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American Morning
Damage From Hurricane Irene Assessed; Hurricane Analysts Discuss Science Behind Forecasting; Rick Perry's Leadership Style; Does Candidate's Religion Matter during Elections?; Dick Cheney Tells All; FEMA Funding Troubles; "Hundreds" Stranded After Irene; Water Pouring Into Homes; U.N. Warning: New Strain of Bird Flu Virus; Deadly Bear Attack at Yellowstone; BART Protest Arrests; Tennis, Twitter and Nightlights; New White House Economic Adviser; Ideological Divide in Washington Over Creating Jobs, Unemployment; Dr. Sanjay Gupta's New Documentary Tells How to Keep Heart Healthy
Aired August 30, 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)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Irene's last gaps a lethal one. The water still rising in the northeast. Some small towns almost wiped off the map.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And after Irene, FEMA facing a disaster potentially of its own. The agency says it could be running out of money on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Good morning. It is Tuesday, August 30th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. We are still talking about Hurricane Irene. The death toll rising sharply this morning to at least 27 people. Power still out for nearly two million people from Pennsylvania to Maine. Obama administration officials will visit Virginia, North Carolina and Vermont where floodwaters are still rising higher than they've been in more than 80 years.
The governor there saying entire communities in his state are under water with hundreds of residents still trapped. Amber Lyon is live in Saxton Rivers, Vermont. Good morning, Amber. What's the situation there?
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, Ali. Right behind me this is the Saxton's river, and earlier yesterday this came through here and flooded, bringing a layer of mud. You can see it's just caking this field across this area and then over here on to the road.
The road has now been shut down, and it is impossible to drive through. And that is the problem that's happening all over this state. More than 260 roads shut down. Some communities have essentially turned into islands because the roads and bridges leading in and out of town have just been wiped out.
Now today search and rescue crews will continue to try to access some of these communities. Also continue to try to get out there and look for people who are still missing. There have been three confirmed deaths, but as of now the governor of the state says that they don't know how many people were potentially swept away by floodwaters because they're not able to access this community.
More problems today as well. The governor expects that these rivers or these creeks and streams are going to start flowing into the rivers, causing rivers across the state to crest and causing even more flooding.
So far we've been driving around Vermont trying to get just about 30 miles west last night. Took us two hours, and we'd stop at checkpoint after checkpoint where roads were closed down. You would see the residents pulling out maps trying to trade ideas with one another about how to get around this state. But above all, Vermont is just a mess right now, and it's nearly impossible to drive through this area, Ali.
VELSHI: The governor is saying still there may be people unaccounted for that they still don't know about.
LYON: Yes, still people, because there's these -- Vermont is a state with small mountain communities. And a lot of these communities, rescue workers can't get to them because of roads like this that are caked in mud and roads that have been wiped out. So they don't know how many people are missing.
VELSHI: All right. Amber, thanks very much. We're just going to have to wait and see as that recedes. Amber lion? Vermont.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that flooding has cut off communities across the northeast. Twenty-three people including two pregnant women and three infants have now been rescued from a vacation home in upstate New York. Bridges literally crumbled all around them in the town of Prattsville, the scene of major flooding there. In East Haven, Connecticut, Irene tore beach front homes to shreds. At least 25 houses have been destroyed or simply going to have to be torn down.
And this video from Patterson, New Jersey, an entire neighborhood flooded out. Rob Marciano here again this morning. Any relief in sight for these people?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: For the Passaic River in Jersey there, they're going to crest today and slowly recede. The Connecticut River will be cresting later on tonight. Massachusetts and Vermont, those rivers have crested but most still in flood stage. The Connecticut River Basin if that water moved quickly, that is one of the reasons we saw such a torrential rapids and flash flooding there because the Connecticut River can drain the basin at least in 24 hours.
Passaic River -- let's go to Little Falls, New Jersey. We have aerials hopefully from our affiliate WABC. There you go, their reporter obviously standing in it right there. Again, the river expected to crest this morning and slowly begin to recede as we go on through time. There you see Little Falls, that entire neighborhood flooded.
All right, let's look at this satellite picture. It shows you a high resolution visible satellite imagery of Irene as it was making landfall in New York City. You can see the eye. What the visible satellite does is it shows you the density of the cloud tops. Notice that the northern part of the storm it looks bright. That's really, really thick clouds, lot of moisture. Southern half, not quite as bright, not as much moisture. That's where all the rain was, where all the flooding was, where the torrential stuff was, and that's where we're seeing it right now.
