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Wisconsin Governor Learns Fate Tomorrow; Air Tanker Crashes Raise Alarms; Cairo Braces For Mubarak Trial Protests; Bumpy Day On Wall Street; Zimmerman Lawyers Seek New Bond Hearing; Northeast Braces For Chill; Tiger Ties The Bear; Castro Pushes Better U.S. Relations; Pelosi Touts Hillary For President In 2016; All Hail the Queen; Device Lets Humans "Talk" to Dolphins; Facebook Seeks Younger "Friends"
Aired June 04, 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: I bet you do. Jeff, thanks. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.
And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, Wisconsin recall, a hot bed of nastiness and political hype and a barometer for the nation five months before America votes for president.
Air tanker crash, a sign our nation's firefighters may not be properly equipped to fight wildfires.
And Facebook junior. Facebook wants your kids. How the social media giant is working on new technology so a younger generation can sign up.
Plus, I love that show, "Flipper." Dolphin talk, yes, scientists say we may be able to talk to "Flipper" and all of the other dolphins in the sea, really.
But we begin this morning in Wisconsin. One of the battle grounds of 2012 is the state of Wisconsin and tomorrow is the first big showdown.
That's when voters decide if they want to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker and replace him with Tom Barrett, the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee. Walker was pushed into the recall by people angered at his cutting of union power and bargaining rights.
CNN's Ted Rowlands goes in-depth and he joins us live from Madison, Wisconsin. What is the voter turnout expected to be like, Ted?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Huge, Carol. They are expecting record numbers in terms of voter turnout. They are seeing record numbers in terms of money being poured in here and you said it earlier in the lead there, the core of this issue is unions.
That's what has the nation watch and that's what has a lot of people in Wisconsin on both sides very upset. We talk to two teachers. They are on opposite sides of this very nasty fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Michelle Ritt and John Radamacher are teachers in Madison. Craig Klumb is a teacher in Milwaukee. They are on opposite sides of the political showdown in Wisconsin.
We met Michelle and John 16 months ago protesting at the state capitol. They were furious with then new Governor Scott Walker and his new bill to cut education funding and unions collective bargaining rights.
MICHELLE RITT, SUPPORTS RECALL: Our lives were turned completely upside down. Emotions were raw. It was shocking.
ROWLANDS: Craig saw it from the other side. He thought Walker's plan had merit.
CRAIG KLUMB, SUPPORTS GOVERNOR WALKER: I think in the long-term, it will be good for the state and for education.
ROWLANDS: Despite weeks of protests, walker's Budget bill known now as Act 10 passed. Craig says he is one of only a handful of teachers that supported it.
KLUMB: I'm scared. But I think fundamentally what Scott Walker is doing is going to improve the state of Wisconsin in the long-term and prove education in the long-term.
JOHN RADAMACHER, SUPPORTS RECALL: I don't know any teachers in Madison or anywhere who would want larger class sizes, who would want less resources being poured into the classroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The difference is jobs.
ROWLANDS: Governor Walker is in a recall election against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. People in Wisconsin have been bombarded with political ads largely funded by out of state interests, both pro and anti-union.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: News Radio 620 WTMJ, so glad to have you with us.
ROWLANDS: Milwaukee talk radio host Jeff Wagner says the last 16 months have divided the state like never before. He says there doesn't seem to be any middle ground.
JEFF WAGNER, NEWSRADIO 620: People are down to their last nerve. Everybody is so intense about this. You hear it from the callers. And it's out there on both sides.
ROWLANDS: Wagner says at times the rhetoric has been ugly. Listen to how our teachers both blame the other side for getting out of control.
KLUMB: I'm heard him refer to us a Nazi.
RITT: It's the other side, Governor Walker's side who comes in and does taunting and poking and trying to insight fights.
KLUMB: Colleagues of mine make reference to Republicans and Tea Party types as the barbarians at the gate.
RITT: Using the word Nazi, you know, yelling at my children, you're Nazis, communists, socialists.
