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American Morning
Karl Rove to Resign; One Week Underground in Utah Mine; Dirty Bomb Threat: The Right Response?
Aired August 14, 2006 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Karl Rove calls it quits. The president's closest adviser announcing his resignation overnight.
Why now?
JIM VANDEHEI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, POLITICO.COM: He is leaving at a time when the Republican brand is very damaged.
CHETRY: And what's next?
Plus, high mercury levels in you. How worried should you be? We're taking the home test, how it works and whether it's worth it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And welcome. It's Monday, August 13th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: John Roberts is off. I'm Rob Marciano.
Good morning.
CHETRY: Good to see you, Rob, by the way.
MARCIANO: Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, we start off with some breaking news. The man President Bush called "The Architect" is leaving the White House. Karl Rove, the president's chief political strategist from the very beginning, will resign effective August 31st.
Joining us from Washington now, White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Suzanne.
What do you make of the timing here?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very interesting, Kiran, because White House officials, administration officials saying that he first floated this idea to the president about a year ago or so, that he was simply looking for the right time here. So timing, of course, is everything.
The context of all of this, interesting. I talked to Karl Rove just last week before Congress went on recess. He was still very much involved in moving forward -- domestic surveillance, foreign surveillance policy. But there are a lot of things that failed that did not come to fruition.
The White House clearly will miss him. This president as well.
They put out a statement saying, "Obviously it's a big loss to us. He is a great colleague, a good friend and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed, but we know he wouldn't be going if he wasn't sure this is the right time to be giving more time to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends."
Clearly, Kiran, there's a lot that went into all of this. He was the architect for both of the campaigns. He brought the president from governor of Texas here to the White House. But there were a lot of problems as well.
The CIA leak investigation certainly a cloud over his head. The fact that they lost the congressional majority to the Democrats, that immigration reform had failed, all of those things together. And as we know, he continues to be the targets of investigations from Democrats -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So how much of an impact may he still continue to have even in an nontraditional role, nothing with a title?
MALVEAUX: Well, you know, I'm sure they will be talking to him. Obviously, his hand is in just about everything. But I did ask whether or not he's going to be replaced. That is up to the chief of staff, Josh Bolten, to decide how he's going to parcel out some of the things that he actually did.
He may be replaced with somebody else, or they may just decide to spread out his duties, but clearly he had his hand in just about everything -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux with us from the White House.
Thank you.
Joining us now from Washington with more on this, politico.com executive editor Jim Vandehei.
Jim, thanks for being with us once again.
You know, this announcement sort of came in a low-key way, if you will. It was in an interview that he did with the editor of the opinion page in "The Wall Street Journal," and the headline didn't even read that Rove is stepping down. VANDEHEI: Yes. I mean, he's often tried to circumvent sort of the mainstream and regular reporters to go to media outlets that he feels are friendly or at least willing to give him a fair shake. And this time he went to "The Wall Street Journal," Paul Shigo (ph), who he clearly has a relationship with going back pretty far.
This is big news, and it was understated in the way that "The Wall Street Journal" delivered it, though. They obviously alerted their news team. But this is -- this is really huge news in Washington. I mean, next to Bush or Cheney themselves stepping aside, I mean, Rove is one of the most powerful people we've seen in the White House in some time, especially someone who has not been elected.
And the idea that he could be replaced, that he simply could not be replaced because he does politics, he does policy, he does sort of the nuts and bolts infrastructure of election politics for this White House. So he would not be replaced per se.
The question is, do they try to go outside and find another political guru to help navigate the final, you know, year and a half of the Bush White House? I doubt it, because there's not a whole lot you can do when you're a lame duck president, particularly when you're mired at 30 percent in the polls.
CHETRY: You know, it's also interesting, because there will be a lot of question about the timing and whether it had anything to do with him leaving to avoid congressional scrutiny, something he denies, at least in this article.
VANDEHEI: Yes. It caught me as one of the skeptics, this idea that, you know, Josh Bolten, who is the chief of staff, said if you're going to leave at all, leave by August 31st. I mean, this is Karl Rove. If he wanted to stay, he could stay as long as he wants and leave whenever he wants to.
You know, Democrats have a big target on his back. They want him to testify and everything from the firing of those U.S. attorneys, to the conduct of the war, to other efforts where Democrats feel the White House overly-politicized the policy apparatus of the White House. Getting outside of the White House isn't going to protect him from that, but that certainly starts to wear on you and you start to become a distraction when you're spending all of your time talking to your lawyers and talking to your political strategists about how do you defend yourself from these inquiries from Democrats? But this is a reality, the new reality in Washington, and it will be the reality for the next year and a half, because Democrats want to investigate so many things they feel were not investigated when Republicans controlled the place.
