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American Morning
UNC Murder Suspect Arrested; Spitzer's Escort Revealed; Ferraro Firestorm; What Friends Have to Say about Ashley Dupre
Aired March 13, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. We have a lot going on today. And, of course, my colleague and good buddy, John Roberts, down in D.C. this morning. Hey, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning to you, Kiran. We begin with breaking news out of North Carolina today. Police arresting a second suspect overnight in the murder of UNC student Eve Carson. They say that they received an anonymous tip that 17-year-old Lawrence Lovett was hiding out in a house in Durham. They say Lovett was the person driving the car in the ATM surveillance photos released last week.
A SWAT team surrounded the house at 4:00 a.m. Police say there was no resistance in his arrest. The other suspect, 21-year-old Demario Atwater, was arrested yesterday and charged with first degree murder. Police now say they believe he was in the back seat of the car, a shadowy figure seen in that ATM photo. Atwater is being held without bond.
Carson, the popular 22-year-old University of North Carolina student body president, was shot to death about a mile from campus a week ago. We'll keep you updated on this story as we get more details. Again, it's breaking. He was arrested just a short time ago there. And Kiran, obviously, the latest chapter in this very important and terribly tragic story there at the University of North Carolina.
CHETRY: It is. And we're gathering more details this morning, and we'll bring them to you as soon as we find out more. Thanks, John.
We're also learning this morning more about the woman at the heart of the scandal that ended the political career of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. "The New York Times" broke the Spitzer story saying that Spitzer hired this prostitute on February 13th. Well, "The Times" said that she is the escort known as Kristen. There's a look at her MySpace page. Her birth name, Ashley Youmans, but she goes by the name Ashley Dupre, 22 years old and a singer from New Jersey. Dupre told the reporter from the "New York Times," "I just don't want be thought of as a monster. This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated."
Now, her brother spoke out late last night outside of his home in New Jersey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KYLE YOUMANS, ASHLEY'S BROTHER: I can't really comment on it. I'm sticking by my sister. I'd do everything. I know that she's going to be fine. Everything I've said is, you know, just talk. She's a great woman, independent woman, and she'll make it through it. She'll be fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: "The Times" says Dupre has appeared in federal court but has not been charged with any crime. Two of her closest friends are going to join us coming up in just 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, CNN's Jason Carroll has been following the latest developments this morning. And Jason, you know, this information emerged, I guess, within hours of Governor Spitzer resigning and so, there are a lot of questions today about exactly who she was.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and as you can imagine, that was probably the one face Governor Spitzer did not want to see emerge yesterday. And Governor Spitzer did in fact resign yesterday. His wife was again by his side. The governor is saying he cannot allow his private failings to disrupt the people's work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Eliot Spitzer's resignation comes two days after a federal affidavit revealed embarrassing details over his $4,300 encounter with a prostitute named Kristen. Her real name, according to the "New York Times," is Ashley Dupre. Her MySpace page shows a 22-year-old aspiring musician with a troubled past.
Dupre says she left a broken family, left abuse. I have been broke and homeless, but I survived on my own. Sources familiar with the investigation say Spitzer started using the high-price escort service Dupre allegedly worked for called Emperors Club VIP eight months ago and met with prostitutes on at least eight different occasions.
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: I'm deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New Yorker and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize.
CARROLL: Spitzer's fall from grace has left people shocked. For a time, he was a politician on the rise. As New York's attorney general, "Time" magazine dubbed him crusader of the year, for the way he cracked down on Wall Street corruption. Stuart Meissner who worked for the then attorney general and remembers accolades for the promising young prosecutor.
STUART MEISSNER, FMR. ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think he had a lot of courage. I think he did a lot of things that many other politicians and attorney generals were reluctant to do.
CARROLL: Sources say Spitzer is being investigated for how he paid for the prostitute. There has been speculation his attorneys are trying to negotiate a plea deal with prosecutors. The U.S. attorney's office released a statement saying there is no agreement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Spitzer gave a hint as to what might be next for him. He said he will try to serve the common good outside politics, but first, he obviously has a lot of legal issues that he's got to work out.
CHETRY: That's right. So we're going to try to find out more about exactly what's going on with that. The feds have been pretty tight-lipped about their investigation so far.
CARROLL: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Jason Carroll, thank you.
ROBERTS: Coming up on five minutes after the hour, now to presidential politics. Geraldine Ferraro steps down from her fund raising position with Hillary Clinton's campaign over controversial remarks that she made about Barack Obama. Ferraro caused an uproar after suggesting that Obama wouldn't be succeeding in the presidential race if he weren't black.
She notified Clinton in a letter saying, "I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen." Clinton is distancing herself from Ferraro's comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I rejected what she said, and I certainly do repudiate it. And regret deeply that, you know, it was said. Obviously, she doesn't speak for the campaign. She doesn't speak for any of my positions, and she has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ferraro says that she is absolutely not sorry for what she said.
