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American Morning

Dozens Killed in an Overnight Plane Crash; New Scrutiny for National GOP Frontrunner Rudy Giuliani

Aired November 30, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Dozens killed in an overnight plane crash. This morning, dramatic new pictures and questions about what went wrong.

Torn apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really can't describe what it's like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Families caught up in an international crisis, fighting to bring their children home.

Plus, long live rock 'n' roll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really, is there a price you can play for cool?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Top dollar for concert tease and a blast back to the past on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Still got that Led Zeppelin shirt from the 1973...

CHETRY: Did you save them?

ROBERTS: ...appearance at Madison Square Garden. Could be worth a lot of money.

CHETRY: It could be. You should save all of them.

ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, the 30th of November as we shovel November out of here and get ready for December. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

We have breaking news this morning. The latest on this plane crash in Turkey. Fifty-six people on board and they say no survivors when this passenger plane went down and crashed in the mountains near Isparta in southwestern Turkey just minutes before it was set to land.

Rescue choppers reached that wreckage, saw the plane in pieces, and reported back there was no one left to save.

Emily Chang has been following the late-breaking details from the world update desk in London -- Emily?

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kiran, the latest is the death toll has risen to 57 now to include a baby that was on board. So 50 passengers and seven crew members killed in this deadly accident. There's also a report now that the black box has been found so investigators will be looking to that for clues. It was just a short flight from Istanbul to Isparta, took off at 1:00 a.m. local time, no problems. About 1:36 a.m. the pilot radioed in saying he was about to land.

Nine minutes later, 1:45 a.m., they lost communication completely and the plane went off the radar and crashed. It crashed in an area of southwestern Turkey. Distraught relatives have been fleeing to the scene trying to get any information about their loved ones. Now at this point, the cause of the crash is still unknown.

The airline CEO says the plane had no apparent technical problems. The weather was as good as it could be. There was no fog or heavy winds. So investigators will be really looking to this black box to figure out how and why this happened -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Emily Chang, thank you.

ROBERTS: Big news on the economy now and what it could mean for your money. Last night, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke dropped strong hands about rough times ahead for American consumers. He said the Fed needs to stay alert and flexible to head off any threats.

What does that mean? We can expect a rate cut on the horizon? Wall Street already thinks so.

Our Ali Velshi at the business update desk with more. So the next Fed meeting is coming up on the 11th of December. Everybody is counting on another cut, would it be a quarter point, half point? What is it?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, 11th of December so 11 days from now. Right now, market futures right now are up 140 points, John. Now, we'd already been talking about a quarter point rate cut that's developed in the last week or so. There are some people saying even a chance of a half a point.

Now we'll talk about that as it gets closer. But one of the things that might affect Americans who are facing foreclosure right now is that there's word of an eminent deal between the White House and about 10 major banks -- mortgage lenders -- that will allow people to freeze some of their mortgages where they reset. Now I'll tell you how this is going to work. The Treasury Department has divided mortgage borrowers into three groups. The first one are people who can't meet their mortgage payments at all. The second are people who can manage mortgage payments at a higher -- if they reset at a higher rate. And the third group are people who can manage their payments only if the rates are frozen. If they had a teaser right, it's frozen.

Under this deal, only the third group would qualify and that assumes that their mortgage is not worth more than their house and that they continue to have an income. Well, we're hearing that this deal is being worked on. It could be announced possibly in the next couple of weeks.

The idea is that banks don't want to own the home that's foreclosed because it's not worth it to them. The property value goes down. They're stuck with all these houses they don't want. So some good news for people who might be getting a reset and some good news for people who are hoping that interest rates continue to go down.

We'll, of course, follow both of those stories -- John?

ROBERTS: Do we know how many people would be affected by that? And would that third group of people -- would it include everybody in that group?

VELSHI: There'll be specific requirements to qualify for it, but, yes, if you do fall into that group and you do have a job and your house is worth more than your mortgage, you'll be able to keep your rate.

ROBERTS: All of those people?

VELSHI: Yes.

ROBERTS: Oh, interesting. Great. Ali, thanks very much.

VELSHI: OK.

ROBERTS: Kiran?

