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American Morning
Church Shooting in New Life Church; Al Gore Receiving A Nobel Peace Prize; CompUSA Shutting Down
Aired December 10, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Ed Lavandera joins us now from Colorado Springs with the very latest in this case. Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, even though witnesses in the Arvada shooting, the witnesses here in the Colorado Springs shooting, say the shooters dressed alike and perhaps looked a lot a like, investigators say it's too early to say whether or not these shootings are related.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): It's just after midnight Sunday morning, when police say a man who looks to be about 20 years old wearing dark clothing enters the youth with the mission center in the Denver suburb of Arvada. He asks for a place to spend the night, but is turned down. The man then starts shooting at a group of people inside who had been cleaning up after a banquet. Two mission center workers are killed, two others wounded.
SUSAN MEDINA, ARVADA POLICE SPOKESMAN: He may have a beard or a mustache. He may be wearing glasses, and we believe he might be wearing a dark colored skull cap or beanie as it's known.
LAVANDERA: The gunman escapes. Police search dogs can't hunt the killer down in the snowy darkness. Then almost 13 hours later and about 80 miles to the south in Colorado Springs, another attack. A gunman who fits the same general description opens fire on worshipers leaving Sunday morning services at the New Life mega church.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shot me in the arm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just heard screaming and people running through the cafe eating area, and so some of us got to see what was going on because it kind of sounded like there was a fight. And then, we just heard gunshots and then you just like, oh, my gosh, what do I do next?
LAVANDERA: But the shooter didn't get away. A New Life Church security guard takes control, shooting and killing the attacker. But authorities still aren't saying if the same man is responsible for the deadly rampage. CHIEF DON WICK, ARVADA POLICE: We are not in a place to confirm any information about any possible similarities to these incidents being widely reported throughout the media, and I'm asking that all of our communities be diligent until we -- vigilant until we determine who is responsible for these crimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Now, law investigators in both towns continue to compare notes. As they say in these investigations, one of the discrepancies at least so far early on is the different guns used in the attacks. A handgun used in Arvada and a rifle used here in Colorado Springs -- John.
ROBERTS: Ed, when are we going to hear from police there in Colorado Springs, and do we expect that they will name the shooter who was killed yesterday?
LAVANDERA: It's possible. There's a press conference scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Mountain time, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We anticipate to hear a lot more, perhaps an update on the search warrant. As you mentioned off the top, that was executed overnight that we believe is connected to one of these investigations. It's just not exactly sure which at this point.
ROBERTS: Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Colorado Springs. Ed, thanks -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden wants an independent prosecutor, not the attorney general to investigate the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes. Biden says Attorney General Michael Mukasey shouldn't be involved because during his confirmation hearings he couldn't if waterboarding was torture. The destroyed tapes include hundreds of hours of interrogation of two top Al Qaeda members back in 2002. CIA Director Michael Hayden will face questions about those tapes before a Senate committee tomorrow.
And Senator Barack Obama is hoping the star power of Oprah Winfrey will translate into votes especially from first time women voters. The talk show queen stumped with Obama over the weekend. Speaking to tens of thousands of fans in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, Winfrey assured voters Obama's lack of political experience doesn't mean he won't make a good president.
And another Hillary Clinton stumper has been asked to resign for forwarding a hoax e-mail about Barack Obama. A volunteer in Iowa was told to quit for passing along an e-mail calling Obama a Muslim, intents on destroying the United States. It's a claim CNN proved was false. And last week, another volunteer was forced to quit after forwarding the same e-mail. She says she did it to prove how dirty the race had become. Obama is actually a Christian -- John.
ROBERTS: Al Gore is going to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize in less than a half an hour in Oslo, Norway. Gore, of course, was honored for his work bringing attention to global climate change. Here's new video of the vice president coming in there. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He made some earlier remarks today saying that he believes the next U.S. president will shift the country's course on climate change and engage in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. In an interview with the "Associated Press" before the ceremony, he said "The new president, whichever party wins the election is likely to have to change the position on this climate crisis. I do believe the U.S. soon will have a more constructive role."
He'll be picking up that award at about 20 minutes' time. He will also give a speech, which will occur shortly after the 8:00 hour. We'll have that for you live. And by the way, CNN is going to be carrying Al Gore live this morning, as we look at pictures here from Oslo, on CNN.com and we'll give you a chance to ask him some questions.
Our Jonathan Mann will be moderating the discussion. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/ireport and submit your question, and Jonathan Mann will be choosing from all of the questions submitted later on this morning. And at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, Al Gore will be participating live in that discussion on CNN.com.
