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American Morning
Latest on O.J. Simpson's Hotel Break-in Case; Dole Recall; Iraq's Government Ministers Backing Decision to Shutdown Blackwater USA
Aired September 18, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A show of support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you knew them as a couple yourself, you would realize that they are completely innocent, they did not harm Madeleine. They just want her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The parents of Madeleine Mccann win a new ally as they fight to clear their names in their daughter's disappearance.
Total recall. New fears about bagged lettuce. The threat and the brand it watch out for this morning.
Plus, take two. Hillary Clinton tries again with health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), The first rule of medicine is do no harm. And we will do no harm to the parts of our system that are working.
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CHETRY: The plan, and the critics taking aim today.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary care continues to be bad medicine.
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CHETRY: We'll talk to Senator Clinton live on this AMERICAN MORNING.
That's right. We're coming up to 15 or 20 minutes away from hearing from the senator. We look forward to that. Meanwhile, welcome, it's Tuesday, September 18th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
A lot to get to today, including breaking news this morning in the case of missing Madeleine McCann. There is now a new push to prove that her parents are innocent, and they have a news spokesman to make their case. Within the last hour Clarence Mitchell explained to us here on AMERICAN MORNING why he resigned from his government position to keep working for the McCanns.
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CLARENCE MITCHELL, MCCANN FAMILY SPOKESMAN: To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine, accidentally or otherwise, is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical. Indeed, it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING the spokesman told us that he is sure there are explanations for anything that investigators may have found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCHELL: If Gerry and Kate have to defend themselves at some stage formally, then they are confident that they will do so. They did not harm Madeleine; they just want her home.
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ROBERTS: Portuguese officials have named both of Madeleine's parents as suspects in their 4-year-old daughter's disappearance -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Las Vegas police expect to arrest two more people today in connection with O.J. Simpson's hotel break-in case. Simpson is being held without bail after a judge ruled he's a flight risk. Also a third suspect arrested Monday afternoon, accused of stealing some $75,000 worth of sports memorabilia that Simpson claims he was trying to get back.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live in Las Vegas with the latest on the case and whether or not O.J. will be sitting inside of this jail cell and how much longer.
Hi, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Well, if his attorney has his way, O.J. Simpson will be going free on his own recognizance. That's at least what he's going to request.
You mentioned that third suspect picked up -- he had some of this stolen sports memorabilia with him when he was arrested. He turned over some autographed footballs and other things to investigators.
Now police had already recovered O.J. Simpson's hall of fame certificate, a Rolex watch, even the suit that Simpson wore the day he was acquitted of murder. Now Simpson claims he went into that hotel room to take back what was rightfully his. But Ron Goldman's family says, ultimately, that merchandise belongs to him. Remember, 10 years in the civil trial Simpson was held liable for Goldman's death and ordered to pay a multi-million dollar payment to the family. Well, the family's been trying to get that money for years, and now they are filing legal requests with the court to get the memorabilia turned over to them as part of that settlement. You mentioned the $75,000 figure, it gives you an idea of just how big a business this sports memorabilia is and why O.J. Simpson and others take it so seriously -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, and the other thing that's a little bit unclear this morning is how he got his hands on that memorabilia in the first place. There was some reporting that possibly he got into O.J.'s house ahead of people that were confiscating his stuff back in 1997. That seems very unclear today, as well.
LAWRENCE: Yes, again, and you have to remember, you know, outside of his NFL pension, this has been the primary way that O.J. Simpson makes money over the past 10 years or so, is through the sale of this memorabilia. And, again, all the people involved in this know each other. They're all involved somewhat in this sports memorabilia business, and O.J. Simpson says they had things that belonged to him, and they say that they did have these things legally.
CHETRY: All right. So the plot thickens once again. Of course. Would we expect it to be any other way.
Chris Lawrence, thank you.
ROBERTS: Another hall of fame athlete is facing a head of legal trouble, this time in New York City. Isaiah Thomas, who is now the head coach of the New York Knicks, also their general manager, is being accused of sexual harassment by a former Madison Square Garden executive. In a videotape deposition played for the court, Thomas denied ever calling the black woman the 'b' word and another word that Don Imus used that got him fired. But Thomas also admitted that there is a double standard, and indicated that he might be OK with it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAIAH THOMAS, NEW YORK KNICKS HEAD COACH: A white male calling a black female a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Is highly offensive.
