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American Morning
Hacking Scandal Widens; World Cup Win Lifts Spirits in Japan; Slow And Steady Wins The Race; Obama To Nominate Consumer Bureau Chief; Casey Anthony Leaves Jail; Author Discusses Childless Women; Actors Accepting Dates with Marines; Hot Dog!
Aired July 18, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. London's top cop is out. I'm Kiran Chetry. The head of Scotland Yard resigning yesterday. The latest casualty of the U.K. hacking scandal and Rupert Murdoch's former top newspaper executive has been arrested. We're live in London with late breaking details.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. congressman Iowa, the victim of a home invasion. I'm Ali Velshi. There was a scuffle and guns were pointed. We'll tell you how he's doing on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us on this Monday. It is July 18th. I'm Kiran Chetry along with Ali Velshi this morning. Christine has today off.
VELSHI: Lots of stories that we're covering this morning, but you can add the head of Scotland Yard, London's police agency to the list of casualties in the U.K. hacking scandal. Sir Paul Stevenson announced yesterday he's stepping down as London's top cop.
CHETRY: Some of his officers are now accused of taking bribes from Rupert Murdoch's reporters. Dan Rivers is live for us from London this morning. This is another shocking development on top of many. Any idea what Sir Stevenson's exact involvement was in this scandal?
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another incredible development, yes. The most senior policeman in Britain, Sir Paul Stevenson has resigned, shocking development on day after day of incredible revelations.
I think what tipped the balance for Sir Paul Stevenson, there were all these accusations of policemen having taken bribes from journalists working for Rupert Murdoch's newspaper in order to get information. On top of that, there was an allegation that a former "News of the World" deputy editor Neil Wallace had a contract for sort of doing PR for the police force which, in itself, ruffled a lot of feathers.
And then yesterday, it was also emerged that Sir Paul Stevenson received some $20,000 in hospitality at a health resort hotel and the person that represented that hotel was the same guy, Neil Wallace.
No one is suggesting that these things are connected, but it just gave the impression of a kind of very cozy relationship between people in Murdoch's press and certain parts of the police force. And it resulted in such huge pressure on Sir Paul Stephenson, he just decided to go. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIR PAUL STEPHENSON, METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER: However, the issue of my integrity is different. Let me state clearly, I and the people who know me know that my integrity is completely intact. I may wish we had done some things differently, but I'll not lose any sleep over my personal integrity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: So, he's basically saying he didn't do anything wrong, but I think he realized that the perception -- it was all about image, this. The image that came across was one of, you know, this is not good, that -- you know, a policeman, most senior policeman should not be accepting huge amounts of hospitality, especially when they are investigating the very is same people that are representing that hotel and to have previously had a P.R. contract with the place. It just didn't look good.
VELSHI: Dan, Rebekah Brooks, the former editor with news of the world, a senior executive with News International, resigned on Friday, then was arrested on Saturday, has been let out on bail. But you say not charged with anything?
RIVERS: No. She hasn't been charged. She was questioned for about 12 hours. And released, you know, just after midnight Sunday night here. But she has not been formally charged or indicted, maybe, in U.S. terms. So, she's out on police bail where they continue to make their inquiries, the police, but at the moment, not formally charged.
But the thing is: she's going to be appearing here, tomorrow, to face a grilling from politicians alongside Rupert and James Murdoch. It's going to be a day of quite incredible testimony, we think. What she's going to be able to say, we don't know. She might just say, I can't comment because I'm, you know, under investigation by the police.
But just the near fact of the three of them sitting there, having question after question after question thrown at them is going to be incredible to see.
CHETRY: The question that we've been talking about this morning, because I think things are different here in the U.S. But this relationship or this alleged relationship that seems odd between tabloid editors and members of the government, like perhaps possibly David Cameron, as well as police, how they all sort of come together. It seems like an odd bed fellows.
RIVERS: There were a lot of people here saying, you know, this speaks about something that's gone wrong across the whole of sort of the British establishment really, not just down to individuals. But a culture that has grown up, one of sort of contacts and coziness and sort of, you know, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. And no one is suggesting in Sir Paul Stephenson's case that, you know, necessarily he has broken any rules.
But, again, it's a question of the perception across politics, the police and journalism here, this breach of trust, people feeling like they can't really quite understand why, you know, everyone is sort of in each other's pocket to a certain extent. Not necessarily that they're taking bribes, but there's this cozy relationship that is being uncovered, like an onion being peeled, layer after layer. It just keeps going and it almost keeps getting worse.
There's another that's interesting thing for you guys in the States as well. It's being alleged in some newspapers this morning that Jude Law, the actor's phone, may have been hacked while he was in New York. Now, if that is prove to be case, I think this would be the first confirmed case of phones being hacked while someone was in New York.
There was a talk about 9/11 victims a while back. This is another aspect, actors and celebrities having their phones hacked into by journalists here while they were in America. Now, I would think that that could then mean that this could be something that the FBI starts to look into. I know they're already talking about it, but this may be the first case that they really get their teeth into.
VELSHI: You know, some stories like this at some point, they peak, this one apparently hasn't yet.
Dan, thanks very much for this. We'll continue to cover it.
