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American Morning
911 Tapes Released; Stocks Surge; Donda West Autopsy; Ghost Flights; Minding Your Business
Aired November 14, 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: U-turn. This morning New York's governor backs down. A plan to give illegal immigrants a license to drive, dead.
Unjustified. The FBI finds Blackwater at fault for a deadly shooting in Iraq.
Plus, ghastly ghost? A mysterious blue fog at the gas pump. A spirit from beyond or a hoax? You be the judge on this AMERICAN MORNING.
That's got to be a plastic bag.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: OK. What was that? That's the ghost.
CHETRY: Well, it has some people convinced it is. We'll show you a little more of the video. You can decide for yourself.
HOLMES: Didn't convince me yet this morning.
CHETRY: Well, good morning to you. It's Wednesday, November 14th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
HOLMES: And John Roberts off today. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in for him today.
And we're going to start with a developing story out of New York, happening right here today.
CHETRY: That's right. And it's the plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrant. Well, that plan this morning is officially dead. Eliot Spitzer expected to officially drop the proposal today when he is in Washington meeting with his state congressional delegation. One Republican member of that group is calling the development good news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. VITO FOSSELLA, (R) NEW YORK: We cannot issue unsecure driver's licenses that can be easily tampered with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That decision comes after weeks of intense attacks by critics, including CNN's own Lou Dobbs who said the relaxed license requirement could produce voter fraud and raise national security issues. The governor responded to those attacks right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK: This has absolutely nothing to do with voting. This is something seven other states do for security. The director of Homeland Security has said we improve security by knowing who is there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That plan, though, did cost Governor Spitzer in the polls and became an issue during the last Democratic presidential debate when opponents attacked Senator Hillary Clinton out of New York for supposedly playing both sides. Now it may be a moot point just in time for the Democrats' next debate in Las Vegas, live tomorrow night on CNN.
T.J.
HOLMES: New this morning, reports that Blackwater security guards shot and killed Iraqi civilians without just cause back in September. "The New York Times" is reporting that FBI agents found in at least 14 cases the shootings were unjustified and the guards violated deadly force rules. And according to the report, agents are focused on one guard in particular because he was responsible for several of those deaths. The FBI investigation is still underway and the Justice Department is reviewing the findings now.
Also happening right now, police in Atlantic City say they have a man in custody after a long standoff outside a casino. A police source says the suspect walked into a shuttle bus late last night with a gun and possibly a bomb strapped to his body. The man told investigators he blames the casino for his brother's gambling-related suicide.
Also, prosecutors in Los Angeles say they will not file charges against a 10-year-old boy who admitted starting a massive wildfire in southern California last month. They say the boy was playing with matches outside of his house and accidentally ignited some brush. They say there's no evidence he did it on purpose. The so-called Buckweed Fire burned 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes.
CHETRY: Well, it's hard to look at, but presidential candidate Tom Tancredo says that it's something you've got to see. He's defending his new graphic campaign ad that shows a terror attack on a U.S. shopping mall. Let's take a look at the ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM TANCREDO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, I'm Tom Tancredo and I approve this message because someone needs to say it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Islamic terrorists now free to roam U.S. soil. Jihadists who, fraught with hate, here to do as they have in London, Spain, Russia. The price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, there it is. Tancredo is rung on a strong stance against illegal immigration and warning terrorists can sneak over the border and strike. Critics are accusing him of playing the fear card.
Book publisher Judith Regan suing her former employer for $100 million. Regan says she was targeted by Harper Collins publishers because she had information that could have been harmful to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. She claims that her affair with former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and her knowledge of Kerik's legal woes was the real reason behind her firing and not her attempt to publish O.J. Simpson's controversial book, "If I Did It." NewsCorp, which owns Harper Collins, calls Regan's claims "preposterous."
Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain under fire for failing to criticize a supporter who called Hillary Clinton a not so nice word during a campaign event in South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we beat the bitch?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: May I give the translation? The way that . . .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I thought she was talking about my ex-wife.
MCCAIN: All right. But that's an excellent question. I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democratic Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, last night on CNN's "Out in the Open With Rick Sanchez," CNN political analyst Amy Holmes compared this to a similar incident during the 2004 presidential campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Back in 2004, John Kerry was in the audience at Radio City Music Hall when Whoopi Goldberg took to the stage and called the commander in chief, President Bush, the "c" word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Whoopi Goldberg heard her comments and called into the show to defend herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I did not use foul language that night. I made a double entendre and that was the double entendre heard around the country. Now if you do your research back to that night and the days following, you'll find that no one ever printed what I said because it was much better to leave the innuendo there. Now that's OK. I don't mind that. I've explained this a million times. But I don't like it when someone is using me to make an example and they lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Goldberg says she didn't use foul language, just made a double entendre, as we heard, about the president's last name.
