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American Morning
Holocaust Museum Shooter History Showed Life of Hatred; How Big a Threat Hate Groups Are in the U.S; E-mails Show Bank of America Pressured to Acquire Merrill Lynch; Government Watchdog Questions Regional Airlines Safety; Iran Election Heating Up With Less Than a Day to Go; Wells Fargo Suspected of Reverse Redlining in Baltimore; Orlando Magic May Have a Lucky Charm in Young Singer; Couple Suspected of Spying for Cuba May Have Had Escape Plan
Aired June 11, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome. Thanks so much for joining us on this Thursday, June 11th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. We've got a lot to tell you about this morning, so let's get right to it. We are following several developing stories this morning. We'll be breaking them down for you in the next 15 minutes.
We are learning more this morning about the depth of hatred that consumed the 88-year-old white supremacist who police say opened fire in a deadly attack on the Holocaust Museum in Washington. In just a few hours, charges could be announced. A live report coming your way in just a moment.
The violence at the Holocaust Museum underscores a much wider and ongoing threat, the rise of vicious hate groups in America. We'll take a look at how many other dangerous people like suspect James Von Brunn are walking the streets this morning.
And did the Feds make Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis an offer he couldn't refuse when the bank bought Merrill Lynch prompting a federal bailout? Lewis testifies about the controversial acquisition on Capitol Hill today. Christine Romans here this morning "Minding Your Business."
CHETRY: We start, though, with those new details that are emerging now in the deadly shooting at Washington's Holocaust Museum. This morning the 88-year-old suspect James Von Brunn is in critical condition. He was shot in the head. In just hours, charges could be announced against him.
We're also learning more about Stephen Johns. He's the museum security guard that was killed after police say Von Brunn opened fire.
CNN's Kate Bolduan is live in Washington. We also have Jim Acosta with us in Annapolis, Maryland, with more on the alleged killer's criminal past.
We start, though, with Kate. And, Kate, what do we know now about the suspect's condition and plans for charging him possibly today? KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Well, the latest from D.C. police is that James Von Brunn, the 88-year-old known white supremacist, remains in critical condition at the nearby George Washington University. That's the same condition that he was in that was announced all day yesterday after the shooting.
Here at the museum, it remains closed today as was announced by the museum director. You can see over my shoulder the flags are being lowered to half staff, are lowered to half staff in honor of the security guard that was shot here. That is Stephen Tyrone Johns.
Now, Von Brunn fatally shot Stephen Tyrone Johns here at the museum, that before other security guards shot him. Later today, we expect a press conference between D.C. police, the FBI, the U.S. attorney's office, as well as other federal and local agencies and officials. We are expecting charges to be announced and now among them, Kiran, we can at least anticipate a murder charge.
CHETRY: So back to Stephen Johns, the museum security guard who was killed, what are police saying about the encounter that happened between Johns and the gunman?
BOLDUAN: According to D.C. police, as well as D.C.'s mayor, von Brunn, he pulled his red car up in front of the museum, walked in with a rifle and as they put it, immediately opened fire. It really doesn't sound like they had much, if any time to think or react before as the situation unfolded.
Stephen Tyrone Johns was a six-year veteran on the security staff here at the Holocaust Museum. The director of the museum described him as -- his actions as heroic yesterday, also describing him as a great friend and someone who greeted staff and visitors with a wonderful smile whenever they came in.
We should tell you that President Obama released a statement yesterday saying that he was shocked and saddened by the tragedy and what unfolded here at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. And he also offered his thoughts and prayers to Johns' family and friends, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, it certainly is a tragedy, his life cut short. And the museum closed today in his honor and memory. Kate Bolduan for us, thanks.
ROBERTS: This morning authorities are pouring over the long and troubled history of James Von Brunn, a white supremacist with a lifelong grievance against the government. And this morning, brand new pictures just in to CNN of investigators converging on his home and removing potential evidence.
CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Annapolis, Maryland this morning with details on what might have caused this elderly gunman to snap.
Eighty-eight years old, Jim. You got to think, was he harboring this all his life and it just suddenly all snapped, or was he planning this for a while? Do we know anything about that? JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it seems that he's harbored these views for a very long time. Federal investigators are building their case against James Von Brunn.
We can tell you that overnight investigators snapped pictures inside his apartment, in this apartment complex here in Annapolis, Maryland. And within the last hour as you just mentioned, John, investigators brought bags of items out of his home.
And CNN has also spoken with the ex-wife of James Von Brunn. She confirmed to CNN that investigators are talking with her, and she told one of our reporters that her ex-husband has harbored anti-Semitic views for decades.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Alleged Holocaust Museum gunman James Von Brunn was living off and on at this Annapolis apartment complex with relatives. Neighbors say the 88-year-old bragged about serving in the military, wasn't shy about sharing his white supremacist views.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing he did was say that the media covered the Holocaust too much.
