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American Morning
Extreme Weather; Superbug In Schools; Bhutto's Back; recession Worries; Stormy Celebration
Aired October 18, 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: Extreme weather. Storms rip the Plains. High winds, heavy rain and dozens of people trapped under a tent for Oktoberfest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just came straight down on top of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Spreading germs.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm concerned that I wasn't notified as a parent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Schools in at least seven states now reporting cases of a drug resistant bacteria.
Plus, birth control for 11-year-olds. The middle school that's stocking up on the pill, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Controversial move by that school. We're going to be talking more about it throughout the morning.
And welcome. It's Thursday, October 18th. My mom's birthday, by the way. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Happy birthday to you.
Also, Ed Gohane's (ph) birthday.
CHETRY: It is? OK. One of our producers.
ROBERTS: You're saying, who's Ed Gohane? One of our producers here on AMERICAN MORNING.
We start the hour with extreme weather in the Midwest today. A possible tornado moved through Tulsa last night. Emergency crews say more than two dozen people were hurt when two tents collapsed at the city's annual Oktoberfest. Police say one woman is in critical condition with a head injury. A local reporter suffered a concussion after a tent poll hit him in the head. We're going to check in with the organizer of that Oktoberfest in just a few minutes, get more of what happened there on the ground.
More destruction just north of Tulsa as well. A store and more than two dozen mobile homes heavily damaged. Eighteen thousand homes lost power in that storm.
And at least two tornadoes touched down last night in southwest Missouri. Witnesses report seeing several funnel clouds in the sky. Six homes were damaged in Lawrence County. Dozens of power lines and trees knocked down as well. No reports, thankfully though, of any injuries there.
And in south central Kansas, strong winds and hail knocked down several power lines around Wichita. Heavy rain also caused flooding in the streets. Two businesses and several homes were damaged. All that bad weather now moving eastward, a little bit northward as well. Rob Marciano at the CNN weather desk in Atlanta tracking the extreme weather.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John.
We had 12 reports of tornadoes yesterday and those reports are still coming in. Some of those reports I'm thinking are from the same cell. Here we go. We showed you pictures of these out of Lawrence County in Missouri. This is a Google Earth shot which shows you the track of this particular -- what is likely a super cell thunderstorm that dropped, well, in this case, eight reports of tornadoes. Likely the same storm. Across just north of Verona.
We'll switch sources now and show you another map. Going to show you the entire state of Missouri. So here's the track of those storms. We also just getting in now a report of two fatalities in Monroe County, which is up in here. In the northeastern parts of Missouri. So Missouri hit hard last night.
Now everything is moving off to the east. We did have a tornado warning earlier, northeastern Illinois. That has since been allowed to expire.
These polygons are seeing the oranges. Those are severe thunderstorm warnings. A lot of reports of straight-line winds, 50, 60, 70 miles an hour winds.
That certainly is enough to do damage. And you see the line of storms, which way they're heading. Indianapolis, are you under the gun.
This is all part of a large system that we've been talking about now for days and it's all swirling around an area of low pressure right in through here and moving in this direction. And all those red boxes you see, those are tornado watch boxes that continue to expire and then be reissued down a pipe as this storm plugs of to the east. Right now we have three tornado watches that are in effect and they're getting closer to Chicago. Some of the suburbs south of Chicago. We'll be seeing some rough weather as we go on through time and it's sure to be another busy day.
John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks very much. We'll keep checking back with you this morning.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a potentially deadly superbug is popping up now in schools all over the country. There's a look at it in the microscope, MRSA, as it's called. Deaths range from a four-year-old preschooler in New Hampshire to a 17-year-old former high school football player in Virginia. Now his school, as well as 21 others in Bedford County, will be open today, but that's only after students demand a thorough cleanup. Also some new cases we're announced in at least six other states. CNN's Brianna Keilar is live today in that county where that school is. Bedford county, Virginia.
Good morning, Brianna.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
And here in a couple of hours, students are going to start returning here to Stanton River High School. Meanwhile, all across the U.S., schools are watching and learning from what happened here this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR, (voice over): Health officials hope it won't be a recurring sight, cleaning crews at schools disinfecting locker rooms, desks and more, all to prevent a deadly infection from spreading.
In Virginia, the cleanup followed a 17-year-old student's death, after he was hospitalized with an antibiotic resistant staph infection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been dealing with MERCA (ph) for the better part of the past month and we have had cases appear steadily since then.
KEILAR: It's called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA. And it's not just in Virginia. Health officials in Connecticut are on guard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this point it is one confirmed case and one other possible cases.
