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Mitt Romney to Run for President; Weiner Won't Say if Picture is of Him; Weekly Jobless Claims Fall; Tornadoes Kill Four in Massachusetts; Biggest Drop of 2011 on Wall Street; Armed Tribesmen in Yemen's Capital; Obama Urged to Legalize Marijuana; Rihanna Video Depicts Murder
Aired June 02, 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: It's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. I'm Carol Costello sitting in for Kyra Philips. Good morning you to you.
In just a couple of hours, Republican Mitt Romney will formally announce his latest bid for the White House. He sought the GOP nomination in 2008 and is now an early front-runner in fund-raising.
And then a Twitter scandal hits home for a Democrat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Hopefully, my marriage survives. It's my first anniversary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope it does too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Congressman Anthony Weiner says it was hackers, not him, who sent a lewd photo on his Twitter account. But here's the thing, he won't say whether the picture is really of him. You'll want to hear Wolf Blitzer's interview.
And the job market remains brutal. Last week 6,000 fewer people filed for their first unemployment claims, but it's the eighth straight week that number languishes above 400,000.
Tornados tear through Massachusetts, taking a lot of people totally by surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tornado. Tornado. Let me in! Let me in! Let me in the basement now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The man who shot these pictures, he's OK, but at least four people were killed in the storm.
CNN's Jason Carroll joins us from Springfield, Massachusetts.
Jason, describe the situation there now.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, what we've been seeing, Carol, is a number of search and rescue crews coming through here. In fact, if you take a look at this apartment building, this brick one that you look at here, has just been cordoned off.
That building is in danger of collapsing now. So any folks that have been through here, they've been asked to move back out of that area and away from that particular building. Some of the homes that you see on the street here, the same thing.
These homes here are probably going -- most of them have to be demolished if they were not already destroyed in the aftermath of those tornadoes that swept through here. Just to recap, at least two tornadoes sweeping through western Massachusetts, including this particular area.
Spanning across a 40-mile stretch, destroying homes, buildings, uprooting trees and at least four people killed. That has been confirmed, more than a dozen communities at this point reporting severe damage in their particular areas.
Search and rescue teams, as I say, have been combing through this particular area. Several other pockets of destruction as well. People still trying to get their head around exactly what happened out here. As you know, Carol, they're not used to tornadoes coming through this area.
You saw video from one of those residents who lives not far from here. His name is Dave Mech. Want to run that video and explain the back story of how that happened.
CARROLL: He was on his way home, got caught in the storm. Had his iPhone on him, started recording. By the time, he realized how serious things were, he tried to get inside his house, started screaming, let me in, let me in. He eventually did get in, and I eventually got a chance to talk to him about it all.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MECH, SHOT TORNADO VIDEO: It just happened so quickly. You know, people say they happen quickly, they happen quickly. By the time I got from my truck to the house, the tornado was already there.
I started banging on the door. There was nothing between me and the rest of the trees that were coming my way. People say your life flashed before your eyes, well, trees were flashing before my eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Fascinating and Dave Mech is fortunate and that his house was spared. He lives just a block from where I'm standing. If you look at this particular house right here, the residents of this house not so fortunate.
This house destroyed and will have to be demolished. So it just goes to show you what happens in these tornadoes. I know you're from Ohio. You're familiar with them. You know it can cause destruction on one street, and the next street over can be perfectly fine.
COSTELLO: It's just the strangest thing. Jason Carroll live from Springfield, Massachusetts. Many thanks.
New England, no Tornado Alley, but twisters are not unprecedented. Rob Marciano is with us now. So Rob, how often does Massachusetts get hit with tornadoes?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they had a small one about three years ago. The last big one was back in the mid-1990s actually had an Ef-4 touchdown there and another one in the '50s so extremely, extremely rare especially to get a strong one like the one we saw last night, but not completely unheard of.
This obviously is Tornado Alley here, where we had some reports of tornadoes yesterday. This is where the tornadoes touched down across western Massachusetts yesterday. Not one, but two, as Jason said, within a two-hour period rolling through Springfield that in and of itself is unbelievable.
So kind of went just south of the turnpike towards Sturbridge and eventually towards Wester and thankfully by the time it got towards the Boston metropolitan area just in south Boston, we were able to have it diminish just a little bit.
There's a cell with tremendous amount of hail at 4:30 and then another one coming through at 6:00. The first one, I think, did the most damage. Check out some of the aerials that are coming in. This is unbelievable stuff for New England.
