Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
On the Street and Online; Gadhafi Indictments?; Wildfire Closes Los Alamos Lab; Flood Threatens Nebraska Nuke Plants; Minot's Flood Fight; Gadhafi Indictments; Going too Far? TSA Searches Elderly Woman's Diaper; Electronic Arts Hit by Hackers; Protecting Yourself Online
Aired June 27, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: The floodwaters in Minot, North Dakota, finally starting to recede after driving more than 10,000 people from their homes, and a new flood threat is emerging in Nebraska as rising waters breach a protective barrier near a nuclear power plant on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Monday, June 27th. Kiran is off, and Carol Costello joins us today.
VELSHI: Good to have you here, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you. Thanks for the nice welcome and the coffee and doughnuts this morning.
ROMANS: More coffee --
COSTELLO: Not.
ROMANS: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: We're on a diet.
COSTELLO: I understand.
VELSHI: And a budget.
COSTELLO: And a budget. I understand that, too. Up first this morning, the Souris River in Minot, North Dakota, is finally beginning to recede, but it will be days, maybe weeks, before anyone can go home to assess the damage from the town's historic floods. River topped its record crest from 1881. As many as 4,000 homes and businesses in Minot still under water.
In the meantime, floodwaters from the swollen Missouri River are threatening Nebraska's two nuclear power plants. The flood wall protecting the Fort Calhoun Plant near Omaha collapsed yesterday, but officials insist the plants is secure. CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins us live from Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, really? Are the nuclear power plants safe? PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, even more worrisome at Fort Calhoun, which is right across the road behind me is they're now running on diesel power. The flooding has knocked them off the power grid, even though they're inactive right now, they still have to keep that spent radioactive fuel cooled, constantly cooling that fuel so they're on diesel generators. It's a backup. So, the flooding continues to have an effect on the situation here. Officials say it is safe.
Obviously when you talk about flooding, nuclear power plants, the lessons of Fukushima come up again and again. One of those lessons is the idea there could be multiple incidents. So they're hoping it's not going to be a series of dominos falling over.
But down the road south of Omaha where we were yesterday, at the cooper nuclear station, the Missouri River is ten feet above what it usually would be this time of year. If it rises another three feet, that station will also have to go off-line. Again, they have fail- safes, they have barriers, they have berms set up all around that facility.
Back to this facility, the Fort Calhoun station where as you mentioned, that aqua dam collapsed yesterday, we actually came to Nebraska to be let in, to be given a tour today of the nuclear power plant behind us. Strangely enough after the aqua dam failed, we were told that tour may not happen. We're still hoping to get that access. But as of today, we have not heard if we're going to be allowed in to see the plant.
ROMANS: But I bet you'll keep trying. Thanks so much, Patrick Oppmann reporting live from Nebraska this morning.
COSTELLO: Now to the latest twist in the Casey Anthony trial. Testimony is set to resume in about an hour and a half, and we may learn why the judge abruptly ended the court session on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: As both sides concurred that a legal issue has arisen unrelated to the issue that we talked about first thing this morning, dealing with Dr. Ferden (ph) that would necessitate us recessing for today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Dr. Ferden (ph) was a defense witness, and Judge Perry saying he wasn't the issue that led to the recess. We still don't know what it was. Sunny Hostin is with us again this morning. She's a former prosecutor and legal contributor for "In Session" on TruTV. Sunny, do you think -- I mean it's so weird.
COSTELLO: What is it? What happened?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": I don't know. I mean, you can imagine all weekend I've been trying to figure out, calling people. We just really don't know. What we do know is Cheney Mason gave "In Session" a statement. It's not a plea deal, not about Roy Krunk, it's not a mistrial. After watching the tape over again it was the defense that sort of brought this up. Cheney Mason, who has been a trial attorney forever, I think he's fantastic, seemed to be spearheading whatever legal issue it is that came up.
And so it has to do with the defense. I think the defense brought it up. Some people are speculating maybe Cheney Mason doesn't want to be on the defense team anymore.
ROMANS: What?
HOSTIN: That's just speculation. I don't know what it is.
COSTELLO: What would happen if that was the case?
HOSTIN: That would be a problem because he is really probably the most -- I think experienced trial attorney on the team. It would be very unusual for a defense team to break up at this point in the trial. I'm not saying that's what happened. But certainly that's part --
VELSHI: How small could it be?
HOSTIN: An hour in and out of chambers. That's a long time. I think it's significant and because of the length of time of the in chamber conference, but because this judge wants to keep it moving.
VELSHI: Right.
HOSTIN: He wanted closing arguments, rather, I think Friday or Saturday. I've canceled my July Fourth plans so I could work on this. So I -- it has to be significant because he really is loathed to stop trial on Saturday. He was going to work a full day, until 3:30, extended day on Saturday.
