra stuff or something.
DANZA: OK. That'd be good. That's a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Tony Danza, from television star to teacher. He joins us to talk about his new A&E reality about the new reality show, "Teach," coming up this hour. CHETRY: Up first. An "AM Security Watch" for us. Places from Paris to London, to cities here at home, on alert this morning. A new terror plot uncovered. Plans for a commando-style raid much like the bloody 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
ROBERTS: Sources say possible targets of economic institutions like banks, stock exchanges in Europe.
Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington for this us this morning.
What are we learning today about this plot from your sources, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, according to multiple sources in Europe and in the U.S., the intelligence talks about a Mumbai-style attack that would create a lot of casualties and a lot of chaos in a short period of time. As you mentioned, law enforcement sources in the U.S. say the potential targets could include institutions like banks and stock exchanges, and the possible perpetrators, sources say, are a mix of people with western passports, who can travel easily throughout Europe.
We have some video purportedly showing Germans training with jihadist groups in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. About 200 have done so, according to a German counterterrorism official, and among them, the source of much of the current threat information. He's identified as Ahmed Sidiqi, a German citizen of Afghan descent.
According to the German official, he was detained in Kabul in July, is currently in U.S. custody and is talking. Sources say Sidiqi lived and worked in Hamburg, Germany, where he attended the mosque, which was a meeting place for the men behind the September 11th attack. That mosque was shut down earlier this year.
John, Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: And, Jeanne, how seriously are U.S. officials taking this threat right now?
MESERVE: They're taking it very seriously. Right now, what I'm told by multiple sources is there's no information indicating an attack on the U.S. But they don't know what they don't know. They don't know if this could morph into something else.
The director of national intelligence, James Clapper, did issue a statement saying, "We are not going to comment on specific intelligence, as doing so threatens to undermine intelligence operations that are critical to protecting the U.S. and our allies."
I will tell you that the U.S. is using some of this intelligence. It's one of the factors that's helping to target drone strikes in the Pakistan border region. There's been an uptick in those attacks.
ROBERTS: And, Jeanne, what about the belief that Osama bin Laden may have signed off on this plot?
MESERVE: Yes. I was told by a law enforcement source that the belief is that bin Laden did sign off on this. You were talking last hour to homeland security expert, Fran Townsend, a former Bush administration official. She saying, likely, if this was a very large attack being planned, it's the sort of thing that would be ran by the top leadership of al Qaeda. Back to you.
CHETRY: And it just begs the question: where the heck is he?
MESERVE: Yes. Don't they wish they knew?
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning -- thanks.
ROBERTS: And coming up at the few times time, we're going to talk with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. How real is the threat to the United States? What are we going to stop Mumbai- like attacks on soft targets like hotels on this country?
CHETRY: Also new this morning, classes resume today at the University of Texas, just a day after a student opened fire with an assault rifle on campus. Officials say 19-year-old Colton Tooley randomly fired shots with an AK-47 before killing himself. No one else was hurt.
ROBERTS: Former President Jimmy Carter remains hospitalized this morning. Doctors want to continue observing him. Carter had an upset stomach during a flight to Cleveland and checked in yesterday as a precaution.
CHETRY: A drill that's trying to reach the 33 trapped Chilean miners has made the halfway point. Crews say that they are ahead of schedule and that the men could actually be rescued by early November. The miners have been trapped underground since August 5th.
ROBERTS: Well, tropical storm warnings are right now for parts of Florida. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm system from the CNN hurricane headquarters.
It could turn into Tropical Storm Nicole, but having problems getting organized, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it has been -- which we'll take. But the main problem with this is going to be the rainfall. The amount of rainfall already north of the system has been troubling across parts of southern Florida and the amount of rainfall to see across parts of the Carolinas, also, on the troubling side. We could see as much as four to in some cases 10 inches of rainfall from the Carolinas back through Florida.
The latest advisory now in from the National Hurricane Center showing that it's moving north-northeast at nine miles an hour, still a tropical depression. So, they have not upgraded this. And it's -- it's about 150 miles or so from Miami. It looks like they may have shifted this thing a little bit further to the south. So, I have to read further with this advisory just coming in.
But I will go into more details about 16 here which could be Nicole before the day is done. But the big story, guys, flooding rain from Florida all the way up there the Carolinas, and also into the northeast. This thing is going to track all the way through parts of Pennsylvania and New York, as well.
