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CNN Saturday Morning News
Oprah Joins Obama on Campaign Trail; CIA Admits Destruction of Interrogation Tapes; More on the Von Maur Shooter and His Suicide Note; Controversy Over "The Golden Compass"
Aired December 08, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hey there, everybody, good morning to you from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, December 8th. How many days is it now before Christmas, 13 or something?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. 15. No.
HOLMES: What is it? We got to get this right.
NGUYEN: We are journalists. That's why we're in this business. You know what, we will work it out. Somebody got a calculator?
HOLMES: It's 17. It's 17.
NGUYEN: That's what I -- my first answer was 17.
HOLMES: Yeah, (INAUDIBLE) I'm T.J., good to see you.
NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen, thanks for joining us today.
The big buzz this morning, a sex scandal in the nation's capital, but it's not the politicians. It's actually the pages. Sex and other bad behavior inside a congressional program that was supposed to be cleaned up.
HOLMES: Also, another big talker this morning, big-time celebrities on the campaign trail. Oprah, the biggest celebrity you can find pretty much.
NGUYEN: Yep.
HOLMES: She is joining Obama in Iowa.
NGUYEN: That makes for ...
HOLMES: Oprah-Bama.
NGUYEN: Or something like that. We will get that right, too.
Also, Bill Clinton is in South Carolina. Will they influence your vote, though? CNN's best political team in television covers it all straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
We do want to start with a question for you. What did the president know and when did he know it? It is a familiar refrain in Washington, especially when there is a whiff of impropriety in high places.
HOLMES: In this case here, we are talking about the CIA admitting destruction of interrogation videotapes of al Qaeda suspects. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney say they only learned of the tapes two days ago. Two White House sources say the former White House counsel Harriet Miers (ph) did know about the tapes and advised that they not be destroyed. Some in Congress not buying any of this.
CNN Justice correspondent Kelli Arena now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lawmakers want to know if anyone at the CIA broke the law by destroying those interrogation tapes.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D) MASSACHUSETTS: What would cause the CIA to take this action? The answer is obvious -- cover up.
ARENA: They are also angry about being left in the dark. In a letter to employees, CIA Director Michael Hayden said that congressional leaders were told of the intention to destroy the tapes ahead of time, but Congresswoman Jane Harman, who was the top Democrat on the intelligence committee and other lawmakers, insist that's not true.
REP. JANE HARMAN (D) TERRORISM RISK SUBCMTE CHMN: No one ever informed me that tapes were being destroyed.
ARENA: The tapes were made in 2002 after the president approved severe interrogation techniques for terror detainees, which included water boarding or simulated drowning. Government officials with knowledge of what was on them say they included interrogations of two prisoners, one of them al Qaeda operative Abu Zabaida (ph). The CIA says the tapes were destroyed in 2005, right in the middle of a major debate over whether the agency's actions amounted to torture. They were never made available in any terrorism trial or even to the 9/11 commission.
DANIEL MARCUS, 911 COMMISSION GENERAL COUNSEL: If the commission had known at that stage that videotapes of some of the detainee interrogations existed, we would have insisted on seeing them.
ARENA: Hayden says the tapes were destroyed to protect CIA interrogators. If their identities were ever leaked, he argued, they could be targeted by al Qaeda, but it's not flying.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D) ARMED SERVICES CHMN: It's a pathetic excuse. They would have to burn every document at the CIA that has the identity of an agent on it under that theory.
ARENA (on-camera): The CIA maintains there was no legal or internal reason to keep those tapes. In the meantime, the Justice Department says it has received the congressional request to investigate and that it's in the process of fact-finding.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, another Republican congressman is calling it quits. Louisiana's Jim McCrery says he won't run for reelection last year. That makes 19 House Republicans planning to leave Congress at the end of their current terms. Only four Democrats are doing the same. McCrery says part of the reason he's leaving is that he wants to spend more time with his family.
HOLMES: Defense Secretary Robert Gates pushing for more international pressure on Iran. In a security conference in Bahrain today, Gates said that Iran must vow not to develop nuclear weapons and to open up its facilities for inspection. A recent intelligence report said Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but Gates says Iran's leaders could decide to restart that program quote, at a moment's notice.
NGUYEN: Getting out of Guantanamo, an attorney says that three British residents held at the military prison will soon be released and he says it is about time.
HOLMES: The attorney says the men have been denied justice. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown requested in July that they be released.
Time now for a look at your quick hits today, bringing more news in the morning. Let's just take a look at this, a huge pile of drugs and money. Federal agents say it was all coming through Atlanta. Sixty seven people were arrested this week in a massive investigation. Agents, got their hands on 111 kilos of cocaine or about 240 pounds. Man, that's a lot. Plus, up to $10 million in cold, hard cash. Investigators say Mexican drug cartels are using Atlanta as a gateway to funnel their drugs.
HOLMES: Why do we always have these kinds of stories, about, you know, the Christmas displays and some kind of ...
NGUYEN: Always, every year.
HOLMES: Some kind of issue. We got another one here. In Winter Haven, Florida, a man was confronting a neighbor about the alleged vandalism of his holiday display. The man ended up in the hospital with a gunshot wound.
NGUYEN: What? Over Christmas decorations? It's really not that serious, folks.
HOLMES: Yeah, folks. The victim's brother here says there's now a trail of blood linking the two houses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BO SHELDON, VICTIM'S BROTHER: It just tears me up inside. I just been praying about it all night, this trail, all the way down the street. It's awful. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah. The alleged gunman has now been charged with attempted murder, folks. Again, this was all over a holiday display being vandalized. The family says the shooting was actually in self- defense. More to come on that, I'm sure.
NGUYEN: Yeah, so much to say about holiday spirit.
Well, another airline close call, in fact, to tell you about. It happened at Newark Liberty airport where a landing passenger jet that is, where a landing passenger jet flew right over a smaller jet on the runway. Now, they came within just 30 feet of colliding. The FAA is investigating Thursday night's incident, but if you're wondering if you were either on a plane, near that plane, in the air somewhere, let's tell you about those flights. They were Continental flight 573 and Continental express flight 2558.
I guess it's a good thing that you know, but why now?
HOLMES: You might not want to know.
NGUYEN: Days afterward.
HOLMES: Wouldn't that be just a frightening thought? You know people checking out.
NGUYEN: My question is, why don't they just tell you? I guess they don't want to cause panic.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: But I'm sure if you felt some kind of, you know, quick movement you knew something was up.
HOLMES: We'll give you those numbers again later, folks, and let you see if you were on them.