ACOSTA: FBI agents searched Von Brunn's other home in nearby Easton, Maryland, where neighbors there say they also saw trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to be a police officer, and he would be somebody that I would kind of have my eye on.
ACOSTA: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of the way that he put himself out there. He would be fine one minute and then just like with a young boy that I was talking about, he would just kind of go off on him, you know, for no reason.
ACOSTA: Wednesday night, the FBI also interviewed Von Brunn's ex- wife. She told CNN that she's "in a state of shock" over what happened and asked that we not use her name. She said she didn't know about her ex-husband's anti-Semitic views until a few years into their marriage and was in total disagreement with his views. But experts in the field of tracking hate groups have had their eye on Von Brunn for years.
MARK POTOK, DIRECTOR, INTELLIGENCE PROJECT, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Thirty years ago he was spending time with leading members of the neo-Nazi right.
ACOSTA: Mark Potok, with the Southern Poverty Law Center, says Von Brunn worked for a small publishing group called Noontime Press which denies the Holocaust. In recent years, Potok says Von Brunn grew more isolated and wrote a hate-filled book entitled "Kill the Best Gentiles" raging against Jews and African-Americans.
POTOK: This was a man who was growing old all by himself. He didn't seem to participate in many movement activities, but he did put out a steady stream of propaganda.
ACOSTA: And Von Brunn has acted on his beliefs before. In 1981, he tried to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve, convinced it was controlled by Jews. For that, Von Brunn was convicted and served six years in prison.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His defense at trial was, essentially, that it was an act of conscience. And I had no reason to doubt that he didn't sincerely hold those beliefs.
ACOSTA: By his own account, Von Brunn tried a number of professions from painting to marketing to real estate. What's still unclear is what lit the fuse this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now investigators say they did find a notebook in the suspect's car, listing other targets around Washington that he wanted to strike. But after checking those locations out, law enforcement officials are reasonably certain that those locations are safe. All indications are this morning, John, that he was acting alone -- John.
ROBERTS: Jim Acosta this morning in Annapolis, Maryland. Jim, thanks so much for that.
Former Defense Secretary William Cohen was at the Holocaust Museum when the gunfire erupted. It happened just hours before his wife's new play about hate was scheduled to debut there. And Janet Langhart Cohen was making her way to the museum's theater for final rehearsals when the attack happened. The Cohens told CNN what they saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM COHEN, EYEWITNESS: I was on the phone. I'm calling Janet to say how far were you away because they were making arrangements out front to accommodate the car. At that point, I noticed there was a car that was double parked out in the street, which I thought was unusual.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're saying right here?
COHEN: Right. He was not -- he was double parked out there and an older man, I didn't pay much attention to him, I was on the phone. And then I lost concentration on him until I -- actually I was an ear witness because I heard the first shot ring out. And there was no mistaking on my part. I've heard many gunshots in the past, and it was clear what was going on.
We ran up the stairs and stayed up there. And then we prevented anybody from coming down. Once the shots rang out, people started to panic and wanted to evacuate the building, and they wanted to come down that stairway. And so I said don't go down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: At 8:00 Eastern, William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen will join us live to talk more about the shooting and more so than that, what it means for America going forward -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Coming up on eight minutes past the hour now. We have a look now at some other stories new this morning.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is describing his experience. He was quarantined in China over a swine flu scare.
He and his wife were forced to stay inside of their hotel room for three days. Health officials say that it was a fellow passenger on their flight to China that exhibited flu-like symptoms that made the Chinese officials decide to quarantine the Nagins. Ray Nagin saying it was pretty surreal to be taken by people in full Hazmat gear.
Well, China's demanding the return of 17 Muslim detainees the U.S. is sending from the Pacific -- from Guantanamo Bay, rather, to the pacific island of Palau. A foreign ministry spokesman says that the U.S. should "stop handing over terror suspects to any third country" and they should come to Beijing. Earlier this week, Palau's government agreed to Washington's request to temporarily resettle the detainees.
And we're "Minding Your Business" this morning. There's some good news and some bad news on the housing front. The number of Americans that could be on the verge of losing their homes actually fell six percent in May after a record level of foreclosure activity in April. The pace, though, of foreclosures is still quite high. RealtyTrac (ph) reporting more than 320,000 households filed foreclosure notices last month, and that is still up 18 percent from a year ago.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Miss California, you're fired. Miss USA Pageant owner Donald Trump has stripped Carrie Prejean of her crown a month after deciding to give the 22-year-old beauty queen a second chance. Pageant officials say Prejean was fired for contract violations which included not showing up at pageant events. They say it had nothing to do with the controversy over her same-sex marriage comments or her topless photos. Runner-up Tami Farrell will take over as Miss California USA.
