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White House Releases Obama's Original Birth Certificate; Trump: I Think I Would Beat Obama; Trump Meets New Hampshire Voters; Royal Wedding Rehearsal; Six U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; High Risk of Tornadoes in South; All Abuzz About What Kate Middleton's New Title Will Be; Six American Airmen Killed At Afghan Base; Shuffling Posts in Washington as Gates Prepares to Retire; Giffords on Plane En Route to Watch Endeavour's Final Liftoff; Obama vs. Birther Conspiracy Theorists
Aired April 27, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Breaking news, we're following this all morning. President Obama's birth certificate. For years now it's been the issue that just would not go away.
Well, with Donald Trump now banging the birther drum, it seems the White House has finally had enough. It just released copies of President Obama's original long form Hawaii birth certificate with the president himself coming out to explain this sudden decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now, I know that there's going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest.
But I'm speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do.
I've got better stuff to do. We've got big problems to solve, and I'm confident we can solve them, but we're going to have to focus on them, not on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So if you want to see the president's official birth certificate, the whole thing is on cnn.com. Let's head to the White House now and check in with Dan Lothian.
Dan, the president came out to speak to the press with a smile on his face. As he left he seemed kind of angry.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He did come out. You know what's interesting right off the top, he said that, you know, it's unusual, he didn't even expect that he would be coming out to talk about this kind of issue.
It's not the thing that he wants to come out and talk about. And he sort of tied to the press saying that if he had been coming out to talk about something like national security that all the networks wouldn't have broken into programming to take his remarks live.
But none the less, this is an issue that has been out there and as the president said, had continued to grow despite the fact that they had produced a short form, which is the legal document in the state of Hawaii. There were still doubters out there.
The president believing that this was a major distraction from some of the big issues at hand, whether it be gas prices, whether it's the wars overseas, whether it's the budget battle.
In fact, the president specifically talked about what the turning point was, that in the middle, in the heat of the budget battle the story that was getting all of the attention was whether or not he was born here in the United States.
And so he said essentially that the American people were being side tracked by sideshows and carnival barkers and so he wanted to put this out there to hopefully put this to rest.
But as the president himself pointed out, that those who truly doubt that he was born here in the United States, despite the fact that they had produced this long form document.
They will probably still have doubts. They'll find a reason to believe that the president wasn't born here.
COSTELLO: I want to put the birth certificate up on screen and read it. I know you have it with you still because there are a sizable number of Republicans who believe the president might not have been born in the United States.
So let's show this birth certificate. Let's read some of what it says and put this to rest once and for all. So the top part, Dan, this is baby Barack Obama. So read to me what you see there on the form.
LOTHIAN: That's right. So it has Barack Hussein Obama II. The second line, it says for the sex, it says male. It also goes on to say that the date of his birth was August 4th, 1961 and that that birth happened at 7:24 p.m.
It says that his parents are residents of Honolulu, Hawaii. It says that he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. It gives the name of the hospital. It gives the address as well and then it lists the names of his mother and his father.
And there's nothing on here -- you know, we had the discussion in the last hour, there was some thought out there that perhaps the reason the Obama administration did not want to release this full document is because it would have something embarrassing on there.
Perhaps it would say that he's Muslim. It has nothing on here, says nothing about religion and does not mention anything about President Obama being Muslim.
COSTELLO: Something else I just want to make clear to people as they look at this document online, the top part refers to the baby Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, gives the name of the hospital. The second names his father who has the same name, right?
LOTHIAN: That's right.
COSTELLO: That would be Barack Hussein Obama Sr. and he was, indeed, born in Kenya.
LOTHIAN: He was born in Kenya that's right and then of course, his mother - exactly. The father born in Kenya, the mother born in Wichita, Kansas. This is information that the White House has talked about in the past. They said those were the facts and anyone who believed otherwise, did not understand or know the facts.
The issue was that this long form document, which is no longer seen as the official document in the state of Hawaii, was not made public. It was in a vault somewhere. Only a handful of people had seen it until today when we received it. Just to back up a little bit, the shock for the press, you know, we throw this word bombshell around quite a bit. This really was a bombshell.
We sat down in what was to be an off-camera gaggle with the White House press secretary. He marched out with the communications director and other White House officials and started handing out these documents, letters along with this from the president's lawyer, to the state of Hawaii, requesting copies of the long form birth certificates.
