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Facebook Co-Founder "Defriending" U.S.; $150K Reward for White Powder Letter Sender; Closing Arguments in Edwards Trial; "The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama"; Gunman Aims Rifle at Kids Entering Bus; Protests Target Alabama Immigration Law; College Drops Health Insurance; Autopsy Today for Wife of RFK Jr.; Flames, Snakes, Mines, Confront Firefighters; Google Flaunts Driverless Car in D.C.
Aired May 17, 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: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.
Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, unfriending the United States. A Facebook co-founder renounces his U.S. citizenship just months before the company goes public meaning he could save an estimated $100 million in capital gains taxes. And that has caught the attention now of two U.S. senators.
The FBI trying to track down the man who sent almost 400 letters filled with a white powdery substance. His latest targets, buildings with a lot of children. Agents hope a new reward and a specific profile will help them catch the suspect.
The battle for the White House heats up. New reports of a 54-page GOP plan in development that targets Barack Obama's image, policies and former pastor.
But first this morning, Facebook stock goes public tomorrow morning. One of its founders stands to make a lot of money. But unlike other investors he won't have to pay taxes on that cash. This morning two senators have called a noose conference to address that big tax loophole.
Eduardo Severyn gave up his U.S. citizenship just a few months ago. Because of that he'll reportedly save an estimated $100 million in taxes. Mary Snow takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Had he not renounced his U.S. citizenship before Facebook's IPO you might not be hearing much about Eduardo Severyn.
For some his role as one of Facebook co-founder only came to light in the movie "The Social Network." After Harvard, Severyn's role in Facebook sputtered. He eventually sued for a stake in the company.
David Kirkpatrick, author of "The Facebook Effect" estimates Severyn owns about 4 percent, which he says it could be worth, get this, $4 billion. DAVID KIRKPATRICK, AUTHOR, "THE FACEBOOK EFFECT": The book the movie was based on was called the accidental billionaires. There was only one accidental billionaire and that's Eduardo Severyn.
SNOW: With as much as $4 billion at stake, it's safe to say he could save hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes. A spokesman for Severyn says he's expatriation happened months ago and is no way tied to the IPO.
The Brazilian born Severyn became a U.S. citizen in 1998. His spokesman says he moved to Singapore three years ago adding Eduardo's decision was not about taxes. He still has very strong ties to Brazil and is extremely passionate about not only his homeland, but also the U.S.
Eduardo recently found it to be more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time. Professor Michael Graetz at Columbia Law School is skeptical taxes didn't play a role in Severyn's decision.
MICHAEL GRAETZ, COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL: Citizenship for him really did mean that he would be subject to taxes on his worldwide income, no matter where he lived. It's very hard to believe that taxes did not enter into his calculation at all given the timing of this.
SNOW (on camera): Giving up your citizenship isn't free. If you do renounce U.S. citizenship, you're hit with an exit tax from Uncle Sam. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: I think he can probably afford that, don't you?
Anyway, two Democratic Senators, Charles Schumer and Bob Kasich say they will announce a plan to re-impose taxes on ex-pats like Severyn.
Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill. So, Dana, they say they are taking a tough stance, but is there really anything they can do?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these senators think the answer is yes. I'll show you some examples and the information about what is in this legislation, which they will formally propose in just about an hour.
First of all, it would re-impose taxes on an ex-pat if their network is at least $2 million or if their average taxable income is $148,000 and then they would be hit with a penalty.
They would pay 30 percent capital gains on future earnings and they would also be banned from the U.S. until the taxes are paid. Even then until that they must apply for a visa like any other foreign citizen.
This is something that -- one of the questions that I got from one of your producers, which is a really good one is, can this really be done retroactively if they pass this. This is already happening. The IPO is happening tomorrow. The answer is the way they are trying to structure this legislation is about future earnings. So yes, he could gain the system.
As soon as the IPO happens, he could sell his billions and billions of dollars worth of stock. But it's really unlikely that he would be able to do that.
COSTELLO: I'm just wondering how many people actually renounce their citizenship every year to escape U.S. taxes. There are people who do it for other kinds of reasons.
