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CNN Saturday Morning News
Remembering Betty Ford; What's Next For NASA?; Scandal Buries "News of the World"; Hatmaker to the Future Queen; Jobs and the Campaign
Aired July 09, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning to you. I'm Susan Hendricks in today for T.J. Holmes.
Betty Ford has died. She's being remembered today for speaking out about her own problems and for changing the role of first lady.
Also, Britain's newest royal couple, William and Catherine are in California today. From ponies to celebrities, it promises to be a very busy day.
And the final shuttle has been launched into space. We will look ahead to what's next for NASA.
We begin this morning with the death of former first lady Betty Ford. She was 93 years old. Ford was surrounded by family when she passed away last night. She became first lady back in 1974 when her husband Gerald Ford took over following the resignation of Richard Nixon. But her greatest legacy may be the contribution she made to the battle against addiction.
Here what President Obama had to say about her passing. He says, "Today we take comfort in the knowledge that Betty and her husband former President Gerald Ford are together once more. Michele and I he says, send our thoughts and prayers to their children, Michael, John, Steven and Susan."
And this from Nancy Reagan, "I was deeply saddened this afternoon when I heard of Betty Ford's death. She has been an inspiration to so many through her efforts to educate women about breast cancer and her wonderful work at the Betty Ford Center. She was Jerry Ford's strength through some very difficult days in our country's history and I admire her courage in facing her personal struggles with all of us." Again that was from Nancy Reagan.
One of Betty Ford's greatest attributes was her candor. She wasn't afraid to speak out. It is something that set her apart from other first ladies.
CNN's special correspondent Soledad O'Brien has more on her life and her legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rarely was there a first lady whose human qualities stood out more than Betty Ford.
By her husband at all times, here for a visit by President Bush, she was strong, active, and, most of all, candid.
BETTY FORD, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: It has been the outgrowth of my own health that has made it possible for me to go ahead and, in my way, share what I learned with others.
O'BRIEN: Before 1974, it was almost unheard of for a first lady to publicly mention personal problems. In the first year of her husband's presidency, she announced she had breast cancer and would undergo a mastectomy.
But it is this that will be her greatest legacy, the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse.
SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think she educated a generation that needed education, that needed support in how to deal with these problems.
O'BRIEN: Mrs. Ford disclosed publicly that she had for years abused alcohol and had become dependent on prescription drugs -- the first major political figure to openly address a problem that plagued millions.
JOHN SCHWARZLOSE, DIRECTOR, BETTY FORD CENTER: It has been, from the very first day, a place to any man or woman who wanted help.
JEFFE: It made it unnecessary to hide the reality of substance abuse. And I think that was a contribution that Betty Ford made.
O'BRIEN: She wrote in considerable detail about her battles. She authorized a made-for-TV movie, "The Betty Ford Story."
GERALD FORD, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She felt and I felt and the children felt that if the story was told well and we had faith in David Rupert (ph), that it could be I immeasurably beneficial.
O'BRIEN: She married Gerald Ford just after World War II and just before he ran for Congress for the first time, and she was by his side from then on. She was her own woman, speaking out for abortion rights and women in the workplace.
Mrs. Ford kept largely out of the public eye in her later years. Most Americans saw her for the first time in more than a decade when she was given the place of honor at both the funeral and burial of her husband. It was a four-day period of national mourning and although she looked fragile, she never wavered.
And the treatment center that she helped create will be a memorial for generations to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: She has certainly helped millions and millions of people. She will be missed. Out of Texas now, a moment of silence in Arlington last night for a baseball fan who suffered fatal injuries after falling from the stands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask that each of you join the athletics, the Texas Rangers, and all of Major League Baseball as we observe a silent moment of reflection and respect for Brownwood Texas firefighter Shannon Stone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Such a devastating story. Shannon Stone died when he was trying to catch a ball for his six-year-old son that was thrown into the stands by one of the Texas Rangers players. He died right in front of his son. The Rangers have set up a memorial fund for his family.
In Orlando, it appears the family feud between Casey Anthony and her mother Cindy is still going. A spokesman for the Orange County jail says Casey denied her mother's request to visit last night. Tuesday, the 25-year-old was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee. Casey Anthony is due to be released from jail a week from tomorrow.
The world's newest country is raising their flag for the first time. It happened this morning. It is Independence Day there for south Sudan. People voted overwhelmingly in January to form their own country. It is roughly the size of Texas.
