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Dueling Chick-Fil-A Demonstrations; Same Sex Marriage Versus Chick-Fil-A; Contraception Mandate Begins Today; Tea Party Claims Victory In Texas; Obama Heads To Ohio To Pitch Tax Cuts; Signs of Strength For Obama In Ohio; Inside Battleground Ohio; Badminton Scandal At The Olympics; Players Accused Of Trying To Lose; Goodbye Hotmail, Hello Outlook; TSA Rescues Kidnapped Woman; Gore Vidal Diest At 86; Severe Storms Across the Midwest; Professor Accused Of Arson, School Plots; 30-Foot Camper Crashes Into Pool
Aired August 01, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- he's changed his name to Snoop Lion. I kid you not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to things that sound cool when said by Snoop Dogg. Number 10 --
SNOOP DOGG: Yo.
MOOS: But will Yo still sound cool if said by Snoop Lion?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, anything with lion. I'm a Leo.
MOOS: In the lion kingdom, the news probably merits something between a yawn and a roar. Jeanne moos, CNN.
(on camera): What's your message to snoop lion?
MOOS (voice-over): New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the greatest ever swimming sensation Michael Phelps smashing the record books winning his 19th olympic medal. A chance at history being made again this morning as the bullet from Baltimore gets back in the pool.
Outrage over support for same sex marriage has some black pastors taking aim at President Obama. One of them will tell me what he wants black voters to do this November.
Hotmail users say hello to Outlook. Microsoft is replacing its popular e-mail service with a web based version called Outlook. But when will Hotmail users have to make the switch? Actor, Cuba Gooding Jr., is a wanted man. New Orleans police have a warrant out for the celebrity after an apparent altercation with a bartender. What happened to make him snap? NEWSROOM starts right now.
Good morning to you. Thank you for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. Happening right now, Chick-Fil-A appreciation day has become depending on who talk to a fight for religious freedom.
Today, hundreds of thousands say they will show support for Chick-Fil-A COO, Dan Cathy, and his stand against same sex marriage. That includes Evangelicals including the Reverend Billy Graham who is in poor health. A staffer will deliver chicken and waffle fries to his home.
CNN's George Howell is in Smyrna, Georgia at a Chick-Fil-A. Good morning, George.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. We have already heard from some high profile people like Ed Holmes from "The Office." He has tweeted jokingly about the situation, but also indicating that he will not support this restaurant.
We have also heard opposition from the mayor of Chicago and from the mayor of Boston about this. But for Chick-Fil-A today, the company has indicated that it will be business as usual. They will not take a side on this for the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day that was sparked by once Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee.
They will also not support the National Same-Sex Kiss Day that is set for Friday. But when you look at Huckabee's Facebook page where he asked people to sign on to support Chick-Fil-A on this day, you see that more than 500,000 people have signed on that they will be part of this today.
It depends really, Carol, on where you look. For instance here in the south, the Bible belt, also where Chick-Fil-A was founded you find a lot of support. It's different from regions where the company expanded. Take a look.
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JEREMIAH BAXTER: Well, what gained a few customers for you to throw away your principles? Who cares about money?
MO BOWERS: Maybe wherever he comes from that's good business. But in New York, it's terrible policy, terrible business. He should just shut his mouth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, Carol, the company says business as usual. They expect people to show up -- some for lunch, but some will be here to support this company given the position that its leadership is taking.
COSTELLO: George Howell reporting live from Smyrna, Georgia this morning.
Gay and lesbian groups are not sitting quiet today while opponents of same sex marriage are holding their appreciation day. Those groups will be raising money and awareness at the same time.
Jeremy Hooper is a popular blogger and political consultant for GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation campaign. Thanks for being here.
JEREMY HOOPER, POLITICAL CONSULTANT, GLAAD: Great to be with you.
COSTELLO: Jeremy, last hour we talked to someone who supports Chick-Fil-A and Chick-Fil-A COO stance on same-sex marriage. But we wanted to hear from you this hour of NEWSROOM. So what are your plans for today?
