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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Tour Boat Sinks, Americans Aboard; Anthony Jury to Begin Deliberations; Minnesota Government Shut Down; Strauss-Kahn Case Crumbling
Aired July 04, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Monday, the 4th of July. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you this morning from New York.
First order of business, breaking news out of Mexico. A tour boat sank off the Baja Peninsula in the Sea of Cortez. We understand 27 Americans were among the passengers. A Mexican naval commander in the area says there are survivors.
We've got Petty Officer Pamela Boehland from the U.S. Coast Guard on the phone.
Petty Officer Boehland, you're helping the Mexican navy. What do you know right now about the survivors and who you're looking for?
All right. Petty Officer Boehland, we're going to get her back in a second. We're just having a technical problem getting hold of her.
What we do understand is that of the 42 people on board about 21 have been rescued. Sixteen of them Americans and five of them Mexicans. We're still getting detail coming in this. But we're going to get back to the coast guard momentarily.
More news right now that you're going to hear about today. It is 4th of July. It is a holiday. But the jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial has a job to do. The deliberations over her guilt or innocence are expected to begin in a few more hours.
But, first, the prosecution has some rebutting to do. The defense claims the state did not prove that Casey Anthony killed her daughter Caylee. But they played with the jury's emotions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE BAEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You see, the strategy behind that is, is if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. You'll start to, oh, wait a minute, maybe I'm seeing something that's not there, and start to actually discriminate against her, rather than give her the standard that is afforded to each and every citizen in our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: The trial gets under way in Orlando at 8:30 Eastern today. The jury, the judge has warned the jury that today could be a long day. May even get the trial and start deliberating.
Let's go back to our top story, and this is tragedy in Mexico. A tourist boat is sinking off the Baja Peninsula, 27 Americans among the passengers on that.
Pamela Boehland is -- Petty Officer Pamela Boehland with the U.S. Coast Guard. She's on the phone for us.
Petty Officer Boehland, are you there?
PAMELA BOEHLAND, U.S. COAST GUARD: Good morning, Ali. How are you?
VELSHI: Good morning. I understand you are helping the Mexican navy. What have you heard about survivors and those who you're continuing to search for?
BOEHLAND: That's correct, Ali. We're helping the Mexican community with this search. Right now, we have six people unconfirmed -- unaccounted for people and 37 people we have confirmed alive. And right now, those people are safe in a Mexican hotel.
The coast guard is preparing to launch a helicopter from Air Station San Diego to provide some aerial assistance with the rescue first thing this morning.
VELSHI: Let me ask you that again. You've said you've got six confirmed -- you have 37 confirmed alive?
BOEHLAND: Yes, Ali. We received an update from the Mexican navy, 37 people were confirmed alive. And six people are still unaccounted for.
VELSHI: OK. What's the search area like in terms of the area and in terms of the weather?
BOEHLAND: Well, right now, it's still dark out. We'll be launching in the morning. So, we'll be able to judge that as it comes.
But the search area is huge. We cover vast portions of the Sea of Cortez to cover as much area as possible. That's why it's important that we use these long-range helicopters which have the capability of searching these vast fields of sea.
So, they'll go out first thing this morning to search the area in addition to the Mexican helicopter that's already in the air and three Mexican naval vessels that are in the air search for survivors.
VELSHI: We understand you're probably about 2 1/2 or three hours then from light hitting you where you are. Do you have any idea about what kind of boat this was and what the conditions were when it capsized?
BOEHLAND: Yes. It was 100-foot fishing charter vessel. And it hit some rough weather and capsized and sank almost immediately. The boat was close enough to land and enough people were wearing life jackets. Some people were able to swim to shore, whereas others were picked up by Good Samaritans and vessels in the area.
VELSHI: Tell me a bit about the Americans. We understand there were 27 Americans among the passengers. Do you know how many among those 37 confirmed alive are Americans?
BOEHLAND: Just the same number, Ali. We still have 27 U.S. citizens accounted for. I don't know with the rest of that 37 is comprised of, if that's the rest of the fishing vessel crew or if those are passengers.
VELSHI: Petty Officer Pamela Boehland with us. We will check in with you later on to see how things are progressing. Petty Officer Pamela Boehland of the U.S. Coast Guard on the phone with us.
In other news we're covering, we hope to find out more about this fatal shooting in Memphis. A police officer goes into the Doubletree Hotel downtown responding to a call. He finds a person dead. Then the officer gets shot and dies later in hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONEY ARMSTRONG, MEMPHIS POLICE DIRECTOR: When you have something as tragic as this with amount of time the police officers spend together, we're like family. So, when you have something like this, as if something happened to one of your own family members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now, Memphis police have a suspect in custody, but that's all we know right now. The officer leaves behind a wife and two small children.
