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American Morning
Cambridge Police Department Hurt by Obama's Comments; Health Care Timeline Hits a Setback; Talks Continue for Health Bill, Vote Not Possible Before August Recess; Minimum Wage Jumps Up; ESPN Reporter Fights Back Illicit Video Circulating on Internet; Rhode Island Legal Loophole Allows Underage Stripping; Mass Arrest in Corruption Case;
Aired July 24, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBERTS: That brings us to the top of the hour at 7:00 Eastern on this Friday, the 24th of July. Thanks for being with us in the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We're following new developments on several major stories this morning.
First of all, President Obama softening his criticism of the police who arrested a prominent black Harvard professor. What the president says now about the racially charged incident. Also, our exclusive interview with the Cambridge police commissioner.
ROBERTS: President Obama's health care timeline hits a major speed bump. The Democratic leader of the Senate now saying getting a reform bill passed by the August recess cannot be done. We're live at the White House this morning with details.
CHETRY: Well, it's Friday. It's payday for many and as of today minimum wage goes up again. This is the third increase in three years. Between three million and five million people will be affected by the increase, but what could it mean for businesses that are already struggling?
ROBERTS: President Obama's push on health care being sidelined by the war of words over the arrest of noted black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. It's a battle the president jumped into with both feet during Wednesday night's press conference.
Gates, you may know by now, was mistaken for a burglar and ended up in handcuffs at his own house. And police say he accused the arresting officer of racism. The police commissioner in Cambridge, Massachusetts says his force is "deeply pained" after President Obama said his officers "acted stupidly." But the president talking last night to ABC News still cautiously sticking by his words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man, who uses a cane, who's in his own home.
I think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems that we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance. From what I can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is probably that it would have been better if cooler heads have prevailed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now for a side of the story that you'll only see here on CNN, let's bring in our Don Lemon. He is live from Boston this morning. He sat down exclusively with the Cambridge police commissioner.
And, Don, he's pretty upset by this whole episode.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you know what? He is upset. The entire force is upset as you alluded to earlier, John. Morale is down here and the officers -- many officers here believe that the president not only singled out the officer, they believe that calling him stupid, you know the president said that the police acted stupidly, not only singled out the officer, the entire police force and officers around the country. So, they're pretty upset by it and they feel that they are owed an apology.
And, John, as you said, I sat down yesterday exclusively or talked one-on-one exclusively with the police commissioner about the president's remarks and about his force here in Cambridge. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, Commissioner, when you look at this in the paper and you see the president here and it says Obama scolds Cambridge police, what do you think of that?
COMMISSIONER ROBERT HAAS, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think what you need to understand about this police department and this community is it's very private. They're very proud about its diversity within its community and how hard we worked over the years to build a strong, solid relationship with the department and the community.
And I have to tell you the officers take that very personally and basically, we feel hurt by that comment. We truly are trying to do the best service we can to the community, and sometimes we make mistakes. We're human. We learn from those mistakes. We move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Now, people here in the police department thought that this would all die down after the charges were dropped and the whole thing was put aside, they feel. Until the president's remarks and they feel that that just amped it up again. But, you know, after it was dropped, the big question is, why did they do it? If there was no guilt that they did nothing wrong, then why did they do it? I posed that question, John, to the police commissioner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Why did you drop all of it then?
HAAS: We basically were approached by Professor Gates' attorney and asking -- and representing to us that Professor Gates wanted to put this behind him. And I felt that was the appropriate thing to do.
LEMON: Some may look at that as an admission of wrongdoing or something went wrong during the whole process.
HAAS: No, I don't view it that way at all. I just believe that we can't be distracted and that we have to move forward and we have to stay focused on what our mission is here in the city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Sergeant Crowley, a very well-respected member of the police department here. In fact, John, he was handpicked by a former police commissioner here who happens to be African-American. His name is Ronnie Watson. He is retired now. He lives in Chicago. And Ronnie Watson handpicked him to teach racial profiling tactics and ways not to racially profile people at the academy.
So, it's very interesting that this happened. And also, as you know, as I said, this is being amped up today at noon, the officer's union. I think it's the association of superior officers here holding a press conference where this sergeant is expected to talk and release a statement.
They're very upset by all of this here. So, you know, it goes on. And as one person said, they believe that Gates by coming out and speaking, by saying he's going to sue, they believe he's adding fuel to the fire rather than trying to temp this down and have a conversation, John.
