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American Morning
BP Ready for the Static Kill; State of the Gulf: How Much Damage Has Been Done; Ethics Trouble for Maxine Waters; MIT Link to Secret Files Leak?; Pakistan Flooding Kills 1,100; Space Station Cooling Problem; Arizona Prison Escape
Aired August 02, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. Beginning of a brand-new week, beginning of a brand-new month as well. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. There's lots to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
First, the static kill operation is set to go. It could begin tonight in the Gulf. BP hoping to pump enough mud down its runaway well to finally kill it. Meanwhile, there's a new report accusing the oil giant of using excessive amounts of chemical dispersants during the height of the spill. And once again, the numbers being provided by BP are being called into question.
ROBERTS: First, it was Charlie Rangel, now Maxine Waters. Two powerful Democrats under scrutiny for allegedly violating House ethics rules. How much damage could two full-fledged ethics trial inflict on the Democratic Party in the fall? We're live in Washington just ahead.
CHETRY: Did he have help? A recent MIT grad is now admitting that he e-mailed back and forth with an Army private who was accused of leaking military secrets to the Web site WikiLeaks. We're live at the Pentagon with new fallout this morning.
And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now, CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: Engineers in the Gulf of Mexico are set to begin the static kill. They could start pumping heavy mud down the throat of BP's ruptured well by some time tonight. The mission -- to literally choke it to death.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, a congressional report is slamming BP for what it calls excessive use of dispersants to break up the slicks. One lawmaker saying, quote, "The oil giant carpet-bombed the Gulf with chemicals and the Coast Guard blessed it."
In Alabama this morning, meanwhile, a hopeful development for the first time in months. Swimming advisories have been lifted at most of the state beaches. But no one can be sure exactly how much damage has been done to the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists do agree that it could take years to gauge the impact of all of the crude as well as all of the chemicals.
ROBERTS: Let's bring in our Jim Acosta now. He's live in New Orleans this morning. And, Jim, BP's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, spent some time on the water over the weekend. What did he have to say about the state of the Gulf of Mexico right now?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he said the state of the Gulf right now is improving. They are optimistic that they can make this turn from a clean-up operation to an operation of restoring the Gulf. And you're absolutely right, BP and the Coast Guard are coming under fire over the use of those dispersants out in the Gulf of Mexico.
A key congressman overseeing the spill fired off an angry letter to Thad Allen, the national incident commander, accusing BP, as you said, of carpet-bombing the Gulf of Mexico with dispersants. Allen, during a conference call yesterday, took full responsibility for the use of those dispersants saying they were only used as much as needed.
And as you mentioned, BP's Doug Suttles, one of the top executives for the company, he took a tour of the Gulf yesterday just outside the little town of Venice. Wanted to take a look at how things are looking on some of the marshes out there, whether or not the oil is still coming in. And we asked him about all of this, the use of dispersants, because this comes against the backdrop of Louisiana reopening its waters to commercial fishing.
So we asked Doug Suttles, you know, what do you think about the state of the Gulf right now? What do you think about all of these dispersants that were dumped in the water and what does that say about the quality of the wildlife and the seafood coming out of the Gulf?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Would you eat the seafood coming out of the Gulf of Mexico given the volume of oil, the volume of the dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico? Would you allow your loved ones to eat seafood coming out of the Gulf?
DOUG SUTTLES, BP COO: There's been a tremendous amount of testing done by NOAA and the state agencies and the FDA and others, and they're not going to open these waters to either sport fishing or commercial fishing if it's not safe to eat the fish. I have a lot of confidence in those agencies, and I trust their recommendations. And I would eat their food, the seafood out of the Gulf here, and I would feed it to my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Suttles went on to say that he didn't think that the Gulf of Mexico was permanently damaged when it comes to the seafood industry. And he backed up Thad Allen on the use of dispersants saying that essentially BP was given permission to use those dispersants from time to time and there were times that they weren't given that permission. So, Thad Allen taking pretty much full responsibility for the use of those dispersants and Suttles yesterday essentially punting that responsibility to Thad Allen, agreeing with the assessment that the Feds were in charge of those dispersants -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, I mean, as we've said before, the scientists are saying it's going to take years to really know the exact impact. And they had also said all along that those dispersants had never been used in those quantities before. So there still are a lot of questions about that. Meanwhile, killing the well permanently, the static kill operation, tell us more about when that's set to start.
ACOSTA: Well, you know, we heard a couple of things yesterday. Thad Allen was saying it could start as late as late Monday, late today. And Suttles, Doug Suttles was saying that, well, looks more like Tuesday. So within the next 24 hours, we're expecting to see this operation begin and as John put it aptly, this is essentially trying to choke off this well by pumping heavy fluid and mud down the throat of this ruptured well. It is expected to take place sometime in the overnight hours.
