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CNN Sunday Morning
Biden Comments Surprises Russia; Obama Invites Professor Gates, Sgt. Crowley to the White House; Cleveland Clinic May Be Hospital of the Future
Aired July 26, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for July the 26th. And I am T.J. Holmes.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We hope you're having a nice Sunday. Good morning to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin, sitting in for Betty this morning. Thank you for hopefully sticking around with us.
HOLMES: Yes. Well, Vice President Joe Biden. What am I going to say next? He has said something that some say maybe he shouldn't have said -- some candid comments about Russia. Now, the White House is scrambling to do a bit of damage control this morning. We'll have more on the story and exactly what he said -- coming up.
BALDWIN: Plus, she is packing up. We've seen the moving -- not necessarily though moving on. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin leaving the state's top seat today as governor, but she'll most likely remain in the spotlight.
HOLMES: Now, how do you think she should remain in the spotlight? Do you even think she should? We want to hear from. What should Sarah Palin do next?
You can talk us on Twitter, Facebook, also on our blog, CNN.com/newsroom.
But first, the vice president talking and saying that the administration is on track in battling the recession. This is what he said in an opinion piece written in today's "New York Times." I'm going to quote he said here. He says, "Clearly, we are closer to recovery today than we were in January. The Recovery Act has been critical to that progress."
And the vice president goes on to write that critics are wrong to suggest the $787 billion stimulus package is going to pet programs. He says the largest amount, more than 1/3, is going to tax cuts.
But some of what the vice president said in an interview is what's getting everybody's attention this morning -- on a separate issue, we're talking about Russia. He was asked about it in this interview -- and this is what he said. He said, "They have a shrinking population," talking about Russia here, "They have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years." He goes on to say, "They're in a situation where the world is changing before them and they're clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable."
Now, many in Russia, some top officials didn't take that too well. Interfax and "The New York Times" reporting that adviser to Russia's president says -- and this is a quote, as well -- "If some members of Obama's team and government do not like this atmosphere, why don't they say so?"
So, saying, possibly, some mixed messages. One coming from the president who was there in Moscow not too long ago trying to increase relations with them and better the relations, and now, the vice president is coming out and saying these things -- kind of leaving some of the Russian officials confused a bit. It sounds like two different messages coming from the White House.
Meanwhile, the White House is saying in a statement this morning from Robert Gibbs that "working together to advance security and prosperity for the American and Russian people is the focus of our effort to reset relations. The president and vice president believe Russia will work with us not out of weakness, but out of national interest."
BALDWIN: CNN's Don Lemon political analyst, David Gergen, about this impact of the vice president's remarks. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (via telephone): It is damaging to international relations because the United States wants -- needs Russia to help us with Iran, to help us with North Korea, to help us on energy issues, on nuclear proliferation. There's a whole series of thing. While it's true that Russia is a weakened country, it is -- it's still an important -- it's been important for the Obama administration to reset that relationship.
And what's central to the Russians is to be treated with respect. They're looking for other nations, especially the United States, to treat them with enormous respect. And Joe Biden himself said, "I don't want to embarrass them," but, you know, that's exactly, I'm afraid, what has happened here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: David Gergen speaking to Don Lemon just last night. Now, a senior adviser to the president is on John King's "STATE OF THE UNION," coming up later this morning. And we shall expect he will likely comment a little bit further on what the vice president had to say.
As for the president, the Obama administration is opening its first major talks with China this week. The president will kick off the event with some remarks tomorrow, and coming up Tuesday, he'll be talking health care, taking some questions from members of AARP during a tele-hall meeting, and then the president will be pushing on Wednesday with health care events in both North Carolina and Virginia. HOLMES: Well, now back to the controversy sparked by the arrest of a prominent Harvard professor. President Obama is trying to calm things down by inviting both men to the White House. But are all of the parties concerned here ready to move on now?
BALDWIN: Several people are hoping this will be simply a teachable moment, and CNN's Elaine Quijano has more now on the mood in Cambridge in how some law enforcement officials believe we can all learn from what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't a full-out presidential apology.
OBAMA: In my choice of words, I think, I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically. And I could have calibrated those words differently.
QUIJANO: But for police officers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, united in their outrage, the president's expression of regret appears to be enough.
SGT. LEON LASHLEY, CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We were happy. It was a -- it was a good thing. We said, yes. I mean, you would give him the high-fives.
QUIJANO: Sergeant Leon Lashley of the Cambridge Police Department was on the scene the day his colleague, Sergeant James Crowley, arrested prominent African-American Harvard professor, Henry Gates, on Gates' property.
LASHLEY: Would it have been different had I shown up first? And I think it probably would have been different.
QUIJANO: But he says he supports the actions Crowley took that day.
