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American Morning
NFL Talks Resume Today; Firefighters Hurt in California Crash; Casey Anthony Murder Trial; New Accusations against Dominique Strauss- Kahn; All Eyes on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; Fireworks Barge Catches Fire in the Charles River; New Warnings for Chantix Patients; Preparations for the NASA's Final Space Launch
Aired July 05, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. The jury will now decide Casey Anthony's fate. Deliberations resume today. The prosecution painting a grim picture calling Casey a pathological liar with everything to gain they say by the death of Little Caylee on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Tuesday, July 5th. Kiran is off this morning.
ROMANS: Let's start today with the big story you're all talking about. Jury deliberations resuming this morning in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Jurors failed to reach a verdict after nearly six hours of deliberations yesterday. But first, the prosecutors delivered their final blow during closing arguments calling Casey a pathological liar and questioning who had the most to gain by Caylee's death. David Mattingly joins us live from Orlando, Florida. Good morning, David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. When the jury gets back to work today, they have a lot to look at. After all, we went through 33 days of testimony in this trial, but the prosecution yesterday tried to make it very simple for them with a very clear message.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir Anthony said he would trade places with his daughter in a second.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Just minutes before the sad and tragic case was put in the hands of the jury, it looked like Casey Anthony had heard enough. The prosecution painted her as a party girl whose child got in the way and had to go. Not as the defense claims a loving mother whose little girl accidentally drowned in the family pool.
JEFF ASHTON, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: There's just no conceivable reason why anybody would put duct tape on the face of a dead child. I've said it before. People don't -- people don't make accidents look like murder. That's absurd.
MATTINGLY: In closing arguments, prosecutors used their strongest language yet, calling Anthony a "pathological liar," and playing this recorded phone conversation where Casey effortlessly lies to a friend about a nanny kidnapping Caylee.
LINDA BURDICK, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: They said that the person that you dropped Caylee with doesn't even exist.
CASEY ANTHONY: Because, oh look, they can't find her in the Florida database. She is not just from Florida. If they would actually listen to anything that I would have said to them they would have had their leads, they maybe could have tracked her down. They haven't listened to a thing that I have said.
MATTINGLY: The final blow, leaving the jury with these suspicious images, Casey Anthony living it up in the spotlight of a hot body contest and brandishing a new tattoo declaring "the beautiful life," all in the weeks after her daughter Caylee had disappeared.
BURDICK: Whose life was better? That's the only question you need to answer in considering why Caylee Marie Anthony was left on the side of the road dead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And while the jury considers that question, the stakes couldn't be higher. Remember, if they find her guilty of capital murder, she will face the death penalty. Christine?
ROMANS: All right, David Mattingly in Orlando, thank you.
VELSHI: Let's continue the discussion with Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor. She's been following the case all along with us.
ROMANS: And we're also joined by criminal defense attorney Paul Callan. Sunny, let's start with you. How did you feel yesterday in the prosecution's sort of driving the nail in here that this woman's a liar, she had motive and comes down to one question -- whose life was better?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION": I think they did a terrific job. They have to bring it home, they have to come big. I will say this. The motive issue has always been a problem for this prosecution because the defense has shown that everyone says that Casey Anthony had an amazing relationship with her daughter, that there's no sign of child abuse.
And typically women that kill their children fall into one of two camps. One, they are mentally ill, or two, they have a history of abusing their children. There was no history of that here. So the prosecution had to drive home motive. I think they did a decent job of it. I'm now sure that it took them over the hump.
But also, of course, motive is not an element of the crime. So you don't have to prove it legally. But I think this jury is wondering, why would she did something like this? Why would a mother kill such a beautiful child?
VELSHI: Paul, perhaps those questions will be unanswered. Is that enough to convict? PAUL CALLAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, it is enough to convict combing with the physical and scientific evidence. You know, I think when I look at this case and talk to people about this case, everybody says we think she's guilty, because what mother allows her child to disappear and what mother acts this way when the child disappears? Totally inappropriate behavior.
The prosecutor then puts on the board the decomposition smell in her car, a human body was this that car. But the big thing to me is that duct tape found on the remains. If that duct tape was put on that child, that was an intentional murder.
VELSHI: Right.
CALLAN: We also have these bizarre lies. We have a swimming pool story that is put up by defense attorneys, not an ounce of evidence offered in support.
