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American Morning
Terrorist Attack at Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul; Los Alamos Fire; Casey Anthony Murder Trial; Decision Day in Greece; Sarah Palin in Doc Debuts in Iowa
Aired June 29, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. Good morning.
A lot happening overnight. Let's get you caught up.
Taliban suicide bombers stage a daring night time assault on a hotel overlooking Kabul, the attackers killed with a standoff with Afghan police and NATO troops, but not over 10 others die.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.
In just an hour, Greece will vote on a new and unpopular measure -- several of them actually, to try to save that country from financial ruin. We're live in Athens with the latest on that vote.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.
The New Mexico wildfire critically close to the Los Alamos nuclear lab. Today, some experts are concerned about the lab's 30,000 barrels of nuclear waste that contain plutonium. All that on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Wednesday, June 29th. I'm Christine Romans.
And the clock is ticking on the debt ceiling.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: This is getting more dangerous by the minute, quite literally, but we'll be following that for you this morning.
VELSHI: And we're going to find out why that's relevant to people here. It looks like just a Greece issue, but it's important.
CHETRY: That's right. And also, we're going to head (ph) to all of that.
But, first, we have some information on this brazen attack that took place at one of the most well-known hotels --
VELSHI: Remarkable hotels, yes. CHETRY: -- in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was staged by Taliban militants on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. Officials now say that eight suicide bombers and 10 others were killed. They were attacked -- they stormed the hotel, armed with guns and grenades and battled Afghan and NATO forces for hours, leaving the hotel in flames.
A hotel guest who heard the fighting told CNN he was terrified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAIZ AHMED, INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL GUEST: None of us thought we were going to make it. Actually I wrote my little will according to Islamic law from the little I know. I put it in my pocket just in case. And I said if anything happens, I hope -- I want all my property donated according to Islamic law and any charity.
So, this is the extent of what I'm sure everybody was thinking, especially when the last explosion went off on my floor, right under me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Afghan President Hamid Karzai says that the attack will not interrupt the security shift from international troops to Afghan.
VELSHI: This brought to mind the Mumbai attack, sustained long term bombing --
ROMANS: Yes, right.
VELSHI: -- shooting, firefights. That gentleman I think he's the same one, I heard him earlier saying he wrote his will while he was in his room.
CHETRY: Terrifying.
ROMANS: Police and officials had to go room to room afterward to see what kind of damage and make sure people were OK. I mean, it was just --
VELSHI: And that they had gotten all the terrorists.
CHETRY: And it does raise questions, and we're going to be talking about this later a little bit later in the show with some of our experts on security issues, how they prevent this and, you know, when you talk about eight suicide bombers clearly coordinated how they were able to get in.
VELSHI: This is one of the worst kind, right, because it's not some big event, it's something that can be replicated by whether it's lone wolves or small groups all over the world. So, we'll tell you what that's all about.
VELSHI: Also want to talk about Greece right now. In financially strapped Greece, it's decision day on a government plan to cut spending and raise taxes. These are live pictures here just ahead of the vote expected in about an hour. Right now, thousands of people are again protesting in the streets of Athens. They've already tightened the belt once, austerity means they're going to have to do it again.
There are reports of utter chaos again today. Protesters throwing stones, riot police fighting back with tear gas. A scene playing out much like it did yesterday when even our CNN crew was roughed up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you can see there's quite a lot of fighting now going on between protesters and -- we're being forced out of the way, because it's really kicking off around that corner. A fire burning in the building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The protesters, by the way, are on day two now of a 48-hour strike.
In Egypt, violent clashes between police and protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators there in Cairo. They had gathered to remember victims of the uprising that drove Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power. At least 26 police officers, five protesters were injured in that.
VELSHI: An out of control wildfire in New Mexico, at the edge of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which, as you may know is a nuclear science facility. Officials are stepping up security measures. Strong winds fanning the flames within miles of the lab's 30,000 barrels of nuclear waste containing plutonium.
Reynolds Wolf joins us live now from Los Alamos, New Mexico.
How serious is this, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: On the surface, it would seem very serious. The good news that we have for you this hour is that lab director Charles McMillan says that the materials you're referring to are at this time, they are secure. It's also considered very low radioactive material. So, that is certainly some good news.
But, still, the fires came very close -- in fact, within several miles. But lab officials insist that it's in a very safe location, very little in terms of foliage. So, the fire has very little opportunity to get close to it.
Still, though, we're talking about a facility that is about 40 square miles. The southern end of the facility they're referring to has been, of course, touched by the fire. The western fringes of the laboratory facility have been threatened by the fire and as weather conditions really look kind of hostile over the next several days, we can see the flames continue to spread.
