Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Decision Day on Afghanistan; Congress Divided Over Libya; Another Surprise Development in the Casey Anthony Murder Trial; Digging In on the Debt Ceiling; Interview with Sen. Jim DeMint; Search For A Diabetes Cure
Aired June 22, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.
A lot going on this morning. So, let's get you caught up.
Reversing the surge, President Obama making good on his promised drawdown of American forces. He'll try to convince Congress, his generals, and you, the voters, that it is a right move in a critical speech tonight.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
There's a twist in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Prosecutors are suddenly focusing on a woman who also lost a young child and spent time in jail with the defendant. They're still waiting to hear how she might have impacted the case -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm still getting --
CHETRY: Your makeup kit.
COSTELLO: This is my face in this bag.
CHETRY: I hear you. Called the magic shop around here in the morning.
COSTELLO: We love that, don't we? We do.
Good morning, everyone. It's Wednesday, June 22nd. Ali and Christine are off. I'm Carol Costello.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
A big day, decision day, as they're calling it, on the way forward in Afghanistan. The president will deliver a primetime speech tonight. And in it, he's expected to announce his plans to withdraw 30,000 U.S. troops by the end of 2012.
COSTELLO: Now, this comes as more leaders are pleading with the president to take money from there and spend it here to fix the crumbling economy. But sources say the time frame may be too tight for commanders on the ground. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here with us this morning.
And, you just wonder, the president, and his military men talking in the White House and what that conversation must have been like.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, how many times have they been down before this road before, in the last 10 years, what to do in Afghanistan. What we're hearing is that the president will announce a framework that will include withdrawing some 10,000 troops this year. The balance of the 20,000 of the 30,000 surge next year.
But that's really the key, isn't it? What's it going to mean on the ground for the men and women fighting there? What does it mean for commanders? Is it too much too soon? Is it not enough?
You're going to start hearing in the coming hours opinions and views across the political spectrum, but the president has to ensure at this point in making this announcement that he's encouraging the commanders to move along with the withdraw, but not move along so fast that maybe you risk some of the security gains that they've made already.
CHETRY: And he they made security gains? I mean, the other big question is, what are we leaving behind, both in terms of U.S. forces, but also a stronger, more stable Afghanistan or back where we started is this?
STARR: Right. I mean, that is the key, isn't it? If you take 30,000 out by the end of next year, you're still going to have twice as many U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan as when the president came into office.
What about the Afghans, though? Can Hamid Karzai really demonstrate that he's a strong enough leader to control and govern the country so that the Taliban can't come back? That's the whole goal. No matter how many troops you put on the ground that are U.S. troops --
COSTELLO: I was going to say that, because I think there's a sense that most Americans don't really care about Hamid Karzai or the country of Afghanistan. But we should care about the Taliban, and if it regains strength, because, of course, the Taliban harbored Osama bin Laden.
STARR: Well, that's right. And they may not, you know -- I think a lot of Americans can't really relate who is Hamid Karzai, why do we care about him. Because the root home for a U.S. soldier, sailor, airman, and marine, the way home is right through Kabul, through the Karzai government. Unless you've got a strong government there, U.S. troops can't come home as fast as maybe the president would like to bring them home.
CHETRY: It just seems like a cycle, though, because -- I mean, we tried to help him and prop him up and, you know, support him both monetary and militarily, and it doesn't seem he has any more power --
COSTELLO: It seems like he's selling us out, actually. STARR: Well, a lot of people will tell you that the Afghan forces really have a long way to go and they do, clearly, in terms of being a trained, really professional military force that can look after security in that country.
COSTELLO: Right.
STARR: Billions of dollars later, 10 years later, and we're still talking about a long way to go.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to be talking about this. You're joining us for a round table in the next hour as well. Thanks so much, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
COSTELLO: The president's decision would leave 70,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan and he's already feeling the backlash from some top Democrats who want more troops home faster and from Republicans who are saying, "Make sure we finish the job."
Kate Bolduan has more on that live from Washington.
And it will be interesting to see what the president says exactly tonight in order to make -- I guess, you know the people he has to make most happy since his re-election is coming up would be the voters.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's partially right, Carol. But there are some lawmakers that are telling me they want to hear from the president first before they react.
But we are already seeing some push back from members, including the powerful chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democrat Carl Levin. Levin says a reduction of at least 15,000 troops by the end of the year is necessary, compared to the president's anticipated announcement of 10,000 troops.