And one interesting thing that we heard from Doug Suttles and Thad Allen yesterday is that engineers have been taking a look at the integrity of this well. They feel like when they start this operation that this well should be able to handle the injections of heavy mud and heavy fluids into it, and that this is different than that top kill operation because during the top kill operation, of course, the oil was still flowing up and it was not being contained with that cap. So this time around they feel that this is going to be different, that this is actually going to be the start of sort of a one-two punch and slowing down this well, bringing it under control and eventually killing it off with that bottom kill operation where they will pump heavy mud and cement through that relief well that they're drilling. That should take place about five to seven days, they say, after this static kill operation. And Doug Suttles said in his words he is confident this is going to work.
ROBERTS: Let's hope he's right. Jim Acosta for us in New Orleans this morning. Jim, thanks.
When it comes to chemical dispersants, how much is too much? At 7:10 Eastern, we'll talk to a leading expert on the subject, Larry McKinney. He's the executive director of the Heart Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico studies at Texas A&M University.
CHETRY: Also at 8:10 Eastern, we're joined by Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts. He is the chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee. He's the one slamming BP for, quote, "carpet bombing the Gulf with chemicals." We're going to be talking to him more about that coming up.
ROBERTS: There are also new developments on that second oil spill emergency in the United States, that pipeline rupture. It's up in Michigan where at least a million gallons of oil have spilled into the Kalamazoo River. Government officials say there has been significant progress at the site of the ruptured pipeline. The spill covers 25 miles and so far workers say they've clean up more than half of the oil.
CHETRY: Well, now to politics. And two senior Democrats poised to face ethics trials just before the mid-term elections. California Congresswoman Maxine Waters reportedly plans to fight ethics charges in a House trial. It comes just days after New York Congressman Charlie Rangel was charged with 13 violations of House rules.
Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar has been following the latest developments. And what do we know about the investigation into Congresswoman Waters?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this investigation has been going on for months, Kiran. We know that. And what it has yielded ultimately is Maxine Waters deciding that she would rather go through this process of an ethics trial rather than just accept a judgment against her by the ethics committee, a judgment that says she violated House rules. So she wants her day in court. This is what we're hearing from a source familiar with the ethics process.
We know that Waters has been under investigation for some time now since last fall. This has to do with allegations that she set up a meeting between a bank called One United and the Treasury Department.
Now this all happened in September of 2008. This was the height of the financial crisis. Many financial institutions at the time were on the brink of failure or they were certainly worried that they would get caught in the wake of the crisis. But the thing here is this -- her husband sat on the board of that bank. It's one of the largest minority owned banks in the U.S. And Waters herself had at least at one point owned stock in the bank, some significant amount of stock. And ultimately the bank ended up receiving $12 billion in federal funds. But what really makes this controversy just jump out at you here, Kiran, is that Maxine Waters is a prominent Democrat. She's been in Congress about 20 years. She's a senior member of the very powerful House Financial Services Committee. This is that committee that wrote much of the Wall Street reform bill that just passed, and Waters is also a prominent number of the Congressional Black Caucus. So what you're seeing here is a defiant Maxine Waters to say no, I won accept this punishment that is being handed down to me without a trial process, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, it couldn't come at a worse time as we know for House Democrats. They're trying to hold on, you know, to the majority come the mid-term elections, and at the same time now they have two prominent members of their party facing ethics -- you know, facing questions basically about their leadership and whether or not they were acting ethically in the job they were trusted to do for their constituents.
KEILAR: Yes, and more than questions, I mean these are ethics trials. These happen very rarely. We were talking last week, Kiran, about how we hadn't seen one since 2002. So when you've got Charles Rangel facing one, you've got Maxine Waters facing one, and these likely won't begin until September when Congress returns. Right? You're looking at something that is so uncomfortably close to those mid-term elections because this is something that could take time to play out and this will be a huge political liability for Democrats at a time when, let's face it, it's already really tough to be a Democrat, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: Take a look at this. Some amazing pictures coming in to us this morning from Russia. The only way out from the fire is through the fire.
Frightening moments for one family. Flames just surrounding their cars to try to make their way out. Five thousand people were forced to flee the worst wildfires in that country's history. Officials say firefighters have gotten control of about half of the hundreds of fires that are burning right now. Three hundred thousand acres have been scorched so far. More than 30 people killed.