I'll tell you, for a moment it was stunning. I was looking at this birth certificate think that perhaps this was something else. I mean, the White House sort of blindsided everyone. Yes, this debate has really been intensifying.
Yes, as the White House points out, it has gone from the internet to the mainstream, but I don't think anyone would expect that they would walk out and essentially throw this into our laps and then the president walk out a short time later to talk about it.
COSTELLO: Dan, you sent me an e-mail and I thought you were joking. But you certainly were not. Dan Lothian --
LOTHIAN: That's right. It was a cryptic e-mail. I was doing it with one hand. I was trying to fully understand what I was looking at. But yes, it was stunning. Now the president after dropping this bombshell takes off.
You just heard the noise behind me, probably Marine One taking off over to a joint base Andrews where the president will be hopping on Air Force One and heading to Chicago where he'll sit down with long time friend and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
And then he heads to New York after that for a fund-raiser and returning to the White House later tonight. COSTELLO: All right. Dan Lothian, you're going to be a busy man all day. Thank you so much.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
COSTELLO: Oddly enough, Donald Trump is in Port Smith, New Hampshire. He's going to tour Port Smith. He's going to maybe take a walk down main street to talk about his possibly run for president.
Before he did that, he stood on the tarmac after he landed in his personal helicopter and he talked about President Obama releasing his birth certificate. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: Today, I'm very proud of myself because I've accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. I was just informed while on the helicopter that our president has finally released a birth certificate. I want to look at it, but I hope it's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So what do you think about the issue? What does the public at large think about the issue? About five weeks ago we asked Americans if they thought Barack Obama was born in the United States?
A whopping 72 percent said the answer was either definitely or probably. One in four said no. The skepticism runs largely among party lines. Among those who believe the president was definitely not born in the United States, 43 percent are Republicans, 23 percent call themselves independents, 11 percent of the doubters were Democrats.
CNN's Gary Tuchman has been investigating the birther issue. In fact, he just filed two very interesting complete reports on "AC 360." He joins us again on the phone.
That Donald Trump is coming out or actually that President Obama is coming out and releasing his official birth certificate, does it surprise you?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It is surprising based upon what we had heard from the White House. That they were afraid that no matter what President Obama did that the doubters would still doubt, but I think President Obama made a case.
They're bringing it out there and he realizes there would still be people who doubt, but he wants to move on. So there's no reason for him not to because as we reported from our two-part investigative series, the original birth certificate had been seen by a top Republican official in Hawaii.
She says it was totally legitimate. She said it had the same information on the computer generated certificate, which was made public for years ago, which is the official birth certificate used now in the state of Hawaii. We have no reason not to believe her.
A very honourable, kind woman and voted Republicans and we believed here. Also the current governor of Hawaii, Neal Abercrombie, a Democrat, knew Barack Obama's parents, was friendly with them, very good friends with them, was with them the weekend before Barack Obama was born.
He saw Barack Obama days after he was born. He vouched that he saw Barack Obama in the state of Hawaii as a little baby. What he said was true. The birth certificate was true. The short one, the long one, everything in our report based on the people who we talked to, who we trusted and it turns out they were giving us the correct information.
Because indeed this long form birth certificate has the same information as the short form birth certificate. But what's so interesting, Carol, is you have Donald Trump going on the air and a lot of people felt this, too.
Donald Trump kind of became the de-facto spokesman and said I hear the birth certificate is missing. He said numerous times to Anderson Cooper, never submitted any proof. I'm anxious to say what he has to say about that birth certificate now that it appears not only not to be missing, but to be seen by the entire world on the internet.
COSTELLO: Exactly. I know John King is going to sit down with Donald Trump at 7:00 p.m. Eastern for his show. So I'm sure John King will pose series of very tough questions to Mr. Trump about how he feels about maybe pushing this birther issue.
And now that the birth certificate is out what his Hawaiian investigators really found out. Gary Tuchman, thank you. We're going to have much more from Donald Trump because he did talk about real issues in this press conference in New Hampshire. We'll let you hear some of that right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now if you think why do we care about what Donald Trump think? Keep this in mind. A recent CNN poll showed him tied with Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor as the top choice among Republicans for next year's presidential race. Trump thinks he can go all the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And I think if I do run, I'll do very well. And I think -- look, I'm already leading the polls and I'm not running. Am I leading the polls? Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans, yes, you are.