Dignitaries from around the world are attending celebrations in a new capital of Juba. President Obama released this statement last hour, quote, "After so much struggle by the people of south Sudan, the United States of America welcomes the birth of a new nation," unquote.
In Syria, more protests in those anti-government demonstrations are becoming a greater diplomatic issue between the U.S. and Damascus. The Syrian government is accusing U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford of inciting protests like this one that happened yesterday in Hamma (ph). The U.S. State Department calls that, quote, "absolute rubbish."
More arrests in the "News of the World" scandal in Britain. British Prime Minister David Cameron's former press secretary turned himself in. He was released, though. He was editor of the paper at the time of the scandal, before being hired by Cameron. He quit his government job earlier this year. Employees of the tabloid newspaper hacked into the voicemail of a murdered girl and erased messages. This week, owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the paper. The paper's former royal correspondent was also arrested yesterday.
Britain's newest royal couple will spend their first full day in California. Prince William and his new wife Kate arrived yesterday. They will attend a star-studded event in LA tonight. There's the famous soccer star, right, David Beckham. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts dinner is tonight. Prince William is the president of Bafta. Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and Tom Hanks are all expected to be there. It will be a full day for the royal couple even before that black tie event. Part of it will be spent fueling the prince's passion playing polo.
CNN's Max Foster has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During their tour of Canada, the royal couple showed their competitive sides in dragon boats and in street hockey shoot-outs. William may need some more practice with that hockey stick, but in California, he'll be in more familiar territory with a sport he knows and loves -- polo.
EBE SIEVWRIGHT, POLO PLAYER, FRIEND OF PRINCE WILLIAM: William grew up playing polo. He's been around it. He was watching it from before he could ride and as soon as he was on a horse he would have started playing. He's played with a lot of the best players in the world. So he would have been able to learn from them and of course his father coaching him.
FOSTER: William and his brother Harry grew up watching their father play in fund-raising matches. The sport is in the family blood. So there's a reason why they call it the sport of kings.
SIEVWRIGHT: The princes and their schedules, which involve pretty much doing every single activity on the planet as well as trying to play polo which is an incredible feat if you think about it.
FOSTER: As gentlemanly as it seems though, polo is tough and it's not without its risks.
SIEVWRIGHT: It's a high contact sport and yes, Prince Charles sustained a lot of injuries. I think he had broken every bone in his body at one point.
FOSTER: In today's charity match in Santa Barbara, you'll see polo at its very best. Top players from the U.S. team including Captain Nick Roland, who expects to see William's competitive side coming out.
NICK ROLAND, US POLO TEAM CAPTAIN: There's always a competitive side to us. You know, William is very competitive and so is Harry and I think when they're both on the field, it becomes more, you can tell.
FOSTER: The duchess doesn't play, but will present the trophy to the winner, slightly awkward if that's not her husband, but all in a good cause. Max Foster, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Again, the royal couple spending their first full day in California today. Shuttle Atlantis blasts into space, this mission marking the end of one era in space. Just ahead, we'll take a look at NASA's next giant leap.
Here's a question for you, how many shuttle missions have taken place over the last 30 years? I'll have the answer right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Before the break I asked you how many shuttle missions have taken place over the last 30 years. Here's the answer: 134 missions covering a half billion miles of flights. The current and last mission, is the 135th, historical day, certainly.
It is the first full day in space by the way for this last mission. It started with the perfect launch yesterday. The final four shuttle astronauts are now headed for the international space station. This last mission may mark the end of the shuttle program, but it is not the end of NASA.
Our Josh Levs is here again.
And Josh, NASA has something within reach. When you think about the final mission, you think, wait a minute, maybe it's the end of NASA. That's what a lot of people were thinking. JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're trying to project this message that it's not. By the way, wasn't that launch absolutely beautiful?
HENDRICKS: It brought tears to a lot of peoples' eyes.
LEVS: Just amazing what humans can accomplish. In two minutes they're up in space. But you're right, NASA is trying to make sure everyone understands that there's a lot more plans. NASA is insisting that the U.S. will stay at the forefront of space exploration. Jus the other day when the head of NASA was talking about this, this is the first thing he pointed to.
Take a look here. This is actual video, it's not an animation. This is an asteroid called Vesta (ph) and in just a matter of days, on July 16th, a U.S. spacecraft, the Dawn is expected to arrive at its orbit around this asteroid.
