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American Morning

New Evidence Air France Flight Broke Apart in Mid-Air; Holocaust Museum Gunman's Past Shows History of Hatred and Anti- Semitic Views; U.S. Facing the Threat of Domestic Terrorism?; Foreclosure Falls in May

Aired June 11, 2009 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

But first, new details pouring in this morning about yesterday's Holocaust Museum shooting on the National Mall. The 88-year-old accused gunman could be charged with murder in the next few hours.

Police say James von Brunn, a known white supremacist, walked in with a rifle and started shooting, killing a security guard. The accused shooter is in critical condition right now, shot in the head by the victim's fellow security officers.

Federal agents say he runs an anti-Semitic Web site and has accused Jews of a conspiracy to destroy the white gene pool. The shooting sent museum visitors scrambling for cover yesterday. Minutes later, agents swarmed von Brunn's condo in Annapolis, Maryland.

We have reporters covering every angle of this developing story this morning. Our Jim Acosta is live outside the suspect's home. Police were there all night. But first, Kate Bolduan on the investigation. And, Kate, can we expect a formal charge of murder against the suspect this morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John. Well, we are expecting a press conference later this morning from D.C. police, the FBI, as well as the U.S. attorney's office and other federal and local authorities and officials. And we are expecting formal charges to be announced. Among them at the very least, we are anticipating a murder charge.

Now James von Brunn, the 88-year-old we've been talking about, the alleged suspect in this case, a known white supremacist, he remains in critical condition at the nearby George Washington University Hospital. This morning a museum where we are staying, remains closed today.

You probably see behind me that the flags have been lowered to half-staff in honor of the security guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was killed, fatally shot here and later died at the hospital. Von Brunn fatally shot him here and then, of course, he was shot himself by other guards here at the scene, John.

ROBERTS: And, Kate, what about that heroic guard, Stephen (ph) Tyrone Johns, what are police saying about the encounter between him and von Brunn?

BOLDUAN: The account we're hearing from police is really just shocking. D.C. police, as well as D.C.'s mayor, they say that von Brunn, the suspect, parked his car out in front of this Holocaust Museum here. Immediately walked into the museum with rifle in hand, and immediately, as they described it, opened fire.

It seems that there was very little, if any time to react, think, respond, as the situation unfolded. Stephen Tyrone Johns, he's a six- year veteran, was a six-year veteran on the security staff here. And the museum director describes him as a great friend, someone who greeted staff as well as visitors here every day with a very wonderful smile.

President Obama released a statement yesterday shortly after the incident happened, saying that he's shocked and saddened by the tragedy and also offered his thoughts and prayers to Johns's family and friends, John.

ROBERTS: As do all of us. Kate Bolduan for us this morning. Kate, thanks so much for that.

The Holocaust Museum shooting is raising concerns again about the threat of domestic terrorism here at home. Joining us some 20 minutes, Fran Townsend. She is the former Homeland Security adviser to President Bush, and she has some very interesting things to say about that. You want to stick around and hear what she has to say.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, former Defense Secretary William Cohen witnessed that fatal shooting at the Holocaust Museum. In fact, he was just a few feet from the suspected gunman yesterday afternoon when those first shots were fired. Cohen was visiting the museum to support his wife, Janet. She's a writer whose play was set to debut there last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM COHEN, EYEWITNESS: I was on the phone, 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.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

BLITZER: How many shots did you hear?

COHEN: I heard about four in a row after the first one. And it was bam, bam, bam, bam. And it was clear what was going on.

BLITZER: About how close to this incident were you?

COHEN: I was about 30, 40 feet away. We ran up the stairs. We didn't know how many shooters were there. We didn't know how many shots were going to continue, how many people were involved. So 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.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this would have been the natural exit for them.

COHAN: They all started to rush that way, and we said, don't go out. You can't go down there. There's been a shooting.

JANET LANGHART COHEN, AUTHOR: The museum -- we know why this museum is sacred. We know why we have the Holocaust Museum. And for someone to come in and desecrate it, and our whole play is about hate, to eradicate hate, and this is an example of hatred. People denying the Holocaust, people denying that there were people who suffered and died.