We're going to head to some weather now, weather in the west a great weekend, if you want to hit the slopes. I know you are a fan of skiing. Not a great weekend if you want to be hitting the road, however, drivers breaking out the snow chains in parts of Colorado. The snow caused accidents that temporarily shut down one interstate and part of another.
Some parts of Colorado saw as much as two feet of snow. A welcome sight, of course, for those ski resorts. The Sierra Nevada region also got its first big snowfall of the season. Police report there were a few fender benders, but no major accidents to report. That's a good thing.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is.
Parts of the country are blanketed in snow or ice. Reynolds Wolf joins us now from the severe weather center with a look at the mess in some of these places. Good morning Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.
You know what's so weird about this whole event, it means so many different things to different people. If you happen to be driving through this, it's no fun for you. If you are a skier, my goodness, you couldn't ask for better conditions. Do either of you guys ski?
NGUYEN: I do. I'm not that great. I can maybe take it down a blue or something, but I can't do the blacks.
HOLMES: I don't attach anything to my feet and go down a hill fast.
WOLF: Oh, it's all you in good fun. You got to try it. I ski myself, but the bottom of the run my nose is usually up here or something like that. It's a scary thing to deal with, but this is beautiful if you happen to be a skier. If you are in Steamboat maybe, in Telluride, conditions could not be better, Snow Bird, it's going to be great for you too, doesn't look all that impressive right now. It's really going to start cranking up as we get to the mid-morning hours.
We are looking at another one to two feet of snow possible. All the big colorings you see behind me, either green or even in red, those indicate the advisories and the warnings we have through the Rockies and there are plenty of them. We're going to see more of that snow continuing to fall as we make our way through the day.
Now let's go back to the Midwest. This is more of a troubling situation because we are dealing with not just snow but the potential for some freezing rain, especially through spots like St. Louis, south of Peoria, back up to Chicago, maybe even over to the campus Notre Dame where they could be dealing with that ice, could be a real big problem along parts of I-70, especially going through Missouri.
Cincinnati and Columbus, you're just going to miss out on much of the action. But north of Columbus, just south of Lake Erie, that's where it could get pretty nasty through your day. That's a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: So, Reynolds, how good are you when it comes to skiing? Do you do the greens, the blues? I mean those are the only ones I can do.
WOLF: Basically what happens is they get all the emergency teams ready. There's like this ball of snow, ice, skis and gloves that rolls down the hill. I'm that guy, that's me.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds. Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks.
Weather not the reason for another delay in launching the space shuttle "Atlantis." Today's planned launch has been put off until at least tomorrow, problems with engine sensors. This is one vehicle you do not want an engine problem on. Yeah, they're having to push this thing back, been pushed back twice so far because of these issues. The faulty sensors could cause the engines to shut down during launch. We'll have a live report from the Kennedy Space Center a little later this morning.
NGUYEN: Well, how in the world did a 92-year-old woman get out of a mugging? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) I go to heaven and you go to hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah, that's one way to do it.
NGUYEN: Yeah, that's one way to reason with someone trying to mug you.
HOLMES: She's 92, she's been through a lot more than some idiot trying to mug her probably, but we've all heard of people talking their way out of a situation. She actually preached her way out of this one. We'll tell you about it.
NGUYEN: Good for her. The queen of daytime talk hits the campaign trail, but how much of an effect has Oprah Winfrey's support had on her candidate?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Mike Huckabee's campaign staff might be a little giddy today, popping some champagne this morning because maybe a new "Newsweek" poll they are celebrating. It shows Huckabee has doubled his lead over Mitt Romney in Iowa. What? This guy was in single digits at one point. Now this is among voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican caucus.
NGUYEN: But don't get carried a way because nearly every other poll such as this recent one by the American Research Group shows Huckabee and Romney, they are statistically tied in Iowa. Only future surveys will show if the "Newsweek" poll is just a blip or maybe even a trend.
HOLMES: Or maybe Huckabee did the poll himself. I don't know.
NGUYEN: On the other side, Democrat Barack Obama is banking on star power this weekend, actually make that superstar power.
HOLMES: Super duper, the queen herself of daytime TV, Oprah Winfrey, will appear with Obama said and tomorrow in three key states. Nobody knows more about how important this could be for Obama than CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are calling it the Oprahbama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oprah is a girl. She's a woman and Obama is a man.
CROWLEY: From Iowa to South Carolina to New Hampshire, presidential candidate Barack Obama will campaign this weekend with the woman of daytime TV. It's a programming Trifecta that's selling out tickets in South Carolina and lighting up the gray winter of New Hampshire and Iowa.
JODI PLUMERT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: One of the secretaries was just so excited about the fact that Oprah was coming, and she said, who would have thought? Oprah coming to little old Iowa.
CROWLEY: Oprah speaks daily to almost nine million viewers, turns books into best-sellers, makes experts into household names. Can she boost Barack? Oh, how this campaign hopes so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that having Oprah here on Saturday will definitely pull women out and I think it will just show that women in Iowa are Barack Obama supporters.
CROWLEY: Operative word, women, the crux the '08 election. Did we mention that Oprah's audience is 75 percent female; 44 percent make less than $40,000; a quarter have no more than a high school education; more than half are women over 50. It is a profile of the female Clinton voter and this is a direct pitch for that demographic. Linda Peterson from North liberty, Iowa, is leaning Obama.
LINDA PETERSON: I think it's going to help him with the women my age because she's very popular, very respected among my age group.
CROWLEY: While Oprah's support is unlikely to translate directly into a significant number of Obama votes, we are talking loads of free media and if they come to see her, they'll hear him.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you stand up in this caucus for me, then I promise you that I will stand up for you.
CROWLEY: Like all Obama precinct captains in Iowa, Monique Washington got as many tickets as she wanted. She's dispensing them to supporters and waiverers (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I make phone calls, a lot of people say they're undecided. And I say, would you like to come see Oprah and Obama and Michelle? They go, yeah, I want to come out.
CROWLEY: Obama workers also handed out tickets to anyone who volunteered four hours to the campaign or signed up for a caucus seminar.
(on-camera): The tickets that's were left went to the public, but to pick one up you had to go to an Obama campaign headquarters and give them your name and address. This is not just a happening. It's a campaign organizing tool.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Des Moines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That's our Candy Crowley there, part of the best political team on TV. She's going to join us live from Des Moines a little later this morning. That's in our 10:00 Eastern hour
Hillary Clinton's campaign is also putting out the big guns, her husband and her mother.