Then, there's a large group of the president's own Democrats in the House, along with a handful of House Republicans, like Ron Paul, calling for an even more aggressive withdraw. Some saying in the area of 50,000 combat troops out by the end of the year.
Then, there's the other hand, some key Republicans are looking for a more modest drawdown. Fewer than what the president's expected to ask for and more in line with what sources say military leaders have asked for.
COSTELLO: OK. That's the conundrum with Afghanistan.
Let's move on to another conflict, and that would be Libya. And the president is also dealing with -- well, let's say, battling lawmakers over the Libya issue, too.
BOLDUAN: And this has become a battle even within Congress, Carol. The frustration has been mounting up here for weeks. House Republicans and Democrats are angry the president has never sought congressional approval for the continued U.S. involvement in the operation in Libya. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SCOTT GARRETT (R), NEW JERSEY: What I encourage leadership in the past and will encourage them again now is to say that the White House has violated the Constitution and violated the law. The Congress now must need to step up and say that we will withhold all funding, not just for boots on the ground that has been done in the past, but for all funding going over to the war-making apparatus that the administration has put our men and women in harm's way over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now, House Republican leaders have scheduled a vote for Thursday on a measure to allow members to vent their frustration really, a resolution to remove U.S. forces from Libya, except for non- hostile actions, until the president honestly gets approval from Congress. Leadership aides expect the resolution to pass -- though, it is nonbinding, we have to say.
There could be other measures to possibly limit or cut of funding to the military operation there.
But in the Senate, a key senator, John McCain, is taking issue with his fellow Republicans, offering them a pretty stern warning. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Someday, I hope soon, a Republican will again occupy the White House and that president may need to commit U.S. armed forces to hostilities. So, if my Republican colleagues are indifferent to how their actions would affect this president, I would urge them to think seriously about how a vote to cut off funding for this military operation could come back to haunt a future president when the shoe is on the other foot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So, Senator McCain and Democratic Senator John Kerry, they have introduced their own resolution now in an effort to counter the pressure coming from the House. Their resolution gives the president limited authority to commit U.S. force to the Libya operation for up to a year.
This measure could come up for a vote as early as this week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says it has the votes to pass. The House is also expected to vote on it.
But aides say it's not expected to pass there, regardless of how this all shakes out, because it is pretty confusing. It's clear evidence of just how divided this Congress is on this particular issue.
COSTELLO: I know. My head is spinning.
With that backdrop, Kate, the president speaks on Afghanistan tonight from the White House. CNN, of course, will have live coverage for you. That starts at 8:00 Eastern Time.
And that brings us to our question of the day. What do you want to hear from the president tonight? What do you want him to say? We kind of know partially what he's going to say, but would you add on anything?
Send us an e-mail, tweet, tell us on Facebook. We will read your comments throughout the morning.
CHETRY: Also in the news this morning, a human rights group is claiming that Syrian civilians were forced to attend rallies this week in support of President Bashir al-Assad. Meantime, new clashes have been reported between anti-government protesters and security forces in the city of Homs. At least two people were killed in the latest fighting.
In Yemen, government officials are now saying that Yemeni President Saleh is expected to return. He's in Saudi Arabia where he's been treated for wounds that he suffered in a rebel attack on his compound. Saleh plans to return home Friday. Opposition leaders have demanded that he'd step down and they're also calling reports of his return a lie.
COSTELLO: Wildfires are burning across 12 states right now.
In Texas, a fast moving fire destroyed at least 26 homes in Grimes County, that's near Houston. Flames are also forcing the evacuation of 1,800 homes and businesses. Local reports say homeowners caused the fire when they were grilling.
And 12,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in North Dakota. The state's fourth largest city is facing the threat of severe flooding. The rain swollen Souris River runs through the city from Canada. It's expected to overwhelm area levees.
And we're just getting these pictures in from Chicago after a line of powerful thunderstorms triggered tornado warnings and ripped through the city. Seventy-mile-per-hour winds ripped down trees and power lines, stopped trains and grounded flights. The power company says close to 300,000 customers lost power overnight. And I guess a couple hundred thousand are still without power this morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: The weather has been crazy in so many places, but yes.
Well, meantime, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is expected to sign into law a tough new immigration bill. It would require police check the immigration status of drivers that they pull over or suspect of breaking the law, and businesses could also be shut down if they knowingly hire someone who's in the country illegally. Now, critics of this say this bill essentially legalizes racial profiling.