By the way, continuing in Europe with unusual stories. Two court hearings today for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. He didn't show up for either one, by the way. He is facing bribery charges. He's also accused of paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl.
Berlusconi is currently involved in three trials. His business empire, Media Set, is also facing tax fraud charges. He wasn't meant to be in court today. His lawyers are representing him there.
CHETRY: Well, the FBI is investigating an armed home invasion. It happened at the farmhouse of Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell. An intruder reportedly entered Boswell's home Saturday night, pointed a gun at his daughter, demanding money.
We're told the 77-year-old congressman struggled with the gunman before his grandson grabbed a shotgun and pointed it at the burglar. He fled.
Even though no one was hurt, the congressman's chief of staff says everyone was, understandably, shaken up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRANT WOODARD, REP. BOSWELL'S CHIEF OF STAFF: It's made national headlines and, you know, they have friends from all over the country. They have been fielding calls from all day from friends and family around the country making sure that they're all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police are calling the break-in a random act and do not suspect that Congressman Boswell was specifically targeted.
VELSHI: The White House and Congress are gearing up for what could be a crucial week in the debt ceiling talks. Right now, there are a bunch of proposals to break the deadlock. They've got -- both sides are optimistic that someone is going to strike a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: I'm confident that cooler heads will prevail. At the end, we will not allow the United States to default on its debt, despite the fact that there are some people who seem to think that that would be OK.
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: If the president keeps insisting on raising taxes on American workers, there's not going to be a deal. I do think, however, that Republican leaders will not allow the country to go into default.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: President Obama is insisting both parties must agree on a deal by Friday in order to get it passed in time for the August 2nd deadline. That's the day when the treasury says we won't have money to pay all our bills. So, we're going to have to start making choices and may default on some of them.
CHETRY: And it's our question of the day. Would not raising the debt ceiling teach America a good lesson about spending? We want to know what you think. We've gotten a lot of varied e-mail about this. Give us a tweet, email us, or tell us on Facebook and we'll through some of them a little bit later in the show.
VELSHI: Another groping incident involving screeners at a U.S. airport. This time, a TSA agent is the alleged victim. Sixty-one- year-old Yukari Mihamae of Colorado has been arrested and charged with groping a female TSA agent in Phoenix last week after refusing to be screened. She allegedly grabbed the agent's breasts with both hands and twisted.
Mihamae is charged with sexual abuse. There's already a Facebook page demanding she'd be acquitted. One follower suggesting they name an airport after her.
CHETRY: Well, the shuttle Atlantis is getting ready to depart the International Space Station for one last time. Today's wake-up call was Keith Urban's "Days Go By." There's a little sound of the call. They get one every morning to these songs.
The Atlantis astronauts will say goodbye to the space station crew in a ceremony that's happening this morning, before closing the hatch and heading home. Atlantis is scheduled to return to earth on Thursday.
VELSHI: These guys, they go up there, and they unload stuff, they load stuff back on and come back, like we think they're zipping around space, but they're working.
CHETRY: I know. But just the views, imagine. It's just so extraordinary to see those pictures.
VELSHI: By the way, you know, we covered this launch. And one of the interesting things, you couldn't see it go all the way because there are clouds.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Well, check this out. This was shot by one of our CNN iReporters. It shows the shuttle Atlantis -- check this out -- as it broke through the clouds on a final mission to space. It was taking from aboard an airplane on a flight to Miami as it passed close to the shuttle.
CHETRY: Didn't the Endeavour -- somebody got a shot of the Endeavour.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I've had people tell me they've been on a plane and they've seen it. I did see a plane right after this launch, but I don't know whether it's this plane or not, but someone got that picture. I'm sure the pilot must have told them. Look out the right side. It's about to happen. Very, very cool.
CHETRY: Unique opportunity.
VELSHI: Well, a major cleanup is under way this morning in Canada after this happened. It was a severe storm with 60-mile-an- hour winds that actually caused this concert stage to collapse at the annual Ottawa Bluesfest. This YouTube video captured the chaos. People were running for their lives.
The Cheap Trick was performing at the time. The band members and the crew were not injured remarkably. Only one spectator in the crowd was injured.
VELSHI: People on the edge of their bar stools across the United States, Japan and the world, in fact, for the World Cup finals. The women's World Cup final.
It came down to penalty kicks.
CHETRY: And the U.S. came up short. Japan grabbing the thrilling victory, the country's first-ever World Cup title.
Zain Verjee was there to witness all the action. And she joins us live from Frankfurt, Germany.
You know, there were many. I mean, Japan has never met America in a woman's soccer game. They felt this was America's time. This was time to reclaim the glory days of 1999. They just fell a little short.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It just wasn't meant to be. The whole atmosphere, though, in the stadium was absolutely electric. I was on the edge of my seat, high time. The U.S. -- they had the speed. They had the strength (ph). They even had the height. They were way taller than the Japanese.
They came out of the gate. They were so aggressive. But they just kept missing shot after shot. And the ball kept hitting the goalpost.
They came so close to scoring a number of times, but just didn't do it until late in the match. They were one up. But Japanese came back and they came back again and then they took the match.
