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American Morning
Obama's Heartland Bus Tour; Obama, Interrupted; Perry on Obama; Ron Paul: "They're Afraid of Me"; Biden Heads to Asia; Stocks Erase Last Week's Losses; Officers Run Down During London Riots; NHL Player Found Dead; American Woman Missing in Aruba; BART Trains Up and Running; Latino "Day of Action"; Ali Velshi on "The Daily Show"; American Kidnapped in Pakistan; Battle for Libya; Fliers at Risk?; Defense Wants New Trial In Sweat Lodge Case; South Korea And U.S. Begin Military Exercise; Biden Heads To China
Aired August 16, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. I'm Christine Romans. President Obama reaching out to the rank and file on his bus tour through America's heartland talking jobs, the economy and slamming Republicans every step of the way.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Christine. I'm Ali Velshi. Texas Governor Rick Perry off and running in the Republican presidential race. The GOP's newest candidate charming the crowds in Iowa and attacking President Obama.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Warren Buffett puts the rich on notice. The billionaire continues to make the case that the mega rich should be asked to pay their fair share of taxes and that's not sitting well with Republicans on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: All right. Good morning, everyone. It's Tuesday, August 16th. This is AMERICAN MORNING. A lot going on this morning so let's get --
VELSHI: Why is there a lot going on? Isn't this August, isn't it supposed to be a lot going on?
COSTELLO: Don't you wish one day we'd say there's nothing going on, go home.
VELSHI: Change the channel. Unfortunately, there's a lot going on and a lot of it has to do with the economy, up first, President Obama is talking jobs in the heartland of America.
The president is in Iowa this morning. No straw polls. No campaigns -- it's a campaign stop. It's a campaign-style trip through three mid-western states.
He'll meet with a group of farmers and small business owners today. He's been making his pitch for job growth and sounding a familiar theme that Republicans are playing politics with the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: See the problem we have is not with our country. The problem is that our politics is broken. The problem is, is that we've got the kind of partisan brinkmanship that is willing to put party ahead of country. That's more interested in seeing their political opponents lose than seeing the country win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, the president was glad handing after a town hall meeting in Iowa. He was confronted by Tea Party activists about Vice President Biden's terrorist comment during the debt ceiling debate. Here's how this went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're talking about civility, how is your vice president calling us terrorists?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sir, look --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to understand that.
OBAMA: I will explain it right now. He did not call you guys terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said we were acting like terrorists, hostage takers.
OBAMA: No, no. What he said was for us to be willing to take the economy to the brink was irresponsible and it was. Now, the truth of the matter is, considering what's said about me consistently --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the second person in your administration to call the right wing people terrorists. Janet Napolitano did it first. She said the right wing extremists should be watched out for first.
OBAMA: But that's true. Timonthy McVeigh should be. You wouldn't disagree with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do realize that 90 percent of domestic terrorist attacks are done by left wing environmental radicals and not people like me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Balanced budget is reasonable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where were you during the Bush Years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't appreciate Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't appreciate when this started.
OBAMA: No. All he was saying was --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't appreciate him making fun of me. OBAMA: He wasn't objecting to the balanced budget amendment. He was objecting to us almost defaulting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why didn't someone pass the balanced budget amendment?
OBAMA: It doesn't sound like you're interested in listening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Wow. He stayed in that for an awful long time.
VELSHI: Certainly did, yes.
ROMANS: I mean, sometimes on those rope lines people just keep going.
VELSHI: Usually they move along.
COSTELLO: Do you think the people were interested in what the president had to say?
ROMANS: Well, that's the thing about the confrontations at events like this. It used to be that it was almost all people who wanted to hear somebody they supported or learn more about somebody from their own party. Now there is a lot of confrontation across party lines.
VELSHI: We saw it with Mitt Romney's campaign the other day. It was a little bit different with the president. It's interesting. I mean, it was an ongoing discussion. It wasn't -- didn't into a shout fest, which was good. But it was going in that direction.
COSTELLO: But I would say the president's handlers so to speak would say he probably stuck with that too long because there's no winning.
VELSHI: No, there wasn't.
COSTELLO: There isn't any winning. Even if these people had a legitimate point, which I'm sure many people think they do --
VELSHI: Sure. That wasn't going to end up with anything.
COSTELLO: It wasn't --
VELSHI: No one was going to say, yes, you're right, I'm going to change the way it's done.
COSTELLO: Yes, and then shake hands and kiss and make up. I don't think so.
The Republican candidates are returning the president's fire calling his heartland bus tour nothing more than a political campaign trip at taxpayer expense.