KEILAR: Cases are being reported in Ohio, Michigan and other states. Experts estimate about 90,000 people get the infection each year. Most infections occur in hospitals, but often they spread in schools among members much the same gym class or sports teams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But there are some serious strains of staph out there. Some of them are very drug resistant.
KEILAR: Maryland officials confirmed a case in Bethesda yesterday. New Hampshire officials blame the infection for the death of a four-year-old girl last week. And last March in Texas, a 14- year-old boy with MRSA dies from pneumonia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: A couple of ways that students can cut their risk of contracting MRSA, don't share things like towels or deodorant or soap. Things that come into direct contact with the skin. And also simply washing those hands, Kiran. Hand washing a big thing here.
CHETRY: Is there a plan in place in some of these districts to try to make sure that they cut their risk as well?
KEILAR: Well, for instance, in this district, they're talking about having regular cleanings, either monthly or quarterly. But they're emphasizing with kids, the biggest things they can do is wash their hands. So a lot of this going on the kids as well.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar live for us in Bedford County, Virginia, this morning. Thanks you.
John.
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour. Also new this morning, the showdown over children's health care moves to the House floor today. It appears that Democrats will not have enough votes to override a potential veto. Democrats proposed a $35 billion over five year expansion of the state run Children's Health Insurance Program, SCHIP as it's known, but President Bush vetoed that. He prefers a $5 billion increase over the same time period. The program currently covers $6 million children whose parents earn to much money to qualify for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance.
CNN has learned that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is resigning. He has not yet said when he will leave Congress, but sources say it will be soon. Hastert has just over a year left in his term. He was the longest serving Republican speaker until Republicans lost the majority in Congress in November of last year.
To Pakistan now. And a new day in politics there. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto just returned to the country about an hour ago after eight years in exile. In 1999, Bhutto fled Pakistan amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Her return to Pakistan comes at a time when the political environment there is extremely uncertain. President Pervez Musharraf agreed to drop charges against her in a bid to remain in power. CNN's Dan Rivers is live in Karachi this morning.
Dan, how will this impact her political comeback?
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this, they hope, will be the beginning of the third comeback she has made to Pakistan. She's already been prime minister twice. Dismissed both times amid allegations of corruption. Now she's come back again, as you say, after having struck some sort of power sharing deal with President Musharraf, who himself has only just become re-elected for another five-year term amid great controversy.
We understand at the moment she is on Pakistani soil. She's at the airport, surrounded by tens of thousands of party loyalists cramming the streets. We've been out there today. You can barley move in Karachi. In some places there are bus loads of supporters waving flags and singing and dancing. Delighted to see her back.
Her party claims there could be a million people on the streets. So far she hasn't even got outside the terminal yet. She's meeting with her party strategists before going on to the mausoleum to the founder of modern day Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, where she will address a huge crowd. A crowd which is delighted to see her back after eight years in exile.
John.
ROBERTS: Dan, what are the chances that she could become prime minister again?
RIVERS: Well, there is a rule in place that says you can't be prime minister three times, and she's already done it twice. So she would have to get that rule overturned or removed. It was introduced by General Musharraf when -- after he staged a coup back in '99. And everyone's saying from her side that it was a illegalist (ph) rule. That it's not constitutional. That they're challenging it in the courts. So it's possible. We don't know yet, but it is possible. But after the January election, she may become prime minister for a third time.
John.
ROBERTS: You know, if you were a betting person, you might actually put money on that.
Dan Rivers for us this morning in Karachi.
Dan, thanks very much.
Kiran.
CHETRY: There are some new concerns about failure in the homeland security system. Word today that a man with highly contagious drug-resistant tuberculosis has been flying in and out of the U.S. from Mexico. CNN has learned that Armodo Esidro Amaya Amendaraz (ph), a Mexican businessman, is now being treated in Mexico, but he crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. some 76 times and also made several flights within the U.S. in the past year. Now he has the same form of T.B. as Andrew Speaker. You may remember him. He was the Atlanta lawyer who caused an international uproar for exposing fellow passengers on flights to and from Europe. A controversial decision to provide birth control to kids as young as 11 years old passes in a Portland, Maine, school district. Students at King Middle School will now be able to get birth control pills, patches, even the morning after pill at their school health center. The parents do have to give initial written permission for their kids to be treated there, but under state law the treatments are confidential and students can decide for themselves whether or not they tell their parents about the services they're getting there. The plan understandably getting mixed reaction. From parents.
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DIANNE MILLER, PARENT: The ramifications of what you are considering is mind boggling to be. I just can't believe we would be this irresponsible.
