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Democrats Call for Weiner to Resign; Capping Fees on Credit Cards; Giuliani to Run for White House?; Nightmare Over Soldiers Bag Fee; Casey Anthony's Brother on the Witness Stand Today; CNN Listening Tour in Nevada; Leon Panetta's Senate Confirmation Hearing; Texas Rangers Draft Paralyzed Player; The X-Rated Photo

Aired June 09, 2011 - 08:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. I'm Kyra Phillips. Here are some of the stories that we're talking about this morning.

You know, first, the new naked pictures; now reports that his wife is pregnant. Will today be the day that disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner resigns?

And if you own a Citigroup credit card, listen up. The company says hackers gained access to about one percent of its online accounts. We are talking about more than 200,000 people.

And just minutes ago a grim new measure in the economy. We learned that last week, the number of Americans filing their first claims for unemployment benefits rose to 427,000. That's 1,000 more than the week before.

But we begin this hour with what may be a political death watch for Congressman Anthony Weiner. The New York Democrat refusing to resign for a sexting scandal. But new developments may make his political survival -- survival, rather, appear even more unlikely.

First up, at least a half dozen fellow House Democrats are joining the call for him to step down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALLYSON SCHWARTZ (D), PENNSYLVANIA: His behavior was, once again, unacceptable to me. It was appalling. So again, as a woman, as a colleague of his, it just -- this really just violates his relationship, I think, with his constituents and calls -- I call for his resignation.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill.

So why is the statement from Representative Schwartz so significant at this time, Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Congresswoman Schwartz is significant here because she's in charge for recruiting Democrats to run for the House in the 2012 election cycle. And as word fold, her coming out with this public statement is part of a new step-up effort to really force Congressman Weiner to resign.

And as one Democratic source put it to me, it's a signal that represents growing concern among the caucus. Bottom line, it really shows how -- the feeling among Democrats that this is hurting them politically. It says quite a statement about that.

And as you mentioned, Congresswoman Schwartz, she is not alone. About half dozen other House Democrats have come out and publicly called for the congressman to resign. And that in addition to that, other prominent Democrat -- Democrats from Democratic Party have also come out to call for Congressman Weiner to resign.

So this is very new from when we really talked yesterday morning. And so we'll have to see and we'll definitely be looking -- throughout the day to see if these calls are growing louder to -- for Congressman Weiner to resign.

As a reminder to our viewers, members are still home in their home districts right now. And so we'll see if they are feeling the pressure there to come out and make a statement -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we will definitely be following it as more people come forward and demand that resignation.

Kate Bolduan on the Hill, thanks so much.

And even if Weiner somehow manages to weather this scandal, he may still lose his job. A number of Democratic sources in New York tell CNN that his congressional district will likely be eliminated because of recent U.S. Census results.

Kate mentioned that, and the population shift means two seats will disappear by 2012, one held by a Republican, one held by a Democrat. Sources say that Weiner's scandal makes his congressional seat the logical one to be sacrificed by Democrats.

Now the personal fallout from Weiner's scandal takes a gut-wrenching turn this morning. "The New York Times" is reporting that Weiner's wife is pregnant with their first child. Huma Abedin is a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton and is traveling right now with the secretary of state. She has not publicly appeared with her husband since this scandal broke.

Well, the banks have lost a big fight on Capitol Hill. But did you, the consumer, win? Now the Senate is refusing to delay a new limit on debit card fees. But you may still end up paying the difference in other ways.

Alison Kosik in the New York Stock Exchange with more.

Hey, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kyra. So this was a big battle that pitted big banks versus retailers. And you know what, consumers were caught right smack in the middle of all this.

And what all this was about was about these swipe fees. This is what retailers actually pay banks when you use your debit card. Every time you use your debit card when you make a purchase.

Right now, retailers pay 44 cents to the bank per transaction. But on July 21st, that's going to drop to 12 cents for a transaction. Now what happens was the Senate voted yesterday to let that reduction go through. After heavy lobbying by the banking industry, some lawmakers were trying to delay it to next year with no success.

But this really is a huge issue, Kyra. Because these lower swipe fees are going to wind up costing banks an estimated $13 billion -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So bottom line for consumers then?