ROMANS: Let's talk about something that did happen, very, very compelling testimony on Friday from the brother, Lee Anthony. Can we listen to a little bit of that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE ANTHONY, BROTHER OF CASEY ANTHONY: I was very angry at my mom and I was also angry at my sister. I was just angry at everyone in general that they didn't -- they didn't want to include me and didn't find it important enough to tell me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Most emotion I've seen from the sister is during this testimony.
HOSTIN: It was really --
COSTELLO: She was crying. She was talking about them not telling him his sister was pregnant.
HOSTIN: It was obvious because people found out when she was about seven months pregnant. We know what a woman looks like when she's that pregnant. She looks very, very pregnant.
COSTELLO: What was that about and what does it tell us about sort of this dysfunctional family?
HOSTIN: They like to hide the obvious. It tells us this is a family that keeps dark secrets. This is a dysfunctional family and that's what the defense wanted everyone to see, that when they are confronted with the situation, they dissociate. And that's why they are trying to explain the 31 days that Casey Anthony partied and did nothing after her daughter was dead.
VELSHI: Her character could be dissociative.
HOSTIN: Exactly. And let's face it. That's the problem with this case. You know there's a lot of evidence on both sides, I think, but how do you explain for 31 days she partied, did nothing? Everyone I speak to about this, goes back to that. And I think that's why Lee Anthony's testimony was so riveting and unusual, because it really gave us that perspective, right? This is a family of secret keepers.
ROMANS: Sunny Hostin, interesting. I'm sorry you're going to have to work over the Fourth of July holiday.
HOSTIN: But I love it. I think this case --
COSTELLO: Today President Obama enters negotiations over raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Right now there are a little more than five weeks left before the government hits its spending limit. And after a breakdown in talks last week it's clear Democrats and Republicans still remain at odds over how best to reign in the deficit.
A government default could harm the still recovering economy, spook the global financial system, the markets, and cause rating agencies to lower America's triple a credit rating and ironically cost America even more money because we have to pay higher interest rates on our debt.
VELSHI: It is dangerous, but do we in America enjoy pushing things to the last potential second.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. We love that stuff!
ROMANS: It's so interesting that by making a stand over not spending more money you could spend more money, because what we have to pay on our debt could go up.
VELSHI: Yes.
All right, we all knew it was coming. You even heard it first on CNN, it will become official, Minnesota Congressman Michele Bachmann, who you might think is from Iowa, she is, back in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, even though she represents Minnesota, to formally announce her presidential run.
ROMANS: She's seen a surge in the polls and primed to be the leading GOP contender. Jim Acosta joins us live from waterloo, Iowa. I'm sure Mitt Romney is asking, how did that happen?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A lot of Republicans are going to be asking that question this morning, Carol and Ali and company there in New York. That is because Michele Bachmann this morning is a force to be reckoned with in Republican politics for the GOP nomination. Nobody expected this, obviously, perhaps except Michele Bachmann who has been laying the groundwork very quietly for the last several months for where she is right now.
Just take a look at this poll that was put out by "The Des Moines Register" over the weekend, Mitt Romney, obviously the frontrunner at this point in the lead with 23 percent. But right behind him is the Minnesota congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, with 22 percent.
Then you go down the list. Even more surprises. Guys like Tim Pawlenty, the governor, ex-governor of Minnesota who has put a lot of -- a lot of money and time in Iowa, showing up at only six percent.
So this is a very surprising poll. It's really going to shake up this race this week. Michele Bachmann was asked about how well she's doing so far, and she indicated to reporters yesterday after her appearances on the Sunday talk shows this is only a sign of things to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) MINNESOTA: We are thrilled. I've been to Iowa numerous times and I have a wonderful advantage in that I was born in the state of Iowa so I've been -- I've laid a lot of groundwork for a lot of years. We're undoubtedly thrilled. We don't take this for granted. This reflects what we have been hearing on the ground. So what this will be the beginning of a marathon, not a sprint, so we're looking forward to go and to greet more people and to win in Iowa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, how did Michele Bachmann do this? She sort of has scored the Hawkeye trifecta if you will. Not only an Iowa native, she has Tea Party street credibility. She started the Tea Party caucus in the House of Representatives, and she is widely known as a social conservative.
What is unknown at this point is how things will develop in the days ahead. There is another Republican woman candidate who is very popular who will be here, potential candidate, Sarah Palin, is going to be here in Iowa tomorrow night for a movie premiere, a movie that has been made about her. And the president is going to be in Iowa tomorrow. So this is a very busy week. It's a little too early to be this interesting at this point in Iowa, guys.
ROMANS: Wow! Sarah Palin will be there, Barack Obama is going to be there. Who's the spotlight going to shine on? I bet Michele Bachmann.
COSTELLO: Oh, man.
ACOSTA: It's interesting. We may never leave.