TRUMP: Well, excuse me, CNN did a poll -- CNN did a poll recently where Obama and I are statistically tied. If you would like, I can send it to you. Just call up CNN. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How confident will you --
TRUMP: I think I would beat Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, calling CNN and Paul Steinhauser. What is Mr. Trump talking about?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Carol, I wish we could take credit for this but, no, I'm sorry, Mr. Trump, we did not do such a poll. Let me show you what we did do. You just mentioned it, Carol. Take a look at this.
This was our most recent poll. It does show trump tied, but he's tied for the GOP presidential nomination. This is among Republicans and independents who lead Republican, who would they like to see as their nominee in 2012.
You can see Trump tied there with Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who ran for the White House last time around. We did not poll Obama versus Trump. I will say this though three other news organizations have done that same question though in the last couple of weeks.
And in all three polls, Trump trails the president by as close as 13 points and then 18 is his worse. So he's trailing by double digits in three other national surveys of all Americans as a hypothetical Trump versus Obama match-up in 2012. So unfortunately we didn't do that poll, Mr. Trump.
COSTELLO: I know you've been talking to our very brilliant pollsters at CNN and they are -- can you put these numbers in perspective and tell us how meaningful they are this early in the game?
STEINHAUSR: Yes, you know, I was just talking to our polling director about all this stuff. Listen, at this early point, and it's still pretty early in the race for the White House, name recognition really matters.
It's almost like a beauty contest because you know, that's how you get, you don't really know these candidates so early in the game or potential candidates. We can say for sure, Carol, I think this is pretty obvious, Donald Trump has a lot of name recognition. Whether you like him or not, you know him.
And that really resonates in these polls and that's one reasons - potentially one of the reasons why you see Donald Trump doing well in these GOP horse race polls, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Paul. We appreciate that. More on this morning on Trump's visit to New Hampshire. His exact schedule is a secret because of security concerns.
But we can tell you he will pay a visit to the small business. The owner of this business is Ken Smith. Ken is joining us now from Port Smith. Hi, Ken.
KEN SMITH, TRUMP VISITS HIS STORE TODAY: Good morning. Welcome to Port Smith, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much. Did you expect the news this morning to be so big and centered in part in your town?
SMITH: Well, you know, we're really proud of everything here in Port Smith. The great part about New Hampshire is that we're the first in the state for the primaries, first in the country.
So we get this season it seems to be starting earlier and earlier each time. So we always get excited to have any of the candidates that come down. And the fortunate part is, state of New Hampshire is only a state of 1.1 million.
So we have a different style of politics here. We really get an opportunity to meet everybody, shake their hands, and be able to look them in the eye and ask some tough questions.
COSTELLO: OK, so you are going to get an opportunity to do just that later this afternoon because Donald Trump is going to visit your store, right? So what tough questions are you going to pose to him?
SMITH: That's what we've been told. Well, one thing, you know, we are a small business as well as I'm a city councilor for the city of Port Smith. So there are lot of pushdowns that are from Washington and from Concorde, our state capital, that really affect the local budgets as well as small businesses into downtown.
So we're going to be able to have a -- find out what he is going to do if he does run and if he does, you know, make it as president. What would he do that would be different that would help not only our local city budget but help small businesses around our community?
COSTELLO: You're a Republican, right?
SMITH: I am.
COSTELLO: You are a Republican. So what do you make of all this birther talk? What do you make of President Obama putting his official birth certificate online?
SMITH: Well, I'm glad, you know, that that is finally come out and be done. But you know, for someone like Donald Trump to come out and say, you know, ask for a birth certificate. And what he's done is he's created a buzz that obviously all the media has caught a hold of and that's why he's up in the polls.
He's found something to kind of be the lightning rod to raise him up. In every candidate, we see it every cycle. They all come down and they have their one issue to start getting that name recognition, which is so important, especially in the state of New Hampshire. COSTELLO: As a member of the Republican Party, Ken, do you think this kind of -- this talk about birthers, this talk about President Obama's college records, do you wish it would go away?
SMITH: Well, I think at this point, it's more of a jousting of, you know, trying to get the name out there and it happens every season. No one likes it, but it's part of the game.
But it's going to start getting down to a point where all of that stuff is going to go to the side. We're going to start getting down to the real issues of who wants to be -- if a Republican candidate is going to be the new leader of the country, or we stay with President Obama and go by his policies.
