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American Morning

Weiner Calls It Quits; Greece Fight for the Future; "We Need Each Other"; Witnesses: No Conclusive DNA Link; N.Y. Same Sex Marriage Vote; Defense Begins Case in Anthony Trial; Taking the Wheel

Aired June 17, 2011 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the waiting game is over. Congressman Anthony Weiner gone. Now he says he was creating too much of a distraction to continue.

We're also getting one very good example this morning of just how big a distraction he was.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Defense lawyers for Casey Anthony trying to shoot down the prosecution's witnesses one by one, claiming there's no evidence linking their client to her daughter's death. And some observers say they're making a pretty good case.

CHETRY: Also, Mitt Romney drawing some fire from Democrats. They're calling him an out-of-touch millionaire for something he said as a joke to some out-of-work Floridians. We're going to let you hear it and decide for yourself.

ROMANS: Plus, why Angelina Jolie is in Turkey on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The sideshow is over. I'm Christine Romans.

Anthony Weiner is an ex-congressman. He says he was causing too much of a distraction to continue. And this morning, we're getting one very good example of just how big that distraction was.

CHETRY: And trying to solve a financial crisis. I'm Kiran Chetry.

We're expecting to hear the leaders of Germany and France outline a rescue package for Greece. But is it enough to calm the jitters that are weighing down markets across the globe on this AMERICAN MORNING?

ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Friday. Let me say that again. It is s Friday, June 17th.

CHETRY: We're happy it's Friday.

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: We're also happy that this -- as you called it aptly, a political sideshow is over this morning.

ROMANS: Yes.

CHETRY: But we do have new details on exactly how it all went down. Disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner is out, three weeks after an Internet sexting scandal turned his life into a Capitol Hill sideshow. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: I hoped to be able to continue to work that the citizens of my district elected me to do. The distraction that I have created has made that impossible. So today, I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And this morning we're getting a look at how it all went down. New York lawmaker Steve Israel says that Weiner called him while he was at a congressional picnic at the White House and told him his plans to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D), NEW YORK: He had already made the decision to resign and he spoke with me. He said that he wanted to deliver that news to Leader Pelosi. And when he delivered the news to me and to Leader Pelosi, he did talk about the fact that it is important now to go back to the issues and the challenges that this country faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Trying to resign with some dignity but his news conference was more like a circus and plain catcalls overshadowing the whole thing.

Mary Snow joins us this morning. You were there, of course, yesterday. Almost appropriate end to this entire scandal is this press conference yesterday that was really a little bit crazy at times.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really was very circus- like. And as you just heard Steve Israel say there on Capitol Hill, it was a big distraction.

You know, our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who broke the story of Weiner's resignation yesterday summed it up best when she said that Democrats on Capitol Hill are both sad to see their colleague go but they are also relieved.

Congressman Steve Israel, you just saw him there. He's the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman. He was one of the first Democrats to come out calling on Weiner to resign. He had talked about the distraction, the story had become over the last three weeks. On John -- "JK USA" last night, he also said that in his conversations with Anthony Weiner that Weiner had acknowledged that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D) NEW YORK: One of the things that Congressman Weiner talked about over the past week was that on Wednesday the Republicans introduced a bill to privatize social security after a month before they tried to end Medicare. And he realized that this had become a huge distraction from some serious challenges that we confront and from some important fights that we these to have. And now that he's made that decision, we can go back to addressing those challenges and quite honestly, fighting those fights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And one of the big fights, of course, is over Medicare. And before the scandal broke, Paul Ryan, the Republican, his Medicare plan had been in the spotlight and Democrats were very happy to have it there. And if you recall, a special election was held in New York State. It was a congressional seat and that election was held last month. A Democrat won that seat. The Medicare issue was the defining issue, but it was kind of overshadowed in the past three weeks as the story continually unfolded.

ROMANS: Democrats would have liked to have been able to highlight that, look, someone was running on basically a Republican platform of changing Medicare, reforming as the Republicans would say Medicare, and lost.

SNOW: Right.

ROMANS: A Democrat won. But they didn't get to sort of do that victory lap.

CHETRY: The other interesting thing there, you mentioned that special election. This would now be the third since 2010 in New York. I mean, if there's going to be a special election held for his remaining 18 months, right?

SNOW: Yes. The way that it usually happens is about after the governor calls a special election, it's about 70 to 80 days after that. So that would be in August. And then, you know, we've been talking about this. There has been a lot of speculation that Anthony Weiner's seat in the ninth congressional district would be eliminated because New York is slated to lose two seats. The thinking is --

ROMANS: Because of the 2010 census, right?

