Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Caspian Air Jet Crashes in Iran; Sotomayor on the Hot Seat, Challenged on Past Comments; Dems May Call Cheney to Testify on Secret CIA Program; Economist Say Stimulus Doomed to Fail; Tracking Stimulus Money in Florida; Bernard Madoff's New Pad; Hit TV Show Rocks Afghanistan; Suspects Arrested in the Billings Murder
Aired July 15, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning on this Wednesday, the 15th of July. We do have breaking news to tell you about this morning.
I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We begin the morning with the breaking news of a plane crash. A passenger plane carrying 150 people crashing this morning in northwest Iran. It happened about 75 miles northwest of Tehran. Everyone onboard feared dead at this point.
And in a moment, we're going to be showing you the pictures that we just got in to CNN. Here's what we know right now.
Iran state radio reporting it was a Caspian Airlines jet that was headed from Tehran to the Armenian capital. It crashed about 75 miles northwest of Tehran. Reports say that the wreckage that you're seeing there engulfed in flames making it unlikely that anyone survived.
Stay tuned to CNN. We're going to be getting updates on what happened throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: There's other big stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes as well, including Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor back on the hot seat on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, she insisted that she never let her ethnic background or personal opinions influence her decisions as a judge, but some Republicans challenge that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If Lindsey Graham said that I will make a better senator than x -- because of my experience as a Caucasian male makes me better able to represent the people of South Carolina, and my opponent was a minority, it would make national news and it should.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: In just a moment, how Judge Sotomayor countered that challenge and what she had to say about Roe v. Wade.
CHETRY: Also, the political showdown escalating this morning over whether former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA not to tell Congress about a secret plan to kill Al Qaeda leaders. We're live in Washington with new details on whether the former vice president may be called to testify.
And we begin with Judge Sonia Sotomayor getting set for a second day now of questioning in her bid to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
ROBERTS: Judge Sotomayor appeared cool and composed, yesterday, carefully fielding every question that senators threw her way during her six-hour-long grilling. Our Brianna Keilar joins us now live from Capitol Hill.
And, Brianna, after yesterday's sessions, many observers believe that Sotomayor's chances of getting confirmed are looking pretty good if they weren't going in to this whole thing.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, John and Kiran, you remember it was Senator Graham who we just heard there who said Monday that unless she had a meltdown, he expected Sonia Sotomayor to be confirmed. Well, certainly she has stayed within the lines with her very deliberate answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): As Sonia Sotomayor took the hot seat prepared to answer Republican questions about her controversial off- the-bench remarks, Democrats launched a preemptive strike.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Here's your chance. You tell us -- you tell us what's going on here, judge.
KEILAR: Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy gave her a friendly audience as she explained her comment about a wise Latina reaching a better conclusion than a white male. She said it was a misunderstanding, that she was trying to inspire Hispanic students.
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I want to state up front unequivocally and without a doubt, I do not believe that any ethnic, racial, or gender group has an advantage in sound judgment.
KEILAR: It wasn't enough for Republican critics who pressed Sotomayor on whether she could be impartial.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I'm just very concerned that what you're saying today is quite inconsistent with your statement that you willingly accept that your sympathies, opinions and prejudices may influence your decision making. SOTOMAYOR: As I've indicated, my record shows that at no point or time have I ever permitted (ph) my personal views or sympathies to influence an outcome of the case.
KEILAR: Through hours and hours of testimony, Sotomayor scribbled notes and was careful with her answers. On Roe v. Wade and a more recent Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on late-term abortion, Sotomayor said she respects those past decisions.
SOTOMAYOR: All precedents of the Supreme Court I consider settled law.
KEILAR: Asked about President Obama's past comments that judges must at times use their hearts in making decisions, a description Republicans decries inappropriate, Sotomayor distanced herself from the man who nominated her.
SOTOMAYOR: I don't -- wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. The job of a judge is to apply the law. And so it's not the heart that compels conclusions in cases. It's the law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Sonia Sotomayor will spend several more hours today in the hot seat. Eight senators still waiting to get their chance to ask her questions. And, John and Kiran, that includes Al Franken. This will really be our first chance to see him giving a public performance as a senator.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to the rest of the proceedings today. Brianna, thanks so much.
We want to know, by the way, what you think of Sotomayor's hearings so far. Log on to CNN.com/amFIX and let us know. And remember, you can watch the hearings live all week right here on CNN. And if you can't make it to a television set, you can also get them on your computer at CNN.com.
CHETRY: Well, this morning, House Democrats are moving closer to calling former Vice President Dick Cheney to testify about whether he broke the law. Now, at issue are reports that Cheney ordered the CIA to keep Congress in the dark about a classified program that never got past the planning stage.