T.J.
HOLMES: Well, Kiran, this morning we're hearing those frantic 911 calls a New York City mother made to police over her troubled son. You can hear 18-year-old Khiel Coppin say he has a gun. Police commissioner Ray Kelly said the teen ignored several commands to stop and lay on the ground. Five officers fired 20 shots. Eight rounds hit the teen, who was actually holding a hair brush. Was it justified? Alina Cho has both sides of the story for us now.
Good morning to you, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 911 tapes, because that's really a key piece of evidence. The police played them yesterday at a news conference. And listen carefully. The boy's mother made the initial call. Remember, that's why police responded in the first place. But take note of the young man talking in the background. Police say that's 18-year-old Khiel Coppin, who died just minutes later in a hail of gunfire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: What happened there?
BACKGROUND MALE VOICE: I've got a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) gun!
FEMALE CALLER: This, you know, this kid is a problem. You can even hear him?
BACKGROUND MALE VOICE: Take that, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I've got a gun.
911 OPERATOR: Who is that?
FEMALE CALLER: That's supposed to be my son.
BACKGROUND MALE VOICE: I've got a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) gun!
911 OPERATOR: That's your son?
FEMALE CALLER: Got no respect. You know, I can't deal with this tonight.
BACKGROUND MALE VOICE: I gotta gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And New York's Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says those 911 tapes essentially prove that officers acted appropriately when they fired 20 rounds at Coppin. They thought he was armed. But as many know by now, at the time of the shooting Monday night, the 18-year-old was carrying a hair brush that police thought was a gun. No gun has been recovered, but police say when officers rushed to the scene, Coppin did make threats with another weapon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY KELLY, NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: Two minutes after the call, at 7:07 p.m., the first police unit with two police officers from the 79th precinct arrived at 590 Gates Avenue. When they came to apartment 1D on the first floor, the door was already ajar. They could see Khiel Coppin with two knives, one in each hand, in the hall way between the front door and a bedroom. Ms. Owens (ph) and her 11- year-old daughter were also inside the hallway. The officers directed Ms. Owens and her daughter to come out of the apartment. Ms. Owens told the officers at the scene that Khiel was armed with knives but not a gun. However, Khiel claimed to the first officers who responded that he was armed with a gun. As the officers approached Khiel, he first brandished both knives, lunged toward the officers and yelled, "shoot me. Kill me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: In fact, police say that supports the whole notion of what is known in law enforcement circles as suicide by cop. Meanwhile, investigators say that they found a note on Coppin that showed that he was obsessed with death. One note read, "those closest to death is closer to happiness." But a lawyer for the victim's family says there's simply no way that police can know all the facts this early on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WOOTEN, FAMILY ATTORNEY: We are, of course, very, very disappointed that the police commissioner has decided to rest the judgment in somehow within 24 hours of this tremendous tragedy, this egregious act, to decide that this is within departmental guidelines. Nobody but Houdini himself could have decided that in 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The five officers involved in the shooting have all passed Breathalyzer tests. And, T.J., in the meantime, they have been reassigned as the D.A. investigates the shooting.
HOLMES: All right, Alina, thank you so much.
And, folks, we are going to be hearing more from Khiel Coppin's stepfather. Also the family lawyer is going to join us live at 8:15 a.m. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, thanks.
It's time to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning. And stocks making a comeback yesterday with one of its best days this year for gains on the Dow. So could this be a one-day wonder or a turning point for the battered markets? Ali Velshi is at the business update desk. It's time to thank Wal-Mart, I guess.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wal-Mart started this whole thing off yesterday, Kiran, by saying that it's not looking so bad. Its earnings were OK. It still says it's going to be kind of flat around the holiday shopping season.
And then Goldman Sachs coming out and saying it doesn't have too much exposure to this sub prime mess. Even Bank of America, which came out with a big write-down yesterday, didn't affect these markets. The financial stocks, Wal-Mart, all up more than 6 percent.
