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American Morning

Rare Operation on TB Patient; Threat Report: Intelligence Revealed Today; All-Night Debate in Senate

Aired July 17, 2007 - 06:59   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Political all-nighter. Senate Democrats rolling out the cots for around-the-clock war debate.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: They're protecting the president rather than protecting our troops.

CHETRY: Will political fatigue really force a change of course in Iraq?

On this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Good morning. Thanks for being with us on this July 17th.

John, they really are bringing out the cots. I was joking around, but they're just all going to argue with each other all night long and then tuck themselves into a communal bedroom?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Usually when they bring the cots out in Washington it's because they're planning a filibuster. This is actually in protest of a filibuster. So the cots are coming out for a bit of a different reason.

CHETRY: All right.

Well, once again, thanks so much for being with us.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts.

We begin this morning with a CNN exclusive, a rare operation on the Atlanta attorney whose tuberculosis sparked an international health alert.

CHETRY: That's right. In just a few minutes, Andrew Speaker will be heading into the operating room, and doctors will literally try and cut the disease out of his lung.

CNN's own doctor, Sanjay Gupta, is getting exclusive access to the rare procedure. He joins us live now from the National Jewish Medical Center. This is that state-of-the-art facility in Colorado. Sanjay, I'm just curious, how did you even get to this point where they're letting you in to observe this surgery?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was interesting. You know, I actually have been in touch with Andrew Speaker since this all began for him. And he actually called me when he decided and his doctors decided he was going to have surgery and talked about it and said this might be an opportunity to see the surgery, show the operation, show what happens in this sort of case.

It's about 5:00 a.m. here in Aurora, Colorado, which is where we are now, about six miles from National Jewish. That's the University of Colorado behind me.

In about an hour or so they're actually going to take Andrew back and start prepping him for surgery.

You'll remember, for him, this whole strange odyssey began in January when he had a pain in his rib. It's the only symptom he ever had. He got an x-ray and that showed the tuberculosis. In the subsequent chain of events, he became the first patient since 1963 to be federally quarantined.

All of that may come to an end game today, where they actually remove the diseased portion of his lung where the infection is sort of localized. Now, no operation is without risks, but this, in the scheme of things, according to his surgeon, is a fairly moderate risk operation.

What they're going to be doing specifically, this is how Dr. John Mitchell, his surgeon, told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN MITCHELL, CHIEF GEN. THORACIC SURGERY, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: What we're going to be removing is a section of the lung. So, to remove that section, we need to divide the vessels that go to and from that part of the lung, divide the bronchus, or bronchial tube that goes to that part of the lung, and then separate the actual lung tissue from the other lobes -- in this case, the middle and lower lobes. We then place the specimen or lobe within a bag and then pull the bag out through the two-inch incision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: It's sort of amazing, and it's an amazing operation. They're actually going to put these various tubes into his chest. There's going to be a video camera actually within the chest actually filming the whole thing, and the instruments actually going in and removing just the upper portion of his right lung. That's where the disease is localized.

I thought it was very interesting as well, you guys heard that they actually, within the chest cavity, put that portion of the lung in a bag, seal the bag, and then bring out the body. The goal, obviously, is to not release any of this tuberculosis bacteria into the area, around in the operating room, or in the rest of the hospital.

They've given me an exclusive chance to go in there and watch this. I'm actually going to go into the operating room, take a camera in there. We're going to show you some of this stuff. It's pretty amazing, and it's pretty rare as well.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, we look forward to that.

Sanjay, we'll keep on checking back with you this morning.

Sanjay Gupta for us outside Jewish Hospital in Denver.

Now the secrets revealed from the national intelligence report. A newly declassified version is going to be released a little bit later on today, and what officials at the highest levels of homeland security are worried about.

CNN's Kelli Arena will be at a briefing this morning where parts of that report will be declassified. She joins us now from our Washington bureau this morning.

Kelli, what are we expecting to hear?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you know, this is a report that represents the best thinking of 16 intelligence agencies, as it's meant to project what the U.S. will face within the next year to a year and a half. And basically, the bottom line is the U.S. is going to face a very persistent terrorist threat.

The report is expected to say that al Qaeda has regained much of its capability to attack on U.S. soil. However, it says the U.S. is a harder target to hit. And it talks a lot about al Qaeda's increased efforts to try to get operatives into the U.S. to do harm.