CHETRY: Also new this morning, major protests in the Sudan. Thousands of marchers, many of them carrying knives and sticks, are calling for the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam by letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad. The protesters say that she was given a lenient sentence. She got 15 days in prison instead the maximum of six months and 40 lashes.

Well, a startling look at just how much salt all of us are eating every day. The American Medical Association says that it's two to three times more than we should. A lot of it coming from processed foods or foods we order at restaurants. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, stroke or heart attack. The FDA is requiring mandatory limits on salt for food manufacturers.

And the government announcing progress on gun safety since the Virginia Tech tragedy. There are now twice as many as mentally ill people on the federal gun checklist since those shootings. Those on the list are not allowed to buy guns.

Seungng-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, was not on the list. He was able to buy two guns and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech last April. He had been ordered by a court in 2005 to receive outpatient mental health care.

Thirty-two states contribute to the list and Attorney General Michael Mukasey is now urging the rest to get on board.

A childhood friend of NFL player Sean Taylor says that the star was scared for his life in the final days and was targeted by former friends. The Washington Redskins star was shot early Monday morning in his Miami home. Police are still looking for a suspect and into a possible link to an earlier burglary that was reported at his home eight days prior.

His father, Florida City Police Chief Pedro Taylor spoke exclusively with CNN's Rick Sanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

P. TAYLOR: Sean is a young man that took a passion to football at a very young age. And now he took a passing to be a scholar/athlete. It's a dream of his to accomplish so much and he had a goal to reach and that was to get to the top of the pyramid, which he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The Redskins will honor Taylor this weekend by wearing number 21 on their helmets -- John?

ROBERTS: Seven minutes after the hour. A new message from Osama bin Laden to tell you about. This time he is telling Europe to stop helping the United States and Afghanistan. Al Jazeera aired the audiotape in which bin Laden says he is the only person responsible for 9/11 and that the people of Afghanistan and the Taliban government knew nothing about it.

This will be Laden's fourth tape this year. U.S. analysts say the tape does not appear to contain any specific threats but so far it does sound like him.

Pakistani opposition leader split this morning on participating in elections. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf says he will end the state of emergency there by December the 16th and hold elections on January the 8th. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says that she'll enter those elections but under protests. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to boycott them. He was ousted by Musharraf in a coup eight years ago.

For the first time we're hearing from a seven-month-old, rather, we're hearing from a seven-month Ohio woman who was tasered at a police station. A police officer threw Valreca Redden to the ground on her stomach and then tasered her on the neck two weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALRECA REDDEN, TASERED BY POLICE: Gotten scared. I didn't know they were attacking from behind like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At no time did any of these officers that were dealing with this person had no idea that she was pregnant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The FBI is investigating the incident. The officer, still on duty -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Well, we have an update now on this bizarre story that we told you about yesterday -- a man who was thought to have been killed by an exploding cell phone in South Korea. Well, police now say there is much more to the story.

Veronica De La Cruz has been looking into it for us.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, pretty dramatic twist in the story. You know, we told you this man found dead at his work place. His mobile phone melted into his shirt pocket. Well, preliminary autopsy results are out and they reveal that the damage under the man's internal organs was too great to be caused by the battery in the cell phone exploding.

The AP is now reporting that a coworker has since confessed to accidentally killing the man. The two worked in a rock quarry. And the man's coworker apparently ran over him. His coworker moved the vehicle, hid the evidence, and then blame the mobile device in a man's pocket.

All right, take a look at this. This is a picture of that mobile device that was taken from Koreatimes.com. It's still not clear how the phone melted. The Korean papers are reporting local police have charged the coworker with vehicular manslaughter.

And while a cell phone may not have been responsible for the man's death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission here in the United States is saying it is still important to exercise caution because cell phone batteries can explode. Back in July a Chinese man died when his cell phone apparently exploded in his pocket. A then just yesterday, a New Zealand news Web site posted video a cell phone that exploded in the middle of the night.

It was charging next to a man's bed. The man was not hurt.

