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Latest on BP's Integrity Tests; NAACP vs. Tea Party; Olympian on a Mission; Surviving Without Jobless Benefits; Apple's Big Announcement; Minding Your Meds; The Art of Tipping; The Help Desk; What's Hot
Aired July 16, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen.
They have capped the oil leak but is that the final solution? We will look at what's ahead under the Gulf. Technology is helping some of us stay healthier. We'll show you a couple of easy high-tech solutions and you are online, now. Josh Levs is following the top stories on the internet.
There is a new twist in saga of whether some viewers will lose the show "Mad Men."
Plus Alyssa Milano is challenging the Old Spice guy for some Gulf Coast relief.
For the first time in almost three months, no oil is flowing from that ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Day 88 of the disaster, and the pictures tell the story. The well is closed off and the cap is holding so far. Compare that to the gusher of oil we're used to seeing.
President Obama says it is an encouraging development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The new cap is good news. Either we will be able to use it to stop the flow, or we will be able to use it to capture almost all of the oil until the relief well is done. But we're not going to know for certain which approach makes sense until additional data is in. And all the American people should rest assured that all of these decisions will be based on the science and what's best for the people of the Gulf.
All right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get to our Ed Lavendera. He is in New Orleans.
And Ed, what is the latest on those well integrity tests? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.
Well, so far everything that we're hearing seems to suggest that things are going well. We heard from BP officials this morning, where they tell us that the initial hours, the first 14 hours or so of the integrity tests, showed no negative effects on the ocean floor, and that the pressure readings and gauges that they have been monitoring around the clock continue to go up steadily and smoothly. So that is the sign that they wanted to see.
Remember, we've been talking about the pressure readings. What they wanted is nothing below 6,000 pounds per square inch, and they really wanted to get up to about 8,000. The last number we had has is at about 6,700, and that number keeps climbing. So they like the way things are moving at this point.
But as you heard the president mention, so far no decisions made as to exactly what will happen after this integrity test is over. But the longer it goes, the better news that is. And it is clear that that gives the scientists and the experts many more options in their decision-making as they move forward.
They are doing a series of seismic testing, sonar testing, to kind of gauge the integrity of all that ground around where that blowout preventer is. They say they want to make sure that the pressure does not damage that. That is the critical part, so that they hope that in the coming days everything will continue as it is now and give them the ability to either use this containment cap to seal off the well for good, in which case we probably wouldn't see oil come back out, or use the riser pipes and the riser connections to bring the oil that would be released again back up to the surface in the vessels that would hold them. About 80,000 gallons -- or 80,000 barrels' worth of capacity would be waiting for it on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
So they like either one of those options. And that's why there is cautious optimism at this moment -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
Ed Lavendera for us in New Orleans.
Ed, good to see you. Thank you.
So, what's next for the oil? And will we see more oil leaking into the Gulf?
Josh Levs is here to traipse us through the next steps -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I'm going to pick up where Ed left off. You know, sometimes this gets really complicated to follow, and all these terms flying around, blowout preventer and capping stack. And now you have a whole bunch of ships that are out there.
What I want everyone to do is kind of get a better sense of the two possibilities, the best case scenario, worst case scenario from here on out. I'm going to use some images we have from BP, and also from CNN.com, like this, where we keep getting images of some of some of the damage and the oil that is sitting right there on the surface.
There is a 3-D image, I'll tell you first, that helps you understand what this capping stack has done, how it went on, and exactly where we stand right now. And this brings you up to basically today, once you get this on there, the idea being that for this block of time, you don't have oil coming out.
Now, let's go to this image from BP which shows you where things stand. And at first it's going to look pretty complicated, because once upon a time, there was one ship, two ships up there. Now there is a whole bunch of stuff going on.
So, ignore everything except what I point to. And I want you to see the basics.
This down here is the key. This is where all the work is going on, this is where you have the capping stack. This is where, for the moment, we have seen a pause in what's going on.
What they need to do and what they will be doing is they will be reopening the lines that lead up to two ships on the surface. You have the Q4000 and you have the Helix Producer. And there are a couple of reasons for that.
First of all, they do want to find out if they can contain some oil., But they also need to find out what's going on with pressure, if they can help relieve the pressure by opening up those lines that will lead up here to the surface.
Now, in the process of doing that, in the process of opening those lines, it is expected that we will see some oil in the Gulf while they go through that. Now, the best case scenario for that would be they go through that process, they see how things are working, and they find that what they have created here is strong enough to keep the oil inside without any pressure concerns, without any damage to what's set up there, until we get to these, which are the relief wells, which ultimately is what everyone has said all along is what the ultimate solution here should be.
