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American Morning
Obama Faces Health Care Critics; Michael Vick Returns to NFL; FAA Pulls 2 from Duty after Midair Collision; More TV to Curb India's Population?; Former VP Cheney Announces Tell-All Book; Mashup Videos Popular on YouTube; Oversharing on Social Media?
Aired August 14, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, it's 8:00, right on the nose. Here in New York, on this Friday, good morning to you. It's August 14th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts.
Here's what's on this morning's agenda, the stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Pointed questions and heated tempers - that's what could greet President Obama as he takes his make or break push on health care reform to a town hall meeting in a conservative area of Montana. Hundreds of protestors expected to be there, as well.
Our Ed Henry tracking things on the ground in big sky this morning.
CHETRY: Also, a former falcon, now an eagle. Quarterback Michael Vick who served 18 months in prison for running a dog fighting ring is back in the NFL. Alina Cho is looking at Vick's deal with the Philadelphia Eagles as well as reaction from fans and from animal rights groups.
ROBERTS: Plus we have brand new home video obtained by NBC that for the first time shows last week's deadly midair collision over the Hudson River.
Also this morning, an air traffic controller and supervisor have been pulled from duty. Our Susan Candiotti will be here to tell you why.
President Obama lands in Montana few hours from now, and we are expecting hundreds of protestors to be there waiting for him. Lawmakers are seeing more hot tempers and hearing more pointed questions at town hall after town hall. And now, it could be the president's term. He's skipping over Montana's Democratic stronghold in Butte and holding his town hall in a conservative suburb outside of Bozeman.
Our Ed Henry is live in Big Sky this morning.
And, Ed, what do you think the president can expect today?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.
As you mentioned, there'll be protesters, and almost like back to the campaign for the president. Last year, he went out here in the mountain west to a lot of areas that were not always friendly for Democrats. It worked for him in nearby states like Colorado and Nevada, where he won, Democrats hadn't won in years. He came close here in Montana.
But what we're hearing from people on the ground here is that basically they're very concerned the government is getting too big and they may want to put the brakes on this health care reform effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Spend a day in the tiny town of Livingston, Montana, and you quickly see why the president's health care push is facing big problems in Big Sky Country -- even from those he's trying to help.
SONJA MCDONALD, HOUSEWIFE: We've got two kids. And then my husband is the only one working.
HENRY: Sonja McDonald is uninsured, so she gets discounted dental work at the local clinic. She voted for the president and agrees there needs to be reform, but is worried about the details.
MCDONALD: I believe there's a health care crisis, I really do. Do I believe that the government needs to be more involved? No. Because I think that they've just -- whenever they get their fingers in the pot, it kind of just turns black.
HENRY: A common sentiment here, where a second Obama voter told us government is too big.
DAVID LEWIS, PUBLISHER, THE MONTANA PIONEER: We've just spent so much money on the stimulus and the TARP. Then we're going to add another huge entitlement in the form of the public option.
HENRY: The movie "A River Runs Through It" was filmed near here. So people love their fly fishing -- all part of the rugged individualism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the west is all about independence, and doing my way. And I don't need anyone to tell me what and how to do. And I think when government gets too involved in our lives, there's some -- there's some sure -- some discomfort.
HENRY: But they're comfortable with the federal government at that local clinic known as Community Health Partners. Taxpayers pick up 50 percent of the $4 million annual budget.
DR. MARK SCHULEIN, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: We're able to provide health care to someone who walks through the door regardless of their ability to pay.
HENRY: Which brings us back to Sonja McDonald, who wants more of these clinics around the country even when we told her the fed picks up much of the tab.
MCDONALD: The government being involved is fine, it's just that when they try and overstep. When they try and say, no, this is what needs to be done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: So, that's a challenge for the president in part, try to convince people here in Montana, across the country, that the federal government already has a big role in health care by helping people in the clinics like that, helping them with Medicare, of course, for the elderly, and that a little bit more -- as long as it doesn't overstep -- could still be good to improve the system. But top White House aides in private acknowledge that, look, this is a tough sell right now, after -- especially after the string of federal bailouts. People just don't trust the government.
But the president is determined to push ahead on the sales effort -- town hall today in Montana, then on to Colorado. That's why I figure with those states, I better be ready, John.
ROBERTS: You have an interesting story to cover there, Tex, we're looking forward to it. Appreciate it. Thanks, Ed.
CHETRY: He looks good in it.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: He makes that hat look good.
CHETRY: He does.
And also, boy, the beautiful sky behind him, they call it Big Sky Country, and there's a reason why. Gorgeous.