QUESTION: Would you find it also offensive for a black male to call a black woman a (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
THOMAS: Not as much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, later outside the court Thomas tried to take that back.
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THOMAS: Please don't mischaracterize the video that was shown in court today. I don't think it's right for any man to ever call a woman a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I didn't do it, and I wouldn't do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The accuser is seeking $10 million in damages.
And the University of Florida's police department is investigating whether it's officers were justified in tasering a student yesterday during a campus form with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Twenty-one-year-old Andrew Myers asked Kerry several long questions. One of them being, why didn't he contest his 2004 election loss to President Bush. The university says Myers' microphone was cut off because he used up his allotted time. Officers then tried to pull him away after he refused to leave.
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ANDREW MYERS, U. OF FLORIDA STUDENT: Thank you for cutting my mic. Thank you. Are you going to arrest me? Excuse me, excuse me, what are you arresting me for? Whoa, whoa, whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In our last half hour we talked with a woman who shot the videotape, and she said she never heard the police say you're under arrest. The police tried to escort him out, but Myers continued to resist, and that's when it got really ugly.
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MYERS: I didn't do anything! Don't tase me, bro. Don't tase me! I didn't do anything! Ow! Ow! Ow!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That's the university of Florida police hitting him with 10,000 volts there. Myers was charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace. He's scheduled it appear in court this morning. The entire incident, as we said, is under investigation -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a health alert new this morning. More leafy green vegetables are coming off the shelves. Dole now says it's recalling thousands of bags of salad because they could be contaminated with E. coli.
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live in Atlanta with more on this for us.
Hi, Elizabeth. Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, if it feels like you heard something like this before, well, you have. It seems like this keeps happening. Let's talk about this particular incident. This is a brand of Dole mixed greens that you buy in a bag, and 5,000 bags have been recalled. No one has gotten sick yet. And here's what you need to know. These were sold in certain parts of Canada and the United States.
Look for a "best if used by" date of September 19th and, also, look for a code on it that would say 24924a or 24b, and that whole things starts with an 'a,' and they're called Dole's Hearts Delight. Again, these were sold in parts of Canada and the United States -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So the big question today for people that are jittery about this in the first place is, how does E. coli contaminate greens? Where does this happen? At the place where they're bagging it and washing, or on the farm where it's being harvested?
COHEN: You know, originally, E. coli, by definition, has to come from an animal. So what we've seen in events -- and there have been nine of these case where greens have gotten contaminated since 1995 -- is that, for example, an animal might be running around the field and contaminates the food, and somehow it goes undetected.
What happened in this case is that the bags were detected by Canadian authorities at the supermarket. Dole says everything looked fine when it came off the fields into the production facility. So somewhere between the field and the supermarket, apparently, there was this contamination with E. coli. Again, always can be traced back to an animal in some way.
CHETRY: I'm just wondering if they're going to come up with some recommendations about washing it again from home, or if that even helps or how this works, because people just rip open the bag and eat it.
COHEN: That's right. That's right.
And one of the issues is that all you need is one contaminated piece of lettuce to spoil everything, because all of this gets mixed together. You know, we love the convenience of having these bags where everything is premixed for us. One of the few pieces of advice that really has anything behind it, is that you can avoid buying mixed bags, which seem to be a bit riskier, and you can buy a whole head of lettuce, remove the outer leaves and don't use them, because the contamination, again, happens from the outside. So that's one way to at least try to avoid it.
CHETRY: That's what my parents always say. I guess I should be listening to them. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, for a complete list of the affected products and dates, you can head to our Web page, CNN.com/americanmorning.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, Hillary Clinton jumping back into the political waters that brought her so much trouble more than a decade ago. We're talking about health care, and she'll be live to talk about her new plan that she just unveiled. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Some of the best shots of the morning in our Quick Hits now. Milder winds and humidity making it easier to battle two separate wildfires in San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. They burned about 15,000 acres of dry brush. Now some up around Big Bear Mountain Park. Now firefighters say that they're more than 50 percent contained, both of those fires.