What's so cool about this, why I'm showing it to you, you can see this thing in the night sky. It's the only asteroid that is visible to the naked eye and it's only this month and next. It's reflecting a lot of light, so you can actually at night go out and look at that asteroid and know that a U.S. spacecraft is about to get there, the Dawn.
HENDRICKS: You can show off, go outside and say you know what that is. So for two months you can see it?
LEVS: Yes. It's going to be even brighter in August than it is right now. NASA has this animation as well. These images are going to help scientists understand the evolution of the planet and could help the U.S. plan a mission to Mars, which is something else that NASA is saying it's absolutely committed to still.
This here is the plan for the next Mars rover, the Curiosity. That's supposed to head to Mars in November. It would land in August 2012. NASA says it is going to stay in the lead, also unmanned space flight. Here's what Administrator Charles Bolden said just the other day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES BOLDEN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: So when I hear people say or listen to the media reports that the final shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human space flight, I have to tell you, you all must be living on another planet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Living on another planet, he said. He said NASA wants U.S. astronauts to travel on private space missions and they're working on new types of vehicles to eventually bring people to space. I'm actually going to show you one of those new vehicles in the 10:00 a.m. hour Eastern 7:00 a.m. Pacific.
HENDRICKS: So we do want to get this right. Exploration is far from over. If we're talking about Mars, it's far from over. Then you think about the money and the budget that NASA has.
LEVS: This is why a lot of people are wary of these claims that the U.S. will stay at the forefront. Right now we have to see how the next budget is going to shake out.
As we all know, the budget for next fiscal year still doesn't exist in any kind of final form. They're still wrangling in Washington. NASA has had a budget of $19 billion this year. It's almost definitely going to get slashed to some extent. Every proposal out there slashes it to some extent. So they're waiting to see how much will be lost and what NASA will have to sacrifice.
Again, a lot more details for all of you up on the web. Take a look. I have it on Facebook and Twitter I'm @joshlevscnn. We've posted all the new technologies I'm telling you about today.
Also we're talking about this debate should the U.S. be in the forefront, how legitimate of value is this financially in working out the budget.
HENDRICKS: And when you think about people who may not have jobs and a trip to Mars, you see why they cut the budget there.
LEVS: You got to cut somewhere.
HENDRICKS: All right Josh, appreciate it. Good to see you, thanks.
How about this, after five days at sea adrift, the U.S. Coast Guard pulls two fishermen out of the water. It is next as we go cross country. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Checking stories making headlines across country.
The U.S. Coast Guard rescues two fishermen who were adrift for five days in the Pacific Ocean. Their boat lost power on Monday. One of the men texted a relative who then called authorities. Both fishermen are said to be OK.
And check out this, another rescue captured on tape this time in California. Two hikers were pulled from the Tahoe national forest yesterday. One of them, the rescued man, caught this footage of the rescue with a chest mounted camera, pretty neat. They posted the video online in support of rescue workers to say look, it works, at a time when counties are considering cutting costs.
The mayor of a small Wisconsin town is fighting to keep his job after his arrest earlier this month on a drunk driving charge. The state patrol released the dash cam video of Robert Harvick's (ph) traffic stop on July 2nd. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Field sobriety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I have your gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you can't have that (INAUDIBLE) .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: He's saying, can I hold your gun? Police are saying no, that's not going to happen. Police say he was three times over the legal limit and he's refusing a call to resign from several members of his city council. He's not resigning, not a good thing.
We turn now to Reynolds Wolf to check out the severe weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HENDRICKS: Remember the movie "Independence Day"? Here is a scene that's a bit reminiscent of that. This is in Arizona. It's in not science fiction or special effects. It happened, a dust cloud, a massive one. What many folks in Arizona saw on Tuesday, July 5th is this, the day after our Independence Day celebration.
Here's another look at it through the Phoenix area. This is a monsoon storm that kicks up desert dust but rarely this size, rarely this big. Some reports had this dust cloud 60 miles wide. It shut down the airport for a while, knocked out power to thousands of people, 60 miles, huge.
This week, Facebook launched a new way to video chat with your friend. How does it compare to the new service Google is developing? We'll compare the two for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Your face may be coming to Facebook. We're talking about video chatting. The social media site unveiled the new feature this week. Those behind Facebook say this will let you connect with your friends face to face.
Digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong is here to show us how it works. And Mario, it sounds a lot like Skype, is that true? Is it like that or is it different?
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Yes, great point.
You know, here's the deal. It is exactly like Skype if you're used to using Skype, you will be used to using Facebook's video chat as well because essentially it's Skype, it's Skype's engine. Skype has partnered with Facebook to make this new feature happen.