Maybe cleanup crews will make some progress in Montana today. An oil pipeline runs under the Yellowstone River broke. About 42,000 gallons of crude oil got into the water. It's ugly. It stinks. But, so far, no reports of animals dying. ExxonMobil said it shut down the line minutes after it discovered the break.
So, this isn't a Deepwater Horizon situation.
OK. Check out this video from Egypt. This is or was a pipeline that supplies natural gas from Egypt to Israel. An Egyptian official believes this is an act of sabotage and someone blew it up. The flow of gas to Israel and Jordan is shut off right now. This is the third attack on Egypt's pipeline system since the Mubarak government went down earlier this year.
And we've been watching FOX News politics on Twitter all night. Someone has hacked it. The site is putting out all kinds of insane, inappropriate, and untrue tweets about President Obama. It's basically April fool's type stuff that isn't funny. We reached out to FOX and to Twitter. We're still waiting to hear from them. Although our producer called FOX a little while ago and they said they didn't even know about it. A group of hackers claims it got into one of Apple's servers and pilfered about two dozen user names and passwords. But we're hearing that none of that information belongs to you or me or any Apple customers. Apparently, it's from a server that Apple uses for online surveys.
The hackers say they are part of anti-sec, which is short for anti- security. Some of the people could be responsible for other recent high-profile hackings. Sony, the Senate, and the CIA have all been hit.
OK. Let's crossover to Hong Kong for money morning --" Money Morning." My good friend Kristie Lu Stout is back from vacation, joining us this morning.
Good morning. Good to see you.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you, Ali.
And here in Asia, the (INAUDIBLE) gains concerns about the U.S. recovery and that debt crisis in Greece. Now, European stock markets, they are taking their queues from here in Asia and U.S. trade on Friday by starting on generally higher. Now, E.U. approval of Greece's next aid package, that has likely eased some investor worry, at least for now, at least.
But, as you said, Ali, U.S. markets are closed for the Independence Day holiday, but looming large on the horizon, of course, the monthly jobs report due out on Friday.
Ali, back to you.
VELSHI: All right. "Business Insider," Kristie, is reporting that China wants to get in on Facebook. They want to buy part of Facebook, which is ironic because Facebook doesn't really have friends in China.
STOUT: That's right. I mean, it's quite a headline, isn't it? China is looking to buy a huge chunk of Facebook. That's according to publication called "The Business Insider." It quotes a Facebook insider saying that the China Investment Corp., that's China's sovereign wealth fund, is looking for an opportunity to buy major stake in, of course, the major social networking giant.
Now, Facebook, as we all know, is blocked in China. Now, Beijing has long blocked Facebook as well as Twitter, but all the while allowing local social networking rivals like Kaixin and Sina Weibo to thrive and continue operating inside the mainland which is, of course, the world's largest Internet market, just under 500 million Internet users.
Now, back to the story from "Business Insider," nothing confirmed yet. There's lot of buzz about it. No one is confirming the report, but the mere prospect is getting a lot of people, including us, talking about it. VELSHI: Kristie, I want to ask you something else. Notice that -- you know, a lot of things aren't trading today because of the holiday but currencies are.
The Thai baht is doing particularly well because of big news out of Thailand, that that country is getting its first ever female prime minister. Her name is Yingluck Shinawatra.
Her older brother was the prime minister there until 2006. A military coup and corruption conviction pretty much ended his time in office. He's in exile. There are fears that she's going to be another version of him.
An interesting note about the baht. It rose more than a dollar against -- 1 percent against the dollar when markets opened this morning. It's outperforming other Asian currencies.
I'm assuming those two things are linked. I'm assuming this is seen as positive and that's why the currency is higher?
STOUT: Well, it has everything to do with the nature of her victory. It was a landslide election victory for Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, a huge mandate for her. And a lot of that, including the markets and pundits, are looking at -- holding out hope that this could bring stability to Thailand. That we could see the end of the six-year political uncertainty takes place in Thailand.
But there are major question marks. Number one, can Ms. Yingluck bring reconciliation to a country that has been so fraught with political discord for years now? And number two, you just mentioned it, can she shake off that image that she is the proxy of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who is living in exile? It doesn't help when Thaksin Shinawatra is calling her, quote, "my clone."
VELSHI: My clone. OK. That won't help. For the now, markets seem to be liking it.
Kristie, good to see you. I'm going to we're going to have fun. You and I worked together for many, many years. And what a lot of people don't know is we're both tech geeks, so we're going to enjoy talking about business and technology and all sorts of things in the morning.
Kristie Lu Stout joining me from Hong Kong.
Hey, let's take you back to Atlanta. Reynolds Wolf is watching weather for us this morning.
