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Rankled Republicans Blast Steele; Oil Causes Swim Warnings in Pensacola; Death by Stoning for Adultery; Alleged Spy, Really Uncovered; Gulf Oil Disaster; Woman Living With E-Coli Shares Story; Madonna, Motherhood & Malawi; Veteran's Quality of Care
Aired July 05, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. Happy 5th of July. I'm Kyra Phillips.
You've got to think, Republicans hate having to say, oh, he doesn't speak for me. Michael Steele ripped left and right for his comments on the Afghan war.
The northeast heat wave, sweaty and uncomfortable for many, potentially deadly for some.
And Madonna back on the world stage, but this time with a different message. Giving orphans something they may not have otherwise. A future.
OK. So Ron Paul supports Michael Steele's comments about the Afghan war. Well, there's one because many Republicans are ripping him apart and wishing the party head would think before he jams his foot in the party's mouth.
In case you missed it, here's what Mr. Steele said. It was late Friday at a fundraiser in Connecticut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, REPUBLICAN NATL. CMTE. CHAIRMAN: Keep in mind, again, for our federal candidates, this is a war of Obama's choosing. This is not -- this is something the United States actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Steele has been forced to clarify his comments. Yes, there are some new ones that we might have missed. Let's talk about it with CNN's foreign affairs correspondent Jill Daugherty.
So, Jill, not a good sign when you have many powerful Republicans saying that the head of their party doesn't speak for them.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact, two very important Republicans. And they happen to have been in Afghanistan when they reacted and condemned what Mr. Steele said. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think those statements are widely inaccurate. I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This made angry, upset, it was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment. This is not President Obama's war. This is America's war.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: So they stopped short of saying that Steele should actually step down. But some other Republicans are saying that he should. One of them is Bill Crystal, the -- conservative commentator, and also Liz Cheney, another one, both saying he should resign -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what do you think? Will he be forced to resign? Obviously, there's people calling for it now, but what's the reality of it actually happening?
DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, if you -- there's another comment that's kind of interesting, and that's Representative Ron Paul who makes the point -- he says, look, Steele has raised a lot of money, the Republicans over all are doing well. He's attracting, he argues, younger voters in people to the party.
So -- and he happens to agree with some of the comments about Afghanistan, so there is another school (ph), but you have to say that a lot of the really, you know, well-known influential people in the party are not happy with this and think enough is enough.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow the fallout, shall we say. Jill Daugherty, thanks so much.
Now Steele is the guy who called himself the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. For the GOP, he's more like the gaffe that keeps goofing.
Remember last year when he was dissing the president's health reform plan? I asked him a simple question. Who was his health care provider and was he satisfied?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: What kind of health care do you have?
STEELE: I have -- I have health care through -- through the RNC.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He really couldn't answer the question, as you could see, and there's a lot more where that came from. We're going to have more on Steele's greatest hits next hour. Day 77 of the Gulf oil disaster. Right now we're awaiting results from this weekend's test run of the A Whale, the massive retrofitted cargo ship converted into the world's largest oil-skimming vessel.
If approved, the A Whale -- Whale, rather, would join an oil- skimming flotilla of 550 ships that were working yesterday in the Gulf. This morning, new cost figures from BP who now say that they've spent more than $3.1 billion responding to the disaster.
The feds have put another 1100 square miles of the Gulf off limits for fishing. And that closes roughly a third of the Gulf of Mexico's federal waters. A precaution taken to ensure the quality of seafood.
Back on shore, the oil's impact is undeniable. Well, with health advisories and warnings popping up just about everywhere the tar balls are. The latest this morning a new swim warning for Alabama's Gulf waters.
Here's John Zarrella from nearby Pensacola, Florida, where beachgoers can hit the water at their own risk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More cleanup crews than we have seen in days scoured this section of Pensacola beach. Perhaps just a coincidence, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson dropped by for a firsthand look at the work.
LISA JACKSON, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: It has no odor.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Yes.
JACKSON: So it no odor, so the (INAUDIBLE) is long gone out of there.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): While it's pretty clear the beach is a mess, what isn't clear to people here is whether the water is safe for swimming.
