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American Morning
Dangerous Mix in North Korea; Nuclear Sub Being Used in Search for Flight Recorders; Inside North Korea's Prison Camp; Mass Rallies Before Presidential Election in Iran; American Journalists Sentenced to 12 Years in North Korean Labor Camp
Aired June 09, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on two minutes before the top of the hour. Good morning and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING, it's Tuesday, June 9th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Here's what's on this morning's agenda. Stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. U.S. national intelligence director Dennis Blair describes recent events in North Korea as a "potentially dangerous mix" that could pose a higher level of risk to the west. He says Pyongyang's nuclear tests and missile launches could be more significant because Kim Jong Il is naming his son as his successor.
The families of two American journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor are pleading with leaders of North Korea to show compassion and release them. The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee say they were shocked and devastated by the news. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. government is working to secure their release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Obviously we are deeply concerned about the length of the sentences and the fact that this trial was conducted totally in secret with no observers. And we're engaged in all possible ways through every possible channel to secure their release.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We're going to get an inside look at the kind of North Korean prison camp the two U.S. reporters could end up going to. That's at 8:10 Eastern, oh about 11 minutes from now.
And this morning, calls for a stress test do over. A government watchdog group says the test for the nation's largest banks don't go far enough. We'll tell you why.
And a look at whether your bank account is safe, as well. We'll have a look at that.
There was plenty of red meat at the menu in the big republican fundraiser. And master of ceremonies actor John Voigt slammed President Obama saying his leadership will cause the down fall of this country. CHETRY: Well, more now on North Korea's latest provocation towards the west. Pyongyang is saying it intends to use nuclear weapons as "merciless offensive means." The top U.S. intelligence official saying North Korea's nuclear tests and missile launches are a familiar pattern but they take on more dangerous significance now that Kim Jong Il has chosen his son to succeed him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS BLAIR, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: So any time you have a combination of this - of this behavior of doing provocative things in order to excite a response, plus succession questions, you have a pretty dangerous, potentially dangerous mixture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And CNN's Barbara Starr is digging deeper on the rising tensions with the west. She is live for us this morning at the Pentagon. So those words, using those weapons as a "merciless." It just sounds very dangerous.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed, Kiran, the concerns are only growing day by day. The U.S. intelligence community now believes North Korea is getting ready for another round of missile launches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Spy satellites over North Korea have observed vehicles and other activities at West Coast missile launch sites indicating Pyongyang may be preparing to launch a long-range missile capable of hitting the U.S. and medium-range missiles that could hit Asian neighbors.
Tensions are on the rise. North Korea just accused the south of sending patrol boats into a disputed area off the Western Coast. And off the eastern port of Wonsan, shipping has been banned until the end of the month.
The Pentagon joined the tough U.S. talk, making clear Defense Secretary Robert Gates --
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Is sick of responding to North Korean provocations by making concessions that get you back to the status quo ante only to see this all unfold again.
STARR: Gates is now looking at military options if North Korea doesn't stop its nuclear program.
MORRELL: He has tasked his policy team with trying to figure out creative and prudent ways to bolster defenses.
STARR: Morrell wouldn't be specific. But what about stopping North Korean weapons exports on the high seas? Denying Pyongyang that cash flow? Experts warn it could get very nasty. JOHN PARK, U.S. INSTITUTE OF PEACE: The North Koreans will not view this as something that is standard procedure or supported by international law. For them, it would be akin to a violation of their sovereignty and as they stated a declaration of war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Now I have to tell you, Kiran, there is a bit of gallows humor, if you will, up and down this Pentagon hallways. A lot of people are looking towards the July 4th holiday, and thinking North Korea may repeat what it did July 4th in 2006 and launch more missiles.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Seems like a dangerous situation right now.
Barbara Starr for us following all the developments. Thanks.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Kim Jong Il's oldest son may have confirmed reports that his younger brother has been chosen as North Korea's next leader. Kim Jong Nam was asked by a reporter in China about reports that his brother Kim Jong Un had been designated to succeed the country's dear leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG NAM, KIM JONG IL'S ELDEST SON: It was my father's decision. So once he decides, we have to support.
QUESTION: Are you interested in succession?
KIM JONG NAM: No. Personally, I'm not interested in this issue.
QUESTION: Why?
KIM JONG NAM: Sorry. I'm not interested in the politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Kim Jong Nam also went on to say he cannot remember the last time he spoke with his father.
New developments now in the search for the flight recorders from Air France Flight 447. A French nuclear submarine and high-tech acoustic devices belonging to the U.S. Navy are headed to help in the search right now.
Our Karl Penhaul is closer to the search site than anyone else.
He's on the island of Fernando de Noronha in Brazil.
