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Detecting The "Undetectable"; North Carolina Votes On Same-Sex Marriage Ban; Glass Takes Beating Without Breaking; New Air Security Concerns; Chinese Activist Blasts Smear Campaign; Border Patrol Chief's New Strategy; Gorilla Glass Made in America; Missing Mother, Daughter Found Dead; Apple Survives Passing of Steve Jobs

Aired May 08, 2012 - 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: -- welcoming him to the big leagues. National's GM Mike Reso did not see it that way telling "The Washington Post."

Coleman Shannon recently pitched a no-hitter for his Little League team. A great accomplishment all by itself, but consider this. Coleman as you can see has used of just one arm.

The South Carolina boy was born with a right arm that ends at the elbow, so he's learned to do things with his left arm. As you can see, he does things really, really well.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the United States is inspecting a bomb from a foiled Al Qaeda plot to blow up a plane bound for the United State.

Top senators say current checks would not have detected the bomb at all. So we're asking, what is the TSA doing today to keep you safe?

Voters in North Carolina are heading to the polls right now deciding on a controversial proposal drawing national attention. Amendment One would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but would also invalidate any civil unions and domestic partnerships.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let no one define your marriage for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of our culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That glass screen on your smart phone is specially- made to take a beating. While the rest of your phone is probably put together in China, the glass is likely from a rural town in Kentucky. We'll take you there. Right now, one lawmaker is worried that someone is playing politics with the latest terror plot against U.S. air travelers. Minutes ago, I spoke with the head of the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman Mike Rogers is one of the few lawmakers briefed on the most intricate details of the investigation. He's worried that someone went public with that information inappropriately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE MIKE ROGERS (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It's important if you're going to be successful that certain pieces of information be kept classified in order for you to meet the end, find the end, find the bomb maker, find the fill in the blank.

And make sure you can determine how we best handle getting not only just the bomb, but the people who are building this. You can pretty much guess this is probably not the only one they have built.

All of those things are very, very important. And for it to come out when it did, I do argue that it was not very, very helpful. We'll have to ramp it up.

This town in a political season, people need to be a little more cautious. Actually, they need to be a lot more cautious about how they promote this information at a time when it may not have been most beneficial.

COSTELLO: So, Congressman, are you saying that it was deliberately leaked for political reasons?

ROGERS: I can't say that. I just know that in a political season, funny things happen. We're going to ask, for me, chairman, I'm going to ask lots of questions about this leak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So here are some of the details of what Congressman Rogers called this leaked plot. It's centered around a non-metallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. It's similar to the underwear bomb aboard a Detroit bound flight in 2009.

A malfunction may be the only reason those passengers survived. This latest plot also targeted an international flight coming into the United States.

Now also a short time ago, we heard from the White House's chief advisor on counter terrorism. The big question this morning, how worry should we be that this bomb and others like it would not be detected by current safeguards. Here's John Brennan on ABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER: I think people getting on a plane today should feel confident that their intelligent services are working day in and day out to stop these types of IEDs from getting anywhere near a plane.

But also I think when they go through the screening measures at airports, they understand why they are in place because there are terrorists groups like al Qaeda that continue to try to evade those security measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Lizzie O'Leary is our aviation and regulation correspondent. She's on special assignment in Topeka, Kansas and she joins us right now. Hi, Lizzie.

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Glad you're with us. ABC reported last week the United States ordered scores of Air Marshalls to Europe to protect U.S. bound planes. Does that mean good old fashion observation is now our only real protection?

O'LEARY: Well, if you look at sort of the wide spectrum of security and screening, what they call behavioral detection and good old-fashioned observation is often regarded as the gold standard.

It's certainly what the Israelis do. But it's also worth noting that that's a very challenging thing to do in the U.S. where we have 450 commercial airports.

And we're also talking about looking at flights coming into the U.S. We know TSA has screeners in specific countries where they try to look at folk who is they think might be a threat or coming from a country they realize is a threat.

