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American Morning
Doctor King's Legacy; TB Quarantine Patient; Your American Home; Imus Suspended: Can His Career Survive?; A Fare to Remember
Aired April 10, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON IMUS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I'm saying it's not funny. I'm saying there's no excuse for it. I'm not pretending that there is. I wish I hadn't have said it. I'm sorry I said it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Sorry and now he's suspended. Don Imus being pulled off the air for his racist remarks. This morning he's speaking out. And so are the female basketball players that he insulted.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Deal breaker. The British put the breaks on the freed sailors making money off of their captivity in Iran.
S. O'BRIEN: Marketing meltdown. Another apparent ad gimmick sparks another bomb scare in Massachusetts. This one at a school.
M. O'BRIEN: And the new American home for the changing American family. Contractors taking the kitchen outside, pumping up the home theater and building a solution to snoring spouses.
Live from Washington, Phoenix and New York City on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Tuesday, April 10th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: We begin this morning on the nation's airwaves where you're not going to be seeing or hearing from Don Imus starting next Monday. MSNBC and CBS radio are both suspending him for two weeks and more pressure is building this morning over Imus' racist comments. Today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the New York NAACP is going to be holding a news conference demanding that Imus be fired. And at 11:00 also, Southern Christian Leadership Conference leaders will call for Imus' job. Plus, an FCC hearing. 11:30 a.m., the players that Imus insulated will be speaking out on the Rutgers campus. CNN's Jim Acosta is at Rutgers in New Jersey now.
And, Jim, this really isn't the end of hearing from Imus either.
Good morning. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That's right. But today is the day for the players to have their say. The women's basketball team here at Rutgers is scheduled to hold a press conference here at 11:00 at the arena behind me here. And after holding their silence for almost a week, they will finally have their say about Don Imus who's racial slur earned him a two-week suspension.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Don Imus went looking for redemption on, of all places, Al Sharpton's radio show. The civil rights leader would have none of it.
DON IMUS, TALK RADIO HOST: Would you be willing to go on my program to discuss your point of view?
REV. AL SHARPTON, ACTIVIST/RADIO HOST: Well, are you going to announce that it's your last show?
IMUS: No, I'm not. I mean . . .
SHARPTON: Well, no, then I'm not coming on now. We're going to deal with the accountability of (INAUDIBLE).
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they've got tattoos and some hard pro hoes. That's some nappy-headed hoes.
ACOSTA: But what Imus and his executive producers said about the Rutgers squad was not the duos first verbal assault on African- Americans.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, ACTIVIST: This was not a slip of the lip. This was a point of view.
ACOSTA: Which is why the nation's Black Journalist Association said it was time to take Imus off the air.
BRYAN MONROE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS: I think it's important that at some point America draw the line and says this far, no farther. That America knows what the standards of decency are. That you can't impugn young ladies like this and get away with it.
ACOSTA: In response to the uproar, MSNBC and CBS radio announced they are suspending Imus for two weeks starting Monday.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC NEWS: Taken off the air.
ACOSTA: Al Sharpton wasn't buying it.
SHARPTON: I have faith that people will mobilize and he will be fired.
ACOSTA: On the Rutgers campus, Imus is accused of ruining a golden moment for the women's basketball team, which made it all the way to the NCAA championship. Their sense of pride here has turned to pain.
RICHARD MCCORMICK, PRESIDENT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: They represented Rutgers in an exemplary fashion of which we are extraordinarily proud and then he says that. Why, why, why, why, why?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And Rutgers being the state university of New Jersey, even the governor of New Jersey, John Corzine, has weighed in on this controversy, releasing a statement late yesterday evening saying he strongly condemns Imus' words. And speaking of Imus. He has offered an olive branch with the team, offering to meet with them and apologize in person. No word yet whether that offer has been accepted.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see if they say yes or no thanks to that.
Jim Acosta for us this morning. Thank you, Jim.
