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American Morning
Missouri River Rising; Horror Story Upon Horror Story in Syria's Refugee Camp; Pakistan Arrests CIA Informants; Fellow Democrat Says Weiner May Resign Soon; Boehner's Letter to Obama; Showdown over Libya; Royal Plans Revealed
Aired June 15, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. They helped track down Osama Bin Laden. This morning, they're under arrest. Why Pakistan is targeting the CIA informants on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 15th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin this hour with breaking news that's deepening the divide between the U.S. and Pakistan.
VELSHI: Pakistan's top military spy agency is arresting informants who helped the CIA locate Osama Bin Laden. Among those taken into custody, a Pakistani army major who wrote down license plate numbers of visitors to Bin Laden's compound and turned them over to American intelligence officials.
CHETRY: News of those arrests further fracturing a relationship that's already on thin ice. Our Reza Sayah is live in Islamabad, Pakistan this morning. You had a chance to talk to Pakistani intelligence officials about this. What are they saying?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know what, just when you thought this relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. couldn't get more twisted and tangled and complicated, we find that the ISI, Pakistan's top spy agency, has arrested several informants for the CIA. These are individuals who allegedly fed information to the CIA, helped the CIA right before the big raid on the Bin Laden compound, all of this according to Pakistani security officials.
We're not sure why these men were arrested, where they are, and what they're going to be charged with, if anything. "The New York Times" reporting one of these men is an army major who apparently wrote down license plates of cars going in and out of the compound. One of our sources says that's not true. He flatly rejects that one of the individuals is, indeed, an army officer.
We also know according to security officials that some of the individuals arrested were staying at a safe house rented by the CIA that was serving as a lookout on to the bin Laden compound.
All of these developments raise a lot of questions first and foremost. Why is the ISI arresting the CIA informants, if, indeed, they were on board and part of efforts to find bin Laden? You would think they would applaud these men, commend them. The fact that they're arresting them suggests they're not happy with them.
And that adds to the big question, the most pressing question, is Pakistan a U.S. friend, are they on board in the fight against militants, or are they playing a double game?
CHETRY: Tough questions especially with this news this morning, Reza Sayah, thank you so much.
Also breaking news this morning from Athens, Greece, police using tear gas and water cannons on tens of thousands of protesters outside the Greek parliament. These are live pictures here of angry demonstrators. They are furious about budget cuts and tax hikes being proposed by the government. Lawmakers are set to begin debate on a five-year austerity campaign to keep Greece from defaulting on its debt.
VELSHI: Calls for Congressman Anthony Weiner's resignation are getting louder this morning. A fellow Democratic lawmaker says he might resign in a couple days and he's waiting for his wife to come home. Kate Bolduan live in Washington following the latest developments. Good morning, Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Ali. Along with Democratic leadership we've been talking about and their coordinated public call for Congressman Weiner to resign you could see as lawmakers returned to work yesterday that other democratic colleagues of Anthony Weiner's are frustrated this distraction, as we've heard many people say, many times at this point, that this distraction has continued now into a third week.
Listen here to one of his fellow New York Democrats, Carolyn McCarthy. She says she's confident Weiner will, quote, "make the right decision."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY, (D) NEW YORK: We're going to find out. Hopefully we're hearing he might resign in a couple days.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Those of us who have been friends of Anthony Weiner for a very long time, feel his wrongful behavior is distressing, saddening, it's heartbreaking. Now it's clear he needs professional help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: That's Senator Chuck Schumer, Weiner's political mentor, close friend of his. He stopped short of calling for Weiner to resign. He called it heartbreaking you could sense the sadness in his voice. The big question remains what is Anthony Weiner do, and also what more can house Democrats do at this point? It seems not much.
Congressman Steve Israel, one of the members of the leadership that are calling for Weiner's resignation, says that Anthony Weiner is now waiting for his wife to return from an overseas trip with her boss, Hillary Clinton, before he decides what to do with his future. Her return could be as early as this morning. Many Democrats hoping that means that we'll have a resolution to this whole saga soon. Ali?
VELSHI: Kate, thanks very much.
ROMANS: Also new this morning, Wisconsin's top court overruling a lower court and reinstating now that law that wiped out most collective bargaining rights for public workers in Wisconsin. After the ruling, angry protesters crowded the halls of the capital in Madison that the state's governor says the court's decision allows Wisconsin to move forward with the state's AFL-CIO called it a, quote, unbridled assault on working people. Teachers in particular are furious by this ruling and by this governor there.