ROWLANDS: The recall election is next Tuesday. But whether Scott Walker keeps his job or not, the political battle of unions is far from over and other states are keeping a close eye on what happens in Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Carol, a lot of people here in Wisconsin, as you can imagine, are eagerly anticipating tomorrow just so this thing is all over. They literally have been bombarded by these ads for the laugh year plus with all of the money coming in from out of state.
COSTELLO: Yes, but they still have to suffer life of presidential election campaign ads through 2012.
ROWLANDS: That's nothing compared to this.
COSTELLO: Yes, you're probably right. You know, Ted Rowlands reporting live from Wisconsin this morning.
Millions of Americans revelled in one of the warmest winters on record. Now a mean season is coming to collect. Right now, wildfires burn in seven western states. And the summer temperatures will only push the danger higher.
The worst single fire is in South Western New Mexico. A quarter million acres burned, that's about 380 square miles. It is the biggest of the state's history and it is even getting bigger.
It's now only 17 percent contained. Also today, there are new concerns about a key firefighting tool used to combat wild fires. In Western Utah yesterday, an air tanker loaded with water and fire retardant crashed during its second run of the day.
Both pilots were killed. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Also yesterday an air tanker had to make an emergency landing in Nevada when its landing gear failed to lower.
In this case, the crew was not hurt. But both incidents underscore recent concerns that the planes themselves are in dangerous need of replacement.
Rob Marciano is here to tell us more.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, like you said, we don't know the cause of these crashes, but when you know that planes, most of them, are over 50 years old, you would think that at some point we need to retire these things. Now most of the firefights that every firefighter will tell you, the war is won on the grounds, by the boots on the ground. There are thousands of men and women down there trying to get it dump, but they need air support to win the war itself.
And that fleet has been dwindling over the years. Since 2000, we had a fleet of air tankers, 43. Now it's down to 11. Actually with this crash this weekend, it's now down to 10. So we are really, really dwindling the fleet.
They have put some of their resources into some heavy helicopters and smaller planes, but the heavy tankers which we need, won't be around for too long.
Obviously, politicians are angry about this. They seem to think that the service itself has what it needs, but are misappropriating money.
Oregon Senator Ron Widen says this, he says despite the magnitude and destructiveness of recent firefighters, the last several years have been really bad.
The agency most responsible for fighting them the forest service has allowed the air tanker fleet to atrophy. You know, what they do is they take old planes. We're not building planes that are specifically designed to fight fires.
We take a P-2, which is an anti-submarine plane from the '50s, and retrofit it to fight fires. Now they're going to take the newer planes from the '80s and they're old European airliners. And they're going to retro fit those to the fight fires.
So it takes some time to kind of get these hand me downs and it's an ongoing struggle for the forest service.
COSTELLO: Rob Marciano, thanks.
Egyptians plan a third-day of protests in Tahrir Square today. They are outrage over the verdict stemming from the last year's violent crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in this very spot. Many died.
Ousted President Hosni Mubarak got a life in prison sentence for ordering those killings, but protesters say he should have gotten the death penalty.
To Hongkong now where 100,000 people are expected to gather to remember the government crackdown against pro-democracy activists in China. Twenty three years ago today, tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square crashing the protest movement.
China's government says 241 people died including soldiers, but activists say that number was more likely in the thousands.
It could be a bumpy day on Wall Street today. Stocks tanked overnight in Asia. They're mix across Europe and pretty much flat here in the United States. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. And flat is actually good, right?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, we turned much lower from that flat mark because we hit another bump. Just a few minutes ago, we got yet another report, another indicator of the slowing U.S. economy.
This is on April factory orders. They fell more than expected for the second month in a row then you pile on to the weaker than expected jobs report and you see how the economy is really losing momentum.
That is what Wall Street is worried about. And guess what? Other economies, they are not doing much either. There is a lot of uncertainty over Europe debt problems, concerns over China's slowing growth and remember, Europe and China is where we export a lot of our goods.
So if those economies are in trouble, they are going to buy less from us, yes, it's going to affect us. So Wall Street is worried about all this stuff and you see it playing out in the form of a red on the screen.