And we want to hear from you too. Is a two-week suspension sufficient punishment for Don Imus? Go to cnn.com to vote. See the latest results too. Right now, 61 percent say yes it's enough, 39 percent say no. This is, obviously, not a scientific poll. Just people weighing in with their opinion.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Those British sailors and marines held by Iran will not be able to sell their stories after all. The British defense secretary did an abrupt about face after a huge backlash from the public, politicians and family members who have lost loved ones in the war. The ban came to late to stop two former captives from cashing in, Faye Turney, the only woman in the group already has sold her story. So did the youngest of the group, Sailor Arthur Batchelor.
S. O'BRIEN: We're going to hear from both sides today about the fight over the war spending bill. President Bush is supposed to speak this morning. He's expected again to say that he's going to veto any bill that includes a deadline for pulling troops out of Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid holds his own news conference. It will come after the presidents. He says he's going to move to cut off the money for the war if the president vetoes the bill.
Fifteen thousand U.S. troops may have to stay in Iraq four months past their current tour of duty date. General David Petraeus is asking the defense secretary, Robert Gates, to extend them. Petraeus says the troop increase is working and he needs the higher levels through the summer.
Thirteen thousand National Guard combat troops could be heading to Iraq to replace regular forces. They are the 39th infantry brigade, which is based in Little Rock, Arkansas, the 45th from Oklahoma City, the 76th from Indianapolis, the 37th from Columbus, Ohio. Many of them have already done a tour of duty in Iraq.
M. O'BRIEN: Back to work on Capitol Hill after the Easter recess. Lawmakers will take up the thorny issue of federal funding for stem cell research. The Senate likely to approve the idea, setting the stage for another presidential veto. Democrats are marking 100 days of their congressional reign now and they're riding pretty high. Right now, 40 percent of the nation approves of the job lawmakers are doing. That's up from 25 percent right before the election last fall. The numbers from the Associated Press/Ipsos polls.
S. O'BRIEN: The former first lady, Betty Ford, is back home this morning after the surgery that she had last week in Rancho Mirage, California. Her office says she's resting comfortably. He's recovering well. No word yet, though, on why she had to have surgery. Mrs. Ford turned 89 on Sunday.
M. O'BRIEN: More now on the pet food crisis. One of the nation's largest chains of veterinarian hospitals out with some startling numbers this morning. The Banfield pet hospitals, more than 600 of them in all, reporting their vets saw 284 extra cases of kidney failure among cats and dogs since the tainted food hit the shelves. Now that equate to 3 out of every 10,000 pets. At that rate, as many as 39,000 dogs and cats were sickened or killed by tainted food.
S. O'BRIEN: More words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. coming to light and now set to go to the highest bidder. We brought you some of those items earlier this year. They were sold for $32 million. Now there are more papers that have emerged. Twenty-five documents that provide insight into Dr. King's thinking.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN, (voice over): The papers, stored away for nearly 40 years, are said to be drafts of some of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches and letters and other documents. They go up for auction next week.
PAUL BROWN, OWNER, GALLERY 63: I've had an African prince contact me just this morning. I've had several research institutions contact me and several private dealers contact me.
S. O'BRIEN: Paul Brown, owner of an Atlanta auction house, says the papers belonged to an elderly Maryland woman, a friend of the civil rights leader. Brown hasn't yet had an expert authenticate the documents, which is something the King family wants. The family, though, is not waiting to speak out. They're vowing to halt the auction.
ISAAC NEWTON FARRIS JR., NEPHEW OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: They need to prove that they have acquired these papers legally. And if they can't and don't want to cooperate, then, unfortunately, we will have to litigate. S. O'BRIEN: The King family recently sold a large collection of Dr. King's papers to the city of Atlanta, some of which were put on display at the Atlanta History Center. The speeches, sermons, notes and his personal library are now at Martin Luther King's alma mater, where earlier this year I got unprecedented access to the collection.
It's preserved here at the library for Moorehouse College, the start of what is literally a treasure of Dr. King's thinking at the critical moments in civil rights history.
Brown estimates the documents he has could fetch up to $300,000 and he says he's open to selling them to the King family.
BROWN: I don't really want to be embroiled in a controversy with the King family. I just want to sell the papers to the highest bidder.
