Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama Paints a Dire Picture of the Economy; Rockets from Lebanon Pound Israel; A Change in Career for Joe the Plumber; Security Intensifies Ahead of Obama's Inauguration Day; Another Conspiracy Theory Surfaces on JFK Assassination
Aired January 08, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, our Jessica Yellin is live in Washington for us this morning. Good to see you, Jessica.
Yesterday Barack Obama warned of trillion-dollar deficits. Today he's warning of double-digit employments. He's really painting a pretty dire picture as he prepares to take office.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. You nailed it. Dire is the word he's using to describe the economy and he's building a momentum, essentially making a sales pitch to the American people and Congress, urging support for this massive spending plan.
Now, in his comments today, the president-elect is going to argue that without the stimulus plan this recession could linger for years, in addition to what you say, this prediction that we could reach an unemployment rate of 10 percent or higher. He'll also predict that the economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity.
What does that mean? He says it could translate into $12,000 in lost income for your average family of four. That's a whole lot of numbers to say, look, have faith that government spending will make a difference this time around. But, Kiran, don't expect him to lay out the total cost of the stimulus. It's going to be a broad brush sales pitch message.
CHETRY: And he's promising also that his economic stimulus plan is going to be free of pork. Is that possible, though, in Washington?
YELLIN: Yes, not so easy, right? He has vowed that money won't be handed out to politicians' congressional districts, and his aides tell me that right now they're working on a plan to help figure out how they determine which projects are genuinely worthy of funding.
But, you know, already the nation's mayors have been to town with a list of projects they say are ready to go and that they'd like funded. And among them, a $20 million minor league baseball museum in Durham, North Carolina, $4.8 million for a polar bear exhibit at a Rhode Island zoo, and half a million dollars for environmentally friendly golf courses in Dayton, Ohio. Who could be against that?
These projects, I should note, have not been given the go-ahead for funding but you can expect a real power struggle with Congress on deciding who does get those dollars.
CHETRY: That's right, because one person's pork is somebody else's, you know --
YELLIN: Essential project.
CHETRY: Wish list and essential project exactly. All right. A lot of challenges ahead and we'll be covering all of it. Jessica Yellin, good to see you. Thanks.
YELLIN: Good to see you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Returning now to our breaking news. Israel facing a conflict on two fronts this morning after twin rocket strikes slam into northern Israel from Lebanon. Lebanese officials and the United Nations peacekeepers are investigating. So far there's been no claim of responsibility.
Israel returned fire into Lebanon and also ramped up its assaults in Gaza saying the military targeted around 60 different targets during the overnight hours.
For more on all of this, we turn to CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She is live in Jerusalem.
So, Hezbollah in Lebanon saying it had nothing to do with these rocket attacks, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It informed the Lebanese government of which it is a part that it had nothing to do with these rockets. And here, the Israelis are not calling this a second front.
There were four rockets that came out of southern Lebanon early this morning, hit in Nahariya area and around there in the western Galilee, slightly wounded two people. As you say, Israel fired back at the source of origin of that fire. But that's where it stands right now and they're not -- they're not sort of going overboard about that at the moment.
They're concentrating, of course, on the continued military offensive in Gaza, and they're looking at stepping up their incursions and their actions there, as a way to put pressure on Hamas as the diplomacy takes put in Cairo today with Israel having sent a diplomat, rather a security official from the defense ministry, we believe, to discuss the real meat and potatoes of the cease-fire and that is to try to get a modality to stop any future smuggling of arms and cache to Hamas inside Gaza from Egypt.
So that's what's going on the moment. Also, the PA, Palestinian Authority, representative in Cairo, as well as Hamas representative, so this is what's really been focused on at the moment. And right now, too, Israel in its second day of having a three-hour pause in its bombardments to allow humanitarian distribution and re-supply to the people who so desperately need it there in Gaza -- John.
ROBERTS: They could make any progress toward a cease-fire during that time.
Christiane Amanpour for us in Jerusalem. Christiane, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, from 15 minutes to 60 minutes? Maybe? Joe the plumber, the man who became a household name during the presidential election, is now heading to the Middle East and says he wants to be a war correspondent. Alina Cho joins us now with details on this unexpected career change.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fifteen minutes is --
CHETRY: We thought Joe the plumber was history.
CHO: Well, you know, he wrote a book and now he's moving on doing other things. He seems to be doing a lot, except for plumbing, Kiran. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
You know, Joe the plumber is putting down his plunger and he's heading to the Gaza Strip. Now who could forget him, the man who became almost as famous as the candidates during the campaign?
