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American Morning
CIA Director to Testify on Tapes; Jeanne Assam Honored; Fed Meets Today, Rate Cut Expected; Huckabee on the Rise
Aired December 11, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: More than 500,000 people without power as trees and power lines snap because of the heavy ice. Thousands of air travelers also stranded, going to be difficult for many people to get back home.
Our Rob Marciano is here with us in New York today tracking the storming system. And how is it looking today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: It looks pretty nasty today. John and Kiran, good morning. We are talking about a storm that is going to create a wide swathe of ice if it hasn't done so already, from the northwest corner of Texas all the way to the southern corner of Wisconsin. There it is on the map.
You see the highest probability of seeing significant icing today. Anywhere from a 0.5 inch to a full inch of ice expected just from Kansas City northwest towards Joseph, up towards Davenport, Iowa, and then stretching into just the south of Milwaukee, where they could see 0.25 to 0.5 inch of ice. We've got cold air to the north. Record warm air to the south and east. That mix combined with a little bit of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. That is the recipe for this ice event that in some spots could be the worst that they've seen in some years.
There's the Texas panhandle. The pink is the mix, and we don't usually see this much of a mix. Usually, it's a more narrow ribbon, but that gives you an idea of the significance of this ice storm. We're seeing temperatures right around the freezing mark in Kansas City where Jacqui Jeras is. So icing is going to be beginning to pile up there especially north of the city proper.
Cedar Rapids back to Iowa, we'll see a snow and freezing rain and sleet mix there, and that will begin to accumulate and we're seeing some snow just north of Chicago. Chicago, by the way, will see some freezing rain at least in the beginning.
On another note, ironically enough, John and Kiran, we have this subtropical low, Olga, outside of hurricane season. So we've got an ice storm, and we've got a tropical system to talk about as well. Interesting things on the weather department. Stay safe out there.
ROBERTS: You've got it all for us this morning. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob. Well, also dangerous ice and the storm slamming in Missouri area overnight, part of that big system that Rob was showing us on the map, and forecasters now say a coating of ice on pretty much everything in the area. Many area school districts canceling classes for today.
Our Jacqui Jeras is live in Kansas City with a look at the situation for us. Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMERICAN MORNING METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran. Yes, everything is coated with ice here, about 0.25 inch in Kansas City. But if you see behind me, the streets are just wet. So traffic is moving along OK at least in downtown, but to get to the outlying areas and there are many roads that are closed because they're so slick, the trees have accumulated ice on them. And there you can see behind me, a very large branch has fallen off, and the police have cordoned off that area so nobody gets injured.
And I want to show you this pine tree that we have over here in the plaza area. Look at the how the branches are just bowing over from the weight of this ice. A good quarter inch is on this, and it's very, very brittle. And so that's the big concern is that all of the elevated objects are being coated with the ice that we've got a quarterback inch now. An additional half inch plus is possible in the Kansas City area, so an ice storm warning remains in effect until midnight tonight.
At last check, about 15,000 people are without power in this city, and they expect things to get progressively worse as we head throughout the day. So the streets are doing OK at this time, but bridges and overpasses will likely be very slick, and the morning commute is just right around the corner here in Kansas City -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much. We're going to be able to update people on flight delays at various airports around the country. We're looking at some tough times because of this ice storm, of course, in a lot of the major connectors like Chicago O'Hare as well as others. So we'll update you. They usually give us that information after 6:00 in the morning, Eastern.
ROBERTS: All right. Look forward to that.
Just in to CNN, back to back blast. At least 11 people killed in Algeria today. The nation's interior minister says bombs went off within minutes of each other near Algeria's Supreme Court. The North African nation is a member of the United Nations, OPEC and the Arab League.
The head of CIA will be called to Capitol Hill today to explain why tapes of two interrogations were destroyed. Michael Hayden is scheduled to testify in a closed door session with the Senate intelligence committee. The tapes were destroyed in 2005. Several investigations are under way right now looking into who knew and who approved the decision despite the objections of the White House, the justice department, and several members of congress.
The tapes show the interrogation of two top Al Qaeda members. A former CIA officer who was a leader of one of the interrogations says waterboarding was used against Abu Zubaydah, then he says the technique broke Zubaydah in less than 35 seconds. Waterboarding makes the suspect think they're drowning.
Interrogators tie the person up, usually to a board, tip the head lower than the feet, cover their face with a cloth or plastic wrap and pour water over it. It's to simulate drowning. The agent says he didn't participate in waterboarding, but he believes it provided intelligence that probably saved lives. In retrospect, he now thinks it is a form of torture. We're going to be speaking with him in our 8:00 hour and ask former agent, John Cariak (ph) why he thinks those tapes should have been preserved.
