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American Morning
On Strike; New Message; Predators On FaceBook?; Silent Killer
Aired September 25, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breakdown. Picket lines for the first time in a generation this morning. What does it mean for your paycheck and your job future?
No spin zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY: It was exactly the same. You know, it's run by blacks. There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming "M" F'er, I want more ice tea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Bill O'Reilly in the news.
And a scary crash on a Harley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Glad to see the face wasn't hurt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A one-on-one with George Clooney on the red carpet on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. That's right, George Clooney and his girlfriend on the red carpet after that scary motorcycle crash.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good (ph) for him. You've got to keep the rubber side down and not pass on the inside.
CHETRY: That's right. But at least the face remained intact.
Well, it is Tuesday, September 25th. Thanks for being with us today. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Our lead story today, negotiators for General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union are expected to resume contract talks this morning. It is the first nationwide strike against GM since 1970.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to do what we need to do to get where we need to get.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I figured they would have had it all worked out, would have had it settled by this time. I didn't think there was that many hang ups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Seventy-three thousand UAW members and some 80 GM facilities are on the picket line for the second day today. It's a fight over job security and retiree health benefits. Will it break GMs expensive ties to the union or will the union break GM's recent momentum? Ali Velshi is live at GM's Powertrain plant in Warren, Michigan.
And, Ali, GM is in a position to be able to weather this strike for quite a while. What about the union?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends on how you look at that, John. GM's in a position to weather this strike financially. It's got inventory backlog. So it's got the ability to be able to sell cars for a little while. But, you know, a strike can ruin the supply chain. It also ruins the reputation of General Motors, which is in the strongest position of all of the major Detroit automakers.
The union, on the other hand, has a billion dollars in its strike fund. That's the only thing it's got in order to threaten General Motors, to say it can keep paying its workers. But you know how much it's paying them? It's paying them $200 a week, John. So these union workers, who have already felt beleaguered for the last few years, are not thinking that they're going to go on very long with a $200 a week paycheck.
Let's look at the strength of this union and how it's deteriorated since 1994 where there were about a quarter million workers and a whole lot fewer retirees. Now we've got 73,400 workers, unionized workers at General Motors. About another 100,000 at Ford and Chrysler who are not on strike. That union is much weaker than it used to be.
So how long can they stay out for? As long as their workers are going to accept $200 a week. Ron Gettelfinger, the president of the United Auto Workers yesterday said, this strike is not good for anyone, but he feels that General Motors is not negotiating in good faith with them. They're back at the table this morning. A lot of people hoping for a very short strike.
John.
ROBERTS: You know, Ali, this a bread and butter issue that a lot of Americans are concerned about, what happens after retirement? Can General Motors afford to keep paying those retiree health benefits? And if they can't, what happens to those retirees?
VELSHI: Well, the interesting thing about this negotiation, by the way, that everybody thought was going to result in a contract, it's only over the weekend we discovered that there was a major problem here, is that General Motors was trying to implement a creative plan that would hand the retiree benefits over to the union. And there were some sense that that was going to move forward.
But there are still problems. The union says they still want more job security. They want more assurances that plants won't close and jobs won't disappear. And they said that General Motors was not taking them seriously on that front and that's why they've struck the company so that they can get that on the table, then they can talk about the benefits.
So there's some chance that if this negotiation gets back on track, there could be a very creative solution that others could use to have the unions control the retirement benefits rather than the company.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us this morning on the GM strike in Warren, Michigan.
Thanks, Ali. We'll be hearing more from you today.
And we want to know what you think. Do you think that you'll have enough money saved for your retirement. Go to our web page and cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the results of our poll a little bit later on this morning.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well also new this morning, some possible new charges against former NFL quarterback Michael Vick. A Virginia prosecutor today is expected to seek dog fighting indictments. Vick already faces one to five years in prison after pleading guilty in a federal conspiracy charge and he could face five more years for each count if he's convicted of animal cruelty on the state charges in Virginia.
The sheriff in Jena, Louisiana, stepping up patrols after a website showed what it says were the addresses and phone numbers of the suspects known as the Jena 6. They're accused -- the teens -- of beating a white classmate. While Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said that harassing families "can not and will not be tolerated."
Also, the FBI wants to know what happened to the crew of a fishing boat. This one off the coast of Florida. The Coast Guard spotted the boat late Sunday night. The four member crew was missing. Choppers then found the two men who chartered the boat floating in a life raft. The FBI now wants to know if one of them is a fugitive who stole almost $100,000 from a Wal-Mart in Arkansas.