More news new this morning for you. Democratic leaders in Florida hope to unveil a proposal today for a new mail-in primary. Late last night, a five-page draft of the plan was sent to state party leaders as well as to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. CNN has just gotten information that apparently it's a combination of mail-in and in-person voting with a tentative date set for June 3rd. June 3rd for a Florida primary redo. Barack Obama still not on board with the revote plan but says compromise is the key.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We believe that there should be some way of arriving at a fair settlement that respects the fact that there were rules in place but also makes sure that the Michigan and Florida voters are seated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton has argued a mail-in revote is the only acceptable option if Florida's National Convention Delegation cannot be seated based on the January 29th primary. And again, details coming in to CNN this morning about the proposal for a revote, a combination of mail-in and in-person balloting with a tentative date set for June 3rd. We'll have more on that recourse (ph) this morning.
And presumptive GOP nominee John McCain is talking about his search for a running mate. McCain telling reporters in New Hampshire that he is working on selecting a VP. His one-time rival Mitt Romney says he would be honored to be asked to serve as the nominee. McCain only saying that he wants someone who shares his views.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think you have to be close friends as much as you have to share principles, the values, the goals, et cetera, but also the priorities. And I think the hardest things -- one of the most difficult aspect of being president of the United States is setting your priorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain's victory in New Hampshire set him firmly on the path to the Republican nomination, and he told supporters he intends to campaign hard in the northeast -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John, thanks. Well, our Alina Cho joins us now with some more stories new this morning. Hey, Alina, good to see you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Kiran, good morning. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning, the Pentagon has reportedly admitting filming interrogations of terror suspects from Iraq to Guantanamo Bay. According to the "New York Times," a military review has turned up nearly 50 tapes so far. They cover the interrogations of two al-Qaeda suspects, convicted terrorist Jose Padilla, and Ali al-Marri, an accused enemy combatant. According to "The Times," one tape showed forcible gagging.
The Pentagon says there's nothing on the tapes that could be classified as torture. The CIA, you're recall, is also under investigation for destroying tapes which showed terror suspects undergoing the controversial interrogation technique known as waterboarding, which stimulates drowning.
A new report out today says the FBI improperly gained access to telephone, e-mail and financial records of Americans. The Justice Department report says the FBI used so-called national security letters to gain access to the records as part of terrorism investigations, but without a judge's approval. Officials familiar with the report say all the lapses occurred before new rules were put into place last March.
Well, Southwest Airlines had to pull jets from service and cancel some flights after inspections found "ambiguity related to required testing." This has been a big story. CNN investigation revealed congressional documents that showed Southwest flew dozens of planes without mandatory safety checks. Our Drew Griffin first broke the story. He's going to join us with more in our next hour.
Well, the link is complete. The space shuttle "Endeavour" is docked with the International Space Station. Now, before the link -- get this -- the shuttle's commander actually guided the ship through a 360 degree back flip so the station crew could take pictures. Now, those photos will be examined for possible damage to the shuttle upon liftoff. During the 16-day mission, meanwhile, astronauts will install a new giant robot and a new science lab.
And listen to this story. A middle school student in Connecticut is in big trouble, but you're not going to believe what for. The offense? Buying candy. The eighth grade honor student was actually suspended for a day, stripped of his title as class vice president, and barred from attending an honors student dinner all because he bought a bag of Skittles from a classmate.
Now, the New Haven school system says it banned candy sales in school back in 2003 as part of a school wellness policy. The boy's mother calls the punishment unfair saying her son has never even had a detention.
Interesting story.
CHETRY: I got to tell you, I mean, if he's worried, bottom line, this is not going to affect you getting into college. You should be all right.
Right. You should be -- you should not be worried. Don't -- it's not going to be on your permanent record.
CHO: Well, you know, apparently he was suspended originally for three days and then it was like brought down. But they didn't reinstate his vice president title or allowed him to go to that dinner. I know, anyway.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: All right. Well, you know what? I'd say he still has a bright future ahead of them. Carrot sticks next time, no Skittles.
Ali Velshi joins us now with more. I know you did way worse in school.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I got to tell you, I did.
CHETRY: Get the Skittles.
VELSHI: We don't have to bring it all out now. It will show up on, you know, Google or something. But it was worse than the Skittles. Oh, OK.
Let's talk a little bit about what's going on in the world of business. We have new numbers for foreclosures for February, and the numbers are not good. In fact, the 60 percent increase over the same time last year. The number of people put out of their homes, let's talk about that for a second. In February 46,508 homes were repossessed. That's double the number from last February.