And we'll keep monitoring developments here and as soon as the vice president comes up to receive his award, we'll bring it to you live, and of course, we will carry his remarks live just after 8:00 Eastern. That's about an hour from now -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Brand new at the CNN, John, British Prime Minister Gordon brown has made a visit to troops in Afghanistan. Brown reportedly met soldiers fresh from battle as he toured Camp Bastian, a British base in Helmand province in the southwest of the country. He's also expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
And the British man accused of faking his own death for insurance is due in court today. Police say 57-year-old John Darwin showed up at a police station last week, five years after they thought he drowned on a canoeing trip. His wife is also back in England and being questioned. She had been in Panama. Darwin claims he doesn't remember a thing that happened, John.
Well, this morning Michael Vick will find out how long he has to stay in jail. Vick turned himself in and is already serving time for his role in an illegal dog fighting ring. Vick could get up as much as five years, but two of his co-defendants were already sentenced. One got 18 months and the other got 21 months. Sorry, John, so back over to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Veronica. We're following extreme weather this morning. A deadly ice storm affecting millions of Americans from the southern plains to the great lakes. At least, six traffic deaths reported in Oklahoma. The deadly ice storm snapped trees and power lines, leaving tens of thousands of folks in four states without power this morning. Parts of Missouri reporting ice, almost an inch thick in some places. Missouri's governor has declared a state of emergency.
And ice on the ground means that trouble in the air abounds. Chicago's O'Hare Airport canceling more than 400 flights that's leading to a domino effect of delays across the country. Airports in Kansas City and St. Louis also having the same problem.
And the trouble isn't over. This system is moving east and getting worse. Rob Marciano off today. Jacqui Jeras at our weather update desk tracking the extreme weather. How bad is it going to be for many people today, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Extremely bad, John. I mean, this is some of the worst weather ever experienced really in some parts of the Midwest. We're looking at parts of Kansas, Missouri. In Oklahoma, in particular, that have been hit so hard, even in the last 24 hours, it's almost been constant ice.
The I-44 corridor, give or take maybe 50 miles on either side of that line, is where we have most of the power outages and ice accumulations up to three inches thick. Yes, three inches. Tough to kind of display on the radar. So our I-Reporters sent us an incredible picture that I want to show you.
Nick Zapareto (ph), he's from Columbus, Kansas, which is kind of near Joplin, Missouri, sent us these pictures. And there you can see the ice accumulating on the branches. It's bending the trees over. He said 90 percent of that county, which is Cherokee County is now reporting no power. And unfortunately, that freezing rain and ice still continuing to come down, and they could even see another quarter of an inch, maybe half of an inch on top of what they already have, so a lot of ugliness there.
St. Louis is starting to get in on the action, too, with some of the freezing rain. And we've showed you that on the radar picture of the heavier stuff which is starting to move into that area, so watch for accumulations. We're looking at also a lot of bridges and overpasses in particular have been affected. The northeast is getting in on some of this action, too, without moisture running in there but very, very light accumulations so not expecting too much trouble here.
There you can see some delays at the airport because the overcast conditions over an hour now trying to get into La Guardia. On the south side of this system, look at these temperatures. It's just incredible. We had a plethora of record highs across the southeast yesterday and John, look at the differences in temperatures there. Dallas, 37 degrees, while Houston is at 70. That's a big difference.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, there's a real line of demarcation there. And it's good advice that you say about those bridges because people should know even if the roadway is not frozen, there's a possibility the bridge could be as well.
JERAS: Right.
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks very much. We'll get back to you on this important story a little bit later on this morning.
JERAS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Right now, here's Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, John. Eight minutes after the hour. Tough talks with China topping your "Quick Hits" now.
U.S. trade officials are in Beijing today urging China to open its markets to foreign investment and crack down on counterfeit music and movies. A wave of dangerous products made in China have made headlines in the U.S. lately, including toys, pet food and toothpaste. China is warning that retaliations with the U.S. or relations rather, will suffer if Congress passes protectionist laws.
And Broadway stagehands overwhelmingly approved their new contract with producers. They ended their strike two weeks ago after shutting down more than two dozen Broadway shows for 19 days. In the meantime, there is no sign of a deal between Hollywood writers and producers. That strike has shut production of some of the biggest television shows for five weeks now.
And major wildfires burning in Australia. Hundreds of firefighters at work. We're going to show you what they're up against.
Plus, a gunman opens fires inside a church, before security guards shoots and kills him. We're going to talk to a man who was inside of that church at the time. It's all straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Keep it right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 13 minutes after the hour, a live look at what's going on in Oslo, Norway this morning as former Vice President Al Gore, and there he is, will receive his Nobel Peace Prize in a ceremony there. That will happen in about 10 minutes' time. We're going to be carrying that part of it live. And then the former vice president will be speaking, giving an address on winning the Nobel Peace Prize and of course his cause, global climate change, in about 5 minutes after 8:00 Eastern time. We'll carry that for you live as well. But right now, let's go over to Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, John. Some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now. Even Santa's reindeer like McDonald's. This picture we're looking at here sent in to us by Steve Moss (ph) of Warminster, Pennsylvania. His daughter, Amy, took this picture of a horse with antlers leading a sleigh through the McDonald's drive- through. Very nice.