John.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, Iran has released the last of four detained Iranian-Americans. Peace activist Ali Shakeri is out on $110,000 bond, but free to leave the country. She has been in jail for four months, accused of stirring up revolution.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will speak before the United Nations general assembly today. That's a day after making news as Columbia University. Columbia's president introduced Iran's president and questioned his statements about 9/11, the holocaust, and Iran's treatment of homosexuals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE BOLLINGER, PRESIDENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT, (through translator): In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, Ahmadinejad called many of President Bollinger's opening comments insults and insults to the audience as well.
President Bush will speak to world leaders at the United Nations a few hours from now, talking about ending poverty, hunger, disease and tyranny at the same podium where he once called for the invasion of Iraq. Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth live at the United Nations this morning.
Richard, a couple of years back the president said that this was a world body that was on the brink of irrelevancy. How's he feeling about it these days?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it would be a lot different here at the U.N., wouldn't it, if it was more like Columbia and sort of a one-way dialogue, John, from the roseum of the general assembly, especially about Iraq. President Bush needs the U.N. now and he's going to come here today. His speech is described as broad themes about human rights. He would like more international involvement in Iraq to help out the U.S. Quite a change, as you noted, from several years ago when the war started. But the U.N. is very worried about security there and only has a minimal presence so far.
ROBERTS: You know, the president butted heads once in a while with Kofi Annan. They seemed to be on different pages, had different philosophies. The new secretary-general, this will be his first U.N. general assembly, Ban Ki Moon. How do the two get along? And what about these accusations that Ban Ki Moon is to close to the United States? Almost a puppet to the White House.
ROTH: Well, he denies that. But it's clear that he wouldn't have been in without the U.S. support and China. John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador, sings his praises. He's been given high marks by Washington, but other developing countries accuse him of being to pro-America. So far it's a very good relationship. The U.N. needs the U.S., they always say. The U.S. needs the U.N., especially when it's in trouble.
ROBERTS: Big day there today. Richard Roth for us at the U.N.
Richard, we'll check back in with you a little bit later on.
By the way, CNN and cnn.com will, of course, have live coverage of the president's address to the United Nations. It all gets underway this morning at 9:45 a.m. Eastern.
Kiran.
CHETRY: One of America's closest allies has a new leader this morning. Japan's lower house of parliament has elected Yasuo Fukuda as the new prime minister. It's also the first son of a prime minister to serve. He's expected to extend Japan's naval mission as part of the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan.
The FBI looking into the transfer of significant amounts of information from dozen of Homeland Security computers to Chinese language websites. Now DHS says it does not know what is missing, but it all came from an unclassified network. Congressional investigators also found what it called "incompetent" and "possibly illegal activity" by the contractor that was hired to maintain security on the DHS network.
Lock and load. It's time to finish the fight. It's the long awaited "Halo 3." It hits video game store shelves today. Dozens of fans already picked up copies in that special midnight releases across the country. It's a very popular game. It's the third installment of Microsoft's series. It pits a futuristic super soldier against an alien invasion. The first two "Halo" games sold 15 million copies at around $60 a piece.
ROBERTS: Wow.
Time to check in now with your AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning.
Is FaceBook safe for your children. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been setting up sting operations to find out. Our Alina Cho has more now from our national update desk.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.
You know, remember, FaceBook started as an online community for college students. But it's now available to everyone, including those under age 18. New York's attorney general says in spite of those changes, FaceBook has not improved its safety and security measures. And, in fact, said it is misleading users by promoting itself as a place where children are safe from online predators.
Now Andrew Cuomo, New York's attorney general, actually set up an under cover sting operation with investigators posing as 12 to 14 year old girls and adults. What his office found was that under age users are targeted by sexual predators on FaceBook. There's apparently widespread pornographic and obscene content on the site. And FaceBook's response to user and parental complaints is slow, sporadic and inconsistent.
Now in one instance, an investigator posing as a 14 year old girl received a message from a 24 year old man asking, "do you have any nude pics?" Well, the investigator launched a complaint as the student's mother. FaceBook responded by saying it would investigate. But to date, the 24 year old's profile is still on the site.
Now CNN has contacted FaceBook and on a voice mail message the company said it would respond. But given the news, the company has received a high volume of calls. Now FaceBook told "The New York Times," it is taking the allegations serious and "as our service continues to grow, so does our responsibility to our users."