(On camera): "Oil Impact Notice." These are the signs that have now been posted on all of 40 miles of Escambia Country's coastline. And they say avoid wading, swimming or entering the water, but they don't say you can't get in.
(Voice-over): What would Administrator Jackson do?
JACKSON: Based on the fact that this beach has oil, no, I would not go into the water today.
ZARRELLA: Cindy O'Sullivan and Janie King couldn't agree more. They've lived in Pensacola for years.
(On camera): Would you get in that water right now? CINDY O'SULLIVAN, PENSACOLA RESIDENT: There's no way. I don't understand why people are in it. It looks good, looks pretty, but it's not.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Well, that depends upon who you talk with.
DR. JOHN LANZA, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA HEALTH. DEPT.: Right now I would go into the water.
ZARRELLA: Dr. John Lanza heads the county health department. Lanza believes the water is safe unless you see tar balls or sheen on the water, or you feel oily and not from suntan lotion.
For now the county commission is not banning swimming until the EPA gives them concrete guidance.
LANZA: Until we get a standard from the EPA on the levels of the petrochemicals in the water so that we don't suggest people go into the water, specifically for that, we can't do anything.
JACKSON: There is nothing that I'm going to be able to tell you in a chemical lab that you can't learn about the safety of the water from a bathing purpose by looking at it and smelling it.
ZARRELLA: It looked pretty good to the Van Schlitz family vacationing from Oklahoma. They played in the surf, they had not seen the "avoid the water" sign, and no one told them not to go in.
(On camera): If they were warning you to stay out of the water --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would not have gotten in.
ZARRELLA: You wouldn't have gotten in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): The bottom line seems to be this. Right know scientifically no one is sure whether the water is safe. You are on your own, just smell it first.
John Zarrella, CNN, Pensacola, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, scorching hot even for July. New York's JFK airport trying a record-high of 100 degrees today. Expect more of it as the National Weather Service's already posted an excessive heat watch for parts of the northeast.
Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in the CNN Weather Center with more -- Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You want to hear some amazing. Remember when you were on the Gulf Coast just about a few weeks ago. PHILLIPS: Right.
WOLF: And you had the excruciating hear?
PHILLIPS: Cruel.
WOLF: Today is going to be hotter in parts of the northeast.
PHILLIPS: No. It cannot get hotter than it was in New Orleans.
WOLF: It is. It's going to be hotter in parts of the northeast and it will along parts of the Gulf Coast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: Coming up, we'll give you the full scope of the tropical weather. All right. Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Sounds like a plan. Thanks so much, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
PHILLIPS: All right, so did you wake up this morning with your ears ringing after celebrating America's birthday? Check out this spectacular fireworks display at the Washington monument. Last night the nation's capital put on quite a celebration for the Fourth of July.
And Thomas Jefferson says that the cement of this union is the heart blood of every American. Even heartbroken Americans can celebrate the Fourth. New Orleans, the entire Gulf region, finally forgot the oil disaster at least for a little while.
And New York harbor exploded into a blaze of color. This is the view over the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan.
And in Atlanta, probably hasn't seen this kind of pyrotechnic displays since General Sherman stormed into the city during the Civil War. The Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta was positively civil for last night's fireworks show.
A look at America on the Fourth.
Iraq on the Fourth welcomes a special visitor. Vice President Joe Biden. He met with the Iraqi leaders still deadlocked is trying to form a government nearly four months after national elections.
It wasn't all business, though. The vice president and his wife took time for a holiday lunch with the U.S. troops. It was his second straight visit to Iraq on the Fourth of July.
The July Fourth fireworks just a simple ceremony in Afghanistan. With the transfer of his flag General David Petraeus took command of NATO forces. He replaces General McChrystal who lost the job after he and his staff criticized the Obama administration in a "Rolling Stone" magazine article. Petraeus says that we are one team with one mission. He also had a warning for the insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES AFGHANISTAN: After years of war, we have arrived at a critical moment. We must demonstrate to the Afghan people and to the world that al Qaeda and its networks of extremist allies will not be allowed to once again establish sanctuaries in Afghanistan from which they can launch attacks on the Afghan people and on freedom-loving nations around the world.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Petraeus, by the way, supports the president's plan to start withdrawing troops next July as long as it is based on conditions on the ground.