The GOP's newest entry, Texas Governor Rick Perry, he's getting plenty of face time with Iowans and attacking the president at every turn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's saying that he's got a little trip, I'm saying he's got a lot of explaining to do about the economy if that's what he's out talking about.
I don't think the folks of Iowa are going to be real excited about unemployment rate where it is and the number of Americans out of work. And, you know, this president's been an abject failure when it comes to the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Perry took another swipe at President Obama saying soldiers would prefer someone with military experience as commander in chief and he has that.
A programming note for you, Wolf Blitzer has an exclusive one-on-one interview with President Obama today. You can see it on "The Situation Room" at 5:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
ROMANS: Meantime with all the talk about Michele Bachmann's win in Iowa, Tim Pawlenty's exit and Rick Perry's entry into GOP race, Ron Paul who finished a close second in the Iowa straw poll has become sort of a forgotten man.
On CNN's Piers Morgan last night the Texas congressman addressed his absence from much of the weekend media coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My supporters are convinced they're afraid of me. They don't want my views out there. They're too dangerous. We want freedom and we're challenging the status quo. We want to win the war, and they're views that the people just can't handle.
They can't handle all this freedom. They want dependency. They want socialism and welfarism. So I think they don't like to hear our views. But I think we'll make the best of it and do very well. I think that the Internet still is alive and well and programs like yours will still have me on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Dependency, socialism and welfarism. Paul's campaign team calls the lack of coverage for their candidate disappointing but not surprising.
Vice President Joe Biden about to embark on a week-long trip to Asia. The vice president leaves today. He will spend most of his time in China meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Vice President Xi Jinping. A man considered the likely successor to Chinese President Hu Jintao.
America's financial relationship with China, of course, is the largest foreign holder of American debt. That's expected to dominate the four days of meetings and photo ops. Of course, the Chinese recently slammed the United States for its debt ceiling debacle.
VELSHI: As the fears in the stock market subside, stocks have started to rise this morning. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 have recovered all of last week's losses and then some.
The three-day winning streak, the first one in a month, has been propelled by a flurry of mergers and investors snatching up beaten down shares. The Dow up more than 213 points yesterday, nearly 2 percent. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 were also up about 2 percent.
COSTELLO: Dramatic new video just released by police capturing the stunning violence of last week's London riots. The video shows looters running out of a clothing store. This happened last Monday.
You can see there police chasing them down the street and then a car aiming straight for the officers, strikes two of them at high speed. One is slumped over in the street, the other collapsed near a street pillar. Incredibly, though, both survived.
ROMANS: Go ahead.
VELSHI: It's kind of remarkable to see that story a couple of weeks ago about the police officer was hit by a speeding car who tried to get away and he gets up and runs after them. I don't know what they feed the cops in Britain.
COSTELLO: But thank God.
ROMANS: All right, switching here. The hockey world mourning the loss of Winnipeg Jets player Nick Rypien. Is that how you say his name, Ali?
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: For fans and supporters of this team, they're shocked this morning. The 27-year-old forward found dead in his home in Alberta, Canada, early this morning. He took a leave of absence from the NHL during last season for undisclosed personal reasons. His death is not considered, according to officials, suspicious.
VELSHI: Yes, big loss.
The suspect in the case of a missing woman in Aruba is going to remain in police custody. A judge ordering Gary Giordano held for another 16 days, ruling in is enough evidence linking him to Robyn Gardener. Gardener vanished earlier this month. Turns out clothing found in a mine during a search for Gardner does not belong to her.
ROMANS: All right, BART is back up and running this morning. Protesters have been targeting the San Francisco's subway system. They're angry about several shootings involving BART police officers and the decision by transit officials to turn off cell phone service last week to stop demonstrators from organizing. Officials were forced to close and reopen stations during the last -- during the evening rush hour last night.
VELSHI: And Latino groups planning protesting in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Boston and Miami, they're upset about President Obama's decision to use local police officers to enforce immigration laws. We'll have more on that as the morning continues.
COSTELLO: Now your chance to talk back on one of the biggest stories of the day. The question this morning, is Warren Buffett's tax compromise good or just plain old politics?
Now that we've had a day to die just Buffet's plea to tax me more, please, it's time to ask that very question. Buffet is largely a Twitter hero, but as far as Republicans are concerned, he's a shill for President Obama.
Buffet begs to differ. He's offering an alternative. Instead of raising taxes on Americans making $250,000 and up, he told Charlie Rose, raise taxes on the very, very rich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT, CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: We're also in the process under taxing the very rich. What I propose incidentally would not touch the taxes of 99.7 percent. I'm talking about .03 percent of the American public.
