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American Morning
CIA Tapes Case: Administration Facing Questions; Fight Against Cancer: Does Stem Cells Hold the Answer?; Memories of Son: Dog Worked with Family's Son in Iraq; Foreign Investors Overseas Help for U.S. Co.
Aired December 21, 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: A hearing on the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes will happen just a few hours from now in Washington. There are questions about how high the discussions went. There are already reports that top Bush administration officials were involved. The federal judge also wants to find out whether the CIA ignored his order to hold onto evidence relating to torture. Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, has the latest for us now live from Washington.
Good morning, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You know, the Justice Department as you know is conducting its own investigation into the destruction of those videotapes and really did not want this court proceeding to move forward. Officials argued that it could complicate, maybe even derail the investigation but the judge was not swayed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): Judge Henry Kennedy did not elaborate. He simply ordered the government to appear before him this morning. Justice Department officials had warned that a court proceeding could complicate or even disrupt its ongoing investigation into the destruction of CIA tapes. Apparently, Judge Kennedy didn't buy it.
TIM HEAPHY, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: If it goes the next step and Judge Kennedy allows the plaintiffs in the civil suit to subpoena representatives of the CIA who have personal knowledge about this destruction, that is a very damaging fact for the department.
ARENA: Back in 2005, Kennedy ordered the government to safeguard all evidence of possible torture or mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now with word the CIA destroyed interrogation tapes, some question whether the government violated that order. The Bush administration says it did not. That's because al Qaeda operatives who were taped were being held in secret locations in 2005, not a Guantanamo Bay.
David Remes, who represents several detainees at Gitmo, requested today's hearing.
DAVID REMES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: As far as the government is concerned, it wants to keep the foxes in charge of the hen house. It only wants the Justice Department and the CIA to look into this question of document destruction.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Most legal experts expect today to be largely a fact- finding mission so the judge can decide whether more hearings are necessary. And, John, you know, this court hearing isn't the only new development today. Officials tell CNN that the CIA has sent a referral to the justice department to investigate whether former CIA official, John Kiriakou, disclosed classified information.
You remember him, John. He appeared here on CNN, and he spoke about how al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded. Well, I've asked DOJ for a comment but I can tell you, it never comments on these types of referrals. So I don't expect them to elaborate this morning, John.
ROBERTS: There were a lot of people wondering when Kiriakou came out with his story a couple weeks ago, whether or not he was actually disclosing state secrets by describing waterboarding and describing what happened to Abu Zubaydah.
ARENA: That's right.
ROBERTS: How serious is this referral? Is this just a -- is this just an inquiry or could this lead to criminal charges?
ARENA: Well, you know, these referrals very rarely lead to criminal charges. But with all due diligence, I mean, everyone that I spoke to when this first happened said, surely the CIA has to refer this to DOJ to see if there's, you know, a violation of that classified information so it's fully expected. Where it goes from here we don't know.
ROBERTS: Yes. And we should for full disclosure say, Kelli, that we tried to contact John Kiriakou this morning. We're told that he's not talking to anybody about this. Kelli Arena for us this morning.
Kelli, thanks for that breaking news -- Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Also new this morning, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is hot over the Bush administration's rejection of his state's effort to tighten rules on greenhouse gases. Schwarzenegger plans to sue over the EPA'S denial of a waiver that would have allowed California to cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles faster than a new federal plan the president just signed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIFORNIA: It's another example of the administration's failure to treat global warming with the seriousness that it actually demands.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The director in assessing the law, in assessing what would be more, you know, more effective for the country, says we now have a national plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Sixteen other states want to follow Schwarzenegger's lead and get more aggressive on emissions. New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine, called the EPA's decision horrendous and based on "crazy reasoning."
The White House is fighting to keep its visitor logs a secret. The Bush administration asked a federal judge yesterday not to force the release of visitor logs until it can appeal a ruling that the documents are public. A liberal group wants to see how many times conservative religious commentators like James Dobson and Jerry Falwell visited the Bush administration. The logs are kept by the secret service, which means they can be obtained by a freedom of information act request.
And millions of dollars in questionable payments linked to the Medicare program. Government auditors are questioning $90 million in payments to contractors who helped enact the prescription drug benefit for the elderly and disabled. The contractors helped with marketing the 1.800 Medicare or the 1-800 Medicare helpline rather. They also provided technical help. Auditors found payments didn't comply with the terms of contracts -- John.
ROBERTS: We're also following breaking news out of Pakistan this morning. A mosque bombing kills at least 50 people and injuries 100 others. Police say the bomber was praying alongside others when he set off his suicide device packed with ball bearings and nails. The blast happened on the property of Pakistan's former interior minister. It is the second attack targeting the man in eight months. He was not injured.
