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Mark Souder Resigns; Primary Elections; The Voters Vs. Washington; No Violence in Thailand Protest

Aired May 18, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It is a name built on trust, but now Johnson & Johnson is the target of a wider federal investigation after a recall of their children's drugs.

CNN's Christine Romans following this story for us from New York. Christine, hello to you. This started out -- certainly some scary stuff to hear about children's medicine, of course, but this thing is kind of expanding now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And if you're a mom or a dad or a grandma or a grandpa or a school nurse chances are you've got these in your medicine cabinet; people still pulling them out. April 30th is when the stories began, children's Motrin, Zyrtec, Benadryl and Children's Tylenol, Infant Tylenol Drops; all of these things are recalled. If you go to the pharmacy you're probably seeing empty shelves where these used to be.

And now as first reported, a story broken by "CNN MONEY" yesterday in fact the FDA is expanding its probe into the division of Johnson & Johnson that makes these drug to check out manufacturing processes throughout the division around the rest of the country because, quite frankly, some of the things the FDA says they found just were completely subpar so that's why you have these -- what's wrong with these drugs?

In case you haven't been following this story, and most people with kids have been quite closely, what's wrong with this is some of the concentration of the active ingredient is too strong. In some cases, they found flakes of metal or cloudy liquid inside these. And the facility in Pennsylvania that makes these drugs is not making them any longer right now. It's been shut down until they can figure out how to fix their manufacturing processes.

One interesting thing about this whole story, T.J., and I'm going to tell you that in mommy and daddy circles, this is the big story still even almost three after it broke, this is a big brand that's been hit real hard by this because these - people pay extra for the name brands, right? For a lot of these drugs and now you've had just a year really with Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Massey Energy, Goldman Sachs, BP.

Some people are starting to say, while the reputation hit to some big brands has been pretty notable over the past few months and indeed the most recent hit to J&J now, of course, that the FDA is expanding its probe into McNeill, the health care subdivision that makes these children medicine products. T.J.

HOLMES: And you know, people often pay for those brands because they know them and they trust them and not it seems you can't trust them as much as we used. Christine Romans, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: Sure.

HOLMES: Well, we're taking to check on the rage against Washington. We should learn how deep it actually goes as establishment candidate challenge for Senate seats today. Also, President Obama rejecting the oil spill blame game. He is setting up a panel to find out what really happened.

Also, kids reveal racial stereotyping just by picking pictures. The CNN investigation is ahead.

But first here's what's been happening right now. We have confirmed now that five U.S. service members are among the 18 killed this morning in a suicide car bombing in Kabul. The Taliban is taking responsibility for that bombing.

Also on Capitol Hill, the Senate foreign relations committee beginning hearings to decide whether or not they'll ratify the nuclear weapon reduction treaty President Obama signed last month with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

Also, Republican congressman Mark Souder is expected to announce that he is resigning. His news conference gets under way any moment. Souder won his primary just two weeks ago and we'll have more on this after his announcement, again expected at any moment.

Meanwhile, polls are open in only a handful of states today, but the results could be felt across the country as because voters are expected to vent a lot of anger into these primaries. They're pretty much mad at Washington and disgusted with big government and they may take it out on incumbents who are trying to hold on to their jobs.

Voting is under way in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Arkansas. We'll begin in Arkansas where Senator Blanche Lincoln is facing a tough challenge from a fellow Democrat. Let's turn to Little Rock and our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, good morning to you once again.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HOLMES: For quite some time, Blanche Lincoln has been seen as possibly the most vulnerable person in the Senate.

BASH: That's right. And that was because of the challenge that she is going to have in November from the Republican side, but what's going on today is a challenge from within her own Democratic party and we are outside of a polling station here in Little Rock, Arkansas. We've been talking to voters who have been going in and out and we've heard from some, again democratic primary voters who said that they're not happy that she - in the words of one voter, wavered too much on healthcare.