S. O'BRIEN: But the King family isn't interested in buying the papers.
FARRIS: The bottom line is, my uncle owned his work, therefore his estate now owns his work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: The woman who owns the papers remains anonymous. The auction house says she obtained them in a debt settlement with a radio station that was connected to Dr. King.
M. O'BRIEN: The road to the White House is leading candidates through a lot of late night TV studios. And you know how they say many a truth is spoken in jest. Well, check out this scene last night as Barack Obama dropped in on Letterman and he asked if he would team up with Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": But you know what I'm getting to. People will say, oh, well, this is Barack Obama's -- he's only been a senator for two years, so maybe we're looking at some sort of a compromise on the ticket. Maybe he'll be the presidential candidate, Hillary might be the vice president. Maybe it will be the reverse of that. Any of that occur at this point or not?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. You don't run for second. No. I don't believe in that. Yes.
LETTERMAN: But that would be a powerful ticket. Undeniably, that would be a powerful ticket.
OBAMA: Which order are we talking about?
LETTERMAN: Well, it's a . . .
(END VIDEO CLIP) M. O'BRIEN: Both the Obama and Clinton camps are joining John Edwards and bowing out of a September debate sponsored by Fox News. All of them will participate in CNN's debate in January. As Obama put it, CNN seemed like a more appropriate venue.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: I know Hillary Clinton would say the same thing, so which order would that be in?
M. O'BRIEN: That's exactly the way you'd say it, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, they certainly looked innocent enough, but a bunch of backpacks on a fence caused quite another promotional scheme to go horribly wrong. We'll tell you what happened straight ahead.
Also, patient or prisoner? We'll take you to the place that no human being is allowed, to meet a man that nobody would very. Is his quarantine unfair?
And can separate bedrooms lead to marital bliss? One of the hot, new trends we take a look at as our series "Your American Home" continues.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A developing story that we're watching for you out of Florida this morning. Dry weather is fueling a large brush fire in Broward County. That's outside of Miami. Take a look at those pictures there. The fire is burning along a stretch of I-75, which is also known as Alligator Alley. Now thick smoke has forced police to close a section of the interstate yesterday. The road's back open again this morning. The fire has burned 10,000 acres since Saturday. So far, not threatening any homes, though.
It's coming up at quarter past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center. He is watching the weather around that fire and much more for us.
Hey, Chad, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: In Phoenix in morning, an innocent man is sitting in a jail hospital held against his will in conditions you would expect for an inmate. We first brought you this sorry last week. You'll recall it. He is getting the criminal treatment only because he is very sick and very contagious. Thelma Gutierrez got exclusive access to the patient.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): On the fourth floor of this Phoenix hospital, in a high security jail ward, a patient is behind bars. He's considered dangerous. But not because he's committed a crime, but because he has a deadly drug resistant strain of tuberculosis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that was a threat to the community.
GUTIERREZ: He is 27-year-old Robert Daniels. For the past eight and a half months, he has lived behind the doors of this sealed, specially ventilated room, without human contact. He was forced into quarantine by the Maricopa County Health Department and this is the first time that anyone outside of the hospital has seen him. CNN was given rare access to the ward.
You've been there for eight months.
ROBERT DANIELS: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: What have those eight months been like?
But we had to interview Daniels on the phone because he's contagious. Daniels says here he's treated by like a prisoner, not a patient.
DANIELS: All of a sudden you've been called an inmate. You've been given a booking number and the room you're in, it has bars on the windows. There is no shower.
: He's made his bed and now he has to sleep in it.
GUTIERREZ: The Maricopa County Sheriff's department and health officials here say Daniels was warned to wear a mask in public. He didn't, so he was ordered into quarantine by the court.
DANIELS: Of course I'm regretting what I did. I should have been a little more mature about all this.
GUTIERREZ: Daniels says he understands why he's in quarantine, but says the conditions are unbearable ever since the sheriff's department took away his TV, radio and computer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I first came -- met Robert, the case didn't seem right. Robert was not an inmate, but yet he was being treated like an inmate.
GUTIERREZ: One of Daniels' nurses, who didn't want to be identified, blew the whistle. The ACLU has stepped in, saying his constitutional rights are being violated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really made me very upset to think that us in America could treat a patient so punitively.