So what they say is that they have sort of a layered approach. That's the term they always use, which means a little bit of observation, a little bit of Air Marshalls, a little bit electronic screening, and a little of watching what peoples' behavior is with the recognition that there's no plan that is 100 percent full proof.

COSTELLO: Senator Diane Feinstein said this device was undetectable to security screenings. Then she described had her airport experience recently in Dubai and I'll read it to you, Lizzie.

She said, I recently traveled through Dubai and was subjected to three levels of intense security including personal pat downs of my body. But the nature of this plot demonstrates al Qaeda remains determine to attack the United States.

And is a reminder why the TSA and other security agencies are extremely vigilant on airport security. The question for you, Lizzie, will we eventually see more pat downs at U.S. airports? O'LEARY: Well, they are frankly a more full-proof way to inspect people. So there's a combination of that and then the two kinds of machines that travelers are probably familiar with.

There's one kind called a back scanner and another called a millimeter wave. Millimeter waves are what they use in Europe and they are open questions about whether a device like this that was non- metallic in nature would have been caught by one of those machines.

We know government inspectors raised questions about whether Abdulmutalab, the original underwear bomber would have been caught by one of those machines. There was an inspector general's report from the TSA basically raising questions about the efficacy of those machines.

It's a lot harder to identify something that's non-metallic in the machine. So in some ways, yes, Senator Feinstein is right that a pat down is a more effective way to do that.

But you have also seen the backlash the pat downs have produced here in the U.S. People feel it's an invasion of privacy and from folks who say it just slows down the process.

COSTELLO: I know you'll have much more on this in the days to come. Lizzie O'Leary reporting live from Topeka, Kansas for us this morning.

We want to turn now to CNN national security contributor, Fran Townsend. She's a former Bush Homeland Security adviser and a member of the External Advisory Committee for the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. Welcome, Fran.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I just talked with Congressman Rogers. He's upset that this information about this plot. This new kind of bomb leaked. He says it muddies the investigation. Do you agree with him?

TOWNSEND: Well, Carol, it certainly makes it more difficult for the intelligence community and investigators. Look, here's what we know. We know that this came from a tip from the Saudis who have tremendous understanding and intelligence on al Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula.

It's reasonable to think they also as part of their intelligence operation had what we call a penetration. That is somebody inside the organization, which would explain why when John Brennan talks about the plot.

He said we weren't afraid of the current threat that there was a current threat because we had it under control. That's generally language in the community for suggesting you had somebody inside the organization so you understood very well what was happening.

For information on an investigation to leak where you have a penetration of an organization is not only dangerous, it not only endangers the investigation, but the individual that's providing the information.

So I understand why Chairman Rogers is worried. Because remember the other piece -- we know al Qaeda especially tends to go for what we call multiple simultaneous attacks.

So that would suggest if they used their old apparatus, there may have been more. To cause a disruption to the investigation where you seized one bomb, but don't know whether there are others out there is rightly cause for the congressman's concern.

COSTELLO: You have been in politics a long time, Fran. I'm just going to ask you because the congressman, Congressman Rogers intimated that this information was leaked maybe for political purposes, although he wouldn't say that, but he really was saying that. I mean, do you think that's what happened?

TOWNSEND: You know, I will tell you, Carol, when I was in government we were always frustrated by leaks, especially of this nature when you have an ongoing investigation. I'm not aware of them ever being done intentionally for political purposes.

Remember the worst thing for the administration is if one of these bombs gets through. They want to see the investigation be successful and seize any bombs out there.

So it's not really in their interest or anybody's interest for the leak to disrupt the ongoing investigation. So I frankly find it hard to imagine that anybody would be that irresponsible.

COSTELLO: OK, so one last question. Congressman Rogers also said he wants to get to the bottom of who leaked this information. He's going to start asking questions and if he doesn't get the proper answers to those questions, maybe he'll do a congressional investigation. Is all of that warranted?

TOWNSEND: First and foremost, what we have to do is see this investigation through. I think the congressman would agree with that, right?