Record heat has been drying up major parts of the country. Moscow hit 102 degrees last Thursday. That's the highest temperature since they began keeping records in 1879. And finally there, out through the fire but, my goodness. Can you imagine being in that? Wow.
CHETRY: Let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center. It shows that the people will record anything even in the most intensive times. I mean, you know, they got the cameraman in the back seat just chronicling that whole thing.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, make sure the tape is rolling, that's for sure. Dramatic pictures certainly coming out of Russia. And as you mentioned, they have been enduring a record breaking heat there for the past week or so, as has much of the United States and another day where we're going to see heat advisories and heat warnings out especially for the south and the mid southeast.
Your map is lit up again with oranges, pinks and reds. And these are the spots where we'll see heat indices up an over 105, 110, in some cases, 115 degrees today. So dangerous heat in some of these areas and records here, as well. Monroe, Louisiana -- 105. Gulfport, 102. Mobile -- oh, my goodness. This does not include humidity and these temperatures are measured in the shade. We'll talk more about the heat. Went out west we have our own set of problems in the way of wildfires. We'll talk about what's going on in California in about 30 minutes -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Pretty good storms rolled through Atlanta last night, huh, Rob?
MARCIANO: Yes, it did rock 'n' roll a little bit but it was a nice cooling off of the heat that we had in the southeast as well.
ROBERTS: I was driving to the airport.
CHETRY: The good news is it didn't keep you awake.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes, didn't get to sleep either. I was driving to the airport. I almost needed a hovercraft or one of those swamp boats to get through. It was amazing. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: All right, Rob. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, just how many people were involved in the WikiLeaks scandal? The investigation now pointing to two students at MIT who may have had a hand in it.
Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour. New developments this morning, the investigation expanding into the leak of thousands of secret files on the war in Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: The investigation now leading to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon. What's the link between what's going on there in Afghanistan and MIT, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John Kiran, as part of this widening investigation now, Adrian Lamo, the former computer hacker who tipped off federal authorities to Private Manning, the main suspect according to the Pentagon in this case.
Lamo says there are two men at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, who told him they helped Manning. Pardon me, one of them saying that they helped teach Manning how to use encryption software which may have been used in this matter of the leaked documents. Lamo is refusing to identify the men at MIT. He says one of them has already threatened him. But this is a real indicator of the widening of this investigation.
Now, civil authorities, the FBI called into it. Defense Secretary Robert Gates continues to talk about the security damage that has been caused by this, and he's offering some thoughts about how it all happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Had he tried to do this, or had whoever who did this tried to do it at a rear headquarters overseas, or pretty much anywhere here in the U.S., we have controls in place that would have allowed us to detect it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: And what Gates says is Private 1st Class Manning, the main suspect, according to the Pentagon, may have understood very well that those controls were not in place in overseas headquarters. Out in the field they try and push as much information, as much intelligence as they can, Gates said, down to the soldiers out in the field so that they can have everything they need to do their jobs about the security risks where they are.
And this could be one of the major fallouts of this. They may have to tighten those controls. Gates says he wants to keep the information in the hands of the troops who need it -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, we talk about this investigation expanding. What are the chances that the military would actually go after the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange?
STARR: Well, there is some indications that that's one of the reasons the FBI is in this investigation, that they will take on looking at everything, all of the links, all of the potential accomplices outside of military circles. Military investigators will focus on what has happened inside the Army, inside the U.S. military. The FBI will focus on the civilian expansion of this investigation. Both sides, however, will work very closely together.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning with the latest on that.
Barbara, thanks. Good to see you this morning.
Well, the Republican National Committee canceled a fund-raiser with conservative blogger and activist Andrew Breitbart. He was set to appear with party chairman Michael Steele later this month in Beverly Hills. An RNC spokesman says the event was canceled "to better capitalize on fund-raising this fall."
Breitbart, you'll remember, posted edited online video of former USDA official Shirley Sherrod that falsely portrayed her as a racist and ultimately forced her to resign.
CHETRY: Yes, there were a lot of questions last week as to whether or not he was invited before or after the whole big government.com video. And I guess now we have our answer.
ROBERTS: Timing is everything.
CHETRY: Well, Sarah Palin coming to the defense of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer after a federal judge blocked parts of the state's new immigration law. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the former Alaska governor used a masculine metaphor to slam President Obama for failing to adequately protect America's borders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKAN GOVERNOR: Jan Brewer has the cajones that our president does not have to look out for all Americans. Not just Arizonans, but all Americans in this desire of ours to secure our borders and allow legal immigration to help build this country, as was the purpose of immigration laws. If our own president will not enforce a federal law, more power to Jan Brewer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, on Friday, Governor Brewer lost her bid to get a speedy appeal hearing, so now that's not going to happen until November.