CAROL SCHILLER, PARENT: We're not talking about a stamped of kids coming in asking for birth control. We're looking at a segment of the population that for whatever reason are being abandoned by adults in their lives.
PETER DOYLE, PARENT: You all better consider that down the line, because you all are going to be responsible for that. The devastating effects on young women when this goes through.
RICHARD VEILLEUX, PARENT: But for those kids who are not getting that guidance, I think it's important for all of us to make sure that those kids have access to the resources they need.
RICHARD GILETTE, PARENT: I would say we're not educating our kids. We're actually avoiding our responsibilities. And that's sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: As we said, a lot of mixed reaction. The district, by the way, no stranger to past controversies involving contraception in young students. They've been handing out condoms at this school since 2002.
So we want to know what you think. Should schools be allowed to hand out birth control without parents knowing whether or not their children are getting those treatments? Cnn.com/am is where you go to cast your votes. We're going to have the first results coming up in the next half hour.
John.
ROBERTS: Eleven minutes now after the hour.
Americans increasingly pessimistic about the outlook of the economy. Ali Velshi at our business update desk this morning with the results of our latest CNN poll.
Good morning to you, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. This is the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll between October 12th and 14th. Get this, 46 percent of Americans think that the economy is in a recession. Forty-six percent. Nearly half of al Americans think that we're in a recession.
Break it down by race. Take a look at how it looks. Forty-two percent of whites think we're in a recession. Sixty-nine percent of blacks think we are in a recession.
Now, John, this is interesting because by official standard, we're not in a recession. A recession is a sustained decline in economic growth. We haven't seen any decline in economic growth. We've seen some decline. We've not seen sustained decline.
But the bottom line is, to most Americans, a recession is what it feels like to you. Whether it comes to your expenses, what you're earning, how secure you are about your job and the value of your house. Things like that.
And if you do think you're in a recession, what do you do? You pull back from spending. We've already started to see than happening.
The Federal Reserve yesterday came out with its beige book which is an anecdotal look of how things are going across the country. And they say what we already know, that consumer spending started to slow down in September and October. Retail sales, while they are up a little bit, are not up as fast as they've been in the past.
And guess what? You need retail sales to accelerate in the last three months of the year because this is the big selling season. The bright cloud there is that purchases of electronics and luxury goods are strong, but that's the only silver lining on that cloud.
John.
ROBERTS: And so this idea of a recession, more state of mind than the state of the economy?
VELSHI: Could be. We're going to be looking into that a lot in the next few days because while people think there is a recession, we had better give them some answers about why there is or isn't.
ROBERTS: All right, Ali, we'll see you soon. Thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a black Brussels Griffon terror mix named Iggy causing a nationwide sir. You may remember this. We heard Ellen tearfully talking about it a couple of days ago. She and her partner, Portia de Rossi, adopted this little dog, Iggy, from an L.A. shelter. Well, Ellen said that even though she went through a lot of hoops trying to train the dog to get along with her cats, it didn't and so she gave him away to her hair dresser who has two young daughters. Well the shelter says that violates the adoption agreement. So they took the dog back. Well, on Tuesday, Ellen tearfully talked about the situation on her show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: I was trying to do a good thing. And because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their homes and took it away from those kids. And I feel totally responsible for it. And I'm so sorry. And I'm begging them to give that dog back to that family.
MIKE FLEEMAN, PEOPLE.COM: The adoption people went to the hair dresser's house to get the dog. Police were eventually called. It was a big fiasco. This agency that does so much good putting dogs in good homes is getting death threats because they've taken on Ellen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Yes, in fact, the owner of that animal rescue organization says she's been flooded with threatening e-mails and phone calls. She says the calls got so bad that she had to close her business and stay home yesterday after Ellen's tearful televised plea. The latest word, though, is that Ellen appears to be out of luck because the woman who owns that shelter says that she already adopted Iggy out to another family.
So it looks like it's all over for Ellen being able to get the dog back to her hair dresser.
ROBERTS: Yes, you don't know where to come down on this story. I mean you can understand it from both sides.
CHETRY: Yes. And some of the entertainment shows, we obtained a contract that clearly shows that you can't give the dog to a third party. But, you know, and Ellen, obviously, did not do it on purpose. I mean she was bawling about it and felt really terrible. But maybe she can get them another dog, the family.
ROBERTS: That might solve the problem.
CHETRY: All right. Well, a call to keep the National Guards in New Orleans. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley wants Guard troops to stay past their withdrawal date, that date is January 14th, to try to keep crime in check. Riley wants troops to stay until more officers graduate from the police academy.