Karl, crews are picking up major pieces of debris from the flight now. Do they have enough to tell or at least get an early idea of what might have brought this plane down? KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. Not right now. The real buzz at the airport here at Fernando Noronha Island is because a few moments ago, two helicopters took off and they're going to fly out about 30 miles into the ocean, rendezvous with the Navy ship that has the bodies onboard. They're going to winch those bodies on board, and we expect probably within the next hour, the first 16 of the 24 bodies so far recovered will arrive back in Fernando de Noronha Island.
Then in the course of the day, we expect pieces of debris, including possibly that large vertical stabilizer tail section to be brought to the island, as well. And it's at that point that this rigorous forensic examination will stop to try and find out what brought this Air France flight down more than a week ago now.
Now, in addition to that or in parallel to that, as you mentioned, the search for the voice and data recorders very important task, that's being led by the French. We expect on Thursday, a French nuclear submarine to arrive in the search area. And also two vital pieces of U.S. equipment being sent, acoustic devices that will help listen from the pings from those black boxes.
The only problem there is that they're working in a search area the size of Nebraska. And also the ocean depth plummet down to more than 20,000 feet in some points. That could be too deep for the pings to be heard from the black box, and it could be too deep for any submarines to operate there too, John.
ROBERTS: Carl, the flight data recorders and the cockpit voice recorders are stored in the back of the aircraft. Based on where they found that vertical stabilizer, have they narrowed the search area for those two recording devices?
PENHAUL: No. The authorities here are still talking about a search area approximately the size of the state of Nebraska. Also, as well, we shouldn't necessarily read too much into where these bits of debris are found. We're still trying to pin down the Brazilian authorities exactly where the debris and bodies have been found. They say that according to the data that they've given us that there are debris fields that are very, very far apart and couldn't just be accounted for by ocean current.
Now, what the experts say is that depending on where the debris falls will help them determine whether this aircraft broke up in midair or broke up where it hit the water. So that's why we're keying to get specifics from the Brazilian authorities on that.
John?
ROBERTS: All right. Karl Penhaul for us on the Island of Fernando de Noronha this morning.
Karl, thanks so much for that report.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama admits that he's not satisfied with the progress of his economic stimulus package, but he is promising that his administration will ramp up stimulus spending in the coming months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've done more than ever, faster than ever, more responsibly than ever to get the gears of the economy moving again. I'm not satisfied. We've got more work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: But can the president deliver on the economic promise?
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is following that for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama is promising to put more Americans back to work this summer.
OBAMA: The goal here is that we're going to create or save 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days.
MALVEAUX: Whether Obama can deliver on this promise is another story.
TAMI LUHBY, SR. WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: The information that we're getting now, the 150,000 jobs they said were created in the first 100 days and the 600,000 jobs they're estimating will be created in the next 100 days, those are based on formula, so that's fuzzy math at this point. They don't really know yet how many jobs have actually been created.
MALVEAUX: Vice presidential economic adviser Jared Bernstein disputed that.
JARED BERNSTEIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST TO VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This is an absolute tried-and-true economic methodology.
MALVEAUX: But the administration has already had to do some backpedaling.
Back, in January, when the president was selling his $787 billion economic stimulus package, he promised to save or create between 3.5 million to four million jobs over the next two years. That was based on an assumption that unemployment wouldn't go above 8 percent.
But, with unemployment at a 25-year high of 9.4 percent, Bernstein acknowledged they had incomplete information, and got it wrong.
BERNSTEIN: Our forecast seemed reasonable. Now, looking back, it was clearly too optimistic.
MALVEAUX: But the White House is continuing to shop the silver lining, this on the latest unemployment numbers: OBAMA: This was the fewest number of jobs that we have lost in about eight months. So it was about half of the number lost of just a few months ago. And it's a sign that we're moving in the right direction.
MALVEAUX (on camera): President Obama also defended his administration against what some say as a slow start in getting that money to create jobs and those projects. The president saying he would rather he would rather put in safeguards to protect American taxpayer money from potential boondoggles.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Republicans rallying the party faithful at a big fundraiser in Washington. And at last night's dinner, the master of ceremony actor John Voigt slammed President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON VOIGHT, ACTOR: Are we supposed to be sitting and waiting, watching for the possibility of a new holocaust? Who's going to take the responsibility to keep Israel safe? I'll tell you why this really scares the hell out of me, because everything Obama has recommended has turned out to be disastrous.
(APPLAUSE)
It saddens me greatly to think we were the great powerful good in the world. We as Americans knew America to be strong, and we were the liberators of the entire world. We are becoming a weak nation.
Obama really thinks he is a soft spoken Julius Caesar. He thinks he's going to conquer the world with his soft-spoken sweet talk. And really thinks he's going to bring all the enemies of the world into a little playground where they'll swing each other back and forth. We and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression.