CHETRY: Same-sex marriage could be legal in the state of New York if Governor Andrew Cuomo gets his way. Governor Cuomo proposed a marriage equality Bill yesterday. He said it's a matter of fairness and legal security. If passed New York will be the sixth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
VELSHI: A $55 million settlement is in the works for thousands of homeowners who had toxic drywall from China installed in their homes. Almost 4,000 home owners 42 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa have filed complaints about severe health issues caused by the drywall which was provided by the Miami based company Banner Supply.
ROMANS: Crucial testimony in the Casey Anthony murder trial as the prosecution prepares to wrap its case. Final witnesses were called yesterday, including Casey Anthony's mother. She burst into tears as she talked about her granddaughter Caylee. There was a dramatic moment when she left the stand, you can see or hear, she's mouthing "I love you" to her daughter Casey. And Casey's reaction is to sort of just look away.
One of the big questions now is will Casey Anthony take the stand in her own defense. Her team is expected to begin its case tomorrow. Sunny Hostin joins us now. She's a legal contributor for our sister network TruTV's "In Session" and a former federal prosecutor. Good morning, Sunny. They've been able to portray her as cold and calculating, showing motive.
SUNNY HOSTIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I don't think they showed motive.
CHETRY: I don't know. I feel they did in some ways showing that she continued to, for 30 days, appear to live a very normal life, or happy life, but also, I personally -- I mean you're a prosecutor so you know better than I do, the jailhouse back and forth where she seems far more concerned about herself than where her daughter is seemed to be damaging. That's why I say perhaps they'll bring her to the stand so show she is human and did care and love her daughter.
HOSTIN: I think the defense those. I mean remember in opening statements they said that Caylee Anthony died of accidental drowning, that George Anthony abused Casey Anthony, sexually abused her since she was eight years old and that is why she acted so dissociated for 31 days. So they gave explanations to the behavior the prosecutors are saying is motive or certainly are saying it's evidence that she killed her daughter. So I think she has to take the stand to prove the defense's theory.
But prosecutors don't have to prove motive. That's sort of one of the things that's always floating out there. It's not ever an element of the crime. But I think every smart prosecutor does put in motive because it's the question that every jury has. Isn't it the question you have, why would you do something like that? I don't think they answered that question and I think that could be fatal to at least the premeditated count, the first top count.
ROMANS: Did they prove there was a body in the trunk of the car, and what does that do with the prosecution's case?
HOSTIN: I think there is no question they proved that. That is the strongest evidence that came in. Talk about smell of death in the car, Caylee's hair in the car.
ROMANS: What will that mean for the jury?
HOSTIN: I think the jury is going to know that something terrible happened to this little girl. That she was tossed in a trunk. That she died, perhaps, in the trunk or before then. And I think they'll want justice for Caylee Anthony but they're still going to have that why would a mother do that, especially given all the evidence that came in about how she loved her daughter, about how they had an amazing relationship?
I think the prosecutors, perhaps, are waiting for rebuttal to give them the why. They said she wanted to live the good life. But I don't know that really came across.
VELSHI: So if you were summing this up, what would you say has been established? This little girl died. Her mother knew she died.
HOSTIN: Yes, and she was in the trunk of that car.
VELSHI: She was in the trunk of the car.
CHETRY: And there were chloroform searches.
HOSTIN: The Google searches are key. The prosecution's theory is she died by suffocating, right, suffocation. Duct tape over her mouth. There was the heart sticker or the heart sticker residue on the duct tape. And then they tied those stickers to Casey Anthony's room. There was a box, I suppose, of some stickers.
I think that could show that inference is there was a conflicted killer, sort of a kiss of death type thing. I still think that the prosecution has a little bit of a ways to go to show why. Why would she plan her daughter's death? Her parents clearly loved the girl work take care of her.
VELSHI: Will she take the stand? HOSTIN: She has to take the stand. How is she going to explain -- how will the defense explain the drowning, explain the sexual abuse, how will they explain as Kiran mentioned the 31 days. Any parent is going to be affected by that. My kid missing 31 seconds you're looking for her.
ROMANS: You were impressed by the defense's opening statement. We'll see how impressed you are -- we have a long way to go.
ROMANS: A new snapshot showing how much we're paying for necessities. When it comes to food department of labor reports steep declines in the fruits and vegetables, though it may take six months to wake it to your grocery store. According to AAA, the national average is $3.61.
On the flipside, what money we have we're being cautious about spending it. Retail sales fell last month the first decline in 11 months. And we're not buying that many cars, sales down almost three percent, the sharpest drop in 15 months.
VELSHI: In fairness there has been a lack of availability of some cars because of what happened in Japan. We were expecting to see the sales drop in cars.
