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American Morning
President Interviewed; Perry Stands By Comment Regarding Fed Chairman; Michele Bachmann Releases Net Worth; Gay Marriage Woes; Gay Marriage Woes; Obama Wraps Up Bus Tour; Obama: Concern About Lone Wolf Terror; First Responders Not Invited; Perry's Fighting Words; "A Very Wild Place"; Unexpected Signs of Heart Disease
Aired August 17, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I continue to believe is that ultimately the buck stops with me. I'm going to be accountable.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Talk about something --
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): President Obama bucking up on the nation's economic slump but still blaming Republicans for rejecting compromise. His exclusive CNN interview just ahead.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Claims of poor coordination and lack of oversight. This morning, new accusations against the U.S. government for delays in training Afghan security forces. We'll have a live report from Kabul coming up.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): What's going on at Yosemite in unusually dangerous and deadly summer at the popular national park?
COSTELLO: And it's a problem for at least 30 million American men, but most don't like to talk about it. Trouble is silence could mean death. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special report on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Wednesday, August 17th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: Up first, President Obama talking jobs again in the nation's heartland. He wraps up his three-day bus tour today in Illinois. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the president acknowledged he's responsible for cleaning up the economic mess but blames Republicans for standing in his way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: When you took office, you said this, I'm sure you remember, "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition," meaning you're going to be a one- term president. Do you remember that?
OBAMA: Well, here's what I remember, is that when I came into office, I knew I was going to have a big mess to clean up. And frankly, the mess has been bigger than I think a lot of people anticipated at the time. We have made steady progress on these fronts but we're not making progress fast enough. And what I continue to believe is that ultimately the buck stops with me. I'm going to be accountable.
I think people understand that a lot of these problems were decades in the making. People understand that this financial crisis was the worst since the great depression. But ultimately they say, look, he's the president, we think he has good intentions, but we're impatient and want to see things move faster.
And I understand that, I'm sympathetic to it, and we're just going to keep on putting forward ideas good for the country. We're going to need a partner from Congress and we're going to need folks to move off some of these rigid positions they've been taking to solve these problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The president wraps up his visit to the politically pivotal Midwest with a pair of town hall meetings in Illinois. The focus once again, jobs.
CNN's Brianna Keilar joins us from Atkinson, Illinois. Brianna, in addition to jobs, the president has also been hammering Republicans on this trip. Any indication he'll continue to do that today? I bet he does.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I bet he does too. I think you can wholeheartedly expect that. As he sort of waits to unveil his jobs proposals when Congress comes back in September and anticipating that he's definitely going to get some pushback as he already has for some of his general jobs ideas, he's painting and really hitting on Republicans, House Republicans, calling them out by name, for being obstructionists. The line we've heard a lot some in Congress are more interested in their opponents' losing than Americans winning.
And it's interesting because he's also taking aim at the entire Republican presidential field. Listen to what he told Wolf yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When I saw our Republican presidential primary candidates suggesting that they would not be willing to close a single loophole or close a single special interest tax break, even if they were going to get $10 of savings for every $1 of revenue that raised, that is no longer thinking in a common sense way. At that point what you're saying is, ideological rigidity that is preventing us from solving problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: And expect President Obama to reiterate that. Here we are in Atkinson, Illinois. This is the site he will be doing this town hall meeting at a hybrid seed factory for hybrid corn seed. The supporters here, they're definitely are some in the area, in the quad cities area. There's also people that disagree very much with president Obama.
Carol, it's interesting, when you look at the economy of this area like the other places the president has visited over the last few days, the unemployment is significantly lower than the national average. Here in Illinois as a whole it's at 9.2, just a tick above the national average of 9.1 percent. But here in Atkinson and also alpha, Illinois, where he'll hold his second town hall, it's in the upper sixes. And you actually have industries like agriculture, like manufacturing, where things are going pretty well.
COSTELLO: Brianna, I'm wondering about something. The president told Wolf he's going to unveil his huge jobs plan in September. Is one of the reasons because he it's August? I mean, we think everybody's paying attention to the election right now, but they're probably not. A lot of people are on vacation. Is that one of the reasons he might be waiting?
KEILAR: Yes. We are paying a lot of attention especially with all of what has gone on in the last week considering the Republican presidential field, but the White House advisers to the president, Carol, they do not think that people are really paying attention. And they're not really going to pay attention for a few months. That's how they see things.
But you see the president saying, he doesn't want to call Congress back into session. He's going to wait until they come back. He said he wanted them to go back to their home districts like the places he's visiting, getting an earful as he put it, and come back with an attitude adjustment.