COSTELLO: Ken Smith, thank you so much for turning out so early and being away from your store to talk with us this morning. We appreciate it.
SMITH: Thank you and again, welcome to Port Smith.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much. Earlier today, roads around Buckingham Palace, yes, it's going on too, remember?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Anyway, the roads around Buckingham Palace were closed and the route the royal couple will take from Westminster Abbey was cordoned off.
The armed forces will do a full-scale run through of the couple's big day. We're going to talk a little bit about that when we come back too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking our top stories now. We're following a developing story out of Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Six American servicemen are among those dead following a shootout at an airport in the capital. Witnesses say an afghan military officer opened fire. The Taliban is claiming responsibility.
Possible tornado has touched down in Marshal County, Alabama and there are reports of people trapped in the wreckage. Violent storms are expected to pound much of the south today.
The royal wedding, pomp, ceremony and some serious security. Today members of the British military closed roads throughout the area where Prince William will marry Kate Middleton. The full dress rehearsal also allowed an early scouring of early signs of danger. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about this severe weather slamming Alabama, slamming much of the south for a second straight day. Right now possible tornadoes. As I said, have hit Alabama.
There were reports of people trapped in their homes and at camp grounds. Damage reports coming in left and right, including Birmingham's Airport. About 275,000 customers in Alabama have lost power. Damage today already reported in five states.
Boy, there's also blame for two deaths overnight in Mississippi. Eleven deaths in Arkansas this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Yesterday tornadoes, baseball-sized hail and flooding slammed the state. Check out what days of heavy pounding rain have done.
Streets under water. Homes flooded in parts of Missouri. And Tennessee, more flooding could happen there today as the system brings another day of rain. Lots to watch today with this explosive huge storm system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Jacqui Jeras is keeping an eye on all of us, but let's check in with Alabama first because people trapped, are they free now, do we know?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We don't know. We've been trying to stay in contact with emergency managers. We have reports that the state park was -- received really a lot of damage. So we'll get updates on that for you as soon as we have that available.
But these storms, this is really began late yesterday afternoon and we've had severe storms and tornado warnings pretty much ever since that time. So we're talking about, what, 12 to 16 hours that this has been going on?
And we still have a long ways to go with this day. There you can see the watch boxes. The red watches meaning tornadoes are possible here. The yellow box meaning severe thunderstorms are possible in that area. So let's go ahead and focus on in on parts of Alabama, into Georgia, into Tennessee and into Kentucky.
We've had this squall line that has been marching eastward all day long. The purple boxes, those are tornado warnings. Tornadoes have been confirmed or indicated on Doppler radar. We've had multiple reports of touchdowns. Wide spread damage across northern Alabama.
There are literally thousands of trees down. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power at this hour. Now, the good news is that this line has been weakening overall and this is the first wave that's going to be pulling on through. The second wave back here right now.
And that's what we're seeing into northern Mississippi, multiple warnings in effect up here as well. Look at all the lightning, not to mention the torrential downpours. Now, take a look at what's happening over here in Alabama. Not a lot right now in central parts of the state.
Sun is going to be coming out, heating up the atmosphere, creating more unstable conditions. We really think there could be a big explosion of thunderstorms late this afternoon and continuing into the evening hours. This is another high risk day.
Yesterday, we had more than 50 reports of tornadoes. That's the high-risk kind of day. And there you can see that big purple bull's-eye where we had the greatest potential for these rotating storms. Now, surrounding it, moderate risk, which includes you, into the Nashville area, into eastern parts of Kentucky, as well.
And the slight risk, it stands all of the way up into the great lakes, Carol. So damaging winds and hail can be expected in those areas. And even isolated tornadoes will be possible. The storm is racing eastward, so it's picked up some speed and it's going to be along the east coast for tomorrow.
And we have a slight risk of severe thunderstorms. Winds again. The number one threat or the most wide spread threat, we think, but isolated tornadoes will be possible. And it's going to be out of here finally on Friday. Take a look at all the flood watches and warnings.
They basically go from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Dark red areas are seeing some of the most significant rises on the rivers. We're also really keeping in close touch with our affiliates.
Carol, this is from cbsdfw.com, our affiliate outside of Dallas. This is Van Zandt County where a likely tornado touched down there and you can see these pats of this damage.
