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Confidence on the Recovery; Oil Dome Back on Track; Soccer Super Fan's Reaction

Aired June 24, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Our Tony Harris, our main man in the house here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Are you ready, Tony?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Your show rocks, Kyra. We hope to hang in there.

Have a great day.

PHILLIPS: All right.

HARRIS: All right.

Good morning, everyone.

Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Thursday, June 24th.

Is America's economic comeback from the great recession running out of steam? The slow and choppy recovery may be eroding confidence in President Obama.

Batches of syrupy oil coating Florida's panhandle beaches in increasing amounts. The governor says the state is up to the challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: It's like Jimmy Buffett said. We don't want to take the sky is falling attitude about this. We want to see it, we want to address it, we want to clean it up and stay after it, and stay after it, and stay after it.

We will. We will. That's the attitude we've got to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yes, there are American soccer fans! Look at them.

I will be talking live with a diehard who is at the big games in South Africa. He's been to every World Cup since -- wait for it -- 1982.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

So, let's begin with your money and this question: Is the financial recovery stagnating? Stocks are basically flat. Unemployment remains high. Home sales still tumbling hard. And the Fed signaling this week it won't be raising interest rates anytime soon, suggesting doubt in the recovery.

Recent polls indicate Americans are growing impatient and their confidence in the president is waning.

So let's do this -- let's talk to CNN White House Correspondent Dan Lothian.

Dan, the president is facing problems on a lot of fronts here. If you don't have the results you want from your policies, then you have to, it seems to me, ramp up the message machine.

So, what's the administration doing and saying about this summer economic malaise we seem to be in?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You're so right. And I'll get to that question in just a second.

But, first of all, sort of the evidence is seen in this "Wall Street Journal"/NBC poll that points out that the president's approval rating has dropped to 45 percent in the month of June. That's down from 50 percent in May.

Now, this administration doesn't like to focus on polls, and whenever we ask questions about polls, they usually dismiss it. And, in fact, a senior administration official said not to expect any comment whatsoever on this particular poll.

But back to your question, what the administration is doing, the president in particular is really pushing jobs and the economy. And you saw this kicking off, this recovery summer, when the president was in Columbus, Ohio, last week, touting the 10,000th Recovery Act project in Columbus, Ohio, showing that jobs are being created across the country, that the administration is doing everything it can to turn the economy around.

And from the polling, what it's showing is that this is what's weighing on everyone's mind. The economy, yes, it is back, as the administration would like to point out, from the brink of total collapse, but a lot of people still concerned. And the oil crisis, this oil spill, still weighing on people's minds as well -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

Dan, what about the midterm elections? How do they factor into all of this?

LOTHIAN: Well, Tony, as you know, if your ratings are down, that's not good for midterm elections. History will tell you that 50 percent or higher is what you want to have in order to avoid any major losses. But what the president is doing -- you saw him sort of road- testing this is Pittsburgh earlier this month -- is really pointing out the accomplishments of his administration versus what Republicans have done.

The president saying that they have sat on the sidelines. And then ticking off what his administration has done in terms of financial reform, trying to help turn the economy around, what has been done on health care. And so this is what you'll hear more of, the president sort of making this comparison between what he has done, the accomplishments so far of his administration, and what Republicans, at least according this administration, hasn't done.

HARRIS: Yes. Very good.

Dan Lothian at the White House for us.

Good to see you, Dan. Thank you.

Experts will tell you a solid recovery depends on consumers with the confidence to spend. So, consider this: a new CNN/Opinion Research survey finds 78 percent of Americans think the country is actually stuck deep in recession.

Let's bring in Ryan Mack. He is the president of Optimum Capital Management in New York.

Ryan, good to see you.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Look, if the collapse in housing and all of the predatory greed-driven practices that led to the collapse -- not to mention the jobs that went away because of the collapse -- if the collapse in housing has us in this malaise, can we break out of it if housing doesn't come back?

MACK: Well, it's going to be very difficult, but we just have to remember what has gotten us out of recessions before. And then looking at the S&P 500, the majority of the companies in the S&P 500 were formed during times of recession.

And I'm a big economics guy. I love it in terms of business enterprise. And I think that if individuals start to develop businesses, create their own ideas, begin to go back to school, educate themselves -- a lot of community colleges are having a lot of great programs that individuals have access to -- that's going to drive the economy.

