Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama Details Afghan Drawdown; Congress Divided over Libya; Greece Plans to Raise Taxes, Cut Jobs; Huntsman Avoids Question on Afghan Troop Withdrawal; Al Qaeda Prison Break; First Lady is "Queen of the World"; Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage Using the Bible to Defend Their Own Beliefs?; Questions for Casey Anthony's Cellmate; Who is Jon Huntsman?; Space Shuttle: Final Mission; Two Supersonic Planes in the Works

Aired June 22, 2011 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, you guys. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Thanks for joining us, everyone.

We begin in Yemen. Al Qaeda militants launching a daring attack on a prison. The French press agency says dozens of prisoners escaped in the breakout.

In Mexico police nabbed the leader of one of the most violent drug cartels. The suspected kingpin known as "the monkey" is being called an overwhelming blow to the organization.

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to the leaders of tomorrow in South Africa. She tells the young women that their generation can banish the hunger and AIDS virus that have plagued that continent.

It's the longest war in U.S. history. And today President Obama turns our attention toward ending it. His primetime address will provide long-awaited details of withdrawing the first U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

According to a congressional source, 10,000 U.S. troops will be pulled out by the end of this year. Another 20,000 will be withdrawn by the end of next year. But nearly 70,000 Americans in uniform will remain there.

Dan Lothian is at the White House and Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is in New York.

Dan, let's go ahead and start with you. When we look at these withdrawal numbers, what do you think? Big enough for a public that's grown pretty impatient?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, you know, impatient and tired of the high cost of this conflict. So no doubt for many these numbers are not enough. And you take a look at the polling, the majority of Americans oppose the war in Afghanistan, 62 percent in the most recent polling numbers, compared to 10 percent, less than that last month.

And when it comes to withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan, again, the majority of Americans think that all of the U.S. troops should be withdrawn, 39 percent saying that. So what the president will do tonight is point out to Americans that the U.S. effort there has yielded some successes, that progress is being made.

He'll point to the fact that the fight against al Qaeda, finding some success there, they are reversing the momentum against the Taliban, and that the government of Afghanistan has been stabilized. But this will certainly be a strong sell that the president has to make to the American people, to tell them that look, we don't want Afghanistan to fall back into being a haven for those terrorists who pose a threat to the United States.

PHILLIPS: Dan, thanks.

And Barbara, what will this withdrawal look like on the ground? Will it be entire units that will be sent home?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know I think it will be, Kyra. That's typically what happens. The generals want it to be a combination of support units, the guys who've been out there building roads and schools and that sort of thing, as well as combat.

They don't want to have to withdraw to so many combat forces that they risk that success, of course. So you're going to start seeing some of the units who are scheduled to come home anyhow, come home and not be replaced. That's typically how this will happen.

And, in fact, we've already seen two Oklahoma National Guard units that were scheduled to go to Afghanistan, now are being diverted. They're going to go to Kuwait and work as being military trainers, not even go to Afghanistan. So that's how it's all going to happen -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right . Barbara Starr from the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks.

We're also -- well, we're covering all angles of this developing story, of course. At the bottom of the hour we're actually going to talk to Tom Foreman. He gives us the lay of the land. Will the Taliban move in as U.S. troops move out?

Then we're going to hear from a U.S. official who resigned in protest over the Afghan war policies. What does he think now?

And next hour, live from Afghanistan, we'll get the view from a Taliban stronghold.

We're staying on the story throughout the day and right up to the president's address to the nation. It's now scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, and you can see it right here on CNN.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are split over the U.S. role in Libya and whether it should be limited to a strictly noncombat mission. One prominent Republican says he would fight that move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think it would be a terrible mistake to cut off funding and Congress does have that authority, though. But it would be a terrific mistake.

Gadhafi is going to fall. He is crumbling now. It's a matter of time. And we can't allow Gadhafi to remain in power.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. Senator McCain out supporting the military mission.

ATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And he's being joined now by a Democratic senator with some pretty serious foreign policy chops as well, Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts.

They introduced a measure here, Kyra, really to counter the effort and pressure -- the effort and pressure that they're seeing happening in the House right now. As you know, the frustration has been mounting there for weeks now.