She eventually voted for the initial Senate healthcare bill but she was against the public option. Some core Democrats are upset about that and some are saying that they actually want Blanche Lincoln to go in and they voted for her because of her seniority and because of her position on the agriculture committee. She is the chairman of that committee and they say she helps people in Arkansas and she helps farmers.

That, T.J., is precisely what her message has been. Vote for me because of my record, as she has been campaigning across the state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When women wear a hat, it means business. Other people can tell you about what they're going to promise. I can tell you what I've done, and I've worked hard, and I've produced.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the things I've been working on -

BASH (on camera): Why do you think this is such a tough primary for you?

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: Well, I think it's multiple reasons. I've run mid term in administrations before back in 1994 when it was our President Clinton and it was a tough and challenging year. People's expectations have been elevated and you're the first thing that comes between them and the expectations that haven't quite been met.

BASH: Those unmet expectations appear to be feeding into the anti-incumbent mood Senator Lincoln is battling, whether it's the Wall Street bailout or deficit spending, voters are fed up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No knocking Miss Blanche Lincoln at this point in time, but I think sometimes it's out with the old and in with the new.

BASH: You think it's time for new?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I believe so.

BASH: Do you think that what's happening on the Democratic side in some ways mirrors the TEA Party on the right and what's happening to you mirrors that, that it's just a wave of anger at Washington and you're bearing the brunt of it?

LINCOLN: Well, I think people are concerned. I think, you know, people are disappointed in Washington, and I join them in that. I'm disappointed, too. I mean, you know, I do believe in fiscal responsibility, and I am a true moderate.

BASH: Lincoln is a moderate democrat. Her positions against the public option for health care and against key union priorities have angered liberal and labor groups who have come here from out of state to try to defeat her, but talk to her Democratic opponents, the lieutenant governor Bill Halter and his message is pure populism.

When you think of a Democratic incumbent being challenged in a primary, you think it's somebody from the left, but you're running from the outside.

LT. GOV, BILL HALTER (D), CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: I'm running from the outside. That's precisely right. Look, this is a time when people want you to stand up for them. Look what's happened just in the last two years. $700 billion of taxpayer money going into bail out Wall Street banks.

How are you all doing?

People want change and they know that if you send the same people back to Washington, you're guaranteed to get the same results.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, if Senator Lincoln does not break 50 percent in today's primary vote, she'll be forced into a runoff and that will happen on June 8th. If she is victorious still, she still has the biggest, biggest challenge ahead and that is fighting off a Republican who wants to take her seat in November, T.J..

HOLMES: It's a long road to hope for Senator Lincoln. Dana Bash in Little Rock for us, thank you so much. We'll check in with you plenty throughout the day.

And some other races that we're also keeping a close eye on. In Pennsylvania, this is a doozy. Senator Arlen Specter seeking a sixth term in office. It's been about a year since he switched parties. He's now in a surprisingly close race with Democratic candidate Joe Sestak.

Then in Kentucky, the Senate primary is testing the power of the TEA Party. The movement's favorite candidate Rand Paul predicting victory over secretary of state Trey Greyson. Rand Paul is the son of former presidential candidate Rand Paul.

Take a closer look at these races, what's at stake, the strategies behind them and to do that, let's bring in Maria Cardona. She's a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton. And Rich Galen has the view on the other side. He is a Republican strategist and worked alongside Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Both are in Washington but we couldn't get them in the same room for some reason even though they're both in Washington.

Guys, good to see you.

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It wasn't our choice. We would have been happy to do it.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Absolutely.

HOLMES: Well, good to see some Democrats and Republicans can get along at least, but can the constituents get along with some of these folks running, I guess is the question today. Maria, I want to start with you and both of you answer this question - is this day as big of a deal as some in Washington and some strategists and some consultants make it out to be? Because some of these races have kind of some unique details of their own. So is this really that big of a test?

CARDONA: You know, T.J., what happens what we believe inside the beltway always get magnified and it's never as much of a big deal outside of the Beltway as we think it is inside the beltway, but it is a big deal for the voters who are voting today and obviously for the ones that are running. There is a lot of voter anger out there, frustration and anxiety and it is an anti-incumbent fervor.

