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American Morning
Interview with Senator Pat Toomey; "Perfect Storm" Hits NYC; Drama At 30 Rock; Let Bert And Ernie Marry?; Yale Graduate Teaches Underprivileged Children; Tiger Woods Plays in PGA Tournament; Mistakes in Scientific Research
Aired August 11, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Could the market bounce back?
I'm Christine Romans.
U.S. stock futures now down sharply after 500-point drop yesterday, just turned lower. When will this wild ride on Wall Street end? And if you got money in the market, should you ride it out?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Nine down. Three to go.
Good morning. I'm Carol Costello.
The congressional supercommittee is nearly in place. But will they be able to compromise on spending cuts? Right now, confidence is low.
We'll ask one of the Republicans who is sitting on the panel how a deal could possibly get done.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi.
It's the fastest plane ever built capable of flying from New York to Los Angeles in 12 minutes! The last time the Pentagon tested it, it crashed into the ocean. Now, they are preparing to give it another go -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: I can't get coffee in 12 minutes.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: All right. Good morning. It's Thursday, August 11th.
Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
Stock futures have just turned lower. They're down more than a hundred points. Who knows what that means for the day, though?
COSTELLO: Maybe they could shoot up again.
VELSHI: Volatility is kind of the word of the day.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. The "V" word.
In just 90 minutes, millions of us will be looking at the big board on Wall Street and wondering which direction the numbers will move in today.
VELSHI: Futures have been all over the place this morning -- as they have. This is not uncommon these days. They have up, down -- after the Dow dropped 520 points yesterday, 4.5 percent. This time, the drop is fueled by fears that France is on the verge of a credit downgrade.
ROMANS: We want to get a check now on how the markets are doing overseas.
Our Nina dos Santos is live in London.
Nina, good morning. Has there been something that's happened for a change in sentiment here? Is this the same old fear and volatility?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the one thing that seems to be certain is that you really can't second-guess these markets at the moment, Christine.
What we are seeing is that a number of these markets start the day with double-digit -- sorry -- single-digit percentage gains but up about 2/3 (ph) of 1 percent, and then they only manage to hold on to those gains for about three hours. And then it took us about 3 1/2 hours for these markets to sharply turn red. It's the ninth straight day when we see stocks trying to flirt with some gains and then quickly give up those gains, surrender them to losses. We currently got some the CAC 40 in France down by about 2.8 percent.
Ali, you were saying a moment that France is the next country everybody is worried about. It's one of 15 countries around the world which still enjoys that coveted AAA credit rating status, but what has economists worried is hits high debt to GDP, standing at 82 percent, also its deficit, which is double the Eurozone's own target at 7 percent. That is why people are worried. France has got its growth figures out just tomorrow and we'll, of course, be keeping eyes on that.
VELSHI: Yes. We saw what Italy did to our markets. France is a substantially bigger economy than Italy is.
Nina, thanks very much for that -- Nina dos Santos in London.
COSTELLO: Isn't it nice to know, though, that we're not alone?
VELSHI: Well, that's definitely one way to look at it.
COSTELLO: Just kidding. Trying to find a bright spot anywhere.
Let's talk -- let's talk politics now.
ROMANS: Yes, the bright spot is there, Carol.
VELSHI: Yes, that's the bright spot.
ROMANS: We can't watch Wall Street, let's go to Washington.
COSTELLO: We have to talk about this! And it's now up to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to fill the final three seats of the new 12-member congressional supercommittee. She has until Tuesday to do it.
VELSHI: Yes. She seems to be dragging her feet on this a little bit. I guess she wants to make a solid decision. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have already made their selections. Three Democrats were picked a day earlier by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
ROMANS: Joe Johns joins us live from Washington this morning.
And, you know, Joe, first of all, any word on who Pelosi might be considering? And, secondly, isn't this just shrunk down -- how do you make sure it's not just a shrunken version of dysfunctional Congress?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I don't think you can do that.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Look, Pelosi has actually been quoted as saying she doesn't intend to draw lines in the sand with her picks, but that was before the other supercommittee members were named. She's still keeping people guessing. No clue on who she's thinking about.
And, you know, the political pressures on Nancy Pelosi inside the congress are a little different than some of the other leaders. There's a bit of a buzz going around Capitol Hill pointing out underrepresentation of women and minorities on the supercommittee. So far, right now, there's one woman, no minority member.
But the biggest question really is who among Democrats in the House would actually want this job going into an election year? Because it creates really headaches for people, say, liberal Democrats, people who want to hold the line against entitlement cuts and a lot of people saying needs to be on the table.
Pelosi's office tells us they do have plenty of people who want the job and, like you said, she has until Tuesday.
As far as compromise goes, you know, a handful of deal-makers, we know all that. And is this going to be just another representation of the dysfunctional Congress? So far, it has been just a little bit of everything and, you know, it's kind of stacked against them, but as we have said earlier on this program today, there are reasons why, including the so-called triggers that are incentives for them to get a deal.