The Dow is falling 42 points. The Nasdaq off 13. Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: We will check back with you. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.
A new generation of Castros is causing trouble for the United States. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Christian Amanpour, Mariela Castro tells us who she wants to become the next president of the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 12 minutes past the hour, checking out top stories.
New Mexico is dealing with the biggest wild fire in its history. Its burned a wilderness area nearly twice the size of Chicago and it just keeps growing. Authorities are telling people with health issues to stay indoors. Wild fires also burning in six other western states.
George Zimmerman's lawyers plan to file for a new bond hearing today so they get him out of jail. The judge revoked his bond saying he lied to the court about his financial situation. Zimmerman turned himself in yesterday.
In money news, you may feel it in your wallet the next time you pick up your suit from the dry cleaners. That's because the United States has hit Vietnam, the biggest exporter of wire hangers with new trade penalties for unfairly subsidizing exports. Dry cleaner operators say they may have no choice, but to pass the higher cost on to you. In weather, the northeast is bracing for a cool down. A cold air pattern is going to bring temperatures down into the 50s and 60s this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Straight up. Yes, look at this, Peter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In sports, see that guy before? The old Tiger Woods appears to be back at the memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio. He not only won with a sensational chip m late in the round, also tied the Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus's victory with 73 PGA Tour victories.
The name Castro has been a thorn in America's side for more than half a century. Now a second generation, Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro is making waves.
She is injecting herself into U.S. politics. In an exclusive interview with CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Castro says she would like to see President Obama re- elected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you expect more from President Obama or has he gone as far as you expected him to go on the Cuban issue? Do you think he wants to lift the embargo and that there could be proper relations from Cuba and the United States under a second Obama term?
MARIELA CASTRO, RAUL CASTRO'S DAUGHTER (through translator): I believe that Obama is a fair man. And Obama needs greater support in order to take this decision. If Obama counted on the full support of the American people then we could normalize a relationship, we could have better relations than what we have under President Carter.
AMAMPOUR: Do you want Obama to win the next election?
CASTRO: As a citizen of the world, I would like him to win. Seeing the candidates, I'm pro-Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour joins us from New York to talk more about her exclusive interview with Mariela Castro. Good morning, Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Good morning to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Give us your initial impression of her, what was she like?
AMANPOUR: Well, Carol, she was obviously very frank and let's be absolutely frank as well. Mariela Castro was granted a visa to come to the United States by the State Department specifically in her role as leader of gay rights and gay activism in Cuba.
So she went to a conference in San Francisco. She came here to New York and she was speaking all about that. And I've questioned her quite deeply about that. But of course within that context I questioned here about civil rights, political rights, in her own country, in Cuba.
It is very interesting what she has to say. She is the second generation and she is agreeing and acknowledging that there need to be changes. Her own father, Raul Castro, who is now president there, has implemented this economic freedoms, economic progress there because they know they have to change.
But of course, everything that the Castros say is reflected through the lens of the 50-year embargo. So when you ask about this or that or opening up, it is about well, you know, we want to, we're trying. We're moving.
But we are under this 50-year embargo from the United States and that makes it much slower. That's their reasoning.
COSTELLO: As you know, Christiane, Republicans and conservatives aren't happy that the Obama administration let her into the country because of human rights abuses taking place in Cuba and her dad is a dictator.
AMANPOUR: Well, listen, Carol, as you know, this is not new. The Cuban-American community has always had angry relations with the Castros. But as you also know, that is changing in terms of the dynamics of that relationship between the different demographics.
If you look at the polls, much younger Cuban-Americans have a very different view and much more pope to changing this policy, which all of us know has simply not worked. The embargo, if it was intended to break the back of the Castros and have them fall, has simply not worked.
So President Obama has tried to do things and as you know, she was invited in, or rather not invited in, but allowed to come in, not just under President Obama, but under president bush as well. The last time she came was 2002.
We did ask her very pointed questions about all of the issues that make people outside of Cuba question what's happening there. And this interview is going to air on CNN International, on my program.
