Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Police Say Yale Graduate Student not a Victim of a Random Attack; Fed Looking for Suspects in New York Terror Raids; Remembering the Life and Career of Patrick Swayze, Dead at 57; Support for Afghanistan War Drops; U.S. and China Trade Spat Over Tariffs on Tires; Tea Party Movements Racially Motivated?
Aired September 15, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, it's September 15th. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us on the "Most News in the Morning." Here are the big stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
A campus consumed by fear after the murder of a Yale University grad student. Police say the death of 24-year-old Annie Le was not a random act. They believe she was targeted by her killer. We're live in New Haven this morning with developments.
CHETRY: A terror raid in New York City. FBI agents and police now tracking a man under surveillance for suspected ties to Al Qaeda. They stormed several residences just hours before President Obama's visit yesterday. So who were police looking for and did they find him? We're live now with new details.
And remembering Patrick Swayze. The one-time Hollywood heartthrob losing his nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Swayze was 57 years old. This morning, we're looking back at his life and career, including a classic role that influenced a generation of moviegoers.
CHETRY: We begin with the murder mystery on the campus of Yale University. Police say graduate student Annie Le was not the victim of a random attack and now they're hunting for the killer who stuffed her body inside a wall in a campus high-security lab. And as police narrow their investigation, hundreds turned out for a candlelight vigil on the Yale campus last night while friends said the 24-year-old Le was as good a human being as you'd ever hope to meet.
Our Mary Snow is following developments for us from the Ivy League campus in New Haven, Connecticut. She joins us now live.
Mary, what is the latest on what investigators are trying to figure out this morning?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, good morning. You know, all indications are that police are zeroing in on a suspect, but officially, they are not saying much. The spokesman only saying that a suspect is not in custody. And as police piece together evidence, students here at Yale last night paid tribute to the end of a promising life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATALIE POWERS, ROOMMATE OF ANNIE LE: She was always kind, generous, honest -- oh, caring and the list just keeps going.
SNOW (voice-over): Natalie Powers speaking out for the first time about her roommate, Annie Le. Yale students held a vigil just hours after authorities confirmed their worst fears. The body found Sunday lodged inside a basement wall at a Yale research facility was Le, a 24-year-old Ph.D. student who stood at 4'11" and weighed 90 pounds.
POWERS: And she was tougher than you'd think by just looking at her. That this horrible tragedy happened at all is incomprehensible, but that it happened to her, I think, is infinitely more so.
SNOW: As one professor put it, there's the sense there's a murderer among us and Yale's president tried to assure students.
VOICE OF RICHARD LEVIN, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: We're doing all that we can to ensure your security across the campus.
SNOW: The president of Yale said there were a limited number of people in the basement that day and they were known to authorities. To get inside the building, students tell us I.D.s like these need to be swiped.
SUMAYYA AHMAD, YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENT: Obviously, this person probably had access to the building. So it makes you very wary of people that you're around and work with.
SNOW: But Annie Le herself wrote an article for a university magazine in February on how not to become a crime statistic in New Haven. Adding to the anxiety on campus, Yale officials say the building where Le's body was found is a newer one and had top-notch security. More than 70 cameras were trained on the building and its surroundings.
Officials also say they have images of her as she walked several blocks from another building to the lab where she was killed. But a Yale official says there were no cameras in the area where her body was found and that has shaken some fellow graduate students.
YAN HUA, YALE RESEARCH SCIENTIST: I think most of us work very hard here. We work at night and also the weekends, also. So there are not too many people around.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And, Kiran, the medical examiners also say that the cause of Annie Le's death is temporarily being withheld to facilitate the investigation -- Kiran. CHETRY: And the other question is, what are you learning about how many people or who may have had access to the key cards to swipe to get into the lab? Because as we're understanding and as you talked about, it's not just a campus-wide key pass that you have. You would have to specifically have one for that building.
SNOW: Right. And students have described that basement area as a space where animals are tested in that lab. And they say it is very restricted, beyond just the swiping of a Yale I.D. card that gets you into the building. And even the dean of the medical school was quoted in Yale's campus paper, saying that it would be very difficult for someone outside Yale to enter that space, since it's extremely restricted.
CHETRY: Wow. That coupled with the surveillance video maybe will help them narrow it down to some suspects. Maybe we'll learn a little bit more about that today.