Also an icy rescue in northern Colorado. A Grilly (ph) fire department diver save two dogs who'd fallen through the ice on a pond, Sunday. The diver was tethered to the shore. He reached the dogs and hauled them ashore. They're fine and they were reunited with their owners so some good news there.
Also, this to tell you about. Three major wildfires burning right now on Australia's Kangaroo Island. Five hundred firefighters have been brought in to fight the fire. The area has been declared a danger zone. Firefighters think it could take several days to get all the flames under control -- John.
ROBERTS: A mega church in Colorado is still reeling this morning after a gunman killed two people and wounded four others right after a Sunday service. A security guard shot at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs shot and killed the gunman in the sanctuary.
Evan Schubarth was an eyewitness to the shootings. He joins me now live from Colorado Springs. Evan, thanks very much for being with us this morning. Where were you at the times of the shootings?
EVAN SCHUBARTH, INSIDE NEW LIFE CHURCH DURING SHOOTING: No problem.
ROBERTS: Where were you at the time of the shootings, and what did you see?
SCHUBARTH: I was in the sanctuary. I was on the stage showing someone some music equipment, and a lady came and she came from the lobby and she was screaming, you know, like "there's a gunman, there's a gunman." So we all just got down and then the shots started firing and we just started running out.
ROBERTS: When she came out -- when she came out and said "there's a gunman, there's a gunman," did that immediately register with you?
SCHUBARTH: No, it didn't. I didn't really hear it. I just saw everyone ducking down and you know, I didn't really know what to do until the shots started to fire in there.
ROBERTS: You know, because here you were in the sanctuary of a church and we had that shooting in that shopping mall last Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska, and shopping malls have been warned as a potential target for terrorism, but you wouldn't expect a gunman to walk in and violate the sanctity of the sanctuary of a church.
SCHUBARTH: No, no, it doesn't happen every day. You know, I've never heard of it happening before and having it happen at home is, you know, the scariest thing about this whole thing.
ROBERTS: So when you heard the shots that ring out, what did you do and what did you see around you?
SCHUBARTH: I saw everyone ducking down, and I just heard them and I just followed everybody out. We all ran to the back of the sanctuary and exited to the outside, so I just kind of followed everybody's lead, did the best I could, tried to help other people, make sure no one, you know, tripped and falling and at the same time trying to get myself out.
ROBERTS: Right. Did you see anybody who had been shot?
SCHUBARTH: No, I didn't. I was, like I said, I was on the stage, which was quite a ways from the entrance of the sanctuary where the shots were fired. But they were so quick and we moved so fast that I didn't see anything.
ROBERTS: Wow. You know, the New Life Church, as we all know, went through some tough times when Ted Haggard was removed. That was last year. Now, this. How is the church going to respond?
SCHUBARTH: I think the church is going to respond well. Yes, it has been a very tough year. But I think in this time, we're going to stand up and, you know, come out of this a lot stronger than before. Yes, they hit us hard and our city is impacted. The church is impacted, but I think we're going to come out of this and really stand up strong, come out of here, you know, together, working hard together making sure we're all OK.
ROBERTS: All right. Our prayers are with you. Evan Schubarth joining us this morning from outside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
SCHUBARTH: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Evan, thanks -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Seventeen minutes after the hour.
Remembering Evel Knievel. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. The legendary daredevil's body arrived in his hometown today of Butte, Montana yesterday. A memorial service today will be held today. It is expected to attract thousands of people. Knievel died on November 30th, after years of failing health. He was 69 years old.
A possible sign that North Korea is softening its view on the western world. The country has invited the New York Philharmonic to Pyongyang in February. State department officials praise the move, but critics say the trip only legitimizes a brutal communist regime. The Philharmonic will reportedly play the "Star-Spangled Banner."
Well, Al Gore will accept his Nobel Peace Prize. That's just a few minutes away, and we're going to be carrying that for you live.
Plus, a generation of rockers discovered Led Zeppelin through their parents. Today, that's all about to change. A reunion for the ages in London. That's all straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It has been a long time since they rock 'n' rolled, but today a whole generation of fans will get to see Led Zeppelin on stage for the first time. The band is getting back together for the first time in 27 years as part of a tribute concert to Atlanta Record's co- founder, Ahmet Ertegun. The late drummer John Bonham's son, Jason, is going to be filling in the drums. It's still not clear whether this is a one shot deal or if could turn into something bigger. About a million fans lost out in an online lottery to see them today.
You know what I say? If the Spice Girls can get back together and sell out shows, Led Zeppelin can, too.
