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CNN Sunday Morning
Rhode Island OK's Same-Sex Unions; Closing Arguments in Anthony Trial
Aired July 03, 2011 - 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: Hey, good morning, folks.
Another state OKs same-sex unions. A milestone, yes. But some are saying some couples are not happy because it still falls short of marriage.
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HOLMES: Well, he says he governs better than he can play the guitar. Just kidding.
This guy wants to restructure the federal government. He wants to play a tune as well. That's another Republican jumped into the race for the president and he uses a guitar to do it.
Also, haven't we been stuck on 50 long enough? Surely, it's time for a 51st state. There is a new proposal to create now a north and a south California.
Hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes, live from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you for spending time here with us.
Let me get you caught up and we need to start with a jailhouse phone call -- one call that is raising more questions about the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case. He, of course, is the former chief of the International Monetary Fund. Here he is, he was released from house arrest on Friday. This is him heading out of his Manhattan apartment yesterday. Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.
But CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti has more now on this phone call supposedly from his accuser to her boyfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Dominique Strauss-Kahn waits to hear whether the district attorney will pursue sex assault charges him or drop the case altogether, there is new detail about credibility issues involving DSK's accuser.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And for Mr. Strauss-Kahn's released on his own recognizance.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): A bombshell discovery came only one day before prosecutors told the defense team about the maid's credibility issues. A source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN the D.A.'s team got a translation of a jailhouse phone call recorded in Arizona. As first reported in "The New York Times," a source now tells CNN that the call in a dialect of the maid's native Guinea was made between the maid and a boyfriend the day after the alleged sex attack.
The source tells CNN the made said something like, "She says she's fine and this person is rich and there's money to be made."
Investigators also discovered several bank accounts in the maid's name in different states. Accounts, the source says, she did not close to investigators on her own. Quote, "She was getting deposits of several thousand dollars at a time," the source tells CNN, "from people she knew, potentially involved in drug dealing."
(on camera): Strauss-Kahn's attorneys insist is he not a rapist and they want the case dismissed.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Return to the Casey Anthony murder trial. Now a big day forward, because we're just about an hour away from the start of court this morning. Yes, they are in session on Sunday.
They're getting set for closing arguments in the case. And, Casey Anthony, he is, of course, the young Florida mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
What you are seeing here, a vigil that was set up to remember Caylee. Stuffed animals and flowers just across the street from where the girl's body was found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just makes it more real than what you see on television.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I followed the trial ever since they found the baby and everything happened, and it's just heart-wrenching. I cannot believe someone can be so cruel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Again, closing arguments are set to begin in just about an hour. The jury will then begin deliberating. There are seven women and five men on this jury. They have been sequestered during this entire trial, which is entering its seventh week. That's why the judge went to try to keep this case moving. He's been in session on Saturdays. And now, even a Sunday, trying to get this thing moving and over with quite frankly.
Casey Anthony is facing seven charges, including capital murder. That charge could carry the death penalty if she's found guilty. We want to update you now on a story we first told you about yesterday. An American ship captain is now under arrest for trying to take part in a flotilla headed to Gaza. The boat had 36 Americans on board when it was stopped by the Greek coast guard Friday, just a few minutes after it left port and try to join that flotilla. The captain is supposed to be in court Tuesday. The flotilla is meant to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory.
We now have 10 Republican candidates for president, thanks to Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter. He officially jumped into the race yesterday.
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HOLMES: Now, he did have words to say as well. That's him on the guitar, the American guitar, if you will. None of the other nine candidates kicked of their campaign quite like this. He plays in a band. They call themselves Second Amendments. The other members of the House are in that band as well.
Here is now part of his campaign message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. THAD MCCOTTER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Through your hard work, and through your principled devotion to bequeathing to your children a better nation than the one we inherited, have no doubt that we will restructure the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. So, maybe you don't know the name. Thad McCotter, who is this guy? He is serving his fifth term in Congress right now, representing the suburbs around Detroit. He's also a member of the influential House Financial Services Committee. He says he'll play up his support for the auto industry bailout as part of his campaign.
Well, now, we turn to Michele Bachmann. She is back on the campaign bus in Iowa today. The Republican presidential candidate made several stops in the state yesterday. I actually talked to her yesterday morning at a dinner in Iowa City right here live on "CNN SATURDAY MORNING." She's got several more stops planned for today in Iowa.