So, we'll see.
ROMANS: All right. Joe Johns -- thanks, Joe.
I mean, you heard that there. Can they compromise? It's $1.5 trillion question.
That if you just count the spending. It could be a bigger question if we count what the stock market does if we don't get our act together, because people are losing an awful lot of money.
VELSHI: A very important thing to think about, Christine.
ROMANS: It's nerve wracking.
VELSHI: We all think about what -- what we're not losing or gaining with cuts and taxes. But those people who are invested, the losses of the last few weeks probably eclipsed those
ROMANS: Ironically, the losses for people who make $200,000 or more are much greater because they are more invested in the market.
VELSHI: As Carol likes to point out, a lot of regular folks are not all that heavily invested in the market. The wealthier in the country tend to be more invested.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: I'm sorry.
ROMANS: -- killed on Wall Street.
COSTELLO: But the top 3 percent can also afford to lose more than the rest of us, right?
VELSHI: Our next guest might take issue with that.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is one of Republicans, one of the senators who will be sitting on the supercommittee. He joins us live from Philadelphia.
Senator Toomey, good to see you again. Thank you for being on the show with us.
SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
VELSHI: Senator, you come by your disdain for increased taxes very honestly. You have been doing this for years.
TOOMEY: Yes.
VELSHI: You are not pandering to a particular constituency on it, which on one level pleases us because that means that your -- you know, you're going to come by it honestly. But we need compromise on here. Are you possibly a guy that can compromise that might compromise tax increases? I mean, could you ever bring yourself to do that? I mean in that a best way.
TOOMEY: Yes, I understand. Listen, I think, first of all, there should be two big guiding principles -- I hope for all of us, certainly for me. And one is that we absolutely got to do something meaningful in reducing our deficits.
But the other is, whatever we do has to be pro-growth. It has to be constructive for the economy. It has to help to create an environment for greater economic growth because we badly need the job creation that only comes with economic growth.
A big, broad tax increase is not good for growth.
Now, are there way that we can reform the tax code? Absolutely. Are there inefficiencies? Is it outrageous when a huge American corporation doesn't pay any income taxes? Yes, it is.
So, I think there are a lot of opportunities to compromise without having some kind of economically crushing tax increase.
ROMANS: But, Senator, this committee doesn't have much time to completely reform the tax code.
TOOMEY: That's right.
ROMANS: And the loopholes for corporations and the like. You're going to have to decide in short order how to come up with $1.5 trillion. Would you agree to tax increases of some sort in that plan, in that package, if you are assured later on tax reform is something this Congress is going to start to handle?
TOOMEY: Look. I think we need to deal with the tax reform that we can in this package. Now, it's going to be difficult, you're right. We are under a compressed time frame.
I think it's likely that what we are going to do as a committee is look at other ideas that have already been floated -- ideas that have been vetted, ideas that are thoughtful and constructive and have some broad political support. Rather than, you know, reinventing wheels in a short period of time, I think we are going to look to some good work that's been done. And there has been some very good, bipartisan work on tax reform as well as entitlement reform and spending reduction. So, there's a lot out there. We've got to kind of -- we got to pull it together.
VELSHI: Are you referring to the Bowles-Simpson report as something you might turn to?
TOOMEY: Look, personally, I would think that we ought to take a look at some of the ideas in Bowles-Simpson because there were some very constructive ideas. If you look what their main focus was on the tax side, for instance, it was mostly about getting rid of some of the really egregious deductions and write-offs and loopholes and special interest carve-outs and lowering marginal rates. That's pro-growth if you do that sort of thing.
There are other groups out there --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: A lot of people have asked about the mortgage interest reduction. Should that be on the table?
TOOMEY: Listen, you know, I'm not going to draw lines in the sand here, and I'm not going to have negotiations on a TV show, with all due respect. I think this is something the committee needs to address.
But my point simply is that some very good and constructive and thoughtful work has been done. There are well-vetted ideas. Part of our responsibility, I think, is to look at these ideas and consider whether they should be part of a final package.
VELSHI: Senator Toomey, with all due respect, back to you, some of us think the negotiations on TV might be more successful than the ones in Congress.
TOOMEY: Well --
VELSHI: The question coming up is -- how do we make sure the 12 of you are not some mini-version of the gridlock that we saw? I don't think anybody wants to see a repeat of what we just went through.
TOOMEY: Right. Look, that's a fair question. I've been very critical of the lack of productivity in the Senate, the fact that the Senate has refused to do a budget resolution I think is outrageous. Now, one of the things that we have going for us in this committee is a process that requires an up-or-down vote on our product. That's unprecedented. No other committee has that opportunity.
So, if we can reach a majority in the committee, the House has to vote on our bill without amendment, without delay. The Senate has to take up our bill and a simple majority have to vote it up-or-down. There is no filibuster opportunity. The leadership can't block it.
