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American Morning
Thousands of Mourners Pay Their Respect to Senator Ted Kennedy; Kidnapped Girl Found Alive After 18 Years; Life After Cash for Clunkers for Auto Industry
Aired August 28, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Friday morning to you, and thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. We're looking at a soggy weekend up and down parts of the Atlantic Coast, particularly in the northeast as well. It's Friday, it's the 28th of August. I'm John Roberts.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello. But it's Friday, who cares about the rain? You do?
ROBERTS: It would be nice to have a dry weekend.
COSTELLO: Well, yes, but I'm looking at the glass half full this morning.
ROBERTS: Good. That's a good way to look at it.
COSTELLO: There's a lot happening this morning. Here are the big stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Thousands turn out to say goodbye to Senator Ted Kennedy, the man who was their voice in the Senate for 47 years. The public viewing continues today. And tonight, a memorial to celebrate the life of a political legend. We are live in Boston with the order of events.
ROBERTS: New details emerging this morning about a kidnapped girl's life in captivity. Jaycee Lee Dugard was found 18 years after she was abducted back in 1991. She was 11 then, she's 29 now.
Police say she was kept isolated in a back yard compound by the couple that allegedly took her. We're also hearing from one of the suspects, a convicted sex offender in a jailhouse interview. Wait until you hear what he has to say.
COSTELLO: Yes, it will make you sick.
And tropical storm Danny could mess up a lot of weekend plans along the East Coast, John Roberts. In a moment, we'll check in with Rob Marciano, who's got the latest information on the storm and where it might be heading.
ROBERTS: That's what I was getting at.
But first, right now they are lining up in Boston's darkness waiting to say their goodbyes to Senator Ted Kennedy. His body arrived at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum yesterday afternoon, after a touching journey from his home in Hyannis Port, passed cheering crowds and the places he loved. The flag draped over the casket, the same flag that flew over the Capitol on the last day the Senate was in session.
Tonight, it's 7:00 Eastern. There will be a memorial service at the library. Vice President Joe Biden and Senator John McCain will be among the speakers.
CNN's Deb Feyerick is live in Boston for us this morning. Quite an outpouring of emotion for Senator Kennedy thus far, Deborah?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. I think the moment of reality for most people was seeing the coffin put into the hearse and his entire family with his widow standing at the head almost lined up at attention outside of the Kennedy compound for a number of people. I've turned and watched even just those just around me. And that's when a lot of folks just started tearing up because it dawned on them that, in fact, this was real.
They spent so many hours looking at these vibrant pictures of Ted Kennedy, and all of a sudden, it was clear that the end had come. Now, last night, we're here at the Kennedy library. Last night, 21,000 people came, for what was supposed to be a short viewing period. But because there were so many people, they extended the hours.
So, really, folks were here just four hours ago for the final viewing. Now, they've already began to line up. I would say there are about 25, 30 people. One of them, Ann Delar (ph). You came today to pay your respects. What does he mean to you?
ANN DELAR (ph), PAYING RESPECT TO SENATOR TED KENNEDY: Well, I actually live in New Hampshire and we got up at 2:00 in the morning and have been here since 3:30. And I worked for his brother, Jack, when I was 15 years old. I worked for his brother, Bobby, and have always felt that this family who did so much for this country and asked so little deserved our respect and our attention and care. And it just felt living so close that being here was the thing to do -- the right thing to do.
FEYERICK: Everyone knew he was sick. But at what moment did it really dawn on you that it was over?
DELAR (ph): Actually, about a week before he died, I was watching the news and they were showing some footage of him apparently having come from his last sail. And he'd lost a lot of weight. And he looked as though it would not be long. And my husband who was here with me today and I started talking and said it's only a matter of time and we need to figure out what we can do when it does happen.
FEYERICK: Ms. Delar (ph), thank you so much.
DELAR: You're welcome.
FEYERICK: Ann Delar (ph) from New Hampshire. Again, people are lining up right now. Well, what was interesting is on the drive, John, from Hyannis into Boston, there's this huge billboard (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTS: Unfortunately, Deb, we appeared to have lost your microphone. So hold that thought, we'll get back to you on that.
It's also supposed to begin raining later on today in Boston, so a lot of the folks who are lining up are probably going to get wet as they line up to pay their tribute, their respects to Senator Kennedy.
One of Senator Kennedy's nephews, Robert Kennedy Jr., was greeting people in the crowd at the JFK Library yesterday. And he spoke briefly to our own John King, the host of "STATE OF THE UNION" about a recent sailing trip that he took with his uncle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT KENNEDY JR., TED KENNEDY'S NEPHEW: A week before he died, he was out on his boat and he was very sick by then. And he was losing some of his ability to find words. And he was still very cognizant and very -- you know, he was able to steer his boat and to read and understand all the conversations.