Good morning, Reynolds. Any flight delays to look at?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We might be seeing some later on. Right now, things are pretty good, so far. Let's take a look at and show what we've got.
Some possible delays maybe just under an hour in Orlando, Miami, delays an hour also for Atlanta and D.C. metros due to the afternoon thunder boomers that may pop up. Same story in Nashville and Memphis. But in San Francisco, the story is a little bit different, but one you've probably heard before and it has to do with the fog.
Now, in terms of thunderstorms, you might see pop up across much of the Southeast. Maybe some severe storms in the Upper Midwest, sunny for Seattle and Portland. How about that?
And, hey, shocker. Check it out. Heat expected for much of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. You're going to be feeling the temperatures to Austin, back to San Antonio and, of course, in Houston, maybe a shower, stray shower in extreme southern California.
That's the latest, Ali. Let's pitch it right back to you in New York.
VELSHI: All right. Reynolds, I'll check in with you a little bit later. Thanks very much, Reynolds Wolf.
Let's take a look at this situation with the tour boat that we've been talking about. It's a tour boat that's capsized off the Baja Peninsula. Twenty-seven Americans were among the passengers there. So far, according to Petty Officer Pamela Boehland of the Coast Guard, 37 people have been rescued -- 37 people are confirmed alive. Six people are still being searched for.
The issue here is that it is dark in that area, obviously. It's on the west coast. There are probably a good 2 1/2 to three hours away from light before they can resume the search. Apparently, the weather was rough, which is why this fishing boat capsized, 100-foot boat. So, we're keeping our eye on that.
But, apparently, 37 people have been rescued, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
We're taking a quick break. We'll be back in a minute. It's 12 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A biker on a ride to protest a helmet law dies in an accident. Motorcyclist Philip Contos was riding in the 11th annual helmet protest run when his Harley lost control and flipped over the handlebars. The ride was in Upstate New York. Doctors say he probably would have survived had he worn a helmet.
Another crash but on the water this time. Take a look at this video. A speed boat crashes into another boat during a race. It happened at the regatta on the Ohio River. This all after another speed boat hit a rescue boat in the same area. Three people were injured in that crash. Two of them have been hurt seriously.
And check out this set of wheels. This $2.4 Bugatti has things you wouldn't even dream of, like, for instance, a porcelain caviar tray. We all need a caviar tray in our car. It's actually the first car ever to have porcelain accents. Seven figures, let's hope it has amazing some details.
Bugatti is a luxury brand that is now owned by Volkswagen.
Time now for the Political Ticker. It's a holiday for everybody else. It's not a holiday for politicians who are running for president.
Pamela Kirkland is a senior producer on the "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS. She's joining us via Skype from Washington.
Good morning, Pamela. Most people are of work today. You're not. I'm not. And Republicans run for president are not.
What are they all doing?
PAMELA KIRKLAND, SENIOR PRODUCER, "THE MORNING BRIEFING," SIRIUS XM: Good morning.
Busy, busy day for the candidates today. These GOP presidential candidates will be spending the day celebrating the 4th on the campaign trail in Iowa, in New Hampshire, in Pennsylvania.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, will be at the Amherst 4th of July parade. And, actually, Romney is slated to walk ahead in the first section of the parade with Huntsman in a later grouping. But that order was only determined by the date when the candidate applications were received. So, no innuendos.
VELSHI: Nothing to read into that.
KIRKLAND: Exactly.
Meanwhile, Congressman Michele Bachmann who's been on a tour of Iowa the entire weekend, as well as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, are scheduled to participate in the Clearlake July 4th parade in Iowa.
And Herman Cain will end his day in New Hampshire. He's going to throw out the first pitch for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. But he's going to start of the day in Philadelphia for an Independence Day Tea Party rally with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
VELSHI: Pamela, quickly, I saw e-mails yesterday about a new candidate in the race. Tell us about who this is.
KIRKLAND: Yes, we've got another GOP presidential candidate to add to our list. The five-term Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter announced on Saturday at the WAAM freedom fest in Whitmore Lake that he, too, was throwing his hat in the ring. Actually immediately after the speech, he picked up his American flag theme guitar and jammed with the band.
And I don't know if you know, but Congressman McCotter is a guitarist as well.
VELSHI: That's it. That adds to the -- for a name that not everybody knows, that makes him a little more, you know, more familiar. Not bad.
KIRKLAND: You know, with Mike Huckabee out of the race, we need someone who can play an instrument.
VELSHI: That's right. Pamela, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks very much.
Pamela Kirkland is a senior producer of "The Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM.