GUTIERREZ: Daniels' treatment could take years. Torture, he says, because his wife and son live in Moscow.
DANIELS: Every day I sit on the bed and I remember my wife and I realize that I can't talk to her and I just sit there and cry. What else I have to do because I couldn't do nothing. Nothing.
GUTIERREZ: Robert Daniels is not sure when he'll be able to see them or anyone else again.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up at 7:30 Eastern, we'll speak to the sheriff of Maricopa County, ask him why Robert Daniels is being treated that way.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Another marketing stunt gone very, very wrong. This one happened in Newton, Massachusetts, which is outside of Boston. Four backpacks hanging on a fence outside of a school sparked a call to the bomb squad. The packs, though, contained only newspapers with dollar bills sticking out of them and materials about a social networking Web site for teenagers. The web site's founder says she's got nothing to do with the stunt. And it certainly raises memories about an incident back in February when electronic devices promoting a cable cartoon show sent the Boston PD into high gear. Two men were arrested in that incident.
Coming up, our special series on the American home. The facts about foreclosure. Ali Velshi with everything you need to know to avoid that worse-case scenario.
And Alina Cho is going to show you some new trends in the home, home building.
Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Good morning, Miles.
Forget the Jacuzzi and the granite counter tops. This home, when it's finished, will have much more than that, including something called a snoring room. We'll explain when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
This morning, we're paying another visit to "Your American Home." Our week long look at the prime season for home buying and home selling. We've got two reports for you this morning. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is in Robbinsville, New Jersey, about an hour outside of New York City, looking at some of the trends in new home construction. Ali Velshi is right here with us this morning in the studio talking about foreclosures. Let's begin with Alina.
Good morning, Alina.
CHO: Hey there, Soledad. Good morning to you. You know, we're here at the Washington Town Center housing development, which is about halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. That staircase I just walked down actually leads to a mini apartment above the garage. That's one big trend. Another big trend we're seeing -- something to help couples deal with snoring.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO, (voice over): Homes are getting bigger. And one surprising trend, separate master bedrooms. Take baby boomers Howard and Bev Rossman (ph). They've been married for 33 years. They love each other, but can't stand sleeping together. Bev has restless legs, Howard snores. So they decided to make a change. They bought a home, tore it down and rebuilt it. In the plans, the key to a good night's sleep, a snoring room.
HOWARD ROSSMAN, HOUSE HAS SEPARATE MASTER BEDROOMS: It takes out the tension of sleeping together, not the romance. So it eliminates an aspect of conflict.
BEV ROSSMAN, HOUSE HAS SEPARATE MASTER BEDROOMS: By no one, I would have to go to our son's room or our daughter's room in the middle of the night. In the morning, he would wake up and go, oh, I'm so sorry that you had to move. And now it's great. I mean, it's very nice.
CHO: The National Association of Home Builders predicts by the year 2015, 60 percent of custom homes could have dual master bedrooms.
LAUREN KIT, HOUSE HAS SEPARATE MASTER BEDROOMS: This is our main sleeping area.
CHO: Bill and Lauren Kit did it. In fact, they not only have separate bedrooms, they have separate closets and bathrooms, too.
KIT: We sleep better. We're in better moods.
CHO: Spa-like bathrooms are another big housing trend. So are home theaters and outdoor kitchens, an extension for the great American barbecue.
JERRY HOWARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS: Americans love to be outside. And the American family is now spending more and more time in outdoor living spaces.
CHO: Take the Rockmans (ph), for example. They're adding a tea house. They say all of the changes they've made to their home have not just improved their living space, it's made their relationship better, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Now though the housing market is slow overall across the country, this new housing development is actually selling out. Of the 800 homes that were available, only 100 of them are left with amenities like spa bathrooms and snoring rooms, like we mentioned in the piece. Another big reason that these homes are selling out, Soledad, it's in a suburb of a big city like New York. And we're finding that though it's slow across the country, homes in suburbs of big cities are still experiencing big-time growth and development.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Once again, proving that old adage, location, location, location.
