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American Morning
Jail Time for "The Juice"?; Nanny Saves Two-Year-Old from Terrorists; Where the Jobs Are; Chicago City Takes Center Stage; Detroit's Big Three CEOs Return to Capitol Hill; Pirates Get Lifeline
Aired December 05, 2008 - 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: It's coming up on one minute to the top of the hour. And here are this morning's top stories. More huge job cuts and bad sales figures helping push oil prices down to their lowest level in four years. During overnight trading in Asia, the price of a barrel settled below $44.
And gulf oil's CEO said the price of a barrel could still be cut in half from where it is now. Joe Petrowski speculating that we could even see gasoline prices as low as, listen to this, $1 a gallon by early next year. The national average for a gallon of gas today, $1.77.
In a few hours, the big three CEOs head back to Capitol Hill for another day of begging for bailout loans. But Democrats say they don't have the votes to pass it, at least not in the Senate. Today, the "Detroit Free Press" front page features an editorial defending the big three leading with this, dear members of Congress, you don't want an economic disaster on your hands, not when you could have prevented it.
And in Las Vegas, Nevada at noon Eastern, sentencing hearing for O.J. Simpson gets underway. He faces six years to life in prison for a botch attempt to recover sports collectibles from two vendors. Simpson was convicted in October on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery.
Here to talk about the fate awaiting Simpson, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Six to 18 years, that's pretty broad discretion for the judge.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: But technically, it's even bigger than that because it's six years minimum but life maximum. Now the parole agency which makes recommendations to the judge said 18 years. So it's very likely it's going to be somewhere in that six to 18 range. But it really is very much up to the judge.
ROBERTS: Now O.J. Simpson's attorney is begging for leniency saying, hey, he's a first time offender here. Judge Jackie Glass there known for handing tough sentences.
TOOBIN: She is. And, you know, the great unknown of this case is how much does the fact that he's O.J. Simpson, the fact that he was acquitted in a crime that many people including me, think that he's guilty of, how will that affect the judge? She says it won't, it's not supposed to. But how in the real world can she avoid it?
ROBERTS: Well, how in the real world as we're talking about, he's never been convicted of any crime. Certainly he was ordered in a civil court to pay out penalties.
TOOBIN: Which is hardly done at all. And in fact, I think it's worth remembering that it is not entirely the case that he has no criminal record. Before the murder, he did plead guilty to a misdemeanor of beating up Nicole Brown-Simpson, a history of domestic violence in that relationship. So --
ROBERTS: But no felonies.
TOOBIN: No felonies.
ROBERTS: But can a judge -- if you're a judge, can you really sit there and not consider somewhere in the back of your mind what happened in the past?
TOOBIN: You can, I think. Judges are trained to do that and I think it's appropriate. The thing that somewhat counter-revealing in Simpson's favor, is a lot of people and I would include myself among this, say that this case doesn't really feel as serious as the charges in the case seem to merit.
Was this really a kidnapping case? Was this really an armed robbery? Yes, it is true that's what he's convicted of. But given the weird circumstances of this strange confrontation among people who all know each other in a hotel room, none of them particularly admirable characters, is this a case you want to send even a bad guy away for, for life?
ROBERTS: So, why did the sentencing committee recommend 18 years? What was their analysis?
TOOBIN: There are certain standards that they apply. And when you get into the armed robbery kidnapping category, it almost automatically goes to that level. So I don't think they did a bad job. But I think it is just -- you know, that's why judges have some discretion to be able to draw distinctions here.
You know, he's also 61 years old. So an 18-year sentence for a 61-year-old looks very different from an 18-year sentence for a 31- year-old.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Well, we'll find out today noon Eastern. We'll be watching right here on CNN.
TOOBIN: Just a couple of hours.
ROBERTS: Jeff, good to see you this morning. Thanks for dropping by.
Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: From the three days of Mumbai's tragic and bloody terrorist siege, stories of incredible bravery and heroism have emerged, including a nanny who risked her own life to rescue a baby.
Paula Hancocks has our exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pure concentration on his latest work of art. Moshe Holtzberg draws and plays with the nanny who saved his life. It's a million miles from last week's Mumbai attack which killed both his parents.
SANDRA SAMUEL, NANNY: I was in the kitchen. I came running in order to stop them. And I see that one man is shooting at me. He shot at me.
HANCOCKS: Sandra locked herself in a storeroom with another Chabad House worker, Jackie (ph). But when she heard baby Moshe calling her name 12 hours later, she didn't hesitate to unlock the door and risk her life to save his.