HOOPER: Well, first I would remind everyone that this isn't really about fast food, chicken or even Chick-Fil-A specifically. This is about a prominent American businessman who runs a $4.5 billion company who chose during promotional appearances for his company wearing a button for his company to say that gay Americans can bring the judgment of God and that we shake a fist at God through our marriages.
Now that goes well beyond marriage. People like Mike Huckabee and the National Organization for Marriage, they only want to talk about traditional marriage because that's all they ever want to talk about or I should say so-called traditional marriage. But this goes much deeper. It really raises a lot of questions for the LGBT consumer.
COSTELLO: Well, I think some people -- I put this question on my Facebook page last week. Many people believe that it's OK to boycott Chick-Fil-A for the COO's belief because it's a free country, right? But they don't think it is right for mayors of cities to come and say, Chick-Fil-A, you're not welcome in my town.
HOOPER: Well, I would say personally, I have not really weighed in on that. Right now, there is no express ban. These are public officials who are stating their opinions and we all have that right.
COSTELLO: Do you support those bans?
HOOPER: If this went to another level where we had to weigh the non-discrimination elements and the values of a city versus the values of the company then I would form my opinion then. At this point, it's not there and again I have not -- that's not --
COSTELLO: What would bring it to that level?
HOOPER: It would be one of the city officials who would try to take that step. Right now, they have stressed, from what I've seen most have stressed that they are speaking in their capacity as a public official. I know Christine Quinn was very clear to stress that this is her own opinion not the city of New York's opinion. COSTELLO: And just one more question for you. This controversy is fuel for late night talk show hosts. Comics like Roseanne Barr have gone on Twitter saying anyone who eats at Chick-Fil-A deserves to get the cancer that's sure to come from eating antibiotic-filled tortured chickens. She backed away from that, but that's already out there. Are those kinds of things really helping your cause?
HOOPER: Those are distractions. I would say that this started as a very pure story. Dan Cathy had the choice to respond to what he said and also not to what he said, but to the company's anti-LGBT donations and to the fact that the company's retreat center bans same- sex couples.
But rather than respond to that, Dan Cathy, Mike Huckabee, the National Organization for Marriage are using side claims about free speech and religious freedom. Both of which are bunk. We would like to talk about the issues.
And I would also say that if this was a pro equality company, I would report this story in the exact same way. The only difference is the way the company would respond. Starbucks, Facebook, those companies run into equality because they know it's good business and we believe it's good business.
COSTELLO: Jeremy Hooper from GLAAD, thank you for joining us this morning.
HOOPER: Thank you so much.
COSTELLO: It's been one of the more controversial parts of the health care law. Today, a mandate for U.S. businesses to provide contraception to employees officially kicks in, 58 lawsuits have been filed over the issue.
And some employers say it goes against their beliefs. Birth control is just one of several preventative services the Obama administration says insurers must cover without charging a co-pay including mammograms and screenings of all adults for depression, diabetes and colorectal cancer.
Republican Ted Cruz claims victory in Texas winning the primary run-off for the U.S. Senate. This is a big victory for the Tea Party Movement after high profile Republicans including Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum stumped for Cruz. Cruz defeated fellow Republican Dave Duhurst. He has been lieutenant governor to Rick Perry for nearly a decade.
It is the state President Obama has visited more than any other this year. You know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the state of Ohio.
This hour, with just a little more than three months until Americans go to the polls the president leaves for the buckeye state. Mr. Obama won Ohio by five percentage points in the 2008 election. If the election were held today President Obama could probably add Ohio to the win column.
That's according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University, CBS News and "The New York Times," which shows the president with a six- point edge among likely voters over rival Mitt Romney.
In the face of a tough economy everyone from politicians to officials at local charities are weighing in on the 2012 race. Our John King traveled to Akron, Ohio, to talk with them.
