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American Morning
Airport Death; Marion Jones Steroid Use; Jobs Report Today; Brute Force?
Aired October 05, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Final moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two officers grabbed both arms. She just goes to the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Does surveillance video from the Phoenix Airport explain how a woman died in custody. New details from her family and her husband's frantic last calls.
Tarnished gold. Olympic star Marion Jones admits she used steroids. What triggered her stunning fall from grace.
Plus, global warming and hurricanes. Science and opinion, stirring a new storm on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Friday, the 5th of October. A whole lot to tell you about this morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
Brand-new this morning, Carol Ann Gotbaum's final moments alive. Police releasing the video of her Phoenix Airport arrest before the New York woman was found dead in a holding cell. They also released transcripts of a phone call with her husband in which he says his wife is an alcoholic and suicidal. He cautions that they need to take care when dealing with her. He never was able to actually get through to police, though.
We still don't know what happened to the 45-year-old mother of three in that holding room where she died, all alone, in handcuffs and shackles. Alina Cho is at the national update desk with new details for us this morning.
Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, good morning.
You know it's been exactly a week since Carol Anne Gotbaum died in police custody at Phoenix Airport. And now this startling surveillance video is out. There's no audio on it, but it does show the moments leading up to Gotbaum's arrest.
It appears, according to police, as though she's yelling and screaming. Then officers surround her and she's either forced to the ground or falls to the ground before being handcuffed. She later died in a holding cell where she was left alone.
Her family says she was manhandled, but police maintain they followed procedure. They say Gotbaum, who was on her way to alcohol rehab when she missed her flight to Tucson, may have been drunk when she went into a tirade at the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have information and indications (ph) that alcohol may have been involved, yes, and that either came through observations of officers. But as far as definitive information that that was a part of her physiology, that will have to be determined by the medical examiner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now late yesterday, police released a 108-page report with more details. Among them, Gotbaum's husband, Noah, called emergency dispatchers while his wife was still alive, trying to warn them she was in a deep depression, saying in one call, "she is suicidal. The police have to understand that they're not dealing with someone who's been just drinking on flight and acting rowdy. That's not what is going on here."
Now Noah Gotbaum made several calls to dispatchers, but he never got through to the officers who were holding his wife. Police say they weren't aware Carol Anne Gotbaum was a potential danger to herself.
And the body of the 45-year-old mother of three is back with family now. Kiran, on the question of whether she was drunk, it could be weeks before we get the results of toxicology tests.
CHETRY: All right, thanks a lot, Alina.
ROBERTS: So how did this family woman go from this to the outrageous, out of control scene caught on surveillance video at the airport? Shortly before that tape was released, I spoke to the Gotbaum's family attorney, Michael Manning. He was in Phoenix. I asked him if Mrs. Gotbaum had, in fact, been drinking or taking any prescription drugs during her layover between flights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL MANNING, ATTORNEY FOR GOTBAUM FAMILY: We know that when she landed in Phoenix, she was absolutely committed, determined, and absolutely stone cold sober when she landed here about 12:20. And she was very calm and very determined to get to Tucson to get well. By the time she reached the gate, she had found out she was denied boarding, she had a very, very strong emotional reaction to that and we believe that that just wasn't just a result of her being upset because of her determination to get well. We believe she may have been drinking, but we have no evidence of that at this point yet.
ROBERTS: Do you believe then, based upon that assumption, that she might have actually been drunk?
MANNING: Well, it's certainly possible. And if she was inebriated, she was also very, very emotionally distraught. All the more reason why when authorities approach her, they have to approach her with great care and a significant level of humanity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: In the next hour here of AMERICAN MORNING, I'll have more of that interview with Michael Manning, including whether the family will pursue a wrongful death suit against the police department.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the U.S.'s top diplomat in Myanmar is now meeting with military leaders in the capital of Yangon today. The State Department says that Sherri Villaraigosa (ph) will urge them to meet with opposition groups and to stop the crackdown on demonstrators. The U.N.'s envoy is also briefing the security council in an unprecedented open session on his recent visit to Myanmar.
Also, actor Jim Carrey is expected at a news conference later today to urge the security council to take action. Carrey recently posted a plea for the people of Myanmar on YouTube.
Well, breaking the al Qaeda propaganda machine. The U.S. military saying it's captured at least six al Qaeda media centers in Iraq and arrested 20 suspected propaganda leaders since June. One house raided recently in Samarra had 12 computers, 65 hard drives and a filming studio.