Mary Snow for us this morning at New Haven, Connecticut. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, a terror investigation underway in New York City. FBI agents and New York police launched a series of raids early Monday morning linked to an Al Qaeda terror suspect. They were looking to break up a suspected attack.
The dramatic action coming just hours before President Obama's visit and after a person the feds have been tracking arrived in the city. Our Deborah Feyerick is following the story. And do we know who authorities are looking for here? They're very tight-lipped about this.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very tight-lipped and what's interesting is they really brought in a lot of manpower in order to handle this. But authorities have released no names on this one. So far, no one has been arrested, though a number of people were taken in for questioning then released.
Now, dozens of heavily armed federal agents from the joint terrorism task force executed search warrants at two known locations in Flushing, Queens hours before the president arrived in Manhattan. It appears they were looking for someone from the Midwest who had visited the area in the past few days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHAN: When my friend dropped us off, they had like close to about 30 SUVs, Impalas double parked on the avenue in 41st Avenue. We saw one FBI suit. We saw two FBI suits. So we came in the building and then we saw like 30 camouflaged FBI machine guns, riot gear, everything. And then we went back outside, because we didn't know what was going on. So it was safer to stay outside than inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, there was no indication of a specific plot against the president, sources say, and the raids turned up no bomb- making materials. Here's what Chuck Schumer had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: One, there were some rumors that the terrorist act was imminent. That is not true. Second, there was some speculation that the raids were related to President Obama's visit to New York, because they occurred at the same time. That is not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, two other sources do contradict Schumer, telling CNN that authorities out of extreme caution acted because of concerns that the president was going to be here. New York City police commissioner reiterated last Friday on September 11th that Al Qaeda central does remain a very big concern in the area, as do home-grown terrorists. But why FBI agents acted last night, why they had so many people, well, that's something that we have yet to uncover.
ROBERTS: The fact that they used all of this firepower, they detained a number of people, but they released them all, is that suggestive that there's not a whole lot that they're there?
FEYERICK: They're -- if the suggestion, really, is that they may have jumped the gun. Now obviously, they went back if they didn't have something, but the question is what did they have? And really, you go to this neighborhood, and a lot of people were just breaking their fast from Ramadan last night, and they could not understand why this had happened and why there had been such an enormous flowing of, you know, machine guns in that area.
ROBERTS: A lot of questions remain.
FEYERICK: They'll figure it out.
ROBERTS: Deborah Feyerick for us this morning. Deb, thanks so much.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: Thanks, Deb.
Other stories new this morning, we could be close to a long- awaited deal on health care among the so-called Gang of Six senators who've been negotiating a bipartisan compromise. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus says that he expects to unveil details of that proposal tomorrow. Negotiators say they have made progress on reducing the cost of the health care overhaul and on a system to verify that illegal immigrants wouldn't get government help to buy coverage.
ROBERTS: That issue led to Republican Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's health care speech last week. Today, Democratic leaders in the House are expected to introduce a resolution of disapproval scolding Wilson for shouting "You lie" at the president. Wilson has apologized to the president. The president has accepted and he is refusing to apologize again on the House floor.
CHETRY: Well, family, friends, and many colleagues in Hollywood all mourning the loss of actor Patrick Swayze. He died last night after a nearly two-year fight with pancreatic cancer. Patrick Swayze was just 57 years old. Our Brooke Anderson takes a look at his life and some of his memorable movie roles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By the time Patrick Swayze leapt to fame in "Dirty Dancing," he already had a dozen credits to his name. Among them "Red Dawn" and Francis Ford Coppola film "The Outsiders."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE OUTSIDERS")
PATRICK SWAYZE, ACTOR: And I can't even call the cops because you two will be thrown in a boy's home so fast it would make your head spin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He was something of an outsider to acting, having grown up a dancer under the tutelage of his mother.
SWAYZE: My mother is a choreographer, so I sort of had no choice in it. I came out of the womb dancing.
ANDERSON: That background made him ideal to play dance instructor Johnny Castle in "Dirty Dancing," the 1987 film that would propelled him to stardom. Swayze even composed and sang a hit song from the film "She's Like the Wind," but he would later feel too identified with the part.
SWAYZE: There was a period -- it was like, God, am I ever going to get out of this dance dude thing? That's the -- part of the reason why I've gone off and done so many different, you know, types of characters.