SNOW: Exactly, the redistricting plan and the thinking is that once he would be an upstate Republican and one seat down seat. So when you're asking somebody to run, it's really for a lame duck position there.

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: Mary Snow, you know, it's still fascinating. SNOW: Yes.

ROMANS: Still fascinating even as the whole story starts to die down. Thanks, Mary.

Noticeably absent from Anthony Weiner's resignation speech, his wife, Huma Abedin. She was seen entering their Queens, New York, apartment yesterday, right before the fallen congressman announced he was stepping down so they could have time to heal. That's something President Obama says he would like to see happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wish Representative Weiner and his lovely wife well. Obviously, it has been a tough incident for him, but I'm confident that they'll refocus and he'll refocus and they'll end up being able to bounce back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So what's next for Anthony Weiner? One well respected legal analyst says you can count on a political comeback.

Dan Abrams, founder of mediate.com appeared on CNN's "IN THE ARENA" last night telling Eliot Spitzer the Big Apple can be very forgiving even if Weiner's wife is not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN ABRAMS, FOUNDER, MEDIATE.COM: By the way, I do think that he will be back in New York City politics within three years. He will have a leading role, I predict, in New York City politics. I'm not saying he's necessarily going to be a married man. I have no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, before he imploded, Congressman Weiner was assembling a nice war chest. A check of records show that he has more than $365,000 in cash for a congressional re-election campaign and $4.5 million for a possible run for mayor of New York in 2013. If he runs for either office, he can keep those accounts active. But if not, he does have some options. He can give cash to other candidates. He can donate it to charity. He can give it to a party committee or he can return that money back to the donors.

ROMANS: All right. Developing this morning, a rescue plan for Greece. Greece is facing a financial crisis unlike any it has confronted before. The leaders of Germany and France are meeting right now and are expected to outline a new bailout plan. Here is a live picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is meeting with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and they are trying to outline just what to do about Greece and the euro zone as it battles what is a very difficult situation there.

The details may not be popular with the thousands of Greeks who over the past few days have taken to the streets in Athens outraged over stifling budget cuts. You can see pictures here of just what we've faced over the past few days as furious Greek residents in Athens have protested of what's going to happen to their country.

Our Diana Magnay is live in Athens with the very latest. And, Diana, a lot of people like to say is that Greece simply lived beyond its means for too many years and now some very painful choices have to be made. What do those choices look like now?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very painful choices, because as far as the man on the street here feels, he's already gone through a year of very tough austerity measures, unemployment at 16 percent. Now the country is in a very deep recession and now he's facing higher taxes, cuts in the public sector, and if these austerity cuts continue, then how can this country ever grow and even be in a position to pay back its debts which are growing exponentially.

And what's happened this morning on the political scene here in Athens is that the Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, has reshuffled his cabinet and he's appointed a different finance minister, the previous defense minister, in a hope to try to achieve some kind of unity within his own government. He's basically been fighting a battle on two fronts, one with his parliament and a rebellion in his own party. And hopefully this cabinet reshuffle will mean that at least his party is behind him and he can get the parliamentary support that he needs to post this austerity package through the government by the end of the month because it's that austerity package which is a condition for the E.U. and the IMF to give more money to prevent Greece from defaulting, Christine.

ROMANS: Tell us quickly why the French and the German president are taking such a leading role -- the German chancellor and the French president are taking such a leading role here. It is because this is an economic and currency union of a lot of different countries and there's a lot of fighting about who's going to have to bear responsibility for making sure that Greece gets back on track.

MAGNAY: Absolutely. And let's not forget that the Greek -- sorry the German and the French banks hold a lot of the Greek bonds, so they are risk losing a great deal if Greece does default on its debts. The Greeks -- the Germans and the French have very different ideas about how to restructure, re-profile the Greek debt. The Germans think that it might be better if bondholders do take some kind of -- do have to extend maturities on their debt, basically have to take some kind of a hit. The French want to structure it slightly differently, so there's a lot of ground work that has to be sort of hammered out before they'll accept a new bailout package and be able to persuade their electorates in these two countries that they'll come up with a plan, Christine.

ROMANS: Diana Magnay, thank you so much. A lot of technical details to work out. It all seems very technical and economic except it's incredibly important for Greece and for Europe and, of course, for the United States as well. Thank you so much, Diana.

