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American Morning
Tropical Storm Edouard Expected to Hit Texas or Louisiana Today; President Bush Defends Asia Trip; Muslim Principal Fights Back and Says She's Not a Terrorist; House Republicans Stage Revolt to Vote on Energy Bill
Aired August 05, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is now 7:00 here on the East Coast. Time for a check of the top stories this morning.
We are tracking Tropical Storm Edouard now picking up strength. Heading for the gulf coast. It could make landfall in Texas or Louisiana by this afternoon. Forecasters say it could also pick up hurricane strength by then as well.
Also breaking this morning, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake striking China's central Sichuan province. The Olympic torch is actually making its way through that region right now just three days before the opening ceremonies in Beijing. This is also the same region where close to 70,000 people were killed by a 7.9 magnitude quake back in May; 18,000 people are still missing.
Actor Morgan Freeman is recovering this morning after he broke bones and hurt his neck in a car crash. Freeman's car went off a road and then flipped near his home in Mississippi late Sunday. He and a female companion were air lifted to a hospital in Memphis.
MARCIANO: Back to our top story now, Tropical Storm Edouard on a crash course with the gulf coast of Mexico or at least the upper Texas coastline. Right now, maximum sustained winds 65 miles an hour. The city of Galveston, Texas, had declared a state of emergency, but hasn't ordered any sort of evacuations.
And as you know, CNN is your hurricane headquarters. We've got reporters on the ground and in the CNN weather center tracking both parts of the story. We'll start with Reynolds Wolf who is bracing for landfall in Galveston. Good morning, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Rob. Right now, let's get you up to speed.
The wind is beginning to pick up a little bit. And if you happen to be at home, you might be able to see a couple rain drops that are beginning to fall across your TV screens from the top to the bottom. At the same time, we've heard some thunder. We've seen the lightning off the coast. But I'll tell you something else we're seeing, it's kind of business as usual.
A lot of people still driving up and down here. No panic whatsoever. People are aware of what might be coming here. In fact, you can say they've been aware for a heck of a long time. This is a place that has an awful reputation for rough weather. In fact, in the turn of the century, the last century in 1900, we had a hurricane that was the equivalent of a Category Four that made landfall in this area that took the lives of anywhere, from say, 8,000 to 10,000 people. And the reason why there's such a variance on that number is because when the storm surge came across this island, which is the height of the island only about eight feet above sea level, a lot of the people were actually pulled back out to sea and never seen again.
Now, they took steps to try to take care of that. What they did is they actually raised a sea wall that actually we're standing on part of it right now. It's about 17 feet high. At the base it's about 16 feet wide. It goes about 10 miles long. Obviously, they've added on to the width of that seawall. And, hopefully, it will offer some good protection for the storm today.
Of course, Jacqui Jeras will have the latest on the storm coming up. Rob, we'll send it back to you in the studio.
MARCIANO: All right, Reynolds. Jacqui does have the latest information on that. It looks like this thing's jogging a little bit farther to the north. So that may be why Reynolds is pretty quiet right now.
CHETRY: That's right. He expected to get hit with it, and maybe Mother Nature has a different idea in mind.
Jacqui Jeras with the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Just got an update a couple of minutes ago. Hi, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey there, Kiran. Yes, you know, Reynolds is going to get wet pretty quickly here. He's sitting right about there. You can see that leading edge of the rain starting to push into the area, but it's real hard to kind of pick out the center of circulation.
Right in this area here, we think landfall could even be just an hour or two away. So we're really getting close and it certainly is going to be well north of Galveston Bay. However, they are going to be getting in on some of the really heavy downpours, and flooding could be a significant issue.
Not a lot of time left for additional strengthening, 65 miles per hour winds. It's going to be real tough maybe to get it beyond that hurricane strength. So could get up there to 74, but I think we're starting to run out of time for that. Will weaken after making landfall.
Look at that cone of uncertainty just coming in near that state line and then weakening as it moves throughout the Lone Star State, bringing in a lot of heavy rain. So that's going to be one of the biggest issues.
We just got word some around Cameron Pass in southern Louisiana, right around this area here. Wind gusts around 62 miles per hour, so we're starting to see those winds pick up. And we're seeing 30 to 40 miles per hour wind gusts real common.
Now is the time to hunker down. These conditions are going to be really going downhill in the next couple of hours. And then we'll be watching this also move into the Houston area.
By the way, things are still doing OK at Houston Intercontinental and Hobby but they are putting word out they're expecting some major cancellations, obviously, as we head throughout the day today -- Rob.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui, thanks so much.
JERAS: Kiran?
