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Thomas' Wife Wants Apology; "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Ruling: Judge Reaffirms Ruling Barring Enforcement; China Halts Mineral Exports; Hormone Replacement Therapy: More Harm than Good?; Anatomy of an Oil Spill; Facebook Firings; Money Stolen From Passengers

Aired October 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 Wednesday morning to you. And thanks so much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We want to get you caught up on a bizarre twist nearly 20 years later.

Clarence Thomas' wife is asking Anita Hill for an apology for accusing her husband of sexual harassment in front of the nation. Both sides have now responded. And the timing of the call may not be a mistake. We're going to get reaction live from Washington ahead.

ROBERTS: Here's something you really want to pay attention to. A disturbing study impacting millions of women taking hormone replacements. It says they not only face a greater risk of breast cancer, but the kind of cancer that they're getting is a lot deadlier. For doctors, this could be a game-changer. We'll break down the study and explore the options just ahead.

CHETRY: And where do you draw the line? What exactly is the line when it comes to teacher/student contact on Facebook, Twitter, other social networks? It's led to the firing, at least inappropriate contact purportedly behind the firing of three New York City educators over the past six months. But legally, where do you draw the line? We're going to weigh in with media law professor Paul Callan.

ROBERTS: Up first, a blast from the past is causing a stir in Washington this morning. The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia, has reached out to Anita Hill and wants an apology. You may remember Hill's testimony almost sank Thomas' Supreme Court nomination. That was back in 1991. It was graphic and embarrassing at times. Some senators could barely get the words out. But it brought the issue of workplace sexual harassment out of the shadows in this country.

Our Kate Bolduan is live for us in Washington this morning. Why is Virginia Thomas contacting Anita Hill after all these years?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a really good question, John. Almost 20 years later, as you said, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is asking for an apology from Anita Hill, the woman who accused Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings in the early '90s. Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist, left Hill, a law professor at Brandeis University, a voice mail at her office recently. Here's the message.

She says, "Good morning, Anita Hill. It's Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology some time and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband."

Thomas goes on to say, "So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day."

Thomas says she was extending an olive branch after all of these years and that no offense was intended by the message. But it seems Hill doesn't see it that way. She turned the message over to campus security, which then, John, turned it over to the FBI.

ROBERTS: And what about her response to the idea of an apology?

BOLDUAN: Well, in a statement to CNN, Anita Hill said very simply and very clearly. She says, quote, "I certainly thought the call was inappropriate. I have no intention of apologizing because I testified truthfully about my experience. And I stand by that testimony."

You'll remember the allegations and Hill's testimony almost derailed Thomas' nomination at the time and it also sparked a nationwide debate about harassment in the workplace. But pretty interesting coming almost 20 years later now.

ROBERTS: Yes. And this no doubt will be a big topic of conversation there in Washington today. Kate Bolduan for us this morning. Kate, thanks.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, we're keeping an eye on the protests in France. More rallies and strikes are underway today. Millions taking to the streets angry over plans to raise the retirement age in that country from 62 to -- actually to lower -- to raise it to 62 from 60.

Well, among the strikers, airport workers. Hundreds of flights in and out of Paris have been canceled. Thousands of gas stations across the country have run dry because strikers have been blocking fuel deliveries. Hundreds of students arrested as they burn cars, smash bus shelters, and threw rocks at police. A final vote on the reform is expected tomorrow or Friday.

ROBERTS: Federal investigators try to decide whether to file criminal charges against financial firms that committed fraud during the foreclosure crisis. The government's financial fraud tax force meets this morning at 11:00 and will then brief the White House. Several big banks are suspected of fast-tracking foreclosures by having employees, quote, "robo sign' documents without actually reading it.

CHETRY: The race for Florida Senate, one of the most watched in the nation is a three-way battle between Democrat Kendrick Meek, Republican Marco Rubio, and independent Governor Charlie Crist. Well, they went at it last night in Miami with two weeks until election day and things got heated as the subject turned to health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (I), SENATE CANDIDATE: I think that Obamacare was off the charts, was wrong. It taxed too much, has mandates that are probably unconstitutional, and it's not the way to go. And it was rammed through.

REP. KENDRICK MEEK (D), SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm just shocked to hear, you know, now the new lingo from the governor talking about Obamacare. I wonder if he said that to the president when he was walking with him on the beach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Crist responded by saying that they were talking about protecting Florida from the oil spill at the time. The three candidates will face off again in a nationally televised debate that's happening this Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION." Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley will moderate it live from the University of South Florida in Tampa.