CHETRY: Right.
Jim Vandehei with politico.com.
Thank you.
VANDEHEI: Have a good day. CHETRY: You, too.
MARCIANO: At the mine collapse in Utah, rescuers expect to begin drilling a new hole today. This one into another part of the mine. The first two holes did not find the six miners who have been trapped for a full week now.
CNN's John Zarrella is at the command center at the entrance to the mine.
John, what can we expect from this third hole? And how long is it going to take to get to somewhere, hopefully where the miners are?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, they've got to dig down a little bit more than 1,400 feet, so it's going to take them several days to get that hole drilled. And on their timeline they should have begun in these overnight hours or be very close to beginning to drill that third hole.
Now, the reason they're going to drill that eight-and-five- eighths-inch hole where they are going right now is because there are several escape routes down underground in that cavity, and the mining officials believe that it's possible that the trapped miners may have gone to another area of the mine and by drilling this hole maybe they'll be able to spot them in another area of the mine. And based on that, that's what's giving Bob Murray, the owner of the mining company, some hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT-CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORP.: I've said from the beginning, if the initial earthquake or seismic activity did not kill them with a concussion outright immediately, there are numerous scenarios by which they could still be alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, over the weekend, they drilled that first eight- and-five-eighths-inch hole, they dropped a camera down in there, but they were only able to see about 15 feet, as opposed to the 100 feet they thought they'd be able to see, and that's because the light was absorbed so quickly in that intense darkness. So what they're doing now is trying to figure out a way to get some more light down into that cavity so that they can get a better look inside -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Hopefully we will get some good news out of that effort. John Zarrella live for us in central Utah.
Thanks, John.
CHETRY: Well, here's a look at what else is new this morning.
Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson dropping out of the race. The Iowa Straw Poll apparently the last straw. He finished sixth in that vote this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY THOMPSON (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I had my chance, and it didn't come out the way I thought it was going to, but that's life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly. You're out of the race?
THOMPSON: I'm out of the race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee finished a surprise second in the Iowa Straw Poll, and we're going to be speaking with him live coming up in our next hour.
Also, there will be a day where there will be a lot of decision making for NASA. They have to figure out whether or not it makes sense to send astronauts out to try to fix a gouge on the shuttle Endeavor.
There you see it. It's on the tiles. NASA says that a chunk of insulating foam tore a deep hole in the shuttle's protective heat shield during liftoff last week. Astronauts have never performed this kind of repair job in space before.
Divers pulled the body -- another body from the murky Mississippi River on Sunday, 11 days after the I-35W Bridge collapse. Nine people are now confirmed dead and four others are still missing.
Also, workers removed the school bus from the bridge that was carrying 52 children from a field trip to a water park. All of them got out OK.
And another bizarre twist in the controversy over Chinese imports this morning. A state-run newspaper in China says that the CEO of a Chinese toy manufacturer has killed himself. That report claimed that he was upset after nearly a million of his company's toys were recalled here in the U.S. because of excessive amounts of lead.
Gas prices are falling. Checking the gas gauge now here at CNN.
The price of self-serve regular, $2.78 a gallon. That's down more than 10 cents in the past two weeks. It's also down from $3.06 a month ago. Gas was $3.01 on average a year ago -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Kiran, time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING correspondents to see what they are following this morning.
Ali Velshi checking in with a business report.
Ali, oh, the heady days when Alan Greenspan was cutting interest rates back in the '90s. Does he have a new gig now? What's going on?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's got a new gig. And if you were thinking you might get some advice from him, it's not going to come for free.
Alan Greenspan has signed on with Deutsche Bank as an adviser. He was 18 years at the head of the Fed. He retired at the end of last year.
He's 81 years old, and this guy earns a lot of money. His speeches net him about $100,000 each. His book is coming out next month, and there's reportedly an $8.5 million advance that's been paid to him.
And he's got an advisory company that doesn't take on more than one client in a specific industry. So all of the investment banks around the world were obviously interested in having Alan Greenspan on board. It looks like Deutsche Bank got him.
No report on what he is getting paid to advise them. Part of his advisory business, he'll be doing conference calls with them and he'll be sort of talking to their senior management. So that will be interesting.
That's a big hand up for Deutsche Bank. But for those of you expecting that he's going to make you a speech to tell you exactly what you're supposed to do about your mortgage or where this economy is going, no such luck -- Rob.
MARCIANO: As far as the salary is concerned, it sounds like he doesn't need the money with all the book deals and everything.
VELSHI: He doesn't need the money, yes.
MARCIANO: We'll check back with you a little bit later on the markets. Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Well, when it comes to detecting breast cancer, finding it early is key. But should women just go take a mammogram or an MRI?
Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center with details -- Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.