But the people from a million dollars on up, I think should be asked to share in a little bit of the sacrifice that we're all being asked to share in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: President Obama embraced the idea. Republicans did not. Senator John Cornyn tweeted for tax raising advocates like Warren Buffett, I am sure treasury would take a voluntary payment for deficit reduction. Mr. Buffet, send the U.S. Treasury a check. Conservative blogs fired back too.
The Red Dog reports that everybody knows that if tax hikes on the rich fails to solve our economic crisis, which we know they will not. Then team Obama can go back and ask for more opening the door to a big tax hike on America's middle class.
Never mind that polls show most Americans favor taxing the rich and many economists say spending cuts alone will not solve our debt woes. So the talk back question today, is Warren Buffett's tax compromise a good idea or is it just politics? Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: Mega rich people watching us, we would love to hear from you too. All right, coming up -- COSTELLO: Have your people send us an e-mail.
VELSHI: Have your people send us. Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the battle for Libya is escalating with Gadhafi forces reportedly using a weapon they have never used before. We're live in Tripoli with the latest on that.
COSTELLO: Then a flash mob in action, an attack on a 7-11, 30 robbers working in sync. The stunning surveillance video just ahead.
ROMANS: And some unexpected thrills at the fair, 60 feet in the air. How this situation turned out ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: This -- this flash mob thing is really becoming intriguing. There was a flash mob in action in Maryland caught on the surveillance tape. Take a look. Police say about 30 people walked into a Germantown 7-Eleven early Saturday morning, raiding the aisles, grabbing drinks and snacks, lasted about a minute before the thieves left as a group.
Police say they've been able to identify some of the suspects because you can see them, not wearing hoodies or anything.
COSTELLO: Yes, duh.
VELSHI: And -- and it was -- they say it was organized as a flash mob where, you know, people sort of texted and arranged to be at this place. Look at that. Just grabbing stuff, walking out of the store.
COSTELLO: Well, no one said criminals were smart.
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: Lots of extraordinary video to look at this morning. This is home security video of a car smashing through a Miami home. It happened last night. The homeowner said the out-of-control car drove straight through his son's bedroom wall as he was getting --
VELSHI: Wow.
COSTELLO: -- ready to go to sleep. Amazingly enough, no one was hurt, but plenty of damage there. Three men in the car got out of the car and ran away on foot. Police were able to catch two of them.
VELSHI: You just don't think of that as a dangerous thing to do, getting ready to get into bed.
ROMANS: And running away from the car, I wonder maybe if it wasn't maybe their car, you know?
VELSHI: One wonders, Christine. Christine speaking the unspoken.
ROMANS: If it's not your car, don't run it into somebody's house and you have a better chance of (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: And a ride at the Iowa State Fair malfunctioning stranding two riders more than 60 feet in the air for about two hours. It happened on the ejection seat yesterday. The brother and sister were eventually rescued by the fire department. They were a little sun burned, but otherwise OK.
Apparently, there was a big crowd around them and it was the first crowd around the ejection seat, not the election seat --
VELSHI: There you go.
ROMANS: -- at the Iowa State Fair. Until then all the crowds have been around politics.
VELSHI: How would you feel about that, by the way?
COSTELLO: I wouldn't.
ROMANS: I would freak out.
COSTELLO: I wouldn't be on that ride in the first place --
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: -- because I don't like to be high up --
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: In any way (ph).
COSTELLO: -- unless I come down really fast like in a roller coaster. But that would freak me out.
ROMANS: Me too.
VELSHI: You know, I wonder. I can't imagine I'd enjoy it. Oh, well.
COSTELLO: Let's try it some time.
VELSHI: Try it some time. Suspend me 60 feet in the air and just keep me there for a couple of hours.
ROMANS: Just make sure you have a deep fried Twinkie before you (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: And I'll be happy.
Rob, you know that. Give me a little fried food and I can --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: I can manage to get through most things. MARCIANO: You know, send these kids to school. I mean, they're sitting in the ejection seat, pull the ejection handle, you know? Come on.
COSTELLO: And parachutes would come out, it would be fun.
MARCIANO: Exactly. Isn't that what the ride is all about?
VELSHI: I think -- I think it's just an expression, ejection seat.
MARCIANO: Oh, just a name.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys.
Heavy rainfall across parts of the northeast again yesterday. Take a look at the video and then we'll run through some of the numbers. First off, Derby, Connecticut where the water at times was waist high and knee high and flooded the post roads and some homes and businesses around that area. And same deal across the Sound, Hempstead, Long Island, where they saw tremendous amount of rain after the record-setting foot of rainfall at Lido Beach the day before. So saturated soil on top of more rain that was -- that came down yesterday and we'll probably see a little bit more of that today unfortunately.