Now FaceBook currently has 42 million users. You'll recall that all 50 state attorney's general have called on sites like FaceBook and MySpace to improve safeguards. And back in July, John, you'll remember that MySpace said it removed 29,000 convicted sex offenders from its site. But regulating these types of sites, as you well know, John, is very difficult, especially when you consider the fact that in order to set up an account on FaceBook, all you need is your name, a password and an e-mail address.
ROBERTS: Yes, these websites have to take responsibility, but at the same time parents need to exercise responsibility as well.
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: Alina Cho for us this morning at the national update desk.
Alina, thanks very much.
Another new name in the CNN Hurricane Center. Jacqui Jeras tracking the extreme weather today.
This is Tropical Storm Kiran, is it?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Thanks, John. I'm sure there was a Hurricane John at some point.
ROBERTS: Oh, definitely.
CHETRY: And a Juan and a John. All right.
Well, "Quick Hits" now.
Americans certainly feeling the heat this winter. There's going to be a surge in oil prices. In fact, a report out today from state energy officials saying that the average U.S. household will pay nearly $1,000 in home heating costs this winter. That's up 10.5 percent from last year. Higher crude oil prices and less supply are to blame.
Well, how much for the Magna Carta. Sotheby's plans to auction the only copy in the U.S. A 710 year old Magna Carta laid the foundation for the fundamental principles of English law. Sotheby's estimates that this copy will sell anywhere between $20 million to $30 million.
And before you board your next flight, hear what doctors found out. Surprising news about blood clots in the legs. It's known as deep vein thrombosis. And just when DVT strikes.
Also, a college football coach challenges a newspaper writer and gets quite fired up. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming after me. I'm a man. I'm 40.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There he goes. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Why is he so furious? We'll show you more of that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour and some of the shots that caught our eye in "Quick Hits" now.
Literally caught with his pants down. A second escaped Texas inmate now back in prison this morning after police say they found him hiding in a tree in his boxer shorts. Police say Jerry Martin murdered a prison guard by running her over in a stolen pickup truck. He was already serving a 50-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
Monks versus the military in Myanmar. Tens of thousands of Buddhist monks are spearheading the biggest anti-government marches there in nearly two decades. They are defying orders to stay out of politics. President Bush is expected to announce new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar over human rights. That will be during his speech today to the United Nations general assembly.
And a tribute to heros thousands of miles from Ground Zero. A sculptor in Utah has created a 40-foot monument to September the 11th based on one of the most famous photographs from that tragic day. "To Lift the Nation" will eventually make its home at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Park in Maryland.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, Operation Raw Deal is the largest crackdown in American history on illegal steroids. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration says that its agents seized 56 steroid labs across the United States, arresting 124 million people. The DEA also saying 11.4 million doses of steroids were taken, as well as 500 pounds of a raw steroid powder from China. That crackdown could implicate some athletes. Major League Baseball says it has taken steps to contact federal investigators to find out if any players are involved.
And there is news this morning for anyone who's about to fly, especially if you fly a lot and long distances. A new study showing higher risk for certain frequent fliers. So who is most at risk for getting deep vein thrombosis and what is it and how can you avoid it? Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta.
Good morning, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Kiran, anyone who flies needs to know what a DVT is. It's a fancy word for a blood clot that starts in your legs and then it can travel to your heart, to your lungs, to your brain and it can be a big problem. In fact, it can even kill you.
So what this new study found is that deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots, are a problem for people who are frequent fliers. They looked at 9,000 frequent fliers and what they found was, you know, gee, you might think this is a problem for old people. You hear blood clots, you think old people. But, in fact, the people in this study, the average age was 40. And they found that they were also prone to blood clots traveling on airplanes.
Now, who especially is prone to clots on planes? Tall people over 6'1", women on the pill because the pill puts you at a higher risk of having a blood clot anywhere, young people, and I'll explain that one in a minute, and short people. People under 5'5".
Now why would young people be at an especially high risk for a blood clot? The study authors weren't sure, but they think that when you're a new frequent flier, your body, maybe it hasn't acclimated. They're not really sure. But they did know that when people started flying a lot, they were more prone to getting blood clots. And short people, well, sometimes they're so short their feet don't hit the floor and that apparently is a problem for circulation.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So what should you do when you're flying to make sure you don't, you know, put yourself at more risk?
COHEN: Right. There are several things you can do that will make a huge impact. First of all, move around. That is so important. Don't give that clot a chance to form in your leg. Also, drink lots of water. That's going to help. Don't drink alcohol. And be aware of cramping in your leg or swelling.