So what do we do with this information? How do we process it? I put that question to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff just yesterday. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: A very, very important way of determining if there is something out there that is dangerous is to listen to people who sense something is amiss. I'm not saying that you should be paranoid. What I am saying is when you see something suspicious, you ought to say something to the police or the FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARENA: And John, as you mentioned earlier, much of this report will remain classified. We just get to see certain portions that are declassified.

ROBERTS: Kelli Arena for us this morning in Washington.

Kelli, thanks. ARENA: You're welcome.

CHETRY: Well, they are literally rolling out the cots at Capitol Hill today. The Senate is planning a marathon all-night session. They're going to debate the war. They want to get people on the record about whether they support being there or coming home.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is live for us now on Capitol Hill.

And it's almost comical when -- if it wasn't such a serious issue when you see them rolling out these cots and unfolding them, you know, getting ready for this all-night session.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Kiran. Look, I mean, the bottom line is, pulling an all-nighter is a classic, really a tried and true way, to get attention around here. And you are going to see a spectacle later on today and throughout tonight, into tomorrow morning.

Essentially, what you're going to see, as you said, are some cots being rolled in for the cameras. I'm not sure we're actually going to see anybody using those cots. But what Democrats are trying to do in staging this political theater is reach two audiences.

First, wavering Republicans, Republicans who have been more critical of the war but not yet ready to vote with the Democrats on their deadline for troop withdrawal. And the second audience, Kiran, are actually their own Democratic base, antiwar activists who voted them into the majority eight months ago and are increasingly frustrated that they haven't been able to change the course of the war.

So this, in a lot of ways, is a signal from the Democratic majority to their own base that they're actually trying -- Kiran.

CHETRY: So, do we think it's going to make a difference?

BASH: Probably not. There are about three -- there are only, actually, three Republican senators who have signed on to the Democrats' deadline for a withdrawal by May 1st. And the Democrats need 60 votes to pass it.

There is only one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, who has suggested she might vote for this. So at the end of the day, Kiran, this is a good way for Democrats to get press, but probably not a good way for them to get what they really need, and that's votes.

CHETRY: All right. Dana Bash for us on Capitol Hill this morning.

Thanks so much.

BASH: Thank you.

CHETRY: And we have a program note right now. We're going to be talking with Democratic Senator Dick Durbin coming up in our next half hour. He calls this an important week, the most important week, in fact, in the Senate session.

We're also going to be speaking with Republican Senator Kit Bond, whose son is currently serving in Iraq. He's going to be joining us in our 8:00 Eastern hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: All right. Well, our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents are working these stories that are new this morning.

A manhunt is under way right now in Wyoming for a military sniper who may have used his skills to kill his estranged wife. And there are some new developments at this hour.

Alina Cho is following that story for us.

Hi, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.

This is a massive search. Authorities are really using everything they have, including dogs and Black Hawk helicopters, as they search for 36-year-old David Munis.

Now, Munis is a trained military sniper, a sharp-shooter. And he's also an avid outdoorsman. So police are looking right now in areas where he has been known to go camping.

Now, authorities believe Munis may have fled in that Dodge pickup there, and that truck was found about 50 miles east of Cheyenne, near Laramie, last night. They're hoping to search that truck later this morning.

Now, Munis is the only suspect in shooting death of his wife, Robin Munis. The couple had recently separated. She was singing in a band at a Cheyenne nightclub when she was shot and killed by a single bullet that was fired, authorities believe, from the parking lot.

Now, this all happened shortly after midnight on Saturday. Local newspapers are reporting this morning that Robin Munis may have received harassing phone calls from her husband as recently as six hours before the shooting.

Now, David Munis is a staff sergeant with the Wyoming National Guard. He had sniper training during his service in the Army. And right now, Kiran, he is on the run and believed to be armed and dangerous.

CHETRY: They also think he is good at surviving in the wilderness, so, you know, those wooded areas, they're certainly going to be checking those.

Alina Cho following this story for us this morning.

Thank you so much.

Also, the Dow is on a record run, closing just shy of 14,000.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

ROBERTS: Coming up to 12 minutes after the hour.

A death row inmate has a 90-day lease on life this morning. Today, he was to be executed by lethal injection.

Thirty-eight-year-old Troy Davis is sitting on Georgia's death row. The clemency board has granted a temporary stay of execution.