ROBERTS: So, one of the other things that we learned about this sergeant too, James Crowley, is back in 1993 when Reggie Lewis dropped dead on the floor...
LEMON: Yes.
ROBERTS: ... the Boston Celtics training camp, he was a paramedic at that time and he tried to resuscitate Reggie Lewis.
LEMON: Yes. He jumped in to resuscitate Reggie Lewis and there are other stories about that. A few other stories about this sergeant like that in the community about how he helped people and, really, how he has a diverse group of friends, how he is well liked on the force. So, it's very interesting when you have officers, even officers of color speaking highly of this young man and then you have the other side of the story.
ROBERTS: Yes.
LEMON: What exactly went on in the home, we don't know. But also, John, I've got to tell you, they're considering releasing the 911 tape from the caller who called in the burglary and they're also considering releasing the radio traffic from the police department where it has been said that you can hear Professor Gates in the background and he seems to be unruly and out of control. So we shall see.
ROBERTS: Yes. I read in the police report that at one point Sergeant Crowley he had to go, leave the kitchen where he was talking with Gates and go outside because Gates was speaking so loudly he couldn't effectively use his radio.
Well, we'll keep peeling back the layers of the onion on this one, Don. It's a very interesting story.
Don Lemon for us up there in Massachusetts.
LEMON: It is a great story.
ROBERTS: Don, thanks so much.
LEMON: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: It's good to see you.
CHETRY: And now to another developing story this morning, the sudden slowdown on health care reform. The president gets hit with a delay from the Senate that he didn't want and this is what he said in a town hall in Ohio yesterday about lawmakers saying they're going to have to wait until after the August recess to try to take up the health care debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I don't want to delay just because of politics. And I have to tell you, sometimes delays in Washington occur because people just don't want to do anything that they think might be controversial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, our Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill with the very latest. So, a lot of people said it was ambitious to try to get it done before the August recess. The Senate leaders saying it's not realistic right now. So where do we stand this morning right now, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You remember, Kiran, initially President Obama said that he wanted the House and the Senate to vote on health care before they left for their August recess in a week or so, but President Obama now saying he will accept a temporary delay as long as lawmakers are working towards consensus. And really, he doesn't have too much of a choice, it seems, because the top Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid, indicating yesterday that it's just not likely in the Senate that they, at least, are going to have a vote.
Now that the Senate Finance Committee where a bipartisan agreement, members there are trying to hash out an agreement, they've asked for more time.
Meantime, on the House side of things, there are also some delays. Only it has to do with Democrats sort of arguing with Democrats. Conservative Democrats, the Blue Dogs have raised some concerns about costs and how to pay for health care and they succeeded in delaying moving health care out of the one key committee there in the House, even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still saying that she is indicating she is set on a vote there in the House before they go to August recess.
As you can imagine in the House, this division between Democrats is really right for the exploitation politically by Republicans and they are seizing on this opportunity. They're actually doing so with a visual aid. You may remember that flow chart from the '90s about the Clinton health care plan, it was pretty confusing looking, captured some of the confusion, some would say, actually created some confusion.
Well, the gimmick is back. This is it right here. Republicans have been shuttling this actual poster right here out on the House floor. This is what they say the Democrats, the House Democrats health plan will look like. Take a listen to some of what they've said recently on the House floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: This is what it looks like. Now if anybody thinks that all of this bureaucracy needs to fix our health care system, I would politely disagree.
REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: This is the organizational chart of the health care plan the Democrats are proposing.
REP. TODD AKIN (R), MISSOURI: We're talking about a health care system that's going to have the good heart of the IRS and the efficiency of the postal system. You know, let's take a look at some of these different government agencies and how much do we -- do we really want to trust them with our personal health care?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Republicans say under the Democrats' plan, this would be you, this would be your doctor, and you'd have to kind of go through a bunch of bureaucracies to really get your health care. And this is the point they've been hammering home now for a week or so.
But Democrats say that's completely untrue, that this is an exaggeration. That really what they're doing is streamlining the process so that you don't have to deal with the ins and outs of a health insurance company and you can go to one place to buy insurance, go to one place to get questions answered and their retort actually is to put out their own chart.
A representation of what they say is the Republican, the House Republican plan for health care, a whole lot of question marks, they say, because House Republicans have not put out their own bill. So, it's really this battle of the charts here on Capitol Hill, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, there you go. Brianna Keilar with the flow charts there. Thanks so much.