CHETRY: Speaking of budgets, it's back to the drawing board for California. Governor Jerry Brown vetoed it yesterday. State lawmakers passed the measure with $3 billion in cuts to schools and also a plan to delay the repayment of $744 million that the state borrowed from its school districts. Governor Brown rejecting it saying it doesn't do enough to address the state's $26 billion deficit.

One state.

ROMANS: I know. That's right. Amazing, right?

A same-sex marriage bill in New York State is one vote away from becoming law this morning. It's already passed the state assembly and a Senate vote could come as early as today.

Right now, the Senate is split 31-31. The measure needs one more Republican backer to pass. If it happens, Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign it and New York will become the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Actress Angelina Jolie on the way this morning, Kiran, to visit some of the thousands of Syrians who have escaped the violence and are now camped out in Turkey.

CHETRY: Yes. We're told that Jolie is expected to arrive sometime this morning. Our Arwa Damon is there. She's hoping to get a chance to speak with the actress and activist. And according to Turkish officials, more than 8,900 Syrians have now fled to Turkey, posing not only a big humanitarian crisis but a diplomatic crisis as well for that country. So hopefully we will get a chance to check in with Angelina Jolie there.

Authorities in Vancouver seeking the public's help in their investigation of the Stanley Cup riots. They've set up a Facebook page now to try to identify the people who instigated that violence. Meantime, the city is still cleaning up from the riots that were triggered by the hometown Canucks losing the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins.

As you saw from the video, the overturned cars, people setting them on fire, people hitting each other, knocking each other to the ground, windows smashed, businesses looted. Vancouver's police chief though still blames the rioting on criminals and anarchists. He said they disguised themselves as hockey fans.

ROMANS: Amid the chaos on the streets of Vancouver, there was the kiss. This picture of a couple lying in the streets seemingly locked in a passionate kiss and oblivious to the charging crowds and baton-wielding riot police. It was captured by a photographer covering the postgame riots and has now been tweeted around the world. But even the photographer who took this shot isn't entirely sure if the couple is kissing or one of them is hurt. Either way, it's a memorable image. And, you know, it's interesting, a lot of these images are being scoured and will be scoured for information about who might have been throwing punches --

CHETRY: That's right. ROMANS: -- throwing rocks, that anonymity in the digital world we'll be watching that story.

CHETRY: Facebook page about it is very interesting because they can get input from around the world.

ROMANS: Right. You can start to tag people there in the crowds and police will be able to trace back and see who might have been behind the anarchists and what do they call them, anarchists and criminals that were in the crowd.

CHETRY: Right. Yes.

All right. Well, Robert Gates less than two weeks away from retirement but the outgoing defense secretary is not going quietly. We'll tell you about the warning that he's sounding about our fractured relationship with Pakistan.

ROMANS: A routine speeding stop turns into simply a terrifying encounter. The officer dragged across a busy intersection and the dash cam video is released.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Robert Gates isn't exactly riding off into the sunset quietly. With less than two weeks to go before his retirement, the Defense Secretary is sounding a - a warning about the badly damaged relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan. Fix it.

CHETRY: Yes. Easier said than done, though.

Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon this morning. What are his biggest concerns and what are the options right now, really, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you know, as you point out, the secretary is about to step down. Gates is going. Leon Panetta coming in as Secretary of Defense, but no ordinary turnover time because of Pakistan, one of the U.S.'s closest allies.

The U.S. has been very concerned in recent days the relationship had an all-time low. One of the big concerns right now, and one of the things they're watching very closely, is the fate of General Ashfaq Kayani. He is the Pakistan Army Chief of Staff, the most powerful man in Pakistan, the U.S.'s closest ally. He is now under withering criticism from inside his own Officer Corps about the U.S. coming into Pakistan for that Osama Bin Laden raid. And if he winds up losing his job after all this, it will be a crisis.

So Bob Gates, on his way out the door, is warning that the U.S. has to stick with this ally. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan. Pakistan is an important player in terms of regional stability and in terms of Central Asia. And so my view is that this is a relationship where we just need to keep working at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: The man coming into the job, Leon Panetta at his confirmation hearings just a couple days ago, sounded an even more dire warning about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, CIA DIRECTOR: This is a difficult challenge. The relationship with Pakistan is at the same time one of the most critical and yet one of the most complicated and frustrating relationships that we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, posing - all of this posing a political challenge for the White House and the Pentagon because, of course, Pakistan still gets billions of dollars every year in U.S. aid and military assistance and the feeling from the Congress is that Pakistan is still double dealing, supporting terrorism inside its own borders while it takes that U.S. aid - Kiran, Christine.

