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American Morning

Hacking Hearing Begins; Huge Typhoon Heads For Japan; Murdoch On The Ropes?; Rupert Murdoch To Testify Before U.K. Parliament; Childhood Obesity Number One Concern with Parents; One-Third of Teens are Overweight; Team U.S.A. Is Here

Aired July 19, 2011 - 07:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: A showdown. Rupert Murdoch face to face with Parliament 90 minutes from now.

I'm Ali Velshi.

The News Corp phone-hacking scandal front and center. Murdoch's worldwide media empire and his job as CEO on the line.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And did Britain's celebrity worshipping tabloid culture contribute to the News Corp hacking scandal? Eavesdropping reports first surfaced five years ago. We'll ask an expert in all of this why no one stepped up to challenge Murdoch until now on this AMERICAN MORNING.

VELSHI: Good morning. It is Tuesday, July the 19th. Christine Romans is off. Good morning to all of you.

CHETRY: So, we are following the latest on this hacking scandal. The testifying is taking place right now before the British committee in parliament.

And a lot of questions this morning when Rupert Murdoch comes before this committee about what he knew about this hacking scandal. Millions will be watching worldwide. Media empire hanging in the balance when Murdoch faces parliament just 90 minutes from now.

VELSHI: So, right now, we are hearing -- what we are watching and you see him in a moment, the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London who resigned two days ago. But we are waiting for in about 90 seconds is Rupert Murdoch, his son James and his former top newspaper executive Rebekah Brooks. They'll be asked about the phone scandal that's threatening to take down the entire company and the man who built.

Atika Shubert is live in London where the hearing, as you can see, is underway already.

Atika, what's the headline out of the hearing so far?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, it's getting a grilling by the lawmakers about the relationship between his senior officers and News International executives. But, so far, no smoking gun.

Basically, they are focusing on the hiring of Neil Wallis. He's a deputy -- former deputy of "News of the World" and he was hired by the Metropolitan Police as a sort of communications consultant for about a year.

Now, they are questioning about that, because Neil Wallis was later on arrested for his -- in connection with the investigation into the phone hacking. So, a lot of questions are being thrown up now.

But according to Paul Stephenson, he said they had no way of knowing he was, in any way, involved with phone-hacking allegations when they hired him. So, he personally did not know of any reason why not to hire him at the time. But he is still being grilled on this issue so there may be more coming out of this yet.

VELSHI: Everything has come up about this already, Atika. But one of the whistle-blowers was in the case was found dead yesterday. What do we know about that?

SHUBERT: That's right. Sean Hoare, he was basically the only person formally at "News of the World" who was willing to say that, yes, there was a culture of phone hacking at the newspaper. And not only that, but that he, himself, had been actively encouraged to hack phone mail messages by Andy Coulson, then the editor and who was later hired to be the chief spin doctor for Prime Minister David Cameron.

So, not only did he expose the phone-hacking culture but he also pointed the finger directly at Andy Coulson and his connections to 10 Downing Street.

So, the fact that he has now -- that his body was found at his apartment, police say it is unexplained at the moment but not considered suspicious. There is, however, still an ongoing investigation.

VELSHI: All right. Atika, we'll stay with you on this. Atika Shubert and our team in London, covering these hearings very, very closely.

As we said in about in 90 minutes, we'll hear from Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and Rebekah Brooks.

CHETRY: So many of the elements of this keep getting a little bit more of bizarre as the days go on. News Corp has been hacked it looks like. Hackers briefly took control of "The Sun" newspaper's Web site yesterday. It's now been restored but they were able to briefly post a false news story announcing that Rupert Murdoch was found dead. Visitors were then redirected to the Twitter feed of a well-known hacking group that has previously breached Web sites belonging to Sony, PBS, as well as the U.S. Senate.

And there's a lot riding on Rupert Murdoch's performance today, this morning, because of his days -- there is news -- or rumors that his days as CEO of News Corporation may be numbered. This according to "Bloomberg News."

News Corporation is considering replacing Murdoch with its current chief operation officer, Chase Carey, who you see there on the right side of the screen. Many indicators -- many insiders say if things don't go well on the stand today, change to come to the company quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Clearly, it's going to be a tough day for Rupert Murdoch and his son James testifying. But the reality is Rupert Murdoch is a pretty elderly man. Whether he leaves this year or next year or five years, there's already been talk about succession plans for him.

And the report from "Bloomberg" is that Chase Carey, who's right now the COO, could step up to be CEO. It's not out of the question and analysts have been thinking for days it might happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: And according to "The Wall Street Journal," which is owned by News Corporation, the media empire's board has long had a succession place in plan for Murdoch. A company spokesman for the company denies the plan has now been accelerated or implemented.

CHETRY: To reports of British newspapers using illegal eavesdropping tactics first started making headlines in the U.K. five years ago, it appears that no one seemed terribly alarmed about it then.

Joining us to talk more this morning about Britain's tabloid culture, its obsession with celebrity and fierce competition is Bonnie Fuller, president and editor now in chief of HollywoodLife.com.