What did the poor post office do to get dragged in that mess? I have a letter. I mail it. Two days later, it gets there. It gets there.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, they're losing a lot of money. That could have something to do with it.
Also new this morning, you've got new information on the train crash that killed nine and injured 70 in Washington, D.C. last month. Federal safety investigators now say the train's signaling system was faulty for a year and a half before the collision. It was the deadliest crash in D.C. metro history. The malfunctioning signals may have led to the crash near the Maryland state line. $150 million has just been approved to make repairs and replace rail cars on that line.
CHETRY: Well, Sunday is the farewell picnic. It's taking place in Fairbanks, Alaska. It's for Governor Sarah Palin as she officially steps down from office. Palin will officially turn over power to Alaska's lieutenant governor in order to prepare for the next stage of her career.
ROBERTS: And minimum wages go up today. The third time in three years. Times have changed? Could the increase cost more jobs?
Our Christine Romans is here to explain, coming right up.
It's 12 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. President Obama wanted a vote on health care reform before Congress takes it August recess. In the Senate, that's not likely now. But for any chance of getting a bill passed, the president is probably going to need the support of fiscally conservative Democrats in the House, the so-called Blue Dogs. And right now he doesn't have it.
Let's bring in one of those Blue Dogs, Congressman Mike Ross of Arkansas. It's good to see you, congressman. So what are the problems that the Blue Dog Democrats have with the proposals that are making their way through Congress right now?
REP. MIKE ROSS (D-AR), MEMBER, BLUE DOG COALITION: Well, John, for about three months we've been indicating that the current House bill doesn't go nearly far enough at containing costs. You know, there's two issues here when we talk about health care reform. Obviously, one issue is making sure those who do not have insurance today have an affordable plan for them.
The other issue is the fact that health care costs are growing at twice the rate of inflation. And until we -- until we get health care costs growing at a rate somewhat closer to normal inflation, we can never balance the federal budget again nor can the employers continue to be able to afford to pay for insurance.
We're already seeing more and more of the cost shift from the employer to the employee. It's going to reach a point in the not too distant future where neither can afford it. This bill doesn't do nearly enough to contain those costs to get after the kind of fundamental reforms and changes that we need and how we deliver and pay for health care.
And, of course, our statement on that we've been saying for three months was recently backed up by the CBO director last week, Elmendorf, when he came out and said, in fact, that the current House bill doesn't go nearly far enough at containing and controlling costs both short term and long term.
ROBERTS: Yes. He said that that would lead to a $239 billion deficit over the course of ten years.
OK. Well, here's the thing that people at home might not be able to figure out, congressman, is they hear all the proponents of these bills to say, this is going to save us money in the long run. The president says it's going to save us money. The speaker of the House says it's going to save us money. Charlie Rangel, Henry Waxman, they're all saying this is going to cut down costs. Why have they got it so wrong?
ROSS: It's not that they've got it wrong. Actually, that can happen if we do it right. And, you know, as the CBO director indicated last week, this bill falls short of doing that. And so, what we're saying is this is fundamental change that's going to affect all 300 million people in America. And let's not rush it. Let's slow down. Let's get it right and ensure that the American people get the kind of health care that they need and deserve.
I mean, look, the president, I was at the White House in March for the National Health Care summit. He said at that time that he wanted to get health care reform done this year. We share that goal and I am very optimistic that we will get health care reform done this year. But the American people want to slow down. They want us to get it right and they want us to have time to read the bills that we're voting on.
ROBERTS: There are some people up there on Capitol Hill who aren't too happy with you. The Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi saying, "In recent days some within the Democratic Caucus have raised spurious claims that the cost of reforming health care in America is something our nation cannot afford." That was a veiled swipe at the Blue Dogs.
And the coalition of 19 organization there in Washington sent another letter to the House leadership, again, couching the language now, particularly singling out the Blue Dogs, but, you know, I got the back story around all of it from the PR folks there who sent that letter and it was the Blue Dogs who were trying to, you know, slow walk this process. They're going to kill this process. They're going to ensure that middle class Americans pay three times what members of Congress do for their health care. Is any of that true?
ROSS: My response is quite simple. Again, I go back to the CBO director who validated the Blue Dog concerns, our concerns that this bill falls short of containing costs. I would also point to President Obama. Two or three days ago on CBS when he said the Blue Dogs rightfully have serious concerns about the need to do a better job in the House bill of containing costs.