Now something that's really interesting that these study authors pointed out is that airlines can also do something. They urge the airlines to put in adjustable seats to help the short people get their feet to hit the floor and to give more room for those long-legged people.
CHETRY: All right. Some good tips.
Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: A warning this morning to i-Phone hackers. Apple says the users who made unauthorized changes to their i-Phones may find that the phones no longer work after the company's next software update. Apple says it is not purposely trying to disable hacked I- Phones, but it's putting out the warning anyways.
FaceBook could be worth $10 billion. Microsoft reportedly ready to offer between $300 million and $500 million for a small piece of the social networking site. FaceBook reportedly turned down a $900 million offer for the entire company from Yahoo!. That was earlier this spring.
The twelfth man makes the tackle. Why the mascot jumped on the pile at the end of the Chief's game. What was KC Wolf doing in there?
And a football coach gets fired up about an article in a local paper. Real fired up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not true! So get your facts straights!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So what was Coach Gundy on about? Well give you the straight facts on this blowup ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Hey, there was some good coverage by Kansas City Chief's security and their mascot on Sunday. Guards tackled the guy who ran on to the field during the fourth quarter. How about when a huge, fuzzy animal just leaps on top of you. That will stop you. The KC Wolf jumped on the pile. So, anyway, the guy -- he's very proud of himself, as you can see. There's the slow mo -- he was cuffed and carried off. The guy didn't get to see his Chiefs win their first game of the year, 13-10 over the Vikings. He looks very proud of himself, as well, doesn't he?
ROBERTS: He looks a little something else, too.
CHETRY: Yes.
A post game press conference turned into a tirade for Oklahoma State University football coach Mike Gundy. There he is holding up the article he was very upset about. It was a column in a local paper and it questioned the attitude of his quarterback, Bobby Reed. Gundy said it's OK to criticize a player's on-field performance, but not his character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MIKE GUNDY, OKLAHOMA STATE COACH: You want to go after an athlete, one of my athletes, you go after one that doesn't do the right things. You don't downgrade him because he does everything right and may not play as well on Saturday and you let us make that decision. That's why I don't read the newspaper because it's garbage. And the editor that let it come out is garbage! Come after me! I'm the man! I'm 40. That's all I got to say. It makes me want to puke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: How does he really feel, though? Gundy did not back off his statements, by the way. He said that he wished he had written his thoughts down, though, so that he wouldn't have used the word ain't.
ROBERTS: Yes. I, you know, he's come under some criticism from the Football Writer's Association, but there are a lot of other people out there who were supporting him. You know, he started off . . .
CHETRY: Yes, but the guy who wrote the article in the audience, when he was screaming . . .
ROBERTS: Woman. Woman.
CHETRY: The woman.
ROBERTS: Yes. He started off by saying that, you know, anybody who's got children understands how difficult it is when they're criticized and kept pointing to her, singling her out saying, I bet you don't have children, so you don't understand. And then he went on to say, I hope one day you do have a child who gets put down this way so that you have to come to them and say, hey, it's OK. I mean, you know, a parent can sort of understand where he's coming from, but maybe it was the wrong forum for that.
CHETRY: Four minutes. He went on for quite a long time. So, yes, he is taking some heat this morning about it.
Well, by the way, here's another story coming up that you can't miss. You know, everyone who lives, wherever they live, can say, maybe we do have the worst drivers. But there is one state in particular and one city in that state that's actually taking the cake here.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. How can you tell? There is a new website that's devoted to finding the worst drivers out on the roads. We're going to show you it, tell you how it works and tell you how you can get involved. Those stories . . .
CHETRY: And what city ranked number one?
ROBERTS: Well, let's leave that as a surprise. We'll have that when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You're look this morning is dawn about to break in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. Our thanks to our folks at WTLV for that beautiful shot. Here's the weather there today. Sixty-nine degrees right now. And like it typically is in Florida, 93 percent humidity, going up to a high of 85 and thunderstorms today for the folks who live in Jacksonville. It's a pretty typical fall day. But, don't worry, the dry weather is on the way.
It's Tuesday, September the 25th. I'm John Roberts. Thanks very much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
New this morning.
A Navy helicopter crashes in Guam. Word of one of the crew members being killed in that accident. Some of the other ones injured. Not seriously, though. The chopper was on a training mission when it went down.
ROBERTS: Congress is on a collision course with the White House over a bill that would extend health insurance to millions of children. The House will vote today on a $35 billion expansion designed to provide health coverage for low-income families. Congress wants to raise the cigarette tax to $1 a pack to pay for it. The White House wants to renew the program, the existing program that expires on Sunday, but President Bush says the new bill is way too expensive and he has threatened to veto it.