WCBB is our affiliate that's bringing this to you. So you're looking at this damage and you're thinking this ain't no EF-0 or EF-1. It's at least an EF-2, possibly a three in some spots, winds easily over 100 miles an hour.
And you saw the dramatic stuff of the twister itself coming across the river and we're getting all sorts of amateur video of the twister rolling through Springfield. No doubt the folks, as they used their camera phones to document this, Carol, in disbelief, wondering if they're in Kansas versus historic New England. There's another view of it. It moves pretty quickly.
COSTELLO: It's just so strange, but then the weather over much of the country this spring has been strange. I mean, much of the country is suffering through this terrible heat wave right now. What's going on?
MARCIANO: Heat, floods, and tornadoes. It's been very, very active. You blame La Nina, among other things, but some years are busier than others, and this one's been busy and pretty wacky too.
COSTELLO: And dangerous and deadly unfortunately. Rob Marciano, many thanks.
Now let's switch gears now to politics because quite a busy day ahead in the world of politics. At noon Eastern, Mitt Romney officially tosses his hat into the presidential ring.
He will formally announce his bid for the Republican nomination. Before a back drop, he'll appear before the cameras at a farm in New Hampshire after sharing pizza with Sarah Palin - let's switch over there now.
Donald Trump says he could still run for president after all. Just weeks after saying he would not pursue the Republican nomination, he's now leaving the door open. Yes. Here's what he told Piers Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": If you don't like what the Republicans do in terms of their nominee, you might be very seriously tempted to stand and run as an independent.
DONALD TRUMP, CEO, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION (via telephone): And to add to that, I think the answer would be yes. Also, I'd have to see the economy doing very poorly, which it has a very good chance of doing. If the economy is doing poorly and if the Republicans pick a stiff -- and they may very well might -- I would absolutely have my eye open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And there is a new outcry aimed at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a man that many Republicans would like to see in the race.
Democratic lawmakers are blasting his use of a state police helicopter to attend his son's baseball game. They want Christie to reimburse taxpayers some $2,500 that would cover the cost.
Our chief political correspondent Candy Crowley is in New Hampshire by the way. She's following Mitt Romney's big day. We'll check in with her in just a few minutes.
Also this morning, we are watching Wall Street to see if the Dow is rebounding from the biggest drop of the year. Nasdaq also plunged more than 2 percent yesterday amid a snowball of bad economic news.
A quick look at the big board shows a rather sluggish start to today's trading, but keeps going from plus to minus. It's really frustrating. The opening bell rang just over a half hour ago. Let's get the latest from Poppy Harlow of cnnmoney.com. Three points up, and then it goes back into negative territory.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I am looking at live trading here. Look, we just dipped the Dow into negative territory. So not off to a good start here at all for Wall Street. A horrific day on Wall Street yesterday and for all the investors out there. We saw the biggest loss for the Dow and S&P, Carol, in just about a year. We're already in negative territory again. The Dow, the S&P, the Nasdaq, all falling more than 2 percent. The question people have is why is this?
Take a look at that decline just yesterday. The reason is this is really - this week the first realization I think that people are getting that the real economy is not in good shape at all. It's sort of that tale of two Americas.
Corporations doing very well, turning strong profits quarter after quarter. Main Street, real America not doing well. Here's why. Let's go through the numbers. Let's look first at housing. We've got a very bad housing report this week in terms of the price of your home. We saw another decline.
I'm going to show you where housing has gone. Look at 2006. That's the average price for a home. Look at the latest number for this year, for 2011. We now have housing prices at post recession lows. We are a third off of where we were in 2006 so no hope in housing right now.
And then let's turn to jobs. This is sort of the critical factor on the jobs picture isn't getting any better. When you look at jobs, we have had seven months of job growth at the same time. You see all the blue?
That's the job growth we've seen over the past seven months. We're going to get the latest jobs report on Friday. It's expected to see some growth, but not enough to bring the unemployment rate down. Add on to that a very, very bad private sector jobs report that we got yesterday.
It showed just a precipitous decline in private sector job hiring last month. Jobs, housing, and manufacturing fell not only in the U.S., Carol, but also around the world in May. China, Europe hurting, and Japan obviously from that crisis so all those factors coming together and really weighing on this market right now.
COSTELLO: Yes, the perfect ugly storm.
HARLOW: Perfect storm.