CNN's Jim Acosta live in Washington. And, Jim, so, what are Democrats saying about this possibility that he may have to testify?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Kiran, because the vice president has been very outspoken over the past several couple about the Obama administration. But during this matter, he has been curiously quiet and Democrats in the House are raising the stakes to find out whether Cheney did, in fact, ordered the CIA not to tell the Congress about a counterterrorism program. They just may ask Cheney to pay them a visit on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats are determined to investigate whether former Vice President Dick Cheney directed the CIA to withhold information from Congress about a secret counterterrorism program.
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D), ILLINOIS: Why is it that the vice president thought that it was too risky in some way to inform the Congress about this? I think we have to dig deeper.
ACOSTA: And if it comes to the point where you may have to ask the vice president to come to Capitol Hill and testify, is that something that should be discussed at least at this point?
SCHAKOWSKY: I think it should be discussed.
ACOSTA: Jan Schakowsky, the chairwoman of a key House Intelligence Subcommittee says even CIA Director Leon Panetta was in the dark about the operation.
SCHAKOWSKY: He wasn't even informed about it.
ACOSTA: Published reports indicate the program washed after the 9/11 attacks was aimed at capturing or killing Al Qaeda terrorists. Without confirming the program's existence, a former intelligence official told CNN, it should come as no surprise that we would go after the bad guys, the terrorists, especially given what President Bush said about Osama bin Laden.
GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wanted dead or alive. All I want, American wants him brought to justice.
ACOSTA: The vice president's daughter, Liz Cheney, says Democrats are targeting her father to protect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who came under fire when she accused the CIA of repeatedly lying to Congress.
LIZ CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER (via telephone): If they want to go to the American people and say that they disagree with the notion that we ought to be capturing and killing Al Qaeda leaders, you know, I think it's just going to prove to the American people one more time why, you know, they can't trust the Democrats with our national security.
ACOSTA: The White House is approaching with caution.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes that Congress should always be briefed fully and in a timely manner in accordance with the law.
ACOSTA: Whether it's Cheney and the CIA or the possibility of a Justice Department investigation into Bush administration interrogation methods, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the president's views have not changed.
GIBBS: Our efforts are better focused looking forward than looking back. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now, I asked for Liz Cheney. She has already said publicly she does not know whether her father instructed the CIA to withhold information from Congress and even members of the House Intelligence Committee admit they don't know all of the details of this operation, which is why they're now asking the CIA for documents related to the program.
And, John and Kiran, we did get a response from the CIA late yesterday. And I'll read it to you.
Spokesman George Little for the CIA says Director Panetta has ordered a thorough internal review that should result in lessons learned on congressional reporting. So that key phrase there, lessons learned, indicates that they realize that the Congress should have been informed about this.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see how that turns out. Jim Acosta for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: We're also following breaking news this morning. A new message from Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri (ph) calling on all Muslims and Pakistan to back Islamic militants, warning that they have a religious duty to support their jihad and fight the influence of the United States. Zawahiri claims that America's interference in Pakistan's affairs pose as a grave danger to the country's very existence and must be challenged. The message was released on radical Islamist Web sites.
CHETRY: The ethics complaints against Sarah Palin are piling up as she prepares to step down as governor of Alaska. The latest charges, allegations she abused her office by accepting a salary and using state staffers while campaigning outside of Alaska during the presidential race.
It is the 18th ethics complaint filed against Palin. It's the third since she announced she was resigning 12 days ago. And she took to Twitter to talk a little bit more about that, asking whether or not these wasteful ethics charges are the result of not caving when the filer of those ethics violations begged for a job.
She's referring to somebody who has, so far, filed five ethics complaints against her. Three of them have been dismissed.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, a battle erupting over reports of a custody deal for Michael Jackson's children. Debbie Rowe's attorney telling CNN a report in "The New York Post" that claims Rowe was paid $4 million so Jackson's mom could raise the two eldest children is "completely false." "The New York Post" is standing by its story. A custody hearing for Jackson's children is scheduled for next Monday.
Nine and a half minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHETRY: Yes, we are following breaking news at 12 minutes past the hour. Out of Iran, a plane crash, a Caspian Airlines passenger plane carrying 168 passengers and crew crashed 75 miles northwest of Tehran.
You're looking at the latest pictures in to CNN of the crash site and the debris still smoking in some cases. Everyone onboard is feared dead. Iran state radio reporting that the jet was heading from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan when it went down in a field.
Those reports say the wreckage was engulfed in flames making it unlikely that anyone survived. Most of the 153 passengers are believed to be Armenians. There were also 15 crew members onboard. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest updates throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: Other breaking news that we're following for you this morning. Just moments ago, a major earthquake off of the southwestern tip of the island -- the South Island of New Zealand. It measured 7.8. Our Jacqui Jeras is monitoring it for us at the weather center in Atlanta.