That's the latest from here. We'll talk more details in about 30 minutes -- guys.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
Well, meanwhile, 15 bands have a shot at rock immortality next year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for 2011 are out. And the list includes Alice Cooper, the Beastie Boys, Neil Diamond, LL Cool J, Donna Summer, Bon Jovi. But for the eleventh year, Kiss shot out.
ROBERTS: Canadian rock band Rush didn't get in this year, either. Though, we hope they will at some point. But we're going to have them on the program tomorrow. We're getting exclusive access to them later on today in Atlanta.
CHETRY: It's fun.
ROBERTS: A lot of Rush fans in just the studio.
CHETRY: You got to get your playlist together so you can play a few of their songs tomorrow on the show.
ROBERTS: Know them all by heart.
CHETRY: Just sing them for us. OK.
ROBERTS: An A.M. nerd alert now. And "Star Wars" hitting theaters again, all six films in 3D, which is interesting because they weren't shot in 3D. So, not quite sure how they do that.
The Hollywood reporter says George Lucas is going to begin rolling them out in 2012 in order.
CHETRY: But what does that really mean, in order?
ROBERTS: Well, like really in order, because they did the middle three and then they did the first three. So they're going to roll them out from episode I, "The Phantom Menace," through "The Empire Strikes Back."
CHETRY: That's right. How about that?
ROBERTS: "Return of the Jedi." OK.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Took me like a nanosecond. Come on.
CHETRY: All right. So, "Phantom Menace," "Return of the Jedi," and then "Empire Strikes Back" and then the original "Star Wars." Yes? Tell me, am I wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: You'll just have to go see them.
ROBERTS: They pretend to be "Star Wars" fans, but they're not really.
Amid fears of new terror attacks in New York, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asks for tougher airport security measures around the world. We got her live coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nine minutes after the hour.
And more on our top story now, a new al Qaeda threat. Officials in the United States and Europe are uncovering plans for a Mumbai-like attack with gunmen targeting so-called softer targets in Europe.
Joining us now with more on this is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She is in Montreal this morning.
Secretary Napolitano, great to talk to you this morning. What do we know about this plot in Europe? We know that there is an Afghan-born German citizen who is in U.S. custody in Afghanistan. What more can you tell us about it?
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Well, I can't comment to specific plots. As Director Clapper said yesterday, we don't want to imperil anybody, who was a source of intelligence or the many sources of intelligence we have.
But I will say that we are working constantly to make sure the American people are safe. And that includes plots against so-called soft targets like hotels. But it also includes, for example -- the reason I'm in Montreal, which is really to urge and announce historic declaration among 190 nations of the world on aviation security which also, obviously, has remained a target.
ROBERTS: Yes. We are going to talk about that in just a second. But a couple more questions on this al Qaeda threat, if I could. Can you confirm that there are no known threats against the United States from this plot at this point?
NAPOLITANO: You know, I'm neither going to confirm nor deny because by going either direction I think we go down a treacherous path. What I will say is that there are -- there are constantly threats of all types that we need to be able to be proactive against and be proactive even when there aren't specific threats.
ROBERTS: There's been a big increase in drone attacks in northwestern Pakistan in the month of September, 20 attacks. CNN analysis is that's double the usual amount. Were those -- did that increase in drone attacks tied at all to this plot?
NAPOLITANO: Again, not anything I'm comfortable commenting on. As Director Clapper said, we're always acting against plots. We're always trying to be proactive and doing what we need to do to protect the American people.
ROBERTS: Well, let's tack about the reason why you're there in Montreal and that's new aviation security guidelines. One of the things you're doing, Madam Secretary, is trying to convince countries to adopt these body scanners that we're now getting at American airports.
Dubai has rejected them, saying that there are privacy concerns. Italy is not thinking of going with them after a trial because of the long security lines that they cause. There's some question as to whether or not a body scanner would have detected the bomb that Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab had in his underwear.
Are they really the best technology to protect aviation?
NAPOLITANO: Well, first of all, I think you've kind of mischaracterized what we are here doing. What we are here doing is making sure that there are security standards throughout the world that would allow for more information sharing and collection about passengers before they even get to an airport.
But then there are all kinds of different ways to detect explosives. They can be explosive trace machines as we use in some airports.
ROBERTS: Right.
NAPOLITANO: It can be canine teams. It can be AIT machines. It can be magnetometers coupled with pat downs.