ROMANS: Jim Acosta, one of my first jobs as an intern at "The Des Moines Register," who says I have more presidential hopefuls I can shake an intern at. Send us off. This is a good next few months is going to be great for people in Iowa. Great stuff. Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Ahead on "American Morning," a victory for same-sex marriage in New York. How will this historic vote affect the 2012 presidential race? Our political panel weighs in on that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The 2012 presidential race shaping up to be a fierce competition. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann set to announce her GOP bid in Waterloo, Iowa, today, the same day a new poll shows her statistically tied at the top with Mitt Romney.
Here to talk Bachmann and all other political headlines contributor Hillary Rosen and Republican analyst Leslie Sanchez. Good morning, ladies. Nice to see you, Leslie, let me start with you and Michele Bachmann and her, you know, right up there on the top below -- one point below Mitt Romney. What's team Romney thinking about that this morning?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: Well, I think a lot of people understand that this was expected after the New Hampshire debate. She did a very good job. She resonated especially in a lot of her positions. People were taking a first look in many ways at her candidacy. It's early in what we call the invisible primary. People are lining up, grass roots supporters, fundraisers.
The question is, can she stand the test of time? Does she have the discipline to move a national campaign forward? It's very exciting for her right now, but it's a very long haul to get to next November.
ROMANS: Hillary, let's talk about that discipline, something she's shown more of she hired Ed Rollins, or he's advising the campaign, he said he was going to put discipline and show she knows what she's talking about.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: She has good tastes in political directors, Ed Rollins good guy, former CNN colleague.
ROMANS: That's right.
ROSEN: I think actually, Iowa, the surprise for me is Mitt Romney. Iowa has traditionally been a state where the most conservative candidates do better, and Mitt Romney decided he was going to skip Iowa. So it's actually good news for him. The issue - it's not surprising at all that Michele Bachmann is doing well. She's been willing to be the most extreme of all candidates, and that's I think the issue that's not going to survive well. Traditionally in Republican primaries, Iowa ends up nominating the most extreme candidate and then everybody goes to New Hampshire and people get slapped around and brought back to the center right.
And Michele Bachmann wants to, you know, she said the other day, wants to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency. Just shut down the agency. I think Americans actually kind of like safe drinking water.
SANCHEZ: You know, let's not discount one big aspect that she brings and that is the appeal that she has for a lot of the Tea Party voters, a lot of independent voters. She energizes, in many ways, that constituency, gets them engaged early in the process and they're going to ride that wave all the way through. These are important ideas she's talking about.
ROSEN: Well, I don't know about the ideas but I do think she's energizing and she's charismatic.
The other fun thing this week to watch in Iowa, of course, is that just like Sarah Palin stepped on Mitt Romney's announcement by going up to New Hampshire, Sarah Palin's now going to Iowa to cut short --
ROMANS: Ladies, is that a coincidence? Is that coincidence because in Iowa they're going to have this film about her?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: It's been on the calendar for a long time.
ROSEN: Once a coincidence, twice it's hard to say, you know?
SANCHEZ: That press release went out months ago. I think people have known that movie is coming. There's a lot of excitement about Palin in Iowa. I don't think it's new news. Iowa is getting all the attention like it does this time of year.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: I think that's wrong. I think Sarah Palin can't stand it when other people are getting too much attention. She wants everyone to be begging.
ROMANS: Do you think -- but then is she going to run? Do you think she runs, Hilary?
ROSEN: Oh, I hope so.
ROMANS: What do you think, Leslie?
ROSEN: It will be so exciting if she does.
SANCHEZ: I wrote a book and I have still yet to decide, you know, to read into the mind of Sarah Palin. I think she has a lot of positives. She has to get serious about this race.
Right now, it's a lot more celebrity and Sarah Palin as a celebrity than it is as a candidate. And I think people -- serious people in politics recognize that. We're waiting to see.
ROMANS: We got months -- we got months to go before that is decided. But we don't have months to go before the debt ceiling comes and hits us right smack in the face in about five weeks.
Hillary, is it right that the president is trying to show some leadership on this? And, you know, do you think that he can push the ball forward on tax increases?
ROSEN: You know, I think that the country has kind of brinksmanship fatigue and President Obama has -- was the grownup in the room when it came to the budget and keeping the government open and he got finally the support of Republicans.
And I think John Boehner is really the test over the next couple of weeks. Is he going to cave in the silly rhetoric, frankly, of Michele Bachmann and some of her followers and friends in the House that are saying, oh, just forget about this August 2nd deadline. Nothing is going to happen. Don't worry about the country's debt. You know, they're just lying to you about the seriousness of this issue.
I think John Boehner has the big test here. Not necessarily the president.
SANCHEZ: I think what's very interesting here is, I agree on one part there is gamesmanship fatigue. If you look at the vast middle, people that are not directly aligned with Republicans or Democrats and wearing the jersey, the big partisans, they fundamentally understand, they gave the benefit of the doubt in many ways to the president for his leadership, and feel that he has not got the economy moving especially on this debt issue.
I think the Republicans are strong, standing strong, on not allowing a blanket vote of just raising the ceiling without significant cuts and looking at a balanced budget amendment.