COSTELLO: Yes, Poppy Harlow, thank you.
Let's head overseas now. Fighting between government forces and armed tribesmen move close to the airport in Yemen's capital today. All flights out of Yemen have been suspended.
CNN's Zain Verjee is following the international reaction to this latest violence.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. The situation continuing to get worse. Let's go straight to the headlines. Gulf news from United Arab Emirates focuses on the possibility of civil war. Its headline "Ending the Yemen Bloodshed." It says, "The way forward now doesn't look like being an interim government based on a popular movement, but more of a transfer that a tribal or military leaders, and that's looking even less likely as civil war looms."
Check out "The Herald" in the U.K. that focuses on al Qaeda. "Yemeni Capital Rocked by a Series of Explosions." It says, "Analysts are worried that instability in Yemen, which sits on a shipping lane that carries about 3 million barrels of oil a day, could embolden a local al Qaeda wing that has attempted attacks on the U.S. and Saudi Arabia."
Finally, the "Guardian" in the U.K. focuses on the economy, Carol. Its headline, "Dozens Killed in Street by Street Battles for Sanaa." It says, "Yemen is on the brink of financial ruin with about a third of its 23 million people facing chronic hunger, and it is running out of oil and water." Carol --
COSTELLO: It sounds terrible. Zain Verjee live in London. Thank you.
Coming up, high profile world leaders are urging President Obama to think about legalizing some drugs. Do you know what that drug is? We'll have more on that story just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In just about two hours, Mitt Romney will make the obviously official. He will enter the race for president and Romney will come out swinging. Here's a peek at what he will say in New Hampshire.
He will say in part, "When Barack Obama came to office, we wished him well and hoped for the best. Now in the third year of his four- year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by. Barack Obama has failed America."
Candy Crowley is in New Hampshire for the formal announcement. Good morning, Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So will this kind of message -- go ahead. Take it away.
CROWLEY: I was going to say that little part that you just put out there is -- tells you a lot about where Mitt Romney is going with this. In some ways he couldn't have picked a better week for his official announcement because he's going to try to focus on the economy.
That's where his expertise is. He was a successful businessman. He brought the Olympics out of what looked like pure disaster and made a success. So they want to run on jobs and the economy. They think he has the resume to power up against President Obama.
Look at this week when we've seen bad news in the housing market might be a double dip for prices. We saw Wall Street in that horrific day yesterday. On that score, Romney's picked a pretty good week to put out his message, which is, look, this was great.
We voted for hope. We voted for change, but really his economic policies have failed. That's a message you're going to try to see him hone in on really for the rest of the campaign.
COSTELLO: Candy, I'm just curious. Many say the so-called Obama care that's killing jobs in this country. So how can Mitt Romney escape it when he implemented a similar plan in Massachusetts when he was governor?
CROWLEY: Well, he's trying and we'll see if he can do it. Basically his argument, he tried to kind of put this to rest before this day by giving a speech saying, listen, here is the difference. I did what was best for our state at the time.
We had a relatively few number of those who were uninsured. Yes, there was a mandate in Massachusetts that people have to have health care. As you know, in the Republican Party right now, that mandate, which is part of President Obama's health care reform is anathema in the Republican Party.
So what he said is, listen, it worked for Massachusetts, but what President Obama has done on the federal level is a big federal grab. It ought to be left up to the states. So he is trying to split the baby because he has touted his four years as governor of Massachusetts as part of that resume that he wants to put out there.
Certainly, he hailed it at the time as a huge success. So you have to walk that line. This is a great success for us, but on the national level, I don't think it's going to work. Are people going to buy it? Are conservatives in the Republican Party who are going to decide basically who the Republican nominee so are they going to buy it?
He's got many months to try to sell it until next January when those caucuses start and then of course, the primary here in New Hampshire.
COSTELLO: Right, I was just going to ask you about the primary in New Hampshire. I mean, he's going to make his announcement in New Hampshire. He's visited that state more than a couple of times.
He's raised money there. He's talked to political insiders there. The newspaper there still has not endorsed him. It certainly didn't endorse him last time around. How important is it for Mitt Romney to win in New Hampshire in the primary?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, if you ask them, they'll say that it's important to win, you know, in lots of places, and that's true. But New Hampshire, where clearly this candidate is going to spend a lot of his time and a lot of his money is critical for a couple of reasons. First of all, he was governor next door in Massachusetts for four years. So he's known here. It is where he looks at this point to be putting his major effort. He has a summer home here. If he can't win in New Hampshire, that's a tough go.