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HOLMES: You're seeing this outside of state capital in Atlanta, Georgia. Thousands of people there to protest the state's new anti- immigration law. Most of that law went into effect on Friday.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they deported our parents, then who are we going to have to take care of us? Like, we can't take care of ourselves. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the first time I feel like I've been targeted because of how I look. It's being very uncomfortable. And sometimes, I don't feel secure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A federal judge stopped some of the more contentious previsions of the law, including one that allows police to question crime suspects about their immigration status. Georgia's governor said he will fight to get those provisions back into law.
To Florida now, where people there are trying to apply for welfare. They now have to be screened for drugs. This new law also went into effect on Friday. It requires people applying for federal welfare benefits to pass a drug test.
Now, people who fail the test can still pick up or pick somebody else to receive the kid's benefits, so they are trying to make sure kids don't suffer from this. Several top Florida Democrats call this law unconstitutional, as well as an invasion of privacy.
Also, a lot of people in Wisconsin are spending the holiday weekend, having to clean up, after a line of fast-moving storms hit the northwestern part of that state. At least one person killed, another 40 hurt. The storms demolished buildings, ripped the roof off several homes. Emergency crews and residents spent Saturday picking through that debris.
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TOM PLUNKETT, PROPERTY DAMAGED: There's the pontoon. And it's still on the lift. But it came from over there. I mean, this really surprised me.
LORI MORGAN, PROPERTY DAMAGED: And we had the camper, the boat and truck and all of them were demolished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Let's say good morning to Reynolds Wolf now.
Reynolds, you are telling -- I couldn't remember which area you said. But some places not Wisconsin, are they done?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They are in the clear for now.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: But now, we're seeing all that rough weather begins to develop its way towards parts of the Eastern Board. So, this morning, if you have been in New York, you may have had some rainfall this morning. And we're going to see a few thunderstorms also in spots like, say, Springfield, perhaps even Boston before the day is out.
Further south in Philadelphia, you had some rain early, now, things are going to clear up for a little bit. But there is a chance for something redeveloping back a bit further back to your west as we cruise our way down towards the nation's capital, there are still some thunderstorms early, but now, again, drier air now, and back again from the west. It looks like a better day.
Meanwhile, out towards Missouri, in St. Louis, you're in the clear for the time being, but back out towards I-29, from Omaha, southward to Kansas City, we see some strong storms developing, possibly some flash flooding in spots like Maryville. So, just keep that in mind.
Now, for the big weather makers -- the reason why it's happening in those areas, very simple, here it is. We've got this area of high pressure, but right below that, a boundary, that's frontal boundary, which extends from just parts of the Northeast, all the way through portions of the Midwest and the Ohio Valley, that's where you're going to see your best chance of storms. Even into the afternoon, we might see some were up because the daytime heating could make for a very unstable air mass.
Any flight you might have today, maybe to Nashville, perhaps even to places like Louisville, you will have a few bumps in the atmosphere. No question.
Along parts of the Gulf Coast, the situation is going to be basically what you'd expect this time of the year. A lot of the sea breeze -- daytime thunderstorms are possibility. In the desert southwest, the heat is just going to be intense in many locations.
In fact, for Albuquerque, 94; 97 in El Paso, 82 in Chicago -- as we make our way back to the Great Lakes -- 91 in Washington, 93 in Atlanta, 87 in Miami. And back towards the West Coast, San Francisco, 80 degrees, certainly warm for this time of the year.
As we wrap things up, let's give you a little more of a closer specs of desert southwest, because this is really where the heat is going to be the most brutal. In fact, in Phoenix, you have an extreme heat advisory, 110 expected; Yuma 108, 105 in Tucson, I know they say it's a dry heat, but hot, and this is going to be blazing. Ninety-one in Gallup, 94 in Albuquerque and 95 in Los Cruces.
That is your forecast, T.J., let's pitch it back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, I appreciate you. You've been covering the weather for 50 states. How much more complicated would it be if you had one more state to cover?
WOLF: The more, the merrier.
HOLMES: The more, the merrier.
WOLF: Good one more on end.
HOLMES: That's what we say, all right? California could be ready to breakup? Why some people are saying that the southern half of California should become now the country's 51st state.
It's 10 past the hour.
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HOLMES: And at 13 past the hour, this Independence Day weekend, a live picture here from the United States Marine Corps War Memorial. This is just outside Arlington National Cemetery, as we know a lot of people will be going to Washington, D.C. this weekend to celebrate the country's birthday. A lot of people are going down to the National Mall, checking out the fireworks.
Wherever you may be, hope you enjoy your Fourth of July weekend.
We will turn to California now where one local lawmaker thinks it will be a good idea for the state to split into a north California and a south California. Yes, a 51st state we would have.