Well, it's not just the town hall meetings where people are fired up about health care. We've been getting calls pouring into our amFIX hotline.
Here's a little bit of what some of you are saying.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I am 42 years old, I have six children, I work every day, and I cannot afford medical insurance. My children have to receive Medicaid.
CALLER: I see a lot of ignorant ignorance. It's more fuelled by hate than actual concern.
CALLER: I support Obama's health care reform. As a young adult trying to make the transition from school to the real world, I am no longer covered on my parent's insurance.
CALLER: For all of these people who are booing and hissing at all these meetings about the health care situation, I don't hear them giving alternatives. They seem to be against what is being proposed, but they don't have a counterproposal.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, we want to hear more from you guys. Call our show hot lines, 877-MY-AMFIX. You can also head to our Web site: CNN.com/amFIX and weigh in there, as well.
And we know that you have lots of questions about health care reform. We've been sorting fact from fiction as best we can and putting the answers out there for you, as well. All of it's online at CNN.com/healthcare.
ROBERTS: Well, in just a couple of hours, the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles will hold a press conference to formally announce the signing of Michael Vick, the disgraced quarterback getting a second chance at stardom after he served 18 months in prison for running a dog fighting ring.
CHETRY: So, how are fans reacting? How are animal rights groups reacting to the news? Alina Cho is working the story for us and she is live with us this morning.
Mixed opinion, but passionate opinion on both sides.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely is the water cooler story of the day, guys. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
You know the big news came late last night. Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles worth a reported $6.8 million. He's going to report to Philly today. And we could see him back on the field in as little as two weeks.
Now, Vick's agent had been shopping the former pro-bowler to what was said to be a very short list of interested teams. The Eagles had originally denied they were on that list. But last night, the team's head coach said he thought about it for a long time and finally decided to give Vick a shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY REID, HEAD COACH, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: I also feel that he does deserve a second chance. I felt like he had learned some valuable life lessons here and he seems very focused. And he wants to get his career back on track. He understands the wrong, and he's out trying to change that and right the wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Vick is a quarterback, but the Eagles already have a star quarterback in Donovan McNabb, he's likely not going anywhere. So, what will Vick do? Well, he could see action in pre-season games starting August 27th. He is not eligible yet for regular season games. The NFL commissioner will decide whether to fully reinstate Vick to the NFL by no later than mid-October. The season will be in full swing by then.
Now, in an interview before all of this broke, Vick told "60 Minutes" he regretted the dog fighting that forced him into bankruptcy and cost him a year and a half in federal prison.
(BEIGN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, NFL PLAYER: You know, I should have taken the initiative to stop it all, you know, and I didn't. I didn't step up. I wasn't a leader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, for the cynics who will say -- you know what? I don't know, Michael Vick might be more concerned about the fact his career was hurt than dogs were hurt?
VICK: I don't -- I mean, football don't even matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: You can imagine what kind of reaction we're getting from fans and animal rights groups. The Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals said it hopes Vick displays more compassion and better judgment than he did the first time around. Meanwhile, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA said it was disappointed.
And we are getting fresh reaction from fans.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's good for him. I'm proud of him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I need something to be proud about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just going to be terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Glad that he's back working, glad he's back with the team, glad he's on my team, and I think he'll bring something, you know, something to sign to it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's really neat and I'll try to get his autograph.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Those fans, by the way, are from Virginia where Vick is from.
Now, as you just heard, mixed reaction from fans, the Eagles, by the way, will make the official announcement about Vick joining the team at a news conference today. That's at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Guys, of course, CNN will be there.
But remember, this is the guy who is once the number one draft pick back in 2001. He was once the highest paid player in football. Now, he's trying to claw his way back into the good graces of the American public and football fans.
I know you talked to somebody just a couple of minutes ago who said, you know, Philly's a huge sports town. If he does well, all may be forgiven. We'll have to wait and see.
ROBERTS: He starts practicing with them on Saturday.
CHO: I know.
ROBERTS: America loves a story of redemption. So, we'll see how this one goes.
CHO: Yes. We'll be watching.
CHETRY: And if his wins Super Bowls for Philadelphia.
CHO: Your husband will be happy about that.
ROBERTS: You know, you just said -- you just said he's going to be the starring quarterback.
CHETRY: No. I'm saying if he wins Super Bowls.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: He has to be the starting quarterback to win them.
CHO: He's going to be the backup to Donovan McNabb, but, you know, he could be competing for his job down the line, you know? He's very good quarterback. So, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
ROBERTS: McNabb is saying all the right things now. We'll see how that goes, too.
