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American Morning
President Bush & Prime Minister Brown Wrap Talks on Iraq & Iran; Afghan President Threatens Pakistan; Iowa Residents Returning to Flooded Homes
Aired June 16, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Just crossing the top of the hour and here's what's making news this Monday morning, the 16th of June.
Sandbags submerged, now evacuated. Hundreds of people in Iowa City, Iowa, out of their homes this morning. In all, some 36,000 people in the state are homeless.
Tying the knot legally. Gay couples in California will be allowed to get married starting this evening. The state becomes the second in the nation after Massachusetts to allow gays to get married.
It's an 11-point lead, 52-41. And a new Gallup Poll just released, more Americans predict Barack Obama will win the election in November. Still pretty early, though.
And get bin Laden before January. President Bush reportedly saying he wants to track down terror leader Osama bin Laden before he leaves office. Defense and intelligent sources confirmed to the "Sunday Times" of London that a redoubled hunt is under way for the 9/11 mastermind. One official told the paper, "If he can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured bin Laden, President Bush can claim to have left the world a safer place."
CNN's White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president, joins us live from London, where just a few minutes ago he and Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrapped up a press conference.
And what's the news out of there this morning, Elaine?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A couple of headlines out of here. First off, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announcing he'll be sending more troops to Afghanistan, Iraq also, their main focus. We saw President Bush trying to dispel any notion that there's any daylight on Iraq policy between the U.S. and the UK over troop levels specifically in Iraq.
Now, the president did meet with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss a range of issues including Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. But on Iraq, President Bush during the news conference insisted that the prime minister shares his belief in what's called the return on success. The administration's view that troops should come home as success is achieved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just want to remind you that he has left more troops in Iraq than initially anticipated. And like me, we'll be making our decisions based upon the conditions on the ground, the recommendation of our commanders, without an artificial timetable set by politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, Prime Minister Brown, of course, is under tremendous pressure to withdraw troops from Iraq. The Iraq war is deeply unpopular, as you know, here in Britain. But the prime minister insisting and, in fact, using some of the same rhetoric as President Bush that decisions will be made by commanders on the ground.
As for Afghanistan, again, the British prime minister is saying that there will be more troops on their way from the UK to Afghanistan. He did not layout any details but certainly, John, this is welcome news for President Bush as he has been trying to drum up support, additional support from European allies for Afghanistan -- John.
ROBERTS: Certainly seems to be. Elaine Quijano for us in Great Marlborough Street this morning in London.
Elaine, thanks very much.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: This morning also some tough talk from both sides over militants crossing over the Pakistani border to attack Afghan and coalition troops. Pakistan now vowing to defend its border after some words from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, saying he will no longer tolerate those cross-border attacks. Karzai threatening to send troops inside Pakistan if those attacks do not stop.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is live in Washington with more on this story for us.
Hi, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Tensions are growing by the day on that border. Consider this, last month for the first time, more coalition forces were killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq. U.S. troops had an all-time high in Afghanistan. Attacks are on the rise.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as you said, now threatening to send his troops across the border into Pakistan to go after those militants, and President Bush at that press conference in London just a few moments ago, having to weigh in on all of this. Listen to what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: One thing that can happen is there can be, you know, more dialogue between the Pak (ph) government and the Afghan government. Now there was a -- in the past, they had a Jirga (ph) amongst tribal leaders in the region from both sides of the border that made a difference. And I think that would be a good idea to restart the Jirga process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: You know, what is this all about? The U.S. is giving billions in aid to Pakistan to crack down on those militants. The new Pakistani government isn't doing it, and there are growing concerns that that safe haven increasingly may be used to plot more attacks against the United States and our European allies -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, thank you.
Also, what does the escalating tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan mean for the U.S.-led war on terror? Coming up, we talk to former special operations intelligence officer and terrorism analyst Ken Robinson.
ROBERTS: Extreme flood misery for 36,000 people on the run in Iowa and in many places it is far from over. Towns entirely underwater. The governor has declared 83 of the state's 99 counties to be disaster areas.
Officials say the Iowa River in Iowa City has crested at 31 1/2 feet forcing hundreds of people out of their homes. It's not expected to start going down until tonight and may only drop three feet by Saturday.
Meantime in Cedar Rapids, 24,000 people waiting to get a look at what's left of their homes. The murky water is now slowly receding and revealing what's estimated to be a billion dollars in damage.
