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American Morning
Stewart Slams CNBC Host Cramer; Three Charge in Anna Nicole Smith Case; Great Buys in Bad Times; Madoff Victims Get Justice, Not Payback; Girl Scout Gets in Trouble For Selling Cookies Online
Aired March 13, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: The bulls keep surging on Wall Street. In the past three days, the Dow up 622 points. That's the biggest three-day surge since November.
President Obama also painting a prettier picture when it comes to the country's economy. What the president had to say, and a full look at the numbers just ahead.
And three people facing drug-related charges this morning in connection with the death of former "Playboy" playmate Anna Nicole Smith. California's attorney general says Smith was given thousands of pills before her death. Smith's lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern, and one of Smith's doctors are out on bail right now. Another doctor is set to turn herself in.
We're live from Los Angeles with the latest on that.
Plus, the governors of Texas and Arizona asking the Pentagon to put troops on the American border with Mexico. They want to stop the spillover of drug cartel violence. The White House says the president does not intend to militarize the border, but at a congressional hearing, officials said plans are being drawn up at a last resort.
And now the story that already has people talking this morning, the long-awaited showdown between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer.
The Comedy Central funnyman and CNBC's money man have spent the past week in a war of words. And last night they faced off on "The Daily Show." There were some fireworks, there were some laughs, but mostly it was Stewart unloading. He seemed to channel the anger that a lot of people in the country are feeling right now. And he blasted Cramer and CNBC saying they could have done a lot more to protect the economy before it tanked.
God bless you, Kiran.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, Christine
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Christine is here now with more on that story.
Interesting stuff.
ROMANS: The water cooler consensus this morning is that Jon Stewart won, and that Cramer didn't really fight back. That he was just kind of saying, I'm sorry, and trying to move along. He defended himself a little bit. But the water cooler consensus is that Jon Stewart really won this one. You can decide. It was build as the cable feud of the century. The battle of brawl street, they called it. When these two entertainers came face-to-face last night, it wasn't much of a brawl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to "Brawl Street."
ROMANS (voice-over): It was the showdown TV viewers had been waiting for, Jon Stewart versus Jim Cramer.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": It's go time!
ROMANS: And "The Daily Show" host didn't pull any punches.
STEWART: I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a (expletive deleted) game. And I - when I watch that, I get - I can't tell you how angry that makes me.
ROMANS: But despite days of heated exchanges, the meeting was less mano-a-mano and more mea culpa.
JIM CRAMER, HOST, "MAD MONEY": I got a lot of things wrong because I think it was kind of one in a million shot, but I don't think anyone should be spared in this environment. Absolutely, we could do better, absolutely. There's shenanigans and we should call them out.
Everyone should. I should do a better job at it. I'm trying. I'm trying. Mr. Stewart, I'm trying.
ROMANS: Stewart did try to find some common ground with his cable nemesis.
STEWART: Look, we're both snake oil salesmen to a certain extent, but we do label the show as snake oil here. Isn't there a problem selling snake oil as vitamin tonic and saying that it cures impetigo, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera?
CRAMER: There are people who come out and they make good calls or bad calls and they're financial professionals. And then there's the people who say they only make good calls and they're liars. I try really hard to make as many good calls as I can.
ROMANS: And Stewart made clear that his problem wasn't with the frenetic host of "Mad Money" but with the network he works for.
STEWART: CNBC could be an incredibly powerful tool of illumination.
ROMANS: But Cramer hit back when Stewart accused financial news networks of being soft on banks and businesses. STEWART: It is this idea that the financial news industry is not just guilty of a sin of omission but a sin of commission, that they are absolutely in bed with this idea...
CRAMER: No, we're not in bed with them. I don't think that's fair, honestly. I think that we try to report the news.
ROMANS: The meeting may finally end the feud between the two hosts, but there had been one clear winner, Comedy Central's ratings. Viewership for "The Daily Show" is up 20 percent since Stewart's first rant against CNBC while ratings for Jim Cramer's show are down 24 percent since Stewart went on the warpath.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Now what you can't measure, the publicity that this week-long feud has generated for both of these cable TV hosts who are after all entertainers. Jon Stewart, a lot of folks saying done a terrific job of using a lot of tape, old tape, of when -- it's not that old, a few years old tape of Cramer when he was a hedge fund manager explaining how as a hedge fund manager he could seemingly manipulate the market. He kept calling 210, clip 214, clip 212, he kept calling for these clips, and really was hammering him on this.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Well, that's easy to do when you're getting on a guy that forecasts. I mean, CNBC, it's like a 24-hour weather channel. I mean, they have to at times forecast the future, which isn't always going to be right. So it's a little unfair of that.
I think Jim Cramer will be back. He's definitely...
ROMANS: Oh yes.
MARCIANO: He's definitely loud. He screams a lot. And that reminds me of my dad so I'm a little partial to him.
ROMANS: He's got a lot of fans. He has a lot of fans who wish that he had been tougher back. But he clearly said, you know, we didn't -- you know, we could have done it better, we could have done it better, but he took issue with Jon Stewart saying that CNBC was just a cheerleader for this. And somehow maybe even, you know, helped along the whole problem with the banking sector. So that, he said, was not true.