HOLMES: That's a good team.
NGUYEN: Yeah, 88-year-old Dorothy Rodham is expected to be by her daughter's side as the campaign works its way through Iowa this weekend.
HOLMES: Also, former President Bill Clinton will return to the state Monday for a two-day event to drum up support ahead of the January 3rd caucuses.
NGUYEN: So, she has the sash and the crown, but not the title. Can you say oops? Not a good one. Judges make a huge mistake in a California pageant.
HOLMES: I don't know. How can you make a mistake? She looks like a beauty queen.
There's another beauty queen, a 92-year-old beauty queen, a grandmother. We will tell you how she got a mugger to walk away, not just walk away. He walked away crying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYRA BANKS: (INAUDIBLE) Steve Peifer.
STEVE PEIFER, CNN HERO: I just got kissed by Tyra Banks. I figured out the odds of somebody like me being kissed by her the same as a meteorite striking this building in 15 minutes, so I would start ducking if I were you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: He's pretty serious about that, too. What a light hearted moment from a star-studded ceremony honoring CNN heroes. I watched every minute of it. It was so good. And it was a tribute. Here's why it was so good, it was a tribute to ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
HOLMES: Yeah, they were nominated by you, the viewers, and we brought you many of their stories over the past few months and there's Steve Peifer was one of them. He was honored for his work helping school children in Kenya by providing them with meals and computer centers. So certainly that work is rewarding, but he got a little bonus there.
NGUYEN: From Tyra. You can't pay for that, folks.
If you missed even a minute of the all-star salute to CNN heroes or if you just want to see it all again, you can catch an encore presentation, that is tonight, 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN. You may want to break out the tissues because these are terrific stories that are really going to touch your heart.
HOLMES: Here's another one that might tug at your heart a little bit. An elderly woman defends herself against a would-be robber. She didn't defend herself with a weapon. She didn't put up her dukes. No, she did it with words from the Bible.
NGUYEN: Yep, 92-year-old Pauline Jacobi says she reads her bible every day and that came in handy when a man tried to rob her in a parking lot in Tennessee. She says the man jumped into her car, threatened to shoot her and then demanded money. She refused and instead she started ministering to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULINE JACOBI, READ BIBLE TO ROBBER: I said, Jesus is in this car and he goes with me everywhere I go. And I guess he just looked around, and the tears began to come in his eyes. He says, I, I think I'll go home and pray tonight. I says, you know? You don't have to wait until tonight. I said, you can just pray any time you want to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What a sweet woman. Not only did she save her life there, he had a gun to her, but he said I'm going to go home and pray. That is some ministering right there.
HOLMES: Keep some scripture with me, apparently.
NGUYEN: At all times.
HOLMES: It works.
NGUYEN: OK, get this, though. Jacobi says she gave the man $10 and she told him not to spend it on whiskey.
HOLMES: He probably took her advice.
NGUYEN: I bet he went home and prayed, like he said he was.
So let me ask you this, though. Who is to blame for the mortgage meltdown? Joshua Levs is here to keep them honest. Hi, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys. You know what? One major Federal agency is saying it could have done more to prevent this crisis, which now could hurt literally every American. I'm going to explain, coming up -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. We're also following new developments in that just devastating mall shooting that left eight people dead. What was in the gunman's suicide note?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, who's really to blame for the mortgage meltdown in this country? If you don't care, you should. We're going to show you how this is hurting every American, even those of you who don't own homes. Josh Levs is keeping everyone honest on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: Everybody.
NGUYEN: Everybody. It's a big job and only Josh can do it especially when it comes to this one.
HOLMES: Wow.
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: I'm apparently the dishonest T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: Thank you all for starting your day here with us.
We are going to start this half hour over in Omaha, Nebraska. Can you believe -- this is the place where the gunman shot and killed eight people. That mall is actually re-opening this morning.
NGUYEN: Really, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins as you recall took eight lives Wednesday before killing himself. While the mall itself re-opens today, the Von Maur store where the shooting took place will remain closed.
HOLMES: Surveillance video captured these pictures of Hawkins as he walked into the mall on Wednesday. He was wearing a sweatshirt that said Jack Daniels on it. Another image from the video shows Hawkins -- this is really the eerie one here -- he's got his automatic weapon raised, carried out his shooting spree here. Hawkins, by all accounts, was a troubled young man who had spent four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes and foster care.
He did leave a suicide note. Police did release it. He apologized in it to his friends for what he put them through. He also said he would be remembered as some sort of monster.
In a separate note he wrote to his family, Hawkins again said he was sorry and that he just snapped. He also told specific people that he loved them, naming his mom, dad and others. Hawkins also left a will giving his mom back his car and leaving anything else to his friends.
NGUYEN: Well, Hawkins' victims included three men and five women. Funeral plans for some of them are now being announced.
A wake for John McDonald of Council Bluffs in Iowa is scheduled for tomorrow. Janet Jorgensen was one of the eight killed. She was a 67-year-old employee who worked at the store for 14 years. She is survived by three children and nine grandchildren.
A grandson spoke about her devotion to her family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN HUSK, VICTIM'S GRANDSON: It's going to be really hard because grandma and grandpa were the definition of true love. They were the epitome of true love. They had been married for 50 years, and really showed and brought the family together. This situation is obviously going to bring us tighter, but one thing that grandpa and grandma have always instilled in us is that family is the most important thing.
We've always had family get-togethers, and have taught us, you know, never to take anything for granted. Grandma knew that we love her. It's just difficult, obviously, with the timing. Graduations, and weddings and we're just going to miss everything about her because she was the most loving, caring person in our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Very composed and well spoken, considering the tragedy that he just experienced with his grandmother.
Well, a friend of the family says Jorgensen has helped her husband through cancer and cared for her 94-year-old mother in the past year. Jorgensen's funeral is set for Monday in Omaha.
HOLMES: A lot more funerals, certainly, to come with eight dead there.
All right, folks. We got some quick hits. Need to get you up to speed here this morning on some other things happening.
NGUYEN: Yes, it may be a longer break than expected for some of your favorite TV shows. That's because talks between the entertainment writers union and studio representatives have broken down yet again.
HOLMES: And talks ended late last night with no agreements and it looks like they are not even close on this particular script. The writers walked out five weeks ago, demanding more money from DVD sales and Internet episodes.
NGUYEN: The captain of the ship that spilled thousands of gallons of fuel, oil in San Francisco Bay is being asked to give up his license. The coast guard believes Captain John Cota is not physically competent to operate another ship. He was flooding the ship when it hit the Bay Bridge last month. California filed charges against Cota earlier this week.