And you know, just to show you in terms of the lies in this case, when I was prepping for this appearance yesterday, I went back to look at Baez's entry into the case when he had the first press conference. Do you know what he said at that press conference? He said, you know, my client is innocent. She knows her baby is alive. She's given me leads. I'm going to search in three states for where the baby is. She was lying to her own defense attorney when she hired him to defend her in a murder case.
VELSHI: The baby drowned?
CALLAN: Right. She knew that at the time? Please. I think all of that is put together for the jury, and ultimately I think they'll come to a conclusion she probably is guilty.
HOSTIN: Probably is guilty, though. Is that enough for a prosecutor? I don't think it's enough. I mean, you have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. And I agree with you, Paul. I think everyone thinks something happened here but I'm not sure anyone knows what happened here.
CALLAN: I think, Sunny, where you are going to see the compromise here, you are absolutely right. In a murder case, jurors take the responsibility very seriously to evaluate the evidence.
HOSTIN: In a capital murder case.
CALLAN: Yes. But they also look for the truth to be drawn from the evidence. And if there's a compromise here, she is found guilty but of a slightly lesser account, maybe instead of first-degree murder, second-degree murder. I can't see the jury letting her walk.
ROMANS: Will we ever -- with the lies, are we ever going to know what happened to that baby?
HOSTIN: I've been questioning myself about it. I've been following the case from the very beginning. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. The defense is saying it's an accidental drowning. I don't think that makes sense. As you mentioned, Paul, there's no evidence to support that.
The prosecution is saying the duct tape is the murder weapon but that she rendered her daughter unconscious with chloroform. I don't think that makes sense either. I think the truth is probably in the middle and lies with Casey Anthony and such a prolific liar. Will we ever know what really happened? I don't know.
VELSHI: The complicating factor is everybody around her has a different story. And I think that's got to be hard for a juror to comprehend. Maybe I don't believe her. Do I believe her mother? Do I believe her father? Do I believe her brother?
CALLAN: Can you imagine, they're in the jury room debating this -- the death of this poor little baby and back to the chloroform and the duct tape thing.
ROMANS: May be arguing over that a lot. I have a feeling.
CALLAN: Putting her to sleep with the chloroform, why do you need the duct tape? Maybe she wanted to go to the party and putting the kid to sleep. Where does the duct tape come from? You just put -- it was a brutal murder intentionally, you put the duct tape on. They're arguing about this. Will we know? I don't know if we will.
ROMANS: Yes. The whole thing with the guy moving the body, the duct tape from. Was it really on the mouth or someplace else?
CALLAN: Reasonable doubt lives here.
VELSHI: You're right. If you're a prosecutor sitting here and you have been sitting here saying they have certainly introduced enough reasonable doubt into this.
HOSTIN: They have. I mean, it does live there.
VELSHI: Just by confusion.
HOSTIN: Just by confusion. Sort of the defense trick - you throw the spaghetti on the wall and figure out what sticks.
VELSHI: We'll continue to talk to you about this, Sunny Hostin and Paul Callan.
ROMANS: All right, a new sexual assault complaint being filed today against former head Dominique Strauss-Kahn. A French journalist claims that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her eight years ago. At the time her mother advised her not to file a complaint fearing it would hurt her young career. Strauss-Kahn's attorneys say she is, quote, "making false declarations."
VELSHI: A high ranking drug lord is taken down. Officials calling ate triumph for the Mexican government. Police arrested the man on Sunday, Mexican authorities say he's a founding member of the Zetas organization and suspected in the murder of an ICE agent Jamie Zapata back in February. ROMANS: Members of Congress back at work this morning to work on a possible debt ceiling deal. And with the August 2 deadline quickly approaching, the White House is warning of dire consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised. There's word Republicans might be, might be willing to embrace a temporary deal. It would give the government enough money to continue paying its bills for just a few more months.
VELSHI: We have known of this problem for a long time.
ROMANS: They've raised the debt ceiling six or seven times.
VELSHI: I think everybody has to get it done.
ROMANS: The debt ceiling is leverage in a bigger fight, a bigger ideological fight between Democrats and Republicans, something that they have raised pro forma for years without addressing the bigger problem of the United States spending more than it brings in.
VELSHI: It's a very dangerous fight. It's apples and shampoo.
ROMANS: You are right.
VELSHI: Only thing in common is buying them at a grocery store.
The governor of Montana wants answers, calling for more to be done in the oil cleanup. ExxonMobil reports at least 200 workers are on site. Nearly 42,000 gallons of oil leaked into the water after a pipeline cracked on Friday. They were able to stop the leak.
