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American Morning

Holiday Shopping; Four Nepalese Killed in Baghdad; EU Mediators Meet with Ukraine Opposition

Aired November 26, 2004 - 09:30   ET

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

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In a few minutes we'll check again on holiday shopping. Many department stores and malls across the country...
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Swamped!

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, they are. David Mattingly is watching the action at one Wal-Mart. We'll talk to the head of one of the big chains what shoppers are getting in the way of bargains.

Also, this story, a woman is convicted of killing her husband who is not going to prison. We'll meet her and find out why the judge decided to let her go, but before we do that, let's get another check of the headlines. And to do that we take you to Tony Harris is standing by at the CNN Center holding down the fort in Atlanta.

Tony, over to you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Good morning, Rick and Carol.

Good morning, everyone.

"Now in the News", at least four members of a British security firm, described as Nepalese, have been killed in Baghdad's so called green zone. More than a dozen others were wounded. It's not clear if the attack, which took place yesterday, was due to a rocket or mortar.

Ukraine's opposition leaders meeting with European Union mediators this morning. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana held talks with Candidate Victor Yushchenko, just a short time ago. Solana is also tentatively scheduled to meet with the declared victor in Sunday's election, the current prime minister, Victor Yanukovich. The country's supreme court is expected to decide Monday if there are any legal means to resolve standoff.

And here in the U.S., crews in Colorado working to open up a few lanes of Interstate 70 after a rock slide forced commuters to take a nearly 220-mile detour. Near Glenwood Springs, a canyon wall collapsed yesterday.

Look at these pictures, piling a stretch of highway with rocks. No one was injured in the slide.

It is 9:33 now. Send it back to, Carol.

Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, Tony. Thanks so much.

They call it Black Friday, the traditional opening day of the holiday shopping season. And right on cue, shoppers across the country were out early today looking for bargains. David Mattingly is in a Wal-Mart in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Good morning, David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Carol.

There's a very definite strategy to this early morning shopping. The idea is to get to one store as early as possible, shop as quickly as possible, and then move on to as many stores as possible later in the day to make sure you see as many sale items as you can before they're all picked over.

That's what happened here at 6 o'clock this morning. The crowd started gathering at 4:00 a.m. At 6 o'clock they were allowed into the aisles to the specially priced items. They made their purchases quickly and they went through the checkout aisles and then they were off to other stores to continue their shopping.

Some of the big ticket items that they are looking at this year, Wal-Mart has a top 12 of appliances. We have some to show you here that includes the traditional microwave oven, the vacuum cleaner.

Something caught my eye, you can never have too many in the gadgets in the kitchen, the automatic jar opener. And down here, the coffeemaker that brews your coffee one to-go cup at a time. I'm sure there are plenty of shoppers this morning who needed that go cup of coffee, just to make sure they could keep going throughout the morning.

You might notice behind me, it's looking kind of calm, like a normal day at the Wal-Mart. That is because retailers are now noticing that people are waiting a little later in the season to do their purchasing, unlike what they used to do. And they are shopping more online. Taking a little bit of the edge off the big crowds we normally see on this Friday, Carol.

COSTELLO: David Mattingly, thanks so much.

We will have been showing you live scenes of holiday shoppers at Macy's in New York, too. And a few hours ago, we talked to Macy's boss. Let's check back with Terry Lundgren, CEO of Federated Department Stores.

Hello, Terry.

TERRY LUNDGREN, CEO, FEDERATED DEPT. STORES: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: How's business? LUNDGREN: Looks pretty good. We opened the doors at 6:00 a.m. this morning and the store is full, as you might be able to see, at Macy's in Herald Square. We're optimistic.

COSTELLO: Oh, I see them coming through the doors now. That must make you very happy to see.

LUNDGREN: I'm sorry. I can't hear.

COSTELLO: You can you hear me now? I feel like the Verizon commercial.

Can you hear me now, Terry?

LUNDGREN: Better, yes.

COSTELLO: OK. It must make you happy to see so many shoppers coming through the doors.