It will be interesting to see, of course, if they actually do. But he's planning to unveil his jobs proposal and also his deficit reduction proposals to that super committee when Congress returns in September.
COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar reporting live for us, thanks so much.
ROMANS: It's interesting, I think one of the reasons, they have to decide what that plan is going to be. Is it going to be a bunch of small initiatives we've tried that haven't worked in the stimulus, for example? What can they come up with that the Republicans will allow to come through and what can they come up with that will be big enough to create jobs and people say, this is your best effort?
I mean, I don't know where they are in this process yet, but a lot of economists are wondering what is it going to be that we haven't tried already and you can actually get to happen?
COSTELLO: I guess we're going to have to wait until September, I guess. VELSHI: They'll probably leak something out.
Texas governor and Republican presidential nominee Rick Perry tells CNN he's standing by his recent criticism of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Here's what Perry said Monday about the fed policy to stimulate the economy before the 2012 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If this guy prints more money, between now and the election, I don't know what you all would do to him in Iowa, but we'd -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous, or treasonous in my opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Now those comments did not sit well with Karl Rove, the former adviser to former President George W. Bush. Rove, by the way, who is not Perry's biggest fan, says the remarks were not presidential.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, FORMER BUSH ADVISER: Don't accuse the chairman of the federal reserve of being a traitor to his country, being guilty of treason and suggesting that we treat him pretty ugly in Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, another leading candidate Michele Bachmann stumping in South Carolina. And we're learning just how much Bachmann is worth. Financial disclosure reports reveal the Tea Party darling and her husband have assets of $2.8 million and as much as $750,000 in outstanding loans. Meantime Bachmann's birthday shout out to Elvis Presley yesterday didn't quite go as planned, not on the anniversary of his death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Before we get started, let's all say happy birthday to Elvis Presley today. Happy birthday. We played you a little bit of "Promise land" when we pulled up. You can't do better than Elvis Presley. We'd thought we would celebrate his birthday as we get started celebrating the "take our country back tour!"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Bachmann's response to the Elvis gaffe, here's what she said, "As far as we're concerned he's still alive in our hearts."
ROMANS: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning, is heckling good for our political discourse. Let's face it, election 2012 is shaping up to be the year of the political flash mob. Liberal hecklers scored when they challenged Republican Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Corporations are people, my friend. We can raise taxes on -- of course they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It certainly worked. The Democratic National Committee turned it into an ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend. We can raise taxes on -- of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In their pockets!
ROMNEY: Whose pockets? People's pockets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Not to be outdone, Iowa tea party chairman Ryan Rhodes confronted President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN RHODES, TEA PARTY, IOWA: When you're talking about civility, how is your vice president calling us terrorists?
OBAMA: Sir, look --
RHODES: I would like to understand that.
OBAMA: OK. I will explain it right now. He did not call you guys terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: They didn't exactly come to a meeting of the minds, and it certainly makes you wonder, as University of Virginia politico Larry Sabato told me, "We're moving into a confrontational society. We don't want to listen to C-Span. That's too boring. Instead we make our decisions based on political flash mobs.
Maybe, he added, "politicians are judged on how well they respond to hecklers, not how well they explain their policies." Sabato says we could end up with baseball-style brawls at campaign rallies. How would that end, in a political dog pile, with everyone jumping on top of one another?
So the Talk Back question today, is heckling good for our political discourse? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: We've got some good ones so far. Keep them coming.
All right, this morning school bells will once again ring in Joplin, Missouri just 12 weeks after a tornado tore through that city killing more than 130 people. And because this high school was destroyed, Joplin's ninth and tenth graders will go to an existing middle school. Upper classmen will attend class in a converted department store at the local mall. It's good to hear they're getting back to school.
ROMANS: Absolutely. And a terrifying afternoon though for visitors and employees at Orlando's Sea World. Lightning hit the ground at the Discovery Cove attraction yesterday. Five staff members, three guests reportedly hurt, five people in all taken to the hospital. They're expected to be OK. No one took a direct hit, but it was pretty scary moments there.
COSTELLO: You bet.
The country music group Sugarland is planning a private memorial for the victims of the deadly stage collapse over the weekend at the Indiana state fair. The band was just minutes away from performing when a sudden burst of wind knocked down the scaffolding. And this morning, new audio is emerging of a warning that was given to the audience just as the band was preparing to take the stage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, there are some clouds. We are hoping for the best, that the weather is going to bypass, but there's a very good chance that it won't. Once the storm passes and everything is stable, we're going to try our best to come back and resume the show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You know what happened next. A New York engineering firm has been hired to investigate the stage collapse. Five people were killed. State fair officials say they will make the findings of that investigation public.