And you also have worked for some of the biggest magazines. You are vice president of the group, "Star Magazine," as well as others, "In Touch Weekly," on and on.

So, you have a unique perspective of getting these scoops in tabloid culture.

How is Britain's culture especially competitive and at times, people say especially vicious?

BONNIE FULLER, PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM: Well, you got the words right, it is incredibly competitive and we see now, it can be very vicious. Now, what is different is that there are eight, nine tabloid newspapers in Britain. And here, most American cities don't have any.

So, that heated competition puts pressure on those editors to just get the best scoops and there's only so much scoops to go around at any given time. And so, I can imagine that the pressure to get those is what led to the situation.

CHETRY: The other question is, at first, it was talk it was perhaps just the work of one rogue reporter doing some of this hacking or helping in some of this hacking try to get scoops. Did people not care as much when it was perhaps just a few celebrities? They said, things with celebrities, people want to find out their lives.

I mean, it doesn't seem to be so outrageous until we started hearing about potentially a missing girl, her voice mail being hacked and other questions about 9/11 victims and others.

FULLER: Well, I think that when people first thought there was just one reporter doing this, one or two, that they were rogues -- that they've gone beyond the bounds of anything that their editors would have agreed to have them do.

And, listen, people cross boundaries. However, you know, when it became clear that it was far more widespread, well, of course, people were, you know, really upset.

Now, I do want to point out that we've never seen anything like that here and I think that our culture of both competition and just the journalism culture is very different, as is our actual pop culture and our desire for information.

CHETRY: See? That's also interesting. One of the things that Jeff Toobin, our legal analyst, brought up, is he said that how can -- like "News of the World" -- get scoop after scoop, which they did, year after year, and have people at the top not ask how did you find this.

I mean, as an editor in chief of papers, if some of your journalists were able to get scoop, would you know the circumstances of how they obtained them?

FULLER: Yes. The way that I work, yes, I would know how my -- how my reporters got scoops.

But, listen, they had a lot of reporters and they had great scoops for many, many years. So, you know, might not seem unusual to the public that they were getting these things. And there's a lot of good reporting that can go on. People can get scoops from developing sources over years, from doing what we would call on-the-ground reporting where you go to the places that celebrities, or the people you're covering are at. And, you know, you can get scoops that way.

I think that, you know, perhaps because they wanted the volume, the speed, this is where they got into trouble.

CHETRY: It also seemed like it was quite easy. I mean, when you think about it -- this connection between technology companies that know how to do this hacking and how it's pretty easy to get into voice mails. I mean, is the temptation there for -- I mean, do people have to be dialed back sometimes and say, listen, this is not what we do to try to get -- I mean, because the competition is pretty fierce.

FULLER: I can -- I can -- I can only speak for what I know and the organizations. The news organizations that I've worked with would never want anything like this. I mean, this is illegal. They don't want to cross boundaries. That's very, very important.

CHETRY: And just seeing this, you've been in this business so long. I mean, is this surreal to you to see them brought before parliament, facing these questions? The arrests -- I mean, there's already been many arrests, some jailed, and some others perhaps facing charges?

FULLER: Yes. I mean, it does seem surreal. It's quite incredible. I don't think that, as you mentioned before, when this first came out, nobody imagined that it could go this far, this wide, this deep.

CHETRY: Very interesting. Well, we'll be continuing to watch it. We'll see what happens today as these hearings continue to take place.

Bonnie Fuller, great to talk to you.

FULLER: Thank you.

CHETRY: Thanks so much for coming in.

VELSHI: And, of course, we continue to want to know what you think. Did Rupert Murdoch know about the phone hacking? E-mail us, give us a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. Some fantastic responses we've been getting. We're going to read through more of them later in the show.

And stay with us. Our live coverage continues with the phone hacking scandal rocking Britain and beyond. A live update from London coming up at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

CHETRY: And it's just going from hot to hotter in many parts of the country. Still ahead, a dangerous heat wave heading toward the East Coast. Heat indexes in some parts of the country yesterday topping out at 126 degrees. Rob Marciano will join us live on when some of these places can feel a little relief.

VELSHI: Michael Vick is teaming up with the head of the Humane Society. The two of them are going to be on Capitol Hill today. You can guess why, but I'll tell you for sure on the other side.

CHETRY: And say it ain't so. Are Superman and Lois Lane breaking up? The latest on the new installment of "Superman" and how things are changing.

Ten minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Is that the same weather forecast all over the East Coast this morning?

CHETRY: It seems like it, doesn't it? Actually, is it real? Oh, yes, 96 degrees. It's going to be crazy today all over the country pretty much.

Right now, it's 81 in D.C. A little bit later, 96 degrees and thunderstorms in the forecast.

VELSHI: All right. President Obama insists that there's no progress behind the scenes in the talks to raise the nation's debt ceiling and avoid default 15 days from now.

House Republicans, though, plan to vote today on something called "cut, cap and balance." It's a measure that ties the debt limit increase to passage of a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. It's got very chance of Senate approval. And if it did, the president says he would veto it.