Different countries want to do different things. But the standard needs to be uniform and that is to say that you cannot rely solely on a magnetometer in a world where our enemies are trying to smuggle on explosive powders and gels and things of that sort.
ROBERTS: Sure. But you are looking for expanded use of these body scanners, are you not?
NAPOLITANO: Not specifically. That's a path that we have chosen in the United States. We believe they are objectively better than magnetometers.
Other countries are doing the same, Amsterdam, for example. The U.K. is another example. But other countries of the world will adopt different techniques.
There's a whole tool box of things that can be used that increase the likelihood that someone like an Abdulmutallab will be apprehended and our goal is, in an international global aviation system, to keep somebody like an Abdulmutallab off of an airplane.
ROBERTS: Right. Are you comfortable that security enhancements in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt are at a point where people can fly worldwide, fly even here in the United States, and be fairly confident that there isn't someone with an explosive device on board?
NAPOLITANO: Yes. Absolutely. I think global aviation has been safe. Our goal is to keep it so. And to make sure that we are adapting where we need to in light of the fact that the threat keeps evolving and adapting.
And so, when you have 190 nations of the world in one place reaching a global consensus on not only a set of standards to be achieved but also a set of regional summits that will take place over the next 18 months, and really a commitment to make sure this global aviation system which helps knit us all together remains safe, that's really a historic achievement.
ROBERTS: Some questions were raised this week about the calibration of airport security in this country when India's civil aviation minister, who's there at the conference, was detained and really grilled at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
Now, I guess it's somewhat comforting to think everybody is treated equally. But to make a mistake like that, does that give you pause to consider whether or not we're really targeting the right individuals?
NAPOLITANO: Well, I actually met with the minister yesterday. We had a good conversation. And I think that -- you know, I think it gives confidence that no one is exempt from screening or random screening. That's part of the process. Unpredictability is part of the process.
On the other hand, when you have known experts from other countries, known higher officials from other countries we need to make sure that they can get through the airport smoothly.
ROBERTS: Did you apologize to the minister?
NAPOLITANO: He didn't ask for an apology but we did talk about what is need in both countries to make sure that air travel remains safe.
ROBERTS: Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano, thank you for joining us this morning. Good to see you.
NAPOLITANO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right.
Well still ahead, Christine Romans joins us exploring why female managers earn less money than their male counterparts. What percentage of managers are mothers as women and how motherhood affects your paycheck. Christine Romans joins us coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: This is your biggest nightmare, right? As a broadcaster. That you really get something so wrong when everybody's waiting to hear what you have to say. This was sort of what happened at "America's Top Model" in Australia. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat on the women's face and the finale and the host's face.
ROBERTS: Yes, the host announced the wrong winner. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So the winner and Australia's NEXT TOP MODEL for 2010 is -- it's you, Kelsey. Oh my god. I don't know what to say right now. I'm feeling a bit sick about this. No. I'm so sorry about this. It's you, Kelsey. Oh my god. I don't know what to say right now. I'm feeling a bit sick about this. No. I'm so sorry about this. Oh my god. I don't know what to say. This is not -- this was a complete accident. I'm so sorry. It's Amanda. I'm so sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Whoops. The hostess almost in tears over the mix- up. She claims the people behind the scene gave her the wrong info. That's it -- blame the producer, the director.
CHETRY: That's our escape.
ROBERTS: Exactly. What'd you say?
CHETRY: I'm sorry is this Christine Romans coming up next? All right, Ali Velshi? I'm so sorry about this.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I have more hair than Ali.
CHETRY: Exactly, we can never mix you two up. But you know, you have interesting statistics as a new mom. You looked at this, as well. Wait a minute. Are my chances of ever moving up to upper management dead because I'm a mom?
ROMANS: Listen. The Government Accountability Office, the GAO, has fascinating through data of what it's like to be a manager and woman in America. And some of these numbers are fascinating. Look at 2000 to 2007 at the behest of congress and found of managers, women managers in the workplace, 40 percent were women managers, women in the workplace, 39 -- that compares to 39 percent in 2000. So a little bit of an up tick.
So but look at these industries where women make up management. It's eds and meds, folks. Health care and education, teachers and nurses, those traditional places where women have a foothold, this is where they're most likely to be managers. When you look at manufacturing, construction, those numbers drop off. But interestingly, in manufacturing and construction, the percentage compared with women overall in the field is still pretty high.