As many of you set out to travel this holiday weekend, another close call in the skies to tell you about. The FAA says that two Chicago air traffic controllers are to blame for putting a Southwest Airlines 737 and a Beechcraft Super King 200 too close to each other in the air. It happened in Springfield, Illinois, on Wednesday morning.
According to documents, the two planes came within 3.6 miles of each other horizontally. Minimum space in between planes is five miles horizontally. This is the second controller error reported at the Chicago Radar Center just this week.
The four suspects accused in the murder of football star Sean Taylor will be arraigned in Miami today. The four men all entered written pleas of not guilty to charges of first degree felony murder and armed burglary. The written pleas mean that they will not appear in person at the arraignment. Police say at least two of them have confessed.
DE LA CRUZ: Police used tasers and tear gas on a New Orleans crowd protesting housing plans and now four people are in the hospital. Look at all the pictures. You can see the fight inside of the city council chambers moments ago. Hundreds then pushed back police outside. They're protesting the planned demolition of 4,500 public housing units. Protesters say they are afraid local and federal governments won't replace the housing units with similar affordable buildings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACIE WASHINGTON, ATTORNEY: It's a race issue because the public housing developments were 100 percent black, and these are the people who are not being allowed to return to the city.
ARNIE FIELKOW, CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Not only are we going forward for the future, but we have safeguards in place in the interim that are going to allow to us make sure that HUD and HANU perform what they promised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: The units were set up after Hurricane Katrina council members claimed they are ridden with crime. Fifteen people were arrested -- John.
ROBERTS: Seven minutes now after the hour. Veronica, Reynolds Wolf in for Rob Marciano today at the weather update desk tracking some extreme weather. Did they get any significant rain in Georgia to help alleviate this drought?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, not much. What we need, John, is just some steady soaking rain for days on end but that really wasn't the picture. We did get some rain and some is better than none. Right now, it's making its way towards the coast.
As we take a look at our weather radar, you're going to see most would be in to pick up into the Carolinas and, of course. to the southeastern Georgia. You know, today is a huge travel day, not only for people traveling around the country but a lot of people going to the store to get those last-minute presents. It is going to be a slow and go time for you in Columbia, southward into Charleston, same deal there.
Savannah, Georgia, rainy commute for you along parts of I-16. And we leave that area. Head farther to the north, we are seeing a few scattered snow showers up in the Great Lakes state of Michigan, from Grand Rapids southward Kalamazoo, a little bit of light snowfall forming at this time.
Now let's show you what else we're going to be dealing with, not just today but in through the holiday weekend. It looks like that big trough of low pressure is really going to pull in some cool and wet conditions for parts of the southeast and in the northeast, too. But a lot of cold air vecting in from the north could bring some heavy snowfall to the western Great Lakes, the central northern plains. And back out to the pacific northwest, it is going to be a rain event for you from San Francisco northward to Redding, California. Portland even in Seattle, yes. You will be dealing with some scattered showers as far east as Spokane and back up into Boise.
We could also see some heavy snowfall in parts of the cascades and into the Sierra Nevada. If you're spending holidays up into say, Tahoe, the weather is going to be perfect for all of you skiers.
That is a look at what you can expect weather-wise around the nation. Of course, we're going to have more updates coming up not just dealing with, of course, just the issues you may be dealing with on the roads but also we're going to be talking with the airports. That is moments away you won't want to miss it. Back to you.
ROBERTS: Great to have those good conditions in ski country.
WOLF: You bet.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks very much. Talk to you soon -- Veronica?
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, John.
All right. We want to take a moment to introduce you to Lex, a German shepherd bomb sniffing dog that patrolled Iraq with Marine Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee. Lee was killed in a mortar attack in Fallujah last March, and Lex was also wounded in the attack. When Corporal Lee's family found out about the strong bond the two shared, they tried to adopt the dog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Dustin's death, we've been trying to get his dog, Lex, from the marine corps, and needless to say, we've had difficulty there. Lex has had two tours in Iraq. He's been through a lot, and we just want to get Lex home to our family. We want to take care of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Here's the good news. Now for the first time, the military has granted a dog early retirement to be adopted by someone other than a former handler. We're going to speaking with Corporal Lee's family and meet Lex a little bit later on right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Yes. They'll be taking him home today.
DE LA CRUZ: Great.
ROBERTS: Travelers rights, topping your "Quick Hits" now. A passenger's bill of rights for New York State upheld by a federal judge. The bill says that passengers who were stuck on a grounded airplane for more than three hours should be given basic necessities such as clean bathrooms, drinking water and fresh air. The airline industry challenged that law saying the states didn't have the right to regulate airlines.
A tribute to the Virginia Tech victims. The wing of Norris Hall where 30 people were killed in April will be converted to the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. The university had considered several proposals about what to do with the building. Officials decided to keep it open because it contains laboratories with expensive equipment that just could not be moved.