Suicide in front of the city council. A disturbing story out of Clarksville, Tennessee. Police say that a man shot himself in the head with a small pistol after lawmakers refused to rezone his property. He had wanted to have his home rezoned for a barbershop, making the property values higher so he could get a loan. After the council voted against him, Ronald "Bo" Ward walked up and said to them, "you all have put me under." He then pulled the trigger. It was a very disturbing scene because it was witnessed by about 50 people in the audience. Many of them who left sobbing.
Well, breaking very early this morning, an explosive end to a standoff situation at a law office in Alexandria, Louisiana. Police say that a gunmen -- they killed the gunman who ran into the building and shot five people. Three people escaped before the suspect opened fire on two police officers with two people still inside. Police fired tear gas into the building, eventually blew holes in the back wall before they were able to gun down the suspect. There was still no word on whether the two people who remained inside are alive.
Also, a massive search underway right now around Philadelphia for a man caught on tape gunning down two armored car guards outside of a bank in Philly. It happened in broad daylight yesterday at a Wachovia branch as guards were taking money from the ATM. Security cameras caught the man on tape with the gun in hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: As the person came up, as they were emptying the bag, one of the security guards is there. The male came from behind the truck, he fired and shot the male. He went around and he shot the other male. There was no physical contact at all. It was like an assassination. There was no physical contact. It was just, fine, there was an assassination. He killed two people intentionally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police say that he took off in a black Acura. Schools and a nearby mall were locked down as they searched for him. Both guards were retired police officers. One of them had 27 years of service. The other, 23 years. There's no word on how much money that suspect made off with.
John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to seven minutes after the hour. Olympic gold medallist Marion Jones admits to using steroids before winning three gold medals at the Sydney Olympics back in 2000. That revelation came out in a letter by Jones to her friends and family. Jones also said that she is coming to New York City today to turn herself in on two counts of lying to investigators.
Amy Shipley of "The Washington Post" got a copy of the letter and broke this story. Amy joins us now on the phone.
Amy, any idea why she decided to admit to this so many years after the fact?
AMY SHIPLEY, "WASHINGTON POST" STAFF WRITER: Well, I think she's been under pressure from federal authorities for some time. She's been the subject of an investigation. And I think with the trial in November of her coach, Trevor Graham, I think she's been under considerable pressure to make some revelations.
ROBERTS: She said that this drug, this steroid, THG, which is the famous Balco Labs undetectable steroid, was given to her by her coach, Trevor Graham. He also was the one who blew the whistle on Balco Labs back in 2003 when he provided them with a sample of this drug. She said, she "trusted Graham" and never thought for one second that she was taking a performance-enhancing drug. That it was, as Graham told her, flaxseed oil, which is a sports supplement through which people -- a nutritional supplement through which people get omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Do you believe her, that she didn't know she was taking THG?
SHIPLEY: It's very hard to believe and it will also be interesting to see what she says in the documents she files today. She is pleading guilty to two counts of lying to investigators and we're told that what she might be agreeing to in those documents might show a little bit more guilt. And further, you know, can you believe any athletes when they say that they haven't used drugs. It's very difficult to believe that someone could take steroids. You know they bring about major physical changes. How she couldn't know, it's just hard to believe.
ROBERTS: And she says in the letter, she could get six months in jail and I guess be stripped of her medals for this?
SHIPLEY: Well, that's what she says. And actually she faces up to five years for each of the two counts of lying to investigators and certainly, if she admits to using steroids leading up to the Olympics, I can't imagine that she won't be stripped of her medals.
ROBERTS: Right. A real stunning story this morning, though. Not a surprise to some people. Amy Shipley of "The Washington Post" joining us this morning from Miami.
Amy, thanks. Good to talk to you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning.
There's a big economic report out today. Ali Velshi is at our business update desk to explain why this one might really matter to you. I'm going to see Ali in a second. I feel it.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here. Can you hear me?
CHETRY: All right, I hear you, Ali. We're going to talk today.
VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) here I am.
Kiran, yes, just appearing out of the blue, which is kind of what might be happening with this jobs number in about two hours. It is more important than most of the numbers because it's about jobs. You remember, Kiran, a month ago we were all caught off guard because we were expecting that in August, 100,000 jobs had been created and we found out that 4,000 jobs had been lost.
Well here's the expectation for September. Again, more than 100,000 jobs created and the unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 4.7 percent. It's currently 4.6 percent.