CHETRY: It's OK. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. Jacqui, thanks.
Well, we have more extreme weather, this time in the Midwest. Severe thunderstorm watches remain for Chicago as well as the surrounding suburbs after major downpours, lightning and hurricane force winds hit last night. Some incredible looking pictures of the skyline there and the lightning.
Tens of thousands of people lost power. Hundreds of flights have been canceled at O'Hare airport. And look at this. Fans getting soaked at Wrigley Field. How fast can they get that thing rolled out there, by the way?
MARCIANO: These guys are good.
CHETRY: You know, they were told to take cover when this tornado warning was issued for the area and then they ended up having to call the game after two long rain delays. And, you know, some of the fans just stuck it out, sitting in the stands with their -- some with broken umbrellas they just stayed there.
MARCIANO: You don't get much more loyal than the Chicago Cubs fans. That's for sure. Scary night, nonetheless. There were winds in some spots gusting over 90 miles an hour.
Meanwhile, President Bush is defending his trip to China this morning. He told reporters aboard Air Force One that it's important to engage China and he's attending the Olympics to show some respect to the Chinese people. The president started his Asian trip with a visit to troops in Alaska before heading to Seoul, South Korea, this morning.
Our Elaine Quijano looks at some of the issues the president will be dealing with during his trip.
ELAINE QUIJANO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Rob and Kiran, North Korea's nuclear program, China's dismal human rights record, and a brutal military junta in Myanmar. Those are just some of the issues President Bush will face as he makes his ninth visit to Asia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) QUIJANO (voice-over): President Bush's first stop takes him to Seoul, South Korea, where just months ago violent street protests erupted over worries about U.S. beef imports. While those tensions seemed to have eased, the U.S.'s nuclear disarmament deal with North Korea is also a concern.
MICHAEL GREEN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: The North Koreans have 11,000 artillery tubes and rockets aimed at the South Korean capital. So any little thing that we do with North Korea makes the South Koreans very jittery.
QUIJANO: After South Korea, the president heads to Thailand for what's being built as a major Asia policy speech. He's expected to denounce the military regime in neighboring Myanmar, also known as Burma for its human rights abuses. First Lady Laura Bush has fervently taken up the cause, particularly criticizing the regime for its response to a May cyclone that killed tens of thousands.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: The more I've seen, the more critical I see the need is for the people in Burma to be -- for the world to pay attention to the people of Burma, and for the world to put pressure on the military regime.
QUIJANO: The president then attends the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm really looking forward to watching the American Olympic team compete.
QUIJANO: A decision critics have blasted, saying his presence gives China a pass on its poor record on human rights and religious freedom. The president does plan to attend a church service in Beijing to deliver a carefully crafted message.
GREEN: He'll have to say something public and that's always tricky. How much he spotlights these issues. But I think he will. Not in an adversarial way.
QUIJANO: Last week the president welcomed five Chinese dissidents to the White House, telling them he would carry a message of freedom to Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: It's a delicate balancing act for an American president trying to buy political leverage with communist China while keeping with his own push for freedom and democracy around the world -- Rob, Kiran.
MARCIANO: We're getting more breaking weather news in the CNN weather department outside of Chicago which got rocked by storms last night. Now Jacqui Jeras is telling us there is a tornado warning. Let's get straight to the report, Jacqui.
JERAS: Yes, that's right. Radar indicated tornado. This is south of the Chicagoland area. Radar will show you where that's at. It's in Iroquois and Kankakee Counties. This will include the cities of Clifton and also St. Ann by about 6:15 local time. There you can see the purple box on your radar.
No ground truth on this right now. If we get word of that, we'll bring it along to you. But this is the same system that moved through the Chicago area last night leaving thousands of people without power and causing a lot of damage, especially trees.
There you can see the watch that also remains in effect for central Illinois. This is going to continue to hold together, we think, Rob, and move on into parts of Indiana and eventually make its way into Ohio as well -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Rough weather in the heartland along the coast. We'll check back with you on that, plus, of course Edouard. Thanks, Jacqui.
CHETRY: Still a lot going on in the weather center today that we got to cover.
MARCIANO: Yes, for sure.
CHETRY: Well, here's what we're working on for you as well. A CNN health alert. If you're over 50, there's some new information from doctors about the importance of eating fish. We're going to hear from Dr. Sanjay Gupta about it.
MARCIANO: And she was the principal of a New York Muslim high school. She lost her job over a controversial Arabic word on a student's T-shirt. Now she's fighting back. See what she tells our Jason Carroll.