LASHLEY: I too probably would have placed him under arrest if it gotten too much further out of control.
QUIJANO: At this national conference of black law enforcement executives in Virginia, the consensus that what happened in Cambridge can be a valuable training tool in navigating the complex issues surrounding law enforcement and minorities. While most steered clear of commenting specifically on the Gates' case, one officer believes police deserve the benefit of the doubt.
LT. CHARLES BROWN, AKRON, OHIO POLICE: I would say that it's a tough job for law enforcement to make those decisions on the spot. I would say that we need to look at all of the possibilities that what could have happened.
QUIJANO (on camera): Meanwhile here in Cambridge, in a written statement, a coalition of area police unions said that Sergeant Crowley was profoundly grateful that President Obama had taken the time to try to resolve the situation. The statement went on to say that it's clear President Obama respects police officers.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. So, maybe we could all start to put that behind us, start to heal from it and learn from it, as well.
BALDWIN: Move forward. Yes.
HOLMES: Our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on things for us. What you got going today? It's hot and stormy.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You know, we got heat in the couple of places around the country. One place we expect is Texas, the other spot, not so much in the Pacific Northwest. Other than that, we're also watching a chance of storms in parts of the southeast and also in parts of New England -- that's coming up in a few moments.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Reynolds, we'll see you shortly.
WOLF: All right.
BALDWIN: Well, the piano man on the mend. Billy Joel fans will have to wait a while before seeing him back on stage. Why? We'll find out -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: OK. Oh, this is Austin this time.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Dry as a bone, some even say bone dry.
WOLF: Yes, you know, you can -- this is a great thing of value. You can use those two either way. Yes.
HOLMES: OK. But this is kind of serious stuff we got going on in Texas here. Now, San Antonio is one, it's pretty dry down there. And this is dry time. It's supposed to be dry.
WOLF: This time of the year. Right.
HOLMES: San Antonio, the driest 23-month period since 1885.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: That sounds like some historical proportions dry.
WOLF: Absolutely. And that's what this is, I mean, this is all written fact. It's not like just one dude that's been sitting out there on the shores of the river for -- you know, since 1885 checking out the rain. No. It's been a very dry spell for them and they normally have dry times and only get most of their moisture in this winter and in the spring.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: Or if you have a tropical system, like a hurricane or tropical storm that comes on shore, it can change a lot of things. But that's not really in the mix right now. Then they come later on, but they have had water restrictions in places like Houston...
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: ... and, of course, in Austin. It's been tough times.
HOLMES: But you mentioned winter and spring. So, were those -- drier than usual?
WOLF: Much drier. In March and April and May -- that's a great question, by the way --- they really didn't miss out a great deal of rainfall.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: And that's the reason why you have the deficit. But they will make up eventually, it always changes. We said to be patient for the time being. They just have to ration that water. Very similar situation to what we had in Atlanta not long ago. Just a few years back.
One of the reasons what we're seeing again the dry conditions is really due to the jet stream. We've had a big trough that has been in parts of the east and now towards the west. But right here in the middle of the country, the situation has been pretty similar to this -- you had a nice ridge right here and with that, and most of your storms, most of your moisture out to the east or out to the west, with very dry conditions to the central and southern plains. So, certainly, rough times and really high temperatures with highs mainly into the 90s in spots like Dallas and back into Houston, and Atlanta, 89 degrees, the expected high.
You'd expect warm conditions in parts of the southeast. Where you don't expect them is up in the Pacific Northwest, where in Seattle 87 degrees, even in spots like Portland may be even hotter. I mean, case in point, take a look at this. We currently have excessive heat watch for parts of the Columbia River Basin, right through spots like, say, Tigard, Oregon, back into Portland where it could get up anywhere from 95 to 102 from now through midweek. So, certainly warm times ahead for them.
Now, what we can expect for the rest of the nation, not only the high conditions, but storms that are going to pop up. Yesterday, we have some rough weather in parts of the northeast, that could happen again today, the same reason, is because this frontal boundary just driving its way towards the east. As it does so, it's going to interact with that moisture coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. That, combine with your daytime heating could be the bright catalyst to give you a chance of some strong storms.
We might see some in the parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley and into the Tennessee Valley through the afternoon between 3:00 and 6:00. We had one round of storms that has moved through parts of Tennessee, back in Alabama, and into parts of Louisiana even. Some of these have been strong, certainly not severe, we haven't had any tornadoes yet this morning, but later on this afternoon, when things begin to heat up, that could be a big problem for us.
Very dry conditions for parts of the Midwest, into the northern plain. That remains cool for much of, say, Michigan and back into Wisconsin. And, of course, desert southwest -- hot as usual this time of year. Certainly, no surprise.