Riverside supervisor Jeff Stone, who is from southern California, wants about a dozen other counties to help form a new state. You see kind of breakdown here on the map. You can see that he doesn't want Los Angeles in his state of southern California, though. That would go to the north.
Stone says the state legislature is out of control. He thinks keeping their tax dollars in southern California is the way to go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF STONE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERVISOR: Our state legislature that's supposed to be making laws and being respected imposes laws that aren't even lawful. So, you know, I think our state is California gone wild.
BRYANT MCDONALD, REDLANDS CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I think the spending, the government we have in Sacramento doesn't properly represent the interests in the people of southern California, certainly in their spending habits. Whether or not it's ever going to happen -- probably not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, this is a possibility that they are discussing right now. It's actually been proposed before, would you believe? It was back in the 1970s that there was talk about splitting California in half. That time, they wanted to go east and west. And in 1982, one politician actually wanted to split the state up three ways.
Well, quarter past the hour now. A man accused of flying across the country last month with a fake boarding pass caused some trouble for an Atlanta man.
Tom Jones from our CNN affiliate WSB has more on a case of mistaken identity that ruined a vacation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGINALD LINDSAY, FORMER SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: I need to be in Nassau, Bahamas, right now, on the beach.
TOM JONES, WSB REPORTER (voice-over): Reginald Lindsay is not in the Bahamas and he blames custom agents at Hartsfield Jackson Airport.
LINDSAY: They abused their authority.
JONES: In a round about way, he also blames this man.
LINDSAY: I don't look anything like this guy.
JONES: Lindsay's nightmare began when he got on an AirTran plane headed for a much-needed holiday vacation. He says custom agents arrived and without telling him why, yanked him off the plane, took him to a room and finger-printed and took his picture.
Later, he says a supervisor came in and whispered.
LINDSAY: He said, "We got the wrong guy. I don't care what you guys do. Put him on a truck, put him on a flatbed, or whatever, but get him back on the plane.
JONES: Customs agents confirmed to me Lindsay was not the man they wanted. Lindsay says an agent mistakenly gave him this picture of the suspect. When agents took Lindsay back to the plane, and the doors were closed, so Lindsay missed the only AirTran flight going out.
He was livid.
LINDSAY: One of the customs guys had the audacity to tell me that I better calm down. Now, how can you tell me that when you've ruined my vacation?
JONES: Lindsay's attorney says his client, a former sheriff's deputy who owns a security firm shouldn't have been treated this way.
MUSA GHANAYEM, LINDSAY'S ATTORNEY: Someone needs to be disciplined for this type of behavior.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We want to turn now -- we want you to see a piece of video now. You don't see this every day. It looks like something out of a movie. But this is not.
This is in Thailand. And this is real. That's a guy in the bomb disposal unit, and the bomb goes off.
But here's the thing -- look at him. He gets right up and walks away. Yes. Apparently, the suits that they wear are effective. They do work.
Now, police say the bomb in the car was actually detonated by somebody who likely was nearby, so they may have just waited to see this bomb explosion expert walk-up to it and then set it off. But, amazingly, and you can see it here one more time from a different angle, the bomb goes off, blows him back, and he gets right up and walks away. Amazing to see.
Also, another piece of video here. Politics, and we know it could be a tough sport sometimes, but this is in the Philippines, where the mayor of this particular city just wails on a guy, repeatedly punching a court officer when he ignored her appeal to postpone the demolition of a shanty town.
Now, that town was built after recent flood. The mayor asked for delay of just two hours so she could mediate tensions between the squatters and the police. But when the court officer wasn't going along with it, she took things into her own fists.
Well, 18 past the hour now. We're going to inside a $70 million wedding. We've got all the details from this weekend's the royal wedding of Monaco's Prince Albert's.
Also, some potential bad news for the bride already.
Stay here for that.
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HOLMES: All right. Twenty minutes past the hour here, and would you believe that Britain's new newlyweds were met by protest when they went to Quebec City.
This is the day they arrived to tour the city. They were greeted by some anti-monarchy protest in one stop. That was in Montreal. They're expecting the same thing to happen in Quebec City today when they get there. A small crowd was protesting their arrival. It's the royal's first trip outside the U.K. as a married couple.
In Montreal, the couple took a cooking class, but they also spent last night on a Canadian naval ship. British media is now calling this the love boat. The royal couple scheduled to make their way to California then on Friday morning.
But Nadia Bilchik here with me.
That's not the old royal wedding. We got a new royal wedding to talk about. This is a big deal yesterday in -- tiny Monaco, big deal.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Big time in Monaco, big wedding, absolutely beautiful wedding.
