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American Morning
Triple Digit Heat-Wave Spreads; Obama Tries to Sell New Proposal; Perry Attracting Republican Support; Comic-Con Hits San Diego; NFL Owners Approve Deal; Judge To Lilo: Step It Up; Betty's Beethoven
Aired July 22, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. A nation sizzles. I'm Kiran Chetry.
A blanket of stifling, steamy 100-degree weather now covering close to half of the country. As many as two dozen deaths blamed on the temperatures already and it's getting even hotter.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. The FBI looking to interview actor Jude Law. He claims Rupert Murdoch's reporters hacked his cell phone in New York in 2003. If that's true, Murdoch's media empire could be facing criminal charges here in the United States on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And good morning to you. Boy, the temperatures, our top story again.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: It's the sizzling heat, and most of the country right now is dealing with triple digits or at least feeling like triple digits.
VELSHI: And as we've been saying, it's not just uncomfortable. It's become dangerous and deadly. This is AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome. It's Friday, July 22nd. A lot going on today. Let's get right to it.
It's going to be intensely hot against across a huge portion of the country today. The deadly heat wave that started in the Midwest has now come east. In Washington, the high, 103 today but it's going to feel like 115 with the humidity. Triple digit temperatures are expected across the mid-Atlantic, up and down the east coast and into the Ohio valley and as many as 2,000 dozen heat-related deaths have now been reported.
CHETRY: And utilities across the country are also bracing. They're asking you to conserve their warning of rolling blackouts as people crank the a/c. Seven thousand people have lost power in Chicago during the heat wave. In New York, the power company said that store owners who leave their doors open could be fined.
VELSHI: Wow. Men and beast trying to stay cool. Imagine if you're a polar bear in this heat? Animals at the Detroit Zoo were treated to popsicles with frozen fish heads and fruit.
CHETRY: Sounds delicious.
Well, we could be in the middle of the hottest day, two-day span that we've seen in this country since 1950. Let's take a live right now look in Central Park. This is across the street from our studios. Definitely a soupy looking park this morning. A high of 101 degrees today in New York City. But again, when we talk about the heat index, it "feels like" temperature, factoring in humidity, as well as the temperatures, 115 degrees.
Our Susan Candiotti is outside in the park right now. So we're 6:00 in the morning here. It already feels like, boy, a super hot and humid day.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. The time and temperature sign, well, you know the time. The temperature, 85 degrees. That's how hot it was when I went to bed last night. So there you go. And out here, despite that, you still see joggers out. You still people on bicycles. But the idea, of course, is to keep cool whatever way you can.
And in New York, you see people are trying to put up with the heat as best they can. It has been a scorcher for the last several days, and this weekend no changes expected. They are asking people to use their electricity, their air conditioning, at least amount of time as possible, but good luck on times like these.
You also see in the Midwest, we've got -- you mentioned one of them, but there's a marquise for a theater in Minnesota where they're advertising who cares what the movie is. We have a/c come on in. You can imagine. And, of course, in New York City, they've opened hundreds -- a couple hundred of the cooling centers for people who need extra help who can't afford air conditioning or where it's not working where people can go to cool off. That includes, oh, libraries and other places, community centers where people can get some air conditioning and enjoy that.
Joining me now is a guy who's on his way to work. Shannon (ph), you work in an exercise studio. So are people coming more or less these days?
SHANNON: I think people are coming about the same, because we are inside. We have lots of air conditioning and people can sort of get in their workout and still feel good.
CANDIOTTI: What are you telling people about how to keep cool?
SHANNON: I'm definitely telling people to stay hydrated, stretch a little bit more. Drink extra water. Coconut water is always really good and just generally stay hydrated and feel good and stay out of the heat.
CANDIOTTI: Thanks. Good advice for anybody. OK. Coconut water. I'll remember that one.
Meantime, Kiran and Ali, we'll be out here watching my hair start to curl up in the humidity. Back to you.
VELSHI: If that happens, just call me. I'll switch out with you. I don't have the hair curling issue.
CHETRY: I don't know if you can bring out your best though.
VELSHI: No, no. Everything is running today. Everything is -- everyone wondering how am I wearing this. There's -- you know, the trick is, as you said, for people who don't have the air conditioning where you can go to keep cool, but the thing we have to remember, Susan, is for places that do have air conditioning, we're now into brownout dangers in some parts of the country.
CANDIOTTI: Right.
VELSHI: So you should have a plan what if you don't have air conditioning as to what you're going to do to keep cool.
CANDIOTTI: That's right. And not only that. You know, we have a situation here in New York where because of the diesel fuel spill, some of the beaches -- the beaches are open, but they're telling people not to go in the water. So if you have that as one idea to go and cool off --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Right.
CANDIOTTI: -- you won't be able to do that either, Ali.
CHETRY: You're right. Susan Candiotti for us out there. Thanks so much. Vitamin water has a lot of good nutrients. It has a lot of potassium.
