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American Morning
Grading President Obama's Administration on His 200th Day in Office; Health Care's Billion-Dollar Problem; What President Clinton Accomplished in His Mission to North Korea; Filmmaking Icon Dies; Overhauling Immigrants Jails; Cash for Clunkers Program Funding Approved by Senate
Aired August 07, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, it's Friday, it's August 7th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Joe Johns in for John Roberts. And you were out kickboxing last night or something.
CHETRY: No, you have to bear with us today. I really -- I got whiplash by sneezing several times in a row yesterday afternoon. I've got the heating pad on this morning. If I look like I'm ignoring Joe, it's really because it's hard to move.
JOHNS: Yes, I'm going to do everything I can to get you to turn every time possible.
CHETRY: So if anyone knows a good chiropractor in the New York area, please write to us, CNN.com/amFIX.
Anyway, we do have a lot to talk about this morning. The big stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
President Obama marks his 200th day in office today with a big thorn in his side and that's the economy. July's jobless numbers come out in just two and a half hours, and some are predicting 10 percent of Americans could be now out of work. We're live at the White House where they are bracing for the news.
JOHNS: If you're still hoping to trade in that gas guzzling clunker for some cold, hard government cash, you're in luck. The Senate is refueling the rebate program that has cars flying off dealer lots. Our CNN money team is standing by to break it all down.
CHETRY: We're also learning more about the ordeal of two captured American journalists in North Korea. Lisa Ling telling CNN about her sister's capture and life in isolation and also what it was like for fellow journalist Euna lee. We're going to hear from Hillary Clinton as well about her husband's mission to Pyongyang to rescue both of these journalists.
First, though, today is President Obama's 200th day in office. He'll be marking it with a milestone of unfortunately two big pressing headaches. First, it's the health care issue, something that could make or break his presidency. He wants a plan in place by the end of the year. But as Congress had been in recess today, reform seems very far off.
The economy also plaguing the administration. In just two and a half hours, the July unemployment numbers are going to be coming out. Dan Lothian is at the White House this morning.
And, Dan, just last night, CNN viewers gave the president a C- minus for his handling of the economy. And as we talk about the jobless numbers coming out today, how is the White House bracing for the possibility of double-digit unemployment, more bad news?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Definitely more bad news and certainly not the kinds of numbers that this White House welcomes. But nonetheless, you know, for the past couple of months, what you've been hearing coming out from the White House is that they fully expected that the unemployment numbers would hit double digits.
Having said that, they do believe that the stimulus plan and all the other tools that their economic advisers have been employing are working, that the economy is creating or saving some jobs. But -- and they're also touting the fact that the economy, which is sort of on the cliff of falling off of what they call a disaster or a depression has pulled back somewhat. So they are touting some of the positives of the economy.
And on the other hand, you know, one of the interesting things is when you listen to Christina Romer, another top economic adviser here, she says, you know, all of this is going to take time. She likes to use this description, talking about a large ship or a supertanker. You can turn the steering wheel, but it will take time for that ship to actually turn around. She says that the recovery is similar and everyone has to be patient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think what is most important to the American people is not where the president is on the first 100 or the second 100 days. They're going to take the long view of this. They understand particularly in the economy, we inherited an awful mess. It took a long time to get to this point and it's going to take some time to dig out of it. I think they're waiting to see what the final grade is, understanding that we've got a lot of work to do. But they didn't expect that we were going to turn everything around, wave our magic wand, and fix every problem in 200 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: When the conversation usually comes up about these unemployment numbers, the White House again always again will say that the president is never satisfied and will not be satisfied until every American who's out there out of work and looking for a job can get a job -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, also, Congress officially on recess today and we know that lawmakers are going back home. They're trying to shore up some support for health care reform. But check out what happened. This is just one town hall meeting. This is with Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody back off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, Dan, scenes like this at these health care town halls have been playing out in many places. You know, some of the Democratic Party leadership saying that these protests are actually manufactured. But is the White House worried that scenes like this will knock the president's message off track when it comes to health care?
LOTHIAN: Certainly a distraction for the White House. They really tried to push for health care reform, but some are pointing out that perhaps this is a bigger problem for lawmakers. As they go back home, they're going to get an earful from their constituents. And the difficulty for them is that it's hard to defend something or to really knock it down because there's nothing yet on paper. There's no one plan yet that has been put together.
And a lot of concern out there from Americans about the costs. This is going to cost too much and how will it be paid for? And these lawmakers will be hearing about that as they head home.
CHETRY: Dan Lothian this morning for us. Good to see you, thanks.
LOTHIAN: OK.