Take a look at the map. Those areas in green are the ones which had the lowest rate of foreclosure in the nation. Those areas in brown are the ones with the highest rate of foreclosure. The highest foreclosures were in Nevada, one in 165 houses. California, Florida, Arizona and Colorado, you can sort of see it. They have a concentration there. The lowest rate of foreclosures was in Vermont. Only one in 76,000 homes were in foreclosure -- West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota and Mississippi.
Just so you know, the average across the country is one in 557 homes in foreclosure. So in a place like Nevada where it's one in 165, you can see it's a lot more than the national average. So we are looking at a trend that's increasing. The numbers are actually down a little bit from January, but Realty Track, the company that tracks those numbers says, that's just a seasonal blip. Gerri Willis is going to be back a little later with more details on the foreclosure trends here in the United States.
CHETRY: But, you know, every week we come out with more bad news.
VELSHI: Yes. This is the 26th month in a row where we've seen higher foreclosure activity.
CHETRY: It's a shame. All right. Thanks a lot, Ali -- John.
ROBERTS: We now know the name of the high-priced escort said to be at the center of the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. But just who is she, and what did her friends know about her alleged life with the governor?
And for the first time in decades, there are new rules coming to help clear the air. But do they go far enough? Why are so many upset over the new pollution standard? Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We now know the true identity of the woman named Kristen, the call girl behind the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. She's 22-year-old Ashley Dupre, and she's from New Jersey, lives in New York City now. But just who is she?
Well, her friends and musical collaborators join us now. Rob Cummings, who goes by the name mysterious, as well as Freddy Sagastume join me this morning. Thanks for getting up with us today. Let me ask you first, Freddy, how did you meet Ashley? FREDDY SAGASTUME, FRIEND OF ASHLEY DUPRE: I met through him, through mysterious, through collaborations through music. We did shows, you know, and --
CHETRY: You guys were all in the -- breaking into the music business together?
SAGASTUME: Yes. We have the music. Yes, yes.
CHETRY: So what did you think when you heard the news and when it broke late yesterday that this was in fact your friend at the center of the scandal that brought down the governor?
ROB CUMMINGS, FRIEND OF ASHLEY DUPRE: I couldn't believe it. I wanted to get in touch with her just to make sure she was all right. It was just crazy kind of.
CHETRY: What about you, Freddy, what was your reaction?
SAGASTUME: I was surprised. You know, it's like somebody you view like a little sister. You know, still do. And, you know, you just want to make sure that she's all right, you know.
CHETRY: Did you have any idea that this was going on, that this was a separate life she was allegedly carrying on?
SAGASTUME: Not at all. Not at all. Not for one minute. Like not even a suspicion. Nothing. It was regular, you know.
CHETRY: What about you?
CUMMINGS: Same thing. Basically, our relationship with Ashley was like a little sister who had like a family and, as well, we worked on the music. And that's basically what we always did. So this was a kind of shock, you know what I mean.
CHETRY: When you get a chance to talk to her, because you say you have been reaching out to her, you've gotten her voice-mail so far. What's the first thing you're going to say to her, Freddy?
SAGASTUME: I'm going to ask if she's all right, you know. I mean, the whole world knows now, so it's just like, you know, just make sure she's good right now.
CHETRY: Now, her mother did speak to a newspaper a little bit. And I think she herself did as well, talking about some of the troubles in her childhood. She said she wouldn't -- on her MySpace page said, I wouldn't take back anything that's happened to me because it's helped me be a stronger person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHETRY: Did you know anything about what she had gone through in her early years?
CUMMINGS: Not too much to elaborate on it. But I know she's been through a lot, and it made her, as young as she is, a strong individual, a strong lady. That's why I have to talk to her because I know she'll get through this as well as she got through everything else.
CHETRY: And also, did you know anything about her past in her childhood, any problems that she may have encountered?
SAGASTUME: Not really. We never did really sat down and speak to that. Like the atmosphere was always music, go out, eat, do shows and have fun. That's how it goes. It was consistent.
CHETRY: Another -- a little item in the article was also talking about how she had recently gone through a break-up. She had found out some news about the person she was dating that was very upsetting. Do you know about that?
CUMMINGS: I have no idea about that. Most of the time anything that had to do anything about relationships, she was a good ear and listening.
SAGASTUME: Yes. She knew about ours a lot.
CUMMINGS: She always listened and tried to give the best advice from a woman's perspective.
SAGASTUME: A good person.
CHETRY: Does it come to a shock to you that people are referring to this person that you were friends with, somebody that you thought you were just making music with, somebody that you trusted as a prostitute?
SAGASTUME: Yes, it's shocking. I mean, everybody has their own belief, you know. What I believe is other than that. She's a person. She's like still the same. We still look at her the same, like our little sister, you know. And anything she needs from us, anything, for her to get through this, I'm there. We're there.
CUMMINGS: Same here. She's got my back 100 percent.