He was convicted for the murder of police officer Mark McPhail back in 1989. Then the prosecution's case started crumbling.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins me now.

Jeff, Troy Davis has long argued that he was the victim of mistaken identity, but repeated judges refuse to hear the case.

What changed?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: What changed is simply the volume of people who have come forward. You have seven of the nine witnesses in the case who have now either substantially or totally changed their view. And you have sort of the ultimate issue in the legal system: execution. Are they going to execute the wrong person? Which many people believe is the worst thing the legal system can do.

So those -- that confluence of circumstances has led to this crisis now in the Georgia legal system.

ROBERTS: And the original case was made on witness testimony. There was no physical evidence, no gun.

TOOBIN: No DNA.

ROBERTS: So when the people who made your case suddenly come out and say, wait a minute, it wasn't the way we told it, what do you have to do?

TOOBIN: What do you have to do? And this case really highlights something in the legal system that has changed in recent years.

People like former Chief Justice Rehnquist pushed very hard to get a system of finality in. You know, this case -- the conviction was in 1991. He said we can't have these cases drag on for years, so there was a movement, a law signed in 1996 to cut back on the number of appeals allowed.

That's a valuable goal in the legal system, finality. The problem is, what happens in case like this when finality conflicts with potentially accuracy? ROBERTS: Obviously, Troy Davis' attorneys, family very excited about this latest development. But, of course, McPhail's family exactly the opposite reaction.

TOOBIN: And that is why finality is so important. I mean, think about what it must be like to have your family member killed in 1989. Here in 2007, the legal system is still debating who did it. The victims are entitled to justice, too.

The delay works for no one. But, you know, you've got to have the right person executed if you're going to execute people.

ROBERTS: So a 90-day stay of execution while the court hears perhaps new testimony, or, at least, you know, will hear depositions from these witnesses.

We'll see where this case goes.

Jeff Toobin, thanks.

TOOBIN: OK.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese will pay out the bulk of a landmark $660 settlement to victims of priest sexual abuse. A lot of the victims spoke out yesterday in the wake of the official ruling, and not all of them are satisfied with the outcome.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN SANCHEZ, CLAIMS PRIEST ABUSE: For $660 million, he bought himself out of testifying in our case. Cardinal Mahony is walking away by writing one check, and this issue is not over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, in light of this and other settlements, can the Catholic Church survive in America?

Joining me now to take a look at this from Chicago is CNN contributor Roland Martin. He's the host of "The Roland Martin Show". And from Boston, Tim Maldoon. He's the director of Church and 21st Century at Boston College. Muldoon was brought in in the aftermath of the crisis to help bring back faith in the Catholic Church.

Welcome to both of you. Thanks for being with us.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Glad to be here. TIM MULDOON, DIRECTOR OF CHURCH & 21ST CENTURY AT BOSTON COLLEGE: Thank you. Good to be here.

CHETRY: You know, Tim, yesterday was the end of a long- protracted battle in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Some victims, though, say that it's not over because Cardinal Mahony is still heading up the church.

Do you think they will be able to move on from the scandal with the cardinal still heading up that archdiocese?

MULDOON: It's difficult to say. It's a complex archdiocese. It's the largest in the world, and of course there are a number of concerns that -- that relate to any replacement of such a key figure.

Of course, the precedent here in our own city of Boston shows that it is possible for a major figure like an archbishop to be replaced, which is what happened with Cardinal Law's resignation in -- just a few years ago.

CHETRY: And Roland, do you think that in order for some of these people to be able to move on and for the L.A. Archdiocese, at least, to start with a clean slate, Cardinal Mahony perhaps needs to be replaced?

MARTIN: Absolutely. But Kiran, understand -- I mean, this is a structural issue. For this to take place in Los Angeles and Boston -- and we've seen examples out of Dallas, Seattle, all across the country -- this points to leadership. Leadership must be replaced.

Folks have to have confidence that frankly Catholic leaders are going to do the right thing in terms of if it happens again. And so you can't have the same team that was in charge of when all this took place for them to remain in place. Absolutely, the cardinal must go.

CHETRY: You know, a lot of people wanted a different apology out of Cardinal Mahony. I'd like you to listen to what he said and I'd like to get your reaction, Tim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY, L.A. ARCHDIOCESE: Once again, I apologize to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused in the Catholic Church by priests, by deacons, religious men and women, or lay people in the church. It should not have happened and should not ever happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: He didn't name himself in that apology. There are many victims who say he should of apologized for his role in the scandal and also the years of a cover-up, Tim.