Democrats and Republicans in the House critical of the president's policy in Libya, so the McCain/Kerry measure -- it would essentially authorize the continued U.S. presence and effort in Libya for one year. It does stress the lack of support amongst members of Congress for putting ground troops there.

But this is, as I said, is a measure to counter what's going on in the House. Senate majority leader Harry Reid says that measure -- the McCain/Kerry measure -- does have the support to pass. However, in the House they're going to take up a similar measure and it does not have the support to pass, we're told, by aides.

Regardless of how that shakes out it's really clear evidence -- it's really clear evidence of the division that we're seeing in Congress on this issue.

If we can, we can listen here to one Republican on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SCOTT GARRETT (R), NEW JERSEY: What I've encouraged leadership in the past and I will encourage them again now is to say that the White House has violated the constitution, violated the law.

The Congress now must need to step up and say that we will withhold all funding. Not just boots on the ground, that's been done in the past, but for all funding going over to the war-making apparatus that this administration has put our men and women in harm's way over there.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: House Republican leaders are going to bring to a vote another resolution in the House. This one calling for U.S. forces to pull out, except for those involved with non-hostile, noncombat actions.

We'll have to see how this all shakes out, Kyra, but it really shows that the House and the Senate, and even members within the same party, are not seeing eye-to-eye on this issue right now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kate Bolduan on the Hill. Kate, thanks.

All right. Let's head overseas. Greece taking a huge step today to clean up its financial mess but it still brings a lot of bad news that way. We're talking about cutting jobs and raising taxes.

CNN's Zain Verjee following the international reaction now from London -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, the piece of good news was that a vote of confidence was passed and Greece has a government, so at least they have that. Now what the government has to do is to push forward and present an austerity program that are going to make people poorer much, much faster.

Let's take a look at the international headlines. Here is what they are saying. The "Daily Mail" has an opinion piece. Its headlined "Bring Down the Curtain on This Greek Tragedy." It says, "What frightens the EU politicians the most especially in Germany and France is that the Eurozone's weakness casts such a doubt on the union itself that the future of the union has never looked so shaky."

And then in "Gulf News," its headline, "Political Union Cannot Fix the Euro Crisis." It goes on to say, "Most Europe leaders still blithely assert that they will do whatever it takes to save the euro but these leaders operate in democracies. If they take decisions that voters simply cannot accept, they will lose their jobs."

Kyra, there's a huge debate here on this side of the pond because some people say, you know, that there are 16 other countries that use the euro as a currency. There's no way that they're going to let Greece fail. Other people saying, you know what, let it fail and let it default and get out of the Eurozone.

For the U.S., the danger here is that the U.S.'s financial system is also linked to European banks and so they hold a lot of the Greek debt. So if Greece defaults, it has a massive ripple effect that affects the U.S.

PHILLIPS: We're already feeling it if you look at the 401(k)s of many Americans.

Zain, thanks.

VERJEE: Right.

PHILLIPS: Just off his official announcement that he's running for president, Jon Huntsman stopped by CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" just a few minutes ago to answer some questions but he would not be pinned down on one about the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our Jim Acosta in New York with the story -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. Yes, you know, with the president set to announce some troop withdrawals in Afghanistan this evening, obviously this is coming up as an issue on the campaign trail for the Republican candidates in 2012.

And one of them is Jon Huntsman who as you know used to work for the president as his ambassador to China, and he has been sharply critical of the president on some foreign policy issues like Libya and Afghanistan.

But earlier this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," Carol Costello tried to pin down the former governor of Utah on exactly how soon troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan altogether and he essentially took a pass.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can't give you an exact number other than to say after nine years and 50 days, after having put Karzai in power, after the elections of 2004, routed the Taliban, disrupted and dismantled al Qaeda, I think we can do better than 100,000 very expensive boots on the ground.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And you can bet he'll be asked that question again and again. He is going to be down in South Carolina campaigning in that early primary state later today.

And also on the Republican side, Newt Gingrich is facing new questions about his personal finances. It has now been revealed by one of his advisers that -- who has confirmed that the former speaker of the House had a second line of credit worth, get this, $500,000 to $1 million at Tiffany's.