CHETRY: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you for joining us this morning to talk a little bit more about your friend Ashley. Thank you.
CUMMINGS: OK.
SAGASTUME: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, more snow for the Great Lakes region this morning. Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
And the feds are clearing the air, cracking down on the amount of pollution that you breathe every day. Environmentalists say the move is not enough to keep you safe. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time for the "Hot Shot" now. Good luck finding the ball. Take a look at this. It was the biggest snowstorm of the year, but it did not stop Andy Fish Miller of Walnut Creek, Ohio, from putting on some shorts and going to hit a few. He carved out a tee box in 18 inches of snow to hit a few.
Forget sand trap, right, John? It's the snow trap. There he is. Intrepid, I'll tell you that. But I guess he's willing to lose a few balls because there's no way he's going to find them once he hits them in the snow.
ROBERTS: You know, I once played in a snow golf tournament in which we used a purple rubber ball so that you could see it in the snow. I played it in Canada in the freezing cold one January in a town called Meaford. And it was some of the most fun I've ever had in my life and I came this close to winning the championship, the local championship, and getting a shot at going to the grand championship out in Prince George, British Columbia, which would have been a tremendous amount of fun. So, you know --
CHETRY: How do you find the ball once you hit it? I mean --
ROBERTS: As I said, it's a purple rubber ball.
CHETRY: Right, but doesn't it sink?
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: It doesn't sink into the snow?
ROBERTS: Not really. It kind of floats on top of the snow.
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: How about it? Well, by the way, if you guys have a "Hot Shot," send it to us CNN.com/am. There it is. There's a link to the "Hot Shots" on our home page.
Pretty good, John.
ROBERTS: We're going to have an opportunity to play lots of snow golf if you live in the Great Lakes region. Our Rob Marciano at the weather update desk with us this morning. He's tracking the extreme weather. It looks like a lot sort of in the upper part of Michigan this morning, but also some lake-effect snow as well for New York.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A little of everything there, John, and that guy is going to be digging out some more snow. Actually, pretty good form there. Parallel, you know, face square looking down the line. Look good at the top.
Let's go to the radar. Check out Green Bay. If you're going to be playing some snow golf, this is the place; 80 inches now and ongoing. They have broken a record that, well, it stands since they've been keeping records in Green Bay over 115 years now. So, sorry about that. I guess it's apropos with Brett Favre announcing his retirement, why not break some more records in there, in the Green Bay area. More snow coming in your way. We'll see a couple more inches pile up as this thing begins to wind itself off towards the east. Yes, it will head towards upstate New York, a mixture of rain and snow there with a little bit of lake enhancements.
All right. A bigger storm heading into the pacific northwest. Seattle down to Portland, we're seeing rain and mountain snow here moving in. And we have big waves with some of these storms that were rolling in over the weekend. This is the secondary punch that will be slicing down all the way into northern and in some cases southern California. And some of this energy is going to eject into the plains today out ahead of it.
And with that, we have the threat for seeing some severe weather. So extreme weather on tap for eastern parts of Oklahoma, eastern Texas, parts of Louisiana and Arkansas, mostly for the possibility of seeing large hail and damaging winds. It doesn't look like we have the setup for seeing a tornado outbreak but certainly storms that can do some damage and at the very least scare a few folks. So we'll keep it on the radar scope as it gets a little bit more active later on this afternoon. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks very much.
Hey, the Environmental Protection Agency is unveiling new standards to cut down the amount of ozone that can be released into the environment. Ozone is the principal ingredient in ground smog. Industry groups and environmental groups are not happy with the new recommendations saying that they still fall short of what the agency's own scientific experts say is needed.
But the head of the EPA is calling the multimillion-dollar expansion "the most stringent to be signed by the agency." If the new standard took effect today, 345 counties would be in violation -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, President Bush is having some laughs over his daughter's upcoming nuptials. Jenna Bush is going to marrying her fiance, Henry Hager, on May 10th. Coming up pretty quickly now. This is at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The father of the bride told the United States Hispanic Chamber of Congress that he has a tough role.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I had to face some very difficult spending decisions and I've had to conduct sensitive diplomacy. That's called planning for a wedding. La boda (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: First lady Laura Bush described her future son-in-law as a "really good guy" saying, he's finally going to be the son that George never had.
So, you know, stressful -- planning the wedding, of course. It's probably never exactly that much fun to be the father of the bride. You'll find out pretty soon. But in the end it's all worth it.
ROBERTS: Yes. I'm not looking forward to being the father of the bride. But, you know, when we met with President Bush back in September at the White House ahead of his big address on Iraq, that's really what he wanted to talk about, was the process of his future son-in-law coming up to him at Camp David, asking for his daughter's hand in marriage and he was kind of playing with him just a little bit.