ROBERTS: The oil spill still on our Rob Marciano's mind. He's down in New Orleans today getting a sort of a six-month check-up where things are following the oil spill. But first of all, let's get a check of what the weather forecast is looking like today.

Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Not bad right here in New Orleans, at least right now. But there are a couple of thunderstorms that are trying to rumble south from just north of I-10.

Meanwhile, I want to update you on what's going on overseas. A tremendous storm that, you know, hit the Philippines two days ago. Typhoon Megi now rolling across the South China Sea and strengthening and heading towards southeast China and Hong Kong. Here is the forecast track here towards the end of the week. And it does not bode well for more highly populated areas there.

A little bit closer to home and the Caribbean, we are now upgrading the status of this disturbance to the east of Honduras. High chance of it becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm in the next 48 hours. They're flying a hurricane-hunter aircraft into that system likely later on today.

You will see some showers across the southeast today. It's 78 degrees in Memphis. It will be 60 degrees in D.C. A little cooler in New York with the high of 63 degrees.

It was six months ago today, guys, that the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. This morning, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, and it's time for a six-month checkup. We'll have that story. Our report in about 15 minutes. Back to you guys in New York.

CHETRY: All right, Rob. Thank you.

Well, some sad news this morning. One of America's most famous and favorite TV dads has died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BOSLEY, ACTOR: You know, when I was a kid, my mother used to tell me to listen to my father. Now that I'm a father, my wife tells me to listen to my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Actor Tom Bosley, best known for playing Mr. C., Howard Cunningham on "Happy Days," died Tuesday of heart failure. Ron Howard who played his son on the show says that Bosley was a loving husband, a doting father, and a fantastic grandfather. Bosley was also fighting lung cancer for the past few years. He was 83 years old.

ROBERTS: What a shame. He really was America's dad for quite a long period of time.

Well, for the first time in our nation's history, openly gay men and women are being allowed to enlist in the military. Obviously it's not without a fight and its potential pitfalls for the enlistees, as well. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence ahead with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Nine-and-a-half minutes now after the hour. We're back with the Most News in the Morning.

A federal judge reaffirming her ruling that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military is unconstitutional. The Obama administration will almost certainly appeal this decision.

CHETRY: You know, the ruling came just hours after the Pentagon for the first time ordered recruiters to start accepting openly gay recruits. Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is following developments for us. He's live in Washington.

So we know the whole "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate really has been raging. This president said it will end under him. What does this new ruling mean?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, in blunt terms, it means if a candidate walks into a recruiting office and says I am gay or I am lesbian, that as long as he or she passes all the other qualifications, that recruiter is being told keep processing that candidate's application. In other words, do not stop the process, keep pushing through.

Of course, the Pentagon is also telling these recruiters you've got to manage these candidates' expectations. Because we fully expect the government, as you mentioned, to appeal this judge's ruling. So what they've got to tell these candidates is right now "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is not the law of the land, but it may well be put back into effect if the government's appeal goes through.

CHETRY: So it's interesting, though, because the president saying that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is going to end under his watch, yet the government is going to appeal this ruling. Why?

LAWRENCE: Kiran, it's putting the Obama administration in the very unique position of suing to preserve a law that they ultimately want to get rid of. And that's because they're going by what the defense secretary, what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have said. Yes, we want to get rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but basically we need more time. We need time to implement this. We can't do it quickly. But there are a lot of people on the other side who say, look, the legislative process trying to push through Congress, that failed. Maybe it's time to just let the legal system play out.

And, of course, you've got some troops, you know, people I've spoken to over in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some say, look, I roomed with a gay soldier. You know, we had gay soldiers in our unit who just kept it quiet. Nobody ever told. It was never a problem. And then others who say, look, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been effective. It's kept morale and they believe that the policy, you know, is effective and want it to continue.

ROBERTS: You know, Chris, there's a couple of other issues that this raises, as well. If people identify themselves as being gay when they're being recruited and then the ruling is overturned, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" becomes the law of the land again. Will they just become instant targets? And is anybody testing the new policy with recruiters?