Now the issue here is, this is more important than gas, it's more important than housing, it's more important than mortgages, because without a job and without an income, none of the other stuff matters. And it's not just your job, if there are jobs lost in the economy generally, that brings prices down, home prices down. It hurts businesses.
All around, we need to see job growth above 100,000 jobs. In fact, some people say you need it to be at least 150,000 jobs because that's how many working people come into the economy every month. So that just keeps everything even.
So we'll be watching that very closely. The jobs number coming out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. And depending on what happens with that number, you'll see how markets behave through the course of the day.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Ali, thanks. We'll check in with you in a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, Rob Marciano in studio today. He's tracking extreme weather, including some storms happening right now in the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Cracking down on child pornography tops your "Quick Hits." New Jersey police arresting more than three dozen people, ranging in age from 14 to 71. They are charged with sending child rape photos and videos over the Internet. Investigators say new technology allowed the police to track the transmission of images from one computer user to another. A brand new tool and a good one in law enforcement of internet crime.
A federal jury in Minnesota has ordered a woman to pay $220,000 in damages for sharing copyrighted music online. She is a single mother who was busted for 24 songs at $9,250 apiece.
Prince Harry laid to rest in a work of art. Why the sculptor says it was important to depict him dead after he was denied the chance to go to war.
Plus, the surveillance video that everyone is talking about, moments before a woman dies in police custody at the Phoenix Airport. You can see her there being hand cuffed, arrested by police. Was she out of control or did the police overreact? We break the tape down ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some of the shots that you've got to see in your "Quick Hits" now.
Getting the high ground on a huge inferno. A ladder truck sprays water on a fire at a cereal packaging warehouse in Minnesota. No injuries reported, but 200 people work there and the building is now destroyed.
A school bus jumps the curb and crashes into a yard. I-Reporter Bill Johnson (ph) snapped this picture. It was in St. Louis. He says about 10 kids were aboard the bus but injuries are unclear. He also says that similar crashes have happened four times in just the past two weeks. Dangerous piece of road there.
And a statue depicting a dead Prince Harry laid out before the union jack. Pennies placed over his eyes to pay the ferryman. His head resting on a Bible. The New York-based artist who created the statue said it represents those who are unable to serve in Iraq and how the prince's spirit must have died when Britain's military banned him from going to war. The artist is the same man, by the way, who created a sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we want to show you some more of the videotape about whether or not the question today, did police do the right thing when it came to subduing Carol Gotbaum at the Phoenix Airport. Joining me now to talk a little bit more about it is Lou Palumbo. He's a retired police officer, director of the Elite Agency, which is a private security firm. Clients ranging from heads of state, to the Academy Awards.
So you're used to dealing in tough situations when you need to. And let's take a look at some of the surveillance video. Here we see, Lou, Carol Anne and she's waving her hands, visibly upset when police take her down. Do you see anything wrong with the initial takedown?
LOU PALUMBO, RETIRED POLICE OFFICER: No, absolutely not. In fact, I think it's clear within policy. And as you can see the way that they're holding her, it doesn't appear that they're exerting any type of uncomfortable or excessive use of force. I think everybody has to remain mindful that she's inside a secured area at an airport which has a whole different implication with behavior.
CHETRY: The Phoenix police officer, Sergeant Palumbo, no relation, described the scene. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. PALUMBO, PHOENIX POLICE OFFICER: While on the ground, they made numerous to tempts to get her to calm down by talking to her. Again, she's still screaming at the top of her lungs. She's screaming. Not only is she not a terrorist, but also profanities and comments towards not liking Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. So there you have her on the ground. There's differing accounts, though, because some of the witnesses say that it looked like an incredibly harsh takedown for a 105-pound woman.
PALUMBO: Let me speak to that for you. If this woman was not of her right mind, we call them EDPs, emotionally disturbed people. They have enormous amounts of strength. It's better to use a few more law enforcement agents to restrain her gently than have two have to really muscle her into the ground.
So I know what the perception is, and there are clearly perception issues with this entire case. But in their taking her into custody immediately in the terminal, there isn't any issue regarding excessive use of force. It's everything after they took her into custody that's questionable. CHETRY: Which let's get to. So after they take her into custody, they take her into this holding cell. This is where they say that she died. She was not only hand cuffed, but then those handcuffs were attached to about a two foot long additional shackle, as they're calling it. Is that proper procedure?