CHETRY: And a CBS Poll suggests most Americans favor a balanced approach to a debt deal. Sixty-six percent say that the debt ceiling agreement should include a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. Just 28 percent say it should be spending cuts alone. And only 3 percent say it should be tax increases alone.

VELSHI: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will be on Capitol Hill this morning -- lending his support to a bill that cracks down on dog-fighting. The legislation calls for stronger penalties against people attending dogfights and cockfights.

Vick will be joined at a news conference by the head of the Humane Society. As you know, Michael Vick served 21 months in prison on dog-fighting charges.

CHETRY: Closing another chapter in space shuttle program history. The crew of the shuttle Atlantis waking up to Coldplay's "Don't Panic" this morning.

Check it out.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CHETRY: Beautiful shot. And they are now getting ready to head home after undocking from the International Space Station. That happened at 2:28 this morning. Atlantis is scheduled to touch down in Florida at 5:56 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday.

VELSHI: It's going to be very cool.

Early tomorrow morning, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis will join us. That's on "WAKE-UP CALL" tomorrow morning, right about 5:00 a.m. Eastern. Set your clock. Tell your friends. It will be a fun conversation.

CHETRY: Absolutely.

All right. Well, this morning, Japan's women soccer team -- they are the World Cup winners and they had the chance to meet with their Prime Minister Naoto Kan today. He congratulated the women on their fairy tale finish. Hundreds of fans swarmed the airport in Tokyo when the team arrived home last night. Japan beat the U.S. women's soccer team in a stunning penalty kick shoot-out taking home the very first World Cup Title for any Asian team.

VELSHI: Incredible. And, it's great for Japan. They could deal with some good news right now.

The U.S. women's team returned home to a hero's welcome. The women were greeted by a crowd of supporters when they arrived at Newark, New Jersey airport last night. The second place finishers say they hope their success will kick up more interest in the sports here in the United States.

CHETRY: And this year's World Cup final was history making in other ways, as well. Sunday's match set a new Twitter record. Twitter users sent messages at a rate of 7,000 tweets per second during the World Cup Finals. That's more Twitter action than during the Super Bowl, the royal wedding, or the death of Osama Bin Laden.

VELSHI: And Japan is bracing for strong winds and heavy flooding as a huge typhoon heads for that country. It's packing winds of up to 100 miles an hour. The storm is 450 miles wide. It's huge. Forecasters say some parts of Japan could see close to three feet of rain in the next day. So, crews are rushing to install a cover over a damaged reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Right now, the storm is far south the plant, but one forecast track from the U.S. navy shows it could pass over Fukushima on Thursday.

CHETRY: The city of Phoenix is dusting itself off this morning. You can take a look. They're really dusting themselves. This giant dust storm also called the haboob turned the city light shade of brown on Monday. It hit during evening rush hour. The dust wall, 3,000 feet high, and it was driven by wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour. They say it caused flight delays, also snarled traffic, but they say it all cleared out within an hour.

VELSHI: And Rob Marciano is at the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Good morning, Rob. What's going on?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. The heat continues, so if you do get a thunderstorm, as long as it's not severe, that will cool you off, but the problem is the ones that have popped up yesterday, they were severe in places like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Strong enough to knock down some trees and some power lines, and we got a little pink on that again today.

Over 20 states are in some sort of excessive heat warning or heat advisory, heat watch today. So, the heat wave continues to build, and in the same spots, 110, 120 is what it will feel like again today. Forecast highs for this heat wave what it feels like throughout today, again, getting up in over a 100 degrees in Minneapolis, getting close to that in Chicago.

Tomorrow, we start to see the temperatures get knocked down, and then on Friday, the heat wave shifts a little bit to the south and then to the east and the northeast, including D.C. and New York City will get into the act then. Along the stationary boundary which isn't really sinking that far to the south, that's where you're going to see the focal point for some thunderstorms today in the afternoon. Some of which could become severe.

Down to the south, continued hot and dry across Texas. Dallas, 17 days in a row of seeing 100 plus. Tyler, Texas, 21 days in a row, that sets a record. Tropical storm, Bret, doesn't look too healthy on the satellite picture. A lot of dry air wrapping in here. Some vertical wind sheer. It's not only get too much stronger if that all, and the forecast is for it to continue to go out to sea and become what we like to refer to as a fish storm.

So, not to worry about Bret here over the coming days. Typhoon Ma-on (ph) heading toward Japan, just skimming the coastline right now. The eye is onshore in Southern Japan, and the forecast is for it to skim and recurred out to sea as well, but it will dump a fair amount of rain and some wind as far north as Tokyo, but the brunt of the storm should stay south of the Fukushima nuclear plant. That's latest from here, guys. Try to stay cool up there in New York. It will be slightly drier and slightly cooler for you tomorrow, but today, still a little bit.

VELSHI: Is today the worst of it for the foreseeable close future?

MARCIANO: Well, you get a break today or tomorrow.

CHETRY: Friday is supposed to be bad.

MARCIANO: And then, Friday, we crank up the thermostat once again.

VELSHI: OK. Thanks, Rob.