JOHNS: Also this morning, there's a lot more cash available for anyone with a clunker who's ready to trade up. Last night, the Senate throwing the popular program a big money lifeline. CNN's personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, joins us now "Minding Your Business," getting rid of those gas guzzlers.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. That's right. They doubled the money. Good morning, guys. Good to see you.
We have $2 billion in the new cash for clunkers plan. That's a doubling of the numbers. But guess what? That means only 500,000 of the clunkers out there will be taken off the road and there are some 40 million. So you can see it's not going to cover everybody not by a long shot.
Here's what you need to know if you're thinking about taking advantage of the program. First of all, can you afford this car? Is this a deal for you?
Keep in mind here that most cars' average price $26,000. If you finance that over four years, you're looking at a monthly bill of 500 bucks. Can you work that into your monthly budget? You got to do some thinking before you buy the car. Don't delay though, Kiran, because I got to tell you the last round of money which was only $1 billion went in a week. This round will probably go on a week, two weeks. It will be fast. We'll need to move quickly to take advantage of the program.
And if you one of those people out there who said, hey, all that TARP money went to the banks, where's my piece of this equation? This is it, baby. You need to line up for this money if you want to be part of the government stimulus package.
And another idea here you really need to think about, I know you're getting a great deal. You're getting some money off, maybe as much as $4,500. Some dealers out there actually doubling that number. But don't forget to negotiate because you can still even do better than that $4,500 off.
Go to edmunds.com, a great Web site, consumerunion.org to find details on how to get help, how to negotiate that deal, get the best possible deal for you. Because just because you're getting a little government money here, that doesn't mean you want to stop there. You want to drive that price even lower.
JOHNS: Think about it, don't think about it too long.
WILLIS: That's right.
JOHNS: You bet. Thanks, Gerri.
CHETRY: She said all right. Thanks, Gerri.
Well, there are some new details this morning about what happened to the two U.S. journalists held captive in North Korea for nearly five months. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were reunited with their families this week. Former President Bill Clinton bringing them home.
And Laura's sister, Lisa Ling, telling "Anderson Cooper 360" the two women briefly crossed into North Korean territory before they were captured and detained back in March. She was also asked how her sister is doing after months of isolation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, SISTER OF FREED JOURNALIST LAURA LING (via telephone): My sister is so, so happy to be home. She's still quite weak and exhausted and incredibly emotional. She's been in relative isolation for months and months and, you know, she doesn't even like to be alone.
You know, yesterday, she was so exhausted and she wanted to take a quick nap. And she kept asking me, "Are you going to be here when I come back? Are you going to be here when I come back?" And today we took her to the doctor's office.
And, you know, I wasn't planning on going to the doctor with her. My mom was going to take her and she said, "Will you please come with me?" And, you know, she just -- she doesn't want to be alone. And I hear from Euna's husband, Michael, that Hanna, their 4- year-old daughter, has not wanted her mother to leave her sight. I mean, she just keeps following her around from room to room because she doesn't want her mom to leave anywhere, leave her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You know that that's certainly understandable the way that they're all feeling right now.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
CHETRY: And we certainly wish them the best because, you know, just because they're back home it doesn't mean that they don't have months and months of healing ahead.
JOHNS: And looking forward to hearing from them and hopefully on CNN.
CHETRY: Yes, that's right. And we're going to hear from Lisa herself a little bit later today. She says her sister is not really ready to talk, which is understandable. She's planning on writing an editorial soon and explaining a little bit more about their capture. But we're going to be talking with Lisa Ling and she's joining us at 7:30 Eastern Time.
And also, we'll be looking at what Bill Clinton accomplished on his rescue mission to North Korea. Victor Cha, the director of Asian Affairs in the Bush administration, is going to be joining Joe in just a couple of minutes.
JOHNS: It's eight minutes after the hour. Also new this morning, a friend of the three American hikers who were arrested last week in Iran says his buddies made a simple and regrettable mistake. Shon Meckfessel did not go on the hike because he had a cold. But he says he's certain his friends were not aware they had crossed Iraq's border with Iran when they were taken into custody.
CHETRY: Judge Sonia Sotomayor officially becomes a Supreme Court justice at her swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. The Senate confirmed the president's nominee in a history-making 68-31 vote yesterday. Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic judge in the nation on the Supreme Court. Nine Republicans, by the way, voted for her.
And you can check out who chaired that vote. It was Minnesota's junior senator, Al Franken. There you can see.