ANDERSON: Among those characters were the brawler in "Road House," the thrill-seeking bank robber in "Point Break" and a drag queen in "To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar."
His career peaked in 1990 with the romantic thriller "Ghost."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GHOST")
PATRICK SWAYZE, PLAYING SAM WHEAT: Tell her ditto.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, PLAYING ODA MAE BROWN: Who's ditto?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He played a murder victim whose ghost returns to protect his wife, a part that showcased his ability to play masculine characters with a sensitive side. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GHOST")
SWAYZE: With all my heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: In the late 1990s, Swayze said he made a conscious decision to take fewer blockbuster roles. Instead, he spent time on his horse ranch in Southern California.
SWAYZE: My animals really tell me whether I'm buying the hype or not or whether I'm really 100 percent myself.
ANDERSON: And he continued to dance, making a film on the subject with his wife, fellow dancer and actress, Lisa Niemi. And then in March, his publicist confirmed the actor was suffering from pancreatic cancer. A year before the diagnosis, he struck a philosophical note as he reflected on his journey through Hollywood.
SWAYZE: You know, a career goes up. I think I'm on the fifth refocusing of Patrick Swayze's career. You know, it's like -- the part of the ride and the growth is the up and down. It can be just as hard to live through the ups as it can be to live through the downs.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's a real shame. You know, though, when you get that diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, you know, 95 percent of the time, it's just a matter of time.
CHETRY: I know, it's heartbreaking. He's a great guy and we all remember him from "Dirty Dancing," a lot of us. But the other thing too, he said, I want to hang on until they come up with a cure for it, I mean, when he said his last interview.
ROBERTS: Twenty months. He lasted a lot longer than most people do. So, well, it's very sad news this morning.
It's 11 minutes after the hour. Support for the war in Afghanistan slipping and slipping dramatically. We're live at White House coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." It's 14 minutes past the hour now.
You know, we hadn't heard much lately about the nation's color- coded terror alert system, but a bipartisan task force says that's no reason to ditch it. After reviewing the system, this is the system that many had made fun of, the task force is expected to recommend that the Obama administration reduce the number of color-coded risk levels to just three, but in general keep this color coding. Since 9/11, the country has never been below the third threat level, yellow, indicating an elevated or significant risk of attack.
ROBERTS: New York City's health commissioner wants to ban smoking in city parks, playgrounds and beaches. Dr. Thomas Farley says a six-year-old smoking ban in bars and restaurants has reduced the number of adult smokers by 300,000 and a new outdoor ban could help cut the city's smoking population by 2012.
CHETRY: Rapper Kanye West admitting to Jay Leno what much of America already knew, that his outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech was a big mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE JAY LENO SHOW")
KANYE WEST, SINGER: It was just -- it was rude, period. You know, I'd like to apologize to her in person and, you know, I wanted to...
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": So, when did you know you were wrong? Was it afterwards, as you were doing it? When did it strike you, uh-oh?
WEST: Like, as soon as I gave the mike back to her and then she didn't keep going, you know, I went --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. Well, Kanye, who has had a string of outbursts like this in the past told Leno that he needs to take some time off to analyze why he did what he did and how he's going to improve.
ROBERTS: I just don't understand why it took him that long to realize what he had done was wrong. As soon as I handed the microphone back and she sat there stunned at what I had done, I got the sense that maybe I had breached decorum, but I wasn't sure.
CHETRY: There you go. How about Jay Leno getting lucky, though? I mean, that was the talk -- that was the talk all day yesterday, and he already had Kanye West booked in general, just to appear on his premiere.
ROBERTS: You know, between Kanye and Serena, it would have been perfect. Actually, I think Serena's supposed to be here tomorrow. So, looking forward to that.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTS: Yes. Today, some tough Q&A on the hill. President Obama's joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen appears before a Senate panel for a hearing to serve a second term and the key focus, whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Finding support for additional manpower is not going to be easy.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, only 39 percent of Americans -- 39 percent -- are in favor of the war. That's down from 53 percent just a couple of months ago. Fifty-eight percent of people oppose it.