And they are still saying due in August, creating this one well right now. They're going to create two new wells.
So, if all goes well, that's what we'll be seeing. The problem is, what if all does not go well? And that's when you have a lot of this more complicated stuff I was referring to come into the picture.
If all does not go well, if they don't find that they can just suddenly make it stop now, wait until those relief wells are up and operating, then what they're going to be doing -- hopefully there won't be any damage, anything bursts, anything breaks, but what they will be doing is getting four different ships up here, all at the same time. And part of their long-term containment effort is to use basically a whole bunch of different systems to get as much of that oil as possible up to the various ships at the same time, again, until the relief well arrives.
So, you have the best case scenario and the worst case scenario. And this is what we're waiting for.
Every test is significant. They're going to run another seismic run to see how that works out. Every day is so significant right now, Tony, because there is a chance of what they have created actually turning out to be something that can last. We just really don't know this soon.
HARRIS: OK, Josh. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: A nasty battle over race is growing, the NAACP versus the Tea Party. We will update you in just a moment.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A pro golfer makes the cut for our "Random Moment of the Day."
John Daly is scorching eyeballs at the British Open in Scotland. He is showing up at St. Andrews in purple paisley pants that could have been borrowed from a Ringling Brothers clown. Or as one reporter wrote, "Pants that look like cheap motel curtains."
Daly has his own line of apparel. I'm not making this up. He now calls himself "The Mild One."
The "Random Moment" has its doubts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, this is hard to believe here. Budget trouble is hitting hard at the police precincts in Oakland, California.
Have you been following this?
One of the nation's most crime-infested cities laid off -- 80 police officers this week. That's 10 percent of its force.
As a result, Oakland's police chief is telling citizens don't call us in certain crimes. Simply stated, officers will not response.
There are 44 of these non-response situations. Among them: burglary, grand theft, extortion, vandalism and loud music.
The chief says if any of these crimes happens to you, report it online. If your computer is stolen, report it in person.
Here's another one from Oakland Police. Don't call 911 unless the crime is in progress. And remember, the crime can't be on the list of non-response situations. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. JEFFREY THOMASON, OAKLAND POLICE: We go on the same motto where people say you can do more with less. We're not going to be able to do that anymore. We're going to be doing less with less.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone poisons my dog, you won't come out here?
THOMASON: Correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So, Oakland officials warn more police layoffs may be necessary at the end of the year if the budget picture doesn't brighten.
CNN has learned who West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin will choose to replace Senator Robert Byrd. It is Carte Goodwin. He is the former general counsel to Manchin.
The announcement will be made at a news conference this afternoon in Charleston.
This week we have seen the NAACP and the Tea Party volley charges of racism against one another. It is pretty ugly and a wakeup call for Americans who thought we had turned over a new page with race relations with the election of an African-American president.
Here's Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On "LARRY KING LIVE," a discussion turned bad about the NAACP's accusation the Tea Party movement tolerates racist elements.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? It wasn't truthful --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's not engage in defamation and libel. Let's not do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, I'm talking, so shut your mouth.
COSTELLO: It was a meltdown, just like an earlier discussion on Wolf Blitzer's show. CNN contributor Roland Martin on one side, Tea Party Express spokesperson Mark Williams on the other.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You should come out and say you're not welcome here and --
MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Racists have their own movement. It's called the NAACP.
MARTIN: Oh, that's nonsense. COSTELLO: Observers say it is the same racial stalemate America's been stuck in for years. Still, not so long ago Americans were kind of hopeful.
On the day before President Obama's inauguration, a "Washington Post" poll showed nearly six in 10 Americans said his presidency would advance cross-racial ties. But by January 2010, only about four in 10 believe that.
WILLIAM JELANI COBB, AUTHOR, "THE SUBSTANCE OF HOPE": Any time that we've seen racial progress in the United States, we've also seen racial backlash.
COSTELLO: William Jelani Cobb who wrote "The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress," says even President Obama doesn't believe his election will bring about racial harmony. He said so himself.
OBAMA: I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidate, particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
COSTELLO: The president said that in a major speech about race in America in March of 2008. The only other time he broached the race issue in a substantive way was in July of 2009 during the now- infamous, and some say disastrous, beer summit. Observers say don't expect the president to play peacemaker this time around.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The Tea Party is the number one enemy of the Obama administration, and the NAACP is very strong behind President Obama but you will not see our president trying to somehow use this moment that's going on right now in a healing way. He's going to ignore it and stay above the fray.