And on this July 4th, the American Dream, for a lot of people, the reality of the today's struggling economy threatens it all. On CNN "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley sat down with author and philanthropist, Russell Simmons. You know him. He talks about a different kind of American Dream. He calls it inner wealth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSSELL SIMMONS, MUSIC MOGUL: The more we can let go of the need for results, the better we can do our job. When you're making a great record, you hear a melody. That melody is what makes you happy. Then you may think for one minute I can't wait for my friends to hear that record, right?
And then, if you're thinking how much money you're going to make off the record, you're not doing a good job making the record. If your mind is on the money you're going to make from that record, you are really not making a good record.
So, your mind has to be and so as much as you can engage your focus, as much as you can, you know, in something -- some single point, this is -- this is happiness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. You need music ideas for your 4th of July barbecue or party later today? May I suggest country music? Why? Because today is National Country Music Day. I don't know whether they meant for that to be coincident with July 4th -- but it is national country music today.
Happy National Country Music Day. Happy 4th of July.
We're taking a quick break. We'll be back in just a minute.
It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
Despite the fact that it is July 4th, there are some things that you do need to know today. Here are three things to put on your radar.
The Declaration of Independence will be read at the National Archives in D.C. today. That's 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Plus, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis arrives in Florida this afternoon at 2:45. They're scheduled to take Atlantis to space on Friday, July 8th. I'll be there for that.
And President Obama will celebrate the 4th with service members and their families on the South Lawn of the White House. There will be a barbecue, a concert, and fireworks. The event will be streamlined live -- we'll be streamed live on whitehouse.gov/live.
Those lucky service members who get to party with the president are just some of many who serve our country. So, this morning, tip of the hat to the U.S. members of the military. Did you know there are more than 1.4 million active duty personnel worldwide, including more than 100,000 in Afghanistan, 92,000 in Iraq, 79,000 in Europe, and 43,000 in East Asia and the Pacific. Hats off to all of you today.
Let's go around the world with Monita Rajpal, live from London. My old friend Monita, we've virtually never get to do TV together. You may be one of my oldest friends at CNN, because we worked together even before we got here. What a pleasure to see you.
Busy morning, Monita. Tell us about what's going on in China.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, yes, it's good to see you, as well, Ali. It has been a while.
Yes, China -- what we're dealing with right now there is another situation in which this country is not immune to. It has seen a lot of this situation happen before. We're talking about miners trapped in coal mines.
What we understand, the southern part of China, the Guangxi region -- southern Guangxi region has been dealing with some torrential downpours and heavy rains. And what has happened is that some of these mines have been overflowed and have been flowing with a lot of the rain and water trapping some 40 miners in two separate coal mines. What they understand, some three bodies have already been pulled out.
But the fact of the matter is the heavy rains are also making it difficult for rescuers to actually get to these mines. Another problem that they're facing is possibility of toxic gas potentially becoming lethal for the miners that are indeed trapped in these mines -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Monita. There's a wanted ad in Mexico looking for attractive female police officers. What's this about?
RAJPAL: Yes. You know, you've got to hear this want ad for the Mexican Pacific state of Guerrero. It has this one of the more popular tourist destinations of Acapulco. And listen to this one ad -- women ages 18 to 26 who are at least 5'5" and whose weight is proportional to that height must have good physical and mental health, knowledge of English is a plus.
Now, according to the public secretary, he's saying that the idea is to have a police force comprised of only women, preferably beautiful ones -- Ali.
VELSHI: Nice.
Monita, great to see you. I'll chat with you a little later on in the show. Monita Rajpal joining us from London. Hey, we know today is going to be full of beer and barbecue for most of you. So, today's businessmen's special is for the health nuts among you. We'll talk super foods after this quick break.
It's 26 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Monday, the 4th of July. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Ali Velshi, joining you live from New York this morning. Thirty minutes after the hour.
Six people are missing after a charter fishing boat sank in bad weather of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. There were at least two dozen Americans on the boat. The U.S. Coast Guard will be helping the Mexican navy with the rescue. They're done for the night. They've got to wait for some daylight, probably a couple hours away from that.
We'll keep you posted this story right here and throughout the morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Now, more news you're going to hear about today. The jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial has got a big job to do this holiday. Deliberations are expected to begin in a few more hours. But, first, the prosecution has some rebutting to do.
The defense claims the state did not prove that Casey Anthony killed her daughter Caylee, but they played with the jury's emotions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAEZ: You see the strategy behind that is, is if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. You'll start to, oh, wait a minute, maybe I'm seeing something that's not there and start to actually discriminate against her rather than give her the standard that is afforded to each and every citizen in our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The trial in Orlando gets under way again at 8:30 eastern. The judge warned the jury that today could be a long day for them.
OK. We've been watching Fox News politics on Twitter all night. Someone has clearly hacked the twitter handle. The site is putting up all kinds of insane, inappropriate, and untrue tweets about President Obama. It's basically April fool's type stuff that isn't funny. We reached out to Fox and the Twitter. We're still waiting to hear back from them.