But it has to come from -- it can't come from the government all the time. I think sometimes we get too much focus on what the government is not -- or is doing. Sometimes you have to understand that the government's job is to stimulate the economy, but it's the people's job to sustain the economy. There's only so much money you can throw -- (CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Got you. And I want to get back to that point.

But, Ryan, look, we say it all the time here. Two-thirds of this economy is based on spending. And if spending continues to slow, and it slows because people don't have jobs, and they don't have any real equity in their homes, what -- that doesn't speak to being able to get out and innovate and coming up with the next big thing.

MACK: Well, at the end of the day, spending comes from the generation of ideas. If I have an idea, and I can combine that with needs of society, and that can create a service, then people will want to spend money on my service. That actually generates a real need.

And again, that comes from business enterprise. That comes from ideas like advanced battery manufacturing, things needed in order to reduce -- increase sustainable energy, or create alternative energies. Tens of thousands of gallons of oil being pumped into the Gulf right now. There's an idea out there that can help us sustain ourselves and get us off this dependency of foreign oil. That is money that I think people will want to spend on.

HARRIS: Is there money to follow those ideas? Is there money that will chase those ideas that you're talking about?

MACK: Well, again, and that comes from demand. I mean, look, there is no doubt that demand is suffering. There's no doubt -- I mean, the days of the old six or seven percent GDP growth rate, those days are done.

I don't think that we can look in the past and say -- we were on this sugar high of spending that we thought we had before of essentially creating capital out of thin air. The banks were spending money and creating money that never existed in the first place, and was spending exorbitant bonuses on that, essentially draining the economy dry of capital.

But now what we're coming down to is basic, bare-bones creation. And what can we do to start making things again? What can we do to start making sure we can reduce our trade deficit, reduce our current account deficit?

HARRIS: OK. So I hear you saying this economy has to stand on its own at some point here.

Are you saying better now than later? Take the bumpers off and let the chips kind of fall where they may?

MACK: I'm actually very pleased that the economy hasn't gotten worse than it what it has. I mean, we're not in a bear economy, we're not in a bull economy. We're in more like a moose economy. We're going sideways.

I don't think we're going to break nine percent on the downside, see the eight percent unemployment rate in that range until 2011 sometime. But, again, we just have to sustain ourselves.

And in the meanwhile, while the government is pumping stimulus into the economy, while the Fed is doing their monetary expansionary policy, what we have to do is start to use that stimulus (INAUDIBLE) in community colleges. Use that.

Go and educate yourselves. Try to start spending your money wisely. Keep money on the sides. Start making sure we're putting emergency funds, six to nine months of living expenses, on the side in case you do get laid off.

So, all these things are done while we are stimulating the economy to make sure we can sustain ourselves as we come out.

HARRIS: Terrific stuff.

Ryan, as always, good to see you. Thank you, sir.

MACK: Thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: It is day 66 in the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and a judge in New Orleans has just granted an emergency hearing. He is allowing companies supporting new deepwater drilling to speak out in opposition to a six-month ban. The same judge, as you know, issued an injunction halting the moratorium this week, but the Obama administration wants him to keep the ban in place while his ruling is appealed.

Meanwhile, the containment cap that was accidentally bumped by a deep sea robot is back in place and capturing oil again.

Chris Lawrence is live in New Orleans with the latest on the oil gusher.

And Chris, got to tell you, for a while there yesterday, we were watching a rerun of a really bad movie: the early days of this disaster.

For how many hours was that well uncapped?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Eleven hours the cap was off, Tony. And, yes, it looked like last month all over again, where oil was just gushing freely into the Gulf.

Basically, what the authorities have now learned is it looks like one of the remote control robots bumped into the containment cap, knocked off one of the valves there. They thought maybe some oil or gas may have started to collect in there, so they took the cap off to inspect it, and then it took about a half a day to get it back on.

Now, big picture is some on one side will say, look at this, this is about the third time in the last few weeks that the cap has been off. It shows that there is still no reliable system to keep this oil from flowing. On the other hand, other people will say they did get the cap put back on in less than 12 hours, and there was a second containment system that was still capturing a smaller amount of oil -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right.

Chris Lawrence think what update for us.

Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

Got to tell you, the sands of Pensacola Beach, Florida, open for business, but much of the water is closed for swimming, tarnished by globs of oil. Patches of dark, syrup-like oil are washing on to the white sand, floating in the water.

