Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Midterm Battle Lines Drawn: McCain Win Highlights Races in 5 States; Interview with Marco Rubio; Tea Party Test in Alaska; "She Was Definitely Murdered"; GOP to Obama: Fire Econ. Team; What's Next for Shirley Sherrod?; A Good Egg?
Aired August 25, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: And good morning. It is Wednesday, August 25th. I'm Jim Acosta. And Kate Bolduan --
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Yes, we're still here.
ACOSTA: We're here together.
BOLDUAN: We are still here. John and Kiran are off today. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. There's a lot to talk about this morning.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. Primaries.
BOLDUAN: Primaries.
ACOSTA: Big election night last night.
BOLDUAN: Let's get right to it.
Insider versus outsider, money versus the establishment. A major test of how much power the Tea Party really has. It was a huge primary night highlighted by a resurgent Senator John McCain who will run through all the major races and look for the message this morning.
ACOSTA: Clash of the titans. Vice President Joe Biden and House Republican Leader John Boehner go toe-to-toe over who's to blame for the ailing economy and how to fix it. We've got the two speeches and two very different points of view.
BOLDUAN: Plus, Shirley Sherrod was minding her own business when overnight she became the person at the center of a national debate over race. She lost her job and was thrown under the bus by the NAACP. Now her name's been cleared and the head of the Agriculture Department offered her a new job. So why did she turn it down? Shirley Sherrod joins us live this hour to tell us why.
ACOSTA: All right.
Shirley is back.
BOLDUAN: Shirley is back.
ACOSTA: And the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. There's plenty to talk about, like what's going on in Alaska right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
BOLDUAN: Up first, battle lines drawn for November. Voters heading to the polls in five key states last night and we have some late results we're still watching this hour.
ACOSTA: That's right. First, a big test of the Tea Party in the Alaska Senate race. Check this out. We may not know the results for a week while they count the absentee ballots in that state, but that's how close it is right now. Check this out between incumbent Lisa Murkowski, 48 percent for her right now. And Tea Party favorite, Sarah Palin-backed Joe Miller, has 51 percent. He was expected to do well but not necessarily this well. Palin beat Murkowski's dad, by the way. There is a back story in this race. She beat him back in 2006 for the governor's race, so a lot of --
BOLDUAN: Some say it's a little personal.
ACOSTA: A little bad blood up in Alaska.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: And a lot of it being sorted out in this race that's happening up there. And it's just going to be unbelievable if Joe Miller pulls this off. Another incumbent would be going down in this --
BOLDUAN: There will be a major storyline.
ACOSTA: -- in this big election year.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And there are several other key races to tell you about. All final this hour, including Arizona where Senator John McCain pulled out a victory against former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. It may have looked easy, but the victory came at a huge cost both in terms of money and maybe a little reputation for the senator.
ACOSTA: And Florida's Senate race, Marco Rubio easily won the GOP nomination for the Senate. He probably could not have done it without the Tea Party although some conservatives are complaining the fact he didn't mention the Tea Party once last night in his victory speech.
BOLDUAN: And in Florida's race for governor, Rick Scott, an outsider with deep pockets, slipped past GOP favorite Bill McCollum. Jessica Yellin is running through all the key races for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATL. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Arizona, Senator John McCain beat back a primary challenge handily defeating former Congressman J.D. Hayworth for the Republican Senate nomination.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I promise you, I take nothing for granted. I'll fight with every ounce of strength and conviction I possess to make the case for my continued service in the Senate.
YELLIN: After a primary fought over immigration policy, the senator's victory speech included only one brief mention of the issue.
MCCAIN: We will secure our borders.
YELLIN: Perhaps a sign he'll moderate his position to woo independents and Latinos in the general election. Across the country in Florida's Senate race, Democrat Kendrick Meek trounced billionaire Jeff Greene who had spent millions of his own fortune.
REP. KENDRICK MEEK (D), FLORIDA: I made the case that I am the real Democrat in this race. And I also made the case that I have the will and the desire and the energy to pull a double shift to get Florida back to work.
YELLIN: Now Meek enters a fierce three-way contest with Republican- turned-independent Governor Charlie Crist and Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio who walked to victory in the Republican primary.
MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), NOMINEE U.S. SENATE: I'm not interested in running to be just simply against people. I believe there is a better way to do things.
YELLIN: But the big upset of the night came in Florida's governor's race. Multi-millionaire businessman and health care reform opponent Rick Scott narrowly defeated the establishment candidate, Attorney General Bill McCollum.