MULDOON: Yes. It's not surprising that many victims see those words as shallow. They certainly do represent the words of somebody who has an authority, at least an administrative authority. But it's certainly very difficult to envision how, you know, a simple apology can truly represent the depth of what this case represents.

CHETRY: You know, Roland, you wrote a column recently...

MARTIN: But Kiran -- Kiran...

CHETRY: Go ahead. Go ahead.

MARTIN: No apology -- no apology can certainly heal that wound. But I think it's also owning up to your responsibility. And that is where the problem is.

As somebody who spent more years in the Catholic Church than I did out, 25 of my first years in the Catholic Church, it is offensive to look at the Catholic Church, you know, respond the way they're responding. So, just to say, you know, we apologize, yes, but you were in charge. You could have done something. You could have stepped up.

In times of crisis, leaders step up and assume the matter of responsibility. And in this case, Catholic leaders have not, and there is a culture here. There is a culture that must be changed.

And you have to get the people out of there who participated in this in order to for you to move on for there to be healing, because how can you trust they're going to do the right thing again? How can you trust that? You can't.

CHETRY: Tim, I want to ask you about the situation in the Boston Archdiocese. There was a series of articles talking about a priest shortage.

You look at back at the numbers, 1976, there were nearly 1,200 priests there. In 2007, it's down to 500. And the projection as they look at the priests that are 65 and older and retiring, versus the new ones coming in, in 2015 would be down to 292.

What do you -- what do those numbers tell you about the ability of the church to continue to grow, as opposed to shrink?

MULDOON: Yes, it's a key question. And the point that Mr. Martin brought up a moment ago about leadership is certainly a critical one that has been addressed by a number of dioceses.

Clearly, there is a declining number of priests. Although, to put it in perspective, the United States still has a larger ratio of priests per capita of Catholics than many other countries. And so, I wouldn't yet call it a truly precipitous crisis. It's certainly -- you know, it's to give pause.

The larger issue, of course, is, you know, the one of leadership, which is really no longer exclusively in the domain of clergy. There are many more lay people that understand that the responsibility, if there is going to be change in the church, has to come in large part from adults who just simply take ownership of the fact that they bear responsibility as Catholics, they're not going to exclusively look to their leaders, at least those that have roles in the clergy. And so we do see, for example, many lay organizations, both at the parish level, diocese level, and even the national level, that are trying to recognize that leadership is going to be difficult. And, in many ways, this is akin to what happened to the United States during the Watergate crisis.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we're running out of time.

MULDOON: So it's certainly critical.

CHETRY: But I thank both of you.

Roland Martin, CNN contributor out of Chicago for us this morning. And Tim Muldoon, the director of the Church and 21st Century at Boston College.

Thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A shot this morning of Music City, Memphis, Tennessee. Our thanks to our folks at WMC for this shot. It's 72 degrees there right now, going up to a high 89. A little bit of clouds in the sky right now, but those clouds could increase later on because they are expecting some thunderstorms.

CHETRY: Nice blue skies though, for now. Enjoy the morning while you have it.

ROBERTS: Lovely morning in Memphis.

Welcome back. It's Tuesday, the 17th of July. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.

New this morning, some of the latest secret intelligence on terrorism will be declassified in the next couple of hours. The national intelligence estimate, as it's called is going to have some details of why the government thinks that Al Qaeda is growing stronger and closer to an attack inside of America.

Aftershocks and mudslide fears in Japan this morning after yesterday's 6.82 magnitude earthquake. Emergency workers are also investigating a second nuclear scare. They found 100 sealed barrels of clothes and gloves contaminated by low-level radiation at a nuclear plant. They found those had tipped over. Water also leaked from the plant in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.

TB patient Andrew Speaker left surgery to remove part of his lung this morning in Denver. Speaker sparked an international health scare back in May when he ignored doctor's orders and flew overseas for his wedding, possibly exposing hundreds of air travelers to TB. Our Chie Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be in the operating room this morning for that surgery. We're going to be speaking with him before heads in, at the top of the hour.

ROBERTS: Extraordinary opportunity Doctor Gupta has today.