But there are critics, you know -- and Cramer's critics are looking at those little clips and saying, I don't know if I believe that. So, I don't know if this controversy is put to rest. I think we're going to be hearing a lot about how -- how the media -- financial media, what happened all along this bubble to where we are now.
MARCIANO: It's been good for the market at least.
(CROSSTALK) KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, at least for now. Fingers crossed, right?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Exactly. Three days. Three good days.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: We'll take them.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
Well, developing right now, Wall Street as we just said dramatic three-day about-face. It's driving markets overseas as well. CNN Money reporting that rallies happening in London and Hong Kong and Japan, all of this comes as Wall Street gets ready to start the day back up over 7,000. The Dow picking up another 240 points yesterday. And this spark of confidence and optimism is stretching to Washington where President Obama delivered a remarkably upbeat economic address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm amused sometimes when I read sort of this talk of, well, you know, the Obama administration wants to get government in everybody's business. I don't I want you guys to do your thing. I am very confident about our long-term prospects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House.
And Suzanne, when it comes to a message going forward, you know, people are saying he sounded a lot more optimistic than he has even in the past few days.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. I mean, you can really hear the contrast. One of the things that they want to do is reflect a sense of confidence. The administration knows what it's doing. It really is a very aggressive public relations campaign. It's also taking a look at the economic conditions. But we saw three different things here happening. Obviously, the president meeting with business leaders on the same page talking about health care and taxes and moving forward, that they are not enemies but trying to work towards the same goal.
We saw earlier in the day this kind of good cop/bad cop routine from President Obama and Joe Biden, the vice president, meeting with state officials saying, look, we are keeping an eye on this money, where it is going, how you're spending it, we want you to be transparent, but we believe you can do it.
And then, also earlier in the week, point three, we saw the president with his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, both of them on the same page talking about the global economic crisis, the need to open markets. All of this, Kiran, a very concerted effort for a unified message that, yes, the administration knows what it's doing and, that eventually, this is going to turn around, Kiran.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us from Washington this morning, thanks.
MARCIANO: And we're following new developments in connection with the drug overdose of Anna Nicole Smith. Her former companion and lawyer Howard K. Stern, and two doctors are each charged with eight felonies, including giving controlled substance to an addict.
The three allegedly used fake names to get thousands of prescription pills for the former model and playboy playmate. We'll hear more from prosecutors at a news conference in just a few hours.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is following the story live from Los Angeles this morning.
Ted, this is over two years after the fact. Is it a bit of a surprise?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes and no, Rob. Right after Anna Nicole died, Attorney General of California Jerry Brown came out and said we are going to investigate this, because of the amount of prescription drugs found in that hotel room in Florida. Hundreds of pills were found in that room. And Jerry Brown vowed that he was going to get to the bottom of it. Find out who and why they were prescribed to a known addict. And now two years later, we do see the culmination of that investigation with these felony charges. Not only against the doctors but also against, as you mentioned, Howard K. Stern.
This is the lawyer/friend of Anna Nicole Smith who was with her when she died in Florida. And was with her for much of her career in her public life. And the allegations are that two doctors and Smith sort of conspired using a fake name, the name of Michelle Chase on a lot of these prescriptions to funnel these drugs to Anna Nicole Smith. And the attorney general in California says that was the illegal. She was a known addict. The doctors knew it was wrong. And Howard K. Stern knew it was wrong, and we're going to bring them to justice.
A lot of people are going to watch this case around the country. Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic in this country. And there are a lot of doctors who do do this, so a lot of people, aside from Anna Nicole Smith, hooked will be watching this case.
MARCIANO: Ted, getting word that one of the two doctors charged is giving some sort of reaction, at least through their attorney. What are you hearing?
ROWLANDS: Yes. That's Khristine Eroshevich. She is a psychiatrist. She has not turned herself in yet. Stern and the other doctor turn themselves in here in Los Angeles last night. She's expected to do it on Monday. Through her attorney, she is basically saying that she used that fake name because Anna Nicole needed privacy. She was a celebrity. And she was saying that she was treating her to the best of her abilities, that through her lawyer, a very good clue on their defense. It will be a very interesting case to see if they can get a conviction on it.
MARCIANO: Well, we'll see what happens at least later today. Ted Rowlands live from L.A. Thanks, Ted.
CHETRY: All right. Nine minutes past the hour. We fast forward now to stories we'll be hearing about on CNN and cnn.com.
Today, the NAACP will file a lawsuit alleging banks Wells Fargo and HSBC steered African-American homeowners into mortgages with higher interest rates when their credit history was similar to Caucasian home buyers. So far both banks were not commenting on these allegations.
The search resuming this morning for survivors of a helicopter crash off of the coast of New Finland. Sixteen people still missing. The chopper was carrying air workers to an off-shore platform, Thursday, when it ditched and then sunk in the frigid North Atlantic. One man was rescued. One body has been recovered.