And I brought Anne and Emmett. Anne Frank, we know who she was. Emmett Till, the young black boy who was lynched in Money, Mississippi in 1955, I wanted to bring them together in an imaginary conversation to talk about eradicating things like this. And the good people, Anne Frank said she believed in the goodness of people, the good people have to stand up and do more than just guard our buildings.

And the guard, I know I knew this guard. I lived in the Holocaust Museum every day for the last week or so. I would see all the security guards. And I know we know the young man that died. I just want to say how sorry we are to his family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well, in the next hour, former Defense Secretary William Cohen and his wife, playwright Janet Langhart Cohen, will be joining us from Washington to talk more about their terrifying afternoon.

And we are learning more this morning about the man accused of being behind the deadly attack. Investigators spent all night at 88- year-old James von Brunn's home. It's about 30 miles east of Washington, in Annapolis, Maryland.

And these are new pictures you're going to be looking at now, just in to CNN overnight from outside of Brunn's apartment. And you can see law enforcement removing items from his apartment. This elderly holocaust denier also had a long history of anger and racism so extreme that his wife says that it forced her to divorce him.

Jim Acosta is right outside of the home in Annapolis this morning and he joins us now with more - Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. That's right. Federal investigators are building their case against James von Brunn. Overnight, agents were inside his home, inside this apartment complex in Annapolis, Maryland, where they were snapping pictures of items inside the home. And then later on this morning, we were on the scene when those agents were bringing those items out of the home in paper bags.

And even his ex-wife has confirmed to CNN that she is also speaking with investigators. She told CNN last night 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, 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.

JOHN HOGROGIAN, ATTY., JAMES VON BRUNN'S 1983 APPEAL: 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: And investigators say they found a notebook in von Brunn's car, listing other targets in Washington that he wanted to strike. But after checking out those locations, law enforcement officials are reasonably certain that the city is safe. All indications are this morning, he was acting alone -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Jim Acosta for us, thank you.

ROBERTS: The president is honoring the memory of the security guard who was gravely wounded and then died in the rampage. His name is Stephen Johns, just 39 years old.

Johns worked at the museum for six years and may have saved lives before losing his own by quickly confronting the suspect. Police say he and other guards immediately exchanged gunfire with James von Brunn, once the suspect started shooting.

President Obama said we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. CHETRY: And that museum is going to be closed today, as we said, in honor and memory of the guard who lost his life. But also, we're going to be talking with Defense Secretary Cohen. He said that the guards really did prevent a lot more loss of life by responding so quickly getting people out of there.

ROBERTS: Oh, absolutely, because that main part of the museum that von Brunn was just getting into is always crowded with people. And the museum's director estimated there were probably about 2,000 people in the museum at the time of the shooting. So the fact that the guards got to him so quickly and incapacitated him, I think did probably save a lot of lives.

Also new this morning, merge or else. Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis will be grilled by lawmakers today, about how far the government went in pushing for the bank's merger with Merrill Lynch. Investigators say they have seen emails that proved the Federal Reserve threatened to force him out if he didn't follow through with the deal.

And it's beautiful and frightening at the same time. A stunning look at a twister up close. A storm chaser captured this incredibly clear shot of a tornado touching down in Shell City, Missouri.

And then look at this. It later pops up again. And he's practically underneath the forming funnel cloud. Talk about being in the wrong place at the right time.

Did Air France Flight 447 disintegrate in the sky? New reports say bodies were found 50 miles apart from one another. The new evidence suggests the plane did not come down in one piece. We're live with the very latest on that. Our Paula Newton is standing by.

It's 12 minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We have new developments to tell you about today in the investigation of the crash of Air France Flight 447. Aviation experts say the debris and the condition of the bodies found so far apart, point to a catastrophic mid-air rupture of the plane. But many questions still remain. Our Paula Newton is with us now live from London with the very latest.

Good morning, Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You said it. You know, more questions. In this investigation, what happened is the more details that we've been getting over the last ten days or so, actually the more confusing the whole picture has become.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice-over): As search teams pluck remnants of Flight 447 from the Atlantic, French investigators say they're no closer to finding the cause. Why was there no mayday call? Aviation experts say just because one wasn't received doesn't mean one wasn't sent.

French investigators said at the weekend that terrorism seemed highly unlikely as the cause of the crash. Security sources in Paris tell CNN that's still the case.