Well, just the odds away from danger. An American student in Israel captures a rocket attack on tape. We'll have more of that dramatic video and what the student had to say about it coming up.
And a potential breakthrough in the fight against cancer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is following that story for us.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, it's very interesting. Why do some cancer survive treatment while others don't? The answer may be something known as cancer stem cells. You'll want to see this. Stick around after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fourteen minutes after the hour now. Some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now.
China and India kicking off its first ever joint anti-terror military training program. In this demonstration, a Chinese soldier smashes bricks on another soldier's head. The exercise is meant to teach soldiers to withstand pain. It looks like it's working. Both countries say the goal of the program is to boost bilateral relations.
In this country, volunteer firefighters are cleaning up after a tornado in Brookhaven, Mississippi. At least three people were hurt there. Dozens of trees and power lines were knocked down, and homes were damaged in two counties.
And the largest ever drug bust in Salt Lake City. Drug enforcement agencies in 450 pounds of a rare African drug called cot. That's the stuff that is chewed in Somalia. Remember all of the stories about it back in the early 1990s? They say it was meant to be distributed among African immigrants in the area. The leaf is chewed like tobacco and can cause some pretty serious hallucinations -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: The fight against cancer may be about to get a major breakthrough. New research on why cancer might be resistant to some treatment. To explain how that works, we are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning. Good morning, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Good morning, Veronica. It's been sort of an age-old question in cancer research. This is absolutely fascinating, this idea that when you treat cancer, some cells die obviously, and some cells live. You get radiation. You get chemo, and sometimes it can be hard to predict exactly what the effect of those treatments are going to be.
Well, one of the answers might be and again, this is very preliminary, might be something known as cancer stem cells. Actually, these stem cells that continue to just divide and divide and seem very resistant to treatment. Now Veronica, important to point out that these are different than embryonic stem cell, something that we've talked about quite a bit.
These are stem cells for some reason have undergone a change, and they've become mutated. They become cancerous, and they become a problem within tumors. But the heart of this, is really that this because of the stem cells, they become very resistant to all sorts of different treatments and if we can figure out how to attack those stem cells, you may have as you said a breakthrough in cancer. Very preliminary but very exciting.
DE LA CRUZ: Preliminary, but are people buying into this, Sanjay? I mean, is this idea contentious?
GUPTA: It is contentious. I think that's a good apt description of it. I think that there's a lot of centers around the country, major medical centers, University of Michigan, for example, where this is becoming the primary focus of their cancer research. They're putting a lot of eggs in this basket, if you will, Veronica, believing that if they can figure out these cancer stem cells, they're going to figure out how to fight all sorts of different cancers including blood cancer, brain cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer.
These are cancers where the stem cells have already been found. There are other researchers who say, though, this is a lot to do about nothing.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
GUPTA: In fact, it's not going to make a difference. One way to describe this, this is the way the "New York Times" put it. Think about mowing a lawn. You have a bunch of dandelions on the lawn. You mow it. It looks like the dandelions are gone for the time being, but they grow back and that's the same way the cancer stem cells act. You can treat it, but unless you get those stem cells, they're going to keep coming back.
DE LA CRUZ: And Sanjay, how might this affect cancer treatment?
GUPTA: Well, I think that's at the heart of all of this. You know, let's say you take a tumor. There's all sorts of different tumors within that cell. Right now, it's sort of blast therapy. You use radiation. You use chemo, and try to kill all those tumor cells as one unit. But if you recognize it, it's made up of different cells. If you find those cancer stem cells and figure out how to target those specifically, you might have a better chance of not only getting rid of the tumor but keeping it from coming back as well.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Very interesting. Thank you so much, Sanjay for the report.
GUPTA: Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: we're going to check back with you soon.
GUPTA: All right. Thanks.
ROBERTS: "Quick Hits" now. This year about 500 parking meters in downtown Atlanta have been stolen, but the city isn't investigating the robberies. Officials say it's because the meters don't have that much money in them, and they don't file police reports about the stolen meters.
It costs about $500 a year to replace them. Apparently, the program pays for itself so there's no reason to dip into taxpayer's pockets so they just let them all go.
The original kit from "Knight Rider" is for sale on eBay. The car has one bid on it for about $20,000 now. It's the original car driven by David Hasselhoff in the hit TV show. So if you like kit, get on there and bid away.
DE LA CRUZ: Listen to the music.
ROBERTS: No. You can have the car, but no music.
Leave the comedy to the guys, please. It's something the guys claim they have known all along. Now, there's some scientific proof to back it up. Find out just why men are funnier than women.
And paying for Blockbusters, DVD by mail service? You'll soon be paying more, a lot more. Find out how much and why, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning and welcome back. It's now 21 minutes after the hour.