President Obama taking his push to reform health care on the road. This morning, he is going to hold a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The White House says the president will discuss how to improve the way health care is delivered and make it more cost efficient.
And today, the World Health Organization holds an emergency meeting about the H1N1 virus also called swine flu. Experts tracking the virus could declare a phase six epidemic. So far the outbreak has spread to 72 countries with more than 25,000 cases reported. If a global pandemic is declared, it would be the first time in more than 40 years. Kiran.
CHETRY: Returning to our top story now, the deadly shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. looking like it was fueled by hate and all the evidence suggesting that the alleged shooter, James Von Brunn, acted alone. But his hatred that has festered for decades has supporters on the Internet, and although most of us consider the ideas fringe, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks so-called hate groups, says that this latest incident actually underscores a troubling trend.
Mark Potok is the director of the Intelligence Project at the center. He joins us now from Montgomery, Alabama.
Mark, thanks for being with us this morning.
MARK POTOK, DIRECTOR, INTELLIGENCE PROJECT, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Well, thank you for having me.
CHETRY: So your group does keep files on these so-called hate groups and you've had a file on Mr. Von Brunnsince dating back to the 1980s. What have you learned about him?
POTOK: Well, basically he is a man who has been active in the so- called movement for a good four decades at least. We know that as early as 1972, or thereabouts, he was briefly an employee of something called Noontime Press, which is a Holocaust-denial publishing outfit.
You know, in the decades that followed, he knew some of the better known Nazi, neo-Nazi figures in this country. And then ultimately in 1981, he did this really remarkable thing. He invaded the Federal Reserve, armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a pistol and a hunting knife, and attempted to kidnap the governors of the Federal Reserve.
CHETRY: Yes. And this -- that's when he served time. He got out of prison after -- back in 1989 after serving time for that incident that you just described. But the challenging part as you guys try to track this and see, you know, who may possibly be led to act out in hate, you said that he's been relatively quiet since then in terms of any type of action. So, you know, how do you know when someone's going to snap?
POTOK: Well, the sad thing is you don't know. It is a virtual impossibility, particularly in the case like this that really does look like a so-called lone wolf attack. In other words, an attack that was planned and carried out by a single individual.
You know, the reality is that Von Brunn during the last 20 years or so has been essentially putting out propaganda, writing books about how "the Jews" are taking over the world, creating a one-world Zionist government and so on. But there are a great many people out there who do the very same kinds of things and, you know, never shoot anybody and never really walk out of their doors to face the world.
You know, it's very hard, obviously, to say what kicked this off, but it seems to me quite possible that this is a man who has spent some four decades in the movement, who sees a black man elected to the White House, and sees a relatively liberal administration in place, and who decides at the end of his life he's going to make one last great blow for, as he would probably see it, freedom. CHETRY: Right. And along that vein, it was a report by the Department of Homeland Security that came out back in May saying that the number of white supremacist groups in the country has increased by almost 50 percent. This is since 2000, and that after Barack Obama won the presidency that chatter on some of these very popular white supremacist Web sites actually crashed computer servers. Is this racially motivated, or can some of this also be tied into the recession and the difficult economic times that make some people feel powerless?
POTOK: I think it is possible, quite possible, that the recession is starting to play into the growth of this movement, but I do not think that it is the main factor right now. I think it's really non-white immigration and in the last six or seven months, the Obama factor, I think, has obviously become important.
As you mentioned, the day immediately after Obama's election, the servers of several major white supremacist groups crashed simply from the rush of interest they got from people who were presumably angered whites out there who felt that somehow their country had been in some way stolen from them.
CHETRY: All right. You guys track all of this and as you said, you think that there's nearly a thousand of these so-called hate groups out there right now. Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, thanks for talking to us this morning.
POTOK: Thanks for having us. I appreciate it.
CHETRY: Seventeen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Twenty in the dot at the hour now.
A quick check of the A.M. Rundown. These are stories that we're going to be covering for you in the next 15 minutes.
A real eye opener for everyone who flies. The emerging concerns about safety in the cockpit and what's being done going forward. They've been holding hearings all week on the Hill about it.
Also, the crucial presidential campaign is heating up in Iran. In a moment, we're going to be break down where the candidate stands and what the outcome could mean for Iran/U.S. relations.
Wells Fargo under fire accused of searing minorities into subprime mortgages. One former bank employee is talking to CNN, and she has quite a story to tell.