And trust me, Ali, they have been just roaring. The fires have been a very aggressive one since Sunday. Some 60,000 acres, 60,000 acres of ponderosa pine and mixed conifer gone up in smoke. There's plenty of material, plenty of foliage out there in those hillsides to really, for the fire to continue to feed.
They believe that this fire, which started on private property, actually began by a power line, actually just dropping, hitting some of the grasses, and, of course, then everything went up. I can tell you that, obviously, people have been affected by it, too. Here in this town of Los Alamos, you had anywhere from 10,000 to about 12,000 that evacuated. Those evacuations started on Monday.
As you come back to me for a moment, we got CNN photojournalist John Torigoe behind the camera.
John, if we can pan down the street and show people what's happening here -- Ali, as you can imagine the rest of America can see, not much. Thick smoke in the area. We've seen some command vehicles go by and occasional police car, few news vehicle here and there, trying to tell the story of what's been happening here.
One of the great stories here, though, is that the evacuation that took place was very orderly, wasn't a single fender-bender, but still, they got a lot of people out there that are just terrified as to what they may come back to in the next several days and possibly weeks. People wondering are their homes still going to be here.
And it's not just in this part of Arizona, Ali. You know, we've got fires that have popped up not just across parts of New Mexico but, of course, over the region, across the state line into Arizona. We've got three major wildfires. They hope to have one pretty much under control by today. But still, it's going to be very difficult with the weather conditions we're going to see over the next several days.
By next week, though, as Rob Marciano will tell you, we do expect the moisture to come back and with that, a better chance of rain.
Ali, let's pitch it back to you.
VELSHI: All right. Rob -- I'm sorry, Reynolds. I see you have a bandana there, I guess, to help when the smoke is out there. I hope it helps. Stay safe, all right? Reynolds, we'll catch up with you later and we'll check in with Rob about the weather forecast coming up.
CHETRY: And meanwhile in Nebraska, federal regulators say that two nuclear plants threatened by floodwaters from the Missouri River are safe. It's, of course, welcome news.
A watchdog group for the nuclear power industry visited the Fort Calhoun plant yesterday. Officials say the facility is still safe. The plant, though, has been off-line since April for refueling. It was not up and generating power.
But we will continue to watch this story and bring you the latest developments. ROMANS: I know this story we're watching -- another dramatic day in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Casey's family members back on the stand and disturbing testimony from the meter reader who discovered little Caylee's remains.
And the real bombshell happened after the jury left the courtroom from Casey's former fiance. She testified.
Carol Costello joins us live from Orlando.
So, first of all, the testimony from Roy Kronk was pretty surprising, the meter reader. But also perhaps most surprising was the testimony the jury never heard.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jury never heard from Casey Anthony's former fiance as you say, his name is Jesse Grund. The judge chased the jury out of the room so he could determine whether the testimony was admissible in court.
Basically, Jesse Grund testified that Casey Anthony told him that her brother Lee used to stare at her at night while she was sleeping, and at one time, even touched her inappropriately. And, of course, that would point to the alleged sexual abuse charges that she has pinned on her brother.
Now, the reason the judge may not allow this testimony is because it's hearsay. Courts like testimony such as this to come right from the source. So, that means Casey Anthony would have to tell the court she saw her brother at night and that he touched her inappropriately.
So, we don't think that Jesse Grund's testimony will be allowed to be heard in front of the jury.
The other emotional testimony of the day, as you said, was from this meter reader. His name was Roy Kronk. He's the one that found Casey Anthony's body in that wooded area down the street from the Anthony home.
He found it in December. He called 911 three times. A sheriff's deputy came out to investigate, didn't find anything, even shot Kronk out. So, Kronk said he just threw up his hands and forget about it -- until he went back to the same site three months later, he spotted the same bag in that wooded area. This time, he went to investigate. He picked up the bag and he noticed a tiny skull on the ground.
Listen to what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY KRONK, DISCOVERED CAYLEE'S BODY: I was looking at it from behind and I still didn't think it was real. So, I very gently took it and put it into the right eye socket and I gently pivoted it up and looked down and realized what it was and I set it down as gently as I could and went up and called my area supervisor.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Now, defense attorneys were trying to paint Roy Kronk -- and I'm going to quote here from their opening arguments, "as a morally bankrupt-person who took Caylee's body and hid it in the woods." That apparently was the three month discrepancy that I talked about. Most legal experts don't believe the defense actually proved that, but they do think what this testimony did prove is that the body was tampered with. You know there's all this argument over this duct tape that was supposedly used to kill Caylee Anthony, you know, placed over the nose and mouth of the child to suffocate her.