SAMUEL: When I heard gunshots, it's like not one, two. It's like hundreds of gunshots, 10, 20 grenades, bombs in the Chabad. So even I am a mother of two children, so I just picked the baby and I run. I don't think of fear. Does anybody think of dying at that moment when a small precious baby's -- no.
HANCOCKS: Moshe is now learning to play again but likes to know that Sandra is close by.
SAMUEL: For two, three days he asked for his Ima continuously and because she used to always give some special time to him.
HANCOCKS: Moshe plays in the garden of Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman, a man who has spent 40 years looking after orphans in Israel, his own great nephew also now an orphan. But Moshe has dozens of loving relatives willing to give him a new home and the Chabad movement has created a fund to secure his future.
RABBI YITZCHAK DAVID GROSSMAN, PRESIDENT, MIGDAL OHR: Everybody thanks Sandra because she serves. She gives the life to save Moshe. She knows that she can be killed and she go (ph) and take him out.
HANCOCKS: A non-Jewish Indian nanny welcomed as an Israeli hero. She has carte blanche to stay in Israel and says she will not leave as long as Moshe needs her. Even now, Sandra barely takes the time to think of herself.
(on camera): And how are you coping now?
SAMUEL: Me? Baby's there, Sandra is there. That's it.
HANCOCKS: Paula Hancocks, CNN, northern Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: Such an amazing story. How brave she was I mean if she said she didn't even think of her own life with all those gunshots going off.
ROBERTS: You know there's a lot of that that happened during that crisis. It happens in a lot of crises as well that people just sort of rise above the whole thing and they look after somebody who otherwise couldn't take care of themselves.
CHETRY: Wow. It's amazing.
ROBERTS: Good for her. That's terrific.
Well, national news headlines right now. President Bush has got a new crash pad. The first lady's press secretary says that the Bushes bought a home in a wealthy north Dallas neighborhood where they lived back in the 1990s. They're going to move in after they leave the White House in January, and they still got the ranch at Crawford as well, of course.
Heartbreaking video coming in overnight from the Oregon coast, a 42-foot crab boat sinking before our eyes. The Coast Guard says two of the three men onboard died when it went under on Friday. The captain swam to the rocks and was picked up by the Coast Guard. It's an area that has claimed 15 lives over the past few years.
CHETRY: And more incredible images, towering flames after a tanker truck blew up on an Arkansas interstate. Police say the truck was carrying about 9,000 gallons of gas when it swerved, overturned and then exploded. Firefighters had to wait for the inferno to burn itself out. Three people were hospitalized and the crash may have involved several other cars as well.
And everyone is invited to dinner. Christmas dinner that is, at Mrs. Hernandez's house. The Kansas woman posted an invite on Craigslist to needy families that may not have enough to eat. She says 18 families actually contacted her in a day. She's also been inspired now. She's inspired others actually to make similar offers. So, very nice.
ROBERTS: A lot of people going to be hurting this holiday season so the more folks can do for each other, the better off everybody will be.
CHETRY: Wonderful.
ROBERTS: That's nice.
CHETRY: Well, the Windy City White House, the spotlight now on Obama's hometown, Chicago, as Oprah and the Cubs get used to sharing the stage with the next leader of the free world.
It's seven minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: We all know times are tough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN ROGOFF, FORMER IMF CHIEF ECONOMIST: We're having a heart attack in our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: But there are jobs out there. Find out which industries are surviving and even thriving.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 10 minutes after the hour. Let's fast forward to stories that will be making news later on today,
Bracing for another brutal jobs report. November's numbers are out at 8:30 this morning Eastern time. Economists say it could be the biggest monthly decline in 26 years.
The Detroit big three CEOs back on Capitol Hill today asking for $34 billion in loans and try to undo damage that they did during the previous hearings. Yesterday each company warned of tremendous damage to the economy if they are forced to file for bankruptcy.
O.J. Simpson will be sentenced today at noon Eastern. He could face life in prison for holding up sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in Las Vegas.
And still counting in the Minnesota Senate race. The deadline to finish the recount originally set for today, but the state canvassing board extended it because they lost an envelope containing about 130 ballots. With most of the ballots recounted now, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman leads by about 300 votes over Al Franken, the challenger.
And that's what we're following this morning -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, companies cut more than 20,000 jobs yesterday alone and in about an hour from now November's job report is expected to add more than 300,000 cuts on top of the more than a million already gone this year. That is harrowing news, but there are places to turn. And if you're cool with learning something new or living somewhere else, there are opportunities for you.
Christine Romans joins us now with a little bit more on this. I'm trying to make the best of a tough situation, so what do you do if you find yourself laid off?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a tough situation and it's the end of the year, Kiran. That means employers are slashing jobs by the thousands as they try to get their numbers for the end of the year. How bad can it get? And more important, is there anything you can do about it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): The forecasts are abysmal.