LUNDGREN: One more time, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: It must be loud at Macy's.

It must make you very happy to see so many shoppers coming through the doors.

LUNDGREN: It does, indeed. Know, as I said we started off very strongly and I walked through the stores looking for packages and I'm seeing a lot of packages out of the corner of my eye. That's all a good sign.

COSTELLO: I see a big smile on your face. What are some of the bargains at Macy's? Why should I go down there after the show?

LUNDGREN: You have to come here, Carol, first of all. All the brands are here. If you're interested in a particular name brand, Inc., Alfoni (ph), Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, they're all here. That is one.

Two, is that fragrances are selling very briskly this morning. Those too are attached to celebrities and name brands, Britney Spears, and Beyonce. That is what is selling this morning. And Donald Trump has a fragrance out for men. That is selling so lots of things we carry just aren't sold in other stores.

COSTELLO: There will be discounts on those items, I'm sure?

LUNDGREN: Yeah, plenty of value throughout the store. Lots of what we call door busters for the shopper interested in getting those great bargains and great values. We have microwave ovens at $49.99. We have cashmere at $79. We also have earrings, chandelier earrings for $10. So, we have the full range of price points here at Macy's.

COSTELLO: All right, I'm coming down then. Terry Lundgren, thanks so much for joining AMERICAN MORNING.

LUNDGREN: You're welcome, Carol.

SANCHEZ: Six months after killing her husband, while he slept, Laura Rogers is free. A judge in Washington state reduced her sentence to time served describing the victim, that would be her husband, as a horrible human being. Walter Rodgers had been sexually abusing Laura's teenage daughter. In fact, there was a video and baby to prove it. Recently Soledad talked with Laura Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING (on camera): The judge reduced a 10-year sentence to time served, plus five years of probation. What do you think was the main piece of evidence that led him to that decision?

LAURA ROGERS, FREED AFTER KILLING HUSBAND: I hope he was -- just took into consideration my children and we need to move on and get the help we needed.

O'BRIEN: You have three children, including your stepdaughter who to a large degree was at the focus of this case. There was a videotape of your husband having sex with your teenage daughter. What kind of a role do you think that tape, as horrible as it is, played in all of this?

ROGERS: A huge part.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the circumstances of how you came to be aware of this tape and what happened on that day when you took a shotgun and kill your husband.

ROGERS: My daughter came to me, she was seven months pregnant. She was scared and I think she was tired. So she informed me where the tape was and what it involved. So I went and got it, and looked at some of it, and was in utter shock. What the type entailed.

O'BRIEN: You had purchased a shotgun?

ROGERS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: And you took that shotgun and while your husband was sleeping, you shot him and killed him.

ROGERS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask you, and other women who are victims of abuse, as has been establish by the court, why stay with somebody who is so clearly a horrible person on so many levels? Why not pack up your stuff, pack up your kids and get out.

ROGERS: My husband was the type of person that I knew I could never get away from. I was terrified of him. I knew, eventually, and always myself and my children's lives were in jeopardy. I knew that eventually if I left he would find us, and not only kill me, but probably the children also.

O'BRIEN: Why not go through legal channels with, again, somebody who was established to be a really horrific person? Why not get him thrown in prison and be free in that regard? Why resort to killing him?

ROGERS: That's hard to answer. He was very manipulative. He manipulated the police once. And everything moved so quickly, that evening into that early morning. I don't think I had time enough to think about anything.

O'BRIEN: Do you regret now that you killed him?

ROGERS: I regret being forced to take that action by someone. I regret taking another human being's life. But I do not regret the fact that he will ever harm my children again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: What a story. The judge said that a diagnosis of battered spouse syndrome was a factor in his sentencing of Laura Rogers.

COSTELLO: Down to Atlanta to get a check on the weather with Chad.

Good morning.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

SANCHEZ: Still to come, keeping everyone happy this Christmas without breaking the bank. Gerri Willis has holiday budget tips.