Meantime, to California, where the budget crisis is getting a bit personal. Because of a proposition passed last year, the paychecks for state lawmakers have been cut off until they pass a balanced budget. Some lawmakers say it's just wrong that they're no longer getting paid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MIKE GATTO, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY: I do think it's very difficult to go back home and tell people we've been working 18 hours a day, we passed two budgets and one guy has said that they don't meet his satisfaction so he's not going to pay us.
JOHN CHIANG, CALIFORNIA STATE CONTROLLER: He has to understand that the plight of his family is the plight that millions of other Californians are experiencing today when there is no budget in place.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHETRY: Boy, fighting words. Remember that lawmakers did pass what they called a balanced budget last week. And that was what the one assemblyman was talking about there. They say that Governor Jerry Brown vetoed it because he said the numbers simply didn't add up.
COSTELLO: Well, no surprise here. We knew it was coming -- Michele Bachmann makes it official, though, on Monday. That's according to a GOP source.
The Minnesota congresswoman will formally announce she is running for president. It will happen in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. Official confirmation from the Bachmann campaign expected sometime this morning.
CHETRY: More trouble for Newt Gingrich. His presidential campaign staff is shrinking again. The former House leader just lost his fundraising director and consultant.
COSTELLO: Ouch!
CHETRY: They both quit less than two weeks after 16 other staffers stepped down. Gingrich insists his campaign will, quote, "continue to reorganize."
COSTELLO: I don't know -- once you lose your financial people, that's bad news.
Check out this press pass given to media members covering the campaign of Jon Huntsman. The candidate's --
CHETRY: That's spelled right. Look below it.
COSTELLO: Oh, below it.
CHETRY: Below it, there's an "H" that shouldn't be there. Errant "H."
COSTELLO: Errant "H." It's only J-O-N, Jon Huntsman. Not J-O-H-N, John Huntsman. (CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: -- said to us yesterday. They just said don't spell his name wrong -- oh, I think it was Acosta. And then look what happens. Yes.
COSTELLO: Jim Acosta, he's always telling us things, doesn't he?
Anyway, Huntsman people tried to take back all those press passes and correct them. But, as you see, it was too late. Perhaps it will become a collector's item. I don't know.
We're going to talk to Jon Huntsman about more substantial issues when the former Utah governor joins us live right here on AMERICAN MORNING. It will come your way at 8:30 Eastern.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, a man in Pittsburgh really hit the jackpot last month. He's playing a slot machine. He won what should have been $12 but the machine accidentally forked over 25 grand. So the man was allowed to keep that big win, and the casino was hit with a fine because the machine was not properly tested or certified.
That's pretty amazing, right? Everyone here is --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Nodding their heads. Yes!
COSTELLO: An unexpected turn in the Casey Anthony murder trial. What else is new? Prosecutors telling the judge they're investigating a woman who spent time in jail with the defendant and they're very interested in finding out whether the two inmates ever talked to each other.
It's 13 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We are five weeks into the Casey Anthony murder trial and there's been another surprising development.
CHETRY: Just a day after the judge said no more surprises, that's the interesting -
COSTELLO: There's a little surprise.
CHETRY: Jurors were excused yesterday as we said. Prosecutors were informed - prosecutors then informed the judge that they're investigating a woman who briefly served jail time with the defendant. This is a picture of her, April Whelan. She's not happy about being dragged into the case.
David Mattingly is covering the trial. He joins us from Orlando this morning. So what is this woman - what does she potentially have to do with this case?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is one of the biggest moments yesterday in court throughout the entire day and the jury didn't hear any of it. They were out of the room. But the prosecution stepped up and revealed to the court that the investigators in this case are looking into the possibility that Casey Anthony may have had contact with this other female inmate and may have come up with a story that her daughter drowned in the family swimming pool because of this woman's real-life tragedy. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA DRANE BURDICK, PROSECUTOR: The name of the witness is April Whalen. Apparently her child died in a swimming pool and was found by the child's grandfather, who immediately administered CPR and called 911. Miss Whalen was in an adjacent cell to Miss Anthony for a very brief period of time.
Miss Whalen indicates to law enforcement she did not talk to Casey Anthony. However, she doesn't remember if she talked to other inmates, so at the present time, it's being explored whether or not there was indirect contact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: So you heard right there, they have not established a direct link between this woman and Casey Anthony, but they're looking for some kind of indirect connection that maybe Casey Anthony possibly heard this story from other inmates and then fabricated her own to match it.