Minnesota's government is closed today, and it could be several more days before it's up and running. Last week, lawmakers couldn't agree on a budget. So, the entire system shut down. Right now, you've got state parks, dozens of rest stops and the zoo closed on a major summer holiday.
Well, let's talk about what could be a big about face on the Dominick Strauss-Kahn case. We'll be watching this closely. Remember, the former IMF head was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel made. Prosecutors thought they had an airtight case, but it seems to be leaking big time. Now, it looks like the accuser could have a major credibility issue.
Strauss-Kaun is now released from house arrest. He may travel throughout the country if he wants, can't travel abroad yet. He doesn't have his passport. His lawyer predicts the charges will be tossed out, but the Manhattan DA's office says it still has some investigating to do.
All right. Let's go to Christine Romans this morning. She is standing by. Christine, your prediction as to how U.S. stocks are going to do today.
(LAUGHTER)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're going to open right where they closed on Friday and stay that way, because markets are closed today. This is one of those rare days of the year, Ali, when you know how the markets are going to do. They're going to do nothing because they're closed with Independence Day.
VELSHI: I tell you, you might have thought that the whole last three months, we measure these things in quarters, was lousy. It was a write-off, and then, something happened last week.
ROMANS: Yes. Last week was one of -- here's a number for you, Ali. 648. That's how much points the Dow rallied last week.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: I mean, that's a pretty big -- yes, that's a pretty biggest weekly rally for the Dow in a couple of years. A couple of things here. The stocks that are dependent on the economy to grow like United Technologies, Caterpillar, they did very, very well last week. People are talking about back we'd be back into Cyclicals again after a very, very terrible May and June and really July. So, the quarter was flat to slightly lower depending on the average or the indecy (ph).
But Greece avoiding default, you had, you know, some gains in a manufacturing index here. And you really had just a really tough spring and summer for stock investors, so you had a good week, a good snap back here. One of the things that people are telling me, Ali, is that a lot of the worst expectations for the American economy were baked in here, and at that point, there was nothing to go but an upside surprise. So, you saw a little bit of money back on the table last week.
VELSHI: One of the things you and I get very concerned about is how much people save for the retirement. There's some evidence people are saving more? ROMANS: Unbelievably retirement savings near an all-time high. This is a study from the Investment Company Institute. The economic recovery, of course, remains sluggish, but retirement funds have been looking the healthiest in years. One of the reasons is because the last year has been good for stock market investors. Also, there is this feeling, quite frankly, that people are shoveling money away if they can.
And also, companies are back in the mode of matching retirement funds again. Remember for a while, the 401(k) match was off the table.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Now, companies trying to retain their top talent, of course, even if they're not hiring. So, they are back matching with their own funds again. So, yes, this is a pretty upbeat -- an upbeat assessment about how much money Americans are earmarking for their retirement. Bottom line, probably, still isn't enough for the average American. We don't have enough put away, but it's more.
VELSHI: All right. Christine, great to see you. I'll see you in half hour on "American Morning."
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: OK. Now, back to our businessman's special. Today, we're talking super foods. Men's health magazine is out with its top super foods. Not the (ph) line at the top of their list with those good for you fats in them. Eggs are also going to do your body good. And you should actually eat the yolk. It contains most of the protein along with some cholesterol, but then, you have to work that out.
Don't feel bad about eating chocolates today. Just make sure that it is dark chocolate. And according to men's health, you should treat yourself with some calci and heavy desserts like ice cream. Don't go crazy with it. Like everything, eat in moderation. Chocolate and ice cream.
OK. We're testing your knowledge here. Which news maker said this, quote, "The strategy behind that is if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light." I'll tell you who said it on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Thirty-eight minutes after the hour. Now, back to that quote that I gave you before the break. We asked you to identify the news maker who referred to Casey Anthony as a slut. Here's a sound bite from Casey Anthony's defense attorney, Jose Baez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAEZ: You see, the strategy behind that is, is if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Time now to talk politics and ticker with Paul Steinhauser, my good friend, another one of these people whose got no holiday today. Paul is working. We're working. And, Paul, so are the Republican presidential candidates. Tell us who's doing what and where today.
VOICE OF PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, makes good sense, Ali. This is July 4th. It's a patriotic day, a lot of parades, a lot of events. If you're a presidential candidate, you want to be out there today. So, who's out there? Well, three are in Iowa. That makes a lot of sense. Iowa, of course, is off the presidential caucus calendar. You've got Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich.
They're marching in the same parade, in fact, out there in Iowa, and they're going to hit on a bunch of other events. And Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, also campaigning in Iowa. Let's move east to New Hampshire where, of course, that's the first primary in the nation, so that's another busy state. You're going to have Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman.