We're just getting reports like this all over the place across the deep south. We'll continue to get them throughout the day today.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Jacqui. We appreciate it. Stay safe, everyone.
President Obama produces his official birth certificate. Donald Trump touring New Hampshire. Checking out the possibilities of a presidential run. We have so much to tell you about. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: As we've been telling you, President Obama has released his official birth certificate. It's online at cnn.com if you wish like to see it. As you would expect, a lot of statements flying around Capitol Hill right now. We just got one from the Republican House Speaker John Boehner. I'm going to read it to you. He says, this is long been a settled issue. The speaker's focus is on cutting spending, lowering gas prices, and creating American jobs.
We expect to hear from more lawmakers as the day progresses. And of course, we'll get right back to President Obama and also Donald Trump in New Hampshire in just a minute.
But first, we want to check on stories across the country this morning. Deputies in Arizona say 26-year-old Alejandro Guerrero attacked a detention officer so he could stay locked up. Officials say Guerrero believes he is the target of Mexican hit men. He's now facing multiple accounts of aggravated assault.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of Charlie Sheen's former goddesses pleads guilty to a misdemeanour DUI charge. Rachel Oberlain also known as Bree Olson will reportedly spend a year on probation and do community service work.
And in Hawaii, they call it a miracle reunion. Two half brothers living on opposite sides of the United States, one in Massachusetts, the other in Hawaii. They had never met until a chance encounter on Waikiki Beach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK HILL, REUNITED HALF BROTHER: We started talking about do you know this person, do you know this person?
JOE PARKER, REUNITED HALF BROTHER: I don't know what made me ask him but I asked him, do you know Dickie Haligan? And he said, yes, that's my father. I told him, that's my father, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Neither man was raised by their father. His father. But Hill knew his dad and said he once told him he had a brother, and there they met on Waikiki beach.
Oh, the royal wedding is almost upon us. Friday is the big day. And still so much to do. So, let's head live to London and check in with Cat Deeley. Cat, I think the big question today is, what will be Kate Middleton's title, do you think?
CAT DEELEY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, we're not going to actually know until the day. But there are basically two options. She could take his title, so it would be Princess William of Wales. But we seem to think that actually the queen is going to bestow a title on her, all of her own, like she did with Prince Philip. We're thinking she's going to be Her Royal Majesty Princess Catherine Elizabeth.
I'm Catharine Elizabeth, too. I don't know if you knew that, but I'm Catharine Elizabeth as well.
COSTELLO: They both have a great ring to them.
DEELY: Just my princess title.
COSTELLO: Yes, whatever.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEELEY: I was just wondering, who is more popular? Is it the prince or his soon-to-be bride?
COSTELLO: You know what? The princes have always been incredibly popular here. I think ever since their mother died, the nation has definitely taken them into their hearts. But at the present time, Kate seems to be three times more popular than William at the moment on the Internet here in England.
But if you check in with the States, Harry is actually six times more popular. So, Harry is the big pull in the States. Kate's the big pull here. And Prince William, he's lagging behind somewhere.
COSTELLO: Aww, that's kind of sad. He seems like such a nice guy. Maybe that's the problem.
DEELEY: I know. Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Cat Deeley, live from London. I know. Cat, thank you, as always.
And of course, Friday is the big day, 4:00 a.m. Eastern CNN will carry the doings on television. If you don't want to get up at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, of course, set your DVR.
On to the world of politics once again. A shake-up at the national security leadership ranks. We'll have that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Believe it or not there is bigger news out of the White House this morning. A shake-up in the works for President Obama's national security team. A senior defense official says the president will nominate CIA director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary. Gates is retiring. And the president is expected to pick General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to replace Panetta as CIA director.
Also on the subject of Afghanistan, at least six American servicemen are dead after a gunfight broke out on an Afghan military base. The accused killer is an Afghan military pilot as opposed to ally who may have been on a terrorist mission for the Taliban.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kabul. Tell us more.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The Taliban are claiming that this man was one of their fighters who had been a pilot in the Afghan Air Force for quite some time. Of course, there aren't many airplanes really in the Afghan air force there so apparently he'd been going to work and collecting a salrary, according to a Taliban speaksman ahead of carrying out the attack.
Now, that was denied by NATO, who say this was an argument which happened between the ISAF personnel and the Afghan pilot.
