Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
West Nile Outbreak Explodes; Defiant Akin Refuses to Quit; GOP Candidates Fuel Abortion Debate; Gallup Poll: Anti-Abortion Support Growing; Nyad Says She's Proud of Attempt; Report: Gingrich Releases His Delegates; Existing Home Sales Up 2.3 Percent In July; Tropical Storm Isaac Strengthening; Floridians Watching Isaac; Romney's New Attack Ad; "The Office" is Closing; 1960 MLK Interview Found in Attic; Nike's New $300 Sneaker; Teens Using Drugs on Campus
Aired August 22, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thank you for being with us this morning. Welcome to NEWSROOM. I'm Carol Costello.
We begin the hour with breaking news on the spread of the West Nile virus. There's been a spike in the number of cases and deaths across the United States. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here with the numbers.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They're worse. I'm just going to say it right like that. They are worse than they were last week. The CDC is expected to announce them later today. Here's what they're expected to say.
Last week, there were 26 deaths due to West Nile. This week, we're expecting that number to be more than 40. That is a big increase. And as far as cases go, from 693 to more than a thousand and as far as what are the West Nile hot spots, Texas leading the way.
Followed by the other states listed here, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota and Oklahoma, 75 percent of the West Nile cases are in those five states.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: When you say there have been 40 deaths, I mean, are elderly people dying, babies?
COHEN: Elderly are most at risk and also people who have an underlying condition like a heart condition or kidney condition, they are also most at risk.
I think it's important to say that most of us, if we were bit by a West Nile mosquito would be fine, you wouldn't even know it. But elderly people and people with health problems are much more vulnerable.
COSTELLO: And when you say 40 deaths over how many states?
COHEN: More than 40 deaths in the country and we know that 75 percent of the case are centered in those five states, most of them in the south.
COSTELLO: So how concerned is the CDC?
COHEN: You know, they're concerned because this is certainly a high number for this time of year. This is higher than before and that's why they're encouraging states to do what they can. They're really encouraging people to take preventive measures.
There is lot that you can do. You know, we're not helpless. There are things we can do. So let's go over with the four Ds are because these are things you can do.
You wear an insect repellent with Deet. It's important that that's in the ingredient list. Dress in long sleeves and long pants, at dusk and dawn be especially careful when mosquitoes are out in great numbers.
And also drain any standing water, that kiddie pool your kids played in yesterday get rid of it because that's where mosquitoes breed. It's especially important if you're in one of these West Nile hot spots.
COSTELLO: Elizabeth Cohen, many thanks.
Let's turn now to politics and a politician who has alienated his own party may have fired up his fellow staunch conservatives. This time yesterday, Missouri Congressman Todd Akin was launching an ad blitz apologizing for his ill-advised comments on legitimate rape.
His words so offensive Republican leaders and even Mitt Romney demanded he quit the Senate race that he was actually leading. Today, Akin is not only defiant, he sounds downright angry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPRESENTATIVE TODD AKIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over more than a year period of time, a number of us ran in this Republican primary. Each of us had our messages. I was outspent by a large amount in terms of media.
And yet, by standing on principle and putting politics aside and talking about the foundations of this country, the people of Missouri chose me to be their candidate. I don't believe it's right for party bosses to decide to override those voters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Dana Bash is our senior congressional correspondent. So Dana, there's so much pressure on Akin to drop out, why isn't he?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I can answer that from the perspective of covering Congress. You know, Todd Akin is not a back slapping wheeling dealing politician who relies heavily on relationships there for support.
He's a devout Evangelical. He's a true believer and he relies on like minded voters for support and there are many like minded voters in the state of Missouri where he's running.
You know, but the reality is party leaders never wanted him to be the nominee in the Senate race in the first place, but he won anyway. That's not lost on him. Listen to what he said in an interview on ABC this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AKIN: I'm never going to say everything that can possibly happen. I don't know the future. But I do know this, I knew that the party voters took a look at our hearts, understood who we were, had a chance to meet us in many, many different ways and made a decision. It makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who runs supposed to the election process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Carol, the reality is, we should emphasize this, it's not just party bosses. It's also Republicans often spar with those bosses like Rush Limbaugh and the Tea Party.