Take a look at how major markets did yesterday. This was the second biggest gain of the year for the Dow, 319 points. By the way, the biggest gain, which is about 10 or 15 points more, was the day the Fed cut rates by half a percentage point.
Even the Nasdaq had a very strong day. The S&P 500. So that gives some hope to folks with their 401(k)s that the year might not end off to badly.
One of the things that helped those markets, here's my new barrel, Kiran. This is $91.17. I usually only trot this thing out when there's a record. But we had such a big drop, I thought it's worth showing people. $3.40 lower to $91.17 yesterday. Some folks thinking that $100 may not get here too soon. And since I wanted you to see my new rusty barrel, I thought I'd show you a low price instead of a high price.
CHETRY: Yes. Yes. That one looks a lot more authentic than the old, shiny black one you used to use.
VELSHI: This is the standard oil blue. They colored barrels blue so that people would know there's oil in them back in the 1800s. And that's your blue barrel.
CHETRY: So did you and your producer, Hussein (ph), do the stenciling or did it come like that?
VELSHI: We (INAUDIBLE). We rusted it. We put it outside. We kicked it around a bit.
CHETRY: Nice job.
VELSHI: Yes, thanks.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Ali. Well, an autopsy on the body of Donda West -- she is the mother of hip-hop star Kanye West -- was performed yesterday. Nothing conclusive yet. But preliminary reports show that she may have decide from complications due to plastic surgery. Or Lola Ogunnaike has been following this story from the start and joins us this morning.
Hi, Lola.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Yes, you know, the results came in yesterday. They were inconclusive. But the coroner says that in about six to eight weeks we will know exactly what killed her once those toxicology reports are in.
Meanwhile, a lot of news is trickling out about the doctor who performed the surgery. Dr. Jan Adams. He told TMZ yesterday that he did perform -- he did give Dr. Donda West both a breast reduction and a tummy tuck last week. That when she left his office, she was fine. He released a statement yesterday expressing his condolences to the West family, but refused to elaborate on what happened, you know, between Dr. Donda West and him sighting client confidentiality.
But TMZ is also calling Dr. Jan Adams' record into question. Apparently, according to them, he has had six malpractice suits filed against him in the past six years. Two suits in 2001 were settled for close to -- more than $500,000. Also, he has two DUI convictions on his record as well.
So right now it's not looking quite good for him, but again, we want to make sure that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The medical board is actually looking into whether they are going to either suspend or revoke his license. And as far as funeral arrangements are concerned, Dr. Donda West will be buried in Oklahoma City next Tuesday.
CHETRY: All right. Thank you so much. Lola Ogunnaike with the latest on that.
And, meanwhile, Rob Marciano off today, but we have Jacqui Jeras. She is in our weather update center tracking extreme weather. And we're looking at high winds in the Midwest.
Hi, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, Kiran, investigators are re-examining the death of a suburban Chicago police officer's former wife. A second autopsy is orders on the body of Kathleen Savio, while police are desperately searching for Drew Peterson's current wife. An update on the search for Stacy Peterson. That's ahead.
Plus, cabin space. You need some? Hop on board that big old jet there. That jumbo jet making transatlantic flights, burning thousands of gallons fuel without a single passenger on board. How flying on empty is hitting your wallet and the environment. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Some incredible shots in your "Quick Hits" now.
And check that out. Oh, what a crash. A car getting caught between 18 wheels. Police in Dayton, Ohio, say this driver ran a red light and plowed right into that tractor trailer at an intersection. The truck then dragged the car 170 feet. All of it caught on a red light camera. There's the aftermath. The car twisted almost beyond recognition. The driver did survive that crash, but is said to be in critical condition this morning.
Two men fighting in the middle of rush hour traffic in Phoenix. A traffic cam caught them exchanging blows. There they are right in the middle of the road. Officers say one of the men purposely tried to throw himself in front of traffic. He claimed he was trying to commit suicide. Miraculously, though, neither of the two men were hit by any of the vehicles. Police say they were described as boyfriends and were arrested on domestic violence charges.
HOLMES: Well, all right, and here's a question for you now. At a time when the airline industry seems to be all about squeezing as many people as possible on to a flight, why would British Airways have jumbo jets spanning the Atlantic without a single passenger on board? Well, we did a little digging on this and the answers are leaving both the passengers and environmentalists with an empty feeling. Our Emily Chang working the story for us from London.
Emily, hello to you. You don't have an empty feeling this morning as well, do you?