DE LA CRUZ: I think that they will.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: Ali Velshi joining us now, business news. But you are a big Led Zeppelin fan.
VELSHI: I really am a big Led Zeppelin fan. I like Spice Girls.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
VELSHI: I'm a huge Spice Girls fan.
DE LA CRUZ: Will you stop that?
VELSHI: I'm also a fan, as you know, of electronics. So I've got a little bit of bad news that somehow is going to make good news for you, guys so I'm keeping with good news this morning.
CompUSA is shutting down. After the holidays the company that owns CompUSA says, it will sell its properties, get rid of its leases and liquidate stock. Now that's liquidation. Here's the good news. The liquidation is going to start now, sometime in the next few days. So if you are looking for electronics, CompUSA is worth a stop on your way.
Take a look at how the electronics landscape looks in the United States. Best Buy is the single biggest electronics retailer in the United States. In 2006, it sold nearly $36 billion worth of stock. There was a day when Best Buy and Circuit City were kind of neck and neck. Look at Circuit City there now. The second and then CompUSA, just a tiny part of that equation. And in fact, that's more than just the CompUSA sales. That's the holding company sales.
Best Buy has more than 1,200 stores. Circuit City about 600, CompUSA just about 100 stores. And there's another shift in electronics and that is so much of it is being bought at Wal-Mart now and Costco and places like that. So that's tough on the electronics side, but you'll get some discounts.
The other thing is take a look at how the holiday shopping season is going this year. We are weaker than we thought we'd be. There have been fewer people out at the stores, and 60 percent of those people who are not done with their holiday shopping say that they're waiting forever the last three days. They're waiting for the big sales so now you get into the game of chicken, where you're saying -- the consumers are saying bring it and the stores are trying not to give discounts as much as they have to, but they may have to do it in the last three days. This is going to be an active end of the holiday shopping season.
DE LA CRUZ: The weather also has a lot to do with it.
VELSHI: Yes, absolutely.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, when there's bad weather outside, people are not going to go outside and shop.
VELSHI: Right. What they do is they procrastinate. The bottom line is the season comes and Christmas comes and the Hanukkah comes, and you've got to have done what you have to have done. DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
VELSHI: So it's interesting to see whether -- we don't think people are going to spend the money that we thought they'd spend or whether they are just saying to the store owners, I'm smarter than you. I'm waiting to see if you're marking it down enough. So it will be interesting to see how it all plays.
ROBERTS: Shame for all those people at CompUSA to lose their job. That's not a great Christmas.
VELSHI: Yes. But it's a growing industry so maybe they'll find them somewhere else.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: See you again soon.
Oprah Winfrey on the campaign trail. Tens of thousands of fans packed rallies to see the talk show host queen stumping for Illinois Senator for Barack Obama. Winfrey says she is beginning to like life on the campaign trail. She told voters Obama's lack of experience doesn't mean that he won't make a good president.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Will celebrity endorsements make a difference in how you vote? Cast your vote at CNN.com/AM.
Right now, 11 percent say yes, it will make a difference. Eighty-nine percent say no. We'll continue to update the results throughout the morning.
Just ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING, Vice President Al Gore about to receive his Nobel Peace Prize live in Oslo. We'll bring you that coming up next.
And there's more ahead, something new coming to a casino near you. Can it draw younger gamblers? We'll have a look.
And a genetic clue may be a breakthrough in breast cancer, what doctors found that could change the way we fight the deadly disease. That plus the rest of the top stories ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: It is Monday, December 10th. Kiran Chetry has the day off. I'm Veronica De La Cruz. Good morning to you.
ROBERTS: OK. Good morning. I'm John Roberts, looking at live pictures this morning from Oslo, where Al Gore is about to receive his Nobel Prize, Peace Prize, for his work on global climate change. He'll be making a speech in about 35 minutes' time which we'll be carrying live for you.
The former vice president about to receive the award in just a couple of minutes here. Our Miles O'Brien is there live in Oslo. He's been following all of the pomp and circumstance this morning. He joins us now live. Good morning, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John, from Oslo City Hall. Inside, the ceremony under way, has been now for about 25 minutes. It's just about to have a concert. There's a lot of ceremony and a lot of tradition associated with the Nobel Peace Prize, of course, more than 100 years now it's been bestowed.
The head of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, Ole Mjos has been speaking to the crowd, about 500 people inside there. The very elite of Norwegian society as well as, of course, friends and family of the award recipients, the former Vice President Al Gore and the head of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which is the U.N. body of scientists that is giving the definitive word on what's happening to our planet. His name is Rajendra Pachauri. They are seated on the aisles (ph), along with the members of the committee who made the selection.