But it was sometimes during some parts of the day difficult for him to -- to find the words that he was looking for. And I had a boatload full of kids. I went by his boat, by his sailboat and we all waved to each other. And he started yelling which he used to do all the time. And he climbed the Matterhorn when he was younger and he learned to yodel over there. And he would sometimes sing yodeling songs to the grandchildren.
And I saw him back on the dock later on that day and he grabbed my arm. And he just -- he looked at me very intensely in the eye and then he just started yodeling. And then he said to me, I'm sorry, it's all I got left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Robert Kennedy Jr. said his uncle was like a surrogate father to him.
And in about two hours at 8:00 Eastern, the public will again be able to pay their respects to Senator Ted Kennedy. Then tonight at 7:00 Eastern, there will be a memorial service at the library. You can see live coverage of all of the events on CNN and CNN.com.
COSTELLO: And we're also following developments this morning in that terrible and remarkable story of a girl kidnapped at the age of 11, now found 18 years later. Authorities in California now saying Jaycee Dugard, 29 years old, was held by a convicted sex offender and his wife in a back yard compound. They say Phillip Garrido had two daughters with her.
This exclusive picture just in to CNN show Garrido and his wife, Nancy, being taken to jail after their police booking on Thursday. The disturbing details of Jaycee's captivity are now coming to light. Randi Kaye has more for you.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Carol. Until now, Jaycee Dugard hasn't been seen since June 1991.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): She was grabbed as she walked to her bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, California. Her stepfather, on the driveway, saw his little girl, blond, blue-eyed, all dressed in pink, disappear into a strange car.
(on camera): What do you remember about the day that Jaycee disappeared?
CARL PROBYN, JAYCEE DUGARD'S STEPFATHER: The minute I saw that door fly open, I was trying to jump on my mountain bike and trying to get to her. My neighbor is upfront watering, so I told her call 911. They had a two-minute head start.
(voice-over): Those two minutes turned into nearly two decades. There were searches, missing fliers and reward money. Nothing brought Jaycee back. Not even her mother's plea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY PROBYN, JAYCEE DUGARD'S MOTHER: Jaycee, you hear mommy. I love you. And I want you to come home tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Jaycee finally did come home, yesterday, when she suddenly walked into a police station outside San Francisco with her alleged kidnappers and told officers who she was.
C. PROBYN: My wildest dreams after 18 years. I mean, this is like the total package, like winning the lotto.
KAYE: Early this morning, Jaycee's stepfather got the call he's been waiting for from Jaycee's mom. They are now separated.
C. PROBYN: She goes are you sitting down? And I said, yes. And she goes, they found Jaycee. And she paused for a few seconds and she goes, she's alive. So we both cried for about ten minutes, you know, before we could talk.
KAYE: Jaycee's accused kidnappers, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, are in custody. Charges expected tomorrow.
(on camera): Here's how it all unfolded. On Tuesday, a security guard at the UC Berkeley campus noticed Mr. Garrido handing out fliers with two young children. A background check showed he was a convicted sex offender on parole. When questioned by his parole officer yesterday with his wife, the two children, and a woman he called Alyssa at his side, it turned out, Alyssa was Jaycee Dugard. Authorities say he admitted kidnapping her all those years ago and fathering two children with her. (voice-over): Even though parole officers have visited Garrido's house over the years, nobody ever spotted Jaycee Dugard. Why not?
UNDERSHERIFF FRED KOLLAR, EL DORADO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: There was a secondary back yard that's screened from you from literally all around, only accessed through a very small narrow tarp. Her and the two children were living in a series of sheds. There was one shed entirely soundproofed. It could only be opened from the outside.
KAYE: Phillip Garrido served time for kidnapping and rape in Nevada. Out on parole, he wears a GPS tracking device. The children he fathered are now with their mother, Jaycee, 11 and 15 years old. Police say they've never been to school or to the doctor. Still, they and their mom are free.
C. PROBYN: I'm just so happy having gone there.
KAYE: Where's this emotion coming from?
C. PROBYN: Ah, it's years locked up. I'm an old Vietnam vet who's shell-shocked. I mean, how much nerves do I have to have to go through this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Tears of joy after so many years of sadness, John, Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: And we'll have much more on this incredible story. At 6:30 Eastern, we'll talk with Jaycee Dugard's stepfather, Carl Probyn, who witnessed her kidnapping 18 years ago, the man you just heard in tears in Randi's package.
So many unanswered questions, though, but we're hearing from the man accused in the abduction. Phillip Garrido did a jailhouse interview with Casey Arian (ph) in Sacramento and urged people to wait for more details about what took place at his house.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP GARRIDO, ABDUCTED JAYCEE DUGARD (via telephone): Wait till you read that document. My life has been straightened out. What till you hear the story of what took place at this house. And you're going to be absolutely impressed.
It's a disgusting thing that took place with me in the beginning. But I turned my life completely around. And to be able to understand it, you have to start there. You're going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, the victim. You wait. If you take this a step at a time, you're going to fall over backwards and in the end, you're going to find the most powerful, heartwarming story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We'll leave that to you to decide. Both Garrido and his wife have been charged with kidnapping to commit rape. Right now, they're being held on $1 million bail.