KOSIK: Yes. That's really the good question here that's lingering. You know what? Both sides say, hey, we're both saving -- we're both saying the consumers money. Retailers say the lower fees will mean lower prices for us because what they've been doing, they say, is -- is passing on the cost for those swipe fees on to consumers.

Now banks say these lower fees mean that they're going to make less money so they're going to cut back. And that's really where we could feel the pinch. These banks may really stick it to us because credit card rewards may go away. Spending limits on credit -- on debit cards may be put into place.

But you know in defense of the banks, they may need to do this because there is going to be that lost revenue -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, thanks.

And new developments in the run for the White House? And it's a name that we all know very well. Rudy Giuliani. So when could he make this announcement and will it make any of his competitors a little nervous?

CNN's Jim Acosta in Washington with this story.

Hey, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra.

You know it will be a development if he actually decides to jump into the race. This is really a little more than speculation at this point. Bill Kristol, the noted conservative columnist over at the "Weekly Standard," put out a story last night saying that he has information from two reliable sources, as he puts it, that the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is going to get into the race for 2012.

You know we are still waiting to confirm that ourselves. We do know that Mr. Giuliani is contemplating this, he's talked about this publicly. He has said that he may jump into this thing. But that -- that's a big difference between running for president and just thinking about running for president. You know the Kristol article is very interesting because it goes through some of the thinking behind this. People will say, well, Rudy, you ran in 2008. It didn't work out so well.

And it's interesting, Bill Kristol points out, that Giuliani ran for mayor of New York City back in 1989. He lost and then ran again in 1993 and won. And so it's interesting to see that parallel there.

Giuliani did not make 2008 very competitive in states like New Hampshire and Iowa. He banked his campaign on succeeding in Florida. And that did not work out. So we'll have to see what happens. If the mayor jumps in, it will definitely make the race more interesting -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, why don't we talk about Rudy Giuliani's old job for a second here? I wonder if the former mayor watches "30 Rock." What do you think?

ACOSTA: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Yes, this is the Big Apple edition of the political ticker. It sounds like an episode of "30 Rock" is what I was thinking this morning, Kyra. Jack Donaghy, things aren't going well at NBC so he decided to run for mayor of New York.

PHILLIPS: Decides to run for office.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: You know, Tracy Morgan could be his campaign director.

PHILLIPS: Oh my gosh.

ACOSTA: Liz Lemon, his communications -- you know, director. The list goes on and on.

PHILLIPS: I can see it.

ACOSTA: You know -- I can see it, too. You know -- now there is speculation about all of this because of all of the difficulties facing Anthony Weiner right now. He was reportedly -- widely reported as being very interested in returning for mayor of New York. And with him presumably out of the race, out of contention for mayor of New York, Alec Baldwin has apparently stoked some speculation.

He even put out a tweet on this yesterday saying that it is a long way until 2013. And one of his publicists told the "Wall Street Journal" that he wouldn't rule it out. So this is actually a possibility. It could be Jack Donaghy for mayor or Alec Baldwin for mayor in 2013.

All of this a long way off but it would -- it would certainly make for a good episode of "30 Rock." PHILLIPS: Yes. I bet you, one or the other will definitely happen now.

ACOSTA: I think so.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Jim, thanks.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: And we're going to have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder, for all the latest political news, you can always go to our Web site -- Web site, rather, 24/7, CNNPolitics.com.

Now a U.S. military mission you probably don't know about. "The New York Times" is reporting that a covert war against al Qaeda is intensifying in Yemen. The U.S. ally is a hotbed of terrorism and growing instability. Rebels badly wounded its president. And he's now recovering in Saudi Arabia. And the U.S. is taking advantage of the power vacuum by ratcheting up the airstrikes.

Now according to "The New York Times," quote, "Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to al Qaeda in the south had been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power."

And the newspaper goes on to say, "Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen is believed by the CIA to pose the greatest immediate threat to the United States, more so than even al Qaeda's senior leadership believed to be hiding in Pakistan."