ROMANS: Still to come this morning, accusations against the U.S. government, a new report says Afghan police aren't getting the training they need and the U.S. is to blame. A live report on that from Kabul ahead.
VELSHI: And a troubling report about the cost of a college education and the burden that it is placing on our kids.
COSTELLO: And Abercrombie & Fitch has a problem with the "Jersey Shore's" Mike "The Situation." Why the company claims he's hurting their brand. That's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It's 14 minutes past the hour. New accusations that U.S. may hold some of the blame for the delay in the training of afghan police.
VELSHI: A new report cites poor coordination and lack of resources.
ROMANS: And of course Afghan forces are preparing to take over the country's security once NATO troops return home. Here's CNN's David Ariosto.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Driving through the streets of Kabul here on a police convoy in what is called the "ring of steel." These are municipal police forces that parole in and around these streets and you can tell they're very heavily armed. And it's individuals like these that are going to be taking increasing responsibility for the security of their country.
Key to America's strategy, these forces are part of a transition process orchestrated by NATO.
BRIG. GEN. CARSTEN JACOBSEN, ISAF SPOKESMAN: We're doing that by building the Afghan National Security Forces up as quickly and as strongly as we can.
ARIOSTO: And yet, despite scathing reviews that spotlight Afghan corruption and at times incompetence, a new U.S. audit report suggests the U.S. government may share some of the blame for delays in their training.
The report points to a plan to switch control of police training from the State Department to Defense. A project they say is rife with poor coordination and a lack of oversight. It also says the U.S. contractor involved in the process failed to have 428 of the 728 required personnel in place within the 120-day transition period. That shortage has, quote, "placed the overall mission at risk." And time is running out.
ASHRAF GHANI, HEAD OF AFGHAN TRANSITION COMMISSION: Importance of Afghanistan after three years will sink. Within these three years, we are the focus of global attention and we need to make use of this unique opportunity.
ARIOSTO: But out on the streets, some police say their lacking needed resources.
One of the problems is that many of our ammunition pouches are old and broken, this man says. Others say what these forces really need is more training.
Still, as American invests heavily in the region, the new report comes amid growing scrutiny over how U.S. taxpayer dollars are spent. And how ready this country will be once NATO soldiers leave to return home. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ARIOSTO: Now, this is the second report in a three-part series and a report back in April really raised some serious questions about the way U.S. taxpayer dollars were being spent here in Afghanistan. There's an issue about accountability now on both sides of the line. But you have to think that training these forces must be priority number one for U.S. forces looking for a way out of Afghanistan.
ROMANS: David, what kind - what kinds of data and security challenges are these police facing?
ARIOSTO: Well, you talk with the security officers and be it military or be it police, one of the number one concerns that they have seems to be the new Taliban tactic, which is suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. You saw in the package there, it's basically looking through different vehicles, trying to find out if certain bombs have been hidden in different areas.
But because of the nature of this war and since there are really no front lines, the nature of attacks can really exist anywhere. Just earlier we saw the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel. Last week, there was a number of suicide bombers that are arrested just outside the Afghan capital.
So, again, you know, primary concern right now is that which they cannot see, at least by the - the normal eye. So searching these areas, a primary concern for Afghan Security Forces.
VELSHI: Yes. It's not - it's not the normal training of police -
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- that you would expect.
OK. David, thanks very much for that. We look forward to the - the other reports in the series.
COSTELLO: Let's take it back home and send it to Atlanta and check in with Rob Marciano. Oh, it's hot again in the middle part of the country.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. We had record-breaking temperatures yesterday. We'll do them again today.
Texas, Louisiana, same spots, it's maybe shrunk a little bit farther to the south, you know, it's getting toward that time of the year where the cold fronts will start to progress further to the south. We certainly had one move to the east of New York and that's good because you'll see less in the way of rain today.
But Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Florida, we'll see some afternoon thunderstorms, early thunderstorms in Chicago, and some morning fog in San Francisco. West Coast, nothing but dry weather today. These are your records for Shreveport, Texarkana, even New Iberia. Cajun Country getting into the action, 98 degrees, that doesn't include the humidity there in Central Louisiana - South Central.
All right. This storm, not yet a storm, just a tropical wave, at least slow to organize but it's moving very quickly. The faster it moves, the faster we get it into Central America and that would limit its development.
But, our computer models vary. Some of it brings it into the Gulf of Mexico. So this certainly bears watching and there's another one behind it. We're getting into the time of year, middle to late August where these things develop out there in the Atlantic and they make their way toward the U.S.