And then as we mentioned yesterday, there are no known instances if anyone being killed by an exploding cell phone here in the United States. But the watchdog group, the Wireless Consumers Alliance, says it does get reports of exploding battery. They get these reports at once a month, Kiran. So, I mean, it definitely does happen and there are ways that you can avoid this from happening to you.

CHETRY: What do they say to do?

DE LA CRUZ: You know, things like putting pressure on your cell phone. For women, don't just throw it in your purse. You know, you have a tendency to have lots of stuff in your bags so it might get wedged in there. You don't want to put pressure on the battery. Also avoid hot surfaces. Don't hold on to it while it's being charged. Carry it in a case if you can. Try to keep as much as distance between you and your cell phone as possible. You might even want to consider using a headset so.

CHETRY: Wow. All right, thanks a lot, Veronica.

DE LA CRUZ: Of course.

ROBERTS: It's 11 minutes after the hour now.

Summer teams seems like a long time ago but only today we're saying good-bye to the 2007 hurricane season. Reynolds Wolf is here this morning with the good news.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, a lawsuit over O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It" tops your "Quick Hits" now. Fred Goldman says he's going after a file-sharing Web site in Sweden. It lets people download the book for free. Goldman owns the book's rights and says that the Web site has cost him at least $150,000 so far.

And Rodney King recovering from gunshot wounds. Police say he was shot in the face, upper torso and back with a shotgun late Wednesday night while riding his bike near his home about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. King was able to make it home. He called police then. It was back in 1991 that L.A.P.D. officers were caught on tape beating King and their acquittal sparked the L.A. riots.

Caught on tape. A woman brutally attacked at her desk, roughed up by a robber, and now the hunt is on for a violent criminal.

Also is Rudy Giuliani making things up? Some of his claims coming under serious scrutiny this morning. We're checking the facts ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: AMERICAN MORNING brought to you by...

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ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes after the hour now. To politics and new scrutiny for national GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani. "The New York Times" today taking a look at some of the statements that he makes in the campaign trail and calling them, quote, "incomplete, exaggerated, or just plane wrong."

CNN political analyst John Dickerson is in Washington this morning. He's also been writing about the Giuliani campaign for Slate.com. John, this article in "The New York Times" takes aim at claims that he makes on, you know, cutting the city's spending, cutting the budget, reduction in crime. You wrote about some of this stuff more than a month ago. Is he a man given to exaggeration on the campaign trail?

JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He is. All politicians do this but Rudy Giuliani seems to do it a lot. And also he has always put statistics kind of the center of his candidacy and he's constantly talking about his record in New York, but with respect to almost every other issue. He's a man who likes to drop lots of facts and figures. He gives you a sense of his competency and command of the issues. So, it's a bigger problem for him perhaps than other candidates.

ROBERTS: The good thing about facts and figures are that they are facts and figures and they could be checked. Is he just counting that people are going to be too lazy to take a look at what he is saying?

DICKERSON: I suppose. And perhaps it's some of the politicians' hubris in here as well. I think the campaign relies on the fact that even if he gets a fact wrong here or there about his crime statistics in New York, the idea that he turned around the crime picture in New York is sort of unassailable and therefore they can get away with it or it won't hurt them too much.

ROBERTS: There's this other story that's been out there for a few days now that -- back in the day when he was courting then mistress Judith Nathan who went on to become his third wife, that some of the expenses for his security and transportation were sort of scrolled away in offices in the New York City Department. It didn't have anything to do with the mayor's office, and people were wondering about the propriety of that.

Here's what Giuliani told me immediately after the debate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was a perfectly appropriate set of expenses. All of the billing is open. That's how you can find it. So I thought the -- I thought the way the story was presented was kind of like a hit job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So he says it looked like a hit job, perhaps an opponent of his in the Republican side or maybe the Democrats dropping a dime on him. What do you think of that theory, John? Is that plausible? And also, do you think this is going to hurt him?

DICKERSON: Well, you know, all the facts still haven't come out on this. There is an argument -- the sort of pro-Giuliani argument -- that the way this was paid for, which is putting it in other different accounts, rather than one account to reimburse his security detail, is kind of a way they did budgeting in New York, and so that there is not anything sort of nefarious going on here.