RICK SCOTT (R), US FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight we have sent a clear message to the Washington insiders. The Tallahassee insiders.
YELLIN: McCollum responded to the loss with a statement calling Scott a multi-millionaire with a questionable past who shattered campaign spending records. This one threatens to divide the state's Republican Party. Now Scott faces Democrat Alex Sink in November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: We can draw one conclusion from these results. The voters are in a deeply dissatisfied mood and almost no candidate can walk to an easy victory. This year, it seems almost every campaign will be a bitter, vigorous fight -- Jim, Kate.
BOLDUAN: And in just a few minutes, we'll be joined by Florida's Republican Senate nominee, Marco Rubio, now looking ahead to a tough three-way race in November.
ACOSTA: All right, looking forward to that.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: And also new this morning, help for an American being held in a North Korean prison camp. Former President Jimmy Carter was greeted at the airport this morning by North Korea's vice minister for foreign affairs. Carter is acting on his own behalf, but President Obama knew about the trip. The American man was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for illegally crossing the country's border with China. BOLDUAN: WikiLeaks back in the headlines. WikiLeaks promising to put out another round of CIA papers today. The whistleblower Web site announced on Twitter that 15,000 additional documents will be released. It recently published 76,000 secret papers on the Afghan war setting off a wave of criticism from both the Pentagon and military officials. The founder of WikiLeaks was arrested in absentia lack week in Sweden for rape, but the charge has since been dropped.
ACOSTA: A major study finds that a newly discovered type of microbe could have helped break down some of the oil in the gulf faster than expected. Government researchers from the Berkeley lab in California studied an underwater oil plume to reach their findings. The study also says the controversial dispersants BP used could have also helped speed up the process.
BOLDUAN: And a wildfire burning just 75 miles north of Los Angeles. So far, more than 1,300 acres have been swallowed by flames. About 50 structures are threatened at the moment. Firefighters are also dealing with triple digit temperatures.
ACOSTA: That's right. And they were talking about those triple digit temperatures out in Arizona yesterday for the primary.
BOLDUAN: Sure, they were.
ACOSTA: They were concerned about turnout because it was so hot out there.
BOLDUAN: Because of it.
ACOSTA: It's 6:06, let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras in the extreme weather center. It was hot down there, not so much up here in the northeast.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, I know.
ACOSTA: It's been a little cool for late August.
JERAS: A lot cool for late August. I mean, you're going to be in the 70s today in New York City.
ACOSTA: Wow.
JERAS: So really incredible. So the heat continues to build in the south. West we're staying cool into the northeast, but we are going to have a complete flip-flop of those two, by the way, by the weekend. So I hope you enjoy those 73 temperatures today, New York.
In the meantime, that low pressure system you can see there behind me, it continues to linger and that means you're going to stay cool. We'll see the showers, isolated thundershowers and a lot of travel delays to go along with it. The good news is our front will sweep through and I think it's going to be a gorgeous Friday in the east. And then you'll see those temperatures start to heat up, as I mentioned. Today, we'll see those highs. Only 67 in Boston, 71 in New York, 73 in D.C. Even a little cooler across the southern states. Houston staying out of the triple digits. How about that?
Things are starting to heat up, however, in the tropics. And there you can see Danielle is a hurricane once again packing winds around 85 miles per hour. And look what's waiting in the wings there. We've got a high probability that that latest tropical wave will become Earl. And that could even happen in the next 24 hours. We'll talk more about the tropics and the rest of your forecast and more travel conditions, maybe not some news you want to hear. That's coming up a little bit later on.
ACOSTA: Oh, oh.
BOLDUAN: Oh, oh.
ACOSTA: That's what we call a tease.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Jacqui, we'll talk to you soon.
Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, Florida's Senate race shaping up to be a big fight. We'll talk with Republican nominee Marco Rubio next about his big win last night. It is seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. In the Florida Senate race, Republican Marco Rubio won the party's nomination last night. He'll face off in a three-way race in November with Democrat Kendrick Meek and Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist. And Marco Rubio is joining us live now from Fort Lauderdale this morning to give us his reaction to last night's race and his big victory and also to take a look ahead.
Good morning, Mr. Rubio. Thanks for joining us.
MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), NOMINEE U.S. SENATE: Good morning, thank you for having me.
ACOSTA: It's been an exciting night for you. And, you know, it goes without saying that a lot of folks put the words Marco Rubio and Tea Party together. It's happened a lot throughout this race. And I was just curious, you know, there are some conservative blogs this morning, "The Daily Caller" among them pointing out that you didn't mention the Tea Party last night in your victory speech. Was there a reason for that? And tell us about your victory and what it means.