And Japan's finance minister has ordered two destroyers be deployed to help fight piracy off the Coast of Somalia. As we've been reporting on this program for months, it's a growing problem. Japan's Kyoto news agency reporting that the ships will head out tomorrow. The country's cabinet approved that measure earlier today.
MARCIANO: And the showdown between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer finally taking place. See what happens when the TV combatants finally come face-to-face.
And the man who wrestled the shark and survived. He'll be here live. What he says to people who accused him of being too rough with a thousand-pound predator. It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
From Wall Street to brawl street. At least, that's what they were calling it yesterday. This morning, everyone is talking about the televised showdown between "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. The two had sort of been zinging each other from afar with Stewart landing most of the blows. Well, last night, Cramer was brave enough to actually be a guest on Stewart's show. It was on Comedy Central's turf.
Here's a look at some of what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Why were you mad at us?
CRAMER: Oh. STEWART: Because I was under the impression that you thought we were being unfair.
CRAMER: No. You had my friend Joe Nocera and Joe called me and said, Jim, do I need to apologize to you? I said, no, we're fair game, we're a big network, we've been out front and we made mistakes, we have 17 hours of live TV a day to do. But I certainly...
STEWART: Maybe you could cut down on that. It feels like we are capitalizing your adventure by our pension and our hard earn' and that it is a game that you know, that you know is going on, but that you go on television as a financial network and pretend isn't happening.
(APPLAUSE)
CRAMER: OK. First -- my first reaction is absolutely we could do better. Absolutely. There are shenanigans and we should call them out. Everyone should. I should do a better job at it. But my second thing is I talk about the shorts every single night. I've got people in Congress who I've been working with to try to get the up tick, it's a technical thing, but it would cut down a lot of the games that you're talking about. I'm trying. I'm trying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right.
MARCIANO: He looked fairly apologetic.
CHETRY: He did.
MARCIANO: It's not easy to be a prognosticator.
CHETRY: No, but he looked a lot apologetic. And he -- I mean, there were some, as Christine was saying, there were Cramer fans who said, I wished he would have hit back a little bit. I mean, Jon Stewart was prepared and he sort of had the bully pulpit on his side.
MARCIANO: And he had a lot of ammunition. Any time you got a guy forecasting the future, you do it on TV, you got a -- kind of like a weather forecaster, I mean, you're going to get into trouble sometimes.
CHETRY: You're not rooting for one hurricane over another, are you?
MARCIANO: Sometimes. We just don't want anybody to get hurt.
CHETRY: Exactly. And that's I would think Jon Stewart's point was, too, we don't want anyone to get hurt, and he was saying, you know, for a lot of people, it's not a game but sometimes it appears that way.
MARCIANO: Hey, we're all adults and you listen to who you want to listen to and then you make your own decisions. All right. Hey, $700,000 condo, 20 grand. That's the selling price. Just one example of some of the great buys in a bad economy. They're deals that could turn your life around and Gerri Willis has some of them for you.
It's 15 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Seeing opportunity in a sea of red. There's some great buys out there. Really good buys. As a matter of fact, right now. And making the right moves could give you a head-start when things turn around. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has a few deals for us, and this, of course, Kiran, is if you have money to throw down.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: We have some for people who have money. We have some for people who have no money.
MARCIANO: OK.
WILLIS: So we got all kinds of deals, OK? Well, you know the bad news. Foreclosures up 30 percent this month. Unemployment at its highest level in 26 years. Household net worth, according to the Federal Reserve, down almost 18 percent since last year. You may want to run and hide but the experts out there say you have to look past today's bad news to be a good investor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG MCBRIDE, BANKRATE.COM: Even though we're bombarded by bad news regarding the economy and financial markets seemingly at every turn, for a long-term perspective, the reality is, you know, we're going to get out of this. Now, when and how long it takes, that's anybody's guess. But you have to position yourself for the inevitable rebound whenever that may come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: All right. So markets are cyclical whether you're talking about real estate, the economy, you name it. And three years from now, the likelihood that you'll look back and see this is a big market buying opportunity is high.
Let's start with real estate. A real estate agent friend of mine was able to help a client purchase a foreclosed condo along Miami's South Beach that once cost $700,000. Her friend got it for $20,000. Yes, yes, it's possible out there.
And think about it. You know, mortgage rates right now are at lows. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 4.96 percent. I want you to look at the trend line here for mortgage rates. This makes a huge difference to the average homeowner. Consider this. The medium mortgage amount right now 170,300. If you finance that at today's rate, a 4.96 versus the long-term eight percent rate. You save $340 a month. That's a lot for people out there.
The stock market. A lot of people are waiting for the recovery to get back in. But guess what? If you look back, stock market annual gains incur a little bitty tight time frame. Check this out. If you were in the markets, put in 18 weeks that took it to make 13.6 in 2006, you would have missed the entire game. Same goes for 2005 and 2004. You have to be in the market for the full year to get the gain, but the gain occurs in a really tight time frame. It's really easy to miss is my point.