But it is a bit of a problem, because, as you introed it, you know, we're here talking about an extramarital affair that became his third wife which is this kind of this lingering fever for the Giuliani campaign with social conservatives who are important in the Republican party and it links to something else which ties into this question about mixing of facts, which is, you know, does he have an issue with cutting corners? Which will be something that the Mitt Romney campaign will certainly be talking a great deal about.

ROBERTS: Hey, one other quick question, John, speaking of Romney. So the two of them were throwing mud at each other all night during the debate. Some people said they're like a couple of little kids who just can't resist throwing mud balls at each other.

Are they going to have to tamper their relationship? Because people seem to get turned off by it.

DICKERSON: People do seem to get turned off by it but you've got -- the problem here is that they're the two smartest kids in the class so they have, you know, they can't stop struggling after each other and the polls are quite close. And both of the, you know, think of that they've got to take a little off of the other guy so I doubt it's going to get quiet. It may have a little burst of quietness but it'll get rough again pretty soon.

ROBERTS: All right. John Dickerson for us in Washington this morning. As always, John, good to see you. Have a great weekend.

DICKERSON: Thanks, John.

ROBERTS: Kiran?

CHETRY: Doctored mug shots of the president and his most trusted advisers. There were on display in a very famous public building. Someone's version of art stirring up political controversy.

Also ahead on AMERICAN MORNING...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour now and bird- watching doesn't get much better than this. Check it out. They're our "Hot Shot" of the day. Meredith Ashby spotted a proud bald eagle while on vacation while in central Florida. The bird itself is an American success story, fighting back from the brink of extinction with the help of conservationists and the government it represents.

And if you've got a "Hot Shot," send it to use. The address is AMHOTSHOTS@CNN.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from, a little bit about the picture or video, and one more thing, please make sure the image is yours and not someone else's.

Time now for a look at what's ahead on "CNN SATURDAY MORNING." Betty Nguyen is at the CNN center with that. Good morning to you, Betty. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: HIV is on the rise but not on the radar in many college campuses. You remember what a big deal AIDS was when you were in school. But are young people today aware that the disease still exists? We're going to hear from several students on that issue.

And is the most visual AIDS symbol lacking diversity? Listen to this: the memorial quilt includes more than 47,000 panels but only a few hundred are made for African-Americans. We're going to talk with a woman who is trying to change that and raise the awareness in the black community.

Our special coverage of World AIDS Day, it begins tomorrow, "CNN SATURDAY" and "SUNDAY MORNING," at 7:00 a.m. Eastern -- John?

ROBERTS: Betty, we will see you then. Thanks very much.

NGUYEN: Right.

CHETRY: Well, a retired New York City police officer filing a federal complaint asking the state DMV to let him keep his vanity license plates that call for the capture of Osama bin Laden. This picture appears in the New York paper "News Day." It shows Arno Herwerth with his plate that says "Get Osama." He says that he's surprised the DMV wants his plates back but the agency says they could be considered offensive.

And you're laughing at the car he's got.

ROBERTS: You got to love the car. I mean the plate is perfect. It's, you know, it's painted like an American flag and has "Kill bin Laden" written on the sides of it.

CHETRY: There you go. Well, it brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Maybe that's not your taste in car. but do you think he should to have to give up his plates to the DMV, the plates that said "Get Osama."

We're asking for your vote, CNN.com/am, and the tally 8 percent saying yes, and 92 percent saying no. We're going to continue to votes throughout the area.

Did you notice that the government of New York has making some rather odd decisions lately like, "Let's give undocumented aliens driver's license," "Oh, no, don't. Everybody hates it. Let's take this guy's license plate back -- oh, everybody hates, maybe we won't.

CHETRY: We'll see what happens.

ROBERTS: Wow.

Story coming up in our next half-hour of here in AMERICAN MORNING that you can't miss. For all you rock 'n' roll fans out there. You got any of these old t-shirts lying about the house?

CHETRY: Which one's yours back from back in the day? ROBERTS: I don't know. But remember I was saying just a little while ago. Led Zeppelin, 1973 tour, they played at Madison Square Garden. There's a new DVD of that out by the way. Here's one of their shirts?