COSTELLO: Plus, is Wisteria Lane about to have one less desperate housewife? The "90-Second Pop" is next. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh, the big finale was coming. It's "90-Second Pop" for a Friday.

Oh, yeah. I feel like dancing now.

Here's "90-Second Pop" for a Friday. Here now the pop players, Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly", BJ Sigesmond, staff editor for "US" weekly, Crystal McQuery, author of "Gotham Diaries".

Welcome to all of you.

I didn't want to dance on the table, that would be too embarrassing.

Let's start with this "Desperate Housewives" thing, BJ. Because one of them might actually be killed? That's hard to believe. BJ SIGESMOND, STAFF EDITOR, "U.S." MAGAZINE: No, the producers have promised this all week. Somebody is going to die Sunday night on the show. I think it's going to be one of the three fallen women. I'm going to give you my prediction.

COSTELLO: OK.

SIGESMUND: Target number one is Nicollette Sheridan's vixen character Eddie.

COSTELLO: Are they going to kill her off because of the NFL?

(CROSS TALK)

SIGESMUND: Yes, maybe that. But they've been setting her up within the show to be killed. In fact, one of her neighbors, Mr. Young, it looked like last week, paid someone $10,000 to off her.

But I don't think that is going to happen, because even though she's not part of the central four-person clique on the show, every show like this needs a bad girl. I don't think it's her.

Number two, Eva Lungori's (ph) mother-in-law, Mrs. Solis. She is the one who caught Gabrielle having sex with the gardener last week, then ran out into the street and got hit by a car. She's kind of an obvious.

JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": And that would definitely make it. She doesn't strip down ever.

SIGESMUND: Yes, so she's kind of ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you've got to go with the old dowdy one.

COSTELLO: She's expendable.

(CROSS TALK)

SEGISMUND: As we know on TV, producers like to surprise you. That's too obvious. So I think it's going to be Mrs. Huber, who is the nosey neighbor. She's the one who found the measuring cup of Susan's, in Eddie's house, so she knows, she will forever know that Susan tried to burn down her rival's house. I think she is the obvious one to go.

COSTELLO: Interesting. We'll be glued to the set.

Let's move on to topic number two, which would be "American Idol" and the alleged feud, Jessica.

SHAW: Yes, well it is not the most functional of families, "American Idol." But right now the big news is Ruben Studdard, who won the show the year before last, is in the hospital for exhaustion, which is a common celebrity ailment.

SIGESMUND: Lindsay Lohan had exhaustion.

SHAW: Courtney Love, there's a long history of exhausted people.

(LAUGHTER)

SHAW: And he -- you know, he's definitely -- he's 449 pounds. He was trying to lose weight. He ended up, he was promoting an album. So he had to cancel all of the promotion for his new album.

SIGESMUND: Kind of a bummer. This is the most important week for sales, it is Thanksgiving week, everyone's off, everyone is at the mall, and Reuben Studdard.

CRYSTAL MCQUERY, AUTHOR: He needed time off for the Thanksgiving meal.

SHAW: Not to mention the fact that Reuben is competing with fellow "American Idol" winners Fantasia and Kelly Clarkson, who have albums coming out this week.

COSTELLO: Yes, but aren't they supposed to be on some big Christmas special?

SHAW: And also the Christmas special, but the real winner of "American Idol" is actually Clay Aiken, who came in as the runner-up to Reuben Studdard. He has his own NBC special.

(CROSS TALK)

MCQUERY: Clay is not the winner.

SHAW: I think so.

COSTELLO: He does he has his own special and his albums are selling far better.

SIGESMUND: Right.

MCQUERY: Clay Aiken did get more money on eBay, I heard.

SIGESMUND: It's true. Clay, the proof is in the pudding. His albums have sold more than anyone else's on that show, even though he didn't technically win.

COSTELLO: Crystal, Jessica, BJ, Thank you.

The "90-Second Pop", over to you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, keeping the memory of her subtle life, one jazz concert at a time. Our extra effort segment is coming up next. Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. It seems like everybody's out shopping today. It's important not to bust your budget on this popular shopping day. In fact, some pretty good advice would be, be careful. Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, she is minding your business today with tips on how to stay within your holiday budget.