All right, let's talk about what the folks across the U.S. have to deal with today. Dry weather again today. We had rough weather across North Carolina. Not so much today. It should be dry. Just about everybody on the east coast. But the east coast still has to worry about the Atlantic basin. We have our next tropical system, tropical storm Katia just formed overnight. Way out there in the Atlantic, but it's pretty impressive, decent circulation with this thing and will continue to move off. This is an infrared shot of the satellite picture.
Here's the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center brings it fairly rapidly up to a category one, two or maybe even three as we get towards the weekend. But it doesn't reach any sort of landfall or land really until we get towards the weekend or the beginning of next week. It's a little further north than Irene. That's the good news. Hopefully we'll get this out to sea, but it's way too early to tell you about that.
So that's the forecast from the National Hurricane Center. The uncertainty as you go out through time begins to get a little bit greater, obviously. But two or three days out, they are spot on when it comes to the track, and they were spot on for Irene.
As far as how strong the storm was, well maybe they were a little bit over the top as far as the strength of it, maybe a category or two off. How do they feel about it? How does the National Hurricane Center feel about it? John Zarrella talked to them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max Tucker owns a bar and grill just outside Philadelphia. It flooded. Tucker says no way did the government overreact to Irene.
MAX TUCKER, BAR AND GRILL OWNER: I think we all got really lucky. It could have been a lot worse. I would rather be safe than sorry, and I think that they did what was necessary. I think always better safe than sorry.
ZARRELLA: This is where the information comes from that helps keep you safe rather than sorry, the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Here the science of forecasting is digested, regurgitated. All that science, everything the super computers were computing, told forecasters Irene would be a major hurricane when it hit North Carolina. BILL READ: At least in the guidance we were looking at, there was no indication of anything that would cause the storm to weaken, so we thought we would have a category three storm at landfall.
ZARRELLA: Instead, Irene was a category one, the weakest. So what happened? Simple. Hurricane forecasters say they're pretty good at telling where a storm will hit, but technology and science aren't there yet when it comes to forecasting how strong a storm will be. Despite all the modern day advances, they just don't fully understand what makes these storms tick. And in every storm, Reid sees a curveball.
READ: In this case, it was one where it went downhill. Charlie, just a few years ago, one that went uphill. Neither case did we see that coming. And that's my measure of the fact that we have a long way to go.
ZARRELLA: Aside from the might of the wind, Reid says the forecast was on the money -- heavy rainfall, storm surge up the east coast, and inland flooding. For portions of the northeast, the rain was a one in 100 year event. In Vermont is anyone saying there was an overreaction?
GOV. PETER SHUMLIN, (D) VERMONT: I do not think that there's any blame to go around. I think that, frankly, those that got hit have their hearts broken and understand how serious this storm was.
ZARRELLA: It's estimated overall damage could reach $10 billion or more. If that happens, Irene will rank as one of the top 15 costliest hurricanes ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: There is a major study under way right now, Rob, for the Hurricane Center to try to better understand what makes some hurricanes intensify, others weaken. But emergency managers, because of this uncertainty, always warn people in their communities to prepare for a hurricane one category higher than what's being forecast. Rob?
MARCIANO: You know, John, retired director Max Mayfield always would tell me his greatest fear was to go to bed one night when it was a tropical storm and wake up the next day and it would be a category two or three. He said that was entirely possible.
Does the National Hurricane Center give you any indication they err on the side of safety maybe, their forecasts a little higher in the event that happens?
ZARRELLA: No. In fact, Bill Reid told me their forecast is exactly what they are expecting. But you're absolutely right about Max Mayfield. That's what Bill Reid told me, their greatest fear is not the storm that loses intensity, it's the hurricane Andrews of the world, it's the Hurricane Charlies of the world, the ones that rapidly intensify when they get close to the coastline, and by then it's too late to evacuate large population centers. And that's when they fear there could be great loss of life. Rob?
COSTELLO: Something else that John said --
MARCIANO: Thanks, John.
COSTELLO: -- is that the technology hasn't really kept up with forecasting through the years. In fact, the technology is pretty much the same for predicting hurricanes as it was ten years ago. Why is that?
MARCIANO: You got to remember our computers are technology. Only as good as the numbers we put into them. There's so many variable out there. We can fly these airplanes, have satellites, but you can't have them every ten feet. The atmosphere is three dimensional, call it four dimensional, in constant motion. The computers do the best they can. Intensity is one thing we struggle with.
He made one point last hour I want to make again -- three out of four times when you evacuate, nothing is going to happen. That fourth time it will. So you should always, always listen to them. As far as this thing being overhyped or blaming the forecasts, I feel strongly about that. I know you do. How many people have to die before we say that everybody did the right thing here?
VELSHI: Absolutely right.