ROMANS: And spike in gas prices one reason people decided I'm going to wait here.
VELSHI: Still to come, everything you know about sunscreen might be about to change. As you're getting ready to go to the beach find out what the new rules are. The changes you can expect to see.
CHETRY: The royal plans revealed. We're learning new details about what prince William and his new bride Catherine will be doing as they get set for their first trip to the United States as royalty.
ROMANS: And New Jersey Governor Chris Christy putting the rumors to rest -- he will not run for president in 2012. No question. So who does he think can beat Obama? Our one-on-one interview is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to "American Morning."
The Missouri river keeps rising. Right now it's threatening thousands of homes and farms in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. A lot of flooding already seen in places like South Sioux City, Nebraska, where houses are already taking on water with more flooding on the way. Take a look at T.D. Ameritrade Park in Omaha, the sparkling new home of the college world series. The games are scheduled to begin in three days but the Missouri river is a few blocks away from the ballpark and getting closer.
Casey Wian joins us live from Omaha, Nebraska, this morning. That has a lot of parents ball players pretty worried right now.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely it does, $40 million in indirect economic impact just throughout the weekend of the college world series for the city of Omaha, that brand new stadium you spoke of. People are concerned about folks being able to get into that stadium because as you can see here the water in the Missouri River continues to rise. You can see the sculptures being overwhelmed by the water. You can also see how fast this water is moving.
Local officials here tell us that so much water is being released from dams upriver it's twice as much as they've ever known that's been released. It's just an incredible volume of water, very concerned about the levees in this area holding. They've asked for volunteers throughout the last couple of days to help come and fill sandbags. They're trying to get 250,000 sandbags filled. Now that's a concern here in Omaha.
Across the river on the other side on the Iowa side is the community of Council Bluffs and then farther south is the community of Hamburg which has already experienced some very significant flooding with some levees breaking in that area. As you mentioned, the college world series is scheduled this weekend and local officials are very concerned about people's ability to get to the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE OTTMAN, CHIEF OF STAFF, CITY OF OMAHA: The roads here, I-80 is open. Of course, there are some other roads that are closed, but I- 80's East/West shouldn't be a problem getting here. We've -- all of our hotels in the downtown area have a preparation plan, emergency preparation plan. We're checking with them today. We'll continue to do that daily. They'll have excess sandbags if they need them. Again, hopefully, they won't need them. So we're very conscientious about what could happen. We're planning for the worst. Obviously praying for the best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Now, part of those plans for the worst are bringing in some giant pumps from other states to try to pump water out of low-lying areas. There's already been a parking lot around the stadium that has experienced some flooding. The biggest concern, though, right now is rainfall and if any big rainstorms come in to the area. They're very worried that that will actually push the Missouri River over its banks and cause maybe some more levees to break. But so far, the weather has been cooperating and officials here are expecting that that's going to continue throughout the weekend.
Back to you guys.
ROMANS: All right. Casey Wian there in Omaha. Thanks, Casey.
CHETRY: So how's it looking? I mean, we have this tough situation and then we have the firefighters doing battle in the southeast.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: In Arizona, 16 minutes past the hour, Rob Marciano is taking a look at things for us this morning from the weather department.
Hi, Rob,
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. As far as the fires are concerned across the southwest, winds are laying down again today. So the main concern is going to be air quality is going to be bad across parts of New Mexico, even though Phoenix. But today will be another day where they should get at least a better handle on that fire. Twenty percent containment now, but it is massive at almost half a million acres of real estate burned there.
All right. Much, much smaller fire but you can see the smoke coming here. This is Florida and southeast Georgia and this is what the pictures look like from the Okefenokee swamp area battling this. It's about a 13,000 acre blaze, but it's already torn up some pristine wildfire areas here including some tourist attractions. They got boardwalks and viewing platforms in this area that have been burned to the ground and they have about 500 people working on this fire trying to get it under control. But all sorts of obstacles besides the extreme heat to deal with, including snakes and other things in that swamp. So it's a tough go for sure.
We've got a red flag warning that's up for parts of northern Florida including the Jacksonville area, getting into that fire as well. And the heat, obviously, a big deal.
Midland, Texas, seeing 108, Tallahassee 103 degrees, St. Simons, 99 degrees, and by the way, Las Vegas just finally hit 100 degrees. That is really, really late to get 100. It's been kind of cool across parts of the southwest and very, very wet across parts of Minnesota and parts of eastern Iowa and another day of torrential rains this morning across Illinois and parts of Chicago heading into lower Michigan. If you're traveling through Chicago, there are going to be some delays at the airports.