Again, at the moment, it's just a theory, but it shows you now that three years after Caylee Anthony died, this investigation is still very active and ongoing.
COSTELLO: Crazy.
David Mattingly reporting live from Orlando, thank you.
CHETRY: Speaking of crazy, the weather has been very, very shaky in some parts of the country. We're still dealing with wildfires. We're still dealing with extreme storms and flooding.
Rob Marciano is checking all of it out for us on that first day of summer yesterday at 1:15 P.M.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It was and it came in with a bang across a lot of the country, especially the Western Great Lakes, Chicago just got peppered. Huge area of low pressure which spawned the tornadoes in Nebraska two days ago and then just expanded that severe weather across the Great Lakes and all the way down into Texas.
Check out some of the video coming into us from Chicago last night. At one point just a couple hours ago, over a quarter of a million people without power. At O'Hare, 70 plus-mile-an-hour winds, several hundred flights canceled last night because of this storm that rolled through Chicago and they had baseball games going on and concerts that had to be canceled as well. Dangerous situation there. Right now, we're seeing thunderstorms across parts of Texas. Now this, my friends, from Austin to San Antonio, they've been waiting for this. Severe drought across the southern half of Texas, they'll take any rain they can get even if it comes with a little wind which it's doing as it rolls through Houston a little bit later on today.
Also dealing with the flooding across Minot. We mentioned that from all the rain over the weekend in Canada, that's all flowing south, so they've got some - some issues there. As far as temperatures are concerned, we're going to look for hot conditions across the desert southwest. Extreme heat warnings out there and the steaminess and the storminess will continue as the slow-moving storm system we're getting in the time of the year where the systems move fairly slow, is moving off to the east.
Pictures out of Mexico, this was at one point Hurricane Beatriz, with waves rocking the West Coast of Mexico. They didn't make a landfall and is now has weakened into actually remnants of a tropical storm. But nonetheless, a reminder that even though these storms are moving slowly across the U.S., we are in hurricane season and it's been fairly active already across the Eastern Pacific. So far so good here in the Atlantic.
Guys, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Well, at least one area of the country (INAUDIBLE). Rob, thank you.
MARCIANO: OK, guys.
COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a New Jersey College professor, he's accused of operating an online prostitution ring that involved hundreds of hookers and more than 1,000 clients. Not the kind of education you want.
CHETRY: That's not what they were hoping for, I'm sure.
Well, special plans for the ship that buried Osama Bin Laden. It's a day of hoops for the troops on the "USS Carl Vinson." We'll show you more on that as well.
It's 21 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The Dow surged ahead of confidence vote in the Greek Parliament yesterday. In a smaller than expected decline and existing home sales also - also pushed stocks up. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou winning a critical vote of confidence in Parliament and this moves the country further from debt and default and closer to receiving a piece of a second bailout from the European Union. The next step, more austerity measures like budgets and benefits cuts which could spur more protests. In a rare press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak in Washington today. Immediately following the Federal Reserve policy announcement on interest rates, rates are expected to remain unchanged.
JPMorgan Chase agreeing to pay $150 million to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bank was accused of misleading investors during the (INAUDIBLE) of a complex mortgage backed security in 2007. The money will go to investors hurt in the sale.
Verizon Wireless ditching its unlimited data plan and joining its competitor AT&T Mobile. The company confirming they're moving to a more usage based model in July. Price detail is not released yet.
And if you're booking a flight for the Fourth of July Weekend, you better book soon. Ticket prices are expected to jump at least 10 percent by tomorrow. That's according to historical data from Travelocity. Rising fuel costs and increased consumer demand this year have already pushed air fares up.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after a break with South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, who's raising the stakes in the battle over raising the debt ceiling. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. Time to take a look at our top stories.
President Obama set to address the nation tonight on the future of the war in Afghanistan. Sources say his number is final. Thirty thousand U.S. forces home by the end of 2012, 10,000 of them home by the end of this year.
Two more staffers are walking out on Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich. The former House Speaker's fund-raising director and a consultant just quit. Less than two weeks ago, 16 staffers stepped down. Gingrich, though, is maintaining that his campaign will continue to reorganize.
And according to a GOP source, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will formally announce she's running for president this Monday. It will happen in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. Official confirmation from the Bachmann campaign is expected sometime this morning.