But a lot of people are going to say about this game, guys, is that whether the U.S. made mistakes was really on the defensive line. They made some real miscommunications. They accidentally passed the ball to the Japanese, that shot in the first goal and they weren't able to defend their goal either from the corner that the Japanese go.
They gave it all they could, but they just couldn't clench the title. It was amazing to watch. They're a fantastic team and they should feel really good about themselves.
VELSHI: And now, we have to say, you -- I don't know where you would fall on this thing, because you're in London. I think there's an "S" underneath that jacket you're wearing, which would be the middle letter in USA. So, give us a sense of what you're wearing underneath that.
And then there's this whole idea, Zain, of the fact that it is kind of nice that Japan, after the year it's gone through, you know, I guess you can't be mad at them for that. You got to be happy for Japan.
VERJEE: No. You know, they may not have had the height, but they had the heart. So many people, including the U.S. players, were happy for Japan. They were the sentimental favorites going into this. They had (VIDEO GAP) to deal with those friends affected, one of them even worked at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Football team, their soccer them, that's been disbanded.
People were really torn because it was an amazing, historic match for Japan, too. I was. You know, I'm glad that they won. They ended up being the better team at the end of the day.
But the S, I have to say, guys -- and I'll flash it here for just a second on national TV, this is where I stood, when I was in the stadium.
CHETRY: That's a great look on you, actually. You look adorable.
Zain Verjee for us this morning. Thanks very much.
VELSHI: All right. Still ahead, oppressive heat and severe storms moving into a lot of the country. Tropical storm Bret is churning near south Florida. We'll get you an update with Rob Marciano, next.
CHETRY: Well, they made a huge deal about carmegeddon in L.A.
VELSHI: And apparently, it's worth thinking a huge deal about it.
CHETRY: Right. Because people avoided it, people telecommuted. And maybe some good came out of it.
Remember those special $4 JetBlue flights from Burbank to Long Beach? Well, some bloggers said they laid down a challenge to see if bike riders could beat the airline in across town race.
VELSHI: I've seen this headline all morning. I don't actually know what the result was.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to find out who wins.
VELSHI: We'll find out about it.
And I wish you a happy birthday, will you, to Oscar Mayer. The Wienermobile, the red and yellow motoring hot dog in bun turns 75 today. Check that action. It is driving right up to our front door. I am having hot dogs for breakfast.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Sixty-one degrees and clear right now, going up by 20 degrees to 81.
CHETRY: That would be a new story if it was going up to 20 in Los Angeles.
VELSHI: Beautiful day in Los Angeles. I think it was a beautiful weekend, and carmageddon didn't really -- carmageddon --
CHETRY: Didn't really happen after all that hype about the closing of the 405 three-way. They said it was just going to be mayhem. Ended up not causing the end of the world. California drivers were scared that the shutdown of one of the busiest freeways would cause a traffic apocalypse.
A 10-mile segment of 405 closed this weekend so workers could make way for a new car pool lane. The project actually wraps up pretty quickly with almost no excitement, and the 405 reopened early.
VELSHI: I mean, that's excellent that they all planned for this, and they really, you know, they got celebrities to tweet it out, and the media all talked about it. So, I guess, people just made other plans and they went home. One of the other plans was to fly over Los Angeles. So, I guess, a bunch of guys got the idea to decide (ph) what's faster, a bike or a plane when it comes to Los Angeles.
Under normal circumstances, it would be clear. So, a group of cyclist known as Wolfpack Hustle challenged JetBlue Airlines to a weekend race. The Wolfpack bet that they could beat a flight traveling from Burbank, which is on the north end of Los Angeles, to Long Beach, which is south of Los Angeles.
They took a path along the Los Angeles River and made it in an hour and a half. The flight time was 20 minutes, but accounting for the time it takes the leave to the house, check in and board, the odds shifted. By the time the plane took off, the cyclists were already in Long Beach.
CHETRY: All right. That's what I'm trying to figure our when did they start the countdown? When you left your house drive to the airport and then the countdown -- and when you arrived at the other airport?
VELSHI: Right. Right.
CHETRY: All right. Those cyclists --
VELSHI: The bikes meet the plane.
CHETRY: Seventeen minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center. You're a native New Yorker, so you know here, that's the fastest way to get around. That's why there's bike messengers all over the place.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly, but it takes way too much effort. So, I'm totally against that. I mean, think about how tired those cyclists were compare d to the guy that got off the airplane.
VELSHI: Right. Totally refresh. They got free snacks on the JetBlue.
CHETRY: Right. I know there was no first class on the bikes. They got their exercise, Rob, and they proved a point.
MARCIANO: Flights taking off into potentially a hurricane today include hurricane hunters. Tropical storm, Bret, our second storm of the season formed yesterday afternoon, even last night, and it has winds now at 50 miles an hour. It's over the Bahamas. It's drifting northeasterly at about three miles an hour. So, about 150 miles off the coast of Florida, and the good news -- well, sort of good news is that it's not going to make landfall in the U.S.
Matter of fact, it's going to go out to sea and, you know, might develop a new hurricane, but we're not so worried about that. It would be nice, actually, if it came onshore as a tropical storm. Then, we'd get some much-need rainfall in places like Florida and south beach, which are enduring a bit of a drought. Looking at a record-breaking heat again across the north central part of the country. Eleven states under heat warnings right now.