No smoke getting in the way of this natural wonder. A rainbow streaks across the sky over Farmington, New Mexico.
CHETRY: Beautiful.
ROBERTS: Look how pretty that is. Big pot of gold at the end of that one.
CHETRY: That almost looks like they drew it in, it's so perfect.
Well, 16 minutes past the hour.
Now Iraq's government ministers today are backing a decision to shut down Blackwater USA. Now that's a major private security contractor which protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq. Iraqis are very angry about a firefight that involved Blackwater employees on Sunday. Eight Iraqis were killed in a firefight.
CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Baghdad with more for us. Good morning, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
There are, right now, two critical debates taking place. First, on Sunday, in western Baghdad, did Blackwater employees protecting State Department officials use excessive force? Did they indiscriminately fire on civilians? Blackwater is saying no. They were fired upon, they fired back, killing, in their words, armed enemies.
The Iraqi government, though, is saying the exact opposite. From the start, saying eight Iraqi civilians died as a result of this shootout, and we've learned in the past hour from a source in the ministry of interior that a preliminary report being drafted by them could suggest that Blackwater fired first. So this issue far from clear.
The other debate, given that Iraq's interior ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater, does it matter? Does Iraq's sovereign government really have control over everyone operating within its borders? Well, I put that question, Kiran, to the head of a private security firm on the ground. He says, it does not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER ANDRESS, CEO AISG: In real terms, their relationship, as a Department of State, under U.S. Department of Defense relationship with Iraqi governing and Iraqi theater of operations, that contract status trumps the minister of interior's licensing factor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now both the State Department and Blackwater said they have yet to receive an official notice that their license has been revoked. Interior Ministry officials tell us that will be coming soon.
Now, Kiran, on the Iraqi street, Iraqis have, at best, mistrust, at worst, abject fear of these Western contractors. There have been a number of incidents where they have seen Iraqi civilians killed, where there has been little to no legal recourse on the ground. So the government is clearly reacting to that, but it puts in doubt its own sovereignty, because it's told Blackwater it can no longer operate, yet clearly Blackwater hasn't responded yet.
CHETRY: All right, so a lot still up in the air there on this issue. Aneesh Raman, thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Well, here we are. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced her $110 billion health care reform plan. It requires all Americans to have health insurance.
Senator Hillary Clinton joins me now to discuss the plan live from Washington.
Good morning, senator. Thanks for being with us.
CLINTON: It's great to talk to you, John.
ROBERTS: So, senator, you've learned, obviously, from past errors in crafting this plan, this is not a replacement of, this is in addition to.
CLINTON: That's exactly right. You know, this is not government-run health care. We're not creating any new bureaucracy. We're trying to build on what works and fix what's broken in our system. And that means if you're satisfied with the health care coverage you have, you get to keep it, no questions asked. But if you're one of the 47 million uninsured, or the millions more who can barely afford the coverage they have, or it doesn't cover what they need, you'll be able to go into the same plan that members of Congress have, and you'll get financial help by getting tax credits from the government to be able to afford it in conjunction with your employer.
ROBERTS: Now some of your critics, and in fact some of your colleagues on the Democratic side are a little skeptical about this whole thing, calling it a giveaway to health insurance companies because of this so-called individual mandate that everyone, as they do with car insurance, would have to have health insurance.
Here's what Senator John Edwards said about that yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe you can sit at a table with drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists and negotiate an insurance plan for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Clinton, you are the biggest recipient among all the candidates of health care dollars. What do you say to people who say that is a give away to the part of the industry that's supporting your campaign?
CLINTON: Well, all of the critique of that I suppose is politics as usual, because the plan, of course, does have both an individual mandate and insurance reform, and I think you have to have both. I'm asking for shared responsibility. Individuals have to do our part, the drug and insurance companies have to change the way they do business, employers have to contribute and the government has to help. I think that's the American way to have everybody working and doing their part and taking responsibility.
And I don't think I'm going to be nominated for insurance woman of the year. I've been taking on the insurance companies and the drug companies for 15 years.
