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American Morning

Journalists, Former President Clinton, Arrive from North Korea; Shooter in Gym Kills 3, Self; Boston Police Officer Sues after Suspension for Racial Comments.

Aired August 05, 2009 - 07:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Crossing the top of the hour now. Thanks for being with us on an action-packed Wednesday. It's the fifth of August. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. It sure is a busy Wednesday morning this morning. We're awaiting any moment now the arrival in Burbank, California of Euna Ling and Laura -- Euna Lee and Laura Ling. They're on their way home as we speak and could touch down any moment. These are the two journalists who were freed from North Korea with the help of former President Bill Clinton late last night. You'll see the emotional reunion with their families right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

ROBERTS: It's being called a massacre inside a Pittsburgh-area gym. This morning police are trying to find out why a gunman walked into an exercise class and unloaded two guns, killing at least three people before he reportedly shot and killed himself.

CHETRY: Boston officer who referred to Harvard Professor Henry Gates as a, quote, "banana eating jungle monkey," in an e-mail is now suing, claiming his civil rights were violated.

Officer Justin Barrett's lawyer telling CNN he client was denied his right to free speech and denied the right to a hearing over his job, claiming that Boston's mayor effectively fired him on TV.

ROBERTS: OK, we begin now with the breaking news of two Americans now free from a North Korean prison. Journalist Laura Ling and Euna Lee are on a plane home with former President Bill Clinton. As you can imagine, their family and friends are ecstatic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG LING, LAURA LING'S FATHER: Of course, I'm elated. This is one of the happiest days of my life. So I'm going to go see my little girl.

I knew something positive was going to happen. And it happened. And I'm so glad, and I'm so thankful for all the people, for their prayers and thoughts. I'm very thankful to the State Department. I'm very thankful to the government for doing all they can to gain the release.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: We're covering the story from all sides this morning. We literally have it surrounded. Our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty live in Washington.

But first let's go to our Thelma Gutierrez. She is live in Burbank this morning, where that plane will be landing any minute now. And Thelma's, there's got to be an awful lot of happy people there today.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, absolutely.

Now, I can tell you that one of the spokespeople came through here a few minutes ago, and she said that the plane is expected to land about 5:30 local time, 8:30 eastern.

Now, there are a lot of logistical concerns to work out. This thing has been so fluid and just moves so quickly. Take a look at what's behind me. This is the reason there is such a concern right now. You have lots of media, local, national, international media that are out here right now, standing at the gate.

They're waiting to be escorted in to hanger 25 that you can see right over there. This is where the reunion is expected to take place.

Now, this is a section of the airport where VIPs fly in and out of. It's stars, executives that come out of the area. And, of course, one major complication when you have a former president and a vice president who are landing is security.

And so we have seen the Secret Service come in and out of here, FBI as well -- big concern. You have got lots of trucks, lots of people, lots of equipment waiting to get in. And so the bomb squad has come in. They actually had to go and sweep the area. That's what we've been seeing a lot of.

What we haven't seen though, John, are Laura Ling's family members and Euna Lee's family member. We're expecting Doug Ling to come in at any time now.

He spoke to reporters outside his home in Sacramento last night, saying that it was going to be the happiest day of his life. Then he boarded a plane headed to Burbank. And when he landed here, he met reporters again and talked to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: How are you doing today?

DOUG LING: I feel great.

QUESTION: Tell us your first thoughts when you found out the girls were coming home.

DOUG LING: Well, you know, to tell you the truth I forgot. I was excited. QUESTION: Explain what this whole ordeal has been like for your family.

DOUG LING: It brought us closer together. That's about it.

QUESTION: Any message to President Clinton for what he did today?

DOUG LING: Thank you very much to the president.

QUESTION: What do you think about his trip there and what he did for your daughter?

DOUG LING: Well, anything that helps I'm grateful.

QUESTION: What is your message for Kim Jong-il.

DOUG LING: Well, I wish he come around, open that door a little more.

QUESTION: Were you concerned she might be stuck there for 12 years?

DOUG LING: No, I didn't think they would be there that long.

QUESTION: You held out a lot of hope?

DOUG LING: Yes, because I have a lot of faith and a lot of faith in our State Department.

QUESTION: How did you find out? How did you get the news?

DOUG LING: Oh, you mean today?

QUESTION: Yes.

DOUG LING: I was watching CNN this morning, and it was breaking news that this happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Doug Ling said that the first thing he would do is hug his daughter and tell her that he loves her. So a very emotional reunion that's expected to take place within the next hour or so - John.

ROBERTS: We're expecting the plane to touch down at 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 Eastern?

GUTIERREZ: That's what we're told out here by Rogers and Cohen. That's a big P.R. firm here in Los Angeles, and their spokesperson just walked by, and she says I think it's going to be 5:30. So we'll see.