So if you get into manufacturing, construction and you're a woman, you have a better chance of becoming a manager than some of these other fields. Let's talk about the pay gap for women managers, 79 cents to the man's dollar in 2000. In 2007, it was 81 cents. Over seven years, they gained a couple of pennies here.
One thing Kiran and I were talking about in the break, and I found fascinating, when you look at women who are mothers managers, 14 percent of female managers were mothers. Fourteen percent, that's not very many and women are still facing this tough --
ROBERTS: So there must still be a mommy track out there.
ROMANS: There is still -- there must still be a mommy track out there. Another thing here that is a bright spot and women's participation overall is in the workforce is up and women are loading up on the education. Now you guys reported this earlier summer, this new data.
CHETRY: More women are graduating.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: And you've called it a he session --
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: Or a factor of men being successful CEOs and you know, whether or not there's a dad doesn't factor in, doesn't make a difference.
ROMANS: There's no difference at all if a man's a dad, none whatsoever.
CHETRY: What does that tell you about the household and how, you know, the responsibilities are divided up?
ROMANS: We are in the throws of some changes and they're slow to come but you are starting to see -- you see women managers in the workplace are younger than male counterparts and paid less than their male counterparts.
ROBERTS: How do they justify that, that's what I'm interested in?
CHETRY: I don't know. I think -- I don't know. In some cases people say women sometimes step back instead of stepping out of the workplace so now they've lost a little bit of earning income staying out for nine months or something to have a baby so now they've lost out on one cycle of a pay raise. Also --
CHETRY: They're also less likely to ask for a raise. They are less likely to ask for more money. ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: But as you showed, education and health care, that's where women are managers and don't pay as much as some of the business, right? Some other businesses.
ROMANS: That's right. I guess you have to think that with all of this education that women have been acquiring over the past ten years or so, that that will start to change with the other fields and we are on the forefront of making up the gains.
You know, there are some other data of the Census Bureau showing income gap at records. I've never seen the rich last year richer. The poor poorer. The middle fell apart. Women still lagging behind. Marriage at an all-time low. I mean 52 percent of people saying they're married. We've never seen that rate so small. So a lot of changes happening in to the century of changes that started late last century and just more data to prove it.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Well, we knew that she could sing, but who knew that Gloria Estefan was an escape artist? Check this out. Yes, that is her going out the window of her suite at the Miami Dolphins game on Sunday night. The front door was jammed. Firefighters and locksmiths didn't pry it out. And she was in a real time crunch because she had to introduce Enrique Iglesias at halftime. So she had to get down to the field. And that was the best way to do it, but just to get out there and go through the neighbor's suite. Excuse me. Because their door was working.
CHETRY: Very convenient to just slip in.
ROBERTS: Just like you know, borrowing a cup of sugar from the apartment next door.
CHETRY: Do you have an egg?
ROMANS: When it's her. Oh, my God. Was that Gloria climb through my window? What?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Well, you got to get there. She had to introduce Enrique.
Well, he's starred in Broadway, written a book, tackled TV. Now Tony Danza is going back to high school, as a teacher. Actually teaching tenth grade at Philadelphia Public School. There were plenty of tears -- not from the teens but from Tony. Did he make the grade? He joins us live coming up.
ROBERTS: He is a bit of an emotional fellow.
Plus, President Obama has forced a tour to rally voters turns personal when he discusses his religious faith. Mark Preston has political news hot off the CNN political ticker. Coming right up, 25 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour now and our "Top Stories," this Wednesday morning. New information on a terror plot that has officials in the U.S. and Europe on alert this morning. Sources say al Qaeda may be planning commando-style raids on so-called soft targets. And officials say, the information came from a German militant in custody in Afghanistan. A short time ago, homeland secretary Janet Napolitano joined us, she wouldn't say whether a surge on drone attacks in Pakistan was connected to the plot.
CHETRY: A legal victory for the Obama administration on stem cell research. An appeals court permanently lifted an injunction that was imposed by a federal judge that banned the use of taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research. So what does this mean? Well it clears the way for the national institutes of health to continue the publicly-funded research they have been doing. While the White House appeals the federal judge's ruling forbidding the use of public funds on projects that involve the destruction of embryos.
