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American Morning
Endeavour Completes Final Mission; Safety Concerns Over Cell Phones; Representatives and Obama Discuss Borrowing; Congressman Twitter Scandal; WHO: Cell Phones Can Cause Cancer; Obama & GOP Talk Debt Ceiling; Street Value of Your Medicine Cabinet
Aired June 01, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, questions about cell phone safety this morning. New concerns after the World Health Organization reversed position and now declared cell phones could increase your risk of brain cancer. We're going to ask our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, what we should do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: You do the questions, I do the answers and this jackass interrupts me. How about that as the new rule of the game? Huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A lewd photo was sent from his Twitter account to a young woman in Seattle. New York Congressman Anthony Weiner insisting all along it was the work of a hacker. But wait until you hear his latest encounter with our Dana Bash.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And Sarah Palin out on the town in the Big Apple with Donald Trump. There's a private meeting and a pow-wow over pizza. And that's fueling speculation that the two Republican heavyweights might be teaming up.
CHETRY: And if you thought the value of your home couldn't go any lower, unfortunately, it just did. They're talking about a double dip housing market. We're going to ask some advice on what you should do on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Step away from the cell phone. This morning, new questions about the safety of cell phones after world health experts say they might increase your risk of brain cancer.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. New York Congressman Anthony Weiner sparring with reporters over a Twitter scandal, dodging questions about a lewd photo sent to a young woman from his account and then going off on a CNN producer. We'll have the exchange for you.
VELSHI: And I'm Ali Velshi. He's not running for president and she's still mulling it over. Donald Trump and Sarah Palin got the politics and pizza in New York City on this AMERICAN MORNING. ROMANS: And welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Wednesday, June 1st.
CHETRY: It's the first day of June.
ROMANS: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: Ninety degrees.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: All occur in many, many parts of the country. Boy, we're going into summer with a bang.
VELSHI: And we have a lot of interesting news, but first, a milestone. After traveling 122 million miles and 25 flights, Endeavour's final mission is complete.
CHETRY: Yes. And every time we talk about this now, it's the last this, it's the last this --
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: -- this is Endeavour's last mission and there's only one more happening, so we're paying a lot of attention to it this morning. The shuttle landed safely overnight at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And as it was touching down, Atlantis was actually rolling out for the final flight in the history of the space shuttle program.
John Zarrella is live for us at Kennedy Space Center. I can't -- I thought about you. I'm thinking what's John thinking about this. As I understand also, some of the Atlantis crew came out to see that landing?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they sure did, Kiran. And, you know, it's funny because any time there's a landing out here, NASA's always worried about the crosswinds or they're worried about thunderstorms in the area, or rain showers, anything that could mess up the landing and stop the vehicle from coming back here. But, you know, tonight, picture-perfect weather. No wind at all. No cloud cover. The only thing anybody was worried about out at the landing site were all the darn mosquitoes that were out tonight. It was really bad. And, of course, Endeavour coming home, absolutely perfect landing. Flew across the Indian Ocean then across the Central America, came across the Gulf of Mexico, touching down at 2:35 Eastern Time.
Absolutely flawless landing by Commander Mark Kelly. And, of course, after the vehicle landed, the Endeavour crew got out, and they did what's traditional. They walked around the vehicle, inspected their vehicle literally for the last time. Certainly bittersweet for all of them as Endeavour, of course, being retired as well as the other shuttle vehicles. And then Commander Kelly actually talked about just how proud he was to be part of this team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK KELLY, COMMANDER, SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR: Really want to thank my crew members who did such a spectacular job on this flight. Could not have done this without them. They all, every single one of them, just performed flawlessly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And our commander, we want to thank him too.
KELLY: So -- so thanks for coming out. It's great to be back and have a good -- have a good morning. So long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: And as you guys mentioned, the shuttle Atlantis rolled out to the launch pad for the final time, making that journey four miles took about six hours. Really fascinating because you had one shuttle, Endeavour, coming home for the very last time, and then you had Atlantis, the last shuttle that will ever fly making the final journey from the vehicle assembly building out to launch pad 39-A for that scheduled July 8th launch. Everything on track for that.
And you know, there's an interesting caveat that you guys will be curious about. If they actually get off the ground on the 8th of July, they will return to earth on July 20th. And you know what day that is. That's the day man landed on the moon. So wonder if NASA planned that.
VELSHI: That will be fun to watch.
CHETRY: All they need is the weather to cooperate so they can make that happen.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, John, we will be with you for that one too. It's a milestone, an important one.
ZARRELLA: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Thanks. We'll talk to you later.
ZARRELLA: Yes, it is.