The White House says it will not raise taxes to bail out Social Security but there is $13 trillion dollar shortfall coming and reforms must be made. The Treasury Department says fixing Social Security will take benefit cuts and/or tax increases.
Donald Trump offering some choice words in an interview with Wolf Blitzer, like this about President Bush's impact on the next elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: I think President Bush has to go into a corner and hide if a Republicans' going to get elected. There's no way he's an asset. He's a huge liability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Trump was less forthcoming about who he would support if Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani become the presidential nominees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hillary Clinton versus Rudy Giuliani for president?
TRUMP: We won't get into that now.
BLITZER: Where does Donald Trump stand?
TRUMP: We won't get into that now, but I do have my opinions and we'll worry about that later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You can catch part two of Wolf Blitzer's interview later with Donald Trump. That will be on later on today "The Situation Room."
CHETRY: He has opinions?
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: He's weighing in on things? Unbelievable.
ROBERTS: It's unusual, isn't it, for him to be outspoken?
CHETRY: Well, it could be decision day in the trial of Warren Jeffs. Jurors now say they're closer to reaching a verdict after the judge told them to go back and, quote, "keep talking." Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice. He's accused of forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry and have sex with her 19-year-old first cousin. He could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The FBI's latest report on violent crime shows a nearly 2 percent increase in the nationwide murder rate over last year in the big cities. Those with more than a million people murder jumped 6.8 percent. Robberies, arson also on the rise while the number of car thefts are down. This is the second straight year that some violent crime has increased after three years of a decline.
ROBERTS: Auto workers walk the walk. Negotiators for GM and the UAW are going to talk the talk late on today, trying to end the first nationwide strike against General Motors in 30 years. 1970 was the last nationwide strike. They'll be back at the bargaining table again today. 73,000 union members went on strike yesterday at some 80 General Motors facilities. Here's what they're saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm not really happy about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody wants to do this. Nobody wants to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Job security and health care costs for retirees are the main issues involved.
Ali Velshi, live at GM's power train plant in Warren, Michigan.
Ali, a lot of people are asking is this get resolved today because many people in America are looking at the situation and saying, could that be me? ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: That's right, John. We've got a few dozen picketers here at the Warren transmission plant, at several exits. As the sun comes up, you'll see them. They're right behind me.
They have the same kind of questions. A lot of people did not expect to be on strike today. And 24 hours ago, John, when you and I were talking about this, there was some speculation. This deadline had been set. But then all of a sudden, yesterday morning, these workers had to walk off the job.
There are two issues that they're facing. One is health care. And the number to remember here, for every 11 General Motors workers, there are 33 retirees who are being supported by the money being generated by those workers because General Motors, like so many other companies in the United States, has an under funded pension liability. They don't have enough money to pay out everything that they would possibly owe. That's one big turning point in this discussion.
The other one is job security, as you mentioned. Since the '90s, when General Motors employed 250,000 people, that's dwindled down to the 73,000 odd members who are on strike today at about 80 plants across the United States. 73,000. When you add those to the unionized workers at Ford and Chrysler you add to up 180,000. There are, in total, far fewer workers today than only were employed by General Motors in 1994. That's a big deal.
These workers want to know that, as General Motors works to become more efficient to compete with Toyota that is nipping at their heels, are there more job losses and are these jobs going to be transferred to Mexico or China or other lower-cost production areas.
We're here in a suburb of Detroit, so it's a union town. You can hear these cars honking as they go by. Will they get support across the nation, John? That's something we'll have to see.
ROBERTS: All right, Ali Velshi for us this morning in Warren, Michigan. Ali, thanks.
And we want to know what you think. Do you think that you'll have enough money saved for retirement? Go to our web site, cast your vote at cnn.com/am. 42 percent of you say, yes, you'll have enough money at retirement. 58 percent of you say, no.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, the blogs are buzzing this morning over some comments made by Bill O'Reilly on his radio show. O'Reilly was talking about dinner, a dinner he had recently with the Reverend Al Sharpton, when he said there was no difference at the Harlem restaurant he was eating at and other New York restaurants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": I think black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves. There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming MF or I want more iced tea. They were ordering and having fun and there wasn't any kind of craziness at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He made the comment during a talk he was having with NPR's Juan Williams about the effect of the rap culture saying it's often the only part of black culture that many white people see.