BASH: Well, I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but there certainly are reports more and more people are doing it for this reason because taxes are just better for people very wealthy in places other than the United States.
You know, one other question that I had is what about people who renounce their citizenship and are not doing it to escape taxes. There will be a provision in this law that tells the IRS that they can make exceptions.
One quick example, the ambassador from Israel to the United States, he was a U.S. citizen. He was born in New Jersey. He had to renounce his citizenship because that was the rule of Israel. Someone like him, he would not get these penalties.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Capitol Hill.
Federal agents have an annoying mystery on their hands. Who keeps sending letters filled with white powder? Yes, the powder is harmless so far, but the chaos these letters create is not.
It started in 2008 in North Texas. Someone sent letter after letter to government offices. Since then the number has grown to 380 letters and the target has changed.
In the past two weeks, this individual has sent more than 20 letters to elementary schools and daycare centers. The FBI is offering a $150,000 reward. Tom Fuentes is a former assistant FBI assistant director. Good morning, Tom.
TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So why is the FBI so concerned about this powder, it's been harmless so far.
FUENTES: Well, so far. But, you know, if you receive one of these letters and open your envelope and white powder comes pouring out of it and the message says you're doomed, you might be doomed. That's what happened in 2001 when people opened letters containing anthrax and died later.
So in this case, you don't know it's safe until it's been turned over to the authorities, sent to a crime lab, the contents examined and identified and, OK, by the way, it's harmless. You spend days or weeks wondering if you're going to die.
So it's not completely harmless in that sense if you get one of these. The FBI and postal inspector have actually responded to more than 1,600 incidents that they think are related to this.
They have opened 500 separate investigations and actually 380 letters turned out to have some form of powder in it. This has also cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in the cost of the investigations including the forensic examinations at the various crime labs and diversion of resources from other ongoing cases to be involved in trying to rule out that this material is hazardous.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about why someone would do this. The FBI has come up with a profile of who they believe is sending letters to North Texas and beyond now.
They believe the individual is male, 30 years of age or older. He may be considered by others to be odd or eccentric. He may have some experience with mental health facilities according to a reward poster prepared by authorities. Just in looking at this profile, this could fit, frankly, many people.
FUENTES: I know. That's the problem. When you offer a large reward and you put out a description like that, you do have the risk that you're going to receive thousands of false claims.
In some cases people call in to try to get their former spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend in trouble and have the authorities go to their residence and look into their background.
So you're going to get probably a lot of false claims and false indications. You're right. You just think in your own circle of family, friends, and colleagues, you'll probably identify a couple of weird people in that group. We all will.
COSTELLO: Tom Fuentes, many thanks.
FUENTES: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: It's almost over. Closing arguments in the John Edwards trial are today. We will not be hearing from the two stars at the center of the case, John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter.
After just two days, the Edwards defense team rested. Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison on charges he funnelled campaign money to Hunter, the mother of his illegitimate child.
Reverend Wright, remember him? He could once again be back in the headlines if this ad campaign crafted by some high profile Republican strategist is approved.
"The New York Times" is reporting the controversial pastor is the focus of the proposed ad campaign called, "The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama." It slams the president's policies while revisiting his ties to Wright, a controversial black pastor known for incendiary sermons blasting white America. Joining me now is Jeff Zeleny, the national political correspondent for the "New York Times." Welcome.
JEFF ZELENY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
COSTELLO: So you write in the article that the plan is still in development. How far along is it?
ZELENY: Well, this plan was actually pretty far in development. There was a very specific rollout of what would begin with a 5-minute film at the Democratic convention in early September in Charlotte.
It was commissioned by Joe Rickets. He is the founder of Ameritrade. He is a wealthy conservative donor, who is beginning to put more of his fortune into politics.
So what he did, he went out and commissioned a work of some top Republican strategists for how he could get involved in this campaign. So this was presented to associates of Mr. Ricketts last week in Chicago.
A full copy of the plan of what they would do if it was approved. So it's awaiting approval, haven't decided if they would go this route.
