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Learning to Speak Like An American; Police Beating on Tape
Aired September 16, 2010 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Your job, your money, your concerns. This morning, we're covering several stories that affect your bottom line. At the White House President Obama is focusing on the economy. He's unveiling new initiatives to increase the amount of goods that the U.S. sells outside our borders. More exports could mean more jobs for Americans.
And speaking of jobs, we learned this morning that fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week; 450,000 Americans filed claims for the first time last week, the second straight weekly drop and the lowest level in two months.
Here's perspective on the big picture. Economists say the recovery won't really take hold until claims slip below 400,000.
A child porn sting led detectives right into the heart of America's military power. That's right. Child porn allegedly downloaded at the Pentagon. The Defense Department had stopped looking into the case but now the investigation is back on.
CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr here with the latest. So Barbara, why are they looking into it once again?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, according to Pentagon officials, what had happened was this all came up several years ago bit it's sort of have been shuffled aside a little bit, if you will.
Some of the investigations had been stopped, officials say, simply because they lack the resources to keep looking into all of this. This was Project Flicker, part of a child pornography investigation begun by federal authorities many years ago. So they stopped looking into it.
Now, they are going to reopen, look at about 264 cases one more time to make sure that there's been appropriate disposition of them. If they have to reopen a full-fledged criminal investigation, officials say, they will do that. If they find evidence, and it is turned over to higher-ups in the Pentagon for disciplinary action against employees, they will do that, they say. They want to look at all of this, make sure that everything was done appropriately and come to a final disposition on some of these cases that, indeed, do involve very serious allegations that child pornography was downloaded by Pentagon employees onto their computers. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Barbara, do we know how high up these employees were, what type of employees, what parts of the Pentagon? Do we have any of those specifics? I mean, because we're talking about people with classified access.
STARR: You know, we don't at this point in terms of the ones they're going back and looking into. That remains to be seen. You know, we don't even know if some of these people still are employed here or if they have moved on and what their, you know, their jeopardy might be in this situation. The Pentagon, as you point out, is a very wide-ranging organization. These people might have worked anywhere. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow it. Barbara Starr, thanks so much.
And expressions of sadness and failure from the Pope over the church's sex scandal and perhaps the strongest admission yet. The Pope actually says that the Catholic Church was not vigilant enough or fast enough in dealing with the priests who raped and abused children.
Catholic News Service reports that the Pope made those remarks aboard the papal plane on route to the U.K.. He arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland today and greeted by Prince Phillip and then he sat down for a meeting with Queen Elizabeth before traveling to Glasgow for an open air mass.
And Craigslist says it's pulling its adult services ads for good following criticism that the web site had become the Wal-Mart for the online sex trade. An official for the online classified told the House hearing that there are no plans to resume that section, which was pulled from the U.S. site earlier this month. This comes on the heels of sharp criticism from a groups of states attorneys general who said that ads for prostitution and child sex trafficking were rampant on that site. Erotic service ads are still up and running on the company's foreign sites.
Dallas Police officers are facing criminal charges after a beating was caught on tape. And a warning, it's pretty graphic. It started with a high speed chase and ended like this. We're going to talk you through what exactly happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Iran's president is speaking out about those three American hikers in an interview with NBC news. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that Sarah Shourd was released on compassionate grounds but Iran's judiciary will decide on the fate of the two Americans still in jail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): I think we should let the judge and the courts decide about the case, and I think this is the greatest help to all of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One suggestion from the State Department's spokesman on Twitter. He tweeted that could you take the two men on your airplane to New York when you go to the United Nations. What's your response to that?
AHMADINEJAD (through translator): That was a good proposal if they had not violated our border, they would have been at their homes for more than a year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Sarah Shourd is now in Oman waiting to return to the U.S..
Dallas police are seeking criminal charges against three of their own officers because of a beating caught on the police dash cam. And we want to warn you, the videos are graphic. It started as a high- speed chase. You actually see the officers in hot pursuit of a motorcyclist speeding through city street. The police car bumper actually taps the motorcycle.
Police Chief David Brown says seconds later the video showed one officer hitting the suspect with a baton, and another uses his fist and knee. That's just the part that we can see. A second dash cam was reportedly turned away during the incident. The FBI is also conducting a civil rights investigation. The chase suspect is black, and CNN is trying to reach the officers involved for their side of the story. So far those attempts have been unsuccessful.