COSTELLO: It brings us back to our question -- have we taken a few steps back when it comes to race relations? Cobb says we have. And as for whether the election of America's first black president will have a lasting positive influence on race relations?
COBB: We won't really know what the real significance of this is for many years to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Carol Costello joining us live now from Washington.
Good to see you, Carol.
Let's talk about Mark Williams, the Tea Party leader who was in your piece. He is sparking a new controversy.
What's that all about?
COSTELLO: Oh, yes he is, Tony. He's written a satirical blog.
And on the blog, there is a fictional letter from the head of the NAACP to Abraham Lincoln. Now, I'm going to read you a part of this fictional letter on Mark Williams' blog.
He says, "Dear Mr. Lincoln, We coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences, along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us colored people and we demand that it stop."
Now, as you know, Tony, this is not likely to quell the debate. In fact, it's more likely to pour oil on the fire, right?
HARRIS: Yes, it is so much heat. I don't know where the light is in all of this. It doesn't sound like we're having a real forward- looking conversation about this.
COSTELLO: Adult conversation?
HARRIS: Adult conversation would be nice.
COSTELLO: Observers say the better thing to do, if the Tea Party and all of its members -- because, as you know, there are many factions of the Tea Party out there. And, of course, most of the Tea Party members are not racist.
But if it wants to get rid of this label that's been attached to it, the better thing for Mark Williams to do is say, you know what? I think the NAACP is wrong on this one, but if they want me to say it again, we abhor racism and all of its manifestations.
HARRIS: And they move on --
COSTELLO: Right. Instead, we have this satirical blog.
HARRIS: -- move on to a real conversation about race.
All right, Carol. Good to see you. Thank you. Have a good weekend.
COSTELLO: Sure. You too.
HARRIS: A list with hundreds of names, and everyone on it is alleged to be in this country illegally. Utah's governor thinks a state employee leaked the information.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: The Utah governor's office is investigating a list of alleged illegal immigrants distributed to media and government offices. The list of more than 1,300 names included addresses, Social Security numbers and pregnancy due dates. Officials are investigating whether state government data was used to compile the list.
A Latino activist talked about the concerns on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: What exactly was on this list? We talked about it a little bit, but this goes into some pretty detailed stuff.
TONY YAPIAS, PROYECTO LATINO DE UTAH: Yes. Good morning.
Well, obviously, the list that has become famous now contains a lot of personal information. And one of the things that we've been finding out over the last few days is that not everyone entirely -- that the people that are on the list are undocumented immigrants. Many of them have spouses or relatives that are U.S. citizens. And so this has really created an outrage in our community.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. As I understand it, more than 1,000 phone calls from Hispanics to you guys in Utah really in a panic over this. There was some anecdotal reports of people calling the homes, children answering, and somebody on the other end of the line saying, "I know you're illegal and we're going to come after you."
What has been the response from the Latino community?
YAPIAS: Well, they've been pretty scared. I mean, they have been terrorized by this act.
And we took calls until about 11:00 last night, and we will continue to take calls today. And the community is very afraid. Many of them were asking us, "Should I leave? Should I move?"
You know, there was one lady who was about eight months pregnant. She said, "I'm having contractions now."
And so, this has been a pretty traumatizing event for our community here in Utah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The state investigation is focusing on the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The governor's spokeswoman tells affiliate KSTU any employee responsible for the leak should be fired.
Tough life lessons lead a gold medal moment for Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CULLEN JONES, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: When I was 5 years old I almost drowned. And my mom got me into lessons instantly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Now Jones is a man on a mission to help kids. Details in our "What Matters" segment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, never minorities never have the opportunity to learn to swim, an issue that's become a top priority for Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones. It is what we're talking about in our "What Matters" segment today.
CNN's Stephanie Elam caught up with Cullen earlier this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In one of the most exciting moments from the Beijing Olympics, Cullen Jones solidified his place in sports history. He was part of the gold- winning 4-by-100 freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale.
JONES: I've gotten around the Olympian part, but the gold medal part still is something that I'm still trying to live -- and get into my mind.
ELAM: Jones's story, however, almost didn't get its golden ending.
JONES: When I was 5 years old, I almost drowned and my mom got me into lessons instantly.
ELAM: His mother's reaction changed the course of his life.
JONES: I started loving the water, and she told me, you know, If you're going to start this, you have to finish it until the end. And I'm still going!
ELAM: Jones is now also the face of the USA Swimming Foundation's Make a Splash initiative highlighting drowning prevention.