VELSHI: Coconut water.
CHETRY: Oh, yes, the coconut water. Sorry about that.
VELSHI: Somebody else told me about that. Yes.
Susan is in a sports center outside there.
CHETRY: The other thing that you bring up also is -- so you're sitting in your house and you're thinking, why should I care? I have air conditioning.
VELSHI: Right. And also if the power goes out.
CHETRY: Right. So don't keep it on 68.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: It doesn't need to be as cool as you normally keep it.
VELSHI: Right, right.
CHETRY: Because these systems and grids are having a hard time.
VELSHI: Yes. They really are having a hard time.
Rob Marciano is watching all this for us in the Extreme Weather Center as well. I mean, I don't know what you can add to this except give us the danger of how hot it's going to be in some of these places.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'll give you another argument. Do not keep the thermostat so low. You know, save you some money. If there's an argument you're going to win, finally or domestically, is, you know, raise the thermostat because you don't want to cause an added strain on the electrical grid.
All right. You know, we've been talking a few days with this heat wave. We haven't seen a whole lot record highs. It's been more of a humidity thing.
Well, records are now falling just where the temperatures alone. 106 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. That's a record not only for the day but for the number of consecutive days up and over 103. Elmira, New York, upstate New York, Syracuse set a record up in over 100 degrees. Newark seeing 103. Toledo, Ohio, 102, and Detroit, Michigan, at the sentry mark and there's a slew of other high temperatures as well.
And we point this out because this is dangerous stuff. Heat- related fatalities are the number one reason that we get fatalities from the weather. More than hurricanes, more than flooding, it's heat. So this is a dangerous situation. Let's get through it.
We've got another couple of days. Just kind of you're your way through it and take care of your neighbors. Heat advisories out again today. That does include Chicago although they'll be a cooling trend after today in Chicago. But there are 29 other states that are enduring heat advisories and watches and warnings and most of them along the I-95, heavily populated areas from D.C., up through New York and now including Boston.
Yesterday we have more of an onshore flow. So if you went towards the beach or towards the coastlines, you got a little bit cooler that way. But not so much now. Today the winds have shifted.
As we go through the day today, we'll look at temperatures that will feel like they're up over 100 degrees. Tomorrow they'll be close to 100 in New York City and 105 in D.C. We'll start to feel a cooling trend beginning Sunday and Monday. But the next two days are going to be stifling. Guys, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob. Thanks so much.
Our question of the day, how do you stay cool when you're not in the a/c? You know, even though you enjoy air conditioning or most people do in their homes and offices.
Right.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And then you've got to walk around at the subway. Literally feels like you're walking through clay.
VELSHI: Right. Like in New York, for instance, subway cars are air-conditioned but the subway isn't.
CHETRY: The subway is not. And literally when you're descending the stairs, it feels like you're walking into an oven.
VELSHI: Yes, this blast of hot air. And all of you are suffering these sorts of problems throughout the country. Tell us what you do. Send us an email, a tweet. Tell us on Facebook. We'd love to hear some of your creative ideas. We can share them with other viewers.
CHETRY: Meantime, new developments this morning in the U.K. phone hacking case that could lead to criminal charges against News Corporation here in the United States. The FBI reportedly plans to get in touch with Jude Law. The actor is suing Rupert Murdoch's media empire claiming that the now-defunct "News of the World" tabloid hacked his voicemail back in 2003 while he was at New York JFK's airport. Now if that is true and can be proven, federal prosecutors in America could then step into the case. News Corp. says that Law's claims have, quote, "no foundation" and they plan to fight them.
Meantime, remember the 26-year-old comedian who hit Rupert Murdoch with a shaving cream pie during his testimony before parliament this week? Well, he is now scheduled to appear in a U.K. courtroom today. Jonathan Bowles charged with behavior causing harassment, alarm or distress in a public place.
VELSHI: Well, the closed door negotiations kicking into high gear now with just 11 days until the government reaches -- well, the government has already reached its legal borrowing limit. It's 11 days until we start defaulting on payments. Sources tell CNN President Obama is trying to persuade Democrats into backing a plan to cut spending immediately. The deal would then cut entitlements and raise revenue, but not until 2013. But if you listen to the White House, there is no deal to raise the debt ceiling by the August 2nd deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The fact is that there is no progress to report. We continue to work on getting the most significant deficit reduction package possible, because we believe that it's the right thing for the economy, and if done in the right way and a balanced way will be good for growth add good for job creation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK. Also today, the Senate is expected to vote on the GOP's so-called cut, cap and balance plan. It is not expected to pass. And remember that even if it does, the president has said he will veto that.
Today is the Pentagon's -- the day the Pentagon is expected to certify that it's ready to accept openly gay and lesbian service members. The certification is required for a full repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Once President Obama endorses the certification, which he's expected to do, the controversial ban will be history in 60 days.