ROBERTS: Difficult to listen to him say that, isn't it?
COSTELLO: He's delusional.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, we'll talk with Carl Probyn about all that and get his take on it, coming up in just a little while.
Meantime, brand-new this morning. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for opposition leaders to be prosecuted over the post-election turmoil in Iran. Addressing a massive crowd before Friday prayers in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said there has to be "serious confrontation against the leaders." He didn't name anyone but hardliners have called for the arrest of opposition candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, as well as former President Mohammed Khatemi.
COSTELLO: The NTSB calling for new rules to police the crowded air space over New York's Hudson River. It comes after a small plane and a sightseeing helicopter collided earlier this month killing nine people. Among the recommended changes, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft would be required to fly at different altitudes over the river. In the meantime, federal officials say the air traffic controller on duty was talking on the phone seconds before the deadly midair crash and should have warned the pilot of the small plane in its path.
ROBERTS: He may be chairman of the Federal Reserve but even Ben Bernanke isn't immune from identity theft. Police in Washington say Bernanke's personal bank account was targeted after his wife's purse was stolen at a Capitol Hill Starbucks last summer. They say someone started cashing checks under Bernanke's account just days after the purse was taken.
Prosecutors say Bernanke was among hundreds of victims of an identity fraud ring that stole more than $2 million from consumers and financial institutions across the country. Thankfully his wife's bank account was not linked to the Federal Reserve, so there was finite amount of money available there.
COSTELLO: At least he gets to know how the rest of us feel.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
COSTELLO: I feel sorry for them.
We are tracking Tropical Storm Danny which is going to mess up a lot of weekend plans for people all along the northeast coast.
ROBERTS: Yes. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the storm. It is going to be a wet one for the northeast even if Danny stays offshore. He's got the forecast for us coming up.
He's live in Mystic, Connecticut, by the way, at the Dog Days festival. We'll be with him in just a second.
COSTELLO: Dogs.
ROBERTS: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. For the second week in a row now, the East Coast is keeping a close eye on a tropical storm. This time it's Danny, which could pick up strength as it churns about 500 miles off of the North Carolina coast.
Tropical storm watches are in effect. For the latest on Danny's path and how it could affect the weather here in the northeast and in the Atlantic Coast over the next couple of days, Rob Marciano joining us. He's live in Mystic, Connecticut this morning. He's at the Dog Days festival there.
More on the dog days in just a second. But first of all, we're going to find out just how much the storm is going to dog us this weekend, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, John -- John and Carol, they're certainly worried about that. The cone at one point was pointed in the general direction of Mystic Seaport.
Let's talk about Danny. Tropical storm had a hard time getting its act together. We've been talking about its struggles for a few days now. And the good news is it's had even a more difficult time in the last 24 hours.
The reduction of wind speed, the Hurricane Hunter aircraft had been in there and haven't seen a great deal of organization, about 400 miles south of Cape Hatteras, it is moving north-northwesterly about eight, nine miles an hour. And there's your forecast path.
Notice that it does remain offshore, although there are still tropical storm watches out for the Carolina coastline in the event that it strengthens and moves a little bit farther to the west. And New England breathing a bit of a sigh of relief although the Cape not completely out of the path just yet.
At this point, the National Hurricane Center thinks it will remain a tropical storm as it continues its trek off towards the north.
All right. As we mentioned, we are at the Mystic Seaport, a historic area here. For 80 years, it's been a maritime museum and a re-created the Maritime Village.
All sorts of stuff here. Five hundred boats, four national landmarks, including one very special one. An old whaling -- the oldest wooden whaling ship in existence today and they've been refurbishing it for some years now. And what's interesting about is they need to use live oak from live oak trees but they can't cut down those trees. So some of the wood that they're using to rebuild this thing is from actually Hurricane Katrina trees that were killed and they're waiting for a shipment of Hurricane Ike trees to come in from the south.
You know, $2 million to sort of get this thing ship worthy. And one of the ways they're trying to raise money this year is doing this Dog Days deal, which is basically just bringing in puppies, award- winning ones, from all over the country.
We've got about 50 of them coming in here. We've got Newfoundlands who can rescue you right out of the water. We've got search and rescue dogs. We've got canine dogs from the police department. And we've got -- we've got some special ones coming in here -- my man, Rufus.
Last night we got into town, they were all a flutter. There was a buzz, admirers, a horde of them, and well wishers coming in to see Rufus and wish him well.
In the puppy world, this guy is a pimp and a bit of a prima donna. As a matter of fact, here he comes, ladies and gentlemen, up the Mystic River about to make landfall here. Our man, Rufus, and his handlers.
Hey, Rufus. What's up, man? How you doing? Yes, we made friends. We made nice.
So Rufus holds 750 titles, including 35 Best in Shows. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one handsome puppy and the 2006 Westminster Best in Show champion. I'm just honored to be in its presence. And if I can go any farther with this -- with this leash that I am on, I would.