His real name, of course, is Joe Wurzelbacher. And the presidential campaign did turn him into a certified political celebrity. And his 15 minutes haven't ended just yet. He wrote a book, as I mentioned, and now for 10 days, Wurzelbacher will be on location filing reports for the conservative Web site Pjtv.com, Pajamas Media, on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Now, Wurzelbacher says he just wants to meet average Joes in Israel -- get it? -- and bring their stories to their American counterparts. As for the danger involved, Joe says, well, he's thought about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE WURZELBACHER, WAR CORRESPONDENT FOR PJTV.COM: Being a Christian, I'm pretty well protected by God, I believe. That's not to say he's going, you know, stop a mortar for me but, you know, just got to take the chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: So Joe the reporter, well, it's a profession Wurzelbacher didn't seem to think too much of when you, John Roberts, interviewed him on AMERICAN MORNING just a couple of weeks ago. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE WURZELBACHER, TRAVELING TO ISRAEL: Do you agree with every candidate, your candidate's policies?
ROBERTS: I'm not out there stumping for anybody. I'm a journalist. No, seriously.
WURZELBACHER: Oh, I'll leave that one alone. You know, I was out there, I told everybody --
ROBERTS: Excuse me, Joe, I mean --
WURZELBACHER: Obama's --
ROBERTS: Why would you cast dispersions on my journalistic integrity? I don't even know you.
WURZELBACHER: Oh, I wasn't at you specifically. In general with some of the media, you know, it's very slanted to the left. You, personally, John, I don't know you and I don't mean to cast any kind of bad things about you, brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: John, so it seems Joe the plumber has had a change of heart. As I mentioned, guys, he has been doing a lot, writing a book I guess he was promoting just a couple of weeks ago. Now he's going to become a war correspondent. Who knows if it will last longer than ten days. We'll have to wait and see. And, of course, he wants to bring what he calls balance to reporting.
CHETRY: What's the deal with the Web site with the organization?
CHO: It's a conservative Web site, Pjtv.com or Pajamas Media. We don't know too much about it. It's obviously not a mainstream organization but, you know, maybe it's a start for him.
ROBERTS: We'll see how he does. We'll be monitoring the situation.
CHETRY: He's so thrilled.
ROBERTS: Can't wait.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks.
ROBERTS: A new confession uncovered in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Did a godfather order the hit and silence the assassin?
Plus, keeping Barack Obama safe as he takes the oath of office in just 12 days. We are live from Washington with a look at inauguration day security.
And from Hollywood heartthrob to cancer fighter and advocate, Patrick Swayze speaking out for the first time on his battle with cancer.
Seven and a half minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. With 12 days until Barack Obama takes office, a human rights group is asking him to end the travel ban to Cuba. In his presidential campaign, Obama proposed easing restrictions on family-related travel as well as economic sanctions if Cuba opens up to "meaningful democratic change." Obama will be the 11th president to hold office since Castro took control 50 years ago this month.
A new report out today slams the Pentagon for not being careful enough with nuclear weapons. The task force recommends the defense department create a new position to oversee its nuclear management. It follows a couple of embarrassing loose nuke incidents last year that got the civilian and military leaders at the Air Force fired.
ROBERTS: Close to 400 people in 42 states now sick from salmonella poisoning, and the Centers for Disease Control is stepping up efforts to find the source of the outbreak. It started three months ago.
It's pulling staff from other areas to work on the case. According to the CDC, the best protection against salmonella is to avoid raw or undercooked meat and make sure that you wash your hands frequently.
Police in the nation's capital will be shutting down bridges across the Potomac River into Washington along with a huge chunk of downtown D.C. on inauguration day. Security officials are also investigating any and all potential security threats to Barack Obama.
For more we go to our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve. She is in Washington.
Jeanne, you know, it seems like they're shutting down a lot more of the city than they did four years ago. Is this just going to be a nightmare for anyone who lives there?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be really tough for those who live here, those who are coming here, those who work here. But first, homeland officials said they have no credible reports indicating there's any terrorist threat to the inauguration, and so there are no adjustments being made to the nation's threat level. But officials do see the celebration as a potential target because it's highly symbolic, highly visible, historic and will bring dozens and dozens, even hundreds of VIPs into the city.
Officials have said they have particular concerns about the possibility of a lone wolf, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued a threat assessment to law enforcement and homeland security officials nationwide. Why, you might request ask? Because one worry has been that with all the attention and resources being focused here in Washington, terrorists might have an opportunity to strike elsewhere in the country. They want everyone all across the nation to be on their toes.
ROBERTS: So, Jeanne, tell us a little bit more about this bridge closing. Traffic will not be able to get across the bridges from Virginia into the district? MESERVE: Yes, this is just going to be a nightmare. You know there's the beltway looping around Washington, D.C. Two of the major routes coming in will be closed to inbound traffic, at least that's for private vehicles. Those routes would be 395 and 66. You won't be able to get into the city on those two routes.
In addition, if you're coming from the south, if you're coming from Virginia, all of the bridges between Virginia and Washington, D.C. are going to be shut down. You aren't going to be able to bring a car into the city. You're going to have to circle around to Maryland and come in that way, or you're going to have to take public transportation. You're going to have to walk.