But interestingly it's very detailed in how something like this could come apart. It's like getting a look at the swift boat ads from 2004 before they happened.
COSTELLO: Yes, just going back to the ads, I know it includes Reverend Wright, but what else does this plan include?
ZELENY: What it really includes a lot of Reverend Wright, I mean, it begins with that, then it goes into I'm really trying to persuade American voters they were essentially sold a bill of goods four years ago with President Obama.
And the team of Republican strategists who were involved in this concept, in this proposal, are many of the people who worked on Senator McCain's campaign four years ago, beginning with Fred Davis, the Republican ad maker who wanted to do an ad for years ago for Senator McCain about Reverend Wright.
But at the time, Senator McCain said he did not want that to be part of his campaign. Fred Davis right now is proposing trying to revive that, because they believe that Reverend Wright could still a potent figure in sort of explaining the character of President Obama.
COSTELLO: So as they launch this plan, what do they hope to accomplish?
ZELENY: I think one of the things they would hope to accomplish if they launch this plan is really sort of reminding people where President Obama came from, reminding him of some of these associations with Reverend Wright. Remember, that was a very challenging time in the campaign for then Senator Obama when his association with the Reverend Wright was unfolding, just about four years ago right now. He had to disassociate himself from Reverend Wright.
The Obama campaign is not eager to necessarily go through this again, but they believe something like this would really rally independents to their side if something like this happened. Interestingly the Romney campaign is saying, look, this election is about the economy.
Matt Rhodes, the Romney campaign manager has just issued a statement not long ago saying that look the campaign should be about the economy. We repudiate all these efforts to do anything like this.
So it's kind of a warning to Republican "Super PACs" to stay focused on the economy and President Obama's record.
COSTELLO: Jeff Zeleny from the "New York Times," thanks so much for joining us.
ZELENY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: A college dropped student health insurance rather than following a federal contraception mandate. We'll talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 50 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now.
Police in Atlanta are escorting school buses after a gunman aimed a rifle at children getting aboard a bus. WSB reports police are using a note dropped at the scene to search for the suspect. They believe they found a gun ditched in a yard. More than 60 officers are going door to door asking people for help.
Investigators are offering $150,000 reward for clues about who is mailing powder filled envelopes to schools and businesses. It's happened 20 times in the last week in Texas. The powder is harmless, but stressful and expensive to investigate. Police believe the same man has sent 380 envelopes since 2008.
In Alabama people protested at the state house after lawmakers passed a new bill aimed at improving the state's controversial immigration law. Police arrested at least seven demonstrators. The governor is now launching a full review of the bill.
A small Catholic university has reportedly become the nation's first college to drop student health insurance over a controversial mandate, one that requires health plans to cover contraception. It's part of the president's health care plan.
Franciscan University is in Steubenville, Ohio. Officials there say following the federal mandate would violate the teachings of the Catholic Church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERENCE HENRY TOR, PRESIDENT,FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY OF STEUBENVILLE: This is an unjust infringement upon our ability to practice our faith --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Michael Hernon is the vice president of Advancement of the Franciscan University. Thanks for joining us today.
MICHAEL HERNON, VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVANCEMENT, FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY: Carol, it's a pleasure to be with you.
COSTELLO: This sounds like a very emotional issue for you.
HERNON: It is. I mean, I never would have imagined this day and age where the federal government would be forcing us, a Catholic institution, a religious institution, to go against our deeply held religious beliefs. They are forcing us to choose between health care and our faith.
COSTELLO: Other Catholic universities have filed suit to fight this part of the president's health care plan. Why have you decided to act now?
HERNON: Well, there are two parts of this that forced our hand. One, we have been publicly fighting and advocating for religious liberty from the very beginning that this law became public.
But in March, we were made aware by our health insurance provider that our students' health plan would double in cost for this coming year.
When looking at we as the university requiring them to have this health insurance, we didn't think we could in good conscience pass on double the cost in these tough economic times. It's both a moral and economic issue for us that forced our hand today.
COSTELLO: I'm just curious, how many students get their insurance through your university?