CHETRY: Triple digits Friday, perhaps.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHETRY: You got to take off your jacket.

VELSHI: I'm such a weather denial, OK?

CHETRY: Way too hot.

VELSHI: Because I just know because Rob is going to tell me, but it's always too late by the time -- Rob, I'm already there. It's like he got drenched (ph). Oh, Rob tells me it's going to rain.

CHETRY: Oh, I can't imagine your outfit changes much depending on the weather. This is what you wear in a snowstorm. This is what you wear in triple digit heat.

VELSHI: This is what I wear to bed.

CHETRY: Yes. It's like imitating art and winning.

Charlie Sheen returns to television in a new series titled "Anger Management." It's based on a 2003 movie that starred Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. The sitcom is now being shot to broadcast and cable networks.

Listen up ladies, the man of steel will soon be back on the market. Superman is going to be a bachelor again when DC Comics re- launches its superhero series in September. Superman and his long- time love, Lois Lane, have been married in the comic book since 1996.

CHETRY: So, he's going to be single again? They're splitting?

VELSHI: Yes. He's a cartoon character. So, it's not really something to be believed, nor is it to be believed that I sleep in this. That was a joke, too.

CHETRY: Right. He used the exact same thing but flannel.

VELSHI: Yes. It's like a onesie.

CHETRY: Up next, time to go shopping for a new book. It is the final chapter for one of the world's largest chains which chain closing their doors.

VELSHI: And gold surges to another record. What's behind that gold rush? We're "Minding Your Business" next. It's 26 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.

In the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch may be on the way out as CEO of News Corporation. Bloomberg News reports the company he built is considering replacing him with chief operating officer, Chase Kerry. If he's ousted, he'll reportedly remain with the company as its chairman.

U.S. stock futures trading higher right now ahead of the opening bell. Investors sorting through a flurry of second quarter earnings reports coming out this morning including Goldman Sachs just announcing second quarter earnings were lower than expected, and the stock is taking a hit. It's down more than three percent in premarket trading.

Some good news over at Coca-Cola, however. The company's earnings came in better than expected, and Bank of America announced about an hour ago that it lost nearly $9 billion in the quarter. The bank says that's due to a recent mortgage security settlement.

Investors rushing to gold for security amid global concerns amounting debt both in Europe and in the United States. Gold prices set a new record on Monday settling above $1,600 an ounce for the first time ever.

Amazon tapping into the college textbook market. The online retailer has started renting textbooks on its kindle e-reader. The company says its prices for the e-books can be up to 80 percent cheaper than the list price for textbooks. Borders is calling it quits. The bookstore chain could not secure a buyer in time to save it from bankruptcy and has announced that it's liquidating. More than 10,000 people will lose their jobs as a result.

Coming up next, British prime minister, David Cameron is on the ropes. Can he survive the Murdoch scandal? Zain Verjee is live in London next. AMERICAN MORNING back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CHETRY: We are still taking a look at the live hearing taking place in Parliament, and we are still actually hearing from the former head of Scotland Yard who resigned July 17th amid this hacking scandal. This is Sir Paul Stephenson, Britain's former top police chief, answering questions by members of parliament about this phone- hacking scandal. And, we're now waiting just one hour, although, I'm wondering if this is going to get pushed back.

VELSHI: He is talking a lot. There are still two more people who are supposed to testify before Rupert Murdoch.

CHETRY: That's right. Rupert Murdoch was set to answer questions at 9:30, but they still have to go through the director of public affairs for Scotland Yard who also resigned and the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police as well. So, we could be actually moving this a little bit back because of how long this questioning is taking place.

But we're also going to be hearing from James Murdoch and the former News Corp executive, Rebekah Brooks, who'll also be appearing before parliament. Hearings at the company's scandal got under way about 90 minutes ago. Reports circulating also that Murdoch may be moving up the succession plan, perhaps. Bloomberg News reporting that he would be leaving as the company's CEO.

VELSHI: And "Wall Street Journal" is pushing back on that saying that there's a succession plan in place, and they're not necessarily accelerating it as a result of this. Two days after announcing his resignation, once tough cop, then one you were just looking at, found himself face-to-face with parliament this morning.

Sir Paul Stephenson says he did nothing wrong but decided to step down to avoid becoming a distraction. Listen to this exchange this morning when he was asked about the cozy relationship that seems to exit between Scotland Yard or the Metropolitan Police in London and the tabloids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had 18 lunches or dinners with the "News of the World." And that you had seven or eight dinners with Mr. Wallace himself over about a five-year period. Can you explain to us why that was necessary to have that amount of lunching and dining with the "News of the World" and News International and did the same thing happen with other newspaper groups?

SIR PAUL STEPHENSON, OUTGOING METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER: There is a reason why the Metropolitan Police Commissioner meet with media to try and promote (INAUDIBLE) reputation of the met, try to context of policing, and trying, if you will, make sure there's a relationship there. What I would say, coming out of this inquiry and coming out to this matter is, it is quite clear to me that actually we need to change the way we do it.

