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American Morning
Twitter Finds a Place in the Classroom; Japan: Four New "Hot Spots"; Arizona Fire Threatens Power Lines; Casey Anthony Falls Ill, Ending Trial Day; Obama Re-Election Team; Gingrich Campaign Crisis; Palin E-mails Released; Blogojevich Jury Begins Deliberations; New Poll Backs Representative Weiner; "30 Rock"-ing The Vote; Detroit Power Outage Causes Evacuations; E. Coli Outbreak Traced to Bean Sprouts; Stocks Set to Open Lower; Down Goes
Aired June 10, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Newt Gingrich's campaign implosion. Sixteen top aides resigning on mass questioning his commitment to the campaign, but Gingrich says he's staying in the race, and he plans to re-launch his campaign on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning, everyone. It is Friday, Friday, June 10th.
CHETRY: I know. It will be interesting to see, by the way, when we talk more about the Gingrich story, if they're left to jump on board with another candidate.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: Or potential candidate. Up first the road to 2012 and got a whole lot bumpier for Newt Gingrich. Sixteen of his top campaign aides have jumped ship questioning the candidate's commitment to the campaign strategy to win the White House.
VELSHI: Gingrich, though, says he's still in the race. He plans to re-launch his campaign this weekend. Joining us from Washington, CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston. Mark, just skip all the stuff that you guys in Washington know, because I've seen this story for 24 whatever -- 12 hours. What's behind this?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: It comes down to this. There was a disagreement, Ali, between the senior campaign aides who didn't think that Newt Gingrich was spending enough time raising money, nor was he going out and doing the retail politics, the shaking of hands in the trying to woo of voters, especially voters in the state of Iowa. I spoke to one of his campaign aides out there. They were very frustrated he wasn't out there on the ground.
Now I will tell you what, Ali, Newt Gingrich just came back from a Mediterranean cruise and there was a lot of thought of what was Newt Gingrich thinking, by going on a cruise at this very critical time when he need to be raising money, when he need to be trying to get voters on his side.
CHETRY: Mark, does this leave an opening for anybody else? There are people eyeing Rick Perry. Do some of these top former aides move over to a potential Perry camp?
PRESTON: We're certainly looking at that right now. Newt Gingrich's campaign manager and top strategist are close to Rick Perry. The question is, will Rick Perry run for president? Let's look at a CNN poll. Rick Perry, the governor right now, would have a lot of work to do to try to get Republican voters on his side.
However, what's good for rick Perry, is that he's very well-liked by social conservatives, very well-liked by the tea party. These are folks who are very important in a Republican presidential primary. So it's unclear if rick Perry is going to run. If he does run, though, there's no question that he would benefit by having these two top Gingrich aides come back to him if he does decide to run for president.
CHETRY: This is a veteran politician, Newt Gingrich. The first week out, all -- so many stumbles from criticizing Paul Ryan's plan, calling it right wing social, the revolving Tiffany jewelry account, on and on, off the bat. It seems odd.
PRESTON: It does seem odd. For someone like Newt Gingrich who's very smart and some cases someone like that is difficult to run as a candidate for president because as a candidate you have to turn to your aides and trust your aides. Someone like -- in terms thinks he's always right can be difficult to get them in the mode of a presidential candidate, willing to give in, willing to take advice. I think that's what we saw happening.
ROMANS: Thanks so much, Mark Preston. Mark is going to be up with us in New Hampshire for the big CNN debate, that's Monday night.
VELSHI: Seven GOP candidates for president will have that debate. It's 8:00 p.m. eastern time. Christine will be there. Only watch it here on CNN.
ROMANS: All right, new airstrikes shook Tripoli overnight. A NATO official hinting the end game in Libya is killing dictator Moammar Gadhafi, since he's in charge of command and control in that country. We spoke to a NATO spokesperson earlier who says the alliance isn't out to assassinate the dictator specifically.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OANA LUNGESCU, NATO SPOKESPERSON: Let me make this very clear. NATO does not target any specific individuals. We do target critical military capabilities that could be used to organize, plan, and conduct attacks against civilians and civilian centers. And that is in full compliance with the U.N. Security Council resolution 1973, that you are referring to, which authorizes all necessary means to stop and prevent attacks and the threat of attacks against civilians and civilian populated centers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right, Gadhafi is still vowing he will fight to the death. He will not leave Libya.