And turning now to the battle for the White House, right now, Mike Huckabee is in a virtual tie for first place among Republican candidates nationwide. But a new CNN Opinion Research Poll released just a little ago suggests he may have a tough time winning.
If voters went to the polls today, Huckabee would lose by a substantial margin to the top three Democratic candidates. A poll of 912 registered voters shows that he would lose by 10 points to Hillary Clinton, 15 to Barack Obama, and by 25 to John Edwards. We'll have more on the hypothetical match-ups when senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us live in just a few minutes -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We're also learning more this morning about the two church shootings in Colorado when the lone gunman police say is responsible for both attacks that killed four people. Police say the shooter is 24-year-old Matthew Murray seen here in a picture sent to CNN, by Murray's former roommate, Richard Werner.
Murray is the son of a neurologist who is a prominent researcher on multiple sclerosis. His former roommate told Anderson Cooper last night that he bunked with Murray five years ago at the missionary training school, where Murray allegedly carried out his first attack Sunday. Werner says Murray was kicked out because of strange behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF RICHARD WERNER, GUNMAN'S FORMER ROOMMATE: I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, and he was just tossing and turning, making some strange noises. And I was like, hey, Matthew, what are you doing? And he said, I'm just talking to my voices, man. Just calm down. I said, dude, you've got to be kidding me. And he said, don't worry, Richard, you're a nice guy. You know, you don't have to worry. The voices, they like you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the police are also hailing New Life Church security guard Jeanne Assam as a hero. She shot Murray. Police think that shot only wounded him and that perhaps Murray actually killed himself. CNN's Jim Acosta joins us live from Colorado Springs with more on that side of the story this morning as well. Hi, Jim. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Yes. Gunman Matthew Murray was armed to the teeth and had already killed four people when he came face to face with former police officer Jeanne Assam. If it hadn't been for her quick thinking, it's almost certain more lives would have been lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Cool under fire, Jeanne Assam says she never flinched as she took down a killer inside the New Life Church.
JEANNE ASSAM, CHURCH SECURITY GUARD: I saw him coming through the doors and I took cover, and I waited for him to get closer, and I came out of cover and identified myself and engaged him and took him down.
ACOSTA: An armed volunteer security guard at the church, Assam had never fired a shot before. But church leaders say her steady hand saved lives when she stopped 24-year-old shooter Matthew Murray. According to police, Murray had a high powered rifle and a thousand rounds of ammunition as he tried to storm the sanctuary's hallways, just as several thousand parishioners were leaving Sunday's services. Assam's security detail was on hand for just such an emergency.
REV. BRADY BOYD, LEAD PASTOR, NEW LIFE CHURCH: If we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 to 100 people could have lost their lives.
ACOSTA: Murray gunned down two teenage sisters, Stephanie and Rachel Works, and wounded the girl's father before Assam took aim.
ASSAM: I just knew I was not going to wait for him to do any further damage.
ACOSTA: Police say one of the weapons found on Murray after he was shot has been positively linked to an earlier deadly shooting at this missionary training center in nearby Arvada.
SGT. JEFF JENSEN, COLORAD SPRINGS POLICE: There's a forensics -- a positive forensics match between forensics evidence recovered from their scene as well as evidence that was recovered from our scene.
ACOSTA: The mission says Murray had trained there but was asked to leave because of his strange behavior. According to others at the mission, he told people he was hearing voices. Late in the evening, the gunman's uncle read a brief statement expressing the family's sorrow.
PASTOR PHIL ABEYTA, UNCLE OF COLORADO SHOOTER MATTHEW MURRAY: Our family cannot express the magnitude of our grief for the victims and families of this tragedy. On behalf of our family and our son, we ask for forgiveness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Police here in Colorado are now investigating what appears to be an online manifesto posted by Murray between the two shootings. That manifesto, according to the "Denver Post," appears to be word for word what Columbine killer Eric Harris left before that school massacre -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jim Acosta following the latest on these shootings. Thank you.
There are also some new reports out about the shooter, Michael Murray. Apparently, he was posting angry Internet messages in a chat room hinting at his looming attack. Coming up, Veronica De La Cruz takes a closer look at those messages, some of them apparently written in between the two shootings -- John.