Also online at amanpour.com so it is a long and interesting interview. And her -- what she said about President Obama was reflected from the fact that she admires what President Obama's done for the gay community in this country particularly his latest statement, supporting gay marriage.
COSTELLO: OK, so a final question. So should President Obama be happy about her endorsement?
AMANPOUR: You know, I'm sure a lot of political -- a lot of people in the political sphere will make a big deal about this. But the fact of the matter is that she is sort of talking about what most people would like to see happen in Cuba.
Whether or not it happens, we'll wait it see, but about change. And I think that is an interesting area to explore.
COSTELLO: Christiane Amanpour, thanks so much for joining us this morning. And welcome back. Love having you.
AMANPOUR: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Facebook is coming for your children. Right now, kids under 13 are banned, but Mark Zuckerberg and company are reportedly working to change that. So is that a good idea for, say like a 6- year-old, to be on Facebook? We will talk about that in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories today. The question for you this morning, should American retailers stay out of politics?
When did retailers become like "Super PACs" anyway, throwing their support behind political causes across the spectrum? Most recently Target, it is now selling t-shirts to raise money for the Family Equity Council.
A gay rights group filing a proposed same-sex marriage ban in Minnesota. This is not the first time a retailer has put itself in the middle of a controversial political issue.
Remember when Whole Foods CEO John Mackie wrote an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal" opposing President Obama's health care law? And who could forget this notorious Benetton ad called un-hate, which featured photo shop pictures of world leaders like President Obama and Israeli Leader Netanyahu and even the pope kissing on the lips.
But political engagement doesn't come without risk. After J.C. Penny hired Ellen Degeneres as a spokesperson, a conservative group called for a boycott. It's father's day catalogue featuring a same- sex couple with kids.
But some retailers are getting gun shy, like Gander Mountain, a popular hunting gear store. According to WAOW TV in Wisconsin, Gander Mountain, a long time supporter of a national rifle association pulled out of NRA sponsored events for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
It's cited quote, "The diversity of Gander Mountain customers and their very interest," end quote, as the reason why. So the talk about question for you this morning, should American retailers stay out of politics? Facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour.
Donald Trump is now fighting off charges he is a racist and he is bringing up Arsenio Hall's name, hoping to prove his point, I'm not a racist, I have black friends. My "Political Buzz" panel ready to jump into that fight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 26 minutes past the hour, checking out top stories now. The stock market is a little teeny tiny bit of a roller coaster ride this morning, as can you see, only down 11 points. It was down as much as 40.
But that's not much. Investors are still nervous though over this economic crisis in Europe and whether problems there could trigger another global recession.
Later today, lawyers for accused killer George Zimmerman will file a new motion for a bond hearing. Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in what he says is an act of self-defense. He's now back in jail. The judge revoked his bond saying he lied about his financial resources during his hearing.
Jury selection set to get under way in the child rape case against Jerry Sandusky. The former assistant football coach of Penn State is accused of sexually abusing ten boys. The allegations against Sandusky led to the firing of Penn State's iconic head football coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno died only months later of complications from lung cancer.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is promoting Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. Clinton insists secretary of state is her last job in government, but that isn't slowing rumors. In an interview in a "San Francisco Chronicle," Pelosi says, quote, "she's our shot."
"Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today is CNN contributor and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona. She leans left, of course, she is a Democrat and CNN contributor, Will Cain who leans right, welcome to both of you.
OK, first question, over the last week, there have been signs congressional Republicans are warming toward parts of Obama care. The House GOP has passed a plan to keep what they call the good stuff, guaranteeing coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, closing the so-called Medicare doughnut hole, et cetera.
Also some prominent Republicans are hinting a tax increase coupled with spending cuts might not be such a bad idea. Jeb Bush among them, question, what the heck is going on? Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, at least with respect to the Obama care stuff, nothing. That's based largely on "Politico" report that House Republicans want it keep the pre-existing condition clause put forth in the Affordable Care Act.