Here are some of the numbers, Willow, New York, seeing almost 6 1/2 inches of rainfall and then you go further up into New England, Concord and New Hampshire, seeing a record for 24 hours, 2.19, and then Montpelier, Vermont, seeing almost two inches of rainfall.
Here it is, bit of a swirl here rotating around the backside of this is some rainfall. This is generally light but it will keep things on the dreary and cool side. And wet, of course. And that will cause some delays just because of the low clouds and low visibility across New York and Boston.
Some severe weather across the Northern Plains again today. We saw some last night across Bismarck, North Dakota. Meanwhile, pretty nice across parts of the southeast and fairly comfortable temperatures, I mean, compared to what we have seen with the exception of Northern Texas, which continues to see the heat there.
Gert did not become a hurricane. It continues to move its way off to sea and into the northern shipping lanes. But we are watching this next item of concern moving into the Eastern Caribbean. It wouldn't develop any time too soon, but it will drift into the Western Caribbean and then we've got something to worry about. We'll keep an eye on it, guys.
Back up to you.
VELSHI: Rob, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Rob.
VELSHI: We'll check in with you later.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROMANS: All right. Two powerful intellectual forces came together on cable television last night. In case you missed it, Ali was a guest on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart breaking down the economy, stock market, Congress, a pair of enlightened mind joining forces to find a cure for what ales America.
COSTELLO: I'm getting nauseated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: -- has become a barometer of how investors around the world kind of feel about the way things are going and that's the stuff you've seen over the last few weeks.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": It's more of a mood ring.
VELSHI: Yes.
STEWART: Let's say.
VELSHI: Yes, exactly.
Your job and the idea that you will earn and continue to earn is the most important. So the stock market is not the most important thing, the debt ceiling is not the most important thing, employment or unemployment that we have now is the most important thing. And that's what you feel good or bad about.
STEWART: People have continue --
VELSHI: This government can't influence anything because nobody trusts government right now.
STEWART: Interesting. It's very interesting, Ali Velshi.
You know -- if we were to do these things, it's as though we would have a functioning infrastructure in -- in the country again.
VELSHI: Right. Yes.
STEWART: Very interesting. I will pass your words on. Ali Velshi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: I want to know what happened, like take us through it, like what was it like back stage and when you came out?
VELSHI: You know, he came to visit me in the green room, which I believe he visits everybody. COSTELLO: Is it green, the green room?
ROMANS: And that's where you go before the interview while you wait.
VELSHI: It's a good question. I don't know that it's green.
COSTELLO: So you were nervous?
VELSHI: You know, you never know where these things are going to go with Jon Stewart, right? You think it's going to go a certain way. He was very -- very friendly. And he sees -- you know, that he's legitimately curious about these things and his audience is. So it was a very friendly audience. It was a -- it was a good conversation.
ROMANS: He knows more about the economy and stocks --
VELSHI: Right. He really does.
ROMANS: -- than he lets on. You know, he's very smart about this stuff.
COSTELLO: Yes, whatever. I want to know dirt. So when you looked out on to the audience could you see faces or what do you --
VELSHI: You could see faces. It's a great -- great studio, there was -- by the way, lots of food and drink in the green room.
COSTELLO: Ah.
VELSHI: Yes. There are little -- these Halloween candies, chocolates. So, you see, I must have had nine or ten of those and a lot of Diet Coke. They did actually have -- they have some Red Bull, but I thought that might be --
ROMANS: A little much. Ali Velshi on Red Bull is nothing you'd like to see.
VELSHI: Particularly at night. That's not something you want to do.
But, yes, very friendly crowd, very friendly audience. It was -- yes, it was a great conversation. Totally enjoyed it.
COSTELLO: And then how much of the interview aired on "The Jon Stewart Show" and how much did they cut out?
VELSHI: All those --
COSTELLO: It was the whole thing.
VELSHI: -- everything we did. We -- I mean, there was more to it than what you saw but it all got on TV.
COSTELLO: Awesome. VELSHI: It was great. He asks good, tight questions. And, look, everybody is concerned right now, well, what does the stock market mean and what's really going to happen. So the questions he asks are the ones -- and that's the beauty of Jon Stewart, he asks the questions on everybody's mind.
ROMANS: Well, he seems so -- he seems surprised that you were so reasonable, but here's the thing, I mean, it's reasonable people don't have control over the debate right now --
VELSHI: Yes, exactly.
ROMANS: -- or in control of the stock market or in control of the economy right now.