CHETRY: Also, the search for life on Mars suffers a major setback. We're going to tell you what NASA scientists have now discovered. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We're watching Tropical Storm Edouard. The storm with maximum sustained winds at 65 miles an hour, about 70 miles east of Galveston heading west quickly and pretty much going to be making landfall any minute now. Here's what -- along the coastline of southwest Louisiana and the southeast Texas coastline with heavy rain and certainly some gusty winds.
Low chances of it becoming a hurricane before it makes landfall, and that's the good news there. Rainfall to Texas, which they could use. So, hopefully, this will be a good news storm all around. Let's get it on shore without any more strengthening.
CHETRY: All right. Let's hope so.
Meanwhile, we are checking in with Allan Chernoff. He's "Minding Your Business" today for Ali Velshi. The Fed is going to be meeting, talking about interest rates. But you say no move likely this time.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: But there is a lot of moving within the Federal Reserve because let me tell you, there's a battle brewing within the Federal Reserve right now. We've got, on the one hand, the inflation fighting hawks against the dove. The recession fighters over there.
CHETRY: The meanest looking dove I've ever seen. How do you get a picture of an angry dove?
(CROSSTALK)
CHERNOFF: You know, if you're battling inside of the Feds, you've got to be one tough dove.
MARCIANO: It may be on the deuce, actually.
CHERNOFF: Let's talk about what the doves are concerned about. They're worried about all of our economic problems. We're very familiar with those, rising unemployment, the mortgage crisis, the credit crunch. A lot of banks don't even want to lend much these days because of their financial problems.
So what do the doves want? They want to lower interest rates and they've been holding sway at the Fed. Rates have come down from 5.25 percent down to two percent. That's the overnight bank lending rate which in turn affects the rates that we all pay.
So the doves have been holding sway. Now, here come the hawks. They're worried about inflation. And we all know how bad that is right now. It's been picking up dramatically. These are annual rates from the latest CPI data, consumer price index data. Gas, eggs, flour, just a few examples of prices that are soaring right now.
So the battle raging within the Fed? They're pretty much fighting to a standstill right now. But later in the year, we're expecting that the hawks are going to hold sway and that rates will go up.
MARCIANO: Nice work. I feel like you should be wearing an ESPN shirt with that.
CHERNOFF: And let me give that one more thing on this, which makes the mix even more important. In this morning's "Financial Times," Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Fed, has an article here, once again, trash talking the economy. So that just makes it even tougher for the Feds.
MARCIANO: All right. Pressure is on. We'll see what happens in the battle royal.
Meanwhile, happening right now, Barack Obama laying out his energy plan in a crucial toss-up state. We'll check in with his town hall meeting, next.
CHETRY: Fighting back. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was the most devastating moment of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Taking on New York City. An Arab-American principal branded a jihadist goes to court to get her job back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE ALMONTASER, FORMER PRINCIPAL: We live in the post 9/11 world where there is a great deal of misunderstanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning" and we're tracking Tropical Storm Edouard, approaching the southeast Texas coastline and southwest Louisiana. Winds 65 miles an hour and it pretty much is making landfall here right about now and in the next couple of hours. And we'll give you the play by play as it happens.
CHETRY: Well, our top videos right now on CNN.com. Here's the most popular. Hey, honey, could you pick up some diapers and some milk and a naked guy? I say that every day except for the last part.
Police say that a man walked into an Ohio convenience store, went to the bathroom and then came back out with his pants off. Then it got even weird and they called the bomb squad, ended up detonating his backpack. Then he was tasered and carted off to the hospital. We're told that all is back to normal now.
MARCIANO: Where is that beautiful beat (ph) player? Oh, there it is.
CHETRY: There you see it. God bless the officers that had to show up for that. All right.
It's also the thin one on the right. We'll tell you the lady who mistook the brake for the gas and slammed into the Florida apartment office. No charges were filed.
And take a look at the photograph. Here it is. It is the Jolie- Pitt twins, Knox and Vivienne. "People" and "Hello" magazine together paid a reported $14 million for that shot right there, and that would be the record.
Those are the most popular videos on CNN.com right now. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." We're back in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: She was the principal of a New York Muslim school. She lost her job over a controversial T-shirt. She says she was labeled a jihadist and forced to resign, and now she's fighting back. Jason Carroll joins us now with more on her story.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, to you. You know, she's fighting back by trying to get her job back. Debbie Almontaser says she was forced out because the city of New York and specifically New York City's mayor caved in to public pressure generated by negative press.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Debbie Almontaser spent 17 years building her teaching career, and as an Arab-American, building bridges between Muslims and other faiths. So how then did she end up being labeled as dangerous, a jihadist, and ultimately losing her job?