Get out the sleeping bags, bringing a toothbrush to Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats say they're going to force the Iraq issue by holding an all-night session tonight. Our next guest calls this the most important week of the Senate session. Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate's second ranking Democrats, joins us now live.

Senator Durbin, why is this the most important week of the Senate session?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL.): Because the war in Iraq is the most important issue facing Congress. Unfortunately, the president and Republican leaders in the Senate have decide to filibuster this issue, to stop the debate, to stop the vote that really will reflect what America feels. That it's time for a new direction. It's time to start bringing our troops home.

ROBERTS: But what makes this so important? Is something actually going to get done this week?

DURBIN: Well, we've had a number of Republican senators, in fact, almost one a week, who are defected from the president's position, said that they think we need a new policy in Iraq. They're going to have their chance tomorrow morning, after tonight's debate, they will have a chance to finally vote to make a difference; to have a timetable to end this war responsibly.

ROBERTS: You've got three, Hagel, Snowe, Gordon Smith, you might get Collins, that still puts you six shy of being able to end this filibuster. And I'm wondering, this all-nighter is it going to chip away at Republican solidarity, or might you just make them mad?

DURBIN: We thought it was time to really make the point if the Republicans are going to filibuster try to stop the debate on the war in Iraq, then frankly, they have to stay here and pay the price. Too many times we have sanitized these filibusters so members can go out to a nice dinner, go home, go to sleep, get up in the morning and say well, the filibuster is over.

Tonight, we're going to stay on the job. This debate is important to the American people. It's important that we stay here and make sure it's a meaningful debate.

ROBERTS: Republicans don't seem to be too worried about it, Senator Durbin. They are calling it just a publicity stunt on the part of the Democrats.

DURBIN: You know, I don't think a sleepless night is a stunt. It's certainly not a stunt for our soldiers and their families. Many of them spend sleepless nights in combat or worrying about the safety of those soldiers. For us to spend one sleepless night is not a stunt. It's what the Senate rules require when the Republicans throw a filibuster at us and try to stop the debate.

ROBERTS: So the bill that you're pushing, which is the Reid/Levin bill, calls for troops to get out of Iraq and sets a timetable for doing it. Of course, you can't get the 60 votes that you need because you don't have the Republican support. If you really wanted Republican support why not go for something more along the lines of the Salazar/Alexander bill, which sets a timetable for getting troops out of the combat zone, out of combat operations, but still leaves them there in Iraq? Why do you have to have all or nothing here?

DURBIN: All of these other amendments leave it to the discretion and decision of the president about when this war will end. We know what's going to happen. This president has told us he'll leave it till the next president to start bringing troops home. The only amendment, which really gets to the heart of the issue, sets a timetable for ending this war, is the one that will be voted on tomorrow morning, the so-called Levin/Reed Amendment.

I haven't given up on my Republican colleagues. I've heard their speeches at home. I've read the clippings from their states when they said they have given up on this president's policy. Tomorrow they will have an opportunity to really vote for a meaningful amend many to start to bring this war to an end.

ROBERTS: Last night, here on CNN, Senator Durbin, we previewed the upcoming YouTube debate. When it comes to Iraq the question that a lot of people out in America were asking is how do you, as Democrats, and how would a Democratic presidential candidate avoid chaos reigning in Iraq once you pull the U.S. troops out?

So, your plan here would get the U.S. troops out of Iraq, but what would it do to prevent Iraq from descending into chaos once they are gone.

DURBIN: I'm sorry to say there is chaos in Iraq today. And that chaos is claiming about a 100 American soldiers' lives each month, a 1,000 with serious injuries and costing American taxpayers $12 billion, with no end in sight. I know it's a painful transition if America decides to leave in 10 months or 10 years. But the Iraqis have to stand up and face their own responsibility for their own future.

The neighboring countries in that region, that want stability in Iraq, have to move forward. They won't do that as long as there is a dominating American presence of 160,000 troops in Iraq.

ROBERTS: We'll keep watching this closely. Senator Durbin, thanks for joining us and have a good evening.

DURBIN: Thanks, John.

ROBERTS: All right. Take care.

CHETRY: Yeah. Snuggle up, it could be a long night.

ROBERTS: Staying up all night is nothing new for us. CHETRY: We have more now on another top story that we've been following and that's this manhunt is going on in Wyoming for an ex- Army sniper who may have used his deadly skills against his estranged wife. Police think David Munis fired a single shot through a window and into a club, where his wife was singing, killing her. Joining us now to talk about the case, the suspect, criminal profiler Pat Brown, she's in Minneapolis this morning.