A mother accused of adultery finally confesses under duress. Now she faces her sentence, death by stoning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: An Iranian mother of two is waiting for her execution. Her crime? Adultery. She confessed to it after being lashed 99 times. Her sentence? Death by stoning. How could this even happen?
That's where CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom comes in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We strongly condemn the Islamic Republic for its barbaric implantation of the stoning, execution and torture.
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the U.S. to Germany and through Internet postings worldwide, outcries against the imminent execution of Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two convicted in 2006 of committing adultery in Iran.
Already sentenced and lashed 99 times, a judge's panel re- examined Ashtiani's case and decided she should be stoned to death for her alleged crime.
Human rights activist Mina Ahadi, herself forced to flee a death sentence in Iran almost 30 years ago, has taken up Ashtiani's cause. She says there is still hope that Ashtiani's sentence could be overturned, but that it will require the dedication and commitment of activists worldwide.
MINA AHADI, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST (through translator): Legally, it's all over, we have no chance. It's a done deal.
She could be stoned at any minute, but we have experienced again and again that when we organized events worldwide, when we protest worldwide, and in particular when we contact the European governments, and these governments put pressure on the Islamic regime in Iran, sometimes we have a chance.
JAMJOOM: There's no government comment on the case. Her family says the Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has now been in prison for five years, even though she retracted her confession. A confession her family says she was forced to make.
In an open letter to the international community, Ashtiani's children, Fahridi (ph) and Sajjad (ph) Mohammadi Ashtiani pled for in their mother's life to be spared. "Today we stretch out our hands to the people of the whole world. It is now five years that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the world so cruel that it can watch this catastrophe and do nothing about it? We resort to the people of the world, no matter who you are and where in the world you live, help to prevent this nightmare from becoming reality. Save our mother. We are unable to explain the anguish of every moment, every second of our lives. Words are unable to articulate our fear."
That fear that their mother will be stoned to death before they are able to clear her name.
Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: To Mexico now where anti-incumbent fervor appears to be as strong as it is north of the border. It's been four years and 22,000 drug war deaths sent a disputed presidential election and today, the president's party is taking it on the chin. Twelve governors races up for grabs, and the leading opposition party is ahead in nine of them. It's not just a drug war that's got voters ticked off, Mexico's economy has hit the skids because of the global recession.
A hot dog eating contest should end with a parted belt, stomach ache or even worse, right? Well, who thought it would end with such drama and handcuffs. You'll see the full video in about two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, Japan's most famous competitive eating star winds up eating his words. Police arrested Takeru Kobayashi at the Annual Nathan's International Hotdog Eating Contest yesterday. The contest that he's won many times, and as you can see here, security guards actually had to wrestle with him as he rushed the stage right after he lost the contest. Kobayashi obviously not very happy about losing the crown, the 20 grand, and the bejeweled mustard yellow belt.
Kobayashi's biggest rival, Joey Chestnut, won Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest for a fourth time. He downed 54 hotdogs and buns in 10 minutes, nine better than the runner-up, by the way, though not as good as he did last year, but still -- good enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEY CHESTNUT, HOTDOG EATING CHAMP: You know, I came out here and knew what I had to do. And it's Fourth of July; I was having fun eating hot dogs.
REPORTER: What was the factor with the heat? It's been so hot today, did that affect you?
CHESTNUT: Absolutely. Actually, I stop drinking water today. So, I was a little dehydrated going into the contest, so I was slower than I wanted to. I wanted to be -- you know, it's all right. I beat the competition. If anybody else was here, I would beat them, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And, unfortunately, Chestnut couldn't beat the record of 68 hot dogs set by -- you got it -- the angry Kobayashi who lost the 20 grand, the crown, and bejeweled mustard yellow belt.
Well, you can add Rafael Nadal to today's list of winners. He captured his second Wimbledon singles title in straight set, beating Tomas Berdych. When this tournament started, the experts thought that Roger Federer would walk home with the trophy, but not so much. Nadal is now ranked number one in the world.