CHO: That's right.
S. O'BRIEN: Alina Cho for us this morning.
Thank you, Alina.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: More now on "Your American Home." The other end of the spectrum. From fancy homes and home theaters to foreclosures. Some of the places where this is happening the most, Detroit, Denver and Dallas. Why are those places hard hit? Once again, location, location, location.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Ali Velshi is here at 25 minutes past the hour with a look at that.
Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning.
That's exactly it. If you're living in a market where prices are going up, you're generally not in danger of foreclosure. Because if worse comes to worse and you can't pay your bills, you can sell your house and come out with a little extra money.
Foreclosures happen to people who have high mortgages and then one or two of a few other things happen. One is, your mortgage rate goes up. You lose your job or your income decreases. You can't take more money out of your house because it hasn't appreciated in value. You can't sell your house to get out of the mortgage because your mortgage is worth more than your house. You can't make your payments. The bank forecloses. This is a bad situation and it increased dramatically across the country.
Now as we saw on the map there, it's increasing in certain areas. In particular, Detroit is the number one area in the country. Denver is high up on that list for different reasons. And the geography, for instance, in Detroit, the things that fuel foreclosures are the economy. There have been a lot of job losses there because of the auto sector.
In other places, like Denver, you've seen over development over the years. You've seen a lot of houses built because people are moving down to that area. Denver, Los Vegas, all of those areas. And as a result, property values, when they start to flatten out, really flatten out. You can really feel it in areas like that.
Now the other issue is regardless of where your mortgage rates are going and what your job situation is, the flat housing prices we're starting to see across the country are a bit of an issue because in instances where people are running into financial trouble, they have, in the last several years, been able to go to their house as an ATM. Go and cash out. The interest rates have been low. Now when you start to get yourself into a problem, your credit rating, your credit score might be low, you can't use your house as an ATM, you're kind of out of options and that also results in foreclosure.
So it's not like the flu. It's not a trend that's spreading. Just because somebody else is getting foreclosed on, doesn't mean you are. It's a bunch of things. It's almost a perfect storm. It's those rates. It's people (INAUDIBLE). And it's house prices together that are causing these foreclosures. The ability to budget by having a fixed interest rate is an underestimated benefit and a lot of people who are in this pinch might not be if they were in fixed rates.
M. O'BRIEN: Something people forgot about there for a little while, I think.
VELSHI: That's right.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Ali. Appreciate it.
Top stories of the morning are up next.
What an i-mess. Is suspending Don Imus for two weeks enough?
And a fare to remember. A New York City taxi driver, live pictures of him there, is about to take a very long cab ride. How far you say? How about Arizona?
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's Tuesday, April 10th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: There are several developing stories we're watching that's on the radar right now.
Radio host Don Imus just about to be suspended for two weeks, making racist remarks about the women's basketball team at Rutgers University. Imus, the players and lots of other people are speaking out this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Also, a bit about face by the British military. Sailors captured in Iran can no longer sell their stories.
S. O'BRIEN: How much would it pay for a cab that takes you from the east side of Manhattan, let's say, to the west side of the country? We're going to catch up with a cabbie who's getting behind the wheel today in New York. He's driving a nice couple and their two cats all the way to Arizona. And you're not going to believe the fare. It's actually not so expensive.
We begin this morning, though, with mounting pressure on radio host Don Imus for his offensive comments that he made on the air last week about the Rutgers women's basketball team. MSNBC, CBS Radio announcing that Imus will be suspended from the air for two weeks starting on Monday.
But today, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the New York NAACP is going to hold a news conference demanding that Imus is fired. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is also calling for Imus' job, plus an FCC hearing.
And at the same time, the Rutgers' women's basketball team members who Imus insulted will be speaking out.
Jim Acosta is live for us, covering all of this this morning. He's in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with more.
Good morning to you, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That's right, the Rutgers women's basketball team, they've been keeping their silence, biting their tongues for nearly a week now since what happened last Wednesday when Don Imus went on the radio air waves and attacked -- basically verbally assaulted this woman's basketball team the night after they lost the NCAA championship. But they are planning to have a press conference later on this morning at 11:00.