This revelation comes, Kyra, as you know, after about a month ago it was revealed that he and his wife Callista had a first line of credit at Tiffany's worth $225,000.

The adviser to Newt Gingrich who confirmed this to CNN did say that the former speaker of the House has paid this second line of credit in full, that he doesn't have a debt to Tiffany's at this point but this is going to renew those calls that his name should be Newt Blingrich, not Gingrich -- Kyra.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Jim, thanks.

We'll have your next political update in about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news you can go to our Web site CNNPolitics.com.

Coming up, a developing story out of Yemen. Dozens of al Qaeda militants on the loose and there's some conflicting reports on exactly how they escaped from prison.

And First Lady Michelle Obama drawing cheers in South Africa challenging young women to make a difference in people's lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories "Cross Country."

Columbia, South Carolina, Governor Nikki Haley says she'll sign the state's new tough immigration law that requires police to check the legal status of any suspect and forces all businesses to first clear the people they hire through a federal immigration database.

Probably a first for police in Milroy, Indiana. They arrested a 21- year-old Amish man for sending hundreds of texts, nude pictures and videos to a 12-year-old girl that he tried to solicit for sex. Police arrested him when he showed up for an undercover sting in his horse- drawn buggy.

Albuquerque Police arrested a college professor who allegedly started a companions Web site. He called it a safe place for prostitutes and Johns. Police call it a virtual house of prostitution.

And take a look at this video from Queens, New York. A 400-pound tire flies off a city bus. The driver says luckily it just missed a woman pushing a baby stroller. This happened in May. But it has happened before. The MTA blames maintenance cutbacks to save money.

Developing story -- an alarming story actually out of Yemen. Dozens of suspected al Qaeda militants have broken out of prison and scattered. Whereabouts unknown.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom following all the developments for us now.

So Mo, how did it happen?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, according to eyewitnesses in the Yemeni city of Mukalla, at around 8:00 this morning, armed militants, suspected of belonging with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, attacked a prison, the biggest prison in that city. There was a prison escape. There were dozens of prisoners, suspected members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that escaped from that prison.

Two prison guards died in the escape. That's according to the official.

We're told that it was quite an attack. It started at 8:00 a.m. That there were bullets being shot towards the prison, and that it was quite loud. There were a lot of explosions as well.

The residents in the town said they were quite afraid. It looks like it was quite a scary scene and nobody expected this to be happening from this prison and well-guarded. From what we hear from officials, thousands of security guards inside this prison. So, it seems like it would be quite an attack -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow it. Mohammed, thanks.

And coming up, First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at a packed church in South Africa, sounding a familiar theme -- yes, we can.

And it's a piece of history. And you could own it. Details on the auction of gangster Al Capone's revolver.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now, usually, the guy asks the parents face-to-face for permission to marry their daughter. Well, in this case, 51-year-old actor Doug Anthony Hutchinson needed written permission -- that's because the young lady is only 16 years old. Courtney Alexis Stodden reportedly married the actor in May. He is known for starring in movies like "The Green Mile" and the TV show "Lost."

Singer Nick Lachey will marry TV host Vanessa Minnillo. Their wedding will actually become a reality show for TLC. You may remember that his last wedding was to Jessica Simpson, which has also turned into a reality show.

And a revolver once owned by gangster Al Capone just hit Christie's auction block. Colt .38 was made the same year as the infamous St. Valentine's Day massacre. It's expected to pitch as much as $100,000.

And a big showbiz story for you next hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HANKS, ACTOR: What are you going to make us do today in class?

JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: You'll just have to find out.

HANKS: Follow me!

ROBERTS: Interesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It's going to be really interesting next hour when Tom Hanks joins us live in the studio, 10:30 Eastern. You don't want to miss it.

And as we told you at the top of the hour, Greece is taking a big step towards fixing its finances. The government got a vote of confidence last night and can now move forward with some major spending cuts.

Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange with a look at how this is affecting Wall Street.

Felicia, it's already been affecting Wall Street.

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, Kyra. There's no question about it. And, today, stocks are set for a slightly lower open. Dow futures are down about 15 points. But that's really more geared toward the Federal Reserve and what comments we make here later today.