CHETRY: McNabb is 32 years old, has played 11 seasons -- I mean, you know, not going to be there (ph) forever.
CHO: Look who's a fan.
CHETRY: I'm not saying I'm a fan.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Certainly not, I'm speaking strictly in football terms. A quarterback has a shelf life. We all know that, especially Alina (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: Don't tell that to Brett Favre.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Somebody did, I think, right?
OK. Well, what do you think about the Michael Vick signing? We want to know. Send us an e-mail or a tweet, we'll read them on the air, and go to CNN.com/amFIX for all of the links.
ROBERTS: Another sport star is making news. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps involved inform a car accident last night in downtown Baltimore. Police say Phelps' SUV collided with another car but he was uninjured. Officers interviewed Phelps at the scene and say alcohol was not believed to be a factor, but the accident is being investigated. The woman driving the car that Phelps hit was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
CHETRY: All right. Also this crash that we all talked about, nine people killed after a plane and helicopter -- a sightseeing helicopter crashed over the Hudson. Well, now there is tape of the moment of impact. It was shot by an Italian tourist, ironically enough. The FAA has also suspended two air traffic controllers. Find out what they were doing that day when they were supposed to be on the job.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, this morning, for the first time, we're seeing the moment of impact in last week's midair crash over New York's Hudson River. Nine people were killed. That tragic collision was caught on home video by an Italian tourist. It was obtained by NBC News and this video could help investigators piece together what went wrong. A warning, though, it is difficult to watch. We are going to show some of that now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Nine people died in that crash, and when you slow down the footage, you can actually see the plane trying to turn perhaps climb at the last second, yet it clips the helicopter with the right wing.
ROBERTS: And this morning, nearly a week after that crash, the FAA is taking a very close look at an air traffic controller and his supervisor who were on duty that day.
Our Susan Candiotti is here to give us details this morning.
Susan, what do you got?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, one of those FAA employees was on the telephone, the other one wasn't even in the building -- all of this coming to light during the course of the NTSB investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): As investigators study this amateur video to find out what led to the terrifying midair crash over the Hudson, there's more stunning information. An air traffic controller who was handling the Piper airplane was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time of the crash, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation -- what the FAA in a statement calls, quote, "inappropriate conversations."
And there's is more. The FAA says the air traffic controller supervisor was not in the building at the time as required.
JUSTIN GREENE, AVIATION ATTORNEY: They're put in the tower to do a job. And if they're not doing the job, people can die. And in this case, apparently, they weren't doing the job.
CANDIOTTI: Our source says the air traffic controller had already cleared the plane for take off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey before talking with his girlfriend.
The NTSB says the plane had been handed off electronically to the next tower down the line in Newark. And then the plane disappeared from radar.
The FAA calls the calls the conduct of the controller and his boss unacceptable. It says, quote, "We have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident."
GREENE: We have somebody missing in action. We have someone else who's not doing their job. So, the negligence is there. The only question is, is whether that negligence had a role in this accident. The FAA is already saying, well, maybe it didn't. But the FAA stands to lose millions and millions of dollars or the taxpayers do, if the FAA is wrong.
CANDIOTTI: The FAA says the two employees are now on administrative leave. The investigation is not over. Ultimately, the two could be fired.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And the National Air Traffic Controllers Association supports the investigation but asks that no one rushes to judgment. But you know, the f FAA says while this had no direct impact on the crash, at the very least, it's just bad timing and not the thing that any of us wants to hear.
CHETRY: Absolutely not. All right. Susan...
ROBERTS: I think people are on the job trying to keep everybody safe, right?
CHETRY: Right.
CANDIOTTI: Supposed to be, supposed to be. Right.
ROBERTS: All right. Susan, thanks so much for that.
Seventeen minutes after the hour.
You might remember a couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to a couple of fellows, the Gregory brothers, who have taken the news and put a completely different spin on it. They call it auto-tune the news. They've got a new one of these out. We'll show you a little bit of it. We'll be talking to them in a few minutes.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": In Idaho, police confiscated $20 million worth of marijuana being grown near a Girl Scout camp. It's true. Yes, police became suspicious after the Girl Scouts sold $20 million worth of (INAUDIBLE) cookies. Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning, and she joins us now.
And you want to talk about a salary or a take, a haul that will make your eyes go crossed, $702 million.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The corporate library of a group that puts together the assessment of how much CEOs are making and they look at all the public information on this. And this is their list of the highest paid CEOs for last year. Seven of the 10 CEOs were energy company executives.