Pat, good to see you.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Good morning, Kiran.

CHETRY: Once again, we're in this situation where somebody has alerted police. Apparently she reported in the past getting harassing phone calls. And really it doesn't seem there's anything that can be done until it's too late in these cases.

BROWN: Well, that's exactly the truth, unfortunately. A lot of women think if they get a restraining order that will stop a stalker, or stop an ex-husband or estranged husband from coming after them. But, hey, that's a piece of paper. And that is not going to -- there is no kind of barrier between him and you.

And the same thing, if you call the police and the police talk to the fella, and say, look, you shouldn't be doing this, you can't be doing this. So what? He's not been put in jail. He's not being removed in any way so, of course, this man said to the police, OK, I won't call her cell phone anymore. And he kept that promise, didn't he?

CHETRY: The other question, though, I mean -- he was a trained sniper apparently, also an avid outdoorsman, a trained marksman. We're not in the world of "Minority Report". You can't arrest people before they do something.

BROWN: Right.

CHETRY: But what can you do in these types of situations when you know someone has made harassing calls, when there is a contentious domestic situation, and someone has access to weapons?

BROWN: Well, this is a very difficult situation for anybody to be in, when they are going to become the target. Of course, the only way you can absolutely be sure they can't get to you would be to literally go into hiding, so they can't find you. That is one major method.

Another thing I recommend to some women, of course, some people think it's pretty extreme, but if I had someone after me, there is one thing you can do is in your own home, you can have an alarm system. But that's not enough. You need to have a bolt on your bedroom door because a lot of people can bypass the alarm system. So, you have to have a bolt on your bedroom door, so when they get to there, they have to bust the thing down. Kick it in. And while they do that you grab your gun from the table and shoot at them. That's about the only protection you have. But then, hey, there's one more problem. What do you do when you leave your house? Because once you leave the house have you to get in your car, you have to go to places of work, or perhaps the courthouse, where a lot of husbands are waiting to shoot you down. You really don't have a lot of protection.

So, you can only do what you can do, and of course the best thing you can do before you get in a relationship with any man -- or woman, men have sometimes a problem with females, too -- that you want to be very, very cautious about entering that relationship.

Find out who they are first and find out their wonderful upstanding citizens. Find out if they have power and control issues, if they think they are entitled to everything. If they really have any empathy toward you, and your feelings, before you start into a long- term relationship with them, where then they think, you're possession and you better stay that way.

CHETRY: Right. Police are saying right now, David Munis, the only suspect in the death of his estranged wife, Robin Munis, shot in the right in the head through the window, literally, of a place where she was performing with her band. A sad situation and the manhunt continues this morning.

Pat Brown, criminal profiler, always great to have you. Thanks.

BROWN: Thanks, Kiran.

ROBERTS: Hawaii is looking for teachers. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. Hawaii's public schools are about 400 teachers short and there is only two more weeks until classes begin there. Apparently it's a chronic problem. The superintendent of school says Hawaii schools faced similar shortages last year.

Fair warning for your European vacation, if you're taking it this summer. Flight attendants for Alitalia Airlines are said to be planning a walkout tomorrow. The airline is struggling and talks to be sold.

A new report on the terror threat facing America is coming up within hours. It's the national intelligence estimate. We have an early look at that.

Plus, why scuba diving instructors are being enlisted on the war on terror; that's straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Violent clashes in Mexico. Video, just in, just tops our "Quick Hits" now. A group of striking teachers ended up getting into it with police in the town of Waca -- Wachaka (ph), sorry. Protesters crashed a bus, hurled rocks and even lit fires.

Cleanup today after severe storms pounded part of Maryland. A tornado warning had to be issued. And what may have actually been a tornado knocked down trees and power lines. Some flooding was also reported.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine paying the hospital back that saved his live with a gift from the state. Corzine came to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey and offered a state grand of $6.4 million for a new cancer center. Corzine was treated there for 18 days after his near fatal car accident.

CHETRY: There's a new warning in the war on terror. The FBI wants to make sure terrorists don't use scuba divers -- scuba divers -- to attack America. That warning asks dive instructors to be on lookout for suspicious students who ask for special training. So what type of training are we talking about? Joining me now is Captain Ron Spriggs from the Panama City Dive and Ski Center.