Look at that. That's pretty nasty stuff. Hundreds of BP cleanup workers are out, as you can see here, scooping it up.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist says it breaks your heart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRIST: It's like Jimmy Buffett said. We don't want to take the sky is falling attitude about this. We want to see it, we want to address it, we want to clean it up and stay after it, ,and stay after it, and stay after it.

We will. We will. That's the attitude we've got to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Got to take that attitude.

An outbreak of soccer fever from the United States? We will talk with a super fan attending a game right now at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: U.S. fans are celebrating a last-minute reprieve at the world Cup in South Africa. The Americans were locked into a scoreless match with Algeria yesterday and headed out of the World Cup until, there you go, the man, Landon Donovan's incredible goal and stoppage time took Team USA to a 1-0 victory. They advanced around the knockout round.

Team USA plays Ghana on Saturday.

Let's bring in a soccer super fan. His name is Clifton Broumand, and he has attended every World Cup since 1982. And he joins us right now on the phone from Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.

And Clifton, this is a pretty important game that's going on right now. Italy and Slovakia are going at it. My understand is -- and maybe you can give us an update on this particular game -- the defending World Cup champs are in trouble here?

CLIFTON BROUMAND, WORLD CUP FAN: Well, I think they are. They have not played well for the whole Cup, and Slovakia is basically taking it to them. And it's actually looking more and more like the defending champs won't make it past this round.

HARRIS: Wow. All right.

Clifton, you were at the match yesterday in Pretoria. Tell us what that was like and those moments when it didn't look like it was going to happen. We get into stoppage time, and then we get this incredible goal from Landon Donovan.

BROUMAND: Well, the atmosphere was electric prior to the game. It was incredible with all the American fans, and even some of the Algerian fans there. It was just wonderful.

And as the game progressed and we kept hitting the crossbar, or missing closely, or even supposedly having a goal that was nullified, I was getting depressed. And I normally am wrong anyway.

So, I turned to my son and I said, "I don't think we're going to be able to do this." But you keep on going.

And the cool thing about our team is they don't give up. And they didn't.

And when Donovan scored, it was -- people were jumping up, hugging each other. It was incredible. It was just like -- the feeling was immensely satisfying, but, also, it was one of those things that you just don't feel that frequently.

HARRIS: So, Clifton, you have been going to World Cup matches since 1982 as a U.S. fan of soccer. So you go back to the days where very few people in the United States cared about soccer. A few more people care about soccer in the United States now.

I'm wondering if you think this World Cup and the performance by the U.S. team so far, getting out of the group play, could be a turning point for U.S. soccer and its popularity in the United States.

BROUMAND: Well, in South Korea, we did actually get through to the second round and beat Mexico in a match that put us against Germany, which we lost. I think that this is a long, tough slog to get Americans to really enjoy the sport as much as I do. And I think it will happen. It just takes time and takes more money that people are paying Kobe Bryant or Peyton Manning a lot of money.

One of these days, they will pay Landon Donovan or somebody that comes after him a fair amount of money so people will want to play, and we'll get even better and better players for the United States.

HARRIS: Hey, Clifton, enjoy your time there in South Africa. And thanks for taking the time to talk to us. BROUMAND: Thank you, Tony. Have a great day. And go USA!

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. OK. Have a great time with your son.

Tomorrow marks one year since Michael Jackson died. Brothers Tito and -- a year already. Tito and Jermaine tell CNN about the moment they heard the news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, it's hard for me to believe it. How about you?

A year ago tomorrow, the world lost the great Michael Jackson. Tito and Jermaine Jackson recall for CNN's Don Lemon the moment they learned their brother had died.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A secluded L.A. mansion. A 911 call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CALLER: Yes, he is not breathing, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 911 OPERATOR: OK, and he is not conscious either?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE CALLER: No, he is not conscious, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE 911 OPERATOR: OK.

LEMON: A 50-year-old man in distress. That man is Michael Jackson.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson, the King of Pop --

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- was taken to the hospital. And there were rumors --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was apparently administered CPR in the ambulance.

LEMON: As the news began to break on June 25th of last year, Jackson's brothers, Tito and Jermaine, began to hear grim and troubling reports from loved ones and the media.

(on camera): Do you remember the day?

TITO JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: My middle son, Terrell, called me on the phone and said, "Dad, is it true what they are saying on TV about Uncle Michael?" I said, "What are they saying?" "They say he was rushed to the hospital and he is not breathing or something like that."

I said, "What?"

LEMON: It was Jermaine's mother, Katherine, who confirmed his worst fears.

JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: She was already at the hospital. And I called her back and I heard her say, "He's dead." I couldn't believe to hear my mother say her child is dead, my brother. And I got weak, very, very weak.

LEMON: Despite his overwhelming grief, it was Jermaine who delivered the family's official announcement that Michael was dead.

J. JACKSON: And you have to go out from that hospital and you have to tell the world. I couldn't believe that I was announcing my brother's death for the world. It was - I was numb, very numb, because it was like a nightmare.

My brother, the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 2:26 p.m.

LEMON: Jackson's death had barely started to reverberate around the world when dark revelations began to emerge, revelations about a pop icon's final days and a secret world of addiction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: CNN's Don Lemon joining me now from Los Angeles.

Don, good to see you.

Look, a year since Michael's death. We have a sense of the reaction from the two brothers that you spoke with there, but what's been the impact of Michael's death on those you talked to for this special?

LEMON: Well, there's more than one impact.

Number one, we have got Conrad Murray, who is in court. And then we have a suit filed to the medical board. I think the impact is going to be on, number one, prescription drugs, concierge doctors. That's one impact. The other one is the music, the legacy and the money that the family and people are still fighting over.

But what we concentrate on, Tony, our focus of this, is because people who love Michael Jackson, the fans, the friends, the family, feel cheated out of the last days, the last moments, and especially the last hours of his life. So we go back through that to find out what happened with the drugs.

What happened with this Propofol? Why was Dr. Conrad Murray not in the room as family members say he wasn't in the room? How did he get involved with this?

And then, why this complaint to the medical board from Joe Jackson filed through an attorney? And the medical board, Tony, has to investigate that because doctors take an oath to help people, to save people. And Michael Jackson died in the care of Dr. Conrad Murray. HARRIS: Do you think people will ever be satisfied with the answers to the questions you just laid out there? There seems to be, already, a lot of talk of conspiracy tied to Michael's death.

Do you think the fans, the friends, people who just loved Michael, will ever be satisfied with the answers?

LEMON: I think no one will ever be satisfied. No one is satisfied with the answers to Elvis' death. People still think Elvis is still alive. People still think Michael Jackson is still alive.

But here's the thing. I asked a number of family members, and they all say, "My brother was killed."

HARRIS: Yes.

LEMON: They think it was a conspiracy. I flat-out asked Jermaine Jackson, "Who do you think killed your brother?" He says, "I know." I said, "Are you going to tell me?"

And you'll have to watch the documentary to find out what he says. But I don't think that people -- no one will be 100 percent -- you can't satisfy everyone.

But I think that you will get to the bottom of this. And I think that this documentary -- I know it will -- it will shed some light on what was happening with Michael Jackson and who he had around him. Because people in this documentary, Tony, say it wasn't just one Dr. Conrad Murray, there were others.

Here's the difference. You and I go to the doctor, and we go a couple times a year, maybe. We pay a $15 co-pay, but if you have someone and you're paying them $150,000 a month, or whatever it is, then that's a different story because you are paying for their mortgage. You're paying for their house. You're paying for their kids to go to school.

So, if you lose a patient that's paying you $150,000 a month, as they say, that's a horse of another color.

HARRIS: Well, that's a different doctor/patient relationship, to be sure.

Don, I can't wait for this. Good to see you. Thanks, man.

LEMON: Yes. Good to see you.

HARRIS: Yes.

"Michael Jackson: The Final Days" airs tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, you know, it looks like Arkansas and Oklahoma City all over again. But we're talking about Iowa now, parts of Iowa. What a huge mess. Look at all this. Powerful storms brought heavy rain, triggering flashfloods.

Bonnie, are you watching the pictures?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HARRIS: Yes, look at this. Roads turned quickly into rivers, as you can see here. Many homes in Des Moines now flooded.

Storms also produced a great deal of wind damage, a few tornadoes across the northern part of the state. No injuries, thankfully, reported.

Look at this. This is (INAUDIBLE) on time, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: It's true. And not only that. It was a huge storm, Tony, and you mentioned the wind damage. Just to note, there were over 200 reports of wind damage across the Midwest yesterday. Huge day for wind damage. And a big storm.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come, how many jobs and how much money will be lost if the oil drilling ban, the moratorium, stays in place? Ines Ferre takes a look at the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So here we go. Day 66 of the oil disaster. A federal judge has just granted an emergency hearing for companies opposing the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling. Two days ago, as you know, the judge issued a preliminary injunction against the six-month moratorium. It halted drilling in more than 500 feet of water and prevented new permits from being issued. The White House is appealing the ruling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETART: It is important that this moratorium stay in place until we can assure that deepwater drilling can be done in a safe way. We're not there today. So we will move forward with the executive authority, which I have, to make sure that the moratorium does, in fact, stay in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So companies that do business with the oil rigs insist the rigs are safe. Plus they say the moratorium will severely hurt the local economy.