Rob, women and the men who love them need to listen to this because it's an important question about how best to prevent breast cancer. This study now out of Germany that's just come out, it says that when women had MRIs to detect certain types of breast cancers, the MRI caught 92 percent of the breast cancers, but mammograms caught only 56 percent of the breast cancers.
Now, when you hear numbers like that, 92 versus 56 percent you think, well, gosh, why in the world would you get a mammogram? Why wouldn't you get an MRI? Well, researchers point out that there are two big problems with MRIs.
First of all, they have a very high false-positive rate compared to mammograms. That means that the test is going to say, oh, yikes, you might have a cancer and it will turn out that you won't have a cancer. So you'll worry, you'll get a biopsy, your insurance company or you will spend more money.
The second problem is that MRIs cost a lot more than mammograms. So, if you were to talk about all of a sudden every woman in the U.S. getting MRIs instead of mammograms, you're talking about millions and millions of dollars -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Cost is always an issue. That's for sure.
Thanks.
Elizabeth Cohen -- Kiran.
CHETRY: New York City Police Department easing its alert this morning after an online threat over the weekend of a possible dirty bomb attack. It brought traffic to a near standstill on Saturday. The NYPD sent extra officers to the street, set up security checkpoints around the city. They were using sensors to scan any trucks or vans that looked like they could carry cargo.
Terrorism officials are now calling the threat unsubstantiated and not credible, and so now some questions today about whether New York's response was appropriate.
CNN's Kelli Arena is live in our Washington bureau with more.
And, you know, the officers will insist it's better be safe than sorry, given the history of terrorists wanting to attack New York City.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Kiran. And, you know, New York officials knew from the start that that intelligence was not credible, but they say that they did what they did out of an abundance of caution.
Now, that's a term we hear a lot, but let's face it. You know, New York is in a unique position. It's been hit twice by terrorists, it's still considered one of the top targets. And you may remember that there were some surveillance reports that were found that provided information on attacking some of the financial buildings in that city.
So, if you combine all of that with the fact that this is considered a high threat period, and then there are recent indications that al Qaeda has reconstituted itself, you know, some officials in New York say, look, we had no choice but to do what we did -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And Kelli, apparently there was also scares in other cities like Miami. They didn't really change the way that they did things. So, you know, now the question is, should there be some uniform response or is it really up to the leaders and the police executives of that city?
ARENA: Well, you know, the federal government will not mandate how each locale reacts to threat information. Now, remember, the national threat level was not raised, so there were no automatic shifts in security.
New York chose one route. Miami and Los Angeles also had threat information. They chose another route.
Now, security experts can debate for hours, you know, who did it right? New York, as I said, really is in a very unique position -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Kelli Arena live for us in Washington.
Thanks.
MARCIANO: A terror trial in Miami is wrapping up and it tops our "Quick Hits" this morning.
Closing arguments begin today in the trial of Jose Padilla and others -- two others charged in supporting terrorism. Padilla could get life in prison if he's convicted of giving support to Islamic terror groups overseas.
Another court hearing today in Miami. This one of the fate of Manuel Noriega. He former dictator of Panama is due to be released next month from prison. The U.S. wants him extradited to France to face money laundering charges. Noriega wants to return to Panama, where he is facing embezzlement, corruption and murder charges.
And money is tight and the stock market is like a roller-coaster. And the mortgage mess, is it going to hurt the economy long term? We're going to talk with Lou Dobbs.
That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Well, from baseball's Iron Man to designated diplomat, that's leading off our "Quick Hits" this morning.
Today, hall of famer Cal Ripken is being named a special sports envoy for the State Department. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce Ripken's new diplomatic role soon.
And some show time for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Magic Johnson says he's backing the New York senator's presidential bid. The Lakers' legend says he will hold a fund-raiser for her on September 14th and it will include music industry icons Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy, who are also in Clinton's corner.
CHETRY: Overseas markets rebounded somewhat this morning, but there is a lot of concern still about the ongoing credit crunch and mortgage crisis. Just a month after the Dow hit 14,000, we see a very, very volatile time. So why does it seem that Wall Street is now in crisis?
With us this morning, Lou Dobbs, anchor and managing editor of "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT".
Good morning, Lou. Good to see you.
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Good to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, the first thing, we have the S&P Index down 6.4 percent, I believe, last month. There's been a lot of roller- coaster rides all of last week.
What is the cause of all of the volatility?
DOBBS: Well, the volatility is caused in large measure by the fact that a number of hedge funds on Wall Street, certain funds or programs -- program-driven trading on Wall Street last week, accelerated the volatility. We have in this country right now a subprime mortgage crisis, which is those at least qualified buyers of homes, and with their mortgages simply defaulting on them. And a number of major Wall Street institutions, financial institutions, in fact, Kiran, all around the world losing a lot of money on those subprime mortgages as interest rates have started rising.