KEN ROGOFF, FORMER IMF CHIEF ECONOMIST: We're having a heart attack in our economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see the unemployment rate going all the way to over nine percent.
ROMANS: That job loss is well underway. Month after month, American jobs disappear. Tig Gilliam is CEO of employment services company, Adecco. His job is finding people jobs.
TIG GILLIAM, CEO, ADECCO: It's definitely going to be a tough 2009.
ROMANS: With a few exceptions.
GILLIAM: It's I.T., it's engineering, it's health care, it's finance and accounting. Those sorts of skill sets are still in strong demand and will be going forward.
ROMANS: For example, health care has added 348,000 jobs this year. Aging baby boomers and new technology mean jobs.
GILLIAM: So health care growth, it's not just nurses and doctors. It's I.T. experts. It's finance and accounting experts.
ROMANS: Consider more training, more education. The unemployment rate for college-educated workers is half what it is for the population as a whole. If you can, consider moving.
GILLIAM: We find candidates who would be willing to move but they're in a situation where they're having difficulty selling their house.
ROMANS: If you can't move, be patient. It may take months to find a new job. And don't automatically reject an offer to keep your job for less pay.
GILLIAM: I think if all other things about your employment situation are good for you, you like the industry you're in, you like the company you work for, you enjoy your job, then this is a short term situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: The goal, of course, is to keep that gap on your resume as short as possible if you're going to have a gap on the resume.
You know, a couple of big issues here. If it's so much better to have a college education but it cost -- it's $20,000 in student debt when you get out of school, that's an issue for the policymakers, college affordability. Exporting of American jobs also an issue for policymakers. A lot of big picture issues that the new administration is going to have to grapple if we're going to have a persistently business jobs market. ROBERTS: So remember you did the story earlier this week about the airlines still not getting it, still charging fuel surcharges, extra baggage charges. Somebody must have heard you because cruise lines, at least one of them, is giving back. Now that gas prices are down -- way, way down, as we said they may even hit a buck, according to the CEO of Gulf Oil, Carnival Cruise Lines will suspend its fuel surcharge on all trips starting December 17th. Passengers will get a refund in the form of a ship credit. I don't know if you can use that on the ship to buy something or if that's on your next cruise. That's not clear.
The fees were between $9 and $15 per person per day. So you go on a seven-day cruise that kind of adds up, doesn't it?
CHETRY: Wow. All right. So, listen up. If cruise ships can do it, the airlines can too.
ROMANS: If we're talking about a dollar a gallon gas, eventually it's hard to be putting fuel surcharges on a cruise, you know.
ROBERTS: So you watch it. You keep up those fuel surcharges, we're going to sit Christine (INAUDIBLE) is an ugly you don't want us.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
Well, pirates drifting away at sea hungry and stranded. But a warship out there protecting against them actually wound up rescuing them instead.
ROBERTS: The second city no more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that everyone should be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Chicago is home to the first family in waiting, and that's just one reason why some say it's now the hottest city in America.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." President-elect Barack Obama changed the way that candidates run a presidential campaign. He'll also change history as America's first black president. And our Alina Cho found out that the Obamas are also changing their hometown of Chicago as well.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.
You know when you think of Chicago you may think skyline, architecture, Lake Michigan, the can't win Cubs, a place where one writer said you learn to take the bitter with the bad. Well, all of that has changed and the Obamas are a big reason. These days no more second city. They're feeling like number one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): The cold Windy City is suddenly hot.
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY (D), CHICAGO: I'm always happy for us. But this is more exposure, you know. You get a president-elect here, I mean.
CHO: Chicago is already home to a queen. Now, it's home to a president. Call it Obama mania. Second city isn't used to being first.
SCOTT TUROW, AUTHOR & CHICAGO NATIVE: Chicago is known for gangsters, corrupt politicians, deep dish pizza and an airport that sometimes seems to be the northern outpost of the Bermuda Triangle.
CHO: Now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that everyone should be here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's just really a sense of pride.
CHO: This is the Chicago you see in the movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE BREAK-UP")
VINCE VAUGHN, ACTOR: Don't make me ask you twice. Are you ready to see Chicago?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Post-election, Chicago looks like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, this is close as we're going to get to his home.
CHO: For curiosity seekers, this sold out South Side bus tour includes a stop near Obama's home, the Midwestern White House. And then there's that Midwestern charm.
RICK BAYLESS, CHICAGO'S FRONTERA RESTAURANT: When people come to Chicago, one of the things that really impresses them about our city is how friendly everyone is.