ROBERTS: Well, it's 21 minutes now after the hour and Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning. And today, we're finding out just to what degree the Federal Reserve did this to Bank of America. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, there have been twisting arms, telling them this is what you're going to do. You might recall in the heat of the battle last fall after Lehman Brothers went down, Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill Lynch.
And then later on as it became clear that Merrill Lynch had a lot of problems and was losing a lot of money, the CEO of Bank of America, Ken Lewis, considered backing out of that deal, and new e-mails show just how much pressure the federal government gave to Ken Lewis to stay in that deal with Merrill Lynch. And as we all know, it took billions of dollars of taxpayer money and guarantees after that to keep Bank of America alive and all of this drama that happened in the banking system.
Now here's what the Republican staffers for this congressional committee have put together. A subpoena, they got some new e-mails.
This is one of the e-mails from Jeff Black (ph) for the Federal Reserve Bank president of Richmond. It said Ben Bernanke intends to "make it even more clear that if they play that card and they need assistance, management is gone."
What that would suggest is that if Ken Lewis tried to pull out of the Merrill Lynch deal and then suddenly would have to go back and need more money from the federal government, Ben Bernanke, according to this e-mail, wanted to make sure that management at that company knew that they would be out and so with the board.
So what this kind of highlights, I think, is just how dramatic it was the federal government really pushing to try to get this deal done, a deal that folks were not very excited about over at Bank of America after they realized how much Merrill Lynch is losing.
ROBERTS: Now, of course, every morning, Christine has got what we call a "Romans' Numeral." It's a numeral that's driving a story about your money every day. And what's this morning's "Romans' Numeral"?
ROMANS: And the number is 64.
ROBERTS: Oh, I know what that is.
ROMANS: It's percent, 64 percent.
ROBERTS: Oh, I thought it was just 64. I was going to say that that's the age at which I wonder will they still need me, will they still feed me?
CHETRY: Feed you, we got you covered. Need you, we don't know. No, I'm teasing.
Sixty-four percent, it has to do with Bank of America also.
ROMANS: It does. It does. It's how much since that deal was done, how much Bank of America stock lost. So if you're a shareholder in Bank of America and that deal got done with Merrill Lynch and boom, taxpayers had to pay all this money and your stock price fell so dramatically.
I mean, all the banks really lost a lot of ground. The Federal Reserve not commenting on the story over Bank of America. Frankly, someone said, look, it's interesting to look in hindsight what was all happening, sort of in the heat of the battle, as I pointed out, but we're looking forward. And that's something I keep hearing from treasury and from the banks -- we're looking forward. So we know there's a lot of stuff that went on last fall. We're looking ahead.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. Christine, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Twenty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back now to the Most News in the Morning. You know, every time we fly, we put our lives in the hands of the people that we assume are being properly trained by the airlines. This morning, though, an admission from the government's airline watchdog revealing that may not always be the best thing to do.
Our Jason Carroll is working this story for us. I think part of the fear of flying people have is that you are giving up that control.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
CHETRY: I mean people --
CARROLL: You have to.
CHETRY: More people die in car accidents, yet you sort of have control when you're driving.
CARROLL: Right. That's the reality. But also the very crucial thing about this, though, when you look at what's going on with this, regional airlines account for just about half of all the flights in the United States. Their safety now in question.
So the Federal Aviation Administration has vowed to step up inspections of how those airlines train and work their pilots. This all going back to the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo this past February, flying as Continental Flight 3407. The accident, a wake-up call with allegations of pilot fatigue and the crew's limited experience flying in icy weather may have contributed to the crash. At a Senate hearing on safety at regional airlines, the government's aviation watchdog confirmed critics' worst fears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALVIN SCOVEL, DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL: When an American gets aboard an aircraft in this country and had to pay a ticket and understands that that aircraft is subject to FAA regulation, he or she could reasonably think that the level of safety would be the same no matter what aircraft or what carrier. Yet, that's not entirely true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: So, what is being done? The FAA is issuing a call to action, bringing together airlines big and small, next Monday, pushing for voluntary -- key word, voluntary -- action on four points. Education, professionalism and discipline in the cockpit, training standards and a pilot mentoring program between major airlines and their smaller partners.
Senators at the hearing also pushed the FAA to implement a four-year- old recommendation requiring airlines to check the training history of pilots before they hire them. You may remember the pilot in that Buffalo crash had failed several training tests.
The NTSB also said its Buffalo investigation may result in a recommendation for actual rules to deal with fatigue and pay levels. Regional air pilots are paid a fraction of what pilots make at larger airlines.
Of course, it would still be up to the FAA to adopt those recommendations, which is far from guaranteed. Already the FAA has failed to adopt some 450 sent to it by the NTSB.