And we've got a number of those large financial institutions, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, a host of them, BNP Paribas in France, the largest bank in France, basically having to back away from credit markets unwilling to buy their credit on these subprime mortgages. And the result is, without question, a crisis in the subprime market.
CHETRY: Yes, there's no doubt about that.
Lou, we're having a little bit of trouble with our connection. We're going to get that taken care of and come back in a moment.
In fact, we're going to ask Lou whether or not there needs to be more regulation of the mortgage industry when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Joining us once again this morning is Lou Dobbs, anchor and managing editor of "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT".
And sorry. You're back and you sound much better. I heard it in the break.
Now, is the problem that home buyers bought more than they can afford, or do we have an industry, a mortgage industry that takes advantage of lenders who may not know everything they need to know?
DOBBS: I think the problem is that these subprime mortgages were simply unregulated and pressed -- and these institutions pressed credit out into a segment of the marketplace that couldn't sustain them with rising interest rates. In some cases, Kiran, we've seen home mortgage payments actually rise by as much as 50 percent because of higher interest rates.
And the fact is this isn't just a subprime mortgage crisis. We have -- we're facing a prospect of two million defaults on home mortgages this year alone. Personal bankruptcies are running at a record high.
CHETRY: Why is that?
DOBBS: And we're seeing a very -- well, very simply, because rates are rising. And secondly, we're seeing wages stagnate. And in some cases, we're seeing a real threat to jobs.
We're seeing retail sales -- we're going to get a retail sales report today that's going to give this market some direction about which way it's going to head. Investors are going to be watching that, because if we continue to see weakness in retailing, we're going to have some very serious investor concerns.
Combine that with the subprime mortgage. Already, the crisis in housing as home prices are declining and interest rates are rising, and we have the makings of a very serious problem.
Now, it's a problem that can be controlled, it's a problem that can be managed by the fed and all of the various agencies. But it is a very serious threat that extends well beyond subprime mortgage lending.
CHETRY: You know, it's interesting, you mentioned the Fed. They've made a decision to hold steady and not do anything when it comes to interest rates. They're meeting again, I believe, on the 18th of September.
DOBBS: Right.
CHETRY: But they say the inflation, not the housing and credit market, is the greatest concern. Do you agree?
DOBBS: Right. I disagree, but that's because I'm not in the Fed. The Fed's job is to maintain price stability, and that should be their first concern.
At the same time, I believe the Fed has been exactly correct in its course to hold the target rates of 5.25 percent, but inject liquidity. For crying out loud, over the past week, Kiran, we have seen central banks, the European Central Bank, the Japanese and the Americans put in $300 billion in liquidity in this world market to help ease the strain of the credit crunch. Whether that will be will enough is uncertain, but I think, at the same time, with the -- one of the other problems we have is a dollar that is 20-year lows against the pound, almost at parity with the euro, and the Fed has limited room in which it can move, certainly on its own.
So I think the Fed has done the right thing here, trying to find stability and trying to manage stability, but the markets are going to be reacting to some very concerning and troubling fundamentals.
CHETRY: You know, and for the year, we are still up 6 percent, the market. What should everyday investors do?
DOBBS: Everyday investors right now, in my opinion, should just hold fast. And the reason for that is that selling out here, they've already sustained significant losses, if they're in these financial institutions. And that's where, primarily, the damage has been done.
So I would -- unless, obviously, an investor needs the money or has other uses for it, or is involved in these financial institutions, I think the smartest thing to do is stay in pat. When we see a crisis like that -- like this, Kiran, historically, the investor is far better off to simply stand still, rather than join the computer-driven models and the hedge funds and whatever crisis they find themselves in, often panicking, as is the case among the hedge funds right now.
So we can hope that that damage can be restrained. The small investor shouldn't be reacting at all to the threat that faces them.
CHETRY: All right. Lou Dobbs, as always, thanks for your insight. Great to see you.
DOBBS: Good to see you.
CHETRY: And, by the way, you can catch Lou again tonight, weekdays, every weekday, 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
Meantime, coming up, a look at some of the stories that you can't miss that you're going to see a little later in our show. You know, a lot of moms try to do everything they can to protect their unborn babies from mercury poisoning. They're told to avoid fish, as well as other things like that. But do we really know how much mercury is in our body?
MARCIANO: Right. And, you know, should you not eat sushi altogether?
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: We're going to talk more about that as well.
Also, we will talk about the markets and the costs involved with the mercury deal.
CHETRY: Yes, because apparently there's this new test you can take where you can -- just using the hair off your head, you can figure out what your mercury content is in your body. Does it work? Greg Hunter is going to show it to us.