And let me tell you that this is not a battle with the White House. It's not a battle with the leadership. This is part of the legislative process and we're simply trying to be a constructive part of the legislative process and moving health care reform forward.
ROBERTS: So, do you think that the president will get a bill and, if he does, when?
ROSS: I suspect that we will pass health care reform this year. It's not going to happen before the August break for several reasons, including the fact that Mr. Reid yesterday indicated that they would not be bringing a bill to the Senate floor until September.
You know, whether it's August 1 or sometime in September or October, look, this is complicated and very complex. We've been trying to do health care reform since Harry Truman. Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, they all failed at it because it is very complex and very complicated. But to the president's credit, let me say that we are closer now to meaningful health care reform than we've ever been before.
And I'm telling you that something this complex, something that affects all 300 million of us in America, a bill that's supposed to be about containing costs and, yet, we're still waiting on the CBO to actually give us the cost for the current House bill. So it's like asking us to balance the budget when we don't know what the budget is.
And so, we need to slow down. We need time to read this. We need time to find out exactly what it is costing and how much each of these cost cutting measures can save before we move in haste.
ROBERTS: All right. Congressman Mike Ross, it's good to talk to you this morning. We'll, of course, keep following this very important issue. Thanks for your time.
ROSS: Real good.
ROBERTS: All right.
ROSS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran? CHETRY: All right. Well, today is Friday. It's payday for many, and some will be seeing a little bit more money in their paychecks because of a minimum wage hike that takes effect. But with everything that's going on with the recession, things costing more, is this really a personal stimulus?
It's 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, the federal minimum wage goes up today. It goes from $6.55 to $7.25, and that is the last hike in a three-year, three- tiered increase that was passed by Congress back in 2007. But, you know, it's funny, we say it was passed in 2007, a lot has changed since 2007, especially the economy.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. One of the things people say you need a living wage and then others say, but it hurts small businesses.
ROMANS: Well, living wage -- if you work -- if you work full time all year at that wage, the new wage...
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: You make about $15,000 a year. Think of that. I mean that's the poverty line, almost, if you're trying to support a family with two kids.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: So, 30 states giving minimum wage earners a raise today. That's going be about 2.2 million workers directly who fall into that category and they're pretty happy about it. But many business owners are not.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Raphael Cuellar doesn't want your grocery bill to go up, but he's worried his customers might see higher prices soon. Cuellar has owned this ShopRite at Passaic, New Jersey since 2005. In that time, he's seen the minimum wage in the state jump from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour, up 10 cents just this week to meet the new federal level.
RAFAEL CUELLAR, SHOPRITE OWNER, PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY: This extra payroll it hurts. What is happening usually are those extra payroll transitions are handed over to the consumer because some costs are going to go up.
ROMANS: Cuellar has 40 to 50 minimum wage earners on his staff. His payroll costs won't go up dramatically with the new wage hike, but he says his suppliers, produce and meat companies, the consumer goods factories, they're going to get hit hard.
CUELLAR: All these companies all have thousands and upon thousands of minimum-wage earners. Obviously, they're cost increase it passes on to me and then it passes on to the consumer.
ROMANS: But many consumers will have more money to spend, argue some economists and business owners like Cuellar will benefit.
DAVID MADLAND, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Even if they do have to raise their prices a little bit, they often, very often, almost always make up for that in increased business because workers now are able to spend more money that they have in their pockets.
ROMANS: But not all workers are getting a raise and others argue that in this economy employment will suffer.
PETER MORICI, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: It's going to cost us lots of low-skilled jobs. Simply employers won't be able to hire as many people. Some will get laid off. Well, those with jobs will have a little bit more money in their pocket. Those that don't get hired won't have any at all.
ROMANS: And empty pocket is what concerns Rafael Cuellar.
CUELLAR: The long-term effect of it is it makes people who weren't making minimum wage a little poorer. Millions of other people didn't get a pay raise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Big, big debate now over the long-term effect of raising the minimum wage. Will it help or hurt low-wage workers?
According to the Labor Department, just three percent of hourly workers make the minimum wage but some economist like David Madland, who we spoke to in this piece, they say that boosting this pay leads to raise for other people who are making just above the minimum wage, lifts everybody and that that lifts consumer spending further. But this debate doesn't go away especially now when small businesses are just so strapped.