But Republican sources I talked to this morning say that they're watching to see a couple of things but primarily, can he raise enough cash to stay in the race because the party, outside groups, people with lots of cash are not giving him anymore.
COSTELLO: We'll see. Dana Bash reporting live from Washington this morning.
Should be time for Republicans to get ready for their upcoming convention Florida, but many Republicans now find themselves caught up in the abortion debate, thanks to Todd Akin.
National political correspondent Jim Acosta has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican Congressman Todd Akin's refusal to drop out of the Missouri Senate race has given Democrats an opening to talk about abortion when Mitt Romney would rather focus on the economy.
(on camera): Do you guys see Missouri as being more in play now because of Todd Akin?
BEN LABOLT, OBAMA CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: Well, we certainly think that the discussion that Mitt Romney and the Republican Party have had about women's issues over the course of the past year sounds like something that you would have heard in the 1950s.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Inside Obama re-election headquarters in Chicago, campaign aides are not only pointing to Akin's initial comments.
AKIN: If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. ACOSTA: But also Iowa Congressman Steve King's comments to TV station, KMEG, which reported he questioned whether victims of statutory rape could become pregnant.
REPRESENTATIVE STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Well, I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance. It's been brought to me in any personal way.
ACOSTA: King released a statement saying his words were being twisted adding, quote, "I never said nor do I believe a woman including minors cannot get pregnant from rape, statutory rape or incest. Suggesting otherwise is ridiculous, shameful, disgusting and nothing, but an attempt to falsely define who I am.
Anti-abortion advocate Dr. John Willke raise the issue in this article in 1999 when he wrote that a rape can, quote, "radically upset a woman's possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy adding so assault rape pregnancy is extremely rare.
GOVERNOR BOB MCDONNELL, GOP PLATFORM CHAIRMAN: I applaud the committee's work in affirming our respect for human life. Well done.
ACOSTA: Down in Tampa, where Republicans will hold their convention next week, the party approved language in its platform that calls for abortion to be banned outright even in cases of rape and incest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both Romney and Ryan back proposals to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
ACOSTA: This Obama campaign ad accuses Romney of holding the same view, but Romney aides say that's false insisting the GOP contender does support exceptions in the case of rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Romney's running mate Paul Ryan steered clear of the issue at a rally in Pennsylvania, but he did talk about his own religion in going after the president.
REPRESENTATIVE PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Remember this other time, where he was caught on video saying, people like to cling to their guns and their religion. I'm a Catholic deer hunter. I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.
ACOSTA: The Obama campaign says Ryan will have some vice presidential company next week in Joe Biden.
(on camera): Isn't that a bit much to send the vice president to the challenger's convention?
LABOLT: Well, he's not attending the convention itself. He'll be holding an event in Tampa, but I think you'll be hearing certainly from people who are very familiar with Mitt Romney's record and not going to let some Hollywood producer come in and try to brush over the facts next week. ACOSTA (voice-over): After declining to do so a day earlier, Mitt Romney called on Todd Akin to exit the race. An aide said the GOP contender wanted to give the Missouri congressman enough time to, quote, "do the right thing." Jim Acosta, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Anti-abortion support continues to grow in this country. According to Gallup, in 1993 support for abortion under any circumstance stood at 34 percent. In 2011, that number fell to 25 percent. At the same time, support for the making abortion illegal grew from 13 percent to 20 percent.
It would have been a great birthday present for swimmer, Diana Nyad. Nyad turns 63 today, just one day after calling it quits halfway through her swim from Cuba to Florida. A lightning storm and repeated jellyfish stings forced Nyad to end her journey.
She talked to Soledad O'Brien about her legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANA NYAD, ENDURANCE SWIMMER: I tell you, I can look at these last three years, I have absolutely no regrets. It was a thrill to be this immersed in this difficult a task. The thing that's hard for me to let go of is the history.
I had history in the palm of my hand and it was epic. No one's ever done this passage, and for good reason. And I truly wanted to be the one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This was Nyad's fourth attempt to fulfill a dream she says she's had since childhood. She hinted she would not go for a fifth attempt.