MARCIANO: Do a home test.
And also, cheaters -- cheaters, cheaters, beware. If you're having an affair on your husband or wife, there is something in lots of cars that could expose what you're doing. It's already been used already against one guy in a divorce case. We're going to tell you about it next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Never get tired of that shot, Kiran.
CHETRY: Isn't it beautiful, The Arch in St. Louis. You were up and close there personal a week ago. They are still facing a heat problem.
MARCIANO: They still are. It's going to get close to 100 degrees again today. This is a longstanding heat wave across the nation's heartland and even the Mississippi is not enough to cool you off.
CHETRY: No. But now is the time to enjoy the day, 74 degrees. This shot coming to courtesy of KMOV in St. Louis.
MARCIANO: Good morning, everybody. I'm Rob Marciano.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us today.
New this morning, we are hearing for the first time from one of the miners who was able to escape the collapsing Crandall Canyon Mine a week ago. He says he never felt a thing as the mine was caving in.
This morning rescuers plan to drill a third hole into the mine where six miners are still trapped. Rescuers have yet to spot them using a camera that was lowered into the mine. They're also trying to get to the men by digging through the debris, they're only about a third of the way through it. Some family members are still hopeful the men will be found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE SANDOVAL SANCHEZ, COUSIN OF TRAPPED MINER: It's a slow process. So, it's definitely a time of grief and loss, and ups and downs, but we're hanging in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The trapped miners are more than three miles from the mine entrance.
We're also waiting a critical decision from NASA engineers and scientists today. Astronauts may be told they need to fix a gouge on Endeavour's belly. They have to do this in orbit so they can come safely home. NASA says that a chunk of insulating foam caused that gouge last week during liftoff. The hole is deep and goes all the way to the Endeavour's aluminum skin. Astronauts have not performed this kind of repair job in space before.
L.A.'s mayor is demanding answers after a weekend meltdown at Los Angels International Airport. More than 20,000 travelers delayed when a Customs computer crashed. It diverted some flights into the air and stranded international passengers on the ground. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sat for three hours on a plane! And then we sat for two more hours in an aisle, and sat for another hour in another room! Then we stood in line!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Passengers were describing the scene as complete chaos. The system that crashed allows Customs agents to access information about incoming international passengers, including arrest warrants.
MARCIANO: Hawaii is bracing for Hurricane Flossie, the storm is now Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of 130 miles an hour. It's expected to weaken before passing just south of Hawaii tomorrow or Wednesday. But the storm could still stir up some high wends and some big surf, maybe 12-foot surfs coming in.
Global markets are up this morning. Japan's Nikkei closed .02 of a percent higher today. And European stocks are trading higher right now. The Bank of Japan and European central bank both pumped billions of dollars into the markets today to calm investors' fears. Ali Velshi here, now.
MARCIANO: What does that mean, when we say the pumped money into the markets?
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question. I was reading a lot of stuff about that this weekend. I noticed a lot of reports sort of talked about them pumping money into the economy but it doesn't describe what it means.
What it means is that when things like these market -- all this action on the market happened last week some people get nervous and want to take their money out. And what this means is that the central banks around the world want to make sure that as people go to the banks, or investment companies, to take their money out there is always money for them to take out.
So that at no point does somebody go to a bank, or investment company, and say I would like to redeem my investments because I'm getting a little bit frightened of these markets, and there is no money available, or they have to sell stock in order to get that. So, it just means it erases panic from the market.
MARCIANO: So, they give money to like Fidelity and if I have say I want to pull my money out --
VELSHI: Then Fidelity doesn't have to say, Sorry, M. Marciano, it will take us a couple of days to get the money. It's just to relax everybody and make sure there's enough money in there. So that's good news. It's also good news about the fact those futures are up today. So you might be able to relax today.
As I advised earlier, the thing you might want to do, if you're not worrying about markets today take a look at your credit score. Most folks don't have a look at that very regularly. You can get access to it. The median credit score in America, by the way, is 723. Anything above 700 is excellent; 660 to 700 is good. Where you start getting worried is where you get under 660, and under 620 you fall into the subprime category, which means you pay more for your mortgages, your credit, and all that sort of thing.
Here's what you have to remember, if you're late on a mortgage payment -- and increasingly we are seeing that happen -- not just with people with poor credit, but even those with good credit. Your credit score can take a hit of 50 to 100 points for being late one month. That could then start to increase your mortgage rate incredibly. Your mortgage rate could go up a half percent, or more, just for one month of being late.
If you're coming close to that make sure you deal with that ahead of time. Don't have the mortgage company call you and tell you missed a payment. This is where everybody else, who is not involved in this subprime mess, needs to start to be careful.