It also raised the question of people moving and working off the books in general. Small businesses, sometimes people work off the books altogether because they don't want to deal with some of these restrictions. We just have no way of quantifying how that's playing out in here, too.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you bring up a lot of good points and we'd like people to weigh in, as well, on CNN.com/amFIX.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: By the way, poor Christine was out sick yesterday. Everyone is teasing her. ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: And I'm grabbing my emergency packet immediately because you've been here for six days and...
ROMANS: I know I've been coughing on you for five days and I decided to take a day off.
ROBERTS: She was still (ph) playing golf yesterday.
ROMANS: Oh, please.
CHETRY: She wasn't. She'd have a sunburn like you did.
ROBERTS: All right. Don't say that too loud.
So, there's a lot of kind of bizarre laws on the books in various states. Well, here's a really bizarre one.
You know, in the state of Rhode Island, you're allowed to strip under the age of 18, as long as it's inside.
CHETRY: What? And as long as you are back home by 11:30 to attend school the next day.
ROBERTS: Yes, yes.
CHETRY: So a little bit of a loophole. And we're going to be talking to one of the state legislatures who wants to change that.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
ROMANS: What?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It is the ultimate invasion of privacy. ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews was secretly videotaped naked in her hotel room, and it didn't take long before it was all posted all over the Web.
CHETRY: Yes. Even before this happened, some bloggers nicknamed her "Erin Pageviews" because any mention of her equaled an instant traffic boots (ph).
CNN's Carol Costello is live in Washington with more on what people are saying about the story. Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's time for the "Just Sayin'" segment. We want to hear what you think, CNN.com/amFIX, because it's been fascinating to sit back and take into reaction to what many call a horrific invasion of privacy.
But elicit nude pictures taken of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews are more than that. Many women call it sexual assault and there are plenty of men who call it that, too, some of whom blame themselves for what happened. Just saying, who is to blame for what happened to Erin Andrews?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN ANDREWS, ESPN REPORTER: All right, guys, thank you so much.
COSTELLO (voice-over): If you didn't know who Erin Andrews was, you do now. It seems everybody is talking about an uninvited videotaping of the ESPN reporter.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Erin Andrews -- she was the reporter that was secretly taped by a peeping tom in her hotel room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No idea there's a pervert at the door.
GOLDBERG: A nude video ended up on the Internet.
COSTELLO: Andrews' attorney is threatening legal action if anyone continues to post the videos online, but a French Web site persists. Andrews, it seems, has lost control over who has the rights to her body. And while her attorney wants whoever took the pictures to be criminally prosecuted, others say many more are guilty. Just saying, who is to blame?
JESSICA VALENTI, FEMNINISTING.COM: Do you think that we're all complicit in a culture that objectifies women, that is interested in seeing titillating videos of women who don't know they're being filmed?
COSTELLO: And if you think people aren't interested in that kind of thing, Google says searches on Erin Andrews have gone up 5,000 percent in the past five days. The blog sites Sports Media Watch isn't surprised. It says for years there's been a national stalking of Andrews online by those who turned her into a body that exists for leering at.
An inadvertent ESPN shot of Andrews' behind that had a million hits on YouTube. And while ESPN calls Andrews one of the premier sports reporters in the business, some charged it stoked the fire, too, by playing up Andrews' looks and some of those she interviewed, well, they didn't help either.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Create them like this.
ANDREWS: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right?
ANDREWS: All right.
COSTELLO: And then there was this at a college football game. Through it all, by many accounts, Andrews dealt good naturedly with those who objectified her. And some say while Andrews is definitely the victim here, it's time she pushed back.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, "USA TODAY": Play to the 12-year-old girl and her mom and dad on a couch. Don't play to the frat house. Do everything you can to make sure that those whackos do not interfere in my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: A blogger from a site called Dead Spin (ph), which linked to the month-old video last week put it this way. "Was I ever over the line with Coach Bruce Pearl when he hugged her? Was ESPN when they realized that attractive women on the sideline helped ratings? Did I contribute to this awful thing that happened? Did all of us? I don't think so. But if I ran into her on the street today, I'm not sure I could look her in the eye. I'm not sure anybody could."
We've been soliciting your comments on this story this morning, and we've got some interesting ones. I want to read a couple now. This is from Lynn in New York.