You want to get to the bottom of that. You don't want intelligence officers distracted right now with an investigation. There will be time to figure this out and whether or not he gets his questions answered if he wants to hold a hearing after we have gotten through the investigation.

COSTELLO: Fran Townsend, thanks so much.

TOWNSEND: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: In other news this morning, the blind Chinese activist who wants to come to the United States is now speaking out against what he calls a state-run media smear campaign.

Chen Guangcheng talked to CNN by phone from his Beijing hospital bed. He calls personal attacks against him by Chinese media utter nonsense.

CNN's Stan Grant is in Beijing. Stan, you spoke to one of Chen's critics, a prominent blogger. Why does he say he's attacking Chen?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (Inaudible) it was too, Carol. I have to say. We turned up to interview this man and waited for us with three other cameras to film us filming him, one of them from a web site that's gone by the name in the past anti-cnn.com.

This is all Orwellian this has become. He's launched this campaign branding Chen a traitor. He's written an editorial for the "Global Times," which is essentially the Communist Party mouthpiece here.

In that, he says that Chen is being used by the United States. He says the United States wants to make points against China and is using Chen Guangcheng in this way. He also claims to have spoken to locals who see Chen as a traitor and accused him of being an American spy.

Chen, of course, denies all of this in the meantime. He's still in his hospital bed surrounded by security. They are blocking any media access. He's still in contact with American officials by phone, but he still can't meet them face to face. He's waiting for the passport and visa so he can leave the country -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Is this all being orchestrated by the Chinese government in effort to keep Chen in country?

GRANT: Certainly, the smear campaign is being seen as a way of trying to prepare the population here for the time that Chen actually leaves. They don't want him leaving as a hero. They don't want others to think, look, if I do the same thing, if I make a run for an embassy, I can escape China in this way.

So they are trying to bring him down. They're trying to sully his name. (Inaudible) looking at him as a traitor. This process was meant to have been done a lot quicker than this.

It's now almost a week since he went to the hospital. They said they would expedite the passport. It doesn't appear to be happening so quickly, but Chen is still hopeful of being able to leave -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Stan Grant, live for us in Beijing, China.

North Carolina voters are making a huge decision right now whether to define marriage within their state's constitution. We'll talk to people on both sides of the same-sex marriage issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: it's 15 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now.

The Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee is questioning whether politics played a part in the leaked terror plot. Mike Rogers, the congressman, worries the publicized information could hurt the investigation.

The plot involved a non-metallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. It's aimed to bring down an international flight bound for the United States.

The head of U.S. Border Patrol is expected on Capitol Hill later this hour actually to lay out his new strategy for securing the border. Michael Fisher hopes to convince lawmakers America will still be safe even the agents and cameras aren't spread out along much of the border. He favors a more targeted approach in high-risk areas.

It is primary day in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Indiana. This will give Mitt Romney a chance to pick up more delegates. He needs just a little more than 300 to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

Also in North Carolina today, all the buzz is really about Amendment One. It would change the state's constitution to read "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized."

Evangelist Billy Graham has taken out full-page ads in 14 North Carolina newspapers supporting the amendment. Bill Clinton recorded a robocall opposing saying the amendment would have consequences saying that have nothing to do with same sex marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (via telephone): Its passage would also take away health insurance from children and could even take away domestic violence protection for women. So the real affect of the law is not to keep the traditional definition of marriage. It's already done that. The real affect of the law would hurt families and drive away jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A final poll shows the amendment would likely pass by a 16-point margin. We want to talk more about this, this morning with Mark Kleinschmidt. He's the first openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill. He's campaigning against Amendment One and Pastor Ron Baity, he's with the Berean Baptist Church in Winston Salem. He's urging his congregation to vote for the amendment. Welcome to both of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Mayor, let's start with you. If this amendment passes, what do you expect will happen?

MAYOR MARK KLEINSCHMIDT (D), CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA: Well, certainly, the legislature had intended consequences here. That would be to define marriage, but unfortunately, it's so broadly defined in this ballot measure that there are a whole plethora of unintended consequences.