JOHNS: Cyberwarfare could be to blame for knocking Twitter offline. It looks like both sides of the Russia-Georgia conflict tried to attack each other yesterday using waves of spam e-mail messages and that could have caused the shutdown of the social networking site for about two hours yesterday. Twitter's rival, Facebook, experienced a less severe attack.
CHETRY: Wow.
JOHNS: It's pretty amazing, huh? There are a lot of people screaming about Twitter on Facebook.
CHETRY: That's right. And the funny thing is, you know, a few years back, we didn't have any of this. And now people can't live without it, not even for an hour.
JOHNS: Yes. Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Hillary Clinton talking to Fareed Zakaria about the former president and her husband's trip to North Korea. She weighs in on a lot of the questions people are talking about how all of this ended up happening.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twelve and a half minutes past the hour now.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's seven-nation tour of Africa finds her in South Africa this morning where she's scheduled to meet with former President Nelson Mandela at this hour. She also spoke with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about her husband's rescue mission this week to North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": So, President Clinton comes back. He spends three hours talking to the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il. What was his impression of him?
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, we're going to get a full debriefing, which we really haven't had the chance.
ZAKARIA: You must have spoken to him on the phone?
CLINTON: Well, I do. I have spoken to him on the phone, but I have this policy I never talk about what I talk to my husband about, Fareed. But we're hoping is that maybe without it being part of the mission in any way, the fact that this was done will perhaps lead the North Koreans to recognize that they can have a positive relationship with us.
ZAKARIA: But the Bill Clinton mission was unorthodox. And here you have a former president going on what appeared to be a state visit from the way in which he was greeted being received by North Korea's top nuclear negotiator.
CLINTON: This, as you know, came from the families. I mean, this was a message that Laura and Euna were given by the North Koreans which they passed on to their families and former Vice President Gore.
ZAKARIA: Naming him specifically.
CLINTON: Naming him specifically.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And you can see the entire Hillary Clinton interview on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS." It's Sunday, 1:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
JOHNS: So what did former President Clinton really accomplish by going to North Korea? We're going to take a closer look at that now with Victor Cha. He was director of Asian Affairs during the Bush administration and visited Pyongyang with Governor Bill Richardson in 2007. He joins us from Honolulu via Skype.
Thanks so much for coming in. The simple question is we know the back story now. We're beginning to know the back story. We're seeing a lot of pictures coming out of that meeting with Kim Kong-il and whatever. The question, though, is what did Kim Jong-il think he was getting from this meeting? And do you think he accomplished his goals?
VICTOR CHA, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATINAL STUDIES KOREA CHAIR: Well, Joe, I think one of the things that he wanted to get was some respect from the United States, which to the North Koreans is a very important political face. And having the former president of the United States, the one president who actually thought seriously about going to North Korea in his last few weeks in office was for Kim Jong- il a big propaganda coup if you will.
He certainly used the visit to talk about how President Clinton came and apologized on behalf of the women. So they were able to gain a lot in terms of their own public face with regard to his visit.
JOHNS: Now you said in "The New York Times" that they're going to expect us to take our foot off the pedal. What do you mean by that?
CHA: Well, after the North Koreans did their second nuclear test in May this year, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution -- Resolution 1874 that has a host of counter proliferation sanction leveled against the North. And I think if there is any interest by the North Korea's coming back to the Six-party talks or to negotiations with the United States, one of the things they're going to ask for is to reduce some of those sanctions because they are hurting the North.
And that will be a very difficult policy decision for the Obama administration because I think many people believe that these are counter-proliferation sanctions. And as long as North Korea has nuclear weapons, these sanctions should remain in place.
JOHNS: Can you game it out for us here a little bit now? Give us some idea. If certain things happen, how can we see some real progress? What would have to happen in order for us to actually see progress?
CHA: Well, I mean, the first thing would be some indication from the North, either through the Chinese or the Russians or the South Koreans that they are interested in coming back -- coming back to some form of negotiation. Then the question would be, once those negotiations happen, is there going to be interest on the part of the North and moving forward with the negotiations that the Bush administration left at the end of 2008 with regards to their denuclearization?
It's a three-phase agreement that was part of a September, 2005 joint statement among the six parties. If there's interest there, then I think the six parties will convene and there will be some hard fought negotiations to try to get them to continue to implement the denuclearization plan that they had agreed to in September of 2005. But by no means, Joe, is this going to be easy. It's going to be extremely difficult. And our negotiators, U.S. negotiators, will have their work cut out for them.
JOHNS: Now Nick Kristof has said essentially that what North Korea really wants the United States to do is to accept their status as a nuclear power. But that seems to be a non-issue, does it not?