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. Well, British Airways flies more than 80 transatlantic flights per day between the UK, the U.S. and Canada. A spokesperson wouldn't give us exact flight times and destinations, but as we understand it, these empty planes are still taking off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANG, (voice over): They're being called ghost flights. British Airways planes flying thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean without a single passenger on board. Over the last two weeks, British Airways has flown dozens of empty flights between London and New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and other cities.
In a statement, BA admitted to staffing problems. "Recently we've experienced a temporary unavailability of cabin crew to work on certain flights. It has been necessary to fly aircraft with only pilots and cargo on board to minimize disruption to customers."
This as the airline announced passengers would pay more to cover soaring fuel costs. A typical transatlantic flight would burn over 100 tons of fuel at a cost of more than $200,000. SIMON CALDER, AIRLINE ANALYST: I think passengers who were booked in the lowest of seasons in mid-November, yet are still being hit for big fuel surcharges, are going to be appalled that an airline the size and scale of British Airways simply doesn't have enough cabin crew on the right days.
CHANG: Airline analysts say BA may also be trying to hold on to valuable takeoff and landing slots at London Airports, a claim BA vehemently denies. Whatever the reason, environmentalists are outraged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That it's flying these ghost flights and spewing out thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions. It's an absolute disgrace.
CHANG: BA says the decision to fly empty planes has not been taken lightly and they're striving to correct the problem as soon as possible. But until then, the so-called ghost flights threaten to haunt the airlines brand and business.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANG: Now we spoke to several other major airlines, American, United, Air France. They say they rarely, if ever, fly empty planes. The only reason they might is if a plane as some mechanical difficulties. They'll fly in an empty aircraft to shuttle passengers to their destinations more quickly. But because of a cabin crew shortage, they say never.
T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Emily, but as far as the British Airways passengers go. Some of the costs of the fuel being passed along to them?
CHANG: Well, yes, actually starting tomorrow, British Airways is raising the fuel surcharge up to $30 per ticket. That's up to $120 more each way depending on the duration of the flight. This is the second time British Airways has done this in five months. Customers were already frustrated and with these ghost flights being exposed, even more so.
T.J.
HOLMES: Oh, how wonderful. Emily Chang for us in London.
Thank you so much this morning.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, usually stopping cars at the border for inspection is a good thing. But maybe not when it's a fire truck that needs to get to a fire. A big controversy brewing at the border. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: All right. This morning's "Hot Shot." A fish tale you've got to see to believe. A Louisiana medical student caught a 359-pound grouper.
CHETRY: Oh, my God.
HOLMES: OK, when I first read it I thought, this was a typo. But, actually, it look like a 359-pound grouper. It took him about 15 to 20 minutes to fight this thing and get it -- to reel this sucker in. It set a new state record. Would you believe it's not a world record. Four hundred and thirty-six pounds was the record fish. So . . .
CHETRY: Wow.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: You know, we have Gary on our show. He does a lot of smoking of fish. And I bet you he could feed us for weeks if we could get that grouper in here and get it in the smoker. That looks good.
HOLMES: He's laying down with his fish. How cute is that? That is the sweetest little thing.
OK. If you've got any "Hot Shots," folks, big fish or whatever else you got out there you want to send to us, the address is amhotshots@cnn.com. Include your name, where you're from, a little bit about the picture or video, whatever it may be. And, please, make sure that the image is yours and does not belong to somebody else.
CHETRY: How about that. Ali, our producer just told us each filet is 53 pounds.
VELSHI: Nice. I got some stories about big fish this morning.
HOLMES: Fish tales.
VELSHI: "Minding Your Business." I got two big fish. Two of the biggest fish around. I'll start with HSBC. It's one of the biggest bank fish there is announcing that its earnings are going to be $3.4 billion lower in one quarter because of its exposure to sub prime loans.
Now you may remember, because you probably actually won't remember, this was over a year ago when HSBC first came out and said, you know, we got some problems in the sub prime loan business and this was not something people had talked about. It was not out there. It took a loss and that's where it started. HSBC, then a company called First Century Financial and then the cards started dropping. So there's big fish number one.
Big fish number two, a really be fish here in the United States, Bank of America, the second biggest retail operation -- second biggest bank in the country is reducing the value of its assets by $3 billion. That seems to be a popular number today. The bank is setting aside more money for future losses. We are seeing all of the banks now coming out and saying, we're going to give you our best guess as to how bad this problem is so that the markets can get on with this and we don't start 2008 wondering about more losses from the banks.