Well, if Kronk picked up the skull, picked up the bag, he could have dislodged that duct tape and who knew what that duct tape was used for.
Testimony does continue today, everyone. We think we're going to hear from a grief counselor and she's going to try to explain Casey Anthony's behavior after her child disappeared and then this trial will probably wrap up in the next day or two, at least that's what the judge is hoping.
CHETRY: Definitely a far cry, though, to say, you know, a morally bankrupt human to somebody on the stand saying "I called the cops three times," which was backed up, you know, by other facts. So, that's a tough day for the defense in my opinion.
COSTELLO: Yes. And his son, Roy Kronk's son, might take the stand because the defense wants to prove that his father called him and it told him, you know, he was going to be famous because he found this body and was going to collect some money. So, we'll see what happens today.
VELSHI: All right. Carol, thanks.
A glimmer of good news for those of you thinking about selling your house. Prices are up just slightly. It's the first time prices have gone up in nine months. The spring buying season bumped up the numbers for April. The biggest gains of the 20-city S&P Case-Shiller survey were seen in the Washington area, Seattle and Atlanta.
This news is fueling a rally on Wall Street. The Dow was up 145 points yesterday. As you can see, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also up.
And French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is the new head of the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde follows Dominique Strauss-Kahn who was arrested in New York last month on sexual assault charges and she's the first woman to run the IMF.
CHETRY: President Obama will hold a news conference in the White House East Room this morning, and it comes as the president gets involved in talks about raising the nation's debt ceiling as his war powers are being challenged in Congress over Libya, and a week after he announced the troop drawdown in Afghanistan. This will be his first full news conference in almost four months.
And, of course, you can see it live 11:30 Eastern, right here on CNN and online at CNN.com/live. ROMANS: All right. To Tiger Woods now. He has signed his first endorsement deal since his sex scandal first broke. He was dropped, of course, by companies like Gillette, Gatorade, Accenture, AT&T. But, now, a Japanese drug company has picked him up to push a cream for muscle cream. The first TV ads for the product featuring Tiger will debut this first.
"Sports Illustrated" still ranked Tiger as the top U.S. -- earning U.S. athlete of 2010 despite the troubles on and off the course.
VELSHI: Now, here's something that caught all of our attention this morning. Had she lived, Princess Diana would have celebrated her 50th birthday on Friday.
ROMANS: Wow.
VELSHI: So, the people's princess is gracing the cover of "Newsweek" magazine, but not in the way you might expect. The picture is creeping some people out. It's an age projected photo of Diana, digitally super-imposed, strolling alongside her son William's new bride Catherine Middleton.
CHETRY: Yes, and there's two other pictures in there, one has here with an iPhone super-imposed in her hand and another is a re-tweet. They're saying, if Diana were alive today, she'd be on Twitter and she'd be retweeting Dalai Lama.
Well, anyway. So, we wanted to ask our question of the day. Is the PhotoShopped Diana cover a tribute or just tacky?
We want to know what you think. Send us an email, a tweet, tell us about it on Facebook, we link up the story, by the way, so you can see for yourself, CNN.com/AM. And we'll read some of your thoughts a little bit later in the morning.
VELSHI: All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING: scary moments for the crew of the International Space Station. We'll tell you what caused the astronauts to head for cover.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A dangerously close call, space debris on a collision course with the International Space Station. Six astronauts forced to take cover in escape capsules yesterday. Russia (INAUDIBLE) the reports the debris came within 820 feet. By the time it was spotted officials say it was simply too late to try to maneuver around it. Luckily the debris passed by without any problems. NASA is investigating.
VELSHI: So, you know, I - I'm not - I'm really all that keen going into space, but I'd love to see, because I hear of all this junk flying around, I want to get some -
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: - sense of how much junk there is and if it's coming towards you what your options are. That's kind of - they had to get ready to -
CHETRY: Get into an emergency capsule.
ROMANS: Imagine (INAUDIBLE) -
CHETRY: Obviously they train for that.
VELSHI: You see this thing coming, and whether you're (INAUDIBLE) around it like Star Wars, like -
ROMANS: And, you know, it looks like a Commodore 64 flying by, you know, like from the 1970s -
CHETRY: I know. The old space junk.
ROMANS: -- like the old space junk.
CHETRY: It really - it does paint an interesting picture.
But NASA is also preparing, by the way, for its grand finale, "Atlantis" is set to launch July 8th. It is the final flight for NASA's Space Shuttle Program.
VELSHI: The final one. Isn't this exciting?
ROMANS: I know. This is it.
VELSHI: I'm going, yes.
CHETRY: I actually get goose bumps every time -
VELSHI: I know.
CHETRY: -- I think about it.