ROMANS: A fireworks barge on fire in the Charles River in Boston. It was part of the city's Fourth of July fireworks show last night. The Boston fire department was able to put out the flames about an hour ago. No word yet on how it started or if anyone was hurt.
VELSHI: And 20,000 calories in 10 minutes. Joey chestnut scarfing down -- watch this.
ROMANS: Don't watch this.
VELSHI: He scarfed down 62 hot dogs for the fifth consecutive Nathan's famous eating contest.
ROMANS: It's looks like he's going to be sick!
VELSHI: There's a good chance of that. This was not a personal best for Joey chestnut, but he did win, eating nine more dogs than the next closest guy.
ROMANS: There was a little controversy. Tikero Kobiyashi, you might remember him, he staged his own renegade hot dog eating contest in Manhattan yesterday. He ate 69 dogs and buns. That would have been a world record, but he's in some sort of contract dispute with --
VELSHI: He's not part of the Nathan's thing.
ROMANS: He's staging his own because he decided not to be a part of it.
VELSHI: It's that a record or not? It's all very complicated.
ROMANS: It's only a record if it happens on Coney Island.
VELSHI: They always seem smaller than I'd expect.
ROMANS: I know. You know, little people with big appetites.
VELSHI: There you go.
ROMANS: Three days and counting to the final mission of the space shuttle program. Up next, life after the shuttle, and the race also to commercialize space.
VELSHI: And scary moments at a civil war reenactment act. Why they say they're lucky to be alive, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Come Friday morning, we'll be witnessing the end of an era in space travel.
VELSHI: The crew on this mission, small crew, they're being called the final four. The astronauts arriving yesterday at the Kennedy space center in Florida in those test jets.
ROMANS: That's right where we find CNN's John Zarrella this morning. John, a new era in space travel is about to begin, isn't it?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Christine and Ali. We are at the forefront of a radical change. And it's certainly not without its risk, but in the future, NASA's going to go back to what they do best which is exploration and saying to commercial companies, low earth orbit is yours.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Elon Musk runs Space X. Richard Branson has Virgin Galactic. Both are using their considerable wealth to back bold attempts to make space travel as routine as boarding an airplane.
RICHARD BRANSON, VIRGIN GALACTIC: People used to say, it's impossible to build your own spaceship and your own spaceship company and be able to take people into space. And, you know, that's the kind of challenge I love to sort of prove them wrong.
ELON MUSK, SPACE X: I want to see a future where we are exploring the stars, where we're going to other planets, where we're doing the great things that we read about in science fiction and in the movies.
ZARRELLA(voice-over): There are several companies, some big, some small, who see as NASA moves on to distant planets that weightless region just above the atmosphere. Just out of reach right now becoming quite possibly a good investment. GEORGE MUSSER, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE: NASA is still in there, still with a heavy lift rocket. But we've also got this hopefully flowering of private space flight and that's what's get us the Hilton and the Hertz or in cars or whatever in orbit.
ZARRELLA: Space X and Virgin Galactic are on the verge of not just opening but stepping through that door to the future.
MUSK: We want to make space accessible to everyone. I mean, that's a revolutionary change and incredibly exciting, and it brings the possibility of space travel to all Americans, which is fantastic.
ZARRELLA: Next year, Musk hopes to begin carrying cargo to the International Space Station, eventually astronauts, a commercial company replacing the space shuttle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confirmed. Docking is complete.
MUSK: We believe firmly we can send astronauts to the space station within three years of receiving a NASA contract to do so.
ZARRELLA: But unless it's safe, NASA's administrator says no U.S. astronaut will be on board.
CHARLIE BOLDEN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: I cannot allow them to put us in jeopardy by not focusing on crew safety and the like. That's my job.
ZARRELLA: The stakes are high. There is no turning back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome the future of space travel.
ZARRELLA: With the shuttle retired and astronauts left to riding Russian spaceships, NASA is counting on commercial companies to get it right, make it work. And the more who make it work, the more affordable it will become.
BRANSON: That's the end of a particular era. And it's up to individuals like myself if you're in a position to be able to, you know, achieve wonderful things, you know, to not waste that position.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Down and locked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: A little later today, NASA's going to hold a briefing and update everyone on the status of the shuttle launch, status for the weather for Friday morning at 11:26 a.m. and at 1:00 this afternoon, the countdown clock picks up for the countdown starting for the final launch in the history of the space shuttle program -- Christine, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'll be down with you, John, on Friday morning.