COSTELLO: Six years after Katrina --
VELSHI: Some people were killed in this for reasons they couldn't avoid. People had limbs fall on them and things like that. But why not take the preparations you can take if it takes a couple days out of your life?
COSTELLO: I'm talking about human nature, you know. Human nature says it didn't happen this time, so maybe it won't happen next. So people have to conquer that within themselves.
MARCIANO: Be a responsible, smart adult next time.
COSTELLO: That's it.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.
There's more fallout from hurricane Irene too. FEMA says it's running out of money. The agency's disaster relief fund is nearly depleted for the fiscal year ending September 30th. Congress would have to be called upon to appropriate additional funds and both houses are out until after Labor Day. That's means funding for some long- term recovery projects like rebuilding roads and schools in tornado ravaged Joplin, Missouri, could be put on hold. But administration officials say don't worry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're not diverting any funds from reconstruction in Joplin, Missouri. All we have done is to make sure that all survivors are paid, all ongoing projects continue. But no new projects will be approved until we see what the immediate survivors of Irene need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So far, FEMA has agreed to state and local governments pay for preparations for Irene and some recovery efforts, but it hasn't authorized payments to individual victims. To find out how you can make a difference and help those devastated by hurricane Irene, visit our "Impact your World" page, that's at CNN.com/impact.
VELSHI: Still to come this morning, several of Moammar Gadhafi's family members make it out of Libya. Find out where they are and who wants them now.
ROMANS: And former vice president Dick Cheney out with a political tell-all on a book tour. Surprise, surprise, his memoir pulls no punches.
COSTELLO: Mitt Romney answering the $12 million question, what's up with his mansion expansion? How big is he going and why? You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A potential break in the international manhunt for Moammar Gadhafi's family. Algeria is revealing this morning it has allowed the fugitive dictator's wife, his daughter and two of his sons to enter the country for humanitarian reasons. You see them there. The new Libyan government, though, the new Libyan government would like them returned. They want them back.
COSTELLO: Nearly 10 years after 9/11, a new CNN/ORC Poll suggests Americans' attitude toward Muslim countries have not changed at all. In March of 2002, just 24 percent had a favorable view of Muslim countries. Today that's still true. Only 25 percent feel that way.
Broken down along political lines, 56 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Muslim nations, compared with 44 percent of Independents and 25 percent of Democrats.
Coming up this weekend, by the way, on CNN, Soledad O'Brien's special report on a fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of the Bible Belt. "Unwelcome, The Muslims Next Door" that airs Sunday at 8:00 P.M. Eastern right here on CNN.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney responding to reports that he was quadrupling the size of his $12 million Southern California beach front mansion. He told "The New Hampshire Union Leader" that he was only doubling the living space, not quadrupling, to make room for his five married sons and his 16 grandchildren.
COSTELLO: That's right. Well, is that only half the cost? What was it a $12 million expansion? VELSHI: They want to be together. Don't you like that?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Well, I can't remember where it is, but it's in -
VELSHI: Somewhere in - somewhere in La Hoya.
ROMANS: La Hoya, right.
VELSHI: It's where everything is expensive.
ROMANS: Pricey real estate.
COSTELLO: It will be a big old house either way.
ROMANS: Yes.
All right. Late into the race, but now Texas Governor Rick Perry is leading the GOP pack. According to a new CNN/ORC Poll, 27 percent back Perry for the Republican presidential nomination. Mitt Romney trails with 14 percent. And Sarah Palin with only 10 percent.
So what's the Perry draw? Well, CNN's Ed Lavandera takes a closer look at the leadership style of this tough-talking Texas politician.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rick Perry is described as a brash calculating politician, but not above ending a satellite interview with a Houston TV station a few years ago with this bomb.
GOV. RICK PERRY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Adios, Mo-Fo.
LAVANDERA: "Adios Mo-Fo" became an infamous snap shot. It inspired T-shirts and coffee mugs.
Ray Sullivan has spent more than 10 years working with the governor. He says Perry is a fun, small town guy. What you see is what you get.
RAY SULLIVAN, PERRY'S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The American people don't want robots. They don't want sound bites. They want folks who speak from the heart and that's what Rick Perry has always done.
LAVANDERA: But critics say behind closed doors the governor can be vindictive and divisive.
REP. MIKE VILLARREAL (D), TEXAS: He's smart, he's aggressive. He is focused on winning elections.
LAVANDERA: Mike Villarreal is a graduate of Texas A&M just like the governor and was elected as a Democratic State Representative at the same time Perry became governor. He says Perry rarely gets involved in the nitty gritty details of public policy.
VILLARREAL: He delegates out responsibility to governing. Governing decisions are largely driven by political polls. And - and he keeps his sights set on winning the next election. And - and so I wouldn't consider him dumb on governance. I just think that's not his priority.