Hi, Rufus. Good to see you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rob?
MARCIANO: Thanks for coming. More on Rufus and the rest of the dogs here. Yes.
COSTELLO: You called Rufus a pimp. Why is he a pimp?
MARCIANO: Well, look at him. Come on. I mean, just the way he carries himself. And I am told the -- you know, the BTI (INAUDIBLE), they treat him well.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.
MARCIANO: You know, that's what they call it in the dog world. All right, guys.
COSTELLO: I'm sorry I asked.
MARCIANO: Hopefully I'll be back with you in another hour.
COSTELLO: Go back on that leash, Rob. You need it.
MARCIANO: Yes, I do, and a gag. See you in a little bit, guys.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: OK.
ROBERTS: Boy, you give a dog a bling color, he's a pimp? Come on.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, he attracts the ladies. I won't say the "b" word.
Oh, let's talk about Cash for Clunkers now, shall we?
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That's a much safer topic.
After gorging on that program this summer, the feast is over. So could automakers make it to the fall? Mark Fields from the Ford Motor Company is here. We're going to pose that question to him and much more. Like, what are your plans for the future? And how are you going to continue to sell those Fords?
ROBERTS: A lot of stuff.
COSTELLO: Nineteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Cash for Clunkers gave automakers a much-needed boost, generating nearly 700,000 vehicle sales and claims for just under $3 billion in rebates. With those cash incentives now gone though, there is concern the market could crash just as carmakers are boosting production.
Ford which topped GM and Chrysler in clunkers sales is stepping up its production. So what does the future hold?
Mark Fields is the Ford's executive vice president and he joins us now.
Thanks for coming in so early.
MARK FIELDS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, FORD MOTOR COMPANY: Well, thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: So let's get this out of the way quickly, because we know that Toyotas and Hondas were the big winners really in Cash for Clunkers over domestic cars. And, you know, it's sort of the same old same old and how can you ever beat them?
FIELDS: Well, you know, the good news for Ford is we did very well for Cash for Clunkers. Our actual share of the clunkers was -- it ran about 1.5 points higher than our year-to-date retail market share. And we've been growing our market share for nine out of the last ten months. So, you know, the good news is we had a couple of vehicles in the top ten of the clunkers.
COSTELLO: You did?
FIELDS: And -- but I think what was really important, what you may not know is when we closed the books on August, we'll probably set some sales records -- all-time sales records for vehicles like our Ford Fusion, our Flex, and probably will record our highest F-series sales since probably October of 2006.
COSTELLO: Excellent. I want to read your quote now. An auto research Web site said, Cash for Clunkers distorted the market in the way that benefited the industry for four weeks. Now the payback begins." Meaning that sales will probably fall back in the basement and you'll be left in the same spot that you were before.
FIELDS: Well, I do think when you look at the industry, clearly there in the Cash for Clunkers period, the industry, you know, did spike. But very importantly, we always knew that the stimulus was going to be temporary and that's why when we look between now and the end of the year, clearly we'll see a selling rate that's below the selling rate that they had during "cash for clunkers."
And we've adjusted our production. We've raised production in the third and fourth quarter. But very importantly, we're just replenishing our dealer inventories. We're not going to get, you know, overly ambitious. We've had a strategy to match our capacity demand, and we'll continue to do that.
COSTELLO: Is there a similar program that automakers can come up with, like Cash for Clunkers that might attract buyers. I mean, it was a great marketing ploy, right? I mean, I know that they were getting money too from the government. But it was a great marketing campaign. Is there anything on tap from automakers that would be similar to that?
FIELDS: Well, I think the most important thing that we can do at Ford to give customers, you know, great value but also instill consumer confidence and also, you know, just make them interested in being attracted to a car and a truck these days is put out the best products we can. And we have a strategy clearly focused on bringing out a full line of products, small, medium, large. Always improving the fuel economy. We have almost the industry best quality right now, technology, and very importantly, safety.
So the best thing from our standpoint is to continue to bring customers great products. And, you know, it's reflected in our market share. So hopefully we'll see that going forward.
COSTELLO: Did it surprise you that people were so in to fuel- efficient cars?
FIELDS: We've been focusing on fuel efficiency for the past couple of years because it's really interesting. You know, last year when gas spiked to $4 a gallon, you know, people were very much interested in fuel efficiency. You fast forward to today, even though gas prices are down, fuel economy is still at the top of their list. So, we have a strategy that says for every vehicle that we come out with, every segment, we will be either best in class or among the leaders in fuel economy. And we're doing that with vehicles like our new Fusion.
COSTELLO: So do you think that reflects a real change? Because, you know, I don't know some people thought that once gas prices went down, people will return to their big pickup trucks and their SUVs. But will that eventually happen again? Or have people really changed their mindset about buying fuel efficient cars?
FIELDS: Well, we feel that people have really changed their minds. We think that, you know, customers are really smart. And they saw the experience last spring. They know that oil is not a renewable resource.