Let's take a look at this magnificent wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco, who is one of the few monarchs in the world that actually has executive power, and he lives in the palace and the family has lived in the palace since the 13th century. So, you are looking at the bride and she's walking along the palace courtyard, which was transformed into a cathedral for the day. If you notice behind her, that the flower girls with their interesting straw hats. But she's in her Giorgio Armani gown.
And again, this is the palace that they say was taken over in the 1200's by a Grimaldi who was disguised as a monk and literally (INAUDIBLE) took it over.
HOLMES: A lot of history here.
BILCHIK: So, for 700 years, the Grimaldis have been living in this beautiful space. And then they are, it was a somber ceremony, beautiful entertainment.
HOLMES: Now, you mentioned this earlier. It was a -- like it didn't look like a festive and happy, a joyous occasion. What was going on?
BILCHIK: Well, maybe the whole Catholic ritual, the idea that he really is the executor of Monaco. But it was fairly -- you know, fairly somber. There was unbelievable entertainment. You had Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, you had Renee Fleming.
But, for me, the highlight, T.J., they had a woman singing the famous Miriam Makeba click song (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: Of course.
BILCHIK: Do you know click? (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: Oh, wow.
BILCHIK: So let's go to hear her singing --
HOLMES: Oh, you got some of it for us. OK.
BILCHIK: (INAUDIBLE)
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BILCHIK: Can you do that?
HOLMES: I cannot do that.
BILCHIK: Well, the thing is, this is the celebration of her South African roots.
HOLMES: Now, this is probably the highlight of the wedding, this is the one-time people seemed to jump up and get a little energy on.
BILCHIK: Absolutely. Everybody seems to get into the vibe. Sing along. And again celebrating the fact that the bride, although born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, and she met Albert in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics. She was an Olympian backstroke simmer. He was a bobsledder. So they have sports in common.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: And South Africans are static about one of their own has become a princess.
HOLMES: OK. Now, I don't want to be the downer here. Now, we know there's some history in Monaco. Some bad luck, really, with some of the royal couples there.
But this one in particular, you and I talked about, there were rumors that she was possibly a runaway bride. She had learned something right before the wedding, and she was leaving. They knocked that down, not the case.
But now, what do we know?
BILCHIK: Now, we hope the fairytale does not turn into some kind of nightmare because yesterday, there were reports that there was a third illegitimate child from Albert of Monaco. So, who knows? Is it true or isn't it? And will our beautiful, beautiful fairytale princess have to deal with all kinds of other obstacles? And will that Grimaldi curse be upon her?
HOLMES: Well, hope not. So far so good. I know it's just getting started. But a beautiful wedding yesterday. Just those royal brides --
BILCHIK: And an official news of a third paternity suit in Monaco.
HOLMES: She knew about the first two, and that was public knowledge. But this, we will see.
Nadia, thank you. I hate to end on a low note. It was such a beautiful ceremony. Nadia, thank you.
BILCHIK: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: We'll work on that in the commercial break.
All right. We're 24 minutes past the hour.
You know that password to your computer? Is it actually a password? After the break, we'll tell you why it's a bad idea. And we'll show you how to come up with a stronger password.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, computer hackers have made it into some big companies recently, like Sony, Citigroup, and a lot of customer's private passwords went public.
But I asked our digital lifestyle expert, Mario Armstrong, for some tips on how to make computer passwords harder to hack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: The longer the password, it's actually better, man. This is really important because so much identity theft can happen so easily from having the wrong password.
So, here's the bottom line. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers found that they could crack an eight-character password in two hours. But for a 12-character password, the same process would take 17,134 years. So, I say go with at least 10-character password or more to be safe.
HOLMES: That is a good tip.
The other thing, a lot of us just use letters and numbers. That's a bad idea?
ARMSTRONG: Yes, because there's only 26 letters in the alphabet, and numbers, you know, there's only but so many you're going to use in a password, one through zero, or one through, you know, all the way up to nine, and then zero. So, you want to use numbers, letters and symbols, but also, upper and lower case. That actually matters when doing a password.
You have to make this so hard that basically hackers can't use software to crack that code. And the more complexity you put into the password, the harder it becomes.
HOLMES: Oh, yes, and more complexity you put in there, the harder it becomes and the harder it is to remember.
ARMSTRONG: To remember.
HOLMES: We've got -- no, really, we've got our bank accounts, we have a password. We had all this stuff at work. We have hot mail and e-mail. We have credit cards, things online, bill pay.
OK. How are we supposed to keep up with all these passwords?