CHETRY: A man arrested for an attack outside of Dodger Stadium in L.A. on opening day is now reportedly off the hook. The "L.A. Times" is reporting that the man that police took into custody back in May may not be responsible for an attack that took place there. But now there are two new suspects under arrest. Bryan Stow, a Giants fan and father of two, was beaten, almost killed in the stadium parking lot back in March. He suffered a skull fracture, a traumatic brain injury and underwent another emergency surgery earlier this week.
VELSHI: The wife of one of Casey Anthony's attorneys called 911 earlier this week after getting several threatening phone calls at her home. Cheney Mason's wife, Shirley, told police one call -- and that's Cheney Mason, by the way, on the left. One caller left a voicemail warning her husband and fellow defense attorney, Jose Baez, to sleep with, quote, "one eye open." Police say someone posted the Mason's phone number on Facebook.
And there are a lot of strong opinions on this stuff, but that's -- cross the line.
CHETRY: It's when you hear about threatening of judges or judges being under attack --
VELSHI: Yes. The justice system is the justice system. Everybody gets a lawyer and people got to get with the program.
CHETRY: Three city workers in Massachusetts have been forced to resign after a disturbing drowning incident that went unnoticed for four days. They were on duty last month in Fall River when a 36-year- old female swimmer drowned. Investigators blamed cloudy water and said that the pool never should have been open and in operation.
VELSHI: Close to three dozen schools in New Jersey now being investigated for possible cheating on standardized tests. The state's Department of Education says it found a high number of incorrect answers being replaced with correct ones at 34 schools. The state's acting education commissioner insists that the report does not prove that cheating actually occurred, but the incidence of erasure is higher than it typically would be.
CHETRY: That's right.
NFL owners are taking the first step toward ending the lockout. They approved a new labor deal last night, but the players refused to vote on it. The league also announced that the lockout has forced it to cancel its first preseason game. That was supposed to be the hall of fame game taking place August 7th. We're going to be live outside the talks later in the hour to explain more about why the delay of the vote on the part of the players.
VELSHI: Right. It's been a couple days of delay now.
All right. Yesterday we had that really cute pouty kid in the stands who threw a fit when he didn't catch a foul ball but somebody in front of him did. Today, a total act of kindness and generosity by a young fan in Arizona. Check this out.
A player tosses the ball into the stands. The little boy sitting in the front row catches it, drops it then somebody hands the ball to another boy. And as he's running up and down the aisle celebrating, he realizes the other kid is crushed.
OK. What does he do? He goes down and he hands the kid the ball.
CHETRY: Oh.
VELSHI: Oh, my God. That's the world's nicest kid.
CHETRY: That is --
VELSHI: Just the world's nicest kid.
CHETRY: I know.
VELSHI: Look at that.
CHETRY: What a good guy.
VELSHI: I mean, that is unbelievable. What a great -- I mean, that's -- because when that kid caught that ball, he's the happiest guy in the world. Can you imagine him giving that ball away? And he goes with nothing.
What a great, great story. I don't know who you are, kid, but good on you.
CHETRY: I know. What a sweetheart.
VELSHI: Love that.
CHETRY: Nice to know.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: You know, that -- good people in this world.
Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, he's not a candidate yet for president but a new poll suggests he's attracting a lot of attention from Republicans. We'll have more details on that.
VELSHI: And he stood by Tiger Woods through it all. Now Steve Williams, tiger's fired caddie, is talking, and he's not happy. CHETRY: Also, a big Las Vegas headliner is joining dozens of Vegas showgirls to protest what some of the biggest hotels on the strip are charging guests.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 14 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Sixteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
More Republican eyes are firmly set on Texas Governor Rick Perry. They want him in.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And he is hinting he might have run for the White House.
And let's take a look at our new CNN ORC Poll. Fourteen percent of Republicans pick Perry as their --
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: -- first choice for the GOP nomination. And that puts him just two points behind the leader, the frontrunner, Mitt Romney.
VELSHI: Who has really, very fully declared and in the race.
CHETRY: That's right. And he's been raising money for a long time.
VELSHI: But look at it. Look how close that is with the rest of them.
CHETRY: It really is. Also, another person who is not declared, Giuliani. And Rudy Giuliani, 13 percent would like to see him get in, as well as Sarah Palin. And then you have 12 percent picking Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
So, really, I mean, four point differential. What is the plus or minus 4.5 percentage points in the poll --
VELSHI: Yes. That's a --
CHETRY: -- I mean, that's a pretty --
VELSHI: -- tight race.
CHETRY: -- tight race.
VELSHI: Yes.
All right. He's one of the few people who stood by Tiger Woods during his sex scandal. Now, the caddy is letting -- he's letting it all out after he was fired earlier this week and he was fired.