ROMANS: So new concerns this morning over the safety of your cell phone. It comes after the World Health Organization did an about-face on the potential health risk. They're now saying that cell phones could increase the risk of brain cancer.
VELSHI: Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is following developments for us. She joins us now from Atlanta.
Elizabeth, these things seem to be moving incrementally.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
VELSHI: This acknowledgement of the dangers of cell phones. What are -- what is the World Health Organization saying now?
COHEN: Ali, this is really a big moment because this marks the first time that a big, prestigious group has said, you know what, there might be a link between cell phones and cancer. Because previously WHO and other groups have said oh, no, there's nothing there. Now they're saying there could be a there, a possible carcinogen to humans. That's the category they put it in.
Let's look at what else is in that category because I think it helps put this in context. Also in that category are things like lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.
Now when you see those things and when you hear me say a possible carcinogenic, I fear that people are going to freak out. And so I want to explain why people shouldn't.
First of all, if you've been using your cell phone for years, you've done it. You've used it, it's over, there's nothing you can do.
Second of all, you don't need to drop your cell phone right now if you're on one. No one cell phone conversation, no two cell phone conversations, no three cell phone conversations are going to give you cancer. This is a risk that accumulates day after day after day, year after year after year. It's not -- no one cell phone conversation is going to kill you. I think that's important to keep in mind.
CHETRY: Yes, you're right. The perspective, I mean, they say engine exhaust. We're surrounded by engine exhaust all the time especially if you live in a big city. But in terms of cell phone companies, may this change or is there any consideration of changing either recommendations, warnings, or just guidelines for use?
COHEN: You know, governments really do look to the World Health Organization for guidance, Kiran, and it is possible that the FCC could say, wow, let's look at this and they might ask cell phone companies to go back to the drawing board and try to come up with phones that emit less radiation. That's one of the things that could come from this.
Right now, the cell phone companies really to a large extent, seem to be sort of dismissing to some extent this study. Here's something from their statement. What they said is that it's clear that this does not -- the WHO was clear that there was no -- this classification does not mean cell phones cause cancer and that the WHO finding is based on limited evidence. So that's the statement that the cell phone industry put out yesterday.
ROMANS: It's interesting the response from the industry because one thing that we were saying is we would like to hear the industry say we are doing everything we can to make sure that this is a safe product.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: And that the very smallest amounts of radiation are being emitted, you know, because people are very concerned when you hear that it's put in a list that includes lead and chloroform --
VELSHI: Elizabeth, they haven't been in front of this really.
COHEN: No.
VELSHI: If somebody comes and says these things are dangerous, it won't be because the cell phone companies did it first.
COHEN: I think that's fair to say. But it is interesting if you read the small print on the Web sites of some cell phone companies, they will tell you that you should be holding your phone a little bit away from your head like about half an inch. Now, I don't know how in the world you can do that really, I mean, to hold your phone half an inch away from your head. I mean, that's not very practical. It sort of surprises me in a way that they don't say what all the experts I talked to say, which is the answer to this problem is this. It's this. It is a headset. And the reason why is that the farther away your phone is from your head, the better.
This is not so great. This, the radiation, is dissipating into the air. So hold it far away, put it on speaker phone or use a headset, a Bluetooth one is fine also. That's really the answer here. It's not going to completely cut your radiation but it's going to cut it to a very large extent.
CHETRY: Right. Good advice. Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: All right. So we want to ask you, will the risk of cancer change the way you use your cell phone? That is our question of the day.
We want to hear from you. E-mail us at CNN.com/AM. Tweet us at @CNNAM, at Christine Romans, or at Kiran Chetry.CNN. Tell us on Facebook.com/American Morning. Any way you want to get us, we'll read your responses later this hour.
I want to put a filter in here so that my wife doesn't e-mail me because you've been telling me this for years.
ROMANS: I see.
VELSHI: There's a whole lot of "I told you so" going on in the house.
ROMANS: A lot of young people, very young people, they put their cell phone under the pillows.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, they have --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: I know.
ROMANS: They sleep with the cell phone right next to them. It is their alarm clock.
CHETRY: Alarm clock. ROMANS: It is their night light. It's everything. We're going to talk to an expert later. I'm going to ask -- a lot of good ideas. Should we turn this thing off?
VELSHI: We'll have lots on this through the course of the show.
ROMANS: All right.
NATO extending its mission in Libya for another 90 days. A statement from the head of the military alliance saying the extension, quote, "sends a clear message to the Gadhafi regime that they are determined to protect the people of Libya." NATO war planes and missiles have been pounding Gadhafi's forces and buildings since the end of March now.
CHETRY: President Obama today welcoming Republicans to the White House, but can the two sides come to an agreement on what it will take to let the government continue to borrow money? It follows a symbolic vote that took place on the debt ceiling yesterday in the House.