That means heat indices are what it feels like. Temperatures will feel like dropping over 110 degrees today in places like Minneapolis? Come on. Today, tomorrow, this is a long duration event. Wednesday as well, 104 degrees is what the index will be in Minneapolis. Moderation occurs Thursday and Friday. Really, we just kind of push things down to the south and east, but it's going to be smoker here for quite some time.
Hazy, hot, and humid conditions pumped up from the south. Severe thunderstorms, potentially, across parts of the Midwest today, Ohio River valley over the Appalachians into New York as this front tries to make its way down to the south and east. Before it does that, though, it's going to be steamy on the East Coast as well. Ninety-two degrees expected in New York, 95 degrees expected in Washington, D.C.
One way to cool off, get yourself a jet pack or really it's a jet pack that uses water. Check out this video coming out of California, where there was a boat show. And this device uses water to basically propel themselves up into the air. You can get up, I don't know, maybe 10, 15, 20 feet at max, but it's like George Jetson meets Jacques Cousteau, I supposed. And, this is the latest and greatest little toy that I'm sure everybody that has a way of runner will want. It will cost you, though, 100 grand. Just a too handy there, Kiran. Come on. You can rise --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: There's a big hose behind it. you see that --
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: It's taking water up, and then, it's propelling the water out through the two jets on the side. So, I guess, you can go as far as whatever is connected to that hose.
CHETRY: Right, but where does it end? How does it end for you? You go head first in the water?
VELSHI: As long as you're propelling that water out, you stay up, right, Rob?
MARCIANO: Exactly. Yes. The thing that propels -- the engine is like this little scooter, a little jet ski, you don't really see down below the surface of the water.
VELSHI: Right.
MARCIANO: And that's what pumps up the water and dries the whole thing. So, really, how you get back to landing is really a matter of your skill level and how style --
VELSHI: You let that stuff go.
CHETRY: Right. It looks really safe. I would love to try that.
VELSHI: It does look safe. You're hooked up to something. What are you going to go?
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: All right. You misjudge it. The next thing you know you go head first into one of the sail boats. That sounds --
MARCIANO: That could be an issue.
VELSHI: OK. If you're that much of a knuckle head.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: But that kind of person shouldn't be riding a bike either. So --
MARCIANO: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, cool video, though. Thanks for showing us.
MARCIANO: You bet.
VELSHI: Did you see Harry Potter?
CHETRY: No. Did you?
VELSHI: I haven't seen any of them. I haven't read a book. I haven't seen them --
CHETRY: You are really out.
VELSHI: I'm not (INAUDIBLE). "Harry Potter" makes box office magic.
CHETRY: Yes, because Ali may not have gone to see it, but everyone else did. Record-smashing debut net exactly.
Almost half of American women through age 44, which they consider sort of the end of child bearing for most people, do not have children. Forty-seven percent. It's a big increase from previous generations, but why this generation is saying just because you're childless doesn't mean you're not child full, meaning children in your life.
We're going to be speaking to the author of "Savvy Auntie," the ultimate guide for cool aunts, great aunts, godmothers, and all women who love kids. She joins us. She read a very provocative blog post that got a ton of comments about it, so we're going to talk to her. It's 21 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning. Stock futures currently trading lower ahead of the opening bell as uncertainty runs high over the debt ceiling talks. Investors hoping strong corporate earnings this week will give markets a boost as they did toward the end of last week.
President Obama expected to nominate Richard Cordray, a former attorney general from Ohio, to head up the new for Consumer Protection Bureau today. Many Senate Republicans say they will try to block the nomination, not just for Cordray, for anyone, saying the new agency lacks transparency and accountability.
Lose a bag, get a check. That's what Senator Charles Schumer is pushing as a rule about misplacement (ph). It only applies if your airline loses your bag and you never get it back. Schumer wants to go a step further. So, if your bag is gone when you arrived, you get money for the baggage fee refunded immediately.
"Harry Potter" winning big at the box office. The final installment of the series shattered the opening weekend record, raking in $476 million in worldwide ticket sales, now holding the title for biggest one-day box office, making $92 million on Friday.
Coming up next, the truth about childless women. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Shot in New York City this morning where it is 77 degrees and sunny. A little bit later going up to a high of 92, and there could be some storms in our forecast.
Well, more and more women in this country are not having children. According to the U.S. census, nearly half of women aged 15 to 44, which they consider sort of the end of your child-bearing years, are childless, but a new book says that even people who are childless can be child full. To find out what that means, we brought on the book's author.
The book is called "Savvy Auntie," or auntie -- however you put it. The ultimate guide for cool aunts, for great aunts, godmothers, and all women who love children. Melanie Notkin joins us now. Thanks so much for being here.
MELANIE NOTKIN, FOUNDER AND AUTHOR, "SAVVY AUNTIE": Absolutely. Good morning.
CHETRY: You hit a nerve because your article -- you wrote a blog post about it on huffingtonpost.com --
NOTKIN: Yes.
CHETRY: It has been centered around, e-mailed, and there's been a lot of comments. Explain your story. Why did you become interested in this and what is your take on this trend?