So, we have actually a lot of pressure on us to come up with some kind of an agreement that will be constructive and Congress has to vote up or down on it. And, frankly, if we pass it in both houses of the Congress, I think the president will sign it. So, I think we will feel a lot of pressure to get something done.
ROMANS: The IRS report -- the IRS has released its numbers for 2009 that show just 3 percent of taxpayers who make more than $200,000 a year, and only 0.2 percent make more than $1 million a year. And, of course, that's the whole idea is if you raise taxes on the richest part our society, it would really -- it would not affect 97 percent of people.
Do you think that we need to be talking about -- or are we being honest about how many people are affected by tax increases for wealthy Americans?
TOOMEY: Oh, we should be honest about every aspect of this debate. But we also should be honest about the fact that raising marginal tax rates is counterproductive to economic growth. It discourages investment and capital formation and risk-taking and job creation. It's a tax that will land heavily on small businesses. So, I think we ought to be, you know, honest will all aspects of this discussion.
VELSHI: So, let me ask you this --
TOOMEY: -- guiding ideas ought to be deficit reduction and is pro-growth.
VELSHI: Good point. But, Senator, we have seen a tax increase in a long time. In fact, we got an extension of the Bush era tax.
ROMANS: We've been cutting taxes for 10 years.
VELSHI: And we haven't seen the job creation.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: So, is the evidence that not cutting taxes creates jobs? We haven't seen it.
TOOMEY: Well, let's remember after cutting taxes in 2003, we did have a tremendous job creation. Unemployment rate dropped below 5 percent and as recently as 2007, our federal deficit under the current tax regime was only 1.2 percent of GDP, a tiny fraction of where it is now.
So, look. I think there's a lot can be done to improve the tax code, to make it more sensible, to make it more fair, to make it simpler and lower marginal rates. And if we do that we will have stronger growth and more revenue as a result.
(CROSSTALK)
TOOMEY: I think we have to focus on deficit reduction that is pro-growth.
ROMANS: Sorry to interrupt you.
How much pressure do you feel from Wall Street, from the fact that so many people who have been looking for guidance from Washington are getting killed in their 401(k)s and their IRAs right now, seeing so much of the gains of the year, gone, vanishing?
TOOMEY: I'm not feeling any pressure from Wall Street. I'm feeling it from Main Street, feel it from my constituents that I'm meeting with in Pennsylvania every day. They want us to make some progress. They want us to get ourselves on a sustainable fiscal path.
You know, we got a lot of problems going on. There's a European sovereign debt crisis underway. We've had very weak economic data. I think we are overregulated in many respects.
So, there's a lot of things that need to be addressed. But an important piece of this is our looming deficits and people I talk to in Pennsylvania want us to address that.
VELSHI: Senator Pat Toomey, good to talk to you. Senator Pat Toomey is a Republican and member of the supercommittee. He's going to have a very busy few months.
COSTELLO: I just wonder. Can we ask Senator Toomey before he leaves? I mean, do you think, Senator, that Congress should come back from its recess?
TOOMEY: You know, I wouldn't oppose that. You know, there's a lot of things we should have been doing all along, starting with having a budget resolution. But absence of a budget resolution has all kinds of negative consequences.
There are things that we should have done a long time ago in expanding, ratifying the trade agreements that expand export opportunities. I think we should have a moratorium on new regulations so small businesses can thrive. There's a lot of things we could do on the tax front. We got a big spending bill that we're going to have to take up.
Some of this should have been done before now. I don't know why it's taken as long as it has.
And the committee, I can say, I can tell you will be doing work during the month of August certainly by phone, probably in person. So, there will be a lot that is getting done.
COSTELLO: So, just to make it clear. I mean, you I think that your fellow lawmakers should cut short their recess and come on back to Washington?
TOOMEY: If we have a constructive pro-growth agenda that we could pass, I would be in favor of that. Unfortunately, as I said before, we have a majority leader in the Senate that doesn't want to take up a budget, didn't want to do the ordinary appropriation bills. If we're not going to do something constructive, then there's not much point.
ROMANS: All right. Pat Toomey, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
ROMANS: A constructive pro-growth agenda that's so interesting because everyone has a different -- well, I have a constructive prop- growth, except he would probably think that wasn't a pro-growth. Do you know what I mean? It's all in eye of the beholder.
Thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Yes, Senator, it was very interesting. Thank you.
Now is your chance to talk back on another story of the day. The question this morning: does Hollywood making a bin Laden movie warrant a congressional investigation? The question, like everything else, has become a political hot potato. A sad thing since Osama bin Laden's death was so unifying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Remember how we all felt back then? Remember how people celebrated?
It was a secret mission that played out like a Hollywood movie and don't you know it? A Hollywood movie will be release in October 2012, just ahead of the November elections.