A daring and costly art robbery in Brazil topping your "Quick Hits" now. Thieves used a crowbar and carjack to make off with a Picasso and a Portinari, each valued at over $5 million. Police say they hit the Museum of Art while guards were changing shifts. The robbery only took about three minutes to pull off.
And if you're paying for Blockbuster videos, DVD by mail service, you're about to start paying a whole lot more. The company announced yesterday that it's raising the price of the service by 40 percent to new and existing customers. It will take effect next week. Blockbuster says it's losing money to its main online rival, Netflix.
OK. It is not just truthiness, it's the truth. America's newspaper editors and broadcast producers say Steven Colbert has had the biggest impact on pop culture this past year. Colbert has been named the AP celebrity of the year. He edged out J.K. Rowling, and Al Gore came in third.
ROBERTS: Al Gore and J.K. Rowling making into the "Time" list.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, I know.
ROBERTS: And got to the AP list. DE LA CRUZ: I have to agree with that. Steven Colbert.
ROBERTS: Scientific proof now that men are funnier than women, which is probably why Colbert is the person of the year. A professor at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in England says men naturally get more laughs because testosterone is the source of our humor. He also claims it makes men's jokes more aggressive. They also tend to make others the butt of the jokes. So there you are, fellows, this morning, concrete proof...
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, boy.
ROBERTS: ... that you're funnier than women.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, I beg to differ.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Speaking of the butt of the joke --
DE LA CRUZ: Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.
VELSHI: Who works on this segments?
ROBERTS: You just happened to show us --
VELSHI: Last week it was the little monkey doing calculations. Today, it's the butt of the joke. Welcome. Happy to be back with you.
There are rumors twirling around Wall Street right now that Merrill Lynch, which is probably going to need some more investors, is close to a deal with a state of Singapore's investment fund looking at about a $5 billion infusion. Now, the reason this is important is A, because Merrill Lynch needs the money but B, you're probably detecting a bit of a trend here.
Just this week, we have had reports from Morgan Stanley about a $5 billion investment for 10 percent of that company, from China, from Bear Stearns, a $1 billion investment also from China, accounting for about 6.6 percent of that firm. Citigroup, a few weeks ago, getting $7.5 billion from Abu Dhabi for about five percent of that company, and Blackstone, the company that went public this year, the big private equity firm, getting a $3 billion investment for 10 percent of that company from China.
We talked about Nasdaq, now 20 percent owned by a group out of Dubai. There's a lot of investment. It means that the stock of these financial companies based in the United States and around the world are considered cheap, but it says more about the U.S. dollar than anything else. It's just cheap to buy these things when you're coming from the perspective of people who have a lot of money and limited investment.
ROBERTS: Obviously, though, the thinking is it's a good bet for return on investment that the stocks will go up. VELSHI: That's right. And the retail investment, the average investor like us, actually tends to be at the back end of these deals so it's always useful to see where these big deals are. If everybody with a lot of money is buying into U.S. financial services, it doesn't mean they're going up next week but it's something to think about.
ROBERTS: Eventually, yes. Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: Well, if you thought that no government agency is less popular than the IRS, think again. According to a new "Associated Press" poll, the Transportation Security Administration is tied with the IRS, as one of the least liked federal agencies. The survey finds the more people travel the less they like the TSA. FEMA is the only government agency to rank lower on the list than the IRS or the TSA.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. What is your least favorite federal agency? Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. And guess what? Results are pretty much the same.
Twenty-two percent saying the IRS, 24 percent say TSA. Fifty- four percent say FEMA. So yes, FEMA is the least popular government agency out there.
DE LA CRUZ: I can't believe -- I can't believe the TSA is only 24 percent.
ROBERTS: It's still early. Give them time.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
ROBERTS: We'll update the votes throughout the morning. We'll bring you the final tally just before 9:00 Eastern.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, they said he would never walk again. And now, injured Buffalo Bills player Kevin Everett may be walking into his team's stadium this weekend. Hear what his coach is saying about that.
Plus what our Dr. Sanjay Gupta says about Everett's recovery. It's all straight ahead.
You're watching the most news in the morning, no room and less money, we want to remind you there. One state's plan to fix both problems by letting 20,000 inmates out. That also is straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. It's a story that you want to stay tuned for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning, and welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Nice picture there of Raleigh, North Carolina. Clouds in the sky and hopefully it will warm up just a bit. I think it's what? Forty-one degrees there, 53 for the high today.
Good morning to you, Raleigh, North Carolina. It is Friday, December 21st. Good morning, I'm Veronica De La Cruz sitting in this morning for Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us.