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JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the morning rush and demand has never been higher. The workload at the Akron Canton Food Bank tells you a lot about battleground Ohio.
DANIEL FLOWERS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AKRON CANTON REGIONAL FOOD BANK: The process of coming to the realization that you can't feed your family and you need to ask for help is really just a crippling emotional blow for people to suffer.
KING: Demand spiked in 2008 and 2009. CEO Daniel Flowers says it is still rising now.
(on camera): Demand is going up, but not at the rate.
FLOWERS: Not at the rate it was a couple years ago. It's almost a sad fact that it feels like a win. It's been so bad.
KING (voice-over): Not so bad, but still the numbers are numbing. More than 2 million people in Ohio, 18 percent of the state population go hungry or eat less than they should because they can't afford more food. Akron is in Summit County, a battleground within the battleground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there were an election for U.S. president today, would you vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.
KING: Republicans acknowledge Mitt Romney is a few points behind in Ohio and they acknowledge it is virtually impossible for him to win the White House without winning here.
Now Republicans don't expect to carry Summit County. But John McCain barely cracks 40 percent here. Romney won't have a prayer state wide if he can't make it closer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In '08 that enthusiasm wasn't there as much as it could have been. I get calls from people who say, what can I do to help Romney win.
KING: The unemployment rate in Summit County was 9.3 percent when the president took office and is 7 percent now. In Hamilton County, another key to winning state wide, it is 7.2 percent now down from 8.1 percent.
The Hamilton Democratic Chairman Tim Burke says Republicans can make the case Ohio is worse off. TIM BURKE, CHAIRMAN, HAMILTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Just take automobiles and how that has seen a resurgence in the state of Ohio. We have three quarters of a million jobs that are automobile related here in Ohio. We're seeing the benefits of that for President Obama.
KING: Some though have a different test than the unemployment rate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put this in the bag.
KING: George Camilletti is at the Akron Food Bank four days a week for five years now helping the Good Neighbors charity and along the way watching the face of hunger change.
GEORGE CAMILLETTI, MANAGER, GOOD NEIGHBORS, INC: I'd say we are going into the middle of the middle class now. We are reaching up to the suburban people, people who used to have a nice home, a nice car. It is worse than it was three years ago.
KING: Better or worse, the defining question in what could be the defining battleground. John King, CNN, Akron, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: A scandal at the Olympics and a black mark for the sport of badminton. Eight players from South Korea, China and Indonesia have been kicked out of the games. They are accused of trying to throw their matches, deliberately lose their matches in order to fix the draw for the knockout round of competition.
Zain Verjee is following the story in London. Has this ever happened before in the Olympics?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it definitely casts a cloud. I mean, there have been disqualifications over many things in Olympics past, and also this Olympics. But this is grabbing the headlines now.
Badminton, eight players, Carol, kicked out. What they were trying to do was play a tactic and a strategy more than actually win the game of badminton. They were all qualified into the quarterfinals, which is a little bit later today.
But the only thing was they wanted to play a weak team. China didn't want to end up winning their match and end up playing China as well. So they decided that they would just throw the match.
Apparently, they played really, really weak shots. They served into the net. They just weren't getting the obvious ones. So this decision has been made. It can be appealed. Indonesia and South Korea are appealing. China is launching its own investigation.
But you know, the debate also in all of this is it's not really just about badminton. It's about a tactic to win ultimately the gold medal because even if you look at heats in other rounds some people don't necessarily compete just to win.
You know, they use a tactic. They may come eighth, but qualify or they may not play as well as they can just to throw off other players. But the bottom line was that the federation decided that they should be playing to win because that's what it's about.
COSTELLO: Zain Verjee reporting live for us in London.
Microsoft is overhauling its Hotmail e-mail service. In the months ahead, users will be invited to try a new alternative service. Alison Kosik tells us what that means for Hotmail users. Good morning, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The memories, remember in the '90s when your main e-mail options were basically AOL, Yahoo or Hotmail? Well, looks like Yahoo! is going to be the last man standing.