PALUMBO: Yes, that's normally how we would put someone in a detention or a holding pen. The issue here is where she should have been transported to. Not necessarily a holding facility in a law enforcement agency, but possibly to a psychiatric facility for observation and evaluation. Clearly she . . .
CHETRY: Would you guys have left her alone?
PALUMBO: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
CHETRY: Do you think there is going to be some sort of liability on the part of police, regardless of what the autopsy shows, because they did choose to leave her alone?
PALUMBO: In my opinion, I think that they're going to be held accountable for their failure to supervise her, simply reinforced by the fact that she harmed herself to the degree it caused her death. Absolutely.
CHETRY: All right. Lou Palumbo, thanks for weighing in on this and for giving us some perspective on the tape.
PALUMBO: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, we want to know what you think, by the way. Did Phoenix police, in your opinion, use excessive force when they arrested Carol Ann Gotbaum. Cast your vote right now at cnn.com/am. We asked this question a little earlier. Thirty-three people of you say yes, 67 percent say no, you don't believe that police used excessive force.
John.
ROBERTS: Japan takes the lead in Asia's space race. Your "Quick Hits" now. Japan launched its first satellite into orbit around the moon today, giving it a leg up on both China and India. China is expected to launch its own moon probe by the end of the year and India will launch an unmanned lunar mission next year.
The next time a Russian rocket heads into space, it will be carrying a member of the country's parliament. Vladimir Gruzdev will go to the International Space Station next year and his party is picking up the bill, which is about $20 million.
Elizabeth Edwards joins the party in criticizing Rush Limbaugh. We'll show you what Mrs. Edwards had to say about Limbaugh's comments about so called "phony soldiers."
And another food recall to tell you about this morning. Campbell's recalling a certain soup because it may contain bits of plastic. We'll tell you which product to check your closets for and your cupboards ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Are airports screeners being tipped off to undercover testing of their ability to find weapons? Well, a federal investigation is now looking at six U.S. airports and whether security screeners had advanced notice of covert tests to determine how well they find guns, bombs and knives. The TSA employs both airport screeners and agents who run those undercover tests.
How about this one? Security guards at a courthouse in Idaho made a woman take off her bra and she's not happy about it. Security said that the underwire set off the alarm, so Lori Plato (ph) says that she was humiliated and she was not allowed to go to the restroom so she could remove the bra in the lobby, like she asked them to. Well, when told of Plato's complaint, the U.S. marshal said she's "inflating it."
ROBERTS: A doggie wedding in Peru. Dana (ph) and Pookie (ph) got engaged and got all dressed up for the occasion to celebrate International Animal Day. The wedding was part of a series of events to promote the good treatment of animals.
CHETRY: Is that the good treatment of animals, forcing them into tuxedos.
ROBERTS: That's the good treatment of animals. Forcing them to get married.
CHETRY: Forcing them to (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: Forced marriages there in Peru.
CHETRY: Poor thing.
ROBERTS: A look at a story coming up now in our next half hour that you just can't miss.
CHETRY: Yes, we got a lot of viewer response from some things that Rob Marciano said yesterday as it related to Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and global warming. Let's take a quick listen to what Rob said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The biggest thing I have a problem with is his implication that Katrina was caused by global warming. And there's a number of studies that have been out and really the jury is still out. Global warming does not conclusively cause stronger hurricanes like we've seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, a lot of you, shall we say, weighed in on the topic and Rob's been doing a little bit of digging to show you what scientists are saying about global warming and storms.
CHETRY: That's right. So we look forward to seeing that when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a shot of Midtown Manhattan today, New York City. Hopefully the fog will lift soon. They say areas of dense fog. And you can see some. It looks a lot like Halloween out there, doesn't it, but it's . . .
ROBERTS: Or fall festival, depending on where you live.
CHETRY: Depending on what school district you're in.
Ninety-three degrees humidity though. So it is a soupy one out there. Shaping up, though, to be 86 degrees and partly sunny today. Pretty creepy, though.
ROBERTS: It's going to be a nice weekend. Looking forward to that.
CHETRY: It is going to be one. And thanks so much for being with us on this Friday, right before the weekend. October 5th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts.
In Spain today, 22 members of an outlined Basque pro independence party are under arrest this morning. They are accused of aiding the armed separatist group ETA. Spanish authorities have been cracking down on ETA and its supporters after a car bomb killed two people at the Madrid Airport back in December. But the United States and European Union consider ETA a terrorist group.