CHETRY: Yes. We spoke to a former NTSB investigator yesterday or director yesterday...
CARROLL: Right.
CHETRY: ... who talked about that as well, saying that, you know, are they a regulatory agency or do they help the operators work more efficiently? I mean, what is the exact role of the FAA?
CARROLL: Right. And when it comes to pay as well, think about this. I mean, you know, who's going to end up paying? Right? Is it going to be the customers who end up paying for those --
CHETRY: The flyers, right?
CARROLL: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right. Jason Carroll for us this morning. Thanks.
CARROLL: All right.
CHETRY: It's 29 minutes past the hour now. A check of the other top stories.
There's some new video this morning of investigators removing potential evidence from the home of 88-year-old James Von Brunn, the suspect in the deadly shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. Right now, he remains in critical condition after being shot in the head yesterday. Charges are expected to be announced in just a few hours.
Also this morning, the museum is closed in honor of the fallen security guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns. No more bailout money for GM and Chrysler. President Obama's auto industry task force assuring members of Congress that there are no plans to give them more and that there's a "reasonable probability" that taxpayers will get back what's already been invested. That would be about $80 billion, including money to the automakers and their suppliers.
And gas prices are creeping higher ever so slightly this morning. AAA reporting that the national average for unleaded regular is $2.63 a gallon. It's up just five-tenths of a cent from yesterday. Over the past month, though, we've seen the price of gas jumped 38 cents on average across the country. John.
ROBERTS: Iranian voters go to the polls in about 17 hours for the country's presidential election. The race between incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his reformist rivals has become a real contest, and we've been watching the process unfold with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, reporting exclusively from Tehran.
And joining us now for a closer look at the candidates and what the outcome could mean for the United States is Reza Aslan. He's the author of "How to Win a Cosmic War" and an expert on the subject of Iran.
Reza, great to see you this morning.
REZA ASLAN, AUTHOR, "HOW TO WIN A COSMIC WAR": Good morning.
ROBERTS: So there are four people running for president. That's all that the council of clerics would allow out of hundreds of people who had actually applied. Let's start with Ahmadinejad. He's the incumbent. He's the person who is well known. If -- you know, what are the main points with him and what would it mean for the United States if he were re-elected?
ASLAN: Well, Ahmadinejad, of course, became president four years ago, running on a campaign of fixing the economy. Four years later, the economy of Iran is on the verge of collapse. Inflation's at 25 percent. The unemployment is at 12 percent, but unofficially, even as high as 40 percent.
And, obviously, Iran's isolation has been even greater because of some of the comments that he's made with regard to the destruction of Israel, the Arab -- relations with the Arab world have been strained greatly. And I think Ahmadinejad now is sort of in a bind trying to figure out how to actually run on a new campaign that does not mention the economy. And that's something that his rivals have been bashing him on the head with so far.
ROBERTS: But if his future turns on anything, it will turn on the economy and not the inflammatory statements that he's made.
ASLAN: I think if the election remains a domestic issue in Iran, if the voters stay focused on the economy, he doesn't have a chance.
ROBERTS: All right. His main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is the leading reform candidate. Tell us about him.
ASLAN: Yes. Mousavi is a really fascinating character. He's actually quite a successful artist in Iran. He's a former prime minister during the horrible war between Iran and Iraq in the '80s and got a lot of praise for managing to keep the budget at least on track a little bit.
So, he's been using that as a way of saying that he's the man who can really fix the problems with Iran. He's also a little bit more of a moderate when it comes to the nuclear issue. Though, I should mention that all four candidates agree with Iran's inalienable right to actually develop nuclear technology.
ROBERTS: He proposes better relations with the United States. So what would Mousavi's election really mean for us?
ASLAN: Well, it would put a different face to the issue. And in some ways, I have to say all four candidates recognize it's time to open up to America and to the international community because there's no other option with regard to the economy. But I think with Mousavi, you have someone that I think would be more palatable for a Barack Obama to sit down next to.
ROBERTS: What about Mehdi Karubi?
ASLAN: Mehdi Karubi, I call Karubi the Ralph Nader of Iran. He's sort of the perpetual presidential candidate. Very far left. A real populist. Someone who constantly talks about rooting out corruption in society. Really fearless in his attacks against Ahmadinejad. He, in a recent televised debate, called Ahmadinejad a delusional fanatic, which is unusual language.
ROBERTS: It is. Do you think he may drop out today?
ASLAN: Well, there are some rumors in Iran...
ROBERTS: Which would mean a little more support for Mousavi.
ASLAN: That's right. There are some rumors in Iran that, I think, either today or tomorrow he's going to drop out of the election, put all of his weight behind the other reformist candidate...