As President Clinton said in his robocall that you played a minute ago, we had a potential for impact on the lives of children, seniors, and individuals who rely on domestic violence laws to protect themselves against abusers.

I'm afraid that given the breath of this amendment and this ballot, we're looking at years of litigation to just determine what the full meaning of this amendment would be.

COSTELLO: Pastor Baity, do you agree?

RON BAITY, PASTOR, BEREAN BAPTIST CHURCH: No, I sure do not. All of that is a facade with nothing there that has been proved. As a matter of fact, the state of Idaho has a marriage amendment in place that when in place in 2006.

And the language of the marriage amendment in the state of Idaho is basically worded the same as the amendment here in the state of North Carolina. And there's been no case or history of case law where that law has been challenged.

In the last few days here in the state of North Carolina, several district attorneys, judges, and sheriffs have come front and center and testified that all of that the domestic violence laws are not in a position that they can be removed from the protection of the people here in the state of North Carolina.

As a matter of fact, Ohio had their marriage laws challenged in the state court and the state court in Ohio determined that there's no conflict between domestic violence laws and the marriage amendment.

COSTELLO: Pastor, let me ask you this. Why is this amendment so important to you?

BAITY: It's so important to us because biblical marriage was put in place not by the legislature, but was put in by our creator in the Garden of Eden, our saviour when he created man. He performed the first marriage there in the Garden of Eden.

And the Lord Jesus went back and referenced that and gave us the definition of marriage and he said for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they shall become one.

The status quo has been marriage between one man and one woman. It's worked for thousands of years and it does not need to be redefined.

COSTELLO: Pastor, you feel so strongly about this that at one point in one of your sermons, you said that people who are in same sex marriages should go to prison?

BAITY: No, ma'am, I have never said that.

COSTELLO: What did you say exactly? Set the record straight for us, what did you say?

BAITY: Well, I could preach all of my sermons. I don't know which reference you're referencing because I have never said that. I have always said we love homosexuals. We do not agree with their lifestyle.

The Lord loves them, but the Lord does not agree with their lifestyle. The bible is conclusive from Genesis Chapter One that marriage is ordained of God and that it is between one man and one woman and there's not one verse.

COSTELLO: I want to get the mayor's position on this. Mayor, I'd like your reaction to that.

KLEINSCHIMDT: Well, I have the highest respect for the pastor's religious beliefs. And I ask only that he have the same respect for mine. My faith tradition actually recognizes the full equality of all people, all human beings.

And I think it's wrong as an elected official myself that we should choose one particular religious definition and impose it within our laws and our constitution. But even that argument aside, the pastor already has what he is seeking.

Here in North Carolina, it is already against the law for same sex couples to marry. The only purpose that this amendment would serve would be to give individuals at the ballot box the opportunity to declare their distaste for the LGBT community.

And as a member of that community and as someone who is an American who expects and deserves equal treatment under the law, I believe it is inappropriate to the extreme and un-American to put the rights and privileges of a segment of our community to a vote of the people.

It is offensive to the members of the LGBT community and in doing so, it has the potential to impact the lives of many members of the state whether they be LGBT or not. While I understand the pastor's position around domestic violence laws, his position is just supposition.

In Ohio, scores of people had their convictions overturned on domestic violence charges before the Supreme Court clarified. Our court has never interpreted the language that's being presented to the people of North Carolina.

Our courts are not the Ohio courts. In many ways, our laws operate differently. And I would expect our courts to interpret it independently. We do not know how broad an impact this amendment will have. And I think the people of North Carolina should be concerned about that.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll see how the vote goes. Thank you both for sharing your views. We appreciate it. Amendment one being voted on today by the people of North Carolina. Thanks to both of you. Mitt Romney taking credit for the auto industry's rebound. The White House says it's a new low. We'll run it by our panel coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe?

We have gone back and forth on airline security. It seems like when there's a threat, Americans want the government to do whatever they can to protect us.

But when the threat fades, there's anger over the invasiveness of full body scanners and pat downs. The TSA has responded by scaling back searches of children and the elderly.