HERNON: The vast majority get it from their parents. It's not affecting a huge number of students. Less than 10 percent of our about 2,500 students are actually buying into this plan. So it's a small number of students, but we still require them to have the insurance.
We said, you know, they have already come out as students and protested the mandate from the Obama administration regarding abortion inducing drugs as well as contraceptives. So our students are already there and support that role and we couldn't hoist another burden on them in these tough economic times.
COSTELLO: What message do you hope to send by doing this?
HERNON: We're hoping that other people will stand up and say enough is enough. Our religious liberties matter. This is too important an issue to be silent on.
This affects Catholic and Christian institutions and others of conscious, but really affects all of Americans. We really need to stand up with one voice and send a message that this is our first freedoms are more important than anything else in this country.
COSTELLO: Does it matter that the majority of Catholic women support contraception, the use of contraceptives?
HERNON: If the majority of Americans supported murder, it would be still be wrong. Just because the Catholic Church believes something doesn't mean everybody follows it.
But really, we're in a position as a Catholic university we're passionately Catholic. We're actually the first Catholic university to take the oath of fidelity saying we're only teach what the Catholic church teaches.
If you polled our students, you'd get a very different perspective on what Catholic women actually support and believe in. And that's something that we stand for. It's part of the integrity of who we are.
We're not forcing anyone to do anything. We're simply saying we're Catholic and we're proud of it and please don't force us to change our opinions and our beliefs for your accommodations.
COSTELLO: Michael Hernon, thanks for joining us this morning.
HERNON: Thank you, Carol. God bless you. Have a great day.
COSTELLO: She is the latest tragedy in one family's legacy. Just ahead the death of Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of RFK, Jr.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now let's turn to the latest tragic chapter of Camelot, the Kennedy family that has fascinated Americans for generations. Today, an autopsy scheduled for the 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Mary Kennedy was found dead in her suburban New York home. Her life, like that of her in-laws had been filled with achievement and darkness.
CNN's Alina Cho is in New York to tell us more. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. There have been widespread reports suicide may have been the cause. We can tell you that CNN is actively and aggressively chasing that theory.
We have not been able to confirm that. But nonetheless we can tell you that the "New York Times" is citing two unnamed sources saying that Mary Kennedy's body was found hanging in the back of the house in the barn, she left a note. Authorities did try to cut her down and revive her. Obviously, they were unsuccessful. But as you mentioned at this hour, that autopsy is under way. We could actually hear about a cause of death as early as later today.
For now, however, police are remaining pretty tight-lipped about this. They are not saying at all how Mary Kennedy died. They are not providing many details about what they found at her home in Bedford, New York.
Other than her body, which was discovered in what they described an outbuilding on the property. One thing we do know is that the last few years though were not at all kind to Mary Kennedy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I know she had several DUI arrests. She was estranged from her husband. What is the Kennedy family saying?
CHO: Well, the Kennedy family has released two statements. First Mary Kennedy's family put out a statement saying, through her attorney, that our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation.
Remember Robert Kennedy Jr. and Mary Kennedy had four children together all under the age of 18. Robert Kennedy, Jr. for his part released a statement saying Mary inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit.
Carol, a little bit about Mary Kennedy, I did not she was an accomplished architect who championed a green design. Her firm at one point worked on the vice president's residence. She also founded a charity called the "Food Allergy Initiative," which has quite a strong presence here in New York -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alina Cho reporting from New York for us this morning.
Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, can racial politics be effective in 2012?
You heard some stories in the Republican primary, Herman Cain saying African-Americans were brainwashed for voting for Democrats and Newt Gingrich calling President Obama a food stamp president.
Well, get ready for racial politics on steroids. According to the "New York Times," a Republican "Super PAC" in development plans a $10 million campaign against the president.
The goal, to portray Mr. Obama as having misled the nation as having presented himself as a quote, "Metrosexual black Abe Lincoln."
The plan, which "The Times" says is not yet approved, includes attack ads linking the president to his former pastor. You remember him. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., known for his incendiary sermons blasting white America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless America. No, no, no. Not God bless America, God -- America for killing innocent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In 2008 Obama denounced Wright's statements and John McCain said the subject was off limits during the campaign. Why is this coming back now?