The top one: Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group. He's the founder of this financial services company. The company went public. He's $175,000 salary, that's his salary, $175,000, the rest of those millions, basically his initial investment in his company that he went public that became stock in the company. That's the vested part of that.
Larry Ellison, he is with Oracle, been there 32 years, software company, $557 million was his haul. Ray Irani, John Hess, Michael Watford, these are all energy companies. You got a lot of stock options, exercising stock options in there.
The rest of the list -- I will point out, again -- is pretty much energy CEOs. Some of those CEOs are getting big bonuses, multimillion dollar bonuses for cost-cutting as they were anticipating a tough economy and lower energy prices.
So, OK, let's put -- I mean, millions, and millions and millions of dollars -- let's put it in perspective. The average family -- the typical family in this country, median household income just above $50,000 a year. You know, how many years at $50,000 would it take to reach $702 million? How many?
ROBERTS: More than any of us could possibly live.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Fourteen thousand years. OK, so let's say you're rich as defined by sort of the populous outcry against people who make this money in this country. If you make $250,000, it would take you still 2,808 years to make $702 million.
Now, I want to be very clear. Stephen Schwarzman haul, clearly, he was a founder of this company. He took it public. That's what you do, you make an initial investment, you take all of the risk on the early end and, you know, he got paid out handsomely.
Some of those others are energy CEOs.
ROBERTS: Risk and a lot of reward.
ROMANS: Risk and a -- it's the American dream, right? A lot of risk, and then you take a lot of reward and that's a pretty good example of that. And Larry Ellison has been around probably for a long time. But it's -- clearly, it's a lot money. In a big recession when basically hardly anybody's making money, there are people making money.
CHETRY: So, we ask people on Twitter what would you do with all that money? A lot of people said, "I'd buy an island and disappear."
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: But then there were a few, I said I would probably try not to have my life change that much with the exception of a few things, like I'd move my parents closer to me. I don't know. But a few people agreed with me.
John was like -- what?
ROBERTS: With $702 million, I'd buy another planet and build a house for them on it.
ROMANS: You know, the kind of people who make this money, they're workaholics. That's the thing.
CHETRY: That's the thing.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: ... you know, they're workaholics. So, I don't know.
CHETRY: So, maybe, is it the American dream, you know, or it is not? But anyway, a lot of people said that they would try not to have their lives change too much, right? I mean, you wouldn't change your life that much. With $702 million, would you buy an island and disappear?
ROMANS: I don't know. It's not like the lottery. The lottery is like all of a sudden you get all of this money.
ROBERTS: I don't know, but I think your life would change. I don't think you could stop your life from changing.
ROMANS: Well, you could buy 1,800 Rolls Royces with $702 million.
CHETRY: Who needs that? Who needs one?
ROBERTS: Who needs one? Yes. Exactly. There you go. I just got rid of a stupid car.
CHETRY: It was a cool one though.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Stupid.
ROMANS: I have something for you guys on a Friday to think about how much money you're bringing home this week in your paycheck, and how much money other people are taking home.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine. We always love seeing you here, you make the rest of us feel so good.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: TGIF.
All right. Well, again, we're going to talk more about this situation, as well. And we'd like you to weigh in on our blog.
And also, how about this? An idea to curb an explosion in population growth in India. Guess what the idea is.
ROBERTS: Yes, this is one that you wouldn't think about. We'll tell you what it is coming up.
Twenty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: All right. Well, could shows like "Letterman" and "Conan" be considered birth control? Well, India's health minister apparently thinks so.
ROBERTS: He is out with startling advice about sex this morning.
We'll let our Sara Sidner take it from there. She's live in New Delhi this morning.
All right, Sara, we're all curious. What's this all about?
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Kiran, there are a lot of people laughing at this idea of using television as a way to keep people from making babies here in India, but the population issue is a big one here.
Just take an idea about this. Listen, India has more than three times the number of people as the U.S. crammed into about one- third of the space. So, as you might imagine, the population growth and population control are a big deal because of resources, the environment, and also just the standard of living.
But let's just hear what people and how people reacted to this latest idea of using television to keep people from having sex.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (voice-over): Omar Muhammad's (ph) idea on having children are an extreme example of what India is up against as it tries to control its population growth.
(on camera): How many children do you have?
(MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SIDNER (voice-over): "Now, you see, I have 24 children." So many, he says, he can't even name them all.
(on camera): Why did you have so many children?
(voice-over): This is just his wish. Muhammad believes only God should decide how many children you have. He's never heard of population control.
On the other hand, there are the Auroras. They are well aware of population issues. In 2000, their daughter was India's official 1 billionth baby
"Two children is good. There is no need for people to have more."