Charter buses will be able to get in, and but it's just going to be -- it's just going to be horrible. Meanwhile, downtown in Washington, there's going to be a huge chunk of the city shut down because, of course, they want to protect the capital and the parade route which runs from the capital down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. So brace yourself. It's going to be tough here.
ROBERTS: They still will allow taxis and car services to use those bridges, though?
MESERVE: Taxis, car services, they can get in and there's some special allowances for taxis particularly going in and out of the airport, Washington national. But the emphasis that security officials and transportation officials are putting on this is that you have got to plan.
You have got to know how you're going to get to where you want to be. You've got to be checking Web sites periodically to see what crops up. You've got to be flexible. They are really urging people to be very, very patient here, because we know public transportation is just going to be jammed with people trying to get into the city.
ROBERTS: All right. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning from Washington, looking ahead to Tuesday the 20th. Going to be a lot of fun. Thanks, Jeanne.
A former major league player's son shot in his own driveway, a case of mistaken identity? His family says it's a case of racial profiling. You be the judge, ahead.
CHETRY: Who killed John F. Kennedy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: This morning, a new book shining the spotlight on an old name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LAMAR WALDRON, "LEGACY OF SECRECY": It was one time when he just went off on a tirade. "Yes, I had the SOB killed. I'm glad I did it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The criminal being thrust back into the conspiracy, and the evidence the author is hanging his story on.
You're watching the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It is coming up on 18 minutes after the hour. Time to fast forward now to see what stories will be making news later on today.
At 10:00 Eastern, it's the first confirmation hearings. They're set to begin for President-elect Obama's cabinet picks. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will be facing questions today, nominated to head up the Department of Health and Human Services.
And in Chicago today, impeachment hearings for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich continue. Things may get interesting about 4:00 Eastern this afternoon. That's when we expect testimony from Roland Burris, the man who Governor Blagojevich nominated to fill the very Senate seat that he is under investigation for trying to sell.
And at 1:30 Eastern, a homeland security committee will hold hearings on the Mumbai terror attacks. They'll focus on what lessons could be learned and how those can be applied to prevent similar attacks from occurring here in the United States.
And at 10:00 a.m. this morning, a congressional oversight hearing begins on that enormous toxic sludge spill last month in Kingston, Tennessee. The committee will be looking into what wrong, the cleanup costs and who is expected to pay for it all.
And, Kiran, that's what we're following this morning.
CHETRY: All right. Well, more than 45 years after President Kennedy was murdered in Dallas, Texas, there's another conspiracy theory. We're getting our first look at a mob boss's assassination confession that the FBI allegedly knew about decades ago.
AMERICAN MORNING's Jason Carroll joins us now with more on why we're just hearing about it.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We're going to get to that in just a second. The book is called "Legacy of Secrecy." And after all these years and the author says he found a declassified document that shows Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone when he assassinated John F. Kennedy in 1963.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "JFK": You have to conclude that there was a fourth shot and a second rifle.
CARROLL (voice-over): Directors like Oliver Stone have produced movies about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never met anybody named Oswald.
CARROLL: Authors have written hundreds of book on it. Now, another new book claiming government documents say a mafia crime boss confessed, yes, confessed to ordering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
LAMAR WALDRON, "LEGACY OF SECRECY": These are not just casual remarks made by an aging godfather when he was in prison.
CARROLL: Lamar Waldron is co-author of "Legacy of Secrecy." Waldron says Carlos Marcello ordered the assassination in retaliation for Kennedy cracking down on organized crime. And Waldron says a national archive record proves his claim.
Buried within millions of pages of files declassified by the FBI ten years ago, he says are details of Marcello's alleged confession to an undercover informant in 1985.
WALDRON: It was one time when he just went off on a tirade against the Kennedys that he let slip to the FBI informant that yes, "I had the SOB killed. I'm glad I did it. You know, I'm sorry I couldn't have done it myself."
CARROLL: The official report on Kennedy's assassination released in 1964 by the Warren Commission found Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Three other government investigations have since concluded the same.
Vincent Bugliosi has studied the Kennedy assassination. His book, "Reclaiming History," also backs the commission's finding. As for Waldron's findings?
VINCENT BUGLIOSI, "RECLAIMING HISTORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF JFK": If I could categorize it in a couple of words, sublime silliness, there's no merit to this.
CARROLL: Carlos Marcello was investigated in the 1970s by the House Select Committee on assassinations which found he did have "the motive, means and opportunity to have President John F. Kennedy assassinated," but concluded they could not establish direct evidence of his involvement.
BUGLIOSI: Hundreds upon hundreds of people had motive, means and opportunity. The seminal question is, did he do it? And that's where you have to come up with evidence.
CARROLL: But Waldron says the now declassified documents speak for themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, as for Carlos Marcello, he died in 1993. Waldron says the record shows Marcello also talked about how Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald, was also "his man." The FBI still has hundreds of hours of FBI tapes that to date have not been released.