ROMANS: You know - and Barbara, that's what's interesting, yesterday Senator Patrick Leahy said, look, Robert Gates, why - how long do we let these countries lie to us and Robert Gates said very frankly, this is how business gets done. So he's been very frank these last few days. It's been I'd say refreshing.

CHETRY: It was. It was interesting to hear that. There was really - it's probably fascinating for you as well, Barbara, he also said sometimes countries that were friends with send spies into other countries. I mean, this is what happens. It was a very frank discussion on the Hill.

STARR: It was, indeed. But, you know, I'll tell you. Behind the scenes, one of the things they do keep talking about and reminding Congress of is Pakistan remains a country with nuclear weapons. You now have a new leader as we reported yesterday of al Qaeda, Ayman al- Zawahiri, a country with nuclear weapons, a country that is experiencing, perhaps, unprecedented unrest over the terrorism question right now. It's really a toxic soup all around.

ROMANS: Barbara Starr, thank you. Barbara at the Pentagon.

CHETRY: Dragged across a busy road in Florida. This is a stunning dash cam video released. A 62-year-old officer, Mike Musto, pulled over a motorcyclist Victor Morales for speeding. This was in March.

As he put his hand on Morales' shoulder, well, the unthinkable happened. He floored the gas, shooting out across the intersection with the Musto holding on for dear life, getting dragged behind that motorcycle. Here's what the deputy said about the scary moments. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY MIKE MUSTO, PALM BEACH COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: During these five seconds, a million thoughts went through my mind about how I could possibly get my gun hand loose, ready, you know, to do what I needed to do or if I could just hang on for another second, maybe I could bring him off the bike with me, but I knew I was going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Morales ended up getting arrested. Musto only had minor injuries and he was actually back to work a few days later. There you see he fell off finally after the -

ROMANS: Wow.

CHETRY: -- suspect took off.

ROMANS: Split second, a million - a million different possible outcomes.

Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.

We had some storms last night that rolled through parts of the Mid-south, over 70-mile-an-hour winds gusting at - in Memphis and heavy rains and another batch of storms rolling across the Tennessee Valley towards Huntsville and Nashville again this morning and a couple of more storms out west.

We don't have any really major monster storms out there, but there's pockets of energy that has spawned these convective outbreaks over the past couple of nights and that's what I expect to see throughout the day today.

One of those pieces of energy rolling across the New York City and Tri-State area, metropolitan area of I-95 rolling towards Boston, nothing severe here but certainly some rain and some thunder and lightning, maybe enough pounding on the roadways to slow your commute down this morning.

We could use some of that rain out west, of course. Almost to a half million acres as the wallow fire now stretching into New Mexico. Also have the monument fire here. And because of the winds yesterday and we'll see similar winds and dry - low levels of humidity today, a number of spot fires were flared up again. So red flag warnings and critical fire danger in effect and, of course, the heat not helping here. Unbelievable temperatures here, well up over 100 degrees; 109 in Childress and 109 degrees in Midland, Texas. And it's getting to a point, guys, where it's been so hot for so long and so dry, that the - the ground is just baked dry in almost kind of self-feeds the system and keeps it hot and dry he and we don't see a whole lot of change to this pattern going forward.

Back up to you in New York.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob.

CHETRY: They had severe thunderstorms all - all last night and into this morning as well around here. Lightning through the building - seeing lightning through the building windows. It's pretty crazy.

MARCIANO: Yes. It's a rough start for New York but you guys are all dry - all this quiet down over the next couple hours.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right (ph).

CHETRY: Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, Mitt Romney discovers that joking about unemployment may not be very funny in some circles. We'll show you the video and ask you to weigh in.

ROMANS: A Saudi woman - Saudi women encouraged to protest a driving ban. You know, it's taboo for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, but you know what, they're taking cameras and they're doing it anyway. Will they brave the road and will make a difference? Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: U.S. markets closing mixed Thursday following stronger than expected reports on housing and jobs. The Dow and S&P 500 made gains, the NASDAQ dropped just a few points.

The leaders of Germany and France are announcing support for reform and a potential second bailout for Greece this morning. The Greek government also appointing a new finance minister, amid increasing pressure from protests outside Parliament this week.

Securities regulators are considering civil fraud charges against some credit rating agencies for their involvement in mortgage bond deals that led to the financial crisis. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting this morning that firms included in the expanded probe include Standard & Poor's and Moody's. CNN's calls to the S.E.C. and the credit rating firms themselves have not yet been returned this morning.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion slashing its financial outlook after quarterly sales badly missed Wall Street expectations. The company also says it will begin layoffs but has not disclosed further details.