Brand new this morning, Carol Ann Gotbaum's final moments alive. Police released videotape of her Phoenix Airport arrest. There you see her surrounded by three officers as they proceed to arrest her, put her down on the ground and arrest her. This was all before the New York woman was found dead in a holding cell.
They released transcripts of a phone call with her husband, in which he says his wife is an alcoholic and suicidal and urges the police to treat we her with, quote, "kid gloves." He never got through to the arresting officers.
Earlier I spoke to the Gotbaum's attorney who said the mother of three and recovering alcoholic may have been drinking during her layover at the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MANNING, GOTBAUM FAMILY ATTORNEY: By the time she reached the gate and found out she was denied boarding, she had a very, very strong emotional reaction to that. And we believe that this just wasn't a result of her being upset because of her determination to get well. We believe she may have been drinking but we have no evidence of that at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: It is unclear what happened to her in that holding room where she died all alone in handcuffs and shackles. We'll have more of my interview with her attorney, Michael Manning, later this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
A tense standoff in New Hampshire is finally over. Convicted tax evaders, Ed and Elaine Brown, arrested last night after being holed up in their home for almost a year. They were heavily armed and threatened they would not be taken alive. Earlier this year, their power and telephone service was cut. But the couple said they had generators. The Feds say that the Browns will begin serving 63 months in federal prison.
Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Elizabeth Edwards taking shots at Rush Limbaugh. The wife of presidential candidate John Edwards says Limbaugh has no right to criticize troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: My classmates went to Vietnam. He did not. He was 4F, which is, he had a medical disability, the same medical disability that probably should have stopped him from spending a lifetime in a radio announcer's chair. But it's true, isn't it? If there's an inoperable condition that doesn't allow him to serve, presumably it should not allow him to sit for long periods of time the way he does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Those were some words from Elizabeth Edwards. Limbaugh has been criticized by Democrats for a reference to, quote, "phony soldiers" on his radio program.
He was busted in a men's bathroom sex sting but Larry King -- Senator Larry Craig says he's not going anywhere, despite losing a bid to withdraw his guilty plea. Craig says he will finish his entire term in office. Many fellow Republicans had hoped he'd be gone since he said it was his, quote, "intent to resign" September 30th. Craig could be on Capitol Hill until the end of next year, after the presidential election.
An "AMERICAN MORNING" follow-up, the student editor of the Colorado State newspaper has been admonished for using an obscenity in an editorial about President Bush. But he gets to keep his job. David McSwane put in a one-line editorial that read, "Taser this, F Bush," using the whole "F" word. McSwane told us the paper was just trying to spark dialogue on campus after the incident. Colorado State's Communication Board said McSwane violated the paper's code of ethics barring profane or vulgar words in opinion writing.
A consumer alert this morning. Campbell's Soup recalling more than 72,000 cans of soup because they might contain pieces of hard plastic. Check your cupboards for 18.8-ounce cans of Chunky Baked Potato with Cheddar and Bacon Bits. The recalled cans have the code "JUL08 2009 07097" somewhere on them. The main concern is choking. The soups were shipped to 24 states and so far three people have reported minor mouth injuries.
John?
ROBERTS: It's just turning 34 minutes after the hour. After years of denials, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones now says she did take performance-enhancing drugs. The "Washington Post" obtained a letter from Jones admitting that she used a steroid called The Clear, otherwise known as THG, beginning in 1999. She will be in court today to plead guilty to two counts of lying to federal agents about her drug use.
Sports and entertainment attorney Ryan Smith joins us this morning.
Ryan, does this surprise you at all?
RYAN SMITH, SPORT & ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY: Not at all.
ROBERTS: You're shocked?
SMITH: No, I'm not shocked. It is a little crazy because she did come out first by saying I didn't do anything. She fought this, year after year after year, took a lie detector test supposedly. So it just goes to show you there's very little you can believe here.
ROBERTS: She went as far as to call the U.S. anti-doping agency a quote, a "kangaroo court." We have a little bit of her statement June 16th, 2rs thou 4 about that. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARION JONES, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs and that I have accomplished what I have accomplished because of my God-given abilities and hard work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Not so much. Why do you think she's coming clean now?
SMITH: I think now is the best time. She got Trevor Graham's trial coming up. This plea agreement is going to come out today, we'll find out about that. And the problem here is I have a suspicion she might have leaked this herself or someone in her camp leaked this. Who sends a letter to family and friends talking about this stuff now, it's a good way to get up front this is what happened. I'm sorry. This idea of I didn't do anything wrong completely.