MARCIANO: Look at you cheerleading. I like that. Seven, eight weeks, I can stomach that.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIS: I'm just saying, you got to be...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: No, she's saying 365 days to be in it.
MARCIANO: OK. Well, as long as it comes back in seven or eight weeks, I'll be in it...
WILLIS: Yes, you've got to be in for the long haul. And of course, there are other advantages right now, too, for people who aren't investing, the IRS is forgiving people who have trouble paying their taxes right now. There are little programs out there, the small business owner. Federal government just came out with a program for them as well. There are opportunities out there. That's my point today. You just have to look for them.
CHETRY: I'm starting to see a ray of light out there.
WILLIS: That's what I'm saying.
CHETRY: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: It's a ray of sunlight.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
MARCIANO: Well, a reminder all next week. Don't miss "The Road to Rescue." A CNN survival guide. Gerri and the CNN Money team with tips to put us on the road out of recession. That's all next week on CNN and cnn.com.
CHETRY: Still to come, he says it was kill or be killed. The man who survived a shark attack by taking down one of the most dangerous predators in the world. The whole crew is here live, and they're going to share their story.
Also Bernie Madoff may be behind bars, but his victims are still left with more questions than answers. We're talking to victims who had their savings wiped out by his $65 billion scam.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- three minutes past the hour.
And you could say good morning to inmate number 61727054. That's Bernard Madoff's new handle. His new home is a federal housing cell which much like this one. That's what it looks like. It's at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. Madoff was locked up after pleading guilty to a massive Ponzi scheme that rocked investors out of billions of dollars.
In a courtroom confession yesterday, Madoff said, quote, "I realize that my arrest on this day would inevitably come."
He also had a message for his victims, but this morning, many of them who wanted to make sure that they had a message for him as well yesterday are sounding off. Jason Carroll joins us with that part of the story.
And these are people whose lives are forever changed they believe by what happened. And they wanted to make sure that prosecutors and the judge heard where they were coming.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Without question. You know, we really got an earful when we went down there yesterday and heard from a lot of these victims. Madoff told the court that he wanted -- that he knew what he did was criminal and he would eventually be caught. The victims who came to hear him speak were not moved by his words and, in some cases, it left them more angry and with more questions about where their money went and who else may have taken it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Outside federal court, a gathering of angry voices.
CYNTHIA FRIEDMAN, MADOFF VICTIM: I think he should rot in hell. He's evil. He's evil.
BENNETT GOLDWORTH, MADOFF VICTIM: He's a sick man. And his going to jail, I don't even think that's really just punishment.
CARROLL: The victims from what may be the biggest scam in Wall Street history, unable to contain their bitterness towards Bernard Madoff, the man who, in some cases, took everything they had.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just sickens me. The whole thing sickens me.
FRIEDMAN: He's way up there with all the evil people in the world. CARROLL: Madoff pled guilty to 11 felony counts and told the court he was ashamed and sorry saying, "I am painfully aware that I have deeply hurt many, many people, including members of my family and the thousands of clients who gave me their money." Clients like New Jersey State Senator Loretta Weinberg.
STATE SEN. LORETTA WEINBERG (D), NEW JERSEY: To me, Bernie Madoff is a sociopath. He's a man with no morals, no standards, no set of values whatsoever.
CARROLL: Feelings of betrayal are deep. Many of Madoff's victims saying neither his guilty plea nor his apology make up for the billions he stole.
HELEN DAVIS CHAITMAN, MADOFF VICTIM: I don't attribute any sincerity or honesty to anything he said.
RICHARD FRIEDMAN, MADOFF VICTIM: It's not enough just to say, OK, I'm guilty, put me away. What about all the other people involved? What about his family? I want to know. What about the money?
CARROLL: Prosecutors say Madoff's fraud may have totaled close to $65 billion, money taken from modest investors, wealthy celebrities, even Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Leading to public fury so intense, Madoff wore a bullet proof vest to court. His attorney received death threats. Seeing Madoff taken from court in handcuffs for some is not justice.
DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST: For some people that's not going to even be close to enough, because at the end of the day him sitting in jail doesn't bring you back your money.
CARROLL: Victims like Miriam Siegman, who came to court, are still trying to comprehend it all. Her life savings gone. She showed me the food stamp card she now needs.
Why did you come down today? What did you hope to...
MIRIAM SIEGMAN, MADOFF VICTIM: I came down to, you know, damned if I know. I came down because I need to feel connected to what I'm feeling the result of what's happened but it's like living in a bubble of nothingness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: The anger for many of the victims I spoke to also directed at the federal government who missed the signs of Madoff's scam for so long. Madoff will be sentenced on June 16th. He's likely to spend the rest of his life in prison. His victims say prosecutors need to pursue the other people they suspect helped Madoff orchestrate his scheme.
CHETRY: And two of the people we had on the show today, two victims as well, said at the very least we should be able to get our taxes that we paid the federal government on these fake earnings. CARROLL: Well, you would think so. But, you know, the other common denominator that we found with many of the victims that I spoke to was that none of them believe they are going to be able to recover the money that they lost.