(APPLAUSE)
Let's give thanks to them for not giving up and staying the course to bring an end to this false prophet, Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, he seemed to get a good reception last evening.
CHETRY: Yes. He was getting some cheers there. It's a lot of things. Yea, he really did.
Why are you looking at me like that?
ROBERTS: I'm not looking at you like that. I'm just trying to consider the whole thing. False promises.
CHETRY: He was the master of ceremonies at the event last night.
ROBERTS: He was.
CHETRY: Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker. He had a few more ideas as opposed to some doomsday stuff.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Well, coming up, we're speaking of, you know, some of the worst case scenarios. These words coming from North Korea this morning that they intend to use their nuclear weapons for quote, "merciless offensive means." A lot of fears about what's going on there. On top of that, two Americans being held.
ROBERTS: Yes. In the State Department and the administration are very cleverly trying to separate those two issues. Not trying to let North Korea tie them together. But, you know, if Euna Lee and Laura Ling actually are sent to one of those prison camps for hard labor, what would the conditions be like inside?
We're talking to a fellow from Amnesty International. They had a big study based any information that could possibly be gleam about those camps. The lone person who has escaped, some other video that's come out. We'll go over all of that with you. Tell you what they could be in for, coming up.
It's 11 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. Just what kind of conditions would they face in a North Korean labor camp? Not much is known about them. But through the committee of human rights in North Korea, we have satellite map showing the layout of one prison. And our next guest has studied the conditions there.
T. Kumar is the advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International. He joins us now from Washington.
T, it's good to have you with us this morning. If they were sent to one of these prison camps or hard labor, what kind of conditions would they encounter there based on the studies that you've done?
T. KUMAR, ADVOCACY DIRECTOR, ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: Yes, we have to divide the situation into two categories. First is about the living conditions. The living conditions are extremely harsh. It's overcrowded, very little food, and very little, if any, medical attention. Then every day they have to work for more than ten hours.
ROBERTS: Wow.
KUMAR: Very hard labor starting from breaking stones to working in the mine. And very little food again during the day. ROBERTS: Very high rates of death in detention among these prisoners?
KUMAR: Yes. It's a combination of facts why the deaths are occurring. Number one, it's hard and forced labor. Second, it's lack of food. And unhygienic environment. As well as no medical attention at all in many cases. So combined of all of these issues, very large number of people who die in these prison camps.
ROBERTS: You know, T, we are seeing some video that, I guess, was taken on the sly here. One of these labor camps. But in terms of putting together this report and the conditions inside the camps, the type of labor that these people are being forced to endure, the type of conditions that they are being forced to endure, under their handlers, how did you find all of this information out?
KUMAR: We get information through former inmates who flee to China as refugees. And through them, as well as other sources, former guards at times come and tell us what's happening.
This we did not compile over during a year or two. We have been investigating it for the last couple of years and found out all of these inside information. By the way, this is not the full information. Full information could be much worse.
ROBERTS: Right. Right. You know, at the same time that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were put on trial and were sentenced, there's the whole issue over North Korea's nukes, its missile tests. The U.S. is talking very tough on that front, on the military front. But talking very diplomatically here about the two journalists who have been sentenced, let's listen to a little bit of what Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, said about this yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We view these as entirely separate matters. We think the imprisonment trial and sentencing of Laura and Euna should be viewed as a humanitarian matter. We hope that the North Koreans will grant clemency and deport them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So the secretary of state and the administration at large trying to separate these two issues. And, again, talking very diplomatically about the two journalists. But do you think North Korea will see these as separate issues? Or will they say, hey, we got a great bargaining chip here. We're going to try to leverage that to the best of our ability?
KUMAR: Yes. Amnesty International supports secretary of state's decision. But definitely North Korea is not going to take that position. The timing of terrorists and imprisonment, and the sentencing of 12 years, suggest that they are using this as a pawn in the whole bigger game of nuclear standoff with the United States. ROBERTS: And, T, do you think that they will ever send Laura and Euna to one of these prison camps? You know, if you're a secretive nation, you want to keep things hidden. It seems to be the last thing that you would want to do is send two American journalists in one of these camps, you know, with the thought in the back of your mind that one day they might be released and tell the world what's going on there.
KUMAR: We can't rule out anything. Amnesty International always warned the international community not to be complacent on these issues. Since the North Korean government have gone to the extent of sentencing them, we should expect the worse. Expecting not -- it's not going to be happening is going to be a disservice to their families as well as two journalists.
U.S. also can ask international committee of the Red Cross as the first step to meet with them to see how they are doing. You know, that's something U.S. can do now.
ROBERTS: T. Kumar from Amnesty International, it's good to talk to you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
KUMAR: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Still ahead, our "Romans Numeral" for the hour. This is a number that is driving a story about your money today. It's $35,000. And it has to do with small business owners. Any guesses? Twitter.com/amfix.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: That's our song for the summer here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Somebody suggested "Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts, which is a very good tune.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Love Rascal Flatts.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: So people would give that one a scheme?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: How does that one go, John? Sing it.