But I also know that we've got to have a plan that reflects what Americans want, and a lot of Americans are very satisfy with the health care that they have. And as far as I know, most of the people who have looked at this on the Democratic side believe that an individual mandate is a very important way of getting to universal coverage. You help people that cannot afford to do it on their own. You help small businesses that cannot afford to make the contributions without a tax credit. You limit the amount that an individual has to pay as a percentage of income, and you also reform the system by modernizing it through electronic medical records and making it more efficient.
So I feel very good and quite confident that the parts of the plan that I have put together will find a lot of favor among people who know what we have to do to get to universal coverage.
ROBERTS: There are some people who are critical still of this idea of mandating this individual mandate. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, for example, has declared it a war on the middle class.
But further to that, your cost estimate is of $110 billion. Can you hold it to that cost? how do you know that you're not just going to develop and create here another huge entitlement that is going to grow with double-digit inflation?
CLINTON: Well, because we're also going to control costs by doing things like electronic medical records, which is estimated would save us $77 billion a year. I mean, John, it's just hard to believe that 16 percent of our economy is still in the pen and paper era instead of being part of the 21st century, like everything else, from finance to anything you can do on the Internet. So there's a lot we can do. Chronic-care management. Ten percent of Americans account for 70 percent of our health care costs. We can certainly do a better job incentivizing prevention. You know, why would we pay to have a diabetic's foot amputated, but not pay to send him to a podiatrist so that you can avoid that expense. There's so much we can do better, and I'm excited and looking forward to doing that.
ROBERTS: Senator, we've got to let you go in a second, but I just wanted to touch on one other issue. You were one of the senators who voted unanimously for General Petraeus' confirmation, and we saw that moveon.org last week calling him General "Betray-us." Obviously you didn't have that opinion when you voted for him. Do you want to distance yourself from that ad?
CLINTON: Well, I've never have had that opinion. And I have said publicly on numerous occasions, including at the last hearing, how much I respect General Petraeus, his service to our country.
Obviously and I have a disagreement with Republicans and with President Bush about what direction we should be heading in Iraq.
ROBERTS: So was that moveon.org ad over the top?
CLINTON: Well, I certainly speak for myself. And I am a very strong admirer of General Petraeus, his record of service for our country, the dedication he has brought to a very difficult job that many of us think does not have a military solution.
ROBERTS: Senator Clinton, thanks very much for being with us this morning. Good to finally get you on AMERICAN MORNING. Hope it's the first of many occasions.
CLINTON: I do, too, John. I look forward to that.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a surprising number of hip fractures turn out to be fatal. There is a new drug, though, that can reduce the number of deaths and possibly prevent additional broken bones in elderly patients.
Elizabeth Cohen is going to be joining us to tell us more about it.
Plus, the verdict is in, and it's a big loss for Microsoft -- $1 billion in fines against Microsoft for abusing its Windows operating system monopoly to keep competitors out. We're Minding Your Business ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour now. Stephanie Elam in Minding Your Business for Ali. I was going to say in for Ali.
Hello. Nice to see you this morning. STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
CHETRY: Nice to see you this morning.
All eyes -- of course we're waiting whether or not the Fed is going to cut the key rate today, and by how much.
ELAM: And by how much. That's the big question everyone wants to know. Everyone really at this point expects that we are going to see a rate cut. It's just a matter of how much. So hoping for half a basis point. Most people are like, eh, more likely for a quarter- basis point. Obviously that decision comes out at 2:15. So we'll be keeping our eyes on that.
The markets yesterday really were pretty much on the downside. Not much of a drop there that we saw there for the markets, but a lot of the breath holding wasn't so much -- well, it about the Fed, but it also was about what happened with Microsoft yesterday coming out of the European commission, them holding up their decision to fine the company $689 million.
What's really important about this, though, is what it means for companies like Google and Apple, because they are the dominant force in those -- in their markets. And so therefore it could really mean that they're going to have to redo some things for them, as well.
CHETRY: All right, sounds good. Stephanie, we'll check in with you in a few more minutes. Thanks so much.
What do you got there? My shoes?
ROBERTS: Much more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, including potential danger from crocs.