Our Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House this morning. This poll coming out as the administration prepares to make some big decisions, Suzanne, on Afghanistan.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, those are really some stunning numbers. And there is a very active debate that is taking place inside of this building, inside of the White House on the size and the scope of the Afghan mission. The president has made his mission clear. He says that it's to disrupt, dismantle, destroy Al Qaeda that's in Afghanistan in Pakistan, and so they don't reemerge in those countries. But they are going to take their time in figuring out just how big this mission is going to be, how many troops.
We heard from the spokesman, Robert Gibbs, who says it could take weeks and weeks. And I spoke with a White House official who says the bottom line here is fear of mission creep (ph), whether or not this is going to turn in some sort of nation-building exercise. They want to make sure that they have a clear exit strategy. There's the other question, the other issue as well, whether or not this will damage the president in getting his agenda done, whether or not this will turn him into a one-term president. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you reflect on what happened to Lyndon Johnson and worry the same might happen to you?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think that you have to -- you have to learn lessons from history. On the other hand, each historical moment is different. You never step into the same river twice. And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam, but the dangers of overreach and not having cleared goals and not having strong support from the American people, those are all issues that I think about all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, John, he is certainly listening to the American people. This administration very much aware of those poll numbers.
I had a chance to speak with an analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies who told me that this war in Afghanistan is different than it was eight years ago, that it is unclear whether or not Al Qaeda is really focused in that particular country, that it is more diffused in the region, that it is less targeted. So it's going to be a harder sell to the American people that all these resources should be put towards the war in Afghanistan -- John.
ROBERTS: And getting to be a harder sell among his own party as well. He's got the support of Republicans like Lindsey Graham and John McCain who say this is something that you just can't afford not to win, but other people, like Senator Russ Feingold, who's going to join us in our 8:00 hour, say it's time for a flexible withdrawal from Afghanistan. MALVEAUX: And also we heard from Senator Carl Levin as well, very powerful Democrat who weighed in this week, essentially saying that he believes that more Afghan security forces, that they should be trained before you have additional U.S. troops. But we know that the military, the top brass, are recommending that likely more U.S. troops are going to be necessary. So this president has some really tough decisions to make, John.
ROBERTS: He certainly does. Suzanne Malveaux for us live at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, you know, unemployment is up, especially in manufacturing. A lot of jobs going overseas.
Coming up, Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business." We're going to find out how the tires that you put on your car could be getting more expensive because of a spat over imports between the U.S. and China.
It's 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Twenty- two minutes past the hour now. We have Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning in for Christine.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CHETRY: And we're talking about -- good morning. Good to see you -- this little spat between the U.S. and China over importing tires.
ELAM: Yes, and you may have missed that this was happening because on Friday everyone was caught up with the fact that we had this Lehman anniversary and the fact that it was 9/11. So you may not have heard about this on Friday, but, yes, that's true.
The Obama administration imposing a tariff on tires coming in from China. And the whole idea here is making sure that trade would be fair between the two countries.
Well, needless to say, labor is happy about this. China is not happy about this, and companies that import tires to the United States are not happy about this at all. So let's take a look at exactly what's happening here.
The U.S. companies that import this are against this decision because they're saying, we're just going to have to pass this on to the consumer at a time that we're trying to get the consumer back on their feet here. This is not going to be something that's really helping out.
So starting September 26th of this year, you're going to see tariffs for tires coming in, consumer tires for light trucks and cars coming in from China, going up to 35 percent. Then in 2010, that number will drop down to 30 percent. And then in 2011, that will drop back down to 25 percent.
They're saying this is all because the U.S. tire market being thrown out of whack because so many cheap tires are coming in from China. If you take a look at it, tires coming from other countries cost more than $55 whereas coming from China, they cost less than $40. Of course, the fear here is that this is going to throw off the relationship as far as imports and exports between China and the U.S.
China going ahead and saying, OK, this is what you're going to do. We're going to take a look at poultry (ph). Are you dumping that on our market and auto parts as well? So there's a whole fear here that this could lead to a bigger issue.
But here's the thing, from 2004 to 2008, imports of tires rose 215 percent from China. Domestic production has fallen 25 percent. And one company says he doesn't even have another company to go to in the United States that makes tires because the production has cut down so much. So there's a big debate on whether or not this is really going to affect people here, or even bring jobs back to the United States. But, obviously, labor, very happy about the Obama administration making this call.
CHETRY: The hope is that this would be one of the first steps toward ramping up and helping the manufacturing sector here, right?