CHETRY: How about it? And here - how about the yard birds. That's a blast from the past, well...

ROBERTS: Now that's an even more classic shirt.

CHETRY: It - they're so thin, too, after years and years of being washed.

Well, anyway, these shirts are up for auction right now. These vintage rock 'n' roll t-shirts all of the rage and apparently -- what?

ROBERTS: I'm just going to ask you here. What's the connection between this shirt and this shirt?

CHETRY: Well, I wasn't born yet on this tour. But -- well, I know that Eric Clapton's in the hall of fame for his -- for Yard Birds, as well as cream and, what solo?

ROBERTS: And who replaced Eric Clapton and the Yard Birds? Jimmy Page.

CHETRY: Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page.

ROBERTS: Who became the lead guitarist?

CHETRY: Thank you. This earpiece coming from Gerry.

ROBERTS: Oh, come on. Somebody told you?

CHETRY: Yes. Gerry gave it away.

ROBERTS: Cheating, cheating.

CHETRY: All right. I'm going to ask you some questions in the next hour or two. I'm just going to think.

ROBERTS: All right.

CHETRY: "High School Musical." You won't know a thing.

ROBERTS: Lola Ogunnaike has got this coming up for us. We'll get that and the headlines when we return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Wow. A beautiful picture this morning overlooking Manhattan.

ROBERTS: Hudson River.

CHETRY: Hudson River. It's a pretty, pretty shot today. We're looking right now at a current temperature here in about the 40s and we could go up maybe to 50 today. Not bad for almost being December.

And welcome back. It's Friday, November 30th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.

We're following breaking news this morning out of Turkey where an airliner went down. The death toll has now risen to 57. It crashed in the mountains near the southwestern city of Isparta just minutes before it was set to land. Officials say the death toll rose by one to include a baby after re-examination of the passenger manifest.

The plane -- the MacDonnell Douglas MD-83 -- was in pieces when rescue teams arrived by helicopter five hours later. A spokesman for Atlasjet, which owns the aircraft, says it's not clear why it went down but he ruled out weather, saying it was clear at the time.

Also new this morning. Police in New Zealand question a teen accused of being mastermind of enormous cyber crime network. The 18- year-old released without charge but police say he is still part of the investigation. Eight people had been indicted so far. 13 have been arrested here in the United States. Police say the network is made up of hackers who seize control of computers around the world and then use them to wreak havoc anything from attacking web sites to skimming millions from bank accounts.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hints at another interest rate cut ahead. Speaking to a business group last night in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bernanke said the housing slump and high oil prices are creating, quote, head winds for the consumer. Bernanke says policymakers would have to remain, quote, extremely alert and flexible. Your key word there. Many are taking that to mean a rate cut ahead at the next fed meeting on December 11th and now they want to know is it a quarter point or half-point cut.

A step closer to holding the white house in contempt, Patrick Leahy says presidential aides are not covered by executive privilege and must testify on what they know about the firing of federal prosecutors. The White House says Leahy is wasting his time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN: We were baffled by the decision. Senator Leahy, himself, has said these contempt filings would be futile and, yet, they continue to move forward with them. They only have six legislative days left in the session. Their focus should be on funding the troops, making sure the intelligence gap remains firmly closed and by passing a budget, which is something that our country, our democracy should be able to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Senator Leahy says the White House is stonewalling and he could ask the full senate to move on contempt charges in December.

Hitting the deck on Interstate 95. Take a look at this. Boom! The guy goes down. Sheriff deputies taser a man to stop him from pacing back and forth on the highway and holding up the morning rush in south Florida. The deputies say they decided to taser the man after he pulled a knife on him. He complained that cars were chasing him all night. Police say he may not face any charges. He was taken to a hospital for observation.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And an international crisis for some families who have gone through the long and hard work of preparing to adopt a baby and then heading around the world to pick up their new son or daughter and are now stuck in limbo, unable to come home.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has been following this story for us. We're talking about adoptions, specifically in this case, out of Vietnam.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's really an incredible story. It's one of those things where you think it could happen to me, it could really happen to anyone. Imagine if you traveled halfway around the world to pick up a child you just adopted legally and were told by the U.S. government that that child would not, at least for now, be allowed into the United States. That is exactly what happened to one New York couple who adopted from Vietnam and, sadly, they're not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: When David and Shannon French left for Vietnam last month to pick up baby Oliver, they couldn't wait to get there. They planned to be there for three weeks and home for thanksgiving. Seven weeks later.