ROBERTS: So if you say it in Spanish does it make it easier to talk about it? I don't know. And Sarah Palin also not shying away from the president of scribbling notes on her hand. The former Alaska governor first said that her arm was not big enough to list all the damage that would occur if the Bush tax cuts were to expire. Host Chris Wallace noticed that Palin did indeed have something written on her hand and asked what it was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": Can I just ask you, what do you have written on your hand?
PALIN: $3.8 trillion next 10 years so I didn't say "$3.7 trillion" and then get dinged by the liberals saying I didn't know what I was talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Do you need to borrow some paper? Because we have a ton of it here. You can write down notes on that.
ROBERTS: All about the theater. God bless her, she's taken something that was a negative and turned it into a positive.
CHETRY: That's right. We all learn that the hard way in grade school.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, the deadline lives for long-standing Bush tax cuts, but what if Congress fails to extend them? We're going to break down the impact that it could have on your family's finances.
Twenty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now.
Washington has a fight on its hands, whether or not to let the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year.
ROBERTS: President Obama wants to keep the tax breaks in place for most Americans, but what if Congress just sits back and allows the tax cuts to expire without making any changes?
Our Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff breaks down what could be in store for you and your family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Chudyks (ph) of Ramsey, New Jersey, like to enjoy their money.
CHRIS CHUDYK (ph), CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT: We're definitely spenders. We like to have a good time. You know, like to enjoy life.
Nice hit!
CHERNOFF: But even though Chris and his wife Dawn have stable jobs, they're preparing to tighten their belts. Chris, an accountant, figures he'll soon need an extra $350 a month to pay more federal taxes.
CHUDYK: So, where could that come from? Maybe not going out to eat as much, maybe bringing lunch to work. You know, also reducing maybe the amount that we can save.
CHERNOFF: Brace yourself. There's a very good chance your family also may soon have to confront the same tough choices to find extra money to pay Uncle Sam. Tax rates are scheduled to rise once the year ends. That's because tax cuts that President George W. Bush championed in 2001 and 2003 were put in place only through the end of the decade.
SCOTT HODGE, PRESIDENT, TAX FOUNDATION: If Congress does nothing, it could lead to one of the largest tax increases in American history.
CHERNOFF: President Obama pledged to let taxes rise only on families earning more than $250,000 per year. But as things stand right now, tens of millions Americans who earn less are about to get whacked by new higher tax rates.
ROBERT TRAPHAGEN, PARTNER, TRAPHAGEN FINANCIAL: If new tax legislation is not implemented, it would be a dramatic effect to the middle class.
CHERNOFF: Middle class tax rates are scheduled to go up by three percent. For the Chudyks, who earn just over $175,000, the change will put them into the 31 percent marginal tax bracket, up from 28 percent today.
Also due to change, the tax credit that middle and lower income families get for each child would be cut in half to a maximum of no more than $500 per child, and taxes would rise on dividends and capital gains, especially hurtful to retired Americans. In planning to let taxes rise, President Obama hopes to chop the budget deficit. But if families like the Chudyks cut back spending by $350 a month, that may hurt the economy. It could derail the recovery, and if that happens, some experts argue, it could mean lower overall tax revenues for the Treasury.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: All right, Allan. Thanks so much.
Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants a vote before November's elections on whether or not to extend tax cuts for the middle class. ROBERTS: Chelsea Clinton's wedding came off without a hitch. It was quite an amazing affair, and we've got a look at the nuptials coming right up for you in case you missed them over the weekend.
Twenty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It is a beautiful sunrise over Long Island Sound this morning.
Twenty-eight minutes after the hour.
Now that the ceremony is over, the details of Chelsea Clinton's super secret wedding on Saturday are beginning to dribble out. The former first daughter married her long-time boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky.
CHETRY: Yes. And just like we thought, the two tied the knot in a beautiful 50-acre state in the tiny Rhinebeck, New York.
And our Alina Cho was there. She is tracking all the wedding details for us this morning.
It seems to have gone off without a hitch.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spent a couple of days there.
ROBERTS: Now, when we say you were there, you were there --
CHETRY: She was in Rhinebeck.
ROBERTS: -- in the tiny town of Rhinebeck.
CHO: The tiny town, just 90 miles from here, right along the Hudson River. Just beautiful.
CHETRY: You weren't at the actual -- you didn't actually make the cut.
CHO: I didn't. As I like to say, my invitation seems to have blown off my desk.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: Anyway, yes, it seems to have gone off without a hitch, guys.