Our Brianna Keilar is live at the White House this morning. So, everybody admits obviously that it's a problem and that, you know, we sort of have to reign in our spending and how much we borrow, but there are two very different perspectives on exactly what this debt ceiling vote means.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, whether the debt ceiling should be raised on its own, or -- which is what the Obama administration says, or House Republicans who say they want spending cuts for it. This vote failed overwhelmingly, 318-97. As expected, a lot of Democrats joining Republicans. And this was really House Republicans saying to the Obama administration you can't raise the debt ceiling on its own. See it failed. OK, now give us some of what we want, which is spending cuts. And while you see House Democrats on the Hill saying that this was a ploy as we heard, some of the Democrats say, here at the White House they're taking a much more measured tone. They're not really jumping into the fray, and President Obama will have a chance today to meet with House Republicans.
Jay Carney, the press secretary here, was asked what about that vote and he sort of said, "it's fine, it's fine." So you could see that they were trying not to jump into it.
This session today, as he meets with House Republicans, being billed as a listening session, an opportunity for him to hear Republicans' concerns and this is as the clock ticks towards that August 2nd deadline, the treasury -- the Treasury Department has set for a debt ceiling definitely needing to be increased, guys.
CHETRY: It will be interesting. I mean, as you said, 80-some, 86 Democrats sided with Republicans on this. So I wonder how many of them are gearing up for a tough re-election fight.
KEILAR: Yes. And certainly there's a lot of appetite for cutting spending and there's a feeling among lawmakers that they certainly need to take that tack and appeal to voters. The next step here moving towards deficit reduction because we were looking at the Hill, right, at some possibility for them to come up with a solution.
We were looking at that Senate group, the gang of six bipartisan group that was talking about a solution. Well, that went all but belly up last month. And so now, there's a lot of renewed interest in the talks that are going on with Vice President Joe Biden. The talking point here at the White House, that they're very optimistic that things are going well, but certainly there's a lot of work to be done. And the big sticking point is whether taxes should be increased. Republicans say no way. They say it's a nonstarter. A different story from Democrats, different story from the White House, guys.
CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thanks so much.
And one of the Democrats said, I'm not going to have a repeat of 2008 when they had that split screen and they watched the stock market plunge as Republicans voted against approving TARP.
ROMANS: That's right.
Yes. And others are saying Barbara Boxer and Bob Casey I think are saying that the first thing they need to do is make sure that Congress doesn't get paid if they don't raise the debt ceiling.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: If you're triaging a bill today, make sure Congress doesn't get paid first.
VELSHI: Top of the triage list.
All right. Also new this morning, Ratko Mladic, the so-called butcher of Bosnia, has been extradited by Serbia. He's now in the custody of the United Nations in Netherlands at the International Court in The Hague. He's been processed at the detention center. He'll be kept in isolation for 48 hours before he faces a judge. Mladic is facing genocide charges and other war crimes in connection with the massacre of nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995 and the 44-month siege of the capital Sarajevo.
CHETRY: Two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, Kentucky, now face terrorism charges this morning for allegedly helping Al Qaeda carry out attacks against U.S. troops. The men are identified as Waad Ramadan Alwan (ph) and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi (ph). Federal officials say that in recent months the two men were involved in a plot to provide weapons from the U.S. to Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq.
ROMANS: And the number of people stung by jellyfish on Florida's Atlantic beaches ballooning out to more than 1,600. Most victims are being treated with a vinegar solution. In fact, officials say they've already gone through about 25 gallons of vinegar. Scientists say the small but potent species often appear in large numbers after small changes in climate making it a very sting-filled weekend, Memorial Day weekend. VELSHI: And everybody in central Florida smells like a salad.
The number going up to 1,600, is that new stings or are we just counting more people? Because I can't imagine that fully the same number of people after hearing this everywhere, went in and got jellyfished.
CHETRY: He doesn't going to know that, Rob.
VELSHI: Yes, let's ask. Let's ask Rob.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center. So, what's going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Very important questions, Ali, you know, because Americans want to know just how many people have been stung.
VELSHI: Oh, no, I want to know how many people were stung after everybody found out there were jellyfish all over the water.
MARCIANO: How many were --
VELSHI: They can be zero.
MARCIANO: Heed the warning. Yes. I have a feeling like much of the stuff that we report in the news business, it's accumulating.
VELSHI: I got it. No problem.
MARCIANO: Probably 800 on top of the 800.
CHETRY: The other thing is, they said changes in weather. Yesterday we were saying wind. I mean, are these -- are we looking at this is the start of summer and these are really popular tourist beaches. I mean --
MARCIANO: I don't know. I read one report scientists said it has something to do with El Nino, but we're in a La Nina now (INAUDIBLE) so that doesn't make any sense.