CHETRY: He did the right thing.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: It's a tough thing for dads. At my wedding reception, my father announced, you know, in the microphone in front of all the people, if this doesn't work out, Kiran, you can always come back home to us. So my husband's family was certainly thrilled by the sentiment.
ROBERTS: I'm sure Chris was happy about that. Can you imagine asking the president for his daughter's hand in marriage? That might, you know, break a little sweat on the forehead.
CHETRY: It takes some guts for sure.
Well, still ahead, you're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
Now, he's paying for it politically. New York's governor says good-bye as the world is introduced to his suspected call girl. In fact, there's a lack at the MySpace page and photos. Brand new details about the woman known as Kristen coming up.
Also, race making the Democratic race for the White House a little bit ugly at times. Some controversial remarks by a party elder causing all sorts of problems, and not just for the Clinton camp. We'll have that story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And thanks for joining us on this Thursday, the 13th of March. We've just missed having a Friday the 13th by a day and we got two days now until the Ides of March, which is always of course a time, Kiran, that you got to watch your back.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Really? OK. I'll look out for it. You know, I just laugh because forget winter, it's almost like spring in the northeast. It's the coldest, most brutal weather that we've been getting all year long. Praying for April and May to come along because it's just been downright cold up here. ROBERTS: Yes. I should tell you the reason I'm here in Washington. I had a really great opportunity last night. I was invited to a dinner with General Colin Powell and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They're talking about issues that they think are important in the election campaign this year. That's a little shot of me with the general. These of course taken on my Blackberry. I'm playing I-reporter today.
General Powell had something really interesting to say. He said that he hopes that the next president, whomever that is, whether it's Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain resists the notion to get caught up in the crisis of the day and instead, you know, takes a step back to figure out how the United States' role in the world should change from the way that it is right now. And how economics and creating wealth should play a real role in that.
He says that the major driving force around the globe in the next decade is going to be this idea of creating wealth and economics as opposed to military might. Of course, the United States still has to have a very strong military but then economics will be the driving factor.
A photo there of me with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who of course is very much focused through his foundation on global health initiatives. The president's emergency plan for aids relief, suggesting that we need to take greater steps as a nation to increase the health and well-being of people around the world and his wealth also increased the quality of education, from kindergarten to grade 12.
Both he and General Powell saying we've got the best universities in the world, but we don't have a kindergarten through 12 system to feed into those universities.
So, those are some of the issues that they're looking forward to hearing about in the election campaign. And what a great opportunity it was last night.
CHETRY: That's great. Glad you had a chance and thanks for sharing the pictures this morning.
Also, we have some breaking news out of North Carolina as well. Police arresting a second suspect overnight in the murder of UNC student. She was the student body president, Eve Carson. They say they received an anonymous tip that 17-year-old Lawrence Lovett was hiding out in a house in Durham. They said they think Lovett is the driver pictured in the surveillance photo. There it is. Trying to use Carson's bank card at an ATM.
The SWAT Team surrounded the house since midnight. Lovett was arrested around 4:00 a.m. The other suspect, 21-year-old Demario Atwater was arrested yesterday charged with first degree murder. There you see video coming to us from one of our affiliates. Police now say they believe that he was the other man in the back of the SUV.
That discovery was made because of that surveillance video as well. He's being held without bond. Meanwhile, this has just rocked to the community. Carson, a popular 22-year-old, University of North Carolina student body president, a huge bright future, beloved by her classmates, shot to death. Her body found in the middle of the street about a mile away from campus about a week ago.
And again, we're following the developments on this latest arrest this morning for you.
Also, the latest on the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal. Today, we're going to hear from the man taking over his job. New York's lieutenant governor David Paterson. He's going to be holding his first news conference in Albany later today. He officially takes over as governor, Monday.
Meanwhile, the true identity of the alleged high-priced call girl is also out this morning. "The New York Times" first reported this Kristen is actually 22-year-old Ashley Youmans, who goes by the name of Ashley Dupre.
The aspiring singer when contacted by "The Times" saying, quote, "I just don't want to be thought of as a monster." Now earlier, we talked with two of Ashley's friends who say that they had no idea she was leading this double life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYSTERIOUS, FRIENDS OF KRISTEN: I couldn't believe it. I wanted to get in touch with her, just make sure she was all right. It was just crazy.
CHETRY: What about you, Freddy, what was your reaction?
FREDDY SAGASTUME, FRIEND OF KRISTEN: I was surprised and, you know, it's like somebody you view like a little sister, you know. Still do. And, you know, you just want to make sure that she's all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, Spitzer doesn't face any charges yet. Shortly after his resignation yesterday, the federal attorney heading the case says he does not have an agreement with Spitzer. New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno who Spitzer is accused of trying to smear in another scandal is saying it's time to move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BRUNO, NEW YORK SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: This is disturbing. It's not in anyone's best interest. It's just plain sad. So, you know, hopefully we all get on with our lives and this just becomes kind of a bad chapter in what's gone on here in the ends of New York State politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Spitzer is the first New York governor to resign since Nelson Rockefeller voluntarily left office back in 1973 to run a policy group.