This as we see AOL is considered a bit of a relic and Microsoft begins phasing out Hotmail. This is actually a radical overhaul for the company.
Because over the next few months what's going to happen is a number of Hotmail users are going to be invited to test out the new Outlook. Yes, what's old is new again. Eventually everyone will be transitioned over to this new Outlook.
But no firm deadline on exactly when that will happen yet. But don't worry if you are an existing Hotmail user you can keep your @hotmail.com or @live.com address.
But new users will only have the Live or Outlook options. Believe it or not, Hotmail is still the world's biggest e-mail service with 325 million users. Gmail and Yahoo! follow with about 298 million each. Who knew?
COSTELLO: So will there be exciting new changes in the new Outlook?
KOSIK: It seems that way. So what Microsoft says is that the main thing is that the e-mail is going to appear much cleaner. It's going to automatically label e-mails that it detects are newsletters or store promotions.
And here's a nice thing. It's going to make a universal unsubscribe button for ads you receive and it promises fewer ads. We can only hope -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's true. Alison Kosik reporting live for us this morning.
A woman kidnapped is now safe this morning. It's all thanks to the TSA.
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COSTELLO: It's 17 minutes past the hour. Some of the stories we are following right now in the NEWSROOM. Two alert TSA agents free a woman who had been kidnapped last month while she was on vacation in Miami.
Her kidnappers took her to Miami International Airport. They were going through security to catch a flight when the agents noticed this woman's bruises and her suspicious behavior.
That's when the woman told the TSA agent she'd been kidnapped. The agents detained four people with her. Two of them face charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment and battery.
A prominent American author Gore Vidal has passed away. His family says he died following complications from pneumonia. Vidal won awards for his essays, his screenplays and novels. He was 86 years old.
In weather news, severe storms are possible across much of the Midwest today. Minneapolis, across Wisconsin, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Rapid City, South Dakota, could see large hail and damaging winds.
A strange story out of California, a California professor is in jail this morning. He is accused of a murderous arson plot at the high school his son had attended before his son committed suicide.
Police say they caught the University of California Irvine professor red-handed trying as he was trying to set fire at a park where his son died.
They also say they discovered a series of e-mails dealing the plot against school students and school officials. Casey Wian is in Los Angeles with more. Good morning.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It really is a strange story. The 48-year-old UC Irvine pharmacology professor Rainer Reinscheid is behind bars accused this morning. He is accused of setting five separate arson fires and resisting arrest.
All of this after, as you mentioned, the suicide of his 14-year-old son back in March. Now police say that they caught Professor Reinscheid red-handed trying to set an arson fire near his son's school last week.
He was arrested and bailed out of jail almost immediately. Police began conducting an investigation into the series of arsons around the area of the school.
And what they discovered was that this professor was apparently holding school officials at his son's high school, university high school in Irvine responsible for the suicide of the boy.
They also found very chilling e-mails that this professor allegedly wrote detailing his plots to go to the school and commit assaults against school administrators and students.
He was planning, according to police, to buy weapons, to commit sexual assaults and then to kill himself.
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TONY RACKAUCKAS, ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: He appeared to be very serious about all this. He was clearly starting fires and working on burning the school down. So that was the beginning of his threat.
He said that he was going to -- in his e-mails to his wife he indicated that he wanted to acquire some firearms and go to the school and just do a great deal of violence at the school, including sexual assaults and random violence against the kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Now, we reached out to -- we have been unable to reach Reinscheid's attorney. KTLA, our affiliate in Southern California said they did contact him and he declined to comment.
The arraignment for the professor has been postponed until next week. Now, Carol, there is another interesting note here, very, very strange twist to the story.
This professor was engaged in groundbreaking research into a specific type of protein and its impact on the brain and memory. Let me read you something that he was quoted as saying on the university's web site about this discovery two years ago is when he wrote this.