LAWRENCE: Yes, almost immediately, John. Good question, though. Probably the most visible is Lieutenant Dan Choi. You know, he's been sort of out front on this issue for some time. You know, at one point, he was arrested after chaining himself to a White House fence to oppose the policy. He came out very publicly on national TV. He's already gone in trying to get back into the military.

You know, you can read about that on any Web site. He's pretty public. What you won't hear is the lance corporal who CNN talked to yesterday out in California who served about three years of a four- year enlistment and said I love the Marine Corps. I can't -- I want to get back into the Marine Corps and already went back into a recruiting station attempting to get back into the corps.

CHETRY: Interesting. So we saw the video of Dan Choi walking in there and knocking on the recruiting door. So he's reenlisted now?

LAWRENCE: Well, see, that's the thing. He's an officer. So I mean -- I guess he could go back as an enlisted guy, but getting a commission is a little different than just signing up as a regular enlistment.

CHETRY: Right.

LAWRENCE: He actually went to the Army or went to the Marine Corps first and found out he's too old. I think you can only be about 28 years old to enlist in the Marine Corps. So he tweeted that no go on the Marine Corps, I'm going to try the Army where the age limit is a little bit higher.

CHETRY: All right. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Thanks.

LAWRENCE: You're welcome.

CHETRY: We're going to be talking more about the legal issues at 7:40 Eastern with senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin about the judge's ruling on this issue.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, security adviser at Newark Liberty airport is under arrest this morning accused of stealing cash and values from passengers during searches. The prosecutor say 41-year-old Michael Arato looked the other way when a fellow co-worker stole money from passengers during security screenings. He's also accused of receiving $3,100 in kickbacks from those thefts. He's due in federal court in Newark today.

CHETRY: Also, the NFL handing out stiff fines for dangerous and flagrant hits this past weekend. No suspensions, though. But Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison was hit with the largest fine, $75,000. New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Dunta Robinson were each fined $50,000. The punishment comes after a particularly violent weekend in the NFL. The league says starting with this week's game, they'll be more vigilant about ejecting and suspending players for violent hits and head shots.

ROBERTS: Well, a warning this morning to millions of women. Troubling new findings about hormones and breast cancer. Our guest says that this is going to totally change the conversation between a woman and her doctor. It's a story that you don't want to miss and it's coming up 15 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: We have all kinds of jazzy (ph) music this morning. I'm liking that.

It's 18 1/2 minutes after the hour. We're "Minding Your Business" this morning. Christine Romans is here.

And, you know, the Chinese have been very shrewd, buying up all of these natural resources around the world so that they have their hands -

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

ROBERTS: -- on the world supply.

ROMANS: And in China, there's about 90 percent of something called rare earth minerals are mined there. And what are they? They're an incredible component to manufacturing in defense this country, and there are reports - the U.S. Trade Representative Office is investigating reports that the Chinese have halted exports of these rare earth minerals.

What - why do they matter to you? They're in everything from wood turbines to the cockpit of a fighter jet, to your BlackBerry, to your iPod, to hybrid cars. These are - are minerals that actually aren't so rare, but most of them are mined in China, and because of a dispute with Japan, there's been some halting of exports overall. But now, reports in the "New York Times," particularly that everyone's looking into, that the Chinese have halted exports of these rare earth minerals to the United States and Europe.

If that's true, it would be incredibly, incredibly dangerous for the U.S. trade relationship and - and the U.S. relationship overall with China right now. And it's worrisome for manufacturing and defense.

One of my sources said that this is - one of my sources has been following with - the story with me since 2002, actually, when the only U.S. mine went - you know, went idle. He said this is incredibly dangerous, dangerous territory if this is true, and something we all should be watching, especially as we head into the G-20 where we have other tensions with China that will likely be - be on the agenda.

CHETRY: We could fire up the mines again?

ROMANS: We could. It'll take some time. It'll take some money. Is the U.S. government going to support - Congress going to support with subsidies so that there's some competition?

Until now we've said the free - let the free market work on this. Well, the free market means that - that China has all the manufacturing.

Another story that I'm following this morning that I find fascinating, you guys, this is a - a survey, a workplace survey from LexisNexis that finds - have you ever deleted messages before reading them?

Believe it or not, in most countries, we do. We - we delete a lot of messages before reading them. Ninety-one percent of American office workers admit to just deleting something before even reading it, and, in fact, more than half of your time, 51 percent of your time, is spent managing information that you don't need, that you wouldn't use, that has nothing to do with your job, that you are actually not even going to process in your jobs.