HOLMES: All right. You park your car, you put it in park, you get out, you go into the store, whatever, and the car slips out of park. It starts rolling. That's a recall worthy event, don't you think?
NGUYEN: I would say.
HOLMES: Well, Chrysler having this problem, and is leading to a major recall. Nearly 600,000 trucks and vans are involved, 2001, 2002 Dodge, Dakotas and Durangos, also the 2002 Dodge Rams. Nine injuries. Yes, that been link to a problem where the vehicle slips out of park and the key is not in the ignition.
NGUYEN: What a mess that is. Your car starts rolling and you have to get your key in the car somehow to stop that thing. Oh my goodness.
HOLMES: 600,000, that's a lot of sold vehicles.
NGUYEN: It sure is.
HOLMES: So, pay attention there, folks.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
Hey, we want you to take a look at these pictures sent to us by I-reporter Julie Sell (ph). She is in Cincinnati, Ohio, in an area known as Whitinsville. She took this Wednesday morning. Look at this. Really beautiful. She says the orange glow was caused by lights in the parking lot.
HOLMES: Oh. Oh. Some of these pictures are so nice.
NGUYEN: T.J., you're getting awfully emotional about these.
HOLMES: I do. I like some of the -- because we haven't had any of this in Atlanta just yet. And some of these winter pictures, OK, I do like it.
NGUYEN: It is that time of year.
HOLMES: Kind of a softy.
NGUYEN: And it's going to what? 70 here in Atlanta today?
HOLMES: Is it, Reynolds. Is it going to be that nice here?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, folks, the U.S. mortgage market is in trouble. Well, if you haven't heard about that yet. We have been talking about it a lot. And this week, the Bush administration stepped in with an offer that could provide some relief for those of you facing foreclosure even.
NGUYEN: Yes, our own Josh Levs has been looking into the plan in today's "Keeping Them Honest." He joins us now. Hey there, Josh. That's a big job, keeping these folks honest.
LEVS: Tell me about it. It's exhausting.
NGUYEN: You need a raise, my friend. LEVS: So overworked and underpaid. Can I take what you just said, put it on a loop and play it for the boss?
NGUYEN: I just don't think it will help for some reason.
LEVS: No kidding. Meanwhile, you want me to get to the point and I will. Here's the deal. Since President Bush jumped in this week, what I want to do for you this morning is focus in on the role of the federal government here and also show you, how in the end this crisis could literally hurt every American.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Inflation is low.
LEVS: This was a staple of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
BUSH: Homeownership is at the highest rate ever.
LEVS: Some of that came from a rising subprime lending, loans to borrowers with weaker credit. Now foreclosures are at a record high, an estimated 1.8 million filings so far this year. Some Democrats complain the White House failed to act.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The administration was asleep at the switch, but we can't wait until we have a new president.
LEVS: The White House says President Bush has taken steps, such as pushing legislation that could offer Americans lower down payments and more pricing flexibility through the Federal Housing Administration. Together with the private group help now, the president is pushing a plan to freeze some people's interest rates for five years.
BUSH: Hope now estimates there are up to 1.2 million American homeowners who could be eligible for this assistance.
LEVS: The Center for Responsible Lending says because of the plan's requirements, it will only help about 145,000 families. The Federal Reserve also plans to help by announcing stricter lending standards. Regulators have admitted they didn't do all they could.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Given what we know now, yes, we could have done more sooner.
LEVS: Also named in the blame game are lenders, brokers, borrowers, Wall Street, but everyone in America stands to lose. Foreclosures hurt property values for neighborhoods. Lost value next year could total...
DOUGLAS PALMER, PRES. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS: $1.2 trillion. That's trillion, with a "T." As a result, our economy will produce over 524,000 fewer jobs next year, and grow a full percentage point less in GDP.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So you can see, this doesn't just hurt homeowners; it hurts the entire economy, really the crux of the economy in many ways. And now we're also learning that many people who may try to buy homes might have trouble getting a loan, Betty, T.J., even if they have good credit.
NGUYEN: OK, but how do we know, Josh that this new plan from the president is really going to help folks?
LEVS: Yes, that's part of the big question right now, is how many people will it actually help? The best way to do this is to track what happens in the coming weeks as people look into their options. Now, want to let you know, one thing you can do today. You can go to a website that we mentioned briefly there in that piece, it's 995-hope.org. Because, if you go to that website, they trace you through to some of the basics about what needs to be done, whether this applies to you.
Also you might have heard, there's a phone number out there you can call. It's on that site. But what this site offers -- 995- hope.org, you can actually get an online consultation. That will show you whether this applies to you. So, Betty, in the coming weeks, we are going to trace very carefully how many people are, as you ask, really helped by this plan.
NGUYEN: And that's part of keeping them honest.
LEVS: There you go.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: Gerri Willis is going to be talking about the mortgage crisis coming up at 9:00 on "OPEN HOUSE," so stick around for that.
NGUYEN: Barry Bonds ready to slug it out, dealing with his legal problems in court. He made his plea official.
HOLMES: Also, cowabunga on a couch. OK, that's a little too much time on your hands. They're sofa surfing, folks.
NGUYEN: Why?
HOLMES: Just because you can.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE LOPEZ, COMEDIAN: First of all, I'm here to profess my love for Betty Nguyen. All right, if you are out there, Betty, I watch you every day and I'm completely in love with you. I'm too late? But I watch her every chance I get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK, folks, if you don't know...
NGUYEN: I'm blushing here.
HOLMES: That is actor/comedian George Lopez doing with so many celebrities these days.
NGUYEN: Oh, please.
HOLMES: This is nothing new. This is old stuff.
NGUYEN: You paid the man. I know you did.
HOLMES: No. You have the man.
NGUYEN: How much was it, T.J.?
HOLMES: You had the man, tossing on camera, not that he doesn't do that anyway, but still, yes, that was him. One of our CNN producers actually, caught up with him in L.A. during the Grammy nominations and again, we can barely get celebrities to focus when we interview them, because all he wants to do is talk about you.
NGUYEN: Get out of here. George, hey babe, same goes back at you. Love the show. In fact, you know what, my little sister is a huge fan, so she is going to be so excited.
HOLMES: Well, he is a huge Betty fan.
NGUYEN: George, if you are watching, you are going to like this next story.
What happens when couch potatoes go surfing? We don't recommend doing this, but take a look. These guys used a sofa to catch a ride down a flooded street in Maui.