JONES: There is a solution for drowning and it's swim lessons. Nearly 150,000 kids have been part of this, so it's been great. This isn't the last year.
ELAM: The statistics are alarming.
JONES: It's staggering that African-Americans and Hispanics are almost three times more likely to drown than Caucasian or any other race in America. Fifty-six percent of Hispanic kids don't know how to swim.
ELAM: At this Make a Splash event in Los Angeles, Jones talked about the importance of learning to swim. He made sure his message hit home.
JONES: In LA alone, 85 kids drown every year. And 90 percent of those kids -- 90 percent of them -- are actually being watched.
ELAM: After the assembly, he took to the pool with a few of the students. I asked the kids what it was like swimming with an Olympian. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good teacher and he actually listened to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My parents love it because most of them don't know how to swim and they're happy I got the chance to learn how.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty good.
ELAM: Jones, who lost his dad when he was 16, says students' stories often resonate with him.
JONES: There is one of the kids that I just taught, his dad passed away three years ago. And he had never been in the water again. Today was probably the first time he actually swam (INAUDIBLE) again. I can definitely sympathize with that.
ELAM: Fellow Olympic medalists turned out to support Jones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he puts a real face on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man is such a wonderful spokesman for the sport and for the initiative.
ELAM: As for the Olympics, Jones wants more hardware.
JONES: I expected to swim the 50 freestyle in 2008 and I didn't get that opportunity, so I'm really hungry to try to go back in 2012.
ELAM: Chances are he'll have a new wave of fans cheering him on.
Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And to read more stories that matter to all of us, just pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands right now.
Millions of Americans searching for jobs, and every week more and more are losing their unemployment benefits. We will have one woman's story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Want to get you to CNNMoney.com this hour. There are, boy, plenty of really good stories to pay attention to when you get there.
We're going to talk about the stock sell-off in just a second, but take a look at this. Tesla, right?
Tesla held an IPO -- what was it last week? Tesla is building batteries, electric technology for cars. Right?
Tesla to build electric Toyota RAV4. That's a big story. We're following that company and its progress, closely raising, what, $216 million to $226 million in its IPO? I think that was about a week ago.
And five problems plaguing the iPhone 4. The big news conference coming up next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. You'll be joined by Don Lemon.
Let's get you to the Big Board now. We are down 201 points, so a really steep sell-off going on right now. The Nasdaq is down 54 as well.
Wall Street reform is just one signature away from being law, but some Republicans are already calling for the bill to be repealed.
Patricia Wu joining us from New York.
And Patricia, there was a lot of criticism of the legislation that is a signature away from law, but you've done a little fact- checking for us. Haven't you?
PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I certainly do, Tony.
You know, House Minority Leader John Boehner wasn't mincing words. Here's what he says about the bill: "It's going to make credit harder for the American people to get. It institutionalizes 'too big to fail' and gives far too much authority to federal bureaucrats to bail out virtually any company in America."
So, let's take those one at a time.
Will it make loans harder to get? Well, the answer is yes. And that's the point.
The bill requires banks to have more cash on hand, meaningless to lend.
Why? Well, remember how we got into this mess in the first place? Loans were way too easy and too cheap. People were getting mortgages for expensive homes without proving that they could afford it. The Consumer Federation of America is praising the bill saying, quote, "unfettered credit helped to bring our economy down." But the credit unions are not so happy. They say it's going to hurt their ability to provide low-cost financial services to 92 million Americans.
Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Patricia, is too big to fail still a part of the legislation?
WU: Well, that's what the critics say, and it's really tough to say exactly what will happen. The bill establishes a formal process that lets regulators unwind big banks that are failing, and their critics say that essentially creates a permanent bailout authority.
So who's right? Well, we asked the Brookings Institution for its take and it tells us that realistically we can't completely solve too big to fail, but it does say that the legislation does as much as we can reasonably do. Tony.
HARRIS: You mentioned the regulators. One of the questions out there is whether or not the legislation gives regulators too much power.
WU: Well, again, the answer is not that clear. The ability to unwind financial institutions is definitely a brand-new power, but how it's going to be used remains to be seen. This is what is true. There's definitely a lot in this bill that's left up to the bureaucrats to decide and that makes some people a little nervous. But the Brookings analyst we talked to says he's glad that Congress didn't mandate every last detail because regulators have more technical expertise.
So I guess the bottom line is, that it's going to take a while to see how all of this plays out. In the meantime, we'll probably hear lots of rhetoric from both sides, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, right. Yes, to be sure. All right, Patricia, appreciate it. Thank you. Have a good weekend.