Guys, back up to you.
VELSHI: Rob, thank you.
MARCIANO: All right.
VELSHI: Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, if you own an iPod, or an iPhone really, is what we're looking for, that's what you lock, there's a good chance that we know what your pass code is. We're going to tell you why on the other side.
CHETRY: Also, a new study says that when wives are sleep derived the marriage suffers, but that's not the case with the hubbies. Our question of the day: is a lack of sleep hurting your marriage?
Send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We'll read some of your comments a little later in the hour.
It's 18 1/2 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-two minutes after the hour. Business headlines this morning.
Stocks posting their best gains since April yesterday following better than expected economic reports. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all ended more than one percent higher. But futures are down this morning in premarket trading.
Markets also like tough words from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in Washington yesterday. He warned lawmakers to stop holding the debt ceiling hostage calling it, quote, "the wrong tool for forcing difficult policy adjustments."
Investigators announcing that social security administration paid out $6.5 billion by mistake in 2009. About 10 percent of the payments by the agency's supplemental security income program were found to be improper. Most of the overpayments went to people who didn't report all the property they owned.
And there's no mail in Canada this morning. Let me repeat that, no mail in Canada this morning. After a postal workers strike, Canada Post announcing it is closing operations. Negotiations continue between the government and the union.
Lockheed Martin announcing job cuts. One thousand two hundred employees will lose their jobs in the space systems unit by the end of the year. Most of the cuts will be from middle management positions in California, Pennsylvania and Colorado.
And is your iPhone safe? One research company found the most popular pass codes topping the list 1234. Second, 0000. The third one is 2580. Other popular codes include the same four numbers or numbers that are next to each other on the keypad.
Don't forget for the very latest news about your money check out the all-new CNNmoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Storming off the set, Gene Simmons long-time girlfriend, Shannon Tweed, gets up and abruptly leaves an interview on "The Joy Behar Show." Find out what set her off.
And one on one with New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, on a White House run and who's leading the GOP now. We're back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Actress Angelina Jolie is hoping to visit some of the thousands of Syrians who fled the violence and are now camped out in Turkey. A spokesman for the foreign ministry there tells CNN they've received and are now evaluating an application for Jolie to visit the refugee camps.
And this morning, we're getting a rare first look inside Syria and at the humanitarian crisis caused by a brutal crackdown. The regime doesn't want us there. They've refused to give CNN and other news organizations permission to enter that country. But our Arwa Damon found a way inside and she uncovered a camp filled with people who fled the advancing Syrian military. Arwa Damon joins us now live from Turkey.
First of all, tell us what was it like there and what were the refugees telling you about the situation for them at this time?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the conditions inside this camp were utterly miserable. If it can, in fact, even be called a camp. These refugees are living under nothing more than a tarp or a piece of cloth that is strung between two trees. They have a filthy river in which they are bathing and washing their clothes. Water is being accessed from a well but we are being told it is not clean. There are concerns that disease and illnesses are spreading. As for food, they are relying on the Turkish villagers on the other side of the border who are sneaking things like bread and other basic necessities across. And the stories they tell are simply terrifying.
They speak of how the Syrian military advanced on their villages and towns, scorching the fields, killing their livestock, driving their tank rounds indiscriminately into their buildings. Many of them prior to having fled their respective hometowns were saying how during the demonstrations, they were witnessing security forces indiscriminately firing on people, simply calling for basic freedoms and democracy.
Now these people are choosing for the time being to remain on the Syrian side of the Turkish border. Some of them, they say, are choosing to do so because they were separated from one loved ones during the chaos while they were fleeing and others are really hoping against hope that they're going to be able to go home soon.
ROMANS: Arwa, what's next for these people? I mean, if they can't go home because the crops have been burned and their homes have been shelled but they don't want to go into Turkey because they're hoping to be reunited with their families, then they're in the state of paralysis here?
DAMON: They most certainly are in a state of paralysis. And a lot of them are concerned about crossing into Syria because of the psychological -- crossing into Turkey, that is, because of the psychological finality of all of it and they're worried that if they do go into a Turkish refugee camp, they're going to be completely cut off from any sort of information coming from the various villages that they are from inside Syria. And some of them, though, realize at this stage that they quite simply can't go home.
We met a young man who tried to return to his village a few days ago and he was saying that as he was approaching, he saw the Syrian military advancing through the olive groves and they shot at him and he ran away, fled back to this refugee camp. But his story and other reports that the Syrian military is slowly advancing towards the Syrian/Turkish border is really terrifying these residents and some of them say that yes, at the end of the day, they might be forced to cross into Turkey. But certainly at this stage they're really in such a state of limbo and this we are being told is especially impacting the children and the women. We see them living in these conditions, they're covered with mud because it has been raining, other than today, for the last few days.