Steve Williams didn't go into why he was fired, but he did not hold back how he felt about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WILLIAMS, TIGER WOODS FORMER CADDY: Oh, I'm extremely disappointed, Martin (ph). You know, given the fact that last night (INAUDIBLE) has been a particularly difficult time (INAUDIBLE) for Tiger. Obviously, we're concerned of the scandal. He's had a new coach, a swing change and, yes, the last eight months have been very difficult, and I've stuck with him through thick and thin. Have been incredibly loyal.
And then -- you know, and then to have this happen, I mean, basically you could say I've wasted two years of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Wow.
Well, Woods was sideline at the British Open. Steve Williams took a fill-in job with another golfer. "Golf Week" says that was the reason for the split.
It's interesting. I -- I don't -- I guess I don't know enough about those relationships. We're going to talk to Phil Mickelson later on, maybe I'll ask him about that.
CHETRY: Yes. We'll just find out. I mean -- and do think about it. He was also the highest paid caddy, he's getting (ph) $1.2 million --
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
CHETRY: -- in I think 2007, caddying for Tiger Woods. I mean, it's a lucrative job and you're -- and, you know, you're a team --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Pretty much.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Amazing.
All right. Comic-Con, the annual pop culture convention, you know, the Comic-Con Convention.
VELSHI: You've gone there, haven't you?
CHETRY: I've never gone, but I --
VELSHI: It's huge.
CHETRY: It is -- I remember when it was one of the number one things trending on Twitter.
VELSHI: Yes, yes. CHETRY: Big, big events.
VELSHI: I thought you were going to say I remember when --
CHETRY: No.
VELSHI: -- Issue 13 of "Spiderman" came out or something.
CHETRY: No. But I know that there are people, and that's why Comic-Con is so famous --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- and popular that they do that. It's under way --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- in San Diego right now. It's four days. The event has kicked of yesterday. A hundred and twenty-five thousand fans, a lot of them attending in full costume.
These are the guys from "Twilight." You see that? They're checking out the latest comics, movies, TV shows. Comic-Con also draws a lot of star power. Actors come to meet fans and also to take part in panel discussions.
VELSHI: She's a little bit country and a little bit showgirl. Marie Osmond and a dozen of Las Vegas showgirls shut down part of the famous Strip to protest so-called resort fees charged by many Las Vegas hotels. The fees range from $5 to $25 a night. They're not usually included in the advertised room rate. Osmond says the march was a gesture of solidarity with the American consumer.
I should tell you, though, they were all -- it's all tied to a particular resort that doesn't charge resort fees. So I'm not sure if it was really a protest as much as to draw attention, too.
CHETRY: It made for quite a show, though. Didn't it?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. We want to show you some -- it's pretty amazing.
This right here is what's pretty amazing. This is my iPad that's streaming CNN video live. We were just showing this Comic-Con --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- yes, Convention. There's Roger (sic) Pattinson and Kristen Stewart from "Twilight." And now we're back on -- you were just showing --
VELSHI: Marie Osmond.
CHETRY: You can watch CNN live or "HEADLINE NEWS" live. Both of them available at CNN Video -- CNN.com/Video.
And let me just show you. You either do it that way, or if you have the app, you just click on the app here, and then you go up to the Live TV button. Hit that. And then pick the show that's live. Boom. It comes up and it streams live. Again, you can do this on your iPad.
VELSHI: So it's like a wee delay.
CHETRY: Yes. Just a small delay on your iPhone, and the service is currently available to about 50 million people who subscribe to certain cable providers. And you can head to our website to see if your company is one of them. And if so, it's free.
VELSHI: Yes. That's very cool.
All right. Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, leave the cash, take the hair. The latest in a bizarre robbery trend that was caught on tape.
Twenty-one minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, U.S. stock futures trading higher riding gains from yesterday. U.S. markets surged at the end of the trading day. The Dow and NASDAQ closed higher by more than one percent. The S&P 500 up a little under one percent for the day.
Progress in the debt ceiling talks in Washington pushed markets higher in the afternoon. But investors are feeling cautious going into today's trading session. We're inching closer and closer to the debt ceiling deadline on August the 2nd.
European leaders meeting in Brussels finally reach the deal for a second bailout package for Greece late yesterday. $157 billion U.S., that's how much the plan is worth. News of the agreement pushed U.S. stocks higher yesterday and world markets are up overnight.
Wall Street buzzing this morning about more big earnings reports coming out in the next few hours. Caterpillar, General Electric, Verizon, McDonald's, all reporting their earnings from the last quarter before markets open today.
The Justice Department reportedly preparing subpoenas as part of its investigation of News Corporation. "The Wall Street Journal" which is owned by News Corp. is reporting this morning that the subpoenas would seek information about alleged foreign bribery and phone hacking of September 11th victims here in the United States.
U.S. taxpayers likely lost $1.3 billion in the bailout of Chrysler. The Treasury Department says it's sold its remaining stake in Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat for more than half a billion dollars. This marks the end of the 2009 bailout that was part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program what you know as TARP.
AMERICAN MORNING back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Your top stories this morning.