California's governor wants the White House to declare San Bruno a disaster after that horrific gas explosion and fire a week ago. Three people are still missing, four people were killed and more than three dozen homes totally destroyed. The feds are taking a look at the ruptured pipe to see what went wrong.
But a consumer watch dog group has an idea of what went wrong. It claims that the utility, PG&E had planned to replace a section of that old 1948 gas pipe about three years ago and raised rates on customers to pay for it, but that the new pipe didn't happen. The watch dog's lawyer told CNN's Dan Simon that that money was spent elsewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE FLORIO, THE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: The money is spent on what they call higher priority work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was that?
FLORIO: Well, you can't track the dollars one by one, but we do know that they spent $62 million more on management incentive bonuses than they had forecasted in 2009.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And PG&E is looking for another rate hike to replace that pipe in 2013. Here's the utility's response to all these.
"In this particular case, PG&E did identify this line section as being a high priority project in its 2008 gas transmission rate case filing. Subsequent to that filing, PG&E performed an External Corrosion Direct Assessment in 2009, and based on the updated assessment and the assurance it provided us, we rescheduled the project accordingly. PG&E spent more on its gas transmission capital program than authorized for the years 2008-2009."
There's a horrendous new eyesore for some gulf residents who already witnessed only waters from the BP disaster, oily waters from the BP disaster. A massive fish kill, hundreds of thousands of dead fish have been seen around Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. We are talking about all species of fish. By the way, no one knows right now if the fish kill is connected to the oil disaster or perhaps the dispersants used to clean it up.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries believed the massive kill is related to low levels of oxygen.
Rob Marciano is in the hurricane headquarters keeping track of triple tropical threat in the Atlantic, right, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think we're going to have not one, not two, but three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin by the end of today. Let's talk about the first one that is still a tropical storm but gathering strength pretty rapidly here. Winds right now at 65 miles an hour. This is tropical storm Karl, and its centers right about there, down into the Bay of Campeche and heading to the west.
So we don't think it's going to effect Texas all that much at all, really it should just get into northern Mexico, but as it continues to swirl in these waters in the next day, even day and a half, it will easily become a hurricane and you know, it may become a category 2 storm. But this is the forecast from the National Hurricane Center.
There you go. Here is the track, notice, well south of Brownsville, hurricane strength of at least category 1, potentially 2, making landfall tomorrow night but they will feeling the effects easily by tomorrow afternoon. All right. We got Julia that's out there in the Atlantic, not going to have to worry about her. That's a category 2 storm, and, then Igor, which is still a category 4 storm, with winds of 145 miles an hour.
You know, it made that turn to the north just a little bit, so we are on this track, but Bermuda, right now, is just right in the cross hairs of this thing. So during the day on Sunday, there's a high probably, decent probability that this makes a direct hit or at least has a direct impact on Bermuda. So if you have travel plans in that general direction, just be aware of that. You may want to put on the brakes if you are planning on being on the island on Sunday.
It's a small island, so it could easily miss but right now, things are lining up to hit it relatively hard. This storm pretty severe weather across parts of Kansas yesterday. And right now, it's kind of -- this is a pretty decent storm for this time of year, a little low, getting some thunderstorms through the back side of it, through Chicago. Some of these storms could be severe. Nonetheless, as this energy rolls to the East Coast, it will produce potentially severe weather across the Ohio River Valley and then later on tonight and tomorrow, some windy conditions across the northeast, as it kind of strengthen a little bit and then a cool front up to the north there. We are getting to the change of seasons, aren't we, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: It's beautiful, too, seeing the change in the tree colors and all that.
MARCIANO: Yes, we will start to feel that chillier air. I think the first cool punch of the season will be down across the U.S. in the next few days.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well, ditch your dialect and land a job. That's the theory behind a new crop of accent reduction classes but a number of people are saying it's controversial to restrain the tongues for the sake of getting hired. We're going to talk about it at the bottom of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories.
31 House Democrats defying their leadership over a plan to let tax cuts for the wealthy expire at the end of the year. President Obama and party leaders only want to extend middle-class cuts.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger requesting a federal disaster declaration to help cover costs in San Bruno. Four people were killed in last week's gas pipe explosion and fire.