NOTKIN: When I became an aunt, I quickly realized that there were no modern resources for cosmopolitan aunts. Everything seemed, you know, old aunt savvy with 12 cats. So, I was like, wait a minute. It's not just me and it's not just my friends or my friends' friends. I look at the census data and, like you said, that nearly 50 percent of American women don't have children.
Thought there's a real opportunity to get this tribe together. I call it the entourage, and engage them in how to be more savvy and how to connect better with their nieces and nephews.
CHETRY: And not feel like somehow you're lacking because you don't have children of your own?
NOTKIN: Exactly.
CHETRY: You bring up something very interesting. You call it in your article "circumstantial infertility," because, you said, it's not biology and it's not by choice. You didn't say to yourself, I'm not going to have kids. But circumstances -- you didn't find the right person yet.
NOTKIN: Exactly. That's my circumstance. I consider myself circumstantial infertile. There are women of course who are childless by choice, who have biological issues with their fertility, women who just aren't there yet.
CHETRY: But a lot of people wrote on your blog and said finally somebody gets it, somebody verbalized the situation I'm in. And you said to me, we didn't know we would be in that position. Explain that.
NOTKIN: We're sort of this first generation of women in their 30s and 40s who didn't know we wouldn't be able to have the career that mom didn't have and the family that mom did have. So, we're caught in this kind of sandwiched generation. Younger girls know they can preserve their fertility in ways. They can start freezing their eggs if they're not ready to get married by the age their 30, 35.
But those of us who haven't found love -- I'm 42, and I haven't found that person. I would love to be a mother. And in fact, I said in the piece, just because maternity didn't come to me does not mean I'm not maternal. And, in fact, so many women love the children in their life. They love children, their nieces and nephews, their next door neighbors, and they give very generously to children around the world. It's an amazing group of women.
CHETRY: It's interesting you brought up that issue about younger people understanding. Is there a changing, I guess, set of rules or advice for young women about thinking about these fertility issues before it's, quote, "too late"?
NOTKIN: Absolutely. It's actually in the book. I talk about that, because there's that aspect of your relationship with your nieces and nephews and their parents but also your relationship with yourself and what you want from your maternity.
And so it's about making sure that you're healthy, that you don't drink, you don't smoke, you take care of your body, that you prepare yourself to be the most fertile you can be for the longest period of your life you can be because women are having children later. Fourteen percent of first-time moms are age 35 or older. CHETRY: Right, which is a big shift.
NOTKIN: Yes.
CHETRY: You also said that people actually -- some men -- you almost feel like you have an expiration date. Like me will ask you, are you fertile?
NOTKIN: Right. I've literally been asked that. Are you fertile? I even know how to answer that. I don't know.
CHETRY: And the other question too is you hit a certain age and you start to feel like everything has to go in fast forward even if the relationship or that emotional connection with the partner is not there. I mean, how do you sort of balance that, that it's not just Mr. Right Now, but it's Mr. Right.
NOTKIN: Exactly. A lot of women really are waiting for love. And that's wonderful, because every man deserves to be loved, and it means that these women aren't just rushing to get married to have children. And that's really important. So some people will label these women selfish. In fact, they're kind of selfless because they're not using somebody to get to maternity. And they're using -- they're indulging their aunt-hood with the children they love so much. So that's wonderful.
CHETRY: Well, it's very provocative piece, which we're going to link up. And the book is very interesting as well. Melanie, author of "Savvy Aunties." Great to meet you. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
NOTKIN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: All right, our top stories coming up right now. It could be the first case of News Corp phone hacking on U.S. soil. This according to the "Daily Mail," actor Jude Law is now claiming that Rupert Murdoch's "News of the World" reporters hacked into his phone when he arrived at JFK airport in New York. Now, if that's true, that would be a felony in United States and would leave Murdoch empire exposed potentially to prosecution under U.S. federal law.
Congressman Leonard Boswell is OK after an armed home invasion of his Iowa farm house. The 77-year-old Boswell reportedly struggled with the gunman before his grandson grabbed a shotgun and pointed it at the intruder, who then fled. Police though say they don't believe the Congressman was the target. They say that it was a random act, and they're still searching for the intruder.
VELSHI: Well, the debt talks because the president and Congressional leaders set to resume. We're learning the Senate could vote as early as this week on a scaled-down plan that would allow the government to borrow more money to pay its bills. Senate aides say it would give President Obama the power to raise the debt to $2.5 trillion, but it would require three Congressional vote on the issue before the 2012 general election. That brings us to our question of the day -- would not raising the debt ceiling, as some people argue we should not do, teach America a good lesson about spending? Here are some of your responses. On our blog, "America doesn't need this lesson. Washington does. It's clear that D.C. does not represent main street and hasn't for quite some time."
CHETRY: "Judging from the predictions of responsible economists in the U.S.," writes Eric on our blog, "and around the world, default would teach America a lesson about spending in the same way that cutting off your leg would teach you a lesson about not jogging enough. It would only make a difficult situation much, much worse."
VELSHI: Very interesting responses we're getting from people.
CHETRY: A majority of people saying we shouldn't take it to that level, but there are others and those in the Tea Party who said this is -- this will teach us something if we don't.