COSTELLO: And today, a coalition of Conservative lawmakers and groups will raise the stakes in what many call a dangerous game of chicken over the nation's debt ceiling. They will sign a pledge opposing any bump in the government's spending limits unless three conditions which include spending cuts are met.
Joining me now to talk about this is South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint. He is also a co-founder of the Senate Tea Party Caucus.
Welcome, Senator.
SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Carol, it's good to be with you.
If there's one thing we should agree on as congressmen and senators, is to stop spending more than we're bringing in. But, unless we have a constitutional requirement to do it, I'm afraid we're going to bankrupt our country in the next year or two.
COSTELLO: And by constitutional requirement, you're talking about an amendment to balance the budget.
I also want to go over this pledge and what's in the pledge that you want lawmakers and also the Republican presidential candidates to sign. Included in the debt pledge is substantial spending cuts, spending caps and, of course, that balanced budget amendment.
And, you know, the thing is when you sign a pledge like that or require a signature, it doesn't leave much room for compromise. And isn't compromise what we really need to come to some conclusion with how to deal with the debt in this country?
DEMINT: Carol, first of all, it's not my pledge. There are dozens of outside groups representing millions of Americans who want Congress to take a stand. And there's plenty of room to negotiate how much we cut, what the caps look like over the next several years.
But the one point we really can't negotiate is this idea of balancing the budget, that we will balance the budget.
This gives us a lot of room to operate, because if we pass it, then the states have to ratify it. That's likely to take two or three years and then it takes effect five years after the states ratify it. So, we're not talking about anything draconian or immediate, other than some cuts this year, and some controls on spending in the out- years that will bring us towards a balanced budget.
COSTELLO: Why do we need this pledge then? I mean, if it doesn't involve anything draconian and there's some wiggle room and maybe a compromise can be reached, why a pledge? Why do you need to sign a pledge?
DEMINT: Well, Carol, it comes from a lot of experience here. There's really an addiction to spending here in Washington. We've tried before with laws like Gramm-Rudman and what they call PAYGO and budget points of order. But every new Congress, they come in and change it and blow through it.
We've got more debt as a nation than we can sustain. The president apparently doesn't even see it as a problem because his budget doubles it. In the negotiations we've had so far with the Democrats, no significant cuts have been achieved. The only --
COSTELLO: See, Senator, it seems that we keep hearing the same things from both sides of the aisles, the same arguments. There's no room for compromise. And a lot of people accuse Congress, senators and the president, of playing games with the debt ceiling.
I mean, the treasury secretary said, like, if you don't raise the debt ceiling, the country will go into fault. The Treasury Secretary Geithner, he said, "Default would cause irrevocable damage." Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, said it would be catastrophic. The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it could add $100 billion to our debt.
So, why play games with this? Because that's what people see this pledge as, just another political game.
DEMINT: Carol, it's no game. It's deadly serious. If we keep spending, we're going to bankrupt our country.
We're not going to default on our loans. If we never raise the debt ceiling again, we would not default on our loans. We would have to cut back on spending in a lot of places.
But that doesn't need to happen if the president and Democrats will work with the millions of Americans to simply say, OK, six or eight years out, we're going to balance our budget. But we need to raise the debt ceiling today. I think you'd find a lot of people at the table discussing that if they would come around.
But we can't just -- this is the fourth time the president has asked us to increase the amount that we can borrow as a country, a fourth time. And so -- if we keep blowing through these debt ceilings which are supposed to restrain our spending, we will bankrupt our country.
We owe it to the American people to tell --
COSTELLO: I'm sure a lot of the American voters are with you and they understand that. But I think that some feel that by signing a pledge, and especially Tea Party conservatives, you know, they won't allow for any wiggle room and doesn't that make it difficult for the House speaker, John Boehner, to come to any sort of compromise with the president. You know, they played the golf game. They're trying.
But, aren't you tying John Boehner's hands tighter by doing this?
DEMINT: Well, Carol, this isn't a partisan idea. Balancing the budget is not a partisan idea. We can agree on a lot of things. But --
COSTELLO: But ways to balance the budget has become partisan.
DEMINT: The ways to balance it, we've tried a lot of things. But the reason 49 states have to balance their budget, the reason we've seen Governor Walker in Wisconsin and Chris Christie in New Jersey, is their constitutions require that they balance it. So, they have to set priorities. They have to cut spending.