ROBERTS: Depending on -- regardless of when it is, we're all set and we're ready to go. Thelma Gutierrez down there at the bottom of the airport. Thelma, thanks so much for that.

CHETRY: We know there was a lot going on behind the scenes before the former president left for Pyongyang. This morning former President Bill Clinton's wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she's happy and relieved that the women are heading home, adding that she will say more once the pair is on the ground.

And while Bill Clinton wasn't officially representing the Obama administration, there's no denying that politics are in play from both countries. Our Jill Dougherty is live from Washington to talk about how all of this went down. Good morning, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Karen. You know, there's a fascinating back story of details that are now coming out. There was a briefing by some senior administration officials, unnamed. And they gave these details. So let's go through them.

This goes back, they say, to even before the mission. It goes back to July. They say that in mid-July North Korea said that it was willing to grant amnesty to those women, the journalists, if an envoy like Bill Clinton would come to Pyongyang.

And the women were able to call their parents, and they told them what the North Koreans were saying.

Then, July 24th, the national security adviser spoke with President Clinton about that officer.

And then finally at the end of July, President Clinton agreed to go, but he made it clear it was a humanitarian effort. It would have to be successful, and that North Korea would have to agree that it was a humanitarian visit only, not negotiating, not connected to the nuclear issue.

Then finally, again, while in North Korea, what happened? Clinton spent more than three hours directly with leader Kim Jong-il, an hour and 15 minutes, we're told, a meeting with Kim, and then a dinner lasting for more than two hours. And that was a rare close-up view of the North Korean leader.

Then finally a very important detail -- President Obama never spoke directly with President Clinton about this. Why is that important? Because they are trying to really strictly define and separate the issue of the fate of those journalists and the overall very tense relationship on those nuclear issues -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Yes, it's very interesting, as you said before, because he is, of course, the spouse of the current secretary of state. And she's had some opinions, certainly, on North Korea's nuclear ambitions as well.

We're going to be talking about all this with governor Bill Richardson coming up in just a couple of minutes. Very interesting, and we'll check in with you a little later. Thanks, Jill. ROBERTS: More on a developing horror story outside of Pittsburgh, a deadly shooting spree at an L.A. fitness club there. A man pulls guns out of a gym bag and opens fire. Police say he killed three people before he shot and killed himself.

Witnesses say people were flying off treadmills and taking cover. And the number of bullets that he allegedly fired is just staggering. The rampage happened in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. It's a suburb of Pittsburgh. Several severely wounded people are in hospitals across the area this morning.

Our Susan Candiotti is there as well outside the club where it all happened. Susan what's the latest information we have on the shooter and the condition of these folks and how this all went down?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, all of that still coming together, of course, John. Pure pandemonium, as you can imagine, when shots rang out.

And now we have the identity of the alleged shooter here. According to a law enforcement source he is George Sodini, 48 years old. He lives in a nearby town. He had at least two guns, and one of them at least was registered to him.

Both witnesses and police say that Sodini got off as many as 50 shots before taking his own life. One of those shots, according to the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette," wounded someone who was identified as the gunman's ex-girlfriend. The police chief had no comment on that.

This happened at 8:15 last night at the L.A. Fitness Center, very crowded, at least 40, 50, 60 people inside at the time. Witnesses say that Sodini walked inside, had a gym bag with him, walked into an aerobics class, put the bag down, took at least one if not two weapons out, turned out the lights, and then started shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened was they were in a Pilates class or something like that, and they turned the lights out. And all the sudden the shooting started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shut the lights off in the aerobic room. And by the time I realized what was going on, I looked over to the aerobic room, and I could see flashes in the dark. And that's when I realized that someone was actually using a firearm inside of there.

It was pretty intense. At first you didn't get a chance to think about it because it happened so fast. But then once you realized when you were outside what happened you saw the people running around and there was people that were shot and bleeding. It was a lot to take in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And, in fact, there was a note in his bag. But police won't say exactly what it said for now. What's also impressive here, John, is how many people tried to help those who were wounded while others ran out the door. Everyone tried to pull together - John.

ROBERTS: It's also pretty amazing that there weren't more people who were killed or hurt given the number of shots that he pulled off. Susan Candiotti for us, thanks so much Susan, appreciate it.

CHETRY: And as we've just learned new details now. It looks like 8:30 eastern is when we expect the plane to land from North Korea in Burbank carrying the two journalists who were held there for months.

The governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson has sat down with North Korea dictator before to try to help win the freedom of Americans held there. He joins us with his take.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 13 1/2 minutes past the hour.

A live picture there, the Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, California, an airport that's very close to downtown L.A. and Hollywood and all of that. It's primarily used as an executive airport.