So were O'Reilly's comments taken out of context? We did not get any official statement from FOX, but O'Reilly did talk with CNN's Rick Sanchez last night. He told him there was no racial intent in his comments and he didn't receive one complaint on his radio show. We'll talk about this issue with CNN contributor and talk show host Rowland Martin coming up in the next hour here on "AMERICAN MORNING."
ROBERTS: It's just turned 36 minutes after the hour, if you've got to be somewhere.
His chances of an NFL comeback may be reduced to zero with the prosecutor expected to file state animal cruelty charges against Michael Vick today. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback could face 48 more years in jail if he's convicted.
"AMERICAN MORNING" legal contributor Sunny Hostin is here with more on that and some of the day's big legal stories.
So the Surry County prosecutor, which is the county in which Michael Vick had his home in which it's alleged that these dog fighting rounds took place in, does he have his case to bring his own charges against him even though Michael Vick is now facing federal charges?
SUNNY HOSTIN, "AMERICAN MORNING" LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: He now has a very strong case. In fact, the case is really going to be built around all the statements that Michael Vick made during his plea with the federal government.
The state investigation has been going on for a long time. Unfortunately, they did not have the type of resources the federal government had. It took the federal government six weeks to indict. It's going to take the state government a little bit longer to indict. But this is a very, very strong case. And if he pleads guilty or if he's convicted on these charges, he will probably have to serve time consecutively and not concurrently. We're looking at two prison sentences for him.
ROBERTS: Really? So the state would seek an additional prison term on top of the federal prison term. What about the charges themselves though? Is the Surry County prosecutor going for different charges than the federal indictment?
HOSTIN: A bit different. We're not looking at conspiracy charges but we're looking at dog fighting and animal cruelty. Each count carries five years imprisonment. Now you're looking at eight dogs being killed, five years per dog, 40 years. ROBERTS: Let's move on to another topic. Larry Craig -- tomorrow, a judge in Minneapolis will hear arguments to overturn his guilty plea so that he can go to trial on this and fight it some different way. Does he have a hope of doing this?
HOSTIN: I have to say, before I read the motion I thought, not at all. Not possible. But after looking at this motion, it's almost 20 pages, a lot of exhibits, and what he's saying is he has to be allowed to withdraw this plea because it's a manifest injustice and there was an insufficient factual basis for him to plead guilty to disorderly conduct. It's very difficult to withdraw a plea, but, you know, this plea was made by mail. He wasn't in front of a judge. He isn't a lawyer. It may have some teeth.
ROBERTS: Now, Christopher Renz, who is the prosecutor in this case, he's saying, hey, look, I encouraged the guy to get an attorney. He didn't want to get an attorney. He had two months to think of whether or not there was a guilty plea and even though this was done by mail, a judge still has to vet it. The prosecutor said he had numerous conversations with Larry Craig. It certainly looks, on the surface, like he thought about this before he did it. And he also was also warned that this was a matter of public record.
HOSTIN: That's true.
And let's face it, this is a Senator. He's an educated man. I looked at his voting record. He's voted on several crime bills. He's not someone who is unfamiliar with the legal system and unfamiliar with criminal law.
And when you look at the petition to enter plea of guilty, which is his plea, he says that he understands that he's given up a lot of constitutional rights and they are enumerated here. I think it is a tough battle. They requested oral argument. If we're allowed into the courtroom, we'll see this.
ROBERTS: That will be interesting. But there seems to be a lot of disclosure there in terms of that filing when he did plead guilty.
We want to get you back later on because one of the other big topics on the plate today is this huge DEA bust of the steroid bust with ties to China. I want to find out how that will affect kids in America that might have been thinking about doing steroids or were.
HOSTIN: Wonderful.
ROBERTS: Sunny Hostin, thanks.
HOSTIN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: We're following a new tropical storm in the Atlantic, Karen, and where that storm is headed. We're live in the CNN Weather Center. There's a look at the satellite. Also, caught on tape, the worst drivers in America, in one man's opinion. He actually set up a whole entire blog about it where you can take pictures and then post them on the idiot meter. We'll show you his proof ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. A couple shots that caught our eye overnight. New York Yankees pitcher Ross Ohlendorf dressed up like he's in the Land of Oz, not the Bronx, as he left the stadium. All the rookies had to dress up and deal with a little bit of hazing as the bombers try for a clinch a playoff brink.
CHETRY: And you got really hazed if you had to be Dorothy.
ROBERTS: Can you imagine? Or Toto.
You're going it love this picture, too. A rare white koala under close watch in an Australian hospital, wouldn't you know it?
CHETRY: I love that picture. You're so adorable.