I've already put in place, although, I'm right at the end of my term now. I've already put in place the changes the way we got to do this, because I think we need to be more transparent and explain what we're doing better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Tough questions. He is getting grilled. He is not being combative in his responses, but he is being very detailed. Stephenson also got grilled about his claims -- about claims that his department actually ran interference for Rupert Murdoch's reporters and tried to get other media outlets to ignore the eavesdropping allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you put pressure on Mr. Rospringer (ph) or anybody else at "The Guardian" to lay off the phone-hacking story?

STEPHENSON: I didn't put pressure on lay off. They were continuing their articles while I was getting assurances that actually there was nothing new in this. They seemed to disagree, so it seemed entirely appropriate that I meet with them and actually represent to them what I was being told, and that is that this was nothing new and I have no reason to start the first inquiry. They were clearly not going to listen to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right. And just an update on the hearings. Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, and Rebekah Brooks are all going to be appearing actually before a different committee. They're going to be before the select committee in U.K. parliament. This is in a different area of parliament. So it will be at 9:30 eastern time in the U.K. Murdoch will also be facing questions about the phone- hacking scandal. How he answers them, though, could determine whether he survives as News Corp's CEO.

VELSHI: And now the cries are growing louder for British Prime Minister David Cameron to step down. Even he is involved in this thing. It's quite complicated. Zain Verjee is live in London this morning. Zain, just so our viewers remember what the connection is, tell us how David Cameron is connected to this and what his odds are of making it through this unscathed.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many experts think he will be able to survive but, boy, is he under some serious pressure here. There are two links here when you consider David Cameron. First of all he is alleged to have a pretty cozy relationship with Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, going to her country home and riding horses together and allegedly inviting her to his 44th birthday. So it gives the optics of a very cozy relationship that has existed between British politicians and "News of the World" and other tabloid and Rupert Murdoch's newspapers here in this country.

The other relationship is with a guy called Andy Coulson. He was the former editor of "News of the World," and he has been accused of encouraging the hackings going on. What David Cameron did was hire him even when people warned him don't hire this guy as your chief media spin doctor. He did anyway. So now people are going what kind of judgment does David Cameron have?

So he is trying to do damage control. He has launched an inquiry. He said it will be led by a judge and he is flying back ASAP from Africa. He's cutting his trip short and he's having an emergency session tomorrow here in parliament.

CHETRY: Also the news this morning, there was one of the first whistleblowers by the name of Shaun Hoare, he appeared dead yesterday. And they are looking into the circumstances of his death.

VERJEE: Yes. This is taking another dark turn here. He is dead. The police are saying this was than unexplained death. They are doing a postmortem. We'll have the results a little bit later today we understand. But they are insisting his death is not suspicious. This is a guy who was one of the very first journalists to go on the record and blow the whistle on "News of the World" and say that phone hacking was going on.

And he's the guy who alleged that Andy Coulson, who David Cameron then hired, was the guy encouraging journalists at "News of the World" to do it. So this is a dark turn. It's raising some serious questions. We need to wait and see what the postmortem says, if there was any foul play.

VELSHI: Zain will continue to covering this. As we said, we are waiting for the big event to start at 9:30 a.m. eastern. Zain, thanks very much.

All right, coming up next, texting while walking is now a crime in one major east coast city. It will cost you money if you're caught. This will be causing trouble for me. It's a city I hang in around a lot.

CHETRY: Are overweight teenagers overlooked even by doctors? Up next Chris Powell from ABC's "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition" joins us. It's 35 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: We've been telling you about a report this morning from "Bloomberg News" that a plan to replace Rupert Murdoch as the CEO of News Corporation may be underway. They the plan was to replace him with the company's Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey. The "Wall Street Journal" did put out a report saying that that's not true, that they had a succession plan in place. They would not comment on this one, and they said that they are not accelerating it as a result of this.

We have now contacted News Corporation again and they have told us senior News Corporation official has said to CNN "As you would expect, the board has had a plan in place for some time. It regularly reevaluates those plans. Suggestions that a plan is currently being accelerated or implemented are inaccurate." So the News Corporation is now saying that there is not a change in plans, it is not being accelerated.

CHETRY: Although it was interesting that they said the board regularly reevaluates a plan.

VELSHI: Yes, which is good business practice.

CHETRY: Yes, which is normal in companies.

VELSHI: Normal and good, and particularly normal when you have somebody that big at the head, and, by the way, no spring chicken. So it's wise to have that in place.

CHETRY: And it would also be naive to think there aren't questions in general. I mean, any time a company is dealing with scandal, whether there is, you know, alleged wrongdoing or not, when you see a stock price fall which we have seen in double digits since the scandal broke, obviously, there are questions and discussions. But they are shooting down the notion that somehow there is a replacement.

VELSHI: I agree with you. There must be conversations going on somewhere about this.

We are -- watch where you're going, by the way, or you could be in trouble. I spend a great deal of time in Philadelphia and it is planning to crack down on texting while walking. Pedestrians could face $120 fine for looking down at their phones while they are walking. It's part of a larger program cracking down on bad behaviorally by distracted drivers and cyclists, too. And I totally get those too. I totally get the drivers and cyclists. I'm one of these people. If the road ends in front of me, I would fall off.