WU: Sure.
HARRIS: The Senate may restore unemployment benefits next week for millions of Americans. Diana Davis with affiliate WSB talks to a woman who stopped getting checks after the Senate voted down an extension.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONICA NASH, UNEMPLOYED: The uncertainty about what's going to happen with your family and everything that you're losing. You just don't know.
DIANA DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Monica Nash was laid off a year ago. Last week, her weekly $277 unemployment check was cut off. At 45, she says the few jobs that are out there are going to younger people.
NASH: Wal-Mart, different grocery stores, daycares, you name it. Things that's not even in my field anymore. I, just like I said, I just want to work.
MICHAEL THURMOND, GEORGIA LABOR COMMISSIONER: This is a serious crisis with, quite frankly, with no end in sight.
DAVIS: Although fewer Georgians are standing in the unemployment line, Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond told me the small decline in the jobless rate is misleading. He says thousands of Georgians have given up, and now many of the long-term unemployed, like Monica Nash, no longer get benefits since the U.S. Senate voted down an extension.
THURMOND: I can't tell you how many grown men have come to me in tears because they can't support themselves or their families.
DAVIS: Since the federal cut-off, 7,000 Georgians a week now lose their unemployment benefits.
DAVIS (on camera): How bad is it? I went to buy this help-wanted sign as a prop for this story. I went to three different stores before I could find one. They told me they just doesn't carry them anymore. There's so few jobs, there just isn't much demand.
DAVIS (voice-over): When I was holding the sign, two different people asked me if I could give them work.
THURMOND: Five jobs seekers for everyone one job. Diana, that means four people are looking for something that does not exist.
DAVIS: Monica Nash says she's still looking but starting to lose hope.
In Cobb County, Diana Davis, Channel 2 Action News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We're going to talk about high-tech help for the memory impaired. We will show you what this neat little -- yes, this gadget here can do. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. We mentioned earlier in the hour that Apple is coming out with a big announcement this afternoon. Those of you will a new iPhone have plenty to say. Josh Levs is following that.
What are you hearing, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're coming in like crazy.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
LEVS: I mean you said to me, like let's get more of these on the air and people are all over this. You know, a lot of interesting quotes here from our viewers. Let's go straight to my FaceBook.
"Apple's strength is their reputation for greatness. They should guard their reputation like they guard their prototypes and fix this."
Take a look at another one here from Nicholas Good. "It's what Apple users get for letting the company dictate what they can and can't do with something they purchase."
A lot of people feel that the Apple rules are too restrictive. Once you get an iPhone, to many rules.
Look at this, "they should recall all iPhone 4s and fix what they messed up." That's from Kaitlynn Dupuis.
I think we got another one here on FaceBook. If any future iPhone 4 problem, we should just send the iPhone 4 back and when they make another iPhone they should just give us one free." Here's some tweets. "They should apologize and get back to the business of fixing the glitches, then restoring public opinion. Recall plus money for a bumper refund." That means if you want to buy a bumper or you already bought a bumper, rather, in order to deal with the problem where the antenna messes up if you hold it a certain way, they're saying you should get your money back if you bought a bumper.
Let's see, I think we've got time for two more tweets.
"Steve Jobs," look at this, "Steve Jobs will say that we don't need to make so many calls or a good data connection. Steve knows best. Sure."
A lot of people are slamming Steve Jobs. He did, at one point, as soon as these questions and concerns have been arising, he did say, well, just don't hold the phone that way basically. So a lot of people dissatisfied with that.
One more tweet, Tony. "A review of the numbers and then they are going to do nothing. Just apologize."
We got a screen here so you can weigh in on the conversations at FaceBook and Twitter. I'm at JoshLevsCNN. So join in, let us know what you think. And after the announcement, which is about, what, 25 minutes, let us know what you think then. We'll be back with those.
HARRIS: All right, Josh.
A check of your top stories right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So late details now on the Gulf oil disaster, day 88. The gusher remains capped right now, some 21 hours into BP's pressure test on its runaway oil well. If BP determines the well is intact below the sea floor, it could keep the cap in place and begin siphoning oil to the tankers at the surface.
Other top stories we're following for you.
A fire over night in an Iraq hotel kills 29 people. At least one of the dead is an American. It happened in Iraqi Kurdistan. Authorities blame an electrical short circuit.
And West Virginia's governor says he will name a replacement for the late Senator Robert Byrd today. CNN has learned the job will go to his former aide, Carte Goodwin. He will serve until an election can be hell.