HOLMES: Our best guess.
VELSHI: Our best guess, yes.
CHETRY: It's reassuring.
VELSHI: Let's hope it's right this time.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
HOLMES: All right. Appreciate you, Ali.
Well, here's a look now at a story coming up that you just can't miss. One Ohio town. It's not the high gas prices people are talking about at the local gas station, actually.
CHETRY: No, it's actually this mysterious image that they caught on the station's security camera. And there's a lot of opinions going around.
HOLMES: And I got one.
CHETRY: About what exactly that could be. We'll talk a little bit more about it. But, you know, it's creating quite a buzz at the gas station. That story when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And good morning to you all. Live picture out of my current hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Fifty-five degrees and cloudy there right now. You see the radar in the left. Some rain possibly expected over the next day or so. Much-needed rain. Desperately need rain with the drought conditions there that have sparked a fight between states. But certainly could use that rain. But a gorgeous shot of downtown Atlanta.
CHETRY: And how about this one. So, yesterday the governor of Georgia...
HOLMES: Sonny Perdue.
CHETRY: Got together with a few other religious leaders to pray for rain and sure enough. And that was yesterday and today on the satellite. Some light showers moving in.
HOLMES: So you think it worked?
CHETRY: Maybe, things will be turning around for you guys down in Atlanta and in the south.
HOLMES: This governor is set for life then, I guess, with the job. Let's just pray about it, folks. Well, hello to you all, Wednesday, November 14th. John Roberts on assignment. He is actually heading out to Las Vegas. We got to pull him off (INAUDIBLE) long enough to participate in the debate possibly. Presidential debate that's happening there tomorrow night. But, hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHETRY: Well, it's good to have you with us this morning, T.J., I'm Kiran Chetry.
And new this morning. Keeping the pressure on Pakistan. The White House says it will send Deputy Secretary of the State John Negroponte to Pakistan on Friday with this message and emergency rule and hold free and fair elections. Right now, the vital ally in the war on terror is under martial law. President Pervez Musharraf has suspended Pakistan's constitution and this morning he is refusing calls to step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: That I should stay at all. That option is available to me. But should it be given out now and we will have better Pakistan or stable Pakistan and we can have very good elections without me? Very good. Maybe I did that decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police have tossed lawyers and critics behind bars. Musharraf's most prominent political opponent Benazir Bhutto is also barricaded in her home.
High-level talks between North and South Korea taking place this morning in Seoul and are being called a big step toward reconciliation. This is the first meeting between the north and south prime ministers in 15 years. And they'll spend three days working out details of a historic agreement made by the leaders of the two countries last month in Pyongyang. The talks come amid progress in international efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear program.
Well, democrats say they'll pull -- they'll put a stop on payments for the war in Iraq if the troops don't start coming home. And Congress could vote by the end of the week on a $50 billion proposal. One that would require the war be over by next Christmas. It would be $50 billion to fund current fighting but with some strings attached. The latest fight over money comes, as a new report is out that puts a $1.6 trillion price tag on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The democrats put out that number saying they are including not only the current war but also the cost of rising oil prices, as well as the care, the long-term care for those wounded fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan.
A family of four's share of that number would then be about $20,000. The White House says it was tallied up by partisan democrats on the joint economic committee.
HOLMES: A former CIA and FBI agent resign after she was caught faking a marriage to get U.S. citizenship. Nada Prouty came to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1989 and then a year later paid a man to marry her so she could become a U.S. citizen. She joins the FBI in 1999 and moved to the CIA in 2003. While working for the FBI, Prouty improperly search a computer database for information about her relatives and links they might have to the Hezbollah Terrorist Organization. But the FBI says, there is no evidence that Prouty was working as a spy.
The search for a police officer's fourth wife has led investigators to his third wife's grave. Authorities exhumed and conducted an autopsy on the body of Kathleen Savio. Her death was ruled accidental when she was found drowned in a bathtub in 2004. That tub, however, didn't have any water in it at the time. Last night, on Nancy Grace, family and friends said her relationship with Drew Peterson was an abusive one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN DOMAN, KATHLEEN SAVIO'S SISTER: We told our self, you know, we told our sister, we're bringing you back again. Hopefully, we're going to be getting peace and find out what happened to you. But it's so hard. So hard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has the family always thought that her death was no accident?