CHETRY: Maybe not.
CHETRY: The other one, the backup last year was "Summertime" by Kenny Chesney. So maybe we could do that one, too.
ROBERTS: I'm not going to sing because we would like to hang on to our viewers.
ROMANS: Carol Costello is singing earlier this morning.
ROBERTS: Much better voice than me.
CHETRY: We'll leave it to Carol.
Meanwhile, we're talking about bank stress tests right now.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: And there were some who were saying, perhaps, when we're looking at this unemployment, these unemployment numbers creeping up, they weren't stressful enough.
ROMANS: And we're going to get a new report from the congressional watchdog of the bank oversight. They're going to basically recommend that we should be prepared for more stress tests. Look, the worst-case scenario for unemployment was 8.9 percent. We all saw in the jobs report on Friday that we are now looking at 9.4 percent unemployment. So the watchdog who's grading this stress test says perhaps were not stressful enough. We need to do them over if conditions continue to worsen, and we might need more tests for banks with toxic assets.
Remember, those toxic assets are still on the books. How many times have we tried to figure out how to get the toxic assets off the banks' books? Now, the Treasury's program is, as we reported before, to get those off, to buy those off has actually been put on hold.
So, some of these banks are still holding those assets that were such a problem all along. Bank loan losses are tied to unemployment. When people don't have their jobs, they don't pay their credit card bills. They don't pay their car notes. They don't pay their mortgages. So that's a problem for the banks. And that's why we're watching that.
CHETRY: I still can't figure that out. That was the public part of partnership, right? And the thing is that a lot of that money that was set aside for that went to the bailout of the car companies.
ROMANS: Some of it did, yes. That's right. And it's actually now part of this whole Chrysler challenge is that is it legal to use the T.A.R.P. money, the bank bailout money, for the car companies? So it's a mess, you guys.
ROBERTS: Have you got a Romans' numeral for us this hour?
ROMANS: I do. And the number for new small businesses is 35,000. And this is an important number because, look, since the stimulus was passed, small business owners have been trying to figure out when they were going to get details of a small business rescue. And this is $35,000. And this is new emergency loans available to small business owners. You're going to be able to get a loan for 35 k. They have been waiting for this for months. Now, what you do is you go to small business administration Web site and they tell you which banks are working on this. I want you to tell us if it's working for you. If you can get this emergency loan, tell me. If you can't get it, tell me. Because there has been a lot of criticism of the administration that this has not come out quickly enough, and they want to get all the details right. So, let's see if you can get that money.
This is going to help a lot of people. In fact, Dee Steele (ph) was twittering, gave us a tweet here that says, "I'm losing my job over all of this. We need small business loans and some backing off of the small business tax today to help everyone."
So this is something that people have desperately wanted on the small business front. So hopefully, hopefully, it's there and it's going to help.
CHETRY: Fingers crossed, right. Christine, thanks so much.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we have this hilarious new book. I've really got a kick out of it. You know that during the campaign, Barack Obama was always on his BlackBerry when he was campaigning. Well, now he's president, what are some of the interesting texts and e-mails he's receiving? Well, this is an irreverent take on some phony ones, but they're pretty funny.
Twenty-four minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
As we speak, the gloves are off in Iran, which is days before a high stakes presidential election. The U.S. no doubt watching it very closely. The campaign to unseat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marked by language unheard of in that country. And this morning, we are tapping into the global resources of CNN. Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is live in Tehran for us this morning.
Christiane, just a couple of days to go now, how is this race shaping up?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, John. Three days before Iranians go to the polls and everybody is expecting a big turnout. That's because it's a really important election, not just for what happens inside Iran, but of course, in Iran's relations with the West and the United States.
And, as you say, it is highly charged. There is the President Ahmadinejad who is very deeply unpopular. And there are huge numbers of people in the streets who come out for the opposition candidate rallies. And this is a chance, they say, to actually unseat him. And if they did, it would be the first time an incumbent president has been unseated in Iran without going forward to a second round. We have seen people in the streets since we've been here. They go on up until 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. Yesterday was a big rally for the opposition candidate Musavi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR (voice over): With just days to go before Iran's presidential election, Tehran seems to be in the midst of a giant get out to vote street party.
Bidding a wishful farewell to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supporters of the leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Musavi organized a human chain from the north of town all the way down to the south.
(on camera): In the last week, the election here has suddenly taken a much more energetic turn. Rallies for all of the candidates, particularly the top two, are jamming the streets. Here, up in the (INAUDIBLE) part of Tehran, young people, women wearing all manners of the head scarf as required by the law. And it will in the end be the turnout that makes the difference.