ROBERTS: You like that. And you just thought the hair was gray, but it's actually rare white koala future.
CHETRY: I'm sure we'll have the picture eventually.
ROBERTS: Oh, we've got it. There you go.
CHETRY: Oh, he's cute.
ROBERTS: Doctors say the koala is suffering blindness caused by Chlamydia.
CHETRY: What?
ROBERTS: Don't ask me. The koala underwent surgery and was given an antibiotic.
CHETRY: Where's Sanjay when you need him?
ROBERTS: I know. They gave the koala antibiotics. It apparently restored the sight and the health. But look how cute he is. What a little guy.
CHETRY: He is adorable.
ROBERTS: Much cuter than this koala here, sitting beside you.
CHETRY: 44 minutes past the hour. Jacqui Jeras keeping an eye on things for us.
Something cooking up in the Atlantic, Karen?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We do. It's Karen -- not Kiran, as we clarified earlier. Tropical storm right now. Winds around 40 miles per hour. It's moving west, northwest. It's out in the middle of the water here, guys. Not bothering anybody and not forecast to, either. That's good news with that one. But it does make it the 11th named storm, by the way, officially above average for the 2007 hurricane season.
Back here at home today, if you're traveling, it's the nation's midsection that will see the worst of the showers and thunderstorms. And some of them are going to be on the strong side, especially later on today. Just some light rain showers here moving through Green Bay. It's dry in Milwaukee, but you'll see the showers and thunderstorms come in probably by midday. Some light sprinkles in Des Moines.
But check out the storms here in Kansas City. Look out for a lot of lightning and heavy downpours. You'll see ponding on the roadways, especially on the east side of town. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right, Jacqui. Thank you so much.
Still ahead, what killed Anna Nicole Smith's son. They could find out quite soon. After more than a year, the inquest into the death of Daniel Smith will get started in the Bahamas. They're expecting as many as many as 35 different witnesses, including Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern. A private autopsy did find drugs in Daniel Smith's system when he died in the Bahamas in September of last year.
Mike Tyson pleading guilty to drug and DUI charges. The former heavyweight champ could wind up in a tent jail, run by Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff, Joe R. Arpaio, the one who's notorious for his toughness. Tyson was arrested in Scottsdale last December when he was pulled over for driving erratically. Police found cocaine in his pocket.
Some people propose using a stadium Jumbotron, others champagne and flowers, but one guy used the Sunday crossword puzzle. How did he do it? We'll show you coming up.
Ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING," are they the worst drivers in the country?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHEN, CREATOR, DRIVING WEB SITE: That guy, did he just curse at us?
Oh, here we go. Here is someone going down the wrong way in one- way traffic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: One man is so outraged he starts a web site to document careless drivers. What city is it? And are the postings really working? Find out ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: 49 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning on CNN. Super germs in space. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. Scientists say salmonella bacteria got stronger after a trip inside the space shuttle. The experiment found that mice that were fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick and to die quicker. It could lead to fighting diseases here on earth.
A new study -- listen up guys -- suggests that men with good pipes have more offspring. Canadian researchers found women are attracted to men with deeper voices, judging them to be older, healthier and more masculine than their higher-pitched counterparts. Men go for women with higher pitched voices, finding them more attractive, younger sounding and subordinate.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Don't smile like that, John.
ROBERTS: I didn't smile like that.
CHETRY: Yes, you did.
ROBERTS: It was just it was a quirky kind of little kind of can you believe it?
CHETRY: Yeah. Well, how about this one. This is actually right outside of where our studios here in midtown Manhattan. There's really a new twist on road rage that is catching bad drivers in the act and then posting it on the web site for all to see.
"AMERICAN MORNING's" Chris Lawrence is on the streets of L.A. for us, a place that has a dubious distinction, at least by some drivers.
Hi, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kiran, it was one of your own, a New Yorker, a guy that moved out here and got fed up with seeing drivers eating hot soup, reading the paper and just generally driving like everyone else on the road is just an obstacle to their destination.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): They've been called rude, even reckless. L.A. drivers are just as libel to forget you're there as flip you off.
SHEN: That guy, did he just curse at us?
LAWRENCE: It was enough to drive this transplanted New Yorker crazy.
SHEN: It's not about L.A. bashing. I like L.A.
LAWRENCE: But not its road. So Michael Shen created a web site where he could vent. He takes pictures of people he considers bad drivers and posts his rants on a blog.
SHEN: Oh, here we go. Here is someone going down the wrong way in one-way traffic. So, I'll be like, cheese. This is a one-way road, I took his photo and I let him pass.