HOLMES: Yes, these guys actually -- they love Betty, too, but Chris Williams who shot this video, he shot it out of his front door, he says he's never seen this much rain in Hawaii, ever, not even in a hurricane. He says the water was 2 to 3 feet deep and it was pretty fast-moving, fast-moving enough to carry a couple guys on a couch.
NGUYEN: Do these guys have day jobs? I mean, really.
HOLMES: They do not.
NGUYEN: They are surfing on a couch in the rain.
HOLMES: But you know what? They made national television.
NGUYEN: And sometimes for many folks, that's all that matters. Well, this just seems so wrong. Christina Silva was named Miss California USA last month, only to have the judges say, oops, our bad.
HOLMES: Yes, because they blamed human error for a mix-up, they crowned the wrong person. And they say -- how could she be the wrong person?
NGUYEN: She's beautiful.
HOLMES: Well this week, Silva reluctantly, she gave up the title. She gave up the tiara to the runner-up, Raquel Beezley.
NGUYEN: All right, yes, so she gave it up, but listen to this. Silva reportedly has hired an attorney to explore her legal options. When you gave it back, do you really want it after all that?
HOLMES: Yes, you do. Look at that, she did the walk, went through all this and you're going to tell me...
NGUYEN: Human error. That's the thing that stings the most, though. This could have been prevented.
HOLMES: Look at her. She went through all this and you are going to take it back. Oh, please, come on.
NGUYEN: We'll see how those legal options go for her.
HOLMES: So, we will keep you updated on that because we will certainly be watching.
Well, something else here, great story. Wonderful news, Buffalo Bill's tight end, Kevin Everett, you remember he suffered that -- just what we thought was a debilitating and horrible injury. There you go. You see the video. Well, we got some good news to report.
NGUYEN: His injured neck -- well, this happened in the first part of the game of the year, in fact. Some of the doctors thought he might never walk again, but now a family member said he is walking under his own power.
HOLMES: Yes. Not quite walking normally, but this is certainly still good news. A step in the right direction. Kevin, if you're listening out there, your family, your friends, your fans, your teammates, we certainly wish you the best out there. So, just great news to hear that about.
NGUYEN: And you know, he is so fit that if anyone is going to make a comeback after an injury like that, you know, for someone to be so physically fit, he had the better chance.
HOLMES: They say that helps.
NGUYEN: Good luck to you. We want to see you out there again, so best of luck in your recovery.
A University Of Florida quarterback, though, aiming at football history today. Heisman voters could turn Tim Tebow, right?
HOLMES: Tebow, yes.
NGUYEN: Tebow, from a game-breaker into a ground-breaker. But does college football's ultimate individual award really mean anything?
HOLMES: Yes, it does mean something, doesn't it, Rick Hart? It means a lot.
RICK HORROW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course it does. It absolutely does. Come back after the break and we will tell you why.
HOLMES: Look at him tossing to break for me. Thank you, Rick. Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, giant slugger Barry Bonds will fight his federal perjury indictment. Bonds entered a not guilty plea yesterday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Bonds is accused of four counts of lying to a grand jury in 2003 about steroid use and one count of obstructing justice. The all time home run king has repeatedly denied using banned substances.
HOLMES: It's called the Heisman trophy who will be awarded tonight. One of four college football standouts will get the coveted hand off in tonight's ceremony. It could be Darren McFadden of Arkansas or maybe Darren McFadden of Arkansas -- sorry, a University of Arkansas graduate, sorry folks. But Tim Tebow of Florida, Colt Brennan of Hawaii, Chase Daniel of Missouri, there all in there as well. But is the Heisman a blessing or is it a jinx?
CNN sports business analyst Rick Horrow, pretty Ricky, is what they call them. He joins us with his insights. It's always good to see you, sir. Tell me this. Do you think that the person who deserves the award is going to actually get the award tonight? Before you can give me a name, do you think the person who deserves it is going to get it?
HORROW: Yes, I do, but I don't like your mindless shill taking away time from me. I do think it is a political vote.
HOLMES: It is.
HORROW: You know, McFadden from, you know, your school, Colt Brennan, small state, small island. Chase Daniel beat by Oklahoma twice, maybe it's Tebow, a sophomore from Florida and the winner is -- red grange. Oh no, I don't know. I mean, that's the bottom line. That's the politics of all this. That's why it's exciting.
HOLMES: Again, the politics of it, do you mean -- is it just he's in a big state, a big market, he's on the east coast and he looks good in his uniform, that kind of politics?
HORROW: Well, here are the politics of it, the big school, small school. You know, the last five of the Heisman trophy winners, three were USC, one was Oklahoma, one was Ohio state. So, the big program can spend the big money marketing the big reputation, the big image. So, if I'm Colt Brennan, I go transfer to Southern California in the next six hours.
HOLMES: Who does this, the value then, the Heisman, does it even mean as much as it should or maybe even as much as it used to?
HORROW: Well, of course it means a lot because in these days we just talked about Bonds and Vick coming up on Monday. You want the good guys. You want the heroes. You know, your CNN Heroes show, that's a big deal. Everybody likes the idea of rallying around a winner, even if you don't succeed in the pros.
By the way, eight of the last 20 Heisman winners were not drafted in the first round. Two were not drafted at all. Only seven went to the Pro-Bowl. Only four went to Super Bowl. And in fact, nine were Pop Warner players, so they were probably better before the Heisman than they were after. So it really doesn't guarantee success.
HOLMES: So, what does this mean for this award here now? Does it get ugly here that -- I mean, we see people politicking like you say, for this award. We heard some coaches from -- like Colt Brennan's coach out in Hawaii, he was kind of putting down Tim Tebow, trying to lift up his guy a little bit. Doesn't it get a little ugly in the politics of the Heisman? It takes away the glory of this great award.
HORROW: Oh, hey come on, it's the American way, OK? So, McFadden is saying, of course, I deserve the Heisman. Look at the games I had. Then he points to his 200 yard games.
HOLMES: McFadden is not saying that, man. He's a humble guy. He's not saying that.
HORROW: Yes, well, you know, listen you are a shill, so he doesn't need to be humble. He has got someone else doing it for him.
HOLMES: Yes, he does.
HORROW: So, it is, in fact, an award that everybody wants. People are just maybe now more honest and they just say it.
HOLMES: All right, certainly won't translate for any of these guys, though, into money for them. Does this lead to endorsements? Do they go into a pro career?