I think for Democrats, what Democrats need to do and focus on is talk about what they have accomplished. I think a lot of the anger and Senator Lincoln was exactly right about this, I think, is about the fact that Washington has not done enough and the fact that Washington has not done enough, we can point directly to the Republican obstructionism that at every turn has tried to stop President Obama's change agenda.

HOLMES: OK. All right, Maria, let me bring in Rich here now and that's exactly why we didn't want to put you in the same room because we start immediately pointing fingers, obstructionists here, Democrats are in charge of the White House, the House and the Senate. So truly some would argue, something should have been getting done and Rich, the original question is today that big of a test?

GALEN: Yes, I think it really is. It's a bit like the opening song to something funny happened on the way to the forum. Something for everyone in the election tonight. In Pennsylvania, the president has - has come out in favor of Senator Specter. He's endorsed him and that will - if he loses that that will splash up on him down in the southern part of the state.

There's a special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Jack Murtha, a Democrat seat that likely will become a Republican seat although that's very close and as we just heard Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas is being attacked from her left, not her right.

In Kentucky, it's on the Republican side. It's the TEA Party right against the establishment centrist, secretary of state. So I think there is something for everyone, and what happens is that everybody who is up for election, all 435 members of the House that are running - that are retiring and a third of the Senate, everybody will be calibrating what does this mean to me.

If Souder resigns there will be a special election there. That's a relatively safe seat. That used to be Dan Quayle's seat and Dan Coats' seat. So but I think that it will come down to everybody deciding what does it mean to me.

HOLMES: Well, Maria, I will go back to you here now and somebody that we haven't talked about an awful lot, but Mr. Galen just brought it up, President Obama. Does he have much riding on this day, do you think, besides the fact that he endorsed Arlen Specter. He hasn't been out there necessarily shouting his praises from the mountaintop.

CARDONA: Sure, that's exactly right. I think what President Obama has been focused on is the business of the nation and in trying to get all of the change that voters wanted when they voted him into office, and we have done a lot, T.J.. You know, we talked about that Washington hasn't done enough. We haven't done enough, but we have done a lot. Health care reform. We're about to pass financial reform and the Recovery Act which has created thousands and thousands of jobs.

These are things that Democrats need to continue to take to the voters and in terms of these elections today, I think, you know, Rich is right. This will indicate what this means for each voter, but I don't necessarily think that it will be what it means for November. I think in November, what we are going to see, this is always going to be an uphill battle for Democrats, T.J., even when we took back the House in 2006 and then padded our numbers in 2008, we had seats that had no business going to Democrats. So we knew this was going to be an uphill battle.

HOLMES: All right. The last thing do you hear, Rich, is what we're going to see today, would you call it today and maybe down the road. None of it's anti-Republican. None of it's anti-Democrat. Would you say it's all anti-incumbent and anti-Washington?

GALEN: I really do think that's what it is, and I think for good reason. I think that at some point we're going to take another look at that pesky tenth amendment and to disagree somewhat with Maria, the fact that healthcare did pass, the fact that the $750 billion did pass, these seats that are at issue especially in the House, a lot of those Democratic seats as Maria said are held in districts that are behaviorally Republican and those are exactly the issues that may tip the scales back to it being a Republican seat.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Rich Galen, Maria Cardona. I'm going to get you both in the same room, one of these days and it's all going to work out.

Guys, we do appreciate you all both being here and appreciate the conversation. You all enjoy the rest of your happy primary day. All right. We'll talk to you guys again soon.

GALEN: Thanks, T.J..

HOLMES: CNN, of course, is the place to be for your political coverage all day long. Our reporters and analysts are covering the races, the trends and the results. You see them there. The best political team on television. Stay with us throughout the day.