There's also new security measures for public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, including a direct video link to the local police department. That system cost $500,000 and it gives police a live look inside of school buildings. Officials say that Little Rock is the only school system in the state to be tied directly to police.
Well, high winds and a possible tornado rip through a town's Oktoberfest. Several people were injured. One of them quite seriously. We're going to talk with the festival organizer after the break. Also, the self-professed favorite son of South Carolina wants to run for president. New signs that Stephen Colbert just might be serious. Does he have a shot? We're going to talk about it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, some of the shots you've got to see this morning.
You know he called President Bush El Diablo. Well, now one billboard owner in Alabama is giving it back to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He put up this sign. If you can see it, it says, don't buy gas from this ass, with a picture of Hugo Chavez. I'm assuming I'm allowed to say that because they have it in the script. Anyway, it's causing a little rubber necking and a stir mostly over the use of, you know, the three letter word I just said.
Presidential escort for Dalai Lama on Capitol Hill yesterday. He received the highest civilian honor that Congress can hand out. It's called the Congressional Gold Medal. President Bush praised the Tibetan spiritual leader as a man of faith, sincerity and peace. China was against the whole ceremony. President Bush has urged China to meet with the Tibetan leader.
And here are some other pictures of winds helping turn a grass fire into a raging monster with smoke seen everywhere. This is from a fire chief in New Mexico who sent this in to us. Crews battled this 20,000 acre inferno and 35-mile-per-hour wind guts gave firefighter has quite a challenge there trying to put this one out. They say that flames jumped close to U.S. 70, closing a major part of that. It's a big artery across the southern United States. That roadway closed for three hours. No homes reported damaged, though some were in danger.
John.
ROBERTS: It was supposed to be a fun Oktoberfest celebration, but dozens of people were injured last night after strong storms roared through the festival. Police say powerful winds picked up two tents and dumped them on top of people who ran under them looking for cover from the nasty weather. Joining us now from the scene in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is Oktoberfest organizer Michael Sanders.
Michael, walk me through what happened last night. You were outside the tent there getting a bite to eat. You were heading back toward the tent. What happened?
MICHAEL SANDERS, OKTOBERFEST ORGANIZER: As I was just getting ready to have my dinner last night, it started raining. It was a very light rain. So I ran for cover, as other people did into the beer garden. As soon as I got in there, within seconds, without warning, there was a huge gust of wind, possibly a micro burst, not sure, and the tent started collapsing. And it was just one of those chaotic scenes here at Oktoberfest that we've never seen before.
We've been able to put our resources together. We are going to continue with Oktoberfest. This is an annual German event here in Tulsa. So we have this weekend in order to get our festival up and running, we have three groups from Germany. So we want to continue our tradition of having a German festival here in Tulsa.
ROBERTS: I'm sure do you. Michael, was there any warning that this was coming? And just how bad did the weather get? You say it was a micro burst. Do you know if it progressed all the way to a tornado?
SANDERS: That I don't know. We would have to ask the professionals. We had no warning for this micro burst. This was something that it happened incredibly quick. And as quick as it happened, it disappeared, and the results were two tents that were down.
ROBERTS: Yes. And describe the scene for me there as the tents came off. Because a couple of people were injured. One of them is in critical condition. A woman with a head injury. A local television reporter got a concussion when he was hit by a tent pole.
SANDERS: That's right, there were. As you can imagine, we have this huge 180 by 100 tent with the tent poles. And when the wind, it got in excess of 60 miles an hour, the tent poles and the tent started just jostling around. People were beginning to run out of the tent and then people here in Tulsa are just incredibly gracious. People started helping people and we got the emergency personnel here and we were able to get those people taken care of quickly.
ROBERTS: Wow. Well, just an amazing scene there last night. Michael Sanders, who's the Oktoberfest organizer there in Tulsa, thanks for being with us. Good luck in getting back up and running because I know a lot of people want to participate.
SANDERS: Thank you very much. We'll be up and running by 5:00.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a big oops for military recruiters topping your "Quick Hits" now. The Army, Navy, and Air Force unknowingly advertised for new recruits on a website for gay professionals. When "USA Today" informed recruiters just what the Glee website was, they said it stands for gay, lesbian and everyone else, recruiters order the ads to be taken down.
ROBERTS: He's South Carolina's favorite son and now he wants to be on the ballot. But which party is Stephen Colbert running with? That answer coming up for you.