HORROW: Well, you know, Reggie Bush has some endorsements. He's having some problem off the field now. But when you look at the last few winners again, it doesn't guarantee success and it doesn't guarantee endorsements. And look at this, there are 100,000 high school seniors that play ball now. Only 250 become NFL players. Two years, three years, if your mom says, you know, do something else. You are not going to win the Heisman automatically. Even if you do, it doesn't guarantee anything. HOLMES: All right. It doesn't guarantee anything. Well, we will know tonight whether Darren McFadden is getting the raw deal or not, University of Arkansas. Had to get that in there one more time. Rick Horrow, our sports business analyst, pretty Ricky is what they call him. Sir, always good to see you.
HORROW: Go razorbacks. See you next week.
HOLMES: All right, see you man. Well, yes, who exactly is going to win that thing? That announcement comes tonight. The winner will join us live tomorrow, hopefully, that will be Darren McFadden of the University of Arkansas. I know that our executive producer here at the University of Florida grad, she's pulling for Tim Tebow, so somebody will be on our air, whoever that Heisman winner is. Again, 9:00 eastern, we will have him right here.
No parents, no problem. Going wild in D.C. Congressional pages getting into a bit of trouble. And Senator John McCain making a comeback with voters? Don't count him out just yet. That's coming up in the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello and good morning from the CNN center in Atlanta. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, so glad you could be with us this morning.
Mike Huckabee and John McCain, every campaign season we have to have a couple of comeback kids. These would be the two this time around, one of them taking Iowa by storm, the other making major gains in New Hampshire. CNN has the best political team in TV covering it all for you this morning.
NGUYEN: Also, is a popular Internet search engine taking strangers right to your front door? Parents, you better listen up to this one. It is a nation-wide reverse telephone book, meaning you type in a phone number on the computer and it gives you an address, T.J., even a map to your house.
HOLMES: The map, it maps it out for you.
NGUYEN: All the way to your front door. We're going to show you how it works and how you can block your number.
HOLMES: Some important stuff this morning, for sure.
NGUYEN: But first we do want to start with politics. With just over three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the presidential candidates are turning up the campaign heat this morning.
HOLMES: Yeah, Senator Barack Obama hoping some superstar power -- you can't get more super than this super star power.
NGUYEN: This is big league. HOLMES: Talk show host Oprah Winfrey joining Obama as he campaigns in Iowa today. Democrat Obama is locked in a tight race there of course with Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards.
Senator Clinton hoping a one-two punch of her own will add some momentum to her front-running campaign. Former President Bill Clinton, her husband, of course, will be in South Carolina today, trying to win support for his wife. Senator Clinton herself is going to be campaigning in Iowa, adding yet another twist to her vote- winning strategy, she is bringing along her 88-year-old mother, Dorothy Rodham. She will be on the campaign swing today. Clinton plans a two-day series of events in Iowa.
NGUYEN: Let's turn you now to the Republicans and in particular John McCain, building support again in New Hampshire.
HOLMES: Yeah, McCain has said that he is the best campaigner out there and he's trying to prove it now, being put to the test. Is there enough steam, though, left in his engine to take him to the finish line?
More now from CNN chief national correspondent John King, part of the best political team on TV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The telltale signs are everywhere. Winter's blanket means the wait is almost over. And the candidate written off in the summer heat is angling for another New Hampshire surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been said before; it'll never be said enough, welcome home.
JOHN MCCAIN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
KING: The diner stops and town halls start early and run late.
MCCAIN: I want to do the hard things. First we got to eliminate the wasteful and corrupt spending practices and then take on Social Security and Medicare. I thank you for being here.
KING: Independents powered his surprise primary win here in 2000, but are overwhelmingly against the Iraq war. McCain talks about a Thanksgiving visit with the troops and insists things are finally looking up.
MCCAIN: Senator Edwards used to call it the McCain surge, the McCain strategy. He doesn't call it that anymore but he used to do that. I knew what was the right strategy and that strategy is succeeding.
KING: At every turn, reminders of the issue that sent him from front-runner to frustrated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm truly, really concerned for this country as far as illegal immigration is concerned.
MCCAIN: So I tried to fix it.
KING: He tried by pushing a path to citizenship for millions here illegally. Listen now.
MCCAIN: So, it seems to me my lesson is secure the borders first. First secure the borders.
KING: But lesson learned doesn't necessarily translate into comeback kid. Money is still tight and unlike 2000, at least at the moment, independents here are leaning left.
ANDREW SMITH, UNM SURVEY CENTER: They're going to be voting in the Democratic primary so he doesn't have those people to go to.
KING: But McCain has clawed back into second place here and hopes the backing of this state's conservative "Union Leader" newspaper brings more progress.
WHIT AYRES, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: When Pat Robertson endorses Rudy Giuliani and when the "Manchester Union Leader" endorses John McCain, it reinforces my sense that the Republican presidential nomination is like the 2007 college football season. It just doesn't make a lot of sense and is not particularly predictable.
KING: If nothing else, McCain is different.
(on-camera): He alone among the Republican candidates goes out of his way to bring up global warming and climate change and he laments at virtually every stop that health care hasn't come up more in the televised Republican debates. At this Pearl Harbor day event, the speech was more patriotic than political.
MCCAIN: You know, my friends, those who go before us in the military are those that inspire us.
KING: He spent the whole week here, well aware of the stakes. Without a New Hampshire win, there will be no McCain comeback.
John King, CNN, Hamstead, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. To Mike Huckabee's campaign staff now and they might be popping a little champagne. I know it's early in the morning.
NGUYEN: Celebrating.
HOLMES: They don't care right now. They are a little excited because of a new "Newsweek" poll that now, look at that. Huckabee doubles his lead over Mitt Romney in Iowa among voters who say they are likely to attend the Republican caucus.
NGUYEN: A lot of people calling him the comeback kid as we did just minutes ago, but don't get carried away because nearly every other poll, such as this recent one by the American Research Group, shows Huckabee and Romney are is statistically tied in Iowa. Only future surveys will show if the "Newsweek" poll is a blip or if it's in fact a trend.
There's lots more to talk about this morning, dealing with the CIA and its destruction of interrogation videotapes of al Qaeda suspects. Two White House sources tell CNN that former White House counsel Harriet Miers did know about the tapes and they say she advised the tapes not be destroyed. Both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney say they only learned of the tapes two days ago. Some in Congress are openly skeptical, though, of the White House claims.