So look at that. You start work at 9:00 in the morning. It isn't until 1:00 - it wasn't until 1:00 until you've navigated your way through all the information that's unnecessary and then use half of your spent -

ROBERTS: Really? Four hours?

ROMANS: Half of your time spent managing information that you don't need.

ROBERTS: Wow. That's amazing.

ROMANS: And even - even though you spent all this time managing information, when asked, how would you like to get breaking, crucial information right away? The phone? A text message? People still say e-mail.

So, I don't read it, but if you have to get me, get me on my BlackBerry.

CHETRY: Some people think they can just look at the subject line, determine whether or not they need it, then delete.

ROMANS: We are - we are swimming in info.

Have you guys done it? You've just -

ROBERTS: Oh, yes. (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: Of course. I mean, you have to. I mean -

ROBERTS: Hundreds of times a day.

ROMANS: Yes. I think I had 1,100 messages when I came back from maternity leave.

ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.

CHETRY: Well, putting Americans back to work has been a major theme this election season, and on last night's edition of "PARKER-SPITZER" Van Jones, President Obama's former special adviser for green jobs was asked about the creation of so-called "clean jobs".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN PARKER, CNN HOST: What are specifically some jobs that would be called clean jobs?

VAN JONES, FORMER SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR GREEN JOBS: Sure. Putting up solar panels, building solar forms, manufacturing wind turbines. Wind turbines have 8,000 - wind turbines have 8,000 finely (ph) machine parts, as much steel as in 26 cars. So you could put your autoworkers back to work making wind turbines.

We have a Saudi Arabia of wind energy in America, not just in the Plane States, off our - off our coasts -

ELIOT SPITZER, CNN HOST: Here's the question -

JONES: Yes.

SPITZER: -- because this is exactly what we want.

JONES: Sure.

SPITZER: But everything I read tells me that both in terms of solar panels and in turbines, China is doing most of the manufacturing. We're doing some of the design work, but we're importing it rather than producing it here. JONES: Let - and let me tell you why that is. If you - if you wanted to build a factory to produce wind turbines, the number one thing you need is not incentives from government, it's certainly of demand. You want to know that you're going to be able to sell your products.

Asia is saying, listen, we are - we guarantee you, we are going to buy this stuff. We're going to deploy it. In the United States, we don't have the policies in place to tap our own domestic wind resources, and so people are now literally shutting down operations in the United States and going over to Asia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: All right.

Well tonight's "PARKER-SPITZER," they'll be talking with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

ROBERTS: Well, millions of women use it, hormone replacement therapy, and this morning, new evidence and a word of warning about its possible connection to an aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer. You're going to want to hear this. Stay tuned.

It's 23 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, there's powerful new evidence this morning that hormone replacement therapy in post menopausal women is doing more harm than good. According to a new study, women on a combined estrogen and progestin regimen called Prempro are 25 percent more likely to get invasive breast cancer than women not taking hormone replacement, and their cancer is often - and here's the key point - often much more aggressive, with twice as many of those women dying.

Joining me now to break down these findings is Dr, Freya Schnabel. She is the director of breast cancer surgery at NYU's Langone Medical Center. Great to see you this morning, Doctor. Thanks so much.

So what is this study telling us today? Because we have, since 2002, had plenty of warnings about hormone replacement therapy.

DR. FREYA SCHNABEL, DIRECTOR OF BREAST CANCER SURGERY, NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: That's right. There's good, existing evidence that taking hormone replacement therapy after the typical age for menopause increases the risk of breast cancer. But what this study now adds is the idea that when women got breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy, those breast cancers were also more likely to have spread to their lymph nodes, and their chance of dying from breast cancer was also increased.

ROBERTS: So these cancers are more aggressive than was first thought? Because I remember back in 2002, when the warning first came out - and this is a - it's a huge study, by the way. It's almost the gold standard when it comes to breast cancer studies. It was thought that, well, these are, you know, minimally invasive cancers, probably fairly easy to treat.

So this is telling us something completely different.

SCHNABEL: This changes the dialogue about hormone replacement therapy, because it increases the sense of risk associated with the treatment. Existing evidence had suggested that when women had breast cancer after hormone replacement therapy that the cancers may have been early detected, when they were very small, not aggressive cancers, possibility of successful treatment, et cetera.