SULLIVAN: Perry is a guy who sets a clear agenda, rolls up his sleeves and gets to work, taking his message to the people.
LAVANDERA (on camera): During Rick Perry's tenure as governor, there have been a long trail of news stories alleging that major campaign donors have received preferential treatments from state agencies that they've been awarded lucrative state contracts or even appointed to government positions. Critics say the governor has created a pay to play political culture in Texas.
Is the governor guilty of that?
SULLIVAN: Rick Perry is the most scrutinized, analyzed, probed elected official probably in Texas history. He's been very transparent.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): In last year's Texas governor's race, Perry's opponent called him Part-Time Perry. The attack after the governor's official schedule suggested several dozen days without state business. And a working week averaging just seven hours in the first half of 2010. Perry says he works around the clock.
PERRY: I've been the governor for 10 years. And if there's - if they made anybody that can outwork me yet, please introduce me to him or her.
LAVANDERA: Even his staunchest political adversaries offer this warning, Rick Perry doesn't lose elections and should never be underestimated.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should a candidate's religion matter?
Consider Mitt Romney, as Christine mentioned, he was once the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but now he trails Texas Governor Rick Perry, a man who loudly touts his Christian religion. You remember that prayer rally?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: Like all of you, I love this country deeply. Thank you all for being here. And indeed - indeed the only thing that you love more is the living Christ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I'm not saying Perry's Christian faith is why he's on top and Romney is not, but Romney's Mormon faith does not resonate with conservative Christian voters, voters who are a force in Republican Primary elections.
As outgoing "New York Times" executive editor Bill Keller put it recently, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are Mormons, a faith that many conservative Christian have been taught is a cult, and that many others think it's just weird. Keller's magazine article also questioned how religion might influence Perry's presidency and that of other GOP candidates.
Not that religion has not been a factor in other presidential campaigns. You remember Reverend Jeremiah Wright back in 2008? Candidate Obama was forced to explain his association with that controversial preacher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong, but divisive. Divisive at a time when we need unity, racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Still, Christian, Jewish, Mormon, Agnostic, Atheist, what does it matter? This is America where we celebrate the freedom to believe what we choose.
So "Talkback" this morning, should a candidate's religion matter? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: Well, former Vice President Dick Cheney has some harsh words for colleagues in the Bush White House in a no hold's barred memoir. Cheney's account of events on the eve of the Iraq War differs from President Bush's version. He was asked about that during an NBC interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAIME GANGEL, NBC HOST: I turned to the team gathered in the Oval Office and said, let's go. You write, the president kicked everyone else out of the Oval Office, looked at me and said, Dick, what do you think we ought to do?
DICK CHENEY, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT: That's the way I recall it. And I was giving advice. I wasn't making the decision. He was making the decision.
GANGEL: Do you think these revelations will embarrass President Bush?
CHENEY: I don't know why. GANGEL: Well, he's saying let's go. I'm the leader.
CHENEY: But he was.
GANGEL: But you're revealing that it didn't happen that way. He cleared out the office and said, Dick, what do you think we should do?
CHENEY: Right.
GANGEL: Very different picture.
CHENEY: Right. But then he made the decision. Wasn't my decision.
GANGEL: Don't you think it will embarrass him? That you point out the difference?
CHENEY: I - I didn't set out to embarrass the president or not embarrass the president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Very interesting. The memoir comes out today. It's called "In My Time."
ROMANS: All right. Still to come this morning, have you been traveling on the world's safest airline? A new survey ranks the top 10. You're about to find out. We're going to tell you more coming up.
COSTELLO: He's played the best and beaten the best all over the world. So what turns tennis star Rafael Nadal into a scaredy cat? He was quite (INAUDIBLE) with this. I'm telling you. I sat down and I interviewed him and you'll hear it straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
A rally on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all up more than two percent to start the week. What drove them higher? A solid report on consumer spending and relief that Hurricane Irene caused less damage than expected.
This morning, U.S. stock futures for the big three all trading lower ahead of the opening bell. Investors are gearing up for several economic reports this morning. The closely watched Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June comes up at 9:00 A.M. Eastern that tracks the monthly changes in the value of real estate in 20 major metropolitan areas nationwide. Also a report on consumer confidence is expected a little later this morning.
President Obama nominated Alan Krueger to be his top economic adviser yesterday. Lots of pressure on the White House about the ailing jobs market in this country. Krueger is a top labor economist. Most recently, he worked at Princeton as an Economics professor. The official appointment by the way is pending Senate confirmation.