Republican Representative Peter King is outraged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: We are talking about revealing classified information that could be put American lives at risk. And it's what the administration has done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He is calling for a congressional investigation to find out if Hollywood is getting special access to classified information. The White House says, please!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: First of all, the claims are ridiculous! When people, including you in this room, are working on articles, books, documentaries or movies that involve the president, ask to speak to administration officials, we do our best to accommodate them to make sure the facts are correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's not like the White House is giving Hollywood permission to use the bin Laden death photos or video of OBL being buried at sea.
But for those of you keeping score at home, it's only been a little over three months since bin Laden was killed. And come 2012, the story of that top secret mission will be opening at a theater near you.
So, the talk back question this morning: Does Hollywood making a bin Laden movie warrant a degree of medical investigation?
Facebook.com/AmericanMorning -- Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. We'll read your responses later this hour.
VELSHI: Congressman King, he usually, is watching. Why hasn't he called?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
VELSHI: Call into the show.
COSTELLO: I think John King did a really tough interview with him yesterday, and maybe he's recovering.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: All right. up next, wedding bells for Bert and Ernie?
COSTELLO: What?
VELSHI: The new push on Facebook for same-sex marriage on "Sesame Street."
ROMANS: And if you're not coming to New York City, you're maybe in the minority. What and who is behind the so-called perfect storm traffic nightmare today in the Big Apple?
COSTELLO: And it's the fastest airplane in the entire world. How fast is it? Well, no one can hear you scream when you're going Mach 20. So, who owns this beauty? It's 15 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 69 degrees. What a beautiful walk into work I had this morning.
COSTELLO: I know.
VELSHI: It was like a spring day. It's only going to get up to a high of 84, and it's good, because it will be good day to walk around New York.
ROMANS: And this next story is going to show why so many people in America say, yes, New York City has a nice place visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
COSTELLO: That's true, but before we get to that, and you know, I'd like to -- Peter King, we have to be fair.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. OK.
COSTELLO: Yes. He said he was calling for a Congressional investigation. He is actually calling on the CIA and the Department of Defense inspector general to conduct an investigation into this movie about Osama Bin Laden.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: But he is still calling for a federal investigation of this movie, so keep those responses coming. Facebook.com/americanmorning.
VELSHI: Criminal investigation of a different type.
COSTELLO: Exactly. OK. Now, let's talk about -- traffic here.
VELSHI: Let's talk about traffic here.
COSTELLO: They're calling it a perfect storm, and it's about to bring New York City to a standstill, literally. That's because the city has several events that will likely cause major gridlock. The day begins with the funeral for former New York governor, Hugh Kerry, with both celebrities and dignitaries on the invite list.
And then, the Yankees and the Mets, both home games, are scheduled for this afternoon. And then, tonight, President Obama arrives for a quick visit downtown. Experts say it will be nonstop gridlock from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. tonight.
VELSHI: You know, it's interesting, because people not from New York always say, well, it's always traffic here, but you know, compared to L.A., this place actually moves fairly effectively. People sort of know how to get around and traffic moves. So, when you're on the gridlock, it's like that you end weak (ph).
COSTELLO: It's still pretty awful.
ROMANS: Here's another interesting sort of tourist story. A drama playing out at the top of New York's Rockefeller Center yesterday. A man threatened to jump from the observation deck. You see him here in light blue. Wow. But even more astonishing as he dangled 70 stories up. Tourists were taking pictures of him. When police finally reached the man, there were, you know, there were a few tense moments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one point, he stood up, and he put his hands on the glass. And at that point, we weren't necessarily sure if he was going to push himself off or if he was going to climb over. So, Sean went in from the angled he was at and I jumped down, and we were able to secure him at that point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's very apologetic when we were helping him over the glass. He really stated over and over again that he was sorry for taking up everybody's time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Wow. Just looking at the guy perched up there, I'm so afraid of heights. I'm sure many of you are watching this going, no way would I sit up there. OK. Police roped off the surrounding streets. They tried to keep the gawkers away from the spectacle. The man you're seeing in there, in the light blue, he was taken to an area hospital for evaluation.
VELSHI: It's a bit of an effort to get over that glass to get to where he was.
ROMANS: I know.
VELSHI: It's built so that you can't just kind of do that. Interesting. All right. A police chase in Washington State. I can't get enough of this.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Probably didn't even reach 10 miles an hour, by the way, but the suspect, you would not want to mess with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a bowl! Run! You might want to run! It's coming this way, partner! Run!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I'm not quite sure what the police thought the sirens were going to do, but I think they were trying to clear people out of the way. A couple thousand pounds of bull was difficult to catch. He eluded police for about half an hour. He charged into a couple of folks who are unlucky enough to be on the road, and then, they called in the cowboys. They were actually able to lasso the big guy from the hood of a patrol car.
COSTELLO: Yes, they were riding a different kind of speed.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: It's amazing. Take a look at the fastest plane ever built. It's the Falcon HTV-2 made by the U.S. military. And the Falcon plans to test it out by launching it on the back of a rocket this morning from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It can travel at speeds of up to 13,000 miles per hour. That is 20 times the speed of sound. So, what does that mean in terms that we can actually grasp? How about flying from New York to Los Angeles in 12 minutes? You can track today's test flight on Twitter at DARPANews.