You know, call it what you want -- the wedding of the summer, the wedding of the year, the wedding of the century, America's royal wedding. What everyone wants to know is, what was it like to be there?
Well, the Clinton family has released five photos of the beaming bride. Let's take a look at the first one, the former president walking Chelsea down the aisle. The bride ordered him --
ROBERTS: He's in good shape. CHO: He is in good shape. That's because the bride ordered him to lose 15 pounds. But most of his friends believe it was more like 20 pounds.
CHETRY: He did look great. That was what he said --
CHO: He didn't want to cry, but his friend Mary Steenburgen said that, "If I know Bill, he cried his eyes out."
In the background of that photo, by the way, is Astor Courts, that 50- acre estate in Rhinebeck, just a beautiful, beautiful backdrop that looked a little like the White House, I might add.
CHETRY: And it's for sale.
CHO: Yes. It's for sale for $12 million.
The next photo there, you see Chelsea and the groom, Marc Mezvinsky. He's a 32-year-old investment banker. The bride is 30.
Mezvinsky is Jewish; Clinton, Methodist. So this was an interfaith ceremony. The bride, as expected, wore a Vera Wang -- a silk organza and tulle gown with an embroidered belt. That's according to her office -- Vera Wang's office that is.
As for the MOTB, as he calls herself, the mother of the bride, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she wore a raspberry silk embroidered gown by Oscar de la Renta. These are all details I care very deeply about.
CHETRY: She looks beautiful.
CHO: Some -- she did look beautiful. You know, some other tidbits, guys -- some courtesy of our friends over at "The Washington Post" -- that Chelsea apparently had to help the minister remember the next line of a verse after his page flipped too soon. At last -- oops, he's right -- at last, it was the couple's song choice for their first stand. And the friend of Marc and Chelsea read the poem, "The Life That I Have" by Leo Marks.
Now, the St. Regis Hotel catered the reception. The cake was gluten-free because the bride is gluten intolerant. About 400 guests, we're told, were in attendance and the party -- apparently, guys, lasted until 4:30 in the morning.
ROBERTS: In true Clinton style. Except back in the days of the White House when he was president, they would have actually seen the sun come up.
CHO: Yes. And the party would have started late, very Clintonesque as well.
ROBERTS: What about the guest list? You know, we were expecting all these A-listers like Barbara Streisand, Steven Spielberg --
CHO: Streisand and Spielberg, none of them showed up. None of them -- I know.
Vernon Jordan --
ROBERTS: Invitation flew off (ph) the deck.
CHO: Flew off the deck.
Vernon Jordan, Terry McAuliffe, Madeleine Albright -- were among the guests in attendance. I mentioned Mary Steenburgen and her husband, Ted Danson. They were there as well.
In fact, Ted Danson was seen around town -- you see them right there. And apparently, he said, "We must be the only celebrities in town. I'm sorry."
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: You know, they were expecting a lot more.
You know -- but it was quite an affair. You know, a lot of -- a lot of numbers about the price tag of the wedding. A lot of people were saying $3 million, $5 million. Close Clinton friends tell CNN that they believe it was less than $1 million but it was quite an affair. Apparently, there were a couple of tents up, you know, 400 guests.
But this was really a family affair from what I've told from a lot of people. You know, about 150 guests, I'm told, were really just friends of the bride and groom which is incredible accomplishment on Chelsea and Marc's part when you think about it, when you look at her mother and father and all the people in the world that they know. So, beautiful, beautiful wedding. I'm told.
CHETRY: Nice stuff. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, in the meantime, we're coming up on the half-hour right now -- time for a look at the top stories.
And countdown to the "static kill" operation is under way now. BP could start pumping heavy mud into its capped well by tonight. And new charges this morning from Congress accusing BP of using excessive amount of dispersant to break up the spill -- one lawmaker says that the oil giant, quote, "carpet-bomb" the Gulf with chemicals while the Coast Guard stood by and allowed it.
ROBERTS: Two senior House Democrats now under scrutiny for ethics violations. California Congresswoman Maxine Waters could face an ethics trial on charges that she helped the bank that her husband had invested in. It comes in the heels of New York Congressman Charlie Rangel being formally charged with 13 violations of House ethics rules.
CHETRY: New fallout from what some are calling the largest intelligence leak of all time. A hacker now says at least two MIT students helped an Army private who's accused of spilling war secrets to the Web site WikiLeaks. One recent MIT grad is now admitting that he did exchanged e-mails with Private Bradley Manning but he denies any involvement in the leaking.
ROBERTS: More than 1,100 people are dead in Pakistan this morning. The region is being slammed with record-breaking monsoon rains and flooding. Officials tell CNN at least 2 1/2 million people have been affected by the deadly waters.