A new report by Air Transport Agency - Ratings Agency lists Air France, KLM as the safest airline, second on the list is AMR Corporation, which includes American Airlines and American Eagle, and British Airways ranked third. The age of the airline's fleet and organization of operations were part of the criteria measured in the new survey.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all new CNNMoney.com.
We'll be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. Top stories this morning, the death toll from Hurricane Irene still rising. It now stands at 28.
Also this morning, senior Obama administration officials fanning out to Vermont, Virginia, and North Carolina, three states hit hardest by this storm.
Meantime today, FEMA is revealing that its federal disaster relief fund used to reimburse communities and individuals is nearly depleted.
COSTELLO: More than a day after the storm parts of the northeast still suffering through the worst of Irene. Floodwaters still rising in Vermont. The governor there saying entire communities in his state under water with hundreds of people still trapped.
VELSHI: Fresh pictures now of the devastation in Little Falls, New Jersey. Water halfway up homes covering the front doors. Check out this I-Report sent in from Manville, New Jersey. It shows National Guard trucks driving down the street, even though they are almost entirely submerged. They went about a block before everyone had to climb out.
ROMANS: How could you drive that?
VELSHI: I don't even understand how --
COSTELLO: I hope they got out of there. That's for sure.
VELSHI: In Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, surrounded by three rivers, water is up to the front doors and some rooftops, higher than it's been since 1984. Mary Snow toured the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey and this is one of several New Jersey communities dealing not with Hurricane Irene's ocean swells or winds, but from the heavy rains.
Take a look at all the water here, but this is a big improvement from earlier in the day. These waters have been receding. Residents say that they had several feet of water in their homes.
There are three rivers running through this town. We went on a tour with New Jersey's National Guard and they gave us a look at just how widespread this damage is in northern New Jersey. We went over Passaic County.
By afternoon, Governor Chris Christie said there were nine rivers that had reached or exceed record levels. And the worst is not yet over. That's because there are continuing rising waters. And right now, the concern is, for those rivers that have yet to crest. Mary Snow, CNN, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. New this morning, a warning from U.N. health officials about a new strain of the deadly bird flu virus. They say a mutant strain of H5N1 virus has appeared in Vietnam and China.
It apparently can bypass the defenses of current vaccines with quote, "unpredictable risks," end quote, to humans. Eight people have reportedly died in Southeast Asia this year after being infected with that bird flu virus.
COSTELLO: A deadly bear attack at Yellowstone National Park. The body of 59-year-old John Wallace, a hiker from Michigan was discovered on Friday.
Official say he was mauled by a bear some time last week. They say Wallace set up a camp at an area of the park closed to hikers because of its high bear population. It is the second deadly attack this summer.
VELSHI: Police in San Francisco arrested two people last night in the latest protest against the BART system, that's the train system, commuter system there. Demonstrators have targeted Bay Area transit stations in recent weeks in response to a number of transit police shootings, including a deadly confrontation last month.
COSTELLO: Let's lighten the mood and talk about something good, shall we? He is just 25 and already a tennis great. Rafael Nadal will play in prime time tonight in New York City at the U.S. Open. He is the defending open champion, you know.
I sat down with him this weekend to talk about life on and off the court, his biggest passions and also his biggest fear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: One of the quotes from your book, your mother describes you as a scaredy cat around your family who sleeps with a light on. How does the cat become the tiger that you certainly are on the court?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, that's good. Especially during the evening, I like to live with the TV or with the computer.
COSTELLO: Even today now?
NADAL: Today, I live with the TV on.
COSTELLO: Why is it? You don't like the dark?
NADAL: I hate the dark. I do. I do. I live with the TV.
COSTELLO: It takes a big man to admit that.
NADAL: I wake up at 3:00 in the morning with the TV on.
COSTELLO: You joined the Twitter verse.
NADAL: I am doing since a few weeks ago.
COSTELLO: How is that going?
NADAL: Well, I started with Facebook a few years ago and well, was the right moment to start with Twitter. It's a different thing to do. I have fun. More contact with the fans and I am a little bit shy, but with this kind of things. I am opening myself a little bit more to the people and something I think works for them, but works for myself too.
COSTELLO: I would never think you would be shy.
NADAL: I am a little bit, yes. I was very shy a few years ago. With my life, I tried to improve that.
COSTELLO: So why did you decide to become a part of that campaign?
NADAL: For me it's really being an ambassador of champions drink responsibly. It's a campaign I really believe. It's for everybody, but especially for the young people. I am young and I like to go out with friends. I like to have fun with family friends, local party, but everything thinking responsibly. Like come back home safely, that's the right message.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the U.S. Open. So what is different about the U.S. Open from other tournaments?
NADAL: The U.S. Open is the last of the season and probably that is more show for everybody, for the players, for the crowd, the crowd are very emotional here. A lot of things going on during the match for the crowd.