It's the record-breaking heat we're talking about --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- as the heat wave claiming as many as two dozen lives across the country. They were excessive heat watches and warnings from the Plains across the Midwest to the East Coast, all the way up to Massachusetts. It's going to feel like 115 degrees when you factor in the heat and the humidity in many places today.
VELSHI: There's somebody who's doing the right thing, drinking lots. The FBI --
CHETRY: Drinking a lot of water.
VELSHI: -- by the way, reportedly plan to get in touch with Jude Law. The actor is suing Rupert Murdoch's media empire, claiming the "News of the World' tabloid hacked his voicemail in 2003 while he was in New York at JFK Airport.
Now, if that's true, News Corp. could face criminal charges here in the United States.
CHETRY: Also, today could be a landmark day for gay and lesbian service members. The Pentagon is expected to ready its -- say it's ready to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for good. Now, once this repeal is certified by the Pentagon, a full repeal would take place in 60 days.
VELSHI: We're half-way there.
Last night, NFL team owners approved a new labor deal. The players, though, haven't voted on it yet.
CHETRY: That's right. And so now we have the first real casualty of the lockout. Commissioner Roger Goodell announcing that the August 7th game, which was to be a Hall of Fame Game --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- has been cancelled.
Joe Carter is live in Atlanta, where talks have been taking place. It's interesting. Because a couple days ago, the popular wisdom was that this was just going to happen, that they were all but ready to sign a deal. What went wrong?
JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think anything's gone wrong up to this point. I mean, the owners yesterday, collectively, 31 of the 32 owners, voted yes on the new deal. So, now, the ball goes into the players' court per se.
Now, that's a 500-plus-page document that they have to comb over and it's a document they didn't receive until late last night. So, one would think they're going to need at least all day today and maybe a few more days to comb over it.
But, as of yesterday -- late last night, I should say -- owners agreed to this new deal under a couple of conditions. One, that the players become a players' union once again. And, two, that the players vote yes on this deal. Those two conditions, they'll have until Tuesday to do that. The owners say it's not a perfect deal, but it's an unprecedented one, it's a lucrative one, and it's a deal that will get football back on the field on time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY JONES, COWBOYS OWNER: At the end of the day, you do get roughed up, and I don't mean that physically. But do you get roughed up. And that's what the negotiation is about. We didn't get the amount of ground we could get to on some of these things. But I do know we did some things that will help grow this league.
JEFFREY LORIE, EAGLES OWNER: It allows for stability of the sport. The sport is already so popular. This allows us to just worry about football for the next 10 years, how to grow the sport, how to make it safer, how to make it more fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: All right. So the players will look over this 500- page-plus document today. This new collective bargaining agreement that the owners say is right for them. If the players vote on this today and they vote yes, team facilities would open as early as tomorrow morning. Training camp would begin as early as Wednesday, which means the August 11th first preseason week would be on time and this September 8th first regular season game would also be on time.
But, things can happen, as we've seen in the last four months. I put it out like this. Imagine these two sides being a married couple that are shopping for a house. They found the property, but are negotiating over the countertops, the carpet and cabinets -- small details, but details that could derail the entire thing -- guys.
CHETRY: I'm just curious because it seems that at least some members who are represented by players association said that the players' approval of the deal was far from certain. And then you have some of the more vocal players tweeting about this, which is interesting. One saying that these are things that provisions were included that were never agreed upon by the players.
CARTER: We understand a lot of the big principles, some of big financial principles have been agreed upon. It's some of the smaller issues that need to be combed over. And they'll have until Tuesday to come to agreement. They'll have until Tuesday to recertify or reconstitute as a union as well.
So, over the next course of the next three or four days, they will be able to decide whether or not this agreement is good for both sides.
But we're hearing a lot of speculation at this point coming from all different sides. But think about it like this. They're on the 5- yard line, with a few downs to go to score a touchdown and get football back on the field on time.
So, a lot of people want to get this deal done. There may about few issues both sides don't agree upon. But at the end of the day, the bigger picture is putting football back in play.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
VELSHI: All right. Joe, thanks very much. We'll check in with you as this develops.
More bloodshed in the fourth largest city in Syria, Homs. Witnesses say government forces killed about 10 people killed yesterday. Communications in the city have been cut off. We're told medical workers cannot get to the wounded.
The White House once again calling on President Assad to stop killing his own people.
Well, they kicked open the door, blew past the cash register and went straight for the hair. Police in the Bay Area are looking for a gang of human hair thieves who were caught on security camera. Hair Divas imports human hair from India that women cut off. It's used to make high-end wigs and weaves. The hair could go to big bucks on the black market.
Who knew?
CHETRY: Sixteen vegetarian Hindu customers can sue an Indian restaurant in Edison, New Jersey, for mistakenly serving them meat. The mix occurred two years ago when a group ordered vegetable samosas and got meat samosas instead. They sued, claiming emotional and spiritual harm. But a lower court then threw out the case. Now, an appeals court says they can take legal action against the restaurant.