ZARRELLA: Yes, Friday. VELSHI: Good time.
Tell me this. Our question of the day, which we're going to just ask for our viewers in a minute, has to do with whether the government should remain in the business of space exploration. In truth, when you ask NASA, they tell you they're keen to stay in the business of space exploration. They're getting out of the business of shuttling people and cargo to the International Space Center.
ZARRELLA: Yes, no question. And NASA's saying that, look, what we're going to do is take the money that we were using on shuttle and we're diverting it to building a heavy lift rocket, already building a multi-purpose space capsule. Their plan now it looks like will be to go to an asteroid in 2025, manned mission, and then eventually human mission to mars after that.
The question, of course, the big question is, is there enough national resolve in this country to say, NASA, here's the money. Go do that. That's the question.
And that's still will be, you know, sometime down the road before we have answers to that.
VELSHI: Got it. It's good context for the question. Thank you, John. We'll see you through the course of the week. We'll definitely see you on Friday.
Stay with CNN for live coverage this Friday, July 8th, 11:26 a.m. as --
ROMANS: The very last time, the final space shuttle mission ever.
VELSHI: And that brings us to our question of the day. Should the federal government get out of the business of space exploration?
Lots of great answers coming from. Send us an e-mail, a tweet or tell us on Facebook. We'll read your thoughts throughout the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. Minding your business this morning.
Stock futures are slightly higher ahead of the opening bell. Investors are waiting for a new report on factory orders for May to get a fresh look of the U.S. economy. Those figures come out at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Former French finance minister Christine Lagarde starts a first day on the job at the International Monetary Fund today. He's replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn as our first female chief of the IMF.
Economists surveyed by CNNMoney.com say default by a European country like Greece ranks as the scariest risk to the U.S. economy. A close second is another oil price shock, like the one following turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East. A new report says pay for top American executives back on the rise nearing pre-recession levels. That's according to a study for by Equilar (ph) for "The New York Times." The median pay for big company executives last year, $10.8 million. That's a 23 percent gain from 2009.
Just in time for BLT season, bacon prices expected to sizzle this summer. Tighter hog population is pushing bacon and other pork product prices higher. Hot temperatures are also hurting supplies and that's increasing prices, too.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It's that time of year. No, not BLTs or --
VELSHI: It's BLT season apparently.
ROMANS: Yes. This is the time of the year when football fans already start talking about training camp. But there's still no deal between the NFL owners and players.
VELSHI: And that could change this week. The league and the its locked out players set to talk face to face today in New York. Fans are beginning to worry that the game on the field will suffer if they don't figure something out this week.
Here's Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're nearly four months into the NFL lockout and still no deal in place as owners and players argue over how to split up over $9 billion in annual revenue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pathetic.
JOHNS: To say fans are getting testy would be putting it mildly. James Brown, a nationally known NFL sportscaster, offers his take.
JAMES BROWN, CBS SPORTS: I would like to think that prudent heads will prevail in coming up with something that effectively is a win-win situation and doesn't alienate your fan base.
When you look at folks who are dealing with day to day issues, being cut back to 80 percent and 90 percent of their workweek, and 90 percent and 80 percent of their pay and more, or others losing their jobs, home foreclosures, one has to be very sensitive to that. JOHNS: President Obama is already on the record saying, work it out, and he did it with a little tone in his voice.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way, and be true to their fans who are the ones who obviously allow for all the money that they're making. So, my expectation and hope is, is that they will resolve it without me intervening because it turns out I've got a lot of other stuff to do.
JOHNS: Owners say the economic model has changed and that there's a need to restructure. But with the average career span of a player at about six years, players are reluctant.
Fans we talk to tend to side with the players, but they also say, get a deal done already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a business, so they can come to a win-win situation. I don't think it has to be a win-lose. I really don't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think actually both sides should just end it and get back to what they do.
JOHNS: As for the product on the field --
BROWN: I think absolutely the product will suffer if, in fact, training camps are delayed in a very significant fashion. And certainly one of the biggest concerns are injuries.
JOHNS (on camera): If a deal isn't reached soon, training camps, preseason games and the regular season would be in jeopardy and stadiums like this one would go empty, meaning: less revenue, which is something nobody wants to see happen.
Joe Johns, CNN, Landover, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Top stories now.
U.S. Forest Service bus carrying nine firefighters crashed last night in Palmdale, California. This is new video to CNN.
