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American Morning

Defending Blackwater: Chairman on Capitol Hill Today; Airport Death Mystery; Supplements for Kids: Are They Safe?

Aired October 02, 2007 - 07:59   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Hot seat. The founder of Blackwater to be grilled on the Hill. Charges of excessive force in Iraq and a new report that says Blackwater tried to buy its way out of trouble.

Security alert. On the lookout for toys used for terror on airplanes.

Plus, wedding bell blues. Stealing gifts after helping cut the cake. Meet the newlywed victims of an accused wedding crasher on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Can you just imagine, someone crashes your wedding, starts stealing your gift cards, and you look back in the video and they were there helping you cut the cake?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And then they went on to do it again at another wedding, same day.

CHETRY: Unbelievable.

ROBERTS: Unbelievable.

CHETRY: Well, we have more on this new wedding crasher phenomenon that is taking place.

It's Tuesday, October 2nd.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

Thanks for being with us.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.

We begin this hour with fresh charges and a vigorous defense of Blackwater Security's work in Iraq. A new congressional report uncovers Blackwater's involvement in 195 shooting incidents and cites one case in which a drunk contractor accused of killing the Iraqi vice president security guard was allowed to leave the country without facing charges.

Blackwater's chairman, Erik Prince, will defend his company in front of Congress today. He will also face questions about the shooting deaths of at least 11 Iraqis last month that increased scrutiny on Blackwater. This video of the aftermath of that incident was obtained by "Newsweek" magazine.

Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins us now live this morning.

What are we expecting Prince to say? Because you have an advanced copy of his testimony.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we have looked at his prepared statement. Do not expect to see Erik Prince give ground on anything during this hearing.

He will tell Congress that much of the rush to judgment, in his words, is based on inaccurate information. He will go on and he will say, "... Based on everything we currently know, the Blackwater team acted appropriately while operating in a very complex war zone on September 16th."

That, of course, referring to that shooting incident in Baghdad where Blackwater says it came under attack and its people fired defensively. The Iraqi government has a much different story. They say Blackwater fired without provocation, killing Iraqi civilians in that incident.

This is going to shed new light, this hearing, John, on the very secretive world of security contractors. It is expected to be full of fireworks -- John.

ROBERTS: Blackwater and other security organizations like (INAUDIBLE) are working for the State Department. What's the talk in the hallways of the Pentagon there about these private security firms?

STARR: Well, they are very well known to the military. There have been a number of incidents over the years, however, when the military has clashed with security contractors as they've worked out procedures on how they both operate in these very complex environments in the midst of IEDs, snipers, all types of attacks.

The military, the guys on the ground, the young troops on the ground, look a little bit skeptically, I think it's fair to say, at some of these security contractors, but it is well understood that they are necessary, they are used very much by the State Department and the Pentagon to help move VIPs and other top personnel around. If they are not there, that's a job that somebody's still going to have to do -- John.

ROBERTS: We should also mention that most of these Blackwater people are ex-military, including Erik Prince, himself, a former Navy SEAL.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning.

Barbara, thanks. And Erik Prince goes before that House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. You can watch live coverage of it right here on CNN, or if you're away from your television set, on CNN.com. Just follow the links to the live event -- Kiran.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Six minutes after the hour and time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new that we're following this morning.

New information about the woman who died in police custody at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is at our National Update Desk with that.

What are we learning?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one detail, John, out since yesterday is that Carol Ann Gotbaum, according to her family, was on her way to an alcohol treatment center when she missed her flight. That may provide some insight into her state of mind at the time.

Her family says they believe the 45-year-old mother of three was manhandled by police, and they've even hired a well-known local attorney to watch the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MANNING, GOTBAUM FAMILY ATTORNEY: I know that at least some people in the Phoenix PD are spinning out the story that she was intoxicated, but whether she was intoxicated or not doesn't make any difference. In fact, if she was intoxicated, all the more reason never to handcuff her and shackle her and never leave her alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Now, it could be up to three weeks before we know definitively whether there was any alcohol in Gotbaum's system. An autopsy that was supposed to happen yesterday is now scheduled for today. It was delayed because the family wanted an independent pathologist there.

Now, a little background now for those of you new to the story.