People want reasonable solutions and Republicans and Democrats to do that. And I think t onus is on the president and Democratic leadership to show that effort.
ROMANS: Guys, we have less than a minute. I want to get both of your thoughts on the New York same-sex marriage vote. First of all, does this play out for other states, Hilary, and is this an important issue in the general election, do you think, in 2012? Is this somehow going to play?
ROSEN: Well, it's important in other states. You know, the fact that New York has marriage equality, means that it doubled the amount of people in this country who can now marry from like something like 16 million to over 30 million.
But the real issue I think is that people want conviction and I think the president, you know, evolving on this issue is not going to fly very long. I think that he can survive and thrive by coming out in favor of marriage equality. And then get back to fixing the economy. That's what people really want him to focus on.
But people, generally, you know, the polls on this are going much more towards marriage equality and this is really I think a generational issue.
ROMANS: The polls seem to be evolving and the younger voters tend to be more in favor.
Leslie, just quickly, I mean, do you think this is an issue for the general election?
SANCHEZ: I think it's an issue more so to Hillary's point, for the president. The president campaigned on this issue. When you have single issue voters who are that excited about something, he has to deliver. He can't -- to say trust me, I'll do it later, is really difficult, not only for this issue but many other constituencies that are watching to keep his word.
ROMANS: All right. Leslie Sanchez, Hillary Rosen, thank you so much.
Nineteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. Minding your business this morning.
U.S. stock futures are trading higher right now, but all three major market indices closed lower on Friday. Last week marks the seventh out of eight weeks that the Dow and the S&P 500 closed lower for the week. The Dow is down about 3 percent since March. Check your 401(k).
The next week could decide the outcome of the debt crisis in Greece and the financial future of Europe is hanging in the balance. Tens of thousands of Greeks are hitting the streets in Athens today, protesting some painful tax hikes and pay cuts that the Greek parliament is debating.
And lots of economic data coming out this week for investors to sort through. A closely watched manufacturing survey and two reports on U.S. consumers have Wall Street on the edge of its seat. And the government's bond buying stimulus program ends this week. That's really helped rally stocks over the past eight months.
Gas prices down for the 24th straight day. According to the AAA, the national average is now $3.57 a gallon. That's down about 41 cents from the peak back in May. The declines are thanks to a drop in demand and to lower oil prices.
The group that claims it hacked Sony and the CIA is apparently calling it quits. The hackers known as LulzSec, not giving a reason for why they're stopping the attacks. But in a parting shot, they released internal documents from AT&T and some other companies.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: On the street and online, for the homeless being able to tweet, text and blog, is changing their lives.
ROMANS: Right. They're able to get donations, find loved ones, even get housing.
COSTELLO: It's amazing. Kara Finnstrom hit the streets to show us how it's working.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arty Plascer (ph) was desperate.
ARTY PLASCER, HOMELESS: I needed some way to stay sane.
FINNSTROM: She lost her job and Los Angeles home, she needed help, and found it at her fingertips.
PLASCER: It is the way people are finding housing. It is the way people are finding food banks.
FINNSTROM: "It" is social networking, blogging, Facebooking and tweeting. And while Plascer never considered using it before, many homeless people are embracing it.
After five years of living on Chicago's streets, Ann Marie Walsh became a voracious tweeter, to conquer her fears and loneliness.
ANN MARIE WALSH, HOMELESS: Just knowing somebody was out there, somebody was reading my tweet. It was an awesome feeling.
FINNSTROM: Now, both women's tweets have inspired a new Web site aimed at homeless people.
MARK HORVATH, WEAREVISIBLE.COM: I was creating We Are Visible to empower homeless people.
FINNSTROM: Mark Horvath, who had once been homeless himself, was making a career videotaping and posting the stories of homeless people. He created WeAreVisible.com after meeting the two women via Twitter and realizing social networks enabled them to tell their own story.
The site offers basic tutorials on social networking. But Horvath has a bigger goal, to create a virtual community of support.
HORVATH: A homeless person in Phoenix would say, "I'm hungry," and then a homeless service organization would say, "OK, here we are, let's help you." FINNSTROM (on camera): So, how can those living on the streets afford to go online? Many tell us they had their phones before becoming homeless and that keeping them has been a priority. They're also turning to libraries and shelters, where laptops and free Wi-Fi have become lifelines.
(voice-over): This homeless New Yorker reunited with his long lost daughter via Twitter. Blogger Boston Homeless raised money for a Memorial Day barbecue for the veterans at his homeless shelter. And this year, Placer and Walsh got into permanent housing, both credit Twitter.
There's no accurate count the growing number of homeless people online. But since Horvath's site launched less than a year ago, it alone has attracted thousands of followers.
PLASCER: It's important to have that sense of community and the social media will let every person have it.
FINNSTROM: Kara Finnstrom, for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Top stories now, the noose may be tightening on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The International Criminal Court deciding right now whether to issue arrest warrants for crimes against humanity after Gadhafi's regime began a war against opposition civilians.