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories, Republican National Committee chair, Michael Steele, is still feeling the fallout from comments that he made about the war in Afghanistan. He recently said of the war was President Obama's choosing and may be unwinnable. He is even catching flak from members of his own party for those comments.
And the northeast is dealing with extreme heat which can potentially be deadly. JFK Airport in New York tied a record high for July 4th by hitting 100 degrees yesterday. The National Weather Service says the heat wave was gripping the northeast and it will be around that -- that will be that bad probably until Thursday.
Two runaway horses pulling a wagon bolted out of a July Fourth parade in Iowa and injured 24 people. Those horses ran wild for six blocks, trampling people along the parade route. Five are now in critical condition, including two children.
Living with E. coli took a devastating toll on one woman's life. Now out of a coma and barely able to speak, she managed to share her story exclusively with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Just a couple of nibbles on cookie dough -- that's all it took for one Las Vegas woman to get the E. coli virus, bedridden for a year now with organ failure. She and her husband are sharing their ordeal exclusively with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda Rivera was living the good life -- a mother, wife, a special ed assistant. Linda was happy and healthy. But all of that changed in May of 2009.
LINDA RIVERA, FOOD POISONING VICTIM: I felt like I had that cold, the flu, something like that.
GUPTA: In fact, Linda got so sick her husband took her to the emergency room. There she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and sent home.
But the thing is: she didn't get any better.
RICHARD RIVERA, LINDA'S HUSBAND: And I asked her if she's OK. And she said, "No, if I have to go through this one more day, I'll die." So, we took her in.
GUPTA: The doctors told her she had contracted E. coli OH-157. That's a dangerous food-borne illness that can attack organs. The E. coli had settled into her colon and doctors now had to remove it. A few days later, Linda was told what gave her E. coli.
L. RIVERA: Our attorney called us and said that it was cookie dough. I usually use a big tub, make lots of cookies at one time. Just a couple of bites, that's all it took.
BILL MARLER, RIVERA'S ATTORNEY: The reality is, about 60 percent, 65 percent of everybody who buys these products admits that they eat it raw. Seventy-six thousand people get E. coli O15787 every year, between 50 and 100 deaths every year. So, in the scheme of bugs, it's -- it's a relatively low number, but it's a really nasty, nasty bug.
GUPTA: For a whole year, Linda had lots of problems. Her kidneys shut down. She couldn't walk or talk. She went into cardiac arrest.
Three times, she was almost given her last rights. But she never gave up.
L. RIVERA: OK. For 15 minutes --
GUPTA: Now in a rehab hospital in San Francisco, Linda is learning to live again.
DR. PHILLIP O'KEEFE, CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CTR.: Her ability to deal with the pain and problems that she still has really been heroic.
GUPTA: Her husband Richard is right there with her, says he wouldn't wish this on anyone.
R. RIVERA: Probably, any family to have to go through this. I mean, just -- it does tear your life away. Linda's probably the most giving and cheerful and optimistic woman you'll ever meet. And she gave and gave and gave. And to see what this has done to her just tore me apart.
GUPTA: Linda is not going to give up. She says she has a lot to live for.
L. RIVERA: I don't want this horrible disease to win. So I want the rest of the world to know about it. They need to know.
Don't take a chance with it. It's not worth it. You give up your life, you lose everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We spoke to Linda's husband, and he says Linda is improving gradually. She'll be in rehab for another six to eight months. And then she'll go home and do outpatient rehab. She'll also require a nurse's care for some time.
The unraveling life of an alleged Russian spy revealed. And more reason not to trust an ex.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, no opening bell this morning because of America's birthday. But there really hasn't been a lot of celebrating in Wall Street over the last six months.
Christine Romans is joining me from New York.
So, Christine, a lot of people squeezed by the bear market -- the first part of this year. How bad has it been?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been pretty tough. And now, the bear is stalking stock investors this summer for sure. What does it mean a bear? Well, when the stock market is down 20 percent from its recent high, that's officially a bear market. And you got that within the sights of the major averages. The Dow Jones Industrial average is down 8 percent this year. It's down 14 percent from the high reached in April. The S&P 500, Kyra, that's the broader gauge your stock investments in your 401(k) are probably closely nearing (ph) the S&P 500, that's down 16 percent, and the Nasdaq down 17 percent.