Coming up next, still ahead, we have an update on the gulf oil spill and the latest beach where tar balls are coming onshore and what the president now plans to do about this ongoing crisis.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Severe weather back in the forecast. A tornado warning right now for Willisy County, Texas. Find out where the rest of the severe weather will be this afternoon coming up in your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: New worries that the massive crude oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is on the move with the discovery of suspected tar balls in the Florida keys. The Coast Guard says they found 20 of the oily globs along the shore of Key West last night. Samples are being tested to determine if those tar balls are from the ruptured well that's still spewing oil off the coast of Louisiana.

I'll turn to the White House now where there's new action from the president and also a new casualty in the wake of that oil spill.

CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is live with more on both of these developments. Ed, good to see you, as always.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

HOLMES: That seems to be a history sometimes after disasters that we have commissions and we might have another one now.

HENRY: That's right. In fact, White House aides are saying the president will issue an executive order very shortly in order to create this outside commission to investigate what really went wrong with this oil spill and try to prevent another one in the future and you're right to mention the history. They compare it to the commission we saw after the three mile island tragedy in 1979. The challenger disaster, the space shuttle blowing up, as well.

And that gives you an idea of the magnitude of this tragedy. Of course, this could help try to figure out how to prevent another one in the future, but the problem, of course, for this White House right now, a commission does very little to deal with the problem at hand which is getting this thing capped and fixed once and for all, T.J.

HOLMES: And also, people are always waiting to see when heads are going to roll and when someone is going to be held accountable, responsible, fired or something else. But now we're hearing about one of these so-called early retirements. What happened here?

HENRY: That's right. The Minerals Management Service, this is the agency within the Department of Interior that's really been under fire for perhaps laxed, over aside, having a cozy relationship with the industry.

In fact, we're told that's something the commission is going to take a close look at. Chris Owens (ph) is the person who just announced he's going to be retiring early. He had this photo pop-up of him appearing with Transocean, which is the company partly involved here. He gave then a safety award. That undoubtedly, will be coming under scrutiny by this presidential commission, T.J..

HOLMES: All right. Ed Henry for us at the White House. Ed, always good to see you, buddy. Thanks so much.

HENRY: Good to see you, T.J.. HOLMES: We'll talk to you again soon, I'm sure.

We want to turn to some weather here in just a moment, but also, CNN, we're monitoring three hearings first of all that I need to tell you about before I head over to Jacqui.

Three hearings are going on today in relation to that spill that we were talking to Ed about. The first under way within the hour and we'll bring the latest developments as they warrant. Again, keep it right here on CNN. Apparently, Jacqui, I was just so excited to talk to you, I was trying to jump ahead a little too far.

JERAS: It's been a while, my friend.

HOLMES: I haven't worked with you in a little while. I was jumping the gun there. But we were talking still some severe weather when we've had a little at least a little calm period before it picks up again.

JERAS: Yes, I think we'll see much more widespread severe weather later on this afternoon and into the evening hours. While we have seen some of that in the last couple of days, check out these pictures now from North Carolina. This is from yesterday where thunderstorms blew through central part of the state producing some really incredible wind gusts and caused damage to a mobile home park, about 30 people are left without a home that the time.

This was not a tornado. It was straight line winds and nobody was injured. So that was the good news out of that. Now, the severe weather at this hour across southern parts of Texas and we'll be headed towards to Brownsville area. We do have that one tornado warning for Willisy County and we also expect to see a lot of hail makers in here. So be aware of that in addition to some heavy downpours. We think the real show though will begin to develop late this afternoon and this evening and the storm prediction center has upgraded this area right here across the panhandle of Texas to a moderate risk.

Hail, we think, will be widespread with these thunderstorms and we could see some rotation and that storm moves to the east for tomorrow and more significantly widespread weather and that includes you in Dallas and Oklahoma City for tomorrow afternoon. So things are really going to start kicking up we think late today and probably even more significant for tomorrow.

HOLMES: We had a rough, rough go for a little while there.

JERAS: Yes, we did.

HOLMES: With a lot of severe weather.

JERAS: We did but then we had the flood and now we're back to the severe storms.

HOLMES: All right. Jacqui, thank you as always.

JERAS: Sure.