ROBERTS: The federal reserve meets today, another cut in interest rates widely expected. Ali Velshi at the business update desk. And I guess the only question today, Ali, is by how much will they cut the rate?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, by how much. I'm very excited, John. Every six weeks or so the fed get together to talk about interest rates. It's kind of a special day for some of us business reporters.
But a lot of people ask me why a fed rate cut matters. This will be the third one. If it happens today, it'll be the third one this year. Here's why it matters.
When the fed cuts interest rates, it's just like your interest rate getting cut on your loan. Money becomes cheaper to borrow. That means businesses borrow that money to expand, either build bigger plans or hire more people. Individuals say because the rates that they pay for loans goes down as well. And when they save that money, they can either save it or they will do what Americans tend to do, and that is spend more money, which is particularly helpful right around the holiday shopping season. So that's why the fed rate matters to you.
Right now, the fed rate stands at 4.5 percent. The prime rate, which is always three percentage points higher than that, is 7.5 percent. If the fed cuts rates, let's say, a quarter percentage point today, which should happen around 2:15 p.m. Eastern, the prime rate will go down by the same amount, by a quarter percentage point to 7.25 percent. The big banks will announce that. That will affect your credit. It will also probably bring mortgage rates down even though mortgage rates are not directly tied to the fed. When the fed rate comes down, mortgage rates tend to come down at the same time.
So it's going to affect everybody in the country that holds debt. Through the course of the morning, I'll be telling you things about interest rates and the economy and why today matters -- John.
ROBERTS: It will bring the dollar down further, Ali?
VELSHI: It probably will. Right now, the dollar is actually trading a little bit higher. But what tends to happen is when the fed drops interest rates right around that point in the day, the dollar will drop again. And given that we think the fed is going to keep dropping interest rates for the next few months, don't expect any recovery in the U.S. dollar soon.
ROBERTS: All right. Big day for you today. Ali Velshi, thanks. We'll get back to you soon -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a new plan to ease air travel topping your "Quick Hits." The transportation department wants to reduce aerial gridlock in the New York area by limiting flights into and out of Kennedy Airport and by imposing so-called congestion fees on flights during peak hours. Those both are supposedly to be announced coming up soon according to airport officials involved in these deliberations.
The feds say that three New York area airports have the worst on time performances across the country. That will be Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark, and that the flight delays have a ripple effect across the country and even overseas.
The airline industry's main trade group is going to federal court to block New York's passenger bill of rights. The first of its kind state law would punish airlines for failing to provide adequate food, water and sanitation for passengers stranded on a plane for more than three hours at a New York airport. We've heard some of those horror stories of people being trapped there on the jetway for hours. Airlines could be fined up to $1,000 per passenger. That new law is set to take effect January 1st.
Well, you've heard of an apple for the teacher, but two kids at this high school are in big trouble for giving a teacher something much worse.
Also coming up, Mike Huckabee rocketing up the Republican polls, but how does he fare against Democratic counterparts? We're going to take a look at a new poll. It's just out this morning. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just in to CNN, an update for you now on that blast in Algeria. Television in Algeria now saying at least 45 people were killed. The U.N. Refugee Agency says the building in the Algerian capital was one of the targets and some staff are injured. The nation's interior minister says bombs went off within minutes of each other, one of them near Algeria's Supreme Court. We'll have more on this developing story. Keep it right here on CNN -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, some amazing shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now. Fire and ice in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You can see flames and smoke shooting through the roof of this home. The family was huddled in the cold as firefighters tried to save their house. Firefighters say that ice may have started the fire when it brought down power lines and caused an electrical shortage, dealing with many problems because of ice throughout the country's midsection today.
Santa salutes the troops at Fort Bliss in Texas, and there he is. He's shaking hands in this shot with Staff Sergeant Ricardo Silvera of the 4th Brigade Combat team. He gave a holiday greeting to about 200 other soldiers who had just returned from combat in Iraq.
And check out this picture. That's 100 million pennies. How about that? School kids from all five burrows of New York City created this penny harvest field at Rockefeller Center. There's about a million bucks worth of pennies there right now. All the while, I'd hate to be the person that has to count it. All the proceeds go to charity -- John.
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour. New poll out shows the race for '08 is tightening up. In the new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll of registered Republicans, Rudy Giuliani in a dead heat with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Look at those numbers there. Twenty-four percent for Giuliani, 22 for Huckabee. Well within the margin of error. Huckabee has gained a whopping 12 points since our last poll. Mitt Romney rounds up the top three there.
And in a CNN poll released just minutes ago, all of the top Republican contenders have a tough time against the Democrats. Our CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider is live in the battleground state of Iowa this morning and joins us now from Des Moines.