This is important because everyone's going to go out and overspend, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: You don't want to be paying for Christmas in July. That is for darn sure.

First, let's check the markets and see what's going on there. You see that the Dow is up almost 16 points there.

But here's the big news, Rick, SpongeBob ringing the opening bell. You got to love this. Check it out.

SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness.

WILLIS: Isn't that so cute?

SANCHEZ: We're getting SpongeBobbed during this last couple hours. He's been all over this show.

WILLIS: Very popular. You have to admit.

Let's talk a little bit about budgeting. The big thing is to figure out how much you're going to spend, and the problem is most people only think about the gifts, you don't think about the dress for the Christmas party, the ribbons, the bows. Just camera --.

SANCHEZ: The extras.

WILLIS: AL the extras add up so quickly. Make sure you know how much you are going to spend. If you can pay with cash, that's a good thing.

SANCHEZ: You really have to be careful with some of the hidden charges too, don't? You some of the stuff that comes along with any of the payments and things you make?

WILLIS: You bet. One of the big problems is people don't realize the shipping charges when they are online, can really add up fast. You definitely want to pay standard shipping, right? That's the cheapest way to go. And if you are going to do that you are going to have to order really soon.

As an example, Amazon.com, you're going to have to order by December 18th.

SANCHEZ: Here's one of the best tips I've heard about shopping, and it comes from Gerri Willis, as a matter of fact. Be a procrastinator. I've never heard anybody say that before.

WILLIS: Sometimes it pays to be lazy. You know how this works.

Basically, the big sales come right before the holiday. If you wait till the last minute you can get the very best prices. Here is the downside, because there is a downside to that strategy. You may not get the absolute perfect gift you were looking for. If you had something in the back of your mind that you thought would be the absolute wonderful thing, they may be out of that. You may have to go for second best. You'll get a good price.

SANCHEZ: What an amazing deal, if you can convince your kids, for example, if my case, are you listening kids? We're going to move it to the 25th this year, we're going to move it to the 26th or 27th, right? Then you can go out and get all the deals.

WILLIS: Yes, that's true. But then you wouldn't be the popular dad that you are.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Gerri.

Carol, back over to you.

COSTELLO: I don't think the kids would like that, Rick.

In today's "Extra Effort" segment, a woman who has helped bring music a little music into the lives of harried New Yorkers in memory of her son. Jason Carroll introduces us to Marjorie Elliott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): Stand outside this building in Harlem on any given Sunday, and listen.

You might hear the faint echoes of jazz. It's not the spirits of Duke Ellington or Count Basey, who lived here back in the day. It's the spirit of Marjorie Eliot in apartment 3F at 555 Edge Comb (ph) Avenue, that's making it all possible.

MARJORIE ELIOT, JAZZ MUSICIAN: It's a kind of a communion of spirits, you know, from all kinds of places.

CARROL: Every Sunday for the past 10 years, Marjorie has hosted jazz concerts right in her living room, free of charge, in honor of her son Philip, who died a little more than 10 years ago.

He passed on a Sunday and I really used to go crazy on Sundays. I say that something joyous has been threaded through a very sad story.

CARROLL: Marjorie, a former actress and musician herself never had a problem finding other musicians, but in the beginning, it was hard finding an audience.

ELIOT: I used to make people come out of a laundry room. Please come upstairs. You don't have to get dressed up. Silly.

CARROLL: Now, thanks to word of mouth, they come from all over the world to sit in her living room, hallway, wherever.

ELIOT: They get a chance to hear people who are unplugged. And they are right on top of them. They can experience them. They can talk to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems very cool. You can tell something's going to happen here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a nice experience to go back and tell people back in North Carolina what I did.

ELIOT: It doesn't surprise me. It's thrilling, because they really embrace the notion of what I do. They just come with an outpouring of love and generosity, and honesty.