Did you know we, Americans, waste up to 40 percent of our food? That's according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council that comes to about $165 billion worth of wasted food.
Alison Kosik joins us now from New York. Hi, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, we certainly do know how to waste food. Here's another stat for you. Did you know the average American wastes 10 times as much food as the average person in Southeast Asia?
The NRDC gives lots of ways for food producers, restaurants, supermarkets and the government ideas how to cut down on food waste and also gives several suggestions for what consumers can do to prevent food loss.
And I want to give you some of those suggestions, for one, even though many of us aren't big planners, you know what? Go ahead and plan meals in advance. Go to the supermarket with a list.
It really is the best way to prevent overbuying and prevent impulse buys, cuts down on the number /of times you pull instinct out of the fridge and say gosh, why did I buy that in the first place. I'm not going to eat it.
The report also suggests buying imperfect produce. Did you know that supermarkets throw out a ton of unwanted produce that's perfectly fine? It just isn't pretty. Just because an apple isn't perfectly round doesn't mean it's not good to eat.
Finally, cook in smaller portions that can cut down on leftovers and freeze the leftovers you do end up with if you don't plan to eat them right away.
How about a financial incentive? With the average family of four, tossing a couple thousand bucks in the trash every year, yes, there's a clear financial motivation to make an effort to waste less food -- Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, I feel guilty now. How much --
KOSIK: I know, I'm guilty.
COSTELLO: Alison, thank you.
Threats against President Obama. Secret Service agents say they have a man in custody, but wait until you hear what authorities found when they went to his house to arrest him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 13 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now. Secret Service agents have charged main for making threats against the president. He's accused of sending alarming e- mails to the FBI. He was armed with a shotgun when police came to arrest him, but police managed to arrest him safely. He is now in custody.
In a symbolic gesture, one-time Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has released his delegates telling them to throw their support behind Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention. Gingrich ended his campaign back in May.
In money news, sales of existing homes in the United States up 2.3 percent for the month of July that's according to the National Association of Realtors. The median housing price also jumped by 9 percent.
Tropical Storm Isaac is strengthening in the Atlantic this morning. It's too early to tell if it could pose a potential threat to Florida during the Republican National Convention. The National Hurricane Center says Isaac could become a hurricane by tomorrow.
In sports, a high ranking tennis referee bound for the United States Open has been arrested for the murder of her husband. That's her husband pictured there. The 70-year-old is accused of bludgeoning her elderly husband to death with a coffee mug in their Los Angeles home.
And take a look at these incredible pictures from Ecuador. A volcano erupted about an hour away from the capital city of Quito. It's been spewing molten rock and lava since the weekend showering half a dozen villages with ash and prompting evacuations.
Turning now to presidential politics, Paul Ryan may be the second name on the Republican ticket, but he's often the first to pounce on a misstep by Barack Obama. With a wink and a nod, he will fire up the crowd by using the president's own words to show he's out of touch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN: Every now and then, President Obama sort of drops his veil. He's less coy about his philosophy. He sort of reveals his true governing philosophy, what he really believes.
Remember back in 2008, remember the guy, Joe the plumber? Remember when he said we want to spread the wealth around? Remember this other time, where he was caught on video saying, people like to cling to their guns and their religion.
I'm a Catholic deer hunter. I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ryan seems to be a natural in front of a crowd. He delivers the laugh lines and he rebels in the applause. But a new poll shows overall support for Ryan on the ticket is at best lukewarm.
According to the "Washington Post"/ABC News poll, 41 percent of the public view him favorably, 37 percent not so much. Also noteworthy, Ryan's strongly unfavorable rating has crept up nine points in recent days.
Our next guest makes the case that Ryan, though, is a winning choice for the Republicans. Garrett Fahy co-authored a column celebrating the Ryan pick on townhall.com. Welcome, Garrett.
GARRETT FAHY, COLUMNIST, TOWNHALL.COM: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Does this ABC News poll surprise you?
FAHY: No, it doesn't. I think there's always a breaking-in period for any new candidate. I think it starts artificially high, and I think as the country gets to know him better and voters become more informed, some will be more inclined to vote for him, others less so.