That is a wrap on your forecast. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, kind, sir, we appreciate you as always.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: See you again here shortly.
BALDWIN: A get well wish for the piano man this weekend, Billy Joel canceling two concerts with Elton John in Upstate New York. Why? Well, he has symptoms of flu and fatigue. That's according to "The Associated Press." The arenas in Buffalo and Albany are just trying to reschedule. The tour has been the nation's top-grossing attraction all this summer.
And more news coming up. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Of course, covering the millions of Americans without health insurance is pretty lofty goal of health care reform. Paying for it seems to be the biggest challenge.
BALDWIN: Yes, that's the tricky part. CNN chief national correspondent John King shows us one health provider in Cleveland that the president and many others are calling a sneak peek if they get their way at the health care of tomorrow.
BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cardiac intensive care unit at the Cleveland Clinic -- world renowned for both its high-quality care and its comparatively low costs. Those who work here, like Dr. Steven Nissen, an important example as Washington debates a radical restructuring of American health care.
DR. STEVEN NISSEN, CHMN., CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE: Everything that we do is done with the patient at the center of the picture, not the doctor at the center. KING: At many hospitals, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work in different departments. Here, all under one roof. The business model that translates into more collaboration and less competition for patients and for health care dollars.
NISSEN: The Cleveland Clinic is not a fee-for-service model. I get paid a salary. We all get the same check. It doesn't matter whether we do an operation or do an angioplasty. And so, we have taken that issue of income out of the equation.
Now, unfortunately, that's not the case across the country. And that does lead to excess costs. Everybody wants to do their procedure.
DR. TOBY COSGROVE, CEO, CLEVELAND CLINIC: What are we talking about today?
KING: CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove is an outspoken advocate of reform but also sounds several cautionary notes as Washington debates just what to do and how to pay for it.
COSGROVE: Fifty percent of the hospitals in the United States are running in the red. So, if you begin to look at reducing the amount of money that's coming to hospitals to look after patients, I think you're beginning to look at failure of a group of hospitals.
KING: Cleveland Clinic holds itself out an example of how to lower costs, yet also improve results.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for you to go home.
KING: The emphasis on preventive care is designed to reduce the need for expensive surgeries and procedures.
COSGROVE: Begin to reimburse for wellness. Right now, if I do a heart operation, I get paid for doing a heart operation. If I prevent somebody from needing a heart operation by helping them understand their diet and their exercise, I don't get paid anything.
KING: Wellness is a Cleveland Clinic obsession. It won't hire smokers. Healthier foods dominate the cafeteria options; a farmer's market on campus; yoga classes for employees and patients.
COSGROVE: Seventy percent of the cost of health care is from chronic diseases. And chronic diseases come from really three big things -- from obesity, from lack of exercise, and from smoking.
So, we have got to go after the prevention in wellness aspect. And that will bring us down the level of disease across the entire country. We live longer. We live healthier. And we live cheaper.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: John King at the Cleveland Clinic. John king in Washington. John, good morning. You got a lot going on this morning, continuing the theme of health care. You know, we were talking yesterday about how they won't be passing anything because of this recess, this August deadline, not happening. But what about the president's momentum? Will it sort of come to a stand still?
KING: Well, certainly. Good morning, Brooke and T.J. And I'm sure T.J. goes through yoga with you, Brooke, before the show every day, just like they do at the Cleveland Clinic.
BALDWIN: Let's not tell everyone.
HOLMES: I didn't know my secret was out, John.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Look, the president has clearly lost momentum.
BALDWIN: Yes.
KING: Now, that doesn't mean hit the panic button at the White House because they still have a big majority in the House, a big majority in the Senate. But they have hit a bit of a ditch. Why? Because of the debate over the public option. How much government role should there be in health care?
And more importantly, how do we pay for this? The House has a plan, the Senate has a number of competing plans, and the Senate will not vote by the August recess. You're right about that. That's one deadline the president had set that will not be met, and there's a big question going this next week -- will the House vote? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to have the vote in the week ahead, but there's still some infighting among Democrats there, too.
This is not an argument at the moment, principally, between the president and his Republican critics. There are many Republican critics. But right now, this is really an issue of: Can the Democrats get their own house in order? That's how to get the president's momentum back.
HOLMES: Yes. And, John, you mentioned, there are things happening on the Hill and the debate that happens there. And we know that's fighting -- you know, Washington's in a perpetual state of battle. But out there in America, out there in Middle America, out there in the homes and the living rooms, places you travel every single week -- how much is that now playing into what the president's going to be able to get done with, I guess, his -- a lot of his poll numbers coming down to Earth quite frankly?