New this morning, bracing for a showdown in Washington over the CIA secret destruction of interrogation tapes. A federal judge has called a hearing just a few hours from now to find out if the agency wiped out evidence of torture. There are questions about how high the discussions went. There are already reports that top Bush administration officials were involved at some level. The House intelligence committee is also subpoenaed the former CIA official who gave the order. The White House says there was no coverup -- Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: We are still tracking that breaking news in Pakistan, where a mosque bombing kills at least 50 people and injures about 100 others. Police say the suicide bomber's device was packed with ball bearings and nails, and he set it off during a prayer service. Police say the target was the country's former interior minister. It is the second attempt on the man's life in eight months. He was not injured.
Also, some dramatic video to show you now out of Israel, where a Palestinian rocket is caught on tape by an American student. Watch and hear just how close he was to the impact.
Really some amazing pictures. Twenty-year-old, Benji Davis was in the town of (INAUDIBLE) to help document how people live with the daily threat of rocket attacks and the California student captured one falling just yards from where he was standing. He described seeing the chaos firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJI DAVIS, VIDEOTAPED ROCKET ATTACK: First I was just so in shock, I didn't even know what to think. I was just, I've started calling people, telling them what happened and after that like, the rush in my heart, like beating so fast, that I just feel like bursting out and I don't know, I just want to like - lie down. I can't do anything right now. I'm in shock. It was so -- like this is so foreign to me, like this would never happen to me at home. I couldn't stay around to help the people here. I'm glad -- this really shows how messed up the situation here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Now: Israeli police say the rocket fell just 40 yards from a school. Twelve students were treated for shock.
ROBERTS: A special procession will be held today for Congresswoman Julia Carson. Soldiers from the Indiana National Guard will escort her body during the two and a half mile procession through Indianapolis. Her funeral and burial will be tomorrow. Carson died last week at the age of 69 after a battle with lung cancer.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, Rudy Giuliani says that is he feeling great and he is back home in New York this morning, but he is taking it easy. Postponing a series of events he planned today in New Hampshire, and now we're learning the details of what sent him to the hospital. The Republican presidential candidate had a series of tests done after he started experiencing severe headache pains. He was released yesterday. Giuliani's spokesperson says that doctors have given the former New York mayor a clean bill of health but the campaign won't share what tests Giuliani underwent.
And John McCain, picking up another high profile endorsement once again from his opponent's hometown. The "Boston Herald" is joining the "Boston Globe" in supporting the Republican's campaign for the White House. Fellow Republican and former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney has now been snubbed by both Boston newspapers. "The Herald" column didn't even mention him.
ROBERTS: Thirty-two minutes after the hour now and with just 13 days left before the first votes are counted in the Iowa caucuses; contenders in the race are making a final campaign push throughout the state. They are facing small crowds with tough questions. Our Dana Bash is on the trail with the Republicans; Jessica Yellin is following the Democrats. Let's begin with Dana in Des Moines.
And Dana, from your front row seat there on the campaign what do you expect is going to be the big story today?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anything and everything, John. If I were to answer that question now, it would change in maybe about an hour but you know, that's what makes it so much fun to cover these candidates, especially on the Republican side, where it is so incredibly unpredictable and tight. But I'll tell what you witnessed yesterday which will continue today, and that is Mike Huckabee campaigning tirelessly in the state, trying to maintain his very surprising lead here in Iowa.
And the approach that he has with voters is a couple of things - one is he's continuing to talk about the issues that about make voters like him, like his opposition to same-sex marriage, to abortion, those social issues. But also he is trying more and more to combat the attacks that he is getting from his chief opponent here and that is Mitt Romney, that is on the air, that is in the mail. So, he's really trying to interact with audiences and try to turn the attacks on him on its head and really go after Mitt Romney but in sort of Huckabee- style sort of been a soft style.
But the other thing he is doing which is really interesting, John which is he is trying to appeal to the Hawkeye sensibility, if you will and trying to say, look, I'm doing well and that's because of you and that's because you are bucking conventional wisdom. You're bucking Washington and Wall Street. I am being outspent by Mitt Romney, 20 to one, so, he's trying to sort of keep that excitement, keep that passion that has gotten him to the front and make people think, yes, he might be in the lead here but try to make people get the sense that he's still the underdog. Quite interesting what Mike Huckabee is doing and I'll tell, Mitt Romney is back in New Hampshire because he's got multi-front war. He's got to keep his lead in the state of New Hampshire. ROBERTS: Yes, there are some indications that they may split those first two states. Dana, thanks very much. Now, let's go over to Jessica who's following the Democrats. Jessica, has the new cycle as fluid on your side? As it is on Dana's?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely is, John. Today, Senator Clinton is out of Iowa, she is headed to New Hampshire to fight her two-front war. Barack Obama just back from New Hampshire, he'll be campaigning throughout this state of Iowa along with John Edwards. Some of the issues we're starting to hear on the campaign trail, Iraq is back among the Democrats, they're talking about how quickly they could get the troops out and yesterday a surprise, Senator Clinton endorsed a position that John Edwards has long espoused.