One reason perhaps Republicans can't seem to beat the Obama likability factor. Despite concerns over his handling of the economy, most Americans say they like the president.
A recent CNN/ORC poll shows 56 percent find Mr. Obama more likable than Mitt Romney. So the talk back question for you, can racial politics be effective in 2012? Facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your responses later this hour.
How do we get Congress to be more effective? One representative has a plan, what about taking away their paychecks until they get something done. We'll ask our "Political Buzz" panel if that would get things moving in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A bit of breaking news to share with you now, yet more suspicious white powder has been found in Texas, that's according to Dallas affiliate WFAA. Investigators on the scene the powder was found at the Frank Crowley Courts Building and oppose (ph) that which is a packaging center in Plano. This is an envelope containing white powder. There's already a $150,000 reward offered for any information on whose been mailing these envelopes with white powder.
The envelopes have been sent to schools and businesses mostly in Texas. It's happened 20 times in the last week and more than 380 times in the last few years. We'll keep you posted.
Closing arguments in the John Edwards trial today and we will not be hearing from two stars at the center of the case, John Edwards himself and his mistress Rielle Hunter. After just two days the Edwards defense team rested. Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison on charges that he funneled campaign money to Hunter, the mother of his child.
For the first time less than half of babies born in the United States are white. And Hispanics are now the biggest and fastest growing minority group. This new information coming in from the Census Bureau. The U.S. is still largely white but minorities make up 36 percent of the population. That number went up half of one percent between 2010 and 2011.
"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 Pete Dominick is host of "Stand Up with Pete Dominick" on Sirius XM Radio, he leans left. And CNN contributor Will Cain, he leans right. First question for both of you, one of the Facebook founders Eduardo Saverin renounced his American citizenship just before Facebook goes public. That means Saverin could avoid about $100 million in American taxes. Democratic lawmakers are now working on a way to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin.
Question, is it a waste of time or a clever way to trim the deficit? Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Waste of time. And we're not talking about anything meaningful here as far as actually trimming the deficit. We're talking about more is the lesson, the moral principle of taxation here.
I'm sure Eduardo Saverin by the way he says he's not moving to avoid taxes. Come on. You're moving to Singapore, not to avoid taxes. We can assume that is why he's moving, to avoid taxes. And there's a great lesson there. People move and make not just -- not just make decisions but physical movements based on their self-interest.
They avoid taxation, it's behavioral psychology. People move from California to Texas to go for lower taxes. It's happening right now. So remember that when you talk about things like the Buffett Rule and you want to impose taxes on wealthy people. They will leave you.
COSTELLO: Pete.
PETE DOMINICK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: And maybe Will is right, it is behavioral psychology. What it's not is patriotic. I mean, you know, Carol, my mom raised me not to call people names but I told her about this Eduardo Saverin and this stunt he's pulling and my mom called him a parasitic leech. Because that's what he is, he's a dirt bag.
Earlier I asked Dana Bash about how many people do that, she didn't know. I thought it was a great question and I looked it up and in 2008 about 238 people renounced citizenship to maybe avoid taxes.
In 2010, 1,534 -- millions of Americans died to protect the right for citizenship. Thousands more died trying to come in. It's not a business transaction. He got educated here. He made his money here. He should pay taxes here. He's a dirt bag.
COSTELLO: Oh, second question.
CAIN: How do you feel?
COSTELLO: Oh wow.
(CROSSTALK)
DOMINICK: How do I feel? I hope -- I hope when he comes back into the country customs slips a bag of cocaine in his suitcase. That's how I feel.
COSTELLO: Ok. Enough of that. Second question, Joe Biden passionate about the middle class. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I resent the fact that they think we're talking about we're envy, it's job envy, it's wealth envy, that we don't dream. My mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
BIDEN: They don't get us. They don't get who we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ok. Translation. You richer than God man, Mitt Romney, you don't understand me, the little guy. Effective, Pete?