CHA: Well, I think in one sense, it's a non-issue because the United States is never going to accept them as a nuclear weapons state. I'm also concerned that they wish to be considered a nuclear weapons state and want to be accepted just as Pakistan or India are accepted today, de facto as a nuclear weapons state.
But the North Korean case is so different from India or Pakistan. This is a smaller -- a small and opaque country, a record of proliferating bad things, whether that's ballistic missiles or nuclear technology. So there's no way that the United States or the world can accept this country as a nuclear weapons state.
JOHNS: Victor Cha, thanks so much for joining us - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to take you out live right now to Rob Marciano. He's hanging out somewhere on Friday.
And where is he today? Well, he is at the world's largest yard sale. That's right, he's hunting for bargains this morning. There he is. What does he have in his hand?
JOHNS: What is that? It's some kind of pottery.
CHETRY: I don't know if it's pottery, vase, or, you know -- who knows what he's going to find?
JOHNS: Hello.
CHETRY: But he's going to join us in a little while to tell us how they pulled that thing off.
JOHNS: Yes, that looks fantastic.
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. You know, the yard sale thing -- one person's junk is another person's treasure except when it comes to me, it's all junk in my house.
CHETRY: Well, I remember when we were little, it was fun to go to yard sales.
JOHNS: Yes.
CHETRY: What the heck. Well, this morning -- and my mother would have loved this one -- 654 miles of bargains. I'm sure she could find something to take home at every stop.
JOHNS: The (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: Yes, at every stop. Well, this one stretches all the way from West Unity, Ohio to Gadsden, Alabama. There you see it. It's billed as the longest yard sale. And our Rob Marciano right in the middle of it in Dunlap, Tennessee this morning.
It's the first stop on Rob's road show. He's taking us to mystery locations every Friday. First of all, how did you find the world's longest yard sale? And once you did, where did you decide where you were going to stop?
JOHNS: And how do you know it's the world's longest?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we use the tape measure, of course -- 654 miles. It's been going on for 22 years.
This thing is kind on the radar here as far as what kind of fun live shots we've been wanting to do for a couple of years now. It's just really up the road from Atlanta just past Chattanooga along Highway 127, as you mentioned, stretches all the way from Alabama all the way up to the Ohio-Michigan border. And there are a lot of characters out here, just like Kiran's mom more likely.
Behind you, it's a little bit sleepy right now. It's an hour behind. People are just kind of yawning and getting up. It will be active in about an hour.
All this behind me can be yours for cheap. Let's talk briefly, the weather. We've got a hurricane in the Pacific. Felicia still a Category Three storm with winds of 150 miles an hour, so it's a major storm but is in a weakening phase as it heads closer to Hawaii. It will get there in what state, that is the question.
Official forecasts bring it early Tuesday morning to the big island as a tropical depression. So hopefully weakening and bringing beneficial rains.
We need the rain across the midsection of the country today. That's where it will be searingly hot from Texas and that heat will be building across the Ohio River Valley and eventually into the northeast.
All right, back to the -- the yard sale, the longest one here in the world. 654 miles. Looking -- what are some of the things you can find here? Well, you can find dolls. You can find figurine. You know, Hummel figurines, that's a big -- the one that few people are seeking out. This woman was looking for dolls for her kids. This guy -- I don't know what he's looking for. But everything from clothes to tools, to guns, to appliances that work, appliances that don't work.
But, you know, not everybody comes to do some shopping. We ran into a couple of sisters from Alabama and they had varying reasons for attending. Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: What kind of things have you picked up so far?
KATHY FROST, TRAVELED FROM FAYETTE, ALABAMA: I'm looking for Hummel figurines. I found some of those. Just odds and ends things that we found.
MARCIANO: You've got a sister along here?
JEAN CHANNELL, TRAVELED FROM TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: My sister's here.
MARCIANO: How long (INAUDIBLE).
CHANNELL: Second year. She insisted. She dragged me here last year. I was the first in the car this year to go.
MARCIANO: You like it that much?
CHANNELL: I like it that much.
MARCIANO: And what do you like most about it?
CHANNELL: The food and the scenery, and the -- not too much of the junk but...
(LAUGHTER)
FROST: I love the junk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: One loves the junk, one doesn't like the junk. Either way, it's a good time.
Well, you know, as you said, Joe, one man's junk is another man's treasure. This particular skillet, iron skillet -- popular item here. Jonathan Sherr (ph), our photojournalist, had picked it up for $6.
I mean, you can smell the decades of good cooking there. If that won't do it for you, that's only six bucks.
CHETRY: That's good.
MARCIANO: A hollowed-out gourd of some sort painted -- I believe that's an outhouse underneath a beautiful pine tree.