(voice over): Women appear to be leading the charge. They say they want more freedom and equal rights, even those who don't feel safe enough to reveal their faces, just their hopes. Police watch but don't intervene.
This young man, like so many, says he's simply fed up with life in Iran today. I can take it no more, his sign proclaims. Go green for Musavi. So green some have leaves strapped to their bodies. They want jobs, better pay, more opportunities.
And when one of President Ahmadinejad's supporters strays into this opposition stronghold, the mood is ruckus as the two camps try to drown each other out. Further downtown, the president's supporters are preparing a big rally in a mosque complex.
"I support Ahmadinejad," says this man, "because he built up the country, he's sincere and he's not corrupt."
"Mr. Ahmadinejad, the best man, the most powerful man, he will definitely win," says this woman, "we believe in him."
Experts believe Iran will continue its nuclear program no matter who wins. And when it comes to relations with the U.S. and President Obama --
MOHAMMAD MARANDI, HEAD OF N. AMERICAN STUDIES, TEHRAN UNIV.: I think that either of the two candidates, they would respond positively to the United States if they feel that the United States makes a significant move towards improving relations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: And that is what most people here are saying. They've heard what President Obama has said to the Iranians, starting with his Nowruz message in New Year and going on to the speech in Cairo.
Today, many people on the streets say they too want change taking a page out of Obama's play book on the campaign trail. But they also say when it comes to U.S. relations, they do want to see some positive moves towards Iran.
Now President Ahmadinejad has the whole weight of the state behind him, the mass media, all of the authorities, and all of the access to all of the resources of the state. And yet, even though he was deemed the front-runner, even up to a few weeks ago, the series of television debates, unprecedented in their length, in their (inaudible) and in the insults and accusations that have been flowing have really now injected a sense of a real race into this election and have chipped away at his front-runner status. John?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out on Friday. Christiane Amanpour for us in Tehran this morning. Christiane, thanks so much for that.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's 31 minutes past the hour now. We're going to check our top stories. Developing right now, locals fighting back against the Taliban. Pakistani police say army forces and helicopter gun ships have joined citizens who surrounded two pro-Taliban villages. They are said to be destroying the homes of dozens of Taliban commanders retaliating for an attack on a mosque Friday that killed 33 worshippers.
The first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to be brought to America has arrived in New York. He will stand on trial. CNN now confirming the detainee is Ahmed Galani. Galani was convicted 11 years ago for the Al Qaeda bombing of U.S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. This is a key test for the Obama administration's plan to eventually close Guantanamo Bay and to try some of the detainees.
Also a setback in the effort to overturn the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear a case that challenged the ban on gays openly serving. Earlier I spoke to Lieutenant Daniel Choi who is facing dismissal because he is gay. And he is continuing to fight the controversial policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. DAN CHOI, FIGHTING DISCHARGE FOR BEING GAY: Everybody needs to know that don't ask don't tell is morally wrong. What it's forcing our soldiers to do is lie about who they are. And I don't know a single American family or a church or a mosque or a synagogue, anybody who advocates lying. I know my parents didn't teach me that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, during the presidential campaign, then Candidate Obama said he supported in throwing out the law. So far though, the White House has taken no action.
Well, speaking of President Obama, it's no secret that he uses a Blackberry. In fact, some might say he's addicted to his. Here's just one shot of him checking his Blackberry. It was a familiar sight on the campaign trail. But concerns that he'd have to give it when he became commander in chief led to a souped up high security one that he got when he moved into the White House. Do you ever wonder if you could get a peek what you'd actually see on the president's Blackberry?
One man did, he and his friends wrote a book full of phony texts and e-mails that poke fun at the nation's first Blackberry-toting president. Joining me now, Rob Baedeker, he's a member of the San Francisco based comedy troupe, Casper Houser. Rob, thanks for being with us this morning.
ROB BAEDEKER, CO-AUTHOR, "OBAMA'S BLACKBERRY": Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: So why did you write this in the first place?
BAEDEKER: Well, I think our initial book idea was Grover Cleveland's telephone calls, but it wasn't quite up to date. So, you know, it's kind of a perfect storm. This technology that's almost ubiquitous. And we got a president who famously uses one so we couldn't hack into the Blackberry, so we decided to make up the messages.
CHETRY: All right. So let's see some of the ones you made up. Here's one what I got a laugh at. This is from nuclear command and control. This is an e-mail that says Mr. President, Mark from swing shift thought you issued the launch code on TV just now. But I want to double check. He said we were supposed to launch when you say the word look, more than 28 times in one speech, I thought the code was Foxtrot Echo Muppet Slurpee. Who is right? Please get back to us ASAP. Thanks, Darren.
BAEDEKER: Foxtrot Echo Muppet Slurpee seemed like probably what the code would be. We were just guessing. But yes.