DEBBIE ALMONTASER, FORMER PRINCIPAL: It happened based on the fact that we live in the post 9/11 world where there is a great deal of misunderstanding. You know, misconceptions and perceptions of Arabs and Muslims.
CARROLL: It happened after Almontaser was tapped as principal of New York City's first Arab language school last year. Just the idea of the school caused critics to complain who did not want to see it open.
ALMONTASER: I was not worried or concerned. You know, up until, you know, the summer where things just, you know, got really out of hand, crazy.
CARROLL: Critics then called Almontaser an extremist and a 9/11 denier. Ironic charges given her own son was a first responder at ground zero with the National Guard.
ALMONTASER: You know, how could I deny it? My own flesh and blood son was there, you know, doing his job for his country. And for people to say that was, you know, really, really hurtful.
CARROLL: The attacks continued. An article linked Almontaser to an Islamic group that printed T-shirts saying "Intifada NYC." She denies it. Then this headline. Almontaser says her words were taken out of context in the article. A federal judge agreed. Despite that, Almontaser says she was asked to resign.
ALMONTASER: It was the most devastating moment of my life.
CARROLL: New York's mayor announced her resignation the following day.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: She's certainly not a terrorist. She really does care.
CARROLL: We asked New York City's mayor about the Almontaser case. BLOOMBERG: It was her decision. You'll have to ask her whether it was the right decision. We can't speak for her. We did not force her to resign. She chose to resign.
CARROLL: Almontaser wants her job back and is suing the mayor and the Department of Education.
ALMONTASER: And I remain hopeful that the Department of Education and the mayor will, you know, give it some serious thought and reconsider. You know, and change this wrong to a right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: We also asked the Department of Education to comment about Almontaser. A spokesperson said they could not, citing pending litigation. The Khalil Gibran International Academy is open. It's up, it's running, obviously, with another principal.
CHETRY: All right. Interesting story. Thanks a lot, Jason.
MARCIANO: Well, NASA discovers a deal -- or they discover a deal for the search of life on Mars. We're going to tell you what NASA found out and what it means.
Also, some Republican congressmen are giving up their vacation and asking everyone in the House to come back so they can pass an energy bill. We'll talk to one of the men behind the protest. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning."
House Republicans are giving up their vacations to stage a protest in the walls of Congress. They're back from their August recess that began Friday, and they're demanding that speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, bring Congress back to session to vote on an energy bill.
Joining me now from Capitol Hill is Indiana Congressman Mike Pence. He's helping lead the protest and says that he will continue to do so for as long as it takes. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Thanks, Kiran. Good to be with you.
CHETRY: Good to have you with us. You know, people are calling this protest a little bit of a political stunt including Nancy Pelosi. What do you say to that?
PENCE: Well, look, I think Friday when more than 50 house Republicans were lined up to give regular speeches on the floor objecting to the fact that Congress was taking a five-week paid vacation when we hadn't taken an up or down vote on giving the American people more access to American oil. Friday afternoon, you know, probably was a stunt. But the sustained effort by the Republican leadership that will go throughout this week and perhaps into next week, I think is not a stunt, it's a feat.
I mean, members of Congress are giving up time with their families and with their constituents. And on a rotating basis, either here on Capitol Hill, on the floor, in front of citizens or back home with energy town hall meetings, Republicans are taking the case we ought to be here, we ought to be working. And speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, ought to call this Congress back into session and give the bipartisan majority that supports comprehensive energy legislation with more drilling of both.
CHETRY: Now, if you were able to get Speaker Pelosi to bring Congress back into session, do you have the votes to pass this bill?
PENCE: You know, I really believe that we do, Kiran. I've been in Congress about eight years and during that time, I've seen votes on drilling falter again and again. But in this past year with gasoline going over $4 a gallon, it's clear to me that there's now a bipartisan majority of Republicans and some Democrats that would support comprehensive energy legislation that included more drilling, particularly off the Outer Continental Shelf and in the Gulf of Mexico. But we obviously can't make progress on that. We can't send those signals to global markets that would affect futures, would affect oil prices, and give relief at the pump if Congress isn't in session.
CHETRY: You see, what I'm wondering is that you guys can't even agree on whether or not it really would provide immediate relief. I mean, many of the Democrats including Speaker Pelosi says that for years you wouldn't see any benefit to the average taxpayer who's going to fill up their tank for $4 a gallon gas if we started drilling right now.
PENCE: Well, I know the opponents of drilling make that argument very consistently. But, you know, I take case in point a few weeks back when President Bush lifted that long standing executive order banning drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. In the next two days as you saw here on CNN, Kiran, we had the largest two-day drop in the cost of oil per barrel in 20 years.