And still ahead, we're actually going to talk to the "New York Times" reporter who wrote the story. Mark Mazzetti joins me live in just a few minutes.

Plus Americans are bitterly divided on a lot of issues but this ain't one of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY KROCHALIS, PASSENGER: It's unforgivable that Delta couldn't make an exception and cut these boys some slack.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: PR nightmare for Delta Airlines over its treatment of our U.S. soldiers. We'll tell you what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Delta Airlines took heavy fire this week after hitting U.S. soldiers headed home from Afghanistan with -- are you ready for this? Excess baggage fees. Almost $3,000 which the soldiers had to pay out of their own pockets. Well, it's been such a PR nightmare that the airlines beaten into a retreat.

Marty Savidge reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Pentagon likes to say the U.S. has the best trained soldiers in the world. Turns out, they're also pretty media savvy.

While on their flight to Atlanta, two of the soldiers recorded a video about their frustration and posted it on YouTube.

STAFF SGT. ROBERT O'HAIR, U.S. ARMY: So you're saying that our military travel orders authorized us to carry four bags, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's correct, sir.

O'HAIR: All right. So what happened to the soldiers that actually had four bags?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had actually ended up paying out of pocket, our own money, to allow that fourth bag to be taken on the plane.

O'HAIR: How much did you pay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $200. Per bag.

O'HAIR: All right, so --

SAVIDGE: Close to 200,000 hits later and Delta was issuing an apology in the form of a blog, implying the soldiers had simply been misinformed they could check four bags.

"We would like to publicly apologize to those servicemen and women for any miscommunications," the statement went on. "We are currently looking further into the situation and we'll be reaching out to each of them personally to address their concerns and work to correct any issues they had faced."

The statement appeared to do little to stem the withering fire of public outrage.

KROCHALIS: It's unforgivable that Delta couldn't make an exception and cut these boys some slack.

SAVIDGE: Less than 24 hours later, Delta was in full retreat, abruptly changing its military baggage allowance announcing the move in a press release.

"Delta Airlines today increased its free checking baggage allotment for U.S. military traveling on orders in economy class to four checked bags."

And that is how two U.S. soldiers fought off an entire airline to win the battle of the bags.

STAFF SGT. FREDERICK HILLIKER, U.S. ARMY: Thank you. We are actually happy to be back to America. God bless America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. Thousands of dollars.

And Marty, you know, you and I know our soldiers fly commercially all the time. So why all of the sudden is this checked baggage issue coming up now?

SAVIDGE: Well, you know, in Delta's defense, they had in their Web site, and it's been stated by the company for a long time that they had a three-bag limit and you know, if you have beyond that, you had to pay for the fourth one.

But really, you know, Kyra, this all could have been solved at check- in because if you had somebody who had the power with the airlines to just say, look, normally, guys, it is three bags. But you know what today, it's four. Welcome home.

That would have ended it. No black eye. None of the media would be camped out here talking about this story today.

Unfortunately, it turned into a nightmare P.R.-wise for Delta.

PHILLIPS\: Yes, it just seems like such a no-brainer. I mean, come on, give these men and women a break.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, it's resolved itself. Marty, thanks so much.

We're checking other stories cross-country now:

Police in Oakland, California, searching for this man. They say that he burglarized a woman's home Tuesday morning before sexually assaulting her. Investigators hope that the 13 seconds of video the victim was able to capture will actually help get him.

Seventy-seven Air Force ROTC cadets are recovering after a lightning bolt struck their camp near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We're told that none of them were hurt, but four of them -- or four were close to that lighting actually when it struck.

And in West Virginia, people lining up along the side of the highway to see the so-called miracle plane make its move. The jet, as you know, famous for the 2009 emergency landing right into the Hudson River is being transported from New Jersey to an aviation museum in North Carolina.

And in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the relocation of a local museum and library is getting lots of attention, not to mention videotape as the move is actually being recorded. Time lapse, as you can see here -- it's always cool to watch. And all the entire move could take anywhere from four to eight weeks. Still ahead, no more twisting and turning to see how your butt looks in those jeans. A new product could revolutionize your shopping experience. You'll want to see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a situation that many of us, especially we women, know very well. You are trying on some new pants in a store but you want to see just how good, you know, backside looks. Twisting, turning, possible neck cramps. That all happens, right?