CHETRY: People listen to their ear phones while driving and while jogging with their ear buds in, on and on and on.

VELSHI: I've seen it, and you've seen them too. Once in a while, it's rare, but you hear of somebody who walked off a curb and got hit by a car or something. And you know that is kind of a wasted way to go. I suppose if you're just saving a handful of lives by it, maybe it's not a bad idea. I am probably going to get a ticket, though.

CHETRY: I just think where do they draw the line?

VELSHI: It's a good question.

CHETRY: If you think your mom just joined Facebook to spy on you, you're probably right. Fifty-five percent of parents said they use social media to keep tabs on their children. This is according to a new survey by one poll. Another five percent say they would do this if only they knew how.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: All right, well, here is one to keep an eye on, though, because one in three American kids and teens is either overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is now the number one health concern among parents in the United States. That tops drug abuse and smoking.

CHETRY: Our next guest specializes in helping very obese people lose weight and learn the lifestyle changes and choices that need to happen to keep that weight off. Joining us is Chris Powell. He is the host of ABC's "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition." Great to meet you in person, by the way.

CHRIS POWELL, FITNESS TRAINER: It's such a pleasure.

CHETRY: You do great things for people.

POWELL: Thanks for having me.

CHETRY: First of all, if I'm sitting at home and I'm a parent, I want to know what do you consider overweight and obese? There are people who perhaps don't think their kids are, and they are.

POWELL: Sure. At the same time, and when we start talking about BMI, obese of course is a BMI over 30. Overweight is like when you start floating above 25.

So, you know, it's such a tricky thing, the whole relationship between parents and their teens. Already communication is volatile. And so it's like how can these parents effectively communicate with their teens?

And in my experience, I found that often these concerned parents, as much as they love them, they still make all of the wrong moves. And they nit-pick or they are constantly highlighting what their teen is doing, or they are talking about their weight. Do not focus on their weight. It's so important that we actually focus more on their health and their fitness.

And there's a study that just came out about doctors, right?

CHETRY: Pediatricians are sort of missing the chance as well to bring this up. It is a super touchy subject. As a doctor to tell a parent and a kid everything you're doing must be wrong because your child is not healthy. That's devastating.

POWELL: It is. And I can promise you these -- so many of these kids, they are aware. Granted we were talking about this, some of them aren't, but many of them are. And they are feeling inadequate about it. And so when a parent goes ahead and highlights that, now we're starting to stoke a flame for food obsessions, eating disorders. And so it's a very delicate balance, very delicate balance.

It's so much more important for a parent to be a coach and not so sit there and tell them you need to do this, you're obese, you need to focus on your weight.

VELSHI: What happens if you have people in the same household and eat similarly and your kid has a bad metabolism and they are getting fatter and you're not? You have to do things based on how your body processes it?

POWELL: Well, the thing we use in the industry is genetics loads the gun and lifestyle pulls the trigger. And ultimately they are dealing with your genetics. If you're the parent in the household that is your child, and so they are dealing with a similar gene structure. However, something is happening in their lifestyle.

Keep in mind also the most influential aspect in their life is going to be their social group. You are talking teens here. So we need to look at the social group and where so much of our focus needs to be. I mean, we are talking about doctors speaking with the children about the risks of obesity, which is fantastic. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand about that. They do need to know.

But at the same time, we have to start talking prevention. We really need to start focusing on programs in schools, talking to these kids about just the benefits of health and fitness, because that is where the social group is. That is where that daily influence will be on our children and that's where everything needs to be for them.

CHETRY: In the meantime I guess we can do things to make it easier around the house for the kids. You can't be dipping into a bowl of Hagan Das cream and tell your kid to have carrot sticks. You have to have that environment at the house.

POWELL: Create an environment for success. That is the first thing you do. But also I find most of the time usually with overweight teens and overweight children the parents are living that lifestyle too. One of the best things to do is be that change that you want to see in your child.

VELSHI: What mostly causes this obesity? Is it lifestyle, lack of physical activity? Or is it intake of food?

POWELL: Both, absolutely both. Of course, we have seen all of the stats. We know kids are far more sedentary today than ever have been. And of course the food intake and the process foods they are consuming is through the roof on top of all the chemicals. It's playing this hormonal tragedy in our bodies.

CHETRY: And when you guys do this on your show, because I know you have a new show coming out, the new season of the "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition," you guys sort of wiped the slate clean for people and they have to add in things. A lot of people are shocked to see what they -- exercise -- I mean, exercise need to be a part of the daily routine, eating health part of the routine. How do you get these kids to change?

POWELL: Well, of course we go back and we address a lot of the emotional and psychological issues first, I mean, because most of the folks I work with, they came from being overweight and obese teens. And so going back and changing the behavioral patterns is a challenging thing. But at the same time the folks I work with truly desire that change. There are finally and waking up to the fact they are at risk.