CHETRY: It definitely wasn't look 28 times. All right. Well, here's one, a text message from Clarence Thomas. Again, these are just jokes. JustClarence writing, hey. Barack Obama, hey. JustClarence, you want to hang out? Barack Obama, no. You didn't think he'd really say that to one of the Supreme Court justices?
BAEDEKER: Well, you know texting requires a lot of brevity, so he may have just been busy at the moment.
CHETRY: All right. Well, here's one from Michelle Obama that you write about. Barack Obama, hey, hon, we need to remind Sasha not to leave toys in the Oval Office. First lady writes back, question mark. Barack Obama writes back, just found Tickle me Elmo under my desk. The first lady writes back, not Sashas. He writes question mark. Check tag, he writes, George. I've started a box to mail to Laura.
BAEDEKER: Lots of ghosts in the White House and lots of left over toys. Again, just guessing.
CHETRY: Here's one from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, the bipartisan message, you know, that the president will take ideas from everyone, regardless of whether they're on the right or the left of certain issues. Here's one from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Dear Mr. President, listen to me, this is regarding catching Bin Laden by the way. With the parachutes, Red Bulls, and a cross bow, I could catch Bin Laden in 24 hours. I could even do it naked. I'll grow my hair for this. He goes on to write, a nurse could beat him up. What's the problem, drop me in there, Arnold.
BAEDEKER: Now that you say it, I don't know why he had to be naked, but it probably would help.
CHETRY: All right. Well, these are some funny exchanges. If you want to read more of the excerpts, it's "Obama's Blackberry." We've linked it up to our website at cnn.com/amfix. Rob Baedeker, thanks for joining us this morning.
BAEDEKER: Thanks a lot.
CHETRY: 36 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's a political comeback that many did not see coming, say about a year ago. But now not only is Hillary Clinton America's top diplomat, she even went sightseeing with President Obama in Egypt. Alina Cho joins us now. And the lady is asserting herself again. You could see.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she is and you're right, nobody saw it coming. Good morning, everybody. You know, a year ago nobody could've predicted this, not even Hillary Clinton, but today, some are calling Clinton a cat with nine lives. Just when you think she's down, she gets back up and surprises everyone, including herself.
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CHO: (voice-over): Just one year ago, this was the image of Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been.
CHO: Bowing out of her historic run for the White House.
LARRY SABATO, DIR. CENTER FOR POLITICS, UVA: On the day she had to withdraw, most people wrote her political obituary.
CHO: Larry Sabato is author of the new book "The Year of Obama."
SABATO: By the end of the campaign, she and her husband Bill Clinton had become very controversial again. A lot of things had been said about Barack Obama, said on the campaign trail that democrats began to regret. CHO: Some members of her own party anxious for Clinton to step aside. Clinton is no stranger to setbacks. Her controversial comments about baking cookies during her husband's campaign for president.
CLINTON: I supposed I could have stayed home and baked cookies.
CHO: Her subsequent failed efforts to overhaul health care.
CLINTON: I thought it was a wonderful speech.
CHO: Which makes these images of Secretary of State Clinton and President Barack Obama that much more remarkable. Or are they?
SABATO: Not many people can steal themselves the way someone like Hillary Clinton can. She's proven it over and over again.
CHO: But even the secretary herself in an interview on ABC's "This Week" admits surprise at the turn of events.
CLINTON: I never had any, any dream let alone inkling that I would end up in President Obama's cabinet.
CHO: In fact, when the president offered her the job, she initially said no, even providing names of other people, but she says he was persistent.
CLINTON: When your president asks you to do something for your country, you really need a good reason not to do it.
CHO: A former senior adviser to Clinton's campaign says people are seeing Secretary of State Clinton in a different light.
MARIA CORDONA, FMR. CLINTON CAMPAIGN ADVISER: She is the consummate team player, and I think that is one of the things that has most befuddled her critics. But I think that that also tells me that those are critics that didn't know her very well.
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CHO: So what about that infamous 3:00 a.m. ad during the campaign which criticized then Candidate Obama for not having the experience to deal with an international crisis? Well, when asked about that Clinton said in his public and private actions, President Obama has been strong, thoughtful, and decisive. She adds that her former rival and current boss is doing a terrific job. And she says, John, it is an honor to serve with him. Who would've thought a year ago?
ROBERTS: She seems to be doing a very good job as secretary of state, as well.
CHO: You know, recent CNN poll found that 71 percent of Americans approve of the way that she's handling her job as secretary of state and 50 percent of republicans, which our own polling director Keating Holland said is incredible given the fact that she's such a polarizing figure in politics.
ROBERTS: Yes. Here's the thing, she knows how to talk tough when necessary.
CHO: Yes she does.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Coming up, there's a new test out there you can find out really early on in your pregnancy whether it's a boy or a girl. But it is generating some controversy. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us coming up.