Now we learned that the United States has thwarted a terror attempt with this chilling twist. According to Senator Diane Feinstein, this would have been an undetectable bomb on an airliner coming into United States.

A bomb like the one worn by the Detroit underwear bomber, a plastic explosive, but with no-metallic content so metal detectors wouldn't find it. Those full body scanners might show a so-called underwear bomb or might not. One thing is for sure. Terrorists are trying awfully hard to outsmart our security devices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA ANALYST: People don't want to talk about the technology and the fact they are improving their technology. I think these guys are very, very good. If they continue to adapt, we should consider this a very real threat to our aviation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For Congressman Peter King, the latest terror plot proves America needs to remain vigilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE PETER KING (R), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: This is a very, very sophisticated, deadly organization. They have one goal in mind. That's to destroy western civilization particularly the United States. We can never let our guard down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Vigilant, yes, but when it comes to personal liberty, where do you draw the line? So talk back question for today, how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour. A senator who's been office 36 years could get the boot today. A Tea Party backed challenger could end Dick Lugar's career. The "Buzz Panel" will weigh in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty minutes past the hour.

Checking our "Top Stories" now the Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee is questioning whether politics played a part in the leaked terror plot.

Congressman Mike Roger worries the publicized information could hurt the investigation. The plot involved a non-metallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. Its aim? To bring down an international flight bound for the United States.

New conference getting underway by a group of Democratic Senators as the fight to keep student loan interest rates from doubling heats up on Capitol Hill. A White House-backed bill is supposed to come up for consideration today. Republicans promise to block it unless Democrats allow a vote on a Republican alternative. The sticking point is over how to pay the $6 billion price tag for the program.

Rick Santorum throws his support behind former rival Mitt Romney for president in an e-mail. Santorum told the supporters in the 13th paragraph of the e-mail he made his decision after meeting with Romney on Friday. Santorum says the two men agreed that Obama must be defeated. Santorum dropped out of the Republican race last month.

"Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions 30 seconds on the clock. Playing with us today: Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman; Republican strategist, Ron Bonjean. Welcome to both of you.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hey thanks a lot.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

First question a big primary day in Indiana, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate Dick Lugar of Indiana is down double digits to a challenger who has Tea Party backing.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien asked Lugar about the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), INDIANA: We've had a very, vigorous campaign, but essentially, the bulk of the money being spent in the campaign has been by so-called outside interests. And the people have run negative ads for millions of dollars. Not only the Super PACs but various well-known organizations. Having said all of that, I believe that Hoosiers will, in fact, vote for me today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well but he's lagging in the polls; 36 years in the Senate could be gone after today. What does this tell you about the GOP in 2012? Ron?

BONJEAN: Well, I'll tell you what. It's going -- you know if Dick Lugar loses, it will be sad to see him go, however Indiana is going to remain solid Republican. It is most likely going to go to Romney in November. And there's really nothing to worry about here.

But you know, it just shows you the polarization of politics that more hard-line conservatives are defeating more -- more of the moderates. And we're going to have more partisanship in the years to come in Congress.

COSTELLO: Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: Ron makes a very important point. When he talks about the polarization of the process. This isn't so much a story about the Republican Party in 2012. It's a story about the nature of our political process today.

Where the nominees for both parties, my party, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, are truly controlled by ultimately Super PACs and by the extreme polarization and the extreme fringe of either party due to re-apportionment and due to the nature of the discourse.

So therefore, concepts like negotiation and compromise are ultimately the victims. If Dick Lugar loses, it's a sad day for the nation.

COSTELLO: Ok on to the second question. Mitt Romney and the auto bailout. In 2008 Romney famously wrote that Detroit should just go bankrupt. Fast forward 2012 Romney now says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And frankly that's finally what the President did. He finally took them through bankruptcy. That was the right course I argued for from the beginning. It was the UAW and the President that delayed the idea of bankruptcy. I -- I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy. And finally when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet.

So I'll -- I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back.