VELSHI: Every time I watch one of these take off and land I get goose bumps. But to think that's the last one.
CHETRY: It's going to be on a 12-day journey delivering spare parts and supplies to the International Space Station. So once the space craft returns home, NASA is going to rely, as we said, you - we go back and forth with this, on Russian Shuttles, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: The Soyuz, right, to be able to send astronauts -
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- into space and bring them back. And then we have a commercial space program -
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: -- that's hoping to I guess fill that gap within three years.
VELSHI: That's - that's right. Yes. And there just about - a lot of testing has been done, test flights have been done, and I'll be there.
CHETRY: That's going to be great.
VELSHI: Yes. We'll be there every step of the way, actually, as NASA prepares. I'm not going to be on the space shuttle, I'll just be near it.
CHETRY: You'll be down there with John Zarrella eating popcorn and crying.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Space case yes, astronaut no.
VELSHI: Exactly.
CHETRY: Also, you can catch "Beyond Atlantis The Next Frontier." This is a CNN Special Investigation that should be pretty cool, airs Sunday night, 8:00, Eastern.
VELSHI: That's great. All right.
Back to the brazen terror attack staged by Taliban militants on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, eight suicide attackers, 10 others were killed. The attackers stormed the hotel armed with guns and grenades. They battled Afghan and NATO forces for hours, leading - leaving the hotel in flames. It's reminiscent of those attacks in Mumbai.
CNN's Jerome Starkey is following developments. He's live in Kabul. Tell us where we stand right now, Jerome.
JEROME STARKEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the building has been cleared, but you can see behind me, the damage is very evident. And the fifth floor, there was an explosion towards the end of the battle this morning which set the building ablaze.
Afghan Security Forces believe that eight Taliban militants crept up through these woods behind me on the slopes of the hill underneath the Intercontinental Hotel so that they could bypass the two police checkpoints which guard the only road in and out of this hotel.
It was an audacious attack. The first suicide bomber detonating his vest in the lobby. At least five of his armed accomplices and storming their way onto the roof of the building. It started at around 10:00 last night. It wasn't really over until long after 3:00 A.M. this morning. And indeed, that by the time the sun rose here in Kabul, NATO, Special Forces and Afghan commandos were still searching through the building, looking for survivors, looking for victims, but also very wary that there may still have been insurgents hiding out in the 200-room hotel.
VELSHI: And we think that they've - they've cleared that now? They've - they've got everybody out who they think was either an insurgent or - or a potential victim?
STARKEY: Certainly they have cleared the hotel now. The fighting has - has stopped and the fire has been brought under control.
The real question now is that NATO is trying to paint this operation to clear the building as a success for the Afghan commandos. That the response to the attack, they say, was led by an Afghan Special Forces unit. But certainly the question on many people's minds here what is this means for transition. Because it was only when NATO Special Forces arrived in their helicopters and their snipers could shoot onto the roof of the building, killing the remaining five insurgents, five hours after they first arrived, that the battle was finally brought under control.
VELSHI: Jerome, thanks very much for the report. We'll stay with it.
ROMANS: Yes. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the Venezuelan government says rumors of President Hugo Chavez's poor health are greatly exaggerated, and new video shows Chavez for the first time since having emergency surgery.
VELSHI: He looks pretty robust in those pictures.
ROMANS: Yes. Castro, Chavez -
VELSHI: All those two are very -
ROMANS: -- look like they're in track suits (ph).
CHETRY: Looks like they're - yes. That's ahead to begin (ph).
VELSHI: Well, yes. They're about to - exactly. Or just getting back from it. I'm not sure whether that was staged to make them look as athletic as they do.
CHETRY: Well, he flipped the bird to another driver and was ticketed by police rather than the driver who was actually breaking traffic laws. He claimed the cops violated his rights and he's taking it to court.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The Dow jumped 145 points yesterday riding good news on housing prices. A new report on mortgages comes out in less than an hour and that could affect pre-market trading.
Protesters hitting the streets of Athens today on day two of the general strike there. Investors are watching Parliament closely as a vote on tax increases and spending cuts is expected to start soon. The proposed five-year austerity package needs to be pushed through in order for Greece to receive more funds from the European Union and to avoid default.
President Obama will hold a news conference later today and could address mounting pressure about the federal budget. One Washington Think Tank reports the U.S. Treasury will not be able to pay about $35 billion of its monthly bills if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling in time. Social Security checks, Medicare payments and federal worker and military paychecks are all at risk.
Bank of America is close to a settlement with professional investors over sour mortgages packed up and sold before the housing bubble burst. That's according to several published reports this morning. The deal is reportedly worth $8.5 billion. Bank of America stock is up more than two percent in pre-market trading this morning on the news of these reports.