And the historic flooding could affect travelers hundreds of miles away. Amtrak is suspending service between Chicago and destinations to the north and west because of flooding across the Midwest states. Amtrak says it will be providing rides by chartered buses from some destination but that does not include the hardest hit areas of Iowa.
We're live in the flood zones across the state this morning. Jim Acosta is standing by in Cedar Rapids. But first, let's go to Sean Callebs. He's in Iowa City today.
And Sean, the city's vaunted flood protection infrastructure really being put to the test today.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without question, and let's not count out the work that crews did over the weekend. Students here on campus, people here in Iowa City, but so much of it for naught.
If you look behind me, this courtyard here on the campus has been turned into a lagoon. And some serious concerns. This building right here housed about $300 million worth of priceless art. And over here, the art school just two of the many buildings here on campus that have simply been swamped.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): It's been a week long battle on the campus of the University of Iowa. Sandbags and prayers trying to hold back the surging Iowa River, which is now at a historic high. Allyson Schultz graduated last month and never thought she'd witness this.
ALLYSON SCHULTZ, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA GRADUATE: It's just crazy that it actually like got over the sandbags, and I just can't believe it right now.
CALLEBS: About a tenth of the buildings on the sprawling 1900- acre campus flooded.
JESSICA STROUD, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA GRADUATE: It's really upsetting to see all the buildings and everything underwater, especially some of the newly renovated buildings.
CALLEBS: If there is a silver lining, the university had time to remove its heralded collection of priceless art treasures before the Museum of Art took on water.
SALLY MASON, PRES., UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: We anticipated the worst. It's come. And a week ago, we began preparing for what we thought might be the worst case scenarios.
CALLEBS: The art is being stored in Chicago. It took a long time for the Iowa River to crest, and it will be take perhaps a week for it to recede. And leave it to the academics to act philosophical about the flood of '08.
GORDON MENNENGA, CREATIVE WRITING TEACHER: If we offended some of the river gods someplace along the line, I don't know where it was. But it's payback, I guess, for something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Indeed, paying the price now. There are 30,000 students that go to school here. Classes have been postponed at least until next Sunday. But, John, it's a safe bet that people all across the state are focusing on what's going on here.
A lot of people have an affinity to this school. About half of the state's doctors graduated from here, and close to 80 percent of the educators in all public schools here went to this campus as well -- John.
ROBERTS: Sean, you were mentioning the artwork that was housed in those buildings behind you. I take it they got it all out before the flood levels rose?
CALLEBS: Yes, they got it all out, basically under a kind of certain degree of secrecy. It was whisked away to Chicago and is now being held in what we're told is an undisclosed location. So they're very careful about it. A Jackson Pollock work and a number of very precious works there.
ROBERTS: All right. Great, thanks.
Sean Callebs for us this morning in Iowa City.
And you've got a chance to help those flood victims in need. Go to CNN.com/impact to find out the contact information for several relief organizations.
CHETRY: Well, even with the bum knee he couldn't be stopped. There it was. It didn't look he was in any pain there.
Pandemonium yesterday at Torrey Pines in California after Tiger Woods sink a 12-foot birdie putt forcing an 18-hole playoff today for the U.S. Open title. It's actually Tiger's first tournament since knee surgery back in April, and it was clear over the final two rounds that it was still bothering him. In fact, even at times he looked to be using one of his clubs as a makeshift cane. But there he looks happy and healthy.
Rocco Mediate, the 150 -- is that the right way I'm saying it?
ROBERTS: Mediate --
CHETRY: Thank you.
The 157th rank, I'll take my mulligan with that, is that right?
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: The 157th rank player in the world will try to stop Tiger from winning his 14th major. But, yes, an eruption yesterday when he sunk that.
ROBERTS: It happened several times. His last two holes on Saturday were incredible, too. And I predict a lot of people will be taking the day off work today to watch.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Coming up next, power surge. Your electric bill charged up and about to soar higher than ever. How much and what's behind it, straight ahead.
CHETRY: Also, the down payment, two senators on the defensive this morning. Did they get a better mortgage rate because of who they knew?
ROBERTS: And later, running on empty. The gas crisis hits America's schools. How the next penny at the pump could become from your pocket on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twelve and a half minutes after the hour, and here's your political ticker from Monday morning.
Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain met Sunday with Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari. Among other topics, the two leaders discussed the new treaty that would allow the U.S. military to stay in Iraq past the end of the year.