HENDRICKS: So, is this a response to what Google was doing, Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook wanted to get in on this and how does it literally work? So you're on Facebook and they see you or you have to want them to see you?
ARMSTRONG: OK. Yes, two things there. Number one, I don't think this was in response to Google plus who's created hangouts which also has a video chat feature. But here's how they kind of compare.
Facebook and Google both will let you chat with people within one or two clicks. It's really easy to do. If you're on Facebook you basically pull up your chat list of friends and you'll see a little green icon whether or not they are online and then when you start -- when you initiate that, you can click a little video icon to start a video with them.
Here's the thing, though, that really kind of separates the two of them. With Facebook you can only do one to one. It's really a video call. I can call you or you call me. If you wanted to have a group chat, you can use that in Google where you can have up to almost 10 different people all on the screen at the same time having a video call.
HENDRICKS: You have to agree to this. What I pictured was kind of a face coming up saying hello, talk to me, hello. So you have to agree to this conversation, right?
ARMSTRONG: That's a great point. But here's a funny thing about that. A lot of people do what I'm showing you here now. They actually will put on top of their web cam a piece of tape because some people are just -- some people are just worried that, you know, will the camera be initiated by accident, could I accidentally accept the call when I'm in my PJs or less.
HENDRICKS: If you see a piece of tape on someone's laptop you know they're hiding something, right? ARMSTRONG: Right or they just don't really trust the system. But I do think this is a good thing. People want to communicate more. Video is big. And we see long distance relationships, even small businesses are starting to benefit from this type of technology. So I do think this is definitely going to be a benefit no matter which service.
HENDRICKS: Is there a price to this?
ARMSTRONG: No, no cost. No cost to use this, at least not now in this way. There have been no fees associated with either of these two features. I don't really suspect that there will be.
HENDRICKS: Mario, appreciate it.
ARMSTRONG: The key question will be though, the key question is whether or not it will happen on our phones next.
HENDRICKS: Then you will see people with tape on their phones walking around. Mario, thank you. Join us every Saturday at this time as our digital lifestyle expert Mario, there he is, gives us the scoop on the latest technology.
He built a media empire on Great Britain and the U.S., but one of his publications will shut down completely tomorrow. Coming up next, will Rupert Murdoch's legacy be tarnished by the cell phone hacking scandal surrounding "News of the World"?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Twenty nine minutes past the hour. Welcome back. I'm Susan Hendricks in this morning for T.J. Holmes. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
Here's what we start with. Former first lady Betty Ford, the widow of late President Gerald Ford, died last night. Beyond her public battle with breast cancer, Mrs. Ford's lasting legacy may be the southern California substance abuse treatment center that bears her name. Betty Ford dies at the age of 93.
In Africa, Congo state news agency is reporting the deaths of at least 90 people after a passenger jet crashed yesterday at an airport in the northeastern part of the country. The plane was trying to land in bad weather when it hit an obstacle on the ground.
In Los Angeles, it is day two of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Tinseltown. Plenty of hand shaking and sightseeing for the recently married royal couple. Today Prince William is set to play in a charity polo match while Kate watches from the stands.
More arrests in a tabloid phone hacking scandal in Britain. Andy Coulson, former aide to Prime Minister David Cameron, turned himself in. He was released though. He was editor of "News of the World" at the time of the scandal. Now, the paper's former royal correspondent was arrested last night. Employees of the tabloid are accused of hacking into people's voicemail accounts and bribing cops for scoops. This week, owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the paper.
"News of the World has reported on some of the biggest scandals in the United Kingdom for more than 150 years. But the British tabloid is shutting down after that investigation involving allegations of phone hacking, also bribing police as I said.
Last hour I spoke with William Shawcross, author of "Murdoch, the Making of a Media Empire." take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: How much do you think or do you know that he knew about these methods that were being used?
WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, AUTHOR, "MURDOCH, THE MAKING OF A MEDIA EMPIRE: He cannot have known because he would have stopped them long ago. They're an absolutely appalling abuse of journalistic procedure. Unforgivable to tap the phone of a murdered school girl or the phones of relatives of troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan and Murdoch would not have tolerated it.
I'm afraid --
(CROSSTALK)
HENDRICKS: When you think about -- I'm sorry about that. When you think about what one done and the despicable things that were done, do you think he made the right call of just canceling it, it's done?