And they have very little access to anything that would even begin to remotely define a normal life. No one knows when the situation in Syria is going to stabilize.
ROMANS: Arwa Damon in Turkey, thank you so much. Amazing pictures, amazing video and amazing story getting back into Syria to report to us about the pressure that Bashar Al Assad is now putting on his own people after his people have been putting pressure on him to reform or step down. Arwa Damon, thank you so much.
VELSHI: Top stories now, another blow to the already shaky relationship between the United States and Pakistan. Pakistan's top intelligence agency arrested a few CIA informants.
They funneled information to the U.S., which helped track Osama Bin Laden. A Pakistani army major was among those arrested. He wrote down license plates numbers of people visiting Bin Laden's compound.
A fellow Democrat says Congressman Anthony Weiner may resign in a couple days, but he's waiting for his wife to come home to make a decision. Weiner admitted to sexting several women. His wife, Huma Abedin, returns from an overseas trip with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning.
House Speaker John Boehner sending a letter to President Obama warning him about violating the 1973 War Powers Act for failing to get congressional authorization for the military operation in Libya. Boehner is calling on the president to respond by the end of the week.
CHETRY: Again, the military operation in Libya will be 90 days old later this week and that 1973 War Powers Act requires the president to inform Congress when an overseas operation begins and then get congressional approval within 60 days to be able to continue those operations. Let's just look back on what the president said, how he explained the U.S. role in Libya back in March.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: After consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress, I authorized military action to stop the killing and enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Joining us this morning to take a closer look at the War Powers Act and how it fits into what's going on in Libya right now and whether the president is violating it is Matthew Waxman.
He's an associate professor at Columbia Law School and a fellow with the Council of Foreign Relations. You also served both in the defense and state departments.
MATTHEW WAXMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL: That's right.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: So when we talk about this War Powers Resolution, what is the speaker of the House saying that the president is not complying with as it relates to Libya?
WAXMAN: Right, so in the wake of the Vietnam War, the Congress passed the War Powers Resolution to try to prevent the president from engaging in unilateral wars abroad without congressional consent.
And among other things, it requires that after 60 days of hostilities, the president is supposed to withdraw forces unless Congress has explicitly authorized that operation.
CHETRY: And in this case, what would -- if they, indeed, find that he is not in compliance, or that there isn't -- there wasn't an authorization, what actually happens? What teeth does Congress actually have to change this?
WAXMAN: Well, that's a big question and other presidents have sort of blown through this deadline. I mean, there are a couple of options. One possibility is Congress could sue. That's not really a viable option.
Courts tend not to get involved in these situations. More likely, what Congress is trying to do, is use this War Powers Resolution argument as a bit of a political stick to score some political points.
To force the president to go up to Capitol Hill, spend political capital in defending the war, and try to get a stronger voice, congressional voice, in shaping Libya operations.
CHETRY: The other option Congress does have is they could vote to de- authorize funding.
WAXMAN: That's right. I mean, Congress always has this sort of trump card of the power of the purse. They could pull funding from Libya operations. That's I think very unlikely because it's politically very difficult to do so while our forces are engaged.
CHETRY: Right and the president also argued that first of all this is not unilateral. We're in a support role. This is a NATO led operation and so none of this really applies. How viable is that?
WAXMAN: Well, I think we don't yet know exactly what the president's argument is going to be. The White House has said it's in compliance with the War Powers Resolution. I think what we'll see it's probably going to argue that these operations don't rise to the level of armed hostilities that the War Powers Resolution was talking about. Because U.S. forces are largely in a support role, we don't have boots on the ground. We're really sort of -- in a support role of a NATO and large coalition operation.
CHETRY: Politically speaking, it is interesting to see Speaker Boehner, a Republican, sort of making this a battle cry, if you will, after eight years of an administration that was viewed as much more hawkish.
And one that was pushing for some more military foreign intervention as it relates to Iraq and Afghanistan. Politically speaking because you've been in, you know, on that side of it as well, what do they have to gain here?
WAXMAN: Well, I think the politics on this issue cut in all kinds of different directions. For one thing, I think if you look at polling, public support for Libya operations is not really that strong.
I think it's also a time at which the American public members of the Congress are really focused on domestic issues, and so perhaps this is a way of really trying to put the president in a tough position of, like I say, spending his political capital, defending yet another foreign military operation abroad.