CHETRY: Sony, you have Citi and now defense contractor Lockheed Martin falling victim to hackers over the past few weeks. The man in line to be the next defense secretary is talking about cyber security and how we would protect ourselves against a potential knockout blow. Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon this morning with more. Hi, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. You know we might get annoyed or upset if our e-mail or twitter accounts are hacked. The Pentagon is way beyond that. Now the Pentagon's been considering the use of military force, military force, to retaliate against a cyber-attack from another country. That's why yesterday when CIA director Leon Panetta testifying to become the next secretary of defense, talked about all of it, it caught our ear here at "American Morning." Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, CIA DIRECTOR: I've often said that there's a strong likelihood that the next Pearl Harbor that we confront could very well be a cyber-attack, that cripples our power systems, our grid, our security systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems. This is a real possibility in today's world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So if Panetta gets confirmed, as is expected as secretary of defense, what's on the table is the possibility of cyber-attacks being considered an act of war by the Pentagon. Pretty heavy stuff if they decide to go down that route. Of course the big problem is if they are cyber attacked they have to figure out exactly where it comes from to stage some type of retaliation. Kiran?
CHETRY: All right, Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Assuming he's confirmed by the Senate Leon Panetta will find himself dealing with several hot spots throughout the Muslim world with the U.S. military involved in varying degrees. Let's take a look at the region we're talking about. We're actively involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. We also have military forces on the ground in Pakistan. You know, most recently, they were used to take out Osama bin Laden. There is an ongoing, unmanned drone campaign there as well.
Now the other countries where our presence is a little more hazy, Yemen, for example. This is one place that we've talked about many, many times. The U.S. military is not directly involved, but we know Yemen is some place -- move up for me just a second. Yemen is some place we've learned recently there is a U.S. presence there, very clearly conducting air strikes there, to try to fill this void left by the president there who is in Saudi Arabia after attack on him.
Beyond that, there are several other countries where the U.S. could be involved with future conflict. Among them, you have Syria, there you go, hold on a second. Let me grab that again -- Syria, Iran and Somalia. This gives you a scope, you guys, of the eight Muslim countries where the U.S. military is involved on the ground or in the air in some capacity. It's showing the scope of U.S. military involvement in some way, shape, or form. Something that Leon Panetta will very certainly be asked more about, you guys.
CHETRY: Christine, thanks.
VELSHI: Alabama's Governor Robert Bentley signing a controversial new immigration law. Much like Arizona's law, it requires police to check the status of anyone they suspect might be in the country illegally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENTLEY: It is a tough Bill. It is the toughest Bill in the country, but we wanted a tough Bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Civil rights group call the law unconstitutional, they warn it will cost the state millions of dollars in attempted enforcement.
Firefighters in Arizona working through the night trying to protect a number of mountain communities from the so-called wallow fire. Officials say the fire is spreading and could reach power lines today, threatening electricity supplies in New Mexico and Texas. If the lines are damaged, hundreds of thousands of customers would face rolling blackouts.
Let's go to the extreme weather center, Rob Marciano is there. Rob, what's the situation there?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Bad news today at least for the time being. This is the first day we're going to see winds that will lay down and that will give the fire fighters a little upper hand at least for the time being. Tomorrow we go back to windy conditions. It will remain hot and dry. We're not going to get the monsoonal rains we typically get in July and August obviously not until July or August.
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: We talked about the surprising news came out yesterday afternoon about Newt Gingrich's massive desertion, I guess you could say, about 16 staffers, including senior campaign staff. How does he go on and does this open the door for a widening GOP field? We're going to be joined by John Avalon, Robert Zimmerman, and John McLaughlin all weighing in this morning.
ROMANS: And our question of the day after the president gave his best financial advice yesterday that he received from his grandmother, what's the best financial advice you ever received, and from whom? Tell us your thoughts on twitter. Send us an e-mail, tweet, we'll read your responses later in the program.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 13 minutes past the hour. Newt Gingrich getting a crash course in crisis management today. Several of his top presidential campaign aides resigned on mass yesterday. Gingrich, though, says he's still in it and will re-launch his 2012 campaign this weekend.
Joining us to talk more about this development and also the state of the GOP race, CNN contributor John Avalon, also with us Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman, and John McLaughlin. Great to talk to all of you this morning. So is Newt done, can he survive this?
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It would be very tough. He has to perform really well in the debate on Monday. But at the same time, we've never seen a primary like this on the Republican side. We usually have a big front runner who closes, almost loses it and somebody pulls it out and wins the nomination. It's wide open. You only have a handful of candidates in double digits, a whole bunch in single digits. The vote is very fluid. He would have to do well in a debate.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Unless he puts the Tiffany jewelry on eBay, he's toast.
CHETRY: You're talking about having trouble raising money, one of the concerns of the staffers.
ZIMMERMAN: They were concerned about getting paid. Talk about having a crash course in crisis management, he's basically getting a course now in how to do his own advance, how to order the car to get from the airport to the events.
CHETRY: How do you logistically -- he's set to appear in the debate and the debate is Monday in New Hampshire. How does he logistically pull this together?