Last night's vote of confidence, though, from Greece is reassuring to U.S. investors. The next step for Greece, though, is approve some unpopular austerity measures, such as big cuts in wages and also in pensions and raising the retirement age and taxes. So, that's not going to be very popular.

Some analysts say that those cuts are definitely needed in order to get the proposed bailout package from the European Union. And that would remove any immediate danger of a Greek default.

So, as I mentioned, though, at the top, for the U.S. markets, the big focus today is on the Federal Reserve and Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference this afternoon. We're going to be watching very closely for any comments about the economic recovery and how farther along we are -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Felicia, thanks.

And coming up, he made headlines as the first U.S. official to resign in protest over the Afghan war. I'll ask Matthew Hoh what he thinks the expected drawdown to be announced by the president tonight.

Also, it's been eight years since the Supersonic Concord flew the sky. Now, it looks like two faster jets on the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: First Lady Michelle Obama is a superstar of sorts in South Africa today. She addressed the packed congregation at a church in Soweto, inspiring young women to be a generation that works to end hunger, corruption and combat HIV and AIDS.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse joins us now from Soweto.

Tell us more about the speech.

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Kyra, Graca Machel, who's Nelson Mandela's wife, described to the first lady of the United States as the "queen of our world." And she says that Mrs. Obama has redefined womanhood in the 21st century. And I think that just gives you a sense of just how excited people are about Mrs. Obama's presence here.

Of course, in her speech, she did not disappoint. She paid tribute to those who gave their lives really for the freedom of this country, for democracy in this country, but she also challenged the youth. She said to the youth of today that so much has been achieved in South Africa.

Yes, you do have political freedom but there are so many things that are still going wrong on the continent. There's still poverty. There are still so much left. There's HIV/AIDS. Those are the battles that you guys should be waging.

And she asked them, what generation will be you? Because the Mandelas of this world were the freedom generation.

So, it was a very inspiring speech. There was a lot of reaction after the speech. I was getting tweets all the time after the speech from young people who were in that church, about 2,000 people were present there -- who were listening to Mrs. Obama -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, I also heard that many people were inspired by listening to her two daughters. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIA OBAMA, PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER: And I said, I do not like the way that they play. If mother could see this, what would she say?

SASHA OBAMA, PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER: Then said, look, look! Your mother is owner her way home! Do you hear? Oh, no! What will she do for us? What will she say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Nkepile, I bet those kids were inspired by the reading of the stories!

MABUSE: Definitely. I mean, I think what has amazed South Africans so much is that they see the first family as so down to earth. You know, Mrs. Obama started that day, yesterday, by meeting with one of our first ladies here in South Africa. Of course, President Zuma is married to several wives.

So, she was he is presidential guest house meeting at the first let's there. And then from there, she went to shanty town and she was dancing with these kids, singing with these kids , and reading what she says was Malia and Sasha's favorite story book when they were growing up. So, she took books to them.

I think, you know, South Africans are really touched by just how genuine she is. A lot of people say she is approachable, yet classy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nkepile, thank you very much.

Checking other top stories, Transocean has released an internal investigation into last year's Gulf oil spill. The oil field services company criticized BP decision-making in the two weeks before the explosion and spill.

More than 50 large uncontained wildfires are burning across the country right now. The biggest is Arizona, where residents of one town can go home but other areas still off limits.

And flooding is the crisis in North Dakota. Twelve thousand people have been told to leave their homes by this evening. The swollen river is expected to burst its banks. After nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan, today marks the beginning of the end. At 8:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama will address the nation and outline his plans to withdraw the first U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Now, according to a congressional source, 10,000 U.S. forces will be pulled out by the end of this year. Another 20,000 will be withdrawn by the end of next year. That will leave some 70,000 Americans still serving there.

Now, these withdrawal plans are sure to ignite a new debate. Many Americans are fed up with the war and they want a speedy end. On the other end of the spectrum, many military leaders want a slower, smaller withdrawal. They're worried that the Taliban will reclaim territory from a weakened force.

Well, CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at these shifting battle lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the areas the Taliban has exerted the most control. Down here in the south and over the east, we have that red, limited control in the orange areas, encroaching in the yellow. But these are the areas that we're really focused.