And the Iowa egg farm at the center of a massive recall has had previous problems. Congressional investigators say hundreds of cases of Salmonella contamination were found in a two-year period.
Well, an old soldier is having a tough time on the home front. Maybe you can help him out after his 30-second pitch. Jesse Maggitt is a retired Army major. He has a wife, kids, a resume to die for and is almost through with his Ph.D., but he hasn't been able to find steady work in two years.
Can we hear him? Are we connected to him?
All right. We're going to talk to Jesse in just a second. Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, an old soldier having a pretty tough time on the home front. Maybe you can help him out once he gives us this 30- second pitch. Jesse Maggitt, finally connected to him now, he's a retired Army major. He's got a wife, three kids, a fantastic resume and is almost through with his Ph.D. dissertation but he hasn't been able to find steady work in two years.
Jesse, you and wife, Natalie, I understand are getting closer to your 20th anniversary. We'd love to help you celebrate with a new job.
MAJ. JESSE MAGGITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Thank you very much. That would be very helpful.
PHILLIPS: Well, tell me, you know, let's talk about your military career. Are you finding that you and other vets are having a hard time finding work because you dedicated so much time to the military?
MAGGITT: Yes, that is true. As we transition from the United States Armed Forces, we find ourselves trying to integrate back into society and as society looks upon us, they are looking for ways to find out how our skills that we spent so much time acquiring in the military is actually relatable to the job force today.
PHILLIPS: So what did do you in the military, and what do you think some of the strengths are that you carried out in the military that would parlay into a civilian job?
MAGGITT: OK. Good question. I served both in the Navy -- in the U.S. Navy and in the U.S. Army. My career spanned from being a hospital corps man and serving with the Marines, all the way to being an officer serving on board naval ships and finally as an officer with the United States Army. I specialized primarily in logistics operations and human resource training of personnel.
PHILLIPS: Got it. And I understand you are doing a lot of volunteer work as you're trying to land a job. And that you and your family are making a lot of cutbacks. Tell me about that.
MAGGITT: Yes, one of the community organizations that I participate with is called the National Association of Human Resource Managers, and also I participate with the National Societies of Black Women with (INAUDIBLE) chapter. And what that involves is we talk about community issues affecting youth, children, adults, homeless, and how to provide relief.
So I participate in a lot of speaking engagements which centered around bringing attention to those issues and how we can gather up a team of folks who have the right skill to get things moving in your communities today.
PHILLIPS: Well, you got a great heart and you are doing everything you can to find something. We want to help you out. Are you ready for your 30-second pitch, Jesse?
MAGGITT: Yes, I am.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's start the clock. Take it away. MAGGITT: America, I'm Jesse Maggitt. I'm an agile and adaptive leader. My specialty includes human resource management, logistics operations, operations research and financial management. I have an exceptional ability to train personnel and make organizations perform efficiently.
As your ambassador, I have strong communication skills and an expertise in building partnerships. I am trustworthy, reliable and knowledgeable. People find me to be a very engaging. I like to talk to people globally, solve problems and help organizations improve. I invite to you contact me at jmaggitt@yahoo.com.
PHILLIPS: Say it again, jmaggitt@yahoo.com.
MAGGITT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Jesse, we wish you the best of luck.
MAGGITT: Jmaggitt@yahoo.com.
PHILLIPS: There you go. You let us know what happens. All right, Jesse?
MAGGITT: Thank you very much for your time. This is a wonderful opportunity.
PHILLIPS: Well, we thank you for writing in. We appreciate you and what you have done for our country. Thanks, Jesse.
MAGGITT: If you are out of work and you want to get your name and skills out there, just let us know. Send your resume and a letter to 30secondpitch@cnn.com. Just like what Jesse did.
Also, if you want to hire 30-second pitchers like Jesse, go to our blog cnn.com/kyra. All their info and e-mails will be right there.
Well, these students already know English but now they want to learn how to speak like an American. Enrollment is booming at an accent reduction class. And everyone is happy about it. We're going to explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Just got this in, a pretty grim picture of life in America. Poverty is at its highest level in decades, and also the number of uninsured also on the rise. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with updates on both. This is all just coming in to us. Where do you want to start, you want to start with uninsured or these unbelievable high numbers in poverty? You want to start there?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we'll start with the poverty numbers. PHILLIPS: OK.