CHETRY: And this is on top of the drone strikes, you know, some people very outraged by the situation in Yemen, some of the drone strikes in Yemen.
The presence we have in Pakistan, as evidenced by the CIA raid. I mean, just many other things that it seems that this president didn't necessarily sign up for or support when he was a candidate.
WAXMAN: Yes. I think what one thing presidents always find when it comes to foreign affairs is they don't get to really decide their own agenda. I think the Bush administration ended up finding that it was dealing with some wars that didn't expect to deal with and now the Obama administration is finding the same thing.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see what happens with this war powers resolution. It's very interesting. Matthew Waxman, great to get your take this morning. Thanks for joining us.
WAXMAN: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: Ali.
VELSHI: You know, while Matthew makes some remarkably good points, this could be a conversation that has happened so many times.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: In American history. There's a constant issue about whether or not we have the right authorization and right laws to be able to go to war.
ROMANS: Sometimes Congress likes to sit back and have this fight because it lets the president be the one who has to be out there and Congress can take a back seat.
Maybe the president and John Boehner can talk about this when they play golf on Saturday if they don't resolve it by --
VELSHI: They have a lot to talk about. Wonder if they would get any golf done.
ROMANS: I would think they do have a lot they could talk about.
VELSHI: Well, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talks about 2012. He says he will not run for president.
ROMANS: In an entire with CNN's Piers Morgan, Christie says he's just not ready for the White House and he is standing firm in his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'm making this decision based on whether I believe in my heart that I'm ready to be president of the United States and that I want to be president of the United States right now.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're a straight talker, right?
CHRISTIE: Yes.
MORGAN: I don't believe this is a 100 percent closed to you and I don't think you can look me in the eye, given everything that's going on, and say, Piers, I'm 100 percent certain I'm not going to run.
CHRISTIE: You're wrong. I'm 100 percent certain I'm not going to run.
MORGAN: Given you're not running this time, who do you think right now, is the best option for your party to take on Barack Obama?
CHRISTIE: I don't think we have a best option yet.
MORGAN: Hypothetically, if you were in the game, three top issues for you? What would they be? What would you run on if you were running?
CHRISTIE: The three top issues have to be restoring jobs and private sector jobs growth to our country, getting the entitlement mess under control, and restoring back to our country a sense of self-confidence that Americans can achieve whatever we want to achieve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: So did he just say that they don't have the right candidate?
ROMANS: He said they don't have the right candidate. He said he's 100 percent sure he's not going to run, but then even supporters of Chris Christie, even after he puts it to rest, maybe he'll change his mind.
CHETRY: I know, there's a lot of hope for Chris Christie, maybe it's not 2012.
ROMANS: Rick Perry and you hear Rudy Giuliani and you hear Sarah Palin. There are a lot of people --
VELSHI: Piers Morgan saying there's 18 months to go.
ROMANS: There's 18 months to go.
VELSHI: All right, tonight on "PIERS MORGAN" comedian and TV host Jimmy Fallon brings late night to prime time. You can catch it at 9:00 Eastern, which is good because I never really get to watch it.
ROMANS: Jimmy Fallon is hilarious and he's doing really well.
VELSHI: I watch him in the cabs.
CHETRY: Or in the clips that you get to pull up later, got to go to bed.
Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, Prince William and his new bride heading to California as the royal couple will be making their big trip to --
VELSHI: Dressed like that?
CHETRY: No, I think she's going to leave that wedding dress behind. It's a little warm in Santa Barbara for that.
VELSHI: He'll look out a place in that --
ROMANS: I heard they took it away from her right away. They put it in a museum or something.
CHETRY: Also new rules about sunscreen.
ROMANS: Yes. They can't put certain things on the bottle any more like waterproof, sweat proof, SPF 100. Does that really make you anymore protected than SPF 50 or 30? Sanjay Gupta is going to tell us about that.
And Lady Gaga's meat dress has a new home. We're going to tell you where you can see it and even smell it.
VELSHI: That sounds like fun. It's 40 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Prince William and his new bride Katherine headed to California next month and just this hour Buckingham Palace released new information about what their travel plans will be.
Our Zain Verjee is live in London. This is exciting because for Katherine, she actually has never been to the U.S., right?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: No. This is her first time and she's going with a pretty small entourage. She has -- is not taking a stylist. She's taking a hairdresser with her, though, and a personal assistant.
Let me tell you exactly what they'll be doing. The dates are July 8th to July 10th and it's pretty much a world wind tour. They're going to be staying at this amazing place, the Pink Palace Hotel in Beverly Hills. They're going to be staying in the presidential suite. It's only $10,800 a night.