CHETRY: We're going to hear from the mother of a 4-year-old who had these on an escalator and got stuck, and she said she blames the shoes. We're going to hear from her, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And thanks for joining us. It is Tuesday the 18th of September. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Well, some say that Senator Larry Craig needs all the help he can get right now and that he's getting it from an unusual place. The American Civil Liberties Union filing a brief in court yesterday, calling the conservative senator's bathroom bust unconstitutional. Craig was arrested back in June when he allegedly tried to solicit sex in an airport bathroom in Minneapolis. The ACLU says that sting operations like the one that nabbed Craig often trap innocent people.
ROBERTS: He has proven time and time again but hope is beginning to fade that multi-millionaire Steve Fossett will ever be found alive. Search teams say that they are scaling back the search for the thrill seeker. His plane disappeared somewhere over the Nevada desert more than two weeks ago. Over the weekend, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol had 20 planes and 60 people looking for him in an area twice the size of New Jersey. Now, all of those flights have been suspended but the National Guard is keeping five choppers in the air. Kiran?
CHETRY: Encouraging news for anyone who has suffered a broken hip. It's a break in some cases can kill but it's all about preventing the break in the first place. Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta with details of a new study for us. Hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kiran. Kiran, you hear about this all the time. An elderly person falls and breaks his or her hip and within a year or two they die. I bet you and I both know elderly people who this happened to, that's how common it is. There are several drugs out there that can prevent hip fractures by preventing or improving osteoporosis and now there's a new one on the market.
There's a study in the "New England Journal of Medicine" about a drug called Reclast that went on the market last month and what it found was very some very exciting news for doctors. They say that this drug actually prevented people from dying. They actually followed them all the way through. This is an injection that people get once a year and when they took the drug, when people took the drug, within two years 10 percent of them were dead. When people took a placebo 13 percent of them were dead. So that's a significant difference and doctors are very excited about this. They're also excited about the fact that this is a once yearly treatment. That's it. You go in. You get an infusion once a year and you don't have to remember to take pills daily or any of that. Now, what is one thing that is tempering doctors' enthusiasm and this is it. Hip fractures are usually more of a problem with people who are really old, 75, 80s, 90s, that kind of age. This study, the average age was 74. So, the fact that this drug works so well for older people who are relatively young, if you will, has some hesitating. They wonder if it will work in people who are much older than that. Kiran.
CHETRY: OK. Does it refer to both prevention and also if you're somebody who's already suffered a break, is this also something that is recommended to prevent future breaks?
COHEN: Right. In this study, the situation was the folks in the study had already had a hip fracture and they were looking to prevent two things -- one, a second fracture and, two, them dying after the fracture. And it worked in both cases. It prevented a second fracture and it also prevented them from dying soon after the fracture.
CHETRY: And why is it that people who break a hip do have a much higher risk of a fatality within a year or two?
COHEN: Right. The reason for that is not actually the break itself. It's kind of the ramifications of the break. For example, sometimes people will get an infection after suffering from a break or they're so disabled by breaking their hip that they lie around, they develop a blood clot because they're so immobile and the blood clot travels to their lung. So, it's the ramifications of having a break that leads to the deaths.
CHETRY: So should people be asking their doctor about Reclast, this newly approved osteoporosis drug?
COHEN: You know, people should be asking their doctor about any kind of drug for osteoporosis because many doctors say they're underused. Not just this one but other ones that are similar. This drug again, what's special about this one is it's once a year. It's an infusion, you have to go and get a needle put in your arm, but it's once a year which for some people will have benefits.
CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen, some interesting news and everyone know someone who is going through this. So, maybe we should pass it on. Thanks a lot, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Thirty-six minutes now after the hour.
Senator Hillary Clinton has announced her plan for health care, the goal? To cover the 47 million Americans currently without health insurance. Her plan would require all Americans to have health insurance, an individual mandate. And that's where her critics start to speak out saying, 'hey, that's just a give away to the health care insurance industry,' and they point out that Hillary Clinton is the largest recipient of campaign funds from that sector of the industry. Here's what she had to say about those criticisms just a few minutes ago on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, all of the critique of that, I suppose, is politics, as usual. Because the plan, of course, does have an individual mandate and insurance reform. And I think you have to have both. I'm asking for shared responsibility. Individuals have to do our part; the drug and insurance companies have to change the way they do business. Employers have to contribute and the government has to help. I think that's the American way to have everybody working and doing their part and taking responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That plan, by the way, would cost $110 billion a year. I also asked Senator Clinton if she wanted to distance herself from that move-on.org ad out last week calling General David Petraeus general betray-us. She said that she has enormous respect and she supported General Petraeus, voting for his confirmation but refused to say anything critical about move-on.org.