ROBERTS: And with less than five weeks to go until the midterm elections, President Obama rolling up his sleeves and trying to rally voters speaking in Wisconsin last night, the president urged his supporters to get out there and vote in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Because if everybody who fought for change in 2008 shows up to vote in 2010, we will win. We will win. The polls say the same thing. We will win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And president also opening up about his faith. He spoke at one of his backyard chats yesterday.
ROBERTS: Our senior political editor Mark Preston is live at the cnnpolitics.com desk for us this morning. Hey, Mark.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, John. Hey, Kiran. Sure, you know President Obama out in Albuquerque, New Mexico, yesterday and he was asked why is he a Christian? You know, the question in the past has been are you a Christian? And in fact, we have seen a poll in the past few months that have come out shown that one in five people believe that he is a Muslim but President Obama explained, you know, that he came to his faith a little bit later in life. He went on to explain why he is a Christian. A real interesting moment on the campaign trail as President Obama is crisscrossing trying to rally the Democratic voters.
You know, let's move on and talk a little bit about what was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Obama administration heading into the midterms, an issue that Democrats were going to run on. That was the health care bill.
Well, in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, it shows that the nation is split on the issue -- 47 percent of Americans think the bill should be repealed and replaced, which of course has been the Republican mantra, while another 23 percent say leave the bill as it is, 26 percent say there needs to be more government involvement.
You add the last two numbers up, it shows that the country is split, a very divisive issue, of course.
And I talked a little bit about this earlier in the show, the Bob Dylan/Obama moment. Earlier this year Bob Dylan performed at the White House. President Obama in an interview with "Rolling Stone" recounted the encounter with Dylan, said that Bob Dylan would not show up at the White House to practice before performing.
When it was time to have the photo with president and Michelle Obama, Bob Dylan didn't show up. When it was time for Bob Dylan to perform, he walked up on stage, he performed "The Times, They are a- changing" shook the president's hand, and walked out the door. A very cool moment, I think, for the president.
CHETRY: Why didn't he show up for the photo, though?
PRESTON: Well, I mean, look, It's Bob Dylan. He's too cool for this. President Obama said that's how you'd want Bob Dylan, right? You want him to be skeptical, and clearly Bob Dylan was skeptical.
CHETRY: Cool. All right, Mark Preston, for us this morning, thanks so much. And to catch all the latest political news head to our website CNNpolitics.com.
ROBERTS: Tony Danza, you know him as a television star. His latest gig is teaching high school English at a Philadelphia public school. It wasn't always pretty, though. What did he learn along the way? Tony Danza live in our studio coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Man, that takes me back.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: My favorite sitcom when I was little.
It's 35 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Actor Tony Danza has had some memorable roles in Taxi, but I really loved him in "Who's the Boss?"
His latest may have been the toughest one. Tony Danza spent the last year teaching tenth graders English at a Philadelphia high school. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you nervous? TONY DANZA, ACTOR: I'm terrified.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe you should like wear undershirts.
DANZA: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very concerned. He is not qualified to be a teacher.
DANZA: You are right. How about that? You are 100 percent right. You think you know so much and then you find out you don't know nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it doesn't work, you're out of here. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He's here with head of the classroom documented for A&E called "Teach, Tony Danza." It premiers Friday night 10:00 p.m. eastern. And the great Tony Danza joins us now. It's great to see you. Thanks so much.
DANZA: Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: This has to be a real departure. You go from "Who's the Boss" to this, perfect kids to real kids. What was that transition like? Why did you want to do this?
DANZA: I had to take one second to just, you know, I saw Judith Light with the shoulder pads.
ROBERTS: Taking you back.
DANZA: She is here on Broadway. She is here in a show.
John, it was the greatest thing I ever -- I always wanted to be a teacher when I was a kid. I went to school to do that. I didn't do it. And so it's been on my mind a long time. I look around and see the -- the situation with education where we have so many -- I heard Arne Duncan say this week a kid drops out in high school in America every 11 seconds. This is insanity. You know? They're our kids.
So this thing's been on my mind and thought about just going back and doing it, being a teacher. Then one of my friends was a TV producer. I could sell that show.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Don't they always say that, right?
DANZA: And here we are.
CHETRY: And we had a chance to watch the first episode. You were really emotional. I mean, you cried a lot. What was it about this that sort of brought out your emotions? DANZA: This becomes the theme. You know, I'm doing a promotion and everybody keeps zeroing in on the crying thing. It makes you cry. The kids get you. There's so much responsibility involved. And then a lot of what you do as a teacher is counseling. You do -- listening to these incredible stories and sometimes they break your heart.