And that's where President Clinton will flying in in the not too distant future, maybe a little less than 90 minutes from now, scheduled at 5:30 pacific time, 8:30 eastern time, along with Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who have been held since March in North Korea and who were granted amnesty yesterday after President Clinton went there and talked with Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, and he agreed to release them.

So, they're on their way, in the air. That's the assembled media outside the hanger where they're expected to have a press conference. And we're expecting that Laura Ling will be talking along with Euna Lee, family members as well. Laura's well known sister Lisa Ling will also be there, expect to hear from her.

And so it's going to be just an incredible family reunion today. And we're looking forward to bringing you live coverage of all of that coming up over the next 90 minutes.

CHETRY: And in the meantime, while in North Korea, former President Clinton sat down face to face with the country's dictator, Kim Jong-il, as we say from the pictures.

The White House says those discussions over Pyongyang's nuclear program were not on the agenda, but the high profile meeting has a lot of people talking this morning. Will it possibly lead to a breaking of the ice between Washington and Pyongyang, or is it just a very high profile photo op?

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has sat down before with North Korea's dictator twice, in fact, to negotiate the release of Americans. He joins us live from Santa Fe this morning.

Thanks so much for being with us, governor.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) NEW MEXICO: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

First of all, you had a chance to speak to Lisa Ling, the sister of Laura Ling, after the news came out that indeed her sister would be freed. What was her reaction? What did she tell you?

RICHARDSON: Well, she was enormously relieved. We've been working together on this for some time. The whole family suffered. The two women have been very -- in a very state of anxiety, wanting to come home, thinking they may be going to a labor camp, limited phone calls back home. So enormous excitement.

But I think the whole family, Lisa Ling and others, deserve a lot of credit for the diplomatic way they handled this, for the way they organized the American community in a peaceful way, supporting the two American journalists.

So, it's a great day for the family.

CHETRY: Absolutely. And as we said, it will be a little over an hour when they will be reunited again after these five long months.

It was interesting, we heard from Jill Dougherty, who was talking to some senior officials at the White House, off the record, about these calls that came, that they were told by North Korean officials that perhaps a visit by former President Clinton may lead to something and that they actually called their parents and told them that.

Do you have any other details of how this was negotiated?

RICHARDSON: Well, I think those are accurate. I don't speak for the administration. I was semi-involved. But the North Koreans, whenever they want something, send a signal, release American prisoners. They've done it with me and others. They want a high level envoy.

And in this case, Kim Jong-il, the ailing leader, wanted the highest possible envoy. He had tried to get President Clinton to come while Clinton he was president. President Clinton almost came a few days before he left office, but he didn't.

And so what Kim Jong-il gets is a former president to shore up his domestic base, and that's what happened.

CHETRY: On the international stage, though, does this have any effect on sanctions, on nuclear negotiations, on the future of the world community's relationship with North Korea?

RICHARDSON: Well, it's a step forward in that tensions are diffused within the international community, because North Korea and America had a brief spate of decent relations over the two journalists. But on the whole, I am sure no negotiations took place. But possibly President Clinton and Kim Jong-il at least talked about the two countries getting together face-to-face, bilateral discussions on our differences. No discussions per see there.

But since we haven't been talking, since the relationship is frozen, since we've just had acrimonious tirades among each other, it's a good step forward.

CHETRY: It's interesting, thought, because there are some critics of this visit, including the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, who said that Clinton's visit actually undermined some of the public stances taken by his own wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He also went on to say it comes perilously close to negotiating with terrorists. What do you think?

RICHARDSON: Well, that's the policy that some in the previous administration, like Ambassador Bolton, proposed. And look where it got us. It got us a North Korea that is negative, that is sullen, that has built more nuclear weapons, that is shooting underground missiles. So not talking to them, not having a dialogue, didn't work in the past.

CHETRY: So, what did this prior dialogue, let's say, in 1994 get us? Just a decade of what, advancement?

RICHARDSON: Well, yes. There was an agreed framework where North Korea temporarily for several years reduced their nuclear arsenal. At least the two countries were talking. It fell apart as some negotiations do.

But my point here is that not talking to them has resulted in North Korea becoming more hostile. Talking to them, and I think President Clinton's talk with them is an opening here. It's not full scale negotiations, but at least temperatures cooled down. At least Kim Jong-il possibly is sending a message that he wants to talk to the United States.

North Korea is very difficult, unpredictable. But this visit is a good sign. North Korea releases a humanitarian gesture, the two women. The United States gets some kind of lessening of tensions, gets the journalists back.

So it's basically a win-win for both sides, and a hopeful sign that maybe we're going to start talking again, which is in the interest of American security, the international community.

You know, we have troops, we have 27,000 American troops on the DMZ in South Korea.