SHAWCROSS: It's a very difficult call because as you said it's a very old, historic paper, which has very great history, though it has committed abuses in the past like all tabloids do. But it's also exposed a lot of fraud and misdeeds; most recently it exposed corruption in the Pakistani cricket team which was an important story.
It's very sad and it's sad for also for the 200 people who work there, it's frightful for them. Many of them will be given jobs in other news -- Murdoch's papers in London. He probably will create a new Sunday paper called "The Sun on Sunday" to go along with his daily paper "The Sun" which is another tabloid in Britain.
HENDRICKS: Mr. Shawcross, some were wondering -- I was reading a lot of articles on this -- if Rupert Murdoch was at all responsible, maybe in a trickled down effect, of kind of creating an atmosphere where people will be willing to do anything to get that story. Who creates that atmosphere there?
SHAWCROSS: I think all newspapers in Britain and in America, too, now are in a terrible situation of Internet is crowding in on them so much, they're losing readers all the time, and it's become very, very much more competitive. And certainly methods used by reporters have become more unscrupulous. The "News of the World" appears to have been the worst offender but there are other newspapers also in tabloids in Britain which have behaved badly and which will be exposed soon I think. As for Murdoch's own position, he's always accused of that by his enemies and he has a lot of enemies, both political and commercial. And they are making hay out of this scandal as you can imagine in Britain, led by the BBC which hates him because he is a rather conservative publisher and the BBC is sort of liberal, left wing, conventional wisdom of our time.
So Murdoch is being really kicked incredibly hard in Britain at the moment. But he's I think a brilliant publisher also and he, without Murdoch and his war against the print unions in the 1980s, there would probably be no British newspapers because until he won that war against the print unions, papers were losing money hand over fist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: By the way, "News of the World" is publishing its last edition tomorrow.
Remember this? We were fascinated at the crazy-looking hats guests wore at William and Catherine's wedding in April. Now the couple is (INAUDIBLE) Los Angeles. Kate's hats may even start a trend here. We will hear from her hat designer next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: The couple of the moment have come to America; in California, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Catherine, arriving in L.A. yesterday.
Nadia Bilchik is joining me again this morning on our passport; Nadia great to see you. The media cannot get enough of the royal couple.
(CROSSTALK)
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: They cannot get enough because they are so beautiful. Think about everything she wears is documented. From her hats to her dresses to even what she wore getting off the plane, that gray dress, beautifully done, very slim like, very simple. She's got very simple, clean kind of tastes.
But it was fascinating because if you think they're in L.A. to promote British business and also their foundation, they have done so well for British business already. Yesterday, I spoke to Vivien Sheriff and she is one of the hat designers, the milliners, the hat designer for women, to Kate Middleton. And here's what she had to say about what Kate Middleton has already done for her hat business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVIEN SHERIFF, HAT DESIGNER: We are in the middle of the rolling Wilshire countryside. We're on converted farm buildings in the middle of nowhere and our business has just turned itself around. I mean we were incredibly busy before, but we are so busy now, it's hilarious. We have people coming to us from, I have to say, from all over the world. They come to this corner of Wiltshire to our studio and they like the fact we're so remote and we aren't in London. And you know, we export to -- we export all over the world but now, you know, we have customers coming to buy from us here which is very exciting.
I was just looking at "Vogue," the new "Vogue" which came out yesterday, you know, there are hats everywhere. Hats are just everywhere; little pillboxes and little shapes. And I think -- you know, I have to say that before they were in the magazines they were on Kate's head which is great, isn't it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILCHIK: Isn't that amazing. She has this tiny little business and it's suddenly flourishing because of the hat that the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, is wearing.
HENDRICKS: Remember that blue dress she wore in her engagement picture, it sold out. You can't get it anywhere. I can imagine if she wears something people want to copy Kate.
BILCHIK: They want to copy Kate. It's very interesting, this afternoon at the polo match, Susan and I will be watching to see if she wears a hat and I want to show you some of the designs that Vivien Sheriff has had that she thinks Kate may be wearing to the event.
You see her there in her little red beret type hat. She wears them so well. That's one of the things Vivien Sheriff said.
HENDRICKS: I was just thinking that. She definitely wears that well. I don't think I could pull it off or many of us couldn't. You could.
BILCHIK: Think how good hats are, it's windy, they keep the hair very much in place. One of the things I was fascinated by and T.J. and I have often discussed this, how do these hats stay in place? That was one of the things I asked Vivien Sheriff. Here's what she has to say about keeping the hats in place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF: A lot of these pieces are held on with Alice bands and a comb. We call them Alice bands. You call them hair bands. It's a very fine hair band that is hidden in the hair and on the bottom of the head piece or fascinator is a comb which fits securely into your hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILCHIK: So let's see what Kate Middleton wears to polo this afternoon.