ARMSTRONG: Yes. So, one way to do it is to create sentences or phrases that are similar but different for different services. So, for example, you might want to create a phrase that just says, "I love my son, 5 times his birthday." And maybe that's for your email, or for certain web accounts. And maybe you take that same type of phrase but have variations of it for different accounts.
That way, it's not the same exact password, but makes it a little bit easier for you to remember long term.
HOLMES: OK. No, no, Maria, we are not going to remember that. You know how many things you log into. You are not going to remember all these unless you write them down somewhere. Can we keep a file somewhere? Should we keep it in our wallet, should we do something like that? But come on, man, you're not going to remember all that stuff?
ARMSTRONG: You can. But, T.J., seriously, you can remember it if you really start to memorize a little bit --
HOLMES: Stop it.
ARMSTRONG: All right. I don't know -- I don't know if you don't have enough random access memory in your brain there, but apparently not. So, maybe you need to flush out some old memories and replace it with some new ones. But you bring out a really good point. So, you can -- I wouldn't suggest necessarily writing these down, although and I know people that do that. But I would say that you could create what's called a digital wallet. And so, there are software services. One is for free, called KeePassX. And that way, they can store all of your passwords in an encrypted file so that you could have access to that when you need it.
However, if you want to just be safe, I guess you could right around on a sheet of paper at home. But I certainly wouldn't put a document. I know someone in my family put a document on their computer and called it the password document. That's not smart.
HOLMES: OK. I have one of those, Mario. I am not kidding you. I have one of those.
ARMSTRONG: OK, good. Well, it's good to hear.
HOLMES: I have one of those accounts right now because I am logged on to five different things right now at work, and there are 15 to 20, seriously, at home. That's a lot of words. There's a lot of upper case and lower case, but you're saying don't write them down.
And also, we should never ever use the same password for all these things, right? No matter how complicated that one password is.
ARMSTRONG: Because, T.J., you are only as strong as your weakest link. So, if you use the same password for your bank account, as you do, say, for e-mail, if your email or like Sony PlayStation, you get hit, they would have the same access with the same information to basically log into your bank account.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And of course, he joins us every CNN SATURDAY MORNING, 8:00 Eastern Time. It's our digital lifestyle expert, Mario Armstrong. Check out the latest technology.
All right, on this holiday weekend, what would you say -- you see a plane flying in the sky over a Fourth of July picnic had a banner going behind it behind it that says, "Godless America", not "God Bless America", "Godless America. I'm going to talk to a man who wants that to make that happen on the Fourth. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're about at the bottom of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Welcome back, I'm T.J. Holmes.
Let's turn to our "Faces of Faith" segment this morning. And we have got an interesting conversation for you.
Listen to this, do you have to believe in God to be a patriotic American? Well, American atheists will tell you no. And to spread their message, they are hiring planes to carry banners across the sky on July 4th that read, "Godless America" and "Atheism is Patriotic". And as you might imagine that isn't going over well in some places at least. Pilots in many states are refusing to carry the banners.
Joining me now to talk about this campaign is Rick Wingrove. He's the Virginia State Director for the group American Atheists. He joins me this morning. Sir, we appreciate you being here.
Let's start with the very basics to make sure we have this right. People hear atheist and hear it thrown around all the time. Essentially what we're talking about here, people simply don't believe in God, do we have that right?
RICK WINGROVE, VIRGINIA STATE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN ATHEISTS: That's -- that's the short answer, yes.
HOLMES: That's a short answer. We'll stick with that one this morning. So let's -- why the campaign? Why is it necessary? Why did you think it was important to try and get this message out on the Fourth of July?
WINGROVE: Well, it's an important American holiday. And it's kind of a coming out party for us and we just want to let people know that about 35 to 40 million Americans are atheists. Well, we also want to use this event to dispel some mythology that -- that atheists are not patriots and that America is a Christian nation.
Many atheists, myself included, are veterans and we just want to make sure that people understand it. Our country is not a Christian nation and we are constitutional democracy --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Where -- where do you think --
WINGROVE: -- an official religion is prohibited by our constitution.
HOLMES: Do you really think that people, when they hear atheist they kind of -- I wouldn't say automatically, but still that in some way in your mind equates or for them that you're not patriotic. Do you get that response from people?
WINGROVE: We do get some of that, yes. Part of it has to do with the Pledge of Allegiance.
HOLMES: Yes.
WINGROVE: When that became a -- when the words "Under God" were inserted, it became a Christian pledge and when we're unable to say that because it is a Christian pledge, we're excluded and some people take that as a -- a lack of patriotism.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Now Mr. Wingrove help -- WINGROVE: That is just not true. That is not fact based.