We don't have to do that in Washington. We're borrowing 43 cents on every dollar we spend and there's no indication we're going to stop that. So, unless, we have a requirement, a constitutional requirement, we're going to destroy our country. So, the reason to sign the pledge is to show Americans where we stand. What we're willing to do.
If we really won't stand for anything, I'm afraid as the old country song says, we're going to fall for anything.
COSTELLO: I also just want to ask you quickly -- the Republicans running for president, you want them to sign this pledge. Unless they sign this pledge, you won't support them. I understand Ron Paul has signed it, right?
DEMINT: Yes. I think -- I think Tim Pawlenty will sign it as what he indicated to me.
I think it's a good signal that we've got folks who are willing to take a stand and we've gotten e-mails from a lot of people running for Congress and Senate, who want to show their constituents that they're willing to stand up for some kind of fiscal sanity. So, I think you'll see this catch on.
But, again, it's not something that's originated here inside Congress. This is something the American people are doing. It's not just the Tea Parties. I think you'll see a lot of Democrats out there saying, hey, we need to balance our budget.
COSTELLO: All right. Well, we're going to talk to Jon Huntsman later and you're going to tell him to sign the pledge or?
DEMINT: Well, if any presidential candidate is looking for my support or the support of millions of Americans who are part of this pledge, they're not going to get that support if they're not willing to take a stand on this very common sense issue.
COSTELLO: Senator DeMint, thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
DEMINT: Thanks, Carol.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting conversation with you and the senator.
Well, the driving campaign that sparked debate around the world, women in Saudi Arabia, it's not illegal, but there are repercussions for driving there. The mullahs ban it -- they don't like it., the clerics.
Well, now, they're demanding change. There's more protests and our secretary of state weighing in as well.
COSTELLO: Finally, some say.
CHETRY: Yes. We're going to have more on that.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, a New Jersey college professor is under arrest this morning for allegedly running a prostitution Web site. Sixty-eight- year-old David Flory who teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has done so since the last '60s was arrested in New Mexico, charged with 40 counts of promoting prostitution. Police say he was operating a Web site called "Southwest Companions" for the past three years. The site had some 200 prostitutes and more than 1,200 Johns.
COSTELLO: At least he was successful, allegedly, huh?
CHETRY: In trouble now.
COSTELLO: Chaos in Northern Ireland for a second straight night, sectarian violence erupting at a Catholic/Protestant flashpoint in Belfast. Police firing water cannons, close 700 people (INAUDIBLE) bricks, bottles and gasoline bombs.
CHETRY: Quite a mess there.
Zain Verjee is tracking the latest development.
What sparked this outbreak of sectarian violence in the first place, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You know, this is really a worrying situation. It's the second straight night and this is a time of year where typically, there are tensions between Catholics and Protestants. But it hasn't been this bad in quite a few years. The reason that it's a tense time probably from now until the end of July is because what happens is, a group of Protestants known as Orangemen march through Catholic areas.
Now, there are reports that, you know, a group of people who got together and just started firing guns and it escalated the violence, and we've just seen it go out of control with Molotov cocktails, bricks thrown at each other, fireworks thrown at each other, the riot police are out firing water cannons at people trying to break up the fight. A photographer was also reported shot as well in the clashes.
So, these scenes are definitely not what people want to see in Northern Ireland after so many years of relative calm.
In other parts of the city, guys, they're celebrating. Rory McIlroy, the golfer's victory at the U.S. Open.
So, having these shots come out of Northern Ireland is a painful thing for thousands of people.
COSTELLO: Man, I thought that was long past and part of the history books.
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: So bizarre to see that. OK. Let's move on it to Saudi Arabia, because women want to drive there. It has nothing to do with religion. I guess it's cultural in Saudi Arabia. But women who want to drive, have been saying, where has Secretary of State Hillary Clinton been? She's a champion of women's rights.
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: She hasn't spoken out. What's up with that? And, finally, some support, some love from Hillary.
VERJEE: Right. Well, they were pretty mad. They said they were disappointed -- you know, she's a big supporter of women's rights around the world.
The State Department had said, well, you know, she is, she's doing quiet diplomacy and pressuring the Saudis behind the scenes. But, you know, it wasn't good enough and the pressure was there. And, finally, the secretary of state said this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is about Saudi women themselves. They have joined together. They are acting on behalf of their own rights.
This is not about the United States. It is about the women of Saudi Arabia.