CHETRY: So is this just another conspiracy theory or is this something they can actually try to investigate and authenticate?
CARROLL: Well, here's the deal. I mean it is just another theory to some, but Waldron would argue that this FBI informant was credible. He was someone who worked with the FBI for years. Then again, you've got some of those critics on the other side who say, you know, this is just another one of these theories that are out there. We're sure to get a lot more of these theories, maybe someday when these FBI tapes are finally released.
CHETRY: But five decades later, the fascination and the intrigue is still there.
CARROLL: We're still talking. Yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Jason.
CARROLL: Yes.
ROBERTS: Fear of an escalating war in the Middle East. Israel now facing rocket fire from two sides. Who's likely behind it? And did new blasts blow up truce talks?
Plus, one industry giving new meaning behind the phrase economic stimulus. Why the name behind "Hustler: and "Girls Gone Wild" say the porn industry deserves a federal bailout.
It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. President-elect Barack Obama getting a dire economic warning that if nothing is done, unemployment could top 10 percent and that the economy could get much worse before it gets better. Barack Obama is giving a major economic speech just hours from now. And for more I'm joined by Patricia Murphy, editor for citizenjanepolitics.com, and John Avlon, columnist for thedailybeast.com.
Thanks to both of you for being with us.
Patricia, let me start with you. President-elect Obama is making a sales pitch really to push through the stimulus package with some dire warnings about the economy. In fact in an interview with NBC, he talked about getting a consensus and being inclusive in putting together this package. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When you've got Ronald Reagan's former economic advisers or John McCain's former economic advisers or George Bush's former economic advisers giving you similar advice to what advisers to Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter are giving you, then you have a sense that across the political spectrum there's some consensus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Is he overstating that, Patricia, or is there a broad consensus for this stimulus and for some of the economic measures he wants to see down the road?
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: Well, I think there's absolutely broad consensus that something needs to be done. I think where he's going to have a harder time finding consensus is exactly what needs to be done.
When he speaks today, we know he's going to say that there needs to be dramatic action as soon as possible. He's laying the groundwork to go up to Congress and try to get what he wants. That's going to be the tough part. Something will pass. Now whether something will pass that is clean and free of earmarks is another question.
CHETRY: And, John, I want to ask you about this part because he's calling for this huge stimulus package, reworking the intelligence community and even grabbing, as they call it, right, the third rail of politics, saying that perhaps a big overhaul needs to happen in terms of Social Security and Medicare. It sounds like it's a quite ambitious undertaking as he prepares to take office.
JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR, "INDEPENDENT NATION": It is ambitious. This is an unprecedented stimulus bill, and he's trying to pull a bit of a Nixon in China when it comes to entitlements. But what you're seeing is Barack Obama trying to build the broadest possible consensus, a combination of infrastructure investment, of tax cuts and really making the case, addressing directly this healthy skepticism the American people have of big government projects in the past, that they lead to waste and fraud.
So he's trying to instill accountability and transparency and taking on one of John McCain's issues, banning earmarks. These are all bright, smart steps to building the broadest possible coalition for this unprecedented action.
CHETRY: All right. Speaking of a coalition of sorts, if you will, it was really a historic meeting that we saw yesterday taking shape at the White House. It was the future president having lunch with the current president and three former presidents. If we could see some of the video, here's what President Bush said about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And, John, I want to start with you because you wrote a column in "The Daily Beast" about praising the Bush administration for the unprecedented way that he and his administration have handled this transition. Explain a little more about that.
AVLON: Well, they really have gone out of their way not only to be welcoming but to really ensure that there's a responsible transfer of power to the next administration. Everything from this meeting of all the living presidents, something that hasn't happened since 1981, to really bring (ph) a transition for low-level staffers to make sure there's responsible continuity in government.
But, you know, it's interesting seeing Barack Obama there with all of the living presidents, you're reminded that, you know, presidents are graded on a very steep curve. They really are competing with the ghosts of presidents past. And this president in particular is drawing comparisons not with Truman or Kennedy as past presidents have, but even Lincoln and FDR. This is someone who understands history and is playing for the ages.
CHETRY: And, Patricia, some are pointing out that the real difference between this transition and the really contentious one between Clinton leaving and Bush coming into office?
MURPHY: Well, and I think that's something that is reflective of the times that we're living in. We have an economic crisis on our hands. Certainly world affairs have never been quite at this level of danger in many, many years and so I think for both Bush to maintain his legacy and for Obama to lay the groundwork, again to have a consensus coalition with him, both Democrats and Republicans, this transition needs to go very, very smoothly. The stakes are so high. Neither side can afford to drop the ball on that.
CHETRY: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you for joining me today. John Avlon, Patricia Murphy, great to see you as always.
MURPHY: Thank you.
AVLON: Good morning.
ROBERTS: It's 29 minutes after the hour. Breaking news this morning in the Middle East.