CHETRY: Governor Richardson, what about -- does this bypass, though, the six party? North Korea has always wanted bilateral discussions with the United States, but there are many other players in the region that want it to be within a bigger framework, a six party negotiation.

RICHARDSON: You're right.

What does this do to the six party talks? My sense is the six party talks are in real trouble. North Korea does not want to participate. The whole purpose of the six party talks is to contain North Korea.

So, some new methodology has to be developed, possibly bilateral discussions, U.S. and North Korea, and then sixth party talks within the frame work of a six party talks context.

That's something that our diplomats need to negotiate, talking to China and Russia and South Korea and Japan, all that are relevant players there. So what has happened before, the six-party talks have just not worked. North Korea isn't showing up, so it doesn't do much good.

So, we have to find a new way to talk, because, look, it's in everybody's international interest. North Korea and their nuclear program, stop shooting missiles, stop export nuclear materials, improve their human rights record. There's just so many objectives that we need with this country who, you know, is a pretty powerful military force.

CHETRY: All right, well, maybe this is an opening in that direction. Meanwhile, no doubt, it's a joyous day, at least, for the families of these two young women that were held there for so long.

Governor Bill Richardson, we appreciate your take this morning. Thanks.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Remember that Boston cop who in the wake of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. and James Crowley dustup used racially charged language to describe the Harvard professor? Wait until you hear what he's saying and doing now. You won't believe it.

It's 21 1/2 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Just when you thought a White House beer took race off the table in the arrest of Professor Gates, there's a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll that shows a dramatic split in the way that people view what the police did in that circumstance.

The question, did the Cambridge police, quote, "act stupidly," as President Obama said they did when Gates was arrested in his own house --29 percent of whites said yes, 59 percent of blacks said yes. And that's quite a split.

And the controversy continues this morning. The Boston police officer suspended for his e-mail calling Professor Gates a "jungle monkey" is now suing the police, the commissioner, and the city. He says, among other things, they embarrassed him and injured his reputation name.

Here's Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First he fired off a racially offensive e-mail to "The Boston Globe." Then when it got him suspended, he fired of a lawsuit against the city of Boston, claiming his civil rights were violated.

Officer's Justin Barrett's e-mail complained about a column sympathetic to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, recently arrested by the Cambridge police. The e-mail got him suspended from the police department.

Should the e-mail be enough to cost him his badge? You be the judge.

JOHNS (on camera): He wrote, "If I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face OC," apparently a reference to police issued pepper spray.

Barrett called part of the writer's column "jungle monkey gibberish."

In closing, Barrett said Gates had, quote, "transcended back to a bumbling jungle monkey," and told the writer her column should have been titled "Conduct unbecoming a jungle monkey-- back to one's roots."

JOHNS (voice-over): Barrett did assert in the e-mail that he's not a racist and went on TV to apologize.

JUSTIN BARRETT, SUSPENDED BOSTON POLICE OFFICER: I am not a racist. I did not intend racial bigotry, harm, or prejudice in my words.

JOHNS: But once the e-mail made the rounds, the higher ups in Bean town erupted. The mayor was quoted as saying "Barrett is gone, g-o-n-e."

The police chief put Barrett on administrative leave.

EDWARD DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Barrett's e-mail was racist and inflammatory. These racist opinions and feelings have no place in this department or in our society and will not be tolerated.

JOHNS: Barrett's lawsuit claims he was effectively terminated without due process or equal protection of the law, among other things, that his contract rights were violated, and accused the city of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

But CNN legal analyst and former civil rights lawyer Lisa Bloom doesn't see merit to the suit.

LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Officer Barrett's comments in writing are so extreme and beyond the pale that his continued presence on the police force would be a disruption and distraction, and I think he has to this go.

I think he is entitled to a hearing. That's one thing he asks for in the lawsuit. He's probably is entitled to the hearing. But at that hearing, he's going to lose.

JOHNS: Some might say his words speak for themselves.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And in defense of his lawsuit, here's what Officer Barrett and his attorneys said to our Erica Hill last night on "Anderson Cooper 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You alleged the mayor and the commissioner's actions caused "pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress, sleeplessness, indignities and embarrassment, degradation, injury to reputation, and restrictions on personal freedom."

Justin, though, in many ways, didn't you actually bring this on yourself with the e-mail that you sent on July 22nd?

BARRETT: Erica, I don't think so. I composed the e-mail. I did not mean it offensive. I apologized.

I served the country. I volunteered to go to Iraq. I served my city of Boston. And if I'm charged with a crime, I want the chance to answer. I want the chance for a fair hearing. That's why I got my attorney.

PAUL MARANO, JUSTIN BARRETT'S ATTORNEY: My client authored a response that was expressing his opinion as a private citizen. Is he held to a higher standard? Absolutely.