That's also the government's message. There are concerns that the country's population growth will exacerbate problems such as the struggle for resources.
The government has long used education and contraceptive programs to encourage two children per family. Government statistics show the birthrate is just that in 14 of India's 35 states and territories. But in the villages and among the poor, it's higher.
(on camera): The latest idea on how to tackle India's population issues came from India's health and welfare minister. His idea: put electricity in all of the villages so that people will watch late night TV and fall asleep instead of making babies.
(on camera): What do you think of that idea?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a stupid thing.
SIDNER (voice-over): "The only way to change people's mind is through education," she says.
Before you write the idea off, hear this.
(on camera): Is it a laughable idea or is it an idea that really can work?
A.R. NANDA, POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA: It's an idea that can really work.
SIDNER (voice-over): A.R. Nanda helped draft some of India's population stabilization policies and now runs the Population Foundation of India. The idea goes: with little or no electricity in the villages, people don't have anything to do at night except procreate. But with electricity providing other forms of entertainment, maybe not.
NANDA: The message is loud and clear that we need to do something for the people, which is people-friendly. And which in a way will keep their minds off from taking irrational decisions about producing more babies.
SIDNER: Still, Nanda is clear, television cannot replace education and access to health care.
As for the man who says he's fathered 24 children, the idea may backfire. After watching TV when we look at scintillating things, we'll probably want to make more children, he says. But at 80-plus years old, it's likely age, not TV will put a stop to that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Now, we should give you a little idea about some scientific basis for this television instead of sex idea. Actually in 2006, an Italian sexologist came out with a study and basically, she looked at couples who had a television in their bedrooms and turns out that they had sex half as much -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: And, you know, I'll tell you, Sara, any time I ever tune in for late night TV, I always fall asleep. Although for me, working my schedule, the evening newscasts are late night TV. I'm a little pathetic that way.
Sara, great story, thanks so much for that.
And at half past the hour, we're checking our top stories now.
Thousands of people expected to line the streets of Jacksonville, Florida today for the funeral procession for Michael Scott Speicher. He was the first American shot down during the 1991 Gulf War.
After 18 years, his remains were identified in Iraq and he was returned home giving his family the chance to finally lay him to rest.
Witnesses say ashes were falling on them as they fled more mandatory evacuations in Santa Cruz County, California, where a wildfire has now forced 2,200 people out of their homes.
But this morning, fog and low winds are helping firefighters make some advances on the flames that have already burned nearly 4.5 square miles.
And if you have a ticket to one of Aerosmith's shows this summer, we've got bad news for you. The band has canceled the rest of their current tour more than a week after lead singer Steven Tyler fell off the stage at the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota.
The band says doctors want him to take time to heal before they hit the road again. Tyler broke his shoulder when he fell off the stage and had to get stitches on his head, as well -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Speedy recovery.
It's 32 minutes past the hour right now.
During his time in the White House, you didn't hear much from former Vice President Dick Cheney, but it sounds like that is going to change.
He's writing a memoir, it's due out in 2011, and he's already been quoted as saying the statute of limitations has expired on many of his secrets. "Washington Post" reporter Barton Gellman says that the book will be a tell-all.
Gellman is also the author of "Angler, the Cheney Vice Presidency," and he joins us live in studio this morning. Barton, great to have you with us.
BARTON GELLMAN, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thanks.
CHETRY: So as we look to the release of the autobiography or the memoirs of our former vice president, what, overall, is this book going to be?
GELLMAN: He wants this to be a record of 40 years of service and an explanation of his worldview and why it was right. There'll be inevitably a lot about the last eight years.
CHETRY: When you talk to some of the sources close to his inner circle and in his inner circle, what about the relationship between himself and our former president?
GELLMAN: Look, I don't think anyone but Cheney knows exactly what he's going to write. What he's talking about now is he's being more open about his disappointment in the second term, that Bush walked away from the policies they shaped together. And the edge in that criticism is that he is saying Bush did it for the wrong reasons, that he bowed to public criticism when, for Cheney, resolve in the face of unpopularity is a badge of courage, badge of honor.
CHETRY: One of the most contentious is the Scooter Libby situation. Vice President Dick Cheney was hoping that his chief of staff would get a pardon, and the president choosing not to do that in the days before he left the office.
And let's hear what Cheney said at the time to our John King about the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon. And the president disagreed with that.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Angry, tense, shouting?
CHENEY: Those kinds of details I think are best left to history. Maybe I'll write about it in my book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. He said maybe he'll write about it in his book. What do you think he will reveal as it relates to some of the major disagreements that he had with the former president?