So, some of us are getting a bit older and not so quick to remember things like, for instance, when to take our medication. Some cutting-edge help is here for you. Let's check in once again with our tech guru, Katie Linendoll. She's back.
So, Katie, pretty cool stuff here. Show us, if you would, some of those high-tech gadgets that will help us keep track of our meds. KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN TECH EXPERT: Yes, and here's the deal, Tony. For some people, not taking your medication can be a matter of life or death. So we're going to showcase some technologies here. And I want you to understand, these didn't come out yesterday, but a lot of people still don't know about them. And the other things is, now we're starting to see the statistics roll in that prove that high-tech devices that allow you to remember to take your pills are actually a huge correlation in remembering. It's about 99 percent compliance rate, which is remarkable.
So the first thing that we're going to show you is Glow Caps (ph). And basically this is an Internet-based pill cap. It actually connects here via 2G receiver. It's going to light up. It's also going to play a noise every time that you need to take a pill. Now, say two hours go by, you still haven't taken that pill, it will actually call you on the phone. In addition to that, you will also get weekly and monthly reports.
Now, as I mentioned before, the Center for Connected Health and Partners in Boston have found a compliance rate as high as 99 percent among patients with hypertension that are using Glow Caps, as opposed to 71 percent. So statistics rolling in proving that these Internet based pill caps are actually pretty remarkable in terms of new technology.
HARRIS: Very good. You know, this next one is probably my favorite. It's the big box that lights up. I'm sure it has some more technical sounding name than that. But you can show it to us. And, yes, yes, yes, and how does it work?
LINENDOLL: OK. Yes, this is like the flex capacitor of pill boxes, as you can see here.
HARRIS: Very good.
LINENDOLL: It's pretty big in size. This is good for senior citizens because, as you can see, it actually maps out the entire month. What you do is you put all of your pills inside here. Same kind of technology as the previous one that we showed you. It's going to light up each little capsule, the time you're supposed to take that pill. If you forget, you can get text alerts, you can get e-mail alerts or it will even call you on the phone. But also often for caregivers as well, weekly and monthly reports to make sure that you are staying healthy.
And, also, with those Glow Caps, you're probably wondering, you know, where do I get them? It's interesting to know that pharmacies are actually going to start giving these out for free. That is the goal here. Because not only does it keep people healthier, but if they keep taking their pills, it's kind of a win, win for everybody. Everyone make money and everyone stays healthy. So it's kind of full circle.
HARRIS: How about it. Two great segments today. Great to see you, Katie. You have a great weekend, lady.
LINENDOLL: Hey, you as well. You too. Thank you.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, we'll see you next week.
Attention all foodies. Eatocracy will answer your every need like the art of tipping.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Eatocracy. Are you familiar with that word? Well, it's something you're going to hear a lot about on Fridays, every Friday right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. What is Eatocracy? Well, it is all about food. CNN wanted to create a site where everyone had a place at the table and so Eatocrayc.cnn.com was born. Eatocracy's managing editor, Kat Kinsman, is here.
Let's see Kat.
KAT KINSMAN, MANAGING EDITOR, CNN'S EATOCRACY: Hi.
HARRIS: Wow, good to see you, lady.
KINSMAN: I am delighted to see you.
HARRIS: All right. Will you walk me through this and tell me what Eatocracy is all about, please.
KINSMAN: Sure.
HARRIS: Take your time.
KINSMAN: And you wouldn't have heard the word Eatocracy before, because we made it up.
HARRIS: No. Did you? OK, good. Good.
KINSMAN: So what we're looking at is a food democracy. Everybody eats.
HARRIS: Yes.
KINSMAN: Every day. There are plenty of sites for hard core foodies (ph), for restaurant fetishes, some things -- you ate something today, right? What did you have?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, absolutely.
KINSMAN: All right. You have something to say about it. Why you chose what to eat what you did. You have a story about it. And this is a place that people can have passionate discussions about the things they care about in food.
Say, we are lucky enough to have this lovely piece today from somebody in our D.C. bureau.
HARRIS: Look at this. KINSMAN: Where she followed a farmer to -- from the farm, to the White House farmers market, to the restaurant, to really follow the journey of that food. Now we've got some other really fun things.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, walk us through.
KINSMAN: Like we've got this fabulous feature, peanut butter and jelly. Who does not love peanut butter and jelly?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.
KINSMAN: So we have -- one of the wonderful staffers from "AC 360" loves peanut butter and jelly, so she started a discussion on the site about that. Over 500 comments.