CHETRY: The biggest fear right now is disease could turn this natural disaster into a larger humanitarian crisis. So many victims so far said that the government isn't doing nearly enough to help them.
We're tapping the global resources of CNN right now and check in with our Reza Sayah who's been touring the flood zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The wet and muddy planks of wood were twice her size. But 8-year-old girl Moniba (ph) wasn't about to let them slip away.
"Our house washed away and I'm finding wood," she said -- wood her family plans to use as they build a new place to live.
Like tens of thousands of others, Moniba lost her home in the worst floods ever to hit northwest Pakistan. Set off by record breaking monsoon rains, the water leveled entire villages. The mud houses in this settlement never had a chance. With no one to help and nowhere to go, the villagers pitched tents at this nearby graveyard. For now, this is home.
EKRAM SAFI, FLOOD VICTIM: There's no medicine for us. There's no water for us. There is no meal for us. But we don't have anything.
SAYAH: A family of 35 used to call this place home. The decision now: move or rebuild.
UMER SAEED, FLOOD VICTIM: This is the first time in my life that I am (INAUDIBLE) in a disaster.
LIAQAT ALI, FLOOD VICTIM (through translator): There is no food. We left it inside the houses. We have nothing. We took refuge in a mosque and prayed for God's help. There was nothing to eat for almost 48 hours. We were neck-deep in water with women and children standing almost naked.
SAYAH: The government insists it's doing what it can to bring relief to the victims. But in the villages near Charsadda, two hours west of Islamabad, there was no sign of help from the government or aid groups. Local villagers recovered the dead themselves. In area roads, entire families walked, often barefoot, with the few items they had left.
SAEED: Looking on the TV, government has promised us that there is 200 boats coming from Karachi. And there is still nothing.
SAYAH (on camera): Why haven't relief crews been able to get to some of the victims? There is a big reason -- this is one of the bridges on the motorway, the major highway connecting Islamabad, the federal capital east, to Peshawar and other villages west. And as you can see, the floodwaters have completely demolished it.
(voice-over): With the bridge down, traffic to Peshawar, the biggest nearby city, was backed up for hours. No one seemed to be moving. Not even brides and grooms.
With scorching temperatures and little food or water, frustration has set in. Villagers threw mud at pictures of their local government officials, the same mud that buried their homes. It's their way of saying, "Get us help now."
Reza Sayah, CNN, Charsadda, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Terrible situation there. Slightly reminiscent, but not quite in the same numbers as the earthquake in Muzzaffarabad, a couple of years back. Terrible, terrible.
CHETRY: Right. They said that they need more government help, so it doesn't get worse.
Well, we're going to continue to follow that story with Reza.
Meanwhile, he's robbed more than two dozen banks in 13 states. He shows his face to the video cameras every time. So, why can't the FBI track down the person known as the "Granddad Bandit"? We're going to be checking in with the FBI in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty minutes past the hour right now.
He's knocked off more than two dozen banks and he's not at all shy about showing his face. The "Granddad Bandit" may look more like a retiree but his crime spree stretches over 13 states and the FBI's not been able to track him down for nearly a year-and-a-half.
Joining us from Washington this morning to talk more about the "Granddad Bandit" and how he's managed to remain so elusive is David Johnson. He's the chief of the violent crimes section at the FBI.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
DAVID J. JOHNSON, CHIEF OF VIOLENT CRIMES SECTION, FBI: Good morning, Kiran. Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: Tell us a little bit more about this case. It strikes some as unusual because of the age, I guess, of the person. Also, the fact that he doesn't hide his face -- he's been seen and captured on a lot of surveillance video.
JOHNSON: Certainly, those are two of the things that make this case or these cases so unique. We have an older, middle-aged man, probably in his 50s, committing numerous bank robberies. He's making no efforts to conceal himself. We have multiple photographs of him at a variety of different banks that he's robbed.
And, probably, the most unique thing about him is we just can't seem to get any good information about who he is, where he lives, and where he's at right now.
CHETRY: Despite the fact that he's appeared on several different video surveillance cameras, at these banks that he's robbed across the country. Why doesn't he cover his face?
JOHNSON: We're not really sure what his motivations are for what it is that he -- that he does. Clearly, we think part of it is financial. But in terms of his nonchalant attitude, about his identity or somebody figuring out who he is, we aren't exactly sure what his motivations are.
CHETRY: We understand that he is pretty low key when it comes to these bank robberies. He literally just goes up to the teller and asks for a specific amount of money. He doesn't seem to have a weapon on him or at least doesn't brandish a weapon, correct?