What we don't know is, is he going to try to play in Iowa? He tried last time around, sunk $10 million in Iowa, and lost it. Strategy is a lot in the early stages. We'll have to wait and see, but it looks like New Hampshire is where he's staking his flag.
COSTELLO: Candy Crowley, we'll get back to you. Many thanks. CNN will carry Mitt Romney's announcement from New Hampshire. You can see it here live right around noon Eastern.
High profile world leaders are urging President Obama to think about legalizing some drugs saying, quote, "The global war on drugs has failed." That's from a new report from the Global Drug Commission.
Former Secretary of State George Schultz serves on that panel and so does former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Zain Verjee joins us live from London.
Zain, what drugs are they talking about?
VERJEE: They're talking about drugs like marijuana and cannabis and saying basically legalize it. They go on to say that what has to happen is the need to be more of a focus on taking profits away from the cartels.
They also say what's the point of targeting the lower level criminals? Don't do that. Don't waste the time, money, energy and effort doing that. Go for the kingpins.
They say too don't criminalize people that use the drugs and don't do any harm to other people, but just focus on the top level. They've said that the whole way that the war on drugs has been run has been a costly failure. Carol --
COSTELLO: Well, we know what the United States says about this, at least the leaders at the top are certainly not in favor of this.
VERJEE: No. No, they're not. They've rejected this outright and said absolutely not. Mexico has done the same thing. The U.S. has taken a really hard line when it comes to drugs.
Essentially, their argument, it would be a huge mistake to legalize drugs because in the end more people would use it. The argument goes, and it would actually create a much more harmful situation.
They say too that the focus really needs to be on reducing demand. There are numbers out there to prove, when it's done effectively, they can do it properly and successfully. One other thing, things like drug courts the U.S. pushes. So if someone's in a drug court, they don't get sent straight to jail. They get things like rehabilitation and treatment and that kind of a thing. Legalizing drugs for now, for the U.S., no way Jose.
COSTELLO: You're right about that. Zain Verjee live in London. Thank you.
Inexcusable, shocking, two words used by parents' groups to describe R&B star Rihanna's new music video. That because it shows the singer killing a man after an apparent sexual assault. We'll have that story for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If R&B singer Rihanna is trying to bring attention to the plight of battered women, she certainly succeeded with her latest music video. In fact, some say she's gone too far. Let's bring in "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host, A.J. Hammer. I watched the video. It is shocking.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": It is a lot of people, Carol and for people who haven't seen it, it's what looks like a revenge fantasy where Rihanna plays a battered woman who shoots the man who abuses her.
Of course, everybody remembers Rihanna was really abused a couple of years ago by her then boyfriend Chris Brown. So this video and the song "Man Down," obviously a very personal project for Rihanna and on one level, you can appreciate the anger that you can see in this video, which has a cold blooded execution by a battered woman.
The video just made its debut earlier this week on BET. Several parents groups are asking for it to be taken of air because of the violent imagery. For her part, Rihanna doesn't seem inclined to back down on it.
In fact on her Twitter page, she's posting all kinds of supportive messages for the video and she's tweeted that the song is a very strong message for girls like her and that the lyrics don't in fact celebrate violence at all.
The song opens with Rihanna singing this. "I didn't mean to end his life. I know it wasn't right. I can't even sleep at night. Can't get it off my mind." So it is provocative to be sure, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, what makes this strange is her song with Eminem where that seemed to glamorize domestic violence. She was criticized for that video as well. Could this video be in response to that criticism?
HAMMER: It's possible, but you know, at the end of the day, it is art. It is provocative. The two go hand in hand. A lot of people are actually saying the lyrics here are being clouded by the actual violent content of the video. This debate is going to rage on. This thing was just released earlier this week.
COSTELLO: And it's going to be a huge best seller I'll bet. Not to be outdone, I hear Lady Gaga's new album is also making headlines.
HAMMER: Yes, the sales for this album are phenomenal. According to a record label "Born This Way" sold 288,000 copies on its first day alone, 1.108 million copies in the U.S. Those numbers do not include the more than one million copies sold outside the country.
And let me put this in perspective for you, Gaga's album is obviously number one on the Billboard sales chart. It outsold the combined total of the next 42 albums on the chart and Gaga did a terrific job of getting everybody excited about this album. It certainly doesn't disappoint.