She says "Is anyone reading between the lines on this? Our society across the board is to blame. Sex sells everything and television plays 24/7 through every show and every commercial. The 12-year-old sitting on the couch at home with her parents doesn't stand a chance unless society as a whole starts pushing back."
This is from Justin. He says "The Google numbers speak for themselves. She is up a reported 5,000 percent. If that doesn't speak for what a lot of America deems important, I don't know what is. We're always looking for the next scandal or celebrity news story.
With the Internet, this is the monster we have created, I only pray it stops now."
Keep the comments coming. We're going to read more in our 8:00 hour of "American Morning." It's CNN.com/amfix, CNN.com/amfix. We really want to know what you think about this story.
CHETRY: Yes, and a couple other people wrote in and saying sorry to hear this happened to Erin, but this isn't the only one it's happened to. Other Kates (ph) in changing rooms and bathrooms. It's sick."
And someone else said, "Repulsive, tired of people who somehow tie this to how she dresses or appears in public. It's a crime, nothing less.
COSTELLO: You know, what's really interesting, Kiran, is online there's this whole trend of posting nude pictures of women online who don't know that these pictures are being taken. It's really disturbing.
CHETRY: Peeping Tom in cyberspace, absolutely.
Carol, thanks.
It's 32 minutes past the hour. We're tracking several developing stories this morning. And police in Indonesia say there was a third bomb set to go off a week ago when suicide bombers attacked the two hotels in Jakarta. They say that third bomb, however, malfunctioned. The attack killed seven people.
Police say the third device was rigged to go off before the two bombers blew themselves off. It was a move intended to create extra chaos, they say.
ROBERTS: Actress Angelina Jolie is in Baghdad, visiting with people who have been displaced by war. It's part of her role as a U.N. ambassador for refugees. Speaking exclusively to CNN, she says "The time to act for Iraqis is now."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS/U.N. GOODWILL AMBASSADOR: These countries years on have all these little problems because it was this moment that wasn't given enough attention, it was this moment that we didn't have enough support, that they didn't have the right education. And so, so this is the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jolie visited a makeshift village on the outskirts of Baghdad where about 20,000 Iraqis still live because of sectarian violence.
CHETRY: The World Health Organization says the global swine flu outbreak is still in its early stages and we should expect that there would be around 2 billion cases over the course of the pandemic. They only confirmed 130,000 global cases of the h1n1 virus so far.
There's a huge push this morning to close what some are saying is a shocking legal loophole in Rhode Island. While teens can't pump gas or climb ladders on the job because of protections in the workplace laws, there's nothing on the books keeping 16 and 17 year olds from stripping as long as they're home by 11:30 on school nights.
Now, authorities discovered this loophole, I guess you could say, during a police investigation, a 16-year-old runaway found working at a strip club in providence.
Joining me live is State Representative Joanne Giannini. She is working to change the law. Thanks for being with us this morning. So, tell me how the...
JOANNE GIANNINI, RHODE ISLAND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: And you heard about the case of the 16-year-old. How did this all of this first come to the attention of police and legislatures?
GIANNINI: Well, there was a newspaper article about a 16-year- old young girl from Boston who was found by local police and a rescue worker. And she had told them she was stripping in a club, and turns out she was 16 years old.
And, basically, they couldn't charge the perpetrators because there's no law banning minors from working in adult entertainment zones.
CHETRY: One of the interesting things is that there are laws on the books regarding underage people working in general. The lieutenant governor said she was just jumping through hoops to get her 17-year-old to be able to be a camp counselor with the working papers it requires.
So how would this slip through the cracks?
GIANNINI: This slipped through the cracks.
We also have another loophole where prostitution indoors is illegal (ph), which makes both these loopholes extremely disturbing and both need to be addressed.
And in this next legislative session, when we go back from recess, I hope to introduce legislation to be in mind (ph) for working in life performances with sexual conduct.
CHETRY: Some say is it really needed, the law, meaning that it seems like there is a lot of problems, and for this 16-year-old runaway, a lot of things went wrong before we even got to the point of her being stripping at this club.
Some of the reporting that I read said that she actually did produce an I.D. showing that she was 20. So even if there was law on the books, she would have found a way to get around it anyway.
GIANNINI: But the fact remains that the laws need to be in place, and if there was one, that's one too many. And we are responsible to make sure the laws are there to protect our young women and our young men.