HENDRICKS: Can't wait. So basically bobby pins are stuck in the head; much fancier bobby pins.
BILCHIK: It's such a procedure but it certainly keeps the hair in place.
HENDRICKS: It does. It looks fancy. Can't wait to see what she wears today.
BILCHIK: Yes. And I want to see you in something other than a baseball hat.
HENDRICKS: I know. I was telling her all I wear is baseball hats. I would be kicked out of the royal wedding or the polo match.
Nadia thank you. Appreciate it.
You know, the unemployment report has now given Republican presidential candidates even more ammunition against the President. We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: To politics now. The issue capturing the most attention on the campaign trail. In a job -- in a word is "jobs." There it is.
CNN's Jim Acosta has more on how the jobs numbers are being seen and used by the Republican presidential candidates.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Susan, based on this jobs report Republicans are feeling a bit more optimistic about sending President Obama to the unemployment line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one.
ACOSTA: reactions from the GOP field to the June jobs report, shot up like a space shuttle.
MICHELE BACHMANN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly the President's policies haven't worked. It's a failure. And I wish it was otherwise, but it has not worked.
ACOSTA: Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney released a web video seizing on comments made by one of President Obama's political advisors, David Plouffe, who said, "People won't vote based on the unemployment rate."
In a statement Romney said, "If David Plouffe were working for me I would fire him and then he could experience firsthand the pain of unemployment."
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Republicans are engaged in a primary campaign trying to get some media attention.
ACOSTA: Sensing the opening just handed to Republicans, the White House still defended Plouffe's comments.
CARNEY: I don't know where the voters, if some other folks might be talking to or -- but most people do not sit around their kitchen table and analyze GDP and unemployment numbers.
ACOSTA: But history has shown as the jobless rate ticks up, chances for re-election go down.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: We've had four times in the last 35 years when a president has run for re-election with unemployment above 7 percent, three out of four times that president went down.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
ACOSTA: In 1980, Ronald Reagan framed the choice in pocketbook terms. No president since Reagan has won re-election with an unemployment rate higher than 6 percent. Reagan did get a second term in 1984 when the rate was 7.2 percent, but Democrats point out unemployment was already at 7.6 percent when President Obama took office. Even then, he was feeling the pressure.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition.
ACOSTA: Which means the President will have to fight harder in battle grounds like Nevada, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina where the jobless rate is higher than the national average and where outside political groups are already sharpening their message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I supported President Obama because he spoke so beautifully, but since then, things have gone from bad to much worse.
GERGEN: There's been a deteriorating sense about Obama, you know, what's the Plan B here and we don't see one. But there's not yet a confidence level in the Republican alternative.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: The man who would like to be that alternative, Mitt Romney, is accusing the White House of turning the audacity of hope into, quote, "the audacity of indifference." But for that line to work, voters will have to believe that Romney, to borrow the phrase from another president, "can feel their pain" -- Susan.
HENDRICKS: Jim Acosta, thank you.
Meanwhile, it is getting to be crunch time in negotiations to raise the nation's debt ceiling. President Obama meets again tomorrow with Congressional leaders at the White House. Live shot for you there in D.C.
Republican leaders say Friday's poor job report supports their argument, tax hikes can't be part of the deal. Democrats and Republicans are trying to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by August 2nd.
Looks nice in D.C. but the upper Midwest and Central Plains run the risk of severe weather today; let's get the details from meteorologist Reynolds Wolf in the weather center. Hi Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi there. You know you're absolutely right. Upper Midwest, namely places like Minneapolis-St. Paul, they have had some rainfall this morning. There's one band of showers came right through; a little rumble of thunder. You might see more into the afternoon.
And earlier we showed you that shot of D.C. Well, in Washington, D.C., you may have some thunderstorms by afternoon also.
Let's go right to the big map and show you the big story as to why we're going to see the rainfall. Well, one of the biggest reasons for much of the Eastern Seaboard is this frontal boundary, this area of low pressure and this long boundary that extends down into parts of the southeast and back into the Central Plains; all that moving east.
And then we have another one that's moving in the upper tier states also through parts of Minnesota. That's also going to bring your other shot of rainfall and possible thunderstorms, especially into the mid to late afternoon as the atmosphere begins to destabilize. In terms of temperatures, we've got some extreme ones for you.