But French magazine "L'Express" says the French intelligence service are looking into whether the names of two passengers match people with links to Islamic terrorism, and they're trying to match dates of birth with other details. Brazilian aviation authorities confirm to CNN all bags on the Air France flight were x-rayed.

And the weather at the time continues to be analyzed. The pilots reported severe turbulence shortly before the plane disappeared. Flight 447 was cruising from the southern to the northern hemisphere in a convergent zone known for storms. Investigators are looking into why it didn't divert.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the wrong place at the wrong time, in the wrong storm. You know, we could be talking here about the aircraft flying through relatively benign weather at one point, and a storm blowing up out of all proportion to what might have been expected.

NEWTON: The wrong place, hundreds of miles from any coastline in a gray area in terms of radar and communications. And then consider the middle of that storm, speed sensors may have confused the pilots. Computer messages suggested the pilots were receiving contradictory information about airspeed from those sensors, which had been known to ice up. At that point, was the speed of the Airbus A330 out of control?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's certainly a situation where a lot is going on. A lot will be demanded of the pilots understanding of the situation. And yet, they will be at their most vulnerable.

NEWTON: Aviation experts say the debris and the condition of bodies found so far point to a catastrophic mid-air rupture of the Airbus, and no one single explanation as to why.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For the end of this mystery, we really have to look to those voice and data recorders. John, today, searching another zone, about 13 nautical miles long -- John.

ROBERTS: And time running out too with those batteries said to only last about 30 days or so.

Paula Newton for us this morning in London. Paula, thanks so much for that.

Kiran?

CHETRY: From balancing the budget to North Korea to drug violence on the U.S. border, you're calling into our AM Fix hotline. Here's a little bit of what you're saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTO, VIEWER FROM FLORIDA (via telephone): I would do anything to get those two reporters out of North Korea, including a public apology from Barack Obama. However, as soon as they got those girls released, I would want a massive bombing attack against North Korea.

JIM, VIEWER FROM PENNSYLVANIA (via telephone): Pay as you go is a great plan. But the only problem is, we keep paying and they keep going.

DARRYL, VIEWER FROM PENNSYLVANIA (via telephone): That cop that tasered that 72-year-old woman needs to be fired -- fired immediately. Not suspended, not suspended without pay. Not suspended with pay. Fired immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once again your reporters are trying to blame the United States for Mexico's drug violence war. You people need to come down here and see what the Mexicans are doing on the border to aggravate the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: That will wake you up. Good morning to Minneapolis. Well, look at that, with the Mississippi just right there in the picture. Overcast and 60 degrees right now. Later on, it's going to be sunny and 72.

Here's what's on the a.m. rundown for you in the next 15 minutes. At 7:27, incredible deals on homes. Christine Romans on why this is a great time to buy if you act fast. Then, why all of us need to be concerned about half of all the flights in this country. Our Jason Carroll examining air safety. That will be at 7:31.

And inside the world of the white supremacist who allegedly killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. James von Brunn's former roommate talking to CNN. That will be at 7:39 this morning.

CHETRY: And you mentioned James von Brunn. Well, his views apparently are not that fringe, when you take a look at the numbers. Experts are saying that there are 926 hate groups, estimated to be operating in America right now.

Back in May, the Department of Homeland Security reported that hate crimes are on the rise. And they said that some of that was likely fuelled by the election of a black president. Now the department then later backed off that report when conservatives protested, especially about the issue of former veterans possibly becoming angered by the election of a black president.

Well now the question is being raised yet again, just how serious is the threat of domestic terrorism here at home.

And joining us to talk about it is Frances Townsend. She was the Homeland Security adviser to President Bush, now a CNN national security contributor.

Fran, good to talk to you this morning.

FRAN TOWNSEND, FORMER BUSH HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Good morning, Kiran.

CHETRY: So we'll talk about the broader issue of the so-called hate groups in a moment. But first about this suspect, from a security perspective, you think of ways how can you prevent somebody like this. I mean, this is what you guys are trying to do.

This is an 88-year-old man. He'd been in prison for a prior armed kidnapping, tried to kidnap some members of the Federal Reserve back in '81. But they seemed to be off the radar for decades. So how do you increase the odds of being able to flag whether or not someone is prone to violence again in the future?

TOWNSEND: You know the lone wolf represents the single-most difficult problem for law enforcement. Of course, the FBI has joint terrorism task forces around the country, over 100 of them, and each of those has got a domestic terrorism component to it. They infiltrate these domestic terror groups. They talk to people. They survey them. They watch the Web sites and the rhetoric.