CHETRY: Good advice, Ali. Thank you.
High water rescues, topping your "Quick Hits" now. Thousands of homes destroyed and people waiting on rooftops for help after a tropical storm flooded southern China. A Chinese news agency says rescue teams have saved 6,000 people.
At least 13 people dead after two mudslides nearly buried a village in western Kenya over the weekend. Second one came as rescuers were trying to help those trapped and wound up burying some the rescue crews themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, mercury fears rising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was not about to even have a doubt in my mind I could do something to potentially harm an unborn child. I was just not going to risk it.
CHETRY: Concerns over mercury in fish. How much mercury is too much? And which fish have the highest levels? Find out ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: The U.S. is slipping on the list of life expectancy. The Census Bureau says Americans are living longer than ever, an average lifespan of almost 78 years, but people are living longer than that in 41 other countries including Japan, most of Europe, and Jordan.
In other health news, eating certain fish can lead to dangerous levels of mercury in your system. But now there's an easy to find out if you're at risk. AMERICAN MORNING's Greg Hunter is at the Chelsea Fish Market here in Manhattan. Greg what are we talking about, besides fish?
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking about fish and we're talking about mercury and we're at the Lobster Place here down in Chelsea. The big question is what can't you eat, what should you look out for?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: Before getting pregnant with Baby Alexa, Miami mom, Laura Pugliese got her tested for mercury. The results startled her. You had high levels of mercury?
LAURA PUGLIESE, TESTED HAI FOR MERCURY: Right. Above the recommended levels from the EPA.
HUNTER: Mercury is a toxic element that can be found in pollution released by coal-fired plants, and other sources, and makes its way into oceans, lakes, streams and the fish that live there.
At high levels, it can damage the brain and immune system in fetuses and young children. After the test, Pugliese she put off her pregnancy for more than six months.
PUGLIESE: I was not about to even have a doubt in my mind that I could do something to potentially harm an unborn child. I was just not going to risk it.
HUNTER: She stopped eating Albacore tuna and said her mercury levels went down. She received her $25 home test kit from Green Peace and Sierra Club. Samples sent to the University of North Carolina at Asheville, as part of a study that tested a 12,000 people and found one in 5 had more than the EPA's recommended limit of mercury in their bodies.
STEVE PATCH, U. OF N. N. CAROLINA, ASHEVILLE: Now we know with lead, very well, at what levels we start to see harm. And they're much, much lower than we used to think. The same may happen for mercury.
HUNTER: But some doctors are concerned pregnant women, worried about mercury, will stop eating fish altogether and that is not recommended, because fish is rich in protein and other nutrients. But pregnant women should avoid shark, sword fish, king mackerel and tile fish, and cut down on albacore tuna.
DR. LAURA RILEY, OB-GYN: Those fish have the highest mercury content so we suggest pregnant women stay away from those for the nine months of pregnancy.
HUNTER: A seafood industry leader says advocacy groups like Green Peace are trying to change environmental policies by calling into question the health benefits of fish.
JOHN CONNELLY, NATIONAL FISHERIES INSTITUTE: To try to get people scared about a healthy product like seafood in order to achieve a means to scare them about mercury is irresponsible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: So the big message here is you should look out for some fish, especially if you're pregnant, but if you're not pregnant, there are many different types of seafood you can eat, and you should eat, because it's good for you. You should eat fish twice a week.
I'm at the lobster place. They sell more than just lobsters. Here is a cod fish, very low in mercury, and king salmon, very low in mercury. I'm a big salmon eater and whether it's farm-raised or wild, it's low in mercury. The wild has less mercury in it, very low. This is red snapper, another great fish. That's low in mercury. We have trout, which is very low in mercury. Fish, very good for you. Pompano Clams, clams very low in mercury. And also fluke --
And one of my favorite, low in mercury, and my wife loves lobster. This is a four pounder, honey. Huh, how about that? Very low in mercury. You should eat fish twice a week and vary it up, and eat all different kinds of fish.
Back to you guys in the studio.
MARCIANO: You are going to have to negotiate that lobster. Now your wife is expecting it back home.
HUNTER: I'd like to bring this home.
MARCIANO: Greg, you'll be happy to know, you don't look pregnant. But do you have any idea what your mercury level is?
HUNTER: Actually, I got tested and I have about half the allowable limit. I eat yellow fin tuna couple times a week, at least. I also take fish pills, but mine was pretty low so there you have it.
MARCIANO: All right. Greg Hunter live for us in Manhattan, at the fish market. Thank you, Greg.
So, let's say you take a test and you find out you're exposed to mercury. Then what? What do you need to know about mercury and its effects? CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live from Atlanta.