Carol Ann Gotbaum was arrested for disorderly conduct Friday at Phoenix airport after she missed her flight to Tucson. According to several witnesses, she was yelling and screaming and running around the terminal. She was handcuffed, and now we are learning that police restrained her even further by using shackles to secure her to a bench.

Now, police believe Gotbaum accidentally strangled herself in a holding room where she was left alone as she tried to escape from the handcuffs. So a few more details about the story, but still a lot more questions, including this one -- her family wants to know why a 5'7, 105-pound woman who they say was clearly emotionally distraught was restrained in the first place?

And John, another question -- just how long was she kept alone in that holding cell? Depending on what you read it could have been anywhere from five minutes to a half-hour. Standard operating procedure, John, is 15 minutes.

ROBERTS: Yes. They said that she was screaming while she was in the room and suddenly she went quiet. They went in to check and that is when they found her dead.

Alina Cho for us this morning.

Alina, thanks very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, there is a new report saying that most American adults and one in three American children take some form of a dietary supplement.

How well do they work and are they safe?

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta.

You know, and now they have the Gummy Bear vitamins. So, you know, it's even better than the Flintstones when we were kids.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting, because people think of supplements as something that still a fringe number of people take. But, in fact, as you point out, half of adults take it and now a third of children.

We heard that same report. We decided to do a little bit of investigating trying to figure out, A, if kids need it, and B, what specifically should they be taking?

Talking to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they say for the most part, kids really don't need any supplements or vitamins, although they do take multivitamins and Vitamin C and iron and all sorts of things on a regular basis. What they do think though is that kids typically should be getting some Vitamin D, especially breast-fed children.

About 200 national units of Vitamin D if kids aren't getting out in the sun enough or they're not getting Vitamin D from other sources in their diet. That might be one to focus on. But for the most part, they really don't need any of the other stuff as long as they're getting a pretty good diet -- Kiran.

CHETRY: OK. So let's talk about some of those things, because it's interesting. When I was breastfeeding, the doctor told me about these Trivisol drops, and I believe they did have A and D in them. And, you know, I felt as a new mom, I have to give the baby these vitamins or -- you know, because something is lacking.

Is that not necessarily the case?

GUPTA: I think with the Vitamin D in particular, you're probably right. And, you know, there's some -- if you just take the baby out in the sun for a few minutes a day, they're probably going to actually convert enough Vitamin D in their bodies naturally that they're not going to need it.

The problem is the American Academy of Pediatrics is not sure which kids are actually getting the proper amount of Vitamin D and which aren't. So they are recommending that. But what this study was talking about was more about just in general, about a third of kids now taking some sort of supplement. They say the vast majority of those really aren't necessary.

CHETRY: All right.

And another example of ones that would be necessary, they do recommend the prenatal vitamins if you're a pregnant mom. Is that something that's a precaution or is that pretty vital?

GUPTA: No, that's vital, I think. And this is obviously for the mom.

I think prenatal vitamins, probably more than anything else, have really been shown to have a significant positive impact on the overall development of a child. The rate of neurological disorders such as spina bifida have gone down tremendously as a result of taking those prenatal vitamins. So I think that's an absolute must.

As far as when the kids get older and they start popping things like Vitamin C on a regular basis, that may not be as necessary.

CHETRY: Right. And it's a multi, what, billion-dollar industry as well, getting people to think they need all these supplements.

GUPTA: I'm fascinated by that because, you know, this multibillion-dollar industry -- and there has never been -- and I wrote about this in my book -- but there's never been any data to actually show that it makes you healthier or that you live longer. I mean, people take ginkgo for memory, they take econasia (ph) for colds.

CHETRY: Right.

GUPTA: Study after study shows it really doesn't seem to make a big difference. So, really, you know, caveat emptor -- be aware of what you're taking and make sure that it's something that you really want to take for your own body.

CHETRY: Good advice. I guess we feel like if we're eating the French fries, if we take a Vitamin C, somehow it all balances out in the end.

GUPTA: One of the shortcuts of society, no question.

CHETRY: Sanjay, thank you.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Well, Martha Stewart is about to launch something new, taking ideas from you. Will it be a good thing?

A preview of Marthapedia coming up.

And under fire. The debate about the tactics used by Blackwater moves to Capitol Hill today. The State Department oversees that contract. They're feeling the heat today, too.