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Well, we love Rob's weather expertise but we don't need them to tell us it's raining. Check out our tower camera. A look at Columbus Circle right now, you can see the drops on our camera this morning. It's 63 degrees right now, there's a lot of thunderstorms going on. And Rob, the weather up and down the east coast seems to really be messing things up if you're flying the northeast corridor today.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes and you know, even just driving right now, Kiran, it's definitely nasty. A big line of thunderstorms rolling right across the i-95 corridor. About to go offshore. But until it does so, it's really creating some havoc as far as thunderstorms. This line now just going through the New York City area out to Long Island. There was a severe thunderstorm associated with this line down around Philadelphia that actually is still going on there with winds potentially in excess of 60 miles an hour.
This is video early this morning out of D.C., you can kind of see the White House just barely through that rain and wind. Boy, that American flag is flying and flapping. And a lot of lightning strikes, as well. So we certainly have some issues. And if you are traveling by air, this is all you need to get things stopped. The ground stop in effect for the next few minutes here at La Guardia, JFK, they'll probably extend this, Newark, Philly, as well until this bad weather goes through that. That means that they're not allowing flights to come in.
Boston, you're at an hour delay, and D.C. you're at 45-minute delays and we'll see thunderstorms fire also across parts of central Canada. There's a pretty good chance of seeing tornadoes in that neck of the woods later on this afternoon, busy day weather wise.
CHETRY: Oh, yes. When do you think we're going to see them roll out of there? Those thunderstorms?
MARCIANO: It's all about you, isn't it?
CHETRY: No, I mean, roll out of the area that's messing up poor people in Baltimore and Philly and Newark and Boston?
MARCIANO: I'm just teasing. Another couple of hours -
CHETRY: I'm not going anywhere, don't worry.
MARCIANO: But there may be some re-firing later on this afternoon. But right now its the worst of it.
CHETRY: Man, all right, if you're flying today or even driving today, we feel for you. All right, Rob, thanks.
ROBERTS: All right. So you're pregnant, right? You're going along in your pregnancy.
CHETRY: No, no, no --
ROBERTS: Do you want to know the gender of your child?
CHETRY: Of course. Did you guys find out?
ROBERTS: Yes. It was so long ago though. I mean, you're talking like back in the dark ages. But there's a new test that says it can predict the gender of the baby 10 weeks from conception. We're going to run this one. Dr. Gupta coming right up. Stay with us. 47 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's typically the first question for expectant parents, not like Kiran, because she's not pregnant, to ask is it a boy or is it a girl? And many just can't wait to find out. Now a new over the counter gender predictor test claims to be able to tell your baby's sex just 10 weeks after conception. We're paging Dr. Gupta this morning. CNN's chief medical correspondent is in Atlanta this morning. It seems so early 10 weeks -
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
ROBERTS: Seeing as how, you know, couples typically don't find out until about 20 weeks or a little after that.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, they just can't wait. They've got to know. They have to know right away, which I think is what inspired a test like this. Now, caveats before we show you the test. Even the manufacturer will say, look, this is not 100 percent accurate, closer to 70 percent to 80 percent accurate. Also, you shouldn't make any emotional or financial decisions based on this. But you know, if you're one of those people who simply can't wait, this is a test that may give you a little bit of a head's up as to whether your child is likely to be a boy or a girl. As you mentioned, right around 10 weeks, John. Here's the test. It's called Inteligender. That's the name of the test. The way that it works is you've got to pee, in a cup just like you do at the doctor's office and you take some of that and you mix it with this container over here. Now what's in the bottom there, I don't know if you can see that, John, these are little crystals and that's sort of the key ingredient in here. Those are the proprietary crystals, you have certain hormones in your urine that are higher in concentrations if it's a boy versus a girl. When it mixes with those crystals, it'll turn green for boy, it will turn orange for a girl. It takes about 10 minutes to work. The test costs about $35, starting to be available in drugstores in the United States and around the world.
But again, the caveat, very important here not 100 percent.
ROBERTS: I can't believe you're playing with pee on the set there in Atlanta. You know, there are some anti-abortion advocates who think that, you know, you start to tell the sex of a baby as early as 10 weeks that some parents might be prompted towards gender selection, particularly since at 10 weeks it's pretty easy to get an abortion.
GUPTA: Yes. And pro-life groups really around the world, from the United States all the way to New Zealand have called for the ban of this test like this, exactly because of the reasons that you're mentioning. We did a few interviews on this, we talked to the manufacturers who say, look, you know, they don't find this problematic. They think that this is going to be more of a fun test for people. Again, they say pretty clearly and we did confirm this that they say pretty clearly, not to make any specific decisions based on this test because it's not 100 percent accurate. But you're absolutely right. Interestingly, it sold in 11 countries around the world, but not India or China.