More reports fueling talk of a tech bubble today. Zynga could be the next company to file for an initial public offering. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that the game maker could file as early as today in a value of $20 billion. That doubles the price tag of the start-up which made online games like Farmville and others that are played on Facebook.
Well, to offset high gas prices, Wal-Mart is announcing a program offering 10 cents off a gallon of gas at its gas stations when you shop using the store's gift and credit cards. The deal is available in 18 states and it ends in September. The grocery store chain Stop & Shop began a similar program in the northeast back in April.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break with a live report from Greece where thousands of protesters are, again, taking to the streets this morning.
Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. Time to take a look at our top stories this morning.
Afghan authorities have just completed a search of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, in the wake of a brazen and sustained terror attack. Eight suicide bombers were killed by Afghan and NATO forces. Ten others, eight civilians and two police officers also died.
A wildfire moving closer to the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, some experts have new concerns this morning after strong winds pushed the flames dangerously close to more than 20,000 barrels of nuclear waste on that property. Lab officials, though, they say they have taken the proper precautions and are maintaining this morning there is no immediate threat but the lab remains shut down.
Key testimony in the Casey Anthony murder trial. The meter reader who discovered Caylee's remains took the stand, describing the day that he found those remains as, quote, "horrific."
Meanwhile, Casey's former fiance spoke just after the jury left the courtroom. The judge decided to block his testimony alleging or saying that it was hearsay after he described Casey telling him that her brother Lee once stood over her while she was sleeping.
ROMANS: All right. Athens on edge this morning as the cash-strapped Greek government prepares to vote on a new plan to cut spending again and raise taxes again. Already, thousands of people are in the streets on one side you have protesters and on the other riot police standing by with tear gas.
VELSHI: Richard Quest is live in Athens this morning.
Richard, how are things looking in the streets of Athens because we're getting very, very close to this vote in parliament?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And they're not looking that good, Ali. In the last five minutes, the police have been firing the stun grenades and the tear gas, trying to push the protesters back further. Best that I let you see for yourself and get out of the way. I'll talk over the pictures that you're looking at. The protesters are moving forward against the line of police, just by the parliament, Ali.
What happens is, as they rush towards the fence, they start throwing large pieces of marble. And that's exactly what happens. The stun grenades go off. The tear gas gets thrown in which will start blowing over into this particular direction.
Ali, that's the situation. The debate itself in parliament behind me, that is due to finish in the next hour or so, Ali, and then MPs will vote. It will be tight, but most, if you like, educated opinions suggest, the government will get its way and it will pass, Ali.
ROMANS: And, Richard, it's Christine here.
So, the government will get its way and pass it. That will, of course, not be the people's way. We've already been here before.
What do we think or know if they pass this, if the government can actually collect those taxes, it can actually enforce this austerity?
QUEST: Once again, Christine, you managed to put your finger on the 64 billion euro question.
Another of the stun grenades going off behind me.
Not only do they have to pass today's legislation, Christine, over the next 48 hours, they have to pass a variety of enabling legislation to make it happen. And then it has to happen.
Now, I think first thing's first. If they get it through today, that will at least release the money from the government from the Europeans and the IMF so there will be no default. And I think that's the immediate crisis over. Then everybody can start working out, bail out number two, how much and whether that needs to be put into place.
The tear gas now, truly wafting across the square here in Athens.
VELSHI: All right. Richard, keep a close eye on it for us. We'll check in with you constantly as it develops. Obviously, there'll be a massive reaction outside to when that bill passes, so keep close contact with us. We're going to want to watch that carefully.
The world's eyes are on the square right now.
What were you saying, Richard?
QUEST: I was just about to say, no one can really know when this vote happens, how the reaction will be. Will it be an inevitability of it going through fizzle it out or send it into uproar? There's that dreadful, old phrase, "Time will tell." We will know in a few hours.
VELSHI: All right. Richard, we'll stay on top of it with you. Richard Quest and a number of members of the CNN team are at that square, that central square in Athens.
Hugo Chavez sighted on TV. There have been comments that nobody had seen for a little while.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: The country's president, Venezuelan president, appearing on state television in his trademark track suit along with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro also wearing athletic wear. The meeting officials say took place in Havana. First video of Chavez since he had emergency surgery in Cuba almost three weeks ago.
The government says it wanted to dispel rumors of his deteriorating health, which were out there. There were definitely rumors circulating. These two guys look like the picture of life and health just before their run.
CHETRY: Or after.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Or a pickup game.