That being said while that might be a politically popular thing to put out there, that people with pre-existing conditions can always get insurance. It is not a feasible thing. You can't have that clause while getting rid of the individual mandate.
It is a prescription for killing insurance companies. So House Republicans I would doubt very, very seriously are behind that. Regarding tax raises along with spending cuts, that seems to be inevitable if there are real reduction measures in place. And I think to see guys like Jeb Bush accepting reality.
COSTELLO: Maria?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think Will is right in terms of the Health Care Act because you can't have all of those things that the Republicans now know are great and there would be a huge backlash if they were to repeal it without a huge mandate.
However, they are finally paying attention to the polls with have seen time and again where the American people are blaming Republicans for the fact that they been the obstructionists and for the fact that nothing is getting done for Congress.
And they blame them more so for being very partisan ideologically pure and not helping President Obama resolve the things that we need to resolve.
COSTELLO: Ok on to the second question. At a fund-raiser Friday, President Obama said he is hopeful that Republicans will snap out of their fever and cooperate with him after he wins re-election in November.
He said, quote, "My hope, my expectation is that after the election, now that it turns out that goal of beating Obama doesn't make much sense because I'm not running again, that we can start getting some cooperation again", end quote.
So question, will an Obama win or loss cure Congress's partisan fever -- Maria?
CARDONA: Well, I would say let's hope so. For the sake of the country and for the sake of the American people and I'll go back to the first question. A lot of Americans blame Republicans for that intransigence. Let's not forget Mitch McConnell's statement that their number one priority was not to resolve American problems but to beat President Obama to make sure that he was a one-term president.
If he wins re-election then that is off the table. So let's hope that it is something that happens and let's hope that it does help cure the gridlock in Washington. But right now Americans blame mostly Republicans for it.
COSTELLO: Will?
CAIN: Yes, yes and I think by the definition of bipartisanship, as Maria just laid it out for us it basically means me agreeing with everything she says. The thing about this is -- is it's kind of insulting what President Obama is saying that this fever of partisanship is just a result of wanting to get him out of office.
As though there are no ideological differences. See that's the real issue here. We have different ideas about solutions to our problems. President Obama believes that a bigger role for the government the healthcare market is a solution while people like me believe the free market does a better job.
He believes in Keynesian economics, more government stimulus. I believe in less. This isn't solved by Kumbaya bipartisanship.
COSTELLO: All right, he was fiery on that one.
CARDONA: He was.
COSTELLO: He was.
Ok on the third question which is our "Buzzer Beater", 20 seconds each. Oh, the Donald. When he was considering a run for president last year, he said, quote, "I have a great relationship with the blacks."
Now listen to what he told a group of Republicans after some critics have questioned whether he is a racist over this whole birther issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESS MOGUL: Oh somebody said, Oh, because I brought up the birth certificate, I'm a racist. I said, how could I be a -- I just picked Arsenio Hall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I can't believe I'm asking you this question.
CAIN: Please don't. Then don't.
COSTELLO: I have to.
So will the black friend defense work for the Donald -- Will?
CAIN: No. No. But look, will it work to do what? Look, I have never bought into the birther nonsense. Largely because, well, it's nonsense. But I'm also not going to do this thing where birtherism equals racism. They are not one and the same. I think there are some people bought into stuff. It had nothing to do with the color of President Obama's skin. That doesn't mean they were ever right, they were equally wrong but don't mix two things as though they are exactly, exactly the same. While there could be some overlap.
COSTELLO: Maria.
CARDONA: I agree somewhat with Will in that the birther issue does not I think equal racism. Though I do think that -- that Trump doesn't get the blacks or the browns and is not comfortable around any minority. I think mostly though, I go with George Will and his -- his statement about what he thinks about Trump, which is that he is just a bloviating ignoramus. And that's why he says these things. He's also a shameless self promoter. COSTELLO: Thanks for --
CAIN: Really good at it though. He's really good at it.
CARDONA: Very good exactly; that's why we're talking about him.
COSTELLO: I know, we've got to stop, stop the madness.