COHEN: We'll start with the poverty numbers. It's the highest in decades. The number of Americans living in poverty was about 13.2 percent in 2008 and the numbers that we just heard moments ago is that it's now 14.3 percent. So not a gigantic increase but, of course, you never want to see an increase in that number.
Poverty is defined as a family of four earning about $22,000 a year or less.
PHILLIPS: This is just one more sign of what's happening due to our bad economy. I mean, we just interviewed another gentleman for our 30-second pitch, the president out trying to create new jobs. I mean, Americans shouldn't have -- I mean, these numbers shouldn't come up. We're America. We help so many people internationally. We got to take care of our own people.
COHEN: Well, if you think that number is bad, this number, in many ways, is even worse because the jump is even bigger. In 2008, there were about 46.3 Americans without insurance and now there are 50.7 million Americans living without insurance. And we know that not having insurance is one of the major causes of people going into bankruptcy, and it's obviously a terrible situation not to have insurance.
So that number, you know, health care reform, once it starts kicking in, which it will later this month, hopefully that will make a dent in that number and maybe a year from now you and I will be talking and hopefully those numbers will go down. But for the moment that's not a good number.
PHILLIPS: Yes. And the poverty number mean more has to be done to create jobs and get people back to work and taking care of our families here at home.
All right. Elizabeth, we will keep following both. Thanks so much.
Well, ditch your dialect and land a job. That's the theory actually behind a new crop of accent reduction classes, but a lot of people are saying it's controversial to actually refrain your tongue for just the sake of getting hired. We're talking about it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's not exactly English 101, but enrollment is booming in classes that teach students how to speak like an American. A lot of students say minimizing their accent will maximize their job opportunities. (INAUDIBLE) actually sat in as one group of students refrains their tongues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She got a job, guys. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An applause in Professor Carol (INAUDIBLE) classroom in Edison State College in Ft. Myers. The celebration? One of her student lands a job after three years of looking. Her downfall before today she says, her accent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw that my problem was my accent that was keeping me out of any position.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not the only one that feels that way. 11 other students joining the continued education course. You don't get any credit for taking the class, but from what students say, it is a necessity in this economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of people looking for jobs, and it's not only the way you present your resume or your experience but also the way that you express yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you are in the workforce already. Why take the class now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To continue my education and to be able for people to understand me better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The class titled Accent Reduction appearing to be an upward trend throughout the nation as working professionals say it is an investment that they are willing to make.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's where we want to go. We need more of this. The stretching of the vowels.
I don't want them to lose the heritage that they bring with them, the roots from their native country. What you do want to do is make them marketable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So in this economy, people need to sharpen skills and do what they can to get the edge in their job.
reporter: Students who have already taken outside classes to better their speech only wish it would have been offered sooner but feel it's an excellent opportunity for any job seeker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why I took it because I wanted to succeed, go forward and get a better job. That's necessary. You want people to understand you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the American Speak Language Hearing Association says its members spend nearly six percent of their time helping people minimize their accent. That's up from 3.7 percent in 2007. Whether it's a visit to the speech therapist or enrollment in class, accent reduction is booming business.
Adrian Kerr is the director of continuing education at Edison State College. He's joining us live from Naples, Florida. So, Mr. Kerr, let me ask you, you know, are these students worried about being judged because of their accent? Are they concerned about prejudice?
ADRIAN KERR, DIR. OF CONTINUING EDUCATION, EDISON STATE COLLEGE: We have many different classes at the college, different languages, and we were approached by students and members of the community to put on a class for them which we have done, which allows them to minimize their accent to help them communicate better and perhaps get a job.
PHILLIPS: Are they concerned though about stereotyping, that they'll be judged, looked at differently because of their accent?
KERR: No. I think their main objective is simply to be able to communicate more clearly with the people they're meeting, whether it be family members or working in the retail business or banks, and it's been a very successful course so far.
PHILLIPS: How do you respond to people who say, they should be proud of their heritage, proud of their accent, that this is sort of a -- it's not fair to encourage them to change their culture in a way, in the way they speak?
KERR: It's a good point you raise, and we would support that comment. There's no intent to change the culture of these individuals. Quite the opposite.
Their objective, and they came to us to put on the class for them, was simply to help them communicate better, to make sure that they were understood with their intonation, the flow of their words, the vowel and emphasis, and so on, and as you heard from the clips in the session, they have been very successful in doing that, and it's helped them get jobs.