DOMAN: Yes, Mike (ph), we've always thought that, and just with everything going on with Drew and my sister and my sister telling me also all the time that -- you know, like everyone's heard before that it was going to look like an accident and he was going to kill her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We all know, the police sergeant is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of his wife Stacy, the mother of two of young children who vanished two weeks ago. He told police that she left him for another man.
CHETRY: A border security now got a little too far in this case. A Canadian fire truck responding to a fire in New York was stopped at the border for eight minutes. U.S. border authorities were clearing up a concern about one of the firefighters. The border agency could not elaborate on what the issue was. Two other fire trucks responding to the fire did make it through the border in about two minutes.
Well, New York's governor, democrat Eliot Spitzer is backing off with his plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The political opposition proving apparently to be just too fierce. Mike Allen, chief political correspondent for the politico joins us now. Mike, good to see you this morning.
MIKE ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kiran.
So, you know, a lot of opposition, obviously, as we know to this plan. In fact, when you took a look at the polls, they had 72 percent of registered voters in New York opposed to the plan to give these driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. And so now the announcement coming that it looks like he will officially withdraw the proposal. What do you think the tipping point was for the governor?
ALLEN: Well, Kiran, you're right. This issue was a real dog. And yesterday, a poll came out that showed the New York Governor Eliot Spitzer with his lowest approval ratings ever. So, you don't really need to be a political science major to know what the result -- that was going to be. And you love the Zippy New York tabloids. This morning they, of course, said that Governor Spitzer has buckled on this issue and they had big road rage headlines about it. So, this issue is off the table in New York but, Kiran, this is still going to be a juicy debate -- topic in that CNN debate coming up in Las Vegas.
CHETRY: It is and I want to ask you about that first of all. You know, that is really what many political analysts are saying sort of was the first chink in the armor of Hillary Clinton, when it came to being sort of a critic-proof at these debates. She wouldn't say yes or no to whether or not she supported the proposal at the last debate. It seemed to be something that her opponents seized on. So, was this also some added pressure from some of the democratic campaigns, possibly even Hillary Clinton's campaign, to sort of table this issue?
ALLEN: Well, Kiran, I don't know about that, but you're right about how it played out. In that debate, she seemed to be for it. Then she seemed to be against it, and I thought she was going to come out basically against it because it's so unpopular, certainly with any swing voters you want to get. But basically, her last statement about this seems to be she's for it. So, the part of this that will not go away is the candor issue, the clarity issue and of course this is something where Senator Clinton had been vulnerable in the past and this was the scab that this pulled off is, can she give the American people a straight answer. And that's the problem that exists despite this legislation being pulled.
CHETRY: All right, so then, on the flip side let's go over to the GOP for a second and maybe being too candid could be the problem. In this case, this was a campaign event of John McCain's in South Carolina on Monday. Let's just listen to what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we beat the bitch?
JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: May I give the translation?
The way that...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John, I thought she was talking about by ex- wife.
MCCAIN: Right. But that's an excellent question. I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the democratic party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right, Mike, does that hurt McCain?
ALLEN: Oh, give me a break. Of course not. First of all, I think it's kind of funny. If you watch that tape, he was -- it clear to him who she was referring to. He could have said, whoever were you talking about, which might have been the deftest way to handle it.
CHETRY: But he said, that's an excellent question.
ALLEN: But what Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that and what people like about McCain is his straight talk, his candor. And if he had folded or buckled under that question, that would have looked ridiculous. There's no question about this. He said the respect that the two of them have. This is something actually, your viewers would not know. Senator McCain and Senator Clinton actually do have a genuine friendship in part because of their overseas travels from the Armed Services Committee. So they do not attack each other. But this was just a funny moment on the campaign trail.
CHETRY: Well, unless you are offended by somebody calling a woman the "b" word. And I'm sure there are many who are. So, I mean, yes or no before I let you go. Should Hillary address this or just leave it alone?
ALLEN: This question? I think she should leave it alone because others will address it for her. People who are upset about it will see this clip and Senator McCain will pay that price.
CHETRY: All right, it was great to have you on the show this morning. Mike Allen, chief correspondent for politico, thanks.
ALLEN: Likewise, have a good week, Kiran.
CHETRY: You too.
HOLMES: Busted on Facebook. A cautionary tale for those of you out there who have ever faked being sick to get out of work. Nobody in this studio or sitting next to me I'm sure, has ever done anything like that. Hear how one intern was caught in a lie with a wand in his hand. We'll explain.