I think the important thing is that the Ryan nomination does a couple things for Mitt Romney. Number one, it changes the subject. As you'll recall, there was a lot of ink spilled over Romney's tax returns.
Since Ryan's nomination, there's been less of that and more about Ryan's budget plan and the benefits Ryan brings to the Mitt Romney campaign, which I think are several.
COSTELLO: What about this whole Todd Akin controversy and Democrats are trying to tie Paul Ryan to Akin. Some say that seems to be working.
FAHY: I'm not sure that's going to work, Carol. I don't know any evidence that would suggest that Paul Ryan or the Mitt Romney campaign has had any interaction with Todd Akin. I think Governor Romney was correct to call for Todd Akin to resign and step out of the race.
As we all know, he didn't. What's interesting, however, is a public policy poll came out August 20th that surveyed 700 likely voters on real clear politics, and it showed that Todd Akin was still ahead by one point over the sitting Democratic senator.
So it's not clear whether the voters of Missouri will think that he's unfit for office, but I do think he should have stepped out.
COSTELLO: Paul Ryan's views on abortion, he does not believe abortion is right in the case of rape or incest. There's a big gender gap when it comes to the Romney/Ryan ticket. Do you suppose that Ryan's views could hurt Romney with women?
FAHY: I don't think that's going to be the case, Carol. I think Paul Ryan comes to the race as a well-known articulate candidate who is able to at least espouse his views with some consistency with some clarity.
He's going to present Catholics an interesting dilemma. On the one hand, you have Vice President Biden. His stance is more within the Nancy Pelosi wing of the party and on the Catholic divide.
Their position is absolutely fealty to unrestrained personal freedom. It's well documented both Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Biden strongly supports abortion rights. They support testing for in vitro -- stem cell research.
COSTELLO: But polls also show that the majority of Americans support abortion rights when it comes to rape and incest. So again, could that hurt?
FAHY: I think you're right about that.
COSTELLO: Could that hurt Mitt Romney because he has Paul Ryan on the ticket and Paul Ryan is very conservative when it comes to the issue of abortion?
FAHY: I think you're right about that, but I think what's more important is Paul Ryan's positions on the economic issues and also, Mitt Romney's position on the abortion issue is more in line with the mainstream. From what I understand, he does not believe be abortion should be outlawed in cases of rape and incest. The important thing about the Ryan nomination is not so much the social issues. I think Democrats will try and demonize him and demagogue those issues.
But I think when most people look at Paul Ryan's history in Congress. They're going to see a man who has been very thoughtful about Medicare reform, about the budget and about facing the fiscal challenges that are confronting the country.
COSTELLO: We'll keep our eye on the polls and see how things go. Garrett Fahy, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
FAHY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: So which is higher, a Lebron James leap or the price of his brand new tennis shoe? You won't believe it. We will discuss the upcoming release of the new Nike Lebron X as well as its enormous price tag. Not everyone is thrilled.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big of the date. The question, should Congressman Todd Akin drop out of the U.S. Senate race?
Some would say Todd Akin is either gutsy or delusional. His fellow Republicans all the way up to Mitt Romney are urging him to do the right thing for his family and for the Republican Party.
But Akin's not budging. Why should he when in his mind, he put one unfortunate word before the word rape. This whole thing Akin says, is overblown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AKIN: Well, let me say this is not about me. This is not about my ego, but it is about the voters of the state of Missouri. They've chosen me because of principles that I stand on and putting principle over politics. I believe that they stand with me on a whole host of issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Akin did win a primary. People did vote for him. He's been in Congress for 12 years, and his views are frankly nothing new.
As Kevin Horgan puts it in this morning's St. Louis dispatch, quote, "He voted against the school lunch program. He called the morning-after pill a form of abortion. He voted against funding autism research, evil vaccines. He called student loans a stage 3 cancer of socialism. He questioned the need for the voting rights act. He said the heart of liberalism is really a hatred for God," end quote. And guess what, at least poll shows Akin up a point in Missouri. Mr. Akin thinks he can still win. So his fellow Republicans be damned.