KING: Well, the poll numbers have come down, and in part that's because of the legitimate policy debate. You can put 20 people in a room and they all say they want health care reform, but you might get 20 different opinions over what is the most important thing Washington has to do because we look at this through our personal experience. So, some of it is a legitimate policy debate and much of what's happening in Congress is a legitimate policy disagreements that need to be worked out.
But every day that passes brings us closer to 2010, which is a midterm election year in which Democrats know the odds are against them. So, with every passing day, in addition to those policy disputes and disagreements, there are increasing political calculations.
And as you travel the country, you see a lot of Democrats who are frustrated. They say, "Wait a minute, we have the White House, the House, the Senate, why can't we get our act together and get stuff done?"
And you also see Republicans who say, "Maybe a month ago, I would have been inclined to deal with the president, but he's on the ropes right now." You mentioned his poll numbers are down. "Maybe I want to holdout because maybe there's a political opening here.
So, it's some policy and increasingly politics.
BALDWIN: And also, not just talking about the president this morning, but Vice President Joe Biden. We saw the president in Moscow, what, a couple of weeks ago and speaking with Medvedev and trying to improve relations. And now, we have the vice president coming out in this interview with "The Wall Street Journal," talking about a shrinking population base, a withering economy, a bit of a candid comment from Joe Biden.
KING: Is that tough love or is that Joe Biden off the reservation -- is the question...
BALDWIN: Yes.
KING: in Washington this morning. And, you know, you guys played the -- had the sound bite or the quote from Robert Gibbs saying, "Look, we want to reset relationships from a position of strength and we want a strong Russia going forward," the vice president saying they're withering and that their banking system is near collapse and all of those things.
There's no question that is what Vice President Joe Biden thinks. He thought that when he was the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, and he thinks that as vice president. And most in the administration actually share that view of the state of Russia's economy right now and its political system. The question is: Was he supposed to say that in public on the heels not so long ago, that summit when the president was there?
So, this is one of those cases where, sometimes, you do have an administration playing good cop-bad cop.
It will be interesting today -- the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is out this morning on another Sunday program. We'll see whether she sides more diplomatic language like the president have when he was in Russia or whether she agrees with Mr. Biden.
HOLMES: All right. We know you got a lot coming up this morning. And, certainly, one big thing we're all looking forward to is seeing you in the interview with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You know, she's got -- she's juggling a lot up there trying to keep in line, in order.
So, John, we'll let you go now, with "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King...
KING: Thank you, guys.
HOLMES: ... top of the hour, 9:00. Good to see you as always, buddy.
And we will certainly be tuning in at the top of the hour to see John King and "STATE OF THE UNION."
BALDWIN: Well, Sarah Palin is saying good-bye to the state of Alaska, at least as governor. Supporters of the soon-to-be former governor held a farewell picnic for Palin yesterday there in Anchorage. There she is serving up some food, some hot dogs, some hamburgers, chatting it up with some people, some supporters.
Palin will officially hand over her duties as governor to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell later today. This is more than a year, really year and a half, before the end of her term.
For more on Governor Palin's next move, let's bring in CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, with us this morning.
Paul, first, let's talk logistics. Exactly what is supposed to happen today in Alaska as Sarah Palin leaves office?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. About 11 hours from now, Brooke, in Fairbanks, Alaska, there's going to be a picnic and that is where Sarah Palin's going to step down and she's going to hand -- transfer power to Sean Parnell. He is the lieutenant governor. He's also a fellow Republican. And, of course, this all comes a good year and a half before her first term as Alaska governor ends, Brooke.
BALDWIN: I know we've been asking this question time and time again, and maybe you've got some information this morning you can share, I don't know. But what is next for Sarah Palin? Any idea?
STEINHAUSER: That is the big question everybody is asking. She has been very quiet this week and not taking reporters question. But she has said a couple of things the past few weeks. Among them: first of all, she says she wants to continue fighting for the causes that are important for her, even after she steps down as governor.
She also says that she wants to go out across the country and campaign for candidates whose ideas she agrees with. And we're going to see her two weeks from now at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. That's basically sacred ground for conservatives. And she also is going to write a book.
So, I guess, you put all of this together, Brooke, and there's speculation that last year's Republican vice presidential nominee wants to run for the spot herself maybe in 2012.
BALDWIN: She made this announcement a couple of weeks ago. And since then, she's really taken some heat for leaving office. You said it with more than, what, a year, year and a half left as governor -- but could there possibly be some advantages of stepping down like this?
STEINHAUSER: There could. Let's say she does want to run for the White House eventually down in 2012. What this does is free her up about a year and a half early. Listen, she's already well-known across the country. So, staying in office isn't going to increase her notoriety.
But if she does want to run, being in Alaska, that's not easy and having to be governor in Alaska, that keeps you up there. This frees her up. Now, she is free to crisscross the country and campaign for other candidates and also raise money for her political action committee.