A spokesman for President Obama accuses Romney of sinking to a new low in dishonesty, even for him. Ouch. So can Romney really take credit for Detroit's comeback -- Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: You know, the first rule -- I think Ron would agree with me -- the first rule in politics is that when you go on the attack or when you try to take credit for a project or try to make a charge, you have to be personally credible. And Romney not only embarrasses himself by this attempt, but he really hurts his credibility on so many issues.

The very fact that he was opposed to the actual bailout that took place. The only reason GM and Chrysler went into forced bankruptcy is because of the federal guaranteed -- the federal guaranteed loans that were provided that George W. Bush and President Obama supported. So it really is just embarrassing for them, he just embarrasses himself with that kind of charge.

COSTELLO: Ron?

BONJEAN: Well, I think what Romney was saying is that he was against the millions of dollars in a sweetheart -- for a sweetheart union deal instead of a more responsible restructuring deal. And that, you know, Romney was pressuring the administration along with a lot of Republicans into having a managed bankruptcy process. And I think that's what you're seeing Mitt Romney trying to say here.

This is about Democrats who are trying to nationalize health care and trying to nationalize the financial sector and trying to nationalize the auto industry. And that's just not where Republicans want to see the country go.

COSTELLO: Ok. On to question number three. Your "Buzzer Beat" 20 seconds each. Members of Congress are richer way richer than you and me with a median net worth of $878,500. Democratic lawmakers are actually worth more than nine times the typical American household in 2010. Not bad for the party that positions itself as a defender of the middle class.

So given this information, can Democrats honestly make Romney's wealth an issue -- Ron?

BONJEAN: Not at all. That's what's hilarious about this. It's -- it's actually rather shocking how much Democratic lawmakers are actually worth. And you take President Obama he's worth millions of dollars due to book deals. You have Democrats in the senate who are worth millions of dollars as well. And like you said, the average is -- is hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democratic lawmakers.

It just shows you that this whole warfare against the middle class versus those who have too much is all a bunch of buck.

COSTELLO: Robert?

ZIMMERMAN: Well, my first concern Carol and Ron is why are all these Democratic House and Senate members worth all this money calling me for donations all the time? That's my -- that's my greatest concern.

But on to your point the reality is that I don't think we have to pass the hat for Republican House and Senate members either. The bigger issue is not his wealth, but the fact that Mitt Romney keeps opposing plans for the middle class. Like student loans, like cutting Medicare for future retirees, like education opportunities and loans for small business.

COSTELLO: All right, thanks.

ZIMMERMAN: Thanks for letting me go over.

COSTELLO: Again, I just wanted you to finish your sentence. You know I'm a polite kind of gal.

ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for playing. Ron and Robert.

BONJEAN: Thank you.

ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Have you ever thought about --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: You're welcome -- have you ever thought about where the glass on your smart phones come from? Chances are it's made right here in America at Corning Gorilla Glass plant in Kentucky. We're going to take you on a tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Maurice Sendak celebrated author of "Where the Wild Things Are" has died. The award-winning children's book was turned into a movie in 2009. Sendak illustrated nearly 100 books during his 60 year career. Former president Bill Clinton called the artist the King of Dreams. Sendak was 83.

If you have a smart phone, there's a good chance the glass was made in America. Poppy Harlow takes us on a tour of the Corning plant in Kentucky where they are making this glass and working on the glass of the future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE JOBS, FORMER CEO, APPLE: Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The iPhone, Apple's iconic smart phone, millions sold worldwide. Assembled in giant Foxcom factories in China. Yet would you believe the glass for it was developed right here in America. Not in Silicon Valley, but here in rural Harrisburg, Kentucky. This 60-year-old plant is the home of Corning's Gorilla Glass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well let's go after this pretty strong. It's damaged resistance. It can take keys, it can take some drops.

HARLOW: In 2007 Apple CEO Steve Jobs asked Corning to make a thin, but strong glass for the first iPhone and gave them just six months to produce it. CASEY DUFFY, PLANT MANAGER, CORNING: One of the fastest developments we have ever pulled off here and a very successful one.

HARLOW: Other mobile phone companies came calling looking to add gorilla glass to their phones.