VELSHI: The problem is the folks you work with are sometimes way past the point where they should have made that decision.

POWELL: Absolutely. But the best part is that they take it all back. And in one year they go back to a healthy weight.

VELSHI: So I just want to finish this off, because you say focus on the positive and don't focus on the weight. At some point is there any point to say, look, kid, you eat too much, you do nothing. You're getting fat.

POWELL: Yes and no. That's actually -- it's a great position -- it's a great position.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: At least rhetorically.

POWELL: Yes, I know what you're saying. It's a great position for the doctors to take that's fantastic. For the parents not so much. The parents really does need to be a coach and focus on the positive.

VELSHI: I got it.

POWELL: Focus on just living a fit and healthy life. I've -- I've -- my wife and I, we have three kids.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Yes.

POWELL: So this what we focus on and it's cool for them to be fit and healthy.

CHETRY: Right.

VELSHI: Right, ok.

POWELL: They love it. We still reward them.

CHETRY: Yes.

POWELL: It's still important that they actually get that because we don't want to deprive them on anything. However, it's such a delicate thing.

CHETRY: They should know.

VELSHI: Got it.

CHETRY: I mean, just like we -- we were surprised when we find out how many teaspoons of sugar in a regular coke. They should know, I mean --

VELSHI: Yes, without you. Because you -- you know all these things and you tell me and without you, I would not know. I live in blissful ignorance.

POWELL: Well, you hit on it. It's education, education, education.

VELSHI: Yes.

POWELL: We need more programs in our schools.

CHETRY: You're right.

POWELL: And that's the direction that we're going with this.

CHETRY: Well, I love your show, it's great. You guys, this is Monday night 10:00 Eastern on ABC, "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition", you guys are helping people out.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: So that's -- that's always nice.

VELSHI: Thank you Chris.

POWELL: Thank you so much.

CHETRY: A positive role model. Chris Powell, thanks so much.

POWELL: Thank you.

VELSHI: All right, the U.S. women's soccer team has come home, heads held high. The three of the players -- three of the players from that team are joining us live. Captain Christy Rampone, and midfielder, Carli Lloyd and midfielder, Megan Rapinoe join us -- Rapinoe join us in just a few minutes.

Its 46 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Ten minutes to the top of the hour. It is fair right now in New York City, 80 degrees.

VELSHI: Tell -- tell me what that means?

CHETRY: Fair?

VELSHI: Yes. Just kind of is. CHETRY: Well, yes it's just is.

VELSHI: All right.

CHETRY: It's not very sunny.

VELSHI: It's going to be -- it's going to be isn't later on though, 93 degrees and thunderstorms.

CHETRY: It certainly going to be isn't when the thunderstorms roll in, it's 92 and you forgot your umbrella.

VELSHI: I totally, I've got to rush out of here when I leave and get one.

CHETRY: Well, we found that new respect, actually some of us had respect to begin with.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Right, I certainly on this show, we were -- we were fully respecting the women's U.S. soccer team, the U.S. team.

CHETRY: That's right, but everybody was watching on Sunday. The world was watching after a hard-fought and heartbreaking game between the U.S. and Japan. After having a win within their grasp twice, the U.S. lost the game in a penalty kick shoot-out.

But despite that loss, the U.S. women's soccer team has come home to a broadening fan base of course including us here in AMERICAN MORNING who loved following them throughout this tournament.

VELSHI: Three of the players join us, now. I got chills going through me right now. The captain, Christie Rampone, midfielder Carli Lloyd, and midfielder Megan Rapinoe. Great to have you here, congratulations.

I hope you felt when you landed at Newark yesterday and you had those crowds greeting you that you really did America proud.

CHRISTIE RAMPONE, CAPTAIN & DEFENDER, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: We felt it. And when we landed and we walked out. It was disappointing to come back with second place but at the end of the day, like we made America proud.

VELSHI: Sure.

RAMPONE: The warm welcome when you came home and the fans, coming in through the hotel. I guess it was pretty amazing. When we realize as the day goes on how incredible the whole tournament was.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHETRY: And Megan, I want to ask you this. You were dominating most of the game. You had 27 shots versus Japan's 14, you made 27 shots and twice you were within minutes of winning. In fact, right at the beginning you guys, 1-0 and then 2-1.

What was it like? I mean I imagine just a series of highs and lows while that game was happening.

MEGAN RAPINOE, MIDFIELDER, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: Yes. I mean, the game it felt like days long. I mean, it was like so many games within the same game. I mean that's football really. I mean they never gave up.

So much credit goes to Japan. What an unbelievable team they are. I mean they deserve everything they have. Not that we don't deserve it if we would have won, but we're happy for them in that sense.

But I mean, it seems like, you know, we've kind of caught fire here and we're really proud to come home and to have, you know, everybody on board with us with such a special World Cup.

VELSHI: There are going to be a whole lot of girls and boys too who -- who you know, ten years from now will -- will be talking about where they got their start and why they started playing soccer.