So, it's been active so far, but not a whole lot to speak of as far as hurricanes for sure. Even tropical storms have been minimal at best.
Guys, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Best news ever.
MARCIANO: Yes.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come this morning, there's a situation brewing between the "Jersey Shore" cast and Abercrombie & Fitch. Why the clothing company is taking the high road and wants them to stop wearing their clothes.
VELSHI: And gay marriage on the books in six states. Why are same-sex couples saying they're getting short changed. We'll tell you on the other side.
It's 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. stock futures are trading slightly higher ahead of today's open. Meanwhile, markets in Asia closed with moderate losses and Germany's stock market is down 1.5 percent.
Student loan debt is climbing. According to a new study, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says outstanding debts on student loans shot up 25 percent in the last three years.
The Social Security Administration wrongly declares 14,000 people dead every year. The Inspector General says the mistakes cause severe financial hardship and distress to those who are affected.
Mortgage rates are going down. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has now fallen to 4.32 percent. That's according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, and as rates fall, home loan applications shot up more than four percent last week.
There are growing cries to ditch the penny. That's because the coin costs more to make than it's actually worth. Last year, the U.S. mint lost $42.6 million making pennies and nickels because of rising metal costs.
And Abercrombie & Fitch is offering the "Jersey Shore" cast a substantial amount of money not to wear their brand on TV. Store executives say they're worried about ruining their image. The company hasn't said how much it's offered to pay.
Don't forget for the very latest news about your money, check out the all new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING back right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Gay couples can now legally marry in six states, but "state" is the key word here.
ROMANS: Right. Keep in mind, same-sex marriages aren't recognized by Uncle Sam, the federal government. That means a lot of perks enjoyed by heterosexual married couples don't apply to gay married couples.
CNN's Poppy Harlow joins us now with more on that. It's something that - that people are finding out as they're getting married -
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes.
ROMANS: -- in New York, for example, and then they're realizing that there's a little bit of a hurdle there.
HARLOW: All this excitement, right, that they finally have the right to say "I do" and then they're realizing, oh, what about our finances, we never thought about this before because we just thought we couldn't bring our money together. We didn't have financial rights.
But what I was so surprised to find out in reporting this, is that even though gay couples are allowed to get married in these six states, their financial rights are not equivalent on the federal level to same sex married couples. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pronounce you both married. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been waiting for this day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My husband and her wife.
HARLOW (voice-over): Not so fast. For many gay couples in New York, the last few weeks have been filled with celebration.
ELLEN DESARNO, AXA, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Marriage equality is very good for morale in New York State. However it doesn't change a lot of the laws that affect us.
HARLOW: Openly gay financial planner Ellen DeSarno says the biggest road block for gay couples is the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.
As a result, many of the federal tax breaks that straight married couples get, same sex married couples don't. Gay couples still can't file joint federal tax returns, share retirement benefits or combine their money freely.
DESARNO: Heterosexuals that - that marry is recognized at a federal level. They have the ability to give each other unlimited gifts and inherit unlimited amounts from each other. I can't give my partner more than $13,000 a year without it being a taxable gift.
BILL HERBST, ENGAGED: (INAUDIBLE) with my sister coming on Friday.
RALPH GILMARTIN, ENGAGED: Friday.
HARLOW: Ralph Gilmartin and Bill Herbst have been together nearly 30 years and plan to marry in November. They own their apartment together, but have questions about their financial rights.
GIMARTIN: The state tax question is a bit of an issue.
HERBST: And we have to go back and maybe dismantle or rethink or reallocate because we're not sure what these things are going to do.
HARLOW: We've arranged for our financial pro to sit down with the couple.
HERBST: Are there things that we can look at that will save us money or make things easier that we can maybe change now?
DESARNO: If you're not married and you're partners, there's a $1 million exemption of assets you can pass on to your heirs without any New York State tax. When you're legally married in New York that's unlimited.
HARLOW: And there are other state benefits. Rights may include health insurance and some pension benefits for spouses. Ralph and Bill say the right to finally say "I do" far outweighs the financial headaches that may lie ahead. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's an important baby step, but are we there yet? Absolutely not. There's a lot more that we need to continue working on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Now gay couples have to also keep in mind once they marry, they're going to assume the debt of their partner and no one wants to think about divorce. But if there is a divorce, it's just like a heterosexual couple, they will have to pay alimony. Those things still remain.
But I was shocked to find out that because marriage isn't recognized on a federal level they do miss out on a lot of these financial benefits of getting married.