Plus, Oprah has been publicly struggling with her weight loss for years. Now she's revealing a new detail about her health and she says it has declared war on the rest of her body. That story when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Presidential candidate Stephen Colbert wants to run as a Democrat and a Republican in his home state. And he can do it, but it will cost him. The fee to be considered for the Democratic primary, $2,500. For the Republican primary, $35,000. Colbert announced his intentions a couple of nights ago on his "Comedy Central" show. "The New York Times" is reporting that Colbert has people in the state already working to get him on the ballot.
CHETRY: I still can't tell, though. That's a joke or it's not a joke?
ROBERTS: The whole thing's a joke. Of course it's a joke.
CHETRY: On our cnn.com, on our Quick Vote, 15,000 different people weighed in about, if he actually runs, does he still need to give equal time to other presidential candidates.
ROBERTS: So that would be a half hour every night, right?
CHETRY: But is he really running?
ROBERTS: I think it's all a joke.
CHETRY: Me too.
All right. Well Oprah Winfrey is opening up about her recent weight gain. In the latest issue of O Magazine, Oprah says that it was a thyroid problem. Hypothyroidism that caused her to gain 20 pounds, made her want to sleep all the time. It's a condition where your thyroid isn't making enough of the hormone. It causes your metabolism to slow down.
ROBERTS: Well, here's a look now at a story coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss. A Dallas man who says his home has been broken into five times this month. He's also got a business as part of his home. He's a locksmith there. He's got a home security system that includes three cameras that feed video to 42-inch screens in his living room and bedroom.
CHETRY: Yes, but it was something else that alerted him to a burglar who was coming in there. An armed gunman. He says he would have been murdered if it weren't for a vital tip-off. What was it? We're going to tell you that story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. Thanks very much for joining us on this Thursday, the 18th of October. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. New this morning, The Pentagon expected to alert eight National Guard brigades to get ready to go to war. They could be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, beginning late next summer, as part of a troop rotation with active duty forces. Also together, the announcement could include 20,000 troops from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Illinois as well as Hawaii.
Iraq is said to be demanding that Blackwater, the security contractors there, get out even before the six-month deadline they originally set. And now some officials in the State Department are saying Blackwater may be out by May. That's when their contract to guard U.S. Diplomats in Iraq expires.
President Bush is warning that if Iran possessed a nuclear weapon, a third world war would be imminent. He made those remarks during a White House news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I told people that if you are interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them to have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously and will continue to work with all nations about the seriousness of this threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The U.S. has said it is pursuing a diplomatic approach to Iran, but has refused to rule out military action to stop that country's nuclear program.
A federal advisory panel wants to shut down a private school in Virginia. The panel says the Islamic Saudi Academy should be closed until the U.S. government can prove that the school is not supporting radical Islam. The school, which is founded by the Saudi government, says that the school does not teach religion and has both Christian and Jewish teachers.
ROBERTS: And if the A Panel meets today, they'll talk about the potential dangers of giving cough syrup to your kids. The Food and Drug Administrations wants to know if a cough and cold medicine recall should be expanded to include all children under the age of six. Drug makers pulled medication designed for children under two last week. Coming up we're going to meet a family whose four-month-old baby died from over-the-counter cold medication. The boy's grandmother has become a passionate advocate for other families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH MEHLBERG, GRANDMOTHER: This product is a danger to our children and we're willfully spooning this into our infant's mouths and we're killing them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Elizabeth Cohen has got the story for us, coming up in our next hour.
What is more important, endangered species or people? That's the argument raging in Georgia as Atlanta begins to run out of drinking water. The city has sued the Army Corps of Engineers to stop sending billions of gallons a day from Lake Lanier downstream to protect an endangered species of mussel in Florida. The lake is Atlanta's prime source of water and will run dry about January if there isn't significant rain. The (INAUDIBLE) talks with wildlife officials about cutting back the amount of water that it sends southward.
33 minutes after the hour. Could there be more tornadoes today after an active night in the Midwest. Rob Marciano tracking it from the CNN weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, John, not every day the Capitol Hill hearing can bring members of Congress to tears. But a young woman named Alicia testified about her abduction by an online predator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA KOZAKIEWICZ, VICTIM OF ABDUCTION: I walked out the front door and found that the Bogie Man is real and he lives on the web. I know, I met him on the evening of January 1, 2002. He came for a 13- year-old girl, for a sex slave. He came for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Alicia was held in a basement and tortured for four days. Her abductor has been sentenced to life in prison. Alicia was there lobbying Congress for more resources to fight online predators. The FBI estimates that there may be as many as 50,000 predators looking for children on the internet.