What are we looking at there, Jacqui? 7.8 is a pretty big earthquake.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's a really big earthquake. It happened just off the shore so that's the big concern when something like that happens. You have the threat of a tsunami.
So a tsunami warning has been issued for the island of New Zealand. It happened just off the South Island. There you can see that little star. And this is what we call the shake map as for the areas that have seen it. So you can see it's mostly felt across southern parts of the island here. And this is a moderate feel so it doesn't look like it's been felt real strong.
We're trying to get a better handle on the depth of the earthquake, because how deep it is has a huge impact on what kind of impact it's going to be having on the surface. Right now, we know that it's less than 100 kilometers, which is like 62 miles. So that doesn't tell us a whole heck of a lot.
We're going to continue to research this and look into it and let you know what we find out. But 7.8 is a very powerful earthquake and a tsunami warning is in effect for New Zealand -- John.
ROBERTS: U.S. Geological survey puts the preliminary depth at about 20 miles. But that --
JERAS: You got 20?
ROBERTS: Yes. Its proximity to the southern coast there, I expect that the tsunami warning at least for New Zealand probably wouldn't be in effect for too long. JERAS: Probably not. Yes, that's pretty close distance so if something were to happen, we would expect to hear something pretty soon.
ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui Jeras monitoring the situation for us there in Atlanta. Jacqui, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: And you said 20 miles deep. Oftentimes when it's that deep, even though it might be a powerful quake, it might not be as damaging as those close to the surface.
ROBERTS: Exactly right, yes.
CHETRY: We'll keep following that.
Meanwhile, it's been five months since President Obama signed the stimulus plan into law. It's more than $250 trillion of government spending and tax breaks meant to create jobs. But just yesterday, the president said unemployment may get worse before we see things turn around. So what is going on?
Peter Morici is a professor of International Business at the University of Maryland and former economic director for the United States International Trade Commission. You had an interesting op-ed about this.
Great to see this morning, Peter. Thanks for being with us.
PETER MORICI, FORMER ECONOMIC DIRECTOR, U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION: Nice to see you.
CHETRY: So we had unemployment hit 9.5 percent last month and there's been a lot of debate about whether the stimulus is working, whether it's working quickly enough. The White House says we are on target but at the same time a lot of people are asking, when are we going to see the effects? You, though, say it's doomed to fail? Why?
MORICI: Well, the stimulus money is very badly spent. We knew the tax cuts from the Bush stimulus don't work. People are simply saving it. If you wanted stimulus to work, spend it mostly on shovel ready projects, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and so forth, but only $100 billion of the $800 billion are spent there.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing though when you talk about shovel ready is they found it a challenge within the administration to find shovel-ready projects, at least that's what many are saying in these various states. How do you get that better organized so, indeed, if the money is there, I mean as we talked about, only 10 percent has gone out, that it actually can get to projects that are ready to go?
MORICI: I'm no Republican, but what President Obama is discovering is how slow the bureaucracy moves. It's very hard to push this kind of money through the system.
Also, all the red tape that the government has created doing construction has made it very difficult. I can get the money out there, but Obama doesn't seem to be capable of getting it done and the advisers don't seem to be able to get it done. What you got to do is just hand it to the mayors and county executives and say you have to spend X by the end of this year then give them another chunk by next year. You have to spend that by the end of the year and so forth, or you don't get to keep the money.
Most municipalities and counties have long lists of renovation projects they're holding in advance because they don't have enough cash. That's the way to get it out. President Obama is not thinking in those terms. Instead, he beefs up the Department of Education.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing, though, and what they've been saying within the administration is that some of this money is actually been going to plug budget gaps. And we know that a lot of these local municipalities and state governments are suffering right now. So if it's not sort of earmarked for something, it's going to go to sort of plug the budget holes. How do you make sure that it's actually going to things that are going to create jobs, like building roads, like schools, like construction?
MORICI: Well, you have to require it. You have to say we're giving you $100 billion by the end of 2009. You divide it up on the basis of population. It must be used for the following kinds of projects -- renovating schools, reconditioning hospitals, things of that nature.
And, you know, the state and local governments for all their crying, all of Mr. Obama's exultations, weren't laying people off. Employment was growing through the time the stimulus package was signed, both education, non-education, state and local. And since it's been signed, it's continued to grow at approximately the same pace.
I can find no discernible effect in the Department of Labor statistics for state and local employment that would indicate the stimulus is having any effect whatsoever. It's an absolutely fraud in that regard.