ROMANS: All right. They sleep in the same room. They're always bickering. You know who we're talking about. Ernie and Bert, is it time for them to come out of the closet and get married? Oh, my -- there's a Facebook campaign under way right now urging "Sesame Street's" producers to allow the two puppets to exchange wedding vows.
They're also asking for a transgender character to be added to the children's show. Organizers say it would help put an end to the bullying of lesbian/gay kids. There's been no response from the show's producers or Ernie and Bert.
VELSHI: All right. Something you can understand a little better. Markets looking for a rebound this morning. We're checking out futures, which have been all over the place this morning.
Plus, how much cash do you have on hand if an emergency strikes? We're "Minding Your Business" next. It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Right now, U.S. stock futures for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all trading sharply lower ahead of the opening bell. Investors sentiment fragile this morning after another big sell-off yesterday. Wall Street is waiting for the weekly jobless claims report that comes out in about three minutes.
A double-dip recession fears are rising. A new survey of economists by CNNMoney.com says there's a 25 percent chance the economy will dive into another recession. Now, that's a jump from 15 percent chance just three months ago. Economists say the rising risk is due, in part, to huge slides in the stock market and the S&P downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.
What if the unexpected happen? Could you pay for it? A new survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling says most Americans can't afford a $1,000 emergency. The same survey found that only 36 percent would tap into their savings for an emergency. The rest would opt to borrow money or put it on their credit cards.
And if you're thinking about buying a new car, you might want to wait just a little bit longer. Auto industry analysts are saying that car buying incentives this fall will be better than usual. Japanese automakers are expected to up their incentives to offset their loss of market share which was caused by the tsunami and Earthquake in Japan.
And coming up next, he got out of the projects and graduated with honors from Yale, but instead of cashing in on her success, this young lady is now going back to the projects. It's a must-see story. It's truly inspirational. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Taking a look at our states in crisis now. In Rhode Island a bitter dispute that led to nearly 2,000 teachers being fired has been revolved now. The Providence teachers union approved a new collective bargaining agreement yesterday. A deal now would rehire all of the fired teachers and save the city millions of dollars. Union members overwhelmingly agreed to concessions in exchange for those jobs.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Speaking of teachers, one woman from the projects went on to become an Ivy League success. She could have gone anywhere after graduation.
VELSHI: But she came home and now teaching kids in her old neighborhood a valuable lesson. Here is Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMIKA BETHEL, YALE GRADUATE: Remember when we moved to the carpet? We sit in rows.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to understand for some why 22-year-old Tamika Bethel came back to the south side of Chicago to teach third grade.
BETHEL: A lot of people have asked me why didn't I go to medical school or why candidate didn't I go to law school or why am I not on Wall Street making a lot of money.
ROWLANDS: Tamika graduated from honors from Yale, but instead of cashing in, she is giving back. Tamika joined teach for America, a program that recruits college grads to teach in underserved school districts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is going to be an incredibly persuasive role model for her students. Her students are going to look at her, they are going to identify with who she is, who she has become, and they are going to be very inspired by that.
ROWLANDS: Do you have a question?
ROWLANDS: Tamika grew up in one of Chicago's notorious public housing projects where kids often ended up going to jail rather than college. Tamika's mother was a drug addict, so her grandmother raised all four kids.
BETHEL: It was you need to be in bed to sleep at this time. You need to be up getting ready for school at this time. She had the schedule when four of us take showers, when homework needed to be done and what chores to do.
ROWLANDS: After attending public school through eighth grade, Tamika won a scholarship to attend Parker high school, a private school in high priced Lincoln Park. It took 90 minutes, two buses, and a train one way to get there. For four years, Tamika traveled back and forth between these two opposite worlds, getting straight A's.
BETHEL: I walked right to the bus stop and back to my house every day.
ROWLANDS: The public housing project where Tamika grew up is now in an open field that fenced off. It was demolished by the city of Chicago along with other projects in an effort to make the city safer.
BETHEL: We did not go outside. We didn't do the things that other kids did. And that was my grandmother's way of keeping us safe.
ROWLANDS: Tamkia's grandmother Mary still lives in public housing.
(on camera): She says you ran a pretty tight ship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got that right. You got to get a good education, finish from grade school to high school to college. Otherwise, grandma got to take care of you. ROWLANDS (voice-over): Tamika is hoping someday she will be able to take care of grandma.
BETHEL: My family is very low income. It's been that way my entire life. My family still lives in public housing. That's a daily struggle for me to think that I could be somewhere making a lot of money to help move us out of that, but that's just not my calling. That's not what I'm meant to do right now. I belong here.
(APPLAUSE)
ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: There is that choice between changing the lives of all of those kids or changing her family.
VELSHI: That is interesting.