And then there's the wonderful moments that make you cry. I got an e-mail from a kid. I was telling somebody. Tammy Sloan, the athlete, one of the athletes in the class. She gave me her second -- you know, her whole 11th grade schedule, but she said, "Third period I'm taking the piano class because I decided to take your advice and get out of my comfort zone." I'm like, man, I want the cry over that.
ROBERTS: A lot of crying is you expressing self doubt.
DANZA: Oh, yes. Originally --
ROBERTS: It's like I don't know if I can take this.
DANZA: I thought I made a big mistake. It sounded like a great -- the guy that jumps out of the window. It sounded like a great idea at the time. It felt like that. I wanted to do it. I wanted the show what a teacher goes through. I wanted to know what a first-year teacher really goes through.
I wanted to do something. I'm getting -- I'm almost 60. I want to do something with myself. And then, boom. I was there. And I was going through all the -- it was a weird thing. I just remembered. You made me think of this. I kept hearing the kids are great. The kids are so great. And then you go to these seminars are you hear what happens if this happens?
What's scary, I started to think, maybe the teachers are delusional and they're trying to fool me or something. But I just felt like I maybe made a mistake and I might let the kids down, and I might make a fool of myself on TV or intellect on display. It is like a -- it was crazy. Really, there's a line in there where I say would I want my daughter in this class.
ROBERTS: Do you want Samantha in this class.
DANZA: Right.
ROBERTS: You act exactly the same in this.
DANZA: I would like her. Some people said to me once -- is that you acting on "Who's the Boss?" or just being yourself? I said actually it's me in a good mood.
CHETRY: I loved it. Why can't my dad be more like that? You took criticism for this. First of all, I mean, the principal saying she's going to kick you out if it doesn't work out. But she did say that she felt that you were sincere, so that's why she was going to do it.
But some in the Philadelphia newspapers saying you are just doing it to revive your career. You don't necessarily care about the kids. What was it like to have the motives questioned?
DANZA: The best one -- why not? People should question motives. I think a healthy dose of skepticism about something like this was fair game. It's ironic because it's English. A kid says, did anybody think it's kind of strange that you're teaching an English class? A real wisenheimer. I gave him a fat lip. No, those days are over.
Yes. You know, I had a teacher call me saying he saw some of it and said in my day -- no. It was a guy -- one of these security guards at one of the buildings. I don't know where I've been, I've been in every place.
And the guy said to me, I saw that thing. You're crying too much. I said, yes. He said, you know, when I went to school, the kids did the crying. He said, so, I don't remember what you asked me. Oh, the press.
CHETRY: They were just a little hard on you. Are you doing it for the best interest of the kids or for the best interests of Tony Danza?
DANZA: Like I said, people put their jobs on the line like the principal and a lot of people in the school district in Philadelphia. We tried to do this here in New York, and we were at a school in -- it probably should remain nameless. We did it. We did a day and shot it and shot this like proof of concept, and it was pretty good. And we showed it to them and they backed out. They got cold feet.
So this took a lot of guts. The skepticism in the paper that -- the best was when I got there, when I arrived at Philly, so did Michael Vick. And he's doing great and happy about the, you know, Eagles and everything but -- not because I'm New York fan but there was a poll, who's more dangerous for Philadelphia? Michael Vick or --
CHETRY: You're kidding me?
ROBERTS: We want to play another clip here and skip to one of you interacting with the kids here, because there were some troubled kids in the class.
DANZA: It's a regular high school -- 3,500 kids, 57 languages spoken at Northeast High in Philadelphia.
ROBERTS: So let's watch this and then we'll get your take on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went through a lot.
DANZA: Hey, I know. In fact, I know you had a terrible loss. Right? I mean, I lost my mother when I was 30 but it's not like --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to sit in jail while my mom died.
DANZA: Listen. I'm not saying but why were you -- whose fault was that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mine.
DANZA: So, at some point it's a choice thing, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, some troubled kids there you had to deal with. Did you feel like you could really --
DANZA: That's the wanderer. That's the kid I used to see wandering around the halls. The school's so big if you're good enough move all day and never go to class. You slide in. You know, you sign in and just keep moving.
ROBERTS: Were you able to connect with them, though and make a difference in their lives which is what a teacher is supposed to do?