They'll hosting some VIPs a little bit later at a reception. Prince William is going to be playing polo at a charity match the day in Santa Barbara and they will be heading to downtown L.A. They've got the party to go to and it's a black tie. It's being hosted by the British Academy of Film and TV Arts.
And that's basically to promote British talent and put them in the spotlight there. It's off to skid row one day. They're going to visit the Inner City Arts School.
And then finally, they're going to go to a jobs fair for war vets. That's going to be at the Sony studios and Prince William is going to give a speech.
Now Kate is not going to be giving a speech, but you know what, she's going to have great hair. Back to you.
VELSHI: I'm fascinated. They're doing all that in two days, July 8th to 10th.
VERJEE: Yes.
VELSHI: That sounds grueling.
VERJEE: This is the royals' role.
VELSHI: Are they going anywhere else?
VERJEE: It's tough being a royal.
VELSHI: They're flying to the U.S. for two days and that's it?
(CROSSTALK)
VERJEE: They're going to be in Canada before that.
VELSHI: Oh, OK.
VERJEE: It's going to be Canada Day so they're going to spend a few days in your country, Ali, before heading to L.A. It's the first official visit. Their schedule is so jam-packed in the U.S. they don't even get to see their buddies, the Beckhams.
VELSHI: Yes, no kidding.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Whenever there's a state visit or the president goes somewhere, it's amazing how fast they, you know, flip, flip, flip through all the cities.
VELSHI: I'm totally never going to be a royal.
Zain, good to see you.
VERJEE: Thanks.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Zain. You can watch Zain every day -- every morning at -- on "WORLD ONE" at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.
VELSHI: She's a commoner just like us.
All right, 28 years and 5,000 women later, Shannon Tweed is pushed over the edge.
CHETRY: It happened on TV. On the "Joy Behar Show" Tweed and longtime boyfriend Kiss singer Gene Simmons got into a bizarre tiff. Tweed stormed off the set after Simmons made a joke about his cheating ways with thousands of women.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, HOST, "THE JOY BEHAR SHOW": How's your back, Gene?
GENE SIMMONS, KISS: My back is good. My schmeckle (ph), not so much.
SHANNON TWEED, SIMMONS' GIRLFRIEND: That's very nice of you to joke about it.
SIMMONS: It's a joke. Where are you going? What are you doing?
TWEED: It's so rude.
BEHAR: She's done with you.
TWEED: It's so rude for you to joke about it. You think it's really funny.
SIMMONS: I was just joking because she's a comedian.
TWEED: Thank you.
SIMMONS: Thanks for the question.
BEHAR: I'm sorry. You're blaming it on me? Don't put this on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: I love how neither one of them look at her at all as she's leaving. They just continue the conversation as she's walking out in the background.
VELSHI: So he's made comments about this in the past that he's had philandering ways and it came up. They've got a TV show together. Unclear whether this was --
ROMANS: Now, how long have they been together?
VELSHI: Twenty-eight years.
CHETRY: Yes, they've been together for --
ROMANS: They have children together? Do they have children together?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Yes. They have children.
VELSHI: And she says --
CHETRY: They're a family pretty much.
VELSHI: She says because the kids are in college now she's had it.
CHETRY: Oh. Well she said, I mean, there was that time she was interviewed and she said in every relationship one person has to take -- be the long suffering person that takes all the abuse and --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Now they've got some more episodes to go in their show. So, who knows whether this is to get us to watch the show more.
CHETRY: I hardly think this is the end of Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons.
VELSHI: Well, you can catch the full interview tonight on the "Joy Behar Show" at 10:00 p.m. on HLN.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come, a new study says when wives are sleep deprived -- maybe she was just sleepy. When wives are sleep deprived the marriage suffers. That's not the case with men.
Our question of the day is, is a lack of sleep hurting your marriage?
Send us an e-mail, a Tweet or tell us on Facebook. We're going to read some of your thoughts later on in the program.
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ROMANS: All right. Everything you thought you knew about sunscreen, forget it. For the first time in 30 years, the FDA releasing new guidelines to all sunscreen products.
VELSHI: So the bottles are going to be very different. Apparently you're not going to see the word sunblock, waterproof or sweat proof anymore.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live from Atlanta.
Sanjay, what's really different about this?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, the thing I found most interesting is that this was really largely an unregulated industry, the whole sunscreen industry up until now and the rules that we're going to talk about here, don't take effect until next year.
But this is the first time the FDA is really diving into this and saying, look, what do the numbers mean, how do we label them in a way that's going to make them relevant for consumers?