CHETRY: Oops.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 42 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano taking the day off and we have Jacqui Jeras with us in the CNN weather center. Could be an exciting day for you, though. Isn't rain moving toward Atlanta, a place that desperately needs it?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, towards politics here. Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo defending his new graphic campaign ad showing a terror attack on a U.S. shopping mall. Take a look at some of this here. Tancredo is running on a strong stance against illegal immigration and warning terrorists can sneak over the border and strike. Here is part of the ad here. Critics are accusing him of playing the fear card. There you see it. It shows a hooded terrorist packing a backpack there going into a mall and leaving it ends with an explosion and the screen going to black. But, a lot of people are calling this fear mongering but he certainly is defending it.
Right now, we'll turn to Fred Thompson who is calling now for expanded U.S. military. Thompson told a campaign crowd at (INAUDIBLE) yesterday, he wants a million-member ground force and more modern bottle equipment to help revitalize the nation's security. Thompson said you can't use 20th century equipment to fight a 21st century war.
And the campaign of republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul got a boost in the past few weeks. Since October 1st, Paul has raised $8.1 million, according to his campaign. And that is nearly as much as he raise in the first nine months of the year. And of course, you can find all the day's political news around the clock at cnn.com/ticker.
CHETRY: Speaking of that. The democratic candidates for president are hoping to roll a lucky seven tomorrow night. They're all heading to Las Vegas. It's the next CNN Democratic Debate and our own John Roberts will be asking them questions. John is going to join us live from Vegas tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow night. It's an America vote special. The Democrats' Debate hosted by Wolf Blitzer and it kicks off at 8:00 eastern tomorrow night.
Still ahead. Busted on Facebook. Be careful what you put on your profile. Hear how one intern's boss caught him in a pretty big lie.
Also, do you believe in ghosts? How about now?
HOLMES: No.
CHETRY: Supernatural sighting at a gas station. Is it a ghost or just a plastic bag? Well, it has people fired up at one gas station. We're going to have more on that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: About ten minutes till the top of the hour right now. And if you're just joining us or just waking up, here's a look at the headlines this morning. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer expected to officially drop his plan to offer licenses to illegal immigrants today. Critics have said it could lead to voter fraud, compromised security. It was wildly unpopular in the poll. Some 70 percent of people in New York asked were against it. But Spitzer defended it as a chance to bring people out of the shadows and to make the roads safer. Polls showed, though, a lot of opposition to the plan was nearly two to one.
A report that Blackwater security guards shot and killed Iraqi civilians without just cause. According to today's "New York Times", the FBI findings showed that the guards were not fired on in Baghdad back in September in at least 14 of the deaths. The shootings were unjustified, they say and in violation of deadly force rules.
The L.A. County coroner is awaiting toxicology reports after performing an autopsy on rapper Kanye West's mom. She died this past weekend following plastic surgery.
HOLMES: All right, I think we have all done this. And I don't know if you're willing to admit it here on national television, called in sick but you weren't really sick at work.
CHETRY: Maybe back in the day before I grew up and became very responsible.
HOLMES: OK, there we go. We've all done it. Haven't done it at CNN at all.
CHETRY: In fact, I've never called in sick here so far.
HOLMES: Yes, because our days we had (INAUDIBLE), Veronica De La Cruz here with some interesting statistics on folks that calling in lies.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've never done that. Can you see the halo above my head? Perfect employee.
CHETRY: Yes, shining bright this morning. But you know, because we are entering a whole new world when it comes to deciding to share your life on the Internet.
DE LA CRUZ: I know. So many people, you know, they just never learn their lesson. Careerbuilder.com took a survey and can you guess how many people have lied about calling in sick? Give me a percentage.
HOLMES: Oh, it has to be 80 percent at least.
DE LA CRUZ: You know what it's one-third. Is that shockingly low?
HOLMES: That's a lie.
CHETRY: You think people are lying about that?
HOLMES: Yes, they're lying.
DE LA CRUZ: All right, so one-third of all people lying maybe, about lying about calling in sick. As you got to be aware because survey also found that 35 percent of employers have checked up on those workers which brings us to this morning's cautionary tale. This story guys, exploding all over the Internet.
Apparently, a young intern named Kelvin Cowden (ph) e-mailed his boss on Halloween to let him know he wouldn't be in. Tech Blog Valley Wag posted what they say is Kevin's email to his boss that reads something came up at home. Had to get to New York this morning for the next couple of days. Kevin then busted by his boss who found this freshly posted photo on the Internet space (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Halloween party apparently there.