The problem here, of course, the crisis in Europe, that's the United States biggest customer. The companies don't really want to add jobs, and they're concerned about their biggest customer. The job market is still a problem, the housing market is still a problem, Kyra, now that we have the first-time home buyer tax credit yet behind us. Many people are waiting to see if the housing market has legs of its own without government help -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, what do you think? Are we facing a double-digit recession?
ROMANS: Boy, I sure hope not. And most people that I talked to say the risk is maybe 20 percent. For some people, the risk is too high, but they say the debate here now is between a double dip, the slight chance of a double dip, and then this idea that is just going to be a very slow recovery. And the things that you and I in the middle class feel, our house and our jobs, those are the things that are going to be the last to recover. So, it's going to feel pretty icky, even if it is a recovery -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking them. Bad news now, and hopefully more good. Thanks, Christine.
In covering more revealing look at the so-called assets and liabilities of an alleged Russian spy, successful espionage usually hinges on one's ability to stay out of sight. Obviously, in a Chapman exposure didn't help her. Hard to keep your cover when your most intimate details are on the cover and front page news. And according to the "New York Post", more proof that a Russian agent shouldn't trust an ex-spouse. Time for our "AM Extra" with John Roberts. Even a former CIA officer that you talked to was a bit shocked by the revealing photos -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was. I talked with Peter Brooke who's spent a number of years in the CIA. He was also an assistant deputy security of defense said when you're a spy, you want to keep a low profile. You don't want to have pictures out there that can be splashed on the front page of the newspaper. You also don't want to be going out there, making all of these high-profile context and go at the bars and things like that. He's quite surprised that this whole case surrounding at a Chapman, but let that be a lesson to your kids. Never let anyone take a photograph of you that you wouldn't want to have on the front page of the newspaper because there's always a chance that it might just end up there.
You know, we talked, Kyra, about the Russian spy ring. Eleven people who are either in custody on bail or being sought by the FBI and international authorities. And many people, Oleg Kalugin, among them, a former KGB chief here in the United States saying, wow, he didn't know that there were that many Russian spies operating. But Peter Brooks said he believes that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and he says even more worrisome for the United States than Russian spying is what the Chinese are doing. Here's what he told me this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BROOKES, FORMER CIA OFFICER: The FBI will tell you that the Chinese are the greatest counterintelligence threat we face today, and they will tell you how aggressive they really are. And it's not just human intelligence like we'd like (ph) spy ring but also cyber intelligence where they're able to pick your pocket or get into your computer and take everything you have in there without you even knowing it. So, this is really a challenge. The Chinese are doing things a little bit differently than the Russians do, but the fact of the matter is there are probably more Chinese agents here in the United States than there are Russians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And as he said, most of it is based on cyber security. Remember, Kyra, back in February, the government staged that cyber shockwave simulation, which many analysts said exposed the gaping holes in American security when it comes to our computer networks. PHILLIPS: Hey, it's interesting, we don't just worry about the people on the ground, but the threat via the internet is growing, and in some cases, even more intense.
ROBERTS: Sure. And it's just a small example. Remember last year, when we were at the U.S. open, we went in and we saw, Kyra, their website operation. And you saw all of the attempts that penetrating that network that were coming from places like Russia and China. And that was the U.S. open. So, you can imagine what places like the defense department or the Department of Homeland Security, Lockheed Martin, all of the high-tech companies face each and every day. It's a huge threat out there. But just remember, kids, no nude photographs because you never know where they're going to show up.
PHILLIPS: Hey, and you know what, it really is no laughing matter. How many cases have we been covering about kids sexting and texting and taking photos, and we're entering a whole new invasion of privacy and lawsuits. It's just getting started. All right.
ROBERTS: Parents got to play a big role here.
PHILLIPS: That's true. Thanks, John.