But the problem becomes is, being held to a higher standard shouldn't eradicate his right under the first amendment for free speech. And that's part and parcel of the lawsuit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Representative of both the mayor and the commissioner have not commented on the lawsuit yet.

So he contends that he didn't call him that phrase. He just said he was acting like that. And just to quote the urban dictionary here to give you perspective on this, the urban dictionary says "jungle monkey is a racist word for a black person mostly used by white person who dislike blacks; another version of the n-word."

So, make up your own mind.

CHETRY: So, there you have it.

While meanwhile, the cost of health care is shooting up, as we've been talking about. But are the severely overweight to blame? Alina Cho takes a look.

It's 27 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Checking this morning's top stories.

At any moment now Euna Lee and Laura Ling should be hugging their family and friends finally back home. We're waiting for former President Bill Clinton's jet to land in Burbank, California, where, we're told, that should happen in the next hour.

Clinton left Pyongyang with the two American journalists late last night after the North Korean government granted them a pardon from a sentence of 12 years of hard labor.

CHETRY: All right. Well, later on, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sworn in for a second term, and protesters reportedly clashed with riot police outside the parliament building as he took the oath of office. The country is still bitterly divided over the presidential election. Ahmadinejad lashed out at those still questioning the June 12th vote, saying he is vowing to pull the country together.

ROBERTS: A woman driving the wrong way down a highway in the New York City area responsible for killing seven people. Listen to this. She was not only extremely drunk at the time, she was also high on marijuana. Police say Diane Schuler had at least 10 drinks before the crash a few weeks ago. And investigators found a broken bottle of vodka in her mini van. Schuler did die in the wreck along with four children who are inside that mini van.

CHETRY: Well, Simon Cowell is going to have to pick on someone else this year. Paula Abdul said she is leaving "American Idol." She released a statement on a Twitter page, a lot of speculation in the blogosphere about this one. But she twitted to her fans, "with sadness in my heart I've decided not to return to "Idol." I'll miss nurturing all the news talent but most of all I'll miss be being a part of the show that I helped from day one become an international phenomenon.

ROBERTS: Well, the White House has done an all out blitz today, pushing President Obama's plans to fix the economy. The president is going back to a place that was devastated by the recession, Elkhart, Indiana. Unemployment there merely 17 percent at present. It' up 10 points since last year. So do people there have any hope that a recovery is on the way?

Joining me now is Elkhart's mayor, Dick Moore. Mr. Mayor, good to talk to you this morning. The reason, we should point out, the reason why you're at an RV lot there because Elkhart, Indiana, is famous as the RV capital of America. Let's talk about what's been happening there. Unemployment was up around 18 percent, a little more than 18 percent for a while earlier this year. It's down a little bit to about 16.8 percent. Is this any kind of effect of the stimulus that the president had passed earlier this year? I mean, what's the situation there now in Elkhart?

MAYOR DICK MOORE (D), ELKHART, INDIANA: Well, I certainly think so. I remember the comment that doing nothing is absolutely not an option. I do believe something has been done. And I think we're experiencing the effects of what has been done at this time. Here in Elkhart, we're seeing some spending has increased. The economic indicators are up. And the city actually we went to beyond 20 percent in unemployment. Meaning, one out of every five of us was out of a job.

ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.

MOORE: That has -- we bettered that some by a couple of percent now.

ROBERTS: So Mr. Mayor, how much money did you get...

MOORE: Something is happening here.

ROBERTS: How much money did you get from the stimulus? And what kind of projects were launched as a result of that?

MOORE: The city of Elkhart had received, committed to the city of Elkhart $14 million committed, we will be - we just completed a runway renovation. Our main runaway was completely repaved, 5m500 feet long, about a $4.2 million project. We're putting a lot of people to work. We're ready to cut a ribbon on that as a matter of fact tomorrow. We'll begin our combined sewer overflow remediation program with another 4.2 million. Altogether we got some neighborhood stabilization money. We got some money for our police department. Totaling as I said before nearly $14 million.

ROBERTS: OK.

MOORE: And in Elkhart County, I think, it amounts to about 38 million total in Elkhart County.

ROBERTS: So you'll be meeting with the president this morning before his meeting. What do you plan to tell him?

MOORE: Well, first of all, I'm going to say thank you. Because something certainly is working. All the news that we're getting is improving news. We know he's not coming here to give us bad news. We know he's got something to say that is going to be interesting, good for us, and productive for us, so the first thing I would say to him is thank you.

It's been my privilege to speak to the president before on three different occasions. And I'm looking the forward to talking with him again. I told him before that sometime I'm going to have him come back here, he and I are going to sit down and we're going to talk about our success stories. And I think maybe We're not at the end of the tunnel, but we're starting to see a little light here.

ROBERTS: I'm sure there's a lot of folks who love to talk about success stories here in Elkhart in the near future. Mr. Mayor, the president is going to be there to announce federal funds for advances in battery technology. Is there any way that your town can take advantage of some of that money?