HOLMES: Another Republican congressman is calling it quits. Louisiana's Jim McCrery says he will not run for re-election next year. That makes now 19 House Republicans planning to leave Congress at the end of their current terms, only four Democrats doing the same. McCrery says part of the reason he's leaving is that he wants to spend more time with his family.
We turn to Omaha, the scene of that deadly mall shooting, a gunman there shot and killed eight people. That mall now re-opening this morning.
NGUYEN: Yeah, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins took eight lives Wednesday before killing himself. While the mall itself does re-open today, the Von Maur store where the shootings took place will remain closed. The mall's manager and the mayor of Omaha are scheduled to hold a news conference in about an hour from now. We're going to keep you updated on the developments.
In the meantime though, surveillance video captured pictures of Hawkins as he walked into the mall on Wednesday. Look at this. He was wearing a sweatshirt with the Jack Daniels logo on it. Now, another image from the video shows Hawkins with his automatic weapon raised as he carries out that deadly shooting spree. Hawkins, indeed, was troubled. He had spent four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes, even foster care.
In a suicide note released by police, he apologized to his friends for what he put them through. He also said he would be remembered as some sort of monster. And in a separate note to his family, Hawkins again said he was sorry and that he just snapped. He also told specific people that he loved them, naming his mom, dad and others. Hawkins also left a will, giving his mom back his car and leaving anything else to his friends.
HOLMES: Hawkins victims included three men and five women. Janet Jorgensen was one of the eight killed, 67-year-old employee, who worked at the store for 14 years. She's survived by three grandchildren -- rather, three children and nine grandchildren. A grandson talked about her devotion to family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RYAN HUSK, VICTIM'S GRANDSON: It's going to be really hard because grandma and grandpa were the definition of true love. They were the epitome of true love. They had been married for 50 years and really showed and brought the family together. The situation is obviously going to bring us tighter, but one thing that grandpa and grandma have always instilled in us is that family is the most important thing.
We've always had family get-togethers and have taught us, you know, never to take anything for granted. Grandma knew that we loved her. It's just difficult, obviously, with the timing. Graduations and weddings and we're just going to miss everything about her because she was the most loving, caring person in our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, a friend of the family says Jorgensen had helped her husband through cancer and cared for her 94-year-old mother in the past year.
NGUYEN: It is just so sad.
Well, take a look at this because heavy snow, damaging winds and the aftermath of major flooding all part of the weather picture this weekend.
HOLMES: As much as two feet of snow has fallen in parts of Colorado. It was a welcome sight for skiers and of course the resort operators, but the snow caused headaches for the drivers. In Las Vegas, pretty sure we are not going to see video of snow here. Strong winds though knocked down trees, including a tree that landed on a house.
NGUYEN: Never a good thing. Check this out, though. In Washington State, interstate 5 is back open this morning. A 20-mile stretch of the highway was shut down for days because of all of that flooding that they have seen in the past few days. Boy, it was a mess up there.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf here with us now. Where is the mess this morning, Reynolds?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds, we thank you.
HOLMES: A potentially dangerous problem now prompting a recall by Chrysler. Some of their Dodge trucks are slipping out of park. That's a problem, even when the key is not in the ignition. That's a problem. So far, nine people have been injured. No fatalities, however. The 2001 and 2002 Dodge Durangos and Dakotas and the 2002 Dodge Rams all being recalled, about 600,000 vehicles.
NGUYEN: That is a big problem.
Well, NASA has a bit of a problem and it is sitting on the launch pad in Florida. The space shuttle "Atlantis" was supposed to lift off today but that has been delayed until at least tomorrow. An engine sensor problem has NASA engineers looking for answers. The worst case scenario would have those sensors causing the engines to shut off before the shuttle enters orbit. So, for right now, that shuttle is going nowhere.
HOLMES: All right. New fantasy movie you all heard about, "The Golden Compass."
NGUYEN: I heard a lot about it.
HOLMES: A lot of people have been hearing about it. It's only been in theaters one day, but stirring up a lot of controversy.
NGUYEN: That's what you're hearing these days, that controversy. We will tell you why some say the film has an anti-Christian message.
But first, here's a preview of today's "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, guys.
You don't want to miss "HOUSE CALL" this morning as we tackle health issues and your kids. From baby formula dangers to a silent killer, it's called mitochondrial disease. Then we continue our surviving the holiday series, how to avoid holiday weight gain. Also giving the gift of health. We're making a list. We're checking it twice on "HOUSE CALL" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Got some quick hits for you, quick stories to tell you about, big piles of drug and cash in Atlanta. Check that out. Federal agents think two Mexican drug cartels have been using Atlanta as a major hub to move drugs across the country. The Federal investigation netted 67 arrests this week along with millions in cash and hundreds of pounds of cocaine and crystal meth.
NGUYEN: These picket lines may be the longest-running Hollywood drama this season. That's because talks between entertainment writers' union and studio representatives have broken down yet again. Talks ended late last night with no agreement and it looks like they aren't even close.
HOLMES: The Virginia home of disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick is up for sale. The house has been off limits since authorities raided the property in April and exposed the illegal dog fighting ring. Vick is due to be sentenced Monday in Federal court in Richmond, Virginia after pleading guilty to dog fighting charges.
NGUYEN: So if you are headed to the movies you might want to ask yourself this question: big-budget Hollywood fantasy or anti-Catholic propaganda?
HOLMES: That is the debate now over a fantasy film, "The Golden Compass." CNN's Brooke Anderson has the story for us. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
"THE GOLDEN COMPASS" COURTESY NEW LINE CINEMA: I have been (INAUDIBLE) to help (INAUDIBLE).
BROOK ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The Golden Compass" presents an alternate universe of armored bears and airborne witches, a fantasy film rated PG-13, aimed at kids and their families this holiday season, but inside this shiny package lies a sinister gift, according to some Christian critics.
WILLIAM DONOHUE, PRES., THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE: I think that it's really slipping in atheism in kind of a back-door fashion.
ANDERSON: The film is based on the first volume of British writer and self-described agnostic Philip Pullman's best selling trilogy "His Dark Materials" which end with the death of God. "The Golden Compass" was first published in 1995. Though there is no direct mention of Jesus, God or the Catholic Church in the film, children are menaced by a shadowy religious organization known as the Majesterium (ph).
"THE GOLDEN COMPASS" COURTESY NEW LINE CINEMA: The Majesterium is what people need. It keeps things working by telling people what to do.
ANDERSON: Catholic League President Bill Donohue says that's a veiled attack on the Catholic Church.