And what these women are doing is brave and what they are seeking is right. But the effort belongs to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Many critics, guys, had said that the reason that Secretary Clinton hasn't spoken out earlier was because the U.S. has a very close relationship with Saudi Arabia and they didn't want to upset the Saudis, especially in the context of the whole "Arab Spring," because Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, it's an important energy security ally.
But, you know, it was important that Secretary Clinton said this and sends the message to the Saudi women who want to drive. We take it for granted. For them, it's a political statement.
CHETRY: And a danger and cost to their family and, you know, a danger to the male relatives in the family.
VERJEE: Right.
CHETRY: But the thing, she was -- that was a carefully worded statement. That wasn't a rousing endorsement either. I mean, she said the effort belongs to them. She says this is about -- you know, up to the Saudi Women.
So, it didn't sound like, you know, there was anything actionable on the part of the U.S.
COSTELLO: It wasn't exactly -- you go, girl.
VERJEE: Well, any words from Foggy Bottom and the secretary of state carries weight, right?
CHETRY: Right.
VERJEE: These women, they don't have the opportunity, they don't have the voice for themselves, but they are taking this opportunity and when they put themselves out on a limb on the threat of arrest, threat of imprisonment, being beaten up, families being affected, the secretary of state coming out is a big deal for them.
CHETRY: Yes. Totally hear you.
All right. Zain, great talk to you always. Thanks so much.
You can catch Zain, by the way, every morning, 5:00 a.m. Eastern on "WORLD ONE," right here on CNN.
COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, actor Kevin Kline will be on Capitol Hill lobbying on behalf of diabetes research. First, he'll be here to talk with us about his real life passion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour right now. Here are your headlines this morning. start with President Obama.
He's going to be addressing the nation tonight to talk about the war in Afghanistan. He plans to withdraw 30,000 U.S. troops by the end of next year with 10,000 coming home by Christmas.
More staffing issues for Newt Gingrich. The former house speaker's fundraising director and a consultant just quit his presidential campaign. Sixteen other staffers stepped down less than two weeks ago.
Minnesota congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, makes it official Monday. GOP sources say that's when she will formally announce her White House bid from her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.
Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony case are now investigating this woman, April Whalen. She was reportedly in Florida's Orange County jail at the same time as Casey Anthony. The state believes Anthony may have stolen her defense from Whalen. Whalen lost her young son back in 2007. The 18-month-old accidentally drowned in the family pool.
South Carolina lawmakers passing a new immigration bill that requires police check a suspect's immigration status. It also penalizes businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Governor Nikki Haley is expected to sign that bill into law.
And one lucky gambler in Pittsburgh, PA, winning $25,000 on a slot machine that should have only paid out $12. Because of that error, he was allowed to keep the money. The casino was also fined because that machine was not properly tested or certified.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING is back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back. You know, actor, Kevin Kline, from the many roles he's played on stage, screen, and television. In his real life, Kline is devoted to finding a cure for diabetes, a disease which has touched his own family.
CHETRY: And later today, he's going to be testifying at a Senate hearing along with children across the country who have type 1 diabetes or they sometimes call it juvenile diabetes. Kevin Kline joins us now along with Aaron Kowalski from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and Aaron also has type 1 diabetes.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning. What do you want lawmakers to hear about the importance of funding and research for diabetes?
KEVIN KLINE, ACTOR: There's still an urgent need. We're there to remind them that the need is great, the urgency is great, and that we're on the verge of really a watershed moment in developing technologies, and that we have JDRF and, you know, others have funded mostly JDRF, these hospital trials for the artificial pancreas, and we're trying to get the FDA to put that on a faster track, and so, we're -- it's sort of just remind the government to keep the funding for research.
COSTELLO: And before we go on, that idea of an artificial pancreas is big.
KLINE: Huge.
COSTELLO: And Aaron, you can explain it. You have type 1 diabetes. Why is that important to have an artificial pancreas? How does type 1 diabetes affect your pancreas?
AARON KOWALSKI, JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION: We can't make insulin. People with type one can't make insulin.
COSTELLO: That's what your pancreas does.
KOWALSKI: That's what your pancreas does, and insulin is what helps us get the fuel into our cells. So, the challenge of type 1 diabetes is twofold. We have the risk of high blood sugar that causes the terrible complications of diabetes, but on a day-to-day basis is the risk of low blood sugar which can be life threatening to us. And the other thing that you'll hear from the families today is that it's just really hard.