And AARP dropping its long-held opposition to cutting social security benefits. This is according to a report in "The Wall Street Journal" today. This is the lobbying group for senior citizens, of course, that says the decision came after much debate within the organization and it wants to move with the times and come to the negotiating table.

And a new report says small business lending from banks fell $15 billion in the first quarter of this year. The drop due part to banks tightening their lending standards, harder to give loans, and small businesses frankly they're less willing to take on debt.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break with the defense now making its case in the Casey Anthony trial.

It's 27 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour right now. Time for a look at your top stories this morning.

It is day one of Anthony Weiner's life as an ex-congressman. He stepped down yesterday, admitting his sex scandal was -- sexting scandal was creating too much of a distraction. His wife Huma was not at his side for that announcement.

The leaders of France and Germany say there is, quote, "no time to lose" when it comes to securing a second bailout to ensure Greece does not default on its debt, because if that happens, it could trigger other European economies to go under.

Angelina Jolie is in Turkey this morning to meet with Syrians who have escaped a deadly crackdown by their government. Jolie is there as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency.

According to Turkish officials more than 8,900 Syrians have now fled to Turkey.

ROMANS: Later this morning in the Casey Anthony murder trial, the defense is expected to call more of the prosecution's forensic witnesses to the stand. Day one featured seven crime scene investigators and forensic scientists. Their testimony coming exactly three years to the day since 2-year-old Caylee Anthony was last seen alive.

David Mattingly is covering the trial. He joins us live from Orlando this morning.

Good morning.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

What we saw yesterday was the defense going on the offensive, going after what it perceives as weaknesses in the prosecution's case, pointing out the lack of DNA evidence, that there was no DNA evidence from Casey Anthony on the car where prosecutors say she stowed her daughter's body. Also pointing out there was no DNA evidence on the duct tape retrieved from her daughter's body that was linking her to that body.

Now, there was a very dramatic moment in court yesterday, when the defense was driving that point home to the jury and here's how it played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE BAEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Were you given the profiles of Cindy, George and Lee Anthony?

HEATHER SEUBERT, FBI EXAMINER: May I refer to --

BAEZ: Yes, go ahead.

SEUBERT: The buccal samples had been submitted to the laboratory under communication dated October 20th of 2008.

BAEZ: Were you asked to conduct a paternity test for Lee Anthony as to Caylee -- being the potential father of Caylee Anthony?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: That moment was actually one that we also saw yesterday, very dramatic one that angered the prosecution, where the defense was asking questions about a paternity test that was done to see if Casey's father or brother had somehow fathered her child. Well those results did come back negative, but the prosecution really objected to the defense bringing that up.

What the defense is trying to do, they're trying to bolster that claim they made very early in this case that Casey was the victim of abuse and that would explain her strange behavior while she was out partying when her daughter was reported missing -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. David Mattingly, a strange trial that has certainly captivated America's attention -- thank you.

You can watch gavel-to-gavel live coverage of the Casey Anthony murder trial today on our sister station, HLN.

CHETRY: Democrats taking issue with what they call an insensitive joke made by Mitt Romney. The Republican presidential candidate, who's worth about $200 million, was in Florida, talking to a group of unemployed people when he weighed in with a predicament of his own as a joke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I should also tell my story. I'm also unemployed.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you on LinkedIn?

ROMNEY: Yes, actually. And I'm networking.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Democratic National Committee chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, put out a statement saying that being unemployed is not a joke.

Raises us to our question of the day: Mitt Romney's joke -- was it connecting with voters or was it out of touch? Send us an email, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook and we'll read some of your comments a little later in the hour -- Christine.

ROMANS: And new numbers, Kiran, while Americans all over the country are struggling to pay their bills, many of the people they send to Washington are doing just fine. The median household income in the U.S., as you know, is right about $50,221.

But many in Congress are making much more than that, three times that -- according to new House members' financial disclosure reports.

Let's look at Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's base salary as speaker in 2010, $223,500 a year. Now, she and her husband are quite wealthy. They're worth a minimum of $42 million. This is according to "The Washington Post" with those new disclosures, with assets ranging from real estate to J. Crew stock.

Let's look at Speaker of the House John Boehner. He is making $223,000, up from $193,000 he earned last year as minority leader. His net worth is $2 million.