Senator Ted Kennedy's son says his father is prepared to "do battle with the cancer." The senator is scheduled to start chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the weeks ahead.
CHETRY: Democratic Senator John Kerry is saying he hopes independent Joe Lieberman will not be turned into an "attack dog for the Republicans." He made the remarks after Al Gore's 2000 running mate questioned Obama's position -- Barack Obama's position on Iran and Israel.
And former Virginia Governor Mark Warner taking himself out of the running as a potential vice presidential candidate this year. Warner made his intentions clear when he accepted the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
For more up to the minute political news head to CNN.com/ticker.
A senator was supposed to be keeping banks honest may have gotten a sweetheart deal from one of them. Brian Todd has the story.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
The scandal surrounding a controversial mortgage lender that shook up Barack Obama's campaign touched off a series of news investigations. And now, two very powerful senators are on the defensive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd has tried to crack down on companies accused of predatory mortgage lending at the center of the home foreclosure crisis. He's pushed for more regulation and even criminal charges against some lenders.
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), BANKING CMTE. CHAIRMAN: Obviously they're engaging in practices in some instances where they knew the borrowers were incapable of meeting their financial obligations.
TODD: But one company being investigated for fraud in the mortgage crisis, Countrywide Financial Corporation, reportedly gave Senator Dodd cut-rate deals on two loans, deals not available to the general public. According to a report in "Conde Nast Portfolio" magazine, Dodd's fellow Democrat Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, got similar deals.
The magazine cites internal documents and e-mails saying Countrywide's CEO, Angelo Mozilo, directed staffers to give lower interest rates and points to influential people. Countrywide did not return our calls and e-mail. Contacted by CNN, Dodd and Conrad reacted with outrage to the report.
They acknowledged they got competitive rates, but both say they never sought favorable treatment and were not aware they were getting it. Records from Conrad's office show he got below market rates for one property on at least two occasions. But in a telephone interview, Conrad said this about Countrywide's loan for another property, an apartment building in Bismarck, North Dakota.
VOICE OF SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), N. DAKOTA: With respect to the Bismarck property, which is a loan of less than $100,000, that I actually paid above market rates.
TODD: There's no evidence of anything illegal here, and one watchdog group says Dodd and Conrad may not have violated Senate ethics rules if they didn't know they were getting loans not available to the public. But --
MELANIE SLOAN, CMTE. FOR ETHICS & RESPONSIBILITY: Particularly, I think for Senator Dodd, being on the banking committee and then getting a loan that is at such a better rate than what is generally available, I think that's going to be a tough sell politically. How did he really not know this loan was on such better terms?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Melanie Sloan says her group is calling for a Senate ethics investigation of these deals, but the two senators state clearly they believe they've done nothing wrong. Conrad says he's never met Angelo Mozilo in person, says he's only spoken to him once over the phone.
John and Kyra, back to you.
ROBERTS: Brian Todd for us this morning. Brian, thanks.
Barack Obama goes to church on Chicago's South Side and brings a special Father's Day message along with him. Obama called on fathers, especially African-Americans, to be better fathers to their children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: But if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers are also missed. Too many fathers are M.I.A. Too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities. They're acting like boys instead of men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: It was the first time that Obama had gone to church since resigning from Trinity United.
CHETRY: Well, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning." most news in the morning.
Sniffing out a killer. A cloned canine with a nose for cancer. So will the puppies also get the genetic ability to tell who has the disease and who doesn't?
ROBERTS: Wouldn't that be something if they did.
First, though, Gerri Willis in for Ali this morning.
Good morning, Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Now you're going to make me giggle through the whole thing.
Good morning to you, guys. You know, we've been talking a lot about gas prices. Wouldn't it be great if somebody out there started making, producing more oil so that we can have lower gas prices?
Guess what, Saudi Arabia saying they are going to boost production. What will it mean for your wallet? We'll have that after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: New video in this morning. And here's some flooding in the Mississippi River. This is along the Missouri/Illinois border. I'm not sure exactly what the specific location is, but you could you see how the Mississippi has broken through its banks there and flooded a lot of the neighboring farmland.
This is creating problems not only for people who live in the area in terms of their houses, but also this is going to cause a much bigger long-term problem because crops can not grow when they're flooded out by water. We've already got sky high food prices as a result of fuel cost, so this is only going to add to the misery.