LAWRENCE: Shen has seen drivers speed up to keep cars from merging into their lane.
SHEN: If they're safely signaling and plenty of room, you should not be accelerating and blocking them.
LAWRENCE: His personal favorite the car beating the light and ends up stuck in the middle of an intersection.
SHEN: It's just blatant, do not block.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Come on L.A.'s an easy target, but are we really that bad?
(voice-over): Well, yes and no. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you're almost twice as likely to be killed in a car crash in L.A. as in New York City.
San Francisco, Chicago and Philly all have lower rates, too.
But L.A. is safer than San Diego, Houston, Detroit and Dallas.
Somehow that doesn't register with the frustrated folks who post on his web site.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The driver attempted to back up out of the middle of an intersection but then she had to stop to avoid hitting cars that were navigating her idiot (EXPLETIVE DELETED) from behind.
LAWRENCE: Bloggers say these roads are home to a number of idiots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just valet parked my car when I looked up and saw the minivan in the photo accelerate and rear end the SUV in front of him. Get this, both were stopped at a red light.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yeah, we're out here at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. Just in the past hour, there was a guy doing doughnuts in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard and another car driving this late at night with no lights on whatsoever.
But if you listen to the blog and the web site, the worst of the worst, and this is not scientific, but according to people who are posting, the worst drivers -- Escalade and Mustang -- Kiran?
CHETRY: They broke it down by car, as well. I had to laugh, Chris, because you did show us a lot of people doing some pretty idiotic things on the road. In New York, though, it's funny, as well. I was hoping we could see a taxi cab. They have protectors for their bumpers on the front and back, almost as a give in, I know I'm going to get rear ended or hit a car at some point during the day so my best bet is to have some kind of guard. There you see one leaving right now. You see that all over New York as well. It's a little bit of a hairy trip around Columbus circle.
LAWRENCE: Yeah and it's funny, one of the people we were talking to was saying he thinks, in New York at least, people have to interact with people face-to-face. Here in L.A. you're protected by your car. He said if you're face-to-face, would you really act this way towards people, flipping them off, yelling and screaming at them, things like that.
CHETRY: Especially in this day in age when everyone has a cell phone camera at the ready and a web site to link it up to.
LAWRENCE: That's right. That's right.
CHETRY: Interesting stuff. Chris Lawrence, thank you.
ROBERTS: A decision on the newscaster who had an affair with the L.A. mayor. Mirthala Salinas will be reassigned to cover the inland empire east of Los Angeles starting next week at the end of her two- month suspension. Salinas reported the news of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's divorce while she was having an affair with him. She has not accepted the new position yet.
Famous New York restaurant, Tavern on the Green, is being sued for severe and pervasive harassment of its employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges that there was inappropriate touching of women and racial epithets towards black and Latino employees. The suit is asking for $1.5 million in penalty. The restaurant says the charges have no merit. Tavern on the Green, by the way, is the second highest moneymaking restaurant in the nation.
55 minutes after the hour. A puzzling proposal, a man pops the question that makes his new fiancee figure it out first. Taking proposals of matrimony to creative new heights, ahead, on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 14 letters, the clue: generic proposal and it begins with "will" and ends in "me." It was a clue in Sunday's "Boston Globe" magazine crossword puzzle. It was written for one puzzle lover in particular. When Jennie Bass figured out the answer, will you marry me, it all made sense.
JENNIE BASS, CROSSWORD PROPOSAL RECIPIENT: It took me a while because, you know, I'm reading through it and there are always incredible coincidental clues in it.
CHETRY: Well, it was not a coincidence. Jennie's boyfriend, Eric, had asked the puzzle makers if they would do it -- they're also a married couple -- to create this personal crossword. So the puzzle makers agreed, and JENARIC, J-E-N-dash-A-R-I-C proposal, the answer, "Will you marry me." Well, once Jennie saw that Eric got on one knee -- and, of course, Jennie said yes.
ROBERTS: That's much better than having it on the Jumbotron or having a plane sky write it. That's really creative.
CHETRY: Yeah, but you have to be confident that your significant other it good at solving it. They could have sat there for five hours on that park bench. She could have been like, you know what, I give up, this one is a hard one, forget it.
ROBERTS: Good thing she knows crossword puzzles.
The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
CHETRY: On the line. This morning, 70,000 GM workers on strike for the first time in decades.
Could labor pains here affect jobs and nest eggs everywhere?
Taking heat. Bill O'Reilly on race and his dinner in Harlem.
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