I had no doubt that the futures market would be affected in the immediate short term the day that this Congress came together in a bipartisan fashion and gave the American people more access to American oil. And as the future markets dropped, I believe you'd see the cost per barrel drop and that would have an effect and relief at the pump for working Americans.
CHETRY: You know, you talked about President Bush. He also has the power to call Congress back into session. Have you guys called on him to do that?
PENCE: Well, a number of us have called on the president to do that. And I know that his press secretary said yesterday that he doesn't have any current intention to make that happen. And, frankly, the president has a good point. He can call the Congress back into session, but he can't make them work.
The reason we're focusing on Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the House can call the Congress back into session immediately, and she can also send to the floor the American Energy Act or some other comprehensive bill that includes, you know, conservation, alternative sources of energy, and an opportunity to vote up or down on giving the American people more access to drilling into American resources.
CHETRY: All right. You guys are still out there giving up your summer vacation. No cameras rolling, but you guys are there on the floor. Representative Mike Pence, great to see you. Thanks.
PENCE: Thank you, Kiran.
MARCIANO: Half past the hour now. Time for our top stories this morning. Texas and Louisiana bracing for tropical storm Edouard. The storm still gaining strength has winds of 65 miles per hour. Edouard quickly approaching the Gulf Coast. Disaster declarations issued for 17 counties in Texas. That's where we find CNN's meteorologist Reynolds Wolf live on the scene this morning in Galveston as the storm approaches. Looks like it's going to miss you just to the north, Reynolds. What the conditions like right now?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right now, the rain has begun to pick up just a little bit, Rob. The rain is also increasing a little bit in intensity. I'll tell you what though. The island here, in this area, we've seen plenty of cars have come by, really unhindered by the weather that's been unfolding. Off to the distance you can see a few patches of blue that are beginning to come up. The sun's coming up. If you pan around over to this side, you'll notice that plenty of action in this area, just to our north and to our northeast.
We have been, again, seeing a lot of the cars, a lot of people still out walking around. There's really no panic here on the island. People are bracing. They know the storms can increase in intensity once they get closer to shore. It's always a possibility and it's something we're going to be watching for. Of course, Jacqui is going to be giving you updates throughout the rest of the day. An we'll be here along the coast with more information. Let's send it back to you, Rob.
MARCIANO: Reynolds Wolf live for us on the beach in Galveston. Meanwhile, actor Morgan Freeman is recovering this morning after breaking bones and hurting his neck in a car crash. Freeman's car went off the road and flipped over near his home in Mississippi late on Sunday. He and a female companion were air lifted to the hospital. His condition is listed as serious but his publicist says the actor is in good spirits. No word on the woman's condition.
And President Bush arriving in Seoul, South Korea, this morning. It's the first stop on the last trip he has to Asia as commander in chief. He'll also visit Thailand before attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing. North Korea's nuclear program is expected to be one of the key topics with some South Korean leaders.
CHETRY: And Alina Cho is here with some other stories new this morning.
Hi, Alina. Good to see you.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys. Good morning. Welcome, Rob. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning, another weird twist in the anthrax investigation. Authorities say the suspect who committed suicide last week was obsessed with a Princeton sorority and they say it may link him to four anthrax laced letters that were dropped off at a mailbox just off campus back in 2001. U.S. officials say that could explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case. Why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, New Jersey, nearly 200 miles from the lab where Bruce Ivins worked. The researcher was about to face capital murder charges in the anthrax scare when he killed himself last week.
I want to update you now on a story we first told you about here on AMERICAN MORNING. The U.S. has revoked visas for three Palestinians who won Fullbright scholarships to study here. Their cases were taken up personally by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after Israel refused to let them leave Gaza. Now the State Department says it has uncovered security concerns that forced it to cancel the visas. One student reportedly arrived at the Dulles Airport only to be told to return home.
And Team U.S.A. is arriving in Beijing, some with their masks on. We expected this. About 100 U.S. Olympians arrived for the summer games. And there you see them. U.S. cyclists were trying to protect themselves from the air pollution problem in Beijing. That's been so widely reported. China instituted an emergency pollution plan to clear up the smog for the games. That included closing factories and taking millions of cars off the road. I think 3.3 million cars and a hundred factories and who knows if that's going to be enough. It's a big problem. And the athletes, rightfully so, are concerned about it.
MARCIANO: It's odd to see athletes wearing masks because of pollution, that's for sure.
CHO: Yes.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Alina.