We have got teams on the ground throughout Iowa, Missouri, Minneapolis -- not Minneapolis, not Minneapolis, sorry, Wisconsin as well. And we'll be bringing you the latest on that this morning and all week long here on AMERICAN MORNING as this flooding is at historic levels. Some areas putting what happened in 1993 way back in the record books.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
Grab your wallet because your electric bills are about to go way up in some places by as much as 30 percent. That's according to an article in "USA Today." The paper says utilities all across the country are raising prices and more rate hikes could be on the way.
Most of the increase is because of higher fuel costs. Customers are also paying to build new plants in an update to an aging power grid.
CHETRY: High price of gas, high electric bill.
ROBERTS: Everything.
CHETRY: Everything is just more expensive.
WILLIS: Yes.
CHETRY: Exactly, except for Gerri's smile.
WILLIS: Oh.
CHETRY: She gives it to us for free.
WILLIS: Oh, I love the love on the show. Yes.
But inflation across the board, right? We're seeing it absolutely everywhere. I want to talk to you a little bit about gas prices first. We're at $4.08 a gallon. That's according to AAA. That is a new record high.
I know you're not too happy to hear that. It is the ninth straight record. Also, oil prices Friday settling at $134.68. Not good news either although it's not an all-time high at all.
Let's talk a little bit about what we were chatting about in the tease. Saudi Arabia is going to boost production. You know, the president visited and asked for this to happen. They are indeed going to boost production. 200,000 barrel a day.
Now, listen to this, though. That's not too big of a deal. It's two percent of their daily production, and the world consumes 84 million barrels of oil each and every day. So you can see its small proportion of the total.
Saudi Arabia apparently telling the U.N. chief that they are concerned that this is not normal, the prices we're seeing in the marketplace right now. They believe if the situation continues people will make big changes to their lifestyle. You know, consumption of their major export will go down and they don't like that.
But also wanted to report to you guys over the weekend, G8 finance minister saying this is going to hurt global growth with these oil prices where they are. There's no way that the globe's economic output can continue on such a high pace.
CHETRY: There are a lot of people changing their habits because of the high price of gas.
WILLIS: That's right.
CHETRY: She's going to travel less, carpool.
WILLIS: Motorcycle?
ROBERTS: And mine on the weekend. It's the only form of transportation I use on the weekend, too.
CHETRY: Really?
WILLIS: Well, see if you save gas. So I think people are doing everything and anywhere they can.
ROBERTS: All right. Gerri, thanks so much.
Just like a scene out of a Hollywood movie, suicide bombers blow a hole in the side of a prison in Afghanistan allowing hundreds of prisoners to escape.
What's being done today to track them down?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Acosta in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where officials are all of a sudden stopping residents from returning to their homes. That story coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: New report says the Bush administration is intensifying efforts to catch Osama bin Laden. And as you heard from our own Barbara Starr just a few minutes ago, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is threatening to send troops into Pakistan. This after suicide bombers blasted open the front gate of an Afghan prison allowing almost 400 Taliban fighters to escape.
Joining us now from Washington, Ken Robinson. He's a former special operations intelligence officer, terror analyst, and Ken has been to Afghanistan numerous times and is, in fact, heading back there in the next couple of days. Thanks for being with us, Ken,
KEN ROBINSON, TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning.
CHETRY: First, let's start with this hunt for bin Laden, this intensified effort. According to the "Times of London," President Bush enlisting British Special Forces in this so-called final attempt to capture bin Laden before he leaves office. How realistic is that?
ROBINSON: Well, I think what's realistic is that United States military is going to go after the command and control of both al-Qaeda and the Taliban, two separate groups of people. And they're going to use every censor they have in their system to go to find those locations, strike them, and attempt to trick those leaders. And they've done a good job of that about the last five weeks.
CHETRY: How realistic is it that the help of the British Special Forces and perhaps some of the tactical changes they're trying to make will lead to Osama bin Laden's capture?
ROBINSON: I think the British Special Forces are very qualified in working in that area. To me what's not realistic is the threat by the president, Karzai, to be able to deploy the Afghan National Army into that same region. At least not by themselves. An organization like that require a lot of sustainment. They require a lot of food, a lot of water, a lot of gas, and the ability to maneuver that type of an army in that area.
That's the type of fight that the Taliban is actually hoping for, to draw them into those mountains. And it would be a mistake to try to fight this conventionally.
CHETRY: So in your opinion, is this tough talk from Afghan's president, or is this a real threat?