We'll talk live with Under secretary of State Nick Burns.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, we've all been talking -- we've been talking all this morning about this scathing new report about Blackwater's work in Iraq. The State Department also came under fire in that report, charged with not providing enough oversight.

Joining me now to talk more about that and other issues the world over, including Iran and Myanmar, Nicholas Burns. He's the under secretary of state for political affairs at the State Department. He is in New York, attending the U.N. General Assembly.

Good to see you this morning, Nick.

NICHOLAS BURNS, UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE: Nice to be here.

ROBERTS: What's -- you've been to Iraq. You've had Blackwater Security protecting you. What is your sense of all of this? This report seems to portray them as a trigger-happy group of individuals and the State Department not willing to exercise much oversight over it.

BURNS: Well, we need security in Baghdad, obviously, and the other places in Iraq because our personnel need to be protected. So we have these private security firms.

There have been incidents like the one on September 16th that CNN has been reporting on, and Secretary Rice has asked for an investigation into that incident, and a broader investigation into how we handle the security contracts. So I think it's -- we're going to wait for those investigation results to come in. We'll judge what we have to do, but obviously we want to see these firms be effective in what they do but also play by the rules. ROBERTS: You know, one of the incidents that is highlighted in this congressional report that is very interesting is this idea that a Blackwater employee killed one of the security guards for the Iraqi vice president on Christmas Eve. He was allowed to leave the country within a couple of days of that incident without facing investigation or charge, and the State Department recommended a sizable payment to this fellow's family.

BURNS: Yes, I read about this this morning. There's a lot that's coming out, a lot of information. You know, some congressional testimony this morning.

I can't speak to that specific incident, but I can say this, we're concerned enough that we've launched this investigation. We have a retired general and a retired ambassador looking into it for Secretary Rice. And we have to, because it's a costly contract, obviously. But we also have to get security right.

We have lots of people in Baghdad. It's our largest embassy in the world and they have to be well protected.

ROBERTS: Nick, one of the things that you've been spending a lot of time on over the years is Iran, even more so recently. A new article by Seymour Hersh "The New Yorker" magazine talks about a meeting between President Bush and the ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.

Hersh says, "Bush ended by instructing Crocker to tell Iran to stop interfering in Iraq or it would face American retribution."

The big question a lot of people have is, are we closer to military action with Iran?

BURNS: We're on a diplomatic path. We're trying to resolve the Iran problems -- and they're plural -- peacefully.

The fact is that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Nobody in the world wants to see that happen. So we've arranged a rather large international coalition against them. We're trying to get the U.N. to pass a sanctions resolution, a third against Iran.

But Iran is also interfering in a negative way in Iraq. They're funding and arming Shia militants who are firing at our soldiers. And so we have a right to be concerned about this. President Bush has spoken out publicly against it. And the Iranians ought to opt to be a better neighbor to Iraq and be part of the solution to the problems there, not a part of the problem itself.

ROBERTS: And Myanmar also is an area of interest for you. I guess the key here is China. Will China lean on the military junta there?

They seem to be doing the right thing in North Korea. They may be doing the right thing in Darfur as well in terms of leading on the Bashir government to stop attacks against civilians in Darfur. Would they do the right thing here?

BURNS: We hope so. We hope China will use its influence. We hope India will use its influence.

What is happening in Burma is absolutely outrageous. You saw last week on the television thousands of monks who were marching peacefully in Rangoon and the other cities of Burma. A lot of them have been arrested. There are reports that some have been killed.

Major human rights abuses. And the world just can't sit by and watch this happen. We have to take action against the Burmese government.

We should be passing sanction resolutions at the U.N. But the U.N. is failing to act right now. And so there has to be a large spotlight shown in that country.

ROBERTS: Well, good luck at the United Nations General Assembly this week.

BURNS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Nick Burns, always good to see you.

BURNS: Thanks, John. Good to see you.

ROBERTS: And we look forward to the results of this investigation into Blackwater.

BURNS: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Appreciate you coming in.

BURNS: Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

CHETRY: And still ahead, two Hispanic sisters serving together in Congress. We're talking to the Sanchez sisters about the unique challenges and obstacles they faced and overcame.

It's our special, "Uncovering America," coming up.