Bill, it said that these national polls that we just saw are a lagging indicator of what's happening on a state level. This Huckabee bounce seems to be real.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, and it's happening among Republicans all over the country. He's catching on. Why?
The poll says, number one, he appeals to traditional Republican values, you know, those conservatives who are looking for a real conservative. Someone who held their views on issues like abortion and gay marriage and guns. He is someone they see fits in a better way than McCain and Romney and Giuliani.
But number two, he's very likable. He's very charming. He's made a strong impression in those debates where he doesn't usually engage in attacks on his fellow Republicans. He's kind of above the fray, and he seems to have an appeal of someone who's a uniter, and that is very attractive to a lot of Republicans.
ROBERTS: He's got a real target on his back right now, unlike when he was well down in the pack. Can he weather this newfound scrutiny?
SCHNEIDER: Well, that's what we're going to see because since he's become the frontrunner or co-frontrunner in this race, all the other Republicans are going after his record. His record in Arkansas where he was governor on illegal immigration, on a parole decision that he had a role in. On taxes, he's accused of having raised taxes. A cardinal sin among Republicans. Well, he's got to stand up to that. And he's trying to do it, defending himself, defending his record, apologizing for things that he got wrong like releasing someone who went on to commit murder. ROBERTS: Yes.
SCHNEIDER: But he's trying to explain himself. But he's still refraining from launching attacks on his fellow Republicans because the nice guy factor is really propelling him into prominence.
ROBERTS: Of course, in our new poll that was out yesterday, we also took a look at the Democratic side of things. Hillary Clinton losing ground while Barack Obama is going up. She now leads by 10 points as opposed to that huge margin that she had there in November.
But let's take a look at some head to head match-ups here. Regardless of whether it's Clinton, Obama, or Edwards, a new poll out just this morning finds that all of them would soundly beat Mike Huckabee and the other Republican candidates. Huckabee fares particularly poorly in these head to head match-ups, Bill. Is that just an early read, or would he be a poor choice for the Republicans?
SCHNEIDER: Well, at the moment, he fares poorly because he's not as well-known. He's moving up in the Republican polls but as a national figure, people don't know a lot about him, and Americans don't vote for someone they don't know much about. So he's got to establish himself as a more -- a better known figure nationally, which he's beginning to do. But I think the message of the poll is voters want change, and change is benefiting Democrats want now.
Interestingly, the Republican who runs the strongest is not Thompson or Giuliani or Romney or Huckabee, it's John McCain.
ROBERTS: Right.
SCHNEIDER: He's the one who does best among -- against the different Democrats because he's seen as having the most appeal to the other party.
ROBERTS: Fascinating stuff as time begins to run out towards those Iowa caucuses. Bill Schneider for us this morning aboard the election express in downtown Des Moines. Good to see you, Bill.
SCHNEIDER: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: There's one major magazine that every year comes out with its rankings for the top high schools in America. Some people decide where they're going to live based on how good the schools are. Well, looks like this magazine got their math wrong. We're going to explain, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour now. A Harvard education is becoming more affordable for middle class families. For some families, it's going to be free. Your "Quick Hits" now.
Harvard's endowment fund will pay tuition for families making less than $60,000 a year. The university plans to spend an additional $22 million a year on tuition grants, taking the money out of that endowment fund worth nearly $40 billion now. It costs $45,620 a year to attend Harvard.
CHETRY: Gulp.
ROBERTS: A big oops for "U.S. News and World Report" in its ranking of America's best schools. The magazine mistakenly listed Vermont's Montpelier High School as the country's fifth best public school. The editor blames an error in calculating the school's overall scores, saying it's particularly embarrassing that we're in the business of judging people based on their math scores, and we got our math wrong. Montpelier did make the top 500, just not the top five.
CHETRY: Oh, those zeros will get you every time. Huh?
ROBERTS: It's those decimal points. Yes.
CHETRY: Well, speaking of high schools, this prank could land two high schoolers in Virginia behind bars. They're accused of trying to poison their teacher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER MIKE SPEARMAN, JAMES CITY COUNTY POLICE: Our investigation led us to two students at the school who apparently had placed Lysol in the coffee cup.
And it's a class three felony. It is serious. It's five to 20 in the penitentiary if you're convicted of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police were called to the school after the teacher complained of having a burning sensation in his mouth. He was treated by the school nurse. The two students have been suspended from school. Now if convicted as adults, as he said, they could spend up to 20 years behind bars.