CARROLL: Keep on jamming, Marjorie. Your living room is larger than you could possibly imagine. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 26, 2004 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In a few minutes we'll check again on holiday shopping. Many department stores and malls across the country...
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Swamped!

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, they are. David Mattingly is watching the action at one Wal-Mart. We'll talk to the head of one of the big chains what shoppers are getting in the way of bargains.

Also, this story, a woman is convicted of killing her husband who is not going to prison. We'll meet her and find out why the judge decided to let her go, but before we do that, let's get another check of the headlines. And to do that we take you to Tony Harris is standing by at the CNN Center holding down the fort in Atlanta.

Tony, over to you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Good morning, Rick and Carol.

Good morning, everyone.

"Now in the News", at least four members of a British security firm, described as Nepalese, have been killed in Baghdad's so called green zone. More than a dozen others were wounded. It's not clear if the attack, which took place yesterday, was due to a rocket or mortar.

Ukraine's opposition leaders meeting with European Union mediators this morning. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana held talks with Candidate Victor Yushchenko, just a short time ago. Solana is also tentatively scheduled to meet with the declared victor in Sunday's election, the current prime minister, Victor Yanukovich. The country's supreme court is expected to decide Monday if there are any legal means to resolve standoff.

And here in the U.S., crews in Colorado working to open up a few lanes of Interstate 70 after a rock slide forced commuters to take a nearly 220-mile detour. Near Glenwood Springs, a canyon wall collapsed yesterday.

Look at these pictures, piling a stretch of highway with rocks. No one was injured in the slide.

It is 9:33 now. Send it back to, Carol.

Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, Tony. Thanks so much.

They call it Black Friday, the traditional opening day of the holiday shopping season. And right on cue, shoppers across the country were out early today looking for bargains. David Mattingly is in a Wal-Mart in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Good morning, David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Carol.

There's a very definite strategy to this early morning shopping. The idea is to get to one store as early as possible, shop as quickly as possible, and then move on to as many stores as possible later in the day to make sure you see as many sale items as you can before they're all picked over.

That's what happened here at 6 o'clock this morning. The crowd started gathering at 4:00 a.m. At 6 o'clock they were allowed into the aisles to the specially priced items. They made their purchases quickly and they went through the checkout aisles and then they were off to other stores to continue their shopping.

Some of the big ticket items that they are looking at this year, Wal-Mart has a top 12 of appliances. We have some to show you here that includes the traditional microwave oven, the vacuum cleaner.

Something caught my eye, you can never have too many in the gadgets in the kitchen, the automatic jar opener. And down here, the coffeemaker that brews your coffee one to-go cup at a time. I'm sure there are plenty of shoppers this morning who needed that go cup of coffee, just to make sure they could keep going throughout the morning.

You might notice behind me, it's looking kind of calm, like a normal day at the Wal-Mart. That is because retailers are now noticing that people are waiting a little later in the season to do their purchasing, unlike what they used to do. And they are shopping more online. Taking a little bit of the edge off the big crowds we normally see on this Friday, Carol.

COSTELLO: David Mattingly, thanks so much.

We will have been showing you live scenes of holiday shoppers at Macy's in New York, too. And a few hours ago, we talked to Macy's boss. Let's check back with Terry Lundgren, CEO of Federated Department Stores.

Hello, Terry.

TERRY LUNDGREN, CEO, FEDERATED DEPT. STORES: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: How's business? LUNDGREN: Looks pretty good. We opened the doors at 6:00 a.m. this morning and the store is full, as you might be able to see, at Macy's in Herald Square. We're optimistic.

COSTELLO: Oh, I see them coming through the doors now. That must make you very happy to see.

LUNDGREN: I'm sorry. I can't hear.

COSTELLO: You can you hear me now? I feel like the Verizon commercial.

Can you hear me now, Terry?

LUNDGREN: Better, yes.

COSTELLO: OK. It must make you happy to see so many shoppers coming through the doors.

LUNDGREN: One more time, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: It must be loud at Macy's.

It must make you very happy to see so many shoppers coming through the doors.