CNN affiliate KTLA reports that the nine firefighters sustained injuries. Three of them trapped in the vehicle. Medical evacuation helicopters were called to the scene. The crash occurred just outside the Angeles National Forest. The cause of this crash is still not known.
Jury deliberations are set to resume this morning in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Jurors failing to reach a verdict after nearly six hours yesterday, but first the prosecution had the last words calling Casey a, quote, "pathological liar" and asking whose life was better without Caylee.
Even though the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be collapsing here in the United States, he is facing trouble back in native France. The lawyer for French journalist Tristane Banon plans to file a lawsuit today claiming Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her back in 2003. Strauss-Kahn filed his own complaint accusing Banon of making false declarations.
ROMANS: We want to look at what this means for Dominique Strauss- Kahn's political future. A new poll conducted online by Harris Interactive for a French newspaper finds that the French public is split 49 percent to 45 percent on whether they want the former French presidential contender to return to politics.
Joining us is "New York Times" Paris correspondent Elaine Sciolino. Elaine, welcome back to the program. So these newest revelations, although kind of old revelations we heard from this young reporter a few weeks ago and her allegations and the allegations of her mother, but if there are charges actually filed, what does that mean for Dominique Strauss-Kahn?
ELAINE SCIOLINO, PARIS CORRESPONDENT AND FORMER PARIS BUREAU CHIEF, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it complicates his political future because even if her lawyer cannot convince a prosecutor to go forward with this case, it changes the atmosphere.
And certainly distracts from the Socialist Party platform of trying to beat Nicolas Sarkozy next year. Sort of like the French version of Anthony Weiner. Do really you want the entire French political landscape dominated by Dominique Strauss-Kahn's sexual proclivities and possible criminal acts.
VELSHI: Which is why it seems strange, Elaine, that members of his own party are calling for him to be included in the race. I guess, he's got until July 13th to file papers to do that.
It's not possible, despite what the outcome of what goes on in the United States. It's not possible that the conversation about Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his proclivities is not going to dominate.
Why would socialists in France still want him to be central to the argument? Is there no one close to him in perms of personality or gravitas or intellect?
SCIOLINO: You see, I have to disagree with what you're saying. Yes, there have been the odd Socialist supporter of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who said he's innocent, a martyr, comes back a hero and why shouldn't he run for president?
But what's happened in the last 24, 48 hours is cooler heads within the Socialist Party network have prevailed and they're saying this man needs to rest. We need a period of reflection.
You already have two very good candidates for the Socialist Party nomination. Martin Oblei who has a much stronger base on the left than Strauss-Kahn ever had who was sort seen of what we call a leftist with caviar tastes.
And you have (inaudible), the former head of the Socialist Party who also has a strong base in the countryside.
ROMANS: You know, it's interesting, Elaine. It all comes after last week. We saw the prosecution's case taken a big hit here in the United States and that is what really just really hit his reputation.
How is that playing now and I guess if you have the charges from the young journalist continuing forward, I mean, is it just fantasy think this guy has a political future?
SCIOLINO: This is an extraordinarily important moment in France's political culture. I have been saying for weeks that this is France's Anita Hill moment, the moment where the sexual morays in the United States changed when Anita Hill charged Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment.
And women said they just don't get about men. You're starting to see that in France. Women are starting to complain about sexual harassment. There was a conference I went to in south of Paris over the weekend with women feminist groups who are making rape one of their main issues in the coming year.
Women are just saying, look, we don't like the nasty remarks of men in the workplace. So it's a moment to be watched and the Pandora's box has been open and it's not going to close.
ROMANS: That's interesting. The Anita Hill moment for France. That's a very interesting comparison. Elaine Sciolino, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
Her book is called (inaudible) how the French play the game of life and it's a very interesting look at how the French view things differently about the quest, the chase, more so than the act or the conquest. It's in everything, politics and art, in life. Of course, this case, it's a beast all of its own and interesting.
VELSHI: Coming up next, check out the skills of the world's most famous royal air force pilot. This is Prince William, Duke of Cambridge performing his first ever water landing in a chopper.
This was deliberate by the way much to the delight of anxious crowds in Canada. The newlyweds are royal sensations there so what can we expect from William and Katherine head to L.A. next? It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Sun's trying the peek out in Washington, D.C.
ROMANS: The sun did the same thing it does every day.
VELSHI: The sun is just doing what it's doing, mostly cloudy in Washington. There are clouds blocking the sun from what it's trying to do, but it's going to be partly cloudy later on.