A great view, but no cell phones or computers, not even a radio. That's the rather (INAUDIBLE) for two of the ten accused Russian spies who used to live in Seattle prior to last week's arrest. The former landlord for accused spies, Patricia Mills and Michael Zotollis, say that two told them they wanted a nice place to live to raise their family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EVANS, FORMER LANDLORD: You wouldn't suspect that if this alleged spy ringer. The people living here were spies and would go to this much trouble to have a nice place, a wonderful little boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Since the couple's arrest, Evans jokingly wonders if the apartment is bugged. He's says he's also thinking about changing the apartment's number from 502 to 007.
It's day 77 of the Gulf oil disaster and more bad news for people who make a living there. 1100 square miles now off limits for fishermen, and BP complaining about the cost of cleaning up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. Day 77 of this crazy Gulf oil crisis. Engineers waiting for results from the A-well test run. It's a massive skimmer capable of scooping up 21 million gallons of oil. Feds also declared another 1100 square miles in the Gulf off limits for fishing. The cost of this whole mess for BP? $3 billion-plus and counting.
Scorching heat and sweltering conditions in the northeast. JFK Airport in New York tied a record high for July 4th by hitting 100 degrees yesterday. The National Weather Service says it's expected to last until at least Thursday. Six people have died from that heat in Maryland.
Republican National Committee chair, Michael Steele's, comments about the war in Afghanistan continue making shockwaves. He recently said the war is of President Obama's choosing and may be unwinnable. He's catching a lot of flak from members of his own party now for those comments.
Getting the attention of midterm voters by way of women and guns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought to add new jobs at dairy farms. I protect jobs here in law enforcement.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): So, who do you think that's targeting? We'll go in between the cross hairs in a buck 15.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's only July but going by the deluge of campaign ads for the upcoming midterm elections, you might think we're much closer to November. CNN's Jim Acosta shows us some of the more outlandish ads gunning for the attention of voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Pamela Gorman. If the campaign season is starting to feel like open season, it's because the ads are already locked and loaded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rated 100 percent by the NRA, conservative Pamela Gorman is all right on target.
ACOSTA: Republican Pamela Gorman has racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube with this spot showing the Arizona congressional candidate and her son taking target practice in the desert. That's Gorman's sporting an old Tommy gun.
PAMELA GORMAN (R) ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We'd never imagine in a million years that it will go as far as it did.
ACOSTA: We caught up with Gorman between fund raisers in California. She thanks left leaning bloggers and talk show hosts for helping her ad go viral.
GORMAN: I think most of it is getting passed on by people that probably wouldn't agree with my conservative politics. And if they really stop and thought about how much they're helping me by doing so, they might stop.
ACOSTA: Are you packing heat right now?
GORMAN: I'm in California. I don't think anybody but criminals have guns in California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gentlemen revolted over a tea tax. A tea tax!
ACOSTA: Tea party back Republican, Rick Barber, calls for revolution with this ad featuring actors playing the founding fathers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gather your armies.
LARRY SABATO, UVA CENTER FOR POLITICS: I know Thomas Jefferson. He's a friend of mine, and the guy in his ad is no Thomas Jefferson.
ACOSTA: Laugh all you want, Barber may be on to something.
SABATO: It's the year of the tea party. It's actually a good visual way to connect with the kind of people who may very well vote in a Republican runoff. That's what he's in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know times have been tough for Virginia families.
ACOSTA: Even incumbents like Democrat Tom Perriello are trying to go viral with this ad showing that congressman getting more than just his hands dirty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fought that new jobs at dairy farms. I protect jobs here in law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warning, the following is a paid advertisement from J.D. Hayworth. Buyer, beware.
ACOSTA: In this ad, John McCain accuses his challenger, J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman who went on to host the late night infomercial of selling fringe ideas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or canyon safari (ph) to find Obama's lost birth certificate. It would be great that people can confirm who they say they are.
ACOSTA: Duck and cover. Election year is only just beginning.
GORMAN: I'm Pamela Gorman, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Jim Acosta joining us live from Washington. So, Jim, is this just the beginning? Are we going to see a lot more ads like this heading into the fall?