Take a look at this, the heat wave continues for much of the desert southwest, certainly into Texas: 103 in El Paso, 102 in Dallas, 94 degrees in Houston. New Orleans, has a reputation for being a muggy spot this time of year, today it's going to live up to that reputation with a high of 93 degrees; very high humidity, maybe a thunder boomer that might cool you down into the afternoon; in Memphis, 94 degrees; 88 in Chicago; 85 in Minneapolis; and back down to Billings, 86. And then when you get back towards the Pacific Coast, it's a little bit cooler; 74 in Seattle, 79 in Portland and 66 in San Francisco; L.A. with 71; and then, of course, back in Albuquerque 96; and as we head towards Boston, 84; farther south in Tampa and Miami into the 80s and 90s.
That is your forecast. Let's send it right back to you.
HENDRICKS: All right Reynolds. Thank you. Take it any day over the winter, the warm temps. Thanks.
You know, a bench-clearing brawl at a Red Sox game, you got to see it. They miss almost every punch.
Also a bear pops up at the U.S. Women's Open. It's all coming up in sports next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: HLN sports anchor Ray D'Alessio is joining me this morning for a look at what's making news in sports. And Ray, bench- clearing but no one really hits. It may be a talent of dodging the punches, right?
RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: This is why I hate fights in baseball because nine times out of ten, these guys charge one another, they throw punches.
HENDRICKS: And they yell really close.
D'ALESSIO: And they get close to each other; they push, they shove, they wrestle, nothing ever connects. Case in point last flight, Red Sox and Orioles, David Ortiz and pitcher Kevin Greg, they start jawing.
Here they go and punches are thrown. Look, they're kind of hesitant. Ortiz he tries, using the upper cut, he misses like you said, the benches clear, lots of chaos.
Watch. Here we go again. Lots of pushing; I think he intentionally missed on purpose. Obviously if you don't connect, the fines and suspensions are less.
HENDRICKS: And come on, think of the price of their throwing arm.
D'ALESSIO: That too.
(CROSSTALK)
Nowadays, they're worried about injuries. The pitcher Kevin Greg, he actually got ejected prior to this fight. Right before the fight, he got ejected prior to it. But rest assured, I'm sure Major League Baseball will have something to say about these two guys.
HENDRICKS: I think they're hugging in that one shot or maybe they're just really close and yelling --
D'ALESSIO: Again, I've only seen a few good fights in Major League Baseball, at least in football when these guys, you know, go at it, they start slapping each other in the helmet and pushing each other.
HENDRICKS: I like the baseball kind better. They get this close.
All right. You have a story of a different kind of a home run. What happened?
D'ALESSIO: This is a human home run if you can believe this. This is a gentleman known as -- what's his name -- David "Cannonball" Smith. David "Cannonball" Smith; now mind you, Susan, David is no spring chicken. This man is 69 years old. Here he is launching himself out of a cannon at a recent Minor League Baseball game over the outfield wall into the net. Talk about enthusiastic afterward; look at him high-fiving everybody. This was the second time that he has attempted this stunt and evidently he succeeded as we saw. He estimates that he probably launched himself about 150 feet.
HENDRICKS: Good for him. He's checking off the bucket list. He's like that's done twice. Look at that.
D'ALESSIO: Yes, there's a lot of other things --
HENDRICKS: It takes a lot of courage.
D'ALESSIO: -- that I think you could do in your time than launching yourself over an outfield wall.
HENDRICKS: All right. Things you don't normally hear together: wild and golf tournament.
D'ALESSIO: Yes. And this is the second time that they had a bear sighting at this golf course out in Colorado Springs. The first time was a couple years ago back in 2008 at the Men's U.S. Senior Open. This was yesterday at the women's U.S. Open. A bear got on the course at the ninth hole. They tried to chase him away. But as you saw, he ran up a tree and really -- look.
He's taking a nap. He really wasn't endangering --
HENDRICKS: He's listening to the announcers of golf.
D'ALESSIO: And he's being quiet, he's not talking during play. You know, obviously the people have their signs up there. He just kind of -- maybe he wanted to get a better view, maybe he didn't like the view where he was at?
HENDRICKS: Golf clap.
D'ALESSIO: Starting a little golf clap, a little bear paw golf clap. So, he could do it below.
HENDRICKS: That's all we got.
Ray -- good to see you, thanks.
D'ALESSIO: OK.