An AMERICAN MORNING follow up now. Louis Farrakhan under fire today after the nation of Islam leader apparently threatened retaliation against police and the Department of Justice for recent shootings and other "injustices". He was speaking at the 12th anniversary of the Million Man March in Atlanta. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS FARRAKHAN, NATION OF ISLAM LEADER: Do you want me? As the voice of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and really a voice of God, to ask our people to retaliate in matters of the flame. A life for a life? Is that what you are driving us too?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And you can see the standing room only crowd jumping to their feet after those comments. While they are catching some fire online, on the radio and CNN contributor Roland Martin joins us now from Chicago to weigh in on this a little bit more. You know, what kind of message does it seem to send when you have Louis Farrakhan saying what we just heard him say about a life for a life. Referring to what he says are injustices when it comes to police treatment of African-Americans.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Kiran, it's called rhetoric. What you are going to find is, you're going to find Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan come back and say that they don't get involved in violence, that they are nonviolent. So, that's what you have there. Look, I have attended many speeches by Mr. Farrakhan, other folks in the nation of Islam and so you have folks who played to the crowd. What you heard is he said are you asking me, you know, to call for this? And so I take it with a grain of salt, and, again, I understand the difference between folks who use rhetoric to get their particular audience excited about something, versus an actual call to arms. That is a huge difference and trust me...
CHETRY: Yes but Roland, time and time again he shows disdain, distrust and pretty much dislike, and he puts all white people -- lumps white people together in this category for scorn and I just don't see how is that helpful to a national dialogue of a country made up of so many different races and ethnicities?
MARTIN: But again, but you're also not realizing the history of the nation of Islam. And so the nation of Islam has long, in terms of spoken out or fought against this whole issue of white oppression. That is what the appeal of the nation of Islam is. And when you go back and listen to some of the recordings, and speeches of Elijah Muhammad, (INAUDIBLE) Malcolm X prior to his conversion when he went to Mecca, and say you're not going to find anything that is different. So it is not like, it is a surprise when you actually hear the kind of rhetoric.
CHETRY: One of Farrakhan's focuses was crime. He talks about how it's easier to convict African-Americans. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FARRAKHAN: Now you're making it easy to convict black people with crime. To rob them of whatever guarantee. You are trickingly, deceitfully, demonically that what you gave us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What he is saying runs in complete contrast to let's say, Bill Cosby, who was out and he has been speaking a lot lately, has a new book out, talking about the exact opposite message. Personal responsibility. Farrakhan appears at times to be preaching about victimhood. Now, which one has a stronger message?
MARTIN: I tell you, you can't sit here and say which one has a stronger message. I mean I can tell you this here. It was Louis Farrakhan who led the Million Man March where one million black American in DC. Bill Cosby can't make a call for a million people to come to Washington, D.C. African-Americans, they actually show up. And so this whole notion of, well, you know, let's hit once against the other or compare one against the other is a whole different deal.
When Farrakhan talks about this whole notion of making it easy to convict African-Americans, he's also in the past talked about the different sentencing when it comes to those who are sentenced to crack cocaine versus those who sentenced to powder cocaine. And so you have more African-Americans, same potency in terms of a drug, but you have a greater sentence when it comes to crack cocaine than powder cocaine. So, again as the matter is saying, OK exactly what is he trying to say when it comes to these particular issues, when it comes to our legal justice system?
That is what he is speaking of. Bill Cosby, at the same time, he talks about personal responsibility but he also does not dismiss the reality of the African-Americans also face with the criminal justice system. So we can't act as if Cosby is just so different than what Farrakhan is saying. In fact, you're going to find Louis Farrakhan will often -- has been saying the same things about personal responsibility that Bill Cosby is now saying. And so when you actually listen and study both messages, trust me, you're going to find more there's a like than not alike. And I have heard both, and read both, and studied both and I have seen that difference. And, so again, it's -- wouldn't we be surprised by what Farrakhan has to say? No, he's been saying it for 40 years.
CHETRY: It's still surprising to hear it, actually.
MARTIN: But it's not. I mean I'm telling you right now. I have heard any number of speeches in terms of, hey, how he's been highly critical. First of all, he gave us speech on Saturday in Atlanta, where he gave one of those -- the toughest speeches against violence and the degradation of women in hip-hop music. Now, I understand in terms of what were talking about, what he said on Tuesday night, but we will also say the same thing about how his criticism of a violence of the images in hip-hop music and how that is destroying African- Americans and the culture. Now, again, so we can say, well, was he strong there? Was he right there? And so when I listen to Bill Cosby and listen to that speak by Farrakhan, to be honest, I hear the same message.