CHO: The tourism bureau says native Chicagoans are rediscovering it too, and the timing couldn't be better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CHICAGO TOURISM BUREAU)
NARRATOR: Modern Chicago. A magnificent global city.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHO: Chicago wants to host the 2016 Olympic Games. An Obama presidency can't hurt. And what a party it would be. If the president-elect were to serve two terms, 2016 would be his last year in office.
TUROW: I think that the president-elect has plans for great change for America, but I doubt he can change the weather. Even he cannot change the weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Nobody can do anything about those Chicago winters, but it will get warm again in June.
You know "GQ" magazine has just named Chicago "City of the Year." The magazine cites the Windy City's film, literature and architecture, local politicians, Mayor Richard Daley and Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who could take Barack Obama's spot in the Senate, by the way. But, Kiran, no mention of Barack Obama. That may just go without saying.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. Like Oprah. How about it?
All right. Pretty cool. Thanks a lot, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Hat in hand they drove back to Capitol Hill. The big three CEOs slashing their salaries to a buck and suddenly saving cash every way they can. Is it sincerity or just a good PR move?
And getting terrorists to talk? Barack Obama says he'll change the way that we hold and question terror suspects. Could the threat of an imminent attack change his mind? We'll find out.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up at 24 minutes after the hour. They ditched their planes for hybrid cars and this week instead of pleas, the big three CEOs came to Capitol Hill with a plan. But as the price tag for an auto bailout package balloons from $25 billion to now $34 billion, things are getting a little bit heated on Capitol Hill.
Our good friend, Dana Milbank, from the "Washington Post" gives us his take on the issue this morning, and he joins us from Washington.
Dana, it's good to see you. You've talked about this idea that the big three CEOs drove to Washington as opposed to flying in corporate jets in what you call the "display of contrition that could not have been more obvious if the executives showed up in sackcloth and ashes."
It appears to be an obviously political stunt or publicity stunt. How did it go over with lawmakers yesterday?
DANA MILBANK, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Reasonably well. You know, this is sort of a congressional ritual of public humiliation. The idea is, you know, they sort of know they're going to have to help this industry in some form. They just can't let it go belly up.
The public is really angry about it. I think there was a CNN poll that said 61 percent are opposed to a bailout. So the best they can do in the Senate and in the House today is just embarrass these guys and keep trying to humiliate them. It was sort of the modern legislative equivalent of the Scarlet letter.
ROBERTS: Well, they're certainly trying to do that as much as they could yesterday. Senator Richard Shelby said, OK, it's all well and good that you drove here. But are you going to drive back home? Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (D), ALABAMA: You drove up here. Did you drive or did you have a driver? Did you drive a little and ride a little? And secondly, I guess, are you going to drive back. If so, some of us want to ride to Detroit, can we ride with you?
Where did you stay? What did you eat?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: It's nice to know that we're getting some laughs for $34 billion, Dana.
MILBANK: Well, we deserve something. And the General Motors chairman didn't even get to say he actually ate at a Quizno's, at a Pennsylvania highway rest stop. So that is some serious sacrifice for these multimillionaires. But they were definitely -- they were definitely put through, I think it was about four hours of this yesterday.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, there was some joking but a lot of it was very serious. Tennessee Republican Bob Corker was awfully tough on them suggesting that maybe they might want to consider a merger. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Let me move to Chrysler then. I know that while this is happening, you're going to be going to spas and getting facials and hopefully finding someone to marry you, OK. But in the interim --
ROBERT NARDELLI, CHRYSLER CEO: I'm married for 38 years.
CORKER: I'm talking about the company.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: You know, Republicans are trying to be tough on these CEOs as well, because it's all, you know, as we're talking about earlier, very good political theater. You want to be seen by your constituents as being tough on these folks. But you know, Republicans are very pro business. If they were to let these companies go into bankruptcy and were to have an extraordinarily detrimental effect on the economy, could they find themselves in trouble?
MILBANK: Well, sure that's a risk. And there's also the risk of this sort of tremendous arrogance there. I mean, the senators on the panel have enough trouble running the country. We're now telling these guys how to run, saying, all right. Well, General Motors, you've got to get married as Senator Corker was saying there with Chrysler and the Chrysler chairman was so offended by that he felt the need to point out that in fact he had been married to his wife for 38 years.
But you know, it's sort of a free shot now for the Republicans. They figure OK, either the administration or Congress is going to do something so they can sort of be on the side of the people on this one and let the other guys do the heavy lifting.
ROBERTS: And the House panel gets them today and there'll be a lot more people on that House panel to make comments as well.