MOORE: Oh, certainly. We're searching out and we're seeking industry hybrid technology. More electric motor technology, more green stuff all the time. and batteries have become a very important part of all that. In fact, without the way of building batteries today, a lot of things that we're operating today would not be possible. So more battery improvement is absolutely necessary and that's going to be a great benefit to this area.

ROBERTS: As we said a couple of minutes ago, Elkhart is famous as being the RV capital of the world. You're in a place right now where there's a lot of recreational vehicles. You know, I saw an RV lot in Georgia not too long ago, which was just overflowing with inventory. People are cutting back and they're looking the for more fuel efficient vehicles. Is the RV industry really viable anymore?

MOORE: Absolutely. It is. The person that wanted that RV 15 months ago when gasoline prices went up to $4- $5 and when banking availability became less and less, they have not lost the desire for that vehicle. America is not giving up on their recreational activities, they are not giving up on this travel. This industry will come back and it will come back very, very strongly. I think what's going to happen is beyond people's perception, it's going to come back a lot quicker than we thought.

Already some of the RV manufacturers are hiring people back. They obviously care and what's happening here is that we're putting people back to work, putting some spending power back in their pockets so they can buy something. And with bank availability, they'll buy these units again and then somebody else can produce one. And then somebody else can produce the parts and pieces and the items to produce one. And somebody else can supply the raw materials.

ROBERTS: Right.

MOORE: When you put one person back to work, but you really put five people back to work.

ROBERTS: Well, Mayor Dick Moore, it's good to catch up with you again. The last time we talked to you was back in February. Glad things are slightly better than they were back then. And certainly we hope things continue to get better for folks there. Boy, your unemployment there is just staggeringly high. You need all the help you can get. Mayor Dick Moore, good to talk with you this morning. Thanks.

MOORE: Thank you, we're very optimistic. ROBERTS: All right. We'll be there rooting for you.

And how do you think the president's team is doing with the economy? What about the health care reform? Grade your leaders on the second 100 days of the Obama administration. Cast your vote at cnn.com/reportcard. Then get the results for the best political team on television. It is CNN's "National Report Card," tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

CHETRY: Right now, it's 37 minutes past the hour.

And this month it's really make or break for health care reform in this country. And this morning we're learning just how much the obesity epidemic is actually costing America in terms of dollars. It looks like we are literally paying pound for pound.

Alina Cho joins us now with more on this. It was a big study that came out that just talked about health care costs and how people's weight contributes to it.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has a big effect. In fact, if you're obese in this country you're spending a little less than $1,500 more a year on health care than a normal weight American. So it is a big debate, prevention or treatment, guys.

Good morning, everyone. You know, with all the talks these days about health care reform, a trillion dollars to insure every American. We wonder could the total cost be lowered a bit if we as a nation spent a little time and energy on prevention. Take obesity, medical spending on obesity related conditions has skyrocketed to $147 billion a year. Nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the United States. And that's just the beginning.

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CHO (voice-over): At 47, Marilyn Winters is the picture of physical fitness. But that's not always been the case. Just two years ago Marilyn looked like this: 267 pounds, a size 24.

MARILYN WINTERS, WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS STORY: Even though I thought I was fabulous, but I was obese.

CHO: Also unhealthy. High cholesterol. Difficulty walking, and a family history of diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. On track for failing health and soaring medical costs.

DR. IAN SMITH, FOUNDER, 50 MILLION POUND CHALLENGE: This really has ballooned out of control.

CHO: According to a new study funded by the Centers for Disease Control, obese Americans spend 42 percent more on health care than normal weight Americans. Obesity-related medical spending has skyrocketed to $147 billion. Near 1/10 of the total cost of U.S. medical care.

In the past decade Americans have collectively gained more than a billion pounds, taking a toll in the form of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, even some forms of cancer and type II diabetes.

SMITH: This is the first time we're starting to see children exhibit adult style disease. Type II diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes.

CHO: The so-called a fat power movement is growing in shows like "More to Love."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time to show America that plus-sized women could do it, too.

CHO: The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance believes obese Americans are being targeted unfairly.

DEB BURGARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION TO ADVANCE FAT ACCEPTANCE: It's not really necessary to build these arguments on the backs of fat people. There's no research that shows weight loss results in health benefits because there's not a big enough group of people who have permanently lost weight.

CHO: Many in the medical community say obesity-related health problems are costing us money.

ERIC FINKELSTEIN, LEAD AUTHOR, OBESITY STUDY: The reality is that in the U.S. we have a sick care system. We do very little to try to promote prevention.

CHO: Like the so-called fat tax on carbonated beverages and fast food. Even TVs and computers which may encourage sedentary lives and healthier food options at school.