DANZA: I'm telling this story about starfish, that's there's a big storm and blow these starfish down on the beach, and the sun comes out and starts to bake them. The guy sees the thousands of starfish. He picks one up and starts throwing them in the water one by one. And another -- he friend says, hey, you know, what are you doing? You're not making much of a difference. He says, picks up another, and made a difference to that one.
Maybe I got a couple of kids close to the water. I don't know if I got it in. But I feel kind of sorry about some things because I did feel like I got to some place and now I'm not there. There's a part of me --
CHETRY: Could you teach this year?
DANZA: I wish I could. You know, I'm not kidding you. There's a line in the movie that a couple of kids made me see, and it's Hillary Swank's movie "Freedom Ride." She's having an argument with her husband about commitment to teaching. And he says, he says, what is it? What is it with this teaching? She says when I'm in that classroom, my life makes sense. So it's a product of thinking of them and not yourself.
ROBERTS: Given the problems of America's schools, it's an interesting inside look at what it takes to teach.
DANZA: It really is. It's really what a bit of what a first- year teacher goes through, a look inside an urban American high school, you know, without it being an event. You're just there.
And also maybe a chance to inspire other people to think about this, because I'm telling you, it is -- when it's good, it's great. It is the hardest, and you will cry. You will cry. But it's the most rewarding.
ROBERTS: I cry just watching you cry.
CHETRY: I did, too.
DANZA: So nice to meet you.
CHETRY: "I think they gave you crap, man. They're like little brats, too."
DANZA: That's OK.
ROBERTS: Just don't hit them.
DANZA: No, no. No hitting.
CHETRY: Thanks so much, Tony Danza. It's great having you on the show.
DANZA: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: Well, a tropical depression set to hit Florida today. it could impact the entire east coast. They are prepping for perhaps as much as a foot of rain in some parts of Florida. Rob Marciano is tracking all of it for us. It could be the next named storm, tropical depression Nicole. It's 44 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: All right.
You are looking at the satellite picture of tropical depression number 16. And if you're saying, well, it doesn't look like a hurricane or a tropical storm, you're right. It's a -- it's a big old mess, a big, sloppy circulation.
As a matter of fact, the National Hurricane Center had just recently readjusted or move the center to where they think it is from being north of Cuba to now south of Cuba.
Good morning, everybody, again. Here is the -- the track from the National Hurricane Center of tropical depression number 16 which is still forecast to become a tropical storm although it's as you saw not looking all that organized. Winds of 40, maybe 45 miles an hour is the forecast but the track is going to bring it right over Miami later on today and tonight and then reemerge out towards the Atlantic and back in through the Carolinas during the day tomorrow and into tomorrow night and then actually north of there.
But by then, it'll be kind of be absorbed into a front up there and just be a big rainmaker. And that's going to be the thing. Huge amounts of rain. We've seen steady, steady rain from the Keys back through Miami almost all the way almost to Melbourne (ph). And this is going to be the case right on through the Carolinas.
And this is really isn't associated with -- with TD-16 but it's certainly a tropical moisture and after seeing over a foot of rain in Wilmington, North Carolina in the past two days they could see another four to eight. Right now, there are flash flood warnings out for the surrounding areas of Wilmington so they are just getting hammered there across parts of North Carolina and the forecast for heavier rain will be right up the eastern coastline. You go west to there we're looking relatively dry it'll be relatively warm out west. And SoCal a record highs yesterday up near 100 degrees; it will be a little bit cooler today with a high of 88 in L.A.; 85 in Dallas; and 75 degrees in New York.
You're up to date weather wise. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS,: Nine minutes now to the top of the hour. In an "A.M. Original" we have been following the story of Army Sergeant First Class Randy Shorter. He returned recently to Afghanistan for his third tour of duty and he hasn't stopped moving since putting his boots back on the ground.
CHETRY: Yes, today it's time for him and the rest of the 101st Airborne to settle in and try to find a piece of home in a war zone.
Our Jason Carroll has the next chapter of "A Soldier's Story for us this morning. Hey, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes Kiran, and it can be tough to find that little piece of home and that little bit of comfort when you're dealing with so much out there on a daily basis.