But let's go back to what you're talking about, the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. Sixty-one percent of Americans are against the bailout. But the auto industry and some noted economists are saying, if it doesn't happen we could be in real trouble. Does the public just not fully understand the consequences, Dana?
MILBANK: Well, I think that's true. And nobody exactly understands what will unfold here. But the committee was told yesterday by a top economist that the effect would be cataclysmic. And you had Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, using that same word. And they seem to be saying with a little bit of a wink and a nod, yes, something is going to have to happen here. We can't let this thing go belly up.
Exactly what is going to happen nobody was being very specific about it. Sort of a game of chicken going on now with the administration of who is going to spend the money and out of what account. But I think they have finally settled on a realization that they can't actually let these guys sort of go into a liquidation state.
ROBERTS: All right. Dana Milbank for us this morning. Enjoyed your column today. Good reading on the "Washington Post." See you again next week.
MILBANK: Thanks a lot, John.
CHETRY: Well, it's 28 minutes after the hour. A look at the top stories.
A high stakes test for the $100 billion U.S. missile-defense system. It will launch sometime after 3:00 this afternoon Eastern time. It's the first time that the interceptor missile will have to deal with decoys. The critical test as the incoming president, Barack Obama, will decide whether or not to continue supporting the program.
A virus. It's spreading fast and it's on Facebook and it could steal your credit card numbers. Experts say the "Koobface" virus, as they're calling it, is extra sneaky because it disguises itself as a message from a friend. It would have a subject like you look so amazing and funny on our new video and a link to a site like YouTube. Well, you don't want to download what pops up next.
Facebook which has 120 million users has posted instructions about how to remove the virus. Those instructions are posted on its security page.
And they've done nothing but terrorize but pirates are drifting away at sea and then rescued by a Danish warship that was supposed to be guarding against them.
David McKenzie has more on the strange twist of fate live now from Nairobi, Kenya.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. You wouldn't expect these pirates who are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars of change and have 12 ships right now hijacked off the coast of Somalia. You would think they would always get it right. Well, in this case, apparently they didn't.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The Danish Navy has captured seven suspected pirates because the bumbling bandits needed rescuing. The patrol craft Upsilon (ph) responded to a distress call by the armed men who were stuck in the Gulf of Aden for days. The outboard motor on this skiff broke. They have now been handed over to Yemeni authorities.
The pirates that nabbed this vessel were far luckier. The MV Centauri, a Greek owned ship packed with salt returned safely after to Kenya's port of Mombasa after being released on ransom. The Kenyan police were eager to get on board and have their say.
JOHN NYANZIWII, MOMBASA PORT CID OFFICER: The crew and the pilots say they were friendly at times and they would share food.
MCKENZIE: Despite the apparent camaraderie they were held hostage at gunpoint for over two months. Only a ransom would release them safely.
Independent Somali expert Rashid Abdi of the respected crisis group conflict resolution organization says ransoms are only a short term solution.
RASHID ABDI, CRISIS GROUP: Ransom is a double edged sword in the sense that it sort of encourages more abductions, more kidnapping, more seizures of ship. But let's say, you know, that no ransom is paid. Then it means the cargo is in danger and also the crew who are being held are in danger.
MCKENZIE: the navy are hamstrung by geography. The pirates reaches over a million square miles. The Navy can't monitor that entire stretch of ocean. The Somalia leaders are asking for assistance not just out on sea but on land, too.
NUR HUSSEIN, SOMALI PRIME MINISTER: I think the Somali government alone cannot fight the piracy. Definitely, the Somali government needs to be supported and to be able to organize security forces who can confront the piracy organization.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: Well, Kiran, the Somalia Prime Minister there asking essentially for boots on the ground in Somalia that, as you know, it's very unlikely western governments are going to send troops into Somalia because of the real disaster that happened in the early '90s in the famous Black Hawk Down incident. So for now, these pirates unless they get lost at sea and they're going to keep on doing what they are doing. Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes and it also raises the questions about safety for cruise ships as well. We heard just last week about that cruise ship that really out maneuvered an attempted takeover by some pirates. Are they just going to stop running cruise ships through these regions?
MCKENZIE: Well I don't think that will be the immediate solution. That cruise ship, the Nautica, an American cruise ship managed to outrun pirates because of quick thinking of the captain. And, though, obviously these are heading the headlines and every week there seems to be more ships taken. There are still many, many ships that get through this area safely. So I think that will be really giving up and giving into the pirates. And the other way to go would be all the way around Africa.
For now they are just bolstering those navy forces. The EU next week will put in vessels in the area, Kiran. And so, hopefully that added amount of coverage of that area will solve the situation a little bit.
CHETRY: Hopefully. David McKenzie for us in Nairobi, this morning.