PHILLIPS: How do you do it? Sort of take me through the techniques that you use and how you teach these students.
KERR: When we knew there was a need in the community for this type of class, we approached an expert in this field. She's a speech language pathologist, and she specializes in accent reduction.
First of all, we had to set up a very small class. There's only 12 students, so it's almost individual. Everybody is interviewed personally and their particular needs are identified. And then we work with each person and in a group format over the five-week period to help them pick out the areas where they need improvement. Often, it's vowels, it's intonation, it's the way the language goes up and down so they feel more comfortable dealing with someone who speaks English as their first language.
PHILLIPS: Now, you've got a lot of response from students. What about employers? Has anyone reached out to you to say, this is really interesting. At first, I might have judged these students or thought they couldn't have done the job, but we're looking at things differently now because of this?
KERR: There are two parts to the answer there. One is we actually set the class up to help the students, and they range between 25 and 45 years of age, simply to improve upon their pronunciation and accent. But since that's happened and it's become of interest in the media, from newspapers, we had approaches from the community to extend the class, to do a more advanced level.
And the next class, which starts in a week or two's time, is already full. It wasn't the intention necessarily for people to use this as a way to get a job, but it worked out that way.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. And what type of jobs? Is it in where they are communicating via phone? Is it a lot of face-to-face? Can you give an example of jobs they are getting because of this class?
KERR: It's usually where the person is face to face with a customer, for instance. A good example is in a bank or in a retail environment where somebody wants to make sure they communicate the selling pitch to the individual customer, and the customer feels comfortable they are being understood.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Mr. Adrian Kerr, director of continuing education, Edison State College in southwest Florida. The accent reduction course is what it's called, and it seems to be doing well. It's definitely an interesting discussion. Thanks for your time today.
KERR: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
A family goes to Arlington National Cemetery to honor their son in a different and very painful way. They had to see for themselves that he was actually buried in the right place. You can thank bureaucratic bungling for putting them through it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Pope Benedict is expressing sorrow over the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal. The Pope says it's sad that the church wasn't vigilant or fast enough to respond to the problem. The pope's comments come during a four-day visit to Britain.
Female Catholic priests. The Vatican is vehemently opposed to the idea, calling it "a crime similar to pedophilia." But despite the Church's stand, more women are pursuing the calling. CNN's Carol Costello reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most Catholics, this is curious - women in priestly robes.
GLORIA CARPENETO, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: Mary is a part of that Trinity.
COSTELLO: Preaching from the altar.
ANDREA JOHNSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: This is the Lamb of God. COSTELLO: Consecrating the bread and wine. Something considered a serious crime by the Catholic Church.
Gloria Carpeneto considers herself a Catholic priest, ordained thanks to an unnamed male bishop who secretly ordained the first female priests and bishops in 2002.
COSTELLO (on camera): Have you ever met the secret bishop?
CARPENETO: Secret bishop.
COSTELLO: The secret bishop?
CARPENETO: No, I have not met the secret bishop.
COSTELLO: Because if anyone ever found out who this bishop was, he would be - he would be done.
CARPENETO: It would be a tremendous personal risk for this bishop to come out.
COSTELLO (voice-over): According to Canon lawyers, though, the secret bishop has automatically been excommunicated or banned from participating in the church because he knowingly violated church law. And certainly, the Vatican made that clear when it restated recently that ordaining women as priest was a great offense, on the same level as pedophilia.
COSTELLO (on camera): When you saw that, what went through your mind?
CARPENETO: I was horrified. I was horrified. I thought for myself I didn't like that notion of suddenly I'm in the - the swimming pool with people who have been accused of - of sexual abuse, crimes against children.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Father Joseph Tobin appointed by the Vatican to oversee religious work worldwide says though the Vatican quickly said the comparison was inadvertent and wrong, the ordination of women is still a serious crime.
REV. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, "CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS": The Catholic Church has traditionally not arrived to the point that it believes that it is the will of God. Now, I - I think I have to accept that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first women bishops to be ordained in the United States of America.
COSTELLO: But even the threat of excommunication isn't stopping Catholic women from what they consider the priesthood. Carpeneto says there are now five bishops, 47 priests, 10 deacons and 16 candidates in formation in the United States, all of them illegitimate in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
JOHNSON: What many people say to us is why don't you go somewhere else where you're accepted.