Alison Kosik, she never has to worry about that, though. She always looks good.

KOSIK: Never.

PHILLIPS: She doesn't need to spin around, turn around.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: Every now and then, I have to check what's going on behind me.

PHILLIPS: There you go. Make sure no one is lurking behind you. But what's this new product?

KOSIK: Exactly. So, I had to check to see if I could say this on TV, but what we're talking about here is genius. It's called the "Ass Cam." Yes, it is called exactly that.

And a clothing retailer, American Rags, actually trademarked that name. How about that?

Now, here is how it works. I want to pull up this picture because this picture tells 1,000 words. I'll tell you that. There's this closed-circuit camera that kind of sits at your butt level. It's positioned right behind you.

And the mirror is actually in front of you, at eye level, like a TV screen. Don't you like it? They have a guy here checking out his behind, they don't have a woman, which I thought was really funny.

So, on left, you see the guy, he's looking straight there, that's kind of the eye level camera. And, of course, at the butt level is the camera.

So, you get to really this image of your back side that's streamed to the mirror. No more need to go ahead and contort your body to see your back side because, you know, we all have to look our best in our jeans, right, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Yes, he is. He's actually looking pretty good there, even though you can't really see the back side. You can just imagine.

All right. Opening bell just a few minutes away.

(LAUGHTER) KOSIK: It is. You know, futures are looking good. We are in positive territory. We got a better than expected report on the trade gap. It showed that it narrowed.

This could be good news for manufacturing, could be good news for GDP, economic growth. So, we'll see if we actually start in the green today.

Real fast, because I know a lot of you are going to want to know where you can find these cameras. They are actually only in two stores, in California, at this store called American Rag. By the way, they are getting positive feedback for it.

And if you do go into this dressing room at this place, it's not in every dressing room. So, you can bypass it. You can opt out of the butt cam -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy, I got to make a segue now to a serious story. So, I'll hold my comments for later. Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

All right. We're going to take you live now to the Casey Anthony trial. As you know, it continues today.

You see Casey Anthony there on the stand. She faces seven counts in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, including first-degree murder. Her brother is testifying now. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You remember being asked circumstances surrounding the taking and asked -- and being asked that particular question.

LEE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S BROTHER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you remember what your response was?

ANTHONY: Not exactly, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

For counsel, I am referring to the deposition of July 30th, 2009, page 279, lines one through 25.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lines what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. Lines one through 25, Judge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have it, Mr. Baez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, I am bringing it up on the screen now for the witness and for the -- specifically -- I'm sorry, specifically, I'm going to be referring to line 17 through 25 and on page 280, which I will put up in a minute, lines one through four.

Mr. Anthony, if you would take a look at line 17 through 25. Just let me know when you are done. ANTHONY: I'm finished with that part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

And, again, sir, I will ask you to read lines one through three.

OK. All right. Mr. Anthony, what was -- does that refresh your memory?

ANTHONY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What did your sister tell you the reason for Caylee being taken was?

ANTHONY: In Zany's opinion, Casey was not being a good mother to Caylee or wouldn't be a good mother for Caylee. And she was taking her -- taking Caylee from her to teach her a lesson and also told her not to go to the police or anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she also give you a description -- a detailed description of what Zenaida Gonzalez looked like?

ANTHONY: Yes, she did. She was kind of normal height, about 5'8", 5'10"-ish, good complex, long hair, Spanish.

PHILLIPS: Live out of Orlando, Florida, you are listen to the brother of Casey Anthony, Lee Anthony, as he is testifying here in her trial as it continues.

Casey Anthony, 25, facing seven counts in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty. And as you know, Anthony has pleaded not guilty and denied having anything to do with her daughter's death.

We are going to take a quick break. We'll be back in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Once again, we take you live back to Florida where we are following the Casey Anthony trial. Her brother, Lee Anthony, is testifying right now. Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lines one through -- I'm sorry, page 104, lines 15 through 19.

OK? Have you had a chance to read that, Mr. Anthony?