Clearly, as we look at our business going forward, we expect gas to rise. So we -- we continue to focus on fuel economy because we think that customers are going to continue to focus on that. And it's going to be at the top of their list.
COSTELLO: OK. So will the Detroit Lions win a football game this season?
FIELDS: Let's see. I think they have a brand new coach and a couple of great, you know, draft picks and I'm very hopeful.
COSTELLO: Me too, because I'm a Detroit Lions fan. Thank you so much. Mark Fields from the Ford Motor Company.
FIELDS: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Appreciate it - John.
ROBERTS: So, again, an incredible story to tell you about this morning. Jaycee Lee Dugard, she was 11 years old when she was kidnapped. Her parents lost hope that she would ever be found alive.
Well, on Wednesday, the parents got the news that she had been found. Now 29 years old, she had been held captive for 18 years in the back yard of a man in California. We'll have that story and talk with her stepfather coming up in just a couple of minutes.
Twenty-seven minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Just about half past the hour. Checking our top stories now.
This morning, crowds are waiting for a chance to file past Senator Ted Kennedy's coffin. His casket arrived at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library yesterday after an emotional journey that started in Hyannis Port and wound its way through the streets of Boston. Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, there will be a memorial service at the library.
And southern California wildfires are growing and forcing people to leave their homes. At least 2,000 evacuation orders were issue in the seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes. A second fire is burning north of Los Angeles. Some 500 homes in the area now evacuated.
He's not apologizing, but an Idaho Republican says he was only joking when he said he would buy a license to hunt President Obama.
Gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell made the comment at a GOP rally this week. He was talking about the state's planned wolf hunt for which hunters must buy a tag to participate. And when someone shouted a question about Obama tags, he said we'd buy some of those.
ROBERTS: And a perfect segue, I would think, into our Friday segment, "Wingnuts of the Week." Independent analyst John Avalon calls on someone from the left and the right who he says are taking political name calling to the extreme.
John is the columnist for the DailyBeast.com, and also author of the book, "Independent Nation," and he's here with this week's dishonorees.
John, good morning to you.
JOHN AVLON, INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
ROBERTS: You're reading that story. John said, I didn't hear about that one. Dang!
AVLON: Yes. No, there's a wow. That's a new look. Congratulations on that.
ROBERTS: We've got some other ones, though.
AVLON: We do.
ROBERTS: First of all, though, the wingnut on the right.
Who's the wingnut on the right?
AVLON: This week on the right, we've got a great actor who's been moonlighting lately as a conservative commentator. Sort of jumped the shark this week Jon Voight gave an interview to "The Washington Times" in which he said that President Obama was provoking a civil war. Here's what he said. He said, quote, "There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country? We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation. The Obama administration is sending their bullies down to create fist fights among average American citizens who don't want a government-run health care plan. So I ask again, is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country." Yes, you know, here's the thing. There's a lot of revolutionary talk -- civil war. This isn't a metaphor. This isn't a colorful turn of phrase. You know, (INAUDIBLE) has said that President Lincoln provoked the civil war and 600,000 Americans died. We've got to get a grip on this, people. And this rhetoric is starting to proliferate around the country. And someone like Voight who carries that mental of a celebrity can be even more influential than some wingnut congressman in some case.
ROBERTS: He was fairly liberal back in the 1960s. So what happen?
AVLON: Well, you know, Dennis Hopper is great...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Other than the fact that many people tend to become more conservative as they get older.
AVLON: Yes, and maybe getting sober, too, as Dennis Hopper likes to joke, giving the difference in his political evolution. But you know, I actually respect somebody who evolves. It's tough to be a conservative in Hollywood. And that deserves some respect. But there seems to be this Obama derangement syndrome that starts to slip in and get encouraged especially when conservatives adopt a celebrity on their mantle.
In '07, Jon Voight rightly condemned wingnut criticism of President Bush on the left saying that when you deface him, you deface our country, he's our leader. That's the exact same attitude you should be keeping now. That should be non-partisan across all presence.
ROBERTS: Who's the wingnut on the left this week?
AVLON: We've got an unhinged appropriator, Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii. You know, with a deficit approaching $9 trillion, a lot of folks being upset about uncontrolled spending from Washington. This guy is a foster child. The number one appropriator in fiscal year '09, 44 projects, earmarked total of nearly $250 million. The latest caper is insisting on a prevailing wage cost for a U.S. base in Guam.
ROBERTS: This was not prevailing wages in Guam.
AVLON: Correct. This is prevailing wages in the United States brought to Guam. Sounds like a really generous thing to do if Mr. Abercrombie was paying for it, but he's not, we are. Estimated costs, $10 billion additionally.
ROBERTS: And what's the difference between prevailing wages in the United States compared to Guam.
AVLON: 250 percent increase.
ROBERTS: My goodness. AVLON: Yes. Just a little bit out there. And even worse, one of the major contractors on the project in Guam is one of the top five contributors to his campaigns in the past. So, there you go.