So, in a way, it could help her -- Brooke?
BALDWIN: We will watch and wait to see what is next for Sarah Palin. Paul Steinhauser for us in Washington this morning -- Paul, thank you.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
HOLMES: And we've been asking you this morning, what do you think Sarah Palin should do next? Some are saying write a book, some say run for president, some say go away. You can reach out to us. Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail, go to our blog as well. We'll have some of your responses coming up in the next half hour.
BALDWIN: Almost eight years after 9/11, why are some of the security recommendations still a work in progress? We will take that look at what has made us safer and where we still stand and where we're vulnerable -- coming up.
HOLMES: And then you're also going to meet the new White House power brokers. They're unlike any other team that's counseled prior presidents.
BALDWIN: And looking for love. Single ladies, you don't want to miss this -- why women are having a tough time finding a good man. You don't want to miss this morning's "Faces of Faith."
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Good morning. Hope you're having a nice Sunday morning this, what is it, 26th of July.
HOLMES: Twenty-sixth of July.
BALDWIN: Time is flying. Good morning. I'm Brooke Baldwin in for Betty.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here.
A look now at some of our top stories.
Vice President Joe Biden is making some news with some comments about Russia in an interview he gave to "The Wall Street Journal." Biden said Russia has a withering economy and is, quote, "clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable," end quote. The White House released a statement saying the president and vice president believe Russia will work with us. Again, not out of weakness but out of national interests."
BALDWIN: In just a couple of hours, Alaska will have a new governor. Sarah Palin will officially hand over her title and her responsibilities to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell today. Just yesterday, folks in Anchorage held this farewell picnic for her. You can see the governor, soon to be former governor serving some hotdogs, hamburgers. Palin is resigning a year before the end of her term.
HOLMES: The U.S. is not doing enough to prevent another terrorist attack, that is according to a group of 9/11 commission members and security experts.
CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the details on the potential problems the group says are facing national security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I do not think you could exceed...
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It was five years ago this week that the 9/11 Commission issued its landmark report making specific recommendations on how to best prevent another terrorist attack. Commission co-Chair Governor Thomas Kean says only about 80 percent of them have been implemented.
THOMAS KEAN, FORMER CHAIRMAN 9/11 COMMISSION: Well, I'm worried that 20 percent of them haven't been addressed. Also among the 80 percent, there are things that aren't fully done.
MESERVE: Kean and his 9/11 co-chair Representative Lee Hamilton are among the experts on the new bipartisan National Security Preparedness Group, which is trying to close the remaining security gaps, one of the most glaring right here in Washington.
The group says it is absurd that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has scores of Congressional Committee's sapping her time and attention.
KEAN: She reports to over 80 different committees, there's no oversight at all.
MESERVE: The political reality is this; no member of Congress wants to give up power. Politics has also hurt efforts to create more secure identity documents. The nation's governors, including then Governor Napolitano rose in revolt over a law called "Real ID" which implemented 9/11 recommendations to tighten the issuance of driver's licenses.
Now Congress is considering something called "Pass ID," which is less expensive and in the eyes of commission members, less secure.
Is it as good as the country needs?
KEAN: No. I would like to see the full -- but if you can't get it done, this is a democracy -- if you can't get something done, you just can't get it done and then you go as far as you can go.
MESERVE: Other shortcomings sited by the group, the failure to implement a system to track whether visitors leave the country. It says information sharing among agencies has improved, but isn't good enough. And the ability of emergency responders to talk to one another and work together in an emergency is still a work in progress.
New threats have emerged since the 9/11 Commission report, notably cyber attacks and the Homeland Security Secretary agrees that protective measures must continue to evolve.
JANET NAPOLITAN, SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY: This is not a static thing that we have to constantly every day be thinking about. What are the threats concerning our country? How do we minimize them? How do we protect the people of the United States?
MESERVE: The 9/11 Commission was mandated by Congress and its report so close to the attacks on New York and Washington had tremendous impact. This follow-on group is trying to use its prestige to counteract the complacency that's set in since then and push forward the unfinished business of securing the nation.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: How about this story this morning, a second Chicago Area cemetery is under investigation after a human bone was found just lying on the ground.
The Cook County sheriff's office says it doesn't know if the discovery is the sign of a broader problem at the Mount Glenwood Cemetery. Just days ago according to the "Chicago Tribune," three people sued the cemetery alleging quote, "unauthorized tampering with grave sites."
Earlier this month authorities charged four workers at Burr Oaks Cemetery with digging up hundreds of bodies and then reselling the plots.
HOLMES: Well, exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya back at his country's border yesterday. He didn't leave the Nicaraguan side like he did on Friday. He just stepped in there for a second on Friday. But he did go to the border and fired up the supporters there. He left after about 20 minutes this time.