Temperatures -- warm temperatures in the gulf and along the eastern seaboard are about a degree Celsius about the average. So maybe that makes it inviting for the jellyfish. It also makes it inviting for hurricanes. Happy hurricane season, everybody. It's June 1st. We've got a long one to go. We'll have more -- talk more about that in the next half an hour.
Meantime, a lot of heat today. Temperatures are going to be in the mid to upper 90s again. Records falling across the board yesterday and this is going to be a long term event especially for the southeast. Temps will stay in the mid to upper 90s through Thursday, potentially through Friday as well, and finally cooling off maybe across the northeast. But look at Chicago, temperatures staying there right around 90 degrees. So no place to escape it, at least in central Florida right now. This is just a temporary thing. Don't cancel your plans to Cocoa Beach, especially if you're going to see the last shuttle launch there in July. It's a nice little spot.
Guys, well, keep that vinegar handy.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: Does go nice on a salad, especially the red wine stuff.
CHETRY: You already got the oil. You know, you got the suntan oil.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
CHETRY: A little vinegar.
MARCIANO: Nice.
VELSHI: That's -- yes, that's -- all right.
CHETRY: That's grossing you out now. (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: And you're walking down - and you're walking down the beach in South Florida and people start licking you.
ROMANS: That's a little jellyfish. Jellyfish (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: That was our senior jellyfish correspondent, Rob Marciano.
CHETRY: Congressman Anthony Weiner had - had a heated exchange with reporters, in fact, with our own Dana Bash and her producer as well over this - over that lewd photo that was sent from his account to a college student. He says he was hacked, remember? But he wouldn't answer other direct questions about it yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Well, why don't you do - what, you want to do the briefing?
TED BARRETT, CNN CONGRESSIONAL PRODUCER: You were - do you sent -
WEINER: Do you want to do the briefing, sir?
BARRETT: -- from your Twitter account a lewd photograph was sent -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He even called our CNN Producer Senior Ted Barrett a jackass. So we're going to have more of this exchange coming up.
It's 16 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. It's 19 minutes past the hour.
New York Congressman Anthony Weiner is basically trying to put this Twitter scandal behind him, but he may have actually fanned the flames by refusing to answer questions by reporters about it yesterday. Weiner claims that his account was hacked and that a lewd photo that was sent to a female college student was a prank.
But when reporters including CNN's Dana Bash tried to get some direct answers from Weiner yesterday, he wasn't giving them. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You're here, which we - which we appreciate, but you're not answering the questions. Can you just say why you haven't asked law enforcement to investigate what you are alleging as a crime?
WEINER: You know, Dana, if I was giving a speech to 45,000 people and someone in the back of the room threw a pie or yelled out an insult, would I spend the next two hours responding to that? No. I would get back - I would get back - I would get back -
BARRETT: This is not that situation, though.
WEINER: I would get that - well, why don't you do - you want to do the briefing?
BARRETT: You were - do you sent -
WEINER: Do you want to do the briefing, sir?
BARRETT: You sent from your Twitter account -
WEINER: Sir -
BARRETT: -- a lewd photograph was sent to a college student.
WEINER: Sir -
BARRETT: Answer the question, was it from you or not?
WEINER: Sir, permit - permit me - do you guys want me to finish my answer?
BARRETT: Yes. This question - this answer.
WEINER: OK.
BARRETT: Did you send it or not?
WEINER: If I were giving a speech to 45,000 people and someone in the back threw a pie or yelled out an insult, I would not spend the next two hours of my speech responding to that pie or that insult.
BASH: But you are the one who said it was hacked. WEINER: I - Dana, let me -
BASH: That you were hacked and that's - and that's a criminal - a potential crime.
WEINER: Dana - Dana, let me - Dana, I have to ask that we follow some rules here. And one of us going to be the one you ask the questions, I do the answers. That seems reasonable.
BASH: I'd love to get an answer.
WEINER: That would be reasonable, right?
BARRETT: A direct answer (ph).
WEINER: That would be reasonable. You do the questions. I do the answers and this jackass interrupts, how about that as a - as a new rule of the game.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: So was that a dodge or was that taking the high road or -
VELSHI: Unclear.
ROMANS: -- just not answering the question.
VELSHI: I would say this thing has gotten murkier in the last 24 hours.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: So, we're all waiting for some clarity on exactly what happened. Whether he was hacked - and because if he as an elected official if he's been hacked, that's an issue.
CHETRY: Yes. The FBI would - you would think have to look into it just for -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- national security.
VELSHI: But he's not asking them to.