Well, the FBI now reportedly is trying to find out who was responsible for the grave mix-ups at Arlington National Cemetery. "The Washington Post" is reporting an investigation has been under way for at least six months looking into this. A Senate report found that cemetery had either lost track or mishandled more than 6,000 sets of remains of military heroes, many of them may be lost forever.
VELSHI: A court hearing set for Jared Loughner today. He's the accused gunman who killed six people, including a young girl, and severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the Tucson massacre in January. His lawyers want to stop doctors from giving him mind-altering psychotropic drugs to treat his schizophrenia and then want to make him competent to stand trial. That's what the drugs are intended to do. His lawyers say that violates his rights.
ROMANS: All right. Former Boston Irish mob boss Whitey Bulger in court yesterday in his jail jumpsuit and telling the feds, don't be a rat. He wants a judge to clamp down on leaks from federal agents about his case saying it's keeping him from getting a fair trial. Bulger was the inspiration, of course, for Jack Nicholson's character in the movie "The Departed." He was a fugitive for 16 years and is facing charges in 19 mob-related murders.
VELSHI: Well, if you haven't done it, you probably thought about flipping off a driver who cut you off, or made some other stupid maneuver in traffic. That's what happened to a guy in Missouri. Steven Pogh (ph) flipped the bird to a driver who forced his way into an already jammed intersection as the lights turned red. Minutes later, police were ticketing him for the gesture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arm was there, and like I said, not proud, but I showed my displeasure of them blocking the intersection. So, it's like, let's see the person that breaks the two laws walks and the person who kind of doing their first amendment free speech right thing gets the ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: So, Pogh, as you can tell, claims it's a violation of his free speech. He plans to tell it to a judge at a court appearance in August.
Let me have to ask you guys. Are you -- do you react to bad drivers? That's what I do.
CHETRY: Yes, I do, but I don't flip the bird.
VELSHI: I -- I don't do that but a lot of --
CHETRY: Yes. Me, too. I do a lot of "what heck are you thinking" type thing. But you never know. I mean, if someone is crazy enough to break the law, you never know if they're crazy enough to do something else. So, try to keep it under control.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- cars one time and I heard the older one say, what a jerk, and I went -- definitely heard that from me. So, I don't say anything anymore. I don't say anything and I don't flip the bird.
VELSHI: All right. I don't know if he should have got a ticket for it, but whatever.
ROMANS: My prediction is that gets dropped.
CHETRY: And the luckiest guy in the world, one that doesn't get the ticket for breaking two different traffic laws.
ROMANS: All right. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: It was Sarah Palin the movie star, not Sarah Palin the candidate in Iowa yesterday. A new documentary about her political career hits the big screen, but how it ends may still be a mystery. CHETRY: And we want to show you some live pictures right now. We are watching Greece this morning, Athens. You see it's still a site of clashes between protesters and police there as Greece gets ready for a key vote in parliament. It needs more belt tightening in an already austerity weary nation.
We're following the very latest on how it affects you at home.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-one minutes past the hour.
It's created more buzz than some Hollywood blockbusters. It's a new and pretty flattering documentary about Sarah Palin's political career and it debuted in Iowa last night.
ROMANS: The location, the timing with President Obama in the state on the same day, not an accident as she continues to flirt with her own presidential run.
Our Joe Johns is live for us in beautiful Pella, Iowa, this morning.
So, how did the premiere go?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is really a summer soap opera, isn't it? I mean, not the documentary, but whether or not she's going to run. I can tell you, I was sitting inside this theater. The movie is like an hour and 59 minutes or something like that.
And all the way through the movie, while you heard this story about her life, her rise in politics, there were people inside who actually thought that by the end of the movie, she's going to make some kind of announcement about her presidential intentions. It, of course, did not happen.
And when we talk to people later, some people felt it was a little bit unsatisfying and for others, it was just about right.
Let's listen to some of the comments from people who actually saw the movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADELINE MEYER, ATTENDED PALIN MOVIE PREMIERE: I think that now in this time period, especially because everything and all the heat she's taken, I do not think that right now would be the correct time for her to run. However, there's definitely other things that I think she would succeed in and just being a rallying point for the Tea Party movement, the Republican movement. I know the -- basically, the conservative side. However, I do not see her as a running candidate for the 2012 election.
CRAIG FORD, ATTENDED PALIN MOVIE PREMIERE: If she ain't running, this is the greatest trick play in the history of trick plays, man. She's running. And she's going to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: But she didn't say that. And so, the mystery continues. A little bit of a cliffhanger here in Pella, Iowa, guys.
CHETRY: And, Joe, I love what her daughter Bristol said. Let's listen to what she said about her --
VELSHI: We don't have what the daughter said.