VELSHI: Most people are reasonable about the economy.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, gunmen storm the home of an American in Pakistan. He disappears along with his captors. So, who is he and do investigators have any leads? We're live in Islamabad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. stock futures indicate stocks could trade lower at today's open. That after merger Monday, a rally that recovered most of last week's losses and some.
Meanwhile, European markets are trading much lower this morning. Losses of two percent or more in Germany and France and the culprit there is Germany, Europe's largest economy stalled in the second quarter according to new estimates out today. Germany's GDP, which is the broadest measure of all goods and services produced in any one economy grew by a mere 0.1 percent for that period. That's cause for concern in both the Europe -- in both Europe and the United States.
In the meantime, household debt here in the United States is trending lower. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that consumer debt fell by $50 billion in the second quarter. Now the world's biggest retailer Wal-Mart, might be losing its edge on lower prices, at least that's what many shoppers believe. A recent survey by retail consultants show that the big box chains image as the low price leader has suffered since the recession because some shoppers are finding cheaper deals with competitors.
Maserati, the ultra luxury Italian carmaker is recalling cars in the U.S. to fix a problem with the rear suspension. Some 800 Quattroporte sedans and Gran Turismo coupes for model year 2009 are part of that recall accounting for almost 60 percent of the 2009 Maseratis that are on the road right now in the United States.
And finally, Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways is delaying its new advertising campaign. The reason is a racy video of airline staff allegedly cavorting with each other on company aircraft which has surfaced on the Internet. Apparently, the airline has concerns that its new slogan "Meet the Team that Goes the Extra Mile" could be inappropriate in light of that video.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Happy Tuesday to you. Good morning. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Time for a check of this morning's top story:
Looking like a man in full campaign mode, President Obama continues his trip across the heartland. He'll be in Iowa today talking about jobs and the economy. The White House says it's official business but Republican says taxpayers should not be paying for it.
ROMANS: Texas Governor Rick Perry on his first campaign swing through Iowa launching a charm offensive an attacking President Obama. Perry called the president's management of the economy an experiment that's gone, quote, "tragically wrong."
VELSHI: The suspect in the case of a missing American woman in Aruba will remain in police custody. A judge ordering Gary Giordano held for another 16 days, ruling that there is enough evidence linking him to Robyn Gardner. She vanished earlier this month after traveling with him to Aruba.
COSTELLO: There is a mystery unfolding in Pakistan this morning. An American snatched from his home by gunmen early Saturday morning. Right now, there is no claim of responsibility, no demands for his release, and police reportedly have no leads.
Our Reza Sayah is live in Islamabad.
So, Reza, do we even know who this man is?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know a little bit about him, Carol.
He is a long-time expert in the field of development. He's been in this region in Pakistan for a very long time. He's 60-something. There's one report that says he's 70 years old -- works for a development company based out of Virginia called J.E. Austin. A lot of development companies in Pakistan and in this region doing important work like social development, economic development, creating jobs. So, that's what he was doing here.
Obviously, his family desperately wants to know where he is and if he's OK. But unfortunately, neither the U.S. embassy here in Islamabad nor Pakistani police seem to have much information about his condition and whereabouts.
The only bit of new information we have is that police say they've detained his three security guards and his driver who were at the house the night he was kidnapped. But they point out they only have them for questioning, that they're not being suspected in this kidnapping. And in Pakistan, the law says you can detain someone for up to 72 hours for questioning without charging him.
Now, the 72-hour window has just passed and they're still in detention, not clear why.
Weinstein was kidnapped early Saturday morning, around 3:00 a.m. So, still a lot of mystery surrounding his whereabouts and what happened, Carol.
COSTELLO: So the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan isn't exactly warm and cuddly. How will that impact the investigation?
SAYAH: No. Well, it's not clear at this point. Ideally when something like this happens you want the two governments to be getting along. Of course, Islamabad and Washington haven't been getting along. The relationship has been deteriorating ever since the raid on the bin Laden compound. You know, the two countries have been adding pressure to one another.
If there is any indication that Pakistan is not putting an earnest effort in finding Warren Weinstein, I think that there's going to be problems. But at this point, there is no indication that they're pot putting a full effort and finding him.
And we should note in the past, where there's been kidnappings in Pakistan, the government in Islamabad have worked well with international governments in finding out what happened to the kidnapping. Usually, they're criminal gangs looking for money.
COSTELLO: Reza Sayah, live in Islamabad this morning -- thank you.
VELSHI: Well, the FBI is questioning 50-year-old Paul Douglas Peters in Kentucky. They say he's the one that strapped a fake bomb around a girl's neck in Australia earlier this month as part of an extortion plot. Peters is reportedly an Australian native who travels to America regularly on business. It's not clear what connection, if any, that he's got to the girl's family.