New details coming out this morning in the Madeleine McCann case. A look at the personal lives of Madeleine's parents, just who they are and why they're under suspicion.
That's ahead. And do your kids own a pair of those rubber "Crocs" shoes? Find out why they could be in danger. We talked with one mom ahead and hear what the "Crocs" company is saying. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Here on CNN. A cell phone bill of rights top your "Quick Hits." Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act. The bill will make it easier to get out of cell phone contracts by reducing the termination fee.
And we hope you like your Wheaties and your bagels because you're going to be paying a lot more for them in the future. The price of wheat futures at a record high today and that means that you're going to be paying more for your cereal, pasta and bread. What is to blame? Bad weather and the damaged to wheat crops. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, there's some breaking news this morning in the case of missing Madeleine McCann -- a new push to prove her parents are innocent. They have a new spokesman to make their case, as well.
CLARENCE MITCHELL, MCCANN FAMILY SPOKESMAN: Kate and Gerry want the process to be as open and transparent as possible. They have nothing to hide. And if, I stress, if, any case is finally put to them as a formal accusation and they will defend themselves robustly. Until that happens, they have nothing to say about reports of how the investigation is or isn't going.
CHETRY: Randy Kaye has been following the case very closely. She joins us live from London now with more details. So, this is a gentleman who's working within the government and he said that he needed to be able to be impartial because of how passionately he believes the McCanns are innocent. How much of an impact will Clarence Mitchell make in trying to help the McCanns prove they're innocent?
RANDY KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that remains to be seen, Kiran. But he is certainly coming out in support of them, which is what this family needs right now. In fact, he's saying that they're willing to go to Portugal even to be interviewed again because they have nothing to hide. So, they have a strong support system in him, which is very good for them. But right now, it really remains to be seen what will happen, what will be the next step here for the McCanns because right now the judge has until Friday to decide whether or not they should go further with the investigation and more questioning maybe of the family.
He can also put the McCanns under house arrest or bring them back to Portugal. Meanwhile though, the McCanns getting some more bad press. The latest coming from this Portuguese magazine called "Flash!." They apparently interviewed Kate McCann. It's unclear when they interviewed her, it might have actually been before the couple was named as suspects but I can tell you what the magazine says Kate told them.
The first six months of Madeleine's life were very difficult. She cried practically for 18 hours a day, I had to permanently carry her around. Apparently, adding that Kate told them that after the twins were born Madeleine started to demand lots of attention. She would run up and down in the background shouting for my attention. You may wonder why this is important. Well, that's because the police are going to be looking at this. It might tell them something about Kate McCann's state of mind. But in talking with her friends and family here they are still coming out in support of this couple as wonderful parents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: How was Gerry as a father in terms of the time he wanted to give to his children and the time he wanted to spend with his children?
DR. DOUGH SKEHAN, GERRY MCCANN'S BOSS: Well, Gerry is a great father as far as I can judge. I'm a father myself and I'm not sure I can call myself great but I would say that Gerry is a great father. His daily conversation includes his family and stories about Madeleine were (inaudible) on a day-to-day basis. To see him interacting with her, with her on his shoulders pushing the twins in the buggy. There are things that I can remember very vividly. Here's an ordinary guy with his young kids, enjoying them.
KAYE: What is it that you think that people should know about Kate and Gerry McCann?
NICKY GILL, KATE MCCANN'S BEST FRIEND: For me, it's that the two special people who love the children dearly. They would not harm a single hair on their heads. They just want them back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: We talked with Madeleine's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, who said things started to turn for this couple about three weeks ago, that's when they started noticed that they might become suspects in this case. He says that he believes that somebody is behind this and he is completely baffled, Kiran, by all of this happening to the two, Kate and Gerry McCann.