The total of dead now from ISAF servicemen has risen to eight, and there is one ISAF contractor civilian or so killed. But one Afghan official saying six of the dead are Americans. Although ISAF are not cornfirming that at the point.
Just to point out where this happened. That's hugely significant. This was inside the wire at NATO's main base here in Kabul. About under a mile's walk really from the real operational command where they run the war here in Afghanistan. So, far too close for comfort. Carol?
COSTELLO: Disturbing news. Nick Paton Walsh live in Kabul. Again, six American service members killed in Afghanistan.
Much more on President Obama releasing his birth certificate, and also more of what Donald Trump had to say when he land it in his personal helicopter in New Hampshire right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We're hearing that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is now leaving a Houston hospital, traveling to Florida. On Friday, as you know, her husband is leading space shuttle Endeavour's final mission. Giffords isn't letting her head injury stop her.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen is outside Giffords' hospital -- or the hospital where Giffords has been treated. So, Elizabeth, she is now on board a plane?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. CNN affiliates tell us that actually she's left this hospital and she is now wheels up from Ellington Airfield, which is close by here in Houston.
And you know, I was here when she arrived several months ago, Carol. And she arrived in an air ambulance. She arrived with doctors and nurses and all sorts of equipment. And I am told by a source close to Giffords that she is leaving with just a nurse. That's it. In a NASA plane that is not an air ambulance. And that's really pretty amazing considering what she's gone through. Carol?
COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you that. That just a nurse is traveling with her. That must mean her recovery is going pretty well.
COHEN: Right. It does mean that her recovery is going well. As a matter of fact, "The Arizona Republic" has reported, Carol, that she can say simple sentences like "I love you" or "That's awesome." That she can walk a little bit. And interestingly, she's always been a righty and that she's now a lefty. And, in fact, really what she needs to work on to a great extent is strength on her right-hand side. Now, of course, this isn't to say she's fully recovered at all. And this leave of absence from the hospital is just that. She's expected to come back.
COSTELLO: Yes, but she'll be there for her husband to watch him take off. That's pretty darn awesome. Elizabeth Cohen, live for us, thank you.
COHEN: That's right.
COSTELLO: CNN's Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look at Gifford's injuries and her recovery. So, don't miss "SAVING GABBY." That airs right here on CNN Sunday night May 8 at 7 p.m.
Of course, the big story this morning: the president releases a long-form copy of his birth certain indicate. Yes, the official one. You will hear from the president and his chief critic, Donald Trump. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Developing news now. The White House finally relenting and releasing the president's original long-form Hawaii birth certificate. After losing some steam, the birther controversy has been back in the headlines, thanks largely to Donald Trump's PR machine. President Obama says it became such a distraction from crucial government business he actually had to act. But he acknowledged some people probably still won't believe he was born in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that there's going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest. But I'm speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press.
We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I got better stuff to do. We got big problems to solve. And I'm confident we can solve them, but we're going to have to focus on them. Not on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: As you well know, Donald Trump has been calling on the president to release his birth certificate, even sending his own investigators to Hawaii to uncover information. After arriving in New Hampshire - he arrived there just last hour for a political visit, Trump had this reaction to hearing that the president had released his official birth certificate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I would want to look at it, but I hope it's true so that we can get on to much more important matters. So the press can stop asking me questions. He should have done it a long time ago. Why he didn't do it when the Clintons asked for it, why he didn't do it when everybody else was asking for it, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. Let's get John Avalon's take on this. John's with "The Daily Beast." He's a CNN contributor. He's also an independent. If Donald Trump is really serious about run for president, he's got to win independents' support. As you listen to Donald Trump, responding to the president releasing his birth certificate, what goes through your mind?
JOHN AVALON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He's a clown. He's a caricature. And he rescinded any right to be taken seriously by the American people by the way he approached the initial stage of a presidential campaign. By pandering the lowest common denominator of the American public, by becoming in effect a conspiracy entrepreneur and using his talent for self promotion, to inflame the worst instincts of the base, where the fringe meets the base of the Republican party, it's unforgivable. Certainly burned any bridges with independent voters.
For him to say he's relieved and now he can somehow be relieved of the responsibility of asking questions that the press keep asking him when he's helped reinflame this idiotic nondebate is absurd. The president's statement, I thought, was precisely correct. We've got better things to do. This has always been nothing more than a conspiracy theory perpetuated by folks on the far, far right. It soaked up enough oxygen.