And when "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" just sat down with Gaga on Friday, we had to ask her about the album sales. She just covered her ears, Carol. She said she didn't want to know yet because the numbers weren't fully out yet. They hadn't been completely tabulated. But now with these kinds of results, I'm sure Gaga is aware and very, very pleased.
COSTELLO: I'm sure she's uncovered her ears. A.J. Hammer, thanks as always. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. on HLN.
Congressman Anthony Weiner says he spent about 11 hours yesterday answering questions about that naughty picture sent from his Twitter account. But there's one thing he can't or won't say, if that picture is of him. We'll take you live to Capitol Hill next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And now for the story that just won't go away, Congressman Anthony Weiner's Twitter problem. The story won't go away because Weiner can't or won't say if that lewd picture sent from his Twitter account is of him. Listen to him dance around Wolf Blitzer's question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: This is the picture -- I'm sure you've seen it by now. Is this you?
WEINER: I can tell you this, we have a firm that we've hired -- I've seen it. It's -- I've seen it. There's a firm that we've hired to try to sketch to the bottom of it. It certainly doesn't look familiar to me, but I don't want to say with certitude -
BLITZER: Have you ever taken a picture like this of yourself?
WEINER: I can tell you this, that there are -- I have photographs. I don't know what photographs are out there in the world of me. I don't know what things have been manipulated and doctored, and we're going to try to find out what happened.
But the most important reason I want to find out what happened is to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Obviously somebody got access to my account. That's bad. They sent a picture that makes fun of the name Weiner. I get it. Touche. Dr. Moriarti, you got me.
At the time it happened, I tweeted right away that I got the joke and I continued on with my life. And I think that, frankly, that's what I would encourage everyone to do.
BLIZTER: You didn't send that photo to that woman in Washington state?
WEINER: I did not send it to that woman in Washington state.
BLITZER: But you're not 100 percent sure whether the photo is actually you?
WEINER: What I am going to say is we're doing everything to try to answer that question. We're doing an investigation. But I just want to caution you that photographs can be doctored, photographs can be manipulated, can be taken from one place and put in another. And so, that's - and I want to make it clear.
This is, in my view, not a federal case. In my view, this is not an international conspiracy. This is a hoax, and I think people should treat it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Kate Bolduan trying to ask Weiner a question just a few minutes ago at the Rayburn office building in D.C. Kate, but the congressman (ph) just came out and kind of offered you beverages, right?
KATE BOULDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He offered, as he has before, to help make us as comfortable as possible as people are standing outside of his office. But it was clear today, as he came out and gave a brief statement to cameras, basically saying, Carol, he spent all day yesterday answering all the questions - answering all the questions that reporters had from him. He said today now he's going to move on and do the job that he's paid to do. Get back to the business at hand.
So, it's very clear -- then he walked away not answering any questions. It's clear he wants to put this to rest. He wants to move on. And he doesn't want this to be the attention-getter on Capitol Hill anymore.
But at the same time, the attention's not going away. As you heard Wolf Blitzer and other reporters have asked him pretty direct questions. And the answers to some of these questions are very direct. He says he believes his account was hacked. He says he did not send that photo. However, some of his other answers are only creating more questions. The respect that he cannot say whether or not that photo was of him or not. And we also don't know at this point when this attention's going to end or how it is, of course, we have no idea.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you this. So, the attention remains on this Twitter controversy, but he's got to get back to the business of governing. So, what does this controversy mean to his immediate political future and doing what he's paid to do by taxpayers for the country?
BOLDUAN: It's not clear, and I'll tell you, and it's probably not surprising. Over the past few days, Carol, we've been talking to many his Democratic colleagues and trying to get a sense of what this does mean. No one really wants to touch it, and that's not very surprising considering the controversy surrounding it.
But just today and actually just yesterday, a couple of very superior -- some of the leaders, pardon me, have come out to actually make comments. Nancy Pelosi, for one, the Democratic leader, she came out saying she has confidence in Anthony Weiner and that, if an investigation's in order, it will take place. However, the majority leader -- a Republican, I should note -- Eric Cantor, came out to say that Congressman Weiner should come clean, kind of saying his answers have not offered the clarity that is needed to the American people.
So regardless, Carol, I think bottom line it's clear that this issue has become a distraction. That is not making Democrats happy. They want to get to the business at hand, and they want to have their message out there. Democratic aides that we've talked to have said it's very clear that it's not helping the matter when Anthony Weiner comes out and continues to make news and continues to push the story forward. Looks like this morning what he was trying to do is not push the story forward anymore, Carol.