There are some activist groups out there fighting for these rights, but at the same time, even that couple tells me one step at a time. We're just glad we can get married after 30 years together.
ROMANS: Specifically the Defense of Marriage Act on a federal level.
HARLOW: It is that. That 1996 act signed in by President Clinton, not likely that's going to get overturned any time soon.
VELSHI: All right, Poppy, thank you for that.
COSTELLO: Now 30 minutes past the hour. Time to check this morning's top stories.
President Obama wrapping up his three-day Midwest bus tour on his home turf in Illinois. Yesterday, the president sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Wolf asked him about the approaching 9/11 anniversary and threats to national security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The biggest concern we have right now is not the launching of a major terrorist operation, although that risk is always there. The risk that we're especially concerned over right now is the lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide- scale massacres of the sort that we saw in Norway recently.
END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. The 9/11 first responders are not invited to next month's ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. New York City officials say there's not enough room. Only families of 9/11 victims will attend. First responders will have their own ceremony at later date.
VELSHI: Two Democratic state senators in Wisconsin will keep their seats. They defeated their Republican challengers in a special recall election yesterday. The vote was in response to the bitter fight over new laws that crack down on unions and their right to collectively bargain. Bottom line, status quo, things haven't changed there.
COSTELLO: Back to the world of politics, Rick Perry refusing to back down this morning, even after members of his own party criticized him for harsh comments he made about the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: We would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money, to play politics at this particular time in American history, is almost treasonous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joining us to talk about this, Gerry Seib, Washington Bureau chief of the "Wall Street Journal" and CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston, he's on the road with Perry in New Hampshire. Welcome to you both.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: So, Mark, let's start with you, Rick Perry used that word treason that's a crime against your country, it's in the constitution, it's punishable by as much as death. But Rick Perry isn't backing down, is he?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: No, he's not backing down, and it's the kind of phrase that is going to play very well with a certain segment of the Republican base.
Rick Perry, when he was making that statement, I believe, knew what he was doing. However, what he could run up against is moderate, middle of the road Republicans and independents that are turned off by that remark.
We've already seen some former Bush administration officials, including Karl Rove, who we do know is not close to Rick Perry, actually criticize him for that.
COSTELLO: Gerald, I wanted to ask you about that. Karl Rove did come out, as Mark said he's not the best friend of Rick Perry, but he said this is not presidential. So why isn't Perry stepping back from the remark?
GERALD SEIB, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AND DOW JONES NEWSWIRES: Well, I think for starters, you got to remember there's a lot of anti-fed sentiment in the Republican Party, particularly among primary voters.
Ron Paul tapped into that. Ron Paul came in second in last week's Iowa straw poll. So he's kind of showing that there's a lot of populist anger about the fed. He's tapping into that whether he did so intentionally or not that's the effect of it.
But I also think there's kind of a Rick Perry style of political discourse here that you're seeing and the great question is whether it plays as well in the center of the country as you get beyond a primary into a general election as it does with Republican primary voters.
I wrote a column this week and talked about that being the question about Rick Perry, the kind of approach, the rhetorical attack that works in a Republican primary setting work in a general election setting or is it off putting to swing voters in the middle of the electorate. That's the question I think about the Perry candidacy.
COSTELLO: And talking about confrontation, President Obama is on this bus tour through the Midwest, and he talked with Wolf Blitzer, not many people are paying attention because it's August.
A lot of people are on vacation, but I think that an image people will remember is the president being confronted by that Tea Party leader in Iowa and, of course, Democrats did the same thing to Mitt Romney in Iowa.
I mean is this the kind of thing we're going to see all the way through the campaign, Gerald?
SEIB: You know, look, the campaign is now under way. I think what we've seen in the last week really is the real beginning of a campaign that was slow to get off the ground. It's an unhappy and an angry electorate that shows through in all the polls.
You've got a lot of anxiety and a lot of anger at Washington, at the economy, and at Washington's inability to get a grip on the economic problems that really date back to 2008. So you're going to see that play out I think in a lot of the campaign.
It's a bad backdrop if you're the incumbent president running for re-election and see President Obama have to confront that over and over again over the next year or so.
COSTELLO: Mark, I'll ask you this. How are campaigns combating that because you really don't want to get into an argument? I mean, a lot of analysts say President Obama should not have engaged as long as he did with that Tea Party leader.
PRESTON: Well, no. And look, it's always the peril of being on the campaign trail and being willing to put yourself out there and actually have to take questions from people in events such as the one I'm in right now.
I mean, there's business leaders, some of the top business leaders in New Hampshire will be here this morning. Rick Perry will make some remarks. Not sure if he'll actually answer some questions.