Now, look what happened as the surge troops came in here. The troop presence came in and really filled in hard with U.S. troops all in the most troubled area, Italian troops, German troops over here, some others as well. But those are some of the major groups.

And look what happened when we mixed them together. This is what we have seen a really substantial stabilization of parts of the country, at least compared to how it was before with all these troops coming in here and the Taliban largely being pushed down into areas like this and over here.

So, who do you get out of here? You can take out the support troops who are involved in building bridges and roads and barracks and all of those things to bring in the extra troops, they could come away. You could also possibly take out some combat troops if you take some of the calmer regions and say we don't need as many bodies there. Although there is some push back on that front from some generals saying, no, no, take them from areas like this that you calm down some, and push them more to east where we need to finish the job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the troop drawdown will merely chip away at a mountain of U.S. spending. In fact, the first year's savings will probably amount to less than $10 billion. Sure, that's a lot of money. But consider the cost this year alone, nearly 12 times that, $118 billion. Since the first troops went into Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago, American taxpayers have shelled out $443 billion.

Now, one person who will be watching the president's speech tonight with a very critical eye is a man who got the world's attention when he became the first U.S. official to resign in protests over the Afghanistan war.

Matthew Ho was a civilian officer who worked for the State Department in Afghanistan, and he resigned saying he believed the war was only fueling the insurgency, not stopping it.

Matthew, you did draw national attention when you said that you failed to see the value in the Afghanistan war. Why didn't you feel -- what didn't, I guess, specifically feel right to you when you were there?

MATTHEW HO, FORMER MARINE CORPS CAPTAIN: Good morning, Kyra. You know, the first thing is that our troops are not fighting al Qaeda. Our troops there are caught in the midst of a war that goes back to the '70s. We did the right thing going into Afghanistan in 2001, but when we did that we intervened in a civil war had been going on for decades.

And so now 10 years later after taking basically one side in that conflict for the last 10 years, our troops find themselves fighting people who are fighting us because we're there. You know, so it was that -- that was the main impulse for me. Al Qaeda is not here. Mothers and fathers and wives are being told that their sons and husbands back home are dying or losing their legs or arms or eyes keeping America safe. And the reality is, we were just fighting farmers who don't want us in their valleys or villages.

PHILLIPS: Now Matthew, I've got to come back at that point, because I've been to Iraq, I've been in embedded with the troops, I've been embedded with Iraqi troops, and the influence with regard to Afghanistan and Iraq -- I mean, there is a presence of al Qaeda in both countries, and Afghanistan specifically, with the drugs and the poppy fields and the influence there.

I mean, we see -- we do see the members of al Qaeda that have been in the prisons so it's hard to say that they are not fighting al Qaeda at all. That's unfair, because there is evidence that troops are fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

HO: Well, you know, if you look at the numbers, our Central Intelligence Agency has said there's between 50 and 100 members of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and we estimate the size of the Taliban to be upwards of 40,000.

So what we've really is we're really in this conflict that is primarily local. Are there bad guys there? Absolutely. Am I saying we should completely abandon them and walk away from Afghanistan? No. We have security responsibilities around the world and al Qaeda is a threat, but it's a global threat. And (INAUDIBLE) small cells or individuals who are connected nearly virtually.

So we have this problem with this cancer that is al Qaeda that may be a couple thousand people strong in a worldwide population of 1.5 billion. So the answer is not to have a hundred thousand troops in Afghanistan but to do things smartly, to go after them using good intelligence, through law enforcement means, or using special operation forces like we got Osama bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this spring. PHILLIPS: Matthew Ho, appreciate your time this morning. I know you'll be watching that speech tonight, as all of us will be.

HO: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

We're going to stay on the story throughout the day and right up to the president's address to the nation. It's now scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific. You can see it on CNN.

Also amid the raging debate over same-sex marriage. A look at what the bible really says about homosexuality and some other things that just might surprise you.

And also ahead, we might hear also from a surprise witness in the Casey Anthony murder trial this morning. At issue, what did she and Casey talk about when they spent their time together in jail?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Lawmakers in New York are still wrangling over same-sex marriage two days after their legislative session was meant to end. Plenty of people on both sides of the issue are demonstrating now and a new op-ed on our Belief Blog has some pretty strong words for opponents of gay marriage saying they aren't really defending the bible's values, but are using the bible to defend their own.