CHETRY: All right. Here's the other interesting thing. Yesterday, the president said that we have to have patience when it comes to this and that the plan was intended to work not in a couple of months but in two years.
You say, though, that patience would fix a normal cyclical problem, a downturn and then an upturn in the economy. But you're calling this a structural problem and it has to do with the fact that we don't manufacture enough here. What is the solution?
MORICI: Well, we import too much from China without selling there. You know, the best -- one of the best selling cars in China are Buicks, believe it or not. But they won't buy any Buicks made in the United States. They have a 25 percent tariff. And they require General Motors not only to make them there, but to move their suppliers there. That's why the Midwest is melting down because it's not just Buicks and cars, it's all a matter of high end industrial products for which China's cheap labor doesn't provide an advantage. That's about 50 percent of the trade deficit. The other half is oil.
President Obama's windmills are not going to solve that. We need dramatically higher mileage stand right now and we need a real clunker subsidy to get the big cars off the road. For example, replace the Tahoes with traverses. Very big car but it gets twice the gas mileage.
CHETRY: The other thing you talked about is the private sector shedding 6.6 million jobs, half of those being shed in manufacturing and construction. Right now as we know, the housing market is struggling. So what is the solution if you're going to use that stimulus money to try to get some of these people back to work and try to beef up manufacturing here in our country?
MORICI: Well, essentially, you've got to recalibrate trade with China one way or the other. You have to get it to unhinge its currency and stop manipulating its currency.
You know, it's buying about $400 billion a year of U.S. dollars with Yuan that it prints, basically giving them to us. And then that basically keeps their currency cheap and makes those products artificially cheap in our markets.
With regard to construction, we really have built too many houses. We're overhoused right now. There's an excess supply. So what you need to do is move those construction workers as I said earlier into infrastructure, rehabilitating schools. You have the same guy that can put a roof on a house, who can put a roof on a school.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you have a lot of good ideas and hopefully we'll see some of this into action soon.
Pete Morici, professor of International Business at the University of Maryland, great to talk to you this morning.
MORICI: Nice to be with you.
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." A live look this morning at Miami, a city that has sun, surf, and apparently jobs created by the president's stimulus package. So just how is the city using stimulus money to create jobs?
We wanted to know, so our Christine Romans hit the road. She's live in our Miami bureau this morning "Minding Your Business."
And how do I get an assignment like that, Christine? CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, it's still very early in Miami, too. I'm still waking up and working for you, "Minding Your Business" and tracking the money. And tracking the stimulus money this morning because some of it is coming here to Miami. And these are the jobs that are being saved, not necessarily created. But you've heard the White House talking about saving jobs.
There's $13.4 billion that's coming to Florida and some of that money is already flowing. And, John and Kiran, $125 million of that has already flowed right into the coffers of the Miami-Dade school district and they're using the money to save 2,000 teaching jobs. Without your stimulus money, 2,000 teachers in the school district would have lost their jobs. There would have been layoffs.
So you'll hear a lot of people talking about patching up the road, plugging holes -- not necessarily creating new programs. They'd like to start new schools. They'd like to start new programs, but at this point, they have to maintain the programs that they have.
They're not building schools with that money. They are using it to save teacher jobs. I asked Alberto Carvalho, the school's superintendent, how he feels about, what he thinks when people say, look, we're just plugging holes here. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO CARVALHO, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: Look, there is no workforce without education. I think we know that now. Underfunding education, creating a position in our country where teachers lose their jobs, where counselors lose their jobs cannot be defined simply as plugging a hole. A teacher does not constitute a hole in a kid's life, nor does a counselor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He takes issue with calling it plugging holes. These are livelihoods and these are important jobs that make a difference for society, he says. And he says that it's not -- you know, don't dismiss saving jobs. These are 2,000 jobs that they will have for the next two years.
Yet, he goes further and says that he needs a better national conversation about what happens two years from now when this money goes away, quite frankly, because they're still going to have the challenges they need. And too much of their revenue over the past ten years, he says, has been based on real estate fees and taxes and also sales taxes and tourism and the like. Those things aren't coming back any time soon. So he's very concerned about what happens next, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: I don't think people mean to be flip by saying plugging holes with their -- I think what they're referring to is the stimulus money flowing out there it's meant to create things, right? And to...
ROMANS: That's right. CHETRY: ... and to invest in things that are going to be long- term help. And, as you said, he's worried about what's going to happen two years down the road when, you know, the money is dried up.
It's a big problem, so it's great that you're out there trying to talk to people and see how this is working for them. Meanwhile, you have a "Romans' Numeral" for us this hour?
ROMANS: I do, and that number is 697. You know, every morning we try to take a number and just to kind of put a finer point on the story of the morning. And the number is 697.