And while he may be the most powerful Republican in the House, he's far from the richest. That title goes to Congressman Darrell Issa from California.

He's the founder of a car security company. He made his money and then went to Washington. His base salary is $174,000. He's worth a minimum of $240 million, lists assets worth over $50 million.

Congressman Barney Frank, I want to check about him because he actually is -- he's served Massachusetts for 30 years. So, he's made his money from his job in Congress. His base salary is $174,000. His worth is $1.2 million at least in 2011, reported no debts or liabilities.

It's just a snapshot from these new disclosures, Kiran, about how much money we're talking about in Washington. Back to you.

CHETRY: It is interesting. Thanks, Christine.

Well, fueled by a social media campaign, Saudi Arabian women are now being encouraged to break a driving ban by getting behind the wheel today. The movement sparked by a woman detained after posting a video online of herself driving back in May. Although it is not technically illegal, religious edicts limit women's activities.

But, will they break the status quo?

Mohammed Jamjoom joins us live from Abu Dhabi this morning.

You know, for us, it's something that here in the States you just take for granted. Of course, you can drive. I mean, it's unthinkable that you wouldn't be able to.

In Saudi Arabia, it's a punishable offense for women.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. You said it exactly.

And this campaign was started about two months ago. It's called the June 17th Campaign, women to drive in Saudi Arabia, encouraging women who were tired of not having that right in Saudi Arabia, to get behind the wheels on June 17th today, drive around the country, get behind any -- the wheel of any car they can, drive around the country, make their presence known, make their voices heard.

And since then, we've seen more and more videos being posted from in Saudi Arabia and from outside Saudi Arabia, people supporting this campaign, showing women driving, showing women supporting the women in Saudi Arabia.

If I can talk very briefly about a video that was posted on YouTube a short while ago, this is a video purporting to show a woman in Saudi Arabia shortly after midnight on the 17th today in Riyadh, she's fully veiled, fully covered. It's under the cloak of darkness.

She says she's going to go to the supermarket. She says she wants to have the experience of driving, the kind of thing women in Saudi Arabia don't have. They don't have the right to just get in their cars, go run errands, go to the supermarket, pick up their kids from school.

Saudi Arabia is a very conservative country. Women there have to have male permission to get a bank account, to get an education, to travel.

So, this is something that's been more and more frustrating for women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia the last few years. And right now, the question today is: will this online activism, will this surge in online activism in Saudi Arabia really translate to more and more women getting behind the wheel and driving around in cities across Saudi Arabia?

We've heard from a few women since last night that said they have done so. I spoke to a woman early this morning, said she was so proud. She went in the car with her mother, drove around. She was inspired, hoping that she would more women to do so in Saudi Arabia.

CHETRY: And what are the risks of punishment?

JAMJOOM: Well, mostly, if they do arrest somebody who's been driving, they take them to the police station, they will make their male guardian come and sign some kind of a form guaranteeing that the woman will no longer do so.

One of the reasons women in Saudi Arabia don't do this more is because it's not so much the females at risk, more the men in the family that are at risk. So, the women know that if they do this, it's their husbands or fathers or sons in some cases who will face the punishment.

But there was one of the organizers of this campaign who was detained for about 10 days last month because she drove around and posted a video of herself.

So, it is a risk and people are afraid if they do so there will be a crackdown.

CHETRY: All right. Mohammed Jamjoom for us this morning, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING: struggling in cash strapped federally funded youth programs aimed at saving teens need to be saved on their own.

Also, curiosity got the cat -- the kitten actually. We'll show you how he was rescued from quite a tight spot and what they've now named that kitty.

It's 40 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We just want to give you a quick update on some breaking news that we're getting from our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon about some major roads closed near the Pentagon because of concerns about a suspicious vehicle.

ROMANS: That's right.

Arlington County police investigating a suspicious vehicle that we're told on Washington Boulevard. We don't know how long the closures are going to last. The park police are now taking the lead. Details still coming in at this point, but our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr working her sources, we're going to bring you more updates.

But, again, if you are in the area, you're noticing that there are some roads closed around the Pentagon and we still -- a suspicious vehicle, we still don't know any more about that.

CHETRY: That's right. But we'll get an update and we'll hopefully get some pictures soon so we can take a look at how much -- this is right when the morning commute is starting there as well.

ROMANS: And you know what? They're very serious about these sorts of things, especially in high profile areas like this. You see an abandoned car, that's it. You know, they really close them pretty quickly.