Also, tapping a network of millions upon millions, how celebrities are getting in on places like MySpace and Facebook and how you both could benefit from the relationship.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-six past the hour now.

Online social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, well, they're not just for teens and college kids anymore. In fact, more moguls are looking to them to both give ideas and to get ideas from all ages.

For example, Martha Stewart is planning for Marthapedia.

AMERICAN MORNING contributor Polly LaBarre has been looking into this for us.

Why not, right? She's a huge industry. Why not have a Marthapedia as well?

POLLY LABARRE, AMERICAN MORNING CONTRIBUTOR: Well, social networking has exploded. Everyone wants to get in the game. The lion's share of attention and traffic is going to MySpace and Facebook.

Martha announced last week that she's starting Marthapedia, like Wikipedia, where it will be an online handbook of all things good in the domestic arts. But like Martha, she's exerting a lot of control, so any user-generated content -- you know, you have a better tip for getting red wine out of a linen tablecloth...

CHETRY: Right?

LABARRE: ... it's going to be vetted by her editors. And if they don't deem it a good thing, it won't go up.

CHETRY: That's very interesting.

LABARRE: So it's an experiment in control and also freedom online.

CHETRY: Well, because, as you said, MySpace and Facebook, they represent 91 percent of social networking traffic, but those really are -- that really is a niche group. A lot of younger people. So this would be marketed toward baby boomers, some of these other sites.

Is there the same amount of interest when you're a little bit older to share so much of your personal life, upload pictures and be involved in this Web community?

LABARRE: Well, I think the thing is, when you're over 35, you sort of venture on to MySpace or Facebook and you sort of think, what's the point of this exercise? And I admit, I've done that and I have a profile just for kicks. And you sort of think, why am I swapping photos, why am I putting videos up?

And I think that's a really good question. People over 55 on are online in the same numbers as people 18 to 49. So it's a big, big market out there, and the people who are figuring out how to address them to make it compelling, to build sites that are just for them, are the ones that are really interesting right now.

CHETRY: This is interesting. So you are talking about several well-established sites that are also launching social networking.

Explain for us adults what exactly makes it a difference, then. You're visiting a site and maybe it's one that you get e-mail, weekly newsletters from, versus social networking.

LABARRE: Well, social networking is comprised of a bunch of activities, like posting your own personal profile, having your own Web page, sharing photos, having a blog, posting comments. On Facebook and MySpace there are all kinds of things like poking your friends and "friending" people and zombie biting them, all these kinds of things that we really don't want to get involved in, I think, at our age.

But they're a set of activities around connecting and groups and discussing. And that's the basic core of all these sites, whether it's a MySpace or, for example, a site that's launching geared to older folks and folks who have a religious or spiritual belief called beliefnet. And that's coming out in a couple of weeks.

We got a sneak preview from the editor-in-chief, Steve Waldman, yesterday. And it's a really -- this is a robust community of 11 million subscribers and members who are on some kind of religious or spiritual journey. You don't have to be religious, but you could have some kind of a spiritual interest.

And they are building a state-of-the-art social community around those particular passions, those particular life crossroads. And the reason why it's compelling is it's the right community for those people. You're finding likeminded people, as opposed to, you know, a hundred million teenagers on MySpace.

CHETRY: I got you.

So, before we let you go, how does it benefit someone like a Martha Stewart, for example? Is it the advertising connection that comes with these sites?

LABARRE: Well, I think in the case of Martha Stewart, she is jumping on this bandwagon. Everybody wants to be in the social networking space.

Facebook is rumored to be valued at $10 billion right now.

CHETRY: But why is that? Because all the advertising?

LABARRE: And that is where all the action is online. The action used to be in publishing, then it was in shopping online. Now it's in people and their relationships. So companies and advertisers want to get in there and mix it up in the social networking space.

CHETRY: Very interesting. All right.

Polly LaBarre always keeping us ahead of these new trends.

Thanks so much for being with us.

LABARRE: Thank you.

Coming up, accused real-life wedding crashers. In fact, one of them caught on tape. They go to weddings pretending they're guests and then end up stealing from the newlyweds. Well, we're going to meet a couple who had this happened at their own wedding. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: And the last little bit of night going away there in the city of Denver in beautiful Colorado. Our thanks to our friends at KMGH for that shot. It's 56 degrees right there.