And we talked to the school -- 697 is the number of school counselors who will keep their jobs for the next two years whose paychecks will be paid for by your stimulus money. So something to keep in mind when there's political debate and arguments over the stimulus money, how it's being spent and whether it's doing any good, and do we need another one?
These are actual people who we have found here, 697 guidance counselors who were paid for with your stimulus cash. So, there you go, there's the "Romans' Numeral" this morning.
CHETRY: All right. Try to get some rollerblading in before you head back here to New York.
Take care, Christine.
ROMANS: Bye-bye.
CHETRY: It's 26 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ROBERTS: And the breaking news this morning comes out of Iran where a Caspian Airlines passenger jet carrying 168 people has crashed about 75 miles northwest of the capital of Tehran. These pictures just in to CNN.
Iranian state radio reporting the jet was heading from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan when it went down in a field. Those reports say the wreckage was engulfed in flames making it unlikely that anyone survived. You can also see the plane is in tiny little pieces, what's left of it so unlikely that anyone survived. Most of the 153 passengers are believed to be Armenian.
CHETRY: We're also following some breaking news out of New Zealand this morning where a powerful 7.8 earthquake hit off of the country's west coast. A tsunami watch has been issued for New Zealand's South Island. That's where the earthquake was centered.
There are some reports now coming in of minor cracks in buildings, of food falling from supermarket shelves, but so far, no reports of any injuries. ROBERTS: House Democrats releasing their plan to overhaul America's health care system. Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it a "starting point" to the path to success. House leaders promising to pass the bill before next month's recess.
It calls for penalties and employers who failed to provide health care for their workers. It also imposes penalties on individuals who refuse to buy in to the plan.
Well, Bernie Madoff should be already up this morning and starting his first full day at the place that he'll now call home, at least for a little while. Madoff will serve out his 150-year sentence, at least part of it, at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
So what will life be like for the one-time high-flying financier?
Joining us live from Los Angeles with his take on all of this is Larry Levine. He is the founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants. He served 10 years in nine different federal prisons.
Larry, it's great to see you this morning. So, you've got some personal experience with this. What do you believe Bernie Madoff's first night in jail was like?
LARRY LEVINE, WALL STREET PRISON CONSULTANTS: I don't think he got much sleep. So, I don't think he was waking up. I think he had a lot of anxiety. He probably was all doped up on psych meds and he's wondering what's going to happen next. And if I know the federal system like I do, they're going to run him through a battery of psychiatric examinations and medical exams.
I don't really believe that Butner is his final destination. Butner is unique because it's a federal correctional complex. You have two medium FCIs there and one low FCI. That stands for Federal Correctional Institute. But more important, you have a federal medical center there.
And I have clients that have been through there after they've been sentenced to get these psychiatric eval and medical eval before they actually designated them to another institution.
So he might be there --
(CROSSTALK)
LEVINE: Go ahead.
ROBERTS: I was going to say his attorney and the judge in the case recommended that he go to Otisville in New York. Do you think that this might just be a waypoint for him?
LEVINE: Well, that's an operative word in the BOP -- recommend. It doesn't say much that they will. They recommend it. Now what they have to do is if the Bureau of Prisons can't place him in Otisville, they actually have to explain to the judge why he is not there. Now, is Butner -- I haven't checked -- is it within the 500-mile range? That's the often...
ROBERTS: Apparently so.
LEVINE: OK.
ROBERTS: Yes, apparently it is.
You know, it was described as him hitting the inmate lottery, because Butner is -- I guess by some people considered to be the crown jewel of the federal penal system.
LEVINE: No, no.
ROBERTS: Is it or is it not? Is it just, you know, (INAUDIBLE)?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVINE: No. You know what? It's just -- it's just another complex. I heard that and I wondered where that came from. That might be more hype that someone's spinning around.
Pensacola, Florida is a real nice place to go. You go up to Sheridan, Oregon is a real nice place to go. I've never heard Butner as described as a nice place. As a matter of fact, they run the sexual offender treatment program there. I can't see them having a real nice place where they've got all the child molesters housed.
ROBERTS: Yes. What do you -- what do you think the environment is going to be like for him?
I mean, some very high-profile people who are housed at Butner. Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, who's the blind sheikh who was involved in the 10993 World Trade Center bombing. He is there. Randy "Duke" Cunningham is also there. Jim Baker spent some time there. But -- I mean, those are the real high-profile inmates.
What are some of the other folks like in the general prison population who he may at some point mix with?
LEVINE: Well, he's going to mix -- first of all, he's got 150- year sentence. He gets another 20 knocked off for good time. So, he's looking at 130. He doesn't really have an out date. He's not getting out.