We did see an uptick during the primaries before the actual general election. We were worried about the uptick in violent rhetoric of the supremacist groups. But it's very difficult, if somebody is not sort of affiliated with one of those groups or not really active in them, to track the lone wolf.

And as you say, Kiran, this guy doesn't, doesn't fit what you would imagine the supremacist would look like or be like when he walks into the museum yesterday, with a rifle at 88 years old, a former veteran himself. It was, it's very disturbing. That's why you really have to give the security guards credit. They reacted so quickly and saved the lives of many people inside, visiting that museum, especially children.

CHETRY: Right. But unfortunately, that security guard, Stephen Johns, did not make it and that is really the tragedy in the situation. But as we talked about, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano criticized after some of the focus was brought to veterans returning from wars overseas. And you mentioned that as well, that, you know, was it fair to bring up that, the concern about group of returning veterans, and how big of a concern that was?

How do you determine, and you were in this office as well, where you target your resources? And who eventually goes from maybe just having some viewpoints that are extreme, which is allowed, to acting on them?

TOWNSEND: Well, of course, the first -- the First Amendment of our constitution allows people to say hateful things. And what you're looking for is that tipping point, when they're going to actually take action against it.

You're looking for things that might push them over the edge. Are they also, are they, do they have weapons? Do they have access to weapons? Is there a plan? Are we they talking about or trying to inspire others to actually act on their hateful thoughts?

These are all, but this is much more art than science, Kiran, and so it's very, very difficult. That's why the FBI invest a good deal of resources in this.

Again, when you're talking, though, about limited resources, we have to remember, foreign terrorists have killed thousands of Americans and these tend to be isolated incidents with limited impacts although they do involve the loss of life. That said, the FBI spends resources on both. But of course, you have to set priorities.

CHETRY: Right, and do you take issue with or do you agree with this estimation that there are nearly 1,000 of these hate groups operating in the country right now?

TOWNSEND: Not only do I think that's right, but I think what you'll find is with the use of the Internet, these people can find like-minded people with like-minded hateful thoughts and they are, it's sort of self-reinforcing of these sort of awful things. And they can find people to share their ideas with and spread their ideas. And so, you know, in that way the Internet has actually aided these groups and led to a proliferation of them.

CHETRY: It's also possibly helped with tracking, though, correct? Being able to track and keep track? So it's sort of a double-edged sword when you take a look at that.

Frances Townsend, former Bush Homeland Security adviser and CNN national security contributor, thanks so much.

TOWNSEND: Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Right. We're all sitting here smiling through the pain, as Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." Not good news on the foreclosure situation, although, as you said before, it's cold comfort but we're better than last month?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. OK. So foreclosures in the month of April, actually, or May, sorry, fell from April to May six percent. That's good, right?

Well, it's still the third highest on record. More than 300,000 foreclosure filings, but on foreclosure filings, everything from being late on your house, to being told that you're going to -- they're going to have an auction, to actually getting a padlock on the front door, this is where it's really bad.

Nevada, one in every 64 homes is getting something in the mail of foreclosure notice terms, the start to the end of the process. California, one in every 144 homes. Florida, one in every 148 homes.

Folks, these numbers are horrific. Orlando, Baker -- Orlando, Florida, real bad. Bakersfield, California, Stockton, Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced, I mean, some of these towns have just been decimated. So we'll see if it flows down a little bit from here.

Some of the folks who put these numbers together from RealtyTrac say, actually, there's a little bit of good news in what has been a pretty horrific picture for foreclosures and that they actually fell just a little bit from month to month. But they're thinking that at the end of the process where they actually repossess the home, those numbers could actually be going up for the next few months. So --

CHETRY: Because just by the nature of being further along in the process?

ROMANS: Yes, yes, yes.

CHETRY: All right. Well, that brings us to our "Romans' Numeral" for this hour. This is a number that we bring you each hour in the program where Christine tells us about a number that's driving a story about your money. And today's Roman Numeral is 2,097.

ROMANS: I tried to take these huge foreclosure numbers, all these numbers and put it down just simply as I can, to end of the line, what it means -- 2,097. This is the number of homes every single day that are padlocked by the sheriff or the marshal, the people no longer have them. They are repossessed by the bank.