JOHN AVALON, "THE DAILY BEAST": He can carry his own bags. This is a problem. He can continue to go on. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. The people who knew him best, basically uniformly said that he is not ready to run for president. That is a devastating indictment by your campaign staff.
ZIMMERMAN: It's also Newt Gingrich's record. Since the moment he declared on May 11th, he's traveled all over the country except in the key primary states. He's even gone to Greece for a tour of the Greek islands with his wife.
So, you know --
AVLON: Key constituent.
ZIMMERMAN: The key constituents, absolutely -- but not in Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire. So, that's the issue, he's not shown the focus, discipline, or for that matter, really the desire to run for president.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So, now, some of the focus, John, has been on Governor Rick Perry. He's a popular Texas governor, winning a third term. He has previously said he's not going to run.
Is he taking a look at the field now and saying maybe I'll get in?
JOHM MCLAUGLIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, from what I heard is he had meetings last week where he was organizing campaigns, talking about the people praying for him, whether he should get in or not. And from what I heard, he had these meetings.
And part of the reason these advisers left Newt Gingrich were some of them also work for Governor Perry, and that train was getting ready to leave the station. And because it's so wide open, Perry can get in. He'd be a very strong candidate. Texas is like the new Ohio of the Republican Party, the 19th, 20th century.
CHETRY: Wait.
AVLON: Except that it's not a question who's going to win it. It's not a swing state, which I think speaks to the misdirection of the Republican Party.
MCLAUGHLIN: You have to win the nomination first. And Texas has a huge influence ever since they converted with Ronald Reagan in '76 --
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: I'm sorry.
CHETRY: Well, no, I want to know from a Democrat perspective. Is Rick Perry somebody you'd be concerned about?
ZIMMERMAN: Look, we're concerned about any Republican candidate --
CHETRY: But more so than, say, Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann?
ZIMMERMAN: We're worried about any Republican candidate that can reach independent voters. Fortunately, thanks to Rush Limbaugh, all of these candidates are terrified of reaching out to mainstream voters.
CHETRY: You're an independent analyst, John. What is -- what's going to trip up Rick Perry potentially among independents?
AVLON: I think the fact that he's a check the box candidate for the conservatives, he fills all the basic demographics and policy positions, but his ability to convert to broad-based appeal does not even exist in Texas. So, it's a real problem.
At the end of the day, winning a general election means winning over independent voters. And that is a real problem of the Republican primary process today. Everyone is focused on playing the right. They ignore the center.
(CROSSTALK)
MCLAUGHLIN: One candidate that can beat Barack Obama and that's Barack Obama. He's doing great job right now for the Republicans.
ZIMMERMAN: You know that --
MCLAUGHLIN: And I think he's running so far under 50 percent of the vote. We can get that vote.
ZIMMERMAN: It also makes me feel better as a Democrat when I hear a Republican say we don't have the qualified candidate, which is hoping your guys will trip up.
MCLAUGHLIN: I didn't say that.
ZIMMERMAN: The bigger issue to me, though, realistically is that Rick Perry is a great candidate for political pundits and for Beltway chattering class. Then you get to real politics. Who's going to succeed in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina? The Republican who wins two out of three goes on to the nomination.
CHETRY: That's Mitt Romney. Romney's announced that he is actually not going to be participating in the AIMS straw poll, right, in Iowa, but he came in second in 2008. So, he's going to win New Hampshire. He's going to win Iowa and Ohio.
AVLON: Well, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. I mean, look, New Hampshire is the big test because it's an open primary. We're out in a state where independents outnumber Democrats and Republicans.
Mitt Romney is going to be very strong there, Jon Huntsman is going to be very strong there. You see Pawlenty gathering some steam. And you're going to see draft movements for candidates that could do well.
But that becomes the real crucible, is who can win independent voters and the Republican Party needs to balance its base with an ability to convert.
ZIMMERMAN: And the Republican primary coming up, is who can play to the social conservatives. They define the constituency of Iowa and it's interesting --
CHETRY: But I don't get that because how are they -- that is going to be split. I mean, if you have Michele Bachmann jumping in and then you have Ron Paul on one side -- I mean, I'm just wondering how --
ZIMMERMAN: That's why the Republican Party needs to be in group therapy.
MCLAUGHLIN: No, no. I'll tell you the big difference is, Barack Obama is doing so poorly now among Republican activists and Republican leaders.
ZIMMERMAN: He's relentless.
MCLAUGHLIN: They are looking this right now and they are saying, the one that they want to get in is Jeb Bush.
ZIMMERMAN: Sure.
MCLAUGHLIN: Because Jeb Bush in Florida, which is a swing state, who can attract the independent voters and who is
ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely. Jeb Bush.
MCLAUGHLIN: He would be the one that would really coalesce the party.
ZIMMERMAN: He's the best candidate on paper, without question. But then you get to realities, got one small problem -- his last name.