HOLMES: Ok help some people with at least the phrase, "Godless America". Now, some people and certainly have their own -- their own religious beliefs, and they are very strong religious beliefs. And some would take that as offensive, like, ok, you believe what you want to believe, that's fine, but why "Godless America?"
WINGROVE: Well again, it's just an introduction to the fact that there are millions, tens of millions of Americans who are atheists who do not believe in deities of any kind.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And -- and Sir, do you --
(CROSSTALK)
WINGROVE: And the banners, there are actually two banners, there's the "Godless America", and then there is "Atheism is Patriotic".
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Ok do you --
WINGROVE: What found it -- atheism is actually consistent with the constitution.
HOLMES: Ok now -- do you want people in this campaign, you say kind of an introduction -- a coming out party if you will. You -- do you want people to see things your way to come over to your side, to proselytize if you will those folks. Or you simply want to dispel some of the rumors and myths and want to make sure your -- I guess, atheists are seen as patriotic or do you really want people to -- to convert them, if you will?
WINGROVE: We're not trying to convert anybody. We're fine with freedom of religion. It is the religions who are not for freedom of religion. Most religions insist on religious belief, that's Christianity and Islam and any other proselytizing religion, most of them insist on belief.
We don't have that and as a result, we are our -- our system is more consistent with the Constitution.
HOLMES: And last thing here sir, I know you've run into some issues, some resistance. You have tried at least, to get people in all 50 states to fly these banners for you with these planes, but that hasn't been the case. Tell me what your numbers are and what some of the responses have been for the folks who refused to fly those banners?
WINGROVE: Well, we are flying in 25 or 26 states. We had a lot of refusals in -- in half of the states. Pilots refuse to fly the banners, to take our money and some cited the fear of being shot at, some cited the fear of being divorced if they flew our message.
HOLMES: Well, well we don't want that, do we? I don't think you want that either. But still -- sir, we appreciate you taking the time with us. Again, something interesting that got a lot of people talking around the news room and certainly people out there, our viewers as well have been talking about it. But we appreciate you taking the time, and you enjoy the Fourth.
WINGROVE: Thank you, T.J. You, too.
HOLMES: All right, for our viewers. If you'd like to read more about this story leave a comment and go to CNN.com\belief.
Well, we've been telling you about this morning, another state has legalized same-sex unions. This is Rhode Island this time. They legalized civil unions. The Governor, Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law yesterday. It will give same-sex couples a bunch of new state tax breaks, health care benefits other legal perks, but some still saying this is not going far enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel that civil unions create a second- class citizenry for the thousands of gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, the bill sailed through the state Senate last week despite some pretty strong opposition.
And I know it's early, I know its Sunday, I know its breakfast time, but it's time for Candy after the break.
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HOLMES: All right. We're about 17 minutes and 55 seconds away from Candy Crowley. You don't have to wait that long, though, Candy is here with me right now. And good morning Candy, how are you?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Good morning. I am very good, thank you. Happy Fourth to you.
HOLMES: Happy Fourth to you as well. I was hoping to be up there with you guys in D.C. on this Fourth of July. It didn't quite work out for me, maybe next time.
CROWLEY: I'll tell you there's nothing like Washington, D.C. on July Fourth. You have to do it sometime.
HOLMES: Oh you have to tell me that now.
But no, good to have you here, but you are talking to Senator John McCain this morning. What's on his mind?
CROWLEY: Among others. Well he is on a tour of Afghanistan and Turkey. He likes to try to visit the troops on July Fourth. As you know, he's been a critic of the President's withdrawal plan, so obviously we want to know whether he has seen anything there that changes his mind.
And obviously, John McCain, his bailiwick -- has been foreign policy. He's also been a very strong supporter of U.S. action in Libya. In fact, he thinks it should have been more aggressive. So we want to talk about that as well.
HOLMES: Ok. Well, I can't let you go without talking a little presidential politics. It's kind of -- how -- how is this being received, the President -- a lot came out of his press conference last week and how he kind of went at Democrats and Republicans, saying hey, even my kids know when to get their work done.
I mean, how is this -- how is this playing? It looks like he at least got the Senate to stick around and not take a full Fourth of July holiday?
CROWLEY: He did, but the question is, are they going to get anything done?
HOLMES: Yes.
CROWLEY: And I think the answer is probably not at least as far as the debt ceiling is concerned. They weren't all that happy. There were even some Democrats that I talked to over the course of the week who thought it was just a tiny bit lecturing. And -- I can assure you that the one branch of government on one end of Pennsylvania Avenue does not like to be lectured to by the White House. So there was that.