HARRIS: Are you kidding?
KINSMAN: People just checking in to talk about PB&J and (INAUDIBLE) and just having a great time, talking about food that everybody can really relate to.
HARRIS: Yes.
KINSMAN: So we have a lot of fun with features like that.
HARRIS: OK. And you've got more?
KINSMAN: Oh, we sure do. So we take polls on a regular basis. We're trying to get the pulse of what -- how people are feeling about food, what they're thinking about issues that have to do with it. So we took a poll to see how -- if any people have ever left a restaurant meal without tipping.
HARRIS: OK. So, Kat, here's the thing. Now we were running a piece on this last year and the idea is, in Europe, tipping is included in the meal, correct?
KINSMAN: It sure is.
HARRIS: OK. So would that idea fly here? Because you see it at some restaurants and not at others.
KINSMAN: I think everybody should adopt that system, the European system of tipping.
HARRIS: Really?
KINSMAN: It's horrible. You're sitting there at the end of a meal and you've had a really great time. All of a sudden you have to do math.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
KINSMAN: And not everybody has the same notions of what a tip should be. People have all different perspectives. We took this poll and we had over 1,000 people responded if they had ever left without tipping for service. And over half of people - almost half of people have. They said the service was that bad. I think what a lot of people don't realize is that a lot of restaurant workers aren't actually making minimum wage.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
KINSMAN: They're making, most of them, $2.13 an hour. So if people - if the price of food was actually reflected, if the price of service was reflected in the food, restaurant prices would skyrocket. I think a lot of people don't know that and tip a little bit less. And I think the servers had a thing to say on that.
HARRIS: Oh, they did?
KINSMAN: Oh, yes.
HARRIS: And do we have some tape on it?
KINSMAN: I believe we do.
HARRIS: Oh, let's see it. Let's see it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What should somebody tip you from your perspective?
JAMES DESANTIS, SERVER: Well, it definitely - it's depending on the service, whether or not it's good or not. So probably around 18 percent - 18 percent to 20 percent is the normal.
MEARA LEVEZOW, SERVER: Well, I'm from the Midwest and it's - I mean 15 percent there isn't unheard of, but in New York, it's 18 percent to 20 percent if you have good service.
SPENCER GATES, SERVER: You get the 15 percent every now and then. But, I mean, you get what you give. So if you give good service, you should get a good tip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Kat, that's terrific. Let's -- if it's included in the service charge, should we tip on top of that?
KINSMAN: No, not in the European system. You should just be good to go. Chefs like Thomas Keller (ph) are doing that. So just completely -- no anxiety.
HARRIS: It's done.
KINSMAN: It's a (INAUDIBLE) right there.
HARRIS: Very quickly, walk us back to the site. Give everyone the address again so we can get folks there and trafficking the site.
KINSMAN: You can go to eatocacy.com or eatocracy.cnn.com. Or you go in, we have a spot on the living section every day. We have a dedicated spot. So every day you can come there and it's fresh.
HARRIS: Will you come back and talk to us more about this on Fridays.
KINSMAN: If you'll have me.
HARRIS: Come on, that's done.
Good to see you. Thank you.
KINSMAN: Thanks for having me.
HARRIS: Yes, this is going to be a big hit for us.
Closing your department store credit cards and what to do about some bothersome calls promising to lower your interest rate. Poppy Harlow and "The Help Desk" team have answers to your financial questions.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: All right, time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Donna Rosato, a senior writer with "Money," Ryan Mack, president of Optimum Capital Management.
Thanks for being here, guys. Appreciate it.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Thank you.
DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR WRITER, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.
HARLOW: All right, first question, Donna, for you. Krista wrote in, "I have four credit cards open, two are high-end clothing store credit cards that I have almost paid off. I never use them and I want to cancel once they're paid off but don't want to hurt my credit score. How big of a hit will my score take if I cancel those?"
ROSATO: This is a really good question and, first of all, great for Krista for paying down those store credit cards. They tend to have a very high interest rate. And it is true that a store credit card actually carries less weight than a bank credit card in your credit score.
Now, how much of an effect will it actually have on your score. It really depends on the mix of credit that she has and she has a lot of other credit cards with larger lines of limit, shutting down those two cards shouldn't make too much of a difference. But I think the best advice is, pay them down and keep them open. It doesn't hurt her to keep them open, but it could actually have an affect later on if she does shut them down.
HARLOW: Sure.
ROSATO: So, pay them down, don't use them too much. Leave them in your wallet when you go out shopping and you won't have to worry about your credit score at all.