John?
ROBERTS: After Geraldine Ferraro resigned from her campaign, Senator Hillary Clinton said Ferraro, quote, "Doesn't speak for the campaign, and doesn't speak for any of her positions." Ferraro, the former vice presidential candidate, sparked an uproar with this comment about Barack Obama.
She said, quote, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." And if he was a woman he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in it."
Joining me now is CNN contributor and columnist for the "New York Daily News" Errol Louis. Errol, good to see you. What do we think the overall effect of not only Ferraro's comments are, but Samantha Powers' comments the week before where she called Hillary Clinton a monster?
I mean, we have, you know, the typical campaign back and forth. And this is a heated and very important campaign, but are they crossing the line here?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think what you are seeing is some dueling kind of goof-ups where one campaign adviser after another says something that the campaign has to disassociate themselves from. So it's one more lesson in, you know, how careful you have to be in figuring out who's going to speak for the campaign.
Now, Geraldine Ferraro's comments were made in a radio interview and during a paid speech in California. So it wasn't seen as central to the campaign. In fact, she's not a spokesperson for the campaign. Clinton brought her on to help raise money. So, you know, it's the last thing she needs is this kind of controversy coming from somebody who wasn't suppose to be out making policy or taking the lead on any issues for the campaign.
ROBERTS: But isn't it true though that that type of comment and the comment from Samantha Power and the back and forth over issues like NAFTA is what really galvanizes voters and draws votes to each particular candidate?
LOUIS: Maybe yes, maybe no. You know, it's a little bit clearer. Well, you mentioned NAFTA. In Ohio it was clearly an issue. The deindustrialization there, the fact that they've been in an economic slump.
This other issue though, this thing that Geraldine Ferraro broke, sort of got into, this slicing and dicing as Obama put it, going back to old traditional categories of women and blacks and whites and Protestants and Jews, and trying to sort of look at the electorate in these old-fashioned terms. That doesn't serve anybody's purpose because it doesn't speak to any particular issues.
ROBERTS: So this whole idea, too, about injecting this issue of race into the campaign and who is doing it, Dorothy Rabinowitz in today's "Wall Street Journal" talks about past episodes in the campaign trail, trying to put the Ferraro comments in perspective.
Talking about Bill Clinton's fairy tale comments, remember that? And when Hillary Clinton said that it took a president to sign the civil rights act into law. She said, quote, "In all, the pattern of this charges may well suggest a race card in play, only it wasn't the Clintons."
She's suggesting, Dorothy Rabinowitz, in today's "Wall Street Journal," that it was the Obama campaign who was trying to turn this into a race issue.
What do you think?
LOUIS: Well, you know, look, I think that speaks to the fact that, again, going back to sort of old-style politics, kind of tribal politics, these old categories, it doesn't work for the Obama campaign. They're not running that kind of a campaign. So you can expect them to speak out against it.
I think it also speaks to sort of a change in the tone, because it's really not the Obama campaign that reacts. Everybody reacted to the comments that President Clinton made in South Carolina. Everybody's reacting. There are thousands of hits. If you look on the Web site, against Geraldine Ferraro's comments and what that speaks to is a change in the politics.
Look, Geraldine Ferraro was born during President Franklin Roosevelt's first term. You know, she's older than John McCain. She's talking about politics from a bygone era. And to the extent that we change the political tone, there are some people who are going to get left behind. I think she's one of them.
ROBERTS: Hey, let me change gears here and talk about Eliot Spitzer because your wife served as his press secretary for eight years while he was attorney general of the State of New York, back at a time when he was allegedly frequenting prostitutes.
Has she talked to you at all about what in the world he was thinking?
LOUIS: Nobody close to him or even, you know, close to those who are close to him, nobody had any inkling of this. And if you think about the details of the case, John, I mean, he was making the phone calls himself. It wasn't even like a trusted aide or a best buddy who was involved in this stuff.
So it really came as such a shock to everyone. I mean, I know of people who used to drive with him from county to county. This before he was a well known politician, in these rural reaches of Upstate New York. And you know, the word was that he wouldn't even tolerate off- color jokes. He was just a very upstanding guy. This side of his life that he kept a secret apparently from everyone.
ROBERTS: Wow! It's going to take a lot of time to sort of unravel that whole process of thinking. Errol Louis for us this morning, CNN contributor and "Daily News" columnist. Good to see you again. Thanks.
LOUIS: You two.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: You know, we've been talking about the Florida Democratic primary chair urging the presidential candidates to consider a combined vote by mail/in-person plan. It would be the redo for the January 29th presidential primary that did not count per se.