ROMANS: He hired an attorney, but - for himself.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: We're not clear what the attorney is for exactly -
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: -- if he's not asking law enforcement to - CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: -- investigate the hack in the beginning.
CHETRY: That's what Dana is trying to get from his is why did you hire an attorney versus telling, you know -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- reporting it to Capitol Police. So she's obviously trying to get more answers as is Ted Barrett, so -
VELSHI: That would be the guy who was referred to as the jackass. He's our producer Ted Barrett.
All right. Well, we got more stuff going on right here in New York City.
ROMANS: That's right. Republican star power on display in New York City. Sarah Palin's One Nation Bus Tour stopping off for a private meeting with Donald Trump yesterday, fueling speculation that Trump could support a Palin presidential campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: What we have promised (ph) a love for this country and desire to see our economy get put back on the right track, making sure that we have a balanced trade arrangement with other countries across this - across this world, so that Americans can have our jobs, our industries, our manufacturing again with our economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump, would you support Sarah Palin as president?
DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: Well, she didn't ask me for that. She came up to me and she's a terrific woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald and Sarah.
TRUMP: Well, she didn't ask me. But I would tell you, she's a great woman and a terrific woman and a good friend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Well, two people not answering questions.
They had dinner plans. They grabbed a slice of pizza near Times Square. Later, CNN spoke exclusively with Palin about their meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: We talk about specific candidates and potential candidates and what our perception was of each of these folks. It was interesting. Yes, kind of on the same page there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was dinner?
PALIN: Dinner was great. We had great pizza. Wasn't that good? That's real New York Pizza and that was fun to get to be there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: They plan to go to Ellis Island today.
CHETRY: Well, up next on AMERICAN MORNING, it's not looking good for homeowners. We're going to find out just how much prices have fallen in a number of cities.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business."
Stocks regaining momentum on the last day of May, but yesterday's gains weren't enough to lift the market out of the red for the month. The Dow has had its worst performance since August of last year.
Home prices hitting a new low in the first quarter. The S&P Case- Shiller Index finds values in 20 major cities declined another five percent to their lowest level in nine years. Experts say this confirms a double dip in the housing slump.
Sprint is trying to block AT&T's bid for T-Mobile. Yesterday, Sprint formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to block the deal. The third largest wireless carrier argues that the merger would decrease competition and raise consumer prices.
The recession teaching teens a lesson in money management. A new study by Charles Schwab finds 9 out of 10 young adults say they were affected by the recession and more than half say they're less likely to ask for things they want now have a greater appreciation for their parents' hard work.
A new report also finds a number of millionaires in the world grew by more than 12 percent last year. The U.S. still has the greatest number of millionaires. The report also found that while millionaires represent less than one percent of the world's population, they control nearly 40 percent of the world's wealth.
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs taking a break from medical leave. Next week, he'll unveil their new online service for storing music and other files called iCloud. Apple is expected to introduce a new operating system for its Macs and iPhones and iPads.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break with an in-depth look at the street value of the drugs in your medicine cabinet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We are crossing the half hour right now -- time for a look at our top stories.
Endeavour has landed. The shuttle touching down safely overnight at Kennedy Space Center. This is the final mission for the shuttle after traveling 122 million miles in its lifetime. There is only one more voyage left in the history of the shuttle fleet. That will be Atlantis, which is already being moved into place on the launch pad.
Well, they admit that more research is needed, but a report by the World Health Organization says that cell phone use could lead to cancer. The report classifies cell phones as, quote, "possibly carcinogenic," placing them in the same category as engine exhaust, certain food dyes and the pesticide DDT.
Expect some pointed disagreements today when President Obama invites Republicans to the White House to discuss the debt ceiling. The meeting comes just a day after the Republican-controlled House rejected a bill that would raise the debt ceiling. Republicans insist that they will not increase the government's borrowing power without cutting spending.
Senate Democrats say that if a deal is not reached by August 2nd, they want lawmakers to stop getting paid.
ROMANS: Kiran and Ali, it's basically America's credit limit. Congress sets the cap on how much money the country can spend to pay its bills and to pay our interest payments. The debt ceiling is sort of like the credit limit on your credit card bill, only much, much bigger. And think of it this way, if you're running a $3,000 balance on a $10,000 credit limit, the U.S. government -- we run up to our credit limit over and over again, and instead of paying it off, we just raise the debt limit.
How big is this pile of debt? $14.3 trillion -- more precisely, $14, 293, 975, 000, 000. This is money the government has already spent, stacked on top of each other. This is just to give you an illustration -- $14 trillion would reach from the Earth to the moon more than four times. Your share of this pile of debt, about $47,000 for every man, woman and child in America.