AVLON: That's right.
MCLAUGHLIN: No, no, no. By the way, that is --
CHETRY: Can you sign up to get a name change in time?
(LAUGHTER)
MCLAUGHLIN: By the way, the way Barack Obama is headed, that name will be an asset in the next election.
AVLON: May become --
(CROSSTALK)
MCLAUGHLIN: Obama will be the liability.
ZIMMERMAN: That's a lot of talking points this early in the morning.
MCLAUGHLIN: I can tell you that.
CHETRY: Thanks to all of you, by the way, though. John, Robert Zimmerman, John McLaughlin, great to see you. Thanks.
ZIMMERMAN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Be sure to watch though. It's Monday night, seven GOP candidates or, hey, maybe more, we never know. We also have an extra podium, just in case. Monday night, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, live from New Hampshire, only CNN.
It's 19 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's 22 minutes past the hour. Minding your business this morning.
Investors took a sigh of relief as stocks broke the longest losing streak since July of last year. The Dow finally closing up for the first time in days, up 75 points, both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 were up just about nine points for the day.
The government says it plans to withhold government incentive payments to several banks for doing such a terrible job at foreclosure prevention. The Treasury Department said yesterday that Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo and other banks, need to improve efforts to modify delinquent loans.
When it comes to the housing market, when Robert Shiller speaks, people listen. Speaking at a housing conference Thursday, Shiller, an expert on the industry, said he fears another 10 to 25 percent plunge in housing prices could be on the horizon.
Ford announcing this week it will produce a new car to compete with the Chevy Volt. The van-like compact car in two versions, the C- Max Energi pictured here is a plug-in and the other is a C Max is hybrid. Both are due out next year.
The IRS may have awarded more than $150 million in your taxpayer dollars, tax deductions by mistake. Thousands of people were granted car purchase tax deductions without actually proving they bought the car. The loophole was during the stimulus period from February to December in 2009.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We're all kind of wondering whether there's going to be some slowdown on teens who usual social media all the time. But, you know, for some people, encouraging kids to use social media brings them out of their shell if they're shy.
CHETRY: That's right. It's interesting. It's almost a counterintuitive argument that to get kids away from it, you sort of embrace it.
Dan Simon has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The distractions are seemingly everywhere. Eighth graders with their electronic devices, busy sending text messages during history class.
ENRIQUE LEGAZPI (ph), TEACHER: I had an a-ha moment. I said to myself, wow, this is what is going to really engage my students.
SIMON: The teacher, Enrique Legazpi, is talking about when he attended a seminar in San Francisco last February, about incorporating Twitter in the classroom. Ever since, he's told his students to BYOT, bring your own technology, whatever connects them to the Internet. If not, they can use one of the classroom computers.
LEGAZPI: We want three tweets that must be 140 characters.
SIMON: The class is studying World War I. If he asks a question --
LEGAZPI: Does anybody know from the book how many people did go to prison?
SIMON: Students tweet the answer, complete with those Twitter hashtags.
LEGAZPI: Remember, Damon, make sure you have a pound in front of the WWI.
SIMON: If he shows a video, they tweet their feedback.
LEGAZPI: Many men died because of the terrible conditions they were living in. I love the way she wrote that. That's a pretty good sentence.
SIMON: It all gets projected on this digital chalkboard.
LEGAZPI: A lot of them what it did help them with is finding their voice, because I do have many students that do not participate in my class discussions, or share what's on their mind. So, Twitter became that vehicle.
SIMON (on camera): For shy students, would you say this has had the biggest impact?
LEGAZPI: Yes. My shy students they have really impressed me. I know more about what they're into, how to help them, differentiate my instruction, and really be an effective teacher.
SIMON: The primary goal for this project is to have greater class participation, and Mr. Legazpi feels like he's gotten than. But for some of these students, it's had a positive impact even outside of the classroom.
OSCAR LOZORIA, STUDENT: I'm like a shy person. I'm like terrified right now just speaking to you.
SIMON (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Oscar Lozoria says students used to tease him, but he feels like his tweets are making him stand out, and getting him noticed for the first time.
LOZORIA: People talk to me now. No more teasing. They see me as somebody now, that's like an equal.
SIMON: Most here at Holland Beck Middle School, a public school in East Los Angeles, come from low-income families. Legazpi says it proves any school can incorporate social networking into the curriculum.
LEGAZPI: Twitter did become this paperless way of sharing what's on their mind.
SIMON: And it's shaping how these students learn, 140 characters at a time.
Dan Simon, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: I love this. I am -- I am concerned that we don't solve the problem of introverted or shy kids because we don't actually force them out into society.
But, you know what, at 8:25, Eastern this morning, about an hour from now, we're going to have - we're going to talk to Enrique Legaspi about how Twitter has helped his students and how its help him as a teacher.