HOLMES: Well, as people says, kids sometimes just say the darnedest things, but listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the dumb child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Why is she the dumb child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she has black skin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You heard that right, folks. That's not the only one you're going to hear. A really disturbing stuff from a CNN study on kids and race. Looking at how they see the world and the perceptions that influence their decisions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a look at some of the stories making headlines now.

Three Senate races happening today. Incumbents challenge in Pennsylvania as well as Arkansas. Meanwhile in Kentucky, TEA Party. They are showing their strength today. A TEA Party favorite is leading the polls against an establishment pick. Voting is seen as a test of the anti-Washington mood across the country.

Turning to Afghanistan now where five U.S. service members are among the dead in a car bombing. 13 others including women and children were killed as well. The blast happened near a registration center for the Afghan Army.

And Laura Silsby, you remember that name? She's expected to be back in the States today, back in her home state of Idaho. A Haitian court ordered the missionary released from jail yesterday. You'll remember she was among the 10 accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children out of Haiti after the earthquake.

And this news just in. Indiana Congressman Mark Souder is resigning. He made that announcement just moments ago. The Associated Press reporting that the eight-term Republican is stepping down because of an affair with a female staffer.

In a written statement printed in his hometown newspaper, Souder says "He sinned against god and his family. He's also saying he's resigning because the affair would be used by others in Washington for political gain, and he didn't want to put his family through that. Souder had just won his primary race two weeks ago.

Well first lady Michelle Obama, she's drafting some fresh new troops in her battle against obesity and some of your favorite foods may soon have a few less calories in the process.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Well, your sugar's going to be missing from some of your favorite foods, possibly, and you may not know this, but you're about to go on a diet. Compliments of first lady Michelle Obama. Yesterday she announced a collaborative pledge from the nation's biggest food companies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: I am thrilled to say that they have pledged to cut a total of one trillion calories from the food they sell annually by the year 2012, and 1.5 trillion calories by 2015. They've agreed to reformulate their foods in a number of ways including by addressing fat and sugar content, by introducing lower calorie options and by reducing the portion sizes of existing single- serve products.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, before you necessarily start loosening that belt, take a listen. That 1.5 trillion calories, that translates to about 12.5 calories for you and me per person every single day, but hey, that's something. Also the American Heart Association endorsing the popular Wii video game console. You heard me right there.

The AHA is endorsing a video game console. The Wii, come of the products are going to be stamped with the AHA's heart logo to show the group considers it a healthy choice. Nintendo will donate $1.5 million to the AHA, as part of this partnership and making the move, the American Heart Association acknowledges the campaign for traditional exercise is not working.

So some of those non-traditional moves you can make on a Wii video game like you're seeing there, you can burn some calories so they're endorsing it.

We've been talking about it as well, the politics of anger. Several states holding primary elections but even before the first vote is counted, the message is being heard loud and clear in Washington, D.C..

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Voting is under way in just a handful of states this morning. Oregon, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Arizona -- see, I just messed up my own home state of Arkansas. It's Arkansas. It's not Arizona. The result, though, could be felt nationwide that's because today's primaries will measure something much larger. The nationwide uprising of anger and disgust with Washington, voters may take it out on incumbents who are trying to hold on to their job. So, the results we see from today's elections could predict what might happen in the mid-term elections in November.

Let's take a closer look. Let's bring in CNN contributor, John Avalon, that just means we have to pay him now that he's an official CNN contributor. We have to pay him for his information. We used to get those for free. He's the author of "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America" joins us from New York. Good to see you as always.

Let's start with the theme, really, of your book "wingnuts." You're not talking about this before, how the kind of lunatic fringe is taking too much charge of the conversation in this country. Is today one of the first chances, real chances we're getting to maybe take it back from that lunatic fringe you talk about?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR; THE DAILYBEAST.COM: Man, I'll tell you, today is really a very important bellwether in the way politics are going right now. As you were saying, that anti-incumbent anger becomes a real test to the TEA Party tide and part of the national debate we're seeing kind of rapid rhino hunting and dino hunting going on in both parties. Attempts by the friends (ph) of both parties and the base of both parties to take on what they say are Republicans in name only and Democrats in name only. So, tonight's elections especially in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, very important fell weather (ph) for where the national mood is and where things are going this fall.