It may better help us understand post traumatic stress disorder, which involves exaggerated memories of traumatic events. I can't think of anything else more traumatic than the suicide of a 14- year-old child -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And something weirdly that could be used in trial and defense of his alleged actions in this case. Wow. Casey Wian, thanks so much.
Was Mitt Romney's overseas trip a success or failure? We are asking you that question this morning in talk back.
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COSTELLO: All right, now for your strange, strange accident of the morning. These pictures are just into us from Boston from our affiliate, WCVB. See that?
That white thing is a large, large camper, 30 feet long. Somehow got into someone's backyard and flipped over in a pool. Don't know if anyone was in the camper at the time or whether anyone was hurt.
But imagine you're at work, you come home, look out the back window and see that thing in your pool. We do understand the driver of the camper got out. Don't know how the camper got into this backyard.
Did he go through some backyards or through the front? We don't know. But as you can see, they are trying to figure out how to get this thing out of the swimming pool. That's a tow truck you're seeing.
They are trying to get as close as possible, but, wow. That would be a tricky maneuver. We just thought you would like to see the picture. It's just so darned unusual.
Let's talk a little politics now. It's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, was Mitt Romney's overseas trip a success or failure?
Either/or depending on whether you're a Democrat or Republican. If you ask the Obama campaign, Romney's trip was an unmitigated disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER (via telephone): He both offended our closest ally and triggered a troubling reaction in the most sensitive region of the world. He certainly didn't prove to anyone that he passed the commander-in-chief test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That's because of what Democrats are calling Romney's many gaffes like questioning Britain's readiness for the Olympics and comments about the Palestinian culture, which managed to offend both the Brits and the Palestinians.
Romney also accuses the media of being more interested in diverting attention from things like the bad economy than in being accurate. Romney says, he's just a man who speaks his mind. On the Olympics, he told ABC --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I tend to tell people what I actually believe and the comments made in the media is something, which I felt was an honest reflection of what was being concerned -- or what was concerning folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: To former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Romney's trip was a huge success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: The visit to Israel and the visit to Poland were very effective and drew a very real contrast between Obama's policies, which have been largely anti-Israeli and anti-Polish. And where Romney would be -- which would be returning to a classical American friendship with both Israel and Poland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But if the coverage of the so-called gaffes was to deflect attention from the bad economy why did Mr. Romney go abroad to begin with?
Democrats say if he wants to burnish his diplomatic credentials that means dealing with those you like and those you don't. Was Romney's overseas trip a success or failure? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Your comments later this hour.
They are calling it an effort to save the family. Now some pastors in the black community are taking on President Obama.
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COSTELLO: President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage was hailed by millions of Americans but one group is outraged by the President's stance.
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REV. FRED OWENS, PRESIDENT, COALITION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN PASTORS: -- in the White House because of the Civil Rights Movement. And I was a leader in that movement. And I didn't march one inch, one foot, one yard for a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. For the President to bow to the money as Judas did for Jesus Christ is a disgrace. And we're ashamed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And now that group the Coalition of African-American Pastors says it is taking action. Joining me now is Coalition President Reverend William Owens. Welcome.
REV. WILLIAM OWENS, FOUNDER, COALITION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN PASTORS: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You say President Obama thinks black voters are, in your words, in his pocket and that, quote, "You refuse to give him a pass." You call him Judas. Those are pretty strong words.
OWENS: Well, we meant for them to be strong because he sold out. He has accepted the big money from the homosexual community and he did sell out. It's no different from what Judas did. He sold out from the very people who put him in the White House. He would not be in the White House had it not been for the Civil Rights Movement; not only for the Civil Rights Movement but the black press. He has ignored the black press.
So we are very ashamed of that that Mr. Obama has sold out for money and a lot of people are following him because he is the President. He holds the most powerful position in the world.
COSTELLO: But I would say sir, that the majority of Democrats and progressives support same sex marriage and they are President Obama's constituents, aren't they? OWENS: Yes, they are. But they are the liberal Democrats and from the Pew Research, from the survey, the African-American vote didn't change. It remained the same. African-Americans are still not online with same-sex marriage.