It's unclear whether or not the players will accept Imus' offer to meet with him and listen to his apology. Imus yesterday was on his program and on the Al Sharpton radio program offering to apologize personally to the players. We'll find out. That will be one of the questions these players will be asked.
And speaking of Imus, he's apologized, he's been suspended, but for Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader who has been out in front leading the charge against the I-Man, it's just not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: I think it's a baby step in the right direction, but it's clearly not far enough. I think to say that his statements were racist, as they've said, then that means they should not allow him to come back.
We hope to meet with all of them and make that case. Two of the immediate things is we want to meet with those at CBS and NBC to clearly lay out why he should not be returned after the suspension, and we want to go to Rutgers University to really stand with these young ladies that have been so disparaged in this. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Imus's suspension starts on Monday. The reason why, CBS Radio and MSNBC saying that that is because Imus had already pretaped a charity telethon for needy kids, and so, because of that, they did not want to go ahead and do away with that broadcast or those broadcasts because of the current controversy.
Imus says, take a look at this charity work that I'm doing, and this is a reason why I should continue to stay on the air. But Al Sharpton and others in the civil rights community are saying, no, it's not about your character, it's about what you said, and there needs to be accountability -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Charity work, versus "nappy-headed hos". Interesting.
Jim Acosta for us this morning.
Thank you, Jim.
It's all under the microscope now, as Imus is finding out. Over the past two weeks, he's had journalists, politicians and generals all as guests. But take a closer look at his guest list. It kind of reveals a common threat -- at least we thought so.
Tim Russert, Tim McCarver, Chris Matthews, Tom Oliphant, Colonel Jack Jacobs, Senator Chris Dodd -- hmm. OK, there's one woman right there. In other words, mostly white men are on that list. Only three women, in fact. No minorities as guests over the last two weeks.
And this morning, we're hearing from one of the women who has refused to go on Imus's show. PBS' Gwen Ifill has a terrific editorial today in "The New York Times".
Imus is said to have once called Gwen Ifill a cleaning lady as she was covering the White House for "The New York Times". Ifill writes this in her op-ed this morning: "Why do my journalistic colleagues appear on Mr. Imus's program? That's for them to defend and others to argue about."
We'd like to hear from you this morning. Is a two-week suspension for Don Imus sufficient punishment?
Go to CNN.com to vote. See the latest results, too.
Right now, 61 percent say, yes, it's enough, 39 percent are saying no. This is not obviously a scientific poll.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Health news this morning.
A study out on the number of Americans who are more than 100 pounds overweight. The latest figures from 2005 show 6.8 million Americans are morbidly obese. That's up from 4.2 million in 2000.
There could be an extra benefit for folks who perform the slow and graceful movements of tai chi. Not only does it improve fitness and balance, but a new study shows it may help prevent shingles. Researchers found that older people who do tai chi had better immune systems to fight the painful skin condition. The study appears in this month's "Journal of the American Geriatrics Society".
And here's another unlikely way to avoid disease. People from families prone to Parkinson's Disease who drink coffee or smoke are less likely to develop the disease. Unclear why. The study published in the "Journal of Archives of Neurology".
It's about 40 minutes past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center watching the rain in Florida.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: You know, in just a few hours, New York cab driver Douglas Guldeniz is going to be picking up his first fare of the day. Also his last fare of the day, frankly. In fact, his last fare for quite a little while.
That's because he will be taking a retired couple from New York City, from Queens, to their new home in Sedona, Arizona. If you do the math, that's about 2,400 miles away.
Douglas Guldeniz joins us this morning. We're out on 58th Street, right in the middle of Manhattan. Also with him is Dave Pollack He's the president of the Committee for Taxi Safety.
Gentlemen, nice to see you.
We've got to start with you, Douglas, of course, because the big question for people is, why? Why would a couple take a cab, this exact cab, 2,400 miles across the country?
DOUGLAS GULDENIZ, NEW YORK TAXI DRIVER: OK. A really good question.
This one, because first thing, the first reason, they have two cats. And then they don't take -- to fly, you know, a jet -- the cargo area. You know, they believe the cats will die. And also, this car is hybrid. They want to put, you know, smaller (INAUDIBLE). And then...