Thank you.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning. Medical marijuana is now legal in Michigan but patients could still get busted for smoking a joint because new regulations will not be in place for another few months. the new law allows patients with cancer, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases to use marijuana if prescribed by a doctor.
A fund-raising S.O.S. going out to Barack Obama's vast list of donors. They are being asked again to help Hillary Clinton pay down her campaign debt before she becomes secretary of state. And ethics laws will then kick in which will limit her fund raising abilities. Obama pledged to help Clinton pay off her debt after she endorsed him. As of last month, Hillary Clinton still had more than $7 million in campaign debts much of which she has underwritten herself.
And 15 grand sitting on the grass drivers on a Seattle highway could not believe their eyes. Hundreds, 50s and 20s were scattered every where. Too good to be true, right? Right. Police say the money was counterfeit. They say anyone who picked it up better turn it in because you don't want the Secret Service all over you know what. Not clear how the money got there in the first place.
CHETRY: All right. We've had cases where it was real money and people turned it in as well.
ROBERTS: In this case, not real money. Better turn it in. Anybody who picked it up, be wary.
CHETRY: Well is it torture? Is it necessary? Is there a right way to get terrorists to talk? A lot of questions facing the next president. One that he will be able to answer when tested for the first time. It's our "memo to the president."
ROBERTS: And what if you had nine frozen embryos that you didn't think that you'll needed any more and you had to pay to keep them in storage. The ethical dilemma that one mother faces. We'll have that for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Allegations of torture have damaged America's reputation around the world. The next administration, the first new one since 9/11 has promised to close Gitmo and change the way we get intelligence from terrorists. But will it work? Justice correspondent Kelli Arena has today's "memo to the president."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. President, you've been a harsh critic of the way the CIA does business. So how will you tell the agency to handle some of the world's most dangerous men? For now the CIA does not have to play by the same rules as the military or the FBI. And uses pretty severe interrogation techniques. Moral arguments aside many insist they just don't work.
COL. STEVE KLEINMAN, FMR. MILITARY INTERROGATOR: There is absolutely no science to suggest that the use of coercion is an effective means of obtaining reliable information from anybody.
ARENA: Furthermore, when someone tells you when he thinks he's dying could be wrong. Like the intelligence suggesting there was an Iraq Al Qaeda connection.
REAR ADM. JOHN HUTSON (RET.), FMR. CHIEF NAVY LAWYER: We went to war based on intelligence that was absolutely wrong that was derived through torture and enhanced techniques in Egypt.
ARENA: But some extremists want to kill us. Some say the CIA should do whatever it takes. MICHAEL SCHEUER, FMR. CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: We're talking to people who mean to harm the United States in ways minor and massive. They won't volunteer the information.
ARENA: Mr. President, imagine you're told an attack is imminent. A detainee has information to prevent it. What would you do? The U.S. military does not allow things like forced standing, sleep deprivation or exposure to extreme temperatures, what some call torture. Intelligence officials say the CIA used some of those techniques against senior Al Qaeda terrorists with some success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been crucial in getting us a better understanding of the enemy we face.
ARENA: Are you sure you want to take those tools off the table?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: I make the analogy to nuclear weapons. We got them. So don't want to ever want to use them ever again. But we don't - we didn't do away with that program.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Until the new team sees all the classified memos and legal decisions about interrogation it will be hard to make any decisions. Still the pressure is on to send a message to the world about what the new man in the White House will tolerate and what he won't. John.
ROBERTS: So, I mean, is there consensus on this idea of whether or not the information that you get, if you use these "enhanced interrogation techniques" is accurate, is actually actionable or is it just what the interrogator wants to hear?
ARENA: You know, John, if there was any consensus it wouldn't be as difficult as it is to figure this out. There are those who say that they got very valuable intelligence. Yes, some wrong. But the right intelligence that they got was worth it. Others say look we can get that accurate information without these enhanced techniques. It is really split down the middle.
ROBERTS: And correct me if I'm wrong but a lot of the information that took us to war in Iraq came from this fellow curveball who was never interrogated, right?
ARENA: That's right, John. I mean the information that was wrong about Iraq was the Al Qaeda connection that was gotten from an alleged Al Qaeda operative who was you know tortured not here in the United States. He was in Egyptian custody at the time.
ROBERTS: All right. Kelli Arena for us this morning with today's "memo to the president." Kelli, thanks so much for that. Monday's memo by the way, relations with a billion Muslims around the world. How to convince them that the war on terror is not a war on Islam? And we want to hear from you as well. Send us your memo to the president. Go to CNN.com/am and click on the I-report link. Give the president-elect your concerns or a piece of your mind. Kiran.