CHETRY: All right. You know, so it really has taken a turn and sort of come full circle again. A lot of support and then some questions and now it seems that a lot of people are coming out, once again, to support them. Randy Kaye, thank you for your reporting from London. We appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Just about 15 minutes now to the top of the hour. Rob Marciano monitoring extreme weather not only in this country but around the world. Down there in Atlanta. How's the typhoon looking as it did, it aims towards the coast of China there this morning? Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the forecast John is (INAUDIBLE) because right now it got winds of 150 miles an hour. It is classified as a super typhoon or in our category a category 4 storm. Just north of the northern tip of Taiwan and heading towards the west, northwest about 17 miles an hour. The track of which will bring it close to Shanghai with at least category 1 winds as far as a hurricane is concerned.
Remember hurricanes and typhoons are pretty much the same thing. Some fresh video for you out of the Mainland China where the outer bands are rolling in and as are the big waves. My goodness, they're making preparations, they're moving people into shelters and moving people away from the coasts and, obviously, tying down the boats. Fishing a huge, huge industry there.
All right from one coast to the next, let's go to Florida. They are no stranger to hurricanes. This is not from video, not from hurricane, but from just onshore winds yesterday. We showed you that radar at Jacksonville, Florida. In some cases, in Flagler County, over three inches of rainfall falling in this area so not only street flooding but the high surf advisories out. Same deal is going to happen today.
Here's on the radar scope, just a push of easterly winds continue to bring in the moisture off the Atlantic Ocean and it is possible that this is all associated with an area disturbed there in the upper levels and also a tropical wave that is moving towards the west. As it does so, it might develop into something but in the meantime Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, down towards South Beach, a little bit of action this morning as far as some showers and thunderstorms rolling your way. Pretty much everybody on the east coast of Florida today will see some rain, some of which could be flooding. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
Well, the potential setback for Louisiana's recovery topping your "Quick Hits." The state is going to buy out 19,000 homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. It would be the biggest coast disaster buy-out in the country. The state will start with large chunks of neighborhoods that must be cleaned up and redeveloped, but analysts say it will discourage homeowners from investing in those areas.
The "New York Times" for free on the web. The "Times" dropping its "Time Select" program which only allowed paying subscribers to read certain op-ed pieces. After today, you still have to pay for some archived material but everything else will be free.
An alert for parents about popular "Crocs" shoes. Of course, you see kids wearing them, adults wearing them. Those rubber shoes. We're going to hear what happened to one 4-year-old boy. We talked to him and his mom. Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Ten minutes to the top of the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN.
A dream concert tops your "Quick Hits" now. Tonight, at Radio City Music Hall, a concert will be held to raise money for the Martin Luther King National Memorial. Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Garth Brooks -- all some of the big names performing tonight.
And a big honor for the late actor Jerry Orbach from the city that he loved so much. A street corner in New York City has been re- named for him. The unveiling was yesterday with his widow doing the honors. Orbach was a Tony-nominated Broadway star before landing the role that would make him a beloved household name, NYPD Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order. Kiran.
CHETRY: Or if you're like Stephanie and I, you'll remember him from "Dirty Dancing" of course as the cool dad, right? Fifty minutes past the hour now. Stephanie "Minding your Business" in for Ali Velshi this morning. So, the fed possibly making a decision to do a rate cut today and now Wall Street traders are asking, by how much?
STEPHANIE ELAM, "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS": Right, exactly. We're all expecting this cut to happen, right. We're looking for a 2:15 p.m. Eastern time, the feds come out and say, 'hey, we're going to cut interest rates.' That's what people are hoping. The question is, will it be a quarter of a percentage point or half a percentage point? Most people think we're going to go with the quarter here today. That's what people will be looking for.
Also, the really important thing that comes out with these statements is what they say about fed policy moving forward. Just in case you've been keeping track, the last time the fed cut interest rates was in June of 2003. They have actually were raising it from, it was at 1 percent up to 5.25 percent where it stands now and that was between June of 2004 up through June 2006. So, this would be definitely a change here, but many people are saying, 'hey, this was already factored in,' Kiran. Look at this, they're saying that a lot of people already expect this to happen. If we don't see a cut, then we'll see how the markets react to that. A lot of people waiting on the sidelines to see where they should play their money right now because it all comes down to the feds this afternoon.