ROBERTS: Interesting.
ASLAN: ... and in that regard, then we may not see a runoff as a lot of people have been predicting.
ROBERTS: What about Mohsen Rezaie, the former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps? This is a fellow who Gary Berntsen, former CIA officer who was in charge of the operation against Tora Bora, said, "we don't want to see this guy in power."
ASLAN: No, we definitely do not want to see this guy in power. But one thing that's really fascinating about Rezaie is he's actually to the right of Ahmadinejad. And a lot of Ahmadinejad's support comes from the Revolutionary Guard. That's really his base of support. And what's fascinating about Rezaie is, as a former Revolutionary Guard general himself, he has sucked some of that support out of Ahmadinejad. So now here's this incumbent who is being attacked both on the left and the right.
ROBERTS: Real appetite for change there in Iran?
ASLAN: I've never seen an election like this before. You know, Iran does have a robust political culture, but we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people on the streets dancing all night, singing, forming human chains...
ROBERTS: And if I had to ask you to bet, who would you say is going to win?
ASLAN: I think that it's going to be -- I think it's going to be Mousavi. I think Mousavi is probably going to win this one because he's finally got the young people in Iran to care about politics again. They really dropped out four years ago, and they're back in full force now.
ROBERTS: Reza, it's always great to see you. Thanks for coming in this morning.
ASLAN: Anytime, John.
ROBERTS: Much appreciate it.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Still ahead, did one bank target African-Americans for subprime loans? One city says they've virtually been destroyed because of the housing meltdown, and now some former bank employees are speaking out. It's a fascinating story you don't want to miss.
Thirty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A quick check of the A.M. Rundown in stories that we'll be covering for you in the next 15 minutes.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms on tap in parts of the northeast today. Our Rob Marciano is tracking all the extreme weather for us.
She's an NBA team's lucky charm, and her voice is just magical. You'll meet a 7-year-old girl who has been an inspiration to the Orlando Magic all the way to the NBA finals.
And new details this morning on the secret escape plan of a husband and wife in the U.S. accused of being Cuban spies.
All that coming up.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Well, a generation after the practice of redlining conspired to keep blacks from getting mortgages and buying homes in areas they otherwise could afford. Well, now, a major U.S. bank is under fire, accused of preying on African-American homeowners and decimating a community in Baltimore. Some former employees are now blowing the whistle on this alleged dirty business plan.
CNN's Carol Costello is following the story for us from Washington.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
And Baltimore has now filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo. These former Wells Fargo's employees have quite a story to tell. One of them alleging employees whose job it was to target African-Americans for subprime loans, joked about doling out ghetto loans to people with bad credit. It's exactly the kind of allegation the city of Baltimore says it needs to prove its case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice over): Take a look. This is exactly the kind of community the city of Baltimore alleges Wells Fargo targeted and in part destroyed.
STEPHEN FAISON, BALTIMORE HOMEOWNER: This house ain't nothing but a rat hotel. It's nothing but a rat hotel.
COSTELLO: Stephen Faison, like many who live here, works two jobs to pay the bills. Many in his neighborhood were hungry to own a home and did. Until the city claims high-risk Wells Fargo mortgages forced many of them into foreclosure. For Faison, their broken dreams are now his nightmare.
FAISON: Don't know anybody even live here. So I don't know where this stuff could have came from.
COSTELLO: Baltimore says Wells Fargo ought to pay for this blight because it violated the federal Fair Housing Act by targeting minorities for discriminatory subprime loans. It's now filed a lawsuit.
MAYOR SHEILA DIXON (D), BALTIMORE: We do hope to get a monetary amount from this lawsuit so that we can take those communities that have been devastated as a result of these foreclosures to stabilize those neighborhoods.
COSTELLO: It's a tough case to prove, though, but recently Baltimore got some help from two former Wells Fargo loan officers. One of them, Beth Jacobson, agreed to talk with us.
(on camera): Is there any doubt in your mind that Wells Fargo was preying on the black community? BETH JACOBSON, FORMER WELLS FARGO EMPLOYEE: No. It was how to make more money. And if they felt they could make more money targeting the black community and put all their efforts to advertising within the black community, I don't have any doubt that Wells Fargo would do that.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Jacobson, who said she once made upwards of $700,000 a year in commissions and salary, says most of her subprime, high-risk customers were black by design.
JACOBSON: And Wells Fargo set up a whole platform called emerging markets that was geared to the African-American. All their literature had pictures of African-Americans on that.
COSTELLO: And according to one of Jacobson's colleagues, who may also testify on Baltimore's behalf, Wells Fargo even had software designed to print out fliers to persons speaking the language of African-Americans.