WINTERS: Do I quit now?

CHO: Marilyn Winters has lost 117 pounds and is now a size 4. She says she not only feels like she saved money on health care, she may have saved her life.

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CHO: She does look great, doesn't she? Now, doctors do say that the old adage is true. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And remember, experts say the cost of obesity goes far beyond health care. Listen to this, 25 percent of American young men are too fat to enlist. Hospitals are buying special wheelchairs and bigger operating tables, revolving doors that had to be widened and extra bulk on commercial flights is costing the airlines a quarter billion dollars a year in jet fuel.

And then there is this guys, doctors say people who are obese get sick more often. People who are sick miss more work and that hurts productivity. So it affects almost every facet of life. But you know, nearly a billion of the world's most impoverished citizens still get too few calories. But what's interesting was those just above the poverty line consume too many calories. And they're gaining weight most rapidly around the world. You know, a lot of people say, listen, maybe, you know, this is about income and not about weight. Those at the low-income level don't have access to healthy food or that it's too expensive.

CHETRY: There's been a big push on that.

CHO: Yes, and others say if it's too cheap - if it's cheap to consume too many of the bad stuff. It's even cheaper to consume fewer calories with the bad stuff. So, you know, it's a big debate out there. That will be interesting to watch.

CHETRY: All right. Alina Cho for us. Thank you so much.

CHO: You bet.

ROBERTS: Social networking and the military. Are the two things incompatible? Our Chris Lawrence takes a look coming right up. It's 42 minutes now after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Good morning to folks on Capitol Hill, where only the Senate continues to be in session as it tries to hammer their way through health care legislation and what's going to happen with the Cash for Clunkers bill. Sunny and 77 degrees there right now. Later on today a chance of storms and a high of 90 degrees.

We're back with the most news in the morning. Tweets and status updates could end up being off limits for the military. The Pentagon is taking a hard look at risk of on-line social networking this morning. That's after the Marine Corps banned logging onto sites like Facebook and Twitter on it's computers and networks. Our Chris Lawrence is working his sources live from the Pentagon this morning and Chris, I take it you're not tweeting with them today.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No. Not on their computers, at least. If I got to that, we're going to have do it on their personal computers. That's the caveat that Marines can still get on their laptops at home and still get on MySpace and Facebook. What they cannot do is get on the Marine Corps computers. Once they're on the network, all those sites are now off limits for at least one year. At which point they'll sit back and they'll re- evaluate. The interesting thing is that when you look at what the order says, these Internet sites in generally are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and a particularly high risk to the information exposure and targeting by adversaries. So some very harsh language in the order, tough language, basically telling the Marines, these sites are no longer allowed on their computers.

The flipside of that is the U.S. military is going, you know, full board with the social networking. Joint chiefs of staff Chairman Mike Mullen has about 4,000 followers on his twitter account. The U.S. Army recently ordered all of its American bases to have Facebook. You know, I'm on Facebook and some of my friends are U.S. forces Afghanistan and CITCOM with the U.S. military sends out these daily kind of updates on missions. So on one hand they're very much adopting the social networking sites to use them. On the other hand, trying to balance that with security concerns.

ROBERTS: So, again, if it's an official source, as you say, like CITCOM, it's fine to have that on Twitter or Facebook. But individual service members can't use network computers of themselves?

LAWRENCE: Exactly. What the Marines have done is they've set up a waiver system where if you have a mission critical need to use Twitter or Facebook you can. Otherwise you cannot.

ROBERTS: All right.

LAWRENCE: And what that does is it basically allowed them to control more of what's going on their computers.

ROBERTS: Got you. Chris Lawrence for us this morning from the Pentagon. Chris, thanks so much for that.

LAWRENCE: Yes.

CHETRY: We've been getting a lot of questions about health care reform, what some of the proposed changes mean to you. And so people have been writing in. Sanjay Gupta, our health doctor here is answering your questions about that. He has a lot of dental. So he's going to tackle that issue.

ROBERTS: It's an important issue.

CHETRY: It sure it. You got to have to smiley pearly whites. Look at his. All right. It's 48 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.

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ROBERTS: Breaking news to tell you about this morning. We're seeing family members arriving at the Burbank Airport this morning anticipating the arrival of Euna Lee and Lisa Ling. We believe that those are members of Euna Lee's family. It looks like her husband, Michael Saldate driving that car and her four-year-old daughter Hannah in the back seat there. They are, as far as we know, they are the first family members to arrive. And a contingent of police officers there as well. A lot of security this morning because we're dealing with former President Bill Clinton who's arriving back on the plane. We also understand the former Vice President Gore is going to be there as well.

CHETRY: They worked for his current TV network. And he was also really instrumental in a lot of the behind-the-scenes dealings. I'm sure he...