Well, you may want to watch this next video with your shoes off, sprawled out in your seat, maybe a kid kicking the back of your chair. It's Delta's new animated guide for flyers with no social conscience. Let's check it out here. How they didn't use real people. They spared people the embarrassment here.
The airline produced 25 of them and posted them online. There you see one, the middle seat hog. How about that? To show passengers how to deal with some delicate situations that happen in close company on those planes. You may have met some of these chief offenders, and that one was the middle seat hog, the middleman, as he's called.
It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Using Delta's characterizations, who do you think is the most annoying flier? The middleman? Or the middle seat bully? Is it the "kidtastrophe," the person with the unruly children? The "lav dancer" or "lav dancer," the person who bumps into everyone on the way back to the bathroom, I guess? Or the "shady lady," the person who opens and closes the shade without ever asking anyone?
Cast your vote, CNN.com/AM. We'll have the first tally of the votes a little later in the hour. You care, though, you fly a lot. Do you care to make a selection?
ROBERTS: The middleman bothers me though I float in middle seats, and it's just terrible. It's like being mummified. It's awful. And the shady lady. We should be gender neutral because there's obviously shady men as well.
CHETRY: Yes. Exactly.
ROBERTS: It will change that. Trees snapping like twigs. It's your "Hot Shot" now. This was sent in by I-Reporter Erica Walls in Norman, Oklahoma.
She said it sounded like a war zone. Branches frozen solid, snapping all around her house. Trees coming down in the distance. Every tree has slumped over in her backyard. Take a look at that, with as much as three inches of ice coating everything.
If you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. The address is amhotshots@CNN.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from, a little bit about the picture or video. And one more thing, please make sure the image is yours and not someone else's.
CHETRY: Yes. Speaking of three inches of ice coating, everything including the power lines, we're dealing with major outages in a lot of the parts of the Midwest.
ROBERTS: Scary problem in the rest of Midwest today. Yes.
CHETRY: We'll be following it for you when we come back. Also, we're watching, as you continue to watch the most news in the morning. It's getting harder to keep your house and to get your kids out of it. How the credit prices is hitting college students. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Just passing the half hour. Breaking news out of Algeria to tell you about this morning. It's Tuesday, the 11th of December. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Yes, in Algeria that's where we begin, where two explosions rocking the capital there. We've been getting information that's been changing by the second as we're finding out new details. But right now, 47 people are reported dead from these back to back car bombings. A U.N. building possibly one of the targets. Emily Chang is following the developments as they change by the second. She's at the world update desk in London and joins us now with an update. Hi, Emily.
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. The latest report, 47 people have been killed. That's according to state run television. There's also a report, up to 40 people have been injured, and it's believed a lot of the victims were students on a school bus. Now, two car bombs went off back to back. One of them reportedly near the Supreme Court. Up to 30 people have been killed there. The other went off near the United Nations offices. At least 15 people killed there. Now, these bombs went off, we're told, within minutes of each other. Local media already referring to them as terror attacks.
And there are reports that one of these explosions, at least one of them, was triggered by a suicide bomber. Video from the scene showing craters in the road, rubble, people panicking in the streets. Phone lines have been jammed up. Now, suicide bombings historically a problem across Algeria. There have been several over the last few months. At least 50 in September alone. So, certainly, this is an ongoing problem there. At this point, there is no official cause of these blasts, but we are following this developing story, and we'll bring you, of course, the very latest.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Emily Chang, thank you.
Also new this morning, police say the two Colorado shootings are linked and that the same gun was used in both. They say they believe the gunman was 24-year-old Matthew Murray, who was thrown out of the missionary training school a few years ago. Police are also calling volunteer security guard Jeanne Assam a hero. Assam shot the gunman. Investigators say they believe the shot may have stopped him, but didn't actually kill him. Murray may have killed himself. Assam, though, does not consider herself a hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE ASSAM, SHOT CHURCH GUNMAN: I give the credit to God, and I mean that. I say that very humbly. God was with me, and the whole time I was behind cover, this has got to be God because He's -- because of the fire power that he had versus what I had was God, and I did not run away, and I didn't think for a minute to run away. I just knew that I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse and I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me. I just said, Holy Spirit, be with me. My hands weren't even shaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the pastor of the New Life Church says he thinks she's a hero. Last night on "Larry King Live" Pastor Brady Boyd publicly thanked Assam for possibly saving hundreds of church members. He says Assam rushed to the scene, and the gunman never got more than 50 feet inside the church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRADY BOYD, PASTOR, NEW LIFE CHURCH: This is the hero we're talking about. I'm sitting next to a real live heroine, and I'm telling you, this is the bravest woman that I've ever met. She didn't flinch. She put her own life at risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Assam said she drew her weapon countless times in her prior law enforcement career, but she never shot anyone until Sunday.