JOHNS: Nice.
MARCIANO: And there's something in there. I'm not quite sure what it is. That will run you $14 (ph). Of course, you know, the secret of yard sales or the Catch-22 is if you come early, you get the best pickings, but if you come later, you get the best prices and this one runs all weekend long.
CHETRY: All right.
JOHNS: We'll keep your eye open for an eight-track tape player and I could also use a weed whacker.
MARCIANO: All right. Just taking orders.
Kiran, anything for you?
CHETRY: I'd rather you didn't.
MARCIANO: I'll surprise you.
JOHNS: Thanks, man. See you soon.
MARCIANO: All right, guys. We'll see you in a bit.
JOHNS: All right.
CHETRY: If I brought any of that home, I'd be in trouble.
JOHNS: Yes, I know. Forget about it.
CHETRY: I'd be in trouble.
JOHNS: Amazing.
All right. When you or I pass the 200-day mark in a new job, no one really cares, right? But you and I are not the president of the United States. So how does the American public think President Obama has done these past 200 days?
The grades are in from the CNN "National Report Card," and we'll have that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back to Most News in the Morning. Today marks President Obama's 200th day in office. And who better to ask for a performance evaluation than you? Many of you took part in our on-line national report card. And this morning, the results are in. Here's Tom Foreman.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We told you how to vote yesterday, and here are the results.
For the general handling of the economy, a C-minus almost all across the country. It's not looking very good. We're going to circle an area here. I want you to pay attention because this area really matters. I'll tell you why in a minute.
But first, let's look at really what happened that made such a big difference in all this. And I want to go to a particular date. If we go up here to the 17th, listen to what the president was saying about health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So this is what health insurance reform will mean for the average American. It will mean lower costs, more choices, and coverage you can count on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: He has been trying to sell that message over and over and over again. But if you go back here to 167, this is part of the problem. Here's Joe Biden talking about the overall economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. Now, that doesn't -- I'm not laying assignment -- it's now our responsibility. So the second question becomes -- did the economic package we put in place including the recovery act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: So those were the messages that were coming out of the White House. But this was the result. They got hammered on the economy. And, look at this.
On health care, they really got hit and they got hit by this part of the country. Why? That's part of the older part of the country. More people here are older than elsewhere. These are people who gave them much better ratings earlier on.
When the question was how do you handle swine flu, they like it. There are older people who want to care on that. And in the event, the combination of health care and overall economy really beat them up quite badly. And when you move down the line here to the overall ranking of President Obama, you see what happens -- he winds up with a C-minus even in his home state of Hawaii down here. The best he can do is a C plus, not the kind of ratings he wants especially when you look back 100 days and you see back then, much, much higher ratings all the way around.
CHETRY: There you go. Tom Foreman for us this morning. Thanks so much.
It's 30 minutes past the hour right now. Checking our top stories, gas prices on the move up again. It's 17 days in a row now that AAA is reporting the national average rose. Regular gas is now $2.63. It's up more than a penny overnight.
JOHNS: Pakistan's most wanted man may have been taken out by a U.S. air strike. Three Pakistani officials say Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed Wednesday then buried. But Pakistan says it will not confirm his death unless it has DNA evidence. Mehsud is accused of orchestrating the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
CHETRY: And some scary moments on the air for Ashton Kutcher and his wife, Demi Moore. Their private plane had to make an emergency landing just after the takeoff from Las Vegas. This was Thursday. A warning light showed possible engine trouble and Kutcher, who's known for, you know, his twittering. He tweeted to his more than 1 million followers, "engine overheated, fire trucks everywhere, good times." Moore posted a picture of the scene on her page with the message, "takeoff take two."
All right. Well, now to politics and our weekly segment "Wingnuts of the Week."
Each Friday, independent analyst John Avlon calls out someone on the right and someone on the left who he says has taken political name calling and partisan politics to the extreme. John is a columnist for the DailyBeast.com. He's also the author of "Independent Nation" and he joins us this morning for his picks of the week.
Good to see you this morning.
JOHN AVLON, COLUMNIST, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: Good to see you. Good morning.
CHETRY: So who are you calling out this week?
AVLON: OK. Well, on the left, we've got former Congressman William Jefferson of New Orleans, who was indicted for corruption this week for taking $400,000 in bribes with ties to African business ventures, but most infamously $90,000 in cold hard cash that was found in his freezer by the Feds. Now, he played the victim card and tried to run for re-election unsuccessfully, but now it looks like Congressman Jefferson is going to be spending a lot of time in the cooler along with his gang.