ROBERTS: Softening up the ground before you walk on it. What are the potential repercussions in terms of jail time and what about the three golds and the two bronzes she won at Sydney in 2000? SMITH: The plea agreement is one thing. Both of the charges carry a five-year possible maximum in prison. Looks like it will be six months, maybe a little less. The key here is in that plea agreement she'll plead guilty to these things. What was in the letter is not what you'll see in the plea deal. You'll see a lot of, I did this, I did that.
In terms of the medals this is where it gets interesting. The IOC can only challenge a decision three years after it happens. They're saying we can keep it going because there's been no real decision around her Olympic gold medal
ROBERTS: She never failed a test either.
SMITH: No she didn't fail a test, but what can you believe with the all the masking agents that come out these days.
ROBERTS: This is the famous THG created by Balco Labs, the so- called undetectable super steroid. Every body who was on it said they were taking flaxseed. Giambi said the same thing. Barry Bonds said he was taking flaxseed. He hasn't admitted to taking THG. The question is, is anybody clean?
SMITH: That's the problem here. And that's the problem the American public is facing. No one knows what the deal is now. Marion Jones is an interesting case because she has not changed her appearance. There's a misconception with steroids that if your appearance doesn't change you haven't taken them. That's not true. Some make you bigger, some don't.
People have been saying Barry Bonds has been taking steroids because he appears bigger. That's not necessarily the case either. So there's a lot of complaints here.
ROBERTS: His head diminished, to grow. She certainly didn't repeat her success in Sydney.
SMITH: They thought she was clean in 2006 when she won the U.S. Championships but there's doubt on that, too.
ROBERTS: Ryan Smith, good to see you again.
SMITH: Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Thanks for coming in.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Thanks a lot, John.
President Bush, not Senator, topping your "Quick Hits." Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson going after the White House. He says he's not interested in getting the Senate seat vacated by retiring New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici. Richardson is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. It has been rumored he could be a possible candidate to seek the seat when Domenici retires. If he doesn't win his party's nomination, he will go back to being governor of New Mexico.
And still ahead, a comment yesterday by our own Rob Marciano creating a storm of e-mails. We'll be talking to Rob about the controversy over global warming's impact on storms.
Also we've heard of water hazards on golf courses before, but how about this, a little ridiculous. We'll show you the kind of havoc the ocean is wreaking on one golf course, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. "Quick Hits" at 41 minutes after the hour. Some people being allowed back in their homes after a landslide in La Jolla, California just north of San Diego. It left a 50-foot wide and destroyed two houses, 111 homes have been evacuated. So far, police say, 75 residents have come back. Nine homes have been red tagged and remain off limits.
South Africa's president is ordering a safety review of all of the country's mines after crews narrowly avoided an underground disaster. 3,200 gold miners were trapped a mile underground after an accident on Wednesday. More than 24 hours later, all of them came out alive.
A giant panda has an awful lot of growing to do. A vet at the San Diego Zoo checked the nine-week old cub's vision. Here's a picture of that. She's the third born at the zoo. Starting today zoo guests with submit their name ideas for the cub.
Any ideas, Kiran?
CHETRY: How cute. I've got to think a little bit about it.
How about this? Keeping your ball out of the water. It's part of the difficulty when playing golf. Well, it's even more difficult at the Wild Dunes Course in South Carolina, where the ocean is swallowing up the 18th hole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look at old historical pictures and there was so much beach and dunes that I don't think anybody expected it could get to this point.
Obviously, Mother Nature is in control and we do the best we can to protect what we have and move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The erosion has been going on for years but a lot worse this year and this week actually due to the high winds as well as the full moon. There you go. Don't think you'll shoot your best game on that course.
We were talking yesterday about this British judge who is considering a ban on showing Al Gore's global warming movie in schools, saying that maybe it should come with a disclaimer.
Our Rob Marciano is up next and he responded to that. And it sparked a little bit of debate and a lot of e-mails to our show. First we'll show you a little bit of what rob said yesterday.
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ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The biggest thing I have the problem with is this implication that Katrina was caused by global warming. The jury is still out. And really the jury is still out. Global warming does not conclusively cause stronger hurricanes like we've seen.
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CHETRY: So a lot of you responded to us and wrote in to us and one of you said you thought Rob maybe misinterpreted data in the film.
You did some digging into it, talked to more experts, because it still some things are inconclusive and some things aren't, so clarify for us.