COSTELLO: But if you look at that Pew Research poll over time the support for same-sex marriage, even among African-Americans has grown and grown a lot.
OWENS: Well, again, when you have the President of the United States with the most powerful position in the world he has followers. He opened the door for other leaders to think it's good to follow power. And that's what's so bad about it, instead of Obama, President Obama taking the high road he took the low road.
And it's not good for our families, it's not good for our culture and some of the results, we will not see for 10, 15, 20 years. It's bad -- it's a bad thing for him to take that position.
COSTELLO: So what are you suggesting voters do in election 2012?
OWENS: Well, what we are doing is we are putting the facts out there. And then let the voters decide for themselves what they should do whether they should vote for Mr. Obama again; whether they should not vote because if you don't vote, that -- that is a vote.
So we just put the facts out there. We say what we feel and leave it up to the people to do what they feel they should not do.
COSTELLO: Do you support -- do you support Governor Romney?
OWENS: No, I don't. We do not get in politics, we don't support any party. We believe -- we say what we believe to be right. Educate the public. But we do not support candidates.
COSTELLO: Ok and just a final question for you, I think nearly every poll out there shows that same-sex marriage is low on the priority list for most Americans. High on the priority list, especially among African-American voters is the lack of jobs. So why not go out and talk about that instead of same-sex marriage?
OWENS: Well, I don't think most people realize what the same-sex marriage agenda is going to do to our children. As I said, some of the effects won't be known for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. So we do talk about a those issues. But right now I'm focusing in on the great evil that the President has done to America and especially the black community.
The black community, we are behind every group -- education, jobs, economics. We are behind every group. And we encourage people to go to our Web site and tell us what they feel; 100000signatures4marriage.com, 100000signatures4marriage.com.
COSTELLO: Ok. I'm sorry to interrupt. We did hear the Web site. Thank you so much for joining us this morning Reverend. We appreciate it. OWENS: Thank you for having me. We appreciate it.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the Fab Five. They take gold in London, we'll talk about why this U.S. women's gymnastics team is so special.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It doesn't happen often but there are Olympic squads that are so good they get their own names you know like the Dream Team -- the U.S. Men's basketball all-stars from the 1992 games. Well, you can add the current U.S. women's gymnastics team to that list. The Fab Five not only beat the "Sports Illustrated" jinx they blew away their competition to get gold last night.
Carlos Diaz from HLN Sports is here and they were amazing to watch.
CARLOS DIAZ, HLN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Tell your Jordyn Wieber joke. Come on. Bring it. Let's go. Come on. Bring it.
COSTELLO: It's such a stupid joke.
DIAZ: Go, come on. Hurry up.
COSTELLO: All right. If Jordyn Wieber married Justin Bieber her name would be Jordyn Wieber Bieber.
DIAZ: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Carlos was laughing at the break).
DIAZ: By the way, Justin Bieber did actually tweet one Olympian, Missy Franklin, the swimmer who bagged a gold.
COSTELLO: It wasn't Jordyn Wieber?
DIAZ: So it wasn't -- although that would have made more sense.
But I'm telling you this is why the Olympics are so amazing because of the fact that these young girls -- these are teenagers. Kyla Ross is 15 years old. These girls have the weight of the country on their shoulders last night. Because on Monday in the all-around competition they were terrible. They didn't even medal in the all- around competition.
Last night in the team competition they started out strong on the vault. You can see right there. This is Gabby Douglas. Before that you saw Jordyn Wieber. And then this is the vault of the night. Sticks it without even stepping away. That's McKayla Maroney. That confidence basically kind of spilled over into their floor routine.
It was an all-around almost perfect evening for the lady gymnasts. Like I said, these are just young girls who have so much pressure on them, especially since they performed poorly on Monday. You have to ask yourself, are they better than the magnificent seven, Kerry Strugg, you know and the rest of the girls.