CHETRY: And a couple of them don't believe he is really going to stay in prison. That's the other interesting aspect.
CARROLL: Oh, well. Yes. I don't know about that.
CHETRY: I know.
CARROLL: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Jason, thanks so much.
Well, now, you can get your AM fix at work and on the go. Go to cnn.com/am, and check out our new blog - Rob.
MARCIANO: Well, Kiran, it's 28 minutes after the hour. Here are some of the top stories we're working on this morning.
China expressing concerns about the money it's loaned the U.S. Its premiere is calling on the United States to honor its word and stay a credible nation. The premiere also says he has high expectations for President Obama's plans to tackle the international crisis.
A developing story surrounding the death of former playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith. Her former companion and lawyer, Howard K. Stern and two doctors all charged with illegally giving her thousands of pills. Smith died in February of 2007 over an accidental overdose of prescription meds.
And the cable showdown viewers have been waiting for finally happened last night. Comedian Jon Stewart lit in to the host of CNBC's "Mad Money" on the "The Daily Show," telling Jim Cramer, quote, "Finance isn't a bleeping game." Cramer responded by saying he's not in bed with the banks.
Well, they are pictures everyone is talking about this morning. A spear fisherman going head-to-head with a tiger shark in the Gulf of Mexico. A two-hour battle caught on tape. He says he did what he had to do so everybody could get out of line, and they're here right now.
Joining me for the firsthand accounts, spear fisherman Craig Clasen, photographer D.J Struntz, and videographer Ryan McInnis.
All of a sudden, you guys are press celebrities here. This happened way back in June so we're asking you to describe things that happened a while ago.
Ryan, you guys are spear fishermen. I mean, you were out doing what, hunting for tuna?
RYAN MCINNIS, VIDEOGRAPHER: Well, spear fishing is a hobby for us. We do it to put food on the plate. It's an enjoyable activity, and in this instance, we were diving with Craig in his home waters off of Louisiana. We were also there promoting a spear fishing company. He was shooting a catalog. I was making a promotional film for them.
MARCIANO: So you know there were sharks down there, Craig?
CRAIG CLASEN, SPEAR FISHERMAN: Absolutely.
MARCIANO: OK. So you got in contact with.
Ryan, when did you know that you were in trouble?
MCINNIS: Well, I had gotten distracted filming this beautiful pair of squid. And I got this feeling. And I turned, and there was the shark about 15 feet away. My first reaction was, wow, it's magnificent.
My second reaction was uh-oh, I better press record, this could be interesting. And the shark turned and came right in at me. I took an aggressive posture in the water, swam towards it with my camera. It turned away at the last minute. I barely remember any of the stuff, the emotions kind of took over.
MARCIANO: Right.
MCINNIS: I yelled for help and D.J. and Craig were right there.
MARCIANO: D.J., what were you thinking at this point?
D.J. STRUNTZ, PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, we didn't know what was happening, because typically with -- you know, we encounter sharks all the time. We've been diving with sharks all day. You're not thinking a shark is the first thing -- you know, when we heard the boat captain tell us go to the diver, he needs help, we were thinking something along the lines of shallow water blackout or, you know, there's some sort of drowning situation potentially.
So I didn't have any expectation of encountering a big shark when I got to Ryan.
MARCIANO: Well, Craig, you encountered it in a big way. Tell us what happened. How you went up ashore.
CLASEN: Well, as Ryan described, you know, we heard, you know -- sorry, a scream. Come from him and we knew that he was in trouble. Swam as quickly as we could towards him, got in between him and the shark and just really did my best to let it pass, you know?
I can't even, you know, emphasize that any more. I mean we swim with sharks constantly, you know? They're always there. You know? Sometimes hundreds of them in a given dive. Sometimes, you know, 10, over 10 feet, you know, just to give you an idea. And, you know, we really wanted to have a different outcome here, but, unfortunately, that wasn't possible and I had to pull the trigger and take action so that we could all get out of the water OK. MARCIANO: This went from a very interesting story, a fascinating story to one of public outcry. Our viewers are very compassionate people...
MCINNIS: Understandable.
MCINNIS: ... and animals especially.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Understandable.
MARCIANO: So we had a number of viewers write in and say things that, you know, these guys knew what they were doing, they were getting in there, they did it all for show.
CLASEN: No.
MARCIANO: They killed that shark when they didn't have to. You say no.
CLASEN: Absolutely not. I traveled all over the world diving in, you know, every corner of the globe basically. Been around tons and tons of sharks in my experience. All three of us together, 60 years experience of diving in the water.
We face these situations with sharks constantly, you know, and no one has more respect and compassion and love and appreciation for them than we do. It's an outcome that we really wish we could have avoided and it was a -- so remorseful for us. I mean it was a quiet boat ride home. None of us were happy.
MARCIANO: I guess what's -- what people are questioning is, you know, of all video you have, you don't really have video of the shark being aggressive. I suppose because at that point, you were just trying to save your own life?
MCINNIS: Well, I believe there is a clip when it comes straight at me.
MARCIANO: OK.