COSTELLO: Is the crowd tough here?
NADAL: I love the crowd here. I think they -- I have a big support from them the last years and hopefully this year I will too. I feel a lot of passion when I go out on this court. It's the biggest court on the tour. The crowd is hard. I love playing here in New York.
COSTELLO: What opponent do you find more difficult to face? Is it Fedder or Djokovic?
NADAL: When Fedder is playing well I want Federer. He's the best of the history and it's impossible to reach that level. Djokovic is doing well. It's difficult to beat him.
This year everybody knows because he only lost two matches during all season, but depends on the moment when Djokovic is playing his best. Djokovic is very difficult.
When Fedder is playing his best, Federer is very, very difficult. If I am playing not my best, it's impossible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: He was so charming. I did ask him about the blisters on his hands because in Cincinnati he didn't do so well in the tournament there. He's been prone to injury.
But he said he's completely healthy, blisters are all gone and he's looking forward to facing his opponents. If you know anything about his training regiment, it's insane. He is the most fit human I have ever seen.
ROMANS: Did he play tennis all day long?
COSTELLO: He practices 12 hours a day. I mean, he's very focused when he's on the court, but off court as you can see he's charming and shy. I know.
VELSHI: I'm just saying what you're not saying.
COSTELLO: OK. He was handsome, OK. He was still the most fit guy I've ever seen and a lovely, lovely person.
VELSHI: Yes, that was good. That was a good discussion. Looking forward to seeing him play.
ROMANS: Yes, me too.
VELSHI: All right, still to come this morning, heart disease is the top killer for men and women in America. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has looked into this. He's got advice for what you can do to keep your heart healthy. How you can prevent a heart attack. Stay with us. We'll talk about it on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Still waiting for the jobs plan from the White House, but there's a new member of Obama's economic team now. The president appointed Alan Krueger to be the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Unlike past chairman, he specializes in the jobs market. He is a labor economist. So is he the guy to get the U.S. hiring again and is he the guy who's going to help save our middle class?
Joining me now to talk about that, Don Peck, author of the book "Pinched How the Great Precision Has Narrowed Our Futures and What We Can Do About It," and features editor for the "Atlantic" magazine.
And also Steven Moore, senior economics writer for "The Wall Street Journal" editorial page. Gentlemen, good morning. Don, let me ask you first, is he a good choice? Is he the guy who's going to be able to unlock hiring in this country?
DON PECK, AUTHOR OF "PINCHED HOW THE GREAT PRECISION HAS NARROWED OUR FUTURES AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT": I think Alan Krueger is a great choice for this position. He really knows labor markets. He understands job creation. He understands unemployment as well. So yes, I think he'll be a very good addition to the administration.
ROMANS: You know, Steven Moore, there are people even yesterday who were saying, he's a liberal. He believes in spending and incentives to get the economy going. And there's no reason for us to think conservatives saying, no reason to think he gets we want to undo the stuff the administration does, we don't want him to do more.
STEVEN MOORE, SENIOR ECONOMICS WRITER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Right, look, I agree that he's a very distinguished economist. He's very well published. I would say he's one of the top 25 economists in the country. I don't always agree on some of his policy prescriptions.
Christine, you're right that he's very likely to continue to support a lot of the programs that Barack Obama has put in place. By the way, he's been in the Obama administration for the last couple of years.
So he's been an architect of a lot of these policies like the "Cash for Clunkers" car program, which I don't think worked out so well. So I think we're likely to see from Mr. Krueger some of the same ideas that we've seen in the last two years. Republicans are going to say, what's different?
ROMANS: Let me ask you about what we can expect from the president's jobs plan. You know, Steven saying we're going to see the same ideas we've already seen. How do we make sure we don't have a warmed over collection of things we've already tried, or do we need what we already tried on steroids? What do we need?
PECK: We need the latter and more, actually. I mean, people say Obama is just going to, you know, present what he's already presented. But we haven't been doing many of the things that the administration has suggested. We need to do --
ROMANS: Like what?
PECK: -- to support the economy. More infrastructure spending, a deeper extended payroll tax cut, job credits to employers who make new hires. These are all things that we need to be doing. They're tools that we have available. That we are not using adequately. You know, we switched to austerity, to a large degree, with the debt reduction deal, the debt ceiling deal, and that's a mistake in this kind of economy. So we do need fiscal expansion. We do need measures to create jobs directly. And I hope we will go in that direction.
ROMANS: Steven Moore, the CBO, Congressional Budget Office, it's mandated to give an update on the progress of the stimulus.
MOORE: Right.