ROBINSON: I think it's a mixture of real frustration. They almost killed him several times. And if you listen to his rhetoric, one of the things he's really concerned about is the punitive effect that the Taliban is having on the Pashtuns. The Pashtuns are a tribe that he happens to be a part of and they cover the ground between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in his mind have also have been affected badly by these cross-border raids.
And he's pretty angry and he's had a lot of domestic political pressure and that's driving some of his rhetoric. But I don't believe the capability of the Afghan National Army is up to that task yet.
CHETRY: And how --
ROBINSON: Not without --
CHETRY: I was just going to ask, how does the Pakistan government factor into this? Are they doing enough, or can they do enough to try to also prevent these from happening and being carried out in their country?
ROBINSON: That's really the smart question. It's the fact that this part of the northwest frontier province, was their stand, north and south, is a federally administered tribal area. These areas have not been under the control of any government for any length of time. The Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, the British Army -- no one has ever subjugated that area, and there's no reason to expect that the government of Pakistan in Islamabad can assert any power over it either, nor Afghanistan -- nor the United States military. These are going to have to be specifically targeted operations against key leadership.
CHETRY: All right. Ken Robinson, terrorist analyst, heading back to Afghanistan soon. Please give us an update when you return. Thanks for being with us.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Now crossing the half hour and here's what's making news this morning.
The end of July. That's when Iraq's foreign minister is telling CNN he expects his country will reach a long-term security agreement with the United States.
President Bush talking with the British prime minister this morning as reports emerge that there is a new plan to get bin Laden by January. The president reportedly saying that he wants to track down the al-Qaeda leader before he leaves office.
Defense and intelligence sources confirmed that the "Sunday Times" of London that a beefed-up effort is now underway to find the 9/11 mastermind. New concerns this morning that secret blueprints for a nuclear warhead got to North Korea and Iran. That's in a report by a former UN weapons inspector. The report says it's possible that they got out through a smuggling ring led by the infamous Pakistani nuclear scientist (INAUDIBLE) . The device is said to be small enough to fit on one of Iran's ballistic missiles. We'll talk to the man who wrote the report coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Turning now to the flooding in the Midwest, millions of acres of farmland are destroyed and right now, 36,000 people are homeless. Some people had been allowed back home but now that all may be changing. CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this morning. Jim, what's the latest there on these folks being allowed to come back and see what's left of their homes?
ACOSTA: John, Cedar Rapids officials are suspending those checkpoints that they set up to allow residents to go back into their homes for this reason that you can see behind me. Some of these neighborhoods are still too unsafe and with so many people waiting that is going to be hard to enforce.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): It was a flood of frustration as thousands of people stood in long lines at police checkpoints to re-enter their neighborhoods. Men, women, even children were given wrist bands to quickly go home and carry out whatever they could in plastic bags. Carla Morford didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
VOICE OF CARLA MORFORD, FLOOD VICTIM: We're safe. We've got our kids. We got our pets.
ACOSTA: One detective admitted they are making it up as they go along.
DET. BRAD NOVAK, CEDAR RAPIDS POLICE: It's been compared to a 3000 year flood, 2500-year flood. So something with that rarity of an event, there is no playbook to go by.
TRACY MURPHY, FLOOD VICTIM: That's my house right there.
ACOSTA: We gave the Murphy family a ride home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how safe it is to go in.
ACOSTA: That is, what's left of it.
MURPHY: My whole entire life is gone. I don't know what we're going to do.
ACOSTA: Holding back tears, Tracy frantically grabbed all the family photos she could find.
MURPHY: Everything can be replaced but your photos can't.
ACOSTA: Like scores of other homeowners here, she was told she didn't need flood insurance. Guess what the insurance company is telling her now.
MURPHY: They said because it's a flood, that they're not going to help us.
ACOSTA: What's going to happen to this town?
MURPHY: I don't know. Is the government going to come in and buy all these houses, knock them down?
ACOSTA: There is going to be plenty to knock down and clean up from this grain silo that split open in the rising waters to this fuel tanker pinned under a highway. But for many of the people who live here, it's the smaller things that matter most.
CANDICE RIBBLE, FLOODING VICTIM: House, our home.
ACOSTA: Everybody is out safe?
RIBBLE: Everybody is out safe now. Now we are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: City officials will be venturing back into these neighborhoods later today to determine just how soon these residents can go back to their homes. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, but it's going to be a long wait, John.
ROBERTS: All right, day by day, a long wait for all those folks.