But this study now shows that those women, even though they were having good health care, still had a greater chance of dying from their breast cancers. And this, now, increases our sense of the risks of HRT.

ROBERTS: Is - is there a particular type of cancer that researchers are seeing develop?

SCHNABEL: Well, these data that were presented in this study couldn't give us too much detailed information, biologically, about why the hormone replacement therapy seemed to be associated with these more aggressive cancers, and we all, obviously, hope that this will lead to more research and more information.

ROBERTS: Yes. So when we - when we look at the drug that was used, it was a combination of estrogen and progestin, Prempro. Is - is there any - any difference in, you know, if one - one woman might be taking a different type of hormone replacement?

You know, there were some that have a little bit of testosterone in them, Estratest, for example. Some women may be on fully natural forms of hormone replacement, particularly women who were on IVF cycles.

Is - so is there a difference, depending on what drug you're on?

SCHNABEL: Well, there's certainly a difference between women who take different kinds of hormonal supplements or manipulation when they are pre-menopausal, like oral contraceptives and fertility treatments -

ROBERTS: Right.

SCHNABEL: -- and so on versus hormone replacement therapy after menopause. And there are, as you say, lots of different forms of hormone replacement therapy, and it seems like, at this point in time, the real culprit in increasing the risk for breast cancer is women who are taking some form of estrogen with some form of progesterone because they have not had a hysterectomy.

The risks for breast cancer are less in women who have had hysterectomies and are only taking the estrogen, without the progesterone.

ROBERTS: Because the progesterone's protective against uterine cancer, right?

SCHNABEL: Correct.

ROBERTS: So, what's the discussion then? That a woman who is already in menopause and is considering hormone replacement therapy, a woman who might be perimenopausal, about to go into it, what's the conversation they should have with their doctor?

SCHNABEL: I think the conversation has to come around back to the idea of hormone-replacing therapy as real drug therapy, with indications, contraindications, risks, and benefits. There may genuinely be a small population of women who have severe and life- altering menopausal symptoms who may elect to continue to take hormone therapy or begin it, even knowing full well what the risks may be. But what the conversation has changed is that those risks are now much more clarified.

ROBERTS: And quickly, one important question. Following the research that has come out eight years ago, there were some question as to how long can you take it and be safe? Can you take it for a couple of years? Could you take it for five years? What do we know now?

SCHNABEL: Well, this particular study doesn't really speak to duration of treatment, and some of those earlier studies suggested if you took HRT for less than two years, you did not incur any meaningful increase in breast cancer risk.

So, again, I think for women who are experiencing severe symptoms, the idea of low-dose and short-as-possible duration probably is still the way to go.

ROBERTS: Dr. Freya Schnabel, you've always got great information. Thanks so much for coming in this morning to explain this to us.

SCHNABEL: Thank you.

ROBERTS: We really appreciate -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Well, 30 minutes past the hour. Time for our top stories this morning.

Anita Hill is saying no apologies. She's responding to a voice mail that Clarence Thomas' wife Virginia left for her two weeks ago asking for an apology. Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings almost 20 years ago.

PG&E is offering to buy or rebuild the San Bruno, California, homes that were damaged or destroyed in last month's deadly natural gas explosion. The utility company is even offering homeowners a $50,000 bonus if they accept an offer within six months. PG&E says its goal is to help restore and rebuild the neighborhood as carefully and quickly as possible.

A new study suggests people living in apartment buildings may be at risk from secondhand smoke. The researchers say tobacco smoke can leak out of a smoker's apartment through doorways and the ventilation system. And they suggest an apartment should be smoke-free zones much like bars, restaurants, and workplaces.

ROBERTS: Amen to that.

Well, even though it's been months since the last drop of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, more than 18,000 people and 500 ships are still working every day to clean up the catastrophe

CHETRY: Yes, right now, more than 104 miles of Gulf shoreline are still experiencing what they refer to as moderate to heavy oil impact. Most of that is in Louisiana.

Joining us live from New Orleans this morning is Rob Marciano. He has an A.M. original. It's a story you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING -- almost a six-month checkup, if you will, Rob. And for many it might be surprising to know that this operation is still going on.

MARCIANO: Oh, it most definitely is. You know, we knew when this all went down six months ago that it would be a massive, massive project for a long, long time. And today, certainly, six-month date going -- from the past is a day to remember those that were killed, to remember the critters that were affected, and certainly, to highlight the hardworking men and women that have done some heroic work here to clean up this mess.