Now, if approved, this new Election Day would be Tuesday, June 3rd. Late last night the plan went out to state party leaders and Hillary Clinton's camp as well as Barack Obama's camp and Democratic Party chair Howard Dean were all informed of it as well.
So who's on board and who thinks that this doesn't make any sense. We're going to be speaking with Chairman Dean about it, coming up in our next hour. It's also our "Quick Vote" question of the morning.
What should Florida do about the delegate dilemma? Issue this mail-in ballots, hold another election like it did the first time, or have the committee decide at the convention whether or not those delegates from the last election would be seated. A lot going on in Florida and it could have a huge impact on the Democratic race. Cast your vote cnn.com/am. We're going to get the first tally of the votes a little later in the hour.
Right now, we have some breaking news this morning out of this tragic story in North Carolina. The murder of a promising young college student. Police have arrested now a second suspect in the murder of student body president at UNC Eve Carson. They say they got an anonymous tip that 17-year-old Lawrence Lovett was hiding out in a house in Durham. They say Lovett was the person caught on tape driving her car in ATM surveillance videos and photos released last week.
Carson was a popular 22-year-old University of North Carolina student body president. She was found shot to death about a mile from campus a week ago. Renee Chou of CNN affiliate WRAL joins us now from in front of the house in Durham where Lovett was arrested early this morning.
What more do you know?
RENEE CHOU, WRAL REPORTER: Well, Kiran, Durham police say the arrest went down as it should. The suspect surrendered peacefully, no weapons were fired, no struggle and no injuries. Now, 17-year-old, Lawrence Lovett, is now being questioned at the Durham Police Department in the murder of UNC student Eve Carson.
Meanwhile, police are going through this home behind me on Cook Road, collecting evidence, taking pictures. This is the home where Lovett was found this morning. It's in a residential neighborhood in Southwest Durham. And they got a tip that led them here.
Members of the selective enforcement team arrived around midnight. They used bull horns to try to make contact with the suspect inside. And when they didn't get anywhere, when they didn't get a response for about an hour and a half, they finally tossed a phone through a window in order to make contact.
And that's when investigators say Lovett picked up the phone and talked with them. Negotiators were able to convince Lovett to come outside. He walked out. He was unarmed. He had his hands up. And Durham police say that it all went down without incident.
Now, how Lovett ended up here at this home police would still not elaborate. They did contact the owner of the home, but the owner was not home at the time when this all went down. And again, Lovett is now being questioned at the Durham Police Department. He faces first degree murder charges.
Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: And yesterday, there was the arrest of the first suspect, this was 21-year-old Demario James Atwater also of Durham. Do you know -- are they telling you anything about a connection between these two suspects?
CHOU: At this time, they are not. That connection is still being investigated. What they want to do now is try and ask some questions to Atwater as well as Lovett about what they know or what happened to Eve Carson.
CHETRY: All right, Renee Chou for us this morning, outside of that home where this latest arrest took place in the early morning hours. Actually, just a few hours ago. Thanks.
John?
ROBERTS: Coming up on 44 minutes after the hour, dangerous drugs being sold online to teenagers without prescriptions. We're going to take a look at one family's tragic story and what's being done to crack down on the cyber dealers. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, what's next with oil prices after reaching $110 a barrel yesterday? Senior business correspondent Ali Velshi is here with us this morning "Minding Your Business."
So, where is it headed now, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looks like it's headed up from here. $110.17 is where it got to. Overnight, we pulled back a little bit from there. But that's where it is. And of course, John, as we've been talking about, it translates immediately into gasoline prices. We're actually seeing a lag. We're seeing gasoline prices reflecting the price of oil probably a week ago when it wasn't even at $105 yet. Take a look at where gas prices are. National average $3.27 now for self-serve unleaded. Now, that and the continuing credit crisis is continuing to add pressure to markets right now. We had overseas markets have a pretty rough night. Over in Japan, we had a loss of almost 3 percent. Look at Hong Kong, almost 5 percent, China giving up 2.4 percent. European markets are open right now.
London is down almost 2 percent, Frankfurt and Paris down even more than that. And part of the problem here is that the increase in oil prices affecting the dollar. The dollar hit again. Its lowest point against the Euro now costing $1.56 to buy a Euro. Gold is within $10 of a thousand.
So all of these things together are conspiring to cause more problems for the U.S. economy. And we are looking at a sharply lower open on the DOW right now. At last check, DOW futures were down more than 150 points. So you can expect this all to come together in a rough day for investors.
John?
ROBERTS: So Ali, we had these moves being made by the Feds and other banks around the world to prop up the DOW. It works for a day and then it goes right back down again. What does that suggest about the health of the market?