HENDRICKS: You know, weekends are a great time to catch a movie if you're not watching golf. When enough of us buy tickets, actors and actresses get paid. Forbes has released its list of the highest paid actress: Julia Roberts ranks 5th on the list earning $20 million between 2010 and 2011. Her most recent release "Larry Crowne" co- starring Tom Hanks didn't do that well, getting off to a slow start at the box office. But still she's up there.
Reese Witherspoon is one step higher on the list $28 million, she tied with Jennifer Anniston who made $28 million. There's another tie at the top of the Forbes list. I'll show you which actresses got paid the most, may surprise you, right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back.
Here it is, Forbes has released its list of the highest paid actresses for the past year. Two big names are tied for the top spot. Perfume saleswoman and "Sex in the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker pulled in $30 million last year. She is joined at the top of the list by actress, writer and director Angelina Jolie. Her 2010 film "The Tourist" didn't do too well in the U.S. but made millions around the world. She's number one.
The government's latest jobs numbers are out and they fell well short of expectations; only 18,000 jobs were added. Experts thought it would be around 80,000.
Take a look at this chart, the nation had several months in a row of encouraging job numbers while the 18,000 for June is not an increase, it's not enough to keep up with losses. It's up a little bit. The unemployment rate actually rose from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent.
Here is President Obama on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: With a recovery that's still fragile and isn't producing all the jobs we need, the last thing we can afford is the usual partisan game playing in Washington.
By getting our fiscal house in order Congress will be in a stronger position to focus on some of the job creating measures I've already proposed, like putting people to work rebuilding America's infrastructure or reforming our patent system so that our innovators and entrepreneurs have a greater incentive to generate new products or making college more affordable for families, and businesses that may be holding back because of the uncertainty surrounding a possibility of a default by the United States government will have greater confidence to invest and create jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), WASHINGTON: Republicans have maintained there can be no increase in the national debt limit unless it's accompanied by serious spending cuts and reforms. To be truly serious, these cuts should exceed the amount by which President Obama wants the debt limit increased. And there can be no job crushing tax hikes on families and small businesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: As you know, jobs, the economy and the country's debt ceiling are the top issues facing Washington right now in Congress and on the campaign trail as well. Let's go inside the numbers a little more. This is interesting. Here is how it breaks down by gender. Men are right now about the average while unemployment for women is at about 8 percent.
And here's how the unemployment rate breaks down by race. The rate for whites went up 8.1 percent. African-American unemployment is the highest, but it did not change last month.
"YOUR BOTTOM LINE" is coming up at 9:30. Here is Christine Romans with a look at what you can expect.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Susan.
Coming up on "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," first the heat session now the recovery; men may have been hit by the hardest by the recession but they're making up grounds in this recovery. We're going to look at a new gender gap in the race for jobs.
Then investing in schools in this new era of massive government cuts; sky high college tuition, teacher cheating scandals, bigger class sizes, but we're still falling behind the rest of the world.
And John Legend, he calls education reform the civil rights issue of our time. Why he says education reform is needed right now.
Then, we love our bosses, don't we, Susan? At least that's what we're supposed to say, right? If your boss is horrible we're going to tell you how to cope in the office.
That's all coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern -- Susan.
HENDRICKS: We love our bosses, I second that. Christine, thank you.
Also in business news, companies will release their latest earnings reports next week.
Poppy Harlow tells us about that. but first, Alison Kosik has the details on the latest job numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Susan.
The June jobs report stunned Wall Street this past week. A mere 18,000 jobs were created last month. Wall Street expected up to 125,000.
The report was filled with other negative signs. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent. Average hourly earnings dropped and so did the average work week which means people with jobs are working fewer hours and making less money.
Breaking unemployment down by race, African-Americans are having the hardest time with a 16 percent jobless rate. The rate for Hispanics is in the double digits as well -- Poppy. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Thanks so much, Alison. Well, second quarter earnings season kicks off next week with ALCOA, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Google all reporting their numbers. In the first quarter nearly 70 percent of companies in S&P 500 posted earnings that beat estimates.
We're looking for that to continue but the big question really is when are these companies going to use some of that cash to hire more workers?
As for the economic calendar, we'll get the minutes from the feds last meeting, policy makers downgraded their view of the economy at that meeting and this is going to give us a lot more insight as to why.
Also ahead, reports on inflation, retail sales and jobs are due out. We'll follow it all on CNNMoney. Susan, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: All right Poppy. Thank you.