CHETRY: If you're feeling down and out and you don't know why? There's a surprising new way to get happy again. You can catch it just like you can catch a cold. We'll explain. It's 41 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: All right. We got 73 degrees in Miami. That shot coming to us courtesy of WPLG. Beautiful this morning. All right. Here we go. This is the theme music by the way to "Miami Vice." So if you had to say you were Crockett or Tubbs, Reynolds, which one would you be? I know you watched it.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I did not. I stayed away from that. No, I mean, hearing that music and thinking back to those times is kind of like garlic to a vampire. That's right. Those past L collars and the white parachute pants. Good times.
CHETRY: Well everything old is new again. It's back.
WOLF: Absolutely. Yes, it is indeed back. Hey, you know something else is back. The holiday season. Take a look at this video. This is out of Santa Claus, Indiana. How about that? It's right around the corner of Christmas Boulevard and Kringle Place. This is a real place. It's not just something that had to be seasonal. Santa Claus, Indiana, an actual town. They have a like a Santa Claus Cafe. They have like a, I guess a Mrs. Claus Bakery that kind of stuff. Conditions there today have been on the chilly side. No question. This was sent in by Melissa Miller, ireport, and it's going to be a nice day there if you don't mind. Temperatures mainly in the 20s and 30s. Let's get right back to the weather computer, just the north of that area back in the great lakes we're going to be seeing some scattered snow showers. Lake effect snowfall especially heavy in parts of say Buffalo and back into Cleveland perhaps and even into Syracuse before the day is out. High pressure can be the downing feature across much of the central plains. With that pretty dry conditions. We're going to be seeing some falling out to the west in California. You might have some delays there. But you'll definitely see some delays in Cleveland, Detroit back to the New York City metro airports including Boston. Wind can be an issue by the afternoon in Minneapolis. Yes, snow and some wind. Mostly snow developing after the noon hour though.
In terms of temperatures, we are already telling you about the Ohio Valley and parts of Indiana back into say Ohio itself. Temperatures mainly in the 20s and 30s. Chicago 23, your high and 62 in Las Vegas and Miami finishing up where we started. "Miami Vice." Temperature is going up to 78 degrees for your high today.
Kiran, let's send it back to you.
CHETRY: SO not just for the weather but for the wardrobe, it is the place to be this weekend.
WOLF: Good times. CHETRY: Reynolds, take care.
WOLF: You bet.
ROBERTS: They are one of the biggest bands in the world and one of their biggest songs is leading to a big lawsuit. Take a listen to Coldplay's "Viva la Vida."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: All right. There's the Coldplay song. But rock guitarist Joe Satriani has filed suit in Los Angeles court claiming that the British superstar ripped off a song of his titled, "If I could fly." Listen to this and see what you think.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Well the 52-year-old guitarist wants a jury trial, damages and any and all profits from the Coldplay song. Coldplay got seven Grammy nominations on Wednesday. I mean, stranger things have happened. Remember George Harrison, "My Sweet Lord."
CHETRY: Yes, but the thing is that I mean these are riffs, right? How can you claim - it happened to poor Vanilla Ice too back in the '90s.
ROBERTS: Poor Vanilla Ice.
CHETRY: Don't get him bad. He'll come throw a chair at you.
ROBERTS: How many singles out there? Put up your hands. Come on. Well is there secret discrimination against singles after Governor Ed Rendell made a comment about Janet Napolitano not having a life. New claims that single people are getting dissed. We'll have that story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Sentencing day for the man many believe got away with murder.
VOICE OF FRED GOLDMAN, RON GOLDMAN'S FATHER: We're absolutely thrilled to see the potential is that he could spend the rest of his life in jail where that scumbag belongs.
CHETRY: As O.J. Simpson learns his faith. A look back at the saga that held America captive for more than 14 years. Justice for O.J.? You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ROBERTS: The whole control room full of shiny happy people. Actually for the most part they're manic depressive but we'll say that they're happy shiny this morning.
Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Some startling medical news this morning if you're sad or depressed, you may be able to catch happiness just like you catch the sniffles or the flu. Only you'll feel a lot better obviously. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta for us this morning. She's got more. Is happiness really contagious?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does appear to be contagious, John, according to this study from Harvard and the University of California. I hope manic depression is not contagious for your sake, John. What this study found is that if you're married to someone who is happy, you would assume that would make you happy, but it doesn't even have to be someone who is in your inner circle. Take a look at this. If you have a happy friend nearby living let's say a mile away from you, your happiness goes up 25 percent. Even if you don't see this person every day. Just having that friend within a mile is helpful. And look at this. If you're happy, that means that your next door neighbor's happiness goes up 34 percent, even if you don't hang out with this person, even if you don't particularly like them. Their happiness makes your happiness go up. And so the basic conclusion of this study is that just having happy people kind of in the background of your life can help increase your happiness. John.