Getting up to a balmy 93 degrees, which doesn't matter to senators because they should be in their air conditioned offices or conference rooms trying to work out a deal.
ROMANS: Or we should turn off the air conditioning to make them work a little faster and harder. All right, the Senate back to work this morning to resume talks about a bill that would raise the government's debt ceiling.
The House reconvenes tomorrow. There are indications that the two sides might be inching towards some kind of a temporary increase that would give them more time to work out a long-term arrangement. They have had a lot of time to figure out --
VELSHI: Makes me crazy.
ROMANS: -- America's finances. But now, they are questions of the debt ceiling as leverage against bigger issues --
VELSHI: I have a full head of hair when these discussions started. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge continue their North American tour in Yellow Life, Canada this morning.
ROMANS: Where is that?
VELSHI: Way up in the north.
ROMANS: All right.
VELSHI: Yesterday, the newlywed royals thrilled admirers in Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island. Prince William putting his military training to the test practicing emergency water landings in a helicopter. He's piloting this thing. Check it out. Comes in for it.
ROMANS: Joining us live from Toronto this morning with more on the royal couple and how they're handling this very public tour is Carolyn Harris. She's a royal historian at Queens University, Canada and I keep saying that, you know, the water landing there is so dramatic and the duke spoke French in Quebec and suddenly it not just all about Kate's hair --
VELSHI: Little bit about him.
ROMANS: How are they coming off to the Canadian public?
CAROLYN HARRIS, QUEENS UNIVERSITY, CANADA: I think they're making a very good impression. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians attended the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill and Prince William delivered a speech in English and French and then when he traveled on to Quebec City, he was speaking French there. And they've really been making a good impression and attracting very positive feedback.
ROMANS: A lot different, really, than when his parents went to Canada. It was much more stiff, right? And you never really would have expected them to hug after a boat race. You know? I mean, it is a very different kind of relaxed, younger version of the monarchy, isn't it? HARRIS: Yes. Charles and Diana certainly didn't do any dragon boating coming in 1983. And certainly, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are putting together a very relaxed vibe in terms of how they relate to each other.
Whereas when Charles and Diana visited in 1983, to a certain extent, she upstaged him and there was so much interest in her fashion choices.
And her conversations with ordinary Canadians that his speeches when he was accepting honorary degrees and opening the university games tended to be overshadowed, whereas with William and Kate, his speeches and Kate's interactions with ordinary Canadians are both receiving a lot of positive attention.
VELSHI: Let's talk about a little bit of the negative attention. It happens every time there's a discussion of royals and protesters, some people at some of the stops that felt that they don't think that the royalty has any particular place in Canada. Tell us a bit about that movement. Is that a big deal?
HARRIS: Well, Canada's never had referendums regarding the abolition of the constitutional monarchy the way, for instance, Australia has. Canada's viewed as a friendly place for a royal visit and probably one of the reasons it was chosen as William and Kate's first overseas tour.
Nevertheless, there's a degree -- there's a political component to what opposition there is to Canada's relationship with the constitutional monarchy and this tends to exist the most in Quebec where certain French-Canadians, commentators, the end to view the British monarchy as symbolic of the British conquest of Canada.
So responses to William and Kate's visit to Canada tended to be more complicated in Quebec than the other stops along the tour.
ROMANS: OK, so there's royal history and there's Anne of Green Gables, for example.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: That was insiders say that the trip to Prince Edward Island was actually suggested by Kate, a big fan of the book and the series Anne of Green Gables, is that true?
HARRIS: Well, the British press reported a source close to the palace stated she enjoyed it as a child and was really interested in seeing the sights associated with the novels.
So they visited by the sea, the setting for the white sands hotel in the films and the road to Avalon TV series and traveled on by helicopter to Summerside, which took them over many of the sights from the novel.
So it shows that Kate's had influence over how this tour has been put together so there's sites of personal interest to her as well as William.
VELSHI: And there's somebody asked her a question at one point. I'm just trying to see where it was. Somebody in a crowd wished her well in the efforts to start a family. She responded, yes, I hope so. Sounds like a nice response, but that's got some royal watchers wondering what that was about.
HARRIS: Yes. There's a lot of interest in William and Kate starting a family. William was born 11 months after Charles and Diana's marriage so there is speculation that this could happen within the year.
But certainly, as royal history, you know, demonstrates, you know, things don't always go according to plan and it could, of course, be longer until they start a family.