It's so bad for your neighborhood because the bank takes it over and puts it back on the market at a much lower price. That hurts everybody's home prices -- 2,097 actual repossessions every day. That's the end of the line.

ROBERTS: Except, it really brings it home.

ROMANS: Yes, that's a lot of folks losing a house every single day.

ROBERTS: Christine Romans, minding your business -- Christine, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Sure.

ROBERTS: Thirty-one and a half minutes now after the hour.

And checking our top stories. New information on the 88-year-old white supremacist who police say opened fire, killing a guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. The accused gunman could be charged with murder in the next few hours. This is new video of items being removed from the suspect's apartment overnight. It's decision day for the World Health Organization. The group is holding an emergency meeting to decide whether to finally declare the swine flu a pandemic; making it the first global outbreak of a new flu virus in 41 years.

And a big Senate vote is set for today over smoking regulations. The measure would give the federal government broad new powers to regulate the sale, manufacturing, content and marketing of tobacco products. Supporters hail it as a milestone in efforts to reduce smoking in this nation.

Well, some disturbing news for anyone who flies on smaller commuter airlines. Senators are grilling the new FAA chief about underpaid, unprepared and overworked pilots, as they investigate the crash outside of Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people, including one person on the ground.

Jason Carroll is working the story for us this morning and he joins us.

Hey, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, a lot of us are flying these regional jets. I know you do all the time. It's a very big concern, especially when you consider that regional airlines account for about half of all flights in the United States. Their safety is now in question, so the Federal Aviation Administration has vowed to set 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 wakeup 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 the 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's being done about all this? The FAA is issuing a call to action, bringing together airlines big and small next Monday, and 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 partners.

Senators at the hearing also push the FAA to implement a 4-year- old recommendation requiring airlines to check the training history of pilots before they hire them. You may remember the pilot in the Buffalo crash had failed several training tests.

The NTSB also said its Buffalo investigation may result in a regulation 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 recommendations sent to it by the NTSB, 450. You know, aviation experts say what it's ultimately going to come down to, the public. The public has got to get in there, get involved and put pressure on these government agencies to do something about it.

ROBERTS: The NTSB is pure science, this is what we think, pure safety.

CARROLL: Right.

ROBERTS: The FAA gets into the realm of politics, and that's where it gets all muddled.

CARROLL: Correct.

ROBERTS: All right. Jason, thanks so much for that.

CARROLL: All right.

CHETRY: It's 35 minutes after the hour right now.

New this morning -- a drug used in Israel to treat morning sickness in pregnant women poses no threat to their unborn children. That's the finding of a study that examined more than 80,000 births in that country. The drug is called metoclopramide. I probably said wrong. Sorry.

There are no drugs currently approved in this country for morning sickness.

Producers of "Slumdog Millionaire" purchased a new home for one of the child stars they discovered in the slums of Mumbai. The 10- year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and his family can now move in to a new, $50,000 one-bedroom apartment. The Mumbai government bulldozed their home, a trust set up by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle and the producer Christian Colson paid for the apartment.

And law enforcement agents are spending the night combing the Maryland condo of white supremacist James Von Brunn. He may be charged with murder this morning, and that's in connection with yesterday shooting death of a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Ahead: Von Brunn's former roommate talks to CNN about what it was like living with him with the man filled with hate.

It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: New this morning: You can't call her Miss California any more, the controversial beauty queen, Carrie Prejean, has lost her crown after all. And it wasn't -- according to Donald Trump who owns the organization -- about her views on gay marriage. He says that he had to say "You're fired" because she violated her contract.

Her lawyer calls the firing a big shock. Carrie herself said that they did not like her in the organization. They wanted to see her gone, and now, they got their wish.

Well, you're used to seeing music legend and convicted killer, Phil Spector, in a variety of wigs. He's worn a lot of them in the courtroom. Well, there's the real Phil Spector. The 69-year-old begins his 19-year sentence for second-degree murder. His wife said, "They took my husband's freedom and dignity," and now, she says, "They've taken his hair."

An anti-abortion leader said that his group may try to buy the now-closed abortion clinic owned by Dr. George Tiller, who was murdered last month, calling it hallowed ground and comparing to Auschwitz. The president of Operation Rescue said he may try to turn the clinic into a memorial tribute to babies. The Tiller family's lawyer calls the plan another irreverent extremist publicity stunt.