The question is, when do you engage when you have a heckler? We saw Mitt Romney do that last week. Some thought he handled it poorly. But the Romney campaign thought he handled it correctly. In fact, they're trying to raise money off the whole idea.
That he made the comment that corporations are people and by doing so, they think that they can tap into a very conservative fiscal base as well.
So it is the peril of being on the campaign trail. If you're running in politics and want to run for office that's something you have to deal with, Carol.
COSTELLO: I know, the DNC is using it too. How bizarre. I want to touch briefly on Ron Paul, put out an ad that's quite interesting. In that ad, if we can show a little bit of it, it lumps together Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and President Obama.
I think Michele Bachmann is in there too. So there are both Republicans and Democrats in that ad. What is Ron Paul trying to demonstrate, Gerald?
SIEB: Well, look, Ron Paul is the ultimate anti-establishment candidate in a lot of ways. He's almost a libertarian and he's trying show that all regular politicians and his whole campaign is based on saying I'm not a regular politician even though I've been in Congress for a long time, don't understand what the populist anger out in the country is about.
That's what I think the point of the ad, to put all the other guys together as the politicians and me, Ron Paul, as the not politician. There's a lot of appeal to that.
I think one of the things that frustrate the Ron Paul supporters right now is that he's not getting more attention. He's getting more press coverage than he does, and that he's not being considered a serious mainstream candidate, but a marginal candidate, he's trying to fight back against that.
COSTELLO: Yes, because he came in second in the Iowa straw poll and really no pundits were really talking about him, but honestly, he probably doesn't have a -- he doesn't have a really great chance of being president, but who knows. I guess stranger things have happened.
SIEB: Exactly.
COSTELLO: Gerald Sieb, Mark Preston, thanks for talking with us this morning. We appreciate it.
ROMANS: Wow, still to come, danger at Yosemite National Park. We're going to tell you what's behind a deadly summer there this year.
VELSHI: Plus, heart disease affects 30 million men in the U.S. and one of the early indicators may shock you. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has your morning house call.
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VELSHI: It's been a deadly summer at Yosemite National Park. ROMANNS: The number of deaths there, a lot higher than usual this year. What many tourists don't realize is the biggest danger they face is themselves. Here's Casey Wian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A record number of people came to Yosemite National Park last month. Unfortunately, too many of those visitors are unaware of the hidden dangers amongst all that beauty.
(voice-over): Yosemite National Park is known for its spectacular beauty, waterfalls, El Capitan and half dome, the mighty Merced River. It's a place where you can get as close to a bear as you dare, but the real problem is elsewhere, arriving daily by car and bus load.
KARI COBB, PARK RANGER: Those people who are living in those cities don't necessarily experience nature on a daily basis and don't quite understand the power of what nature can bring.
WIAN: So far this year, 16 people have died in Yosemite, about twice as many as normal.
SCOTT GEDIMAN, PARK RANGER: This is the most popular trail in Yosemite National Park. We have up to 2,000 people a day going on this trail.
WIAN (on camera): This is what's known as the Miss Trail, leads to the top of vernal fall. Ten days ago, a 17-year-old hiker slipped and fell on these steps and died four days later at a hospital.
A little bit further up the trail behind me is Vernal Fall. Just last month, three people were swept over that massive waterfall to their death.
GEDIMAN: We're literally 20 feet from the precipes. The group was up here, one of the males in the group basically lost his footing in the river, started to go down, one of the females in the group went to grab him, she lost her footing too. The third one went in after them. All three of them went over here and went right over Vernal Fall.
WIAN: Imagine the terror that the hikers felt and the people who were standing here watching them, slide down this river and drop 317 feet straight down Vernal Fall.
(voice-over): A month later, search and rescue teams are still looking for two of the bodies. While five visitors have died this year from natural causes, the others were accidental and often entirely preventable.
Rangers say visitors who hike slippery steep trails in flip flops, climb over safety rails to get better pictures or swim in water above a waterfall are a constant problem.
BILL OTT, HIKER: We saw a number of people just wading there and they're probably just steps away from going into the faster water and it's crazy.
TIM TIMMERMAN, VISITING YOSEMITE: We aren't worried because we think if you stay where you're supposed to stay, you're safe. It will be exciting for them, a little scary for them, but because it's steep, but it's not dangerous. If you do what you're supposed to do.
WIAN: Too many people don't and ignore safety briefings from rangers and warning signs all over the park.
COBB: We can't and we don't station a ranger at every possible dangerous location that's out there. People just have to come here and realize what they're getting into and realize that Yosemite is nature and it is a very wild place.