Talk back question today, should Congressman Todd Akin drop out of the U.S. Senate race? Facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carol cnn. You comments later this hour.
We are days away from the start of the GOP convention and Republicans want to put the spotlight back on President Obama. The Romney campaign has a brand new ad out aimed at the president's welfare reforms or should I say programs. Is it fact or fiction?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 30 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories, this morning GOP Congressman Todd Akin says he's not backing down from the Senate race.
Akin has apologized for comments that legitimate rape rarely results in pregnancy, but he did not apologize for being anti- abortion, and believes he can still win over Democrat Claire McCaskill.
This morning, a jury begins deliberating Apple's patent suit against Samsung. This is one of the biggest tech patent lawsuits in history. Apple claims Samsung copied the look and function of its smartphone and tablet products. Apple is seeking $2.5 billion in damages and to ban Samsung from selling products in the United States.
As early as today, the man convicted of killing a Beatle, John Lennon, 32 years ago gets a new chance at freedom. Mark David Chapman is up for his seventh parole hearing. The attorney for Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono says she's still asking the parole board to deny his release.
Dozens of boats and barges are not going anywhere on an 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River. The drought caused the river to drop to dangerously low levels near Greenville, Mississippi. The same stretch of the river has been intermittently closed since August 12th.
Right now, we're calling it Tropical Storm Isaac, but it could be a hurricane by tomorrow. Rob Marciano is with us now. How likely is it that this thing will turn into a hurricane?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pretty likely. It gets into the Caribbean where the waters are really warm and have some interaction with some land. Right now, the winds are 45 miles an hour.
They'll probably bump it up at 5 miles an hour or so I think for the next update here in the next few minutes. We're expecting that at 11 a.m. Westerly moving at 20, so it's moving rapidly. Tropical storm warnings are up for the Lesser Antilles the northern ones at least and even some hurricane watches now have been posted for parts of the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Island, Puerto Rico and also the Island of Hispaniola.
So that means that we do think this is going to become a hurricane here in the next 24 to 36 hours. A number of our computer model track each one of these lines represents a specific computer. They are well clustered as we get towards Hispaniola. This is going to affect Haiti in the form of some heavy rain and also western Cuba.
It will knock down the intensity of the storm itself. But once we get close to Florida and the Bahamas, then the uncertainty starts to bump up. And that certainly is indicated in the National Hurricane Center forecast which is typical as further we go out, you know the less certainty we have.
So here is your forecast track from the NHC, taking it towards Hispaniola, western Cuban and towards the southern tip of Florida as we go toward Sunday night into Monday, potentially still a Category 1 storm. But note the margin of error some of our computer models take it to the east of Miami, some of it take to the west. If that's the case we're looking at the potential of it getting into the Gulf of Mexico, western Florida, including Tampa there is a slight of that happening.
Regardless of that, Carol, it's been miserable down there the past couple days. They've seen a lot of heavy rain. They'll see more on the way today. So some street flooding likely as they continue to get ready for the RNC.
COSTELLO: Hopefully it'll just be rain. Rob Marciano, thank you.
MARCIANO: All right, Carol.
COSTELLO: The Romney campaign rolling out yet another commercial blasting President Obama for stripping the work requirement out of welfare. Republicans are expected to attack the President on that point at their convention, too, but is it true? Our fact checker Tom Foreman has been sifting through the evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Join me as I sign the Welfare Reform Bill.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welfare reform was a big bipartisan success story in the mid-1990s, signed by Bill Clinton, it fulfilled promises by the Democratic President and the Republican Congress to push welfare recipients to work in exchange for their benefits. To end welfare as we know it.
So the idea of another Democratic President, Barack Obama, taking the work requirement off of the table is political dynamite. Right? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On July 12th, President Obama quietly ended the work requirement gutting welfare reform. One of the most respected newspapers in America called it "nuts."
FOREMAN: The problem is, President Obama calls this claim nuts.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every single person here who's looked at it says it's patently false.
FOREMAN (on camera): So where did this come from, this notion of a giant change in welfare rules? Oddly enough, it didn't originate here in Washington but rather out in the country.