ROBERTS: And more on our developing story this morning. The suspect in the Holocaust Museum shooting is expected to be charged with murder within hours. We've got new video of police taking out evidence from James Von Brunn's apartment.

Listen to what the suspect's former roommate told our Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, "AC360" HOST: You lived briefly with Mr. Von Brunn while rooming with his son -- I should point out you're not a white supremacist. This just happened because you knew his son, who you say is also very different from Mr. Von Brunn. What was he like?

SCOTT AULBACH, JAMES VON BRUNN'S FORMER ROOMMATE: Mr. Von Brunn, he was just -- he was a very prejudice person. He didn't like anything about the government. He was really prejudiced against blacks and Jews. Just a --

COOPER: And he would talk about this?

AULBACH: Yes. Yes, he would. He would talk about it at our home.

COOPER: You basically were living what, with his son? You had met through work.

AULBACH: Yes, sir.

COOPER: And then why did his father move in, also? AULBACH: I think it was financial reasons. He had wind up coming to Florida from Maryland, because of the financial reason. He couldn't support himself and his elderly sister.

COOPER: When you heard that he is accused of this, this attack today, what went through your mind?

AULBACH: It floored me. I just -- I couldn't believe it. It's just -- you know, I knew the guy, and I heard some of the things that he had said and some of the things that he did in his past. But, I mean, I just -- I never would have expected this to happen. I mean, it's a tragedy.

COOPER: It's interesting, though, you know, a lot of times when someone commits a crime and then he talks to people that knew him, they all say, "Well, I'm completely surprised, I had no idea he was a really nice guy." You're not saying he was a nice guy. I mean, you're surprised he resorted to violence. But the rhetoric certainly matches up to the action, is that ...

AULBACH: Yes.

COOPER: Is that right?

AULBACH: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The suspect is currently in critical condition. Guards shot him in the head to end the rampage.

It's 42 minutes after the hour.

We all remember these famous tapes of Enron employees joking about how they were turning off people's power and jacking up the rates so that people couldn't afford it. Well, it turns out that a very large bank may have been doing something similar. Joking about selling minorities so-called "ghetto loans," that they knew that they couldn't afford and couldn't pay it back. And it's led to a whole lot of foreclosures in one neighborhood.

We'll give you that story -- coming up.

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(MUSIC)

ROBERTS: Oh, just a perfect scene setting this morning as we wake up in Atlanta, where it's clear and 73 degrees. Later on today, thunderstorms and a high of 88 -- just a typical lazy June day down there in the Peachtree State.

Our Rob Marciano is down there this morning. He's in the weather center, tracking the extreme weather across the nation.

Here in New York, Rob, we're 10 degrees below where we're supposed to be. We're not very happy about the whole darn thing. Other people across the country are experiencing similar problems as well.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's been cool across the northern tier and through the Colorado Rockies as well, but hot across the Southeast. Yes, and everything is kind of related to this frontal boundary. It's just kind of sitting there, cool in the north and warm to the south and a little impulses revolving around that front, and that has caused a lot of rain and cool weather, and also thunderstorms producing tornadoes.

Check out this video coming in to us from Shell City, Missouri. This funnel cloud kind of poking its finger out of the clouds and eventually touching down in a grassy field, not doing a whole lot of damage -- and certainly, some cool video getting up close and personal, these storm chasers checking this out. Fifteen reports of tornadoes yesterday across eight different states. So quite a number of severe weather reports for sure.

What we're seeing this morning, severe thunderstorm watches out for Dallas, Texas, south to just north of Houston. This one out until about 10 o'clock this morning, and more in the way of thunderstorms for folks that saw them yesterday, including maybe in New York City. Although you just see some showers and low clouds this morning.

Atlanta, maybe see some late-day showers and thunderstorms. Big complex rolling through Cincinnati and Pittsburgh at the moment; and the Ohio Valley once again is getting rocked with rain and storms.

John, back up to you.

ROBERTS: It's supposed to be a pretty nice weekend here in New York City, Rob. So, that will be all right. Thanks so much for that.

MARCIANO: Yes. You got it.

CHETRY: I can't wait to see 80s again.

Well, it is 46 minutes after the hour.