Raging wildfire threatening one of the country's top labs in New Mexico. Los Alamos National Lab is shut down today. The wildfire is less than a mile from the government facilities, but officials say all hazardous material is accounted for and protected.
Floodwaters from the rising Missouri River now threatening two nuclear plants in Nebraska. A flood wall protecting the Fort Calhoun plant collapsed yesterday. Right now officials say there is no danger to the public.
COSTELLO: In Minot, North Dakota, the worst of the flooding finally over now that the Souris River has started to recede, but the battle for many has begun.
ROMANS: You know, just about everywhere you look in Minot is the streets and homes almost completely submerged. The flooding has driven some 12,000 people from their homes so far. Jim Spellman is live in Minot, North Dakota. So what's the status there this morning?
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The sun is just coming up here in Minot. This is what people are waking up to, in neighborhoods all across the city.
Flooding, you know, like this just goes on and on from neighborhood after neighborhood. It's really the scope of it that's struck me here. Like you mentioned, the battle is still begun here. They still have a lot of work to do until this water goes down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SPELLMAN (voice-over): The river has gotten as high as it will get, but the battle to save Minot goes on.
MIKE KLEIN, CITY OF MINOT: We're putting ring banks where we think bad spots are.
SPELLMAN: The water came too fast and too high to save the majority of homes along the Souris River. The focus has been on erecting and maintaining dikes around vital infrastructure like this bridge.
(on camera): So even though the river has crested it's expected to remain at flood levels for at least a week. So the question remains, will these dikes hold?
(voice-over): If they don't, even more homes than the 4,000 currently flooded can expect to take on water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just the second house past the stop sign.
SPELLMAN: For residents showing at the water's edge hoping to catch a glimpse of their home, it's been mostly bad news.
ROBIN TAYLOR, MINOT RESIDENT: Devastating, heart breaking, heart wrenching, saddened.
SPELLMAN: But glad to be safe.
TAYLOR: When we had to evac ASAP, I mean, both sides of the neighbors and friends and family, they got us out.
SPELLMAN: And when those neighbors meet again and see their flooded homes, first it's tears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks different in person, doesn't it?
SPELLMAN: Then laughs and then a smile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even realize I was smiling. What else? We don't have any choice. Don't have any choice. Got to do what you got to do. Just got to move on.
SPELLMAN: Knowing that whatever the future holds, they won't be going through it alone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SPELLMAN: We've met so many people like Robin and Leann that have been coming up to the water's edge trying to figure out what's going on with their home.
First, you know, it's that heartbreak, but I think people are now starting to settle in and realize what a long battle, what a long fight this is going to be for them to rebuild their lives and sobering to say the least to them. Back to you.
COSTELLO: That's for sure. Jim Spellman live in Minot, North Dakota.
VELSHI: All right, just in to CNN, the noose is tightening on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for crimes against humanity after Gadhafi's regime began a war against opposition civilians.
We were expecting this to happen. The unusual part of this is that typically the International Criminal Court does not grant an indictment, does not indict somebody until usually well into the conflict or once it's done because they typically find it hard to collect evidence. But in this case looks like they didn't.
ROMANS: A judge issuing that arrest warrant for Gadhafi right now.
COSTELLO: Yes. It will be give cult to get him, right?
VELSHI: Right, the warrant is there.
COSTELLO: He ain't going anywhere at least right now.
ROMANS: No one has been able, NATO, the rebels or anybody else.
VELSHI: There are attacks by the way, apparently NATO attacks under way in Libya right now. Some of them fairly close to Tripoli.
COSTELLO: Disturbing new details into the deadly Amtrak accident here in our own country in Reno, Nevada. The NTSB investigating the trucking company and driver. Officials say the company has been flagged for 19 past safety violations.
Truck slammed into an Amtrak passenger train at a railroad crossing sparking a fire. Six passengers died in this accident, 20 still unaccounted for. The NTSB says the investigation could take up to a year to come up with answers.
ROMANS: A school bus packed with children flipped over and flattened in Pennsylvania. Fifteen children and eight adults are recovering this morning. A car attempting to pass the bus lost control, spinning sideways.
Police say that the bus then smashed into the car, clipped a guardrail, rolled on to its roof. Police say emergency crews had to extricate three children who were pinned inside the bus, but there amazingly were no serious injuries.
VELSHI: That's the amazing part. I mean, no serious injuries. Look at that bus.
ROMANS: Every parent looks at a picture like that. You just want to throw up.
VELSHI: A Florida woman says airport security went too far patting down her 95-year-old mother who has cancer and asking her to remove her adult diaper.
The TSA says it is sticking by its agents saying they felt the diaper was suspicious and were following proper procedures. The woman's daughter wants those procedures changed.
ROMANS: All right, still ahead, how much money did hackers steal from Citicard companies in that attack back in Nay? You're going to be surprised. We're getting the numbers and it's big.