CHETRY: And how far along are you on this legislation? And also, as you said, there's this other odd loophole in your state that prostitution is illegal outdoors but legal indoors.
GIANNINI: Correct.
CHETRY: Are you trying to combine both of those to toughen up the laws on the sex industry?
GIANNINI: No. The bill, the bill for the indoor prostitution passed the House overwhelmingly, and it is stalled in the state Senate. We are on recess right now.
When we return in the next few weeks, I plan on introducing and trying to push through a separate bill which would ban minors from working in the adult entertainment zone, and explicitly stripping or live performances involving sexual conduct.
CHETRY: Yes. And again, back to the issue of the fact of this 16-year-old ended up in this unfortunate situation, ran away and then being taken advantage of. There is there anything you are working toward to help support people and young people that find themselves in these situations?
GIANNINI: Sure, we do. We have many organizations here to support and to help, and many social service providers who are willing to help them.
This young woman was brought here by a 40-year-old who allegedly has been working with prostitutes, and he brought her here from Boston. This certainly isn't something that we want to see happen to our young girls and all our young men.
So, these are all issues that we are looking at here, and we all have to work together to stop this industry.
CHETRY: Well, as I understand it, you're getting support for your bill, you're heading back to a special session in a couple weeks and you hope to get it voted on then.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
GIANNINI: Thank you.
CHETRY: Representative Joanne Giannini out of Providence this morning, we appreciate it.
ROBERTS: It's amazing. You can strip under the age of 18 if you're home by 11:30 on a weeknight. How do these things ever happen? Got to ask that.
Another thing you have to ask how did it ever happen -- what's going on in New Jersey? You have got mayors, you've got state legislatures, you've got rabbis all under arrest, money laundering, selling organs.
This unbelievable tale of corruption happening in the Garden State. Our Deb Feyerick here to unravel it all for you.
Stay tuned, we've got that coming right up. It's 38 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: New Jersey, no stranger to dirty politics, to say the least, but the latest crackdown on corruption there is stunning, even by Jersey standards.
More than 40 people were arrested yesterday including mayors, state lawmakers, even rabbis. The allegations range from money laundering to the selling of organs.
CHETRY: Yes, it was mindboggling to hear the police rattle off all of the things that are going on right now in their investigation. CNN's Deborah Feyerick following all of this for us, to unravel it.
I mean, you know, New Jersey, unfortunately, has a history of corruption, but this really takes the cake.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really takes the cake, because of the 44 people who were charged, the majority were politicians.
And this is staggering. In one case, a defendant selling kidneys, paying people $10,000, turning around, selling those kidneys for $160,000.
The feds cast a very wide net. They caught a number of people who allegedly had no problem breaking the law.
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FEYERICK: It began as an investigation into international money laundering, allegedly by a handful of prominent New Jersey rabbis with ties to Israel.
It turned into a far reaching probe of public corruption in New Jersey as nearly 30 politicians and public official, Democrats and Republicans, were rounded up in what prosecutors called the largest sweep of its kind.
WEYSON DUN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: This case is not about politics, it is certainly not about religion. It is about crime, corruption. It is about arrogance. It is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust.
FEYERICK: The two cases are linked by a single cooperating witness posing as a real estate developer, but, in fact, working for the governor, says New Jersey's top prosecutor.
RALPH MARRA, JR., ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: I don't donate, I invest, the C.W. would say, in meetings, in parking lots, at restaurants, luncheonettes, diners, offices, basement boiler rooms, and bathrooms. And the politicians willingly put themselves up for sale.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors say public official officials, including mayors, deputy mayors, councilmen, and a New Jersey assemblyman, brazenly took envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors.
One of the most damaging statements allegedly made -- Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, who allegedly took $25,000 in bribes, telling the phony developer he would become a priority, while "The people who are against us the whole way, they get ground into powder."
Prosecutor Ed Kahrer has been working the case for ten years.
ED KAHRER, FBI PUBLIC CORRUPTION DIVISION: Corruption is not only pervasive, it has become ingrained in New Jersey's political culture.
FEYERICK: New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine criticized the election while asking one of his staff to step down after he was investigated but not charged.
GOV. JOE CORZINE, (D) NEW JERSEY: This morning I ask for the resignation of Commissioner Joe Doria, and he has agreed to resign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The prosecutors say the same cooperating witness paying bribes to the public officials had earlier infiltrated the international money laundering operation, the rabbis allegedly getting fees as much as 10 percent to launder tens of millions of dollars to their religious organizations.