CHETRY: Just a little windy because the tower cam is shaking up and down.

ROBERTS: Bouncing around a little bit. Going up to 68 degrees today but it doesn't look like there's many clouds in the sky. It should be a nice bright sunny day there today.

Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING and thanks for joining us, Tuesday, the 2nd of October. I'm John Roberts.

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

New this morning. A new security warning in airports like we need something else to worry about. Well, now screeners are going to be looking closely at remote-controlled toys in carry-on luggage. The Transportation Security Administration saying, it's worried about such a device could be used to set off a bomb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN HOWE, TSA SPOKESWOMAN: There are some pieces of information that are credible, specific pieces of information, but they are not tied to any specific plot or any specific time line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So it's not an outright ban on remote-controlled cars but if you do have one in your carry-on bag, you could face additional screening.

Anita Hill and sexual harassment. Of course, those became household terms 16 years ago during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. Well, this morning, Anita Hill spoke out to CNN responding to comments that the Supreme Court Justice made in his new memoir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA HILL, FORMER THOMAS ACCUSER: Knowing what I know about sexual harassment claims and what I know about generally about work place abuse claims, discrimination claims, discrimination claims. This is a typical tactic that accused people take. When you're accused of bad behavior as opposed to wanting people to look at all of the evidence, looking at all of the credible evidence what you do is attack your accuser and you mischaracterize them. You slander them, you smear them. And in an effort to deflect the truth. And, in fact, I know what the truth is. I testified about it in 1991. And I maintain that testimony today is as truthful today as it was then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Justice Thomas defended his famous description of his bitter confirmation hearings as, "high-tech lynching" in an interview that aired Sunday on "60 Minutes." But said that the controversy left the country worse off.

ROBERTS: 700,000 people suffer strokes in the United States each year. Most strokes could be treated but there is a critical three- hour window to successfully treat the potentially crippling condition. What if that window could be extended? A new study says that that's possible. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta with details. What have researchers found, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, interesting. You're exactly right the way you characterize that. It is a small window, John. It's really been subject of a lot of studies to try to expand that window. This is a small study, an early study but an interesting one nonetheless looking at an antibiotic, of all medications, known as minocycline in trying to figure out if you give this medication, not within 3 hours but even up to within 13 hours after someone is having a stroke. Could it make a difference in their overall recovery? The answer seems to be yes, again, in a small early study. It was given within 13 hours and five days afterwards, people had significant improvements within three months after having had a stroke.

So, they have less facial weakness, for example. They had less weakness in their arms and they had better speech. All of these things obviously important as far as recovery goes. But again, this antibiotic used within 13 hours seemed to make a difference in the long-term. John.

ROBERTS: What would it be about antibiotic that would be beneficial to stroke victims?

GUPTA: Not sure. We, obviously, asked that same question. When you're talking about stroke, there's a couple of things that are happening. There are cells that are dying within the brain. Is there something that you can give to try to make those cells less likely to die? Maybe an anti-inflammatory or in this case an antibiotic which seems to have some sort of what is known as neuroprotective effect. It's obviously lots of different medications are being looked at to try and expand that window as you characterized it. This seems to be something that is showing some promise.

ROBERTS: Hey, real quick Sanjay. People should be aware of the warning signs for a stroke, can you run those down for us?

GUPTA: Yes, there are a lot of different warning signs. They're not as sometimes as clear as a heart attack which might be chest pain but sudden weakness on one side of the body, slurred speech, balance problems, trouble speaking or understanding others as well. One of the things, John, I think more than anything else is for the people to recognize the symptoms in somebody else. So if you're worried about somebody having a stroke, you can ask them to do a few things -- ask them to smile, ask them to raise both arms like this and make sure one is not drifting down or the other and ask them to say a single sentence. That will give you a clue as well.

ROBERTS: Yes and if they show those warnings signs get them to the hospital right away. Because as we said that golden hour there, that 3-hour opportunity.

GUPTA: Every second counts.

ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much. By the way, if you have a question for Dr. Gupta, be sure to e-mail it to us, go to cnn.com/am. Sanjay will answer your questions on Thursday here on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Well, 37 minutes past the hour now and we are going to check in with Rob Marciano. He has been taking a look for us at just how devastating a drought, much of the southeast of our country has been going through. You're in a place in Lake Allatoona, Georgia, that could actually break a record when it comes to drought. Hi, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. We're seeing, yes, record-setting drought in some cases. But right now, there's only a couple of other years in history since they've been keeping records in north Georgia where they've seen drier years. So, we're on track and it certainly not going to rain today. Lake Allatoona is one of the big reservoirs in north Georgia that feeds into some of the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta. And you see behind me, I mean, where we're standing right now this would typically be well over our head. The lake does get low but in the wintertime and we're not quite there yet.

You can see white stakes behind me. Those are channel markers and they are completely out of the water and they are 15, 18 feet high. The tree line is typically what we would consider to be the full pool level. Obviously some folks that live along this reservoir, their docks completely dry as some of their pontoon and in some cases, houseboat. So, a dire situation here for sure. 14 feet below what would be the full pool level. So certainly need a lot of rain.

Why has it been so dry across the southeast? Typically, we would get a little bit of a recovery this time of year but at least getting a tropical depression or tropical storm or a hurricane to come this way. They have a lot of rainfall but we haven't seen that at all. They've all been going to the south. As luck would have it, there is one spinning across Florida and not a tropical storm but has the potential to form into one over the next couple of days in the Gulf of Mexico. We will watch for that, John. But like you said, be careful what you ask for. Tropical storms have a lot of moisture and we need a lot of moisture. Today we're not going to get any. It's a beautiful day here. But the lake here is definitely low. Back up to you in New York.

ROBERTS: Rob Marciano for us from Lake Allatoona down there in Georgia. Rob, thanks.

They danced with the wedding party. They decorated the newlywed's car, cut the cake, even posed for a photo before they made off with the gifts. Accused real-life wedding crashers. One of them caught on tape. Meet the newlyweds whose wedding was crashed and they're not alone.

And it was supposed to be Beyonce's first concert in a largely Muslim country. Why the singer pulled the plug on her concert in Malaysia? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: CNN is uncovering America. Taking a look at the faces and people in our changing nation. Latinos now make up 14 percent of the population, yet only 5 percent of Congress. We're going to talk to two very special members of Congress about what it's like serving, because joining us two Hispanic women who not only serve in the House of Representatives but they are sisters. Representatives and sisters Linda and Loretta Sanchez joining me from Washington. Thanks for being with us.

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning.

REP. LINDA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

CHETRY: Congresswoman -- can I just call you Loretta and Linda just to make it easier? Because if I think if I say Congresswoman Sanchez, we're going to be here all day.

LORETTA: Please do.

CHETRY: What is it like first of all, Loretta, having your little sister join you in congress? You've been there for three terms and this is her first.

LORETTA SANCHEZ: Well, actually, I've been here for six and Linda has been here for three.

CHETRY: Well, goodness gracious. Let me throw this packet out the window then.

LINDA SANCHEZ: Time flies when you're having fun.

LORETTA SANCHEZ: We have really had had fun. I mean, we don't work a lot together. Because we work different issues in the Congress. But it's always nice to have family that you can come to in the evening and relax with and cry on someone's shoulder. So it's really nice to have my younger sister with me.

CHETRY: Now, Linda, do you guys live together when you're in D.C.?

LINDA SANCHEZ: No, we don't. We had originally looked at perhaps getting a place together, but the configuration needed to be such that we wouldn't kill each other if we lived together and just didn't find anything so we both have our own separate little studio apartments.

CHETRY: There was nothing that big, I understand. You know, it's interesting and I'd like to get your thoughts, Loretta. Hispanics are the largest minority in Congress. Do you think their needs to be more representation in the walls of Congress for Latino- Americans and why haven't we seen more? The growth was sort of stagnant from last year to this year.

LORETTA SANCHEZ: Well, actually, you know, there is about 18 percent or so Latinos across the nation and really only about 5 percent in the Congress so we're sorely underrepresented. And there are the typical and historical obstacles to that. Money plays a big factor and just being able to raise it, to be able to run a good campaign. Usually when you go to look for who is going to be the next congressperson you look at the state level or at the local level and we still haven't infiltrated enough across the country into those positions in order to be selected. And then, of course, is the traditional party machine and the traditional party machine still, quite frankly, in any party, really doesn't pay that much attention to Latinos. So we've really -- those of us who've made it to the Congress have broken out on our own, if you will.