GELLMAN: We know what some of those disagreements were. He believed that we're at risk of a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction, that it was right to take the gloves off in interrogation, that it was right to have secret prisons, that it was right to try to isolate Iran and North Korea completely in hopes of toppling those regimes.
Bush stepped away from each and every one of those in the second term. And I think Cheney's going to make clear why he disagreed and what their conversations were like.
CHETRY: Do we have a window into what their relationship is like now?
GELLMAN: I don't purport to know that. People closest to both of them are careful not to say too much. They talk every few weeks. I think it's limited mainly to pleasantries and observations of current events. I don't think they're going back in history together.
And the thing to understand about them is they weren't buddies. They were policy partners. They didn't fish together, dine together.
When Bush won reelection in 2004 and Kerry finally conceded, Bush had tears in his eyes and he was hugging all the people around him. When it came to Cheney, he sort of stepped back. they had a firm handshake, and that's kind of the essence of their relationship. CHETRY: I want to talk about what Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Vice President Cheney said. She called the source for your article quote "a figment of your imagination," and she also spoke with John last night on "Campbell Brown." Let's listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY MATALIN, FORMER CHENEY AIDE: I was involved in the preparation for the book meetings. I'm involved in working on the book. Neither Cheney or any of his confidants have said any such thing as was alleged in that story, nor will they in the book or -- and they haven't privately. So it's categorically untrue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Your response?
GELLMAN: I can't imagine what she's talking about. Look, Mary Matalin also said nobody in his inner circle talked to me. Well, she talked to me. She talked to me on the record. She didn't say all these things that I've said in my story, nobody said all of them, but she wasn't at the meeting that was described in my story.
And the person who said what Cheney said was there, has no motivation to invent it.
CHETRY: And the bottom line, I guess we'll all know when the book comes out in 2011, right?
GELLMAN: I hope that you'll save what Mary said on tape and play it back then.
CHETRY: We save everything. Barton Gellman, "The Washington Post," thanks so much for joining us this morning.
GELLMAN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Television is forever.
Hey, to news junkies, and so many people who watch CNN are news junkies, politics is like music to their ears. Coming up in just a couple of minutes, we're going to talk to a couple of guys who actually make music out of politics. What are we talking about? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's painful, it's painful on top of the world, on my ankle wait, wait, wait. So, what's the problem? These are hot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, what do you get when you take real newsmakers on television and mix their comments with music and lyrics and actually tweak the pitch of what they're saying so it becomes singing?
CHETRY: It's actually pretty funny. You get entertained. And it's called "Auto-Tune the News." They're all over YouTube.
Here's a little of the seventh and newest version of "Auto-Tune the News."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred percent of the people wrote the Constitution. One hundred percent of the people signed the Declaration of Independence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Brothers Evan and Michael Gregory are the creators of the popular YouTube videos, and they're with us now to talk about this. Morning, guys.
CHETRY: Welcome, good to see you.
ROBERTS: We know that you're 30 years of age and under, and many people in your generation don't look to television to get their news. They look at other places. I'm wondering, how did you become such junkies of TV news? Because obviously you are TV news junkies.
EVAN GREGORY, CREATOR AND WRITER: We admit to that. Guilty as charged. I think as we've been more and more involved in this, it's something we continue to become more connected to.
I think the whole thing started maybe in the fall when we were engaged in a lot of the coverage of the campaign, that sort of thing. And the very first videos that we did were part of the campaign coverage and we actually made music videos based on the presidential debates.
ROBERTS: Right. Saw that.
E. GREGORY: So they eventually they evolved into what we're doing now.
CHETRY: You know, you guys also, while you entertain, you certainly do a commentary sometimes about some of the ridiculousness that's out there in the news, and not necessarily what we're reporting on, but what some of the talking heads are saying from time to time.
And the seventh one, you seem to -- you put a little bit of racial commentary in there, as well. Why was that?
MICHAEL GREGORY, CREATOR AND WRITER: Yes, so -- the piece that we did was around the kind of racial issues that sprung out of the Gates-Crowley confrontation. And we found that grave and important issue kind of called for grave and important melodies in our case.
(LAUGHTER)
And that's the piece that you'll see.
ROBERTS: Let's take a look at a little bit of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's painful, it is painful . It's painful, I'm on top of the world wait, wait, wait don't say nothing wait, wait, wait head down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You said you thought it required a very serious song here. But are you stretching off into branching off into social commentary here or was that just a fun thing to mash up in an Auto- Tune?