Israel now facing a conflict potentially on two fronts after rocket strikes slam northern Israel from Lebanon. Israel returned fire and also ramped up its assaults in Gaza saying the military hit around 60 different targets during the overnight hours.
Early elective c-sections are happening too often and putting babies at risk, according to one extensive new study. Doctors found that infants delivered at 37 weeks instead of the recommended 39 were about twice as likely to experience breathing problems and bloodstream infections. And researchers say more than a third of elective c- sections are happening too soon.
A new report says the nation's tax code is so complicated, there's the surprise -- that Americans spend nearly $200 billion just trying to figure out how much they owe. The report for the National Taxpayer Advocate also says the IRS must do more to help financially strapped taxpayers meet their obligations.
No doubt you got some questions of your own about the IRS, send them to our personal finance editor Gerri Willis at cnn.com/am. Gerri is blogging throughout the show, so log on and get your IRS questions answered.
Anger is building up in a Dallas community this morning after a white police officer shot a black man in his own driveway. The victim is a former professional baseball player's son. His family claims it's a tragic case of racial profiling. Certainly from the outside it would seem to be outrageous.
CNN's Ed Lavandera following the story live for us from Dallas. Ed, was this just a case of driving while black?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's clearly the question that a lot of people in this Houston suburb are asking this morning, and the allegations of racism and racial profiling are intensifying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The way Robby Tolan's family describes it, he and his cousin were just walking up to their home after a late night meal. So why is Tolan now hospitalized. A police officer's bullet lodged in his liver? It's a question sparking allegations of racism in this mostly white Houston suburb of Bellaire.
DAVID BERG, TOLAN FAMILY ATTORNEY: He was the victim of the worst case and worst kind of racial profiling.
LAVANDERA: Tolan is the son of former Major League baseball player Bobby Tolan. The 23-year-old spent the year playing with the Washington Nationals minor league team and recently played with the Bay Area Toros. Tolan's cousin said they had no idea the two men approaching them that night were cops.
ANTHONY COOPER, TOLAN'S COUSIN: We did not know it was a police officer. We just thought who was this guy with this gun and his flashlight?
LAVANDERA: According to police, the officers thought the SUV the pair had just gotten out of was stolen. Relatives say Tolan's parents heard the commotion and came outside. Police acknowledged an altercation took place. Relatives say it involved his mother.
MIKE MORRIS, TOLAN'S UNCLE: The cop pushed her against the wall and her son was on his back at the time, and he raised up, and asked, what are you doing to my mom, and the officer shot him, while he was on the ground.
LAVANDERA: The car belongs to the Tolans. It wasn't stolen. Police say Robby Tolan and his cousin were unarmed. As for the officer who shot him, he is white, a 10-year veteran with an excellent record. Police say they are looking into what happened, but deny any kind of racial profiling. ASST. CHIEF BYRON HOLLOWAY, BELLAIRE, TEXAS POLICE: Any time someone is injured, we take it very seriously, and, but as far as any allegation of racial profiling, I probably said that's not really going to flow.
LAVANDERA: Robby Tolan sits in a Houston hospital bed and this son of a once prominent Major League baseball player finds his own aspiring baseball career in jeopardy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not concerned about his career right now as a baseball player. I'm concerned about my son's health.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: John, the officer who fired the shot had been put on administrative leave. There's an investigation and internal police investigation going on. So the police department is no longer commenting on the case. As well as the Harris County district attorney's office. They're in Houston. They are also investigating to determine whether or not charges will be filed against this officer. John.
ROBERTS: So this was this young man's own car, this SUV. The police say they thought that he was driving a stolen vehicle. Have they illuminated in any degree why they thought that particular vehicle was stolen?
LAVANDERA: You know, that's the million-dollar question right now and that's one of the reasons why this police investigation is going on is to determine exactly why and how these officers came to determine why they believed this car was stolen and that these two men were car thief suspects at that point. That's the way officers were essentially viewing these two men at the time of the shooting.
ROBERTS: We were just talking about making a snap judgment here, do we know if they even ran the license plate to see if the car was stolen?
LAVANDERA: Officers have been asked that question and I think that's one of the things they'll do in the investigation, go back and determine whether or not the officer in his patrol car had typed in the license plate number into the car, and to see what kind of calls or radio transmissions had been made to get that kind of information.
The police department there in Bellaire just hasn't offered any information as to what has been determined so far as to what this officer did.
ROBERTS: It certainly sounds like they got a lot of explaining to do though. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Dallas. Ed, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: In Washington state, 13 inches of rain is forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. Flooding there reaching historic levels in the western part of the state. Also, unseasonably high temperatures are making things worse. Because there's been a lot of snow melting. Roads and railways have been shut down actually because of the floods and the mudslides.