ANTHONY: Yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Did that refresh your memory as to what your sister told you about her reaction to her daughter being taken from her?

ANTHONY: Her reaction, maybe, you'd ask of what she had saw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. What was that?

ANTHONY: Well, what she saw?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her reaction.

ANTHONY: Her reaction for that was that she couldn't believe it was happening and it felt kind of like surreal to her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she indicate that she did anything to stop her from taking her daughter?

ANTHONY: She did not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she tell you why she didn't do anything?

ANTHONY: That she was scared and she didn't know what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After Caylee was taken from her, did your sister indicate to you that this Zenaida person was controlling her movements or telling her what to do?

ANTHONY: She did tell me that, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any more specific than that? In what way?

ANTHONY: Through -- specifically through MySpace at the time, that she had Casey's password and would send her, like, you can send yourself a message or post something small and you can see it on your account. She would do things like that to kind of instruct her on what to do and where to go, things like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did she indicate that she would go to these places that Zenaida told her to go?

ANTHONY: She did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she tell you why she did that?

ANTHONY: To hope to see Caylee. To hope to fulfill whatever obligations were being set upon her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had mentioned during your last response about MySpace and also Facebook?

ANTHONY: I don't remember Facebook specifically. I know MySpace was just bigger at that time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what timer55 was?

ANTHONY: A password Casey had specifically for MySpace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ask her what timer55 meant?

ANTHONY: I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall what her explanation of what timer55 meant?

ANTHONY: She -- well, her first explanation was she did not create the password but her feeling expressed to me on what it was -- her explanation was that from the date Caylee was taken from her until her -- Caylee's birthday on August 9th, that there were 55 calendar days within that period of time. And it was her understanding that or maybe her hope or belief that she was going to get her back on that date. But that's all she really had to share with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. So day one would be June 16th.

ANTHONY: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Day 55 would be August 9th.

ANTHONY: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You indicated in your answer that she told you that she did not create this password.

ANTHONY: That is what she told me, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she tell you who did create this password?

ANTHONY: She told me that Zanaida did?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she tell you how Zanaida was able to change her old password to her new one?

ANTHONY: I would imagine she would have had her old one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know how?

ANTHONY: I don't know. No, I don't know the specifics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you.

JUDGE: Cross-examination.

BAEZ: Good morning, Mr. Anthony.

ANTHONY: Good morning.

BAEZ: So if I understand your testimony correctly, your sister told you another story about the imaginary Zanny the nanny?

ANTHONY: Yes, she told me another story about Zanny the nanny, yes.

BAEZ: And she told you that she would -- that Zanny the nanny would contact her through MySpace?

ANTHONY: Yes, she did.

BAEZ: And that she would tell her what to do, how to control her so she didn't call the police?

ANTHONY: Correct.

BAEZ: And maybe like go places?

ANTHONY: Correct.

BAEZ: So maybe she could see Caylee?

ANTHONY: Sure, yes.

BAEZ: And was this like going to phone booths and things like that or different locations to be able to try and find Zanny the nanny? Or, was there any more detail other than that?

ANTHONY: I don't believe we got into detail on exactly where she would go but I would imagine it was like stores and places like that.

BAEZ: And she would go to these stores and do what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, your honor. (OFF MIKE) calls for speculation.

JUDGE: If Mr. Anthony knows based upon what his sister said, objection overruled.

ANTHONY: Look for Caylee, walk around.

BAEZ: And none of these MySpace -- well, imaginary MySpace posts to find this imaginary Zanny ever panned out for her, did it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF-MIKE) goes beyond the witness's knowledge and it calls for speculation.

JUDGE: Overruled unless that was told to you by Miss Anthony. You are not to guess to about what you think but only what she told you about that limited subject.

ANTHONY: Casey was never successful in finding Caylee in any of those experiences.

BAEZ: And Zanny the nanny, never materialized?

ANTHONY: To this day, no.

BAEZ: Thank you, sir.

JUDGE: The witness may be excused. Thank you, sir.

(END COVERAGE)

PHILLIPS: Once again hearing from Casey Anthony's brother, Lee Anthony, testifying there live in Florida in the Casey Anthony trial. Anthony, as you know, age 25 as you see here, facing seven counts in the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee.