DONOHUE: The term Majesterium is the actual term that is used in the Catholic Church to describe the pope in communion with the bishops as the teaching authority.
ANDERSON: The Christian-oriented Web site movieguide.org has issued a warning against the film. Focus on the Family calls the source material viciously anti-God, and the Catholic League is calling for an outright boycott of the movie, fearing it will push kids to read the books.
DONOHUE: The movie is fairly innocuous, but parents may decide to bring their kids into this a little further by buying them the trilogy for Christmas. At that point, they will have introduced their children to the virtues of atheism and the horrors of Catholicism.
ANDERSON: A spokesperson for New Line Cinema, the studio behind "The Golden Compass" tells CNN the film is neither anti-Christian nor anti-religion and that the novel has been praised for its quote "deep spirituality and exploration of important theological issues."
CHRIS WEITZ, DIRECTOR, "THE GOLDEN COMPASS": I don't think that the books are a threat to organized religion. First of all, I think organized religion is strong enough to stand on its own. Secondly, I don't think that Pullman is aggressively anti-Catholic or anti- religious.
ANDERSON: Not all religious groups are unhappy with the film. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls it intelligent and well crafted entertainment.
Brooke Anderson, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So I guess you'll just have to decide for yourself on that one.
Well, toys are on every kid's mind these days, but who knew a toy could build something like this?
HOLMES: That's a church, folks built entirely from Legos.
NGUYEN: My.
HOLMES: Yes. Wait until you hear how many of them it took to build this toy church.
But first, we got Josh Levs, a preview of today's dotcom news. Good morning, sir.
LEVS: Look at that. That was amazing.
NGUYEN: It was really cool, right?
LEVS: Wow. Now I got to transfer to something more serious and that's this. The biggest search engines out there are making it easy for people to find their way, an actual map to your house if they can get your phone number but there's something you can do about that. I'm going to tell you all about it coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, ego-surfing. When you Google your own name to see what information is out there ...
NGUYEN: ...which can be frightening.
HOLMES: Yeah, I do it, but then it kills my ego when I see what people are writing.
NGUYEN: I don't want to see anymore. Make it stop. What happens, though, when you put your home phone number in a Google search window? That can be frightening. Josh Levs joins us from the dotcom desk. You tried it. And were you shocked?
LEVS: I was shocked. I was really surprised when I learned about this this week. Let me just mention at the top here before we go on that Google has a stake in AOL which is owned by our parent company, Time Warner. So there's that connection, full disclosure. We're good.
Now let me show you how this works because a lot of people are going to be amazed by what goes on. If you type your phone number into Google, a home phone number, it brings up a map of how to get to your house. We don't want to use someone's actual number out there and show it on TV, but it brings you to a map that gives you directions. It tells you all this information that may once have been available in a much tougher way, if you decided to go through a reverse phone lookup, maybe pay some amount to get it.
So, a lot of people who are starting to discover this realize it's very easy, if they give their phone number to anyone, for people to find out where they live.
Well, it turns out there's something you can do about it on Google. There's a button that you can click that tells you, remove my listing. So we'll show you what that looks like here. If you go to that page, (AUDIO GAP) and it should be gone so people will have a tougher time finding you. I have been fiddling around with this this morning, guys, and I also found that Yahoo! has the exact same thing.
You can go to Yahoo!, type in your phone number and it will bring you a map of the house. There, though, if you click remove my listing, it takes several more clicks. You have to go searching for the page that you need. They're making it pretty tough to find. But that page does exist on Yahoo! as well.
So, it's something worth checking out. Not everyone's number is on there. You might go there today, type in your own phone number, discover it's not there, but people that we know have been testing it, it is there and they didn't realize it was quite so easy to find. So yeah, Betty, T.J., I mean this is modern age, all the information out there, people concerned about their security. It's worth finding out about this. And if you want it removed, definitely click it off.
NGUYEN: When I first heard about this and I put it in there and it took you to that map where we live, I was frightened. And then -- here's the good thing about it. T.J. is working on it right now trying to get his.
HOLMES: That is insane. OK?
LEVS: I think he's ego-surfing, Betty.
HOLMES: No, this is for real.
NGUYEN: The man's a little worried, trust me. But here's the thing. Not only does it take it to your house but you can get it removed, that's the good part. Here's the other catch, though, if we can put up that page. Google will even give you a page that shows that it's not just Google that's providing this information. There are a number -- I think there was I don't know, a half a dozen other websites that have the same feature, this reverse, you know, phone book feature. So you might want to go to all of those.
LEVS: Test them all, definitely.
NGUYEN: We will be talking more about this throughout the day, too, Josh because I think a lot of people are going to find it very frightening and very helpful as they know it can be removed.
LEVS: Exactly. It's something.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh. I will handle this because he's trying to get his address off here.
HOLMES: This is scary stuff. My house.
NGUYEN: I don't blame you T.J. and a map straight to it. Trust me, I've been down that road and it's removed.
So, is it still part or art, I should say, if it causes people to call the fire department for help? Take a look at this. This sculpture has residents of one Michigan town sending out SOS messages.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Modern art, of course, is designed to provoke but there's a piece here to show you that sets off a few alarms. Man hanging out. Recently installed atop a high-rise in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It depicts Sigmund Freud dangling from a steel beam.
NGUYEN: All right. But for people on the ground in the dark, well, they thought it was a real person about to fall. The 911 switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Firefighters got to the roof, only to discover just a sculpture.
HOLMES: All right. On the lighter side now, if your child is looking for divine inspiration for his new Lego set, check out this creation by computer programmer Amy Hughes. She built the elaborate church a few years ago using more than 75,000 Legos.
NGUYEN: This is so cool. The piece is -- get this -- 7 by 5 1/2 feet and 30 inches high, nearly 1,400 legos. People can fill the pew here. Can you imagine that? Among the elaborate details are a balcony, rest rooms, mosaics, a pipe organ. You can see much more at amyhughes.org/lego.
HOLMES: Oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: Not again.
HOLMES: Oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: Oh, no!
HOLMES: Yes. We got a whole routine this year.
NGUYEN: That's nice.
HOLMES: We had a routine last year.
NGUYEN: Where is the bad kick, though? What am I doing right there?
HOLMES: Somebody's a little behind. Somebody is off. I'm obviously leading the pack here. Y'all are not keeping up.
NGUYEN: No, I'm leading the pack.
HOLMES: Y'all are not keeping up.
NGUYEN: Josh has got some moves there.
HOLMES: Oh, that's the moves right there.
NGUYEN: Here we go, here we go.
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