I'm really curious to know whether it does help these kids overcome their introversion.
ROMANS: If you can't beat them join them. I mean, teachers are trying to get this stuff out of the classroom --
VELSHI: Right, he's saying let's use it.
CHETRY: They have to understand it first. That's the challenge of some teachers.
Well, top stories now, four new hot spots in Japan unfortunately. The country added new areas to the list of places facing a radiation threat from the Daiichi nuclear power plant. That affects more than 180 homes and they are outside of the area where the government ordered evacuations initially.
New video of Syrian soldiers gunning down refugees. The Syrian Army now carrying out what's described by witnesses as revenge attacks on a town near the Turkish border. Thousands fleeing as tanks and troops roll in.
The Syrian government announced it would, quote, "punish the town of Jisr al-Shugur after it claimed armed groups massacred at least 120 forces there.
A wildfire in eastern Arizona is now threatening power transmission lines, which supply electricity to nearly 400,000 people. The fire is now just a half mile from the border with New Mexico in some places.
About 360,000 acres have been scorched. Twenty two homes destroyed. Fire crews are expecting calmer winds today to help fight the flames. Still zero percent contained in that fire.
ROMANS: They need some good weather.
VELSHI: Today is the first day though they might get a weather break.
ROMANS: They need it. Casey Anthony is receiving medical treatment following an emotional day in her murder trial. She wiped away tears as jurors were shown graphic photos of little Caylee's remains.
VELSHI: Now apparently Anthony got so sick during the testimony that the judge ended the session 90 minutes early. Listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Anthony is ill. We are recessing for the day. Neither the state or defense has any comments concerning her illness nor do they want to be interviewed. I would ask that you preserve their privacy as they leave the courthouse today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Sunny Hostin joins us now, a legal contributor for our sister network TruTV's "In Session" and former federal prosecutor. Thanks for being with us this morning, Sunny.
It was a tough day. It was definitely a tough day of testimony, but you say it could have been a game changer for the prosecution, why?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": I thought so. I mean, I've been, you know, covering this trial from the very beginning and as a former prosecutor with my prosecutor hat I kept thinking what have they shown beyond a reasonable doubt.
That she had a smelly car. That she was a liar. That she did some chloroform searches. Well, now they showed that little Caylee Anthony, the pictures that we had seen for so long of a beautiful, alive, very much alive little girl, is a victim.
They showed pictures of her skull. They showed pictures of her remains to this jury and that's a very sobering moment for a prosecutor in any murder case, but a sobering movement for a jury. At that time the jury thinks I want justice, who did this?
VELSHI: This is the key thing. We often have talked about whether or not certain gruesome photos should be shown in a trial. But in this particular case what you're saying is until now to some people, that little girl has been an abstraction and those pictures changed that forever.
HOSTIN: It's a game changer. I mean, it changed it forever. We all saw these pictures that she's such a beautiful little girl, and now all of a sudden we see pictures of a small skull wrapped in duct tape, wrapped in garbage bags, thrown away like trash. I mean, I went home -- vines growing through the remains.
I went home and hugged my little girl just a little bit stronger yesterday because of it. I think any juror that had a family and we know that there are jurors they are parents are going to think, who did this?
ROMANS: Now Casey Anthony is the parent and she is listening to this testimony all at the same time and overcome. She becomes ill. We don't know what this illness is. We don't know exactly if she was overwhelmed by what she was seeing and hearing in the courtroom.
How did that play with the jury? The fact that they ended 90 minutes earl, do they make her look more human because she's overwhelmed of what she's seeing --
VELSHI: Or guilty?
ROMANS: Or make her look guilty?
HOSTIN: You know, statistically they've done studies on this and usually jurors think the defendant is guilty when they show emotion like that. But I will say this, Judge Perry did a good job of not telling the jury that Casey Anthony was allegedly ill.
He just said we're going to end early due to an event. They've been watching her and she was dry heaving. She almost folded into herself. She was looking down. Her face was very red. She refused to look at the photos.
CHETRY: Here's the question. In addition to it being extremely emotional this will be pivotal testimony because the argument was all along, for the defense they have to defend, if the claim is that Caylee Anthony drowned.
Now you have remains that were clearly in place long enough for brush and vines to grow through the bones, not to be gross, but their whole entire argument is hanging on the fact that they're claiming a random meter reader did something with this body.
HOSTIN: Yes, that Roy Kronk sort of - either had it -- had the body, and staged the body and placed it there a couple months later. That doesn't make a lot of sense when you look at the forensic evidence.
And again, it's a circumstantial case. So it's a very difficult case for the prosecutors because no one is going to say I saw Casey Anthony place the remains here.
CHETRY: Why would you have duct tape on a skull?