HOLMES: I was talking to a couple of analysts here a little earlier and they were talking about sometimes it's just Washington. It's inside the beltway talk. They think everything is so important. Is there any way we're putting a little too much emphasis on what's happening today given what's happening with Arlen Specter? You know, there are some specific details in his race. You know, he switched over and maybe that's why people don't like him so much and also what's happening in Arkansas with Blanche Lincoln. You know, she's in a conservative area and she's trying to play it down the middle on the Democratic side. So, are those two races?

AVLON: Yes.

HOLMES: I mean, are we just putting a little too much emphasis on two primaries?

AVLON: Well, you know, as Tipp O'Neal famously said, all politics is local, but there are national trends being played out here and those two races in particular. You got Arlen Specter who switched parties after five terms as a Pennsylvania Republican getting an unexpected and very strong primary challenge from a Democrat from a swing congressional district and Sestak who is a former admiral, very unusual races.

As you said, Blanche Lincoln, a centrist new Democrat getting support from Barack Obama. Bill Clinton, the Chamber of Commerce versus the state's lieutenant governor who's getting supported by, for example, moveon.org. Classic left-right divide. So, there are national debates being played out in these local races and that's why they're so important.

HOLMES: How important is this day as well to the TEA Party? They pointed to Representative Stupak up in Michigan when he decided he wasn't going to run again. They took that as a victory for them. How big of a victory could they have in Kentucky today?

AVLON: Kentucky is the race to watch. What you got is as Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican congressman from Texas running a very strong ahead of the polls attack on the establishment candidate. Secretary of State Trey Grayson who's backed by Mitch McConnell, the state senior senator and folks like Dick Cheney. But Rand Paul's now double digits ahead in the most recent polls, riding what he calls the TEA Party tide.

That becomes a very important test to the TEA Party's strength. It seems to be showing its strength in Kentucky and putting establishment Republicans on notice. You know, while Mitch McConnell and the establishment is back in Grayson, Rand Paul has Sarah Palin, James Dobson, Jim Bunning, a real war insurgent (ph), sort of a TEA Party crowd backing his candidacy and initial polls show propelling him to a lead.

HOLMES: You know, john, no matter what happens today, I'm sure you're still going to have wingnuts to talk about later. Always good to talk to you. Now a CNN contributor. I would have liked to talk to you longer, but we have to pay you by the minute now that you're on TV. We'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

AVLON: Sounds good.

HOLMES: All right. If you're away from the TV, CNN's vast resources can get you all you need to know, CNN.com/politics. Again, just because you're not close to the TV doesn't mean you can't follow our coverage today.

The president is making his choice for a transportation security chief, someone who already knows how the system works from the inside. Hear about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a look at some stories making headlines now. Protesters in Thailand are standing their ground this morning, but there are no clashes with police. Recent violence killed 36. The government says they're willing to negotiate if the protesters leave. The protesters known as the Red Shirts want the Prime Minister to step down.

President Obama is going to be nominating the FBI's Deputy Director to be the next head of the TSA. John Pistole has been the FBI's number two since 2004. Republican opposition derailed the last two nominees.

And the White House is calling for a presidential commission into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is on Capitol Hill today for pair of hearing looking into the federal government's response. We'll take you there live to the first one and that's coming up next hour.

Exploring racial bias and how kids see the world. Choosing who they think is stupid or pretty. It's a new take on a landmark study. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: People of a certain age certainly remember times of great racial conflict in this country, a divide that seemed pretty much impossible to bridge. Sixty years ago, researchers used a simple doll test to see how children view race. Seeing their reaction to black and white baby dolls. CNN has commissioned now a new study, a second doll test, if you will. Our Anderson Cooper takes a look at the results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are lots of different colors for skin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have questions for you about these pictures of different children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After I read the question, I want you to point to the picture that fits the story.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our children, colorblind in America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the smart child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the mean child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you show me the dumb child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the nice child.