RUBIO: Well, just understand, I mean, obviously there are people that cover politics on a daily basis. They're involved in the process of that. But we're focused on our message. Our message is pretty simple. And our message is that Washington has got this whole wrong. I think both parties are to blame, quite frankly, but Washington has put us on a road that's going to rob us of everything that makes America's exceptional. And the reason why I got in this race a year-and-a-half ago when nobody had thought we had the chance to win, was because I looked at the other people running and I realized none of them are going to stand up to the direction Washington is taking us and offer a clear alternative. And I think that's still true. I am running against two people who support the direction that Washington is taking our country. We're offering a clear agenda and particularly on things like the national debt, on job creation. Washington's agenda is destructive for America's future and that's what we're focused on. It's our message.
ACOSTA: And any reason why you didn't mention the Tea Party in your victory speech?
RUBIO: Well, again, people get obsessed with these labels. I'm very proud of my association with the Tea Party, but I think people misunderstand what the Tea Party movement is in America. It's not a centralized organization or a political party. It's the sentiment of every day Americans who think that Washington has it wrong. They're taking our country in the wrong direction and they're looking for voices in American politics that will stand up to that and offer a clear alternative. And that's what we're doing.
RUBIO: OK. You're opponent, Charlie Crist, who you essentially forced out of the Republican primary you were doing so well out there, had this to say about you and your Democratic opponent. He said this last night on Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA: And what that choice is when it comes to Florida is, if you want somebody that's on the hard right, you have a candidate now. If you want somebody on the hard left, you have a candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And so, there you have it. I'm sure Kendrick Meek would dispute the characterization that he's from the hard left. And I imagine you will dispute the characterization that you're from the hard right. What do you have to say about that? Charlie Crist trying to own the middle here.
RUBIO: Well, here's the bottom line. This is about ideas and public policy, not about labels or slogans. Charlie Crist hasn't offered a single concrete idea this entire campaign. With the issues we stand for, the things we're proposing are with the vast majority of Floridian support.
Look, I think that politicians don't create jobs. And that's why the stuff they're trying in Washington isn't working. Jobs are created by every day people that start businesses or expanding existing businesses, and the job of government is to create an environment -- is to create an environment where the private sector can grow employment. And we've offered ideas to do that. I think our government shouldn't spend more money than it takes in. ACOSTA: Do you think --
RUBIO: Make the world just a safer place.
ACOSTA: Do you think Charlie Crist is trying to --
(CROSSTALK)
Do you think Charlie Crist is being a little bit of an opportunist there when he tries to characterize the race in those terms and what do you make of the fact that he says, well, when he goes -- if he goes to the Senate, if he wins and goes to the Senate, he'll be with the people's caucus, not with the Democratic caucus or the Republican caucus?
RUBIO: Well, first of all, Charlie Crist needs to answer the fundamental question of who he's going to vote for for majority leader if he's elected. And he refuses to answer that question. In fact, he refuses to say what hl he'll do on any issue if he gets to Washington, D.C.
Look, this campaign is not going to be about labels. It has to be about specific ideas. What are his ideas? Where are his public policy proposals?
ACOSTA: Yes.
RUBIO: The bottom line is he's a supporter of what Washington is proposing for America. So is Kendrick Meek. I'm the only one running that offers a clear alternative. That's why we're going to win.
ACOSTA: And at the beginning of this interview, you said there have been problems with both parties. And it's interesting because it sounds like you're trying to move towards the middle a little bit.
RUBIO: That's right.
ACOSTA: And I was just curious because you said in the "New York Times" that you don't want the Republican Party to be the anti-illegal immigration party. What did you mean by that and what did you mean when you said about the Arizona immigration law that there were some problems with it, that you think that it could cause problems for your party?
RUBIO: Well, I think it's important to fill out the entire statement of what I said. What I said was that I don't want the Republican Party to be the anti-illegal immigration party. I want us to be the pro-legal immigration party, and that's what I meant.
Legal immigration is good for America, but we cannot be the only country in the world that does not enforce its immigration laws. And so the first order of business is border security and particularly securing our border with Mexico.
ACOSTA: All right. Well, Marco Rubio, congratulations on your victory last night. It wasn't unexpected. Obviously, you were going to win last night, and it's going to be an interesting campaign to watch heading into the fall. I think everybody's going to be watching that race down in Florida.