CHETRY: All right. Alina, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, a potential setback in efforts to find life on Mars. A toxic chemical was found in the soil near the north pole of Mars. We woke up CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien on vacation in Georgia to explain - I'm sure you weren't sleeping anyway after this news about this toxic chemical. Explain what's going on with this.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: No. This is a big deal. This is big stuff. Well, it's interesting. It all started with a rumor that kind of got circulated around over the weekend. The scientists had found conclusive proof of life on Mars. You can imagine once that got going, it was hard to stop it. Truth is, the data they have found so far with the Mars Phoenix lander, which, of course, is on the north pole regions of mars, the data is leading them just in the opposite direction. That everything they're seeing so far, not everything, but this latest find gives them the feeling this would be a much less likely place to support life.
We're talking about perchlorates. It's used in rocket fuel, used in flares, used in fire works. It's a life killer. And so if, in fact, that stuff is highly present and all over the soil in Mars, these oxidizer that would lead them to believe that Mars is, you know, dead as a door nail, so we say.
CHETRY: Very interesting. Because it really contradicts the news that came out of this earlier where there was talk that perhaps the soil was able to support life, that vegetables such as asparagus could be able to grow in that soil.
O'BRIEN: Yes. No more victory gardens on Mars, I guess, Kiran. Asparagus apparently is out on Mars for now. What's interesting though is, when they found this sample that had the perchlorates in it at the end of June. Scientists were so perplexed about this that they took another sample over the weekend.
They put it in a different instrument and that one was inconclusive. What we're seeing here, on the inside of a scientific process and we're sort of getting a peek at it before they have published a paper. This happens in cases where you have a highly visible mission like this because there's a lot of PR pressure to give the information out before it's soup. It didn't quite soup yet.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing is the possibility that we actually caused that contamination by landing on Mars?
O'BRIEN: Well, yes. That's one thing you always have to rule out. Whatever you find on Mars, you could have brought it with you. It could have hitchhiked its way on the spacecraft. And the fact that these perchlorates are used in rocket fuel would make people scratch their heads and say, wait a minute, rocket fuel, you used rocket fuel to get down on the surface there.
However the rocket fuel they used in the Mars Phoenix Lander doesn't have perchlorate in it. That said, it's quite possible that they may have to rule this out before they can say anything conclusively.
CHETRY: Great stuff, Miles. Great to see you. And thanks for getting up with us.
MARCIANO: A bad game there. Back to one of our top stories this morning. Morgan Freeman seriously injured in a car crash.
Our Tony Harris has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Rescuers had to use the jaws of life to remove the 71-year-old star and a passenger from the smashed up wreck. The passenger was identified Monday night as Demaris Meyer, a friend of the actor. Former police officer Bill Rogers witnessed the accident.
BILL ROGERS: They slid right through here. As I looked up the window from next door, I could see as the front end of the car hit here. It got airborne and it flipped end over end.
HARRIS: Freeman's publicist says that the "Dark Knight" star suffered multiple fractures but is in good spirits. Police say there is no indication either alcohol or drugs were involved.
BILL LUCKETT, MORGAN FREEMAN'S ATTORNEY: Either something mechanical happened to the car or he went off the road. He just doesn't recall exactly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: It turns out the car actually belonged to the passenger Demaris Meyer who witnesses say offered Freeman a ride home. But because the actor knew the area better, he was driving. No information has been released on the Meyer's condition.
CHETRY: Let's check in with Allan Chernoff. He's "Minding your business" for us this morning.
Hey, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Kiran. Pillow? Blanket? It's going to cost you in the air. We'll have details coming up on the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
You know, Allan Chernoff joins us right now with a pillow and blanket.
MARCIANO: It's nap time.
CHETRY: not because it's so early. But because?
CHERNOFF: Offer you a little pillow?
MARCIANO: That sounds nice.
CHERNOFF: $7, please.
MARCIANO: It's already stained. That's nasty, dude. Look at that. Are you kidding?
CHETRY: Where did you get these? I thought they were supposed to be new. CHERNOFF: They are new if you're going to be flying Jet Blue. Jet Blue said yesterday, yes, we're going to start charging you for pillows and blankets. They are, however, saying these will not only be brand-new, they will be the cleanest pillows that you can possibly have. You do get to keep them. This is just part of what's going on.
We are being nickled and dimed in the air, no doubt about that. It's not only pillows and blankets. Let's also talk about, well, paying for water, soda. Yes, $2. That'll cost you on U.S. Airways. Also, first checked bag on U.S. Airways and United, and American Airlines, that'll be $15. And the middle seat? You're going to be paying $5 for Spirit Air. They are charging you a reservation fee.