A couple of things to point out right away. You mentioned this idea of what's not going to be on the labels. A couple of things that are going to be on the labels, broad spectrum. First of all, what does that really mean? Well, we're talking about two different types of UV light. Most people generally know this. But UVA -- remember this -- is the primary cause of damage to the skin. It's what causes premature aging. UVB is what primarily causes sunburn.
Sunblocks are now going to have -- broad spectrum is going to mean that they protect against both of those things. It's going to have been tested to show that. That's going to be one of the things that you're now going to see.
What I think is most interesting is that unless a sunscreen shows it is broad spectrum and/or has an SPF factor of less than 15 -- sun protection factor of less than 15 -- it actually is going to have a warning label on there, as you can see there. It's going to say that it may not necessarily protect against skin cancer. And if it has broad spectrum and SPF level is higher, it's going to say may protect against skin cancer.
So that's going to be the big thing. You know, there's going to be a lot of sunscreens out there, popular ones, ones that are sold a lot right now that are also going to have that warning label. It says, may not protect against skin cancer and I think it's going to change the way people view this.
ROMANS: You know, Sanjay, it's interesting -- as a parent, I'm somebody who covers my kid from head-to-toe --
VELSHI: She described yesterday, Sanjay, that when her kids go to the beach they are dressed like Lawrence of Arabia.
ROMANS: You know, they have the big hat that goes down with the flap, or they look Australian. Australian kids, a lot of Australian kids are just completely covered.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely.
ROMANS: You can basically see from their knee to their ankle is the only thing. And, I mean, other moms, I think, think I'm a little nuts. But I put sunscreen wherever their skin's going to be coming in contact with the sun.
Do I have to do anything differently instead of, you know, assuming there is sun actually getting to my children's skin somewhere?
GUPTA: Yes, well, you know, a couple of things. First of all, for children under six months of age the American Academy of Pediatrics says try and avoid sun as much as. Their skin is just too thin, too fragile at that age.
After that, a certain amount of sun is good. Certainly a few minutes a day. But I think the biggest thing, Christine, for you, when you go and buy sunscreen right now, I don't know what criteria you're using. What we know is that SPFs that are greater than 30 probably make no difference. You can save your money instead of buying those SPFs. You won't see the water resistant thing and take close comfort in that. You have to buy SPF 15 or higher and look for the broad spectrum. That's going to be the important thing in terms of trying to prevent the things people want to prevent when using sunscreen.
VELSHI: Sanjay, it sounds like it's no fun to be Christine's kids.
ROMANS: I know, I feel bad for them.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I annoy my kids even more because I insist on using the physical barrier like the zinc which is harder to rub in.
GUPTA: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Kiran's kids also walk around with a helmet.
Sanjay, good to see you, my friend.
CHETRY: Only when they're on their bike or scooter, Sanjay.
All right, thanks.
Well, earlier in the hour we told you about the study of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine about the sleep deprivation. It's not equal when it comes to the sexes.
VELSHI: Barely. I'm not that bothered by it.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Apparently when a woman is sleep deprived, it can have negative effects on a marriage. But when a man isn't getting enough quality sleep, apparently no impact on a relationship.
ROMANS: So that leads to our question of the day: Is a lack of sleep hurting your marriage?
LEMON: We'll just say, you know, for us, no, because we're never there. We're always --
VELSHI: Right. ROMANS: Here's one from the blog. "It did once. Sleep deprived and having to everything around the house with no time for myself. There was no conversation, there was no excitement left in our life. I never complained. I never realized that all of this was because of a lack of sleep. Now I sleep, or try at least, for seven to eight hours."
CHETRY: That is actually really -- that is very -- yes, I think a lot of people can identify with that.
ROMANS: Typical, I think it's typical.
VELSHI: Robin writes on Facebook. "Recalling my vows in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Lack of sleep definitely falls under bad times. I would disagree with the study. If lack of sleep is the sole reason for a divorce, the couple shouldn't have been married in the first place. Grumpy, yes. Divorce, no."
LEMON: All right. Melissa Dictorson (ph) writes, "Yes, lack of sleep does affect men, too. My husband's a grouch when he doesn't get enough sleep and marital strife increases when he's not 100 percent."
VELSHI: Keep your comments coming. Send us an e-mail, a tweet or tell us on Facebook. We'll read more of your thoughts throughout the morning.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, nationwide test results are back and students are really struggling with history. So what does it mean for the future of our school system and are there any solutions? We're going to talk to Steve Perry about it.
VELSHI: And AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break with Montel Williams and his new business which has something to do with marijuana.
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