She's talking now about poverty quite a bit and said she supports raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, that something John Edwards has been calling to do and called on her to do so they're each taking on the other one's issues, each making it clear that they would fight for the same causes. It's just really a struggle right now over which person you think would be the best leader and the most electable against the Republicans. But in this state of Iowa, so close, and the fight is going to be down to the wire. All right, John -
ROBERTS: Jessica Yellin for us as well, Jessica and Dana, part of the best political team on television, thanks for being with us this morning. Veronica -
DE LA CRUZ: Thirty-five minutes after the hour. Twenty thousand inmates could get a Christmas gift from California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. They all could get out. The "Sacramento Bee" is reporting that Schwarzenegger is considering the move because the state is facing a $14 billion deficit and California's prisons are notoriously overcrowded. One local sheriff says less money and more criminals could equal danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCGINNESS, SACRAMENTO CO. SHERIFF: They have the potential for decrease in law enforcement staffing on the streets, while you have additional inmates being released, less parole supervision and the potential is for a perfect storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Now, the plan would only include nonviolent, non-sex offenders with less than two years left on their terms.
ROBERTS: Thirty-six minutes after the hour. This Just In to CNN: A FedEx truck going from Manhattan to Newark Airport was hijacked by two gunmen this morning according to police. The manager called the police when the truck did not arrive on time. The driver was found in Brooklyn, and he told police about the gunman. He was unhurt. FedEx had no info on what was inside that truck.
DE LA CRUZ: And Christmas at Camp David, topping your "Quick Hits" now. President Bush will leave Washington around 11:00 this morning and spend the holiday at the Mountain Retreat and he's scheduled to go to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, the day after Christmas and stay until New Year's Day.
Animal rescuers in Massachusetts are looking for a good home for this little guy. Two-year-old Charlie Brown. We're going to share his amazing story, that's coming up next.
And injured Buffalo Bills player, Kevin Everett, continues his remarkable comeback. This weekend he may walk, yes, walk into Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on his incredible comeback, coming up next.
GUPTA: Just three and a half months, Veronica, after he had that injured neck, is he going to walk again as we heard into possibly the football game. Why did he recover, when so many others don't? We have an exclusive coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Welcome back. It's 40 minutes after the hour now. Free to a good home: A two-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Charlie Brown, looking for a new family, after he was discovered in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Charlie Brown was seriously hurt and left outside in freezing temperatures. He had one leg amputated and has another in a cast but animal rescue is hoping to find him a good home.
Let's head now to the CNN Weather Center and get a check of the weather with Reynolds Wolf.
Reynolds, you see that little guy, Charlie Brown? What do you think?
WOLF: Yes. Walking pretty well.
DE LA CRUZ: Looking to be adopted.
WOLF: Our wolf house is pretty crowded now. You know, we got enough animals, including me. I'm the worst animal of them all. We will see if we can get some room for Charlie Brown but right now, we have a full plate on the table. All right. Let's talk about weather. Here's what we have for you, the biggest weather story we have in the nation right now is in parts of the southeastern United States, this part of the same storm system that produced that tornado in Mississippi, now bringing scattered showers to Columbia, back over through myrtle beach, southward to Savannah and rains to continue to a good part of the morning.
Meanwhile, farther to the North, not rain, no, we're talking about some snowfall, not particularly heavy but still enough to keep portions along I-94 very slick near Kalamazoo, so, please be careful up there. You want to talk about heavier snow? I mean really, really heavy snow? In New Hampshire, in spots like Bridgewater, check it out, 13.5 inches over a foot of snowfall and also in Sanbornton, New Hampshire but New Hampton and also Black Cat Island had just over ten inches in both locations. Jumping forward into the weekend, here's the situation for you looking for very wet conditions where parts of the Southern plains and Southeast, portions of the Northeast, too.
Look for snow right behind the system, through the western half of the great lakes and the central plains blowing drifting snow for Kansas but back into parts of the Northern plains, John, get this, some spots on Saturday and Sunday mainly into the Dakotas, we're looking at wind chill factors of 40 below zero. Just extreme, extreme cold that we're going to be dealing with there. Certainly, a beautiful part of the country but I don't know how they do it, I don't know how they live up there during the winter months. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: A hearty group of individuals up there.
WOLF: Wonderful people, wonderful people no question.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks.
Forty-two minutes after the hour. Should be an emotional football Sunday in Buffalo. Kevin Everett who suffered a devastating spinal cord injury earlier this season may show up at his team's game against the Giants this is weekend and his coach says, Everett would be an incredible inspiration to the team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK JAURON, BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH: To have him back and to see him and we've all seen the "Sports Illustrated" pictures but to have him back in the facility, and to see him walk and then, you know, hopefully, if he does come back, you know, address his teammates, would be, you know, it would be a great -- it would be great. It would be just an unbelievable thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta with more on Everett's remarkable comeback and some exclusive information regarding his treatment.