We check in now with our Rob Marciano, who is checking out extreme weather for us this morning. Boy, what a tough time there in western Washington.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: From one extreme to the other, Kiran. You kind of knew it when they had this unbelievable stretch of cold air and snow. You know, it doesn't take much for all that snow to melt. And that's exactly what they're experiencing here.
Not only across western Washington but also the east side of the mountains. That's what makes this event so unprecedented and you really can't get out of there, you drive southbound i-5, a stretch of that roadway closed down. You go east on i-90, try to get up and over the mountains, that closed down due to avalanche danger and they continue to control that area, hope to have it open later on today.
About a dozen rivers around, in and around the Seattle area under a flood warning. The Skagit, the Skookumchuck, the Snoqualmie, the Cedar, the Snoqualmie, just to name a few. And you can see that water just trying to get downstream and dump into Puget Sound and out into the Pacific Ocean but more rain on the way today.
Flood watches and warnings still out for a good chunk of the northwest and you can see the rain continue to plow into here, hits the mountains, squeezes, most of it dumping in the form of rain below 5,000 feet. So that's taking a lot of snow down with it. Winds will be cranking across these areas as well.
Speaking of winds, northeast, you're going to have definitely a colder day today with wind chills pretty chilly, and these winds will crank up and will likely slow down some of the airport traffic and you know La Guardia, you get the wind to blow at all and you get a bit of a problem there.
Snow showers will be the case as well but not drastically. Colder temperatures, 36 degrees in New York, currently 14 in Chicago, so for the middle of January it certainly could be a lot colder.
Washington state feeling the brunt of the winter weather at the moment. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Tough for them for sure. All right. Rob, thanks so much. John.
ROBERTS: Well the saying goes that sex sells, but apparently it also suffers during a recession. Why some titans of porn are saying they, too, need a bailout, and this isn't the way to shake that culture of corruption thing.
A Chicago school official now in trouble for cooking the books to brew extremely expensive coffee? 36 and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened to the water?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They shut it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get this out of my hair and use the water out of the toilet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's poo in there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The back part of the toilet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we're going to keep a roof over our head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the exact circumstances people find themselves in right before they start having sex for money. What, you got an idea?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could make a porno.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not the idea I was looking for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That was a scene from the film "Zach and Mary Make a Porno," a comedy about rumor use to pay off the rent. Apparently with the economy in a slump, so are sales in the porn industry. Now industry titan Larry Flint and "Girls Gone Wild" CEO Joe Francis are asking the government for a $5 billion bailout. Ted Rowlands has been working the story. Ted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, nobody is disputing that porn is big business and may or may not be in trouble but this seems to many like just another Larry Flynt publicity stunt.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): "Girls gone Wild" creator Joe Francis and "Hustler's" Larry Flynt sent out a press release, saying because sales are down, and jobs are at stake, the porn industry needs a government bailout.
The porn industry needs a bailout? You got to be kidding me.
LARRY FLYNT, "HUSTLER": Why not, you know? They did it for the automobiles. They did it for the banks. You got a lot of unhappy people out there, that sex is the furthest thing from their mind.
ROWLANDS: Larry Flynt's business is off about 25 percent, saying economic woes has apparently affected people's libidos. Vivid Entertainment, the leader in adult video sales also tells CNN business is down but talk to Vincent Morasis at Odyssey Video in Los Angeles and you get a much different story. He says business is up, just like it was after 9/11. VINCENT MORASIS, ODYSSEY VIDEO: I guess during hard times or tragedy the adult sales and rentals just jump dramatically. It's a huge onslaught of just people just buying and renting.
ROWLANDS: And you're seeing some of that right now?
MORASIS: I think so especially with the economy being so bad. It's just cheaper. It's just cheaper than a girlfriend.
ROWLANDS: Back to the bailout, keep in mind, Larry Flynt is the same guy who outed congressmen for having alleged affairs during and after the Clinton impeachment hearings. He has a long history bashing politicians, and admits he's not expecting any bailout.
FLYNT: I'm dead serious about making Congress look stupid. You know, I think the American people should have more to say about those bailouts and how they're spending the money. The politicians have never handled our money wisely since I've been in this world and I don't think they're going to start now.
ROWLANDS (on-camera): So far no word from anybody on Capitol Hill. John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: All right. Ted, economic stimulus for the porn industry, so many double entendres, so little time.
Larry Flynt s not the only one who cares about the porn industry. Here is an "AM Extra" look at some key porn statistics. Familysafemedia.com breaks it all down. Every 39 minutes a new porn film is made in the United States. China was the top ranked country for pornography revenue in the year 2006 spending over $27 billion, yes, that's with a "b," billion dollars. The United States came in fourth in the same survey, spending over $13 billion on adult films that year.
CHETRY: Well in Detroit, tough times leading to some extreme measures. One Detroit elementary school is asking for toilet paper donations, and saying they may also need light bulbs. The Academy of America's Principals sent a letter to parents and staff asking for help to keep the school healthy, safe and "functioning." The district is facing more than $400 million in budget deficits.