What's interesting, the cooperating witness had actually gotten caught up in his own scandal, and that is why he was cooperating with the feds.
But the politicians, each of them taking bribes independently. There was no conspiracy, they were just -- that's the way it goes.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable. What a tangled web.
FEYERICK: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Deb, thanks so much.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: We'll be following more on the Michael Jackson investigation. Our Drew Griffin with a look inside a home even Michael Jackson couldn't afford. It was the home he wanted but never got a chance to buy -- 44 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, still ahead, we're going to be following the latest on the Michael Jackson investigation, and Drew Griffin getting another inside look at a home that Michael Jackson wanted to use to change his life, to reinvent himself, never got a chance to buy it.
It's 49 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Beautiful shot this morning, Las Vegas, Nevada, partly cloudy right now, it's 82 degrees. A little bit later, isolated thunderstorms in the forecast, 96, which is, you know, pretty cool, actually, for July in Vegas.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We have new developments in the Michael Jackson investigation this morning. Our special investigations unit found the Jackson home -- or it was the home that Jackson was hoping to buy. Secret tunnels, a 20-car garage, and our Drew Griffin got a chance to go inside.
And Drew, Jackson, of course, as we know, had Neverland, but he was looking for another place, perhaps Wonderland.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Yes. He supposedly came up with that name "Wonderland" according to his real estate agent while saying he was really done with Neverland in California.
At this time, this was a couple of years ago, Jackson was trying to really build a life in Las Vegas. And according to his real estate agent in Las Vegas, this is the home that he was trying to raise his family in.
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GRIFFIN: It's the home Michael Jackson wanted but at the time even he couldn't afford. According to his Las Vegas realtor, Zar Zanganeh, this 10-acre walled estate was to be Michael Jackson's Vegas Wonderland.
ZAR ZARGANEH, MICHAL JACKSON'S REALTOR: This is the only house I showed Michael out of probably ten or a dozen where he came outside. And he came outside with no umbrella, no mask on, just came out here with the kids to see the grounds of the property.
Through this here, we have apartments. It's about 1,000 square feet, and the kids wanted to make this into the play room, and Michael loved that idea.
GRIFFIN: Instead, Zanganeh placed Jackson and his family in this lease home. It was not up to par, says Zangani, but Jackson was building a life in Las Vegas and also trying to build back his wealth, entertaining casino owners who were offering Jackson deal after deal to make him stay.
ZARGANEH: I know that Michael really liked the idea of being able to perform in one location night after night. He loved the fact that the kids could actually have a place to call home and not move around with him, since they're always going everywhere with him. That was an idea that very much appealed to him.
There is a couple secret tunnels through here.
GRIFFIN: The estate is filled with quirky appeals, secret tunnels leading to a gun range Jackson wanted to turn into a music studio, a barber chair in the master bath, a full gym, theater room, and a 20-car garage where he and his family could load into and out of cars out of view.
(on camera): What was he most interested in when he'd come into a house like this?
ZARGANEH: Michael's biggest concern was in my opinion was always the safety of his children.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): At the time, just back from his self-exile in Bahrain and Ireland, Jackson simply couldn't afford the $22 million to $25 million price tag. Zanganeh says he believes the concert tour would have been Michael Jackson's pathway back to this house, a permanent show in Las Vegas, and a new retreat he would've called Wonderland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And Karen, according to his realtor, Jackson was also very interested in who his neighbors would be. He wanted not to visit them, but to make sure they were of his stature.
And this home, which borders one of the princes of the Sultan of Bernay, and also Vegas royalty, you might say -- Wayne Newton lives down the street -- fit that bill to a tee.
Because of the housing market collapse, that $25 million to $22 million price tag is now down to about $16.5 million.
CHETRY: So it's still on the market, huh?
GRIFFIN: Still on the market. They have potential buyers. It's a 10-acre walled estate, and even the side house, the guest house is 3,500 square feet. So there's a lot of room to relax in.
CHETRY: I should say so.
Well, Drew Griffin looking into that. It's pretty neat that you were able to get inside and check that out. Thanks for being with us.
Also, remember the nurse practitioner who said that Michael Jackson called her and begged her for a powerful drug so he could sleep? Police just took her files on the pop star. She'll be joining us live coming up with more details.
It's 55 minutes past the hour.
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