ROMANS: Nearly 21 hours alone in the wilderness of Utah, incredibly story of a 12-year-old boy scout's fight for survival. Jared Ropelato reunited with his parents on Saturday. Nearly one day after becoming separated from his troop during a scout outing in the Ashley National Forest.
Search crews came across the lost boy who built his own shelter. Jared covered himself in dirt to keep warm when the temperatures dropped into the 30s.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JARED ROPELATO, BOY SCOUT SURVIVOR: Just like to say thank you for all their help that they gave. I was just glad that I got here and they could hear me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm happier than I think I've ever been because I was probably as scared as I'd ever been. So, it's wonderful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Good news is, Jared is doing OK. No word yet on what kind of badge his parents get for enduring that experience.
COSTELLO: Good for him, though. That's incredible.
Something else incredible, another scale, in the world of sport. Minnesota Twins slugger Jim Thome hitting one into the record books. He belted his 600th career home run against my Detroit Tigers last night. The two-run shot coming in the seventh inning. He hit number .599 an inning before.
The 40-year-old Thome becomes the eighth major leaguer to join the 600 home run club. Only Babe Ruth did it in fewer at-bats.
And, you know, Detroit Tiger fans, they gave him a standing ovation.
VELSHI: Sure. They're a classy bunch.
COSTELLO: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Look, if history is made you know in your home stadium, it's all right.
COSTELLO: But Jim Thome is a great guy, though. I mean, he's great guy. Humble.
VELSHI: And pretty accomplished baseball player, too.
COSTELLO: Good he did it at 40. It makes me happy.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: All right. Still to come, a garbage dump just off the runway at New York's LaGuardia airport, could it pose a danger to flyers?
ROMANS: And Kate Gosselin ponders life after reality TV. What the heck, everything you wanted to know about Kate Gosselin on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back.
The fighting in Libya could soon reach Tripoli. Rebel fighters reportedly made advances along a major supply route to the capital.
Take a look at this. This is amateur video of rebel forces firing a missile along a highway in al Zawiya.
CNN's Matthew Chance joins us live now from Tripoli via Skype.
Good morning, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you as well.
That's right. The rebels apparently taking much control of that very important town, Zawiya, to the west of Tripoli, effectively completing a sort of stranglehold around the Libyan capital. It's going to make it difficult for things to get in and out of Tripoli. It's going to put additional pressure on the regime of Colonel Gadhafi, of course.
Outwardly, though, that regime is being defiant. Colonel Gadhafi spoken to thousands of supporters in the center of Tripoli over the last 24 hours, telling them to be ready to fight.
And, so, you know, even though there have been some signs the regime has taken some blows, it seems at the moment there's some digging in and waiting for the long haul, Christine.
ROMANS: And, Matthew, we're hearing from U.S. defense officials that troops loyal to Gadhafi fired a Scud missile for the first time in this uprising.
CHANCE: Yes. It's quite ominous development. Some could interpret that as a, you know, sign of desperation, perhaps. The fact is the Scud missile which was fired to the east of the capital from a place called Sirte into a place called Brega, which is an important port oil city. It missed its target by about 50 miles or so. It didn't injure anybody.
But the fact is, that Colonel Gadhafi's troops have hundreds of these Scud missiles and they've got a range of about 200 miles or so, so if they do start using them, it could sort of change the face of the battle a little bit and make rebel positions that were previously felt to be safe, sort of a bit more in jeopardy. So, it's something of concern.
ROMANS: All right. Matthew Chance -- thank you so much, Matthew. Live this morning in Tripoli for us.
VELSHI: Back here in the United States -- sanitation facility is being built just off the runway at New York's LaGuardia airport. Some people say that could put air travelers at risk because where there's garbage, there are birds and often lots of them.
Here's CNN's Allan Chernoff.
(BEGUIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a bird strike, geese sucked into the engines that caused Captain Sully Sullenberger's emergency landing on the Hudson River just after taking off from LaGuardia airport two years ago.
Large bird cans be hazardous to jet planes. Even so, New York's borough of Queens, construction is well along on a giant sanitation facility right near LaGuardia that could attract flocks of birds. Just like many garbage dumps.
(on camera): The idea is that all the trash from Queens would be brought to this marine transfer station where it would be shipped out of state by barge. Problem is, one of LaGuardia's runways is only 2200 feet away. And the barges would come even closer. And if there's one thing that birds like, it's trash.