We hit our debt ceiling, the debt limit, on May 16th. How are we operating now? The treasury secretary is juggling the bills that are coming in to keep the country from defaulting. He says we can go until August 2nd. After that, the situation, he says, is critical.
Secretary Geithner says not raising the debt limit so Americans can pay its bills would be, quote, "catastrophic." It's like being, he says, a homeowner with only enough money to pay some of the bills. You either pay the mortgage or you pay credit card bills. Which one are you going to pick?
The government would like to pick and choose -- would have to pick and choose what to pay. Geithner says some bills won't get paid. Checks to millions of Americans like Social Security would have to stop.
Republicans say he's wrong. The U.S. won't default so long as we keep making interest payments on our bonds. All of it, a big political debate now.
But here you go, you guys, Congress has raised the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962, 10 times just since 2001. This is the first time it's been so critical politically and turned into such a big ideological fight.
For more information and complete coverage of the debt ceiling debate, you can check more at CNNMoney.com.
VELSHI\: Thanks, Christine.
Dramatic testimony in the murder trial of Casey Anthony. Anthony is charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Yesterday, in a Florida courtroom, she watched as her mother Cindy took the stand and listened to the frantic 911 call that Cindy made when she found out her granddaughter was missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911, what's your emergency?
CINDY ANTHONY: I called a little bit ago. The deputy sheriff's not here. I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She has been missing for a month. Her mother admitted she's been missing.
Oh, my God, finally admitted that the babysitter stole her. I need to find her.
911 OPERATOR: Your daughter admitted the baby is where?
ANTHONY: The babysitter took her a month ago. I told you my daughter was missing for a month. I told you, my daughter was looking for a month. I just found her today. But I can't find my granddaughter. She just admitted to me she's been trying to find her herself.
There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Prosecutors say Casey Anthony suffocated her daughter. The defense claims the little girl drowned in her grandparents' pool and the incident covered up by Casey and her father. That continues to get trickier and more complex, that trial. In Florida, people are applying for welfare. Now, they're going to have to submit to a drug test. Republican Governor Rick Scott saying it's unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addictions.
Democrats are slamming the law saying the tests are an invasion of privacy. One critic says said it was about smearing people on welfare.
KIRAN: Well, some kids believe it's a safer way to get high if what they're taking, they are getting out of mom and dad's medicine cabinet. ROMANS: That's right. We used to lock the liquor cabinet. Now, parents are wondering if they have to lock the medicine cabinet. Addiction to prescription and over-the-counter drugs is on the rise among teens and the people selling these legal drugs illegally know it.
Poppy Harlow going in depth on this.
Hi, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you guys.
This is the new reality -- pot is no longer the gateway drug. And it's prescription drugs. The fastest growing problem in the country, it is undoubtedly prescription drugs. It has been for the past two years. But what we're seeing now is that the street value of these drugs that you may have in your medicine cabinet is going up.
I just want you to take a look at these numbers because it's astonishing what these pills are going for on the street. Let's take a look at three first of all: Oxycontin, Oxycodone and Hydrocodone.
Look on your screen -- 50 to 80 bucks a pill for Oxycontin. Sold legally in the pharmacy, that is $6 a pill.
Let's move on to two others, very typical drugs, Percocet and Vicodin. Same story for those, $10 to $15 on the street, $6 legally. Vicodin, $5 to $25 on the street, $1.50 legally.
We talked to a sergeant at the L.A., guys, at the LAPD, who bought bags of these pills on Craigslist. They're busting people on the streets. They're getting these on Craigslist and it's cutting across all demographics.
What he told us is that if you look at Oxycontin, it's selling for $20 a pill on Skid Row, $80 a pill in Hollywood.
And the popularity is on the rise. Look at these numbers. I think it's pretty staggering -- 7 million Americans in 2009 abusing prescription drugs. That is up 13 percent from the year before. The DEA saying when they get the 2010 numbers, they expect another double digit increase.
So, clearly, this is the biggest problem right now.
VELSHI: Who's victim of this? Because, clearly, these drugs are overprescribed, that's why they're available. Who would be paying many times the price of the drug to get it illicitly?
HARLOW: So, you have everything from kids having what they told us about these skittle parties, where they're mixing. There's one called "secstasy," where they're mixing ecstasy and Viagra at these parties to offset the negative side effects of the other one. You have kids doing this. You have wealthy people, celebrities who can pay the price. They told us that you also have the elderly falling victim to this. We know there's about $60 billion in Medicaid fraud every year. Billions of that comes from traffickers going to elderly people who need cash and saying, we're going to pay you for your monthly drug supply. Those people are really falling victim to this.