ROBERTS: Yes, laugh out loud and often is good rule of thumb to live by, but we talk about the mind/body connection and your colleague Sanjay Gupta is a real believer in that. Can being happy actually make you healthier?
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. There's now decades of research that shows that that is true, that your emotional state affects your physical state. Let's take a look at what studies have found to support that link between emotional and physical happiness. People who are happy are in less pain. They heal faster when they have a physical injury, and they actually live longer. So, you know, decades ago people thought that this link was kind of mushy and earthy crunchy, but it seems pretty certain that there's some real there there.
ROBERTS: I have to have shoulder surgery this afternoon, so I will laugh all the way into the operating room and all the way out and see if it helps.
COHEN: Oh my goodness. I wish you a quick recovery.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Elizabeth Cohen this morning.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: 52 minutes now after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTS (voice-over): He went face to face with Barack Obama and John McCain at his Saddleback Church forum. Now he's making news again. The mega church founder, live.
And there's something he's revealing about Christmas.
Plus, the fate of the frozen embryo. What to do with your baby to be when you're not sure you want one after all? You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHETRY: Well, it's a major dilemma for parents undergoing fertility treatments, the fate of the frozen embryos that are not implanted. According to a new Duke University Medical Center study, couples are torn over what to do with them. There are at least 400,000 embryos frozen in clinics around the country, and more than half the couples surveyed who were done having children don't want to donate their embryos or have them destroyed, so what to do? Our next guest has that very dilemma nine times over. Kim Best joins us this morning from Nashville, Tennessee. Kim, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KIM BEST, MOTHER OF FIVE: Thank you. Good morning
CHETRY: You went through IVF, in vitro fertility treatments about 15 years ago. You had twins as a result of that, and you still have these frozen embryos left over that you're paying a monthly fee to keep frozen. Why are you so torn about what to do with them?
BEST: It's actually an annual fee, not a monthly, but the dilemma is knowing that any one of those nine frozen embryos could become the same beautiful human being or have the potential to be a human being just like my twins that I did have through IVF.
CHETRY: I totally understand, and so was that something that was explained to you at the time of the harvesting and the fertilization of those embryos?
BEST: It was explained that there would be extra, and originally the reason there were extra was if they need to repeat the IVF. Obviously, then you would still have some embryos to try again, but for us it took the first time, and didn't really go into a lot of thought about how many the number could be or what the impact would be afterwards.
CHETRY: Now, looking back on it or if you know what you know now, would you have done anything differently?
BEST: I would have definitely talked about what the options felt like. To consider the options because we went into it kind of going, you know, we're going to have a baby maybe, maybe not, and not really aware of the nine more -- however many more leftover. We would have definitely had to look more closely at all the options. CHETRY: And when you talk about the options, what is it about, let's say, donating these fertilized embryos to another childless couple who is attempting to have kids. What is your trepidation with that?
BEST: I think parenting is extremely serious. I just take it very seriously, and it's my responsibility to raise my kids. I have had - I worked in trauma in the E.R. and I have seen lots of kids have really hard times and go through a lot, and I feel like as a parent to teach and to protect my kids are my two major roles, so I can't really trust a stranger to do that.
CHETRY: No, I understand. There's a lot of people going through the same thing that express these same sentiments, and so you know these in your mind are your children, right, just not born yet.
BEST: That's exactly right.
CHETRY: You know, and it does raise a lot of questions. The whole way that in vitro fertilization procedures take place. In fact, it's very interesting, some countries are putting restrictions on how these go. In fact, Italy restricts the number of eggs you can fertilize limiting it to the number that will actually be implanted at that time. Do you think that there should be similar rules in place here in the U.S.
BEST: I don't see a downside to that at all other than its inconvenient for obviously the parents to be. They would have to go through the refertilization process, but I really believe some of the things we treasure the most are the things we have to work the hardest for, and if we're going to treasure something a whole lot, I think you know our child would be a good thing to do. So if it's going to be a little more difficult, but eliminate some of the moral dilemma, I do think that's a good choice.
CHETRY: And do you think you will ever decide what to do with those nine frozen embryos?
BEST: You know, I think keeping them frozen is a decision. It was certainly one of the choices we were given, and it sounds like they're in limbo because they're in frozen, but they will have a natural life span being frozen, just like they would, you know, being born. So I feel like that really is a decision.
CHETRY: All right. Kim Best, thanks for joining us and telling your story today.
BEST: Thank you.