On time? Well, that's prices, of course. This is all part of what's going on these days. I have to say though, if I were running an airline, I'd do the same thing. These guys are suffering huge losses. They've got to raise revenue wherever they can.
MARCIANO: And not everybody uses every amenity. So if you want to use it, you pay for it.
CHERNOFF: That's right. Exactly.
MARCIANO: Nice work. Nap time.
CHETRY: He's still mad people get free Coca-Cola on the plane.
MARCIANO: I sleep through it and they get it for free. That's what upsets me.
CHETRY: Thanks, Allan.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Allan.
CHETRY: Well, in their own words. The candidates on solving the energy crisis and getting you cheaper gas. We'll hear what they're saying unfiltered.
MARCIANO: And food for thought. New research shows eating fish could be good for your brain. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: It's the most politics in the morning. AMERICAN MORNING is committed to helping you make an informed choice come November. We're showing you more of the candidates' messages to voters in their own words. Here's Senator Barack Obama laying out his plan to solve America's energy crisis.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One million plug- in hybrid cars on the road doubling our energy from clean renewable sources like wind power or solar power and two billion gallons of affordable biofuels. New buildings that are 50 percent more energy efficient. And putting people back to work making those buildings more energy efficient. So there is a real choice in this election, Lansing. A choice about what kind of future we want for this country and this planet.
Senator McCain would not take the steps or achieve the goals that I've outlined today. His plan invests very little in renewable sources of energy. And he's opposed to helping the auto industry retool. Like George Bush and Dick Cheney before him, he sees more offshore drilling as the answer to all of our energy problems. And like George Bush and Dick Cheney, he's found a receptive audience in the very same oil companies that have blocked our progress for so long. In fact, John McCain raised more than $1 million from Big Oil just last month. Most of which came after he announced his plan for offshore drilling in a roomful of cheering oil executives.
His initial reaction to the bipartisan energy compromise was to reject it because it took away tax breaks from oil companies. And even though he doesn't want to spend much on renewable energy, he's actually proposed giving $4 billion more in tax breaks to the biggest oil companies in America, including $1.2 billion to Exxon Mobil. Now, understand, Exxon Mobil is a corporation that just recorded the largest profit in the history of the United States. This is the company that last quarter made $1,500 every second. That's more than $300,000 in the time it takes you to fill up a tank with gas that's costing you four bucks a gallon.
Senator McCain not only wants them to keep every dime of that money, he wants to give them more. So make no mistake, the oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain. And if he wins, they will continue to cash in while our families and our economy suffer and our future is put in jeopardy. That's not the future I see for America.
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MARCIANO: Coming up in the next hour, we'll hear from John McCain on the energy issue.
Also coming up, going wireless in the sky. Delta is going to let you tune in after takeoff. Some passengers dread the cell phones. That could be next. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. More evidence that fish may be brain food. There's a new study in the journal "Neurology" showing that eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, and we hear this a lot, that it can help lower the risk of developing brain lesions in older adults. We're paging our resident brain expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, for more details.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CHETRY: This is really fascinating. And we know it's good for us, but can eating more fish help prevent stroke or even dementia?
GUPTA: It looks like it can, and this is sort of interesting evidence. Because as you say, we know for some time that fish is good for a lot of things, but to actually to have any kind of objective evidence to say that it's actually beneficial has been hard to come by. So what researchers did was they looked at thousands of MRI scans of people 65 and over and looked for these things known as silent strokes. Some people call them mini strokes.
And what they found is that people who ate fish more frequently, three or more times a week, for example, had a 26 percent lower chance of having those mini strokes. So if you have one serving a week, a 13 percent less chance. So something about the fish probably those omega-3 fatty acids was protective.
Let me show you what I'm talking about really quickly here if can, Kiran. When you look at the brain, this is an MRI scan of the brain, sometimes you see little black dots like you see right here, where it's actually a little mini stroke where an area of the brain did not get enough oxygen for a period of time. You can see the same thing over here and this image again lots of white areas where some of the brain tissues sort of died away as a result of inadequate blood supply.
What they find is people that eat the fish actually have some protection against that happening. Now, there are certain types of fish that are going to be the best for you. People always ask about this. The fish that are highest in omega-3 fatty acids - the mackerel, for example, trout. Those are some of the ones that people think of. And they're typically talking about three servings a week, which is around 12 ounces or so.
CHETRY: If you can't afford it or you don't like fish, do the supplements, the pill form, do they work as well?