ROBERTS: And you're doing something new this week as well. You have got a profile in courage for us.
AVLON: Yes. We want to shout out the positive as well. And this weekend with all of the unhinged town halls that are going on, John McCain took a stand for decency in a town hall when a woman asked -- isn't President Obama sort of taking apart our constitution?
Let's take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm sure that he does, and I'm sure that he respects the constitution of the United States. No, no. I am convinced the president is absolutely sincere in his beliefs. But he's -- wait a minute, wait a minute. He is sincere in his beliefs. We just, we just happen to disagree, and he is the president of the United States, and let's be respectful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: That's a profile in courage work. He's standing up to a crowd telling them not what they want to hear, showing us, reminding us that we can disagree agreeably in this country. That's what our founding father intended. We're not getting enough of that. So profile in courage award goes to John McCain.
ROBERTS: John Avlon with the wingnuts of the week and the profile in courage.
Good shout out this morning, John. Thanks so much -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I like that profile in courage.
You talk about courage, though. We've been telling you about this kidnapped girl, Jaycee Dugard. Kidnapped at the age of 11. She turns up e18 years later with two kids. She'd been held prisoner by a sex offender. We're going to talk to her stepfather, and ask him how she's doing and how this family possibly can heal.
It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: This morning, the California family's 18-year-long nightmare is over. The parents of Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapped back in 1991 when she was just 11 years old are relieved that she has been found, but also horrified by what she went through. Police say Dugard was held in a backyard compound by a convicted sex offender and his wife. And, she had two daughters with him.
Jaycee's stepfather, Carl Probyn, witnessed her abduction 18 years ago. Carl joins us live from Orange, California this morning.
Carl, thanks very much for being with us. I can't imagine what you have been going through in the past couple of days. And I can't imagine what you went through for 18 years before that. I mean, how are you coping with this? The fact that you -- I'm sure that you probably lost hope at some point, and now she's back.
CARL PROBYN, JAYCEE DUGARD'S STEPFATHER: I did lose hope. But I'm coping that it's over, and the last 18 years have been pretty rough, but these last two days have been pretty good.
ROBERTS: Right.
PROBYN: We got an ending to this.
ROBERTS: What have these last two days been like for you?
PROBYN: Basically, I've probably done 100 interviews. So they've been busy. So I really have no time to even think about anything. I've had like four hours' sleep and just keep busy, keep doing things, you know, and learning more information and things are going good.
ROBERTS: Your now ex-wife got the news on this the other day. And I guess that she met with Jaycee. What did she tell you that moment was like?
PROBYN: She said that she just talked to her and asked her questions, and that basically Jaycee told her that she had babies. And my wife asked her, babies? How many babies? And Jaycee said two babies. And it was a real shock. I didn't know that babies were 15 and 11.
ROBERTS: Wow.
PROBYN: I was expecting when I saw the news release that nobody told me that they were 15 and 11. So it was kind of a shocker.
ROBERTS: You know, one of the most --
PROBYN: The youngest child is the same age -- the youngest child is the same age as Jaycee when she was taken.
ROBERTS: That's just amazing. You know, one of the most incredible things about this, and I just can't imagine as a parent how you would ever deal with this child. I mean, child abduction itself is hard enough. But you actually witnessed her being taken back on June 11, 1991.
Can you just tell the folks at home what happened that morning?
PROBYN: Jaycee walked up the hill on the way to the bus stop and a car come down and circled, and when it went real slow, it got my attention. That's how, you know, I recognized the car and it went back up the hill and it waited for her to get to the top of the hill. And once it did, she, I guess they wanted to see if cars were coming from behind and the cars above. Once it got next to her, it cut her off. And basically, I saw the door fly open. I jumped on my mountain bike. I realized I couldn't get to her in time. The hill was too steep. So I went back down, yelled at the neighbor for 911. And they had like a two-minute head start. I really have a lot of questions like, you know, how did they get out of there? And you would think they would block the roads off. They would have had them, but they got away.
ROBERTS: And have you relived that moment again and again and again in the past 18 years?
PROBYN: Not so much that. I just basically think that it would have been nice to -- like I say, to solve this and capture these people. That was towards the end, that's the way I was thinking, you know. When it first happened, I was thinking, gee, if I would have my car keys, I could have, you know, chased him and done this and this. But lately, you know, towards the last few years, I just wanted an ending to this.
ROBERTS: You know, this abduction broke up your marriage. You said that you were a suspect for a time. That the FBI, quote, "put you through the wringer."
PROBYN: They did.
PROBYN: Well, you know, I've never been in jail, so, for me, you know, the lie detector test, they asked me questions, interrogated me. That's just part of the territory. You know, I'm the last one to see her. I expected that.
ROBERTS: Right. And do you know when you're going to see her yourself?
PROBYN: I'm assuming that they're going to bring her back down here. I mean, why would they leave her up there, because we're all down here. We all live down here. So those people are in jail. They'll never see her again. So I'm assuming they're going to bring her down here.