ACOSTA (on-camera): I think pack your flak jacket, Kyra. This is only the beginning. Yes, I mean, not only do you have contests all over the country where you have multiple Republican candidates. Down in Arizona where Pamela Gorman is running, she has about six or seven other Republicans that she's running against just for that nomination to run in the fall. So, you know, all these candidates are looking for ways to break out of the pack, and these viral ads are just one way to do it.
And not to mention the fact that the Supreme Court with its decision on campaign fund-raising, corporations and special interest groups, now can donate unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns, and that is just going to add more fuel to the fire for the political advertising folks, which, of course, you know, we don't mind here at CNN, and the candidates certainly don't mind, but I think you can bet the farm that we're going to see lots of ads like this heading into the fall.
PHILLIPS: We'll be talking more. Jim Acosta, thanks.
Facebook is sure to play a big role in this election, but one politician already lost the battle when it comes to friends. We're talking about President Obama. He just got beat by Lady Gaga, the 10 million friends on Facebook making her the only living person with that many friends. Maybe the president is a little more picky, but he may need to step it up. He's going to need more friends come election time.
California's money troubles are in the news all the time. Teachers laid off, people charged for emergency calls and so on. We talked about it for months. So, imagine how infuriating it must be to realize that precious taxpayer cash is set aside to pay for food and clothing that might have been fettered away at the strip club.
Now, flash back, July 5th, yes floral, today in 1996. Dolly the Sheep cloned. She died in 2003, by the way. And in 1954, some guy named Elvis had his first commercial recording session in Memphis. How did that turn out, anyone, you remember? And in 1946, 64 years ago today, an itsy bitsy tiny winy bit of history was. The Bikini made its debut. So, was yours yellow or polka dots, perhaps?
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PHILLIPS: Well, raising hell at the Seventh Veil. That's a famous sunset strip club in LA in case you didn't know. The Motley Crew can spend all the cash if they want there. They sang the song and apparently they did after all, the Seventh Veil got a shout-out from their huge hit from '80s.
But what about people who are getting state assistance, welfare; should they be blowing tax money on girls, girls, girls? Cash- strapped California gives needy folks ATM cards so they can use it for food, clothing and other basic needs, but an investigation found that ATMs in strip clubs including Seventh Veil and casinos across the states would honor those cards and dispense cash.
In fact, more than $12,000 was withdrawn from strip clubs around L.A. over a two-year period. It's outrageous. Now we're not sure if that money was spent on lap dances, stripper tips or martinis, but seriously, do you think someone just uses a strip club for its handy ATM?
Thankfully, California has gotten wind of this and changes are in the works to make sure that the well-intentioned money is available and handy in places where people could actually use it, like the grocery store.
I mean, why would you want that money available on a place where it's so tempting to blow it?
Next hour, I'm talking with the "L.A. Times" reporter who helped uncover this story -- pardon the pun. Jack Dolan is going to join me to talk about how something like this could even happen and what the state is going to do now to make sure it never happens again.
But first, we want to hear from you. Do you think it's an outrage to have that money available in a strip club or a casino? Or is it none of anyone's business? Is that money the recipient's to spend however she or he wants? Light up the blog; CNN.com/kyra.
While you are getting a pat down the security line at the airport, what's the TSA doing to catch the bad guys? Not enough according to a new documentary. We're going to give you a peak and talk to the filmmaker.
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PHILLIPS: Well, there is no doubt that Madonna is a bona fide superstar and she fully admits that she's spent a lot of time thinking about herself but these days she is committed to Malawi, a small African nation where two of her children were adopted.
She talks about it with our Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a woman who only needs one name.
(on camera): So you're Madonna.
MADONNA, SINGER: No I'm not.
CHO: Yes, you are.
(voice-over): Madonna has spent most of her life being provocative. But these days nothing is more important than her children. Two of them adopted from Malawi, a small African nation where more than a half million children are orphaned by AIDS.
(on camera): All of those orphans, I mean, a million --
MADONNA: I would love to take them all home, yes, if I could.
CHO (voice-over): Because she can't and because she's Madonna, she made a documentary about the country.