WIAN (on camera): Perhaps the biggest surprise then is that 4 million people visit here every year, and all but a very few of them go home very much alive. Casey Wian, CNN, Yosemite National Park, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: I'm glad he made that final point. That most people get out just fine. That's kind of troubling to see some of the --
ROMANS: Four million people. And you just think -- the point from that ranger about all the people coming from the city in flip flops to come to some place that is raw, natural beauty.
COSTELLO: I think at the Grand Canyon, I went there a couple years ago, you know, people hike down. They forget they have to go back up, a lot of them suffer heat exhaustion and past out which means a helicopter has to rescue. They're going to start charging people for the helicopter ride.
ROMANS: Wow.
COSTELLO: So, do what you're supposed to.
ROMANS: That's right.
All right. Speaking of Mother Nature, a Nevada wildfire destroying at least one home, threatening dozens of others in the town of Gardnerville. Flames forced part of a highway to shut down. Residents are being evacuated, but Mother Nature, yes. But officials say the fire was manmade, though they aren't calling it arson.
VELSHI: Six days after he climbed a communications tower in Oklahoma, 24-year-old William Sturdsvent (ph) surrendered to police yesterday afternoon. Officials say he was trying to avoid being arrested for trespassing in a nearby building.
COSTELLO: And it's a baseball rarity, but we have seen a triple play, two nights in a row. The Boston Red Sox pulled it off last night. Bam! Isn't that cool? First triple play in 17 years.
Just the night before, the Milwaukee Brewers turned three in game against the L.A. Dodgers. Take a look.
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VELSHI: Nice.
COSTELLO: Isn't that cool?
VELSHI: All right. Still to come this morning, forget the night cap. We're going to tell you about a study that says drinking and sleeping do not mix.
ROMANS: And heart disease affects 30 million men in the U.S. one of the early symptoms, it might shock you. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has your morning house call when we come back.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. President Obama wrapping up a three-day bus tour across the heartland with a stop in rural Illinois. The president will hold a pair of town hall meetings today and the focus once again will be jobs.
Vice President Joe Biden touching down in China this morning. He was invited by China's vice president, Xi Jinping. U.S. officials say goal is to get to know the next generation of Chinese leadership.
New unrest in Syria -- government security forces firing on opposition protesters as they chanted the word "freedom." Loud explosions could be heard overnight in the Syrian city of Homs.
New documents released by Britain's parliament casting doubt on the testimony of James Murdoch. He claimed he was not aware of an e- mail detailing 35 conversations that were hacked by News Corp reporters. But a document from a former lawyer for the company says James Murdoch did know about it.
A night cap may help you relax, but apparently won't help you sleep. According to a new study, people who drink alcohol in the evening actually get less REM sleep and as a result have less restful nights.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back in 60 seconds.
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VELSHI: Heart disease affects 30 million men in the United States. Most of them don't like to talk about it. So, that's why we are here.
COSTELLO: That's right.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us live from Havana, Cuba, with this morning's house call.
Sanjay, why are you in Cuba, any way?
ROMANS: I think Sanjay can't hear us! Darn. He is clearly is assignment.
COSTELLO: Yes, he is. And he will -- he will tell us about heart disease and how you can protect yourself against it when we get the technical snafus worked out.
VELSHI: All right. While we're working on that, let me tell you about something else we are dealing with right now. And, well, you know, let's do the Talk Back.
COSTELLO: That's a great idea. Let's do the Talk Back because now is your turn to Talk Back of one of the big stories of the day. And, boy, did you have a lot to say this morning?
We asked you this question: Is heckling good for our political discourse? And here are some of your responses.
From Tim, "One person's heckle is another person's ingenious retort. If it doesn't communicate a threat, it's free speech, and a refreshing exchange that illustrates America's ability to respond to the endless talking points that are shoved into our brains."
This from Kelly, "I think there's a difference between heckling during a scheduled speech, which is just plain rude to everyone present, and heckling during campaign events which allows us to see how the candidate handles negative feedback and uncomfortable situation."
And this from William, "No, heckling serves no constructive purpose. The childish rancor that has become the hallmark of our political discourse in America only serves to deepen the divide between Americans.
Abraham Lincoln once said, 'A how divided against itself cannot stand. If politics is to be a team sport it should not be liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. The only team should be American. Anything less is treasonous.'"
William like -- he aired it out, didn't he?
Keep your comments coming a Facebook.com/AmericanMorning.
VELSHI: All right. I think we got Sanjay back now. He's talking about heart disease. He's in Havana, Cuba, right now.