DE LA CRUZ: And that's not all guys, Kevin's boss supposedly sent an e-mail to him. The next day bcc'ing the entire office that says, "Hey thanks for letting us know. Hope everything is okay in New York in cool month." So, there you have it. You got to be careful what you put on personal profiles on sites like Facebook, MySpace. You never know who is looking. You know, I mean, you never know who is looking. You never think its going to be your boss.
And it all kind of brings us to the story question of the day, we want to know, have you ever called in sick to work? Have you ever lied to get out of work? Do you think that Kevin, the intern should be fired for what he did? You can send us an e-mail to am@cnn.com. We're giving you briefings if some of those come out.
CHETRY: All right and we also have our quick vote question today on that Veronica. Should your boss be able to fire you or take disciplinary action for something that you have on your online profile? Should your online world clash with your real world? Is it fair? Yes or no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the first tally of the vote.
DE LA CRUZ: Disciplinary action, like a slap on the wrist. Should it be fired? Should it be fired? Do you think Kevin should be fired?
HOLMES: He should be fired for the outfit he was wearing.
CHETRY: He's an intern. He's an intern. He's not getting paid.
DE LA CRUZ: He was Tinkerbell for Halloween, I mean...
HOLMES: OK, that's a fireball offense.
DE LA CRUZ: All right, I guess you have a point.
HOLMES: All right, thank you, Veronica.
Well, folks some people of course like the fumes at the gas station a bit too much maybe. Witnesses at an Ohio Pump say they really saw a ghost. And they say they have the surveillance video to prove it. Do you see the ghost? Please, come, the blue cloud. Nobody knows exactly what this is but people have their theories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I watched it for half an hour and then actually I see it move. That's when I got freaked out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like a plastic bag to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Angels, who's an angel here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was like an old Indian reservation from what I understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It's not clear whether people actually saw it with their own eyes or they are just seeing this on videotape. What are we seeing? It's the...
CHETRY: It looks like a blue bag.
HOLMES: A blue bag floating around?
It's the gas fairy. They're going to steal you're gas money.
CHETRY: There to raise your prices cent by cent as the weeks go on.
HOLMES: Now it makes perfect sense.
CHETRY: All right, well, there you have it. Judge for yourself. Was it a ghost?
HOLMES: All right, stay tuned here folks because we're going to be talking about Whoopi Goldberg who called into CNN to defend herself, saying she never used foul language to describe the president. We'll tell you about it coming up at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Ali Velshi here with us this morning "Minding Your Business." We're talking about the housing crunch as well. Of course, everybody knows this foreclosure mess. It affects people losing their homes but it's not just those folks.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And a new study has come out that really sort of pulls the numbers out of how would it affect everybody else in the neighborhood? First of all, let's look at the numbers. Just in the last three months until September, we saw almost 500,000 foreclosures. 446,000 compared to half as many the year before. So foreclosure numbers are up. Here's the thing. Ben Bernanke said we are going to expect 2.3 million more in the next year. The effect to people outside of those whose homes are being foreclosed is it reduces tax values, property values. So, the budget from which the city and the state pays for other things is reduced and people will start to see services disappear.
Also, when there are foreclosed homes in your neighborhood, it reduces your property value. According to the Center for Responsible Lending by an average of $5,000 per home. Separate and apart from the decrease in the property values that you are otherwise experiencing. The center is asking the house to pass a law on Thursday which bans abusive lending practices. We'll of course follow that and see where it goes. But this is affecting everybody, not just those who can't make the mortgage payments. CHETRY: It's a good point. Something you might not think of. Ali, thanks a lot.
All right, that's going to do it for this hour, but the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Taking the break. A U-turn from New York's Government abandoned his plan to give licenses to illegal immigrants.
Deadly donors. Transplant patient shock after getting HIV from infected organ.
People or shellfish. Oyster farmers in a fight with squirreling cities in the south water worse on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. Thanks so much for being with us on this Wednesday. It's November 14th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, getting a work out this morning around the studio here in New York. John Roberts on assignment right now. He's getting ready for the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas so I'm sitting for him today.
CHETRY: Welcome T.J. and we begin the hour with breaking news in a bombshell of a report from one of America's biggest security contractors in Iraq, Blackwater.
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