DOMINIC: Yes. I mean, listen, Mitt Romney never had a dream about being rich. He was born rich. And good for him. You know the guy probably bought a suit the same day he got his first job. You know this whole idea that Mitt Romney can somehow relate to the American people, he can't.
The guy has never had to worry about pay and a paycheck, he's never worried about putting food in his kids' mouth or having food put in his mouth. He's never worried about paying bills or going bankrupt because of medical bankruptcy. The guy you know he can't relate.
I don't know if American people care about that or not. But he's like his dad a Governor, millionaire, CEO. And if people think that that's good, he'll get the job down, then vote for him.
COSTELLO: Will?
CAIN: I can match Joe Biden and Pete Dominick's passion on this subject right here. Do you think -- we think it's about envy? Yes. Yes we do think it's about envy and that's not mutually exclusive to dreaming. Joe Biden you dream but apparently what you dream about is other people's money. And every single policy you seemed to embrace is meant to redistribute that money.
You can dream but dream but dream about your own future and how you make it yourself. Don't talk to me about how you're going to redistrict from a millionaire's Buffett rule tax down to someone else who might need it more. This is not a society based on need. This is a society based on merit.
COSTELLO: Ok time for your "Buzzer Beater", 20 seconds each. Let's all say this together three times fast. Representative Reed Ribble, Representative Reed Ribble, Representative Reed Ribble. I just love his name.
DOMINICK: Representative Reed Ribble, that is tough.
COSTELLO: It's a good alliteration, isn't it? Anyway he has come up with a way to make the do nothing Congress do something, take away their paycheck. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. REID RIBBLE (R), WISCONSIN: Let's take it away until they get their job done. And then you will see all of a sudden miraculously bipartisan work and we'll all get something done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ok. So is he onto something? Will.
CAIN: No, he's not onto something. And here is why. Because I reject the premise that we have a problem with the do nothing Congress. We should adopt the philosophy more adherent to say "don't just do something, stand there". We need to have a Congress that is interested in doing things that might actually be what we called business, that's the cliche we kick around.
But what we have are people that are interested in getting re-elected. So in that vein, don't withhold their paychecks, pay them a lot. Pay them so much they don't need anybody to contribute to their re- election. They might not need to run, they might not need run more than ones. How about some term limits.
COSTELLO: I actually think the majority of them are millionaires. So I don't know if that would work. I'm just saying, Pete?
CAIN: I think you might be right.
DOMINICK: Well Carol, you stole -- you stole my answer.
COSTELLO: Right.
DOMINICK: It's a -- it's actually about 49 percent of them are millionaires. About 250 Congress members are millionaires. And their incentive is not to get their paycheck. I mean, there's more incentive to prevent them from going home for Christmas.
The truth is if you actually -- if they don't do anything on January 1st guess what, we'll balance the budget practically overnight, we'll cut the deficit dramatically more than anybody's proposals will, taxes go up, huge cuts in spending.
So yes, don't do anything. It'll be painful but you'll get your deficit cut.
COSTELLO: Oh.
CAIN: You're right though, their motivation is not to get paid to stay elected. So --
DOMINICK: No, no their motivation is power, it's a revolving door. As soon as they leave Congress they go to work for the lobbyists that are paying them their election for campaigns.
COSTELLO: Ok.
You guys will have to discuss later but thank you for the interesting discussion. Thanks for playing today. Will Cain, and Pete Dominick.
DOMINICK: Thanks Carol.
CAIN: That's right.
COSTELLO: Is Jennifer Lopez leaving "American Idol"? Buzz is building she'll say good-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Jennifer Lopez just topped Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. Much of her comeback can be credited to "American Idol". But there is growing buzz she might be on her way out. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer is in New York. So any truth to the rumor?
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Well, Carol, J Lo is not confirming anything at this point but E! News broke the story saying that J Lo does not have any time to keep working on the show. She's got a worldwide tour coming up. She's also reportedly wanting to spend more time with her kids. We can certainly understand that.
We did reach out to reps for Lopez and for Fox. Nobody is willing to make any comments at this point. But I have to tell you, I'm sure Fox would love to keep her on the show. Replacing her not an easy task if it comes to that.