Jim Acosta for us. Jim, thanks very much.
CHETRY: The moderator's chair that Tim Russert filled for 17 years on "Meet the Press" sat empty yesterday. Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw took over hosting duties in front of the show's regular set during the hour-long tribute to one of TV's top political journalists. Russert, a fixture at NBC's election coverage, died of an apparent heart attack Friday at the age of 58. His son Luke Russert spoke this morning on NBC's "Today" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE RUSSERT, TIM RUSSERT'S SON: He saw himself as the questionnaire for the American people. He obviously did his job for himself, for his network, for his family. But at its core, I believe he had a higher calling, a responsibility to educate the American public about the candidates who seek the highest office in the land. I think he went out there working for the senior citizens, the nursing home who may not understand an issue, a complex issue in the American political system, the single mom who comes home and puts on "Nightly News" and my dad had that 90 seconds at the beginning of nightly, you know, almost three to four times a week and he would try to explain complex things to people and make them better informed voters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Luke Russert went on to say that his father viewed "Meet the Press" as his second child. His family will hold a private funeral mass and burial Wednesday morning.
ROBERTS: Such a shame.
You're watching the most news in the morning. The school bus is a gas guzzler and with prices rising, keeping these buses moving is costing more and more. We'll tell you where that money is coming from.
Could these puppies help patients with cancer? If they turn out just like their mom, they sure could. We will tell you why scientists cloned these cute little guys.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirty seven minutes after the hour. You're watching the most news in the morning here on CNN. With gas prices rising, local schools are paying more and more to keep their school buses running. The money going into the tank is costing schools a lot more than just money.
Kate Bolduan has got that story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That sweet summer freedom. And freedom is exactly what school systems are looking for from fuel prices.
DEAN TISTADT, FAIRFAX CO, VA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We didn't think it would get this bad.
BOLDUAN: Dean Tistadt oversees the budget for the Fairfax County school system. He says it was hard enough to keep things running this year battling ever-rising fuel prices.
TISTADT: We didn't implement the next phase of full-day kindergarten in a lot of schools that we wanted to implement. We didn't - we actually cut back on textbooks and library books this year.
BOLDUAN: Tistadt says it will likely mean making even more difficult cuts next year.
TISTADT: This kind of thing is just going to keep taking money away from the structural side of the house to the support side and that's just not a good outcome for student achievement.
BOLDUAN: In the past 12 months, these Fairfax school buses used 3 1/2 million gallons of fuel and school officials say every one cent increase at the pump costs them an extra $44,000 a year. Fairfax isn't alone. With buses getting nine miles to the gallon, Culpepper, Virginia, schools are considering shortening bus routes to save on fuel.
LAUREN THOMAS, CULPEPPER CO. VA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We'll delay some maintenance projects. We may look at charging some fees for activity runs or field trips, things of that nature that we've always provided for free in the past.
BOLDUAN: School districts across the country are feeling the pinch. In West Virginia, schools are pressing the governor for more help.
GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D) WEST VIRGINIA: In West Virginia we're not geared for $4 a gallon gas. Our economy is not geared for that. I'm appropriating special appropriations right now as governors do an extra $5 million for my school districts just to pay for the fuel bills.
BOLDUAN: Bottom line, school administrators say the buses have to keep running. But with fuel prices unlikely to drop, that ride is starting to cost schools more than just dollars.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Barack Obama tells MIA dads to start acting like men. How the message is being received in the African-American community today.
CHETRY: Also, Jacqui Jeras is watching extreme weather for us in many parts of the country today, including the tough situation with the flooding in the Midwest.
Hi, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: All right, Jacqui Jeras this morning, Jacqui, thanks.
Seeing through the eyes of the flood victims. Our Veronica De La Cruz joins us now with your I-reports and personal stories from Iowa.
Good morning. I'm sure you're getting all kinds.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are getting a ton. I want to start with this one, John.
This is an I-report from (INAUDIBLE) . Take a look at this. This is her neighborhood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, completely submerged. She says the first time that she tried to go back home, the police said that they would arrest her. Since then John, she has been allowed to go in, grab a couple of belongings.
She was able to rescue her cat. She grabbed some medicine. She said that what she saw was unbelievable. The water came to at least four feet. Furniture was destroyed. Floors were buckled. The walls were caving in. She does say that she knows that the city will rebuild stronger than before. She does hope that people will help in any way they can.