Maria Cardona, Will Cain, thanks so much.
CARDONA: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Just minutes ago we learned about some musical chair in the radio business. Syndicated talk show host Neal Boortz announced that he will retire this coming January 21st. that is the same day as the presidential inauguration and he'll be replaced by former presidential candidate and one time front runner, Herman Cain.
Cain had previously hosted a night time talk show on Boortz's flagship station WSB Radio in Atlanta. Oh, Neal is a good friend of mine. So Neal, happy retirement.
It's a celebration that's only fit for a queen. Today some of the biggest names in music prepares to serenade Her Majesty. We'll tell you about the big party and concert marking Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
As we go to a break though we want to salute Richard Dawson. He died over the weekend of cancer. He was 79. We'd like to remember him in his natural habitat, so to speak on "Family Feud" kissing every female contestant in sight. Dawson hosted the show from '76 to '85 and again from '94 to '95.
Of course, he was also a star in "Match Game" and played Corporal Newkirk on "Hogan's Heroes" but the Feud and his signature line made him a household name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DAWSON, GAME SHOW HOST: You need 15 points for $10,000. Our survey said --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: I'm going to miss that music. A big party is getting under way this hour at Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's 60-year reign. It is day three of festivities marking her diamond jubilee.
See that music plays everywhere. About a million people watched over the weekend as the royal family led a seven mile long flotilla of 1,000 boats.
CNN's Atika Shubert is in the heart of London for today's festivities and it looks fun.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. And the crowds are already gathering. It's a bit of a lull right now in the celebrations but as you point out there is that picnic happening in the Queen's garden at Buckingham Palace; 10,000 lucky ticket holders are attending there. They were chosen by National Lottery and they all get a picnic hamper full of cheeses and other goodies from Chef Heston Blumenthal.
So that is under way now. And then comes the main event of the night later on, which is the jubilee concert. And there is where pop royalty will be entertaining the Queen. Everybody from Sirs Paul McCartney and Elton John but also some American imports including Stevie Wonder -- the legendary Stevie Wonder. So it should be a great night of celebrations and already we're seeing people gathering at the mall behind and at the park surrounding Buckingham Palace. Everybody is hoping to hear some of that concert later on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So the Queen is going to be in attendance at these concerts. I just would have never guessed she would have been a fan of Stevie Wonder or Paul McCartney or Elton John.
SHUBERT: Well, the line up was specifically chosen to represent pop stars in each decade of her reign. So we go all the way back to say Shirley Bassey will be performing, Tom Jones.
But even to more recent stars. Annie Lennox, for example, will be there. So you know it's sort of representative of her 60 years as Queen and that's why we are seeing so many of those, the great variety of stars that are coming out tonight.
COSTELLO: Do you get to go?
SHUBERT: I wish I could say yes that I will be going. But, no, I'll be one of the many listening outside of Buckingham Palace.
COSTELLO: Bummer. Thanks, Atika. We appreciate it. Such a bummer.
Long weekend of festivities marking the Queen's 60 years on the throne will reach its climax tomorrow. Join Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin live from London beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
There's a new device out there that might allow us to talk to dolphins; you know, to communicate with them. You know "Flipper" can be pretty chatty so very soon we will hear what he is actually saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 43 minutes past the hour. Checking top stories now.
The biggest wildfire in New Mexico's history is burning right now and it is getting bigger. It is nearly twice the size of Chicago. Authorities telling people with health issues to stay inside.
George Zimmerman hopes to get out of jail sometime today. His lawyers have requested a new bond hearing. Zimmerman turned himself in yesterday after a judge revoked his bond. He is charged in the death of the unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin. An attorney says Martin's family is relieved Zimmerman is back in jail.
In money news a survey says expect to pay for more electricity. One reason, electric cars. Utility executives say electric cars will eat up 7 percent of the nation's power supply by 2025. They also say your monthly electric bill will e increasing significantly. They blame rules requiring more of them to use more sources of renewable energy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wade looks up, head fake. Puts up a three for the win. No good. Celtics win it.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In sports, the Eastern Conference finals will good on. Boston at home held on overtime to knock off Lebron James and the Miami Heat. James fouled out in overtime and Dwyane Wade misses the buzzer, sending the 2-2 series back to Miami for a deciding game five.