OK, so where is Casey Anthony? It's a question many people are asking this morning. Anthony walked out of the Orange County jail yesterday with her lawyer, Jose Baez, at her side.
VELSHI: An for the moment she is staying out of the public eye. CNN's David Mattingly is live in Orlando. David, a lot of speculation. Even her own parents say they don't know where she is.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Speaking through their attorney yesterday, they said the best they can tell us is that they believe she is no longer in central Florida. We also learned that Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's attorney, actually approached her parents, asking if they would act as decoys to divert some attention away as Casey Anthony was attempting to depart the jail yesterday.
They didn't go for that idea. And we saw how that all played out last night, or yesterday, shortly after midnight at the jail. Casey Anthony, walking out, the entire departure taking about 30 seconds. She was greeted by hundreds of people, some of them shouting at her as she sped off into the night. Helicopters followed the car that she was in, went into a parking deck at an office building where there's an office for one of her attorneys.
After that, they sort of lost track of her. So at this hour, the question of where is Casey Anthony just one of many that's been circulating around this case for so long, Ali.
CHETRY: We've also seen, of course, David the intense interest on the public of this. And her departure from jail was no exception, attracting a very emotional crowd, people holding up signs. I mean, there are some people who are not letting this go.
MATTINGLY: That's right. We saw hundreds of people out there that night. Some of them were shouting at her, calling her a killer as she went. But as she went off and the police blocked the road so that no one could follow, the crowd then, most of them dispersed pretty quickly.
Later that day, we did see a lot of people gathering at the memorial that sprung up on the site where little Caylee Anthony's body was discovered. And yesterday there was also a march of people walking from that site over to the Anthony home. There's a lot of emotions, people trying to process right now. That was a very peaceful example of how some people are trying to work through this.
VELSHI: All right, she's out of jail, but not free of her legal entanglement. So we're obviously expecting to see her somewhere to deal with that. What's next for Casey Anthony?
MATTINGLY: Well, there's all sorts of civil suits coming up. We heard about the case where the woman is suing for defamation, the woman who shares the same name as the fictitious nanny that Casey made up.
But probably the biggest item on her agenda coming up is her trying to defend herself as the state of Florida is asking for compensation for the investigation into this case because she lied to investigators. She's going to be fighting that in court because the price tag for that could possibly be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and probably affect her earning ability, probably, for quite some time throughout the life that she tries now to put back together.
VELSHI: David, thanks very much for that. The story continues. David is covering it for us.
CHETRY: Also ahead, Mila Kunis said yes, she's going to the Marine Corps ball. So is Justin Timberlake. What about Betty White? All the rage for Marines to ask out movie stars and for them to say yes. So will Betty White do the same?
VELSHI: We're two for three right now, so we'll let you know how that goes.
Plus, hot diggity-dog, the Oscar Mayer wiener rolling into CNN this morning, or actually outside CNN.
CHETRY: I don't think that thing could fit even though the studio is large.
VELSHI: It's a large studio. This thing is 11 feet high, 27 feet long. That's 60 hotdogs. And you don't want to miss it. It is 39 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: The capital, Washington, D.C., it's partly cloudy and 79 degrees. It is going up to a scorching 95.
CHETRY: It's 95 in a lot of the country. The best place to be has got to be the west coast.
VELSHI: The best place to be is inside with air conditioning.
CHETRY: Exactly.
VELSHI: General David Petraeus has performed his final official act as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Earlier this morning he handed off the job to the new commander Lieutenant General John Alan. Petraeus is retiring at end of next month it take over as head of the CIA on September 6th.
CHETRY: So he has two weeks after being in the theater of war for all of those years to enjoy his family and then heads to Washington.
Well, it looks like Justin Timberlake is also headed to Washington. He is going to be accepting the invitation -- you may remember this YouTube video, an invite to the Marine Corps ball. Here is a little clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORPORAL KELSEY DESANTIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: So Justin, you want to call out my girl, Mila? Well, I'm going to call you out and ask you to go to the Marine Corps ball with me November 12th in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Justin has accepted. So while promoting his new film "Friend With Benefits," Timberlake was asked about going to that ball, and here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MUSICIAN/ACTOR: I don't get asked out, ever.
(LAUGHTER)
TIMBERLAKE: So I was very flattered by that. And I hear that she's like trained in martial arts, so I'm hoping we can tussle at some point. That last part was a joke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He's actually pretty funny, Justin. Not a bad actor, either. Did you see him in "Social Network"?
VELSHI: I did. It started with this guy.
CHETRY: That is the first man who asked. He is Marine Sergeant Scott Moore. He posted a video inviting Timberlake's co-star Mila Kunis to the North Carolina Marine Corps ball, a different one. And a little push from Justin and Mila agreed.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: But it does not end there.
VELSHI: It doesn't end there. Yet another celebrity is getting invited to a Marine Corps ball. This one is Betty White, the one and only Betty White. Listen to it yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to take Betty White. She's just funny. She's sweet. She's mature. She's the all-around perfect woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That is Sergeant Ray Lewis. He's a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and he is an aspiring rapper.
CHETRY: We'll see if she says yes. Two for three so far.
You're morning headlines are next, including this excessive heat. There's watches and warnings posted in many states across the country. Some places will see the heat index, when you factor in the heat and humidity, as high as 116 degrees.