Our Ines Ferre has been looking at how many jobs may be at stake.

Do we have some pretty clear numbers here, Ines?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've gotten several and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association -- it's a trade association -- came up with these estimates. They're calculating that if you've got 33 idle rigs, those mean up to 1,400 jobs per rig. They're not just the people that work on the rigs directly, but they're also the people who support the jobs, like sailors, chefs, caterers, construction, and cleaning. And now that translates up to 46,200 jobs that could be affected. Now if you calculate that each job pays an average of $1,800 per worker each week -- so that's the average salary per worker -- that translates to up to $990 million per quarter in possible lost wages.

HARRIS: OK. That's interesting. Now we need to find out if those people impacted, and I think the answer in most cases is yes, are able to tap into some of the fund set aside to address those claims. The BP funds and the new one set up with BP dollars that's being administered by the administration. So we can follow up on that, as well.

Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.

FERRE: You're welcome.

HARRIS: When boy meets boy and settles down. Soledad O'Brien is following one gay couple on their journey to start a new family.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Tonight, something you will see only on CNN. Soledad O'Brien explores the journey of one same sex couple trying to start a family.

Here's a sneak peek from tonight's special, "Gary and Tony Have a Baby."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I met Gary, I realized I couldn't live my life happily. I had to come out. There wasn't an option anymore.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: What'd you say? Literally, what'd you say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said, mom, remember I told you I was seeing somebody? His name is Gary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was a little surprised, and I said, well, are you happy? And he said -- he was crying. Tears were running down his cheeks. And he was happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said, do we have to tell your father? And I said, eventually, yes.

O'BRIEN: Their struggle took on a new face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you prepared to make your vows to one another?

O'BRIEN: They founded the wedding party and staged mass weddings to promote gay marriage. There are plenty of people who say your marriage destroys the institution of marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to ask them, tell me how my marriage affects your marriage. Tell me. And nobody is able to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I now pronounce you legally married.

O'BRIEN: They married in Canada. The U.S. doesn't recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, though five states grant gay couples limited gay marriage rights.

Is it ironic that one of the most activist things you're doing right now is incredibly traditional. You want to be a family. You want to have a baby. That's very traditional for a bunch of activists, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. And we've been taught since you were born, grow up, get married, have a kid. It's really unfair to then say, you can't do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Except for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't be teaching kids, this is what you should want, this is what you should do. And then when they want it say, no, you can't have that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And Soledad O'Brien joining us from New York.

Soledad, great to see you like always.

O'BRIEN: Tony, likewise.

HARRIS: Yes, it's great to see you. This is obviously compelling, provocative stuff. But I'm curious, what is it that you learned/discovered about this particular couple that said to you, you know what, this is the couple to tell this story through.

Tell us about that.

O'BRIEN: Well, we didn't want to tell the story of all of gay America. It wasn't really we're going to tell the story of everybody's experience. We found two guys who were going on journey. And their journey was to figure out how they could have a baby, and they decided to use a surrogate to have their baby, and that path in and of itself is very tricky.

There are lots of court dates and then of course, you have the egg donor and the surrogate and family members around who have concerns. We were very lucky in meeting Gary and Tony because they were very open to us. They allowed us -- when you shoot a documentary, you follow them. We met them back in 2008. You need access and follow them and their story every single day. And also the story of all of the people in their lives. What appealed to me the most was that they were really willing to have us follow them through their journey of trying to have a baby.

HARRIS: What did you -- I always ask you the same question. Any particular take-aways for you? I'm wondering at the end of this hour tonight, you have any idea what kinds of reactions you're going to get from folks who will certainly be wanting to reach out to you?

O'BRIEN: You know what's interesting? I never really go into it. I probably give you the same answer every time. I never go into it thinking, here's an agenda and I hope people think "X" at the end.

I just want to tell a great story and these two guys have a great story. And I think anybody whose ever had a child or wanted to have a child, to follow the arc of them trying to accomplish that a as two gay men living in New York City is fascinating. It's fascinating.