But even now, there is definitely still lots of oil out there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: We arrived with the Coast Guard. That's the new Admiral Zukunft. Aerial tour, and then we're getting on a boat.

(voice-over): I strap in along with newly-appointed unified area commander, Admiral Paul Zukunft, whose workforce has shrunk to almost 48,000 this summer to just 13,000 now.

(on camera): There's been some criticism from local communities that BP is peeling back way too much.

ADMIRAL PAUL ZUKUNFT, UNIFIED AREA COMMAND: Right now we're dealing with hot spots. Prior to the entire Gulf of Mexico was a hot spot.

MARCIANO (voice-over): What's surprising is how many hot spots there still are six months in. Even Mississippi's barrier island remained littered with oil.

The beach response here on the Cat Island is much like Florida and Alabama, men and machines still scrambling to clean the sand. It's a similar scene near Grand Isle, Louisiana.

In total, over 500 miles of shoreline still have some oil.

Examining the wetlands requires a different mode of transport. As we motor west, there are signs of encouragement. We cruise past clean water, clean grass, and even some fishing boats.

(on camera): Nice to notice a fishing vessel with fishing equipment versus booming equipment.

(voice-over): Forty minutes into the marsh, we arrive at one of Louisiana's hardest-hit areas, Bay Jimmy. Here, compression guns are positioned to scare off birds that might try to land in this still very oily wetland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last time I was up here was a month ago. Back then, we had about 600 workers. And we were in there in the really shallow areas trying to vacuum up pockets of oil along this entire stretch. So real time-consuming.

MARCIANO: BP's George Carter knows cleaning the marsh is not easy.

GEORGE CARTER, BP BRANCH DIR., PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA.: We've actually cut the grass. We've raked the grass. We've flushed (ph) them a couple of occasions. We've tried some chemicals to remove stuff.

MARCIANO: This area's for experimenting, hoping something will yield clean, healthy grass.

ZUKUNFT: There are patches of new growth that are already starting to come in.

MARCIANO (on camera): Yes, it is some grass trying to grow.

ZUKUNFT: As tempting as it is to go in and do something very aggressive, the worst thing you can do right now is tread heavily on this marsh grass. So, really, now, this is a test of patience.

MARCIANO: Talking about patience, we all -- we all want it. The people that live here may be out of it.

ZUKUNFT: Well, we're not done yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: I would think not with 5 million barrels of oil having spewed into the Gulf during that three-month period. There is certainly still oil that needs to be cleaned up. But a little bit of encouragement. We saw a few stocks of fresh green grass growing through that black oiled area. It's almost like after a force fire a couple of years later, you start to see signs of new growth. We certainly hope that continues.

And maybe the sentiment that some of the oil practically sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor, the sea floor, maybe we'll see some signs of encouragement there. But we certainly won't know that for a while.

They have opened a lot of the fishing down -- there's only 16,000 square miles now, guys, where fishing is not allowed in the Gulf. And it's just right around the wellhead where they're still cleaning up some of the equipment that is still out there -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano, great stuff. Thanks so much.

Well, we're going to be talking about where schools draw the line when it comes to teachers and students connecting, friending on social networking sites. We're going to talk with Paul Callan, a media law professor, in light of at least three New York City educators fired over the past six months, reportedly for inappropriate dealings with students on Facebook.

Thirty-six minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC0

CHETRY: Welcome back. Forty minutes past the hour right now.

In the age of Facebook, Twitter, there are new concerns about the student/teacher relationship. There are three New York City educators who have purportedly been fired over the past six months for inappropriate contact with students on Facebook, one reportedly ending in a sexual relationship.

New York City schools don't have a formal policy, though, concerning teacher/student contact on social networking sites. And like many other school districts around the country, they're trying to navigate these new waters. Where do you draw the line?

Well, Paul Callan, professor of media law at Seton Hall University, joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

PAUL CALLAN, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA LAW, SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: Nice to be here.

CHETRY: There are some things are more obvious. Obviously, having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, whether it's online or in person is -- you know, whether it starts online or in person, is wrong. But there are murkier issues about whether or not teachers who, in the privacy of their own home and off-time, can friend students who in some cases may be of age, but in other cases are not, but are technically old enough to be on these sites.