COOPER: Is bias measurable even at an early age?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is she the bad child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she's black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why is he the ugly child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because he looks like he's white.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is he the dumb child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she has dark, brown skin?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is she the bad child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she makes fun of everybody else's skin color.

COOPER: How much do kids learn from what they see and hear from adults?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has the skin color most adults like. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And show me the child who has the skin color most adults don't like.

COOPER: These are questions that we, along CNN's Soledad O'Brien and a team of psychologists hired by CNN spent months investigating through tests, interviews with children and their parents, and they're questions that have been asked for decades. The first doll study ignited controversy in the 1940s when psychologist Kenneth and Mamie Clark pioneered studies in the affects of segregation in schools by asking African-American kids to choose between black and white dolls.

The so-called doll test found black kids overwhelmingly preferred white over black. Those results were the center of the landmark, 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown versus the Board of Education that desegregated American schools. Now, with the first African-American president and nearly 60 years after segregation was overturned, we wondered where are we today? How do kids see differences in race? What we discovered might shock you, but first, how we got there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Skin color, a child's skin color.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Yes.

COOPER: We asked renowned child psychologist and University of Chicago researcher, Dr. Margaret Beale Spence to design a pilot study for CNN and analyze the results.

MARGARET BEALE SPENCER, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: Our children are always near us, you know, because we are society and what we put out there, kids report back. You ask the question, they'll give you the answer.

COOPER: Spencer's team tested more than 130 kids in eight schools with very different racial and economic demographics. Half of the schools were in the north and half in the south.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, nicely done.

COOPER: But the country is much more diverse today than in the 1940s. The children in this project are from two age groups and two races, white and black, to better allow comparison to the original doll study. Four and five-year-old children were asked a series of questions about these images. Nine and ten-year-old children were asked questions about the same images as well as this color bar chart.

The test led us to three major findings. First, white children as a whole responded with a high rate of what researchers called white bias, identifying the color of their own skin with positive attributes and darker skin with negative attributes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the dumb child.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Dumb child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Why is she the dumb child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she has black skin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the mean child. Why is he the mean child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because he's brown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the bad child. Why is he the bad child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because he's black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Show me the ugly child. Why is he the ugly child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because he's brown -- black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has the skin color most adults like. And show me the child who has the skin color most adults don't like. Show me the child who has the skin color most children like. Show me the child who has the skin color most children don't like. Show me the child who has the skin color most girls want. Show me the child who has the skin color most girls don't want.

COOPER: The questions that got overwhelmingly white biased answers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the dumb child.

COOPER: About 76 percent of the younger white children pointed to the two darkest skin tones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the mean child.

COOPER: About 66 percent of the younger white children pointed to the two darkest skin tones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has skin color most children don't like.

COOPER: Again, about 66 percent of the younger white children pointed to the two darkest skin tones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the bad child.

COOPER: More than 59 percent of the older white children pointed to the two darkest skin tones, but some white children did have more race neutral responses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, could you show me the good looking child?

So what are you thinking? I know you pointed to them all, but tell me what you're thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: I'm thinking that I do not care if they're black, white, mixed or any kind of race. I think that it matters who they really are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, coming up, we're going to show you how the African-American kids answered some of those same questions. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We return to our story now. We commissioned a second doll study that mirrored the similar study done 60 years ago. Moments ago, you saw how white children answered the questions. Now, our Anderson Cooper shows us the answers from the African-American kids.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready, set, go.

COOPER: Our second major finding, even black children as a whole have some bias toward whiteness, but far less than white children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the smart child. And why is she the smart child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she is white.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Show me the dumb child. And why is she the dumb child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she's black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the ugly child. And why is she the ugly child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she's black.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the good looking child? And why is she the good looking child?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because she's light skinned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the skin color you believe most teachers think looks bad on a girl.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: I don't really think it matters because I think each teacher wants to help the student learn either way what they look like.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside. It just matters what you look like on the inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the good looking child.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: They're all the same. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Show me the child you would like as a classmate.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: All of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You'd like all of them as classmates. Why do you say all of them?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because I don't really care what color they have.