Good to see you this morning, Ron.

CAPT. RON SPRIGGS, PANAMA CITY DIVE & SKI CENTER: Good morning, Kiran. How are you today?

CHETRY: It's an interesting warning. They're saying be on the lookout for the possibility that would-be terrorists would like to be able to train for some sort of underground attack. What are you hearing about what they want you to be on the lookout for, Ron?

SPRIGGS: Basically, Kiran we got notified a few years ago, just after 9/11 actually, to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious that would be wanting to learn to dive in murky waters, sewer systems, anything like that out of the norm of what we normally teach.

We actually had someone a couple of years ago, come in that fit that profile. Initially, they didn't raise any red flags, but as things went on, he was of European descent. He really couldn't produce and valid I.D. Once he did, it didn't correspond with the things that he had told us earlier. We certainly started to -- you know, red flags started to fly. So located and actually notified Homeland Security. And they came back and we actually got into a kind of cloak and dagger game with the guy. And disappeared off the face of the planet. But as --

CHETRY: That is really fascinating. You said that this was a guy that you said he acted very militaristic, is how you put it, not a typical recreation student. Insisted on private training and asked you a lot of questions about things that recreational divers wouldn't ask you about.

So, you actually kept him around, dragging out this training so that the feds could come in there and investigate?

SPRIGGS: I did, indeed, Kiran. He wanted a private class. Was insistent on a private class, didn't want anyone else in the class, even offered to pay me twice what he normally would pay to do the class. And I should have been able to him in about five days, six days or so. I drug this thing out for almost a month and I just tried to keep him around.

They were really looking hard at the guy, didn't want to spook him off. Somewhere along the lines when we were trying to obtain fingerprints from him he disappeared on us.

CHETRY: So, he still has not been seen or heard from since?

SPRIGGS: No, ma'am, that's correct. Haven't heard or seen anything from him since.

CHETRY: Let's show some of the things that they are asking you to be looking out for. People that mad odd inquiries, as you said with this person. Inconsistent with recreational diving. Requests to be able to dive in murky water, or sewer pipes, or about diver towing. Explain why some of those -- also rebreathers, where you don't have air bubbles coming up. What would be the purpose of learning how to do some of that, if you wanted to do something bad?

SPRIGGS: Yeah, sure, Kiran. The rebreather thing is something that is very interesting to think about, in the fact that the open circuit scuba is what 99 percent of the people in the world are certified on. That simply means that when you inhale off your air support, your tank, when you exhale the waters go into the bubbles. That's what makes it an open-circuit system.

Rebreathers, on the other hand, were used basically, initially, for military applications in that whenever you exhale, no bubbles come out, there would be no telltale signs of bubbles, per se, if you were going up to a bridge or to a ship, or a dock -- or anything like that. No one would know you're in the water. You would be silent.

Murky waters would be a problem in that most of the people are going to be wanting to learn to dive in murky waters are going to be in bays, rivers, sounds and estuaries, things of that nature.

CHETRY: OK. Or sewer pipes wanting to be able to get underground and get near things to try to possibly blow them up. What is diver towing?

SPRIGGS: Diver towing, that would be something to where you would actually be using DPVs, or you would learn to use a technique that you used to tow heavy objects with you, possibly explosives, whatever you wanted to tow.

CHETRY: I got you. So, a diver with propulsion vehicles, you would need a little extra pull, if you will, so you could tow something like explosives.

Scary thought, but you had your eyes open and hopefully others who are training people; again, like we've heard with the training on the small aircraft, it's sometimes up to the individual people who think, you know what, something is not right here, that end up saving the day.

It was great talking to you. Thanks for being with us, Ron. We appreciate it.

SPRIGGS: You, too, Kiran. Have a nice day.

CHETRY: Captain Ron Spriggs. ROBERTS: Time to take a look now at what the weather forecast holds in store for us on this Tuesday morning.

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ROBERTS: A new spin on presidential debate. CNN will ask the candidates questions that you submit on YouTube. We've gotten lots of them so far, but is there one big thing that lots of people want to know? We'll tell you next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: A 14-foot python tops your "Quick Hits" now. The snake was captured in the backyard of a home in Holly Hill, Florida. Police think that the snake was someone's pet that somehow got out. They also believe that python ate a neighborhood cat.