But look if this get things going, it did make them stay in, and maybe this will give some of those who are trying to work out a deal on the debt ceiling a little more time to try and come up with an answer. But they are running out of time since August 2nd at least, the Treasury has said again, reiterated, August 2nd is sort of -- you know, midnight we all turn into pumpkins because that's about the time that they're not going to be able to pay some of their bills.
Now, Republicans don't actually totally believe that.
HOLMES: Yes.
CROWLEY: They think it's a little artificial. But nonetheless, that's -- that's what's going on.
HOLMES: All right, Candy well, good morning to you happy Fourth to you. You enjoy --
CROWLEY: Thank you. Thank you.
HOLMES: But to our viewers you can see Candy and she'll also have a special segment on making it in America. Talking about the American dream by Candy, coming your way, just about 15 minutes, right here on CNN, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific Time. You know, the White House has released information on just how much the staff is getting paid. The maximum salary is just over $172,000. 21 people are on that list, including the President's press secretary and homeland security secretary. Around a third of the staff makes over $100,000 a year, but even more than that make less than $50,000 a year. As you know, the President makes about $400,000 a year.
A lot of people thinking about buying a new car; CNN.com has come up with a list of the biggest rip-offs to listen out for. One of them is "This car is just perfect for you. Trust me on this." If you are counting on the salesmen to find the best car for you, you probably screwed up already.
Also, something else; if you hear this, "Sorry, but your credit is awful." Ok. That's your fault. If you hear that, you should know what your credit is already so you don't need to depend on them to tell you. The best approach is always have your financing arranged before you even walk into the door.
Also, if someone tells you to check out this low monthly payment, you are about to get just a bad deal. It's easy to shrink a monthly payment if you stretch out the loan over years, of course. A long loan means more interest and you'll probably end up owing more than it's worth if you try to trade or sell the car.
One bit question that a lot of sales people will ask you and the wrong answer will cost you a lot of money. That question and the answer after the break.
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HOLMES: Before the break we told you about some of the biggest car-buying rip-off lines at a dealership. Now for the question that could really cost you the money and that is: What if something goes wrong? This is where you'll hear the term "extended warranty".
Now, most cars these days come with warranties; they cover the biggest expenses like the engine and transmission for five to ten years. Now, just about everything else is covered for at least three years. You will probably get rid of the car before you will ever need an extended warranty. You buy it, you're probably going to waste the money.
Now we turn to business news. Stores are reporting a rise in shoplifting. Also this is being interpreted as a sign of economic recovery. You believe that?
Felicia Taylor has that story but first, Poppy Harlow has the week ahead on Wall Street.
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POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there T.J. Well, once Wall Street returns from the long holiday weekend, it will be all eyes on Friday when we get the government monthly jobs report. Economists are calling for a gain of roughly 90,000 U.S. jobs in June and that would a follow a much weaker than expected gain in May. The jobless rate meantime is expected to tick down just slightly but that often happens when people stop looking for work and are no longer counted in the unemployment rate.
Before we do get the jobs report, investors will focus on retail sales from last month. Since consumer spending is such a critical part of the economy, they'll watch those numbers very closely. And we'll follow it all on CNN Monday -- Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks Poppy.
Bank of America is paying $8.5 billion to settle claims from investors for fraudulent mortgage securities that it sold. It's the biggest payout so far in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement fine will go to the New York Fed, MetLife and Goldman Sachs among others. As a result Bank of America expects to post a second quarter loss of up to $9 million. But executives feel it's a major step forward for the bank in eliminating the risks associated with mortgage issue. And investors, they are just happy to close this chapter -- Felicia.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks Alison.
The latest sign of an economic recovery, shoplifting is back. According to a National Retail Federation survey a spike in stealing could very well mean the economy is on the upswing. Retailers lost billions more in 2010 from theft, than they did in 2009 during the heart of the recession.
The NRF believes during tough times, retail employees are more afraid of being caught and fired so they're less likely to steal. But when the economy improves and the chance of finding another job improves, workers take more risk and theft goes back up -- T.J. back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Well, a lot of people are out there asking, you may be asking as well. Are we going to see NFL football this year or not? An update on the lockout, next.
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HOLMES: The "STATE OF THE UNION with Candy Crowley is coming your way in just about six minutes. First let me give you a check of some of the stories making headlines today.
Court is now in session with the Casey Anthony murder trial; the Florida mother, of course, accused of killing her two-year-old daughter.
