American Morning
USDA employee says statements on white farmer misconstrued
(CNN) – A black Agriculture Department employee who resigned after a video clip showed her talking about a white farmer said Tuesday her remarks were taken out of context.
Shirley Sherrod, the department's former state director of rural development for Georgia, told CNN on Tuesday the incident she discusses in the clip took place more than two decades ago - and she recounted it to an audience to make the point that people should move beyond race.
"I was speaking to that group, like I've done many groups, and I tell them about a time when I thought the issue was race and race only," Sherrod told CNN's "American Morning" from her home in Albany, Georgia. The incident took place in 1986, while she worked for a nonprofit and before she worked for the USDA, she said. "I was telling the story of how working with him helped me to see the issue is not about race. It's about those who have versus those who do not have."
Sherrod resigned Monday after conservative media outlets aired the video, in which she says she did not give the white farmer "the full force of what I could do" to help him avoid foreclosure.
James Peterson, assistant professor of English and Africana Studies at Bucknell University, also joined Tuesday's American Morning to discuss Sherod's resignation. Peterson says this is especially ironic given the recent controversy surrounding the NAACP and the Tea Party. Although he condemns Sherrod’s statements, he believes that the video was likely taken out of context. Watch 
The science of 'Inception': Can your dreams be manipulated?
(CNN) – Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page star in Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster, "Inception." The movie deals with stealing and planting thoughts inside someone's mind while they dream, a sort of nocturnal espionage. Is it real or science fiction? Deirdre Barrett is a clinical psychologist with Harvard Medical School and a leader in the field of dream research. She joined us on Tuesday's American Morning to discuss the possibilities of dream manipulation. Watch
'Scammed:' Your tax dollars buying smokes & beer
All 50 states and U.S. territories now provide Food Stamp Program benefits with EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards instead of traditional paper coupon stamps pictured above. (Getty Images)
(CNN) – For nearly 50 years, the government has helped feed struggling families across the nation through its Food Stamp Program. These days, instead of stamps, the government sends out debit cards funded by your tax dollars. The problem? Some people are illegally using those cards to get cash, beer, cigarettes, and worse. Our John Zarrella reports for the second part of our AM original series, "Scammed." Watch
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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/07/19/gulf.oil.disaster/mattingly.bp.letter.cnn.416×234.jpg caption="Scientists look at whether to resume collecting oil from BP's ruptured deepwater well after a seep was detected in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Monday."]
Gulf well tests held over another day
(CNN) – Tests on the ruptured BP well in the Gulf of Mexico will go on for another 24 hours as federal and company officials try to explain "anomalous" pressure readings and possible leaks, the federal government's point man on the spill said Monday.
"There is no indication at this time this is any indication of a significant problem in the well bore, but we are running every one of these anomalies down," former Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told reporters Monday afternoon.
The pressures recorded on the well in the four days since it was temporarily "shut in" are lower than expected, Allen said. Meanwhile, there are possible leaks of methane gas from around the well and from the inoperative blowout preventer, as well as a separate and possibly unrelated seep from the ocean floor about 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) away, he said.
Allen said scientists and engineers are still debating whether the low pressure is caused by either the well's depletion after three months of oil spewing into the Gulf or whether oil is leaking from the well into the surrounding sea floor.
"There are arguments to be made on both sides," he said. "But those discussions continue, and we're trying to develop information that will allow us to do that."
He said a joint in the capping stack placed over the damaged well appeared to be leaking a combination of oil and methane, but there appeared to be no sign that it was hindering the equipment now being used to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Read more
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Haass: U.S. should draw down in Afghanistan
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on July 19, 2010 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Getty Images)
(CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan right now. She's just unveiled $7.5 billion in development aid aimed at winning some hearts and minds. That's part of the White House's strategy for turning things around across the border in Afghanistan where Clinton's headed next.
One of the most respected voices among US foreign policy experts says the Obama Administration’s Afghan policy is not working.
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations and a veteran of several US administrations, writes in the latest edition of Newsweek: “Continued or increased U.S. involvement in Afghanistan isn’t likely to yield lasting improvements that would be commensurate in any way with the investment of American blood and treasure. It is time to scale down our ambitions there and both reduce and redirect what we do.”
Speaking on CNN’s American Morning Monday, Haass said Afghanistan was now “a sponge for American resources and it is a distraction. We out to be thinking militarily about what we might have to do in North Korea or Iran where we really do have vital national interests.” Watch
List exposes 'illegal' immigrants
(CNN) – Two Utah state employees are on administrative leave right now. Officials say they may be involved in a now infamous list of 1,300 people, all accused of being illegal immigrants. The list was sent out to Utah government offices and the media. It included extremely personal details: Contact information, social security numbers, even pregnancy due dates. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff joined us on Monday's American Morning for the latest in the investigation.
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