Sanjay, do we have you? And if we do, let's talk about the first sign a lot of men get they might have heart disease and something they may not associate with it.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ali. You know, it's interesting, because a lot of people are uncomfortable talking about this -- but erectile dysfunction is something that can actually be one of the earliest precursors of heart disease. And, you know, it's interesting. If you look at even a lot of the medications used to threat erectile dysfunction, they are originally used to threat heart disease.
So, there was a long history there.
Dr. Terry Mason is a urologist at Cook County Hospital. Listen to how he puts it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TERRY MASON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, COOK COUNTY HOSPITALS: I would say that erectile dysfunction is the canary in the gold mine. When men begin to have erectile dysfunction, it's a sign there is more widespread disease and not just for the heart but throughout all of the blood vessels in the body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: When you talked about vascular disease in the body, you got to look at the body as a whole. And again, this can be one of earliest design that someone is going to develop heart disease later on or already has some component of heart disease.
You know that, you know, heart disease is typically caused by atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries. The arteries have a more difficult time transmitting blood flow. And, again, doctors look for clues, some sort of, you know, warning that this problem is starting to develop.
Now with regard to erectile dysfunction, that can be a particularly early clue. And I would say especially in men under the age of 50, if they are having this particular issue, seeing the doctor not only to have this issue addressed but if the doctor is inquisitive and is actually going to take care of the patient as a whole will also start asking about early signs of heart disease. That can be a warning sign.
As men get older, you know, over 70, for example, as a warning sign, it doesn't serve as a purpose. But, again, men under the age of 50, this is something, again, a lot of men have a hard time to talk about, but could be a good reason to see the doctor for more reasons than you can imagine.
ROMANS: We have to hope the doctors aren't just prescribing one of the many pills that's out of the market and then just moving the patient along, that they're really probing what the underlying issue is, or what it could be signaling. Is there anything else men can do aside from just getting a prescription for the erectile dysfunction?
GUPTA: You know, I hope that, you know, listening to a segment like this helps. To your point, Christine, not just for patients but for doctors alike, because you're right. I think too many people will end up just getting a medication that does not address their entire body as a whole. So I think there is a message in there for hospitals and doctors as well.
But, you know, if you think about all of the things that can actually help combat heart disease in terms of your lifestyle changes and in terms of your diet, in terms of the exercise, things that we talk about all the time here on this show and actually work -- these are things that can actually help with combating erectile dysfunction as well.
So, you know, keep in mind when you talk about the blood vessels in your body, keeping them healthy all of them, a lot of the things that we know can be a benefit will help all of those different problems.
VELSHI: Sanjay, before we lost our connection with you a minute ago, Carol had asked you what you were doing in Cuba and now she feels you didn't answer because she asked the wrong question. So, I'm asking on her behalf. Why are you in Cuba?
GUPTA: I would answer, Carol, any time.
You know, I'm down here -- first of all, I will say that I've never been here before when is -- which is a pretty unusual thing to say these days given how much I've been traveling. We are working on a documentary, Diane Nyad. For those of you of who don't know, one of the most inspiring women I've met. She's a long distance swimmer.
She started her swim not to far from here. We wanted to really, we're working on this documentary about what it really takes to be a person who does something that no other human being can do, how you break a world record or try to break a world record, as she did -- 61 years old, just incredible person and working on a story with area and looking at the Cuban health care system.
You talk of the Cuban health care system, you got to get ready for a fight or an argument in a lot of circles. So, really wanted to come down here and find out, see for ourselves, what is it really like? Is this health care available to everybody?
They have some of the highest life expectancy. Some of the lowest infant mortality rates anywhere of the world, and they don't spend very much money. How do they do it? Is it real? That's what we're trying to find out as well.
VELSHI: All right. Sanjay, thanks very much. And while you're doing that, we're going to be watching your special this weekend. I think a lot of people are going to be very, very interested in it.
It's a special called "The Last Heart Attack." Dr. Sanjay Gupta sits down with former President Bill Clinton to discuss the signs, the test, the lifestyle changes that could result in the very last heart attack.
I mean, Sanjay's stuff is always great, but that title and that idea is something I think I'm going to be watching. It's this Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROMANS: All right. Top stories coming up next, including back to class for the students in Joplin, Missouri, just months after the deadliest tornado in American history.
VELSHI: And you might think it's impossible, completely unplugging. We're talking no cell phone, no e-mail, no TV. Senator Joe Lieberman joins us live in a few minutes, if you just try it, you all are going to love it.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 58 minutes after the hour.
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