DUFFY: We now work with over 30 different manufacturers. We're in over 600 different designs. There are now over 600 million devices in the field.

HARLOW: And that's keeping this factory and its workers pretty busy. But without gorilla glass, this plant may not have made it through the recession. Before Steve Jobs made that initial order, the Harrisburg plant made LCD glass. But demand was slowing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2008 and in 2009, the world experienced a real crisis. We were extremely fortunate at that time to have a new business, Gorilla, that was growing and could really help this plant stay viable.

HARLOW: So all of the gorilla glass made here, every single sheet of it is packaged up and shipped over to Asia because that's where the customers are. 40 percent of Corning's workers are here in the U.S. 400 here at this Kentucky plant. But 60 percent are overseas, mainly in Asia.

Yet Corning keeps this product development close to home to protect the glass-making secrets at the heart of its business.

A lot of what is happening here at Corning, we can't shoot. We can't even show it to you because of the intellectual property protection.

DAVID LOWE, ENGINEERING MANAGER, CORNING: It's important for us being a global company that we protect our innovation. We spend a lot of money to develop our technologies and we need to make sure they are secure.

HARLOW: Corning is not planning to just ride the gorilla glass wave. They see a world made of glass. And their latest invention is part of it.

LOWE: As you can see, I can bend the glass around a certain radius. We plan on providing these and our old format star customary.

HARLOW: This is the future.

LOWE: This is the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Poppy Harlow joins us now live. I love the name of that gorilla glass. I know the importance of keeping, you know, things secret, but do we know if gorilla glass is used in the iPad for example, or the newest iPhone 2? HARLOW: It's a great question. I tried to get it out of them. We don't know. Apple's lips are sealed. Corning's lips are sealed on that one. What we can tell you for sure is that this is the glass that was used in the first iPhone and in many, many of its competitors. Very well, be in my iPhone right now, you iPad. We just don't know because of trade secrets.

But this is interesting. I mean this is a 106-year-old company. Depending on what generation we're talking about, You and me or our parents, our grandparents. They know Corning for different things like those little Pyrex dishes that we all probably have in our kitchen.

And this is a good example of a company that, you know, someway, somehow reinvented itself through the recession. I will tell you one thing that stood out to me though being there walking around the plant. Is the reality of American manufacturing and then it's how much of it is automated and how much is now done by machines. Robots really.

So jobs have changed. They still have jobs, but they are different. They are running computers to run the machines, not doing it all by hand.

COOPER: Yes. I know Corning well. My father-in-law worked there many, many, many, moons ago. It's an iconic American company. I'm glad it's adjusted and it's doing well.

HARLOW: It has.

COSTELLO: Poppy Harlow, thank you.

Checking our top stories now. The Republican who heads the house intelligence committee is questioning whether politics played a part in the latest terror plot. Congressman Mike Rogers, a Republican, he said publicized information could hurt the investigation. The plot involved a non-metallic explosive designed to slip through airport detectors. Its aim to bring down an international flight bound for the United States.

Minutes ago on Capitol Hill we heard from another lawmaker. She's also demanding answers. Republican Senator Susan Collins wants to know why she wasn't told about the plot until it went public. Listen to her comments moments ago.

SEN. SUAN COLLINS (R), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: If there is dispute over the administration's reports to congress that there was not an active plot tied to the anniversary of Osama bin Laden, it may be that the administration just did not want the news to become public and to alert those involved in the plot.

That's an issue that I am going to pursue because, obviously, those of us who have access to highly-classified information and serve as the leaders of the homeland security and intelligence committees do need to be kept informed and briefed. Collins is the ranking minority member on the senate intelligence committee. She says the administration better have good reasons for keeping her in the dark but will reserve judgment until she hears the reason.

The head of the U.S. border patrol is on Capitol Hill laying out his new strategy for securing the boarder. Michael Fisher favors a more-targeted approach in high risk areas, but he must convince lawmakers that America will still safe if agents and cameras aren't spread across the border. As much as the border if possible.