CHETRY: All right. Well, also, there's a program aimed at educating at-risk teens that's now at risk itself. It's called YouthBuild. The initiative gives thousands of high school dropouts a second chance by putting them back into the classroom.

ROMANS: Now, YouthBuild supporters are crying out for help, stressing that the program is very important especially when unemployment is so high and unemployment for teens really at record levels.

Allan Chernoff joins us now with the story.

Good morning, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

This is a program for people who simply have not succeeded in traditional high schools. The program builds their self-confidence through individualized attention. For many of them, it does work. But federal budget cutting now threatens YouthBuild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Donovan Bruce dropped out of two different high schools. Today, he's getting paid to learn home construction while studying to finish his high school education. Where traditional high school failed, the federally funded YouthBuild program is succeeding for Donovan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just learned today that Donovan passed his GED.

(CHEERS)

CHERNOFF: He now plans to attend college in the fall.

DONOVAN BRUCE, YOUTHBUILD STUDENT: You are just learning in a good environment and everybody is helping each other out. And everybody gets a chance to succeed.

CHERNOFF (on camera): YouthBuild does keep kids off the streets and in school, where they can prepare for a career, especially important in today's economy.

(voice-over): But in the past two years, Congress has cut the program's funding by more than a third. Among those hardest hit is Brooklyn's DREAMS YouthBuild where Donovan is among 35 students getting second or third chances. It's one of 121 YouthBuild programs around the nation that have lost federal funding administered through the U.S. Labor Department.

DOROTHY STONEMAN, CHAIR, YOUTHBUILD COALITION: The idea of cutting this program to even fewer young people rather than opening the doors to all of the young people who are looking for a way back into a productive role is really bad policy. This program works, and we have young people lining up outside the doors. They call it the Harvard of the Hood because there's such a high demand for it.

CHERNOFF: That demand results from a nurturing environment which unique Eubanks couldn't find when she quit high school last year. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They like a family. They like the mother, the aunts and cousins and stuff that you never had.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's someone always to listen to them, respect them, to show them that they care, and you believe in them and that you want them to succeed. I think that that makes the difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (on-camera): While politicians search for a way to help troubled kids continue their education, youth build advocates say the government is already funding one. They say the answer is simply to expand, not contract, youth build to help dropouts turn their lives around.

CHETRY: Because it's not just these kids -- I mean, it's not just the kids and the cost of the GED, it's what would happen if they fall off the grid.

CHERNOFF: That is exactly right. And unfortunately, the fact is, for a lot of these kids, they end up getting arrested, going to prison. So, this is a very important place for pull them off the streets, keep them in school.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Everyone's talking about austerity and tight budgets, but when you look at an investment on the front end that saves you money in the back end that something that, sometimes, gets lost in all the budget cutting, so --

CHERNOFF: That's essentially the return on the investment here.

ROMANS: All right. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much, Allan.

CHETRY: Do you know cats, they do the darnedest things sometimes, right? This curious kitten in Redding, California, really takes the cake. He got himself stuck inside of a pipe. Firefighters had to use a special pipe cutter to rescue this little guy, gently pulling him out by the scruff of his neck. There you go. They've done a lot of animal rescues, but they say that cutting a kitten out of a pipe, that was a first. And guess what they want to name the kitten? Piper.

ROMANS: Oh, that's cute. That's very cute. I'm glad that all worked out well.

All right. Coming up this morning's top stories, all the news you need to know to start your day coming up next.

Also, they won't have Anthony Weiner to kick around anymore. We'll give you a play-by-play of the media circus that was Weiner's resignation announcement brought to us only as Jeanne Moos can.

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CHETRY: Forty-nine minutes past the hour. A look at your top stories now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): It's day one of Anthony Weiner's life as an ex-congressman. He stepped down yesterday admitting his sexting scandal was creating too much of a distraction. New York's governor will now have to call a special election to fill his seat.

The leaders of Germany and France say they want a quick resolution to the dispute over a new bailout package for Greece. Speaking earlier this hour, they said there is, quote, "no time to lose when it comes to ensuring Greece does not default on its debt."

The defense is expected to call more of the prosecution's forensic witnesses to the stand today in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Seven of them testified yesterday, telling jurors that there was no conclusive DNA on any of the evidence linking the suspect to the murder of her daughter.

New York is on the verge of becoming the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. A Senate vote could come as early as today. Right now, the Senate needs one more Republican backer for the measure to pass. If that happens, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign it.

And actress, Angelina Jolie, is in Turkey. She's meeting with Syrian refugees at this hour. Jolie is there as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency. CNN is also there. Our Arwa Damon is hoping to get a chance to talk to Angelina Jolie, and we'll have video of her visit later in the morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.