COSTELLO: There are very good people in the world.
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, the heat in Georgia will be a factor in the PGA championship today, but will it affect Tiger Woods? Like it or not, Tiger remains the center of the golf universe. Golf Analyst Ian Baker-Finch joins us live next. It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning, Atlanta, Georgia. Partly cloudy right now, 79 degrees, but headed for a high of 94. It's very steamy for the golfers just outside of town today.
ROMANS: That's right. And Tiger Woods just teed off, folks. He is joining the top players of the world at the golf's final major of the season, the PGA championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Tiger looking for his first major title since the 2008 U.S. Open.
VELSHI: And 98 of the top 100 players in the world are competing for the PGA's Wannamaker trophy, and they just started.
COSTELLO: They actually did. Ian Baker-Finch is good enough to join us this morning. He is an analyst with CBS and understands what it takes to win the major. He captured the British open 20 years ago. Thank you for being with AMERICAN MORNING this morning.
IAN BAKER-FINCH, GOLF ANALYST: Great to be with you. I hope you're enjoying the PGA championship here from Hot-lanta.
ROMANS: You're not kidding. We just saw Tiger Woods tea off, so let's start with Tiger Woods. He is coming back after a knee injury. He didn't do so great at the tournament in Akron, let's face it. So do you think he'll be back on track today? BAKER-FINCH: I wouldn't be surprised if Tiger competed today and then ongoing through the weekend. I doubt that he has the game with him to win. Typically, to win a major championship you have to bring your a-game with you and you have to be confident and prepared and ready to go. And Tiger can't possibly be prepared. He's still got to be rusty after that 12-week layoff.
ROMANS: You're talking about the 12-week layoff and people keep talking about his knee injury and these physical things they are trying to measure about his performance, but what about the mental, the mental stuff? This is such a mental game. He has had a horrible couple of years of his own making. I mean, the people want to see him come back, I mean, really, is that just fantasy?
BAKER-FINCH: I think he will come back. He will never be as formidable, as dominating as he was in the past you know, three, four, five years ago, because the young guys coming through have grown up, you know, idolizing Tiger and trying to perform like Tiger, but they haven't had a chance to compete against him or being beaten into the ground like the older guys have.
So the young guys have looked up to him for a long time, but they are going to come and beat Tiger and Tiger doesn't have that 15th club in his bag any more of knowing that the other guys know he is better than them. So I do believe he'll come back and start winning again, but I don't think he will be the force that he was for that decade.
COSTELLO: You talk about these young phenoms. Who is your favorite in the PGA tournament? Is it Rory McIlroy?
BAKER-FINCH: Yes. Rory McIlroy is by far the best. He really has laid it out there, hasn't he, winning the U.S. open by so many strokes back in congressional in June. The best young American, the guy that all of the youngsters guys go out and watch is Ricky Fowler. But he's yet to win on the big stage yet so people are unsure about Ricky Fowler.
But right now, we have 25 guys under the age of 25 that are capable of winning major championships and certainly a bunch of them have already won this year on the PGA tour. So it's an exciting time for golf.
COSTELLO: Yes, it is, and an exciting tournament as well. Thank you so much for joining us this morning, Ian Baker-Finch, we enjoyed it.
BAKER-FINCH: Thank you.
VELSHI: You can track your favorite players through weekend. Live coverage of the tournament can be seen all day on PGA.com beginning at 2:00 p.m. eastern on TNT.
ROMANS: We got your morning headlines next, including Sarah Palin's plan to crash another party in Iowa.
COSTELLO: Listen up techies. A hot new gadget poised to hit the markets this week. It's not for you. It's for your baby! And it is not cheap. Tablets for babies? Come on. There is a market and you know it. It's 42 minutes after the hour.
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COSTELLO: It's 43 minutes past the hour. Here are your mornings headlines
The weekly jobs report is out and it's a little better than economists expected as 395,000 jobless claims were filed last week for the first time. That's actually down 7,000 from the week before. And it's the first time less than 400,000 weekly claims were filed in the past four months.
Investors sentiment is very fragile this morning after another big sell-off yesterday. Right now U.S. stock futures for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all trading sharply lower ahead of the opening bell.
Nine of the 12 members of the new Congressional super committee have been chosen. The last three Democrats have to be picked by the Minority House Leader Nancy Pelosi. Yesterday six Republicans were selected. They are Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Dave Camp of Michigan, and Fred Upton of Michigan, and Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Rob Portman of Ohio.
Mitt Romney still leads the race for the Republican presidential nomination but not by much. According to the latest CNN/ORC poll, Texas Governor Rick Perry is just two points back and he hasn't even declared yet.
Sarah Palin is heading back to Iowa. The former Alaska Governor announced she is taking her bus tour to the state fair this week, that's just 30 miles south of where the Republican presidential debate will be held tonight.
And the Pentagon's plans to test fly its new Falcon HTV-2 aircraft this morning. It is fastest plane ever built, capable of speeds of up to 13,000 miles per hour. That means it can fly from New York to Los Angeles in just 12 minutes.