S. O'BRIEN: It's just a better way to travel, it sounds like you're saying to me.
GULDENIZ: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Now, you're going to charge them -- this kind of surprised me...
GULDENIZ: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: ... $3,000 flat fare, which sort of sounds like a lot. But when you crunch the numbers, it's actually not a lot.
GULDENIZ: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: You could, doing the math, get $5,000 each way for this fare. Why so little?
GULDENIZ: Yes. No, you know, regular fan is $10,000, actually. But I say $3,000.
If I say -- first thing, them. You know, $10,000, I believe they say no. They take other option. I say $3,000, plus gas, other stuff, this is good. This will take only seven days. You know, seven days...
S. O'BRIEN: Three thousand dollars. It's...
GULDENIZ: Yes. Yes, this if fine. Because then, also, I want to do something different. You know? You know? That's why.
S. O'BRIEN: It really is, frankly, Dave, the goodness of Douglas' heart, because he met this couple earlier in the week and talked to them a little bit about their lives, and they decided they wanted to go across the country, but really didn't want to fly with those cats. The way we heard about this story, frankly, is through you and your newspaper, which is meant for taxi drivers around the city, right?
DAVE POLLACK, PRESIDENT, COMMITTEE FOR TAXI SAFETY: That's right. Douglas actually called me last week and said, "I'm taking a fare to Arizona. Do you want to write about me?" And I said, "Come into the office." I wanted to verify this.
S. O'BRIEN: Are you the real deal?
POLLACK: That's exactly right. After speaking with Douglas for two minutes, anyone can see that he's sincere, he's caring, and he's a kind driver.
It doesn't surprise me that this retired couple chose Douglas to drive them across country. Very unusual.
Douglas picked me up this morning. We had a 60-mile drive. Douglas doesn't speed, he doesn't change lanes. It's a nice, comfortable ride. And I understand why this couple is using him.
S. O'BRIEN: I know you're not going to be driving at night. You're going to be checking into motels along the way to make it nice and comfortable for everybody.
Dave, let me ask you another question. Have you ever heard of this before?
POLLACK: No. Actually, there's been no verification of a trip this long. This is the longest trip ever in the New York City taxi industry. And I'll tell you, Arizona's gain is going to be New York City's loss for a week. We're going to miss Douglas. S. O'BRIEN: For just seven days. For just seven days.
Well, Dave and Douglas, thank you very much. Have a safe trip. Have a nice, comfortable trip.
GULDENIZ: Thank you. OK.
S. O'BRIEN: We appreciate you talking to us. Good luck to you.
GULDENIZ: Thank you.
POLLACK: It's much warmer there. They don't need the earmuffs, they don't need gloves, they don't need scarves.
Good luck.
S. O'BRIEN: You look like you're going, but you're not.
POLLACK: No, I'm not.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, gentlemen. We appreciate it.
Let's throw it right back to Miles in the studio -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. A cab drive her doesn't speed, that's just amazing. Wow.
Definitely worth a ride. A long ride.
It is one of the most crooked, steep streets in the world. We're talking about the section of Lombard Street that switches back its way down Russian Hill in San Francisco. And it's apparently a Big Wheel racer's dream.
Take a look at this race. I like the costumes, too.
The seventh annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race down Lombard Street, which was fraught with wipeouts and pileups, the winner Brent Crawford (ph). He now is the self-proclaimed best Big Wheel rider in the world.
That's something to put on the resume, isn't it?
All right.
Coming up, Barack Obama stops by Letterman. Wait until you see what he had to say about the possibility of teaming up with Hillary Clinton.
Plus, MySpace and teens, is it free speech or not? One teenager took that question to court and got a surprising ruling.
And four backpacks hanging on a fence caused a bomb scare in Massachusetts, another one. We'll tell you all about another marketing mishap there.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Checking politics now.
Add two more names that won't appear at that debate in Detroit this fall. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are bowing out of a Democratic presidential debate sponsored by the FOX News Channel. Last week, John Edwards announced he would not attend.