The group is trying to recover the cost of the trip to India where they dipped themselves in the Ganges River to cleanse their souls because of eating the meat.
VELSHI: But if I were cynic, I would say that they're suing for the cost of their trip to India.
CHETRY: Yes. And let me say one thing, because I love --
VELSHI: I don't really want to
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: But you can tell with the first bite whether it's a vegetable or meat --
VELSHI: Right. The first person taking the first bite, say, hold on, guys. This is not the --
CHETRY: Because it's literally, huge chunks of ground up lamb, a little different than potatoes and peas.
VELSHI: Yes, very different, as a samosas connoisseur.
Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNNING: Interviewing for a job? Be careful which post on Facebook. We'll talk to the head the company that does social media background checks for prospective employees.
CHETRY: This is fascinating. It sounds like your usual -- you have a criminal record.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Any of your friends posts pictures of you doing tequila shots? They might see that, too.
Plus, an early curfew is being proposed for kids in one major city. We're going to tell you where and why.
Thirty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: So, if a group in Chicago gets its way, kids under the age of 12 will have to be off the streets by 9:30 p.m. during the week, 9:00 a.m. on the weekends.
CHETRY: That sounds reasonable. They're under 12. They're gong to be out past 9:00 on the streets?
VELSHI: All right. The proposed curfew is passed by people like Kiran and the public safety committee. The idea is to reduce violence. The city's police department is on board with it.
Look, the old age violence thing in Chicago is a serious issue. The idea, however, is getting a mixed reaction from parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of things happen at night that goes wrong for kids that's 12 years old and under, or even 18 and under. I think that it's good to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we going to be penalizing, you know, our children from enjoying the summer months? You know, are kids going to be able to play in front of their house, you know, where they live?
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
VELSHI: The full city council votes on the proposal next week. Strikes me as one of those things that could have ways of accommodating. In other words, around your house or something like -- with a distance of your parents.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I'm sure there's some way to figure that out.
CHETRY: Well, drug tests, criminal background checks have long been part of the hiring process. But now, companies are taking it a step further. They're actually conducting social media check on job candidates.
VELSHI: So, there's a California company called Social Intelligence, which provides the service, combing the Web for telltale signs of a risky hire.
Max Drucker is the CEO that company's president and CEO. He joins us now.
Max, thanks for being with us.
CHETRY: Good morning.
VELSHI: So, first of all, when companies use your services to check out potential hires, does the potential hire know that that's happening?
MAX DRUCKER, PRESIDENT & CEO, SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes. Absolutely. The job applicant gives consent like they would for a criminal background check or drug screening.
VELSHI: Is it specifically for social media or just --
DRUCKER: No, specifically for social media as well. We require a specific language into that job application.
VELSHI: Got it.
CHETRY: What do you guys do as a company that's different from just a potential employer Googling somebody to find out or checking on their Facebook pages?
DRUCKER: So some 80 percent or more employers are doing some form of Google today. And when they're doing so, they're exposing themselves to all kinds of things that aren't legally allowable for hiring, things like race, religion, things that are federally protected.
Additionally, when an employer does that Google screening, it's going to be very hard for them to be fair and consistent in their hiring practice.
VELSHI: So, what can you do? In other words, how do you -- how does employing you to check on them ensure that the company doesn't do things that are illegal and yet finds things that are signs of risky behavior? By the way, what are the signs you're looking for?
DRUCKER: Well, we only search for employer-defined criteria. Examples of those things are racist remarks, illegal activities such as drug use, potential violent behavior, sexually explicit photos and videos. Those are examples of what we specifically look for.
Anything else that doesn't fall into that, into those categories, we don't get reports on. So, employers are never exposed to anything that doesn't fall into those categories.
CHETRY: So, this is interesting. You found out about somebody purchasing Oxycontin on Craigslist. That's one of the things that you found.
How do you obtain that type of information?
DRUCKER: So, we only review publicly-available information. So, these things that people specifically put into the Internet and make that publicly available.
VELSHI: Somebody posted somewhere that they've bought Oxycontin?
DRUCKER: It's pretty hard to believe. I tell you. The stuff that we see, it's --
VELSHI: So, you're not -- it's not like you're hacking an exchange between somebody that's in their personal e-mail --
DRUCKER: No.
VELSHI: -- that says you want to sell me some Oxycontin?
DRUCKER: Not at all. We're doing that screening. But again, everything is publicly available.
CHETRY: So, people these days, when they share pictures and they share their information and they inadvertently share other people's information, if you're posting pictures of yourself to a publicly shared site like a Facebook, or anything, how do you know how much risk you're exposing yourself to? And what could potentially not get you hired or help get you hired?
DRUCKER: Well, I think it's a pretty broad range of areas. And, unfortunately, I think some employers do use things that potentially aren't relevant or potentially illegal in their hiring.