COSTELLO (on camera): I was just going to ask you that. I mean, why stick with Catholicism when Catholicism obviously isn't supportive of you?
JOHNSON: It's Catholicism that needs us.
May our God be with you.
COSTELLO (voice-over): And so they hold mass where they can, in their own homes or in non-Catholic churches, ministering to small, mostly female congregations who say the traditional Catholic Church is not meeting their needs.
COSTELLO (on camera): So if you had a meeting with the pope, if you could see Pope Benedict, what would you say to him?
MADELEINE ROTHE, RC WOMEN PRIESTS PARISHIONER: I'm not sure I'd like to have a meeting with this pope just because I don't - I don't think he's very open and that's a huge road block.
COSTELLO (voice-over): It's the kind of spiritual road block that Carpeneto was trying to remove and the Catholic Church is resisting.
COSTELLO (on camera): Is it up to God?
CARPENETO: Yes, I think it is up to God, and I think God has said to me you can be ordained.
COSTELLO: So, how important is this movement? I asked our Vatican analyst, John Allen, and this is what he said. He said look at the poll numbers. Large numbers of Catholics support the ordination of women priests. But at the same time, most Catholics are not willing to follow these women before the Church gives its blessing.
Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: I just had the latest news from The Best Political Team on television. Paul Steinhauser, stand by to tell us what's crossing the Political Ticker.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Let's check in with our CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser in Washington. See what's crossing the political desk right now. What you got, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I got brand-new stuff on the ticker. Let's talk about this, Kyra. Christine O'Donnell, one of the new rock stars on the right. Hey, Dave, check this - bring this over here, Dave Jenkins. Christine O'Donnell, she is going to address a major conservative conference on Friday. I just spoke to one of the organizers. What I'm talking about is the Values Voters Summit. It's held every year here in Washington D.C. Major conservative activitists. She will be speaking Friday afternoon, so she'll be in the national spotlight.
And tonight, Kyra, she's going to be facing off and sharing the same stage with her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons, the Newcastle (ph) executive. So, this race we have been covering a lot this week. And we're going to be covering it right up until November 2.
Let's talk about Barack Obama, the president, on the campaign trail as well today. He's going to Connecticut. He will be the main attraction at a fundraiser for the Democrats' Senate nominee there. That's one of the seats the Democrats want to keep in party hands. Chris Dodd is not running for re-election this year.
The president is also going to be the main attraction for a fundraiser while he's up there for the Democratic National Committee. A source tells me maybe a million dollars will be brought in at that dinner.
And finally, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. This morning, endorsing the winners of the primaries in New Hampshire on Tuesday, and he's also contributing from his political action committee about $40,000 to those candidates.
Now, the former Massachusetts governor has a house in New Hampshire and has been very, very helpful to the New Hampshire Republican party. He says this is all about helping fellow Republicans win this November. But remember, Mitt Romney ran for the presidency in 2008. He may run again. So, let's be honest, maybe some of this has to do with 2012, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I think so. Paul, thanks.
We'll have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder. For all the latest political news, just go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says there is no hate between Muslims and Americans. He actually talked about the controversy surrounding a former plan by a Florida pastor to burn Korans. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We believe that there is a minority in the United States, and they are Zionist. They have no religion. They believe in no religion.
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: There are Jewish leaders working with Muslim leaders to build the cultural center in New York City. So there is no evidence of any elite, what you call Zionist groups, in America. In fact, Fidel Castro - Fidel Castro, your old friend Fidel Castro, criticized you for your comments about Israel.
AHMADINEJAD: I think you should allow me to talk, to speak.
MITCHELL: Excuse me.
AHMADINEJAD: I think you should finish first, and then you let me explain.
MITCHELL: Please.
AHMADINEJAD: What you see in Islamic countries is what people are against, that ugly behavior. They are not against the people of the United States, not against Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Iranian president also told NBC that the trial against two remaining jailed American hikers will go on. The third hiker, Sarah Shourd, is waiting in Oman to return to America now.
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PHILLIPS: Sad to say, but we've got to take you back to Arlington National Cemetery for yet another story that should never have happened. All summer long, we told you about dumped tombstones, mismarked graves, and old maps that misled people looking for their fallen loved ones. A Senate panel has claimed as many as 6,600 graves at Arlington might be marked wrong, not marked at all, or mislabeled on the maps.