CALLAN: Well, that's right. And this, you know, we've talked about this in the past about how technology seems to have outstripped the law. And in this case, how school districts deal with teachers. I mean, what's happened in one of these New York City cases is that a teacher went on Facebook and made sexually provocative comments about a student. She befriended the student, communication going on between the teacher and the student --

CHETRY: Right. Commenting on photos.

CALLAN: Yes.

CHETRY: I mean, things happen all the time on Facebook, except it's your teacher.

CALLAN: Well, yes. Usually, it's one kid commenting about another kid's picture. But now, it's your teacher saying, hey, that's a sexy shot. Now, that's obviously inappropriate conduct by the teacher. The teacher can and was, in fact, disciplined.

And so, this -- I mean, in this case, I think the problem was solved. But we really have to look at these social networking sites to see if it's appropriate in the educational atmosphere.

CHETRY: So, how do school districts tackle this? I mean, should it be up to the parents about what -- when children can friend and who they can friend? I mean, is it up to the individual schools? Teachers sort of have to set up a special, different Facebook page that would be just geared to students? I mean, how do you sort of figure out what's appropriate?

CALLAN: Well, I don't know, Facebook in particular has evolved into this social networking thing. And you have to say, is it appropriate in the educational setting to have a teacher friending a student?

School districts could ban this if they wanted to. It's not protected by the First Amendment, I don't believe, because it's speech outside of the workplace and it's really social contact. But there's --

CHETRY: But it's not -- you don't believe it is protected by the First Amendment?

CALLAN: I don't believe it is protected by the First Amendment. Any more than a teacher sending a letter to a student in which the teacher said, wow, you're really sexy. That would be totally inappropriate. The teacher could be disciplined for that. No First Amendment right there. So, none with friending either.

But it's a harder question than that, because the question is, could there be a useful value to this mode of communication between students, an educational value? And do we want to pass a law that would prohibit that outright? So, school districts are struggling with this.

CHETRY: Right. In fact, in a Chicago public school system, they say that unless, that any and all contact via email has to go through the Chicago public school's server. You know, it has to be on that sanctioned site.

And one of the teachers who has a blog wrote is the biggest frustration is that that the technology that the CPS, meaning the Chicago public schools, network is totally inadequate. The message to me is strong and clear: innovative, tech-savvy teachers should look elsewhere for employment.

They were upset you can't set up a site where students can access streaming video, textbooks, assignments. So, in some ways, if you're -- are you throwing the baby out with the bath water by not allowing this?

CALLAN: You know, you may very well be. And I'll tell you, Kiran, I notice even with my college students, if they have a question about a homework assignment or an exam, they send me an e-mail sometimes to the university and then it gets forwarded to my private account. I may pick it up at 11:00 at night and reply to the student at that time. So, that's a very useful mechanism that allows me and the student to be communicating about legitimate educational issues.

Now, do we want to pass a law that would prohibit that kind of conduct between a student and a teacher? I'm not so sure that we want to jump in with blanket rules limiting the technology.

And the other thing on this, the flip side of it is, maybe it's a good thing that these idiotic teachers who publicly post provocative comments about students can be tracked down very easily. I mean --

CHETRY: However, but the flip side of that is without any policy in place at these school districts, what happens to them? And they could argue that, you know, there was nothing that said I couldn't friend a couple of students.

CALLAN: On friending, they couldn't be prosecuted for. But if they make inappropriate comments, they can be prosecuted and disciplined for that. And you know something? The school district wouldn't even have known about that if it was done on a one-on-one basis by the teacher.

CHETRY: Right.

CALLAN: So, there's an argument here that the social media maybe will out inappropriate teachers and allow us to discipline them and get them out of the school system.

CHETRY: That's another good point in all of this. To be continued for sure as we start using social networking and more and more.

Paul Callan, great to have you with us, as always.

CALLAN: Nice to be with you, Kiran.

CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: It doesn't seem like a difficult concept to grasp, yet some people don't know what to do. It's pretty amazing.

CALLAN: No, they don't. They just don't.

ROBERTS: Incredible. Thanks, Paul. Good to see you this morning.

Forty-five minutes after the hour. Rob's got this morning's travel forecast right after the break.

And in ten minute's time, a plane and a sports car all in one. What's being called one of the biggest advances in aviation in 50 years.