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ROMANS: Democrats are upset over Mitt Romney's joke that he's also unemployed. He made this joke while speaking to a group of unemployed Floridians yesterday.

CHETRY: Yes, he said I'm unemployed, and there were some giggles, and then --

ROMANS: They laughed pretty hard.

CHETRY: They did laugh, and then, somebody joked are you on LinkedIn, and he said, yes, but, you know --

ROMANS: He said, yes, I'm networking.

CHETRY: Yes. Some Democrats have said when you have the net worth that he does, the personal wealth that he does, should you really be joking about that? It brings us to our question of the day, Mitt Romney's joke, was it connecting with voters or was out of touch? We start with Nate. He wrote from Facebook. "I love Mitt Romney. I believe he has what it takes to fix the economy in our country. We have to learn to loosen up and take a joke as what it is, a joke, and learn to laugh even at silly jokes.

ROMANS: Sara Ann on Facebook said, "Out of touch and extremely poor taste. People don't want to hear jokes. They want to hear how he plans to fix the economy and bring jobs to those of us who are unemployed."

Keep your comments coming, folks. Send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We're going to read more of your thoughts later on the program.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, it's 52 minutes past the hour right now. His spectacular fall from grace is now complete, I guess you could say. Anthony Weiner's resignation announcement yesterday afternoon was pretty much in keeping with this media circus that it's been since the sexting scandal broke.

ROMANS: Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is light at the end of the scandal. Lights, cameras, and maybe too much action. Anthony Weiner himself got bumped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're pushing me. Give him a break.

MOOS: Bumped as he was chased by the press to his own press conference. Later, a hedge gave the media a payback. After a moment of stunned silence, the chase resumed and author and prison stripes added to the circus atmosphere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my book called "Flush The Toilet: Why Men Cheat."

MOOS: A book he had trouble giving away. At Weiner's Washington office, his plaque became a tourist attraction with people using both thumbs and tongues while they posed so that they, too, could be part of a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Titillating like this or disgusting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gross TV story.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's so sordid.

MOOS: And if the story wasn't sordid enough, a couple of crass hecklers looking for attention crashed Weiner's press conference.

ANTHONY WEINER, (D) NEW YORK: So, today, I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Bye-bye, pervert. WEINER: And most importantly that my wife and I can continue --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people demand to know --

WEINER: To heal --

MOOS: Even the media were enraged disowning the crashers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not with us. He's not with us.

WEINER: Thank you and good afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you maintain your hot physique?

MOOS: Weiner's resignation may finally plug the slow week of lewd news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.

MOOS: It's a splash of harsh reality for Weiner's staff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The door was then locked, and the office lights were turned out.

MOOS: Only voice mail left on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for calling the office of Congressman Anthony Weiner. Unfortunately, there's nobody available now to take your call.

MOOS (on-camera): Even as the word came down that the end was near, the scandal was still arousing passion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd be interested to see if Alan would say the same thing if John Boehner had said this or any other Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I would. Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? I'm skeptical. Call me skeptical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then, call me a liar. Call me a liar, Steve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like to kick a guy when he's down. We all know --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't put him there.

MOOS: Perhaps, the brutally honest reaction to the Weiner scandal came from none other than Geraldo Rivera, reminiscing about his prime.

GERALDO RIVERA, HOST, "GERALDO AT LARGE": I just remember my days and if there were Twitter accounts --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could have done that when you were a --

RIVERA: Are you kidding me? I would have blanketed the country with every part of my body.

MOOS: At least, Weiner's resignation may help purge all those puns. Let's get that word out of our system. A help fro, Jimmy Kimmel.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Which we've taken the liberty of putting to music.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Weiner, Weiner, Weiner, Weiner, Weiner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Package.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Weiner, Weiner, Weiner, Weiner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Package.

MOOS (voice-over): And as we leave the Weiners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But do you think your marriage will survive?

MOOS: Never mind the marriage. Will the press survive?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Actually, if you had to fall backwards on to anything, a hedge is cushion the fall.

ROMANS: It's almost a perfect visual metaphor for the entire drama.

CHETRY: It really is.

ROMANS: And I'm going to have to say that America loves a redemption story. They love a comeback. If he plays his cards right over the next couple years, you know, you never count anybody down in American politics.

All right. Top stories up next including new pictures of the widespread riots in Vancouver, British Columbia after their defeat for the Stanley Cup.

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