VELSHI: Well, the day that it lasted, John, you'll recall is longer than it has last in the past. The Fed has made these injections in the past. They haven't lasted for more than a few hours. That means that this market is fundamentally struggling. The economy is fundamentally struggling. That surgical strike Fed took wasn't enough. It's not going to be enough. This economy is headed for a downturn.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us this morning. Ali, thanks. Talk to you again soon.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, it's a horrifying surgical nightmare. Waking up in the middle of an operation, being able to feel everything that's happening to you and no way to tell the doctors. Well, there's new technology that was designed to detect if you are under anesthesia but how effective is it? If you're having surgery or thinking about it, Sanjay Gupta tells us what you need to know, coming up.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, dangerous drugs just a mouse click away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Internet has become a candy store for 12 to 18-year-old kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Millions of pills sold with no prescription and no questions asked. It's illegal so why is it so easy? A heartbroken mother and a search for answers, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 53 minutes after the hour. An update now on a story that sparked enormous interest among our viewers. The problem of patients under anesthesia waking up during surgery.
Well, it turns out that a special brain wave monitor designed to detect if people are waking up does not work any better than older methods. Research into the device suggests that the monitor doesn't work any better than cheaper methods which check gases in a patient's breath.
So, Kiran, the take-away from this is that, it looks like people may continue to wake up during surgery here, which is just an unbelievable problem.
CHETRY: Yes, it's something that rarely happens. But, boy, if you're the one it happens to, I mean, what an unimaginable nightmare.
Meanwhile, the number of Web sites selling prescription drugs without a doctor's prescription has simply exploded. And many of those buying the potentially lethal medications are actually teens.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins us now with one family's tragic story.
Hi, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran. And that's the thing. It's illegal, it's potentially deadly, so why are so many young people taking this risk?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): Ryan Haight was 18 years old when he bought two powerful drugs, Vicodin and morphine. He never saw a doctor or even a pharmacist. His mother says it happened in secret online. She was the one who found Ryan dead of an overdose.
FRANCINE HAIGHT, RYAN HAIGHT'S MOTHER: I remember that moment thinking, oh, my God, oh, my God, why did he take these? How did he get these?
FEYERICK: Ryan, an athlete and honor student from Southern California, got the drugs illegally through the Internet from a seller in Texas.
F. HAIGHT: It's like somebody entered your house but you don't know they're there.
JOSEPH CALIFANO, ADDICTION AND DRUG ABUSE EXPERT: Many, 410 times who buy OxyContin without a prescription. FEYERICK: Joseph Califano, an expert on addiction and drug abuse has watched the number of advertisers for rogue online pharmacies skyrocket.
CALIFANO: They don't care who you are. They just want you to buy OxyContin without a prescription.
FEYERICK: The pharmacists or cyber doctors no little or nothing about their customers' medical history. Yet still put millions of pills into the hands of people with no prescriptions.
CALIFANO: You can get OxyContin, you can get Vicodin, you can get Ritalin, you can get Adderall, you can get Xanax, you can get Valium very easily. It's like a candy. The Internet has become a candy store for 12 to 18-year-old kids.
FEYERICK: Experts say it's hard to put a figure on the actual number of teens buying drugs online. But with an estimated 6 million Americans overall abusing prescription medications, the Drug Enforcement Agency has stepped up efforts to shut down more than 100 of these rogue pharmacies. A daunting task.
JOHN GILBRIDE, SAC DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY: They operate in cyberspace. They operate with anonymity. And it takes an enormous amount of time to identify these pharmacies, to find out the individuals that are operating the pharmacies, what country they happen to be operating in, how they are receiving their payment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And because they operate in places like India, China, Mexico, Canada, to name just a few, even when agents find them, it's easy for these sites to shut down and reappear under a new name.
Ryan's mom says it's as if a low-life drug dealer simply walked into her home. And that invasion is what makes this also frightening especially since kids are mixing these drugs, taking potentially lethal doses and getting addicted.
Kiran?
CHETRY: And you talked about how difficult it is to track, but are they making any progress in trying to get the sites shut down?
FEYERICK: They are. They are, one by one, they are. But the problem is that these drugs are coming from everywhere. There's simply no way to track what's coming into the country. Some of the drugs are hidden. Others are sort of masked as something else.
And because some of these drugs are tainted -- or nobody knows what they're getting. So it's really Russian roulette when you order on these sites.
CHETRY: Terrifying thought. Deb, thanks for bringing us the story.
John?
ROBERTS: Hey thanks, Kiran.
From Client Number Nine and Kristen to the governor and Ashley. Eliot Spitzer's suspected call girl. Could he go to jail? Could she help put him there? More on the latest shoe to drop in the investigation, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Meet Kristen, the woman who allegedly cost a governor $4,000 and his political career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIOT SPITZER, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK STATE: I am resigning from the office of governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: New this morning, what her friends knew, brand new pictures, and her troubled past.
Race, back in the race.
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