COSTELLO: We'll see if it works. Kate Bolduan, live on Capitol Hill, thank you.
It is "Political Buzz" time once again. A rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Each of our brilliant political observers get 20 seconds to answer three probing questions. Cornell Belcher is a Democratic pollster. Comedian Pete Dominick is a satellite radio host. And CNN contributor Will Cain is a conservative political analyst.
Welcome to all - welcome to all of you. Let's get right to it, shall we?
Mitt Romney gets into the 2012 race later today. As governor, he was well-known for his Obamacare-like health program. Even President Obama referred to it recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care in Massachusetts, supports giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions. He's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, he's right. Now, today, Romney is expected to recall for a complete repeal of, quote, "Obamacare." Will voters see hypocrisy or will they say, yes, I get that? Will? WILL CAIN, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ANALYST: Probably hypocrisy. Look, Carol, I wrote a column about a month ago where I said Romney was DOA because of this issue. But you know what? Because of a lack of attractive alternative alternatives, I'm starting to hold my nose and look towards Romney. Hey, that's why people are flying to recruit Chris Christie. It's why they should stop by and see Jeb Bush and Tom Coburn, too.
COSTELLO: Cornell?
CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: I love the ideal that the Republican top nominee is -- you have to hold your nose to support him.
Look, let me get this right. You were for health care before you were against health care? It's a classic flip-flop. It seems unauthentic, and it seems like a weak leader. And Americans see that, and it becomes a like a problem if you're running for president. He needs to stand up and fight for what he did and is helping Massachusetts voters. He should stand up and fight for that.
COSTELLO: Pete?
PETE DOMINICK, COMEDIAN: Your question is what will voters see. First of all, voters are going to see a very handsome devil. Mitt Romney is gorgeous. I just want to submit that.
But secondly, they're going to see what we in the media want them to see. If you put Mitt Romney's health care plan up on the screen with Obamacare, if you will, they're essentially similar. But if you want 47 states' plans, good luck at making that happen. But they're going to see whatever we want them to see. That's the answer.
COSTELLO: All right. Onto the next question. So, House Republicans met at the White House to talk about deficit reduction, no progress. House Democrats meet today, and we expect no progress. So, question two, what will it take to bring about that thing called compromise when it comes to our deficit? Cornell?
BELCHER: It's going to take House Republicans to put everything on the table and stop protecting these sacred cows. Look, you can't act like a school kid and kick the ball over the fence and walk away if you don't get your way. They have to come to the table and compromise. And look, taxes are part of that compromise. Most Americans think that wealthy should pay their fair share. That's all we're asking, pay your fair share. If they do that, compromise will be found.
COSTELLO: Will?
CAIN: You know, Democrats just spent a month totally demagoguing and flat out lying about Paul Ryan's Medicare reform proposal. Let me ask you this: what do you think now is going to happen when Democrats get brave enough to put out their tax increase plan? What do you think Republicans are going to do? You know what's going to take compromise? Fear. I'm talking wrath of God fear. I'm talking raining frogs, hordes of locusts, the bond-holder type fear.
COSTELLO: Whew! Pete?
DOMINICK: Did Will just warn us of locusts? Let me cut through partisanship here and say compromise only happens when people want to accomplish a goal. Politicians need to accept self aggrandizing in a political arena. Everything does need to be on the table. We've got a military budget that we're preparing for some type of alien invasion. Two billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. You want to know what waste is? That's waste -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
DOMINICK: We're not getting anything out of that.
COSTELLO: Final question. Pete! You have to listen to the buzzer. It is our god.
Final question. Our Buzzer Beater, ten seconds each for this one. How long will it take for Weiner-gate to fade away, or will it? Cornell?
BELCHER: Are you asking me how long it will take Weiner to fade? Hmm. I think it depends. I think most Democrats in the House hope it fades really quickly.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Will?
CAIN: Look, it didn't fade for Chris Lee or for Mark Foley until they resigned. This one isn't going away until we at least know what happened here.
COSTELLO: Pete?
DOMINICK: Congressman Anthony Weiner has never seen a video camera, apparently a still camera, perhaps, that he's afraid to talk to. We have a Republican senator who actually hired a prostitute, David Vitter, and he got away with it. So -
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
DOMINICK: We'll see what happens.