LUNDGREN: It does, indeed. Know, as I said we started off very strongly and I walked through the stores looking for packages and I'm seeing a lot of packages out of the corner of my eye. That's all a good sign.

COSTELLO: I see a big smile on your face. What are some of the bargains at Macy's? Why should I go down there after the show?

LUNDGREN: You have to come here, Carol, first of all. All the brands are here. If you're interested in a particular name brand, Inc., Alfoni (ph), Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, they're all here. That is one.

Two, is that fragrances are selling very briskly this morning. Those too are attached to celebrities and name brands, Britney Spears, and Beyonce. That is what is selling this morning. And Donald Trump has a fragrance out for men. That is selling so lots of things we carry just aren't sold in other stores.

COSTELLO: There will be discounts on those items, I'm sure?

LUNDGREN: Yeah, plenty of value throughout the store. Lots of what we call door busters for the shopper interested in getting those great bargains and great values. We have microwave ovens at $49.99. We have cashmere at $79. We also have earrings, chandelier earrings for $10. So, we have the full range of price points here at Macy's.

COSTELLO: All right, I'm coming down then. Terry Lundgren, thanks so much for joining AMERICAN MORNING.

LUNDGREN: You're welcome, Carol.

SANCHEZ: Six months after killing her husband, while he slept, Laura Rogers is free. A judge in Washington state reduced her sentence to time served describing the victim, that would be her husband, as a horrible human being. Walter Rodgers had been sexually abusing Laura's teenage daughter. In fact, there was a video and baby to prove it. Recently Soledad talked with Laura Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING (on camera): The judge reduced a 10-year sentence to time served, plus five years of probation. What do you think was the main piece of evidence that led him to that decision?

LAURA ROGERS, FREED AFTER KILLING HUSBAND: I hope he was -- just took into consideration my children and we need to move on and get the help we needed.

O'BRIEN: You have three children, including your stepdaughter who to a large degree was at the focus of this case. There was a videotape of your husband having sex with your teenage daughter. What kind of a role do you think that tape, as horrible as it is, played in all of this?

ROGERS: A huge part.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the circumstances of how you came to be aware of this tape and what happened on that day when you took a shotgun and kill your husband.

ROGERS: My daughter came to me, she was seven months pregnant. She was scared and I think she was tired. So she informed me where the tape was and what it involved. So I went and got it, and looked at some of it, and was in utter shock. What the type entailed.

O'BRIEN: You had purchased a shotgun?

ROGERS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: And you took that shotgun and while your husband was sleeping, you shot him and killed him.

ROGERS: Yes, ma'am.

O'BRIEN: I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask you, and other women who are victims of abuse, as has been establish by the court, why stay with somebody who is so clearly a horrible person on so many levels? Why not pack up your stuff, pack up your kids and get out.

ROGERS: My husband was the type of person that I knew I could never get away from. I was terrified of him. I knew, eventually, and always myself and my children's lives were in jeopardy. I knew that eventually if I left he would find us, and not only kill me, but probably the children also.

O'BRIEN: Why not go through legal channels with, again, somebody who was established to be a really horrific person? Why not get him thrown in prison and be free in that regard? Why resort to killing him?

ROGERS: That's hard to answer. He was very manipulative. He manipulated the police once. And everything moved so quickly, that evening into that early morning. I don't think I had time enough to think about anything.

O'BRIEN: Do you regret now that you killed him?

ROGERS: I regret being forced to take that action by someone. I regret taking another human being's life. But I do not regret the fact that he will ever harm my children again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: What a story. The judge said that a diagnosis of battered spouse syndrome was a factor in his sentencing of Laura Rogers.

COSTELLO: Down to Atlanta to get a check on the weather with Chad.

Good morning.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

SANCHEZ: Still to come, keeping everyone happy this Christmas without breaking the bank. Gerri Willis has holiday budget tips.

COSTELLO: Plus, is Wisteria Lane about to have one less desperate housewife? The "90-Second Pop" is next. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh, the big finale was coming. It's "90-Second Pop" for a Friday.