COSTELLO: She landed on that broken ankle.
DIAZ: Coached by Bela Karolyi back in 1996 in Atlanta. I can just tell you this. Last night Bela Karolyi said the he believes that this team is better all around as far as just top to bottom. These five girls are better than the seven girls who won in 1996.
COSTELLO: They were fantastic. And Jordyn Wieber, I mean she went first. She got the monkey off her back.
DIAZ: Yes. I mean when she landed that vault you could see her face was just like -- the relief on her face was so evident from Monday night. We'll try to contact Justin Bieber to see what he has to say about possibly maybe going on a date with her. I don't think --
COSTELLO: Oh, gosh.
DIAZ: I don't think Selena Gomez would like that.
COSTELLO: I don't either.
And I think it possibly might be illegal. Although just -- yes, he's 18 now.
DIAZ: Let's move on.
COSTELLO: Ok.
Let's talk about Cuba Gooding, Jr.
DIAZ: Yes. Speaking of legal.
COSTELLO: Yes. Speaking of legal. You know him from his line "show me the money". Well, he may have to get a new line as in "Show me the warrant." We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: He's known as one of Hollywood's good guys, but this morning, Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr., is a wanted man. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer joins us now. What happened?
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Well, Carol, of course, he's the likable guy we know from "Jerry Maguire", "A Few Good Men" and "Red Tails" but police in New Orleans say that Oscar-winning actor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., was actually involved in a bar altercation in the city's French Quarter.
Now they have a warrant for his arrest. He's being sought on misdemeanor battery charges after he allegedly became irate and pushed a female bartender twice at the old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street in New Orleans Tuesday morning.
Now, the bartender told police that Gooding stopped by around 3:00 a.m. And he soon became very aggravated with fans who wanted to take photos with him. The bartender told police that she approached the star and asked him to calm down at which point Gooding is accused of pushing her away with an open hand and then she claims he pushed her again as he was leaving.
Now police say the bartender wasn't injured. Gooding was presumed to be intoxicated. CNN calls and e-mails and calls to the actor's reps have not been returned. He's in New Orleans filming the movie, "The Butler" with some big Hollywood stars including Oprah Winfrey. And just before this report Carol, we reached out again to New Orleans police who tell us Cuba Gooding, Jr., is still at large. Not good press for him right now.
COSTELLO: No. A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.
Want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world? A.J. got it tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 Eastern on HLN.
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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories now, remember the police officer who pepper-sprayed student protesters last November? UC Davis confirms Lieutenant John Pike is no longer with the university. He was caught on camera spraying Occupy protesters. The state report found his actions were objectively unreasonable.
The world's biggest web-based e-mail service is getting a radical new look. Microsoft announcing Hotmail will soon become Outlook. The e-mail service is named after the popular office program. It will have a cleaner look. No word when all Hotmail users will have to switch to Outlook.
In weather news, record-breaking heat continues across several central states. Tuesday's temperatures reached 111 degrees in several states. Excessive heat watches and warnings are in effect through at least Thursday.
Now that more people will have health insurance than ever before under the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, some say it might become really difficult to find a doctor. The Association of American Medical Colleges says in three years the United States will have 62,000 fewer doctors than needed.
And that shortage is expected to get worse. In 13 years, we could be looking at a deficit of 125,000 doctors. Another problem, doctors are expected to get less of a reimbursement from Medicare, so fewer doctors will want to work as primary care physicians.
Dr. James Weiss is in Baltimore. He's the associate dean of admissions at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Good morning and thank you for being here.
DR. JAMES WEISS, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Good morning Carol. Thank you for asking me. COSTELLO: We're glad you're here. So Doctor, you said the number of people interested in medical school isn't dropping. In fact, thousands get denied every year, so why is there going to be a doctor shortage?