Another part of the strategy Jacobson claims was to target black churches. Loan officers were urged to convince pastors to allow them to offer charity donations to congregants who bought subprime loans.
JACOBSON: By going to the churches, it was like they were then legitimate because the pastor, the minister, would invite Wells Fargo in, and it was sort of like he gave his blessing.
COSTELLO: None of these actions was necessarily wrong except critics charge that many of those who were induced to sign subprime mortgages didn't qualify or were misled or lied to about the terms.
JACOBSON: Forty to fifty percent of those people that were put into a subprime loan could have gone into an FHA loan and qualified.
COSTELLO: The allegations come as no surprise to those who live with the aftermath. Stephen Faison who sees the blight of foreclosed homes every day just wants someone, anyone to pay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Wells Fargo says the city of Baltimore's lawsuit absolutely lacks merit. Here's a quote from Wells Fargo. "We have worked extremely hard to make home ownership possible for more African-American borrowers, and we have done so fairly and responsibly. We absolutely do not tolerate team members treating our customers disrespectfully or who violate our lending policies. Wells Fargo lending practices did not cause foreclosures, impacting Baltimore's housing market."
And that was from Kevin Waetke, who is the Wells Fargo communications manager.
Kiran?
CHETRY: But Kiran, the loan officer you talked to, she said that in many of those cases, the customers that got subprime loans would have qualified for a prime loan or an FHA-backed loan?
COSTELLO: That's exactly what she claims, and she said that in a sworn affidavit. And she's probably going to assist in Baltimore's lawsuit.
CHETRY: All right. Keep following that story for us, Carol. Thanks so much.
And by the way, if you want to know more about this report, you can read on her blog, cnn.com/amfix.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A live look at Atlanta right now, where it's 70 degrees, going up to a high of 87. But keeping with the theme of this week, thunderstorms in the forecast were there today. In fact, the only day of the next few without thunderstorms, looks like it's going to be Saturday.
Our Rob Marciano in Atlanta at the weather center. He's tracking all of the extreme weather across the country.
And Rob, I read a disturbing report the other day that meteorologists suggested because of the position of the jet stream, lower than usual, this could be the summer without a summer in the northern tier and eastern part of the country?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I haven't read that one.
ROBERTS: I thought it was frightening...
MARCIANO: You have to forward me that paper.
ROBERTS: ... and disappointing. It was terrible.
MARCIANO: It's an interesting read. I'll have to check that out.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: And what about you all down there in Atlanta, Rob? For two years, you can't get a lick of rain, and now every day it rains.
MARCIANO: Well, you know, we are officially out of the drought. And I think they are easing the water restrictions, so that's good news there. It's been a long time coming, I'll tell you.
ROBERTS: I guess, you know, down there in Atlanta you're saying, well, we don't want to say, I wish it would stop raining because maybe it will stop for five years.
CHETRY: Yes. Be careful.
MARCIANO: You don't want that happening.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks so much for that. We'll see you soon.
MARCIANO: OK, John. See you.
CHETRY: All we ask for is moderation, right? It's either way.
ROBERTS: All things in moderation.
CHETRY: I just wish June didn't feel like February lately around here.
Well, still ahead, could the fate of one NBA team rest on the shoulders of an adorable 7-year-old girl?
Well, Alina Cho is going to be bringing us this story, next.
It's great. You don't want to miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, superstition is part of sports, and seven-year-old Gina Marie Incandela is the latest example. Her voice has been magical for the NBA's Orlando Magic during the playoffs. And tonight, when the Magic host the LA Lakers in game four of the NBA Finals, she will be singing her star-spangled heart out. And Alina Cho has her story.
A lot of pressure for this adorable little 7-year-old.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but she has pulled through time and time again, guys. Good morning, everybody.
You know, Dwight Howard may be the Orlando Magic's biggest star, but this 7-year-old girl, just 4'3" tall, is the team's secret weapon. Every time she sings the national anthem, something magical happens -- the team wins. And she's not just the team's lucky charm. Singing has helped her, too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): When the Orlando Magic take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Amway arena tonight, the team will have a good luck charm, front and center.
The Magic are undefeated whenever 7-year-old Gina Marie Incandela sings the national anthem at their games.
GINA MARIE INCANDELA, 7-YEAR-OLD SINGER: Every time I sing, they win. So that's why they usually call me lucky charm. They need my singing power.
CHO: So far, she's 6-0.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you've got something going good, you just got to stick with it. ADONAL FOYLE, ORLANDO MAGIC PLAYER: She's been our magic weapon.
CHO: What's even more remarkable is that this 4'3" girl was diagnosed with a form of autism at age two and unable to speak until she was three with the help of music.