MADONNA: People always ask me why I chose Malawi and I tell them I didn't. It chose me.
CHO: She also founded the charity "Raising Malawi" to help the orphans she can't bring home. MADONNA: We found and met a lot of people who are -- who are sick and dying of HIV and with no medical help and -- and that it just felt like a death camp and it was astonishing. And so on the other hand, though, everybody that I met was also incredibly brave, so it's a very confusing paradox.
CHO: It's an interesting dichotomy. Because I know that Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa.
MADONNA: Yes.
CHO: As much suffering as there is there, there is a certain spirit to the people.
MADONNA: Yes, there is. Because on the one hand I went there and I thought, I have to help. I have to save these people. And then I thought, wait a minute, I think it's the other way around. I think they might be saving me.
CHO: Why do you say that?
MADONNA: Because they help you to get a sense of appreciation for life, for what you have. I mean --
CHO (voice-over): A new appreciation for life and a new sense of responsibility. Her latest project: breaking ground on a $15 million boarding school. The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls slated to open in 2012.
MADONNA: I never intended to go to Malawi and just sort of dump a bunch of like aid on people and flee the country. It's always been about partnership.
CHO: And she's putting her money where her mouth is. Every dollar donated to RaisingMalawi.org Madonna will match.
(on camera): So you just said, hey --
MADONNA: Match my dollar.
CHO: I'll keep going?
MADONNA: Match my hundred grand. Yes.
CHO: Make that $300,000 and counting.
MADONNA: My biggest asset as a human being is -- I would say, my resiliency and my survival skills. You know that, you know, I'm like a cockroach. You can't get rid of me.
CHO: But that's helpful in philanthropy.
MADONNA: It is. Yes, right.
CHO: Right?
MADONNA: I mean, you have to -- you have to be pretty tireless.
CHO (voice-over): Her tenacity was on display back in 2006 when many people both in Malawi and around the world accused her of using her celebrity and her money to buy an adoption. She won. David, now four, calls Madonna "mom".
MADONNA: It seems that a lot of the things I do end up being controversial even when I don't mean them to be.
CHO: Right. Does it hurt your feelings?
MADONNA: It hurt my feelings. I don't know if it hurts my feelings. I think sometimes I -- I'm pretty prepared, often, for some of the things I say and do. I go I know this is going to freak some people out but then other things I do like adopting a child who is about to die, I don't think I'm going to get a hard time for and I do.
CHO (voice-over): Yet Madonna says she'll take the criticism if it means one more child in Malawi gets to go to school, survive and thrive.
(on camera): Do you ever get overwhelmed by all of the work that needs to be done? Because it seems like you help one kid and there's like a thousand more standing in line.
MADONNA: Yes.
CHO: And it can be overwhelming.
MADONNA: Yes, it can. I mean, sometimes you just -- it stops you dead in your tracks and you think, oh my God. I can't do this. But then I see the success rate. I talk to the people in Malawi whose lives have been changed and that just helps me and keeps me going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right. Before we hit the top of the hour, we know that a lot of you are traveling today so, Reynolds Wolf, what do you think? Delays, weather issues?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think that we're going to have a few delays, a few backups in a few spots. Let me show you exactly what we're talking about especially when you get back to parts of the Central Plains.
In the Midwest we could see some delays out there on the runway. Places that could have backups would be Oklahoma City, perhaps over towards St. Louis, before the day is out. Maybe even Chicago and then out towards the Twin Cities; that's where you're going to have your biggest issues.
If you're going to be traveling by car one thing you need to keep in mind, keep that air conditioner on. Yes. I think you're going to need to especially along the Eastern Seaboard with high temperatures going up like, well, like this. Going up to 95 degrees expected in Boston, 97 in New York, 100 triple digits for you in Washington, D.C. back to Dallas and into Houston, 90s.
Even cooler though believe it or not in New Orleans, Tampa, and Miami than you'll find in parts of the northeast and the Midwest, 85 in Salt Lake City, your high in Seattle 71 degrees.
That's a quick look at your forecast. Again, incredibly hot and storms possible for portions of the Central Plains. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right Reynolds. Thanks.