Elizabeth, you know, how high do mercury levels have to be to actually be harmful?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, Rob, there is no one number you can give that says, if a woman has this much mercury in her system she will pass it along to through her system. Doctors just don't have information or data that is that detailed. It's going to vary from woman-to-woman.
But I'm going to reiterate some of the advice that Greg just gave. It comes actually the FDA and EPA. They tell women who are pregnant, women who might become pregnant, and nursing mothers and young children just don't eat certain types of fish, because of worries about high mercury levels.
Those are shark, sword fish, king mackerel, and tile fish. And they also tell this group you know what? Don't have more than two meals that consist of shrimp, tuna, salmon, pollack, or catfish. They say those are lower in mercury, so you can certainly eat more of those kinds of fish.
MARCIANO: Well, if you have high mercury can just not eating fish help you out? Or reverse course?
COHEN: It will eventually. Let's say, for example, like the woman in Greg's story you're maybe thinking about becoming pregnant, so you get your mercury levels tested. And they're high. It will take -- again, this is a little mushy -- but it's going to take probably a number of months, one expert told us maybe even a year to get those mercury levels down.
But you can, and you will, get them down if you stop eating fish. So it is reversible. It can happen. Again, a matter of maybe a couple of months, maybe up to a year.
MARCIANO: CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen live for us in Atlanta.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Still to come, paying the toll for cheating on your spouse. The item in lots of cars that could help expose an extramarital affair. We'll tell you what it is coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're following breaking news from the White House today. The president's chief political strategist and much more, Karl Rove, will resign at the end of the month. So what does this mean for the rest of the president's time in office? Joining us now from Arlington, Virginia, the host of radio's "Bill Bennett's Morning in America", and CNN contributor Bill Bennett.
Good to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
BILL BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you very much, Kiran. Good to be with you. That's Karl Rove. I'm Bill Bennett -- there I am. OK.
CHETRY: You're here. All I see is you.
BENNETT: OK, great.
CHETRY: It was quite understated, it was just in "The Wall Street Journal". It was an article that didn't even have the headline Rove calling it quits. What are your listeners make of the announcement this morning?
BENNETT: Well, you know, we said this morning on the show, the headlines should be Rove leaves unindicted, and in some ways that's an achievement these days. Political temperature so hot, there were so many people after Karl Rove. The fact he was able to leave and leave freely is a good thing.
You know what is interesting on that, Kiran? Is that he's a little less protect now when he leaves, than he is sitting in the White House. He can make no claim of executive privilege. So he, obviously, feels that he's safe, that it's fine, he's done nothing wrong, but, boy, the big target of the Democrats. He's been the boogieman, Moby Dick, whatever you want to say. They have been obsessed with Karl Rove.
CHETRY: Right, I mean, to the point where many say he's become a distraction for the presidency. He even says in the article, "I'm a myth. There is the mark of Rove." He says, appearing to be amused by it. He says some of the things I read about myself and I'm supposed to have done I try not to laugh. Is he replaceable?
BENNETT: Sure, he's replaceable, but he is a rare political talent, Kiran. There is no question about it.
I'll tell you the secret weapon, too. I had lunch with Karl at his house, with a few other people, week before last. He didn't hint at this all, I should say. There were five different rooms all wall- to-wall books. This guy reads. You know, I never give up being secretary of Education. Kids, one of the secrets to being smart, and to being not easily expendable is what you know. He is the best-read person I know. He's something of an autodidact, you doesn't have advanced degrees, but has read everything, and brought incredible learning and intelligence to bear.
I think he is probably the guy most responsible, in the background, for the 2004 victory, the targeting, the data dating, the getting out to these voters who had never voted before. Karl Rove deserves a heck of a lot of credit.
CHETRY: Is he leaving on a high note or low note in your opinion -- and in the opinion of your listeners?
BENNETT: Well, I think he's leaving on a pretty good note. I mean, this has been a tough time for the George Bush and this administration. The numbers were way down. His numbers are back up some. You know, this is a time of the war and terror and the war in Iraq, but I don't think any worse than before.
But he has survived, you know, several major attempts to get him. You know, they were hoping to get him with the Scooter Libby thing, they were hoping to get him at other times. He leaves smiling and in good cheer, that's what I saw in the week before last. You know, he's heading back to Texas.
CHETRY: Yes, that's what he says. He is going to spend some time with this family. He did not leave, though, without getting in a comment about the Democrats and their pick for president. He said they're likely to nominate a tough tenacious fatally flawed candidate by the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He says holding the White House is always difficult in a third term, and if the climate is right to do that it's '08. What do you think?
BENNETT: Well, I think it could be. I mean, she is tough and tenacious. Whether she is fatally flawed remains to be seen. We know her negatives are high. My guess is that no matter where he goes he will be talking, or whispering in some somebody's ear. This is not a guy will disappear from public life. He's too smart. He's a resource and people are going to continue to use him.