JOHNSON: Now, that's correct. He keeps a very low profile when he enters the bank. He looks like just about every other customer in the bank, so he doesn't draw any attention to himself while he's standing in line.
He'll approach the teller. Usually, he has a note which will ask for a specific amount of money. He'll hand the note to the teller. If the teller is reluctant to provide him with any money he may gesture as if he has a weapon or handgun. We have not seen one in any of the bank robberies that he's committed. He gets his money, he turns around and he walks away and nobody really -- nobody really notices him when he's in the bank.
CHETRY: This is amazing. We have a series of maps right now just to show how prolific of a bank robber he's been able to be, started in Richmond, Virginia, as we understand it; Mobile, Alabama, this is in the winter of 2008. He went on to rob banks in Roanoke, Atlanta, Houston, Wichita, Dallas, Little Rock, continued on hitting cities from Florida, all the way up to New York, even Michigan and the latest robbery he's suspected of is in Houston, this is at the beginning of July.
Is there any rhyme or reason to his choices over the past year- and-a-half?
JOHNSON: No. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason or pattern. We do know that he robs a bank every two to three weeks. But there does not seem to be a pattern in terms of the day of the week that he's robbing these banks, the time of the day or the location. We continue to explore those possibilities but we haven't come up with a pattern yet.
CHETRY: And we understand that he usually, as you talk about the note, demands somewhere between $2,000 or $3,000, up to, in some cases, $5,000. You say that in typical bank robberies, people actually get much less than that.
JOHNSON: It depends on the bank robber and the situation. For this particular bank robber, I would say that he's not walking out of the bank with an exorbitant amount of money, but he's doing OK.
CHETRY: In these tough economic times, I mean, you know, what's to stop people from doing this? You just walk in with a note? I mean, obviously, if you get caught, you're in deep trouble. But, I mean, this guy's just going in there with a note and he's managed to get, you know, thousands of dollars from 20 different banks and managed to elude authorities. I mean, it makes you scratch your head a little.
JOHNSON: It does. I think he's been lucky so far. We will catch him.
The FBI, in conjunction with our local and state law enforcement counterparts, we do a very good job in terms of investigating and prosecuting bank robbery cases. Our solution rate nationwide is about -- between 50 percent and 60 percent, at least from an FBI perspective. So, the good news is: we will catch him and we will catch anybody else who thinks that robbing a bank might be a lucrative thing to do.
CHETRY: Right. Crime doesn't pay certainly. We are not advocating that. I'm just saying it's amazing he hasn't been caught yet.
But, as you say, that's just a matter of time -- 1-800-CALL-FBI or you can also go to Tips.FBI.gov if you've seen the "Granddad Bandit."
David Johnson, good luck and thanks for being with us today.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Appreciate it, Karen.
ROBERTS: He seems slightly amused at all of this. What's remarkable though is that with the resources of the FBI. They've got amazing pictures of this guy and no one's come forward to say, oh, I know who that is.
CHETRY: Well, all it takes is one tip, so we'll see if this helps.
ROBERTS: Goodness.
Still to come on the Most News in the Morning: Rob's got this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
CHETRY: Also, problems on-board the International Space Station. Why crew members may have to make an unscheduled spacewalk this week.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Atlanta where right now it's 76 degrees and cloudy after those thunderstorms came through last night. And later on today, it's going to be 91 degrees. A little cooler than it was over the weekend and is still kind of cloudy. Obviously, a risk of rain any time it gets that hot. There's thunderstorm capped (ph) up last night, oh my goodness, on the way to the airport was just deluged. You couldn't even see.
CHETRY: They're getting what we had last week. Now, we're nice and cool in northeast. No more humidity.
ROBERTS: Relatively speaking, yes.
CHETRY: New this morning, a problem with the cooling system on- board the international space station, crew members may be forced to conduct space walks this week to fix it. NASA says the astronauts are not in danger. Alarms woke them up Saturday night after a circuit breaker tripped and shut off a pump that feeds ammonia to the cooling system. Hopefully, this has nothing to do with the missing washer that they saw fly out of there.
ROBERTS: Yes, you know, the couple of parts short if the repair they were doing last week. I don't know. But who hasn't done a repair project and come up with a few spare parts, right?
One escaped convict has been caught, two others still large (ph) after an Arizona prison break. Daniel Renwick was captured Sunday in Colorado after a high-speed chase and a gun battle with police. He was served 22 years for murder. A manhunt continues for the two other inmates. Police believe they are traveling with a female accomplice who helped them escape.