ELAM: That's a huge part. People are saying, too many jobs are being exported out of the country. We need to make things here in the United States and this is the first way to do that. Keep in mind, you've got the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, September 25th, or 24th and 25th, so people want to see how that's going to affect that conversation and the fact that Obama is going to Beijing in November as well.
ROBERTS: Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning. Stephanie, thanks so much.
ELAM: Thanks.
ROBERTS: "Role Call" magazine is out with its annual list of Congress' 50th wealthiest people. How much are they worth?
Well, let's put this way. A whole lot less than they were a year ago.
Twenty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." The so- called tea party protesters, they're angry about government spending and dead set against President Obama's health care reform plan. But is their rage tipping over into racism?
Elaine Quijano is digging into that story for us this morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, we have to emphasize, by far, most tea party protesters are not casting their arguments in what could be seen as a racial light. But a small group of demonstrators is using a controversial image that's been circulating on the web since July.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): Within the larger tea party movement that's gained steam across the country, a small but passionate minority is also voicing what some see as racist rhetoric, including this doctored image circulating on the Internet, and even some protester's signs like this one in Brighton, Michigan, portraying President Obama as a witch doctor. We took to the streets of Washington to get reaction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's disrespectful to the Office of the President to portray him in this manner. It's race -- it's racist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is appalling.
QUIJANO: Just how prevalent were the protesters carrying racially-charged messages? Difficult to quantify. CNN All Platform journalist Jim Spellman spent weeks covering the tea party demonstrators as a whole.
JIM SPELLMAN, ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Only a handful of people seemed to outwardly have racial issues with the president, but the more you could talk to people, you could sense that it was part of a larger distrust.
QUIJANO: For their part, tea party leaders disavowed any racist views.
MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY ORGANIZER: I saw very little overt racism or anger and those were on the fringes and were marginalized.
QUIJANO: They want attention focused on the role and reach of government into people's lives, but say that controversial protesters have the right to speak their mind.
WILLIAMS: Part of America is that there are people who are bigoted and, you know, you're never going to convince them not to be. You don't have to embrace them, but in this country, you can't shut them up.
QUIJANO: "Chicago Tribune" columnist Clarence Page sees the Obama presidency as a chance for some to lash out.
CLARENCE PAGE, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": People are not just mad at Obama. They're mad at Jesse Jackson. They're mad at Reverend Wright. They're mad at Al Sharpton. They're mad at people who have nothing to do with Obama except they all happen to be black.
QUIJANO: Page says the vehemently racial resistance that emerged is another sign any notion of a post-racial society after Barack Obama's election was wishful thinking. PAGE: That's only the beginning of a process that we are able to live with leadership that may not look like us, may not come from the same background, but is still part of this very diverse society.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Mark Williams, the tea party organizer we talked to, notes there's been some inflammatory rhetoric and statements at events like anti-war protests in the past, burning flags and hanging effigies, he says. His point, that like other grassroots movements, the tea party protesters are a cross section of America -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Elaine Quijano for us. Thank you.
Meanwhile, it's half past the hour right now and we check our top stories.
President Obama is on a mission. For a second day, he's addressing the health of the U.S. economy. This morning, he'll be traveling to a GM plant in Ohio that is now rehiring. Thanks in part to the "Cash for Clunkers" program. The president will then travel to Pittsburgh. That's where he'll speak at the AFL-CIO convention.
ROBERTS: One of Africa's most wanted may have been taken out by a U.S. air strike in Somalia. Military officials say al Qaeda operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan may have been one of several people killed when the Special Forces helicopter opened fire on a car. Nabhan has been tied to several attacks including the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
CHETRY: The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush last year has just been released from a Baghdad prison. Muntazer al- Zaidi served nine months of a year-long sentence and became an instant hero in the Arab world, throwing his shoes at the U.S. president and calling him a dog, two of the worst insults in that part of the world.
Well, "Roll Call" is out with its annual ranking of the 50 wealthiest members of Congress. The group is worth a combined $1.3 billion, but the 50 richest didn't have such a good year. And they took some big financial losses as well.
Paul Singer is an associate editor at "Roll Call." He helped put the list together and he joins us this morning from Washington.
Good to see you this morning.
PAUL SINGER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "ROLL CALL": Good morning, Kiran. How are you?
CHETRY: Great. Thanks.