The debate is scheduled for September 23rd in Detroit. All of the Democratic candidates will agree -- have agreed to appear on CNN's Democratic debate January in South Carolina.
Senator Obama was the guest on David Letterman's show on Monday. And Dave asked if Obama would consider sharing the presidential ticket with his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": But you know what I'm getting to?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do.
LETTERMAN: People will say -- they're saying, oh, well, this isn't Barack Obama's -- he's only been a senator for two years, so maybe we're looking at some sort of a compromise on the ticket. Maybe he'll be the presidential candidate, Hillary might be the vice president. Maybe it will be reverse of that.
Any of that occur at this point or not?
OBAMA: You don't run for second. I don't believe in that. Yes.
LETTERMAN: But that would be --that would be powerful ticket, undeniably. That would be a powerful ticket.
OBAMA: Which order are we talking about?
LETTERMAN: Well, let's say...
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: The Obama campaign raised about $25 million in the first quarter of this year, just $1 million behind Senator Clinton.
Former U.S. vice president Al Gore is taking his Live Earth concert to New Jersey. He wanted to have his July 7th concert on the National Mall in Washington. His global warming nemesis, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, threatened to block that plan. The concert will now be held at Giant Stadium.
And, of course, all the day's political news available any time of the day or night. CNN.com/ticker is the place to get it -- Soledad.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The golden arches reaches a deal with Florida farm workers, promising to pay more for those tomatoes in McDonald's hamburgers.
About five minutes before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business".
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Any excuse, Miles -- good morning -- to talk about McDonald's. But it is not easy being a tomato picker.
This deal has been two years in the works, and it's between McDonald's and the company that represents many of the Mexican and Guatemalan immigrant tomato pickers in Florida. McDonald's has agreed to pay a penny more for a pound of the round tomatoes that go on the sandwiches.
Now, the penny more per pound means the pickers who pick these things can earn up to 70 cents a bucket now, up from about 40 cents, and that's going to pick -- that's going to kick the best tomato pickers up to the poverty line with no benefits, no overtime. This group that negotiated with McDonald's succeeded in 2005 in getting an agreement with Yum! Brands with Taco Bell for the same thing.
And these deals are interesting, because it's not a typical supplier agreement where the cost of the product has gone up so McDonald's pays it. We're talking about McDonald's making a deal that actually gets to the workers. There will also be a third party sort of making sure this gets through.
And McDonald's is saying they're not going to pass this increase on to consumers. So, this is directly tied to McDonald's saying they're going to make a contribution, they're going to pay for something that's going to help the end worker.
Burger King has been approached about the same thing, and they're comment, which is the comment you get from many businesses, not our problem how our suppliers pay their workers.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you can't get away with that anymore, can you?
VELSHI: Not in 2007.
M. O'BRIEN: No. No.
VELSHI: McDonald's has done the right thing on this one.
M. O'BRIEN: And, you know what? The consumer always does pay. Eventually. VELSHI: That's right. Eventually you'll pay for it.
M. O'BRIEN: Ali, thank you.
VELSHI: OK.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON IMUS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I understand it's not funny. I understand there's no excuse for it. I'm not pretending that there is. I wish I hadn't said it. I'm sorry I said it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Sorry, and now suspended. Don Imus has been pulled off the air for his racist remarks. This morning he's speaking out, and so are members of the female basketball team -- the basketball team that he insulted.
M. O'BRIEN: Deal-breaker. The British put the brakes on those freed sailors and marines from making money off their captivity in Iran.
S. O'BRIEN: A CNN exclusive. A man locked up in prison, not for a crime, but for a deadly disease that cannot be treated with drugs. Is it fair? We'll take a closer look.
We're live this morning from London, from Washington, from the Rutgers campus in New Jersey, and right here in New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody, Tuesday, April 10th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin this morning with the mounting pressure on radio host Don Imus. Three key groups speaking out this morning, saying that a two-week suspension just is not enough for those racist comments on air.
The New York NAACP is going to be holding a news conference. That will happen at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. They plan to demand that Imus is fired.
Now, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference also going to call for Imus's job.
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