ROMANS: They've been together for eight years and learned each other. They know they're good friends. They have had a long relationship so maybe family is the next step.
VELSHI: Carolyn, great to talk to you. Thank you for joining us giving us some insight into this.
HARRIS: Thank you.
VELSHI: Carolyn Harris, a royal historian from Queens University, my alma mater.
HARRIS: Kate, a red hat, people were giving her a thumb's up for.
VELSHI: It looks like a fun trip. They look like they're having a nice time.
ROMANS: She's speaking through --
VELSHI: That's a good point you make though because really until now, it's not much about him.
ROMANS: I think he's coming off quite well.
VELSHI: Now he's showing that he's athletic and he can fly a helicopter and he can land it in water.
ROMANS: All right. Stay with CNN all week long. We're going to follow the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge through their North American tour of Canada and then unto Los Angeles this weekend.
VELSHI: All right. Morning headlines next. And a little later, former Pennsylvania senator and now presidential hopeful Rick Santorum joins us live. He's on a 10-city tour of Iowa, fighting for American jobs. But what exactly is his plan?
ROMANS: Also, the most popular anti-smoking drug on the market, it could be dangerous for your heart. Elizabeth Cohen breaks this down for us in a few minutes. Very important for smokers, those trying to quit and those who just have. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Forty-six minutes after the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
A fireworks barge catching this fire this morning in the Charles River in Boston. It was part of the city's Fourth of July fireworks show last night. Boston firefighters say they put the fire out in about an hour. They're still trying to find out, though, how it started.
New trouble for former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He could face new sex assault charges in France. French writer Tristane Benon says Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her eight years ago. Strauss-Kahn has filed his own complaint accusing the writer of making quote, "false declarations."
Back to work this morning for jurors on the Casey Anthony murder trial. They failed to reach a verdict after just about six hours of deliberations yesterday. Earlier, the prosecution wrapped up their closing arguments calling Casey a pathological liar.
Baseball legend Roger Clemens expected in court this morning and jury selection set to begin tomorrow in his perjury trial. He's accused of lying under oath before a congressional committee when he said he never used steroids or human growth hormones.
Stock futures up slightly ahead of the opening bell. Investors waiting for a factory orders report for May. This will give them a fresh look at just how well the U.S. economy is growing. Those figures come out at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
And "Bridesmaids" is climbing the box office list. The movie now surpassing "Sex and the City" as the highest grossing R-rated female comedy. So far "Bridesmaids" has made $152 million.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
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VELSHI: The sun is having no trouble peeking out in New York City. It's out. Fully (ph) 75 degrees going up to a balmy 91 degrees. Feeling a little bit of humidity today but doesn't look like there's any rain in the forecast.
ROMANS: A cloudless sky. Nothing for the sun to peek around.
VELSHI: Nothing for the sun to peek around.
ROMANS: All right. Now your AM House Call. A new study linking expectant moms who take a certain type of antidepressant to children with autism. Researchers found women who take SSRI antidepressants in the year before delivering their babies were twice as likely to have an autistic trial. VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: And if they took the drug during the first trimester of pregnancy, the risk to their unborn child quadrupled. Now SSRI is short for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. And these include drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Celexa.
VELSHI: All right. More solid evidence this morning that a sedentary lifestyle can shorten your life. The study published in Britain found women sitting for long periods of time are a lot more likely to develop deadly blood clots in their lungs. Researchers tracked nearly 70,000 women over 18 years. Those who spent 41 hours or more a week sitting when they weren't at work were twice as likely to develop a potentially life threaten pulmonary embolism.
ROMANS: All right. A popular anti-smoking drug may help you kick the habit. It is quite popular but at a potentially deadly price. New research found Chantix may increase a smoker's risk of having a heart attack by 72 percent.
VELSHI: Wow. And yet so many people think this is such a successful drug.
ROMANS: They're desperate to quit smoking.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: They're desperate to quit smoking. VELSHI: Joining us now to talk about this development is CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, this is complicated on a few levels, because if it worked to stop you smoking, is the risk worth it and then you don't take it once you you've stopped smoking?
Tell me how this is working out.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, each person is different, Ali, and it really depends.
Some people take this drug and it helps them quit smoking and they're able to continue taking it. Other people take this drug and maybe it helps them quit smoking but maybe it also makes them more likely to have a heart attack. And it really is, you just have to talk to your doctor and figure out sort of, you know, help think about which camp you might fall into, how long do you want to take the drug for? There are so many different things at play.