VELSHI: And is this the end of privacy? All of these hacking attacks we've been hearing about?
COSTELLO: What privacy?
VELSHI: Where I come from on this. How much of your personal information is public information for the government marketers, even your neighbors to know and how much does it matter and what can you do about it? We're getting some answers into this all this week, but after this we're going to get into it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning, New York City, sunny and 71 degrees. You're looking at a beautiful day later on it will be 84. That sounds good. Perfect day in New York.
VELSHI: Electronic Arts, the video game maker to the list of companies that have been hit by hackers. The video game maker saying that user names, passwords, e-mail addresses, even phone numbers and birth dates may have been stolen. The company says no sensitive information like credit card numbers.
ROMANS: Like your birth date --
VELSHI: Credit card number and Social Security numbers were not compromised. I feel better.
ROMANS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Citigroup is reporting that its customers lost $2.7 million when their credit card information was stolen by hackers last month. The customers will be reimbursed.
If your credit card is hacked or you know, someone steals your identity, debit card is a trickier picture, but earlier this month Citigroup revealed that more than 350,000 accounts were hacked, that's about 1 percent of its customers.
VELSHI: Yes, they didn't tell us that for some time.
COSTELLO: They said it was fewer than that.
VELSHI: This whole story, the way they're spinning it fascinates me. Nobody hacked me and got my information. They hacked Citigroup.
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: So I didn't lose money in the first place. I'm not a Citigroup customer. ROMANS: Yes, look, the whole hacking thing, it is really infuriating because your personal information is probably in a thousand different places at least and if they can't keep it secure, what are you supposed to do?
COSTELLO: Have your identity stolen. The mysterious group of hackers claimed to have attacked the web sites of PBS, Sony and the CIA have apparently called it a day.
The hackers known as Lulzsec not giving a reason for why they're stopping the high profile attacks, but in a parting shot they released internal documents from AT&T and other companies.
VELSHI: I'm not clear on who the big threat is. Is it groups like this? Is it --
ROMANS: Governments.
VELSHI: Who is it? These recent high-profile security breaches are raising concerns about the safety of our personal information online. Are these attacks a new way of life or is there actually something that can be done about it?
Let's go in depth now with our new series is privacy dead? Joining me live from Washington, John Verdi is a privacy expert and a senior council for the Electronic Privacy Center.
John, good to see you. Thank you for being with me. Just give me a sense of why this isn't a conversation we have been having for years. I feel like we've been having this forever since the first day I decided to go online and use my credit card. I was told it wasn't safe. What's different today?
JOHN VERDI, SENIOR COUNSEL, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY CENTER: Well, what's different today is the extent to which individuals' lives are integrated with their lives online, their financial lives --
VELSHI: Right.
VERDI: -- their medical lives, their social lives, their work lives. It's deeply integrated with what they do online and it poses an ever greater risk for these sorts of data breaches and hacker attacks.
VELSHI: I guess, this may be wrong, but this is how I compartmentalize it. I look at information out there that somebody uses incorrectly, like a company uses in a way that wasn't meant for them to be using.
Then I look at sort of this hacking, like Citigroup or Electronic Arts or Sony, some third party getting in and stealing information and then there's this third world that we've been talking about, even at the CIA, the idea that other governments maliciously hacking information. Where does the biggest threat lie?
VERDI: Well, you know it's hard to compare those sorts of threats, but I certainly think that all of them are genuine threats to individuals' privacy online.
They're genuine threats when it comes to the identity theft danger and the identity theft risk and I think for most folks, the biggest thing that they see is either the hacker attacks or when companies don't live up to their words in terms of how they're going to use consumer data.
VELSHI: Right, OK, and not only that, but the Citigroup attack that we were just talking about. Let me just remind our viewers that it was discovered by Citigroup on May 10th, notifications of this went out June 3rd and they publicly announce it on June 9th.
And even then they didn't sort of tell you the extent of what was done and how many people were attacked. I understand there's legislation working its way through Congress that at least will deal with that, make it illegal for Citigroup not to have told everybody this happened within 48 hours of it happening.
VERDI: You know, it's true. There are several Data Breach Notification bills moving through Congress right now and it would require -- those bills would require companies to provide quick comprehensive notification to consumers when their data is breached.
Because consumers are in the best position to assess the risk, mitigate the risk and protect themselves when something like this happens.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this, John, another area that a lot of people are concerned about is this location stuff, the idea that my Blackberry, my iPod, something like that knows where I am and it's tracking it. Is this a really major concern?
My simple mind tells me that it's useful because they'll give me good information on where I want to shop or where I want to eat or what movie I want to see or how to get somewhere. But is this really dangerous information?
VERDI: Well, the truth is it's both useful and it is dangerous. What we need to do is implement the technology in such a way that we gain the benefits from it, but we mitigate the risks or eliminate the risks to safety.