ROBERTS: This person, Phillip Garrido, the guy who took her along with, allegedly took her along with his wife, Nancy Garrido. He did an interview with our affiliate KCRA in which he talked about this, and said that he's a changed person. And then said -- here's a quote -- "You're going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, from the victim. If you take this a step at a time, you're going to fall over backwards, and in the end you're going to find the most powerful, heart-warming story. Wait until you hear the story on what took place in this house. You're going to be absolutely impressed. It's a disgusting thing that took place with me in the beginning, but I turned my life completely around."
Wow. What's your reaction when you hear that?
PROBYN: That he turned our lives around too by doing this. You know, it's just sick. I mean, it benefited him, but it destroyed everybody else's life. ROBERTS: Wow. Carl Probyn, I tell you...
PROBYN: That's pretty sick.
ROBERTS: Carl Probyn, I tell you, we're so thankful that you finally got your daughter back. And I don't know how you ever make up for 18 years, but I'm sure you're anxious to get a start on it. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it.
PROBYN: You're quite welcome.
ROBERTS: Wow. Can you imagine?
COSTELLO: You know, you just wonder how the family will heal. How it can ever heal from something like this?
ROBERTS: Yes, I don't know.
We'll be talking, though, with a psychologist in our next hour. He'll give us an idea of what the family is going through. What she might have gone through? Where do you go from here? How do you start rebuilding your life? So make sure you stay around for that.
COSTELLO: She was held captive for 18 years, never went to school. Her children never went to school.
ROBERTS: Never went to the doctor either.
COSTELLO: That's just unbelievable. Quite interesting. We look forward to that.
We're also going to talk -- actually, we're going to examine the New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin. It's been four years since Katrina hit, how has Ray Nagin done? What legacy has he left behind? And how healed is New Orleans? Thanks to him? Not thanks to him? We're going to examine that.
It's 44 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
It's been four years since Hurricane Katrina brought New Orleans to its knees. And every day there are people trying to bring the city back, including the New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. But in an effort to stir his city at the better time, he finds himself facing more criticism than credit.
So what does the shoot from the lip mayor have to say about that? Here's CNN's Sean Callebs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mayor Ray Nagin has been a lightning rod for criticism in post- Katrina, New Orleans. As the recovery moves forward, his popularity moves in the opposite direction. Just after ground breaking for a new public housing project, Nagin told me he isn't surprised.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: I don't think any leader after a disaster pretty much survives. If you go look at Kobe, Japan, you look at other major disasters, most leaders are kind of kicked out. I was fortunate or unfortunate to be standing here as we continue to progress. And what I find is that citizens wanted immediate fixes when there was no immediate fix. So I took the brunt for that.
I am so humble today.
CALLEBS: In May, 2006, nine months after Katrina hit, he was re- elected mayor. But since then, critics charge he's had a bunker mentality, with the perception he's rarely seen in public at a time when New Orleans needed a strong, visible mayor.
(on camera): Some people have come to me and said, why did your mayor run for re-election? Have you heard that question? And what's your answer?
NAGIN: I just didn't want to leave the city in the state of total disrepair. We were on the verge of bankruptcy. So I want to put some things in motion. I felt I was best qualified to do that. And we'll see if it all works out.
CALLEBS (voice-over): While many areas tourists see are flourishing, entire communities in New Orleans East, Gentilly, Lakeview and the Lower Ninth Ward remain devastated. Many New Orleanians blame Nagin, a cable TV executive before being elected, for the slow pace of recovery. For his part, he says he was ready to lead. But was the city ready to follow?
NAGIN: There's been days when I've questioned whether the city was ready to move forward and ready to deal with the issues that I was bringing forward. But, you know, I'm a little too old to change now.
So, you know, I came to office as kind of a newbie. I've never been in politics. And I've always lived my life telling people the truth. Now, sometimes it works out in politics, and sometimes it doesn't.
CALLEBS: And among his most controversial comments.
NAGIN: This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.
CALLEBS: What was behind that?
NAGIN: The only thing I regret about "Chocolate City" is that people misunderstood the quote and the comment so much. At that time, there was that notion, some of our businesspeople were saying to national media groups they didn't think certain people should come back. So, I wanted to send a strong signal that everyone was welcome. It was misinterpreted.
CALLEBS (on camera): Nagin will be out of office in nine months. And he says in all probability, he's done with politics, saying he'll begin to look at private-sector jobs in a matter of months.
Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: All right. Well, you wouldn't know it to walk around the streets of New York City, you know, up and down Fifth Avenue or Times Square, up and down Broadway, where you literally can't move because there's so many people.
CHETRY: It's pretty busy.
ROBERTS: But tourism is way down in the Big Apple this year. Our Richard Roth takes a look at New York tourism as only Richard Roth can, coming up. It's 10 minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. When you take out trash, you probably don't spend a lot of time thinking about where it ends up. But for people who live near landfills, they have one constant reminder -- the smell. Well, one city figured out a way to turn that awful odor into cold, hard cash.