VELSHI: Meaning, pictures of somebody at a lot of parties --
DRUCKER: Yes, things like that that may not be relevant. We don't do that. We only report on that specific criteria, and nothing else. But certainly I would advise and recommend, use your discretion and certainly look out there and if there's some chance an employer may make a hiring decision based on it, then you should probably take it down.
VELSHI: You just scrub your own and I guess that's a different issue. That's not something you specialize in.
But you made a point that interests me. You said the reason companies employ you is because they could get into legal trouble for finding the wrong criteria, for not hiring somebody. What's right and what's wrong? What are the things that even if you come across can't be involved into a report generated to a company that's hired you?
DRUCKER: Well, it's really two things. They exposed themselves to information that's fairly protected. So, that is race, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, military.
VELSHI: Because you can establish all of those things from somebody's Facebook postings?
DRUCKER: Often by a picture of them, or on a profile, they'll talk and write those areas. And when we generate a report, we redact. We block out any of those categories. Employers are never exposed --
CHETRY: It seems a little kind of intuitive, though, because when you come in for a job interview, there are certain things people can tell about you, your race, obviously. Perhaps your religion if you're wearing a symbol.
It just seems interesting in this day and age for people put so much information about themselves out there publicly that we then are either surprised or concerned that that information is then going by potential employers.
DRUCKER: Yes, and that's absolutely true. However, sort on the race side, that may be something that could prevent a person getting an interview. And other area, things like sexual orientation which we may not, they should really be protected from both of those things based on somebody has that online.
VELSHI: Have we seen incidence where people who don't practice it as well as you do, or companies that don't get in trouble for this? That they found out about something in a protected area by their own searching and that gets challenged in court? Or are we that new in this it hasn't really happened that way?
DRUCKER: It's new. But the allegations of discrimination are beginning to pile up. As we're in a tough economy and people are getting rejected, this is an area, well, you didn't hire me because you saw -- or that I was a single mom and you didn't want to hire me as a result of that. That single mom is protected by what we do, because that will never be exposed to employer --
VELSHI: At least not from you.
DRUCKER: -- will never be exposed by that. At least not from us, and we specifically require employers to not do that Google screening (ph) themselves.
VELSHI: Oh, that's interesting. So, I might be safer using a company that employs you because they've had this discussion?
DRUCKER: Yes, absolutely. We give them a legally compliant way of doing that.
VELSHI: Very interesting.
CHETRY: Max Drucker, CEO and president of Social Intelligence, thanks for joining us this morning.
DRUCKER: Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. It's 45 after the hour. We're going to give a check of the morning headlines right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Here's look at your headlines this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): A record-breaking heat wave now claiming as many as two dozens lives across the country. Power companies also warning now that they may be pushed to the limit. Fears of, perhaps, rolling brownouts as people try to stay cool.
The FBI reportedly plans to interview Jude Law. The actor is suing News Corp claiming that Rupert Murdoch's "News of the World" tabloid hacked his voicemail in 2003 while he was at New York's JFK airport.
A new report says the man suspected of attacking a baseball fan outside of Dodgers Stadium on opening day may be of the hook. They may have gotten the wrong person. The "L.A. Times" reporting there are now two new arrests in the case.
NFL owners approving a new labor deal with the lockout continues. The players have not yet signed it.
And the Pentagon expected to announce later today that it is set to clarify the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." A full repeal would then take place in 60 days.
Taking to the strip. Las Vegas showgirls marching to protest Caesar hotel's no fees policy. Many Vegas hotels charge guests hidden resort fees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's 48 minutes past the hour. Caught up in the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will Carter always love making people laugh. And when he was a child, he dreamed of becoming a comedian. If you would have asked him at 17, he would have said his biggest obstacle was fear of failure, but that changed with a horrific car accident. And what his family feared the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had to remove part of his skulls laugh (ph) because the brain is swollen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had a (INAUDIBLE). He lost his sling (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he was in a coma for about three weeks. Driving home and I just thought, oh, my goodness, my son's got a brain injury. Does he have a future?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need somebody to pick you up tonight or are you going to --
GUPTA: After years of physical therapy, Will did recover, but he lost a lot of his independence. He couldn't drive. Meaning, he had to depend on his parents to give him rides, even rely on friends. He had to put his dreams on hold.
WILL CARTER, BRAIN INJURY PATIENT: I love doing comedy. There's nothing -- there's no energy in this world like being onstage.
GUPTA: Will didn't give up. He was determined to overcome his brain injury with the help of this, a device called the electronic driving coach. It helps cue Will so he doesn't get distracted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do the best when you plan ahead.
GUPTA: And the driving instructor, and Will has learned to drive again.
CARTER: I tend to be a daydreamer. Get distracted by my own box (ph). So, that's why it's good to have Michelle in the car cueing me or when she's not cueing me, having a device to cue me.
GUPTA: It is taken over a year of practice, but today, he's driving alone with just the device at his side.