Scientists might have invented their own Dr. Doolittle. A device that can literally talk to animals, namely dolphins. Really. That ancient TV show "Flipper" was way ahead of its time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXCERPT FROM "FLIPPER")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He was the most intelligent being under the sea.
Seriously though, Japanese scientists have developed a dolphin speaker that mimics dolphin talk and if it works, we could be doing a lot more than just watching dolphins jump through hoops at SeaWorld.
With us now, Charles Choi from Live Science. He also writes for "Scientific American" and the "New York Times". Welcome.
CHARLES CHOI, LIVE SCIENCE: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: This sounds so unbelievably cool.
CHOI: It's really exciting technology. Now we have this a speaker that can mimic -- go from human, you know, perception of sound, all the way to ultrasonic sound. That the range dolphins are working in.
COSTELLO: So this is the device we're looking at. I guess scientists put this device under the water and they send out high pitched frequencies, low pitched frequencies, all different kinds and it can actually communicate with dolphins?
CHOI: That's the hope. I mean, they just completed a prototype a few weeks ago. But they did test it and they could go from whistles and clicks to the burst pulse kind of barks that dolphins can create. And you know, the hope is to do this, "Me Tarzan, you Jane". See if we can improve our communication with dolphins.
COSTELLO: So those high-pitched dolphin sounds -- are they more intelligent than let's say dogs barking or apes screeching?
CHOI: Well, scientists do know that dolphins can create what are called signature whistles. And those are basically these less than one second whistles that are names. And that's how mothers can tell their infants, this is your mother. And when I call out my name, you know, you should come to me. And dolphins all have these signature whistles.
COSTELLO: Ok, so explain to me the difference. Because you can name a dolphin, like they do at Sea World, and does the dolphin come by name just as I'm speaking? And if that's true, what do we hope happens when we put that device under water, just to have like an actual conversation with the dolphins?
CHOI: Well, we know that dolphin can name themselves. So it will be interesting to see -- they can also mimic the sound of others. So it'll be interesting to see if they can name other dolphins, you know. And maybe they are saying, well you know, Fred the other day just caught some mackerel. Maybe we should good over there.
COSTELLO: No way.
CHOI: And check out what he is saying.
COSTELLO: No way.
CHOI: We don't know yet. But now that we have this technology, we can really find out. All this speculation can actually be tested now.
COSTELLO: So "Flipper" really could fight crime from underneath the ocean.
CHOI: Well, the navy does use dolphins to help hunt down mines and other things. So yes, crime-fighting dolphin could be the wave of the future.
COSTELLO: It is really cool. I hope it works. Thank you so much --
CHOI: Yes, same here.
COSTELLO: -- for joining us this morning.
CHOI: Thank you, carol.
COSTELLO: Facebook wants some younger friends. They reportedly want to let kids under the age of 13 to sign up. Why the change of heart? We will have that conversation next.
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COSTELLO: Facebook is looking for younger faces. Right now you have to be 13 years old or older to sign up. But the "Wall Street Journal" is reporting this morning that Facebook is working to let younger kids join. So we wanted to talk about this. Christina Warren is here. She is with the social media news blog Mashable.com. Welcome, Christina.
CHRISTINA WARREN, MASHABLE.COM: Hi, how are you.
COSTELLO: I must say I know a lot of tweens and younger who are already on Facebook, they just lie about their age.
WARREN: Yes exactly. And that's one of the things that Facebook has said publicly in the past that kids are already on Facebook so they would like to have a way for them to be on, in a way that kids under 13 could be on legally and in a way where parents could monitor what they are doing. Since many of them are already on any way.
COSTELLO: In a more responsible way. So tell us, how would Facebook junior actually work?