CHETRY: You talked about how much he loves to read. Apparently, he had a little friendly bet going with the president, a reading competition, who could read the most books, and he's winning.
BENNETT: Yeah. Well, yeah. He doesn't have the public appearances the president has. But I will say this, Karl has been very candid when he's had that opportunity. You guys reported earlier this summer, remember, he was out at the Aspen Institute, had an open forum. And believe me, I've done the Aspen Institute. Walter Isakson (ph) runs a great shop, but it's mostly liberal. It's mostly left. And he was there for quite a long time taking questions.
He's a candid guy. He's got goodwill. He has intelligence. That intelligence has certainly been a great asset for George Bush. But time to move on. I guess 14 years with George Bush. A lot of us didn't know him back in 2000, when he started up so big with Bush, but we've gotten to know him and he's one of the major political geniuses I think of this era.
CHETRY: Arguably the most influential White House aide of modern times. Karl Rove calling it quits today. Bill Bennett, thank you for your insight this morning.
BENNETT: You're very welcome. Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the president and Karl Rove are expected to speak before boarding Marine One, a little bit later this morning. I think in about two and a half hours from now. Of course, if we get the opportunity we will carry it live here on CNN.
MARCIANO: "Quick Hits" now. A deadly plane crash south of Los Angeles, but there are a couple of miracles with this. The plane clipped a house before crashing. The pilot was killed but no one on the ground was hurt badly. And listen to this, two dogs on the plane escaped without a scratch.
It was quite a show on Captiva Island, Florida. Take a look at this video. A pilot and his passenger crash landed on beach in front of about 500 people. The plane had engine trouble and it flipped over after the landing gear hit the sand. The pilot was not injured but passenger taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A key poll in the early stages of the presidential race. Breaking down the Iowa straw poll. The real winners and losers next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Here's a story that caught our attention overnight. Cheating spouses exposed by their E-ZPasses. You know the little windshield transmitters that allow you to breeze past toll booths. Every time you go through the toll, a computer records the time, the date and the location. Well, now some divorce attorneys are going after those records. One Pennsylvania lawyer just used them to catch her client's husband in a lie. The guy told his wife he was at a business meeting in Pennsylvania, but E-ZPass showed that he was really in New Jersey.
A handful of states that use the E-ZPass system will hand over records if asked to do so by the court.
MARCIANO: One more reason to walk! Hitchhike, or at least pay cash!
CHETRY: You're not even married yet. You can't get in trouble yet.
MARCIANO: Hey, it's not just guys, it's girls, obviously, too, right?
All morning long, this is some -- something you want to stick around for. Merv Griffin passed away. The tributes are pouring in. We will be remembering Merv throughout the morning.
CHETRY: That's right, in fact, our own Lola Ogunnaike was one of the last people to speak with him. She got one of the last interviews and she is going to tell us about her conversation with the legend coming up.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Breaking news: Karl Rove is out. What is next for the White House and what is behind the departure?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does politics, he does policy. He simply could not be replaced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Plus mine survivor: Word this morning from a miner who escaped the Utah mine collapse, as they begin drilling a third hole to get toward the men trapped for one week now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRES., CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: There are many ways that they can still be alive. This is a rescue mission, and we're proceeding as if the men are alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: New underground images and what they can mean for six trapped miners on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Thanks for joining us once again. It's Monday, August 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
MARCIANO: John Roberts has the morning off. I'm Rob Marciano. Thanks for joining us.
We're hearing for the first time this morning from one of the men who escaped the Utah mine collapse. Tim Curtis says he was at the mine entrance and didn't feel a thing as the walls caved in on his coworkers, more than three miles deep in the mine. Rescuers expect to begin drilling a new hole today; this one into another part of the mine. CNN's John Zarrella is at the command center at the entrance of the mine.
John, when can we expect the third hole to be completed?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, Rob, it's going to take several days before they can get the third hole dug. It's going to be -- they have to go down about 1400 feet. And while they're digging that third hole, they are also saying that the reason they're doing that is because they believe that's these miners -- there are several escape routes inside this cavity, where they believe the miners are trapped, and there are several escape routes. They could be in another part of this cavity.
So that is why they are drilling the third hole. This 8, 5/8th- inch hole. That is also one of the reasons why they say that there's nothing else they can do but hold out hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD STICKLER, MINE SAFETY & HEALTH ADMIN.: But our attitude is that we always have to have hope. And that is a position we're taking is that we're hoping and we're praying, and it would be a terrible mistake to ever give up hope until you know for sure. So that's the only choice we have is to press ahead, with hope, and, in time, we will know the answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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