MCINNIS: And that's with a super wide angle lens and if you hear the audio from it, I let out a frightening noise.
MARCIANO: Bottom of the stream, through the water.
MCINNIS: So, yes.
MARCIANO: Well, listen, we're thrilled that you have this harrowing story to tell. Obviously, we're not that happy that the shark died but at some point, you know, when you're in danger, somebody has got to go and it's survival out there.
And this happened in June, but the article is out now. And you guys are out there in the public eye so we're glad that you're alive.
CLASEN: Well, you know, if I could say one more thing, you know, when I did pull the trigger, you know, it might explain some of the issues with the lack of footage. I mean, I basically cleared these guys out for a good long while. I wanted, you know, nobody to, you know, an injured shark is a dangerous shark, obviously.
At that point, the game had changed and, you know, it was important for me to get these guys out of the way, get them safe, and, you know, try to minimize any potential danger.
MARCIANO: Well, you guys are a lot tougher than I am, I can say that. Man on -- man on fin or hands to fin combat with a shark, harrowing story for sure and we're thrilled that you're able to tell it all in one piece.
Thank you, gentlemen.
CLASEN: Thank you.
STRUNTZ: Thank you.
MCINNIS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Kiran?
CHETRY: Never leave home without it. Your cell phone. Well, it can now surf the Web, download games, play your favorite music, but is it also giving away your every move? And who knows where you are.
Thirty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You probably found yourself saying, hey, if I lost my cell phone, I would be completely lost. But with the GPS technology, you know, if we didn't have that, a lot of us would be lost. On your phone, though, that phone could be revealing every move you make with that technology and Susan Candiotti has been looking into it. Is it a bad or is it a good thing?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's kind of a scary thing, actually. You know, it depends on who you talk with, naturally. You know using cell phones to download music or video games is practically boring compared to what phones will soon be able to do. Experts call it an explosion of technology so cool it's borderline creepy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): It's the kind of space-age technology "The Jetsons" would love, and it's coming to your cell phone.
(on camera): Say you go grocery shopping and you have your cell phone with you. It's equipped with GPS, so a satellite can track exactly where you are. Well, that same snazzy technology can also tell advertisers where you are. So when you get near the store, or even in it, all of a sudden your phone lights up. You flip it open, and it tells you everything that's on sale inside the store. It shows you coupons. For example, here you get $1 off milk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, this is way cool.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): So cool, we asked mobile technology developer Alan Sultan (ph) to set up that demonstration. Consumers are expected to see it for real this summer. Companies call them location-based services, using GPS or Wi-Fi wireless technology that can even track you down a shopping aisle.
How about this? You're about to go to a restaurant and you get a phone alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up pops up an offer for a restaurant two blocks down that's going to give you a free steak dinner. Who would not like that?
CANDIOTTI: This man would.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like that, if they would just pop something up and say, hey, check out this product, it's on sale, or something like that. It would be great.
CANDIOTTI: But not everyone likes the idea of an eye in the sky tracking your every move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a scary line there that I wouldn't want to be crossed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want people to know what I'm doing or where I'm going and what I'll buy. You know?
CANDIOTTI: Privacy advocates are worried about what conclusions advertisers might draw from that consumer information.
LILLIE CONEY, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFO CENTER: It's the lack of transparency, it's the ability of the consumer to decide, do I really want you to know where I am at any particular point in the day, or is that something I want to have control over?
CANDIOTTI: Mobile technology experts insist consumers will have control. They'll have to specifically opt in, and they can always opt out of a service.
DAVID DWORZDZ, MOJIVA: I don't think it's ever going to be, you know, thrust upon the general public. And I don't think anyone would put up with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Or would you? For now the mobile tech industry is policing itself. However, the Federal Trade Commission may weigh in because there are privacy issues involved.
The mobile tech industry to consumers, their advice, be smart. Don't opt in for services unless, unless it's a company you trust.
MARCIANO: Is it easy to do this? Like Kiran just asked me how to put music on her BlackBerry. Duh?
CHETRY: You didn't know either.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: No kidding. I mean, how easy is it to download this stuff?
CANDIOTTI: Well, it's very easy but, I mean, you have to make a conscious effort, according to the industry to do this. You have to have a GPS, first of all. And then, for example, you will be able to walk into a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. In fact, you can do it now, you might see a banner hanging up saying, "Are you interested in a special offer? Text us this five-digit code."
And then it downloads into your phone and then you start getting all these advertisements on your telephone. And they keep saying we're not going to overdo do it, they won't overdo it, because they don't want to turn people off.
CHETRY: Right. Now let me ask one quick question. If you have GPS on your phone, does it -- can it do this or do you have to have it enabled? You just have it but don't have it enabled?
CANDIOTTI: You have it but you have to see the offer and you have to text that company to tell them that you want that particular service.
CHETRY: Right.
CANDIOTTI: It won't just pop in. That's what they say.
MARCIANO: And important to emphasize that they can't be forced on you.
CHETRY: Right. And telemarketers also will not call you during dinnertime.
CANDIOTTI: Yes.
MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE)
Susan Candiotti. Thanks, Susan.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
MARCIANO: Well, Brother, can you spare a cookie? "Sesame Street" is hit with layoffs and Jeanne Moos looks at how it's being covered on the Internet.
It's 41 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARCIANO: It's 44 minutes after the hour. Here are some of the stories that we'll be telling you about throughout the day.
In about 40 minutes, Wall Street kicks off the trading day and for the first time in about two weeks the Dow opens back above 7,000. Good news there.
President Obama will talk live about the economy from the oval office. Those remarks scheduled for 12:45 Eastern Time. The president will meet with senior advisers and you can watch what the president has to say live here on CNN or on CNN.com/Live.
And fans will have to wait for more shows or shell out as much as 35 grand to scalpers to see Michael Jackson? Tickets for his 50 final curtain call concerts in London sold out in just four hours. All 750,000 seats are now officially gone and that is what we're following this morning.
Kiran, very disappointed that you didn't get your hands on those Michael Jackson seats?
CHETRY: Hold on a minute. $35,000 a ticket? Ridiculous.
MARCIANO: Maybe we can, you know, have a car wash and raise some money so you can go.
CHETRY: OK. That's just one being sold online. But still.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean who knew? He's still that popular.
MARCIANO: He's still the king of pop.
CHETRY: He's only going to do 10, now he's 50.
MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Well, when you think of firefighters' job you often think of braving burning buildings, but 80 percent of the job is actually responding to millions of medical emergencies each year.
This week in our CNN Heroes series, the story of one firefighter who took his years of experience, left his job, and then moved to Guatemala to train firefighters in emergency care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.
PAUL EMBLETON, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Guatemala. The firefighters are usually the first ones on the site of the emergency. They didn't have ambulances. They only had pickup trucks.
It was difficult for me to watch these patients being transported with no medical care. I witnessed several people die. It inspired me to do something.
I'm Paul Embleton, founder of the BRAVE Foundation. We provide equipment and training to the volunteer firefighter of Guatemala to help make their jobs easier.
I first came to Guatemala in 1996. And I was working as a paramedic in the United States and I rode with a firefighter. They'd asked me if I could provide training and assist in developing this free hospital care program and I said, of course.
We took the U.S. EMT curriculum and we had it translated into Spanish. Now we have 14 training programs throughout the country of Guatemala.
DAVID ALVAREZ, FIRE CHIEF, 10 COMPANY: Paul is the one to make everything happen. This make a big difference for our people in Guatemala.
EMBLETON: I'm really proud what the firemen have accomplished here. These firefighters are the true heroes.
ANNOUNCER: Tell us about your hero at CNN.com/heroes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. And our own John Roberts was honored late last night actually for his early career as a Canadian deejay. Now you may not know this but John used to work for Much Music which is the Canadian equivalent of MTV. There's John right there. He's rocking the mullet which was so hip back then.
MARCIANO: Rocking it well. J.D.
CHETRY: That's what he's known back then. J.D. Well, last night he'd inducted into the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: I can't tell you how much of an honor it is and how humbling it is to be inducted into the hall of fame tonight. It really is quite extraordinary for a kid from Mississauga.
I left Canada in 1992 but it's a place that you can never really leave behind. This really is incredibly kind of you and I will redouble my efforts to be worthy of the honor that you bestowed upon me tonight.
Thank you all so very much. It's so wonderful to be back here and I really am completely overwhelmed tonight. Thanks.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MARCIANO: How about the emotion?
CHETRY: Love it. And look at that. He's got to make room on his wall for that -- for brining that one back for sure. Good for him. Congratulations.
MARCIANO: Yes. That's awesome. That is fantastic. And you know, he rocks the 2008 or '09 hairstyle just as much as the mullet.
CHETRY: This is what I said to him because people tease him about, you know, your hair. So I said hey, you still have a great head of hair so be happy for that.
MARCIANO: And he was just as great as a vee-jay if you see some of the old clips as he as a journalist. Definitely a talented man.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, he was trying to raise money for her Girl Scouts troop but her industrious efforts were as not necessarily appreciated by the organization. We're going to tell you why. The little girl and her father join us live just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. It's the showdown people will be talking about at the office today. Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer going face-to-face last night after a week of jabs at each other over the economy.
CNN's Christine Romans joins us on what they're calling "Brawl Street," at least that's what Comedy Central's Jon Stewart was calling it.
ROMANS: Yes, the production was pretty cool, too, but it showed Jon Stewart kind of like getting ready, you know, somebody saying what's a P.E.? (INAUDIBLE) You know he's like learning all the stuff.
MARCIANO: "Rocky" music in the background.
ROMANS: Right. Exactly. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to take on Jim Cramer. But a lot of folks are saying it was less, you know, mano-a-mano and more kind of mea culpa, because Jim Cramer kind of really hit over the head with examples of things that he said.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAMER: I am trying to expose this stuff. Exactly what you guys do. And I'm trying to get the regulators to look at it.
STEWART: Well, see, that's interesting. Roll 210.