Medicare Part D plays into this as well, paying for those prescription drugs. What they told us that I thought was very interesting. In the last five years, this has increased so much and there's these counterfeits coming in. They said 99 percent of these drugs that are counterfeit drugs, not the brand name, are coming from China into this country and going right to the street.
CHETRY: People going on the Internet.
HARLOW: Absolutely.
CHETRY: It's a big wake-up call because all of the drugs that you listed are opiate painkillers. They're all addicting. I mean, I'm sorry. There's no other way to put it.
HARLOW: And if you crush them up, they're more addicting. People aren't taking them the proper way as well.
CHETRY: People are crushing them up and injecting them like heroin. But it is a scary commentary on exactly what's going on because they're all -- the overdose rate is through the roof as well.
HARLOW: And the LAPD told us they don't have the money or resources to hunt these down on the street like they would traditional narcotics which, by the way, gangs are selling more of these than traditional narcotics now. They have to wait for tips. They bust one person and tip them off on another. They don't have the money to find these.
ROMANS: This has gone so much further than a high school kid stealing pills out of grandma's medicine cabinet. It's now organized crime is involved.
HARLOW: Absolutely.
ROMANS: You know, the narco traffickers are involved because it's a huge market.
VELSHI: Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: You got it.
VELSHI: And the prescription drug epidemic has made drug stores a target as well, obviously, with those kind of values. More than 1,800 pharmacy robberies in the past three years. We're going to talk about that coming up at 7:40 Eastern.
Pharmacy owner and drug safety spokesman Keith Hodges is going to join us to talk about some of the struggles they've gotten in the pharmaceutical industries. CHETRY: Some people are putting up some signs. Some independent pharmacies have said "We don't carry Oxycontin" behind the counter. That's how scary it is.
Well, they're being called Japan's "suicide corps." They say they'd rather be known as the skilled veterans corps.
We're getting a live report from Tokyo on a group of 250 retirees who say that they want to be the ones to go inside and help clean up the crippled power plant instead of passing the possible effects on to the younger generation. We'll have more on that coming up.
It's 40 minutes past the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Material changing shape or even color on demand, it's called programmable matter. Something you've probably seen in movies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's definitely inspiration from this science fiction "Terminator II" as an example of programmable matter.
TUCHMAN: A lab at MIT is building robots that can shift, bend and build shapes on their own. The robots from "The Transformers" movies are probably the most famous example of shape-shifting robots.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freaky, right?
TUCHMAN: But the lab is starting with bots that are a lot thinner and smaller.
Right now, these robotic sheets can only turn themselves into different shapes but in the future, could transform it to anything you might need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have your sort of Swiss army knife type of a tool that can fold into a wrench or a hammer or a spoon or a fork.
TUCHMAN: These universal objects will not only be handy in day-to-day life but also help cut down on cost and energy we spend on production.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our ability to program matter is the natural next step in the frontier of computing.
TUCHMAN: And the smarter way of living that can be closer than you think.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHETRY: When a powerful earthquake rocked Japan back in March, Japanese nuclear officials were not adequately prepared and underestimated the possibility of the massive tsunami that hit the now crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant. This is according to a preliminary report that's been released now by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
ROMANS: And they've been called the "suicide corps," a group of 250 Japanese volunteers who are 60 years old or older, retired, and ready to replace younger workers who are risking their lives inside the Daiichi nuclear power plant. All they need to get started is the government's blessing.
VELSHI: Wow! Kyung Lah is live in Tokyo for us to a remarkable group of accomplished men and women. What's the issue? Kyung, they don't fear the radiation or they don't fear death or they figure they're older so let them be exposed?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All of the above, Ali. And actually, you may call them remarkable and I may think that as well, but what these seniors say is that they just don't think it's that big of a deal. They see it more as their duty.
One of the seniors told me that she says it's her generation, the older generation, that pushed nuclear energy so that generation should take responsibility but putting its lives on the line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): In this cramped office, these seniors are leading the charge to get retirees back on the job for one last and critical call.
You want to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Sure.
LAH: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not? I'm one of the eldest people.
LAH: Age says 72-year-old, Yasato Yamata (ph) is a plus. When the work site is the crippled Fukushima Nuclear Plant, a place still dangerous, highly contaminated with radiation, after the tsunami caused a full meltdown in at least one of the reactors. These workers are the frontline to control the national crisis, high risk of exposure, and long-term health impacts. The elderly, says this group don't worry much about anything long term.
Death becomes familiar as we get older says 69-year-old Hasigo Susaki (ph). We have a feeling death is waiting for us. Not that I want to die, but we're not afraid of it.