You can certainly imagine circumstances in which all sorts of bad actors, abusive spouses, law enforcement proffering, you know, sort of unlawful surveillance, criminals, identity thieves would want to track the location of an individual either through their mobile device or through other technical means.
VELSHI: OK, but other than being paranoid about information, do I care if I'm not having an affair or I'm not breaking the law, do I care?
VERDI: Well, I think you do care because I think most Americans probably care whether a company or the government is tracking their every move. When they go to religious ceremonies, when they go to get, you know, treatment from their doctor, when they go to their bank, I mean, all of that information is not public information.
It's private information and folks have a right to go about their private lives without interference from corporations and the government and without tracking everywhere they go and everything they do.
VELSHI: Your overall sense, give me a risk/reward scenario. The fact is we have a lot of reward for having so much of our lives online. It's easy, it's convenient, less to store, it's faster, we communicate with a lot of people. But now we are seeing as you said increased risk.
Where are we on the risk/reward spectrum? Are we out of whack or are we about right?
VERDI: Well, we're out of whack in the sense that we can have all of those rewards without running the risk we're currently running. If companies take better care of data, if they provide more prompt data, breach notification, if they're more up front with consumers about what sort of data they're using, and if government stays its hand, in terms of making information requests and pursuing unlawful tracking in the ways it has been, then we can get all the rewards without the risk.
VELSHI: John, good to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
John Verdi is a senior council at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
What do you guys think?
ROMANS: I think -- I don't want it to be on me. I don't want to be my responsibility to find something --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: That's what I was thinking. So it's my responsibility to protect my own --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: If people are making money off of my money and my information and sharing it all, it's their responsibility to make sure that it's absolutely like a vault.
VELSHI: And tomorrow we'll talk more about Facebook and things where it is on you, because you're putting it --
ROMANS: Right, exactly. No, I'm talking about commerce -- I'm talking about commerce because the other thing about some of these companies is they can make -- they can process my transaction in a millisecond.
VELSHI: So why can't they tell you when you've been hacked --
ROMANS: So why can't they -- why does it take months to tell me, oh by the way, a bunch of your people who also bank with you lost $2.7 million.
COSTELLO: And even Facebook. You bring up Facebook. They should protect your privacy. They should.
VELSHI: Right. But I make a distinction between where you have offered to put your pictures, your address, your commentary online --
COSTELLO: That doesn't mean I want that information sold to some company out there.
VELSHI: Totally agree. I agree.
ROMANS: And that's what -- they want to sell your information so that you are nothing more than a series of qualities that they're trying to package up so they can sell things.
VELSHI: If there was no value in selling your information there would be no free stuff on the internet, then we'd pay for all this stuff. Social networking would actually cost money. It's a good discussion, it's an important discussion.
COSTELLO: It is. And we'll continue it tomorrow.
Coming up next, though, we'll have your morning headlines. Plus, are you ready for the world's first test tube burger?
VELSHI: I'll eat any burger.
ROMANS: Also ahead, how to tell if your man is, quote, "the marrying kind."
VELSHI: Oh, this is a good one.
PHILLIPS: If he marries you he is.
VELSHI: Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It's 48 minutes past the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
Moammar Gadhafi, a wanted man. Just minutes ago the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant for his arrest and charging him with crimes against humanity for continued attacks on his own people.
Federal regulators keeping a close eye on two nuclear power plants in Nebraska that are threatened by floodwaters from the Missouri River. A protected barrier around one of the plants collapsed yesterday but officials insist the Fort Calhoun plant is secure.
A wildfire burning less than a mile away from the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. The facility is closed down today, just as a precaution. Officials say all radioactive and hazardous material is protected. President Obama set to meet with Senate leaders from both parties today. It is an effort to end the impasse over raising the debt ceiling. Washington has until August 2nd to reach an agreement or risk defaulting on its debt.
A check on futures trading now. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all set to start the week higher but investors remaining on edge over the financial troubles in Greece.
And Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in Iowa today. She's set to formally announce her GOP bid for president in her hometown of Waterloo.
You are now caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning, Atlanta. It's a beehive of activity in Atlanta right now. They're getting ready for the rest of today's programming at CNN.
VELSHI: Atlanta is a trick. The weather's a trick because it's 70 degrees right now, which is sort of a little warmer than it is in New York.
ROMANS: But look 22 degrees later and there are going to be thunderstorms and 92 later.
VELSHI: It's going to be 92 and thunderstorms in Atlanta.
ROMANS: I can't wait for this next story.
VELSHI: OK.
ROMANS: Explain it to me.
VELSHI: This one was interesting. What makes a man marriage material? Check his car keys. A new study shows that men who flaunt flashy cars and other possessions --
COSTELLO: That is not a flashy car.
VELSHI: What is it?
COSTELLO: Oh, that one is.
VELSHI: That's a flashy car. There you go.
They're not the marrying kind. In fact, researchers say that those men spend the money because they're usually looking for sex, not commitment.