DAVID FRENCH, ADOPTING BABY FROM VIETNAM: I really can't describe what it's like to hold your son and, you know, have him look in your eyes and feel like inside you are stealing your heart against him so that he won't sense that there is anything wrong.

CHO: After the French's had legally adopted Oliver and after he was already in their custody, the U.S. government told them Oliver would not be granted a visa, at least for now, meaning the 6-month-old could not travel home with his new parents.

FRENCH: I was scared. Suddenly, what went from being a really joyful experience of becoming a father and a fascinating time to spend absorbing Vietnamese culture, we suddenly felt there was some suspicion that we had done something wrong.

CHO: The U.S. government says communist Vietnam is currently under greater scrutiny like baby selling and birth parents being coerced into giving up their children. That's why the U.S. placed a temporary hold on visas for Oliver and at least 19 other newly adopted Vietnamese children.

THOMAS DIFILIPO, JOINT COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES: You can only imagine if you were not allowed to bring them in the United States but they had to remain there when you come home. That is unimaginable.

FRENCH: We have children's Tylenol, formula, diapers.

CHO: David is headed back to Vietnam where his wife and baby are stuck. U.S. officials say Oliver and others like him could still get visas but if that doesn't happen, the French's have two choices. Give Oliver up or move to Vietnam for two years, until they become legal guardians and can bring him home that is an incredible sacrifice.

FRENCH: Is it? He's our son. I think it's easy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Kiran loves this baby Oliver. In the past week, the U.S. government actually changed the law saying parents who adopt from Vietnam must first obtain a visa for their child before traveling to Hanoi. It used to be a formality. Keep in mind, U.S. officials say because they are temporarily denying Oliver a visa doesn't mean he won't eventually get one. They simply want more information about the case and they want to make sure the adoption is legitimate and they want to protect the birth parents. They want to be sure the birth parents weren't coerced to giving up their child to create a family somewhere else like in the United States.

CHETRY: Are they looking into this with the intent to get it resolved or is this family more in limbo as they wait ...

CHO: They are in limbo. The goal is to get the child back home to the United States. I mean, they said it took about a week but they really feel like Oliver is their son now, but they are in limbo. Their lives have been uprooted. In fact, David French is leaving for Vietnam in just a couple of hours. They had to rent an apartment in Hanoi. She's on maternity leave but he hasn't been able to work for several weeks for a couple of months, in fact. He's a freelance writer. He says he is hoping to get some work there. Maybe even teach English. But they're looking at the possibility of staying in Vietnam for two years, you know, to become legal guardians in order to bring Oliver home. They are hoping they can come home well before that.

CHETRY: Wow. That is an unbelievable case. This is not only a situation unique to them. There are 19 other families dealing with this from Vietnam currently as we speak.

CHO: That's right. Let's not forget the legal fees. This family had to hire lawyers in both Vietnam and in the United States to try to get this settled. It's a real, real issue. The U.S. government says, listen. There's some questionable adoption practices. We need to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime they are not going to send any more families over to Vietnam until they obtain a visa first.

CHETRY: Thanks a lot, Alina.

CHO: You bet.

ROBERTS: It is a paradox of modern America. Childhood obesity on the rise and more schools are cutting physical education and recess. Where are kids supposed to play? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a look at unique solutions.

And a first dance like you've never seen before. This is one you don't want to miss. The best of viral video ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Your "Quick Hits" now. President Bush demanding that congress approve billions of dollars in additional war funds without strings and without delay. The president wanting action before lawmakers leave for their Christmas break.

Also, word this morning from the oil pipeline blast in Minnesota that killed two workers and shut down four lines. The workers had been sitting in a truck near the pipe when it exploded during what they were calling a routine repair job. The Enbring Energy company says the pipeline should be back up in a few days. No word on what caused the blast.