BALDWIN: Yes, now he's back out. Zelaya was forced out by a military coup just about a month ago and the U.S. State Department is worrying that his border visits could lead to violence, but is also bringing him to Washington for talks for Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want -- when do we want it?
PEOPLE: Now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, we saw this play out across six continents yesterday. And dozens of cities, as well, including Washington, D.C. protestors united all over the world against the common call, which is Iran's treatment of demonstrators after last month's disputed election.
Many people wore green yesterday, that's symbolizing Iran's opposition movement and the opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Iranian authorities used force to stop protestors last month. Some protestors we're killed, hundreds still behind bars.
Now, one woman who knows what the inside of an Iranian jail is like is that lady Roxana Saberi. She thanked the crowd at the Iran protest in Chicago for speaking for Iranians who can't be heard. She's the Iranian-American journalist, you'll remember she was accused of spying for the U.S. in Iran and she was held there for four months.
Meanwhile in New York, a big crowd in Times Square, protestors marched from there to the United Nations buildings. Similar scenes happened all over the world including cities like London, Berlin, as well as Tokyo.
BALDWIN: Still, we've been talking about Governor Sarah Palin...
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: ...and Alaska's soon to the former governor.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: We've been asking you to write in. What do you think about this sort of unconventional move to step down out of the gubernatorial position about a year and a half early?
HOLMES: Early...
BALDWIN: We're hearing from you. I want to read a couple of the comments first if we can, Mr. Holmes...
HOLMES: Oh yes, go ahead. BALDWIN: ...and go to the blog.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: This first one from Don. Don writes in and Don says, "Sarah Palin should keep her head down, stay out of the spotlight and spend quality time with her family, educate herself on the real issues that face the U.S. and the world and then maybe in a few years she could run for the Senate in Alaska."
One other, I want to read a couple down with some Chuck Daniels, two down from that, he says, "She should absolutely stay in politics, she actually seemed to invigorate the Republican Party and then go a lot more -- get a lot more people interested in what was really going on in today's society."
HOLMES: And some people -- that was just a couple we getting there -- but there are people who have been chiming in, some think she should just go away. Some think, you know, people have hard feelings sometimes. They either love her or hate her.
BALDWIN: Right.
HOLMES: She's just kind of just one of those polarizing figure.
BALDWIN: Politically polarizing.
HOLMES: But some think just thinks, you know what? She's a mother of five; maybe she'll just take it easy for a while and disappear for that reason.
BALDWIN: Have some time off.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: Yes, we will see, we'll see.
HOLMES: All right, we will see.
But coming up next, this is what you will see in our "Faces of Faith." The state of the African family, why community leaders say there's a lot to learn from that family.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, this week, CNN presented "BLACK IN AMERICA 2." And one of the stories highlighted dealt with marriage in the African- American community. Well, a prominent pastor in Atlanta provided spiritual advice on why marriages work.
Reverend Cynthia Hale of Ray of Hope Christian Church, talks about the importance of two-parent households and why some African- American women find it difficult to hook up with suitable mates. And that is this morning's "Faces of Faith."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REV. CYNTHIA HALE, PASTOR, RAY OF HOPE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Well, I have seen many children who have grown up in single-parent households and done quite well. On the other hand I've seen many children who have not done as well.
A child needs two parents to love, to nurture, to support, to affirm them, to care for them. A child needs two parents, to check on them at school. They need a mother and a father, in the home.
So many children get lost in life. They wonder, "What's wrong with me." You know one of the things that can be done to help strengthen the bonds of marriage is for us to teach on what love is all about, to bring us back to a sense of community. The church can certainly help do that, but other social organizations can be beneficial in that regard, as well.
You need models of healthy family; husbands and wives who love and commit to one another and to their children. And so the more models that we feel that, particularly in the African-American community. And again our present President and his family are helping to give us a strong model of what a healthy family looks like.
All families are not making the level of commitment that they need to make. I think what is particular for the African-American community is the problem of not having enough marriageable men for the women. And the reason why I know this to be the case because I don't have to look at statistics, I can just look at the numbers of women that I counsel or the number of women in our churches who are single today.
And they are not single because they want to be, they are looking for men to marry; who will commit to them and who will help to build a life with them. They are looking for their intellectual equals. They are looking for persons who have the same values.
And I understand that in Atlanta, for example, the ratio of women to men is 10 to one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Brothers, step up. You heard her.
BALDWIN: Ten to one.
HOLMES: Step up, the women are out there. And they're looking for you. Step up. Raise your hand, put a sign up, whatever you've got to do, but they're out there. And now if you missed any of our "BLACK IN AMERICA 2," you can see it again in its entirety. You can watch CNN's special series "BLACK IN AMERICA 2" with Soledad O'Brien that's tonight at 8:00 p.m.