ROBERTS: Remember, we interviewed him a number of months ago on this. And he said that he was working as hard as he could behind the scenes to make all of these happen. What's really interesting in all of this, we learned last night through a White House briefing that negotiations through the Swedish embassy which was acting as an intermediary between the United States and the North Korean government, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were allowed to make phone calls, not necessarily frequent phone calls but occasionally phone calls back home. And there was a phone call that was made in July in which the two of them they told their family members. Hey, we're being told by North Korean authorities that they'll let us go if former President Clinton is the one who comes over to get us. So, that's how the whole thing came together.

CHETRY: And it really is, I mean, it's very interesting. I'm sure anybody would step up to the plate and do that. But for former President Clinton, I mean, there is a lot at stake, his wife is the secretary of state. The Obama administration of course wanted to make sure that this was, you know, considered a private visit, a private plane, not something that was state sponsored. So very, very interesting. And we'll probably be getting more details when the families can speak and when we can hear from the journalists themselves.

ROBERTS: All that coming your way. We're expecting them to land in about 40 minutes from now as well. So stay with us here.

CHETRY: All right. Meantime, all week our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been taking your questions about health care reform. You've sending them to our blog, you've been calling in to our A.M. fix hotline. An Sanjay, we've gotten a lot, you say about dental insurance and here's one that we picked out of the blog from Mike in Connecticut. He writes "I've heard that dental insurance will not be covered under the new health insurance exchange. It seems that we have to wait for a tooth to become life threatening before it's considered health care." What do you think about that? What do we know about dental care and how it could become a part of all of this?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, you're absolutely right. This is one of the most common questions that we've been receiving with regard to health care reform. And it turns out for pretty good reason. For every person without health care insurance, there's about two that don't have dental insurance.

Over 100 million people without any sort of dental insurance. Now, to your question specifically, would dental insurance be covered under this new public option, this new government-sponsored option to help people get health care. The answer is yes and no. It really has to do with the difference between kids and adults when it comes to health care insurance. What they're saying is that for children under the age of 21, 21 and under, it's going to cover oral health care. But for adults, they're not going to be able to get health care insurance. They may be able to buy into it specifically. That would cost more money and would only be able to use commissioner-approved providers.

That's an important point that people are probably going to focus in on over the next several weeks. We don't know how much that's going to cost specifically to upgrade, to get that premium care if you're under this public option. A couple things of things worth pointing out as well. First of all, Medicare does not provide dental coverage right now. Medicaid does on a state-by-state basis. But when we drill down on this, we found something interesting - only about 37 percent of children, about one-third of children, actually use those dental care benefits. The number one cited reason as to why more don't is because they can't find a dentist who accepts that type of insurance. That's going to be another part of this equation as well. You can provide the coverage but you got to make sure there are dentists out there who accept the coverage -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Hey, that's one challenge. It is also interesting, I think some states and perhaps local cities are also making it a requirement, I believe, your children have to have proof they had a dental checkup to go to kindergarten. That's a very interesting way to try to get people to get dental care. And explain why. I mean, it's not just cosmetically, why it is so important to your overall health.

GUPTA: Yes, and there's no question, if you talk about people who have periodontal disease, gum disease, if you have chronic inflammation in your gums, it's almost like living with a low-grade infection every single day. And you develop this inflammation in your body which is linked to lots of chronic diseases. Inflammation seems to be a sort of precursor of lots of problems, including heart disease, including diabetes, some types of cancers. It is also very treatable with regular dental checkups and regular dental care. But again, just too few people are actually getting access to this or being able to access even if they had insurance.

CHETRY: All right. Some great information there for people wondering. And again we encourage you to keep your questions coming, Sanjay has a lot of great advice and information. So Dr. Gupta, great for - great to have you on the show.

GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: By the way, we've been telling people to e-mail us to cnn.com/amfix but they can also check you out, twitter.com at Sanjay Gupta CNN as well. Thanks.

ROBERTS: So Laura Ling and Euna Lee just about to return to the United States probably about 35 minutes away now, according from the latest schedule. There's a look inside the hangar where they'll be arriving, along with President Clinton very soon. The expected arrival time is about 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific time. Everybody getting ready there for a happy homecoming, expect to hear from Laura Ling and Euna Lee when they arrive, as well as family members. We saw Euna's husband driving, Michael Saldate there driving with, I believe, that was her four-year-old daughter in the back of the car as well. An early morning for a four-year-old, Hannah, but boy, I tell you, well worth it.

CHETRY: Yes, she probably has many sleepless nights as she waited these months to see her mother. Reports from the family she cried every day, really missing her mom. It's been certainly a tough challenge for everybody involved but today they're at least going to be reunited. So we hope to have you for you live, coming up in just about 30 minutes. It's 55 minutes past the hour.

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