CHETRY: Well, we don't have time to get into everything the two of them said. Perhaps, that you have a point when you're talking about how they want the same outcome. But the rhetoric, as you called it yourself, very different. But I want to ask you quickly about a poll that just came out. Brand new CNN poll from an African-American voter showing Hillary Clinton with a 24-point lead over Barack Obama beyond Bill Clinton who is extremely popular among African-American. Is there another explanation for this?
MARTIN: Sure. There are a number of different things. First and foremost, aides around Barack Obama have not gotten the candidate out in terms of spreading the message. She is somewhat sterile on that. The other piece is she has some black voters and "The New York Times" had a story in the weekend where some African-Americans are fearful of his safety, so therefore they are saying, well, I'm not going to vote for him out of security.
There are others who also have suggested, you know, that a vote for Obama is wasted because whites are not going to vote for Obama. He also has again to step up the outreach and again Hillary Clinton is doing an amazing job of getting her surrogates out and staying on message. Obama hasn't done that. There is somewhat of an emotional detachment between him and African-Americans. It doesn't mean African-Americans don't focus on policy. It means that he has to reach the emotional core. He has not been able to do that.
That's what you see in this numbers and trust me I think this is a wakeup call. His campaign needs to say, wait a minute, I was (INAUDIBLE), he hasn't been working. And they really need to say forget the national. He has to focus on South Carolina. What you will see is, on his side, they show the numbers that when he reaches people, black women are responding, he has to get out more, get his wife, Michelle out more, get surrogates out more. Otherwise this is game set, match, game over. He cannot win with 25% of black votes.
CHETRY: Ronald Martin, always great to hear from you, thanks.
MARTIN: Thanks a bunch.
ROBERTS: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Could a new filter on youtube meant to protect copyright material keep you from downloading your favorite clips? Our own internet correspondent Veronica de la Cruz joins us after the break.
And tip off by an early warning system. What a feathered friend did to protect his owner from a thief. That ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. A parrot in Dallas, serving a century, warning his owner about an intruder. He might have saved his owner's life. Dennis Baker woke up at 2:00 in the morning when his parrot started saying "hello, hello" over and over again. Well, it was cue someone had broken into his home. Baker confronted the man, ultimately shot and killed him. He spoke with the media hours after the incident. Still visibly shaken.
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DENNIS BAKER, SHOT INTRUDER: Not something anybody wants to do. But it's something you have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He had recently been robed five different times. Police say, Baker was within his rights to shoot. The case though will still be put in front of a grand jury for further review.
ROBERTS: 13 minutes now on the top of the hour. Former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert expected to announce his resignation some time very soon. That tops your "Political Ticker" this Thursday morning. The Illinois Republican is not expected to finish out his current term, which means that a special election will have to be held to fill his seat for the remainder of his term.
And a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll puts President Bush's approval rating at 36 percent. That's up slightly from June when his rating was 32 percent.
Hate those early termination fees from your cell phone company? Two senators are trying to do something about it by introducing a law that would force companies to prorate fees. Immediately after the hearing, AT&T agreed to do just that voluntarily without legislation. Find all of the day's political news around the clock at cnn.com/ticker.
CHETRY: There are some changes coming to youtube. We're going to find out what it means for favorite clips when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
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CHETRY: 50 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. And if you are just joining us this morning, here is a look at what's new.
It was a stormy night in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. More than two dozen people are recovering from injury this morning after two tents collapse on an Oktoberfest celebration in Tulsa. Witnesses described a storm just sweeping through and winds tearing down some tents they head up. Just to the north, five people hurt and 25 mobile homes damaged from heavy rain and possible tornadoes.
Schools are back open in Bedford County, Virginia. After a deadly outbreak of Staph infection. Six other states also reporting cases in schools, which are now being thoroughly cleaned.
And a school board in Portland, Maine with a controversial vote last night, agreeing to offer birth control to students as young as 11. That makes King Middle School, the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students' ages -- in grades six through eight. We want to know what you think. Should schools be allowed to hand out birth control without parents knowing about it? You can cast your vote, cnn.com/am. Right now, only 33 percent of you say yes. 67 percent say no. Just to clarify, with this school district, parents do have to give written permission for their child to be treated at the health center. However, what treatments they get, and that includes description of birth control remain confidential. We'll continue to update the results throughout the morning.
John?
ROBERTS: Eight minutes until the top of the hour. Ever wonder who really owns those cool and wacky videos on youtube? Like the famous water skiing squirrel? Well, even if you didn't before you may have to now, whether uploading or downloading. You could face new rules. With that story, we welcome to AMERICAN MORNING our internet correspondent Veronica de la Cruz.