We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And checking top stories now.

The "New York Times" reporting the U.S. is stepping up its covert war against al Qaeda in Yemen. The reported armed drones and strike fighter attacks come as the Yemeni government struggles to survive against rebel forces.

More Democrats want Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign because of his sexting scandal. Democratic sources say that his New York district may also be eliminated next year due to redistricting.

And calmer winds today could slow down an Arizona wildfire that's already burned 389,000 acres. Firefighters warning people not to get complacent.

Well, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a military operation in Libya, that's likely top of the agenda at Leon Panetta's Senate confirmation hearing taking place this hour. As you know, he is President Obama's pick to be the next secretary of defense.

Panetta is described as one of the most experienced, smartest players around with 40 years of public service. Here's a quick snapshot on his background. He's a former Army intelligence officer, former California Congressman. He was the director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration. He also served as Clinton's chief of staff. And currently, he's the director of the CIA. Wow.

Quite a vitae, Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon.

And, if confirmed, as expected, he will have quite a lot on his plate, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, Kyra. You know, if the last 10 years or so have been adding things to the Pentagon's to-do list, Leon Panetta's tenure may be about crossing things off the to-do list, trying to get things done. I think that budget experience may be at the top of his need when he comes here, because, of course, President Obama has said he wants to cut about another $400 billion out of defense spending. That's real hard-core defense economics. So he'll be working on that.

But you really just have to look around the globe right now, as Panetta sits in the witness chair getting ready to testify on Capitol Hill, at the list of countries he has to worry about and try and do something about.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, top the list. And when you talk about Afghanistan, the next hot spot is next door in Pakistan, trying to stabilize the al Qaeda situation there. Moving around the globe, trying to keep Iran in check with its nuclear program. And, of course, the Arab spring. Violence in Syria, in Libya, in Yemen. And Panetta has already said that Yemen is a really a very major concern. He's talked about al Qaeda in Yemen as having the immediate threat -- being an immediate threat to the United States, their priority being to attack the United States. So look for Panetta in the next hour, two hours during this testimony to be asked a lot of questions about how he plans to cope with this entire menu of problems, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, indeed. Entire menu, indeed.

Thank you so much, Barbara.

Well, CNN listens to the voice of the Nevada voters. We're going to tell you what they're saying, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well all this week, CNN is on a listening tour hearing what issues are motivating voters with the 2012 presidential election now 17 months away. And today, we're zeroing in on Nevada.

Casey Wian in the hot place of Las Vegas. Good morning, Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. Actually, we're just southeast of Las Vegas in the second largest city in Nevada, Henderson. This is, of course, the place behind me, Las Vegas strip is where all the tourists go. Places like this where the voters live and they'll be very key in the 2012 presidential race.

Given what's happened here, unemployment rate around 12 percent now. It's been as high as 14 percent, 15 percent in Nevada. Half of the home sales here in foreclosure. It's no surprise that for voters here, the main thing on their minds is the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN (voice-over): Travis Ward and Jamie Miller work on a 30- passenger Hummer limousine, a symbol of the Las Vegas fast life surrounded by a Nevada economy that's hit the skids.

TRAVIS WARD, MECHANIC: It's just bad here. Everything's slow. A lot of people are out of work. They did build too quick here. Now people are leaving because there is no jobs. Everything's empty. Look at the lot here.

WIAN: Their brake shop is the only business operating in the shopping center.

WARD: If there's no cars coming in, I don't get no hours, how can I afford to pay for my kid?

WIAN (on camera): How is it going to impact your decision on who you vote for president next year?

JAMIE MILLER, MECHANIC: It'll impact it some. I mean, it's pretty much picking the lessor of the two evils. I know I don't want Obama in there again because he's pretty much ain't done nothing he said he was going to do.

WARD: The only thing I would say I was happy about was finding Osama out there. That was one thing he did keep his promise about. I enjoyed that.

WIAN (voice-over): Neither man has found a Republican to support in 2012, but both say the economy is so bad they plan to leave soon.

Not so with these women on their lunch break from massage therapist school.