MICHELLE INCANDELA, GINA'S MOTHER: It got to the point where music therapy really seemed to be, you know, sort of the key to Gina's door. She was very drawn to music. We always knew that. And when she started to get involved in more of the music therapy, we noticed that she started to progress in all aspects a little bit, you know, faster.
CHO: Gina's first big break was singing the National Anthem at a Houston Astros game. And even the pros are impressed by her cool composure.
FOYLE: I'm nervous playing every night, I can't imagine she's going up there and singing like an old pro. She's absolutely terrific.
CHO: So what does she want to be when she grows up?
G. INCANDELA: I want to be a rock star, a ballet girl, a dancing girl, a basketball player. And I wish all is in the Magic team. Then nothing can stop us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: She's so cute. Not bad with the hula hoop, either, by the way. You know, Gina's mom says the family is trying to make sure that her daughter doesn't get too disappointed if that winning streak is broken. But she also said that Gina told her she won't accept defeat. So maybe she knows something that we all don't know yet.
But interestingly enough, guys, you know, during the Eastern Conference Semifinals, when the Orlando Magic were playing the Boston Celtics, during Game Three, she sang, they won. Game four, she didn't sing, they lost. And so they've brought her back for every single home game since, and they've also brought back the same color guards. So, you know, Magic, you know, they're superstitious. But they are in sports everywhere.
CHETRY: The pressure is on them now, too. They have to win it for Gina.
CHO: They've got to deliver for her, you're right.
ROBERTS: Lovely young lady with a great voice.
CHO: She is. She's so cute.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet. ROBERTS: Well, you know about the two people who are being held in custody, accused of being Cuban or spies for Cuba. Well, apparently, according to the government, they had an escape plan. We'll tell you what it is, coming up. But we will let you in on this -- it involved a little boat and a lot of ocean.
Fifty-five minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Three minutes until the top of the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We have new details this morning on a secret escape plan of the husband and wife accused of being Cuban spies. Brian Todd tells us why sailing charts to Cuba found in the couple's home had the judge calling them a real and present danger to U.S. security.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers headed into the courtroom hoping for a simple hearing and hoping to get bail. What they heard was more detail from the prosecutor about what he called their plan to escape the United States and head for Cuba.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Sitting expressionless in matching blue jumpsuits, the accused spies hear a U.S. magistrate declare they'll stay in jail as they wait for trial. The judge, convinced by prosecutor Michael Harvey's pointed arguments that Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers are, quote, "unworthy of the Court's trust" and "a real and present danger to U.S. security," if they make it back to Cuba.
The couple has pleaded not guilty. But at a bond hearing, the prosecutor reveals evidence that he says shows the Myers planned to flee the United States -- a calendar in their home, showing they planned to sail to the Caribbean from their marina in Maryland in November with no return date. He says they found sailing charts for Cuban waters. The prosecutor cites evidence that they once traveled to Cuba under the false names Jorge and Elizabeth.
Defense attorney Tom Green counters the couple could wear ankle bracelets and the sailboat could be confiscated. But the man, who prosecuted convicted spy Aldrich Ames, says the odds of bail being granted here were slim.
MARK HULKOWER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It tends to be the rule in espionage cases that defendants charged with spying for a foreign country are denied bond, the theory being that they could always flee to this other country and find refuge, that they would never be extradited.
TODD: The judge also cites his concerns that the couple might try to make the nine-minute drive from their home in northwest Washington to the Cuban interests section, where they would be protected from U.S. authorities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: The prosecution also bolstered its argument with points seemingly more fitting for trial, saying that the couple had told an undercover agent that they had passed onto the Cubans documents with higher that secret classification and that they had expressed a willingness to train Cuban agents on how to infiltrate the United States. The prosecution also told the judge they might bring additional charges against the Myers.
John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Brian Todd for us. Thanks so much.
Well, it is 7:00 a.m. here in New York, 4:00 a.m. on the West Coast. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Thursday, June 11. I'm Kiran Chetry.
And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Here's what's on the agenda, the big stories that we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
New information this morning about the 88-year-old white supremacist, who police say opened fire with a rifle at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. He is a known Holocaust denier, who even claimed the diary of Anne Frank was a hoax.
Jim Acosta will join us live in just a moment from outside the suspect's home with more on his history of hatred.
New evidence this morning supporting theories that Air France Flight 447 broke apart in the air before crashing into the Atlantic. Our Paula Newton live in London for us this morning with the latest on the search for clues.
And this may be the best time in a long time to buy a new house. That is, if you can afford it. Our Christine Romans is on the incredible deals that are out there right now and why you had better act fast.