There's six of them in all who pore through the nominations and come up with a decision on who wins the Nobel Peace Prize. In his speech just a little while ago, the head of that committee, Ole Mjos said it is a crime not to do something about the problem of global climate change. So while Al Gore and his message remain rather controversial, viewed through a political prism in the United States, here he's got rock star status, John.
ROBERTS: He certainly does. He doesn't suffer the same slings and arrows that he does here in the United States. Obviously, climate change there in Scandinavia is a very important issue. The vice president also this morning in an interview with the "Associated Press," Miles, making some remarks on what he sees to be the future for global climate change here in terms of U.S. presidential politics, believing that the next U.S. president will have to make more of an effort along with other leaders the world over to try to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
And there we see the vice president walking in. He also called on the United States and China to stop bickering over who is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and get to work on trying to lower the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide and other chemicals that are going into the air. What's the sense there, Miles? Do people believe that the next administration will actually make more of an effort to curb these global emissions? O'BRIEN: Frankly, I think there's a lot of skepticism about what the United States might or might not do on this front. You know, it's interesting, John, as this goes on in Oslo, on the other side of the planet, in Bali, leaders of governments from all over the world are gathering together to try to come up with a new treaty which would come up with a way of capping all of these emissions which you just referenced, sort of the successor to the Kyoto treaty, which did just that but which the United States, Australia, China and India opted out of.
Now, in the case of U.S. and China, there you the two biggest producers of these greenhouse gases and so long as they cooperate out of these efforts to regulate and cap these emissions, the efforts of all these other countries, the efforts of Norway and all the European countries that have embraced these caps, are really for naught, and so there is a bit of frustration here. I think there is some hope that things have turned a corner. Al Gore yesterday at his news conference made reference to the grassroots effort that he sees in the United States, several cities, states, even corporate leaders in the United States, now asking for regulation, set a level playing field, cap the emissions so we can all do business and move forward. Maybe that represents a fundamental change. Al Gore, likening it to the demand in the Reagan era to end the nuclear arms race and in the '60s, the civil rights movement, where it comes up from the grassroots, forcing some political change. So that's the hope here from Al Gore's perspective. We'll just have to see what happens come November.
ROBERTS: And of course, the Bush administration for years has been arguing that curbing greenhouse gas emissions would be too onerous a burden on the industry and may in fact harm the U.S. economy. It looks like they're running a little behind schedule so we'll leave for you now. By the way, Vice President Gore is going to be making his acceptance speech in the next half hour. We'll carry that live but again looks like they're running a little bit late. So, it may be more like 40 minutes. Later on in the day, the former vice president joins CNN live. If you've got a question, send it to in cnn.com/ireport. CNN's Jonathan Mann will ask Al Gore your questions live at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, live on CNN.com. Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: 32 minutes after the hour. Here's what's new this morning. New developments to tell you about a overnight in the shootings in Colorado yesterday. Police executed a search warrant at a home in Inglewood, Colorado. Police say they believe there may be a link between the two shootings and a second victim from the Colorado Springs church died overnight. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we spoke to a man who was inside the New Life Church at the time of the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN SCHUBARTH, INSIDE NEW LIFE CHURCH DURING SHOOTING: A lady came and she came from the lobby and she was screaming, you know, like there's a gunman, there's a gunman. So we all got down and the shots started firing and started running out.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DE LA CRUZ: Schubarth said he was on the stage at the front of the sanctuary when the shooting started and he did, he was able to make it out OK. Also, new this morning, we want to tell you about some other stories. Michael Vick will find out how long he has to stay in jail. Vick turned himself him and he's already serving time for his role in an illegal dog fighting ring that could get as much as five years but two of his co-defendants were already sentenced. One got 18 months and the other received 21 months.
Well, Vladimir Putin is putting his weight behind the man he says should be Russia's next president. Putin is endorsing First Deputy Premier Dmitri Mentedev. There was some controversy over just who Putin would report to succeed him, seeing as a push from Putin all but guarantees victory. Mentedev is a business lawyer. As for Putin himself, he says he wants to remain powerful in Russia's government once he steps down as president.
And border security was the main issue at last night's Spanish language republican debate. Candidates noticeably pulled back on their anti-illegal immigration rhetoric. Arizona Senator John McCain had warned in the past that strong talk on the issue would drive away Hispanic voters. McCain is the only republican candidate who favors creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Mike Huckabee says he won't run away from his record. That includes a comment he made 15 years ago that AIDS patients should have been isolated. The republican presidential candidate says we were acting out of political correctness, in treating the disease. Back then, he acknowledged the fact that HIV/AIDS is not spread through casual contact, but he did cite an instance in which a dentist may have infected a patient back in 1991. John.