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ROBERTS: Good morning to the folks in Washington, D.C. where right now it's 55 degrees, later on today, it's not going to be a whole lot warmer than that. It'll be a nice fall day, though. High of 60 as we look at the nation's capital.

Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Our Rob Marciano is in New Orleans for us this morning. Hi, Rob.

MARCIANO: Guys, good morning. Just as we speak now, a flock of birds waking up. So, we're up with the birds this morning.

CHETRY: We can hear them.

MARCIANO: And if you hear some squawking that's what -- you hear them? They're hanging out in the magnolia trees here by the river. Not a bad morning in New Orleans for sure, although, we're trying to avoid some showers just to our north. We're also trying to avoid what's going down to our south. Still hurricane season. In the pesky Western Caribbean continues to percolate tropical activity.

And this is what we've been showing you for the past couple of days, and it continues to get more organized east of Honduras and south of the Cayman Islands. It appears to be drifting a little bit to the east and development of that may very welcome here in the next day or two. They're scheduled to fire a hurricane hunter aircraft in it. And some of our computer models are doing some whacky things with it.

So, Southeast Gulf Coast, be on your toes. All right. Bristol to Roanoke to Charlotte spills (ph) to showers rolling across the mid Atlantic into the Delmarva, this is that front that move to the northeast yesterday. That's why you're cool, but dry, and it's trying to press out to the east. We'll take the rain across parts of Georgia where it's been unusually dry, also unusually dry across parts of the Deep South, including Louisiana.

And these showers and thunderstorms trying to make their way across I-10 into Baton Rouge are having a tough time doing it. Best chances of rain will probably be this morning. There's that front pushing to the south. Some showers in Tampa, 86, it'll be 70 degrees in Chicago with windy conditions. As you guys mentioned, beautiful fall day in New York City with a high of 64 degrees, and a stormy condition across parts of the southwest, including Southern California.

Vegas and Los Angeles, you may see some delays if you're traveling west. Some wind delays in Chicago and Detroit and also some delays in Atlanta because of low clouds, a little bit of fog in Seattle. All right, guys. Birds are quieting down just a little bit. Everybody settle down, should be OK. I think those storms might miss us here in New Orleans. And we say we get up with the birds or before the birds in this case.

CHETRY: You're not kidding.

MARCIANO: We mean it.

ROBERTS: They're getting up this early is for the birds.

MARCIANO: You, guys, know the feeling.

CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: That too, that too, guys.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHETRY: We had so many bird analogies yesterday. It didn't end, did it?

ROBERTS: It was fowl. There was --

CHETRY: Birds with the feather, flock together.

All right. Fifty-one minutes past the hour. Your top story just minutes away, including a walk to school and with themes like a warzone. T.J. Holmes on Chicago's south side. Just how easy is it to get a gun on the streets?

ROBERTS: And time to tell, the U.S. military now accepting gay recruits, but gay rights activists wondering which side the White House is on this morning. Our Jeffrey Toobin here to help us make sense of it all. Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.

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CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Flying the friendly skies just got a whole lot cooler. There's a new airplane that drives just like a sports car.

ROBERTS: For all you weekend warriors with deep pockets, our Gary Tuchman shows us a new way to take off with this week's "Edge of Discovery."

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soaring over these California canyons is the ICON A-5. It's an example of the FAA's newest class of plane called light sport aircraft.

KIRK HAWKINS, ICON AIRCRAFT: It's been called the biggest change in aviation in 50 years.

TUCHMAN: To fly it, you'll need a sport pilot license that typically costs less and requires less training than beginner pilots needed before. But the license also comes with more restrictions. Pilots can't fly light sport aircraft with altitudes higher than 10,000 feet in bad weather, at night, or in congested air space. Designers say this bad boy is made for fun, not commuting a long distance travel.

HAWKINS: This airplane is designed to take you and get you out and let you to explore the planet in a very visceral, interactive way, in a way that will blow you away.

TUCHMAN: It's still a prototype. In addition to being able to take off and land in the water, engineers say the final version will have folding wings and a sports car-inspired cockpit. All for a cool $139,000.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Pretty neat. Almost like a sea dune with wings.

ROBERTS: Yes. For those folks out there who don't get enough thrill out of their Porsche turbo, here's something about the same price range that can actually get you up in the air.

CHETRY: Pretty cool. I'd love to try it.

ROBERTS: A lot of fun.

CHETRY: Don't have the license or the money. Three minutes until the top of the hour.

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