Here's what's coming up on the A.M. rundown. At 7:50, just four minutes from now, Wells Fargo accused of targeting African-Americans with predatory loans. Now, an entire city is waging a battle with the bank.

At 8:10, a witness to horror: Former Defense Secretary William Cohen on his terrifying encounter with a killer at the Holocaust Museum.

And, also ahead at 8:30, cleaning up Craigslist: Has the advertiser site made good on its promise to trying to get rid of those erotic ads?

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(MUSIC) CHETRY: A pretty shot this morning coming to us from KMOV this morning at St. Louis, Missouri's overcast, 68, a little bit later, and they're going to get some storms, up to a high there with 78 degrees.

And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

It's a neighborhood in ruin and one city says that a bank is to blame for it. There were allegations that it specifically targeted minorities for loans they couldn't afford.

Our Carol Costello went to the neighborhood for a closer look and she joins us now with more.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.

We're talking about Baltimore, and it has now filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo. You know, you talked about these former Wells Fargo's employees, they do have quite the story to tell. One of them alleging that employees whose job it was to target African-Americans for subprime loans joked about dolling 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. This ain't 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: I don't know why I even live here, so, I 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, like 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 of 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 says 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 has 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 colleague 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-American. 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 those 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 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 percent to 50 percent of these people that were put into a subprime loan could've 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 everyday just wants someone -- anyone to pay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Wells Fargo says the city of Baltimore's lawsuit absolutely lacks merit and it goes on to say, "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's lending practices did not cause foreclosures impacting Baltimore's housing market."

Wells Fargo says Baltimore has plenty of problems and it did not add to them.

CHETRY: Carol Costello for us this morning. Thanks so much.

And if you want to weigh in on the conversation, read more about Carol's report. You can read her blog at CNN.com/amFIX.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

And there are elections that are scheduled for Iran in just about 15 1/2 hour's time, that's when the poll opens. Voters are going to choose a president. The Iranian people are making their voices heard at political rallies. And right now, the race is considered too close to call.

Four people are running for president, the two leading candidates are the conservative incumbent Ahmadinejad and Hossein Mousavi -- he's the leading reformist candidate.

CNN's senior international correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been reporting exclusively on the run-up to the Iranian election. She is live in Tehran for us, again, this morning.

Christiane, who has the momentum going into tomorrow's vote?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, most definitely, if you take the pulse of the nation from the street of the major cities all over Iran, including the capital here, the momentum belongs to the main challenger, Mousavi, a former prime minister who is Ahmadinejad's main rival and running on a reformist ticket.

If you look at the streets, as I say, as we have been for the last several days, this election has been highly energized. Yesterday, there was really a river of green marching from one side of Tehran to the next at Freedom Square -- green being Mousavi's color.

And although we're saying that it's too close to call, what's really happening is people are too nervous to make a prediction right now. Some polls are saying that Mousavi could win in a landslide on the first round. And others still are cautioning that President Ahmadinejad still has strong support amongst those who are very religious, fundamentalists, the mosques, the very hard-line conservatives among the security forces and other elements of the hard-line conservative part of Iranian society.

So, what we've seen, though, in terms of outpourings on the street, there is many times to one number of supporters for Mousavi versus Ahmadinejad -- John?

ROBERTS: He is the candidate, Christiane, who is open to more engagement with the United States than Ahmadinejad -- though Ahmadinejad reportedly is thinking about it. But there's also been some thinking that if Mousavi were to win, that it may spark a velvet revolution among his followers. What are you hearing about that?

AMANPOUR: Well, let me tell you the last bit first because it is very significant. Iran is literally obsessed, paranoid about the idea of anybody from the outside -- America, Europe, others -- trying to instigate a velvet revolution like we've seen in the east European countries. So, overnight on the Web site, one of the leaders of Iranian's revolution regard -- accused the reformers of trying to instigate a velvet revolution and said that they would crush it.

Now, many of the former leaders and officials here have been talking to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to make sure that this election goes off smoothly, that it goes off without any cheating at the ballot box, and that there is no violence or anything afterwards. In terms of relations with the United States, really, it's the supreme leader who makes those relations, and both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi have said that they would do that.

ROBERTS: Christiane Amanpour reporting for us, again, live from Tehran -- Christiane, it's so great to have you there.

Thanks for that report this morning.