ROBERTS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to speak this morning. He is getting out ahead of a meeting on Iran sanctions today by members of the United Nations Security Council. Those proposed sanctioned would punish the Quds force, which is part of Iran's revolutionary guard core and one of Iran's biggest banks as well for its involvement in Iraq.
The head of the CIA has got some explaining to do. Michael Hayden will head to Capitol Hill Today to answer questions by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. An issue, the agency's decision to destroy interrogation tapes of suspected al Qaeda leaders. The tapes apparently showed controversial enhanced interrogation techniques which some people say are clearly torture. The most controversial of these techniques is called waterboarding, which makes someone believe they're about to drown.
Ahead on our 8:00 hour, we're going to talk with a former CIA agent familiar with one of those interrogations. He says waterboarding was used against Abu Zubaydah and may have been the key to breaking the suspect and saving lives.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, a Federal Reserve is going to be meeting today and is expected to cut interest rates. It would drop the interest on bank loans to its lowest level in two years. Analyst say that lower rates mean more borrowing, and that translates into more spending boosting the economy. The Fed will make an announcement at 2:15 this afternoon.
We have also been talking about the mortgage meltdown. Hundreds of thousand of home loans in default. Well now, analysts are saying that more parents are defaulting on student loans. They say family whose home loans are resetting at higher rates may then have a harder time making the student loan payments.
35 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business," helping digest this for all of us, including a new poll that's out as well.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, remember last week on Thursday, we saw this White House and the big banks coming out with a plan to freeze the mortgage rates for some people who are in trouble of losing their homes, not everybody, and there's been a lot of criticism about who that helps. But now, we have a new poll, a CNN Opinion Research Poll released just minutes ago, showing what Americans' opinions are about special treatment for people who risk losing their homes. Look at this. A very, very slim majority favor some people getting special treatment to avoid losing their homes.
46 percent oppose the plan. Now, when asked about what people think, what their opinion is of people who get themselves into trouble and face foreclosure, take a look at what this number shows. 46 percent of those polled say that those people are victims of bad lending practices. 51 percent say they have only themselves to blame. So, very interesting what the view of Americans is on the mortgage bailout plan. We'll have much more on that, and as Kiran said, the Fed coverage later on this afternoon. They're expected to lower interest rates
CHETRY: All right, 2:15 eastern. All right. Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 37 minutes after the hour, going negative. A new television ad slams Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee on his immigration stance. We'll tell you who's responsible for the ad and what Huckabee is saying about it.
And one town's tactic to scare and shame people into obeying the law. Does it work? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And it's just about 20 minutes now to the top of the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. Making a name for itself in December. Your "Quick Hits" now. Say hello to sub-tropical storm Olga. Forecaster says it developed near Puerto Rico in the Virgin Islands more than a week after the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season. Doesn't look like it's a threat to the United States mainland, but they do say the storm could bring life-threatening flashfloods and mudslides to parts of the Caribbean.
An icy wreck. A tree covered in a thick coat of ice smashes a car in Jefferson City, Missouri. The weight uprooted many other trees in the area. Power lines are down affecting thousands of customers. Many people there, as many as 600,000 without power this morning. And time to hibernate. Take a look at this. A ferocious looking bear frozen in time. The statue from Spencer, Oklahoma, and just like everything else across the state, it's coated in ice.
Rob Marciano is checking in on the extreme weather today. Rob, is this system moving on to take new victims?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: All right, Rob. Thanks a lot. Well, does shame deter crime? Phoenix is now putting the mug shots of DUI arrests on billboards. Not everyone thinks that's such a good idea. AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst Sunny Hostin is here with more on that. But first, we're going to start with the decision by the Supreme Court, and we talked about this before, Sunny, that frees up judges when it comes to the ability to sentence without these tougher guidelines, crack, cocaine, traffickers. SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: Tell us a little bit about what this means now for people who have been sentenced in the past and then also for future convictions.
HOSTIN: Well, it's very significant. Judge Ginsberg was the person that wrote the opinion, and what she said is, you know, you don't have to use the sentencing guidelines formula. It really is a formula that is typically used. And it goes from offense level to the criminal history, and then it just goes right down on a graph. And what she's saying is, judges, you're appointed. You're elected. Use your mind. Use your experience and craft a sentence that's appropriate. And today we're going to find out from the Sentencing Commission whether or not the new sentencing guidelines, in terms of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine are retroactive. And so we may now be seeing a lot of defendants freed at least two years earlier. So, this was a very significant decision by the Supreme Court.