And in Bakersfield, California a purse snatching outside of a grocery store caught on surveillance videotape. A thief tries to grab a person's purse and she resists and gets dragged onto the ground. The thief snatches another woman's purse and darts off and hops into a get-away car. Police are looking for the man as well as the driver of that car.

41 minutes past the hour now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: More than 17% of children in America are overweight and a third are from urban areas. With a lack of gyms and cut in physical education programs the kids are not getting the exercise they need, but now that may be changing. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2, 3, 4!

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is boot camp for kids. It gets the heart pumping. Gets kids moving and gives them a place to go.

CYNTHIA GREGORY, YMCA-METROPOLITAN D.C.: We offered it to schools. They come and they sign up for this program. The schools from all over the region come here for their PE.

GUPTA: It's called the PHD program, physical, healthy, driven. The YMCA of Metropolitan Washington sponsors and designs it for city children ages 6 to 13 whose schools may have cut phys ed to save money. These after-school programs fill a very important need for exercise and fun.

AARON HARRIS, YMCA-METROPOLITAN D.C.: It's a lot of different games, even if you're not the most athletic kid you can still get a lot of the program.

GUPTA: There is another example in Boston. At Brandy Cruthird's gym. She a former professional basketball player who realized urban kids had nowhere to work out so she founded Body by Brandy Fit-Kidz.

They are referred by community hospitals and get a prescription to visit the gym for free. She hopes getting them off the couch is a first step for healthier life. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Both Body by Brandy and YMCA in D.C. hope to expand their programs to other cities. If you'd like to learn more, tune into "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta right here on CNN Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30.

Senator Barack Obama is bringing his campaign to New York City a short time ago. He met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for coffee on the east side of Manhattan. Bloomberg's camp reportedly asked for the meeting. And last night at Harlem's Apollo Theater, Obama held a fund-raiser last night and addressed important issues to African-American voters and also made a few promises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm tired of reading about Jena. I'm tired reading about nooses and tired of hearing about a justice department that doesn't understand justice. When I am president of the United States, we will have a civil rights division that actually is investigating crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Polls show Obama trailing Hillary Clinton by a large margin by black female voters but he has a large support among African-American males. Kiran.

CHETRY: The "CNN NEWSROOM" is minutes away. Tony Harris is here with a look at what is ahead. Good morning.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Here is what is on the rundown today.

A giant red ribbon marks world AIDS day at the white house. Our focus is Washington D.C.'s exploding AIDS crisis, HIV in the African American community and Africa's children.

A jetliner with 56 people on board goes down in Turkey. Did anyone make it out alive?

The fed chairman hinting at another interest rate cut. We keep a close eye on the stocks, oil and the sinking dollar. Breaking news when it happens. You're in the "NEWSROOM" top of the hour on CNN. Kiran, back to you.

CHETRY: All right. Tony, thanks. We will be watch. It's Friday and means it's time to showcase the best videos that people love to send around in their e-mail.

ROBERTS: Veronica De La Cruz joins us.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy Friday.

CHETRY: You, too.

DE LA CRUZ: Viral video is that video that gets passed around through e-mail and text messages, blogs. You know, the internet in general and basically spreads like a virus. A lot of viral video stars born online. Do you have a particular one?

CHETRY: There are stars born every day.

DE LA CRUZ: Do you remember this guy? Mr. Chocolate rain, Kiran? Yes, no?

CHETRY: Let's see it.

DE LA CRUZ: Well, do you remember him? He's back. His career online and office really exploded. Take a listen to this for a moment.

This is chocolate rain part 2. He is taking the chocolate rain theme to the next level and he is promoting diet cherry Dr. Pepper with his new song called "Cherry Chocolate Rain." It's exploding on and off the internet.

CHETRY: He'll be on "Ellen" in no time.

DE LA CRUZ: I know. I can see them dancing.

Also hot is the questions and clips and commentary from the CNN/youtube debate. A lot of videos uploaded relating to the debate including this one. It's called the GOP Debate Song.

Also making its way up the viral video charts. We got some wedding video to show you that starts off like a traditional slow dance. Let's go ahead and take a look for just a moment.