COSTELLO: We'll see. We'll see. Thank you for playing "Political Buzz" today. It was fun as always. And informative. Quite intelligent, actually. Thank you so much.
"Political Buzz" will be back tomorrow.
The Vancouver Canucks take game one of the Stanley Cup finals. But one of their players may have to sit out game two because of bad behavior. You will see why in sports ten minutes from now.
And cheap. It's no way to describe Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his new bride, but the description fits their wedding registry. Fifty cent tea lights? A $6 gravy boat? Raising a few eyebrows today. We'll take a closer look just ahead.
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COSTELLO: Say good-bye to the food pyramid. I know, I'm sad about it. Any minute now, first lady Michelle Obama and USDA officials - there's the room and there's the podium - Michelle Obama will be behind that podium to announce the new image. Actually, she'll unveil it so you can see the new food plate and so -
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: -- you can better make healthy food choices.
We shouldn't make fun of it because it is important. But this food pyramid thing, it's been around for 20 years or so. They say it's a little confusing to people, so the new look will be kind of a dinner plate icon divided into sections with proteins and veggies, fruit and grain and a dairy choice. And when the first lady Michelle Obama is behind that podium and she unveils the plate, we will show it to you.
Checking stories across the country now. The hot air balloon at the center of a missing child hoax is up for sale. Richard Heine, remember him? He says the proceeds will benefit victims of the Japanese tsunami. In 2009, the nation watched as the flying saucer shaped balloon floated over Colorado. Heene claims his son was inside. He wasn't.
A school teacher in New Jersey is under fire for enlisting a Lady Gaga impersonator instead of the real pop star for a promised video chat with her fourth-grade students. Well, the kids got on to the fake pretty quickly. No word on whether disciplinary actions will be taken against the teacher.
One of the world's best poker players is upping the ante in his battle against the organizers of the World Series of Poker. Phil Ivey filed a law suit in Las Vegas. He claims full-tilt poker owes players more than $150 million in back winnings.
Another day, another search for common ground. The White House opens its door to lawmakers, but how open are they to unpopular budget cuts? Tough decisions and tough talks. That's coming your way next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This afternoon at the White House, the president meets with some top congressional leaders of his own party; follows a similar meeting yesterday with house Republicans. The goal of both sessions, finding a place to cut spending and fast - you know, to decrease our big deficit.
Brianna Keilar is at the White House. So, Brianna, there was no breakthrough yesterday. So, what if anything, will get done today? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, and Carol, honestly, both sides are trying to emphasize that this isn't really the negotiating. These are really listening sessions. And so, that's how today is going to be as well as yesterday when Democrats come to the White House this afternoon.
Talking to Democrats, they're going to tell the president the don't like the Republican budget that proposes a lot in the way of spending cuts, proposes an overhaul of Medicare. That's not really news. We know they don't like that. The president knows they don't like that.
I think what's really interesting is there are many members of the president's own party on Capitol Hill who feel like the president has conceded too much to Republicans in recent months. First on those negotiations to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, and then in April when he agreed to a lot of spending cuts to avert a government shutdown.
The real negotiations on deficit reduction are going on in those talks led by Vice President Joe Biden. We'll be seeing that in a week.
And, Carol, the sticking points remain the same. Republicans want a lot of spending cuts to agree to increase the debt ceiling, and they don't want to increase taxes. Democrats in this White House want to increase taxes on the wealthiest of Americans, and Republicans are saying no way, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. We've heard that song and dance before. Brianna, I was struck by the fact that members of Congress were tweeting pictures of what was supposed to be this private meeting at the White House. Is the White House bugged by that?
KEILAR: So, publicly, the White House says no. And these were pictures that were coming out from the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, Darrell Issa. He put a number of photos leading up to the meeting, and actually in this meeting, where you can see Secretary Geithner, President Obama. Pretty interesting stuff.
But listen, because White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about this. Here's what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We obviously closed it to the press because we felt it would be more conducive to having a - a useful conversation. We feel it was a useful conversation. What individual members did is obviously up to them.
QUESTION: Doesn't bother you that Issa did that?
CARNEY: I'm fine.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And laughter ensues there. But I think, Carol, you have both sides here trying to keep a positive face on things so far ahead of that August 2 deadline to increase the debt ceiling. Because the markets, they're so reactive, and I think that both sides are trying to say that things are plugging along just fine.