You know so much of what comes out of war zones understandably are the battles. But to get a more well-rounded sense of a soldier's life we wanted to show you some of what goes on when they're off duty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an IED explosion up to the north of --
CARROLL (voice-over): With the threat of violence constant here, life on the base gives soldiers like Sergeant First Class Randy Shorter a break, an emotional refuge between the fire fight, the IEDs and tense patrols in Taliban-heavy territory.
Some soldiers in his platoon like 20-year-old Adam Boyette on their first deployment.
SPC. ADAM BOYETTE, U.S. ARMY: It's never going to feel like going to your actual home, of course. I mean, we're still -- although we feel like we're safe, I mean, anything could happen at any time.
CARROLL: This is Shorter's third combat tour of duty. With it comes experience of war zone living.
SGT. FIRST CLASS RANDY SHORTER, U.S. ARMY: Because you have to think, others and other soldiers out there have less. So be happy for what we have.
CARROLL: He says key to a soldier's well being is making the best of wherever he or she is. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sergeant.
CARROLL: So when Shorter's platoon grew restless waiting at Fargram Airfield (ph) for a flight to southeastern Afghanistan, they played volleyball. Days later, on another base --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, this guy, literally, no people skills. The minute you meet him, you just want to punch him.
CARROLL: Nights spent around the fire trash talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He goes down and tell you, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and gets back in the car and we go.
CARROLL (on camera): And you got the stress of what you are dealing with outside the walls and then you're sort of confined in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every -- everyone comes up with their own way of keeping themselves busy. I know I tend to go stir crazy pretty quickly.
CARROLL (voice-over): It's at Forward Operating Base Rushmore about 40 miles from the volatile and deadly border with Pakistan where Shorter and his platoon will setup home for the next year.
(on camera): You've got a court here, a basketball court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes basketball is biggest thing that we got here.
CARROLL (voice-over): Laptops, video games, 21st century gadgets offer momentary escapes from war's reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get busted out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought man it was going to happen tonight but to make it to the power of geniuses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it isn't. Genius it's running off today, right?
If this isn't plugged in, it won't do nothing.
CARROLL (on camera): How important is it for you guys to create some sort of sense of home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, for me, pretty soon there's going to be some grass growing out here. For some guys --
CARROLL: Fish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Yes probably with a fish.
CARROLL: Charon Richardson says all you need is a sheet hanging from your bunk to create a little privacy.
SGT. CHARON RICHARDSON, U.S. ARMY: You see these guys 24 hours a day, every day we go on missions together. I mean, they -- they become your family but this is whenever you need to get away -- just you and your movie or something.
CARROLL (on camera): I wonder if you get to the point where as much as you guys love each other, do you get to the point sometimes where you just want to throttle someone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what the cave is for. That is what the cave is for. Whenever you feel like you want to ring their neck, you just go hide in your cave and calm yourself down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-six, 37 ready to check.
CARROLL: Shorter says personal reminders of home keep him going emotionally and mentally. Today, letters from his family.
SHORTER: It says from my wife, my dearest randy, please know how much I love you, support you and truly appreciate all that you do. Please be that great leader again. Lead your men and yourselves out of harm's way and back home to our loving arms. Your wife, your daughter, Sheryl Melania, Ariana (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Those letters so important to soldiers like randy shorter. You know, we were out with them on night patrols, out with him again on day patrols. So much uncertainty and that's why these soldiers have to find some sort of sense of home when they're there. You ok?
CHETRY: Yes. I'm fine. It's a long story.
Sorry. We'll explain when we come back.
ROBERTS: Yes. Ok. You're all right? Ok.
Tomorrow, Jason's going to look at soldiers and try to win hearts and minds in a place known as hell on earth. Jason follows the 101st into a dangerous and critically important province. That's "A Soldier's Story" tomorrow on The Most News in the Morning.
It's going to be ok.
CHETRY: We'll be right back.
ROBERTS: It'll be all right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Buddies from Canada, Rush. CHETRY: How long ago was that song? I love it.
ROBERTS: "Moving Pictures" would have been early 1981, I think. They're playing at the Verizon Amphitheater in Atlanta tonight, and I'm jumping on a plane and heading down there to talk with Getty, Alex and Neil.
CHETRY: Possibly jumping on the stage.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see about that. And we'll have that exclusively for you tomorrow morning for all of you Rush fans out in the audience.
Continue the conversation on today's stories. Go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
That will do it for us. See you back here early again tomorrow.
CHETRY: How awesome. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. How about that? The Rush concert.