Now, an Ohio couple heard about all this and wondered if their son was buried in the right place, in the grave that they would be visiting the rest of their days. So they went to Arlington yesterday and actually had the Army exhume their son's body. Marine Private Heath Warner was killed in Iraq four years ago. He was only 19 years old. Turns out, he was in the right place. His dad confirmed it when he saw his tatoo on his son's remains. So, they have their peace of mind.
But what a price to pay, having too revisit that pain and have to see their son's remains. It's an image you have to think will live with them the rest of their lives. It's tough enough for troops who are surviving war with Army suicide rates on the rise, PTSD, drug abuse, and trouble with VA hospitals. The very least the military can do is give our fallen heroes the respect and peace that they will their families deserve.
We're going to keep up the pressure on Arlington to make good on their promise to make things right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Time for "Home and Away," our daily tribute to our men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan or Iraq.
And today, we are lifting up Tech Sergeant Ryan Andrew Balmer. He was killed in a roadside bomb attack June 5th, 2007. He was the first combat casualty from his hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana since the Vietnam War. Joining us on the phone from Great Falls, Montana is Ryan's wife, Danielle Balmer. Danielle, thanks for calling in.
DANIELLE BALMER, RYAN BALMER'S WIFE: Thank you very much for having me.
PHILLIPS: You describe your marriage to your husband as picture perfect. Why?
BALMER: We were the very best of friends. We never really did anything without each other, and he was my go-to person for everything good, bad, in between and vice versa.
PHILLIPS: And here's what is amazing. You were actually approaching your tenth-year anniversary. He was killed just three months before your ten-year anniversary, and you said up to that point you still got butterflies when he walked into the room.
What was it about him? What did he do that would give you that feeling so many years later?
BALMER: He just made me feel like I was the most special woman on the face of the earth, and I loved seeing his face. I loved the feeling that I felt when I was around him. I loved looking at his eyes and seeing him look at me, and that never changed in 11 years.
PHILLIPS: Well, he sure had a great sense of humor. He even told you at one point, "Danielle, I'm going to be a pain in your ass until I'm 80."
(LAUGHTER)
BALMER: He did. He laughed. We were -- we had our arms wrapped around each other and we were kissing each other good night before we got into bed, and I asked him how I was supposed to kiss him good-bye the next day at the airport knowing it may be our last time. And he kind of pushed me back and looked at me and said, "No, that's not going to happen." He said, "I'm going to be a pain in your ass until I'm 80. I'm coming home. Don't worry."
PHILLIPS: I love it. Well, he also sent some letters to family members, and this was pretty heartwrenching when I heard about this. But you probably love the fact that you have got these letters that you can read. Tell me about why he did this.
BALMER: Well, you know, it was more than anything just his personality, and, to be honor, that was one of my very first thoughts after I got the news is I wondered if I did have somewhere hiding, if he would have set a letter aside, saying good-bye, I love you. This is what I want to you do or this is maybe what you should do.
And when I got his computer back with the rest of his belongings, sure enough, there was the good-bye letters to the kids and I and his mom and myself. And I love that. It's given me so much comfort in so many ways. That was just him. I loved that he did that, and I wasn't surprised at all that he did that. PHILLIPS: I'm seeing a picture of three kids. I knew about Anthony and Gabby. Do you have three children?
BALMER: My husband had a son from his previous marriage, and that's Joshua.
PHILLIPS: So, Joshua, Anthony and Gabby. How are they remembering their dad?
BALMER: You know, we still talk about him every single day, all day. And more than anything, I just want him to still be a part of our daily lives, and I want the kids to remember him and not remember the sad part. I want them to remember the good parts and what an awesome father he was.
PHILLIPS: He had a pretty awesome turnout for his funeral, I understand. Was that humbling? You said people lined the streets for blocks.
BALMER: They did, and it was amazing. And I think that was something that really more than anything touched our family and touched my son. He thought it was amazing that there were so many people out there for his dad that didn't even know him. The entire experience has been humbling. People have been very, very good to us.
PHILLIPS: Well, you're a strong woman, Danielle. Thank you so much for calling in and lifting up your husband, Ryan.
BALMER: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
And if you've got a loved one you'd like us to honor, here's all you have to do. Go to CNN.com/homeandaway and type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field. Pull up the profile and send your thoughts and pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.