And, Ali, I want to tell you about another issue with this drug because it's not just the heart attacks. Take a look at this. On the label, it warns that people who take Chantix also may be likely to have a depressed mood or suicidal actions, hostility or agitation.
So, you know, you ask the question, gee, is it worth it? Should you take this? You also have to take that into play that sometimes this drug can make people have these feelings. ROMANS: So the warning label reflects those things you just talked about, these other concerns about this drug, as well. Pfizer makes this drug.
What do they think or what are they saying about the heart attack study?
COHEN: Right. Pfizer is saying that the folks who did that heart attack study, that they did their math wrong. They say that people who take Chantix are not 72 percent more likely to have a heart attack. Instead they say there are less than one percent likely to have a heart attack. So somebody is doing their math differently from somebody else.
But I do want to say that this is the bottom line. The vast majority of people who take Chantix do not have heart attacks. But according to the study, you are more likely to have a heart attack if you're on Chantix than if you're not.
VELSHI: All right. SO if somebody is watching this and they're trying -- I mean, I've spoken to so many people who have tried everything in the world to quit smoking and Chantix worked for them.
What advice can you give people when you're trying to quit?
COHEN: Right. When you're trying to quit, you need to look at the whole landscape of what's out there for you. Be an empowered patient and know the downsides. Don't just take Chantix without knowing that possibly it might give you some kind of a cardiovascular or other problem. Look at everything you possibly could do to quit smoking and decide which one is going to be the best one for you to try.
And the way that you do that is you go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient and we have an article there that lays out all of the options for helping you to quit smoking.
ROMANS: It is so hard for people to quit. I mean, this is why -- more evidence that you shouldn't start in the first place, but it's hard to tell people that.
VELSHI: Somehow I knew that that's where that conversation was going.
ROMANS: Especially young people. But you can see governments now making it harder for people to --
VELSHI: Between the two of you. Don't start smoking. Elizabeth's telling me to exercise more and eat vegetables and all that kind of stuff.
COHEN: But, you know what, Ali? I'm going to interrupt you here because I want to say that smoking is a whole different category. I know I lecture you all the time about eating better and exercising and those are both really important . Smoking is a whole different -- totally different category. Just don't do it.
VELSHI: Right. All right. Good advice from both of you, from mom. See you, Elizabeth. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right. Final preps now -- mom -- I'll take that as a compliment, thanks very much.
VELSHI: It is a compliment. If you can stop people from smoking, it is a compliment.
ROMANS: Final preps underway for NASA's last-ever shuttle launch. The final four astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday, and will spend the next few days preparing for Friday's historic last liftoff of the shuttle Atlantis. It's the very last shuttle liftoff for this program. The crew will deliver supplies and parts to the International Space Station.
VELSHI: All right. Where is that little rocket going to be? It's going to be here, right? You and your family do not want to -- there we go. There we go.
ROMANS: Gosh, you are magic.
VELSHI: Getting good at this.
You and your family do not want to miss CNN's live coverage of the final launch. Friday, July 8th. They're aiming for 11:26 a.m. Sometimes that doesn't get off exactly at the right time. I'm going to be there. It's going to be very exciting. John Zarrella, our whole team's going to be down there.
ROMANS: Can't wait. Can't wait to see you down there, too.
All right. NASA, it's not abandoning space flights but this is a new chapter of space exploration for the agency. New goals include putting a man on Mars, sending a new kind of, you know, multipurpose vehicle to an asteroid, a manned mission. But some say private companies hold the key to space travel's future.
VELSHI: And they're going to be substituting. They're going to be taking these payloads and astronauts to the International Space Center and into low orbit.
Our question of the day, we want to know: do you think the federal government should get out of the business of space exploration?
Here are some of the responses that you've had.
On Facebook, Joseph says, "No. Other countries will progress and we will fall far behind. Bad move."
Shane Brannen (ph) says, "Yes, I'd rather use the money to better our country than waste it on space. Seriously the space race ended a long, long time ago."
VELSHI: Interesting. Although there are all sorts of developments that have come out of space flights.
ROMANS: Velcro.
VELSHI: Velcro, for instance.
ROMANS: What else? Mylar?
VELSHI: Teflon. We have more.
ROMANS: We're going to spend two minutes and come up with a whole bunch of them.
VELSHI: All right. Top stories are right after the break. It's 56 minutes after the hour.
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