Our Fredricka Whitfield has more in this week's "Solutions."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This landfill in Fargo, North Dakota was once a stinky reminder of waste. But city officials recognized a gift in all that garbage.
BRUCE GRUBB, FARGO ENTERPRISE DIRECTOR: We've got resources here available to us that formerly wouldn't be utilized at all. For example, the methane gas was escaping to the atmosphere.
WHITFIELD: Now, the methane gas that once raised a stink generates a windfall of cash for the city. More than $1 million of new revenue last year alone from the sale of carbon credits, electricity and methane gas.
MIKE WILLIAMS, FARGO CITY COMMISSIONER: Our saying is if you can smell it, we can sell it. So, that which used to just be right under our nose turned into cash and new energy.
WHITFIELD: Partnerships with local industry helped green-light this and other renewable energy and conservation initiatives.
JAYSEN SCHOCK, CARGILL FACILITY SUPERINTENDENT: Today, the methane is about 30 percent of the fuel needs we need to operate our plant to produce steam.
WHITFIELD: But trash is not the only treasure here in Fargo. Since last fall, the city has generated nearly $400,000 from the sale of wastewater to local industry. Innovations like biodiesel buses and LED traffic lights have residents seeing and saving green. WILLIAMS: We didn't have to raise the property taxes this last year. It's an example of how taxpayers benefit by conservation efforts and making better use of resources.
WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This is your favorite, isn't it, John? Avril Lavine? Oh, yes. You're rocking to it.
ROBERTS: Good canadian girl -- woman.
COSTELLO: She is a good Canadian girl -- woman. That's right. (INAUDIBLE)
Good morning, New York. It's cloudy and 68 degrees. And it's going to rain later today. But it's going to be 73, which is cooler than it has been. And I'm sure the humidity will be down.
Speaking of New York, fewer vacationers are actually saying good morning to New York in person these days. And even though New York is a fave for foreign tourists, experts say tourism is down a full 5 percent in the Big Apple this year.
And it's much worse in other cities. The tourism industry nationwide shrank by more than 15 percent in the first three months of the year. So, how do you make people want to come by land and by sea in a bad economy?
Our Richard Roth took to the streets and the water, and he's here with the answers. So what is the answer?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the answer is, you've got to hope and pray and work hard. New York has established a lot of posts around the world to try to make New York a magnet to keep drawing them back. I think the phrase, Carol and John, used to be don't behave like a tourist. Well, to find out how the industry and New York City were coping with the recession summer blues, I became a tourist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to New York City.
ROTH (voice-over): New York needs tourists, especially in a global financial crunch.
GEORGE FERTITTA, CEO, NYC AND COMPANY: The importance of tourism to the city of New York is just astronomical.
ROTH: The city, THOUGH, is not quacking in its boots. Tourism is down 5 percent, but that's much less than other major New York cities. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you guys from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: England.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: England!
ROTH: I can't duck this assignment: a seat on the New York City Ducks land and water tour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One -Times Square, where the ball drops on New Year's Eve. They actually put the bulb up just before Mother's Day this year. We're going to take a left on 42nd Street. It's one of New York City's best-kept secrets.
OK, people, that's the shot of the Empire State Building you want.
ROTH: They duck boat company reports business is up 47 percent over the last year, even with the rough seas around.
DAVID CHIEN, NYC DUCKS AND CO.: Richard, everyone is in the same boat. And I think we're no exception. But we are poised to stay above water just like everyone else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one...
ROTH (on camera): Glad I wore a suit for this. I've just been drenched here on New York's duck boat as the tourism industry hopes to stay dry in the summer of '09.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't get wet much. It's fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, Germany. Camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always wanted to come here, financial crisis or not. So, we make holiday in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you can just make out the Statue of Liberty to the left of Goldman Sachs.
ROTH (voice-over): On your right, a grounded high flier, the Concord. Nothing like a child at the wheel to help settle passengers and consumers down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The country needs to stop spending -- spending money they don't have. Spend the money they that have.
ROTH (on camera): That was a good answer. I think that was Bernanke with that duck call.
(voice-over): This quacker meant war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to throw you in the water!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you be nice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Well, I survived that child and the ride. It was interesting to hear Goldman Sachs mentioned, John, along with, and Carol, with the Statue of Liberty as now tourist attractions. Certainly...
COSTELLO: Yes. Were there boos for Goldman Sachs?
ROTH: Well, they didn't serve any liquor on the ship, Carol. But -- and I didn't hear any boos, no.
ROBERTS: I was doing a cliche count there. You got the count up pretty high.
ROTH: Yes, yes. Well, we work hard.
ROBERTS: And that kid -- we could make him an honorary New Yorker with an attitude like that.
ROTH: That's right. He's from Long Island, I think. So, that may be a little rivalry there.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Richard, thanks so much.