CHETRY: The other story that we're following this morning is this COUNTY D.A. in Phoenix, Arizona, saying he wants to deter drunk driving by shaming offenders. And I think we have some pictures of these. These are billboards that say drive drunk, see your mug shot here. What do you think of these tactics? Do they work?
HOSTIN: You know, I haven't seen any statistics that show that these tactics work. And I've got to say, no one likes a drunk driver. No one likes a sex offender. But, I am not that comfortable with the shame campaign. I sort of take it a step further and I this, what happens if someone that convicted, their conviction is reversed on appeal. And now you may have slander. You may be opening yourself up to litigation. I just -- I don't like it. I don't like the shame game.
CHETRY: They say this will mostly involve people who are convicted felons and whose crime almost always results in someone's death. But there are others and defense attorneys who say, why not put up sex offenders, who at least people can know this is who I'm looking out for?
HOSTIN: Absolutely. That's very, very different when you have, you know, a parent being able to look at a billboard and say, OK, this is someone that lives next door to me. I don't want that person here. Let me keep my kid away. Let me call the authorities. This is a drunk driver that you may not know them. It really is just trying to shame that person or that person's family, and I'm not that comfortable with it actually. Surprisingly enough, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, it's great to see you this morning, Sunny. Thank you.
ROBERTS: A tighter than ever race in new poll numbers tops your "Political Ticker" this morning. With Mike Huckabee on the rise, the new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll out this hour asked Americans who they would vote for if they were voting today. Hillary Clinton would top Mike Huckabee by ten points. Barack Obama would beat him by 15. And John Edwards would slam him by 25 points. CNN's polling director says it could mean that Huckabee still doesn't have national name recognition. The Republican who fares the best against Democratic candidates, John McCain.
Mitt Romney is rolling out a new commercial slamming Huckabee over immigration. The ad claims that Huckabee supported tuition benefits and scholarships for illegal aliens. Huckabee answered a similar attack in the last CNN YouTube Debate saying the U.S. is a better country that to punish children for what their parents did.
Barack Obama has Oprah now. Hillary Clinton getting help from poet Maya Angelou. Angelou recorded a radio ad in support of Hillary Clinton which will air in South Carolina targeted at African-Americans who make up more than half of Democratic primary voters in that state. Find all the days political news around the clock at cnn.com/ticker.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, two explosions leave at least 47 people dead in Algeria. We're following breaking news here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also ahead, there are some new reports that the alleged shooter in Colorado left a paper trail online. Veronica De La Cruz will take a look at some of his online messages ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: 49 minutes past the hour. If you're just joining us, look at the headlines this morning. We're following breaking news and updating our top story today.
Breaking news out of Algeria. Back to back car bombs kill at least 47 people. A U.N. building may have been one of the targets. The blast went off within minutes of each other. The U.N. refugee agency says it's building in the Algerian capital was hit and that some staffers are injured. They're trying to get a headcount together to figure out just how many were hurt.
The head of the CIA will be called to Capitol Hill today to explain why interrogation tapes of al Qaeda suspects were destroyed. Michael Hayden is scheduled to testify in a closed session with the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon.
And the Fed expected to cut interest rates again today in an effort to ward off a recession. That decision is expected at around 2:15 this afternoon. And if it happens, it would be the third rate cut in a row, and it would drop the interest on bank loans to its lowest level in two years.
The number of dead from a powerful ice storm is gripping the Midwest has now climbed to 18. Most of those are the result of car accidents on slick roads and highways. Winter storm warnings are in effect across five states. More than 500,000 people without power, and air travel is a mess. We will get a complete live update at the top of the hour. We're also learning more this morning about the man, police say is responsible for the two shootings Sunday in Colorado. Police say 24-year-old Matthew Murray seen here in a picture obtained by CNN was thrown out of the missionary training school several years ago for strange behavior, including saying that he heard voices.
ROBERTS: Our Veronica De La Cruz has been tracking the Colorado shooting story online. She joins us now. What have you found?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been scouring the web this morning, looking at a lot of different websites, starting with our affiliate KUSA. We're also looking at Rocky Mountain News, Denverpost.com. And this is what we've found. These websites are reporting Matthew Murray used the screen nightmarechild26 and posted messages in a chat room for people who brake away from a fundamentalist religious lifestyle. And before he left for the first shooting, Murray reportedly posted his message to the group.