A ricin threat mail to 11 gay bars in Seattle. Police say that the anonymous letter threatened patrons with a painful death. A local paper also received a letter saying it should be prepared to announce the deaths of about 55 people. Police say they are treating it as a hate crime.
ROBERTS: A kinder, gentler IRS, not possible you say. We'll show you how Uncle Sam is planning to make paying your taxes less taxing.
And a man gives his wife a kidney but now he wants it back. The bizarre divorce story ahead. It's 43 and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: For the first time, we're hearing from Patrick Swayze about his difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. The news broke a year ago and some weren't giving him long to live. But he's about to star in a new TV show and he also sat down with Barbara Walters to talk about the roughest year of his life. Alina Cho is following this for us today.
Good morning, Alina. Pancreatic cancer, oftentimes, right, is a death sentence.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It is and many doctors only give up to six months for the person to live but you know Patrick Swayze is incredibly diligent. He's got an incredible attitude. It was heartbreaking to watch this interview, Kiran.
Good morning, everybody. You know, Patrick Swayze is one of the most famous people in the world, a very public person who was hoping to keep his pancreatic cancer diagnosis private. But when the tabloids broke the news about a year ago he was forced to issue a statement and now for the very first time he's speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Hard to believe it's been 22 years since Patrick Swayze danced his way into America's hearts in the movie "Dirty Dancing." Then just three years later, after his lead in the movie "Ghost," Swayze was a certified superstar, but nothing could have prepared him for the news he got last year. Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
PATRICK SWAYZE, ACTOR: Yes, I'm scared. Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I'm, why me?
CHO: Pancreatic cancer is so hard to detect. Once found it's often too late. For Swayze surgery was not an option and months after the news broke some of the tabloids said Swayze had just weeks to live, something the actor called emotional cruelty.
SWAYZE: I have the meanness and the passion to say to hell with you. Watch me.
CHO: A year later the 56-year-old is about to launch a new TV show, the A&E police drama "The Beast." Swayze said no to painkillers to keep himself sharp for the role and underwent chemotherapy on the weekends. By his side through it all his wife of 33 years, Lisa Niemi.
SWAYZE: Part of me says I couldn't have made it without her but of course the other part of me says I could have but not nearly as elegantly as I have.
CHO: Lisa calls this a nightmare you never wake up from. While Swayze says he's never been one to run away from a challenge. SWAYZE: I say five years is pretty wishful thinking. Two years is, you know, two years seems like likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure. Which means I better get a fire under it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: So courageous. You know, Swayze was first clued in that something might be wrong when last year on New Year's Eve he tried to have some champagne and in his words it felt like pouring acid on an open wound. He also started losing a lot of weight, about 20 lbs. Now since the diagnosis, the actor has received thousands of letters from around the world, something he says constantly astounds him.
As for his positive attitude, Kiran, Swayze says winning to me is not giving up. He really is he so brave, so courageous. I don't think you could find anybody who would walk away from that interview with dry eyes. It was just really heart-breaking to watch but also encouraging to see how close he is with his wife, Lisa. They've been married for 33 years and calls her his best friend and they're together.
CHETRY: And he says he wants to hang on until there's a cure. Is he pushing for more research? Is he going to be a spokesperson for cancer?
CHO: He is. I mean he has made one public appearance since the news broke that he had cancer. It's a Standup for Cancer event and he immediately got a standing ovation for that. So yes, he is. I mean, I think a lot of people do not believe that a cure will come that soon, having said that, he is hopeful and part of what keeps him going is that positive attitude.
CHETRY: And maybe they'll come up with some new treatments at least, something.
CHO: We certainly hope so.
CHETRY: We're all pulling for him for sure.
CHO: We are.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Breaking news, Israel now facing rocket fire from both sides. Terrorists launching attacks from Lebanon. A flash point in the Middle East war right now.
Plus, economic stimulus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the government has an obligation to rejuvenate everybody's libido. CHETRY: The porn industry asks Congress for a $5 billion bailout. Doesn't sex sell anymore?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could see congressmen getting behind this.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 53 minutes after the hour.
Dire warning this morning from President-elect Barack Obama. In a speech later on this morning, Obama is expected to predict that unemployment could hit double digits. How might that affect cities already in financial trouble?
Joining me now is the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker. Good to see you again this morning.
MAYOR CORY BOOKER, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.
ROBERTS: So this economic stimulus plan, the president-elect will be outlining a little bit more this morning, how urgent is for cities like Newark to get some of this money and get into some infrastructure projects?
BOOKER: It's critical. Not only government revenue going down in terms of the money coming in with the demands for city services are going you up dramatically and we're seeing that all around the city of Newark as well as other metropolitan areas. So the urgency is just going greater and greater.
We got to get some help quickly or cities are going to be bankrupt and the state of New Jersey as a whole is already in severe financial trouble.