HARLOW: Good point.
All right, Ryan, you question comes from Kathy. Kathy wrote in, "we'd like to pay less interest on our credit cards. We get calls daily from companies saying they can lower our interest rates. We're wondering if these are legit. How do these companies work and how do they know to call us?"
MACK: Well, they should put the information on, first of all, donotcall.gov, in order to stop all of them - because they get - there's information getting sold like hotcakes out there because this is very prominent information. Now, every time that someone looks at your score to see if you're worthy of getting -- to get solicited, that does not impact your FICO score.
However, whenever you fill out information - fill out for a new credit card, that does impact your FICO score. Ten percent of your FICO score is the additional credit increase that even - so they don't have to worry about getting that. But these companies work essentially by getting money. Now you said they'd get you a lower score. Well, they're getting paid for that. So make sure you do the math before you go to these credit consolidation services to see exactly how much you're paying and how much you're going to have to pay them in order to get it done. It might be cheaper to do it yourself.
HARLOW: That's a good point, look into that.
Thanks, guys, appreciate it.
Well, as you know, "The Help Desk," all about getting you answers. Send us an e-mail to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com or you can log on to cnn.com/helpdesk to see more of our financial solutions. Of course, you can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It is on newsstands now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We are having way to much fun on a Friday. But it's Friday. It's get-away day, right?
LEVS: Yes, you know, it's - what a crazy day, essentially (ph).
HARRIS: Yes, and so you've got some great items in "What's Hot" right now. Everybody's online right now. We are -- you OK?
LEVS: Yes, my mike cord was just -
HARRIS: All right. So what do you have for us here?
LEVS: Well, I'm going to start off showing you something that I know you'll be excited about. The Shakira video has now got 100 million hits.
HARRIS: Really?
LEVS: One hundred million hits. "Waka Waka, This Time for Africa." There she is. And I know for Tony, a Friday isn't a Friday without a little Shakira.
HARRIS: Oh, yes.
LEVS: It's taking off. You know, it's pretty impressive what's going on with her, right?
HARRIS: She hasn't called me back, has she?
LEVS: I don't know. I don't answer your phone anymore.
HARRIS: All right. OK. All right.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: She left a message. OK. All right. I'll get back to her.
LEVS: But, OK, this is a little bit - but also, this is really cool. OK. You know I show a lot of viral (ph) videos on TV.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: Everyone keeps sending me the Old Spice Guy, though somehow we don't all know about him.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: But what's interesting now is that he started interacting directly with individuals. OK. So what happened is Alyssa Milano, the famous actress, who we love.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
LEVS: Started tweeting about him. Kind of got (ph) a little flirtatious. So he put together this and then she turned it into a Gulf oil challenge. Take a look, first, at what he did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alyssa Milano tweets, are you flirting with me? Me? No. And I'm definitely not bringing you these fragrantly fragrant flowers and a handwritten note from my heart to your doorstep via my bare feet running over the California mountains either. Or am I?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: That dude is hilarious. He's so funny. OK, so now -
HARRIS: Maybe he is.
LEVS: OK, so now she puts together a video and I pulled together a couple of clips from it. Her response to him.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: You've got to see this. Take a look at this. HARRIS: OK.
Yes, I'm ready.
LEVS: I know, I feel like -- the family von Trap. Hello, you got it there. No, no, no, the next one, which is the Alyssa Milano video.
HARRIS: Are you directing from right here?
LEVS: I know. He's saying we just ran it, but you do have it in there.
HARRIS: Danny (ph), do we have it?
LEVS: There we go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALYSSA MILANO, ACTRESS: I always promised my mother, even as a young girl, that I would marry a mostly naked spokesperson for a deodorant commercial who would send me love letters from his bathroom and filmed (INAUDIBLE). You must make a $100,000 donation to the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. Are you strong enough to be my man?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So, check it out. She takes this fun, this flirtatious fun they're having, and she turns it into an actual challenge to give $100,000 to help with the Gulf - well, you look disturbed?
HARRIS: You got some money, man? You got anything in your pockets right now? Oh, my goodness.
LEVS: I think it only applies to him, but, trust me, there's a lot of people out there are thinking like you.
HARRIS: Oh, wow! That's the best "What's Hot" ever.
LEVS: I'm going to post the links to everything you just saw up on my FaceBook page, JoshLevsCNN. I'll tweet them out, too, as soon as we get off the air.
HARRIS: Got to go. Bye-bye.
Are you kidding me?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We are going to take this thing to the next level. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, in for Ali Velshi.
Doctor.