Jonathan Dudley wrote that op-ed. He's a graduate of Yale's Divinity School and he's the author "Broken Words, the Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics."

Jonathan, great to have you with us.

You know, as I was reading your op-ed, you said that many of those who use the bible to oppose homosexuality are basically hypocrites. You actually used the words, quote, "They're riddled with self-serving double standards."

Explain to me or explain to our viewers what you mean by that.

JONATHAN DUDLEY, AUTHOR, "BROKEN WORDS": Sure, Kyra. Well, thanks for having me.

So, basically, I'm not arguing that the apostle Paul who is the New Testament author who wrote about same-sex relations, I'm not arguing that he thought they were OK. What I try to point out in the column is that he condemned a lot of other things that Christians don't condemn today.

So, for example, he argued that it's unnatural for men to have long hair and women to have short hair and that's also the reason he gives for opposing same-sex relations. So there are also very strong condemnations of divorce throughout the New Testament that the Evangelical community and a lot of other communities that oppose same- sex marriage read pretty leniently. PHILLIPS: So then let me ask you, from growing up an Evangelical community, which you talk about in this article, to graduating from Yale Divinity School and actually studying Christianity in depth, are you even more aware now of how people could just take a pastor's word or a parent's values, their own personal biases and make it their truths?

DUDLEY: Yes. Yes. I think that's definitely true and a theme I explore throughout my book on topics from abortion to evolution. I think it's true of both conservatives and liberals. I think we all inescapably bring our prior beliefs to the bible and read the bible in a way that reflects those. I think the damaging thing is when people take the bible for what it says and that they don't have prior beliefs or theology that guides their interpretation of the bible.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I keep thinking if I took the bible word for word that I'd be, you know, stoned for planting strawberries next to my corn and I would be my -- my husband would be my master.

DUDLEY: Yes, sure.

PHILLIPS: But it's interesting how you lay out the argument that, hey, you can't take a book written thousands and thousands of years ago and apply to our culture in 2011.

It was a fascinating read, Jonathan. Thank you so much.

DUDLEY: Great. Thanks for having me, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

And you can read Jonathan's take on the bible and homosexuality at CNN.com/belief. And if you'd like, join the conversation. Leave a comment for Jonathan. We know he'll love it.

Well, it went for a record at last night's Houston Astros/Texas Rangers game. Not the players, but the fans. Thirty-three thousand fans, including George W. Bush and Ranger's team president Nolan Ryan, they put on sunglasses at the end of the sixth inning. That's pretty cool, too. The Rangers gave out the shades hoping to set a record for the most people wearing sunglasses in the dark. We'll have more sports in 15 minutes, including some Wimbledon highlights.

And one of the country's best known sports companies finds itself the target of criticism over some T-shirts that some say promote drugs.

And something new in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Prosecutors looking for information about a woman who was in jail with Casey Anthony. We'll find out why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories Cross Country now.

Sacramento, California, lots of sour faces at the capital now that the state has cut off paychecks to legislators. Voters passed Prop 25 saying they won't get until they pass a balanced budget. Legislators get about $95,000 a year.

In Boston, Nike getting complaints about T-shirts with controversial slogans like "Get High" and "Dope." Nike says the phrases don't promote drugs but are a reference to sports. Boston's mayor sent a letter protesting the T-shirts.

And a history making sports event is in negotiations between the NCAA and the Navy. The carrier USS Carl Vincent, based in San Diego could host the first ever major college basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina.

And in Alvin, Texas, a single mom tries to stop three brothers from stealing beer from a local Wal-Mart. So what did she do? She chased them to the car, jumped on the roof and tried to open the driver's door as the car sped off. She's OK. Cops arrested the three after a dramatic chase. The woman says she's tired of people who see crime and look the other way.

And there's new intrigue at the Casey Anthony murder trial. As you look live in the courtroom in Orlando, a potential new witness has surfaced. She spent time in jail with Casey Anthony and her same child died the same way defense attorney say little Caylee died.