HOSTIN: Why would you have the duct tape? That is the answer that's going to be crucial for the jury because the prosecution is alleging that this was an intentional murder that she suffocated her with duct tape.
And now, when you look at the remains, Kiran, sort of the duct tape was placed around the mouth and the nose all the way around. There was hair stuck to the duct tape on the remains. I think a picture like that in the jury's mind, they're going to have that question, you know, who did this and was this intentional?
VELSHI: All right, Sunny. Good to see you. Thank you so much for that. We'll continue -- Sunny and her team will continue to cover this case.
Coming up, Newt Gingrich's campaign is in trouble. Several key members of his campaign all jumping ship together. What does this mean for him? What does it mean for other candidates in the race who might stand to benefit from all those deserters?
ROMANS: Who may try to be the next mayor of New York City? Could it be Alec Baldwin leaving "30 Rock" for a shot at the governor's mansion? We're going to have more on that as well. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's Washington, D.C., you're looking at fair right now, 77 and thunderstorms later today at 92. You know, happy birthday is in order to little Sasha Obama.
VELSHI: Really?
ROMANS: She turns 10. Later this afternoon hopefully before the thunderstorms, the president and his family are going to -- leaving to go to Camp David for a birthday weekend for Sasha, for her 10th birthday.
VELSHI: Do you think that's what she wants for her birthday? I guess, she has limitations being the president's daughter.
ROMANS: You say I want a pony. Where do you put the pony?
VELSHI: Well, President Obama has got some other work to do. He's got to fill a key post on his re-election team and he's named Katherine Archuleta as political director.
She's the first Latina to hold the position on a major presidential campaign. She's currently the chief of staff for Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
CHETRY: It's back to square one for Newt Gingrich after losing his top campaign staffs. Sixteen aides resigned yesterday citing questions about the candidate's commitment to the presidential race. Gingrich says that he is still in it to win it and that his campaign will begin anew this weekend.
ROMANS: Don't forget Monday night on CNN, the Republican presidential debate from New Hampshire. Seven candidates including Newt Gingrich will take part Monday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
VELSHI: We're going to get a look today at Sarah Palin's e-mails while she was governor of Alaska. Officials in Alaska are releasing more than 24,000 pages of e-mails from Palin's first two years in office.
They were requested by CNN and other news organizations when Palin was running for vice president. Some of them have been deleted or redacted because they have information that's -- that's not for public consumption.
CHETRY: Better late than never. Jury deliberations begin today in the political corruption retrial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich.
Blogojevich was thrown out of office back in 2009 accused of trying to sell President Obama's old Senate seat. A jury deadlocked last August on all but one of the 24 charges he faces.
ROMANS: New calls this morning for Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign over a sexting scandal. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the most senior Democrat yet to say that Congressman Weiner has to go.
But a new poll of voters in Weiner's district shows that most of them want him to stay in Congress. And according to a Democratic source, so does his pregnant wife, Huma Abedin.
VELSHI: So the idea that his voters want him to stay does speak to the fact that New York is a little bit different when it comes to politics. It might be obvious to other people he should go, but some of his constituents don't think so.
Before his sudden fall from grace, he was considered by many to be a leading candidate to become New York City's mayor in 2013. That apparently is in doubt.
CHETRY: That's right. So this scandal could open an opportunity for another Democrat, actor and political activist Alec Baldwin. So would he consider a move from "30 Rock" to the mayor's mansion?
CNN's Mary Snow is following that for us. She joins us now. Hi, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. You know, New York politics never a dull moment. This is a long shot, but it's on the table. Alec Baldwin has been politically active for a long time and it's no secret he's been interested in seeking office.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): He plays an un-PC conservative TV executive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really resent the congresswoman's accusations. I've long been an advocate for diversity. It's made this nation great. The Chinese built the railroads. The Irish built and filled the jails.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A guy named Juan built my armor. SNOW: In real life, Alec Baldwin is a long-time Democrat who may be considering moving from "30 Rock" to city hall. A spokesman for the actor says he wouldn't rule out Baldwin making a run for New York City mayor in 2013 and there's an opening in the Democratic field.
Up until last week, Congressman Anthony Weiner was seen as the leading contender. But chances of him becoming mayor are now slim to none. Baldwin has been eyeing openings for a while.
Just two years ago he told "Playboy" magazine, people misstep, unfortunately an opportunity for me, may mean bad things for someone else. I don't wish that.
"New York" magazine writing about Baldwin the potential candidate as far back as 1997. Just this January on CNN, Eliot Spitzer asked him if he was interested in running for political office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: So the answer is yes, it's something I'm very, very interested in because, you know, people would say to me all the time, why would you want to do that? And sometimes I don't want to do it because to leave what I'm doing now would be extremely painful because I like what I'm doing.