MARCIANO: Yes. It's been a hotly-debated topic for the past couple of years, certainly since '04. We looked into the latest research about global warming being responsible for stronger hurricanes like Katrina. Here's what the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" said about it.
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AL GORE: And then what happened? Before it hit New Orleans, it went over warmer waters. As the water temperature increases, the wind velocity increases, and the moisture content increases.
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MARCIANO: But it's not that simple. I called some hurricane experts to see what they thought. First up is the science and operations officer of the National Hurricane Center, a big time researcher named Chris Lancy.
Here's what he told. He said, "The best computer models suggest global warming will cause changes in hurricanes. We should see slightly stronger hurricanes, 5 percent stronger 100 years from now. But the concern that we're seeing drastic increase today due to global warming I think is wrong."
There are a number of reasons why he thinks that, not the least of which is the global data is not as reliable as what we have around the Atlantic. We're the only country that routinely flies into hurricanes. And that's the only way to truly see how strong a storm is. Atlantic hurricanes count for less than 15 percent of all global storms.
On the other side of the debate is the regional director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Greg Holling (ph). His also a big-timer. He told me, "It's a pity to use a lack of good data as a crutch instead of looking at the total evidence as a whole. The evidence we have about Atlantic hurricanes is that there is a contribution from global warming."
So it's complicated. There's other factors involved. There's humidity, there's wind, pressure fields, dust in the air, the list goes on. There's much more that goes into making a hurricane, Kiran, than just warm water.
CHETRY: What do you think the movie did get right, some of the undisputable things in it?
MARCIANO: He does talk about tornadoes, implying there's an increase in tornadoes from global warming. That's not necessary true. What is an inconvenient truth is the globe is getting warmer and humans are the likely cause of it. So Al gore's message we should lower emissions from green house gas is a good message.
CHETRY: How about this year's hurricane season, a little bit less than we thought?
MARCIANO: We are pretty much on track, actually a little big above average. We had a couple of suspect storms. You know, we had two big category 5 storms.
But the thing about last year's hurricane season, were slightly below average and that was because we had el Nino, a lot of wind shear. A study that says an increase in wind shear will come as the globe gets warmer, which may decrease hurricanes, so the debate continues and I find it fascinating.
CHETRY: I hope that people were able to get more out of that. Thank you for clearing some of that up.
MARCIANO: Sure, thanks for your e-mails.
Chetry: Just don't say anything for a couple more days. We'll see how things go.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Yeah, you blew up one Blackberry.
The new monument to those left from those behind, but not forgotten tops our "Quick Hits". The African Burial Ground monument is dedicated today in New York City. It's the final resting place of thousands of former slaves and free slaves buried in the 19th century. Their remains uncovered 16 years ago when workers were excavating for a new building in Lower Manhattan.
What would you do if you found a bag stuffed with a small fortune and no one saw you pick it up? Would you have done what she did? Meet the most honest woman in the universe, next on "AMERICAN MORNING." And a new use for Viagra? Researchers gave hamsters the drugs but not for the reasons you might think. The amazing effect it had on them, that's on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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CHETRY: A student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is making a federal case out of a bad grade. Brian Marques (ph) filed a federal lawsuit after a graduate teaching assistance graded one of his classes on a curve, turning A-minus into a C. Last week that suit was dismissed. Now he's considering an appeal. He's 51 years old, works as a paralegal and says the grade makes him less attractive to a law school.
ROBERTS: Police just released surveillance video of Carol Ann Gotbaum's arrest at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.
CHETRY: In the video you see a Transportation Security Administration officer approaching Gotbaum and that's followed by police officers. There you see them surround her. And while speaking with them, Gotbaum was trying to wave her arms, backing away from the officers who reach her and you see her dropping to the ground.
ROBERTS: As officers were on the ground with Gotbaum, she continued to scream profanities, in fact, all the way back to the holding cell. So we want to know what you think. Did Phoenix police use excessive force when they arrested Carol Ann Gotbaum? Cast your vote at cnn.com/am.
CHETRY: Right now, we have 44 percent saying they believe, yes, excessive force was used, 56 percent said no.
ROBERTS: Well, she found a small fortune just sitting on the side of the road. Not a soul saw her pick it up. And one Florida woman did what any of you would do out there, right? She gave it back. 53-year-old Debbie Cole is a garbage worker who checks in trucks for Pinellas County utilities. She noticed the bag after one armored car drove away. She said she thought it was a turtle. When she got closer she found out it was a sack filled with $65,000 in 50s and 100s.