So good luck to you and thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.
RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you.
ACOSTA: All right - Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up next, a possible upset in the making in Alaska. Sarah Palin backed Joe Miller in a neck-and-neck race with incumbent Lisa Murkowski. We'll talk to Joe Miller next.
It is 16 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A key race and a big test for the Tea Party still undecided at this hour. A lot of people who watch politics are watching this one very closely. The GOP nomination for Alaska Senate.
BOLDUAN: And Sarah Palin has gone all-out to support candidate Joe Miller, and Mr. Miller joins us on the phone from Alaska.
Good morning, good evening even, if we should say to you, Mr. Miller. Thanks for joining us so early in the morning.
As we just mentioned, Sarah Palin - we'd love to ask you, how significant do you think Sarah Palin's support has been to your late success in your - this late success in your campaign?
JOE MILLER (R), ALASKA SENATE CANDIDATE: You know, early endorsement certainly gave us national prominence, but, you know, I stand that we have a number of endorsements, high-profile endorsements and also endorsements across the state that reflect the one central concern, and that is the out-of-control nature of D.C.
ACOSTA: And Joe, let me just ask you, I mean, what do you think is on the voters' minds up in Alaska? How is it that, you know, you really just came out of nowhere. You picked up the backing of Sarah Palin, obviously, in the Tea Party Movement up there in Alaska, but what - what are the issues that are resonating up there with those voters and how is it that you were able to - to come very close at this point to pulling off a very big upset?
MILLER: You know, we're three points ahead right now. But, of course, the ballots aren't all counted yet.
ACOSTA: Right.
MILLER: But, really, I think that the focal point for Alaskans is that, you know, the nation's gone bankrupt and that the kind of entitlement mentality that has grown up around us, basically, you know, federal government having all the answers and all the controls, is something that Alaskans and their common sense know just cannot continue.
ACOSTA: Go ahead. No, Kate, please.
BOLDUAN: A lot of what has been talked about in this - in this primary has been the wave of incumbent anger. Do you think that you're benefiting from that, Mr. Miller, kind of riding the wave of incumbent anger this - this election season?
MILLER: Again, I think it boils down to common sense. We see just a complete breakdown of common sense in D.C. right now. We consider it a crisis of leadership and absolutely common sense Americans, common sense Alaskans, they recognize that we've got to change out the people in D.C. to change D.C.
ACOSTA: And Mr. Miller, I wanted to ask you, I mean, how much of this do you think is due to some of the bad blood that may or may not exist between Sarah Palin and the Murkowski family? As you know, Governor Palin defeated Mr. Murkowski to run for the governor's office up there in Alaska in 2006. It put her on the national stage and, you know, a lot of folks in the political establishment up there didn't like that very much.
And here she is, lining up behind a challenger to take down Lisa Murkowski, her - Frank Murkowski's son - or daughter. Is there any bad blood there?
MILLER: You know, I - I think the national media has attempted to make this into some sort of a family feud. But, frankly, that has nothing to do with this at all. It's just simply a different perspective of the nature and role of government. And - and, frankly, we got to rein in the federal government.
People of common sense recognize that. It's the only way out of this bankruptcy that's coming upon us all. It's the only way out for Alaska to get out there and - and utilize its own resources to bring the state forward.
BOLDUAN: Senator Murkowski, she - she touts that her leadership position in some key Senate committees is a way to ensure that Alaska's voice and the people of Alaska, their voice will be heard in the Senate. Is that something that will not be lost, that if you - if you are - if you are, well, eventually elected in November?
MILLER: The age of the entitlement state is over. Bankruptcy is crashing down on this country unless we get out of the nature of expediency that we're in right now, unless we end that entitlement mentality - no level of seniority is going to save us from that. In fact, you know, the bipartisan problem, that crisis of leadership, has created this never-ending expediency coming out of D.C., and the entitlement mentality is a consequence of seniority, of not having new blood, having basically citizen statesmen in office.
ACOSTA: All right. Well, Joe Miller joining us on the phone from Alaska. We noticed you tweeted this morning that it may - it may be time for some moose hunting in the Beltway. Is that - is that exactly what we -
BOLDUAN: Feeling optimistic?
ACOSTA: I guess you're feeling optimistic.
MILLER: (INAUDIBLE). Well, let's talk about a little moose hunting. My son has a permit. I've got a permit. I need to get out and do some of that. So I may disappear for about a week.
ACOSTA: All right.
BOLDUAN: Well, we'll be trying to track you down.