E. GREGORY: I think it was just a fun thing to mash up. This is such a serious issue that we have to not only sing about it but even start dancing.
CHETRY: I love it. Auto-tune, for people don't know, was a software program that started to help with pitch correction, right? And we, of course, remember Cher's song.
ROBERTS: Could make even bad singers sound good.
CHETRY: Even horrific singers. I doubt you guys could do it for me.
ROBERTS: You should go into the studio.
M. GREGORY: Well -- Kiran, you bear the honor of being the member of CNN's "American Morning" that we have actually Auto-Tuned.
CHETRY: Actually you guys did. Do we have that clip? Do we have that clip? OK, fine, we had it yesterday. It's so bad. They had to get rid of it.
M. GREGORY: We don't want to embarrass you.
ROBERTS: But are some people better than others? For example, you Auto-tuned the "I have a Dream" speech for Martin Luther King. He did really Auto-Tune well.
Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I have a dream, everybody shall be (INAUDIBLE), I have a dream, every human mountain will be made low, I have a dream my children will not be judged by the color of their skin
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We should point out that some people thought it was sacrilegious, others thought it was cool. So do some people Auto-Tune better than others because of their cadence of speaking?
E. GREGORY: He's the perfect example. Martin Luther King is a reverend, so he's speaking very lyrically. He's speaking very clearly, and so his pitch is always staying hi. So it's very easy to Auto-Tune.
As you can see Pat Buchanan was also a voice made for Auto- Tuning, he just needs a different lyricist.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Somebody else you guys used a lot in your various video is Katie Couric. And she played along with you guys. Let's check this one out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who are text messages are more likely to have an accident instead of typing just say no my thumb can't stop get a designated texter people on the road can turn an LOL into a great OMG.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That's amazing.
M. GREGORY: Now, that, of course, about was about the study that came out a couple of weeks ago I think from the Virginia Tech Institute of Transportation about the perils of driving and texting, of course.
So Katie's piece was made all the more incisive by the use of texting language to discuss texting itself.
ROBERTS: Which lends itself perfectly to auto-tuning.
M. GREGORY: Perfect. And also the background music is made up of themes from Swan Lake. So when you think of the tragic outcome of that ballet it makes that all the more tragic.
CHETRY: You've got to be a thinker to understand the videos.
ROBERTS: You're creative to a fault here.
OK, so that's number seven. What are you thinking about for number eight?
E. GREGORY: We have a lot of interesting stuff going on. It's going to be hard to decide.
M. GREGORY: We can't leak anything in advance.
CHETRY: You've got to do some town hall stuff. It's been quite entertaining.
M. GREGORY: It has. It really has. ROBERTS: While we got you here, when you do number eight, can you commit to you bringing it to us. We'll premiere it and then you can throw it on the web?
M. GREGORY: We'd love to come back.
CHETRY: Love to have you back. They look so young in person.
ROBERTS: Shake hands so we've got a handshake.
CHETRY: Congratulations. Newlywed for five months.
One quick thing, the thing I laughed about, the songs these days, I sound old, these days -- they all sound the same. I mean, when you hear certain music, right, everything's auto-tuned now. Shouldn't they just give it a rest?
E. GREGORY: Well, you say that now, but once you find yourself auto-tuned the record labels come calling, Kiran, please, we need a contract, you may be singing a different tune.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: You've got to do something with these guys.
CHETRY: It was nice meeting you guys. Michael Gregory, Evan Gregory, congratulations. YouTube hit and they're a hit everywhere. So keep on producing.
M. GREGORY: Will do. We will.
E. GREGORY: Yes.
ROBERTS: So these guys have very effectively used the Internet to bring fame and fortune to themselves. But does everybody need to do that, like twittering while you're in labor? Is that a bridge too far? What do you think? Carol Costello's "just saying" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: More Auto-Tuning, just can't get away from it.
It's forty-nine and a half minutes past the hour right now. There's a beautiful shot of the New York skyline on the west side this morning. It's sunny, 73 degrees, and a little bit later it will be mostly sunny and 82.
Well, we're all tweeting, texting, we're Facebooking.
ROBERTS: We're Auto-Tuning everything in sight.
CHETRY: We're Auto-Tuning our Facebook page.
Social networking as we know has been so popular that a lot of people are sharing the most intimate details of their lives, sometimes with friends, sometimes with old high school buddies, but oftentimes with virtual strangers.