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COSTELLO: Two young lives are in the balance and your help is desperately needed. Take a look at these sisters. 12 years old and 8 years old. They may be with a one-time family friend now a kidnapping suspect. The girls' safety an even greater concern with the discovery of their mother's and sister's bodies.

Martin Savidge is covering this case for us. So tell us more.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with the names of those two young girls. T's Kylea and Alexandrea. Then it is their mother older system whose bodies were identified and released their names by authorities last night.

And then there is other name we need to know and that is Adam Mayes. He's the family friend who now is believed abducted this family back on April 27th. He's now murdered the mother and older sister. And still believed to be holding the two younger sisters.

And authorities tell us they believe the younger sisters are alive and in his custody. He is the source of a major manhunt that is taking place throughout the southeast.

There is still a lot of information we do not know. For instance, we don't have the nature or the automobile in which he was driving and maybe in at this time. We don't know where he is. Could it be that he's still in the Mississippi or Tennessee area where this all played out. Has he gone off to other parts of the nation. We don't know. But it's desperate to find her.

COSTELLO: So what is his relationship to the family?

SAVIDGE: Well, you know, this is what's so interesting and so tragic about this story. He's a family friend that goes back many years, close to the father of these young girls. Many neighbors say that he had the girls over. He tread them as if they were his own, even made statements that they were his own daughters.

And then he is involved in this kidnapping and apparently with the death of at least one of them and their mother. It's unthinkable. Just unthinkable.

COSTELLO: So police don't know the type of -- But they did find the mother's car.

SAVIDGE: Right. They did. They found that abandoned.

COSTELLO: And it was abandoned, somewhere.

SAVIDG: Right. This was two days after they were reported missing. They found this car, Dodge Durango on the side of a dirt road. That was the first indicator it could be trouble. They brought Adam Mayes in for questioning. He answered police questions. They let him go then they went back to talk to him further. He had vanished.

They went to his property. That's where they found the bodies over the weekend. The identifications didn't come out until last night.

This is what has ramped up the urgency. First it was a missing family. Now we know that two family members are dead. Two more lives are at stake.

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge, thanks so much.

We'll be back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apple is the world's most valuable tech company and a staple on the "Fortune 500" list. It revolutionized the way we live, work, and play with popular devices such as the iPad and iPhone. After the passing of CEO Steve Jobs last year, Tim Cook took the helm. Cook joined Apple in 1998 after Jobs personally sought him out. Cook has been known to quote Lance Armstrong in Apple meetings. He also serves on the board of Nike.

Nevada has become the first state to grant licenses for cars that drive themselves. Wouldn't that be great? Two people have to be inside the car in case something goes wrong, but so far so good. The cars have already traveled 200,000 miles on test runs without an accident. So you're asking, how long will you have to wait to get your hands on one of these prototypes? Well, Nevada's DMV says the robocars could become available to the public in three to five years.

In today's "Daily Dose", America's obesity rate could get worse in just a few years. That's the finding of a new study that shows an additional 30 million people or 42 percent of the U.S. population will be obese by the year 2030. The figure right now is around 35 percent. America's expanding waistlines could add up to $550 billion in medical costs.

We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big questions for the today. The question for you this morning, how much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe? Your responses coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, How much are you willing to sacrifice your privacy to be safe?

This from Roberto, "I don't understand why we're even having this discussion. Whatever happened to we will never forget? My life, other people's lives are not worth a little extra discomfort."

This from Clark. "It was our intelligence community that was able to prevent such an attack and what little of a role the TSA played will still be called into question. My privacy is tantamount to my pride as an American. And if that gets taken away so does the shred of decency I call my patriotism."

This from Carmen, "People need to wake up. The government and airlines are trying to make sure we make it to our destinations alive. I think we should stop complaining and say thank you to the TSA and homeland defense.

And this from Diane. "We have to be as vigilant about our rights as we are about catching terrorists."

COSTELLO: : Please continue the conversation, Facebook.com/carolCNN.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Carol Costello.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now with Kyra Phillips.