But honestly, I think sometimes the White House, when they're dealing with Congress, they're not really surprised when these kinds of things happen. The president has had meetings with them before and House Republicans, and information tends to come out during the meeting. Tweets come out during the meeting. So, you know --
COSTELLO: I kind of enjoyed them.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: I did, too!
COSTELLO: It made it more interesting.
KEILAR: Because I wanted to see what the inside of the meeting looked like.
COSTELLO: I know! It was pretty cool!
Thanks, Brianna. We appreciate it.
Technology can really complicate your life, though. Just ask the alleged California laptop thief. How the victim nabbed him on the Net, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time for a wee bit of sports. Stanley Cup finals, opening game, Bruins-Canucks. Watch Vancouver's Alex Burrows take a bite of Patrice Bergeron's finger. Ugh! Don't be surprised if Burrows gets suspended for game two.
Boston goalie Tim Thomas was outstanding, though. But he lets this one in the Canucks Rafy Torres scores with just 19 seconds left. That was the only goal. Vancouver wins game one, but we'll always remember the finger.
A French fry holder, tea lights. Doesn't sound like things you would find on the bridal registry of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his new bride. Well, now the couple is catching some flack for it. CNN.com entertainment editor Katie Caperton is here.
I actually think this is good. Because what do you buy as a gift for a millionaire as a gift for his wedding?
KATIE CAPERTON, CNN.COM: I agree! I agree with you. So, the couple was married over Memorial Day weekend. And they're big superstars. She's a beauty pageant queen. And some folks in the media got a hold of their wedding registry, and are kind of having some fun with it because they registered for French fry holders, a $2.95 gravy boat, $0.50 cent tea lights.
But I agree with you! I think, you know, they had 600 people at their wedding. All of those people cannot be as rich and famous as they are. So, what are you going to do?
COSTELLO: What do you want them do, send, like, fancy candlesticks? And if you're a millionaire, you have all you need anyway.
CAPERTON: Exactly. And they want to give them something anyway.
COSTELLO: It would have been better if they asked for no gifts at all, but then people would have felt compelled to buy them gifts anyway, I suppose.
CAPERTON: Exactly. And according to "People" magazine,the gift bags included Neiman Marcus gift cards and champagne and (INAUDIBLE) beauty products. So, I think whatever you brought, you made out like a bandit.
COSTELLO: Good for them. I like that. Thank you.
CAPERTON: I do too.
COSTELLO: Thank you, thank you! You can catch out -- check out all things entertainment -- I'm still thinking about the finger! I can't help it!
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: You can check out all things entertainment on CNN.com/showbiz.
Mitt Romney is set to jump into the Republican presidential race. We'll have live coverage of his announcement at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.
Plus, a school system that was called a, quote, "national disgrace." We'll take a look at what parents and teachers are doing to improve education in Detroit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Technology and publicity help a California man get a stolen laptop back. Now, police were involved too, kind of. This is a cool story. Dan Simon joins us with today's primetime preview. Hey.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. This is an awesome story. So this guy in Oakland, he has his apartment burglarized, it's ransacked, and the thief gets away with his Apple MacBook Pro. But what the thief doesn't realize is the guy has installed a hidden security application that is recording everything this thief is doing. It's pinpointing his location. It's getting screen grabs. Most of all, it is actually taking pictures of the suspect.
Well, he takes all these findings to the Oakland Police Department. And what do they do? They do absolutely nothing. So, he feels like he has to publicly shame them. So, he takes all this information and puts it on a blog.
This is what Joshua Kaufman told us. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSHUA KAUFMAN, LAPTOP WAS STOLEN: I set up the blog because I was frustrated, and I wanted my story to get more media attention, hoping it would cause the police to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Well, Kaufman's strategy worked because guess what? The police department started getting calls from the media. It prompted them to take action. They basically had a complete profile of who this guy was. They launched a little bit of an undercover operation. They arrested the suspect.
And guess what? Joshua Kaufman got his laptop back. Carol?
COSTELLO: Oh, so the guy was in his bed! That's just unbelievable. But I'm glad the media helped him to get police to act.
Dan Simon, many thanks. That was a great story.
Let's throw it over to Suzanne Malveaux right now. I'll join you in a couple minutes to talk about Mitt Romney. He's supposed to make his big announcement about his run for president. But can he win? We'll explore that.
SUZANNE MALVEUAX, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Great. Thank you, Carol.