COSTELLO: But as you know, John, this -- I don't know, this whole sort of produce documents thing may not be over. Reporters in New Hampshire asked Donald Trump about his new allegations that the president didn't get good grades in college. So, I want you to listen to Donald Trump in New Hampshire talking about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The word is, according to what I've read, that he was a terrible student when he went to Occidental. He then gets to Columbia. He then gets to Harvard. I heard at Columbia he wasn't a very good student. He then gets to Harvard.
How did he get into Harvard if you're not a very good student? Now, maybe that's right or maybe that's wrong. But I don't know why he doesn't release his records. Why doesn't he release his Occidental records?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Who cares about it?
TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you why - who cares. Because everyone says he was this great student. Well, if he was, that's great and if he wasn't, that's great. I was a very good student.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Maybe they'll release his records. We talked to Wolf Blitzer earlier, John. Wolf Blitzer has seen Barack Obama's school records, and Barack Obama was an excellent student. So, maybe all of this nonsense isn't over.
AVALON: Look, there are -- Jonathan Swift once said that you cannot reason people out of something they were not reasoned into. As the president said today, there are going to be people for whom this long-form birth certificate isn't enough. They're going to be focused on the blogs today about how come it took so long and finding something to unravel it. And others like Trump a second ago are going to be moving on to something new.
But all this stuff, if it's echoes and strains of the old paranoid style in American politics, folks should beware. It's an old demagogue's tryst. It's always us against them. And a lot of this stuff is just recylced old snake oil from past stuff.
You know, in the far right in the 1950s floated a conspiracy theory that President Eisenhower was a secret Soviet agent. And William F. Buckley had the decency to say to the John Birch Society, who suggested that, you're out. You're no longer qualified to be called part of the conservative movement. No responsible --
COSTELLO: Well, in fairness, this whole birther issue really started during the campaign with the Clintons, right? So, it's not just the far right.
AVALON: Well --
COSTELLO: So, if this -- I'm just going to pose this question to you. If 43 percent of Republicans believe the president might not be born in the United States, then why shouldn't the president release his birth records, his birth certificate, and be done with it? Why didn't he do that a long time ago?
AVALON: Well, I mean, obviously that's the conclusion he came to. As he said, he was bemused and puzzled by the obsession with this. You don't see these kinds of obsessions with other presidents. And I think it has to do with questions that folks who suffer from a degree of Obama derangement syndrome have about whether the president is somehow un-American or anti-American. It rifts off all that sort of stuff. And that's why some folks aren't ever going to be satisfied.
You're right to some extent. I did actually investigative work for my book "Wing Nuts." And I found the birther patient zero. She was a Hillary delegate from Texas who goes by the name of Linda Starr. And she was upset with the misogyny -- what she saw as misogyny of that primary campaign -- and told me on the record she was willing to dig up whatever dirt she could to deny President Obama the nomination. And she had been an amateur researcher and done stuff and actually was a source for Rather-gate, which didn't turn out too well for CBS.
So, you're right. The extremes echo each other. They resemble each other. But the conspiracy entrepreneurs on the far right have been profiting from this bile for a long time, personally, professionally, and politically. And that was the problem, is that Trump got a bump in the polls after bringing this up. That's where I think a lot of Republicans got nervous.
COSTELLO: OK. I just would like to play a bit of sound from President Obama's news conference, and then we'll talk about that. So let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Now, let me just comment, first of all, on the fact that I can't get the networks to break in on all kinds of other discussions.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: I was just back there listening to chuck. He was saying, it's amazing that he's not going to be talking about national security. I would not have the networks breaking in if I was talking about that, Chuck, and you know it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wrong channel.
OBAMA: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: As many of you have been briefed, we provided additional information today about the site of my birth. Now, this issue has been going on for two, two-and-a-half years now. I think it started during the campaign. And I have to say that over the last two-and-a- half years, I have been watched with bemusement. I've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going. We've had every --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And he said he's been so puzzled that he finally decided that he was going release his birth certificate. So, politically, John Avalon, was this a smart move for the president?