What are you finding out, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Well, it's interesting. Obviously, we know that images you just showed from September 9th, when he suffered that spinal cord injury, while playing football. Now, we have some images to show of him actually walking and this is three and a half months later. You actually get an idea of how much of an improvement he's had and no question a remarkable recovery, he standing there. You actually see him walking with his girlfriend through the park.
He arrived at the hospital paralyzed from the neck down, and got very quick therapy. He got quick operation, to basically take the pressure off of his final cord and that really is at the heart of his therapy. What has been a little bit interesting here, John, you may have heard about this, a lot of people have, is this question about hypothermia, actually trying to cool down the body to try and ward off the effects of the spinal cord injury. Dr. Cappuccino, one of his doctors, said that he believes it absolutely helped this man's recovery. What's interesting as well, as we talked to the neurosurgeon who's also involved with his care, who's written an editorial about that "Sports Illustrated" article and what he said we thought was interesting.
He said, "Kevin's dramatic recovery of movement began before the placement of the catheter and before any kind of effective cooling." What he's saying here in effect is that Kevin Everett's recovery had already started. It may have had nothing to do with the hypothermia. And possibly an important point is a lot of people are saying, well, hypothermia must be the answer to spinal cord injuries. Not so fast. This gives us a little more analysis here as Dr. Gibbons is very thoughtful about this, pointed out.
ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay, it's interesting information. We'll look forward to more of that. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Mars is on a collision course with a speeding asteroid. How likely is a hit and how big will it be? We'll have the cosmic answers coming up.
And he survived a mortar attack in Iraq that killed his handler and now he's getting a new family. Meet the family and brave German shepherd. Stick around. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's now 48 minutes after the hour. And Ali Velshi is minding your business this morning.
Good morning to you.
VELSHI: Good morning to both of you. Someone is buying a lot of chocolate for Christmas. In fact, there's a Turkish company, there are buying Godiva from - who owns Godiva? Who I'd tell who owns Godiva?
DE LA CRUZ: Campbell.
VELSHI: Campbell. Campbell owns Godiva. Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: (INAUDIBLE) chocolate soup thing that never caught on.
VELSHI: I got Turkish delight in my mind. Campbell's is selling Godiva because they've got soup and all of the other stuff. They've got 450 Godiva retailers store. Sorry to burst your bubble for those of you who thought Godiva stores were owned by Godiva. Stores account for two-thirds of Godiva sales. The annual sales of that chocolate are about $500 million. The other third of Godiva sales come from retailers, sort of upscale retailers.
Now, there had been talks that Starbucks was interested in buying Godiva. See, I knew the story, you can tell, right? There's thoughts Starbucks would buy it because the Godiva fancy shamancy chocolate would fit in with the Starbucks fancy shamancy coffee, neither of which I am a consumer of. But in fact, a Turkish company has bought this. Campbell doesn't want to be involved in this business because it doesn't sort of suit the line of stuff that they have. They can't really make those stores work with the other stuff that Campbell's makes. So, there you go. It's Christmastime, if I got you thinking about chocolate, you can buy yourself some Godiva. It won't make much of a difference to you. I imagine the stores will still stay open in the -
DE LA CRUZ: The chocolate soup thing, it just it never caught on. Campbell, right?
VELSHI: But I think that's the point. If you could make that work, it would have been fantastic. I thought the Starbucks idea would have made some sense. Because I would think the person who buys from Godiva is probably similar to the person who buys at Starbucks.
DE LA CRUZ: Right.
ROBERTS: Starbucks has its own line of chocolates, don't they?
VELSHI: Starbucks does have. But they're trying to expand that branding, if the concept of slightly fancier than normal. I little hanging around New York lately, it's a big chocolate boom. I don't know if this is across the country but all these super fancy chocolate places and super fancy hot chocolate and I bought a box of chocolate. I went over to somebody's house the other day, a nice box of chocolate. Thought it would be a nice gift, it was 40 bucks.
DE LA CRUZ: You know Ali? You're not allowed to talk chocolate unless you bring chocolate. I mean, so where is it?
VELSHI: I'll change to financial news for the next segment.
ROBERTS: Bring presents next time or don't show up.
VELSHI: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: Please.
ROBERTS: Big collision in cosmos may be coming soon. NASA says an asteroid appears to be taking aim at one planet. We'll tell you which one and what it might mean.