CHETRY: The city of East St. Louis, Illinois has been forced to slash nearly a third of its police force. The mayor says he just can't afford to pay them. East St. Louis has been crippled by crime and poverty for decades. The economic downturn also forcing the city to lay off 11 firefighters.
ROBERTS: In California, fire crews are finally getting the upper hand on a massive wildfire that's been burning north of Los Angeles. Officials say the so-called crown fire is now 90 percent contained. It's burned nearly 14,000 acres and destroyed several homes.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, right now, it's time to get a quick check of the weather headlines.
Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, Kiran. Hi, John. Yes, it was kind of warm and windy out there in Southern California last week and didn't help the fires out there, but temperatures have turned cool. Places like San Diego though have seen one of the coolest summers on record. Meanwhile, the heat from Chicago to Detroit back to Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Richmond the July average high temperature these areas have been anywhere from two, in some cases, is high as six degrees above average. Of course, it was slightly cooler weekend for the folks in the northeast. You did enjoy that. But elsewhere, it was baking again. Monroe, Louisiana, 105, 102 for a high temperature yesterday in Gulfport. Mobile, Alabama also got up and over the century mark.
New Orleans, that is a steamy place this time of year, 100 across the lake there in Slidell, also seeing a record high temperature yesterday of 100 degrees. And then we saw some rainfall in parts of Virginia. Louisiana (ph) Airport has seen 3-1/2 inches of rainfall there. So, that cooled things off just a little bit. Spots were seeing some cooling across northern parts of Wisconsin. Milwaukee about also very, very wet July now that we're into the first day of August. But heat indices will be again across the mid south and the deep south and will be up and over 100 degrees easily today.
So, dangerous heat in places like New Orleans back through Mobile, Alabama, Birmingham, even as far north as St. Louis, Missouri. Kansas City went (ph) up to 98 degrees, 106 potentially? That may be a stretch, but it's going to get up there, I think, in Dallas. Meanwhile, you guys are spoiled up there in the Big Apple, 82 degrees again today. Hope you enjoyed your weekend.
ROBERTS: 82 degrees, not exactly cool but certainly a lot better than what we have had.
MARCIANO: Yes, exactly.
ROBERTS: And many people dealing with those dog days. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: This morning's top stories just minutes away now, including an "A.M. Original." the new Bin Laden, a man being called al Qaeda's heir apparent, and he was born right here. A radical cleric with American roots and how much more dangerous that makes him.
CHETRY: Also, sharks getting a little too close for comfort for swimmers in Massachusetts. Swimming banned on miles of beaches after great whites spotted off of Cape Cod. So, where are they coming from and why are they so close? We're going to be speaking to the harbor master who's been tracking their moves.
ROBERTS: And don't snooze, you lose. Why a new study says you can't catch up on lost sleep?
CHETRY: Great.
ROBERTS: Happy Monday, by the way. How much did you get last night? Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Just about four minutes to the top of the hour now. Peace, love, tie-dye, flower power. It was Jerry Day in San Francisco yesterday. Deadheads, young and also with a touch of gray, mellowed out in a free concert in McLaren Park celebrating the life of grateful dead founder Jerry Garcia who would have been 68 years old today. He died 15 years ago this month.
CHETRY: Wow. All the while, the wedding talk this weekend focusing on Chelsea Clinton. Another famous face walked down the aisle on Saturday. It was Grammy award winning singer, Alicia Keys. She married rapper/producer/Swiss beats on the French Island of Corsica. And besides sharing the same wedding date, same designer, Vera Wang, but her own (ph) dress. She, by the way, is five months pregnant with the couple's first child.
ROBERTS: Seems you can't get married these days unless you wear Vera Wang, I guess.
CHETRY: Yes. Very popular.
ROBERTS: Keep that in mind.
And the mind-bending thriller, "Inception," earning the top spot at the box office for a third straight week. Now, "Inception" taking $27.5 million this weekend. It's made nearly $200 million in just three weeks. The Steve Carell comedy "Dinner for Schmucks," debut in second place for the $23.3 million take, and Angelina Jolie "Salt" dropped to third earning $19.3 million. Did you the "Inception" yet?
CHETRY: No. I have plans to do that this week.
ROBERTS: Saw it over the weekend.
CHETRY: What? You weren't high on it to begin with before you even saw it.
ROBERTS: It looked like just a collection of special effects with the sort of mildly sledded story running through it. That's what I came away with on Saturday night.
CHETRY: All right. I'll have to see for myself. You didn't think you were going to like --
ROBERTS: "Avatar." No, I really like "Avatar." But "Inception," mostly special effects for the sake of special effects and didn't really enjoy it. Fell asleep actually.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Coming up on the top of the hour. We'll be back in two minutes with your top stories.
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