COSTELLO: Really?
VELSHI: In fact, the study said that a man with a flashy car is the equivalent of a peacock with its feathers.
ROMANS: Really? So that means if you're married to a nice suburban- driving man and then suddenly he buys a Corvette you should get worried?
VELSHI: Well, if you're married to him already, I don't know it --
COSTELLO: He's obviously having an affair if he buys a flashy Corvette.
VELSHI: I'm not sure if the study covers men who are already married because I'd like to buy a fancy car at some point . I drive a regular SUV.
COSTELLO: What's a regular SUV?
VELSHI: I drive a Nissan Xterra. Nothing fancy about that.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: So what about women?
COSTELLO: OK. What about women? Researchers say they do tend to be attracted to guys with flashy things but only as a date. They do not marry guys with flashy --
VELSHI: Flashy cars just want dates and women just want guys with flashy cars.
ROMANS: They don't want to marry the guy with the flashy car.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: All right. Here's something to think about this afternoon. An asteroid the size of a tour bus will pass extremely close to earth. This close to earth. But, don't panic. NASA says it's not a threat.
CNN's Zain Verjee is following that one and other international headlines. I'd really rather she just follow that one to make sure it doesn't get too close.
ROMANS: Closely, please.
VELSHI: Yes. Forget the other headlines, Zain.
What's up with the asteroid?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, don't worry, NASA says. It's only 7,500 miles above the earth's surface so it's not going to hit us or be any reason to be stressed out. It's actually really cool. Something like this only happens, scientists say, about once every six years. It's going to be the size of a tour bus.
The cool thing is that it's going to be coming so close that earth's gravity is actually going to change the path that the asteroid will actually end up taking, it's whole trajectory. If you have a an amateur telescope, tough, you won't be able to see it. It's going to be kind of hard scientist say. They want to study it and they're excited about it but we don't need to worry.
COSTELLO: I think it's cool, too, that it's going to pass so closely to the earth, Zain. You're crazy.
OK, let's turn the quarter and talk about this test tube burger because this intrigues me.
VERJEE: Yummy, delicious. Let me tell you how they're going to make this one. Well, the idea is, is that the world's population is going to boom and there's not going to be enough food for everyone, there's not going to be enough livestock for everyone. So just make a burger in the lab.
Here is how they're planning on doing it. They're going to take a sample from the cell of a cow and then from that cell they're going to extract 10,000 stem cells from the sample, stick it in the lab, let the cells divide and then you get something like billions of them growing from the dish. And then they're going to focus on growing the muscle cells and then take that muscle, mince it and there you have a yummy burger for all to munch on.
What they're saying, though, is they're worried about who's going to try it first. Which one of you guys would?
VELSHI: It's not Carol or Christine. I can tell from the look on their faces.
ROMANS: We are proud Midwestern meat eaters and neither of us are going for it.
VELSHI: I think it would be substantially simpler, Zain, to become a vegetarian.
ROMANS: I was going to say, if you talk about all these people getting into the middle class, maybe -- I mean, the vegetarian or the PETA answer would be maybe everyone doesn't need to eat meat.
VERJEE: Maybe that's the answer. But it'll be kind of cool to see if they've done it. They've done it with pork, like strip pork before, and they said it tasted disgusting so they're working on that.
COSTELLO: I think it was that mincing part that got me, Zain. If you didn't say mincing, I might have --
VERJEE: Growing cells and mincing it in the lab.
COSTELLO: Mincing the muscles in the lab. Mmm.
VELSHI: Thanks, Zain.
ROMANS: New York's historic vote legalizing same-sex marriage may set off a ripple effect. Advocates say they'll now focus their attention on Maryland, Rhode Island and Maine. Meanwhile, in New York City, tens of thousands of people took to the streets yesterday to celebrate the new law during the Gay Pride Parade. New York is the sixth and, by far, the largest state to legalize is same-sex marriage. The law will take effect July 24th.
COSTELLO: And now to the question of the day: With New York state legalizing same-sex marriage, do you believe other states should follow suits?
Here's some of your responses.
Oh, I'll go first.
This from McKellemen (ph) via Twitter.
ROMANS: The Twitter names and stuff, sometimes hard to read.
COSTELLO: I know, I can read them easier off the paper.
OK. Anyway, McKelleman says, "The same-sex marriage law passed was one of the most humane and sensible things that the state has ever done."
VELSHI: On our blog, Robert Fairchild writes, "I hope that no other states even consider this. I can't believe that anyone in their right mind truly thinks this is right, let alone thinks it's OK."
ROMANS: And ADB1201 on Twitter. "I don't see why not? As a straight male I support equality. If straight couples can be miserable together, why not gay couples?"
I heard the funniest joke. It's like, it's not same-sex marriage, it's no-sex marriage. That's what somebody said. Welcome to the club.
VELSHI: There you go.
COSTELLO: Oh, my lordy.
Top stories right after the break. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