And Las Vegas overrun by Trekkies today. This year's "Star Trek" convention celebrates the show's 45th anniversary. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy will be there.
And that's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
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VELSHI: New York City, good morning. It is 70 degrees and sunny. You're going to get up to a high of 84 degrees today. For those of you in New York, it's going to be a bit of a traffic nightmare out there today. Baseball game's funeral for a former governor and the President is going to be in town. So you know what that means. Use public transport. ROMANS: All right, for the American family this morning, forget the wooden blocks, babies want technology. You know they do; your phone, your Blackberry.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Sure, that was -- the baby's grabbing those little phones.
ROMANS: You can't even give them a fake one and you can't even give them one that is decommissioned because they know, they somehow know.
Now, they'll be able to tap, swipe, and navigate through their favorite baby videos on their very own tablet. A California doctor created an iPod-like tablet for babies called Da Vinci tab. It has that Android operating system, a 3 mega-pixel camera on the back. But no Wi-Fi or 3G to lessen the chance of harmful radio emissions.
COSTELLO: So that baby can take pictures?
ROMANS: I guess she can. Everything is designed to help those at motor --
COSTELLO: That's one hell of a baby.
ROMANS: -- language and sensory skills. They start at $389. My 5-year-old can't tie his shoes but he can navigate a YouTube category. I'm not kidding.
VELSHI: Really?
COSTELLO: But this is -- this is for babies, infants, babies.
ROMANS: Yes, yes, babies. Babies.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
ROMANS: There you go.
VELSHI: Well, I've seen a lot of parents hand over their device to a kid when they're -- in public and the kid is sort of acting up.
COSTELLO: Yes you can hand the kid a spoon and the kid will play with a spoon, right?
VELSHI: Right. Right.
ROMANS: Not if there is something flashing and beeping over there that's it's interesting. You're right, babies -- it's amazing.
COSTELLO: The so-called serial killing cells could be a ground- breaking solution for the fight against cancer. Researchers say they discovered a way to use gene therapy against an advanced form of leukemia that actually treats tumors like the enemy, killing them in less than a month, the treatment does have some side effects but researchers say it could give real hope to those with leukemia, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.
VELSHI: These are the toughest ones --
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: -- in some cases to treat.
A new report says hydraulic fracturing used to draw for natural gas -- you may know it is fracking -- need to be more tightly regulated. An advisory panel to Energy Department has just finished a report on fracking. The practice involves pumping water chemicals and sand underground to force out the natural gas. The panel is concerned about the impact of fracking on air and water quality.
ROMANS: And you've probably seen some of those -- some of those films and video --
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VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: -- we're turning down their tap and light -- lighting a match.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: The industry says those are rare instances but at least the Department of Energy is studying whether -- just how rare that really is.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: In your "A.M. House Call" now, your health is one place you don't want to make a mistake and although most medical research is correct. The "Wall Street Journal" found 15 times the number of medical research reports were retracted last year --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: -- than in 2001.
CHARLIE ROSE: It's pretty disturbing, right?
Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been looking into -- looking into this for us.
So Elizabeth, I mean are the mistakes really, really serious? Is it something we should be extraordinarily concerned about?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, the mistakes were serious because they actually took the step of retracting them which is relatively unusual.
So the "Wall Street Journal" says 339 times last year, medical journals said something was true, a drug worked for high blood pressure or a treatment worked for, let's say, cancer and then they said, oh, no, maybe that's not so true.
So this is unusual 339 sounds like a big number, but when you think about all of the studies that are published, it's a relative small number but it does make you think that when you see that something is published in a medical journal, even a prestigious one, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.
VELSHI: All right. How do these mistakes get made? Because usually, these reports are supposed to live up to some standards and -- and pass through things. Yes, how does it happen?
COHEN: You know what I found really disturbing, Ali? Is that about half of them were because of some kind of misconducts. In other words, I mean no one likes to use the "l" words but it appears that perhaps there were some lying going on that, in some cases, people were making stuff up.
So what happens is the researchers do their research in their labs, they present their paper to a journal, and the journal doesn't re-create that experiment. They just look at it and say, yes, it looks like it was done well or it looks like it wasn't done well. But if you lie, how are they supposed to know? And the answer is they don't know.
ROMANS: Wow. So peer review means peer review, not re-create an entire experiment.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: What does it mean for consumers of medicines, of medical procedures and medical devices? Our doctors are believing all of this and prescribing things to us?
COHEN: Right. I think you don't have to freak out because again, as I said, it was really a small fraction of all the studies that were published but you do have to be an empowered patient and think through the instructions that your doctor gives you.
So if your doctor says, hey, there's this new treatment and it was just published in this journal and I want you to have it. The first thing you should say to yourself is new does not necessarily mean better.