WARREN: Well, right now what the report is saying, and Mashable -- we reached out to Facebook for comment but they haven't responded to us. But what the "Wall Street Journal" is saying is that parents would have approval over kids signing up, what apps they would be able use and what users they would be able to friend.
So parents would kind of have control over what parts of the site the kids have access to and the kid will have more of, I guess, a walled garden kind of approach to the site.
COSTELLO: Well, we already have problems with privacy issues on Facebook so I'm not sure that many parents would actually want their 6-year-old on Facebook.
WARREN: You know, I think that that's a really good point. And the privacy concerns are definitely a big issue as are issues of kids revealing more information than maybe their parents are comfortable with them revealing. I think that a good model that Facebook could look to would be the club penguin network that Disney has.
It works quite well especially with kids in the 8 to 11- year-old range. It offers a way for kids to have a great social experience online but they have built in filters that prevent them from sharing personal information and they have other filters that prevent the conversation from going into an area that parent might not want.
COSTELLO: Ok. So let's say Facebook actually does this, how does it protect itself from liability?
WARREN: I think what they are hoping to do is they're hoping to petition the government to review the children online privacy protection act or COPA, which says that kids under 13 can't join online networks. So I think that if they can get the laws relaxed and then they can make it clear that parents have to sign up and that certain provisions regarding user data and user privacy are kept in check for kids under 13, that's how they can get around. So many different liabilities that might take place.
COSTELLO: Ok. So final question, doesn't this all come down to money and making more of it.
Warren: Yes, I mean, to a large degree it does. Obviously Facebook want users to be on the site as young as possible, so that they can -- as they get older become better advertiser targets and better (inaudible) customers for some of the other services.
But I think there is validity to the point that kids are already on Facebook, And it makes sense to have it available in a way that is safer and can be monitored more closely.
COSTELLO: Christina Warren. Thanks so much.
WARREN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We have a daily dose of good news in the fight against cancer. Doctors who treat breast cancer patients say a new drug called P-DM1 appears to do a better job than her (inaudible) that's the standard treatment for women with advanced breast cancer.
The new drug not only attacks cancer cells but does so without killing good cells and there are also fewer side effects such as hair loss.
We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: "Should American retailers stay out of politics?" Your response is on the other side of the break.
And if you're heading out the door, you can take me with you. Watch us any time on your mobile or computer. Just head to cnn.com/TV.
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COSTELLO: Let's go over to the weather center to check in with Rob Marciano because there will be some bizarre temperatures in parts of the country today.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little bit chilly. A little bit damp. You know, this is kind of a nod to old England and diamond jubilee. Those people had to endure temperatures in the 50s and pretty nasty weather in the northeast today, and New England, the new one, having to deal with the same sort of stuff.
There you see the showers rotating around. The temperatures will be held in the 50s and 60s from Boston to New York. Some pretty bad thunderstorms actually rolling across the south right now. Have some rough weather in Memphis earlier; Birmingham even, Alabama. And there will likely be a severe thunderstorm watch posted for parts of southern Georgia. Also a very strong storm. Almost a late season storm heading into the West Coast as well so we're kind of booked in by -- I would Winter weather but doesn't feel like June. Just bear with it -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I guess the heat wave of (inaudible) for at least folks in the north east. Thank you Rob.
MARCIANO: Ok Carol.
COSTELLO: We ask you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of day. The talk back question for you this morning. "Should American retailers stay out of politics?"
This is from Dave. "They should be able to do it if they want to but risk alienating large portions of the population. I won't support a business that expresses a belief that I do not stand for."
This from Matt. "Retailers should not be allowed to involve themselves in politics any more than lobbies should be able to bribe politicians."
This from Adrian "Retailers make a mistake getting into politics. With the division of our nation they are going to turn off almost half the population in matter what they say. And this from France's I guess now that corporations are people, they can back whoever they want. What a sad America this is.
I have to leave you on that sad note. Facebook.com/carolCNN, if you want to continue the conversation. Thanks, as always, for your comments.
I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for join me this morning. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with breaking news and Kyra Phillips.