(voice-over): Several states, including some with Republican governors asked the federal government for more flexibility in how they hand out welfare dollars. Specifically, they want to spend less time on federal paperwork and more time experimenting with what they hope will be better ways of getting people connected to jobs.
So the administration has granted waivers from some of the existing rules.
OBAMA: Giving them, those states, some flexibility in how they manage their welfare rolls as long as it produced 20 percent increases in the number of people who are getting work.
FOREMAN: That might in a small way change precisely how work is calculated but the essential goal of pushing welfare recipients to work remains in place. That's pretty much it. This is clearly not an effort by the President to kill off the welfare work requirements. That's why even some Republicans have backed away. Governor Romney's claim doesn't work. And we rate it false.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Fans of the cult comedy hit "The Office" brace yourself. After this year, the cast is calling it quits. We'll tell you what's in store for the final season next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The cast of "The Office" will be turning off the lights soon. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer has all the details. He's in Los Angeles. Good morning.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Good morning Carol. Well, the executive producer of the show is promising as he put it to do justice to the existing characters in the most creative and explosive way as the show wraps up. And while I'm not exactly sure what that means, I can tell you that the season will finally reveal exactly who is behind those documentary cameras capturing all the action at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. I think everybody is eager to see who's behind those cameras and actually hear from them. Now we don't know the yet if Steve Carell is going to return to the show for part of the last season. But according to "The New York Times," of course the show would love to have him back if he can manage with his schedule.
And to be clear, NBC is not canceling the show, Carol. It is the network's highest rated scripted series but the contracts are expiring for most of the original cast. And that makes it a pretty good time to wrap things up and really get fans a satisfying story line. They're going out on top.
COSTELLO: Absolutely, the best way to go out. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, is it over, over, over now?
HAMMER: Yes well, we're working to officially confirm that news, but according to multiple reports today, on Monday, a judge did sign off on the couple's divorce settlement which really seems to be kind of formality at this stage because Tom and Katie did reach a settlement within days of Katie filing for divorce.
But it took only 53 days from the day Katie filed on June 28th to the day the divorce became official if these reports are accurate. And it is pretty remarkable that these two had such a mature discreet split when you think about all the public interest and all the details of exactly what was going on, the details to the settlement have also been kept extraordinarily quiet.
And I am now thinking that some other celebrity couples who are dealing with high profile divorces, Kim Kardashian, should take some notes here.
COSTELLO: I don't think she will though. A.J. Hammer, thank you.
HAMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Join A.J. tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 Eastern on HLN.
Coming out soon, a shoe -- a tennis shoe that can track and measure performance, but at a whopping price. We'll discuss the upcoming release of Nike's new Lebron x. Ready to pay $300 for a pair of tennis shoes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 41 minutes past the hour. Checking our "Top Stories" now, still saying no. That's Todd Akin's response on calls for him to withdraw from his race for the U.S. Senate. Akin has apologized for his legitimate rape comment and says party bosses should not dictate his political future.
A mayoral candidate in southern New Jersey might have a much more difficult time staying in his race. This is Thomas Litwin, he was arrested by Stafford Township New Jersey Police for selling marijuana to an undercover police officer. Oops, bail set at $50,000. A man in Chattanooga, Tennessee has discovered a long lost interview with Martin Luther King Jr. it was in his attic. The reel- to-reel tape captures King's thoughts of the sit-in protests of the 1960s.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I am convinced that when the history books are written in future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh he was a brilliant man, right. The homeowner says he'll sell these tapes and but he really hopes they wind up in a museum.
More fallout from the devastating drought, U.S. corn and soybean prices closed at an all-time high Tuesday. Crop yields in Midwestern and central states are said to be far below the norm and stunningly low which means you'll probably feel the pinch at the grocery store and at gas pumps nationwide.
To California, where a massive wildfire is closing in on hundreds of homes at least 50 buildings have already been destroyed lightning started the fire on Saturday. Officials say the Ponderosa fire is about 40 percent contained. This fire is just one of three dozen huge wildfires burning out West.
Pursuit of the swoosh, boy, it's getting more expensive. While there's some debate about the price, Nike reportedly will likely be approaching the $300 barrier when it releases the new Lebron X shoe this fall.