We just want to tell people the numbers are a little tiny bit murky only because of reporting rules, because members of Congress are allowed to give ranges in some cases and not exact dollar figures. But with that said, we take a look at the breakdown, and this are again the 50 richest. And some interesting numbers when we look at the party breakdowns -- 22 were Republicans and 28 were Democrats.
Has that changed a lot over the years?
SINGER: It's changed a little bit over the years. But, you know, wealth is not necessarily a party issue for members of Congress. One of the things that both parties are looking for is wealthy people who can pay their own way for their campaigns.
So what you see in fact is more and more wealthy people in both parties joining Congress, because it's basically easier to finance your campaign if you've got a lot of your own money.
CHETRY: That's interesting that you talk about this. Out of the bunch of freshmen, 11 of them are on this list of 50 wealthiest, right?
SINGER: Yes, that's right.
CHETRY: So, it shows that if you can pay for your own way, then you can possibly have a better chance of unseating an incumbent, even.
SINGER: And both parties are very sincere about and very up- front about trying to find people who can self-fund their campaigns, that means millionaires.
CHETRY: Wow.
All right. Well, let's get to the richest of the rich. And no surprise who's on top. We've known before that he's quite wealthy because of his wife's money -- Senator John Kerry. Net worth $232 million in 2008, much of it from his wife's ketchup fortune, but he took a big hit. About $168 million is what his net worth is now. So that's what -- a $64 million loss.
What happened?
SINGER: Well, a lot of their accounts reduced in value, but you have to also be careful about these numbers. We believe that the Kerry-Heinz family is worth probably five or six times this amount. But because they only have to report in these broad categories, it's really hard to know how much. This is the minimum that they are worth.
And what happens is you see a bunch of accounts that go from being reported as over $1 million to now being less than $1 million. All across their assets, you see these declines.
CHETRY: I got you, yes. So in some cases of their reporting you can just say assets are simply over $1 million. So, over $1 million could mean many things. I got you.
SINGER: Well, right. And in fact...
CHETRY: Go ahead.
SINGER: This money was -- this money was Teresa Heinz Kerry's money. This was the same money that was number one on our list in 1990.
CHETRY: Right. So, not much has changed there.
But let's look at number three. This is Congresswoman Jane Harman out of California, ranking third overall, but taking a big hit. She started the year with a net worth of $226 million, and much of this from her husband's company which produces electronics under brands like Infinity and JBL. They took a huge hit as well, declining in net worth by $114 million to coming up with $112 million as the new net worth.
What happened? That's practically 50 percent or more.
SINGER: Right. And I -- and I warn you that, again, some of this is because the reporting is a little bizarre. One of the things that happened is that they had a very large account in Harman Kardon that was reported as being worth over $50 million last year. Now, that's being reported as between $5 million and $25 million.
So, who knows how much is actually in that account? What's clear is that it has declined significantly. But keep in mind, they could also have moved that money into some other account where the reporting is simply less clear.
CHETRY: Right.
SINGER: So, we're not sure exactly how much money they have.
(CROSSTALK)
SINGER: You see the reductions.
CHETRY: Yes, that's a big hit anyway you look at it.
Let's look at Congressman Harry Teague, by the way, from New Mexico. He had a great year. Let's see. His net worth started at $6 million and now he's at $34 million.
How did he pull that off?
SINGER: Harry Teague pulled that off by doing something that very few people do, which is report full, detailed, accurate information.
The $6 million was based on what he had to report as a candidate, which is in very sort of vague categories, particularly on the oil services businesses that he ran in New Mexico. Now that he's a member of Congress, he decided to put an actual number on that business.
So, previously, it was reported at somewhere between $5 and $12 million -- sorry, $5 million and $25 million. This year, he'd actually reported the final number, $39 million. Now we can see, because Harry Teague has basically decided, I'm going to tell you exactly what it's worth.
CHETRY: What's the takeaway from all of this? I mean, we look at the 50 wealthiest members of Congress, but in general, you know, you have to be rich to get elected? I mean, you know, is money and power, as we always talk about, inextricably linked here?
SINGER: No, but it helps. I mean, I think what this shows you very clearly is that being rich does not protect you from an economic downturn. These people still lost money.
But the fact of the matter is, is that members of Congress in general tend to be wealthier than your average American. And part of the reason is because who else is able to take a year off from their job, campaign for a public office and do all the travel and all the handshaking that's required?