A surprise from the sea off the coast of Tanzania in Eastern Africa. Fishermen hauled in odd-looking fish -- odd and old. It turned out the creature is part of family of fish that have been around more than 360 million years.

How about the smell of fresh flowers? Nothing like it. A new kind of orchid that grows in Yosemite smells like sweaty feet. Is this new? I thought it's been around for a while. Well, botanists think the smell may be its way of attracting pollinators. They also have a plant that famously smells like a rotting corpse, for the same reason, apparently, because it attracts the type of insects they need to pollinate.

ROBERTS: Everything has its unique smell, doesn't it?

CHETRY: Just -- stop and smell the orchids, not always the best way to go.

ROBERTS: Thousands of you have submitted questions for our first-ever CNN YouTube debate. That is set to take place on Monday night.

CHETRY: We had a lot of great questions submitted. We showed a lot of them last night, but there is still time for you to have your voice heard. If you want to get in on the action all you have to do is go to www.youtube.com/debates.

ROBERTS: We've been trying to find out what matters most to Americans for this presidential election. Our Tom Foreman outside in New York's Central Park; he's been talking to some folks and has some ideas.

Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, this is a beautiful place to be. Central Park, as you know, is a great place to meet a lot of folks. So we had a couple of our interns here, Kelly and Cairo. Kelly from Seattle, and Cairo from San Jose how here to help us find more about what people had to say out here. Generally, did you find that a lot of folks want to talk about politics now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. It seemed pretty much everyone had an answer. We got a lot of things about Social Security and Homeland Security and, of course, war on Iraq.

FOREMAN: What interests you most? You're a young person. We have a lot of young people submit to YouTube. What would you most like to know about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More on education just because it relates to me. So I would like to see the upcoming president work with education.

FOREMAN: Let's take a listen to a couple of the people you talked to when you were out here being intrepid young reporters in training.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fixing Social Security and Medicare. We're all going to get out of Iraq, one way or the other, but this is more important.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I feel that we need to take better control of our borers. And I have no problem with people coming here from other countries, as long as they obey our laws, and come in here legally and contribute to our country, and not take from our country and then go away. That's a big problem to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: It's an awfully big country to try to get your voice heard by 18 different candidates, a bunch of people out there, 300 million people in the country. Do you feel like your vote really matters? Because so many young people don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that it does matter. It's a matter of going out there and actually voting because if so many people don't vote, it adds up. So you have to keep thinking your vote does count.

FOREMAN: So, I take it you have listened to the debates, you're interested, you're paying attention?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am. And I do vote. I think it's very important for young people, especially in college, to take the initiative and vote.

FOREMAN: All right. Cairo and Kelly, thank you very much.

Of course, you can't very well vote if you don't know much about the issues. That is what the YouTube debate is all about. Remember, this is something that has never been done before; a chance for you to really reach out there and connect with these candidates. And I'm speaking a lot to the middle of the country now because we want to hear a lot more from you as well. We are getting a lot from East Coast and West Coast, but a lot more of you out in the middle, get your submissions in here and be a part of the debate. It's an opportunity we rarely, rarely have in this country and I hope it works out really well -- John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks very much.

You know, we had one guy on the show last night, who felt so empowered by this idea of being able to ask a question that he went out and he registered to vote. He wasn't planning on it.

CHETRY: That was really exciting. You are talking about Lewis "Brown Eyes"?

ROBERTS: Uh-huh.

CHETRY: Yes, he sure did. And he had a really good question, as well. A lot of these people, not only did they just sit there with their video cameras they actually took time to edit, put in sound bites, you know little snippets of people talking, and also do some production.

ROBERTS: It's great to see these young people inspired by this whole process.

He has been in seclusion since name was linked to the so-called D.C. Madam. Today, Senator David Vitter is returning to work in D.C.

Fallout over the escort service revelation is coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY (voice over): Terror warning: This morning, a critical new report about Al Qaeda's new effort to get into the U.S.

And a potential loophole that could put Americans at risk.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, DIR., HOMELAND SECURITY: It focuses our attention on whether we need to take some additional steps with respect to checking people who are coming if in from Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And welcome. It's Tuesday July 17. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.

We begin this morning with a CNN exclusive. A rare operation on the Atlanta attorney whose tuberculosis sparked an international health alert. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com