CHETRY: Right. So the thing that you say makes him a wingnut is, you know -- OK, so we understand he was convicted of the crime. But where does he go into wingnut territory in terms of how this whole thing is played out?
AVLON: Sure. Here's how it goes in the wingnut territory. Part of what makes them a wingnut is when they confirm the worst stereotypes of their own political party. And big city Democrat corruption from Boss Tweed to Rod Blagojevich is one of the most basic Democratic stereotypes. That's where William Jefferson confirms the worst stereotype and becomes a wingnut.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there you go. And -- OK, so let's talk about the wingnut on the right this week. This is somebody who maybe you -- his name doesn't come up, but his influence is out there. So explain that.
AVLON: That's right. Let's set this up. You know, this week one of the things that's happening is that the town -- the Tea Party Movement has sort of hit town halls all across the country with constituents protesting health care reform and getting really angry and activist at the same time.
Let's take a look. I think we've got scenes from a Tampa town hall last night that took place.
CHETRY: You know, we're going to see that one in just one second. It got really crazy. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PROTESTERS SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: And here's what they've done. I think conservative protesters acting like Code Pink protesters. It's really getting a little out of control down there on the ground.
And -- so, the "Wingnut of the Week" on the right is a little- known Connecticut conservative grassroots activist called Bob MacGuffie. Now, he wrote a memo that sort of pulled the curtain back from a lot of these efforts, basically specifically advocating that conservatives used Saul Alinsky playbooks, which got rules for radicals from the 1960s to disrupt these town halls.
I'll just read a couple of quotes from that memo. He said, quote, "The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive. Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early. Have someone else follow up with a shout out. Look for these opportunities even before he takes questions."
CHETRY: And we have seen these types of scenes exactly as he's calling for play out in some of these town halls. But there also is, isn't there a legitimate concern -- people wanting to ask their representatives how this will affect me? Will this mean higher taxes? Will this mean less services?
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: So how do you differentiate from people that really do have questions about health care?
AVLON: There's nothing more American than civil disobedience and asking your reps and holding them accountable. Where it goes over the line, I think, is where people start actively trying to undermine and disrupt and bully their opinion in.
And that's where things are going off the rails here. You really do have conservatives -- these grassroots activists are kind of crossing the line severely and things are getting violent, things are getting weird out there. You've got congressmen being hung in effigy. You know, you've got intimations of physical violence. That's not civil disobedience. That's something else.
CHETRY: And we end with -- I just think that you just gave this sort of a hall of fame. We end with -- we have to do it quickly, but it's the bonus round. The honorary wingnut. Are you picking on bacon?
AVLON: I'm defending bacon. That's the role we got here. I couldn't help but notice a headline in an online this week called "Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction" and in the magazine, "The Indypendent."
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: You know -- I mean, here's a classic wingnut stuff. Weapons of destruction - nuclear weapons, biochem, God forbid, bacon. The PC police may be coming for your bacon next.
So, you know, watch out Americans. A lot of good things we said about the problems of industrial farming, but leave bacon alone.
JOHNS: Keep pork out of politics.
CHETRY: That's right.
AVLON: That's the common thing.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
All right. You can check out all about John's picks for wingnut of the week, cnn.com/amfix. He also blogs and maybe likes to take some suggestions from you as well.
So thanks so much, John.
AVLON: Absolutely.
Thank you.
JOHNS: Former President Bill Clinton had nothing to say when he returned home from North Korea with two freed U.S. journalists, but he's talking about the humanitarian mission now and so are you, the viewers on our show hotline.
It's 36 minutes after the hour.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anderson?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid that's going with a girl that said he passed out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
His coming of age films like the classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" spoke to a generation. John Hughes was one of the most influential screenwriters and directors of the 80s and 90s, and teens were his trademark. Hughes died of an apparent heart attack in New York City. He was just 59 years old.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is looking back.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe, Kiran, to Americans of a certain age, the teen films of John Hughes will always hold a special place. His work reflected the voice of a generation and launched the careers of some of the decade's biggest stars.
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GUTIERREZ (voice over): For young people, his films defined the '80s. In coming of age comedies like "16 Candles," writer-director John Hughes showed American teenagers coping with real-life social problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What in God's name is going on in here?
GUTIERREZ: Most of his teen stories were set in Shermer, Illinois, a fictional town that reflected his suburban Chicago upbringing.
1985's "The Breakfast Club" centered on a group of high schoolers who bond over weekend detention. It fueled the careers of the Brat Pack, stars like Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald.
Lighter fare like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Weird Science" followed, and some romantic teen dramas such as "Pretty in Pink" and "Some Kind of Wonderful."