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DEBBIE COLE, MOST HONEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD: Not one second thought, not one. In fact, my first thought was really for the Loomis guy because I figured he's going to be in big trouble.
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ROBERTS: The supervisor then called police. It's not clear how the cash fell off the back of the truck.
CHETRY: She should get something. Is she going to get anything for being so nice?
ROBERTS: She'll get to keep her job maybe. I don't know. CHETRY: Apparently, legal issues, she's not allowed to get anything, maybe a trip to Disney World, something fun.
They gave hamsters Viagra, now they've won a Nobel Prize. How about that? Researchers who discovered hamsters felt less jet lag were dishonored with the IG Nobel awards given for improbable research. The U.S. Air Force won one of these for their plans to make the so-called gay bomb that would make enemy soldiers want to make love, not war. No one from the Air Force showed up at the ceremony at Harvard to accept.
ROBERTS: Too much time on their hands.
New numbers on under-aged smoking top you "Quick Hits" now. The number of stores caught selling tobacco last year hit an all-time low. That's the good news. The bad news is that one in ten stores still failed surprise inspections. The inspections are mandated by a 1992 law that states that perform poorly may face losing federal grants.
News this morning about the effort to protect our ports. Beginning next week, port workers in Wilmington, Delaware, will required to apply for an identification card. Some 5,000 workers are affected there. It's the first step to get one million port workers on the I.D. system by next year.
53 minutes now after the hour. Record companies winning a key music sharing trial. Is the fight over? Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business. That's ahead, on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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CHETRY: 56 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
I remember, was it a couple years back, where the Feds were warning, hey, if you guys don't stop this illegal downloading of music there are going to be consequences and now we're seeing it.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: We've seen it. I have had more e-mails and discussion around this particular topic. We were talking about this woman in Minnesota, Jamie Thomas, 30-year-old single mother, who has been sued by six music companies and has been found by a jury to have to pay $220,000. That's $9,240 for each of 24 songs that they have decided to challenge her on.
The music companies say that she downloaded and shared more than 1,700 songs without permission and put them on Kazaa, a music sharing site, and distributed them. She denies she did this. Here's what she had to say about it.
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JAMIE THOMAS: I didn't do this. I did not illegally download music. I did not illegally share music with anybody over any peer-to- peer network and I wasn't going to allow the RIAA or anyone else to bully me into paying them for something I didn't do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Apparently, the jury didn't share that view, and did award her the $220,000. This is the first time is a music industry case against an individual downloader has actually gone to trial. There have been thousands of settlements. People settle for usually a few thousand dollars.
Ironically, the machine, the computer they said she used to do this is since gone. They used some interesting methods about how the music industry proved to the jury that she did download and share these cases and what the law actually says. So what you could be doing that's -- I don't mean you, specifically, John -- but what one might be doing that could get them into trouble.
CHETRY: Is it worth their time to go after each individual as opposed to the site like Kazaa that helps facilitate it?
VELSHI: Right. Right. But when you get a ruling like $220,000, that's going to make every person who downloads music think is this legal? Did I do something wrong burning a copy of this CD and giving it to my buddy?
ROBERTS: The days of Napster and Kazaa really was the Wild West in terms of downloading.
VELSHI: It was, but things have changed. Downloads are a big part of the recording industry's profits and that's why they want to preserve this. I saw one report that says within a few years, it will be almost a quarter of the music industry's profits.
ROBERTS: That's only going to grow year to year.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. We'll see you soon.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Here's a look at a story coming up you can't miss. It used to be, heartburn, it was maybe something your grandpa had. Pop in some Tums after a big meal. But now it looks like more and more children are suffering with it?
ROBERTS: What's behind it? Why are these kids getting heartburn? And what can science do it? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking into that. That will be coming up.
The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
Desperate struggle.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two officers grabbed both arms. She just goes to the ground. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The final moments in the Phoenix airport before a mother of three dies in custody. This morning, news about her family's frantic attempts to reach police.
Rewriting history.
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JONES: I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
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ROBERTS: After years of denying it, Marion Jones comes clean about steroids.
Plus, rescue 911.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I grabbed him and he was lifeless, the first thing, I lost my dog.
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ROBERTS: CPR on a German shepherd?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
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ROBERTS: Meet the canine cop and his four-elected partner, on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
We'll tell you how all that happened. It's Friday, October the 5th. I'm John Roberts.
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