AVALON: Sure, to the extent I think it highlights the absurdity of these claims and the folks who lend their credence and their name to perpetuating them. Absolutely. And he's right, also, I think in calling out the media to some extent. You know, we cover the car crash. And increasingly in politics, we cover the carnival barker --
COSTELLO: Yes, but John, did he sink to Trump's level by coming out and caving in?
AVALON: Well, I think his point is the reason he hadn't released the birth certificate to date is he didn't want to sink to the level of these conspiracy entrepreneurs. But you see what level that sort of reticence to get in the gutter and sort of bewilderment about this persists. It has only allowed some of this stuff to perpetuate.
So, I think at some point he's actually said, fine, you want me to deal with this, here, boom, done. Is that enough? No, it's not going to be enough for some folks.
But the media gets played by folks who throw gasoline on a problem too often. And it does distract us from covering serious business. And I don't think that serves the American people. The American people are smart. They deserve better. But when people will suck up all the oxygen by screaming the loudest, and we give them a little bit of credibility, that hurts our credibility in turn, and it reduces the trust the American people in the media.
COSTELLO: OK, I know. We should be talking about high gas prices and how to make them lower. John Avalon, thank you so much for your independent voice. We appreciate it.
AVALON: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Okay. So let's talk about something good. Homegrown shrimp in the desert sands of Nevada? CNN's Tom Foreman explains how in this "Building Up America" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Las Vegas, tourists love big spectacles and little shrimp. Eating 22 million pounds a year. The problem is in this landlocked state, shrimp are often frozen and from far away, but this year that could change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The size of this building is a 36,000 square foot fabricated structure.
FOREMAN: A half hour north of Vegas, Blue Oasis is building a plant to grow shrimp in the desert and take on the foreign companies, which dominate the American market. Scott McManus is the CEO.
SCOTT MCMANUS, GANIX BIO TECHNOLOGIES, INC.: I mean, it's 1.4 billion pounds brought into the U.S. last year approximately and 90 percent of that comes from overseas.
FOREMAN: Countries such as Thailand, China and Vietnam are huge players in the shrimp farming business. So is Indonesia and some south American nations too.
The bottom line is if you eat shrimp here, odds are they came from somewhere over there. But this place hopes to take a tiny sliver of that business back. Each of these tanks can hold 100,000 shrimp, and they hope to harvest a half million pounds a year.
(on camera): Why hasn't this been done before?
MCMANUS: Well, the big issue is, is how do you deal with the affluent within the system?
FOREMAN: The waste?
MCMANUS: The waste, exactly.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The waste is one of the biggest complaints about shrimp farming. Leftover feed, fertilizer and other chemicals in some places have been released into the environment, causing pollution for years.
And while other indoor shrimp farming operations have found other ways to address that issue, here each tank is an eco-system unto itself. Wastewater is naturally recycled in what they say is a chemical-free process and it's never dumped.
MCMANUS: It's all about controlling - we control all aspects of the environment. You know, the lighting, the temperature, feed, the light spectrum, so we create the perfect day every day for our shrimp, except the last, of course.
FOREMAN: They won't say much more about how the system works. That's their secret developed at a remote lab in North Dakota over the past eight years.
(on camera): So where are we now?
MCMANUS: Right now, we're in what we call our sort and ship facility.
FOREMAN (voice-over): They will say they hope to take the idea far beyond Vegas, putting these fresh shrimp farms and new jobs near every major city.
(on camera): Do you think that will sell?
MCMANUS: Absolutely.
FOREMAN: You're counting on it?
MCMANUS: Yes, exactly. I'm counting on it big time.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Tom Foreman, CNN, Apex, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: More on the president's birth certificate at the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Taking a look at events happening today.
The U.S. State Department holds its first-ever Earth Day 6K Walk for Water event. That gets underway at 11:30 Eastern in Washington.
At 12:30 Eastern, the Federal Reserve needs to decide whether it will raise, lower, or maintain the current interest rate policy.
And then at 1:15 Eastern in Chicago, first lady Michelle Obama and the president will sit down for a taped interview with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey. She's also their personal friend.
Now it's time for the NEWSROOM and Suzanne Malveaux. I'll join you shortly to talk about the president's birth certificate and Donald Trump and if this issue is finally put to rest.
SUZANNE MALVEUAX, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's a good question. We'll have to see, finally, we've got the long form, the original. So, we'll see if that is, in fact, the case. Thank you, Carol. See you in a bit.
COSTELLO: Sure.