CHETRY: It's also interesting, though, because we've heard the recession question being asked around, as well as former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan weighing in about that thing maybe what did he think it was?
ROBERTS: One in three chances.
CHETRY: One in three chances of a recession and others are also talking the "r" word.
ELAM: The "r" word is coming out more and more. And also part of the issue there too is inflation. And when you look at what is going on with commodity prices like oil. Yesterday, we had a new high $80.57 a barrel. That is the highest it has ever been. Commodity prices are high that means inflation is a concern, and keep in mind the fed is really concerned about inflation. That's their number one job to keep inflation in control. So, we have to see what happens. There's not a lot of room for them to cut and keep inflation where it should be.
CHETRY: All right. Stephanie, thanks.
ELAM: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, animal expert Jack Hannah walking through the Ohio State University Airport.
Now they say he had a mongoose and small leopard as well as the flamingo. Well, no wonder you got in trouble. It's not the start of a joke really, it's actually something that happened to him. There you see Jack Hanna, of course, animal lover, animal extraordinaire. Well, anyway, firefighters had to be called in because of a slight problem with one of the animals. We're going to explain what happened when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Wedged in a turnstile with a pink flamingo. It could only happen to Jack Hanna. Officials say the animal icon got stuck in a ten-foot turnstile with flamingo in crates and Hanna managed to squeezed out but firefighters had to come and get the bird. It all happened after midnight on Sunday at Ohio State University Airport. Since the terminal is closed, it looked like the only way out was through the turnstile. Hanna said it wasn't the easiest exit when you're traveling with boxed-up animals. He was returning from a zoo fund-raiser.
Look now, the story coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss. New warning from the Florida Department of Health and this one is really weird.
CHETRY: People are being told to be careful if they're swimming in lakes. Why?
ROBERTS: Well, it's not drowning. Let's put it that way.
CHETRY: We'll tell you what it is, coming up. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
United front --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARENCE MITCHELL, MCCANN'S SPOKESMAN: If you knew them as a couple yourself, you would realize they're completely innocent. They did not harm Madeleine. They just want her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The parents of Madeleine McCann win a new ally in the fight to clear their names and find their daughter.
How many more? Another man under arrest in O.J. Simpson's hotel room drama and a fellow suspect speaks out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe he was set up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Plus, critical care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I don't think I'm going to be nominated for insurance woman of the year. We've got to have a plan that reflects what Americans want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: One on one with Hillary Clinton. Could her second shot at healthcare reform really work on this AMERICAN MORNING?
And welcome. It is Tuesday, September 18th. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning, thanks for being with us. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And we start off with the possibility of more arrests. Las Vegas police expecting to arrest two more people today in connection with the O.J. Simpson hotel room break-in case. Simpson now being held without bail after a judge ruled he is a flight risk. A third suspect was arrested Monday afternoon, accused of stealing some $75,000 worth of sports memorabilia that Simpson claims he was trying to get back.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live in Las Vegas with an update for us on the case. Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Well, O.J. Simpson's attorney said if he was anyone else he would already be out and he plans to ask the judge to release Simpson on his own recognizance. Now, Simpson said he went into that hotel room to take back sports memorabilia that with belonged to him and one of the men that went into the room with him says he now believes that Simpson was set up. He believes that one of Simpson's associates, Thomas Riccio, told Simpson that, hey, these guys in this room have some sports memorabilia that belongs to you. I'll help you go and get it back or I'll show you where it is and this man finds it very suspicious that Thomas Riccio, the same man who told O.J. Simpson, your stuff is in this room and these men have it. He says that it's very suspicious that Thomas Riccio also had an audio recorder when O.J. Simpson went into that room and recorded that, you know, rather very angry confrontation when O.J. Simpson confronted the man inside. He believes that Simpson was set up. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Chris Lawrence live for us in Las Vegas. ROBERTS: Today, Senator Hillary Clinton is defending her plan for healthcare. Her goal to cover the 47 million Americans currently without health insurance. The number that grows every year. Her plan would require everyone to have insurance, a so-called individual mandate. As soon as she announced the plan yesterday, the critics from Karl Rove to John Edwards were ready to jump on her.
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