ROBERTS: It's coming up to 35 minutes after the hour. Going to dip back in live now to Oslo again, where the entertainment has just ended and former Vice President Al Gore about to receive his medal, his Nobel peace prize for his work on climate change along with the U.N. organization that looks after climate change as well. Of course, all of this started with Al Gore's work on the film "An Inconvenient Truth" for which he was awarded an Academy Award, so Academy Award, Nobel Peace Prize. It's also interesting to note, too, the one thing that Bill Clinton would have loved to have won after his work on trying to craft a Middle East peace deal was the Nobel Peace Prize but that went to his Vice President Al Gore, who's in the crowd there. Our Miles O'Brien was saying a little bit earlier, though the vice president has said that he believes that the next administration will take more substantive steps to address this problem of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, there's still a lot of skepticism, not only in Scandinavia, where these awards are being presented but around the world as to exactly how much the United States will do. Let's listen in now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We summon Al Gore to come forward to receive the gold medal and the diploma.
AL GORE, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And his wife, Tipper, looking on as he officially becomes a Nobel Laureate and he and the U.N. organization split the $1.2 million prize that comes along with that. The vice president has already said that he's going to donate his share of the prize to charities and organizations that deal with the issue of global warming. He'll be back in probably about a half hour's time to give an address, his thoughts on winning the Nobel Peace Prize and also where he sees this effort to curb global warming going and we'll be back live with that as well.
Meantime, news that CIA interrogation tapes were destroyed came out as Congress was trying to outlaw harsh techniques like waterboarding which makes the subject feel like he's drowning. According to a new report, a bipartisan group of lawmakers we're told it was being used in 2002 but apparently at the time according to some reports they raised no objections to it. Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman was one of those who was told of waterboarding when she was the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. She joins me now. Good morning to you.
REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning, John. And Al Gore's many colleagues in Congress are so proud of him, I just want to send that message along.
ROBERTS: It's always a terrific opportunity when an American wins a Nobel Prize, whether it be the prize in economics or medicine or in this case the peace prize.
HARMAN: It's so well-deserved.
ROBERTS: Always good to see. Let me ask you about that meeting back in 2002, Porter Goss, who was then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee told "The Washington Post" that lawmakers got a pretty clear understanding of waterboarding and he said, "the reaction in the room was not just approval, but encouragement." Is that correct? Was there encouragement?
HARMAN: I wasn't there in 2002. I was a member of the intelligence committee but I became ranking member in early 2003. So I wasn't there at that briefing. I was briefed on interrogation matters in my first month on the job, and the briefing I received raised concerns in my mind and so I wrote a letter at that time to the CIA general counsel, who briefed mean and I expressed some concerns about what I heard, including the fact that if there were videotapes, they should not be destroyed. The letter's classified. I've ask that it be declassified, so I can't say in specific terms what I wrote, but I did hear over the weekend from a staffer that she thinks there was a response, very unsatisfactory, to my letter and I'd be eager to see if the CIA recognized then that what I said was important. They obviously ignored it in 2005.
ROBERTS: And the "New York Times" in 2005 on June the 12th quotes you as saying "if you're serious about trying to get information in advance of an attack it has to be made to work. I'm OK with it not being pretty." Did waterboarding rise to the level of torture to you or was that in the realm of "not pretty"?
HARMAN: Well, this is a very complex subject and it was all classified. I agree with John McCain, that waterboarding is torture. I think if anyone has authenticity in congress, he does and that's his view and I'm very pleased that congress is finally moving basically to ban it, and require that the army field manual, which applies only to military interrogations, applies to everything. We made a big mistake by letting the CIA have separate interrogations procedure.
ROBERTS: Let me ask you about these tapes that came to light or destroyed, these were tapes of the interrogation of a couple of very high value and high-ranking Al Qaeda suspects. You said in 2003, you sent a letter to CIA warning them not to destroy any tapes. The fact that these tapes have been destroyed, does that constitute obstruction of justice to you?
HARMAN: Well, it may. We have to see what the facts are. I gather that CIA Director Hayden is testifying in the Senate tomorrow. He was not in that position in 2005. He didn't make the call. Porter Goss was CIA director and said, as I read, that he didn't know that they were being destroyed. They were destroyed by a lower level official.
ROBERTS: Who apparently is the director of operations?
HARMAN: That's right apparently. But we'll have to hear what happened. If there were ongoing court cases, I know Congress was investigating. I know the 9/11 Commission was investigating. And these tapes were deliberately destroyed and not disclosed of that fact, was not disclosed to these ongoing investigations. It may constitute obstruction of justice.
ROBERTS: CIA Director Hayden says the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of the interrogators to preserve their safety and to preserve the security of the United States. Do you buy that?
HARMAN: I care about the safety of the people who work for the CIA. They take enormous risks and they just produced a very good national intelligence estimate on Iran, but I also care that the laws of the United States and our constitution be followed and I don't think we have enough information yet, but I think what I can tell is this is a bad story, and it has to be explained and congress is absolutely right to insist on a full investigation.