ROMANS: The stimulus that is reviled among conservatives and many people are saying it will be impossible to try to push through anything that looks like stimulus spending to get the jobs market going.
MOORE: Right.
ROMANS: But the CBO found that stimulus is still benefiting the economy, not as much as the White House had hoped for, promised or advertised, but it is still benefiting the economy.
MOORE: Well, they're using the same model that was used back when this started, where they said this was going to create millions of jobs. I don't think many Americans believe that and I don't think many Republicans in Congress do. The agenda that you just heard is really pretty much the same thing that President Obama has done in the last couple years, just more of it. I don't -- if the president comes forward with that agenda, when he comes out with his remarks next week, I think it's going to fall pretty flat in the Congress. We need new things. I'm hopefully might get the super committee to come up with a whole tax revision, just blow up the tax code and start over. And you know what, I think there's starting to be bipartisan support for that idea. It's something I could get behind. I'm sure Don could too.
ROMANS: You see -- let's me ask you about -- I want to -- so if you got a payroll tax holiday extended, a small business -- tax credits for small business hiring, you got an extension of unemployment benefits but modeled it after a retraining program where people got unemployment benefits but then the government was paying for them to be actually be working at a company to try them out, if you got something like that, could conservatives be behind it, Steven?
MOORE: I kind of doubt it. Because, look, conservatives like me think one of the biggest problems we have right now is this enormous deficit, which is just zapping the economic energy of this country. We saw a downgrade of our debt a few weeks ago. So I think spending control is need with smart, you know, tax policies.
The problem I have, Christine, with the payroll tax credit you mentioned, is we did the payroll tax credit in December and we didn't see many jobs created from it. This is just the problem I have with the Obama agenda in general.
ROMANS: Yes, I guess -- MOORE: We try these things and they don't work, and then we try more of it.
ROMANS: I guess the argument would be that if you didn't do it --
MOORE: Could have been worse.
ROMANS: -- could have been worse.
You know, Don Peck, that's the thing. Is this salve on the wound? It's not necessarily healing the wound but these things are -- life is better with them than without them?
PECK: Yes, absolutely. I think people need to recognize there are no silver bullets in this situation we're in right now. Consumers are still deleveraging. That's a long process. The economy is going to take some time to heal. But that salve you talk about is very, very important. And as we've begun to withdraw government support in the past year, the economy has weakened. We need more of these actions, in addition to measures to increase the rate of technological growth in the country, which is a more fundamental basis.
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: One quick point on this. I'm sure you read my column on Friday in the "Wall Street Journal," but I pointed out, if you compare the Reagan expansion with the Obama expansion, there is no comparison. At this stage of the Reagan expansion -- and Reagan inherited an incredible economic crisis as well, remember. The economy was growing at 6 or 7 percent. It was booming.
ROMANS: Yes --
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Reagan did exactly the opposite of that.
ROMANS: It's hard -- it's hard -- we could argue about it.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: It's hard to compare the recent period.
MOORE: So let's do what works.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: But it's hard to compare the most recent period with any others. I mean, each of these --
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: No, That was quite a financial crisis Reagan inherited.
(CROSSTALK) ROMANS: Guys, we've got to -- we're got to I'm sorry, guys. We've got to leave it there.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I'm telling you, there's a real ideological divide and I think we're going to see that play out as we try to figure out how to create jobs there when the president's plan comes out and with the super committee.
Don Peck, author of "Pinched," thanks so much.
Steven Moore, senior economics writer of the "Wall Street Journal," on the front page.
PECK: Take care.
ROMANS: Thanks guys.
It's 48 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Heart disease, it's a very, very real concern. It's the number-one killer for men and women in America and it often tends to run in the family. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is one of millions of Americans, like me, with a family history of heart disease. In his new and fascinating documentary, "The Last Heart Attack," Dr. Gupta examines how, if you are at risk and how to keep your heart healthy.
He joins us now.
Sanjay, good to see you.
It's a great documentary --
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
VELSHI: -- because ultimately, you are very specific how people, like you, with a family history of heart disease, can avoid having a heart attack.
GUPTA: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, somewhat selfishly, Ali, we get involved in these projects and we then learn so much while doing them that could potentially impact our own lives, and this is one of those examples, maybe for you as well, Ali.
You know, there's a couple of things I learned right away. First of all, your genes, your family history do not preordain you to heart disease. And that was a very important and optimistic thing for me to hear. Just because your father or grandfather or someone else had heart problems, even at a young age, doesn't mean you have to. The way your genes express themselves could be changed. And a lot of it has to do with lifestyle, as you might imagine. We talked a lot about that in terms of exercise and the right type of diet.