CRAMER: I would encourage anyone who's in the hedge fund to do it because it's legal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
CRAMER: And it -- it's a very quick way to make money, and very satisfying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
CRAMER: By the way, no one else in the world would ever admit that, but I don't care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. And you can say that here.
CRAMER: I'm not going to say it on TV.
We're on TV now.
STEWART: I want the Jim Cramer on CNBC to protect me from that Jim Cramer.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAMER: I think the way you do that is to show...
(APPLAUSE)
OK, that's -- I -- regulators watch the tape. They realize the shenanigans that goes on. They can go after this. Now they didn't catch Madoff, that's a shame.
STEWART: But why -- when you talk about the regulators, why not the financial news network? That's the whole point of this.
CRAMER: OK.
STEWART: CNBC could be an incredibly powerful tool of illumination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: What we do know a powerful tool is this whole feud, this grudge match as they are calling it.
MARCIANO: For ratings.
ROMANS: Ratings, right, for Jon Stewart up 20 percent the ratings have been over the past week. And for Cramer down about 24 percent so.
MARCIANO: So we've got to get ourselves a feud going with some other network, you know?
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE)
MARCIANO: All right. We'll see how long I'll last on that.
ROMANS: I'm mad at you, Rob.
MARCIANO: I'm mad at you, too.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: I can hear the ratings meter.
CHETRY: Oh, that's right, that doesn't work.
Thanks, Christine.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
One Girl Scout turned to the Internet to sell more Girl Scout cookies for her troop. With the help of her dad she linked a page for Facebook where people could order cookies online and she even posted this adorable YouTube video. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILD FREEBORN, GIRL SCOUT: Hi. I'm Wild Day Freeborn and I need you to buy some cookies because I'm trying to sell 12,000 to help my troop go to summer camp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Seems innovative and innocent rough, right? Well, the Girl Scouts of America says that they're actually breaking the rules that clearly state you cannot sell cookies online and they want her to stop.
Joining me now is Brian Freeborn and his daughter Wild.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
BRYAN FREEBORN, WILD DAY'S FATHER: Thanks for having us.
CHETRY: Well, let me ask Wild first. How close did you get or have you gotten so far to your goal?
W. FREEBORN: Like 8,000 or above.
CHETRY: Your troop has sold 8,000 cookies?
B. FREEBORN: Eight hundred.
CHETRY: All right. Well, close enough.
(LAUGHTER)
Tell us a little bit about what has been going on with this? So you guys, you are a Web designer and so you're savvy with the Internet. You helped her post this video and also helped her link up a page where people could order cookies online. What was the response from the Girl Scouts? What did they say to you?
B. FREEBORN: Well, the Girl Scouts have never really officially -- Girl Scouts of America has never really officially said anything to us. The local council asked us to take down the YouTube video and so we did. But the video was posted on other locations and so we kept those up, along with the order form.
There's no monetary transaction taking place over the Internet for Wild and her troop in the Girl Scout cookies. So we thought that we were well within the spirit of the rules because, you know, we're in agreement that we don't want sales taking place online, but there seems to be a very distinct difference between a sale and an order.
However, the Girl Scouts, if you dig really deep on their Web site, you can find where they don't seem to think there is a difference.
CHETRY: Right. And they say that they -- that they're -- that you're not allowed to sell them online or sell them on the Internet, that what you can do is you can use Girlscoutcookies.org to let family and friends to know where they can go in person to buy the Girl Scout cookies.
And in your situation, with that page, they're able to just place their order and then what happens after that?
B. FREEBORN: After that, Wild and her troop fulfills the order.
CHETRY: But would you ship them then?
B. FREEBORN: We aren't shipping to anyone. There -- everyone has to be within our city and so because there has to be the face-to- face transaction, Wild or someone from her troop has to go to the person...
CHETRY: Right.
B. FREEBORN: ... and deliver the cookies.
CHETRY: So in your mind, do you feel you broke the rules?
B. FREEBORN: No.
CHETRY: And what do you think about the fact that the Girl Scouts say that perhaps in the future, they will open this up? They say that right now, we're not doing this, but that it's not a definite no. It's just a not right now. And maybe they will sell online.
B. FREEBORN: Well, I think, you know, you look at any legacy organization that's been around as long as they have, you know, 90- plus years, I think yesterday was their big anniversary, this is Girl Scout week, you know, they're going to have rules that aren't able to change as quick as technology is changing and I have a firm belief that in the next year, their policy will be updated and they'll probably provide technology on this based out of the Girl Scouts platform for girl scouts and their troops to utilize online technology to promote Girl Scouts cookie sales.
CHETRY: I got you. Well, Wild, thanks for coming in and bringing your dad. And do you -- what do you think, before we leave, do you think you're going to get enough for your troop to go to summer camp?
W. FREEBORN: Probably.
CHETRY: All right. Well, good luck to you. And thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
B. FREEBORN: Thank you.
CHETRY: That's going to do it for us this morning. We're so glad that you joined us on AMERICAN MORNING. Rob Marciano filling in and Monday, John Roberts will be back and right now "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins begins.