Thank you very much, Mr. Miller. We should point out that we did request an interview with Senator Murkowski's campaign and - and we were declined that interview this morning.
MILLER: Thank you for your kindness. Enjoyed being here.
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much.
ACOSTA: Thank you, Joe Miller. Appreciate it.
Well, coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, he was a symbol of the government's slow response following Hurricane Katrina. Now - can you believe this? Former FEMA director Michael Brown is returning to New Orleans? Why in the world would he do that?
It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: All right. Welcome back.
Former FEMA boss, Michael Brown, is bringing his radio show to New Orleans - can you believe that? - both tonight and tomorrow night to mark five years since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Brown is, of course, remembered for the infamous phrase uttered by Former President George W. Bush, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
BOLDUAN: We all remember that (ph).
ACOSTA: And we owe him for that phrase since (ph).
Brown resigned two weeks after Hurricane Katrina and became one of the public faces of the government's slow response. And, Kate, you're doing a heck of a job.
BOLDUAN: You are - I'm not going to call you - Jimbo, you're doing a heck of a job. You know, that's going to come back (ph) -
ACOSTA: You can't even tell somebody they're doing a heck of a job anymore -
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
ACOSTA: -- without that -
BOLDUAN: Is it a compliment or -
ACOSTA: -- undercurrent. Yes.
BOLDUAN: Right. Exactly.
Also, five years after the deadly storm changed New Orleans forever, some families are still dealing with tragedies that played out after the levees failed. CNN Special Investigations Unit was the first to break the story about nine patients at the city's memorial hospital.
ACOSTA: You know, too weak to evacuate, they were all given painkillers and sedatives, and some top forensic experts called it homicide. But, five years later, no one has ever been held accountable.
For more, we're joined by our Special Investigations Unit correspondent, Drew Griffin. Drew, this is just one of those stories that's just not going away after Katrina.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: It - it really can't go away. You have these unexplained deaths.
And, you know, Jim and Kate, this is a tragedy that began in the height of the storm's aftermath when doctors and nurses were fleeing one particular hospital, but didn't know what to do with the patients still alive that they felt they couldn't take with them. Well, the relatives of those left behind say, plain and simple, the medical staff killed their relatives and left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It's no mystery for Lou Ann Jacob. She knows what happened to her 90-year-old mother, Rose Savoy (ph), on the seventh floor of the New Orleans Memorial Hospital.
LOU ANN JACOB, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: She was definitely murdered.
GRIFFIN: Her mother, one of nine patients found dead in the hospital that were part of an extensive attorney general investigation concluding they were literally sedated to death by the last remaining hospital staff and a doctor named Anna Pou.
JACOB: I still feel it was premeditated murder because they planned it. They got medicine together, mixed the cocktail, put it in the syringes and gave it to the patients.
GRIFFIN: It's not just Jacobs' feelings that point to premeditation. CNN was the first to obtain this report from the Louisiana State Attorney General's investigation revealing on September 1st, the day the hospital was to be evacuated, Dr. Anna Pou told staff, "lethal doses were going to be administered to the nine patients who could not be evacuated". The pharmacist told investigators he was instructed to bring morphine. Others told investigators they witnessed Dr. Pou administering drugs through IVs and a tray of syringes. And within just a few hours, every single one of the nine patients died. One patient awake and alert when given the lethal dose, openly complained. Jacobs said that patient was her mom.
JACOB: But I know in my heart that woman that got the shot that said "Oh! That burned!" That was my mom.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Is that not killing a person?
ART CAPLAN, BIOETHICIST: That is homicide.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Art Caplan is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also one of five forensic and ethical experts consulted on the Memorial Hospital deaths by New Orleans coroner. All five concluded the hospital staff euthanized the nine patients.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Is this a case, though, where doctors did their best and failed?
CAPLAN: We don't know whether doctors did their best and failed. All I can say in reading the record is that I think they assisted the death involuntarily of these patients. If you ask them if they talked about it, they just said, "We better put these people to sleep."
GRIFFIN (voice-over): A grand jury was convened to investigate, but neither Caplan nor the other four experts were asked to testify. That grand jury failed to indict anyone.
Five years later, despite all the evidence, the New Orleans coroner still classifies the deaths as "unknown."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want justice.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Relatives of these victims have good reason to be frustrated with the law enforcement community here in New Orleans. Their cases, the cases of their loved ones, remain unsolved homicides.