Adding Lopez and Steven Tyler to the judges' table really helped to reinvigorate "American Idol". And after her two seasons on the show, Carol, it would rough on them to shake up their new stability. But if she does decide to leave she's doing it while she's in a really, really good place, going out on top, so to speak.
And then, of course, there are those who would suggest this is all a ploy for a bigger payday. And Carol, if that's the case, I bet it will work.
COSTELLO: Yes. Me, too. More power to her. A.J. Hammer, thank you.
If it's breaking in the entertainment world A.J.'s got it tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.
Firefighters struggle to contain a raging wildfire in Arizona that's threatening a town. We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Breaking news now. Two more letters filled with white powder show up today, one in Dallas and one in Plano, Texas. Police are now on the scene, investigating these suspicious envelopes. Remember authorities are offering $150,000 reward for any clues to finding the person mailing these envelopes. It's happened 20 times in the last week.
So far the powder has turned out to be harmless. Police believe the same man sent some 300 envelopes filled with white powder since 2008. Some school buses near Atlanta were getting police escorts this morning after a gunman aimed a rifle at children getting on board the bus. WUSB reports a note found at the scene might help police figure out who the gunman is. The rifle was found ditched in a yard. More than 50 officers are going door to door asking people for help.
In Alabama, people protested at the state house after lawmakers passed a new bill aimed at improving the state's controversial immigration law. Police arrested at least seven demonstrators. The governor now launching a full review of the bill.
A huge wildfire in Arizona is roaring out of control, doubling in size. And we're learning that the fire isn't the only threat crews are trying to -- or isn't the only threat crews are dealing with as they try to extinguish this fire.
Tess Rafols from our affiliate KTVK joins me now and Tess, we hear there are reports of rattle snakes and abandoned mines and firefighters have to deal with these things, too.
TESS RAFOLS, KTVK, TV REPORTER: Exactly. And that's what's been so tough about this fire since it broke out, Carol. Some 5,500 acres now burned as you were saying. Now this is all happening in the Bradshaw Mountains right here behind me. Crown King is in the middle of all that. Crown King is actually a mining town.
So firefighters are dealing with steep, rugged terrain, wildlife like rattle snakes and these mine shafts, no one knows who they are but they could suddenly have drops. So firefighters have to be careful. That's also preventing them in some sort of fighting this fire.
They are, of course, getting battle support from up in the air with about a dozen water-dropping helicopters and planes. That's been a big force in fighting this fire. Right now it is only five percent contained. It has doubled in size in a 24-hour period.
Now along with those elements we've got bad weather coming in. It's already warm and dry here and now we're going to be getting red flag conditions over the next 48 hours. As for the 350 people evacuated from Crown King, they are not happy to hear that the closest flames to their homes now about an eighth of a mile. We're watching this one closely for everyone.
Live in Mayer, Tess Rafols for CNN -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Tess.
Arizona is not the only state dealing with wildfires. Colorado is, too. Rob Marciano is here to tell us about that.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is the second big fire out of Colorado this season. And this has also grown in size dramatically overnight. They should have gotten a handle on it yesterday but it grew from 900 acres all the way to 5,000 acres overnight last night.
So let's get to it and talk about these two fires because the weather is not going to get any better. As a matter of fact look for the winds to begin to increase over the next couple of days here both in Arizona and in Colorado. But the most extreme fire danger is going to be unfortunately where those -- actually four fires that are burning in Arizona. But there are two big ones and we'll go over them.
They are both about, you know, 50 to 100 miles north of Phoenix itself. Here is the gladiator fire, the area near Crown King. Again it has grown to over 5,000 acres and doubling in size just last night. And that's where the populated area is.
Obviously in some fairly rugged terrain. You heard the reporter speak of mine shafts they have to deal with along with wildlife. This is Sunflower Fire. This is a larger fire but in a slightly more remote area in the Tonto National Forest; this is about 12,000 acres. Two big fires that are burning.