Another picture here. This is from Cedar Falls, Iowa. Winter Gray - take a look at this John. This is the island park beach house. It's a one-story building. The water was so high that the moored boats, you see them there in front, were nearly level with the roof of the building, which you see there in behind. We talked about the flooding in Iowa, also in Illinois.
Ed (INAUDIBLE) was able to capture some great video of Lawrence County. He says they had been under a water emergency there. Tap water is being trucked in right now. They are being asked to boil their water. If you would like to send us an I-report, you can do so by logging on to ireport.com. Also if you'd like to help the victims of the flood, you can always log on to CNN.com/impactyourworld.
ROBERTS: I know that the authorities are just trying to keep people safe but I don't understand what purpose it serves to threaten somebody whose house has been inundated with arrest. Seems a little extreme.
Veronica, thanks very much, great stories there.
Blueprints for advanced nuclear weapons may have fallen into the wrong hands according to a new report. The report isn't yet public, but we'll get a sneak preview of it with its author. You're watching the most news in the morning.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a town hall showdown.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here by my own conviction, my own considerations.
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CHETRY: John McCain faces the question --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to be as concise as I can.
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CHETRY: That never ends. Jeanne Moos looks at what happens when the microphone lands in the wrong hands.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sir, you really have to ask me the question.
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CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: It's 48 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. We may have four new allies in the fight against cancer this morning. A South Korean biotech company says it cloned four puppies from a dog famous for its ability to sniff out cancer cells. The mother named Maureen (ph) was sterile, she had actually been spayed. The only way to duplicate her great nose was to clone her. When the pups are three months old, they will start training to follow in their mom's footsteps.
For more on all this, we bring in our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She is in Atlanta.
Elizabeth, is it possible for a dog to really sniff out cancer?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, John, there really is quite a bit of evidence that some dogs can sniff out cancer. I did a story not long ago about a dog in California named Kobe where they would put out samples of various tissues and one of them would have cancer. Kobe every time could detect, could sit right next to the one that had cancer.
Now, is there absolute scientific proof that dogs can do this? No, but there is some evidence. There are a lot of reasons to step back a bit about this news about cloning dogs who can sniff cancer. One of the big ones is that when people try to clone animals, there are so many failures. There are miscarriages and still births. It's a hard thing to replicate over and over again -- John.
ROBERTS: It looks like they got the dogs at the very least. But just because they're genetically identical to mom, does this mean that this ability to sniff out cancer will be transferred to the pups?
COHEN: Absolutely not. We spoke to several experts on this and they said, look, the dog's ability to find cancer isn't just in the genes. It's in the way they're trained, it's in the environment that they're in. There are all sorts of factors. So just because mom's great at it doesn't mean that the kids are going to be great at it.
ROBERTS: They're certainly trumpeting them as able to do it. I think they're selling them for something like $480,000?
COHEN: Something like that. And certainly it will be interesting to see whether they can keep this up and keep cloning them and keep getting that kind of money for them.
ROBERTS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen for us morning. Thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
Washed away.
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TRACY MURPHY, FLOOD VICTIM: My whole entire life is gone! I don't know what we're going to do.
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ROBERTS: Some waters recede, revealing years of struggle ahead for 36,000 people in Iowa.
Plus, calling all fathers.
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OBAMA: What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child.
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ROBERTS: How the African-American community is reacting to Barack Obama's message to MIA dads. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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OBAMA: But if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers are also missing. Too many fathers are MIA. Too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities. They're acting like boys instead of men.
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CHETRY: That was the message from Barack Obama to absentee dads on Father's Day, blasting them for abandoning their responsibilities and singling out the African-American men. How is this message being received this morning? Roland Martin's, CNN political contributor and host of "The Roland Martin Show" joins us now live on the radio from Chicago. We're being simulcast by the way on WVON.
Good to see you Roland.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Glad you're back.
CHETRY: Thank you. I've been watching you. You've been doing a great job. What are your listeners saying this morning about what Barack Obama was saying? Let's actually take a quick listen to another bit of this speech yesterday.
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OBAMA: What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father.
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CHETRY: What are your listeners weighing in about when it comes to Barack Obama's speech?
MARTIN: What he had to say, this is one of the issues that we talk a lot about on my radio show because it is so endemic in the black community. Also, we have some folks online who are online when we video stream the show and they say, look, Obama also broadened the speech. Although the focus was -- he was talking to African- Americans, he also talked about the reality that 50 percent of the white households, this is a problem in America. It is more a problem in the black community but it's a problem with black men, white men, Hispanic men in terms of not taking care of their children. We see the net result every single day when it comes to violence, when it comes to education. We see it all over the place Kiran.