So, the promise of an artificial pancreas is it would give the right amount of insulin at the right time. So, helping the blood sugar control problems that we have, but also, make life easier. I mean, you'll see the families, you'll see the kids, they wear insulin pumps, they do insulin injections, they stick their fingers. It's a grueling disease.
CHETRY: Right. It's interesting all of us have a family member, you.
COSTELLO: My husband.
CHETRY: My father. Not type 1 but type 2. You have a child with it. I mean, as a parent, it must be scary as well, because, I mean, it is a daily -- it's something that you have to think about almost constantly. How does your family deal with it?
KLINE: We try to take it in stride, but once you have a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, you immediately stop being merely a parent. You become a parent, a doctor, a nurse, unless, you want your child to live in a hospital.
COSTELLO: Right.
KLINE: The thing is it is a disease that you can manage and sort of insidious because you can't see someone, oh, you have diabetes, I can tell from looking at you.
COSTELLO: It's weird. I mean, you never think of what your blood sugar does for your body.
CHETRY: That's right.
COSTELLO: We don't have to think about it. We have functioning pancreases, and it's an everyday thing for the rest of your child's life.
KLINE: Yes. Yes. And so, the families take on a tremendous responsibility, depending on the age of the child, until they reach an age where they can manage it themselves. You have to count every carbohydrate that they, you know, take in at a snack or a meal. You have to watch their activity because that affects your blood sugar. You have to give them injections. You have to prick their fingers upwards of ten times a day.
CHETRY: And this is all happening at a time and especially kids, you know, as they get older, they go into, you know, high school, even the middle school and elementary level, they want to be just like their friends. They want to be able to enjoy life.
KLINE: Yes.
CHETRY: And to have to constantly worry about that seems like it must be difficult.
KLINE: Yes. They worry. And again, it depends on the age. The parents and siblings and loved ones care a lot, and it's sort of like having a newborn. You don't stop sleeping at night. You have to check your child frequently. Depending on what their blood sugar level was when they go to bed, you have to wake up at 2:00 in the morning. And you worry about them all day. It's really -- it never sleeps. And neither do the people who --
COSTELLO: Yes. Exactly. Aaron, on the verge of these new technologies, it will be great if they can develop, you know, an artificial pancreas that every person with type 1 diabetes could use, but really, what people with type 1 diabetes want is a cure. And you have to wonder why with all the research we have done and all the money we have spent, why we don't have that? Why we can't figure that out?
KOWALSKI: You know, obviously, in my family, this is something that we're incredibly anxious for, and we feel the urgency. I mean, we know that type 1 diabetes is a very complicated disease, and I think what we're seeing on the research front is tremendous strides for -- towards a cure. JDRF, that's our number one goal is to walk away from type 1 eventually.
Right now, today on the hill, we have research that shows these devices in the near term will help us get there, but we need FDA to act. We need to get these devices approved so patients can use them, and I think, eventually, that's going to be the case for all the therapies that eventually lead to a cure.
CHETRY: And, for this artificial pancreas, would you have to go through a transplant? I mean, is that --
KLINE: No, no. It's not a --
CHETRY: With just all this function as a pacemaker almost?
KLINE: Actually, a lot of kids today and adults wear a glucose monitor which -- so you don't have to prick your finger every time you want to find out your glucose reading, and they also wear a pump. The artificial pancreas would be combining those two so that they work in concert, and it will read your blood sugar, give you the appropriate amount of insulin, be able to detect when you have activity, how many carbohydrates, and do it all for you, and act the way a normally functioning pancreas would.
COSTELLO: Just think about it. I mean, as a human being trying to figure out, that's difficult because you're right, everything affects your blood sugar.
KLINE: It actually has an alarm that would go off. A lot of times what happens if you're going low, we all have low blood sugars if we forget to have lunch, but if you're a type 1 diabetic and you have low blood sugar, you become disoriented and you get really low, and it can lead to, you know, very dire circumstances. It's the same way with keeping it high. We all normally, those of us with functioning pancreases, have -- keep our blood sugar level within a certain range.
CHETRY: Right.
KLINE: The more we can have these young kids and adults keep it within the range that it wants to be in, then you avoid the complications down the line.
COSTELLO: Hopefully, you'll make lawmakers understand. Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
CHETRY: Great to talk to you both. Kevin Kline, Dr. Aaron Kowalski, thanks so much.
We're going to take a quick break. Fifty-six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