I know people who've loved the documentary, who've seen screenings who are gay, and people who are straight and some people who do not like it. I think for any of my work, great. I think our goal is to spur conversation, to show someone's life as it really is and to be authentic to their story. That's all I aim to do.

HARRIS: Can't, can't wait. Soledad, great to see you. Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, likewise.

HARRIS: And, of course, you can see Soledad O'Brien's special report, "Gary and Tony Have a Baby." That is tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A CNN oil alert on Day 66 of the disaster in the Gulf. A New Orleans judge grants an emergency hearing for oil drilling support companies against the Obama administration's moratorium against deepwater drilling. Administration attorneys had asked the judge to delay his earlier decision to lift the ban until an appeals court rules on the case.

Other top stories we're following for you. A senior Pentagon official tells CNN Defense Secretary Robert Gates wanted to keep General Stanley McChrystal but was overrule by the president. McChrystal was relieved of his command in the Afghan war over scathing comments made to "Rolling Stone" magazine.

A federal judge approves a more than $700 million settlement for thousands who say they became sick at the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first payouts are expected in November.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

So it's over -- the match, the longest match ever in Wimbledon history. Do we have match point here? That's it, it's over. John Isner, University of Georgia product. The big man, 6'6", 6'7", maybe? He is 6'9" tall. And he won the longest match, just moments ago, in Wimbledon history, the longest match in tennis history? A match played -- Kyra, over how many hours? 11 hours, over three days. The fifth set in this match lasting for nearly eight hours. John Isner, he's your winner. The American moves on. And because this match has been played over three days and he didn't get his customary day's rest, he has to play again in 15 minutes. No, no, no. Just kidding.

All right, let's get you to the best financial web site on the web, right? CNNMoney.com. Look at this, Drilling Ban, 35,000 jobs at stake.

Ines Ferre is helping us crunch these numbers. But, there you go, our money team on the job there. And as we look at the Dow now, we're selling, we're off 94 points. We're going to continue to follow these numbers. Let me get a look at the Nasdaq. OK, so we're selling across the board now. Nasdaq is down 24 points.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: Housing fraud taking place from inside the big house. How prison inmates were able to snag millions from the IRS -- you can't believe this is happening -- by taking advantage of the tax credit for home buyers. That incredible story with Christine Romans, next hour right here in the NEWSROOM.

Plus, it's a day when apple heads, well, look, they've been waiting for this day for a long time. Folks braving rain, cold, heat, humidity to buy what could be the hottest gadget on the planet, the Apple iPhone 4. In stores today.

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HARRIS: General David Petraeus is on Capitol Hill right now ahead of confirmation hearings for his new assignment as commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. A senior Pentagon official tells CNN Defense Secretary Robert Gates wanted to keep General Stanley McChrystal in charge, but he was overruled by President Obama.

White House correspondent Dan Lothian has more on McChrystal's downfall.

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DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saying that it was a change in personnel, not policy, President Obama closed the book on his top man in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The conduct represented in the recently-published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general.

LOTHIAN: President Obama called General McChrystal to Washington, from Afghanistan, to hear him out in person before making his decision. A 32-minute one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office could not reverse a feeling that the general was no longer capable of carrying out the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

OBAMA: it undermines the civilian control of the Military that is at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan.

LOTHIAN: This isn't the first time that General McChrystal locked horns with the administration. Last year, he publicly dismissed a smaller, leaner force in Afghanistan that the vice president was advocating. He was reprimanded by Mr. Obama. This time, McChrystal and his aides were quoted in "Rolling Stone" magazine taking shots at President Obama and his entire national security team. A big distraction for the White House, even as the U.S. and coalition forces wage a difficult war.

OBAMA: It is my duty to insure that no diversion complicates the vital mission that they are carrying out. That includes adherence to a strict code of conduct.

LOTHIAN: In a statement, General McChrystal said he resigned out of respect for the president's strategy in Afghanistan, and a desire to see the mission succeed. Bruce Fleming (ph), a Naval Academy professor who will soon release a book on the friction between military and civilian leadership, says this controversy reveals a longstanding problem on the battlefield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't like it that people who are not military tell them what to do.

LOTHIAN: That frustration is what Fleming says administration needs to focus on now. Much bigger than a few controversial comments by four-star general.

(on camera): A senior administration official says that the president's tone in the meeting with his national security team was stern. And that he pointed out that while he appreciates disagreements and differences, he will not tolerate pettiness.

Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.

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