News of the shoe's expected price doesn't come without controversy. National Urban League President Marc Morial was quick to respond. He said. Quote, "To release such an outrageously overpriced product while the nation is struggling overcome an unemployment crisis is insensitive at best. It represents twisted priorities and confused values, just don't do it."
Joining me now is Brit Beemer, the chairman and CEO of America's Research Group which assists retailers in growing their businesses. Good morning, Brit.
BRIT BEEMER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, AMERICA'S RESEARCH GROUP: Carol good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. So -- so let's talk about the price tag first this $300 barrier. I mean can -- do retailers think they'll be able to sell such an expensive tennis shoe?
BEEMER: Well, not all retailers are excited but I will tell you, retailers are looking forward to it for one reason. That is -- is that when you've got a price point this high, you get a lot of people coming in the front door to check it out.
Now, they may not end up buying this tennis shoe but they may end up buy a tennis shoe that's $140, $150.
So I mean they still will get a lot of traffic and you know, Nike wants to prove to the world again that they are the superior brand, and they can command this kind of price point. It's kind of one-upmanship for them but they want to draw traffic into stores to sell athletic shoes and Nike always wins when that happens.
COSTELLO: Ok. So what makes these shoes worth $300?
BEEMER: Well, Nike says they are. I guess the real question is, I'm not sure whether Lebron James has as much strength as Nike because his name's on the shoe. But I think what makes it unique is, is that no one's ever done this. Of course, the shoe is supposed to have all these different elements that makes it special.
But keep in mind one thing. You know, our research says that based upon the market -- smaller markets, Midwestern markets only about 6 percent of consumers would pay this price, but 12 percent of consumers in those urban markets would buy the shoe at this price. So that's enough demand out there to make it work.
COSTELLO: And that's what's making the Urban League so very, very angry. Every time a new tennis shoe is put on the market, they have these midnight openings. And we all remember what can happen. This is back in January when there were actually riots outside of a store where the latest tennis shoe was being sold.
So I guess Nike has put in -- well, they have new regulations. There will be no midnight releases of this shoe. So, of course, that's a reaction to what's happened there, right?
BEEMER: As you know, that's what Nike's greatest fear is. They are worried that there's going to be more of these flash mobs come in and attack these stores and cause chaos. They don't want to be associated with that. That's one reason why they're trying to do a much larger national rollout of this product versus doing these special midnight openings.
And living in Orlando, you know, that was the story for three days about that event. They want to keep those negative stories to a minimum. They have to, by the way.
COSTELLO: Yes, because you don't want that kind of stuff happening. Going back to what the Urban League and its concerns. It says, you know, this is just insensitive to release such an expensive shoe at this time. This is just taking advantage of people and exploiting a population who will take advantage of that, who can ill afford to do that. Is it exploitation or is it just plain old good capitalism?
BEEMER: I think it's plain old good capitalism. I realize, our research also says that you know, minorities have a much higher bragging rights level than other consumers and there may be as high as a 21 percent demand for a shoe like this in some minority population groups. But the fact of the matter is it is good capitalism. Keep in mind, retailers on the sporting goods level have not had a lot to brag about for the last year or so, so they need a new product out there to get consumers excited.
But again, keep in mind, they may not sell as many of these shoes as they want but they'll get customers in the front door at least to check it out. And then when that happens, they'll sell them something else. That's the big key today is how many other shoes are they going to sell for consumers who didn't want to pay this price.
COSTELLO: All for $100 too.
BEEMER: All for $100.
COSTELLO: Brit Beemer --
BEEMER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining us.
Looks like America's youth are moving on from smoking in the boys' room. The shocking results of a new study. Wait until you hear where kids smoke pot nowadays.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A Columbia University survey suggests most teenagers know someone who was smoking, drinking or using drugs. CNN Student News anchor Carl Azuz is following this story. You have the study in front of you. And there are some surprising things -- disturbing things in the study.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Both. Look, the study said that 17 percent of students are smoking, doing drugs, drinking. But the real kicker here is the fact that according to this survey, it was a telephone survey of over 1,000 American teenagers. They're doing it during school hours.