"You guys were awesome. It's time for me to head out and teach this expletive a lesson." He then goes on to write, "Thanks for listening, and even though many of you ex-Pentecostals don't understand. See you all on the other side. We're leaving this nightmare behind to a better place." And according to KUSA, that statement mirrors the one left behind by Eric Harris before the columbine shootings.
There's in the chat room realize what Murray might be up to. One of these had tried to stop him, telling him how he would make the Christian and the martyrs and himself into a fanatical hateful zeal of public opinion. Then a message time stamp between the two shootings, Murray writes, "I am coming for everyone soon, and I will be armed to the teeth and I will shoot to kill. God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you as I can, especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."
We're just looking at this photo moments ago. This was sent in to us by one of our I-reporters who claim that he actually bunked with Murray during the time he was with youth with a mission. He was taken back in 2002. And police say Murray spent up to five hours a day on the computer that he used. He was apparently attending an online school. They have since confiscated that computer during a search of the family's home. They are investigating it for further evidence. And I also want to mention that they have since taken down all of those postings online, anything by nightmarechild26.
ROBERTS: Did these things in retrospect, in hindsight, become so obvious. The trick is how do you identify these people ahead of the event and try to track them down? Interesting stuff.
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. Big question.
ROBERTS: Veronica, thanks.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, there is a settlement in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. Madison Square Garden, Thomas' boss, and the owners of the Knicks, reportedly paying former team executive Anucha Brown Sanders more than $11 million. Details of that settlement have not been made public. A jury awarded Sanders $11.6 million in punitive damages back in October. Thomas' maintain that is going to sit.
Disgraced NFL star Michael Vick going to prison for up to 23 months. Vick pleaded guilty to dog fighting charges back in August. He surrendered last month and began serving his sentence early. The judge could have given Vick less time but said that he isn't so sure Vick fully accepts responsibility for his actions.
The superbug is back. Drug resistant Staph infection killed a middle school teacher. We're going to tell you what school officials are saying about it and how they're taking precautions today.
Also, you may remember Armani, the monkey. We told you about him back in May. He was taken from his owner in Maryland and put in a zoo. She's since waged a major fight, costing her thousands of dollars to get Armani back. We're going to have an update for you coming up.
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Armani is back home. Not Giorgio Armani, but Armani, the monkey. That was the monkey that had quite a tale of woe. A judge in Rockfield, Maryland, ordered that this monkey be returned in time for Christmas. Armani was taken from his owner back in May. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland, a place where you're not allowed to have monkeys unless they're grandfathered in. We spoke with Elyse Gazewitz with on AMERICAN MORNING right after Armani was taken.
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ELYSE GAZEWITZ, ARMANI'S OWNER: Armani has already started learning his colors, and he knows how to turn the remote control on, and we watch TV together in the morning. And he just -- he has a routine every day, and I just want him to come home because I'm very worried.
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CHETRY: That was Elyse. She was in tears when she spoke with us back in May. Since, that has wage a big court battle to get Armani back. We're going to speak with her live at 8:50 eastern to find out, whether or not, it was a Christmas miracle for that family.
ROBERTS: She was so incredibly distraught about that whole thing. Its great to see that he's back home.
The drug-resistant form of Staph infection making headlines again. This time a teacher died. What the school is doing to protect its students. We'll tell you coming up.
And the rising death toll after two bomb blasts in Algeria. Carnage on the streets and race to save lives. Breaking news. As the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
CHETRY: Whole new ball game. New numbers on Mike Huckabee's remarkable rise. Should frontrunners on both sides worry?
Stuck on the sidelines. More than a million legal immigrants unable to become Americans, unable to vote. Who or what is holding them back?
Young, drunk, and logged on. Pictures they wouldn't show to dad being posted for millions to see online. Girls gone wild and the consequences on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome. It is Tuesday, December 11th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
We begin this hour with breaking news from Algeria. Dozens of people dead as two explosions rock the Algerian capital. Authorities say two car bombs killed at least 47 people in Algiers. That's on the northern coast of the Africa. Videos just in to CNN, shows a chaotic scene in the aftermath with the wounded being carried away. A United Nations building may have been one of the targets. Our Emily Chang is following this from our world update desk in London and joins us now. What's the latest from there, Emily?
CHANG: Good morning, John. Well, we're seeing reports that up to 52 people may have been killed and more than 40 people injured. We just spoke with a spokesperson from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Office.
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