She's not the only one. 250 volunteers all over the age of 60 are now compiled in this data base, calling into the group volunteering to work at the plant, a team calling themselves the skilled veteran's corps. An idea that Japan's point man to the nuclear crisis initially brushed off last week, saying, quote, "Our principle is that we should stick to procedures that will not require such a suicide corps." A label these seniors reject, saying, they prefer doing what's right.
My generation, the old generation, promoted the nuclear plants. If we don't take responsibility, who will? Whether concerns of a worker shortage or the persuasive seniors, just this week the same government point man who called the seniors a suicide corps appears to be less resistant to the idea of elderly volunteers. He now says --
I met the leader of the group says Goshi Hosono (ph), and we've started a discussion, looking for any possible practical next step.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on-camera): Now the seniors do believe that they will be working at the plant very soon. We did call the owners of the nuclear facility, TEPCO, and at this point they're saying, hey, thanks, but no thanks, we don't need you. Sounds like the government at this point is at least willing to consider the offer, and one more thing, guys, I just have to add this. When these guys say they want to be volunteers, they mean it. None of these seniors want to be paid for their work.
VELSHI: Kyung, let me ask you this. We were just talking about this, this whole idea of a generation taking responsibility or claiming responsibility for something that was done in their generation, not wanting to pass it on. Is that unusual in Japan or is that common in Japan?
LAH: I think that's very typical for Japan. There is the sense of personal responsibility, and it's something that this generation, the older generation, feels very, very strongly. That's why they've had such a strong response from their community. And actually, they say 250 of us going up there and working, that's a terrible showing for the number of elderly people who are in Japan. They actually hope to get many, many more volunteers.
ROMANS: Unanimous (ph). So, typically, Japanese, but this is such an atypical situation for people trying to deal with shutting down a very toxic situation. Kyung Lah, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
CHETRY: There's an amazing video coming up as well. A reporter saves a driver from a flood after the driver makes a decision that almost cost her her life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. Look at your top stories now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Space shuttle "Endeavour" touching down safely overnight at Kennedy Space Center. It is the final mission for the shuttle after traveling 122 million miles.
Cell phones, dangerous? A report by the World Health Organization says that these phones present the same cancer risk as lead and engine exhaust. In response, the wireless industry says the report doesn't mean that cell phones cause cancer.
Today, President Obama meets with Republicans in an effort to boost what is essentially America's credit limit. The meeting comes a day after House Republicans rejected a bill that would have raised the debt ceiling but not cut spending.
Just ten people remain unaccounted for in Joplin, Missouri. That's down from 29 yesterday. Officials say at least 142 people were killed when the deadly tornado struck last month.
Two of the Republican Party's biggest stars, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, met in New York City last night. They talked politics behind closed doors and then went out for pizza in Times Square.
The Miami heat up 1-0 in the NBA finals. They beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 last night, 24 points coming from LeBron James.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. You heard the warnings before about driving into flooded waters. Here's another example of this. A local TV crew spotted a woman drive her SUV into a flooded road in Arkansas. For some reason, she thought she could get through that. What you're looking at?
ROMANS: Woh!
VELSHI: The reporter dove in after her after the truck started to float away. Both of them were stranded. A man with a rope was able to pull them both to safety before police arrived.
ROMANS: You think you're just getting some new video of the floods, and suddenly, you're part of the rescue. Jacqui Jeras always says six inches of water on the road is enough to float your car. I mean, six inches is all you need, so be careful.
CHETRY: Scary stuff. The World Health Organization is now adding cell phones to the list of things that could possibly cause cancer. The new reports leading to our question of the day, will the risk of cancer change the way you use your cell phone? And we got people weighing in this morning.
ROMANS: That's right. John MLM on Twitter, "I prefer to us my Bluettoth anyway, so I don't plan on changing very much."
VELSHI: AliciaMerritt on Twitter sort of reflects what I've been thinking. "For me, it will, because it's been mentioned one too many times and when you're aware of something, you become accountable."
CHETRY: Good stuff. Also on Twitter, HHHworlded, "No, I won't. We live in the world of radio waves, microwaves, Wi-Fi, telecommunication signals, et cetera, and we continue to live longer."
ROMANS: Although, I'm telling you, I'm going to buy a traditional alarm clock. I use my Blackberry as an alarm clock. It's right there by the bed. I mean, I don't know. Maybe that's being too conservative, but I'm going to buy a real alarm clock that plugs into the wall.
Keep your comments coming, send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We'll read more of your thoughts later in the program. Really interesting to see if you're changing your behavior because of this news from the WHO.
VELSHI: All right. Coming up next hour, New York Congressman Anthony Weiner dodging questions about a lewd photograph sent to a young woman from his account and going off on a CNN producer. We'll play you the entire intense exchange on the other side.
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