CHETRY: He actually lived it as he wasn't afraid to point out as well, being raised in a single parent household. In fact his mother was gone a lot. It was his maternal grandmother he says who really helped form his foundation as a young child.
MARTIN: The problem we have there, we see this in black neighborhoods all the time. You have big mama or grandmother who is raising a child. That is not their responsibility. We have too many folks who are sperm donors. That is a simply drop a seed and then leave. So the onus is placed on the single mother who is typically too young anyway. Kiran, this is a generational curse we're seeing. We're seeing this generation after generation. At some point it needs to stop. Journalist Ed Gordon (ph) has launched an initiative called daddy's promise.
I was with him last week at Orlando at the national conference of 100 black men dealing with this in terms of black men and their daughters. We see lots of people who are dealing with this. One of the other issues with the lack of men stepping up is the destruction of the black family. When you have a significant number of black folks not even getting married, then you have a greater problem because, look, we know two-parent households have a better shot of raising a child, keeping them out of crime, keeping them in school than a single mother.
CHETRY: Is he taking heat for this speech? Bill Cosby has made similar comments in the past and has taken a lot of heat for those comments.
MARTIN: Well, first of all, there are any number of people who are speaking on this particular issue. Bill Cosby, others, preachers, take your pick. No one's going to take heat. Some people of course they may say, oh, you shouldn't air dirty laundry. You shouldn't speak to this. But I think you should speak to it.
In fact, John McCain should be speaking to it. Many politicians should be using the bully pulpit to be able to deal with the issues of faith and family because that's how we have been able to grow as a nation over the years. So sure, you're going to have some critics. But I think the message is far more important than those people who want to criticize and run their mouths.
CHETRY: Roland, great to see you this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much, Kiran.
Senator John McCain launching another attack over Iraq after meeting with Iraq's foreign minister yesterday. McCain said Obama was wrong to oppose troop increases in Iraq and the results speak for themselves.
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McCAIN: The fact is that the situation on the ground is that we have made enormous success and the surge has worked. Senator Obama was wrong when he said that it would fail.
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ROBERTS: Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari also said that he would meet with Obama, but no date or time has been set for that. Obama's in Michigan today. Obama has said that he would remove American forces from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.
Just crossing the top of the hour and here are some of the top stories that we're following right now, a terror alert in the United Arab Emirates. Britains living there are being warned to be vigilant because of a high threat of terror attack.
Tensioning running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan now vows to defend its border after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his troops have the right to enter Pakistan to confront Islamic militants.
President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown focusing on Afghanistan and Iraq today. Brown said Britain will send more troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban.
CNN's White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president. She's live this morning in London. Elaine, while there was an agreement and I guess, enthusiasm on the part of President Bush over the UK sending more troops to Afghanistan, there still does seem to be somewhat of a disagreement here that they tried to paper over it on the UK pulling troops out of Iraq.
QUIJANO: That's right, but I can tell you that certainly at the news conference earlier today, the message they're trying to present is that it is a united front. The U.S. and the UK, President Bush insists, do share the same view on how troops should be drawn down from Iraq. There's been quite a bit of discussion, of course. Gordon Brown under tremendous pressure -- the Iraq war is unpopular here in Britain -- to try and pull more troops out sooner. Nevertheless, President Bush insisting on Iraq, that the prime minister very much shares his view.
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BUSH: Just want to remind you that he's left more troops in Iraq than initially anticipated. And like me, we'll be making our decisions based upon the conditions on the ground, the recommendation of our commanders, without an artificial timetable set by politics.
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QUIJANO: So today Gordon Brown, for his part, essentially echoing what President Bush had to say there, as you heard just a moment ago, essentially saying his decisions will be driven by what he hears from military commanders as well. Something we've heard President Bush say time and time again.
And that any decisions made on British troop levels in Iraq will be conditions-based. Now interesting to note, Prime Minister Brown was also pointedly asked whether or not pulling more troops out of Iraq would then enable the British to send more forces to Afghanistan for the fight there.
Essentially what Gordon Brown said is that you can't trade numbers on that. He insisted, again, that more troops for Afghanistan were on their way from Britain. Of course, that is welcome news, John, for President Bush. He's been trying to drum up additional support from European allies for Afghanistan -- John.