CARTER: It's really awesome that you know just to have that independence. For me to be able to just have control of my life, to feel like an adult.
GUPTA: And he's bag onstage performing stand-up comedy and applying to graduate school to share with others the joy of making people laugh.
CARTER: I think I know where all of this forest fires are coming from.
(LAUGHTER)
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: A Los Angeles judge ordering Lindsay Lohan to get cracking in order to complete her court ordered community service in time.
CHETRY: You just say get cracking?
VELSHI: Yes. Why is that?
CHETRY: I don't know. Go ahead.
VELSHI: She's got to get cracking. She got to get it done.
CHETRY: All right.
VELSHI: It's a condition of her probation for shoplifting a necklace from a jewelry store last year. The judge says she will not give Lohan five minutes more than the one year that she has to do it. Lohan was told to begin psychological counseling.
CHETRY: Even the whales love Betty White. She made a big splash at the Georgia Aquarium yesterday, swimming with a beluga whale named Beethoven. How cute. I love belugas.
VELSHI: Why you make your voice like that when you tell --
CHETRY: I just love the new whale.
VELSHI: Just tell the story.
CHETRY: Oh, come on. You got to have a heart of ice not to love that little beluga.
VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) this weather.
CHETRY: The actress and animal lover first met Beethoven last year and has devoted an entire chapter to the whale in a new book. The Georgia Aquarium is, by the way, naming its dolphin mascot Betty in her honor.
VELSHI: It's fantastic.
CHETRY: She's been a huge animal rights person forever, but yes, now, she's getting the water with the whales.
VELSHI: You mean, you can swim with the whales at the Georgia aquarium.
CHETRY: That's what she was doing.
VELSHI: Or sharks. Whatever. I don't know much about that.
All right. The wildly popular mobile game "Angry Birds." Have you played it? Do you have an "Angry Birds?"
CHETRY: Yes. I played it, but I don't get why it's so -- why they get addicted to it. VELSHI: It's getting up to 1 billion fans. It's setting a site on having a billion users. Today is more than 300 million people have downloaded the game. So, still awhile to go and to hit the milestone of a billion. The games maker is rolling out new toys, a board game, books, and an animated series. Here's a fun stat for you.
Players have flung more than 100 billion birds. That's more birds that actually exist in the entire world. And I'll tell you, it occupies me on the iPad. I'm not sure how all of those franchise extensions will work. Like, the kind of thing you do when you're sitting, waiting for a plane and --
CHETRY: Exactly.
VELSHI: Yes. It is kind of fun, though. It's all physics to me. Like, you figure out how to, you know, how -- the trajectory of the bird in order to do the most damage to the pigs.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: I hope any of you out here have played this, because otherwise, this must sound like the strangest conversation.
CHETRY: And it just might also sound like one of the strangest conversation --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Have you heard of planking? This is a trend that blew off on the web. Everyone claims they were the one who started it, but it's, basically, you lie face down and it's pretty weird. And sometimes, you do it in dangerous places.
VELSHI: This just looks like lying down. Jay who's doing it. He's one of our floor directors.
CHETRY: He's actually -- he's pulling out all the stops.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. He's actually holding himself up, because his head is on one chair, his feet on the other. So, he's actually got used some core strength to do this. That looks like exercise to me.
CHETRY: Can we just go back to him for one more second. Hold on. Hold on. He's still doing --
VELSHI: He's shaking.
CHETRY: He's shaking using all of his core --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: He's an Aerosmith fan, by the way. You know that I've never seen a person who wears an Aerosmith T-shirt, a different Aerosmith T-shirt every time. VELSHI: He went to 100 concerts of Aerosmith. Jay is a great guy. That I get. I get what Jay's doing. I don't get this idea of these pictures we were showing of people like lying on a soccer field. Is that just lying down?
CHETRY: No. That's planking. But, we'll have to tell you, if you are one of these trendsetters, just so you know that two months ago, owling is now the huge rage. so here's how do you it. So, here's how you do it. You pick a spot, and then, you crouch like an owl. We also have one of our floor crew willing and ready to do this. Rob Brennan owling, right next to Phil. This is -- wait. Guess what he's wearing --
VELSHI: Sitting.
CHETRY: He's actually on the table that we leave coffee for our guests in the green room. So, that's going to be wonderful for the next few people that have to come in here today, including Phil Mickelson.
VELSHI: Rob is doing a great job out there. I mean, does that help you with your leg strength? What does it do? Or is it just -- if you're doing it, you put it on your Facebook page?
CHETRY: Yes. To show you find the oddest place to owl, the oddest place where you plank, you know, you're planking or owling with, you know, something amazing in the background like the Brooklyn Bridge.
VELSHI: When in your life where you just start to feel like an old man? Where you just feel like life passed you by and you don't get what the kids these days are doing? Right now is this moment. You're sharing it with me.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break, and we'll see if I can get Ali to owl before the end of the show.
VELSHI: No. Fifty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