BALDWIN: 10 to 1.
HOLMES: 10 to 1.
BALDWIN: I had no idea. HOLMES: And that means -- some would say that that a great odds for a guy.
BALDWIN: Advantageous for some and not so much for...
HOLMES: You shouldn't look at it like that, fellows. Step up, ok.
BALDWIN: I like that.
HOLMES: All right.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, a 20-year-old who is tackling health care reform head-on because he has seen, he's experienced firsthand how the current system has let a lot of children down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A lot of people may not realize it but many insurance companies will only cover up to $5,000 for a pair of legs, prosthetics, stripping countless numbers of amputees of an active lifestyle.
But one 20-year-old is working to change all of that. Jordan, he is inspiring, and he's on this mission. It was sparked actually from personal tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Jordan Thomas plays a serious golf game. It's par for the course for this talented athlete who spent his childhood excelling at sports. Even on family vacations, Jordan would show off his fishing skills.
But 4 years ago in the Florida Keys, the family's annual boating trip went terribly wrong.
JORDAN THOMAS, DOUBLE AMPUTEE: The wake pushed me behind the boat and I remember just hearing being underneath the boat and hearing the motor go and just I knew immediately what had happened.
BALDWIN: The boat's propellers slashing Jordan's legs. Jordan spent the next two weeks in a Miami hospital undergoing multiple surgeries, but while recovering, he visited a wing where children who had also lost limbs were being treated but their families couldn't afford expensive prosthetics.
THOMAS: I found out that a lot of insurance companies put a $5,000 cap on your legs and like I said mine were $22,000. So $17,000 what do you do?
At only age 16, with his family's help he started the Jordan Thomas Foundation helping disadvantaged kids get the prosthetics they need. The foundation has since raised $350,000, which pays for prosthetics for three children, one of them 6-year-old Noah Parton. His parents' primary insurance funded his first prosthetic leg, but it had no knee. And since Noah was a growing boy, he needed more frequent upgrades that insurance just didn't cover. So Jordan's foundation did.
NOAH PARTON, AMPUTEE: Watch.
BALDWIN: As for Jordan, he is driving home the message that anything is possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And this is timely, obviously, because we've been talking a lot about health care, insurance companies, and things like that. We interviewed as part of a longer version of the piece a Congressman in New Jersey who has basically introduced the prosthetics and orthotics parity bill to try to just level the playing field when it comes to what insurance companies will pay for when it comes to legs.
Jordan told me having a pair of legs, it's like having one pair of shoes for the rest of your life. You have to have more than one, and they're costly. And when you're a child like Noah, you only have one and you're growing, you've got to have more.
HOLMES: That's something a lot of people never think about and how expensive they cost -- to hear how much they cost and then also to see the little guy. Something as simple as a knee that's able to bend can make all of the difference.
I'm so glad we were able to get that story in and you bring that to us this weekend. Thank you for that.
BALDWIN: Yes.
HOLMES: I'm going to turn to some of the poorest workers getting a pay raise. Why are so many people upset and saying the increase may not be a good move?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, for those making minimum wage, the new federal rate may help them out and give them a raise this week.
It's the third and last pay bump that Congress passed back in 2007. However, as our Christine Romans reports, the economy has changed a lot since then.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rafael Cuellar doesn't want your grocery bill to go up, but he's worried his customers might see higher prices soon. Cuellar has owned this ShopRite since 2005. In that time, he's seen the minimum wage in the state jump from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour; up 10 cents this week to meet the new federal level. RAFAEL CUELLAR, CEO, SHOPRITE: It's extra payroll, it hurts. What ends up happening usually though, this extra payroll transitions over to the consumer because some costs are going to go up.
ROMANS: Cuellar has 40 to 50 minimum wage earners on his staff. His payroll costs won't go up dramatically with the new wage hike, but he says his suppliers: produce, meat companies, and consumer goods factories, they're going to get hit hard.
CUELLAR: All of these companies all have thousands and upon thousands of minimum wage earners, obviously, their costs increase. It passes on to me and then it passes on to the consumer.
ROMANS: But many consumers will have more money to spend argue some economists, and business owners like Cuellar will benefit.
DAVID MADLAND, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Even if they do have to raise their prices a little bit, they often -- very often almost always make up for that in increased business because workers now are able to spend more money that they have in their pockets.
ROMANS: But not all workers are getting a raise and others argue that in this economy, employment will suffer.
PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: It's going to cost us lots of low-skill jobs, simply employers won't be able to hire as many people, some will get laid off. Those with jobs will have a little bit more money in their pocket; those that don't get hired won't have any at all.