VELSHI: A great way to cool off is with a cool drink and a hot dog. Oscar Mayer wiener-mobile is here. The red and yellow motoring hotdog and bun turned 75 today. And it's here to celebrate with us - road trip. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Its 46 minutes past the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
Actor Jude Law reportedly claiming "News of the World" reporters hacked in his phone when he was at JFK Airport in New York. It could be the first case of News Corp's phone hacking on U.S. soil.
Casey Anthony is out of jail and for the moment out of the spotlight. The attorney for Casey's parents, George and Cindy Anthony, saying that they are refusing -- they refused a request by her attorneys to act as media decoys when their daughter was released from jail yesterday. Anthony was driven away by her defense team and remains in hiding.
Congressman Leonard Boswell is ok after a very, very scary situation at his home in Iowa, a farmhouse, there was a home invasion. The 77-year-old reportedly struggled with the gunman Saturday night before his grandson grabbed a shotgun and pointed at the intruder, who then fled.
The Senate could vote as early as this week on a scaled-down plan which would allow President Obama to raise the nation's debt ceiling. Lawmakers have just 16 days to strike a deal. After that, the Treasury Department says that the U.S. will begin defaulting on its loans.
Stock futures are currently trading lower ahead of the opening bell this morning, as uncertainty runs high over the debt ceiling talks. Investors hope that strong corporate earnings this week will give markets a boost just as they did towards the end of last week. Well, the final film, "Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows Part 2", is setting new box office records right and left with the opening weekend. They took in more than $168 million. That was in the U.S. alone. It also sold more tickets for midnight showings than any other movie in history. Also had the best-ever single day gross on Friday.
And a healing nation has something to cheer about this morning. Unfortunately it's not the U.S., Japan beating the U.S. in penalty kicks for its first women's World Cup title yesterday.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back. We're going to take you down to the Wienermobile after a quick break.
Its 48 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back. I'm Rob Marciano on the CNN Severe Weather Center.
The heat is on across the Northern Plains now; record breaking heat across parts of the Northern Plains. All the way up to the Canadian border we have 11 states that are under heat warnings right now and up to 16 states that have some sort of advisory or a watch in effect.
What that means is that some of these areas will see heat indices that will be between 110 degree to in some cases 120 degrees, that's what it will feel like when you couple in the humidity. Minneapolis saw a dew point of 80 degrees, that is unbelievably, especially that far away from the Gulf of Mexico.
Even tomorrow, Minneapolis will feel like it's 110 degrees. This is a long duration event. Going into Wednesday up and over 100 as well, a little cool, a kind of clip the northern tier on Thursday and Friday, and that will kind of shift some of this heat back down to the south and the east, but it's really not going away.
Tropical storm Bret developed yesterday, winds of 50 miles an hour; it's about 150 miles east of West Palm Beach over the Bahamas. It will continue to strengthen. It might get to hurricane status. But the track is to take it away from the U.S. And that's good news and bad news.
Bad news is that the southeast, including Florida, really needs some rain. So it would take a moderate to strong tropical storm in through this area just to get a good dousing. But it looks like it's going to become a fish storm out to sea.
Hazy, hot and humid throughout much of the country. Severe thunderstorms across the Ohio River Valley and off towards the northeast and some of these thunderstorm will eventually usher in some cooler air tomorrow. But until then, it will be 92 degrees in New York and 95 degrees in D.C.
And perfect hot dog eating weather. That's a quick check on weather.
AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Ali, this may be a bad time to tell you, but there's an enormous wiener behind us.
VELSHI: You know there is and I've actually got a plate full of them right now.
CHETRY: I love these things. Well, you know why we're out here. It's the 75th birthday of the Oscar Meyer wiener --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I'm out here because I'm working on the free hot dogs.
CHETRY: -- the iconic Oscar Meyer wiener. We make sure by the way that those were not just show dogs.
VELSHI: Right. We heard a rumor that they were not edible. That wasn't going to fly.
CHETRY: No way. We made them edible today. We've got a bunch of people joining out us out here on Columbus Circle. And we're also thrilled this morning to talk with Ed Roland. He's the marketing manager of Kraft Foods.
ED ROLAND, MARKETING MANAGER, KRAFT FOODS: Yes.
CHETRY: Of course nice to meet you.
ROLAND: Nice to meet you.
CHETRY: As well as Kylie Hodges, you're the hot dogger. What is the -- and Dylan is a hot dogger as well. What exactly does a hot dogger do?
KYLIE HODGES, HOT DOGGER, OSCAR MEYER WIENERMOBILE: A hot dogger is the driver of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. We're recent college graduates driving across the country for a year and miles of smiles.
CHETRY: Do you have to know how to parallel park this thing?
DYLAN HACKBARTH, HOT DOGGER OSCAR MEYER WIENERMOBILE: We have a 40 hours of Wienermobile driving training during hot dog highway training program in Madison. So we know how to park our buns.
CHETRY: Now, I love that. Park the buns. The funniest thing, Ali, you're going to go in and check it out. Right?
VELSHI: Yes. Is that the door that I can use --
CHETRY: Is it?
(CROSSTALK)
ROLAND: It is.