CNN's David Mattingly is live in Orlando.

So, if she testifies, David, what impact could the testimony have?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a surprise yesterday when the prosecution came forward. The jury didn't hear any of this and they don't know what is going on. But the prosecution saying that investigators are pursuing a theory that Casey Anthony may have fabricated her story about Caylee Anthony dying in the family swimming pool, being discovered by her grandfather after hearing a similar story, a real life tragedy from a fellow cell mate while she was in jail.

This cellmate, having a very similar experience. Her young child drowning in a family swimming pool. The body being found by the grandfather. Police now want to know did Casey Anthony come in contact with that story there and could she have used it to fabricate the story that's now before the court.

In the meantime today, we've got just a parade of experts we've heard from an FBI geologist and an FBI chemist. Both of them called by the defense and both of them saying they did not find any evidence linking Casey Anthony to that crime scene.

So far, a parade of witnesses and we're expecting to hear more today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, David thanks.

Coming up, remember the Concorde jet? Faster than the speed of sound? Now two different airplane makers say they will bring supersonic aircraft back to the skies.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Who is Jon Huntsman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not a clue.

MOOS: Jon Huntsman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Name recognition, not so good for the newest presidential candidate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The astronauts who will fly on the last space shuttle mission are in Florida for a dress rehearsal. The crew will go through every step of next month's launch. For the final flight "Atlantis" will blast off on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. NASA talked about it last hour at a briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON, COMMANDER OF FINAL SHUTTLE FLIGHT: We've got a complex mission. We've had a very short training flow, about nine months and four people. The number of tasks aboard the shuttle haven't changed just because there is four people.

So I think what I'm driving at is we've been enormously busy and although we tried to pause and think of good ways to reflect and remember those moments, I don't think that the full magnitude of the moment will really hit us until the wheels have stopped on the runway.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Thirty years after the space shuttle program began "Atlantis's" mission to the International Space Station will be NASA's 135th and final mission. You can watch it all right here on CNN. Our coverage begins Friday morning, July 8, 10:30 Eastern Time.

It's been eight long subsonic years since the supersonic Concorde flew the friendly skies and now two faster than the speed of sound aircraft are being revealed at the Paris Air Show.

Zain Verjee ready to go for a ride.

VERJEE: I wish -- mon dieu, I wish. Kyra wouldn't it be great if all I had to do was watch one movie when I left London and by the time the movie ended I was in Atlanta and I could have lunch with you that day, right?

PHILLIPS: That would be fabulous.

VERJEE: It would. And it's being called the "Son of Supersonic" concepts. Let me introduce them to you.

This -- the first one is called Eade (ph) Zero Emission Hypersonic Transport. Now, it's going to be powered by biofuel that's made from sea weed, it's going to fly really, really high above the earth's atmosphere. And that means it's going to cut flying time by many hours.

So for example, Paris to Tokyo takes 11 hours. And this plane will take less than 2.5 hours. It's got three different engine types. But the downside, Kyra, is that it will be ready in 2050.

Then there's the other -- the other jet supersonic jet that's called "Sonic Star" by "Hyper Mach". It's going to fly twice the speed of Concorde. You can go from New York to Dubai in something like 20 minutes Kyra, right?

So that -- that's pretty amazing that it could do that. It's going to reduce emissions. The noise is going to be lower. But again, 2021 is what they're saying will be when people can take those flights. So --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: How expensive?

VERJEE: Oh Kyra, I don't think we can afford it. I don't think --

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: It won't be something you and I are talking about.

VERJEE: It'll just be -- we'll still just be talking about it. You know, like some of these -- some of these jets can -- will only take like 20 passengers, so there are VIPs and luxury accommodations. But the cost, critics is astronomical. And a lot of these companies scratch out these ideas on paper and it sounds great but then along the way they're so expensive and they go bust.

But the key is going to be how do you make an idea like this that you can translate into something that's commercially viable. And that's the question, because if they could do it, it would have already been done. So hopefully they can figure it out.

PHILLIPS: All right and like you said, we'll be talking about it, that's for sure. Thanks, Zain.

VERJEE: All right, thanks.

PHILLIPS: We're looking ahead at some of the headlines making news later today.