ROMANS: And empty pockets is what concerned Rafael Cuellar.
CUELLAR: The long-term effect of it is it makes people who weren't making minimum wage a little poorer. Millions of other people didn't get a pay raise.
ROMANS: And raise or not, Cuellar is relying on shoppers to keep spending at the supermarket.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Coming up next, young professional African-Americans with unprecedented access to power.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: African-Americans are playing key roles in the White House these days, whether it's helping to push key issues like health care reform or education or maybe some urban issues.
BALDWIN: CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian tells us some have been around Washington for a while. And others are just in the freshmen class.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They help manage the message and the policies of the president, hard-driving staffers fuelled by coffee and soda.
And so that's the fuel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the fuel instead of coffee.
LOTHIAN: no one at the White House dwells on the issue of race, but it's hard to ignore the obvious; young African-Americans who are now on the inside.
KAREN RICHARDSON, WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Now that I'm here, it's a little surreal and it's an extraordinary honor, but it's something that you definitely don't take for granted.
LOTHIAN: Karen Richardson who's been focused on health care for the Office of Public Engagement is 30 years old, press assistant Kevin Lewis is 26, and Michael Strautmanis, Valerie Jarrett's chief of staff is 40 years old.
As I went behind the scenes, I found loyal aides who have a sense of pride and purpose.
MICHEL STRAUTMANIS, OFC OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: I read all the time about the African-Americans who have had a chance to participate in history. And it seems like the people that have made the most impact have, you know, connected with something beyond themselves.
LOTHIAN: This is their connection, and Lewis has seen firsthand what that can mean especially to older blacks he meets on the street.
KEVIN LEWIS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS ASSISTANT: It's almost like they take, they adopt me, well, their son is there, someone they know is there.
LOTHIAN: Lewis, raised by a single mother in Brooklyn, New York joins the Obama campaign five days before it officially launched. He rode the wave to the White House and was still pinching himself on his first day at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
LEWIS: I didn't know I could walk through the gates of the Washington. I walk through the gates and I couldn't stop smiling.
LOTHIAN: Richardson's journey to the White House began with an internship offer and then Senator Obama's Washington office.
Did you know anything about Barack Obama at that point?
RICHARD: No, he's a guy with Kenyan roots.
LOTHIAN: Strautmanis shares the president's love for basketball. And as I found out during a shoot around in his office plays a mean defense. STRAUTMANIS: Need a little defense, man.
LOTHIAN: He met the first couple in Chicago when he was a paralegal and they were engaged. Now, this lawyer is on the inside looking out, taking friends and family along for the ride.
STRAUTMANIS: You can imagine to call your family members from Air Force One. They're usually so stunned they really don't even know what to say.
LOTHIAN: All of these White House aides could make a lot more money doing something else. Instead, they're cashing in on history.
LEWIS: You can't really put a price on what I'm doing now and you can't put a price on what it represents.
LOTHIAN: All three of the people we profiled say that they're using this platform to mentor other young people, to give speeches about their experiences and how they got here. It's a chance said one of them to show that with hard work the options and possibilities in life are limitless.
Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And, of course, we have John King coming up at the top of the hour. He has that big interview with Nancy Pelosi, a lot to talk about there.
But also, I need to stop and say thank you for being here.
BALDWIN: Thanks for having me.
HOLMES: Brooke Baldwin, come on back any time.
Even though I didn't bring you milk for your cereal?
BALDWIN: Even though I didn't bring you milk for your cereal yesterday.
HOLMES: And you didn't bring milk for the donuts today. A lot of Twitter and Facebook folks know what we're talking about here. But thank you.
BALDWIN: This guy right here is tough; very difficult sitting next to. Thank you, pleasure. Pleasure.
HOLMES: No, it's been great. Thank you so much for sitting here.
Got to give you a few headlines before I hand this thing off to John King.
First, he'll be talking about the vice president -- I'm sure at some point -- Joe Biden's comments about Russia in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, raising a few eyebrows. Biden said Russia has a shrinking population base, a withering economy, and a banking structure not likely to withstand the next 15 years.
Also the Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be the ex-governor tomorrow. She'll be replaced by lieutenant governor Sean Parnell. Palin, of course, stepping down more than a year, about a year and a half before the end of her term. In part, she says, because of costly ethics complaints against her. Says she could be more effective if she is not in the governor's office.
Also the senate judiciary committee is expected to vote Tuesday on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the full senate must then confirm the nominee. With the Democrats controlling the chamber, Sotomayor appears headed for the bench. So a few things, don't know when the final vote will be for Sotomayor. But she could -- actually no -- she's getting the job by the recess the Congress is going to take some time in August.
That's it for us. Thank you for being here.
I need to hand it off now to John King and "STATE OF THE UNION" which starts right now.