And the people he's going to mingle with, you know, rapists, killers, bank robbers, you name it, they're all in the medium where is he's going, and Bernie is going to be the prize. Bernie is the crown jewel, not Butner. And these people are all going to want to make a name for themselves. So, Bernie is going to be a high-profile target.
I don't see Bernie making it. I see someone taking Bernie out. They'll take him out with a shank. It will cause a disturbance in the institution. Let's say in the dining hall, in the movie theater, the rec yard. You cause a disturbance on one side, the cops are racing over there. Someone sticking a knife in Bernie on the other side. He's going to leave in a bag or in a box.
ROBERTS: You really...
LEVINE: This man is going to have to watch his back until the day he dies.
ROBERTS: You really think that people are going to want to have a piece of him, do you?
LEVINE: Well, absolutely. And it's really -- it's not his victims that he has to worry about. He stole, who knows, $20 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion. And the people that have that money -- remember, he didn't cooperate with the U.S. attorney. He knows where the money is and he doesn't want to tell who has it. And the people who have it, they're going to want to keep it.
So, they'll peel off a few million dollars and they'll get to Bernie on the inside. They'll bribe some inmates' families of people who aren't getting out. And somebody will take Bernie out. They'll pay off the families, the person on the inside who's not getting released. They're the ones who's going to stick a knife in Bernie.
Or you can take a sock -- this is really popular inside as a weapon. You take a sock, you put a few padlocks in it, you put a few bars of soap in it, you bounce it off Bernie's head a few times and he's done. He's out like a light and he's dead.
ROBERTS: Larry, it's always interesting to talk to you. No question about that. Larry Levine, founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants. Larry, thanks so much for being with us this morning. It's good to see you.
LEVINE: Glad to be here.
ROBERTS: Thirty-five minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome pack to the Most News in the Morning.
Quick check of the AM rundown, the stories coming up in the next few minutes.
Imagine being able to charge your cell phone simply by walking. You soon may be able to.
A showdown over how billions of your tax dollars are being spent.
We'll tell you about the controversial fighter jet that President Obama wants to see go away and the surprising ally on his side.
And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about to step back into the spotlight. But after months of keeping a low profile, we'll look at whether Clinton really was, benched.
\CHETRY: Well, "Afghan Star" doesn't maybe have the quite -- the same ring to you as "American Idol," but it's a new TV show in Afghanistan. And it's like the "American Idol" format. And it's not only rocking the ratings, it is rocking the nation's religious leaders to their very core. Alina Cho joins us now.
And "Afghan Star" like our "American Idol" -- shaking things up in Afghanistan?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It must certainly is, guys. Good morning, everybody.
You know, remember, here in America, we really take shows like "American Idol" for granted. But in Afghanistan, a TV singing contest is downright revolutionary. Remember, under Taliban rule, music was banned, it was illegal. New, this show is a run-away hit and it's also causing a lot of controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, to do this was unthinkable.
AMBASSADOR SAID ZAWAD, AFGHANISTAN: Music was banned. The Taliban banned singing and burned actually and destroyed the music instruments.
CHO: But now music is back. And a televised singing competition has become the country's most popular show. It's "American Idol," Afghan style.
Just like "American Idol," fans vote for their favorites, often by texting. In Afghanistan, that's a radical concept.
HAVANA MARKING, DIRECTOR, "AFGHAN STAR": All your votes are all equal. And that's a very, very extraordinary thing for people to try and understand when it -- when they come from a tribal kind of life.
CHO: Even more radical, the participation of women.
MARKING: And any woman taking part is genuinely risking her life.
CHO: Havana Marking directed a new documentary about the 2008 competition in which two women made it to the finals. One is named Setara and she created a national scandal by moving to the music.
MARKING: It's not Beyonce, you know, but it is dancing. And her head scarf slips and she doesn't bring it back up. This young woman, beautiful, dancing with her hair free. In fact, it symbolizes everything that is forbidden and was forbidden in Afghan culture.
CHO: Setara even received death threats and for a while was forced into hiding.
Religious authorities have moved to ban the show, declaring it un-Islamic. But producers tell CNN, that won't stop them. And Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States says his country won't return to a time when music was illegal.
ZAWAD: Today when you travel in Afghanistan, you will hear music from every car, from every shop, from every restaurant, from every home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Times have changed. Now, the documentary, "Afghan Star" is now playing in select cities around the country, including right here in New York. It's also making its way to the halls of power. Director Havana Marking tells us that she's actually trying to arrange a screening for members of Congress. She's also hoping, guys, to get it into the hands of President Obama.
But remember, the fact that they're playing music in Afghanistan after 30 years of Taliban rule is really revolutionary. What's also revolutionary, remember, this is a country that is still -- really under that tribal elder system that's male-dominated.