ROBERTS: The CIA, the Department of Justice, says they're going to investigate this. Do you have faith that it will be fair and impartial investigation or do you, as Senator Joe Biden says, believe an independent investigator should be appointed?
HARMAN: Well, let's see. This is the first test of the new Attorney General Mukasey. One of the problems we have in this administration is they set their own rules, they provide their own legal opinions, and they investigate themselves. This is another self-policed action gone awry. The executive branch has to follow the laws that Congress writes and has to let Congress do fair oversight. If we had been able to do that unimpeded in 2005, my bet is those tapes would not have been destroyed.
ROBERTS: So, too early at the moment for an independent council?
HARMAN: Too early for that but not too early for a full and fair investigation by Congress of what went wrong in 2005.
ROBERTS: Congresswoman Jane Harman, thanks for being with us this morning.
HARMAN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Always a pleasure to see you. Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Hey there, I got a question for you now. You out there, if you think only blue-haired ladies play slot machines? Well, it might be true but slot machines these days are getting a facelift to bring in younger gamblers.
Also this story straight ahead, is breast cancer in your future? Something in your genes may be able to predict it. How women can find out whether the trigger is in them. It's all straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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DE LA CRUZ: 45 minutes after the hour. Got some health news for you now. Researchers say they've discovered a major reason why women with a certain gene run a high risk of getting cancer. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins from us now from Atlanta with details. Elizabeth, what can you tell us about this?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a huge new insight into how breast cancer works and this could be big news not just for women who have this mutant gene but for women who don't as well. What doctors did was they managed to look at a mutant form of the breast cancer gene called braccha 1 and they saw exactly how it derails the body's own natural cancer fighting process. And now the hope armed with this knowledge they can come up with better drugs to fight breast cancer.
DE LA CRUZ: So, Elizabeth, should all women get tested then?
COHEN: You know what the answer to that is no. There are some ads out there. If you see these ads on TV they're very gripping and they might make you feel if you don't get tested for this braccha gene that you're really in trouble. I mean, these ads are really, they definitely get your attention, but the experts say that the reality is that this test is really going to mean pretty much nothing for many, many women, because most women who get breast cancer it has nothing to do with genes. So there is a small subset of women for whom these tests would be helpful. You have to ask your doctor if you fall into that group.
DE LA CRUZ: So explain this to me, Elizabeth. Does a positive braccha 1 test result mean that the person will get cancer?
COHEN: No, that's another thing that's important to remember. If you do decide that you want to get tested to see if you have this mutated gene, and you get a positive result, you have to remember that doesn't mean that it's a death sentence. It means you have a higher chance of getting breast cancer, but it doesn't mean that it's a definite thing.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Elizabeth Cohen with the latest on some breast cancer research. We do appreciate it, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: 47 minutes after the hour now. The New England Patriots are still perfect. Your "Quick Hits" now. Tom Brady and company rolled over the Pittsburgh Steelers to extend their record to 13-0. New England plays the New York Jets on Sunday, significant because the Jets and the team accused the Pats of spying from the side lines earlier this year and of course the Pats were fined heavily for it.
The "Golden Compass" led the way at the box office this weekend. The fantasy flick under fire from Christian groups, brought in $26 million. Disney's "Enchanted" and "This Christmas" rounded out the top three.
Ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories and winter storm watches, what it means for your morning commute, problems at Chicago's O'Hare today, we're live in the weather center with everything you need to know, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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DE LA CRUZ: 50 minutes after the hour. Let's get a check of the weather, from bad to worse. Take a look at these pictures. The massive ice storm that killed at least six people knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. It's grounded flights and now that storm is moving east. Rob Marciano is off today. Jacqui Jeras is sitting in at the CNN weather center for us, keeping track of all of it. Jacqui, what a mess out there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know, it's hard to imagine one to three inches of ice accumulating on your trees, on your power lines, and that's why we have so many problems. It comes down as liquid but freezes on contact, and we're very concerned about what's been going on here across parts of Missouri, down into Oklahoma, everywhere that you see that pink, we've got the freezing rain coming down and now into parts of Texas, near Lubbock, I know it looks pink here on the map but believe it or not these are thunderstorms which are starting to develop so the rate of the freezing rain coming down is going to be quite heavy and we're very concerned about what's going to happen in the next couple of hours from just to the south and west of Oklahoma City, extending down towards Lubbock.