VERONICA DELA CRUZ: Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Thank you so much. All right, so let's talk about youtube. Youtube has gotten slapped with these $1 billion class action lawsuit from Viacom. Where this is all coming from. As for now Youtube has turn on a filter to screen for copyrighted material, John, and it's currently being tested in the form of a beta version on the website. I want to explain to you how this all works. Basically, Youtube is relying on the copyright owner to upload the material that their concern about protecting and once that material is uploaded in the database, scans all the video to the site and they search] for impostors. So, really how feasible is this all going to be? I mean, you're talking about a huge, huge, huge database of all of this different video.
ROBERTS: So, It would seem to me that YouTube relies on some of this content to draw eyes to their website.
DELA CRUZ: Exactly.
ROBERTS: I think in danger here, shooting themselves on the foot.
DELA CRUZ: The question what may happen here is that it could actually reduce the amount of videos made of movies, TV show clips. So, lets say you're surfing Youtube. Or maybe your favorite movie actor like Tom Cruise. You like Tom Cruise, right? No?
ROBERTS: He's fine.
DELA CRUZ. Well, you might encounter a screen that looks like this. You are going to get an error message saying that the clip is no longer available to Youtube. It might also effect other things, John, like music videos, concerts because people like to string together clips of music videos. So, anyways, it's a big question mark, right now. We're going to see how this kind of affects. What happens to youtube, all of the content that's available there so.
ROBERTS: Yes. When that begins, the owners on the copyright owner...
DELA CRUZ: The owner is now on the copyright owner.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) all of the materials and that can be compared, right?
DELA CRUZ: Exactly, yes. So, it's going to be interesting to see. No more video of John Roberts having a giggling. Time Warner has their way. They might just pull it all down.
ROBERTS: You don't have to go to Youtube for that. You can see it right here. Veronica, thanks and again welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
DELA CRUZ: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Great to have you here. We'll see a lot of you. All right, thanks.
Kiran?
CHETRY: I do have some favorite John Robert, vintage John Roberts Youtube clips. I'll show it to you later, Veronica.
Well, American Airlines actually turns a profit despite a summer plagued by delays and cancellations. We'll talk more about that, Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Three minutes until the top of the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning. So, American Airlines through it all has been able to turn a profit.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Delta reported the other day that it has a profit. Here's your silver lining. You send everyone the good news. The airlines thank you for traveling. We're going to hear from continental as well today and southwest. We're expecting to hear a similar story. Here's the deal. The airlines have so successfully reduced the capacity that they never fly with empty seats, which means they make a lot more money, which means that if your flight is late or you have to canceled, you're out of luck. They are making a great deal on international flights. All of the major airlines have either announce new or added flights to China Continental. Delta is announcing flights to Kenya, Egypt, Senegal, and Jordan.
American announcing a new direct from Chicago to Moscow. They're making you're money on those international flights. Not so much here. Here, the biggest problems for airlines are labor costs. American Airlines after years of cuts have their pilots asking for a little more money and of course those oil prices which affect airlines, because they've got to buy a lot of airplane fuel. Jet fuel. So, we'll continue to follow that but right now we have profitable airlines flying in the skies. Don't say I never bring you good news.
ROBERTS: All right, you're going to tell us more about oil prices, a little later on.
VELSHI: I'm coming back in a half hour to tell you about oil prices.
CHETRY: And that's the bad news.
VELSHI: That's the bad news. That's right.
ROBERTS: Always seems to be a bad news these days. Story coming up in our next half hour here in AMERICAN MORNING that you just can't miss. Dramatic video. A guy tries to rob a KFC in North Carolina. We showed this to you yesterday. He even pulls the trigger when he's got the guns, the managers add.
CHETRY: That's right. You can see how the robber and the victim fight on that slippery floor for control of the gun. The store manager says he knew he would die if he didn't fight back. He's going to join us live today to talk more about what it was like during that life and death struggle. That, plus the headlines in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Extreme weather. Rain, hail, and tornadoes rock the heart land overnight. The superbug spread.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can do so much, they have to go to school.
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CHETRY: At least seven states now reporting drug-resistant bacteria in school and the kids are the ones blowing the whistle.
Plus, life and death struggle. The manager of the KFC fights back with a gun to his head. We're live with him and the dramatic tape on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Still, unbelievable when you see it because the guy did hold a gun to his gun and fire.
ROBERTS: Yes. One occasion when fighting back probably was the right thing to do.
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