ROBERTS: Is it a case of TMI in a world gone wireless? Are we too plugged in? Carol Costello looks at that in her "Just Saying" segment. She's live in Washington for us this morning. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Imagine you're in the delivery room, the baby is coming. But before the doctor can shout "Push!" you say hold on, I've got to tweet. Twittering during labor is becoming a trend. Just saying, have we finally crossed the line? Are we too wired?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Terra Carmichael is part of a growing trend, new moms tweeting their way through labor, sending out word of every contraction, every...
TERRA CARMICHAEL, TWEETED DURING LABOR: My husband was laughing at me while I was in labor because I would reach over and say "Give me my iPhone, I've got to tweet or post a Facebook status."
And Carmichael wasn't just tweeting to loved ones, but to hundreds of people who paid rapt attention to tweets like "On my way to the hospital. If they even try to send me back home, I just may punch them in the throat" and -- "six centimeters and complications, C-section bound."
She isn't the only woman who's sharing the birth process. On YouTube, there are women showing off stages of pregnancy and even giving birth to their babies, some with dolphins.
Just saying, have we crossed the line? Are we too wired?
JOHN ABELL, WIRED.COM: Well, there was a very famous Supreme Court decision that says I know it when I see it about pornography. I think we will collectively rise up and say enough is enough.
COSTELLO: John Able, who writes for "Wired" magazine says it hasn't happened yet, at least online. But some psychologists see it differently, saying some things, like childbirth, ought to be sacred.
Psychologist Jeff Gardere, who has used Facebook and twitter, argues we share way too much online. Facebook, he says, can become a marriage buster because couples share personal information with virtual friends instead of each other.
DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: The Internet, if you will, becomes an escape hatch where they don't have to be intimate with one another. It's easier to be in some ways intimate with the world, but it's not a real intimacy, it's very superficial.
COSTELLO: But Carmichael disagrees, saying she didn't share the most intimate details of childbirth via tweet, only the superficial. And it helped. CARMICHAEL: The people were writing, saying "Hoping everything is OK, sending great wishes, you're doing a great job." And so just having that kind of interaction as a social person was really helpful. It was kind of like I had my own cheerleading squad, a virtual cheerleading squad in my followers.
COSTELLO: Oh, but it does make you wonder what next. Tweeting during conception maybe? We've been asking for your comments about where the line is. Are we too wired? CNN.com/amfix.
And people have been sending in very deep comments. I'm going to read you a few. This is from Ann. "For my husband and I, childbirth was a sacred moment where we shared and I had times between pains to reflect on the miracle that we were blessed to be a part of.
Sometimes we miss the most important parts of our lives by not turning off the noise."
And this is my favorite from Nancy. She says "It's a question of how you want to spend your time. I prefer reading and reflection to what can come across as shallow self-promotion.
That said, it's a fun way to get back in touch with people from your past to the extent that you may want to. In the meantime, here's a shout out to all my Facebook friends. Sorry I haven't been in touch lately."
People are definitely split on this issue and have conflicted emotions about it, as well.
ROBERTS: Tweeting during conception, Carol, you had to go there?
COSTELLO: Well, what's next?
CHETRY: Carol, I just cut and pasted a piece of your script, e- mailed it to my husband, and said is it getting in the way of our communication?
COSTELLO: What did he say?
CHETRY: Well, he hasn't written back, but I'm sure he will in two seconds. It's a wired world.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Tweeting during conception can put a whole new spin on that nail file joke, right?
Carol, thanks so much.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: All right, well, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back you'll meet CNN's hero this week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
What do you do with your outdated computer? Well, one New York teacher spends his spare time shipping them to Kenya where 98 percent of primary schools don't have them. Meet our hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN heroes.
JUDE NDAMBUKI, DEFENDING THE PLANET: I was calling that night, and I see this computer. I found everything was perfect. So many computers are thrown out and so many are need in Kenya. So I decided I must do something.
My name is Jude Ndambuki, I refurbish discarded computers and send them to schools in Kenya.
The children in Kenya have very few resources, even a pencil. They're hard to get. Any part that I can play to make their lives better, it's great.
The computers are tested to make sure they are working. Then we label the name of the school on each box, and then we ship it to Kenya.
The computers are saved from poisoning the environment, and they're going to be used for 20 years by the schools. Every school is going to plant 100 trees for every computer. We are planting a seed, teaching the kids to help the environment and be engines of change.
It's like giving are the kids a new life. Computers are getting new life, and trees are being planted and being a new life too. It's all connected.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Well, that's going to do it for us today. So glad you joined us this week. And you can continue the conversation on our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: That's going to do it for us. Have yourself a great weekend. We'll see you again bright and early again on Monday morning. And right now the news continues with Betty Nguyen.