They're marching in the same parade in New Hampshire hitting a bunch of other events. Herman Cain is going a little different. He's going to start out in Pennsylvania. It's going to be at a tea party event at independence hall in Philadelphia, but, you know where he ends up, Ali ?
VELSHI: Where?
STEINHAUSER: He ends the day (ph) in New Hampshire. So, you know what, they're going the end up in one of those two states eventually, right?
VELSHI: Iowa or New Hampshire, exactly. And then, by the way, through the course of the election as you have pointed out very clearly, they'll end up in Pennsylvania and Ohio. A great deal. Hey, listen, I know you follow this stuff like I follow money, Thaddeus McCotter. Who is this?
STEINHAUSER: Let's add him to the list. He just jumped in to the race of the White House. He officially announced on Saturday. But, yes, you're right, he's not a name that most Americans know. Five- term congressman from Michigan, western suburbs. He now becomes the third House Republican to run for the republican presidential nomination joining Bachmann and Ron Paul, but here's something interesting.
This guy plays some rock guitar. In fact, when he announced on Saturday where he do it at a music festival, and he was jamming. And now, he becomes the second, second Republican running for president who's a former rock guitarist. That's him and also Jon Huntsman. So, go figure, Ali.
VELSHI: My good friend, Paul, good to talk to you. Thank you so much. You sound very awake for a Monday morning 4th of July. You have a fantastic day. See you, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks.
VELSHI: Forty minutes after the hour. Here are the three things that you need to know today. Keep in mind your radar. First of all, Congress is of today. We're back to work tomorrow. So, lawmakers can focus on stalled deficit reduction negotiations. Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, forced senators to cancel their travel plans and show up to the Senate floor. It's not so at the House, by the way.
Plus, tomorrow, a hearing scheduled for John Edwards. The former Democratic vice presidential is set to appear in court on his federal criminal case.
And the June unemployment numbers will be released this coming Friday to give us sense of how the economy is doing.
Now, some highlights in sports starting with a little bit of excitement on the field. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHANTING) go USA!
VELSHI (voice-over): U.S. women's soccer player grabs a mic after scoring at the Women's World Cup. The women's team even gave a salute to the troops after their first goal. They advanced to the quarterfinals to the Cup beating Colombia, 3-0.
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Check this out. A wipeout, but a French roller-skater still sets a new world record. A 90-foot -- 95-foot jump. This guy is 35 years old.
And it's day three of the 98th Tour de France. Before the race is done, the bikers will go more than 2,100 miles through flat and mountainous trails around France. Today is a flat day. Norwegian biker took the lead yesterday with his team, Garmin Cervelo, winning the time trial.
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VELSHI (on-camera): Pablo Torre is working today, "Sports Illustrated" reporter live from New York. Good morning, Pablo. They got everybody working today. Who is not working? I don't understand. Pablo, tell me, Wimbledon has finished up, but some crazy stuff went down at the tournament. Is it true that the men's winner ate grass?
PABLO TORRE, REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Yes. Yes. It is absolutely true. And not something we see in tennis, I think. This is a new form of celebration. Don't think it will catch on, but Novak Djokovic, the star player in tennis these days, number one in the world now (INAUDIBLE) dreamed of winning Wimbledon as a kid and how well is to taste victory and to literally grab it off the floor and try some grass in your mouth, and that's what he did. That's what he did. And in the women's, of course, we add Petra Kvitova, a 6-foot tall, 21-year-old lefty, beats Maria Sharapova, becomes the first lefty to win Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova. Just a great story there. But Ali, the big story out of Wimbledon looking at this is maybe not the grass, but the emergence of Novak Djokovic. A guy who's now in the firmament really with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. A guy he's now beat five straight times.
Now, really, one of the big stars in tennis when you go into these tournaments. These men's tournaments are focusing on who is going to win this, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic. Something that they're going to look forward to every time out now. They are the big three for everyone to watch and see who's going to win.
VELSHI: We're going to have to learn how to say it. Novak Djokovic. I'm not to say that many times.
TORRE: Yes.
VELSHI: Pablo, good to see you, my friend. Pablo Torre from "Sports Illustrated."
TORRE: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: We're watching a good story out of Memphis this morning. It's a not a good story, it's a sad story. A police officer finds a body in a downtown hotel, then he gets shot. I'll tell you about it on the other side. It's 44 minutes after the hour.
Now, the time is 5:44. This day in history, July 4, 1776, the U.S. declares independence from Great Britain with the signing of the declaration of independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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VELSHI: Good morning. It's Monday, the 4th of July. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Ali Velshi joining you live this morning from New York. Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
Six people are missing after a charter fishing boat sank in bad weather off Mexico's Baja Peninsula. There are at least two dozen Americans on the boat. The U.S. coast guard plans to send a helicopter down to help the Mexican navy with the search. Got to wait for some daylight first. Still a couple of hours to go.