We could pick up a quarter of an inch of ice very, very quickly in like less than an hour. Also some freezing rain to the south of St. Louis and the suburbs. It's been very light in the city. Still no problems at the airport but of course that could be changing. Here's some numbers for you of ice accumulation from over the weekend. Bowling green, Missouri, three inches there. Colombia, Missouri, two inches and 90% of your county there in Cherokee county is without power. Now, it's not over yet. You know, the warm air is starting to lift a little farther up to the north so some of the hardest-hit areas are going to do a little bit better by tomorrow but look at that freezing rain and ice. It moves north say from Kansas City, up towards the quad cities for tomorrow and they could see equivalent amounts of ice. So real ugly storm system is going to stick with us through a good part of the week. John.
ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui, thanks very much. We'll get back to you soon with more on this.
Coming soon, a makeover for the slot machine. It's all part of an appeal to young players. The new machines will include joy sticks and even the chance to compete against another player. It's all changing so quickly.
And this is not what Christmas is all about. Just ask the pope. His message for the material world, as we get closer to the big day.
And Al Gore collected his Nobel Peace Prize this morning and in just a few minutes he's going to talk about it. We'll have that speech for you live, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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DE LA CRUZ: Good morning. And welcome back. Pope Benedict XVI lashing out against Christmas consumerism. From his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, the Pope said Christmas is becoming too way materialistic especially for little boys and girls. Pope Benedict's predecessor John Paul II also cautioned the faithful there could be consequences of unchecked materialism and morality
ROBERTS: It's 4 minutes now to the top of the hour. Ali Velshi here "Minding your Business" and you might have noticed in the last couple of days that filling up the car costs a little bit less than it did.
ALI VELSHI, CNN, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Believe it or now. What a nice surprise in keeping with some other good news that we've been having today. We've got gas prices down to $3 a gallon as the national average. Again, it's kind of funny to talk about this as being good news, $3 a gallon. That's down nine cents in a month. We were definitely headed the other direction with gas prices but as oil prices pulled back we were watching for oil to get $100 to $100 a barrel. The watch pots not boiling situation, that's exactly what happened. Oil prices came down, so did gas prices. The problem of course with this is that once you start getting to those $3.09 or like we did in May, up above $3.20 and you don't see people really fundamentally pulling back. You don't see real changes in behavior, it kind of takes the taboo away from prices being that high and that kind of means to me that we've raised the bar on where gas prices can go but for the time being we are seeing gas prices about $3 a gallon as a national average. There are parts of the country where they're a lot higher than that and some a lot lower but that's what we're seeing.
And as for the Pope talking about consumerism, I saw "The Grinch" yesterday. "The Grinch who stole Christmas." It's true, the who people didn't need gifts. All of their gifts were taken away and they were having a fantastic time. Maybe the Pope is on to something.
DE LA CRUZ: How was it though? How was "The Grinch"? Good.
VELSHI: Yes. It wasn't one of those surprises, I sort of knew what the ending was. But it was a good show, nonetheless. I thought there might be an interesting twist but that is, you know, if you want... The Pope might just be affecting people. We had some slowdowns in retail spending but I'm trying to keep it all to good news.
DE LA CRUZ: That's what it is.
VELSHI: Yes. Somebody was listening.
DE LA CRUZ: You can't blame the Pope.
VELSHI: It wasn't the best weekend for shopping. Oh, well.
DE LA CRUZ: It was the weather.
ROBERTS: Ali, as always, thank you, sir.
VELSHI: Pleasure.
DE LA CRUZ: Nice to see you.
ROBERTS: Thousands of people are looking for help, are flooding the phone lines at the president's new sub prime hotline. But are home owners getting any relief? A closer look at the plan and whether it's what you need coming up.
And Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore will be speaking in Oslo, Norway in just a few minutes. We'll have that speech for you live.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Eyes on the peace prize. Former Vice President Al Gore accepts his award and speaks to the world, live this hour from Oslo.
Ringing off the hook. Calls flood President Bush's subprime hotline for struggling home owners. Is real relief still on hold?
And consumer alert. Christmas lights, lined with lead. What the science shows and what you need to know, a special investigation, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
I got an important story for you this morning. Lead in Christmas lights. We'll tell you where you can find that. Welcome back. It's Monday, the 10th of December. I'm John Roberts.
DE LA CRUZ: And I'm Veronica de la Cruz in today for Kiran Chetry who has the day off and I'm happy to be here nevertheless.
ROBERTS: It's great to sit beside you for a whole 3 hours this morning.
DE LA CRUZ: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Let's get you up to date right now with the latest developments in the Colorado shootings. Overnight, police executed a search warrant at a home in Inglewood, Colorado. Police say there is reason to believe that the two shootings may have been connected. Also, a fourth victim died overnight.
The first shooting happened in Arvada, that's a suburb northwest of Denver. The second several hours later at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs about 80 miles to the south. The first shooting happened just after midnight on Sunday at Youth With a Mission in Arvada. A man wearing a black jacket asked if he could spend the night at the mission. He was told no. He shot two employees dead. About 12 hours later in Colorado Springs, about 7,000 people had just attended a church service.
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