And I'm not sure if that was done on purpose or what. But I think these kind of questions will always come up -
ROBERTS: Right.
GUPTA: If you have a test like this, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Dr. Sanjay -
GUPTA: And you know what -
ROBERTS: Yes, go ahead.
GUPTA: Sometimes it's better to just be surprised. You know, I have three daughters, we were surprised for the first two, we couldn't wait on the third one. But sometimes, it's one of few surprises left in life, I think.
ROBERTS: Yes. I know, surprises are good things. But I have to admit that cheated with the ultrasound. But that was so long ago now I can't even remember.
ROBERTS: Right. Right.
ROBERTS: Doc, thanks very much. A lot more reasons for you. And for more on predicting your baby's gender go to cnn.com/amfix. Kiran.
CHETRY: You know what I found, kids bring so many surprises, you don't need one more. I found out at 12 weeks, but anyway. So it was still a surprise. I'll tell you that.
Meanwhile, coming up, Coldplay, there's some allegations that perhaps the song you're listening to now, "Viva la Vida" was actually plagiarized? When it comes to music, can you really say that or prove it? We'll talk about that, coming up.
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CHETRY: You love that song, right? Coldplay, well, welcome back to the most news in the morning. YouTube may help decide a case of alleged plagiarism involving Chris Martin and his band. Guitarist Joe Satriani has filed a lawsuit claiming that the band copied his song to create the smash hit, "Viva La Vida." Coldplay says it's not true.
So this all goes to court in July. But many musicians are already making their cases online. Carol Costello joins us now from Washington. Back by popular demand, you're going to be singing for us again. People may not know this, but you're related to Elvis Costello, right? Music runs in the family.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Man, I wish, wouldn't that be great? But I'm not. You know, Kiran, though, this is a fascinating case. Because at its core, can you really steal someone's song? I know it's easy to say yes but it's not so easy to prove. Consider twinkle, twinkle little star. Did you ever realize parts of that song sounds exactly the same as the ABC song. You know, twinkle, twinkle little star, ABCDEFG and what about ba-ba black sheep, have you any wool? Is it theft? Is it inspiration? In the case of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," youtubers on both sides of the issue have something to say.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" is more than just their biggest hit. It's a phenomenon, selling a whopping 6.8 million copies and its' made Coldplay and it's lead singer Chris Martin a bundle. But it's also become a source of controversy for Martin and one complicated legal fight for a well respected rock guitarist Joe Satriani.
Satriani is famous himself in the world of rock, now plays in the band Chicken Foot with Sammy Hagar, who lays all the sarcasm in support of Satriani.
SAMMY HAGAR: Joe he just took singing the lyrics and made an instrumental out of it.
JOE SATRIANI: And somehow I did it four years earlier.
COSTELLO: Satriani composed "If I could Fly" in 2004, a song he claims Coldplay simply ripped off.
Coldplay has denied the allegation but the case has captured the imagination of youtubers all over the world. Most of whom are more than eager to prove Satriani right. There's the Canadian guitar teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The diatonic chord substitution.
COSTELLO: His video has gotten 700,000 hits so far. Then are the mash ups where youtubers put Coldplay's lyrics over Joe Satriani's guitar rift. Some of the stuff is so cleverly done, it's gotten the attention of Satriani's attorney.
HOWARD KING, JOE SATRIANI'S LAWYER: What is fascinating with YouTube is you get 1,000 good ideas as a lawyer that you could adopt and use in court.
COSTELLO: But musicologist like Prince Charles Alexander who has produced records for Mary J. Blige and Usher say mashups could be deceiving.
PRINCE CHARLES ALEXANDER, MUSICOLOGIST: You don't pick up the guitar and invent music. You actually are inspired by someone else that play. So you as an outsider who are mashing these two records up saying, wow, look at how similar they are, are actually looking at a process that's been going on for a very long time.
COSTELLO: And Alexander said you could mash up many well known songs to make them sound the same. He took "Twist and Shout" and "La Bamba." As for what Coldplay thinks of the lawsuit, Martin writes on the band's website it was "initially a bit depressing but now it's inspiring." He says "if everyone is trying to take away our best song, now we got more to prove than ever before."
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COSTELLO: Coldplay's lawyers said the band can't comment on pending litigation. And just to keep things a bit more interesting for you, Yousef Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, he is jumping to the mix, John. He says Joe Satriani's song was inspired or copied from a melody he wrote a few years before. So far Islam is not suing. Satriani's lawyer denies there was any copying. It gets more confusing, doesn't, Kiran.
CHETRY: The saga continues. We'll see
ROBERTS: The ladder of denial just keeps getting higher and higher. It starts down here and it ends up here.
CHETRY: Carol, thanks. You can continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. We look forward to hearing from you. And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Right now here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