A coast guard spokeswoman told me earlier that 37 people are accounted for and in a hotel. It's not clear yet how many Americans are still among those missing. They are actively searching for six people.
Let's go around the world with Monita Rajpal joining us from London. Good morning, Monita. Some Chinese miners are trapped. Tell us about this.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are some 40 coal miners reportedly trapped in these coal mines in Southern China. It's after a weekend of torrential downpours. Pretty much destroyed or damaged the drainage system of these mine shafts. What's happening right now, these are two separate coal mines that are affected right now. There are some 19 miners in one and some 23 miners in another.
Also, the rains are making it very difficult for the rescuers to come and actually try and get them out. Another cause of concern for the rescuers is the fact that there could be toxic gas in these mines. As you know, you know, this kind of dangers and deaths within coal mines are not new in china. We understand that according to some official statistics.
In 2010, more than 2,400 people have died in coal mine accidents in China. And some people are saying those are the official statistics. The numbers could actually be much higher -- Ali.
VELSHI: Monita, let's talk about Hugo Chavez. We saw him. We got some new pictures of him. Last week, we saw him with Fidel Castro. He's looking fit and the tracksuit is on.
RAJPAL: Yes, that's true. I mean, as we know, Hugo Chavez is in Cuba. He had undergone surgery to remove what they've been describing as a cancerous tumor. It had been reported that he was going to be leaving Cuba to go back to Venezuela on July 5th, but now, as officials are saying that that's actually going to take a lot longer. He might be returning in about six months.
But, on Sunday, the released video of the Venezuelan president being with his daughters on an outing, looking somewhat frailer, but looking, I guess, healthier than many people had expected. So, they're saying that he's going to make a really good recovery. The Cuban president as well as the Venezuelan officials are saying he's on track to make a full recovery -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Monita, take a look at this video with me. I'm sure you've seen it. It's a mayor in the Philippines, Davao City. She punched a court sheriff several times. It happened on Friday. There was apparently a dispute over the demolition of a slum area. What do you make of this?
RAJPAL: Yes, that's really interesting. It's one of those things. I think we've all felt the need every time to deal with an official, gets frustrating at times for, you know, not getting things done, but I guess, she took it a little too far. This sheriff apparently was just doing his job. He was ordered by the court to clear out -- I should give the go ahead for the slum to be demolished, but what this mayor wanted was an extra two hours to go in and talk to the squatters who are in this area to try and get them to leave quietly.
Otherwise, there would be a riot, but as we saw, she apparently packs quite the right hook and she kept going. And apparently, her guards, themselves, also were holding the sheriff down.
VELSHI: That's right. He didn't look like a sheriff. He looked like somebody who's being sort of detained because he did something wrong. Monita, good to see. Thanks very much. Monita Rajpal joining us from London this morning. OK. Now, more news that you're going hear about today. It is the 4th of July. It is a holiday, but the jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial has got a lot of work to do. The deliberations over her guilt or innocence are expected to begin in a few more hours. But first, the prosecution has to get in the last word. The defense claims the state did not prove Casey Anthony killed her daughter, Caylee, and the defense attorney played with the jury's emotions.
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BAEZ: You see the strategy behind that is, is if you hate her, if you think she's a lying, no-good slut, then you'll start to look at this evidence in a different light. You'll start to, oh, wait a minute, maybe I -- I'm seeing something that's not there. And start to actually discriminate against her rather than give her the standard that is afforded to each and every citizen in our country.
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VELSHI: The trial in Orlando gets under way again at 8:30 eastern. The judge warned the jury that today could be a long day.
In others news, we hope to find out more about this fatal shooting in Memphis. A police officer goes into the double tree hotel downtown responding to a call, finds a person dead, then gets shot and dies later in hospital. Expression and tone of his fellow officer speaks volumes.
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TONEY ARMSTRONG, MEMPHIS POLICE DIRECTOR: When you have something as tragic as this with the amount of time the police officer has been together, we're like family. So, when you have something like this, it's as if something happened to one of your own family members.
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VELSHI: Memphis police have a suspect in custody. The officer leaves behind a wife and two small children.
Maybe, clean-up crews will make some progress in Montana today. An oil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River broke. About 42,000 gallons of crude got into the water. It's ugly, it stinks, but, so far, no reports of animals dying. ExxonMobil says it shut down the line minutes after it discovered the break.