JOHNS: I lost audio, but you're asking about what Bristol Palin said? And yes, she -- apparently went on TV and said Sarah Palin has actually made up her mind as to whether she was going to run, but didn't say what the decision was.
So, we got to ask Sarah Palin about that and let's just listen to the sound bite.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Bristol is a smart and independent and strong young woman. Listen to her. You know what I told Bristol when I heard that, I said Bristol, what we say on the fishing boat stays on the fishing boat. You don't need to be announcing anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Not Las Vegas, but the fishing boat. So, there you go. We still don't know and Sarah Palin's not talking at least for now. She certainly sounded as though she hasn't ruled out the possibility of running and I guess that just gives us more room to chase her all around and try to figure out what she's going to do.
Back to you.
VELSHI: Well, the good news is she's not going anywhere other people aren't going.
CHETRY: Joe Johns, thank you.
VELSHI: So, the question is, what happens on the fishing boat staying on the fishing boat.
ROMANS: You said fishing boat. She said fishin' boat. It's definitely --
VELSHI: What was said on the fishin' boat is what I want to know. Did she say I'm running? She didn't say that the kid's not telling the truth.
CHETRY: Yes. Well -- and it would have been too perfect at the end of the documentary she comes up, "I'm actually declaring my candidacy today." But that didn't happen. VELSHI: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who has declared her candidacy, is not only running for president, she's dancing. Check it out. This is from Bachmann's visit to South Carolina yesterday. She and her husband showing off the moves doing South Carolina state dance, the shag to Elvis's "Promise Land."
Did you know she had a state dance?
ROMANS: I sent you an e-mail of all the state dances, remember?
VELSHI: You did?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: I hadn't seen him before. I've seen so much of her.
VELSHI: She's been married 25 years. They've been married 25 years. They have five kids and then 23, oh, that they have fostered over the years.
ROMANS: And she told Kiran yesterday that the most they had at home at one time was --
CHETRY: Nine children at a time.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: And then she said it was a lot of fun, but see, time blurs all -- right? One day, when our kids grow up say it was fun, too.
VELSHI: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. The first tropical, the named tropical storm of the season is churning right now off the coast of Mexico. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Any danger of this hitting land, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's going to hit Mexico, that's for sure. The question is, does some of that moisture get up into the U.S. where we badly needed, and the answer to that is probably not. Not a whole lot. That's for sure. It's really across the southwestern corner of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bay of Campeche is about 300 miles to the east of Tampico. A little less than that, actually, and heading that way.
It will be there, make landfall by tomorrow morning, and we don't expect it to become much more than, you know, a lower to mid-grade tropical storm. So, this shouldn't become a hurricane. Delays in New York today because of wind. Tampa and Miami, boy, Miami you've seen a wet month. Salt Lake City, wind as well and San Francisco, some rainfall. This is very, very late in the season to see rain in San Francisco, and they got record-breaking amounts of it yesterday.
There's that storm that's coming in across the intermountain west. The heat is going to continue. As a matter of fact, it's going to build across parts of the central plains. Meanwhile, not so bad across the northeast from Chicago back to New York. That front finally through the area and that's going to create more comfortable conditions, but extreme and critical fire danger across parts of the southwest including parts of Nevada.
Not so much for New Mexico today, but some of those winds will be on the increase as we go through tomorrow. The smoke is going to be an issue, obviously, out there for the firefighters with minimal containment on that. 101 degrees expected in Dallas today, 91 degrees in Memphis, and 81 degrees, not so shabby, up there in New York. Guys, back up to you.
ROMANS (on-camera): Thanks, Rob.
VELSHI: Rob, good to see you. Thank you, my friend. We'll check in with you again.
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, why Frank Sinatra could never make it in the big leagues. A major league slugger says that his blue eyes are the reason that he can't buy a hit in the daytime. Wait until you see the creepy-looking solution.
VELSHI: And let's take a look at what's going on in Greece. We are nearing the parliamentary vote there, which is, obviously, being protested in the streets for a second day. You can see tear gas canisters. You can see police jostling with protesters. We've got live coverage on the ground. We will be back to Greece momentarily. Stay with us. We're keeping our eye on this story. It's 47 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The state of Maine is home to some of the world's best lobster fishing. Bringing in more than 90 million pounds a year, but what's left behind is a lot of waste.
ROBERT BAYER, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE: There are some shells that go into composts. Most go to landfill.
TUCHMAN: Researchers at the University of Maine have come up with a way to put it to use. And it sounds like a hit. You can't hear the difference, but this ball is made of recycled lobster shells.
BAYER: It's a dynamic exciting combination. Lobsters and golf.
TUCHMAN: It started in the kitchen but was perfected in the university's labs.