And he survived a mortar attack in Iraq that killed his handler. Now, he's getting a new family, meet the family and the brave German shepherd. Stick around. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BANK)
ROBERTS: Coming up to 54 minutes after the hour. A marine has been granted a rare early retirement. Lex is an-year-old German shepherd and was the canine bomb-sniffing companion of Marine Corporal Dustin lee. Lex was at Lee's side when he was killed in an attack last March in Iraq. After a long battle to adopt the dog the Marine Corps finally said, Lex could go home to the Corporal Lee's family. It's the first time that the military has granted a dog an early retirement to be adopted by someone other than their former handler. Dustin Lee's parents, Rachel and Jerome join me now from Albany, Georgia along with Lex and they'll be taking Lex home.
Let me ask you, Rachel and Jerome, how long had Lex and Dustin worked together? What was their relationship like?
RACHEL LEE, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Lex and Dustin worked together before they went to Iraq, they stationed here in Albany and they had a close companionship, they depended on each other.
ROBERTS: You know, there are stories that I've heard, Jerome, that the day that your son was killed back on March 21st of 2007 in that mortar attack that Lex himself was wounded. Still has shrapnel inside of him but refused to leave Dustin's side.
JEROME LEE, ADOPTING SON'S DOG, LEX: Yes, so that's correct. The dog had a close bond with Dustin, and he just wanted to be by his side.
ROBERTS: Wow. And what was it that inspired you folks to try to bring Lex back home and adopt him into your family?
J. LEE: Lex was a big part of Dustin's life, his partner, his companion. They were inseparable over there. When the Marine Corps sends a team like that, they have to develop that close bond, and have to be able to work together like that.
ROBERTS: Rachel, Dustin's kind of following or kind of followed in your footsteps, did he not? Weren't you working with rescue dogs yourself?
R. LEE: I did. I worked, I volunteered as a search and rescue with our county agency, and I fell in love with German shepherds at an early age and he just grew that bond with me.
ROBERTS: Right. And so you know the bond between the dog and its handler. Did that play into your decision to try to bring Lex back home?
R. LEE: Most definitely. If I did not have the confidence in myself and the bond that I can grow with an animal, but even so, this animal was with my son, taking his last breath and that meant a lot.
ROBERTS: All right. Jerome, how difficult was it to adopt Lex?
J. LEE: Well, any time you deal with the military and the government, you're going to have a lot of red tape. It just takes time for things to fall into place. We just felt like, that Dustin wanted Lex to be with us, and that's why we tried so hard to go ahead and try and get him as soon as possible.
ROBERTS: So, when you say you had a lot of red tape you had to go through, what did you have to do to eventually get Lex discharged from the military and get him home with you? J. LEE: Well, basically we did an online petition. We contacted congressmen, anybody we thought that could help to us try and accelerate the process.
ROBERTS: My understanding is that this went all the way up to the commandant at the Marine Corps and you thought that at one point, it might go right to the secretary of Defense?
J. LEE: Yes, sir, that was our next step. Which we knew it would be just a matter of time, because we won't going to give up.
ROBERTS: Rachel, as we've said here, you're taking Lex home today. You're there in Albany to pick him up. What is life going to be like for Lex when you get him home?
R. LEE: Lex is going to be spoiled.
ROBERTS: Spoiled in what way? I read stories that he and Dustin used to sleep together; they spent so much time together. You know, they were almost inseparable buddies.
R. LEE: They were, and his little brother and sister are ready for him to come home and sleep with them in their bed.
ROBERTS: Right. So, he's going to be a very special dog and have a very special place in your family?
R. LEE: He will.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, Rachel and Jerome Lee, we are very saddened for your loss. We certainly thank you and your family for your son, Dustin's, service. Looks like you've got a fabulous companion there and we hope that you folks have a lot of good times together, particularly over this holiday season. Thanks for being with us this morning.
R. LEE: Thank you.
J. LEE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: What an incredible story, huh?
DE LA CRUZ: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: And you know, and just some memory of their son, I guess, will be with them all the time with that dog. Wow.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS (voice over): DC Showdown: Today, a judge challenges the Bush administration of their destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. Will secrets be revealed?
A hearing where the fists do the talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paralyzed by the police. ROBERTS: Tasers and tear gas holding back protesters in New Orleans while they stormed the city council.
And exercise in a box: Video games that keep kids moving in place. The possible health benefits and presents under the tree this year on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS (on camera): And good morning to you and thanks very much for joining us. It's Friday, December the 21st, one day before the official start of (INAUDIBLE). I'm John Roberts.
DE LA CRUZ: And four days to Christmas, right? Are you ready?
ROBERTS: It would happened so fast.
DE LA CRUZ: I know.
ROBERT: You know already.
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning. I'm Veronica de la Cruz. Kiran Chetry has the morning off.
ROBERTS: We begin this hour with the major showdown in Washington over the secret CIA tapes that were destroyed. Later on this morning, a federal judge will hold a hearing to find out if the Agency ignored his order to hold on to evidence relating to go torture. Also, the CIA is now trying to find out whether an ex- official disclose classified information when he talked to the media about CIA tactics.
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