On Capitol Hill a House subcommittee will hold a hearing on the lasting implications of the GM bailout. That's taking place at 1:30 Eastern.

And your money is also on the spotlight today. The Feds hold a meeting on whether to raise interest rates. We expect to hear from Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke at 2:15 on that and other economic news.

And then, President Obama reveals his troop withdrawal plans for Afghanistan in a prime time address tonight 8:00 Eastern.

All right, we're following lots of other developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, including lots more on President Obama's speech.

Let's start first with Dan Lothian.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The nation will be waiting to hear what the President has to say as he delivers that speech in prime time on troop levels in Afghanistan. Will it be enough to satisfy war-weary Americans? I'll have the details at the top of the hour.

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nelson Mandela's wife Graca, has called her the "Queen of our World". The First Lady of the United States is rocking Africa. I'm Nkepile Mabuse in Johannesburg with much more.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Storms rocking Chicago last night, over a quarter million people at one point without power, thousands stranded at O'Hare and a lot of heavy rain in Canada. Now Minot, North Dakota almost everybody asked to evacuate. Major flooding expected there. We'll tell you where that water is going after Minot in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: All right thanks guys.

Also next hour --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HANKS, ACTOR: Look at yourself. Shoes made out of dead reptiles. This shirt, Howdy Doody wore a shirt like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wow. You remember our bosom buddy Tom Hanks and that hair? Well, he's going to be here live to talk about his brand new movie "Larry Crown" and lots, lots more. That's coming up at 10:30 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tennis superstar, Serena Williams is back in her first Grand Slam tournament after nearly a year of health problems. Serena in her return to grass courts of Wimbledon playing a first round match against Aravane Rezai.

Serena wins the match on an ace, the scores, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Serena waves to her fans and then in an emotional moment covers her face in a towel. Later she said, quote, "I usually don't cry. But it's just been so hard. I never dreamt I would be here right now."

On the men's side, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have a rematch of their epic marathon from last year. Remember that, well that one ended in 11 hours. This one, now it ended in two. Isner wins in straight sets and won't be so tired as he moves on to the next round.

Jon Huntsman is the newest face the GOP -- in the GOP presidential race rather. He may own the reddest face as well as CNN's Jeanne Moos shows us his big announcement including some pretty embarrassments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Their two-minute stroll across the grass --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There comes the Huntsman.

MOOS: -- with six of their seven kids felt a little like the Von Trapp family with the sound of campaigning.

This relative unknown has so far to run that he has to keep introducing himself.

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Jon Huntsman and I'm humbled.

I'm Jon Huntsman.

I'm Jon Huntsman and I'm running for president of the United States of America.

MOOS: And even when he said those words --

HUNTSMAN: My kids can't believe I just said that.

MOOS: Even his own campaign spelled his name wrong on the press pass handed out. J-O-H-N should have been J-O-N.

When they realized the mistake, the Huntsman campaign people tried to gather up and take back all the misspelled press passes but they missed a few. We went hunting for someone who knows Jon Huntsman.

Who is Jon Huntsman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haven't a clue.

MOOS: Jon Huntsman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No idea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

MOOS: Does this help at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For president? He's running for president.

MOOS: Yes. Ding, ding, ding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he running for the Republican Party?

MOOS: See, you're from Australia?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MOOS: You know more than Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do actually and we're proud of it.

MOOS: But there was a day when people didn't know this guy either.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack? Barack?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never heard of him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His name is like a rapper.

MOOS: At least Huntsman is easy to pronounce. But if you Google it on Google images look what comes up. The huntsman spider. At least its bite isn't considered dangerous.

American comedians have a duty to introduce this latest candidate to the public.

DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is running.

MOOS: Will "Get to know Jon Huntsman" become a recurring bit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's actually no reason to get to know Jon Huntsman. This has been get to know Jon Huntsman.

MOOS: Conan is helping, too.

CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: There's a picture of him right there. It looks like he's interrupting a lunch conversation. Couldn't help but overhear.

MOOS: Huntsman's already been mistaken for someone else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shirtless Twitter guy?

MOOS: Actually it was Craigslist but there is a certain resemblance and we advise this relative unknown not to become over-exposed.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)