CHETRY: And Linda, I mean, not only the under representation of Hispanics in Congress but also women. And you were able to buck both trends. What is that experience been like for you and how did you overcome some of the stereotypes?

LINDA SANCHEZ: Well, it's interesting and it's difficult and a daily struggle. I mean, women who are more just over 50 percent of the population are only about 14 percent of the members of Congress. And you have even worse numbers for Hispanic representation. And it really is a sense that you have a job to do. You have a community to represent. And that it's important enough to make that effort to put yourself on the line and put your name on a ballot and run the kind of campaign that can be a successful campaign. And it's not easy. I mean, there are a lot of obstacles that get thrown in your way. Loretta mentioned some of them.

But I think there is also this credibility gap that, you know, people look at particularly young Hispanic women and you know, they don't look at us and say a typical member of Congress. You know, my first term and Loretta's first term, we used to get stopped in the Capitol all of the time and ask for our congressional I.D. You know, when we were going through the, you know, different security levels because people just aren't accustomed to seeing faces like ours in Congress but that is the future of this country. I mean, Latinos will be 30 percent of the population by 2030 and we are a part of the American fabric and if America as a country is going to do well, we need to be looking to the Latino community to foster education, leadership, economic opportunities, everything that goes with it.

CHETRY: That's right. And you both are representatives where there are large, large Hispanic members in your communities, in your respective communities so as representatives that is great. I want to ask you a quick question about Bill Richardson. The only Hispanic democrat in the presidential race. Do you both think he is the best Democrat nominee for president?

LORETTA SANCHEZ: Well, I certainly think that he has some incredible experience that the rest of the democrats don't have in that field. I mean, he has been our U.N. Secretary. He has been our secretary of energy, two very big issues -- foreign relations and the energy issues that we have. So, he has incredible knowledge. He also has been in the Congress so he'll know how to work with the Congress. You know, he comes from a state where resources and environment and the beauty of that state in New Mexico is important. I think he brings a set of qualities that the others really don't match. I think he's going to do well.

CHETRY: Even Hillary Clinton?

LINDA SANCHEZ: Well, let me just say that I think Governor Richardson brings a lot to the table. But as with any candidate, you need to get your votes one by one. And I've endorsed Senator Chris Dodd. I think he is an incredible candidate and that's not it to take anything away from Bill Richardson because I think he is a breakout in terms of leadership and in terms of, you know, role model for the Latino community but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is the given choice for the Hispanic population. There's a wide range of youths among our ethnic group.

LORETTA SANCHEZ: And we're very lucky because all of our democratic candidates are really good and they all have their set of skills so we're really looking forward to the primaries.

CHETRY: Well, I want to thank both of you, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, sisters and proud members of Congress. Thanks for being with us.

LORETTA AND LINDA SANCHEZ: Thank you. Our pleasure.

ROBERTS: It's coming up to 11 minutes now to the top of the hour.

Beyonce cancels her first concert in Malaysia. Her agency says the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict but sources say it was because of the country's dress code, which bans the sexy attire that she usually wears. According to some reports, Beyonce was concerned about a Muslim backlash there and also banned in Malaysia is running and jumping on stage.

CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning. I hate following Beyonce. That is really not fair.

A very busy Tuesday for us right here in the NEWSROOM. Blackwater CEO answering to Congress this morning. We'll have live coverage of that.

Iraq's prime minister accuses the private security company as gunning down civilians.

And students heading back to class at the University of Memphis right now. Police searching for the gunman who killed a football player. And an Arizona man says it's like falling in love all over again. He can see again for the first time since a childhood accident. We'll have that story for you as well and all the morning's breaking news. Join me in the NEWSROOM top of hour, right here on CNN. John.

ROBERTS: Hey, that is a really heartwarming story.

COLLINS: I love it.

ROBERTS: We'll see you soon.

COLLINS: OK.

ROBERTS: In the movie, the "WEDDING CRASHERS" just wanted to have fun and meet women but in real life, one couple had their wedding crashed and the crasher was accused of stealing the gifts. We'll talk to the bride and groom. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: Well, you remember the movie "WEDDING CRASHERS" with Owen Wilson? It was pretty funny. It was of course Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as pals who always managed to charm their way into the weddings of strangers. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY GREY: What's the back story?