And for the next several days -- now yesterday, they had winds that were (inaudible) -- still very, very hot. Temperatures were over 100 degrees in some spots. Yesterday the winds were calm. That was a time to get a handle on this. Unfortunately in both Colorado and Arizona they didn't. Those fires grew dramatically.
Now the winds are going to begin to kick up as we go through today, tonight, tomorrow and really right through the beginning part of Saturday. Look at the expanse of red flag warnings and critical fire danger. It expands all the way towards Reno, Nevada; and then down across parts of Phoenix.
So this is what firefighters are going to be dealing with, no rain of course with this. Temperatures will be a little cooler. The winds are going to drive the flame here. So the next couple of days are going to be a tough go both on the weather department and in the wildlife department as well. Arizona and parts of the front range of Colorado. Firefighters they're going to have their hands full -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You got it.
COSTELLO: Google is taking a self-driving car on tour in Washington, D.C. But it's not just a show off. Google could be trying to convince lawmakers to legalize it.
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COSTELLO: Ok. Let's head right out to Washington, D.C. because this is kind of a cool story. You've heard about this car, Google has made a driverless car, a car that drives itself. There you see this is D Street in Washington, D.C., northwest. Brian Todd is in the Google car, which is hidden behind that Audi. Come on, Brian, Brian Todd.
Anyway, there's a reason that Google is testing out its car in Washington, D.C. Brian Todd, I guess you're behind the wheel but you don't actually drive the car, huh? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's a self-driving car, Carol. It's called Oscar. This is Google's kind of prototype self-driving car. They started developing this in 2008. It's designed so you can program your route, get in the car and the car does pretty much everything until you actually grab the wheel. Once you do that, it's almost like cruise control; you disable the automatic programming.
So I'm going to get in here with Dave and Cam, two Google program managers. We're in the car now. As soon as this light changes, Carol, we're going to be cruising across the street right towards you. And Dave will show that he has no hands on the vehicle.
What we can do is talk about this technology while we're waiting for the light to turn here. You know, this car operates essentially it's computer-operated, it's got sensors all over the car. It's got this thing on top, it's called a laser scanner. It's there to sense just everything that's in the environment of the car.
The other cars around it, the sensors, the other sensors, the cameras, and the radars, also work to do that. They sense all the other cars around it. They work to anticipate what the other cars are doing. There is a separate kind of software that Google is developing to anticipate and judge pedestrian behavior as well. That is all going to figure into the technology of this.
The D.C. light, going to coming toward you. If you can get a good shot into Dave, he's got no hands on the vehicle now. This has stopped automatically.
Guys, why did it stop automatically? Do we know.
There was a taxi who was kind of cutting us off there a little bit. We're pulling up for parking enforcement. Jpeg, whatever they call those things. I'm going to get out. We're going to go over some of the quick features of the car here. This is the laser scanner. These are GPS devices. It's got a camera just behind the windshield here.
And this is a radar sensor. They have radar sensors in the front, al designed to anticipate and photograph and process the environment all around the car, kind of anticipate what other cars are doing. That's essentially how it works. Once you grab the wheel of the car, all of that is disabled and you're driving. Right now it's designed for someone to sit basically behind the wheel of the car even if you don't have hands on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I wish we could talk to you more, but we're just out of time. But you'll have more on "THE SITUATION ROOM" and it was good that it didn't run over that parking enforcement guy. I know many people -- I won't say it.
But it parallel-parked like that; that was amazing. You'll have more on the Situation Room at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Thanks, Brian Todd.
In your daily dose of health news the study suggests the link between the popular antibiotics -- also (inaudible) because it's really as Z- pack, 14-year trial was conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University. It shows patients had a higher risk of heart disease death within the first five days of taking that drug compared to other antibiotics. But researchers say the cause of the link is unknown. And the risk is rare.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The "Talk Back" question for you, can racial politics be effective in 2012? This from Grayson. Anyone who keeps talking about racial politics is basically calling voters ignorant. Any informed and intelligent voter can and will make a decision based on something other than race.
This from Christy: Dear CNN, we are energized, signed African- Americans. Keep the conversation going in, acebook.com/Carolcnn. Thanks as always for your comments.
I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me today. "CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.