DAVID NEIVANDT, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE: What we really did was take the concept and reduce it to practice, make a product out of it, had to look like a golf ball, had to perform like a real golf ball as much as possible.
TUCHMAN: Except this one is 100 percent biodegradable.
NEIVANDT: There've been studies done where projections are anything from 100 to 1,000 years for a traditional golf ball to break down in the ocean.
TUCHMAN: The ball breaks down in the ocean in about two weeks and could be used for driving ranges and cruise ships. And the lobster fishing industry (INAUDIBLE).
BAYER: We're taking something that used to go to the landfill, and it now has value.
TUCHMAN: The balls are currently being hand made in the lab, but the University of Maine is working on plans to get them into mass production and into the water soon.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's 50 minutes past the hour. Here's a look at your headlines this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, condemning the attack by Taliban militants on Kabul's hotel Inter-Continental. Eight suicide bombers were killed by Afghan and NATO forces. Eight civilians and two police officers also died. Karzai says these sorts of attacks will not disrupt the handover of security from international troops to Afghan forces.
In Greece, we're standing by for a vote expected to take place any minute on the government's plan to cut spending and raise taxes. These austerity measures are drawing tens of thousands of protesters into the streets of Athens.
The New Mexico wildfire is on the move, burning within miles of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear science facility. Some experts there are concerned about more than 16,000 barrels of nuclear waste on the property, but lab officials say all hazardous material is protected.
The Casey Anthony murder trial resumes today. The meter reader who discovered Caylee's remains testified yesterday describing that day as horrific, and the judge blocked testimony from Casey's former fiance.
California lawmakers sending a new budget to Governor Jerry Brown. The plan drafted by Democrats and the governor cuts the state's $26 billion deficit to $5 billion. It includes massive cuts to health and human services, education, and the court system.
And Tiger Woods landing his first endorsement deal since his sex scandal broke. Japanese muscle balm, the first TV ad for the product featuring Tiger will debut this Friday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. More tear gas happening in the streets of Athens. This is right in the main square right outside of the parliament building in Athens. You can see police moving in on protesters. We are near hours away from a vote in parliament that is not going over well with the Greek people but is absolutely necessary in order for Greece to secure its second bailout, but it's going to mean a lot of pain for the Greek people.
It's going to mean an increase in taxes. It's going to mean people paying taxes that weren't paying taxes in the first place and lot of cut jobs.
CHETRY: That's right. This is a two-day general strike that now set to continue into this morning. Three unions are planning marches, but what we're seeing here also is the more extreme protesting going on and actual clashes we're witnessing right here live between police and the protesters. So, again, we'll continue to follow this as there's a lot of concern. You see tear gas being fired right there.
VELSHI: You're seeing a fight. You're seeing a full fight breaking out now between police and protesters.
ROMANS: Now, the economy of Greece is about the size, if I'm not mistaken, of maybe Washington State in the U.S., and you might wonder why are global markets around the world are concerned about this? Look, the debt of Greece is owned by European banks. It's insured by lots of different banks, too. And so, you've got a global -- interconnected global system in this country.
VELSHI: Let's take a look at what's going on here. You've got a fight going on between police and protester right in the square. Right now, the police now using their batons. We haven't seen as much of this in the last couple of days. Things are definitely heating up in the last couple of minutes. We've got a full team of people, by the way, on the ground in Greece.
We've got Diana Magnay. We've got Richard Quest. They're watching all of this going on.
ROMANS: What has been going on, this really one-two dance between protesters have been throwing things, and then, the police have been firing off concussion grenades. It seems you haven't stopping things. Now, you're having a more heated reaction, and it looks as though it's fighting within the groups of protesters as well.
CHETRY: And it looks like they were trying to get them back off of that street. There you see it. Now, there are protesters being knocked to the ground. VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: Riot police. You see the crowd. I mean, this is really disturbing to watch. You see somebody looked like he had a stick or pole as well hitting police. A very dangerous situation and a volatile one as you said, Ali, just a couple of hours away from the vote.
VELSHI: The issue here is that the parliament cannot get the bailout that it needs to keep the government going if they don't take these drastic measures, and you can see the anger in the streets of Greece from people who say don't take those measures. So, talk about a rock and a hard place. Parliament's got to pass this.
And Richard Quest was just telling us moments ago as he's watching this from a balcony overlooking the scene that we're unclear as to what's going to happen when this bill passes in parliaments. It's going to be a tight vote, but does that then diffuse the energy that we're seeing in the streets or is it going to make things worse? And right now, things are definitely adding.
There's Richard right there watching it for us. Let's take a quick break. We'll stay on top of this, and we will come right back to it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