RANDY MASTRO, ATTORNEY, FRIENDS OF LAGUARDIA: This is a colossally stupid idea to locate a city garbage transfer station on the edge of an airport runway.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Opponents of the trash transfer site claim the Federal Aviation Administration quietly shortened its runway zone at the city's request to allow the sanitation project to move forward.
But a source with knowledge of the situation says, in fact, FAA never changed its runway protection zone around LaGuardia. FAA told CNN, the planned marine transfer station near LaGuardia airport is not located inside the runway protection zone at the airport.
FAA's parent, the Department of Transportation, had an independent technical panel review the Sanitation Department's plan which will enclose the facility and have barges of garbage sealed to limit their attraction to birds. The panel gave a thumb's up to the trash center.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: The FAA thinks it's safe and they're the professionals.
CHERNOFF: As construction continues, the dispute is the subject of two lawsuits in federal and New York state court. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Elvis fans gathering at Graceland to remember the king. A vigil was held early this morning off Presley's grave to mark the 34th anniversary of his death. Elvis died in his Memphis, Tennessee, mansion on this day back in 1977.
VELSHI: I remember it well.
ROMANS: Me too. I remember --
COSTELLO: Sad day.
ROMANS: Who's Elvis? That's what I said.
VELSHI: Right. You're a little young.
ROMANS: She said the young Elvis or the old Elvis?
VELSHI: But I know you remember KISS.
ROMANS: I do. The rock band, of course, joining the legendary lineup for the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales in October. That has many Jackson fans upset. Kiss front man Gene Simmons made some negative comments about the late pop star back in 2009. Some Jackson supporters say they won't be going to the concert.
VELSHI: All right. Say it ain't so. TLC has canceled the reality show "Kate Plus 8" featuring Kate Gosselin and her broad of eight children. The show began, of course, as "John and Kate Plus 8" and then more of its current form after their messy divorce. The show's final episode will air September 12th.
What will you do with that time?
COSTELLO: I can think of a few things.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: It's 44 minutes past the hour. We'll check the day's top stories straight ahead.
VELSHI: And there's a new Texan in town, by the way. We've all been talking about him Rick Perry, tossing his steps into the presidential race, prompting Jeanne Moos to ask: have we seen this act before?
It's 44 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVEN YEUN, ACTOR: Hi. I'm Steven Yeun and I play Glenn on "The Walking Dead." When you're traveling and you're going to be there for a long while, it is so important to make where you're at home. My guitar has always made it feel like home because I always have something to tinker with. I have this program called sleep cycle, and it wakes you up within a 30-minute window based on how much movement you have on your bed, because it determines whether you're in deep sleep so you don't wake up groggy.
For me, you know, there are times where we get into remote locations. When you don't have internet, books are great to just get away, specially when you're doing something like "The Walking Dead" and you just sliced a zombie in half. So, those are my travel tips for when you're traveling or if you're fighting zombies. Bye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: It's 47 minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Day two of President Obama's heartland bus tour. He'll be in Iowa talking to farmers and small business owners about his plans for putting American back to work. His trip, which began in Minnesota, wraps up in Illinois tomorrow.
And Texas governor, Rick Perry, continues his swing through Iowa. Perry will hold an economic round table in Dubuque. He says the greatest threat to the economy has been President Obama's management of it.
The lawyers for James Arthur Ray plan to ask for a new trial today. They say the prosecution didn't turn over all the evidence in the first round. Ray was found guilty of negligent homicide in June for the death of three guests at his Arizona sweat lodge.
After gunfire last week between North and South Korea, U.S. and South Korean troops are conducting a military exercise near Seoul this morning. It's expected to last ten days. Seven other nations are also participating.
Vice President Joe Biden leaves today for a week-long trip to Asia. He'll visit China, Mongolia, and Japan. He'll spend most of his time in Beijing where he'll discuss America's finances with China's top leaders.
Wall Street wiping out those painful losses last week. The Dow rallying 214 points yesterday. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 were also up about two percent each. U.S. stock futures, though, this morning are down on growth concerns in Europe.
Get ready for "Austin Powers 4." Reports say Mike Myers will sign on to play the groovy 1960s era secret agent one more time. Myers is expected to produce, write, and star in the new sequel. The three films in the "Austin Powers" franchise grossed nearly $700 million worldwide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That's the news -- that's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: OK. Talk back question of the day, time for your responses. We asked you this question. You heard about billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, he said tax me, please, tax me, tax me. So, the question today, does Warren Buffett have a good idea or is he just playing politics? And you responded in force.
This from Mike, "It's a shame that this is even something that needs to be debated. The more you get out of the system, the more you should be giving back to it."