So the fact that women are involved, women are participating in the contest and also voting. You know, one woman, one man equals one vote. That's really revolutionary, too. It's really incredible.
CHETRY: It is interesting to see what if it will change them -- the woman said that contestants, female contestants, are risking their lives by participating in the competition.
CHO: They are, they are. I mean, this woman's head scarf fell. She showed her hair. I mean that's really incredible. She did receive death threats. She went into hiding for a while.
But this is really a revolutionary show. You know, a third of the country is watching it. So, it's really popular, too.
CHETRY: All right. Alina Cho, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: We'll be right back with more. It's 42 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Mr. President. Here's your weather forecast for the day. Right now, it's partly cloudy, 65 degrees in Washington. It's going to be beautifully sunny today and hot with a high of 89.
It's 45 1/2 minutes after the hour.
Let's fast forward now to stories that are going to be making news later on today.
At 1:05 Eastern, the president will be in the Rose Garden to deliver remarks on health care reform. Although it's going to be so darn hot that they might move it inside again. After that, he meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office. That's a 3:10 Eastern.
NASA scientists are wondering if the sixth time is going to be the charm today. The shuttle Endeavour set for a new launch opportunity tonight at 6:03 p.m. Eastern. Bad weather scrubbed Sunday and Monday's launches. Today, there is a 60 percent chance for favorable conditions. Of course, you can watch it live here on CNN.
And every Harry Potter fanatic, this side of Hogwarts is getting ready for the sixth film about the boy wizard, out in theaters today. Here you see pictures of fans lined up for the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
Going to see it, Kiran?
CHETRY: Haven't planned on it. I was going to see "Ice Age 3." But you know, it's in 3D, you'll never know.
ROBERTS: Choices, choices.
CHETRY: Well, getting exercise is a great way to pump up your energy and recharge your batteries as you probably know. But some researchers in Canada are now taking that concept to an entirely different level.
Our Gary Tuchman explains in this "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With every step you take, the body creates energy that usually goes to waste -- until now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This particular device is designed to capture energy while you're walking.
TUCHMAN: It's called the bionic energy harvester. It might look like an athletic knee brace. But a closer inspection reveals layers and a generator that harness power from the natural motion of walking.
MAX DONELAN, BIONIC POWER: Muscles are the power house of the body. So they're producing the mechanical energy initially. And through the device, that's turned into electrical power like a battery charger, basically.
TUCHMAN: Simply strap on the two-pound brace and get moving. With each step, the device transfers the energy from hop in your step to batteries. Pop those in a digital camera or cell phone, and the more you walk, the more you can talk.
DONELAN: For walking for only one minute, you can produce about 20 minutes of talk time on a typical cell phone. So, it's a lot of power.
TUCHMAN: It's still in the development stage. But researchers are hoping to have it available soon.
In a world where staying connected is key, pop in the power cord to give you a lot more space to roam.
DONELA: You become the juice for your devices. And for many people, what that also means is freedom.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Interesting.
ROBERTS: Remember as a kid you would walk through the halls in your corduroys and would boop-boop-boop. It makes a similar noise.
CHETRY: Yes. I'm thinking it wouldn't be that comfortable to be walking around especially, you know, trying to fit them under skinny jeans. It wouldn't work well.
ROBERTS: And just the noise -- zit-zit-zit all day long. I think it will drive you nuts after a while. Anyways, a good idea, nonetheless.
Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
When Judge Sonia Sotomayor made her now famous comment about a wise Latina woman back in 2001, she couldn't possibly imagine the impact that it would have.
CHETRY: But not only did it raise questions especially for Republicans who are questioning her on the committee, it also inspired wise Latina women everywhere.
Carol Costello joins us now from Washington this morning.
And so, again, we're saying this was an 8-year-old comment that now because of her Supreme Court nomination is really in the spotlight.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh boy, it was yesterday, Kiran. Fans of Judge Sotomayor watched with interest as the Senate Judiciary Committee made up largely of white men questioned a Puerto Rican judge about wise Latinas and white men. Critics watched, too. And as you said, Kiran, they had a decidedly different take.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Sonia Sotomayor knew it would be a tough day. Maybe that's why she wore red.
(on camera): I cannot tell you how many women I have talked to that commented on her red jacket.
ALMA MORALES RIOJA, PRESIDENT, MANA: I love it. I think it's important, of course, in Washington where we talk about the power red.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Alma Morales Rioja heads up MANA, an organization devoted to empowering Latinas. And, yes, she considers herself a wise Latina.
RIOJA: Why is it such a big deal? Why is Latina? Is it partly that people don't usually think of those two words together? Could that be part of it?