Normally, it's rich people. Not always, but frequently.
CHETRY: I hear you. Or people with nothing to lose, right, either way.
SINGER: Well, right. It could be that, too, you know.
CHETRY: That's what we're talking about today.
Paul Singer, associate editor of "Roll Call," thanks so much for joining us this morning.
SINGER: Thanks, Kiran. Have a good day.
CHETRY: You, too.
ROBERTS: So, we talked about this a whole lot. How much radiation comes out of your cell phone and how much radiation is safe? How much cell phone use is safe?
Our Brian Todd has got the results of an interesting new study to pass along to you. You'll have that right after the break.
It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
Just about everyone has got one these days -- a cell phone, an iPhone, a BlackBerry. But is the radiation they emit putting your health at risk?
Our Brian Todd has got new information this morning on a study that may give you second thoughts when it comes to picking up that phone and putting it to your ear.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
This new information is from an environmental advocacy group. It's got fresh warnings about wireless devices, warnings aimed at so many of us who used them for long periods of time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice over): Ellie Marks thinks it may be too late to save her husband, but she's determined to tell his story in Washington.
Alan Marks has brain cancer and Ellie says his doctors pin it on one device.
(on camera): About how much did Alan use his cell phone?
ELLIE MARKS, HUSBAND HAS BRAIN CANCER: Alan used his cell phone a lot. It was -- it was glued to his ear. He was in the real estate industry. He used it probably on average about 22 hours a month.
TODD (voice over): Marks concedes this was in the 1990s when cell phones were bigger and emitted more radiation. But she's also concerned about current cell phones and so-called PDAs, Personal Digital Assistants, and she is not alone.
A new report from the Environmental Working Group warns of radiation risks and has a top 10 list. Motorola has five models on it, BlackBerry has two.
(on camera): This is a BlackBerry Gold, one of the top 10 emitters of radiation on your list. What is wrong with phones like this, basically, according to your study?
RICHARD WILES, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: Those phones emit high levels of radiation that has been associated with increases in brain cancer in the most recent studies that looked at people who have used cell phones for more than 10 years.
TODD: The Environmental Working Group says it didn't test the phones itself, instead used existing data. And it admits the science is not definitive.
To clarify, the study says these phones emit higher levels of radiation, but does not assert the phones themselves increase the risk of cancer.
Contacted by CNN, Motorola issued a statement saying radiation levels in its products are within safe exposure limits.
A representative for the BlackBerry manufacturer did not respond to our calls and e-mails.
The Wireless Trade Association cites FDA and American Cancer Society studies showing no adverse health effects from wireless phones.
A researcher from the National Institutes of Health, who studied the risks, says some data concerns him, but when pressed...
(on camera): Taken as a whole, with the studies that we're talking about and the ones that you've done, are these devices really emitting radiation levels that are concerning or unsafe? JOHN BUCHER, NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM, NIH: Right now, I cannot answer that question. We just don't have the data to answer that question yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: But the Environmental Working Group also has an issue with the safety standards put out by the federal government. It says the standards set by the Federal Communications Commission are based on 1992 recommendations and are very outdated.
Contacted by CNN, the FCC said it has always relied on the advice of government health agencies for its safety standards and so far, it says, no agency has recommended that those standards be changed.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Brian Todd for us this morning. Brian, thanks so much.
CHETRY: All right. Still can't give a definitive answer about whether or not it causes problem.
ROBERTS: All things in moderation, you know. That's a pretty good rule to live your life by.
CHETRY: You use that little ear piece thing?
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: Hands-free device?
ROBERTS: No, I'll look like a dork.
CHETRY: OK. Might be the safer thing to do.
But let's check with Rob now, not on whether or not he uses an ear piece, but what the weather is like down south. We got some rain moving east, Rob?
He'll answer that when we come back after the break.
Forty-four minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: I think you've been using your cell phone so much.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: That's a beautiful sunrise this morning. That's a live look at New York. It's 66 degrees right now, going up to 81 and it's supposed to be mostly sunny later today. So, a nice day for the middle of September here in New York.
ROBERTS: You know, maybe some more appropriate music to play would have been Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood," because we've got some flooding down in Texas today. Rob Marciano is at the weather center in Atlanta. He's tracking it all for us. How bad is it, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Not the blue tooth, you mean the actual plug-in one.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, yes, I'm full on dork, plug-in, wire.