And guess what else? Nobody seems to want to solve them, including the district attorney in open court last month. Leon Cannizzaro, the new district attorney of New Orleans, called what happened at memorial hospital a homicide. "I do believe human beings were killed as a result of actions of doctors."
That's what he said in court. Then he went on to say that he has no intention of pursuing the case unless new evidence shows up at his door.
(voice-over): Like the coroner, Cannizzaro said in court he just doesn't feel he has enough evidence.
(on camera): And get this -- the new district, Leon Cannizzaro, he won't even come out and tell us why. After weeks of asking and one day of waiting, the district attorney, we were told, slipped out a side door. Through her attorney, Dr. Anna Pou has consistently refused requests for interviews with CNN. But she has told other media outlets that, while she did inject some patients with the potent drug combination, it was for palliative care, comfort, not murder.
In the ensuing years, the state, which employs Dr. Pou, has paid out hundreds of thousands in legal fees to settle cases against her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Drew, the D.A. says that he didn't feel they had enough evidence to move forward, but could there be another reason that they -- the district attorney wants to keep the cases in limbo?
GRIFFIN: You know, Kate, there are lots of people involved that simply don't want us to find out what really happened here. We know that because CNN has been involved in extensive lawsuit trying to get the records in this case opened up so we can see what took place.
The hospital, the medical workers have tried to prevent that. And you're right, the district attorney can also try to keep the records sealed, if he can just convince a judge that there may be an investigation in some point in the future. Though it's pretty clear, he isn't pursuing a case at all.
So, it just remains one of these mysteries of Katrina, still five years later, and these families are waiting for justice.
BOLDUAN: That's what I was going to say, these families wait.
All right. Drew, great work. Thanks so much, Drew griffin.
AMERICAN MORNING will be live in New Orleans this Friday starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. You will not want to miss it. Our John Roberts will be there with a special look at how the city's recovered in the past five years and what work still needs to be done.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: They've done a lot of recovering down there.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: It is 33 minutes after the hour, and that means it's time for this morning's top stories.
Key primary battles in five states, some late results to tell you about.
In Arizona, four-term incumbent Senator John McCain defeated challenger J.D. Hayworth.
In Florida, Marco Rubio easily wins the Republican nomination, setting up a three-way race in November with Democrat Kendrick Meek and Governor Charlie Crist who ditched the GOP to run as an independent. And in Florida governor's race, Rick Scott's $50 million investment -- well, it paid off. The political outsiders won the Republican nod in that contest.
BOLDUAN: The Pentagon's declassifying the worst-ever breach of our military's computer system. The deputy defense secretary, William Lynn, told "The Washington Post" a silent rogue program was inserted on to a laptop with a small flash drive on a military post in the Middle East back in 2008. Lynn says a foreign intelligence agency was behind the attack and it allowed them to access classified and unclassified files, transferring them to computer servers outside the Pentagon system.
ACOSTA: And a big setback for the economy. Existing home sales plunged 27 percent last month to their lowest level in 15 years. Economists say much of the drop can be attributed to the expiration of that $8,000 home buyer tax credit. The bad news fueled a Wall Street sell-off with the Dow dropping 134 points yesterday.
BOLDUAN: And this morning -- competing visions when it comes to the housing market spending, taxes and pretty much anything, and the nation's unemployment rate.
ACOSTA: Yes, that's right. GOP leader John Boehner fired off a shot at Democrats yesterday, saying they failed to grow the economy. But the White House was quick to hit back.
Here is Brianna Keilar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Republican corner, hailing from Ohio, John Boehner.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: President Barack Obama should ask for and accept the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council.
KEILAR: Fighting for the president, Delaware's own Joe Biden.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First, let's review a little bit of history here. For eight years before we arrived in the West Wing, Mr. Boehner and his party ran the economy and the middle class literally into the ground. They took a $237 billion operating surplus inherited from the Clinton administration and left us with a $1.3 trillion deficit.
KEILAR: Boehner jabs at the president's plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire the end of the year for Americans earning more than $250,000.
BOEHNER: So let me be clear: raising taxes on families and small businesses during a recession is a recipe for disaster -- for both our economy and for our deficit. Period. End of story.
KEILAR: The counterpunch from Democrats, Republicans are protecting big corporations and overstating the number of small businesses affected by the tax hike.
BIDEN: Let's have a little truth in advertising here. There aren't 3 percent of the small businesses in America that would qualify for that tax cut at the top 2 percent. It's a Wall Street tax cut, not a Main Street tax cut.
KEILAR (on camera): Biden and other Democrats also hit Boehner for criticizing them without putting out a Republican proposal on the economy.