TITIANA MATTHEWS, STUDENT: I am going to continue to vote for Obama.

WIAN (on camera): And why is that?

MATTHEWS: Because I don't think it's fair to take him down after he did all the hard work getting our economy where we are now.

BOBBIE WOODS, STUDENT: I have been looking for a job for a year and a half. I think Obama has done a good job, especially with what he walked into. Am I going to vote for him? I don't know yet.

GREG MARTIN, BUSINESSMAN: I voted for Barack Obama.

WIAN: Greg Martin used to have a 5,000-square-foot shop cutting parts for manufacturing companies. Now, he is doing small jobs in his garage for a tiny fraction of the revenue. He doesn't like the president's health care plan. Although, he says he can't afford insurance.

MARTIN: I know it's not going to help me. I am a small business entity. To get health insurance is really expensive.

WIAN: Down the block, one of Nevada's nation leading home foreclosures.

MARTIN: Well, I'm not upside down. I am not under water at this time. But if it keeps going the way it is, I will. And that's that --

(CROSSTALK)

WIAN (on camera): So what are you going to do in 2012?

MARTIN: I am still undecided. At this point, I don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Now, a lot of Nevada voters don't know either. And one of the reasons that both parties are paying a lot of attention to this day for 2012; Democrats outnumber Republicans here by about 100,000 voters. But there are about 300,000 voters who are either nonpartisan or belong to smaller party. So it's very much in play.

Another key factor in Nevada, it's an early primary. So the vote here in the primary will go a long way to determining who the Republican nominee is going to be -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Casey Wian, there just outside of Vegas in Henderson. Thanks Casey.

Checking stories cross country now.

Some students across Connecticut aren't sweating the sweltering temperatures, at least not in class. The heat, coupled with the lack of air-conditioning in some buildings, has prompted early dismissals in the number of districts statewide.

And in Columbus, Ohio the new Franklin County courthouse has a glass stairwell. Well, making it basically a peeping Tom's dream for those wanting to steal a glance. Security guards are now warning all women to avoid it.

And to upper Michigan, the U.P., Ellen Raymond, the only cheer leader from her 1938 class at Baraga High School finally got her varsity letter, 73 years after the fact. Good things take time.

Texas Rangers draft a college baseball player even though he'll likely never play again. Jonathan Taylor is partially paralyzed after a collision on the field. We're going to tell you why the Rangers called his name.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A quick check of the big board. Dow Industrials up about 35 points right now.

All right, let's look ahead at some other stories making headlines today. At noon, Senate Majority Harry Reid and others are expected to call on the government to stop providing subsidies to oil and gas companies.

At 12:30 Eastern, Vice President Biden will hold his 6th meetings with the bipartisan group of lawmakers tasked at hammering out a long-term plan to cut the deficit.

And at 4:45, President Obama will hold a White House meeting with his counterpart from the African nation Gabon. They will discuss democracy, security and economic growth issues.

Well, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go and start first with Mohammed Jamjoom. He's live in Abu Dhabi -- Mohammed.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's a U.S. military mission you probably don't know about. Reports of a secret war intensifying in Yemen. I'll have more details for you live at the top of the hour.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill, a growing number of Congressman Weiner's own party is calling for him to resign. But will it have an impact? We'll have more at the top of the hour. PHILLIPS: Thanks guys.

Also on our next hour, the secret life of a legend. Cocaine, booze, family violence, even sexual abuse; boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard really opens up in his new autobiography. He's going to join me live to talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Ok. Jeff Fischel, can we expect anything less than anger on the ice?

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: Right, right.

PHILLIPS: That's standing operating procedure in hockey.

FISCHEL: It is -- it is hockey after all. But you might say this time, there might be some anger management classes that might be in order, right? It started in game one when the Canucks player pulled a Mike Tyson and appeared to bite a Boston Bruin in game three. A nasty hit and knocked Boston's Nathan Horton right out of the series with a concussion.

Well, in game four, Bruins goal tender, Tim Thomas fought back every way he could. Horton's line replacement Rich Peverley scores against Vancouver's Roberto Longo (ph) on the first period. Actually Peverley scored twice, he had a great night, filling in for Horton.