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting. I talk about supplements a lot and actually, the fish oil supplements is the only supplements I take, and that's after doing a lot of research on my own. It's hard to take the good stuff, if you will, out of food and put it into a pill.
That's the problem here, it's just hard to do. With fish oil, it's a little bit better than some of the other supplements out there. So I think the supplements are pretty good, but this study didn't specifically look at supplements versus eating the real fish.
CHETRY: Well, I think of you every day when I take my fish oil supplement that you told me to take when I was pregnant.
GUPTA: You're going to live forever, probably.
CHETRY: Sanjay, great to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: All right. Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY (voice-over): Boarding up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been doing the windows.
CHETRY: And shipping out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We may be one of those stuck on the freeway for hours. Who knows.
CHETRY: Tropical storm Edouard on a collision course with the Gulf Coast today.
Plus, Oscar winner car crash. Morgan Freeman seriously hurt when his car left the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got airborne and it flipped, end over end.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
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JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Have you seen these commercials where T. Boone Pickens, where he says he wants to allow a more natural gas and wind power for energy. Once again, President Bush, you know, I don't think he really understands alternative fuels. Like today, he said, how do you drill for wind?
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CHETRY: We'd all like to know, right? Well, Jay Leno picking on President Bush a little bit there.
AMERICAN MORNING is committed to helping you make an informed decision at the polls come November, and because of that, we're bringing you extended clips of the candidates so you can hear them in their own words other than in quick sound bites.
So here now is presumptive republican nominee John McCain talking about his plan to solve the energy crisis.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to solve the energy crisis that's affecting businesses like National Label Company and we need an all of the above approach. We need to aggressively develop alternative energies like wind, solar, tide, biofuels and geothermal. We also need to expand our use of existing energy resources here at home. That means we need more nuclear power. It means we need clean coal technology. And that means we need to offshore drill for oil and natural gas. We need to drill here, and we need to drill now. And anybody who says that we can achieve energy independence without using and increasing these existing energy resources either doesn't have the experience to understand the challenge we face or isn't giving the American people some straight talk.
Unfortunately, Senator Obama continues to oppose offshore drilling. He continues to oppose the use of nuclear power. These misguided policies would result in higher energy costs to American families and businesses and increased dependence on foreign oil. We're not going to achieve energy independence by inflating our tires. I'm going to lead our nation to energy independence and I'm going to do it with a realistic and comprehensive "all of the above" approach that uses every resource available to finally solve this crisis.
As a lot of Americans know, the Congress, doing nothing decided to go on a five-week recess, without addressing the energy challenge that's affecting Americans every single day and their ability to go to work and their ability to do their jobs and their ability to keep inflation down as they're trying to do here at the National Label Company. And they need a Congress that will act. Congress should come back into session. Congress should come back into session, and I'm willing to come off the campaign trail. I call on Senator Obama to call on Congress to come back into town and come back to work. Come off their recess. Come off their vacation and address this energy challenge to America and don't leave until we do. Republican and democrat joining together and a very vital part of that is nuclear power and another vital part of that is offshore drilling.
We have to drill here and drill now. Not wait and see whether there's areas to explore. Not wait and see whether there's a package that needs to be put together, but drill here and drill now. And let's start working for the American people and not for ourselves. So I hope that Senator Obama will call on Congress and the leaders, Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi, to call Congress back into session. Let's get this energy crisis solved as Americans have been able to solve every challenge that's faced us and move forward and work for America and put America first. Thank you very much.
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CHETRY: Coming up in our next half hour, we're going to hear what Barack Obama has to say about the energy crisis and why he thinks McCain is wrong about it. That's at 8:45 Eastern -- Rob.
MARCIANO: We are approaching the top of the hour and we're following some breaking news right now.
Tropical Storm Edouard with winds of 65 miles per hour has been gaining strength overnight. Rain and winds spreading across the coast of Louisiana. It is quickly approaching the southeast Texas coastline. 17 Texas counties have been declared disaster areas. Meanwhile, airlines are warned that Edouard could actually force delays or some cancellations in Texas over the next couple of days. Continental, Southwest, American, United, Delta, Northwest as well saying that they'll waive re-scheduling fees under these conditions.
We're also watching Edouard's affect on the price of oil this morning. So far, it doesn't seem to have much of an impact. Some of those rigs have been evacuated, but most workers are riding out the storm. Oil plunged nearly $3.77 a barrel yesterday. Right now it's trading a little bit above the $119 mark. Crude oil prices have fallen more than 18 percent from last night's record price.
I'll also point out that Chicago and Atlanta have some delays because of weather. Ground stops until 8:30, but right now, the big weather story is Edouard.