Boehner promised today the Republicans do have a plan based on what they've heard from Americans in what's really an online listening tour and he said they'll release that next month.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: And next on the Most News in the Morning -- no, thank you. We'll talk to Shirley Sherrod and ask her why she turned down an offer to return to the USDA.
It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: No, thank you very much. Shirley Sherrod's not coming back to the Agriculture Department any time soon.
You'll remember Sherrod was forced out last month after video of a speech she gave was edited to make her appear racist and Sherrod still insists the White House pushed for her resignation.
Shirley Sherrod is joining me this morning from our Washington, D.C. bureau.
Thank you so much for joining me this early in the morning, Shirley. So, Shirley, why not take the job? Why decide against it?
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FMR. GEORGIA DIR. OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: Well, if Secretary Vilsack was the only person I had to deal with in the new position, maybe everything would have been OK. But everyone else and everything else is still in place. I'm not sure I would have been free to do the job the way it should have been done.
And, you know, when you've been bitten once, it's hard to go back and put yourself out there for more punishment.
BOLDUAN: So hurt feelings -- or do you think there is still a problem within the Agriculture Department that you don't think you could work within?
SHERROD: Well, I'm -- you know, what -- did anything change? I don't think so. The secretary said he put some of the methods in place so that what happened to me won't happen again. I certainly don't want to be the one to test that. Hopefully, things have changed in that sense and people won't be so quick to judge and act on that.
BOLDUAN: So what is next for you? I know you've mentioned you have a lot of letters to answer and then some Facebooking to get to. But what job opportunities -- what are you looking for coming up?
SHERROD: Well, I don't have any job opportunities at this point. I have to just look at what's possible. I do need to take a little time to think and look at the future.
I do plan to be busy. I would like to explore -- locating others who think like I do, who are working on issues in their community dealing with race to see if there is any way I can begin to help highlight some of the good that is happening.
BOLDUAN: Making it through this experience that you went through gives you -- although it's clearly nothing you would ever have asked for -- gives you a unique opportunity to have a bigger impact, a stronger voice on this issue of race and discrimination than you could have ever asked for before. How do you want to utilize that? Some would say being within the government would give you a better opportunity than being outside of the government.
SHERROD: I don't think being within the government would give me a better opportunity to speak out on this issue than being outside. What I would like to do -- and I have lots of friends throughout the country, people I've worked with through the years. I'd just like to get a few of them together to help me think through how we can work together at trying to make a difference in this area.
BOLDUAN: Do you see -- although I know I said that this clearly was nothing you could have -- would ever ask for, do you see a silver lining in this situation in the attention, in the -- in all the interviews that you've -- that you've had to do and have done, do you think something has come out of it?
SHERROD: You know, I certainly think so. Just from hearing from people, from running into people, it's amazing how many individuals who are not even working in the government feel that they have gained something from this whole situation that I've been in.
You know, I've always trusted in God to help lead me where I need to be, to help guide me. I did that many, many years ago when my father died and I've actually allowed him to help guide me to the future and that's what I'm looking for now.
And I'm looking to have friends and others give me suggestions on how we can best capitalize on something that happened to me that was so hurtful.
BOLDUAN: Shirley, where do you think the country stands on race relations today? Are you optimistic or pessimistic the direction the country is going? Do you think more dialogue needs to be had, more action needs to be taken, or do you think your experience has pushed it at least in a step -- a step in the right direction?
SHERROD: You know -- you know, this is a great country and we have a lot of great people living here. We are not where we need to be in terms of race relations in this country. You know, what happened to me I think helped us to look at the fact that we do need to pull the covers back again and come out of the chute running on trying to make this place a better place for all ethnic groups to live and strive. We can do this.
We can make this a better place for all of us. We don't need to keep fighting each other. We can make this a better place for everyone to live and to work and have a good life.
BOLDUAN: Shirley Sherrod, thank you so much. Good luck with whichever endeavors you decide to take on in the future. Thank you so much.
SHERROD: OK. Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Jim.
ACOSTA: Wish we could have Shirley on every day. That's just me. Love Shirley.