Like his young characters, Hughes eventually graduated to the adult world, writing and directing "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" with Steve Martin and John Candy.
He carved out a new niche as the creator of family films like "Beethoven" and the wildly successful "Home Alone" starring Macaulay Culkin.
In his later years, Hughes retreated from the Hollywood spotlight, occasionally contributing the odd story idea. But he'll be remembered best for the films in which a generation of teenagers saw themselves.
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GUTIERREZ: Steve Martin reacted to Hughes's death saying, quote, "He was a great writer who created so many enduring characters for film both as a director and a writer. His real gift was in creating these identifiable characters" -- Joe, Kiran.
JOHNS: Memorable stuff.
CHETRY: All right. Just like you said, you can think of a quote from one of the movies every day. He'll surely be missed.
JOHNS: Yes, absolutely.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) for his family as well.
Well, meantime, Bill Clinton talks about his rescue mission to North Korea, giving a few more details about exactly how all this came to pass.
It's 42 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- five minutes past the hour right now.
President Clinton's trip to bring journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee home from North Korea continues to light up our show hotline. Yesterday you heard from a viewer named Martha who asked a question that a lot of people are wondering.
How much did the trip cost, and who paid for it? We told you how Clinton friend and Hollywood producer Steven Bing picked up the entire $200,000 tab. But the fact that Martha even asked about that price left a lot of people angry.
Let's listen.
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CALLER: Ask Martha there if her family was stuck over in North Korea, would she be wondering who's footing the bill if they magically appeared home safe on her doorstep. I don't think so.
Martha, get a life.
CALLER: Who cares how much it cost? Whether it's $2 million, $200 million, or $2. These are two American lives that needed saving.
CALLER: It doesn't matter who paid for Clinton's trip. What matters is those reporters are home safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: There you go. And, so, again, we had a lot of calls relating to our calls. We love it. We love to hear from you guys. Our hot line is up 24 hours a day. You can call in any time. It's 1-877-my-amfix.
JOHNS: We're also hearing from President Clinton for the first time about his trip to North Korea. You will remember he surprised a lot of people when he stayed silent at that welcome home news conference for Euna Lee and Laura Ling on Wednesday. He was back in New York yesterday and took a couple of questions. But he refused to dive into the policy debate about what his trip could mean for the U.S. and North Korea moving forward.
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BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My job was to do one thing, which I was profoundly honored to do -- as an American and as a father, I wanted those young women to be able to come home. And I wanted our two countries to have the ability to decide where to go from here. But anything I say beyond that could inadvertently affect the decisions and moves either here or in North Korea, or the attitudes of our allies, and I have no business doing that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Really interesting hearing from a guy who used to talk and talk and talk, and you know, speeches that went on for hours, suddenly not saying too much.
CHETRY: Yes. It's interesting. And when we heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his wife, she said that there was going to be a big debriefing about everything that happened. And then when Fareed Zakaria said, wait, but, I mean, you obviously, he obviously told something about the trip, and she said is my policy is that I don't really talk about what my husband and I say to each other on the phone.
JOHNS: Yes, amazing.
CHETRY: We'll hear more. I'm sure.
JOHNS: I hope so.
CHETRY: Just not yet.
Well, meanwhile, we are going to be hearing from Lisa Ling. As you know she is the sister of Laura Ling, one of the two journalists held there. What's it been like for the family imagined four months in isolation, and then you come back home. She's going to tell us a little bit about what both of the girls are going through right now. Both of the young women, and also, one of the daughter, Euna Lee's little girl, Hannah. What that's been like for her as well.
JOHNS: Yes. Just an amazing story of waiting for mommy to come home. CHETRY: Yes. And now she doesn't want to leave her side.
JOHNS: It's a movie.
CHETRY: Yes. We're going to hear more about all of it from Lisa, coming up.
It's 48 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, this could be a make or break month for the president and his push for health care reform. And he's got two big goals. He wants to cut cost and improve quality so that there's more money to ensure everyone. But there is a major gap in Washington's plan that's not getting enough attention. So our Allan Chernoff is digging into it for you this morning.
Good morning, Allan. Good to see you. So what is the problem?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The problem is fraud. You know, tens of billions of dollars are spend every single year on health care fraud. It's a major reason that our health insurance premiums keep on climbing and Medicare and Medicaid are draining the Treasury. But for all the talk in Washington of controlling costs, the issue of fraud is getting little attention.
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CHERNOFF (voice-over): Theresa Langlois knew her podiatrist was cheating Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Michigan when she read her insurance statement. Dr. Jeffrey Cook had billed thousands of dollars to surgically remove dozens of warts when Theresa only had a discolored toenail.