Thomas, meanwhile, was awesome; 38 saves for the Bruins' goal tender. And watch, he whack out Boros (ph) he's the one in game one who bit the Boston Bruins player. Bruins win 4-0. This series is now tied at two games.

Game five of the NBA final is tonight, Miami Heat fans think they found the way to help their team beat the Dallas Mavericks voodoo, the owner of a store in Miami that sells all kind of unique religious supplies tells TMZ. Heat fans are buying up all his voodoo dolls. The fans are putting curses on the Mavs, it's still not working on Dirk Nowitzki yet right?

A great game between the DBacks and the Pirates. Pittsburgh Blue lead in the 10th and then in the 12th. That is Andrew McCutchen (ph), and that is a game-winning homerun. The kids call it the waka (ph) these days. Pirates win, 3-2.

Braves and Marlins, the Braves' Alex Gonzalez drive to the center. Florida's Chris Coughlin, tracking it and he has some good gloves. You know, he came up as second baseman, then the third base, then left field, it looks like he has a home in center, I'd say, that's even the toughest of all those positions, finally.

Ok, we usually don't talk about a late round pick in Major League Baseball's amateur draft. But the Texas Rangers did something special, very cool with their 33rd selection, the Rangers chose Jonathan Taylor from the University of Georgia, even though he'll probably never play again. The outfielder was partially paralyzed when he collided with a teammate and his best friend Zack Cone (ph) during the game. The Rangers also selected Cone. The Rangers say, you know, they were going to pick him before he got hurt. And they said it was -- they decided it was the right thing to do to pick him even afterwards. His Georgia coach said it was such a classy move by the team. He couldn't be more excited for Taylor. And Taylor was so excited when he found out.

PHILLIPS: Well, we were talking about the story this morning. We're so glad you and I got to talk about it. Pretty awesome.

FISCHEL: Yes, very nice of them.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Jeff.

FISCHEL: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Make no mistake, he brought it on himself and his wife definitely has it a lot worse. This has been a pretty hideous week for Anthony Weiner. The latest tawdry twits? Yep, the X-rated photo. Jeanne Moos takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How bad are things for Anthony Weiner? So bad that Congressman Weiner can pick up a newspaper, see himself nestled in a bun with the headlines "Stick a Fork in Him."

So bad that Donald Trump said of Weiner --

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MAGNATE: He's a psycho.

MOOS: So bad that Spirit Airlines is running a "have you seen our Weiner sale with fares too hard to resist.

So bad a condom maker was putting out a line of "protect your Weiner" condoms.

Just when you think things can't get any worst for Anthony Weiner, this happened.

GREGG "OPIE" HUGHES, SHOCK JOCK: A picture of Weiner's wiener got out there.

MOOS: A naked picture that we can't show you, though the Internet will, a picture we can't confirm is Weiner, a photo, conservative Web site owner, Andrew Breitbart he had but wouldn't release to spare Weiner's family.

ANDREW BREITBART, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: I'm trying to do the decent thing here and not release the photo.

MOOS: But when Breitbart went on the Opie and Anthony Shock Jock radio show, he had the photo on his phone.

HUGHES: We begged, we pleaded, we prodded.

Moos: And Breitbart finally agreed to pass it around. It was a photo Breitbart says he obtained from one of the women to whom Weiner sent intimate photos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To a gal down in Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good angle though. He's a smart guy but I think --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in very good shape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I can say is from seeing that picture, I want that guy as mayor.

MOOS: And while everyone was chortling over the photo --

HUGHES: One of the video cameras that was on our -- that was on during the show today, captured what was on Andrew Breitbart's phone as it was making its way around the room.

MOOS: Breitbart says he didn't know an image was taken. And he says, "I regret that this occurred."

Next thing you know.

HUGHES: It was a race to see who could tweet the picture the fastest.

MOOS: Opie won that race with this tweet and the photo went viral.

HUGHES: I think Andrew Breitbart is not too happy with us right now.

MOOS: If he thinks Andrew Breitbart is not happy, imagine what Anthony Weiner must be thinking outside the bun.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)