ELIOT SPITZER, HOST, CNN's "IN THE ARENA": You love to act?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Baldwin's contract with "30 Rock" though runs out in 2012. But could he really be a mayor? CNN contributor John Avlon points to celebrities turned politicians like Jesse Ventura, Al Franken and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Just the fact he has high name I.D. He's associated with New York. If he were to show he was serious and really take the time to learn the issues, you get him in a Democratic primary, he could get enough percentage to make a runoff and he could even make a credible run as an independent. So, yes, no one should count this one out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Alec Baldwin is currently filming in Florida, but he has taken to his Twitter account and weighed in on Anthony Weiner, writing that he should not resign.
As far as any hints about his political ambitions, he writes, it's a long way until November 2013. You know, one of our colleagues pointed out yesterday, if this doesn't work out, it could be a plot for "30 Rock."
VELSHI: So of all of us here, Mary is the true New Yorker. She's a real New Yorker.
SNOW: Yes.
VELSHI: For real New Yorkers, of which you know many and you are related to many, does this even surprise you?
SNOW: It doesn't. I mean --
ROMANS: Mary is like nothing surprises me.
SNOW: New York politics over the last couple years, not much surprises us, right? John Avlon was joking yesterday about baggage because we're talking about Alec Baldwin.
VELSHI: He has some.
SNOW: These days it's almost a prerequisite to be a New York politician.
VELSHI: Normal folks don't -- people who come in and have ideas doesn't work for New York all that much.
SNOW: But this is very - I mean, he would really have to do a lot of work.
CHETRY: Right. I mean, the fund-raising -- it's easy to say 2013 is a long way off and there's a lot of -- sort of moves have to be put into place if he's going to do it.
SNOW: Study up on issues which he knows.
VELSHI: But the Anthony Weiner thing if he doesn't run that's a big vacuum in New York because he was the one sort of talked about. He was a key candidate.
SNOW: He'd already raised $5 million.
VELSHI: Yes.
SNOW: For that race.
VELSHI: Yes, important to know. All right, Mary. Great story. Thank you.
SNOW: Sure.
VELSHI: Well, some savings advice from the president of the United States speaking to reporters yesterday. President Obama shared a piece of advice that his grandmother had told him, his late grandmother. Don't spend all your money, save a little bit of whatever you're earning.
CHETRY: The president also said that there are times when you have to borrow money, for instance, when he and the first lady graduated from Harvard Law, they were $125,000 in debt.
VELSHI: Christine will tell you that's good debt. ROMANS: That's good debt and the president will say so too. But, you know, now they have almost $500,000 saved in a 529 for Sasha and Malia for their college savings.
So they've gone from being deeply in debt to having a lot of savings. Of course, book deals help. We want to know what's the best financial advice you have ever received and from whom? It's our question of the day. Here are some of your responses.
CHETRY: Well, Vernonsm writes, "My dad taught me not to spend more than I make. Goes for USA too. Stop spending and incurring trillion dollar plus deficits."
VELSHI: All right. On Facebook, Terry says, "My father gave me this advice, save six months worth of salary in a, quote, "go to hell" fund. If your boss asks you to do something that conflicts with your moral standards, you will not be an economic slave. You can say go to hell. Quit and still be able to survive for a while. Luckily I haven't been put in that position.
CHETRY: The same case though in this day and age. It used to be you thought you had to save six months. Now when you look at long- term unemployment and how long it takes for people to get a job.
ROMANS: Average length of unemployment is 39 weeks. That's more than six months, but it's nice to have that, way more than most people have.
That's right, Gingit on Twitter, you need only 80 cents from each dollar and also Mike on Facebook says, doesn't seem like Obama listened on to his grandma.
VELSHI: He did in his personal life. I think that might be a political criticism.
ROMANS: I think that is a political criticism. It doesn't have to talk about money and financial advice without getting into political criticisms quickly.
All right, storm clouds gathering on Wall Street, a check of futures next.
CHETRY: Also poor Shania Twain, I mean, this is every girl's nightmare. You're walking around on heels, you got the big gown on for a big night and you fall.
ROMANS: No.
CHETRY: It happened at the CMT awards. We'll hear what she said about it though, 48 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 10 minutes to the top of the hour. Here are your morning headlines. Just in to CNN, a major power outage right now across downtown Detroit. These are live pictures right now from Detroit. Several public buildings and schools have had to be closed now. Traffic lights are not working and that's making traffic a bear.
City officials are blaming the outage on the heat wave. Increased demand for air-conditioning knocked out power. Officials say, it could take at least 24 hours to fix the problem. We will continue to follow it.
A wild fire in Arizona that has burned more than 380,000 acres and destroyed month are than 22 homes is threatening crucial transmission lines. If those lines are damaged, it could leave nearly 400,000 people without power.