Isn't it sweet? The two of them? The happy couple? Making memories. And then what happens here? Has something happened to the music? I don't know. What is going on? Now, this is what John did at his wedding. He is over there laughing. Did you guys have something like this planned?

ROBERTS: Yeah. But not the second song.

DE LA CRUZ: They are dancing to Ali's favorite song. Is it? Ali Velshi. Here he is! Oh, my goodness!

Make a viral video right now on CNN!

AL VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I had a six-pack of beer here half an hour ago.

DE LA CRUZ: I will get a call from Ali's agent.

ROBERTS: Now you can put an elf face on his body and you got the whole thing!

CHETRY: I have a solution.

VELSHI: Right now, I'm just telling you, it's done.

CHETRY: I have a solution for sears roebuck problem. Have Ali dancing in their stores.

VELSHI: Good to have it live here as well.

CHETRY: I've got something for next week. Thanks a lot.

DE LA CRUZ: We've created our own.

ROBERTS: Another Grinch ruining Christmas. Time for your "Quick Hits." Police in providence, Rhode Island busted a man they say was stealing UPS packages off people's doorsteps. The delivery driver tipped off police after the guy was trailing his truck. Police found some of the items wrapped and under the man's Christmas tree!

CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, don't throw out the old ratty concert t-shirt.

This is for $1,050.

Check your attic. How the retro shirt off your back could give you a small fortune ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up to 54 minutes after the hour. All of you aging rockers, time to pull out your old concert t-shirts from the attic. They may be more valuable than you think. Christie's auction house is selling vintage rock t-shirts for as much as $4,500. Our Lola Ogunnaike is going retro for us. Take a look.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have this one at $1050.

This is what the actual staff wore.

I can hear it.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This shirt is estimated to be worth about a thousand to $1,500.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

OGUNNAIKE: What makes this t-shirt that expensive?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, it's very, very rare. And, therefore, very, very desirable. But, really, is there a price you can pay for cool? Band on the run

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $800 to $1,200 on these.

These were worn. These weren't tucked away or found at a store. These were actually worn by people and that is kind of part of their charm. They have a lot of history around them.

OGUNNAIKE: Do they have sweat stains?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them do, sure.

OGUNNAIKE: Really?

Do they smell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think they smell. As cool as they were back then, they are just as cool now.

OGUNNAIKE: Even with a little hole in it, this one is still worth anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It adds to the character of the piece. Again, it's another survivor of the rock era.

OGUNNAIKE: You have to live longer than a lot of the people back then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, yeah, it has.

OGUNNAIKE: So when the bidding gets going and people start reliving their memories?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That is what drives this whole market. It's nostalgia and the drive to capture a piece of that is gone. Only rock 'n' roll I like it I like it yes I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Who knew? Obviously, not every t-shirt is worth thousands of dollars. Which ones are the most valuable?

OGUNNAIKE: The ones that date back to the '60s and '70s are the most valuable ones and the ones that were either worn by roadies or groupies or record promotional t-shirts are extremely valuable.

ROBERTS: Here is a cool one, Led Zeppelin from the '1973 tour.

OGUNNAIKE: It is distributed by Showco, you can see it right here.

ROBERTS: I think they were doing a lot of the sound for led zeppelin back then. I wonder if this was a roadie t-shirt.

OGUNNAIKE: It probably was. That is what makes it extremely valuable. This is anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000.

ROBERTS: Do we know what incarnation of the Yardbirds?

OGUNNAIKE: This dates back to 1967 from the Monterrey Pop Festival and worn by a music journalist. This could get $2,000 to $3,000 and it's an original and it's really valuable, clearly.

ROBERTS: If you have something in your attic, dig it out.

OGUNNAIKE: What do you have in your attic?

Nothing, unfortunately.

OGUNNAIKE: This could be your retired. Your 401k plan.

ROBERTS: Thanks very much.

CHETRY: John stumped me by asking me a question about jimmy page and the Yardbirds so I have one for him. "Baby Got Back" in the viral video, who sang that?

ROBERTS: It was Eddie Murphy as the donkey in Shrek!

CHETRY: No!

ROBERTS: I know it was!

CHETRY: Now we know! Lola said it!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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