But also, Ali, I think what was also interesting to me and what is changing is the risk factors that we typically associate with heart disease -- smoking, hypertension and high cholesterol. While they are risk factors, they are probably an incomplete picture of what actually makes someone more likely to have a heart attack. We hear of people of all time who say he was the picture of health and then he had a heart attack. Why is that? We have much better idea as to why and we can control those things.
VELSHI: I know, at one point in the documentary, you're talking about, if you thought that heart disease was a food-borne illness, how would you change that. You also talked at length with former President Clinton, who is now a vegan. I don't want to become a vegan.
(LAUGHTER)
But is that really making a big difference for him?
GUPTA: Well, he certainly seems to think so. And there's a lot of science now that has gone from the realm of being anecdotal to actually being large, controlled studies, showing there is impact, not just in slowing down heart disease but, in fact, reversing it. He was famous for his diet, as you know, an omnivore for sure, but now this plant-based diet, he says, has given him more energy. And even after his heart surgery several years ago, he says he got a little bit better about modifying his diet but it wasn't until after he had these stents placed more than a year ago that he got very serious about it. And he says he feels better than ever before.
One thing I will say, Ali --
VELSHI: Yes.
GUPTA: -- a lot of people don't want to become vegans out there. They say that is a radical change.
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: What I will say, though, is if you look back on the way that we eat now, and a hundred years from now, I guarantee you, people will say that was a radical diet. The way we used to eat or they way we eat now --
VELSHI: Yes.
GUPTA: -- the will say that was radical, much more so than a plant-based diet.
VELSHI: I know in your book, "Chasing Life," you talked about plant-based diets and low-calorie diets and how they are thought to extend life in some people. There is criticism that there is just not enough protein in a plant-based diet. So if I'm somebody concerned about heart disease, is being vegan or some way down that road or vegetarian good for my heart? And does it outweigh what I'm missing? GUPTA: Yes, well, first of all, I think the caloric-restriction diet is a little bit different than a plant-based diet. But with a plant-based diet alone -- look, I hear this all the time about protein. That is just simply not true. If you just do a little bit of research, you'll find that, for example, broccoli has more protein per gram than a lot of meats do. Spinach has about the same. There's tofu, which a lot of people don't like, but there's also beans, lentils, foods that you get sort of used to eating and enjoy. I think the protein argument is probably somewhat of a fallacy.
I will say this. People who do this -- and again, we spent about a year investigating for this documentary -- they feel good. I mean, they feel very high energy.
VELSHI: Sure.
GUPTA: They do start to lose weight, which is not necessarily their point when they start. They are doing it for their hearts, but everything about them starts to change and it really just doesn't take that long.
VELSHI: All right, this is a real game-changer, the ability to change your only risk for heart attacks. Sanjay, let's talk about this a few times this week because --
GUPTA: Let's do it.
VELSHI: -- I really want as many people as possible to see this special. Sanjay, good to see you, as always.
GUPTA: Thanks.
VELSHI: You can watch the whole documentary, "The Last Heart Attack" on Sanjay's Life Steam at cnn.com/Sanjay, or you can see it on TV this Saturday at 8:00 eastern time, 8:00 p.m.
COSTELLO: I always learn something from Sanjay but I did not know there was protein in broccoli.
ROMANS: And spinach, protein in spinach. So weird.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: All right, don't start this. I know this -- you guys are pressuring me to have a broccoli omelet tomorrow morning.
COSTELLO: You don't love broccoli? Broccoli is --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I do love broccoli, actually. I do like broccoli.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'm proud of you. That's good.
VELSHI: I think I surprised a lot of people by saying that. (CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Me, too.
VELSHI: It doesn't even have to be dipped in chocolate and fried!
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories to the day this morning. We asked you this question: Should a candidate's religion matter? This is what some of you said.
This is from Matthew. "Yes, it should. Religion can guide a person's thoughts and actions. And if a person makes certain decisions for our country based on religion, they might not make the greatest or most favorable decisions."
This, from Aaron. "Well the Constitution says it shouldn't. But it's the exact opposite come election time. In this country, you had better be a Christian or you're pretty much wasting time and money seeking office. I don't think atheists are even allowed to run in this country. What a shame."
This, from Jamison. "It shouldn't matter at all, but a long time before we see a non-Christian president, and that is really unfortunate."
Keep the comments coming, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. We will read some of your comments again later on, on AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: What about candidates who are religious in words only but not in deeds? That is a whole other category.
VELSHI: That's a different category.
(LAUGHTER)
OK, coming up ahead next hour, good hour for us right now. We've got -- she's come for our jobs. The cutest Hurricane Irene iReporter you have ever seen is going to join us live. We hear she already has an entourage actually.
(LAUGHTER)
It's going to be fun.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