Closing arguments are set to begin here in just a few moments. The jury could get the case today. The court spokesman said they will deliberate through the Fourth of July holiday.
Also Greek police have arrested the captain of a U.S. ship carrying American activist who was trying to sail to Gaza. The Greek Coast Guard turned back the ship called "The Audacity of Hope" yesterday. It's one of several ships that went to challenge Israel's sea blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Also America's last space shuttle scheduled to blast off Friday morning. The four-member crew of Atlantis will arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida tomorrow. CNN will bring you live coverage of liftoff tomorrow.
As NASA prepares for the very last shuttle launch, CNN is there. We talk to the NASA team as they prepare for "BEYOND ATLANTIS, THE NEXT FRONTIER", it's a CNN Special Investigation tonight, 8:00 Eastern Time.
Well, NFL camp usually starts in July, this month, but NFL players and owners not talking to each other necessarily right now. Many are worried the lockout could start hurting team readiness, and wondering why the two sides just can't make this happen; get to some kind of agreement.
Here now is our Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're nearly four months into the NFL lockout and still no deal in place as owners and players argue over how to split up over $9 billion in annual revenue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pathetic.
JOHNS: To say fans are getting testy would be putting it mildly. James Brown, a nationally known NFL sportscaster offers his take.
JAMES BROWN, NFL SPORTSCASTER: I would like to think that prudent heads will prevail in coming up with something that effectively is a win-win situation and doesn't alienate your fan base.
When you look at folks who are dealing with day-to-day issues being cut back to 90 percent and 80 percent of their workweek and 90 percent and 80 percent of their pay and more, or others losing their jobs, home foreclosures, one has to be very sensitive to that.
JOHNS: President Obama is already on the record saying work it out. He did it with a little tone in his voice.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For an industry that is making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way, and be true to their fans who are the ones who obviously allow for all the money that they are making. So my expectation and hope is that they will resolve it, without me intervening, because it turns out I have a lot of other stuff to do. JOHNS: Owners say the economic model changed and that there is a need to restructure, but with the average career span of a player at about six years, players are reluctant. Fans we talked to tend to side with the players, but they also say get a deal done already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a business, and they can come to a win- win situation. I don't think it has to be a win-lose. I really don't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think both sides should just end it and get back to what they do.
JOHNS: As for the product on the field -
BROWN: I think absolutely the product will suffer if in fact, training camps are delayed in a very significant fashion. And certainly one of the biggest concerns are injuries.
JOHNS: If a deal is not reached soon, training camps, pre-season game and the regular season would be in jeopardy, and stadiums like this one would go empty, meaning less revenue, which is something nobody wants.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Joe Johns. Let's say hello once again to our Reynolds Wolf. I know folks concerned about that Fourth of July forecast. It's going to cooperate for most, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. It is going to cooperate in any number of ways. I mean, you know, you have family togetherness; you have a chance to have some kind of burned up food. Come on let's be honest, everybody tries to be the best at barbecuing, but you always have that family member that always scorches it, be throwing barbecue (INAUDIBLE) and a smile and you enjoy the beautiful fireworks, like these, the Freedom Pass.
Let's go right to Provo, Utah, here is the LaVell Edwards Stadium, home of the BYU Cougars. Don't we Americans love explosions? Sure you do. I know I do. T.J. is a fan. The louder the explosion, the more fun; it happens to be a beautiful time to celebrate this Fourth of July. All right.
You will be dodging some rain drops out there unfortunately for parts of the Mid-Atlantic states, even in parts of the northeast. It's going to happen. There is the frontal boundary, interacting with that moisture. You're going to have maybe a rumble of thunder across parts of the Midwest and south of the Great Lakes out to the West.
Sunshine yes, but at the same time you're going to have plenty of heat out there. Highs in parts of the deserts out west; 84 in Flagstaff, 110 in Phoenix, 105 in Tucson, Las Vegas with 109. In Salt Lake City, very warm there with 100, 70 in Seattle, 96 in Billings and for Los Angeles, 77.
Let's move back towards the East; Chicago, 81 the expected high, 86 in Minneapolis, 98 in Memphis. T.J., call your parents. I bet they're going have a warm time for this Fourth of July. 102 in Dallas and 91 in Washington and 97 -- or 79, rather, in Boston; Boston, I almost gave you 90-degree heat. Wouldn't you hate that to happen?
T.J. let's pitch it back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds appreciate you buddy. Thank you so much.
And to our viewers, we appreciate you spending part of your Fourth of July weekend here with us. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July. We'll see you back here next weekend.
Right now it's time for Candy.