Students are finding a way and place to do this possibly on campus. And at least a third of them are saying, those who do drugs, who smoke and drink -- they say it's easy to do this on campus and to get away with it.
COSTELLO: So they're smoking pot in school.
AZUZ: Yes.
COSTELLO: Why aren't people catching them?
AZUZ: That, we can't answer. Nobody knows.
It seems that if teachers knew where it was happening, or administrators, they'd do something to get rid of it. As far as the influences go, that's something we can talk about because One of the things that's new about this is digital peer pressure. It's no longer a situation where one kid sitting under a bleacher saying smoke this, everybody else is doing it.
By digital peer pressure, we're talking about social media. We're talking about Facebook and although 75 percent of the students who are questioned said they're encouraged to smoke, drink or do drugs when they see images of their peers doing it on social media.
Another influence here is parents but this is a positive one. Some parents think I could talk to my kid, he's not going to listen. The opposite is true. Students who said their parents would freak out if they were caught with drugs or alcohol are significantly less likely to touch those things. And then religious faith plays a part, too. Those kids who are attending religious services who are going to church four times a month ago. Also significant less likely to do these things.
COSTELLO: You said 17 percent. Is that percentage more or less than it has been over the past decade?
AZUZ: Well, what we've over the past decade is sort of a shrinking in the gap between this happening at public and private schools. Overall, yes -- there's been an increase in the number of students who are smoking or doing drugs on campus. But the gap between public and private schools used to be wider. In fact, it used to be a minority of public school campuses that students said were, quote, "Drug infected." Meaning there were drugs available somewhere on campus.
Now for the first time in the survey's multiyear history, a majority of private school students are saying it's available on their campuses, as well. The overall figure for public and private schools where students say drugs are available on campus, 60 percent.
COSTELLO: You told me to ask you about the take away. So I'm asking you, what's the take away?
AZUZ: There's a great take away from the people who conducted the study. The woman in charge of this at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Colombia University. She says look, nobody knows the Teen World better than teen but it's up to parents to help them navigate that world. So the big take away is for parents to get involved, talk to your teenagers about what's going on because they are listening.
COSTELLO: That is a good thing. Parents are so over involved in every aspect of their child's life, you would think they would be involved in this aspect too.
AZUZ: You would hope so. It has an effect and you know, For more information on this appearance when I go and see the results of this study -- the full study. There's a link to it at CNN.com/education. It's our new Schools of thought Blog, Carol.
COSTELLO: Great, Carl Azuz, thank you so much.
AZUZ: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should Congressman Akin drop out of the U.S. Senate race? Your responses next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Getting back in shape is hard and for many women, there's been more difficulty after a pregnancy. In today's daily dose, Dr. Masterson from TV's "The Doctors" shares how she lost those unwanted pounds after having her baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA MASTERSON, CO-HOST, "THE DOCTORS": The best ways to get back in shape after having your baby are you really want to do portion control. I gained over 100 pounds during my pregnancy with my son. And so I know a lot about this. Portion control, smaller sizes, don't give in to those cravings you might have done during pregnancy. You really want to be able to get outside. Shed that bathrobe and that slippers. Get outside. It's going to make you feel better and inspire you to exercise and lose weight.
Also, exercise videos. You don't have a lot of time to go to the gym. These are things you can do at home. Make sure they have time to progress. You may not be able to do the whole session at the beginning. Start in ten-minute increments. Those are my top tips for getting backing into shape after the baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. We asked you to talk back on one of the stories of the day. The question, should Congressman Akin drop out of the U.S. Senate race?
This from Phillip, "Yes someone that obviously ignorant shouldn't hold any seat of power."
This from Britney, "I think Akin should not drop out. I hope he wins and shows the top brass in the Republican Party that we are human and make a mistake. I like him more and plant send him and I don't even live in that state."
This from Lissa, "Dropping out would be the best thing for the party but if he's polling up a point, perhaps he's the person Missouri wants to represent them. Sad but so be it."
This from John. "I'm a Democrat, so no. He's helping my party."
COSTELLO: Keep the conversation going,
Thanks as always for your comments. And thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Carol Costello, thank you so much.