As a matter of fact, as I point out in my "Empowered Patient" book, I like older things. Older things are tried and true. Older things have a safety record of years and years and sometimes you really actually would prefer -- should prefer old to new.
So ask about other options to see if there are other things out there. And also check out the research on your own. People think, oh, wow, this is medicine, I couldn't possibly understand it. The answer is that you can and there are lots of other patients online to help you do that.
ROMANS: Great advice. Wow.
COSTELLO: So disturbing, isn't it?
ROMANS: Yes, disturbing and infuriating actually.
COHEN: Yes.
VELSHI: I got cheese? There is plenty for everyone at the Indiana state fair.
That is a 200-pound birthday cake made entirely of cheese. The artist said it took about a year to construct which begs several questions. It is designed to honor the state's Dairy and Nutrition Council on its 80th birthday. I'm assuming him, I mean --
COSTELLO: Is it low fat cheese? Nutrition Council?
ROMANS: How is this for an artery clogger.
Yes, that's not a corn dog. That looks like a corn dog, it isn't. It's a fried butter log. You heard me, a fried butter log. That will cost you $4 at the Iowa State Fair. You start out with a stick of butter and dip it in cinnamon honey batter, you deep fry it for three minutes and of course you topped off with a drizzle of butter.
VELSHI: Oh wow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY FYFE, SELLING FRIED BUTTER LOGS: Yes, whenever you say butter on a stick, people think of a stick of butter and then running down their face and everything and it just doesn't sound too good. You're not biting into a stick of butter. It's melted. Most of it in the mix and a little bit of butter might run out but the lion's share runs into the mix.
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ROMANS: So it's batter soaked with butter with butter on top.
COSTELLO: You can have that with a piece of your cheese birthday cake.
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
ROMANS: You know, everything in moderation. Look, if you're going to one of these fairs --
VELSHI: Everything in moderation? You got to be kidding me. We saw a 250-pound cheesecake and then fried butter with butter on top.
COSTELLO: How can a deep fried stick of butter enter into the moderation picture?
VELSHI: Again, in your life, that might be moderation. ROMANS: You can have it one time at the Iowa state fair. Come on, it's a fair. They deep fry everything. Just try it. I don't know. Or go for the corn dog. I just mean, don't eat it every day. That's what I meant.
VELSHI: Right. Well, that will be good advice. Even I wouldn't eat it every day.
54 minutes after the hour. We will be back in a minute.
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COSTELLO: Good morning L.A. You got to get out of bed, L.A. You have to get out of bed because, you know, a big day is ahead of you. Cloudy and 64, sunny and 75 later.
VELSHI: Beautiful day. It's going to be a beautiful day.
ROMANS: Yes. It's nice.
COSTELLO: That was pretty funny.
Now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. We asked, does Hollywood making a bin Laden movie warrant a federal investigation? Here are some of your responses.
I have to read them from the paper; they are easier. This from Wayne: "Funny how Republicans whine and cry about wasteful spending, yet they want to spend our tax dollars on this? They need to use their time figuring out how to get the economy going in the right direction for the American people, not for big business.
This form Sam: "If members of the administration are leaking classified information to their film making allies in order to improve Obama's re-election chances then it definitely warrants an investigation.
And this from Carol: "I'm totally disgusted with Congress and this is just another example of their failure to deal with real issues. What a waste of time and money. I really think that the President of the United States has enough sense and awareness of his responsibility to avoid leaking classified information to a movie maker."
Facebook/Americanmorning; thank you for your comments this morning.
VELSHI: So it's interesting how no -- nobody has actually said what might have been leaked or that it might have been leaked. Representative Peter King has suggested that somebody might have leaked classified information.
COSTELLO: Well, that's why he wants the inspector general to check these things out.
VELSHI: Well, all right. Finally this morning, with all the bad news on Wall Street, a few late-night laughs to send you off with a smile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: With the crazy stock market in flux, the price of gold has shot up to almost $2,000. Yes. In other words, Flava Flave's mouth is now a millionaire and about to retire.
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: We have come up with a simple metaphor. I think this helps explain to people exactly what is going on. Here. Take a look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now a video metaphor for this week's financial crisis. The red hot air balloon represents Republicans in Congress. The blue one represents Democrats. The guy on the wire is the American taxpayer caught in the middle of the two warring parties and trying to stay alive. The plane coming at them represents S&P. And this is them cutting the U.S. credit rating.
This has been a video metaphor for this week's medical crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That is very clever. You know, some of the late night laughs have been just perfect because you just need a laugh when you look at stocks. Futures actually are doing a little bit better, we are happy to report. That's going to --
COSTELLO: Yes. Who knows how long that will last.
ROMANS: I know. I tell you, I know --
VELSHI: Laugh while you can.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
The jobless claims report was better than expected.
ROMANS: T.J. Holmes, we hand it over to you at "CNN NEWSROOM" telling you that futures are recovering a little bit and now it's your turn.
VELSHI: Enjoy the next half an hour while you can, my friend.