It is 6:45. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, Jacqui Jeras is in for Rob today. She will have this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
And a little later, the nationwide egg recall expands. We'll tell you what you can make sure you can do to see that those eggs you're buying at the supermarket are safe. It is 46 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And lightning-packed thunderstorms hit all across parts of the Arizona area yesterday. We got some video to show you there in the Phoenix and Tucson areas both. 4,000 people without power at one point last evening around Phoenix and the Scottsdale area. Also lightning sparked a brushfire in Tucson. Those monsoonal thunderstorms that have been getting you there every day.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. We got showers and some isolated thunderstorms across parts of the northeast this morning. You're waking up to those wet conditions once again for you in Boston down towards the Providence Area. We're expecting the showers to continue throughout a good part of the day today.
It's going to help keep temperatures down, but it is going to cause some problems at the airports. Expecting delays over an hour for you in Boston, New York City metros. Philly looking at maybe 30 to 60 as well as Atlanta and Charlotte due to low visibility. Thunderstorms for you in Florida and then some wind delays in Chicago, Detroit and the Phoenix area because of some of those thunderstorms.
A big picture today showing you our low pressure lingering here, but a cold front is eventually going to make its way toward the east coast and that's going to help sweeping out and make it nice and clean and gorgeous conditions as we head into the end of the week. In the meantime, stationary front parked across parts of the south here has been bringing really heavy rain across parts of Central Florida.
That will be the rule again today. And we're watching for the potential of a little development here, potentially, a tropical system. The chance is pretty low right now, but it's something we'll be watching. That will bring you some heavy showers across the Gulf Coast and helping to keep your temperatures down just a little bit.
We're still tracking hurricane Danielle. It went down to a tropical storm, back up to a hurricane once again. It looks like it's going to take that northwesterly curve and stay away from land. That's a little bit of good news. But we got a disturbance developing right behind it, and this could potentially become Earl within the next 24 to 48 hours. That's a look at the nation's headlines for your weather forecast. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: More troubling news in that massive egg recall as the list of states across the nation rose to 18. Michigan has now been added. So far, there are close to 1,300 cases of salmonella linked to the tainted eggs. And this morning, Dan Simon looks at the search to find a safer egg.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim and Kate, we're in the egg section of an organic grocery store. And when people see that organic label on a carton of eggs, they may assume they're buying a safer egg, but are they?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): Alexis Copa takes pride in how she raises her chickens and the eggs they produce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a chicken egg that she got to lay her egg how she felt like after being outside eating grass and bugs.
SIMON: The Soul Food Farm outside San Francisco is a cage-free pastured chicken farm that sells to some of the bay area's finest restaurants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't give them any medicine or antibiotics or anything.
SIMON: We visited last spring and her business was thriving. Animal rights advocates applaud these kind of cage-free farms and condemn those that are not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone of the half billion eggs recalled came from hens confined to tiny cages so small they can barely move an inch their entire lives. Caging hens is not just cruel, but the science clearly shows that it is a public health menace for consumers.
SIMON (on-camera): The organic industry is on fire. Last year, it grew by more than 5 percent. But when it comes to organic or just cage-free farms, does it truly mean safer? Experts we talked to say just because it says "organic" doesn't always guarantee you're buying a salmonella-free egg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have chickens outside in a backyard or on a pasture. You have risk there that they're going to come across wildlife and feces and potentially be infected.
SIMON: Michelle Jay Russell is a food safety specialist of University of California Davis. She says salmonella doesn't discriminate between large industrial and small cage-free or even organic farms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's mixed studies. Some studies show that one is better than the other. Others show no difference. But if you really break them down, what it comes down to is how that owner is operating on his premises.
SIMON: The USDA recently did a study that found most of the time organic eggs are also no healthier. Dr. Russell says when it comes down to is personal preference. Some people like buying fresh locally produced products, others might value the low cost of conventional ones. The bottom line, she says, if you're concerned, try for learn who you're buying from.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really is a personal decision, and I actually think we're lucky to be able to have these choices and pick between the different options.
SIMON: Options that Americans will be evaluating more closely.
SIMON (on-camera): The state of California though will ban small cages in five years and will not allow the sale of eggs produced that way from other states as well. Jim and Kate, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And there's more about the egg recall and how it could affect your plate on our website. You will find it eatocracy.cnn.com. It's making me feel really bad about having my (INAUDIBLE). It's one of my favorite things to have. But all that runny stuff.
BOLDUAN: I will say I did eat eggs yesterday, though.
ACOSTA: You did?
BOLDUAN: It doesn't really deter me. I mean, I think --
ACOSTA: Here you are, sitting with us.
BOLDUAN: Talk to me tomorrow. I mean, I think it is smarter to say that, you know, not just because it says organic doesn't necessarily mean it's safer. At least we have options. So, we'll keep talking about it, and we will have top stories coming your way after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