CHETRY: Can he go in here?
ROLAND: Do you want to go in right now?
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROLAND: Absolutely. Come on in. It's our "go in" door.
CHETRY: What is it about hot dogs and summer that go hand in hand?
ROLAND: I mean it's the memories that go with hot dogs, whether you're at ballpark, or the barbecue or the Fourth of July parade, it's the great memories.
CHETRY: All right. What do you guys exactly do in the Wienermobile? This thing is --
ROLAND: Come on in guys. Check it out.
CHETRY: It's pretty roomy.
ROLAND: There's blue skies and the Wienermobile.
VELSHI: Wow, this is much roomier than I would have expected the inside of a wiener to be.
ROLAND: Condiment colored everywhere you look. It's amazing. This one is a 2009.
VELSHI: Yes. How many do you have?
ROLAND: There's six active Wienermobiles on the road today. We've got 12 hot doggers out there. This year we have this brand new one we added to the fleet which is jumping on that food truck --
VELSHI: What do people do? You show up. Where do you go?
ROLAND: Fairs, festivals, parades. We are on the road year round. We get about 10,000 requests a year and we can do about 1,500 events. Everywhere we go -- can you imagine seeing a 27-foot long hot dog driving down the road?
VELSHI: No, you see the problem is, every time this happens to me, I feel hungry. Do you guys -- do you hot doggers ever have people calling up and asking you --
CHETRY: Do they expect you to be -- do you feed people everywhere you go?
HODGES: People always ask us if we have hot dogs on us. Unfortunately, we don't. But we do have wiener whistles and stickers and we love to talk about it.
CHETRY: Would a wiener whistle be a nice consolation prize?
HODGES: We sure do. We have one on us.
CHETRY: My kids would love the wiener whistle.
VELSHI: You blow either side?
HODGES: No. There you go
There you go.
CHETRY: This is to notify everyone standing out here that we do have some cupcakes for you and hot dogs. How about that?
VELSHI: All right. What are you doing special for the 75th anniversary?
HACKBARTH: For the 75th birthday of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, we're going to have the new Oscar Meyer food truck, which they actually select Oscar Meyer select hot dogs. They're going to be at the stock exchange, giving away hot dogs today at the stock exchange experience.
CHETRY: Finances and hot dogs, hand in hand.
ROLAND: We're ringing the closing bell as well.
VELSHI: Very good.
CHETRY: Nice. Well, we want to say happy birthday, 75 years and running. I had no idea how much time that goes into actually learning how to drive one of these puppies. 40 hours.
VELSHI: Are these edible?
HODGES: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Why don't you be the first to find out?
VELSHI: There was a momentary delay there. Are these edible --
HODGES: Why wouldn't they be?
VELSHI: In a very high voice, Kylie said absolutely.
CHETRY: All right. Which one do you like? I want the Chicago style, right. I love the chili dogs.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: This is the Chicago style here.
CHETRY: Yes. What else? This looks like -- these are the famous sweet onions, right? VELSHI: Yes.
ROLAND: So what's your favorite?
CHETRY: I definitely like the chili cheese dog. Although, onions at 9:00 am, I don't know. You wouldn't want to be around me --
ROLAND: You have to try these. These are our new select hot dogs, angus beef.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Those are the ones I use with my kid.
VELSHI: How much has the hot dog changed over all these years, over the 75 years? They've gone through these periods where they've become fashionable and people want fancier meats but really ultimately hot dogs --
ROLAND: When you've got something good, why change it really? I mean we've made it better, but it's an incredible hot dog and it's been around forever.
CHETRY: Come on. Take a bite, Ali.
VELSHI: Do you eat a disproportionate number of hot dogs?
HODGES: I think I eat a healthy number of hot dogs. I love hot dogs though. I like to put them in my macaroni and cheese.
VELSHI: But do you eat more hot dogs given that you work for Oscar Meyer now? Do you find yourself with more hot dogs, thinking about it more?
HODGES: Well, obviously, I think about it more, I talk about them all the time. But I don't want to give up food. I actually think I eat the same amount of hot dogs.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I have to say that if I were friends with either one of you, I would want you guys to pick me up and drive us around town.
HODGES: Oh, yes. We are the coolest kids on the block.
HACKBARTH: We have lots of requests.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Does this drive anywhere?
HODGES: Yes. Everywhere.
All across the country.
CHETRY: This could be your CNN Express Bus. Do you know what I'm saying?
VELSHI: Could you ask questions for a minute while I --
CHETRY: Go for it. Which one are you taking? Chicago style? Are you going to do this one?
VELSHI: This one looks kind of --
CHETRY: What is it, the Southwestern? It looks like it has mango salsa on that.
ROLAND: I think it does.
CHETRY: All right. Go for it Ali. Edible? Hurry, it's your lucky day.
Thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
It was so nice seeing all of you.
ROLAND: thank you.
CHETRY: We're actually going to toss it over to Kyra. We have a very long break.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: It's hot out here, Kyra, but the hot dogs make up for it.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": You know what, I don't even know what to say or where to go after watching this six- minute segment, guys. I'm just going to --
CHETRY: We'll send you a wiener whistle.
PHILLIPS: Thank you so much.