COSTELLO: So Rioja's organization is watching the hearings with interest that sharpened Tuesday when senators pounced on Sotomayor's Berkeley speech. The specific line - "I would hope that a wise Latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: How can you reconcile your speeches which repeatedly assert that impartiality is a mere aspiration which may not be possible in all or even most cases with your own oath that you've taken twice which requires impartiality?
JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much intention.
COSTELLO: Sotomayor said those words were actually a poor play on words spoken by former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that, quote, "fell flat."
SOTOMAYOR: It's clearly not what I intended, which was attempting to inspire young Hispanic/Latino students and lawyers to believed that their life experience is added value to process.
COSTELLO: Some bloggers critical of Sotomayor didn't buy her explanation, intimating she was lying with a rhetorical dodge. As for her critics in the Senate --
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: It still doesn't answer to me the question of whether you think that these -- that ethnicity or gender should be making the difference.
COSTELLO: Rioja is disappointed. She believes Sotomayor's comments were meant only to empower young people and that Republican should move on.
RIOJA: Should we not be dealing as any person going into court would do -- you deal with the facts at hand. And her decision making has shown. That's exactly what she's done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And that's what Judge Sotomayor did say later in the hearings. Look at my 17-year record, and then decide whether my ethnicity or my gender enters into my decisions.
Let's see what happens today.
CHETRY: Yes. And even that Lindsey Graham, you know, he questioned her about it, but he said it's not going to make me not vote for you. I just want you to sort of explain what you meant.
COSTELLO: He also criticized her speech writing skills. But he said, your decisions I can live with, your speech writing not so much.
ROBERTS: Yes. He begged her not to go into speech writing if the judge thing didn't work out.
Carol, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: You bet.
CHETRY: So we want to know what you think about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's explanation of her wise Latina comment.
Give us an email there. Make your opinion count. You go to cnn.com --
COSTELLO: Yes, I can -- I'll just do it now.
CHETRY: All right. Carol, we'll check in with you a little later.
Also a reminder coming this October, CNN is going to be presenting "LATINO IN AMERICA." This is a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. It's coming up this October on CNN.
Right now, it's 55 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
More on our developing story. New details now in the home invasion and chilling murder of a Florida couple with 16 children. Police say they now have all the murder suspects in custody, among them, a teenager.
Our Ed Lavandera has got new details for us this morning from Pensacola.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, investigators are now focusing on what brought these seven suspects together to carry out what they say was the brutal murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Authorities say Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr. was the ringleader of the seven suspects that allegedly murdered Byrd and Melanie Billings. But in a short court hearing, Gonzalez surprisingly used the moment to declare his innocence. It's the first time we've heard from any of the accused.
LEONARD GONZALEZ JR., SUSPECT: ...hearsay, circumstantial evidence and the confession of a mentally-challenged person with a long history of making false statements and false confessions. LAVANDERA: We don't know who Gonzalez is talking about exactly, but investigators say they've arrested all the men who carried out what they called the methodical and chilling murders of the Billings couple.
These are the pictures of the suspects who face murder charges. One we can't show you because he's a 16-year-old juvenile. Three are from the Pensacola area, the other four from the Fort Walton Beach area.
The Escambia sheriff says Gonzalez Jr. and Donald Ray Stallworth have a military background. The Air Force confirms Stallworth is currently an active duty staff sergeant.
LAVANDERA (on camera): In fact, authorities tell us these menus military-style training to rehearse their attack on the Billings home. And that they use this property here in the weeks before the killings to train. This is where Leonard Patrick Gonzales Sr. lived. He's the man authorities say drove the red getaway van seen in the surveillance video.
SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: It was a very well-planned and well-executed operation.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): But after saying that robbery was one of several possible motives, authorities now say the suspects burst into the home, killed the couple and then stole a medium-sized safe. They squashed suggestions that something more sinister was behind the killings.
BILL EDDINS, STATE ATTORNEY: I think the safest, easiest, clearest thing to say is that the primary motive in this case is robbery. Home invasion, robbery.
LAVANDERA: Investigators say Leonard Gonzalez Sr. and Wayne Coldiron were occasionally hired to work around the Billings property, but beyond that there doesn't appear to be any connection between the seven suspects and the Billings family.
MORGAN: We have found them and they are in custody.
LAVANDERA: As the final arrests were announced, Ashley Markham, the oldest daughter of Byrd and Melanie Billings, tearfully stood by the sheriff's side, but she left without speaking out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Investigators say their work still isn't done. Even though seven people now face murder charges, they say they're looking for an eighth person that might have had something to do with this crime.
John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Ed Lavandera reporting this morning. The Florida secretary's law office said that Ashley Markham, the daughter of the slain couple is holding a news conference right now. We're going to be monitoring this for you this morning. We'll bring you any news that may come out of it.