ROBERTS: An article in the "New York Star Legend" this morning said you've ordered your departments to trim their budgets just by 10 to 15 percent?
BOOKER: Absolutely. And we're probably going to do more. That's actually not enough. It is still leaving us with about a $50 million hole which is a significant percentage of our overall budget. So this could be a very dire fiscal times and at a point now that people are pulling on city services from our health department to even the municipal police department.
We've got to find a way to make it work and we've got to turn to the federal government.
ROBERTS: Back in November you and a number of other New Jersey mayors got together and created a policy paper that you gave to the transition team and the incoming administration saying what you needed in terms of economic stimulus for the inner cities. What do you need in particular in Newark? What would you like to get from the incoming President-elect?
BOOKER: Well it's not just a hole, please fill the bucket. It's actually figuring out a way to make this stimulus strategic. So that it helps to build for a better economy in the future. So we had a lot in there about building for a green economy and helping new industry start in metropolitan areas.
We also have warnings against infrastructure investments. We don't want to create infrastructure that just creates it easier for getting in and out of cities for people getting in their cars to do but help mass transit and smart transportation and a lot of other things we think that could be boom industries that could help America be more competitive abroad for our ports and other things.
ROBERTS: You've probably seen some of the things that the members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors came out with, I think was it $4.8 million for a polar bear exhibit, a museum for minor league baseball, a water ride. Those are the sort of things you want in Newark?
BOOKER: You know, not really. What we want to do is have things that are really going to stimulate the economy. This is not a time to do grab bag things. We're in a tough economic time and everybody has to realize it's time for sacrifice. So the thrill of the icing on the cake, that is not what we want. We want the meat and potatoes that's going to make a real strong economy in the future.
ROBERTS: You, Mayor Booker have made some in-roads together with your new police chief in terms of cutting down crime in general and also particularly homicide. You had 67 last year. I think that's the lowest number since 2002. A reduction of 30 percent, not quite what you had hoped to do but still a real good start. The economics and the budgetary pressures are they going to potentially affect your ability to keep that crime rate on the decline?
BOOKER: You know, absolutely but we can't forget our fundamental role of governing. It's national government and local government, to protect human beings, protect lives and property. So we're going to have a very difficult time doing it but we've had two years of marked success and progress and we're going to keep pushing it down very aggressively. I'll be out tonight rolling around with police officers making sure that people understand. Newark, New Jersey is going to show the nation that we can be the safest city in the country and we're on our way of doing that.
ROBERTS: You got these two pressures building. You got the budgetary pressure on one side and then also a bad economy. We seem to see an up tick in crime particularly theft property crime but property crime and theft can lead to harder crimes as well. How do you keep a lid on all of that, particularly when you've got less money?
BOOKER: Well, Americans have to realize this is a perfect storm. This is a once in a generation storm that's hit our country. And you've got to batten down the hatches. And I'm going to everybody in our community from businesses to local churches and saying we've all got to do more than we did last year if we want to sustain the progress.
ROBERTS: So it's a lot of community participation?
BOOKER: Absolutely. I'm doing public service announcements to ask people to step up and mentor more children, do more and get involved more, clergy patrols, everything that we want. We want to make sure Newark will continue to thrive in these very difficult times.
ROBERTS: Well, we wish you luck at it. It's good to see you again, Mayor.
BOOKER: Thank you very much. Good to see you.
ROBERTS: We'll see you again very soon.
BOOKER: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Last year, I ask you about this new workout program.
BOOKER: Exactly. My new year's resolution. Let's see if it holds through February.
ROBERTS: I got to get one of those, too. Kiran.
CHETRY: We're coming up on 8:00. In about three hours, Barack Obama will give us what his team is calling a major policy speech. Obama is expected to warn that unemployment may reach 10 percent and that the economy could even get worse without bipartisan support for his stimulus package.
Lebanon's prime minister is condemning overnight rocket attacks against Israel. Four rockets from Lebanon slammed into northern Israel, landing near the city of Nahariya. Israel returned fire. So far, there's been no claim of responsibility for the attacks. The Lebanese government says it is investigating.
Historic flooding in Washington state. More than a foot of rain forcing tens of thousands to evacuate in parts of the state. Unseasonably high temperatures are melting record amounts of snow. Many roads and railways are closed because of flooding and mudslides.
Well just 12 days until Barack Obama's inauguration and a big speech later this morning on the economy, Obama will warn of possible double digit unemployment if his economic plan is not passed. Obama says his plan will not only bring down the deficit, but will also kick-start the ravaged economy. Here is what he told NBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The approach that we've taken is not just to talk to the usual suspects, but talk to people that traditionally don't agree with me. And when you've got Ronald Reagan's former economic advisers, or John McCain's former economic advisers or George Bush's former economic advisers, giving you similar advice to what advisers to Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter have given you, then you have a sense that across the political spectrum, there is some consensus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