COOPER: This 5-year-old girl gave some provocative answers during her test. I asked her about them later.

Why do you want that skin color?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Because it looks lighter than this kind because this looks a lot like that one and I just don't like the way brown looks because the way brown looks, it looks really nasty for some reason, but I don't know what reason. That's all.

COOPER: So, you think it looks nasty?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Well, not really, but sometimes.

COOPER: Sometimes. And Brielle, they ask what color adults don't like, what would you say? Which one? That's right. That's what you said. Why do you think adults don't like that color?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Dark.

COOPER: And you think adults don't like dark?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Maybe some adults do, but maybe some of them don't.

COOPER: The questions that got overwhelmingly white biased answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the one you think most children would think looks bad on a boy.

COOPER: More than 70 percent of the older black children chose the darkest skin tones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has the skin color most children don't like.

COOPER: More than 61 percent of the younger black children chose the two darker shades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the ugly child.

COOPER: More than 57 percent of the younger black kids chose the two darkest shades.

UNIDENTIFIED KID: That one.

COOPER: Dr. Spencer says the research shows the bias toward white is still very much part of our culture.

SPENCER: All kids are exposed to these stereotypes of what's really significant here is that white children are learning or maintaining their stereotypes much more strongly than the African- American children.

COOPER: And that is our third finding, the finding that interested Dr. Spencer the most, that overall younger and older children keep the same patterns, stereotyping. In other words, their ideas change little from age 5 to 10.

SPENCER: Ordinarily, by the time children are older, there is sort of a natural filter, you know, their own ways of thinking that aids them and sort of rethinking the extreme stereotypic so that responses to become less highly biased.

COOPER: That left Professor Spencer wondering what's causing this pattern? She speculates that kids are bombarded by stereotypical messages and that adults in kids' lives have to fight to override the deluge. Black parents may be more diligent about that, while white parents may not notice the need.

SPENCER: The messages are the same for all children, and therefore, the test is the same for all parents. Parent have to reframe what children experience.

COOPER: We realize these findings may be disturbing and that some people will question this project's conclusions. What stereotypic messages are being sent in a country that elected a black man president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama.

COOPER: Like all research projects, ours is not perfect. Some kids were told ahead of time they'd be asked about race. Some children identified as one race but came from biracial families like this boy whose mom is white. But Professor Spencer tells us these are common issues in research, and the results can still be trusted because of the sample size.

To be clear, this is a scientifically-informed and executed pilot study which suggests the need for further research. The results point to major trends but are not the definitive word on children and race. Still, they underline what Dr. Spencer sees as an alarming conclusion.

SPENCER: You are still living in a society where dark things are devalued and light things are valued.

COOPER: The question we're left with is where do we go from here?

Anderson Cooper, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Next hour, we're likely going to hear from parents telling us how they discuss race with their kids. You can join our Tony Harris for that. So, be sure to tune in tonight for more on kid's race. Anderson and Soledad O'Brien are taking a closer look at colorism and discussing the unique challenges facing biracial children. That's tonight at 10:00 eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: They are still going strong after all these years. The Stones, the Rolling Stones and CNN's Larry King sat down with the frontman, Mick Jagger to find out how they kept it going for about 50 years now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: How do you account for the longevity of the Stones as a success?

MICK JAGGER, ROLLING STONES SINGER: Wow. I think the Stones are very lucky. Yes. you always need a lot of luck. And I think that they were in the right place at the right time. And we are quite -- when we work, we work very hard. So, I think you need all of those things. It's no good just being hard working, (INAUDIBLE) but you've got to be hard working on your game and be lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The small taste of what you're going to hear from Mick Jagger. Tonight, you'll see the whole interview, tonight 9 o'clock eastern. The legend, Mick Jagger.

Time for me to turn it over to a guy who's working on his legendary status as we speak, Tony Harris.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kind sir. Have a great day.

HOLMES: Thank you.

HARRIS: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.