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PHILLIPS: Tease up that hair, put on your skinny tie, and dig your walkman out of the basement because we're going to have an '80s rock flashback tomorrow. Chrissie Hynde, one of the coolest and baddest rock chicks ever, will be here in Studio 7 with her new album. Let me tell you, 2010, Chrissie sounds just as amazing as 1980 Chrissie. You're going to hear some of her new stuff.
Plus, we'll sprinkle in some Pretenders stuff because we have the CDs and we'll use any excuse to play them. Chrissie will tell us about a project she's into offstage. Can't wait. Can't wait for tomorrow. Well, maybe you remember a story a couple of weeks ago about a pastor threatening to burn a Koran. Turns out that could have been handled with a skateboarder. Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two words you won't expect to find in the same sentence "dude" and "Koran" words uttered by this 23-year-old skateboarder as he snatched the Koran away from under a radical Christian threatening to burn it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sneak up behind him and took his Koran. He sticks up about burning the Koran. I was like, dude, you have no Koran and ran off.
MOOS: Ran off to his skateboard and took off. Now, his line has taken off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like dude you have no Koran.
MOOS: Now Jacob Isom (ph) is being duded to death. Dude, you are a hero. You rule, dude. God bless you, dirty hippie.
VOICE OF JACOB ISOM, SNATCHED KORAN: They agree like way to go what you did, and they make fun of my hair and stuff that cracks me up.
MOOS: Jacob works in a pizza shop and aspires to host a cooking show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jake make cheesecake. Let's go.
MOOS: Jacob went to the "burn a Koran" event in Amarillo, Texas, to protest it. Demonstrators chanted at the guy threatening to burn the Muslim holy book. Protesters put their hands on the grill to prevent the burning, and Jacob pretended he was one of the burners standing behind their leader.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: what if someone burned the bible.
DAVID GRISHAM, ORGANIZED ANTI-KORAN EVENT: Let them do it. It's a free country.
MOOS: Seconds later, Jacob snatched the Koran which had already been doused with lighter fluid. Watch again behind the organizer's back.
GRISHAM: (INAUDIBLE) because I'm not afraid of that.
MOOS: Jacob gave the book to a Muslim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some brave young gentleman on a skateboard.
MOOS: Jacob describes himself as agnostic. Some described him as a thief to which Jacob says -- ISOM: Somebody is going to like purchase all the materials to make a bomb., and I'm going to steal it from them before they put their bomb together and blow it up. Does that make me a thief?
MOOS (on-camera): As for the skateboarder on which Jacob made his getaway, guess where that ended up --
MOOS (voice-over): Where else, eBay. We're not even sure Jacob uttered the exact words now plastered on a T-shirt. It sounds more like "it's called the stolen Koran."
MOOS (on-camera): Does this whole, "dude, you have no Koran" line remind you of anything?
MOOS (voice-over): Remember this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't tase (ph) me, bro.
MOOS: Jacob wasn't tased (ph), but he did seem a little dazed.
ISOM: What radio station is this?
MOOS: No, it's not the radio, it's CNN.
ISOM: Oh, I'm talking to CNN right now?
MOOS: Yes, Jacob.
ISOM: Wow.
MOOS: The Koran didn't ignite, but Jacob sure is burning up the Internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, you have no Koran.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, you have no Koran.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So I just found out another fabulous fact about our Tony Harris.
HARRIS: Yes. What's that?
PHILLIPS: So you're excited about Chrissie Hynde being in the studio.
HARRIS: Jeez.
PHILLIPS: And I said you actually listened to The Pretenders in the '80s? And you said --
HARRIS: Yes. I was into The Pretenders. And come on. I used to play it. I was a disc jockey.
And then there was -- how about Bounce Roll Skates (ph)? You're taking me back to the '80s, when I was a disc jockey at a roller skating rink with this stuff. Are you kidding me? Love this.
PHILLIPS: I'd just love to see you with your afro on roller skates, doing the bump, roll, skate. Give it to us.
HARRIS: That's what I'm talking about.
PHILLIPS: To The Pretenders.
HARRIS: To The Pretenders, exactly.
PHILLIPS: Well, you bring your skates in tomorrow when she sings. We'll take it.
HARRIS: That is a deal.
All right. Have a great day, Kyra. Can't wait for tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: You too.