WEISS: Well, the -- you're absolutely right in terms of the number of applicants, versus the number of people accepted. Just to give you a quick fix on that, there are something like 43,000 medical school applicants each year and that's been a pretty steady number over years. But less than half of those are admitted.
So, there is no dearth of very good applicants. The problem is the number of slots in each medical school is probably insufficient for us to be training the number of physicians we're going to be needing in the future. So, that increasing class size maybe one solution to this deficit, at least in the long run --
COSTELLO: But there's so many different kinds of problems attached to this. I noticed from reading articles about this subject that there's no shortage of doctors predicted for the fields of plastic surgery and dermatology, so, why is that?
WEISS: Well, the reimbursement rate for those types of specialties, the so-called prestige specialties, is about twice that of the reimbursement rate for primary care physicians. Many of whom depend on Medicaid reimbursement which has fallen and there are many primary care physicians who are no longer accepting Medicaid payments. So, it's a real problem.
COSTELLO: So, explain that a little more for us. Is it because doctors don't want to deal with all of the problems and making less money that's involved in being a primary care doctor or are they just not interested in that field?
WEISS: Many are interested in the field. I think they are concerned that with Medicaid reimbursements falling, they will not have sufficient reimbursements to meet their expenses. In addition to that, of course, the number of the aged in this country, the aging population is increasing remarkably fast. So that they're going to be overburdened by more, or they feel they are going to be overburdened by more patients than they can handle.
The other issue, I would imagine, is lifestyle issues. Primary care physicians may tend to have longer hours and be on call more frequently than, let's say, a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon. All of these things, I think, figure into the issue.
I should add, though, that I am told that the Obama administration is providing some incentives for training primary care physicians in terms of increasing Medicaid reimbursement and rewarding them for serving in underserved communities. I hope that's true.
COSTELLO: Well, it is true. But the question is, will it work? Will it be enough?
WEISS: I don't think it will be enough in the short run. I think that two possible solutions are, as I said, increasing class size. And many schools are doing that. The other thing that should be done, and I believe is being done in several states, is increasing the number of medical schools.
I am told that Florida is one of those states doing that. That would certainly help, but, again, the lead time for getting a medical school up and going is not trivial. These are longer-term solutions, I think.
COSTELLO: Dr. Weiss, thank you for being here this morning.
WEISS: I'm very happy to be here, thanks.
COSTELLO: Was Mitt Romney's overseas trip a success or a failure? It's our "Talk Back" question today.
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COSTELLO: Mom or dad probably told you to eat all your fruits and vegetables, but how many of us really listened? In today's "Daily Dose" nutritionist Ellie Krieger is picking up where mom and dad left off.
ELLIE KRIEGER, NUTRITIONIST: You hear this word "antioxidant" all the time, but what exactly are they? Antioxidants are compounds in fruits and vegetables that act like super heroes in your body, sweeping away or neutralizing these bad guy compounds that cause damage to cells and ultimately cause disease. So, it's so important to get antioxidants into your life through the foods you eat.
And actually, eating a rainbow spectrum of fruits and vegetables all different colors will ensure that you get all the antioxidants that you need because antioxidants impart color to food.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy antioxidant rich foods this season is to make grape and banana skewers. Drizzle a little chocolate on it. Pop them in the freezer. It's a delicious way to get your antioxidants.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning, "Was Romney's overseas trip a success or failure?"
This from Jerry. "It was very successful. The Brits didn't like the "Are you ready Olympic" comment, but he just told the truth. In Israel, Romney hit a homerun, something the Obama administration has failed to do or doesn't want to do.
This from Marietta. "In the sensitive field of world diplomacy where every action and word is a consequence, any misstep could have disastrous consequences, speaking one's mind is not an option."
And this from Susan, "President Obama may not be perfect, but I hate the hot of going back to someone who will repeatedly embarrass us on the world stage. Romney's tone deafness is appalling. And I don't just mean his singing."
Please, keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/CarolCNN and thanks, as always, for your comments.
Thanks for joining me today.
"CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Kyra Phillips.