Oh, yeah. I feel like dancing now.

Here's "90-Second Pop" for a Friday. Here now the pop players, Jessica Shaw from "Entertainment Weekly", BJ Sigesmond, staff editor for "US" weekly, Crystal McQuery, author of "Gotham Diaries".

Welcome to all of you.

I didn't want to dance on the table, that would be too embarrassing.

Let's start with this "Desperate Housewives" thing, BJ. Because one of them might actually be killed? That's hard to believe. BJ SIGESMOND, STAFF EDITOR, "U.S." MAGAZINE: No, the producers have promised this all week. Somebody is going to die Sunday night on the show. I think it's going to be one of the three fallen women. I'm going to give you my prediction.

COSTELLO: OK.

SIGESMUND: Target number one is Nicollette Sheridan's vixen character Eddie.

COSTELLO: Are they going to kill her off because of the NFL?

(CROSS TALK)

SIGESMUND: Yes, maybe that. But they've been setting her up within the show to be killed. In fact, one of her neighbors, Mr. Young, it looked like last week, paid someone $10,000 to off her.

But I don't think that is going to happen, because even though she's not part of the central four-person clique on the show, every show like this needs a bad girl. I don't think it's her.

Number two, Eva Lungori's (ph) mother-in-law, Mrs. Solis. She is the one who caught Gabrielle having sex with the gardener last week, then ran out into the street and got hit by a car. She's kind of an obvious.

JESSICA SHAW, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": And that would definitely make it. She doesn't strip down ever.

SIGESMUND: Yes, so she's kind of ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you've got to go with the old dowdy one.

COSTELLO: She's expendable.

(CROSS TALK)

SEGISMUND: As we know on TV, producers like to surprise you. That's too obvious. So I think it's going to be Mrs. Huber, who is the nosey neighbor. She's the one who found the measuring cup of Susan's, in Eddie's house, so she knows, she will forever know that Susan tried to burn down her rival's house. I think she is the obvious one to go.

COSTELLO: Interesting. We'll be glued to the set.

Let's move on to topic number two, which would be "American Idol" and the alleged feud, Jessica.

SHAW: Yes, well it is not the most functional of families, "American Idol." But right now the big news is Ruben Studdard, who won the show the year before last, is in the hospital for exhaustion, which is a common celebrity ailment.

SIGESMUND: Lindsay Lohan had exhaustion.

SHAW: Courtney Love, there's a long history of exhausted people.

(LAUGHTER)

SHAW: And he -- you know, he's definitely -- he's 449 pounds. He was trying to lose weight. He ended up, he was promoting an album. So he had to cancel all of the promotion for his new album.

SIGESMUND: Kind of a bummer. This is the most important week for sales, it is Thanksgiving week, everyone's off, everyone is at the mall, and Reuben Studdard.

CRYSTAL MCQUERY, AUTHOR: He needed time off for the Thanksgiving meal.

SHAW: Not to mention the fact that Reuben is competing with fellow "American Idol" winners Fantasia and Kelly Clarkson, who have albums coming out this week.

COSTELLO: Yes, but aren't they supposed to be on some big Christmas special?

SHAW: And also the Christmas special, but the real winner of "American Idol" is actually Clay Aiken, who came in as the runner-up to Reuben Studdard. He has his own NBC special.

(CROSS TALK)

MCQUERY: Clay is not the winner.

SHAW: I think so.

COSTELLO: He does he has his own special and his albums are selling far better.

SIGESMUND: Right.

MCQUERY: Clay Aiken did get more money on eBay, I heard.

SIGESMUND: It's true. Clay, the proof is in the pudding. His albums have sold more than anyone else's on that show, even though he didn't technically win.

COSTELLO: Crystal, Jessica, BJ, Thank you.

The "90-Second Pop", over to you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, keeping the memory of her subtle life, one jazz concert at a time. Our extra effort segment is coming up next. Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. It seems like everybody's out shopping today. It's important not to bust your budget on this popular shopping day. In fact, some pretty good advice would be, be careful. Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer, she is minding your business today with tips on how to stay within your holiday budget.