THERESA LANGLOIS, FRAUD VICTIM: It was like robbery. I mean, they were overcharging for a procedure that wasn't done.
CHERNOFF: Theresa called Blue Cross, which investigated, ultimately leading to the arrest and imprisonment of podiatrist Jeffrey Cook. Health care fraud perpetrated by doctors, pharmacists, even organized crime gangs is rampant. Senate investigation found Medicaid in recent years paid nearly half a million claims people posing as doctors who were dead. Such fraud costs every American. It drives up prices for medical insurance, treatment and drugs.
DOUGLAS FALDUTO, HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD: I think it's a domino effect that ends up with the consumer. Somebody has got to be in imbursement works. Somebody has got to fund that. And ultimately it gets passed down.
CHERNOFF: That's why major health insurance companies have special investigations units to weed out fraudulent claims.
FALDUTO: We want to get that money back.
CHERNOFF: Falduto and other investigators estimates fraud accounts for a minimum of three percent of all health care spending. $72 billion a year. Other experts say the figure is more than three times that, topping $200 billion.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out of pocket costs will continue to skyrocket.
CHERNOFF: President Obama warns health care reform is needed to get medical costs under control. But one of the biggest culprits, fraud, gets little mention in the congressional reform effort.
PROFESSOR MALCOLM SPARROW, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: They are certainly aware of this problem. They don't seem to know the magnitude or the seriousness. They don't seem to be acting with the kind of urgency that I would like.
CHERNOFF: The health reform bill approved in the House, 1,018 pages long, devotes only 40 pages to the issue of fraud. Even bills in the Senate would add $100 million a year to combat fraud, waste and abuse. That's the amount of health care fraud occurring in this country every 12 hours using the most conservative estimates.
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CHERNOFF: That level of corruption is one of the big reasons our medical bills rise steadily every single year. Yet in the big push in Washington, to provide health coverage for more Americans, experts warned if fraud isn't addressed more aggressively, taxpayers will be paying billions more than necessary to provide health insurance to those who don't have it right now.
CHETRY: All right. So we talk about it being such a big problem. It also costs a lot of money to try to root that out.
CHERNOFF: And we are not spending that much money. $100 million just reported. That is just a tiny, tiny fraction of what we're spending on health care in this country. It's basically what's going on in Washington right now, and we're talking right now about turning on the health care spending tap. And at the bottom of that sink is a huge drain in to which so much fraud blows. We've really got to aggressively attack that issue. And it is not being addressed nearly aggressively as every expert says it should be.
CHETRY: Well, good reporting, Allan. Thanks so much.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
JOHNS: You know, President Bill Clinton isn't talking too much right now about his trip to North Korea. So we decided to go and do the next best thing -- go to his wife, ask her what happened? She's the secretary of state. She should know, right? We'll tell you what she had to say coming up.
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JOHNS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Right now, tens of thousands of people are being held in immigration detention centers here in the U.S. But civil rights group say the conditions, many of them are a disgrace. So this morning, officials are promising to do something about that.
Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the story from Washington.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Joe, Kiran, the administration is taking the first steps towards what it promises will be a comprehensive overhaul of immigration detention facilities.
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MESERVE (voice-over): On any given day, 32,000 people are held in immigration detention in the U.S. And at some times, in some places, investigations have revealed appalling conditions.
VANITA GUPTA, ACLU: We've had over 90 detainee deaths since 2003. There's been a real crisis in the provision of medical care at these facilities. And the problems are really widespread and nationwide.
MESERVE: Now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is re- evaluating the entire system -- promising stronger federal oversight, including random inspections of facilities and quicker investigations of detainee grievances.
JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: If people are going to be held by force of the rule of law, we have an obligation that they're held safely, in a clean and healthy environment.
MESERVE: Among the areas under review, the location and operation of detention facilities, health care and alternatives to detention. ICE will move almost immediately to discontinue family detention at the T. Don Hutto residential facility in Texas.
Before an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit was settled in 2007, children under 10 were being detained there for up to a year, in cells with open toilets and only one hour of schooling a day. The ACLU is elated, but is pushing ICE to establish and enforce basic standards for conditions at all its detention facilities.
GUPTA: It does not make sense to -- to just reorganize immigration detention systems. There needs to be meaningful reform.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MESERVE: ICE said the announcement is just the beginning of a multiyear process to reform the system. But officials say they will still enforce the law -- will still be in the business of detaining people who are in this country illegally.
Joe and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Thanks so much.