German health officials say they have traced a deadly strand of E. coli to bean sprouts. They're not certain which farm is it stored for the outbreak. So far, 27 people have died.
Casey Anthony received medical attention after she got sick in the middle of her trial. The judge ended yesterday's emotional proceedings 90 minutes early. Jurors were shown graphic photos of her daughter, Caylee's remains.
Newt Gingrich scrambling to save his run for the Republican presidential nomination after 16 top campaign aides have resigned. Gingrich says he is still in it and will reboot his campaign over the weekend.
On Wall Street stocks snaps the six-day losing streak. Right now, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P futures are all pointing down as investors remain nervous about the market and the economic recovery.
You are caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.
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VELSHI: Buffalo, New York, a city I grew up knowing so well. I grew up in Toronto. On a clear day, you could see across sometimes to Niagara Falls. Buffalo, great place. It's 58 degrees right now going up to 71 and sunny. That's kind of to me perfect weather.
CHETRY: It is. Buffalo, right now, living in that north eastern upstate part of the country is probably the best place to be.
VELSHI: A lot of kids going up to camp up there. That's a nice place to be. Rob, have you ever spent any time in upstate western New York?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. I went to college upstate New York and I have been to Buffalo across the bridge. It is all beautiful country. The great lakes are a cool, refreshing dip.
VELSHI: Yes, in fact.
MARCIANO: A lot of people are seeking refuge from the heat. Check out some of these numbers. In Atlantic City, a lot of folks jumping off the boardwalk and into the ocean yesterday. A 102 degrees for a high temperature that shattered the record. The matter of fact, that's the earliest in the season that Atlantic City has ever been over 100.
It's 102 in Newark, 102 in D.C. and again, these are as measured in the shade. They don't include humidity. We are to keep the heat and humidity across the southeast. A little bit of a break across the northeast today.
But stormy conditions continue across Chicago land here with a ground stop at O'Hare right now. If you are traveling through Chicago, there are going to be some delays for the next couple of hours and then we will start to see some calming of the skies.
A little bit calmer today after the heavy rain and thunderstorms last night. Some were severe. Temperatures will be a little bit cooler today. But I think the big thing is going to be the amount of humidity, which will be a lot less. That's for sure.
As far as daytime highs are concerned, 86 degrees for a high temperature in New York City, 92 degrees in D.C. and 93 degrees expected in Atlanta. It's 96 as well in Memphis. This is day 13 for Atlanta to be 90 degrees or higher than that.
Let's talk about the tropics. This is Hurricane Adrian, which is heading to the west fairly quickly. It is about 300 miles south/southwest of Mexico heading out to sea. This is an amazing and gorgeous category four storms.
These are the kind we love. They look fantastic meteorologically. They are not bothering anybody, some big swells up through California. If you're surfing out that way this weekend, any of you guys going out to southern California to do some surfing?
VELSHI: Yes, I didn't want to say it on TV. Now, you have outed me for my surfing trip this weekend.
MARCIANO: Paparazzi alert.
VELSHI: I have a new surfing vest.
ROMANS: And he brings the surf board right here. That is the one time it would make sense to wear a vest for you.
VELSHI: But I'm not surfing in answer to your question, Rob. Thanks for rolling it all together. We started off with Buffalo and you closed it off with some surfing. Rob Marciano in the severe weather center.
ROMANS: One of country music's biggest stars.
VELSHI: And a fellow Canadian.
ROMANS: That's right. Shania Twain. She says it is one of her most embarrassing moments. The singer took a tumble. Making her entrance on stage -- she slipped in her high heels. She picked herself up and later posted a video telling a friend, it is all good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANIA TWAIN, SINGER: I didn't hurt myself. I have a bit of a sore thumb and that's about it. I am going to auction off those shoes, get rid of them as soon as I can. I never want to see those shoes again or maybe I should keep them as a souvenir. I don't know. I will think about that one. Anyway --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Shania's fall was seen. Pretty much every red-blooded American or Canadian man would still think she is the most beautiful.
VELSHI: I'm glad she's not hurt. I live in fear of that. People must think I have a fetish because I see people in high heels walking down the street. I do this. I follow their walk. I am fascinated you guys, how you do it. I am sticking to these shot, short little heels.
CHETRY: I twisted my ankle two weeks ago trying on a pair of wedges. That is a big sign.
Do you remember Mad Libs? We used to crack up on these. Slipping in words that make no sense and laughing until your face hurts.
VELSHI: The man who brought us all this joy has passed on. The inventor of Mad Libs, Leonard Stern died Tuesday. He was 88 years old.
CHETRY: His most lasting contribution was Mad Libs. He was als huge in the TV business, helping to launch "The Honeymooners" and he was executive producer of "Get Smart."
VELSHI: All right, top stories coming up right after break. It's 57 minutes after the hour.
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