JOHN BECKWITH: We're brothers from New Hampshire. We're venture capitalists.

JEREMY GREY: I'm sick of that. Let's be from Vermont and let's have an emerging maple syrup conglomerate.

JOHN BECKWITH: That's stupid. We don't know anything about maple syrup.

JEREMY GREY: I happen to know everything about maple syrup. I love maple syrup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Their goal, of course, was to pick up girls but police now say real life wedding crashers are ruining reception in at least two instances. Kimberly Cooper showed up uninvited with her 12-year- old daughter to the wedding of Sciara and Charles Daugherty in Idaho Falls. Cooper is now accused of stealing cash and gift cards from the newlyweds.

CHETRY: Charles and Sciara join us now from their home in Idaho. This sounds like an unbelievable story but first of all, how did you figure out some of your reception presents were missing?

CHARLES DAUGHERTY, VICTIM OF WEDDING CRASHER: Well, it wasn't until we were driving down to Salt Lake City. We were driving down to catch a flight for our honeymoon and talking about the events of the day and Sciara asked me, did you pick up the gift card basket that on the table? Well, I said I grabbed up all of the gifts but no gift card basket. We had called around all of our family members to see if they in fact had picked it up and nobody had. And then we were talking about some of the other strange events that occur at our wedding. And one of them was this Kimberly Cooper who showed up with her daughter and we both asked each other, did you invite her? Of course, neither one of us had. And Sciara was about to fall asleep in the car and when she kind of sat up abruptly and said she stole it, she stole the gift cards. I know she did.

ROBERTS: Now, Sciara, in the movie, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, not only go to the wedding but they get intimately involved in it, leading the dancing, the toasting, everything. Kim Cooper was doing somewhat the same thing, wasn't she?

SCIARA DAUGHERTY: She absolutely was. She was helping decorate the car. She was helping herself to any of the food that we had there. Her daughter was out on the dance floor dancing amongst everybody and she even walked in and cut the cake before we even had a chance to.

ROBERTS: Right. So didn't she raise some suspicions with you? I mean, I think you had seen this woman around before, hadn't you?

SCIARA DAUGHERTY: We did. We actually -- her son was in my daughter's first grade class. And he was invited.

CHETRY: I got you. So, you had known her but had been to a house for a birthday party but clearly not invited to the wedding. Now, this is the one good thing is that wedding receptions are highly videotaped. Of course, if you want those memories. How did it end up that they were able to link her to it? You had it right on tape?

CHARLES DAUGHERTY: Well, actually, because of the fact that we knew of her from the birthday party, we had actually tried to drop her kids off to her house several times during the course of a weekend. We're unsuccessful but we knew her address because of it. We couldn't think of her name but we knew her address. We were able to give the address to the police and they knew instantly who it was and it was Kimberly Cooper. Once they had that information, they were able to go to actually one of the stores here in town where she cashed one of the gift cards and look at the surveillance camera and see her actually cashing the gift card.

ROBERTS: And Sciara, really quick, what do you think should happen here? Do you think she's a criminal or do you think she was having some trouble?

SCIARA DAUGHERTY: I think that she actually has a long history of some criminal activity that she needs to make sure that some type of punishment that she would be able to know that this is wrong and not to do it and she actually involved her daughter in the crime and we want to make sure that her daughter is put in a different situation to where she knows that you can't get away with things like this later in life. CHETRY: Well, hopefully, you know, this is a tough situation to deal with but you still have happy memories of your wedding day and it's not all marred by this upsetting situation that took place. Thanks for being with us, Charles.

CHARLES DAUGHERTY: I still got the girl in the end.

CHETRY: Exactly. You guys are a wonderful couple. Congratulations on that. Charles and Sciara Daugherty, a victim of wedding crashers.

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. By the way, congratulations on your wedding.

CHARLES DAUGHERTY: Thank you.

SCIARA DAUGHERTY: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Here is a quick look now at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.

COLLINS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Blackwater CEO in front of Congress this morning. Iraq's prime minister accuses the private security firm of killing civilians.

Classes resume today at the University of Memphis. One day after a football player is shot and killed.

The leaders of two Koreas meet today.

And a black man dragged to death under a truck. NEWSROOM, top of the hour, on CNN.

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