Check out this video from Egypt. This is or was a pipeline that supplies gas from Egypt to Israel. An Egyptian official believes that it was an act of sabotage, that someone blew it up. The flow of gas to Israel and Jordan is shut off right now. This is the third attack on Egypt's pipeline system since Mubarak went down earlier this year.
Let's talk about what could be an about face in the Dominick Strauss- Kahn case. We'll be watching this closely. Remember, the former IMF head was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel made. Prosecutors thought they had an airtight case, but it seems to be leaking big time. Now, it looks like the accuser could have a major credibility problem.
Strauss-Kahn is released from house arrest. His lawyer predicts the charges will be tossed out, but the Manhattan DA's office says it still has some investigating to do.
Let's check in with Reynolds Wolf at the weather center in Atlanta. Any flight delays this morning, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, as a matter of fact, we do have a few out there, unfortunately, but here's a good thing. Most people are already where they need to be, but there's a few strugglers that still have to get to the airport. They're going to have some delays in Orlando and Miami. Take a look at this, Ali.
Also in Atlanta, D.C., all the metros there, all due to the same problems you're going to face in the parts of Florida, the afternoon thunderstorms. Nashville, Memphis, same story, but in San Francisco, you've got that morning fog to deal with. By midday, that burns off. Delays under now (INAUDIBLE). You may have a few more delays, though, in parts of the northern plains across the southeast, and the heat continues in Texas. Ali, that's the latest. Quick snapshot, if you will. Happy 4th. Let's send it back to you, my friend.
VELSHI: Well, I may spoil your 4th morning right now. Listen to this. Scientists sampling DNA from bellybuttons found 662 new microbes. The human naval is apparently ripe environment for bacteria. They found almost 1,400 microbe, but almost half of them were completely new to science. Researchers swabbed 95 volunteers. There's nothing about this that make sense. I'm not sure why there were even 95 volunteers but looks like there's an eco-system in your bellybutton.
WOLF: It's not a belly button, it's a Petri dish. It's hideous. Oh, my gosh, man. Nightmares we're going have for weeks.
VELSHI: I hope nobody just woke up, and that was their first story as they're pouring their cereal or something like that. Reynolds --
WOLF: I hear you, man.
VELSHI: Good to see you, my friend.
WOLF: As always, man. Take care.
VELSHI: All right. Am I going to break now? I'm going to take a quick break. I'll be right back.
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VELSHI: Almost 58 minutes after the hour. Despite the fact that it is July 4th, there are some things that you need to know today. Here are three things that you need on your radar. The declaration of independence will be read at the national archives in D.C. today. That's 10:00 a.m. eastern time.
Plus, the crew of the space shuttle "Atlantis" arrives in Florida this afternoon 2:45. They are scheduled to take "Atlantis" into space on July 8th, on Friday.
And President Obama will celebrate the 4th of July with service members and their families on the south lawn of the White House. There'll be a barbecue, a concert, and fireworks. The event will be streamed live on whitehouse.gov/live.
Time now to talk about money with Kristie Lu Stout from Hong Kong. Good morning, Kristie. We've got nothing to talk about on this side. We got markets closed. Markets in Asia, though, doing first business.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Let's talk about Asia first. There were solid gains as concerns over the U.S. recovery eased. Now, over in Europe, most indices (ph), they are currently higher but not by much. Now, the ratings agency S&P has also blow to Greek hopes for an eventual end to that country's debt crisis. S&P says that if a French plan to roll over visas that goes ahead, it will cut its rating on the debt to "D."
That will signal a default, but leaders across here have been desperate to avoid it. Of course, the markets are closed for July 4th, the independence day holiday, but the big news out of where you are this week will, of course, be Friday, the monthly jobs report -- Ali.
VELSHI: And business insider, Kristie, is reporting that China, Sovereign Wealth Fund, representing the government of China, wants to buy a piece of Facebook. This is ironic because we haven't really seen or thought of Facebook in China has being hand in hand.
STOUT: That's right. Ironic, I guess, in the Alanis Morrisette sense of the word. (INAUDIBLE) have been spinning around China and Facebook for months, especially since Mark Zuckerburg previously made that visit to Beijing back to December, but no one is talking. Nothing is confirmed, but it does make for a fascinating discussion. The question, should Beijing be allowed to buy a part of Facebook? Beijing has the cash.
It's been picking up overseas assets for a while now, but, would Beijing be seeking more internet control with such a deal? It's a big question mark. Now, this we do know. Facebook is a non-entity in China.
VELSHI: Right.
STOUT: Beijing has blocked the site so Facebook cannot directly access its 500 million internet users.
VELSHI: And it will be curious to know if they do some kind of deal whether that gives Facebook more access to China and China more say in Facebook. Kristie, great to see you. We'll see you every morning right here on WAKE-UP CALL. Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong.
That's it for WAKE-UP CALL. AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