This from Skip, "Well, he is super rich, and if he says that the rich aren't paying their fair share of taxes, who are we to argue? The problem could be that 261 members of Congress are millionaires, and passing any type of tax hike on millionaires would impact them directly. In fact, it's hard to believe that any of them know what the middle and lower classes of this country are going through."
This from Brian, "Why would middle America be bothered with .3 percent of the population" -- I think it's even lower than that, isn't it? -- "paying more taxes? I don't get it. It's not even your money, and it will never trickle down to you. What a joke!"
And just in case you're wondering, if you really did tax people making over a million dollars a year, if lawmakers added a 50 percent tax rate to taxable income of over a million dollars, it could raise an extra $34 billion, and over ten years about $340 billion.
ROMANS: And we're running a deficit of 1.4 to $1.6 trillion.
VELSHI: Yes. It's not actually just -- it's good to know. It's not the answer to our problems. Maybe an answer, but it won't deal with it.
ROMANS: People who oppose higher taxes, what they see is the slippery slope in Washington. When you raise somebody's taxes, you raise everybody's taxes. And they say, when you look at a number like that, $34 billion, they don't see how the rest of us are going to escape without significantly higher taxes and lower services.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: And many of the budget experts say the real truth that no one will say is that everyone's taxes are going up, everyone's services going down, and the country's standard of living has to shrink to pay for what we've already spent, and there's no way around it.
COSTELLO: Yes. And the fact of the matter is, there's the lowest tax rate in this country since, what, the Clinton years, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: Something like that.
VELSHI: Right. There's this conception that we're very heavily taxed. Not necessarily true. Corporate taxes are lower in other countries, there's no question about that. The problem is, we've not seen lower corporate taxes result in job creation. So, there's this whole -- there's whole bunch of moving puzzle parts that lead you to believe that when people say, if you do X, it results in Y in the economy, that we don't actually know it to be true anymore. ROMANS: Well, you even mentioned politics.
COSTELLO: And then you take politics and the moving parts.
VELSHI: And then the moving parts get a little more complicated.
COSTELLO: Yes. Keep your comments coming, though. We appreciate them. Facebook.com/americanmorning. We'll read more of your thoughts a bit later.
VELSHI: OK. The last time a governor of Texas ran for president, you know what happened.
ROMANS: Now that Rick Perry has jumped into the Republican race, he's being compared to President George W. Bush. Some have even described him as, I can't believe this, W2. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He came toting a fried pork chop, a corn dog, and an egg on a stick. There's a new Texan in town, swigging water like it's mouth wash, with his leg on a bale of hey, spouting y'all.
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Y'all around a question --
MOOS: Dropping his Gs.
PERRY: Messin' around, farmin' and ranchin' people. What are they thinking'?
MOOS: We're thinking that Texas talk sounds might familiar.
PERRY: I told -- dag (ph) gone it. I said, I was looking forward to getting out there.
MOOS (on-camera): Some critics are saying that Rick Perry is the mere image of another famous Texas politician.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
MOOS (voice-over): The "New York Daily News" even concocted a photo illustration showing Perry looking into the mirror and George W. Bush squinting back out. The accompanying column called Perry, W2 with much better hair. Hair, by the way, that's looked pretty much the same since his days in the corps of cadets at Texas A&M University. In his first presidential campaign video --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wore the uniform of our country as an air force captain.
MOOS: He sure reminds us of President Bush in a flight suit on a farm. But Perry dismisses similarity saying --
PERRY: We're not all carbon copies in Texas.
MOOS: No less in authority than Bill Clinton said of Perry.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a good looking rascal.
MOOS: When Politico asked Perry whether he's armed today, he declined to say adding, that's why it's called concealed. He sure doesn't conceal his touchy-feely side. In a typical encounter, he put his arm around an Iowa voter, then proceeded to pat, then slap and squeeze her before giving a final goodbye tap. He loves to tussle the hair of kids. Colin here not only got his hair must, he got his cheeks rubbed. But hey, even a CNN producer got the cheek treatment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, what are your thoughts about what appears to be --
PERRY: Back in. Back in the pen (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MOOS: And the photographer got a leg pat. Perry's got that down home charm that you know who had. Remember all that winking? President Bush even winked at Queen Elizabeth. Well, don't blink or you'll miss Rick Perry's wink. And guess how Perry pronounces this.
PERRY: I am a supporter of nuclear energy.
MOOS: They both support nuclear pronunciation.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nuclear weapons program.
MOOS: And Rick Perry even winks while he drinks.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: OK. Your top stories coming up next, including an American woman missing in Aruba. We're going to tell you if there's enough evidence to keep the suspect in her disappearance behind bars. It's about 56 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