Carli, you're a goaltender. Hope Solo said something I thought was really classy. She said, you know, it was in on some level, I'm paraphrasing but she was talking about Japan being able to win and -- and after everything they have gone through. It was very, very generous. It must have been, while it's bad to lose, at least losing to Japan, you know their country gets something to celebrate.

CARLI LLOYD, MIDFIELDER, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: Yes, it is. And a time where they needed it most, you know? I think that is really helped them. You know, it's unfortunate we came away with second, but, you know, all this media, all the support has put things in perspective for us and kind of helped us overcome not getting first place.

CHETRY: You were shocked about the penalty kick that you made because it sailed over. You said this never happened to you that hit the crossbar. I mean is it fair that it comes down to the penalty kicks like it did?

LLOYD: I don't think it does. That is the cruel game of soccer. You can't really base a performance off PK. I think what we did in that final game was probably the best soccer that we have played, ball on the ground, possession style against one of the best possession style teams and I'm proud of my teammates for that.

VELSHI: You -- did you get any sense, any of you can answer this, as this was developing, the degree to which the world was watching this in a way that they haven't in previous years?

RAMPONE: I think after that Brazil game, the drama, the excitement, you know, the back and forth and winning on PKs. After that game, I think it really is set in that, you know, America is really behind us, the support, all of the e-mails, you know? The tweets. Everything that was going on was pretty amazing and at that point we realized we're in this tournament, you know?

CHETRY: I know.

RAMPONE: And going on to the semis and beating a great team and France and then to the final.

CHETRY: Also, I mean, in 1999, of course, and that was the glory, glory year and everybody watched that. But is it different. The records are being set and the amount of people that are aware of soccer around the world. They said 7,000 tweets a second were going on about your game when it was happening. How has that changed for you guys? I mean just how much interest there has been worldwide?

RAMPONE: There tremendous interest just in the mix zone and just the global awareness. I was on that team in '99. It was like we were America's sweethearts. This time it was like you can feel the passion with all the other countries and the support. And, you know, the game has grown and, you know, the development and, you know, it's amazing just to be a part of such a wonderful tournament. You know, Germany put on a great tournament and a great show and just the attention from worldwide was absolutely amazing.

VELSHI: You were in that -- the 1999 World Cup final. We talked about that a lot here, because these are now sort of the two book ends that, as I say, will really influence people to play the sport.

RAMPONE: Yes. I think in '99, America was really ready to embrace the team and a team sport and we accomplished that in 1999 and we have grown throughout that process. The sport has gotten better. Now in 2011, to make it to the finals. It's so hard to make it to a World Cup final.

CHETRY: And with two daughters.

RAMPONE: Two daughters. Yes, inspiration just to come home and the girls, to see my little girls to come with a smile on their face and the red, white, and blue. It's just so inspiring for the young kids.

CHETRY: What is next for you guys?

RAPINOE: qualifier; we're going to kick off that next January and then hopefully qualify for that and on to London looking to, you know, defend our gold medal.

VELSHI: What is the immediate future, Carli?

LLOYD: Well, before I retire, I want to win a world championship. Hopefully I can continue that. You know, and it's just -- we have accomplished so much. I mean, the roads that we have taken, it was unfortunate we didn't win against Mexico to qualify for the World Cup. We had to play Italy twice.

We have had so many bumps in this road and I can't tell you how proud I am of everyone on this team. PR, coaching staff. We just never had any doubt. We believed in one another and it's something great to say that we reached the World Cup finals.

VELSHI: Absolutely it is.

CHETRY: You guys are an inspiration and thanks for taking time. I know you guys are so busy to talk with us.

RAMPONE: Thank you.

VELSHI: We keep on believing in you and we will be there to support you. Congratulations and to your teammates.

RAPINOE: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. It's 56 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

VELSHI: You're looking at live pictures from the United Kingdom. This is a parliamentary hearing room at Parliament where the former head of the London Metropolitan Police Agency is testifying. There are three former police officers who will be testifying before this committee.

In 30 minutes, Rupert Murdoch and his son James and former News Corp executive, Rebekah Brooks will face questioning from another parliamentary committee. CNN will have this coverage all morning.

CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. So 30 minutes from now, Rupert Murdoch on the hot seat, the future of News Corp hangs in the balance as he answers questions about what he knew about this growing phone hacking scandal.

We want to get a chance to have your thoughts on the air as well about this. Our question of the day. Rupert Murdoch will face questions from British lawmakers about his company, his alleged involvement. We wanted to ask you what you think did he know and here are some of your responses this morning.

VELSHI: On our blog, Bill says, "I believe he did know because of how widespread this issue was. He was a mentor to the main players. He's created a certain culture within his empire so he is responsible and therefore accountable."

CHETRY: Julie on Facebook, "It's highly probably that Murdoch did know. The current hacking scandal is only now just making unethical and illegal business public knowledge. "News of the World" has been under scrutiny of hackings for decades. Murdock is the CEO and the buck stops with him."

So we welcome your comments. We'll be back here bright and early tomorrow and of course, stay with CNN following the latest on these hearings.

VELSHI: "CNN NEWSROOM" continues with Kyra Phillips right now -- Kyra.