This is important because everyone's going to go out and overspend, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: You don't want to be paying for Christmas in July. That is for darn sure.

First, let's check the markets and see what's going on there. You see that the Dow is up almost 16 points there.

But here's the big news, Rick, SpongeBob ringing the opening bell. You got to love this. Check it out.

SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness.

WILLIS: Isn't that so cute?

SANCHEZ: We're getting SpongeBobbed during this last couple hours. He's been all over this show.

WILLIS: Very popular. You have to admit.

Let's talk a little bit about budgeting. The big thing is to figure out how much you're going to spend, and the problem is most people only think about the gifts, you don't think about the dress for the Christmas party, the ribbons, the bows. Just camera --.

SANCHEZ: The extras.

WILLIS: AL the extras add up so quickly. Make sure you know how much you are going to spend. If you can pay with cash, that's a good thing.

SANCHEZ: You really have to be careful with some of the hidden charges too, don't? You some of the stuff that comes along with any of the payments and things you make?

WILLIS: You bet. One of the big problems is people don't realize the shipping charges when they are online, can really add up fast. You definitely want to pay standard shipping, right? That's the cheapest way to go. And if you are going to do that you are going to have to order really soon.

As an example, Amazon.com, you're going to have to order by December 18th.

SANCHEZ: Here's one of the best tips I've heard about shopping, and it comes from Gerri Willis, as a matter of fact. Be a procrastinator. I've never heard anybody say that before.

WILLIS: Sometimes it pays to be lazy. You know how this works.

Basically, the big sales come right before the holiday. If you wait till the last minute you can get the very best prices. Here is the downside, because there is a downside to that strategy. You may not get the absolute perfect gift you were looking for. If you had something in the back of your mind that you thought would be the absolute wonderful thing, they may be out of that. You may have to go for second best. You'll get a good price.

SANCHEZ: What an amazing deal, if you can convince your kids, for example, if my case, are you listening kids? We're going to move it to the 25th this year, we're going to move it to the 26th or 27th, right? Then you can go out and get all the deals.

WILLIS: Yes, that's true. But then you wouldn't be the popular dad that you are.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Gerri.

Carol, back over to you.

COSTELLO: I don't think the kids would like that, Rick.

In today's "Extra Effort" segment, a woman who has helped bring music a little music into the lives of harried New Yorkers in memory of her son. Jason Carroll introduces us to Marjorie Elliott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING (voice over): Stand outside this building in Harlem on any given Sunday, and listen.

You might hear the faint echoes of jazz. It's not the spirits of Duke Ellington or Count Basey, who lived here back in the day. It's the spirit of Marjorie Eliot in apartment 3F at 555 Edge Comb (ph) Avenue, that's making it all possible.

MARJORIE ELIOT, JAZZ MUSICIAN: It's a kind of a communion of spirits, you know, from all kinds of places.

CARROL: Every Sunday for the past 10 years, Marjorie has hosted jazz concerts right in her living room, free of charge, in honor of her son Philip, who died a little more than 10 years ago.

He passed on a Sunday and I really used to go crazy on Sundays. I say that something joyous has been threaded through a very sad story.

CARROLL: Marjorie, a former actress and musician herself never had a problem finding other musicians, but in the beginning, it was hard finding an audience.

ELIOT: I used to make people come out of a laundry room. Please come upstairs. You don't have to get dressed up. Silly.

CARROLL: Now, thanks to word of mouth, they come from all over the world to sit in her living room, hallway, wherever.

ELIOT: They get a chance to hear people who are unplugged. And they are right on top of them. They can experience them. They can talk to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems very cool. You can tell something's going to happen here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a nice experience to go back and tell people back in North Carolina what I did.

ELIOT: It doesn't surprise me. It's thrilling, because they really embrace the notion of what I do. They just come with an outpouring of love and generosity, and honesty.

CARROLL: Keep on jamming, Marjorie. Your living room is larger than you could possibly imagine. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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