CHETRY: Me, too.
MARCIANO: If you wrap it around your nose, it gets nice and close to your mouth, then you really look like a dork, almost looks like a respirator.
CHETRY: Or even -- or even better, when you clip it, you know, clip it to your shirt right here so that -- so that it's nice and high.
MARCIANO: Whatever. All in the name of safety.
CHETRY: That's right. Safety first.
Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you in a bit.
CHETRY: Hey, you know, the Kanye West outburst at the VMAs, it has a lot of people now not mincing words when they describe Kanye. Jeanne Moos takes a look at how much fallout from what he said, even though he apologized on "Leno" last night.
Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": Osama bin Laden, have you heard this, has released a new audio recording slamming the president, America, Israel, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes, yes. Then at the end, when he's really worked out, he yells, "And Beyonce has one of the best videos of all time."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
That's Kanye West getting heat from all sides. He said he was sorry. He actually went on Jay Leno last night to apologize for the stunt that he pulled on Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, saying that, "It was rude, period."
ROBERTS: Well, we know what he was drinking, but what was he thinking?
Our Jeanne Moos has got more on the rapper going off the rails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You know you've made a boo-boo when the bad things people say about you sound like a top ten worst insults list.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a jerk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a dope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a moron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kanye got a little nuts last night.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, TALK SHOW HOST: It was kind of a bullying moment.
PINK, SINGER: I just think he's an idiot. He's just a waste. He's just a toolbox.
MOOS: What could be worse than having singer Pink call you a "toolbox." Well, pop star Katy Perry tweeted "It's like you stepped on a kitten."
By now you've all seen the kitten, 19-year-old country singer Taylor Swift getting stepped on as she accepted her MTV Music Video Award.
KANYE WEST: I'm really happy for you. I'm going to let you finish. But Beyonce had one of best videos of all time!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Kanye owes Taylor Swift a nice gift basket, maybe a day at the spa.
MOOS: Even teenagers weren't making excuses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kanye, I think that was really messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You should have gave her her moment. It destroyed her moment, that was O.D.
MOOS: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: O.d., like he overdid it.
MOOS: Pardon us, while we overdo covering what he overdid.
You know, it's not an award that Kanye West is going to be remembered for holding at this show. It's that bottle of cognac he was swigging and brandishing and passing around on the red carpet on the way in. The last time Kanye interrupted the MTV Europe Music Awards...
WEST: A little sippy-sippy.
MOOS: ... He blamed the sippy-sippy for crashing the stage when he didn't win best video.
WEST: If I don't win, the award show loses credibility.
MOOS: But at least Kanye's latest shenanigans produced a bunch of mash-up videos and made that new lie stuff yesterday's news.
OBAMA: The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
WEST: I'll let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!
OBAMA: It's not true.
MOOS: Our second favorite mash-up.
WEST: Beyonce had one of best videos of all times.
REP. BARNEY FRANK, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: On what planet do you spend most of your time?
MOOS: It's another one of those leave Britney alone moments.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leave Kanye alone!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leave Taylor alone.
MOOS: We leave you alone with a parting thought --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hubris. Hubris goeth before a fall, Kanye.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grow up.
MOOS: ...New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Pretty funny.
ROBERTS: Taking it on the chin. Everybody.
CHETRY: Yes, he sure is.
Well, he said sorry, and he'll be regretting it for some time to come.
ROBERTS: But sometimes sorry just isn't enough.
CHETRY: Yes. And, actually, speaking about that, about 30 minutes, we're going to be talking to the granddaughter of the woman who wrote "The Great-Granddaughter."
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: Yes, who wrote, I guess the bible you could say on manners, Emily Post.
We're going to talk to Peggy Post about, you know, are people just rude? What happened to being nice?
ROBERTS: Yes, exactly. And that's on the front page of "USA Today" as well. Whatever happened to civility? You know, when you take all of this together -- Serena, Joe Wilson, Kanye West. It's like people are out of control.
So you can't smoke in any restaurants in New York City, and you can't really smoke in most buildings, either. You know, the great outdoors has been sort of the last bastion for smokers, and guess what, they may put the hook on that, too.
We'll tell you about a pending outdoor smoking ban in New York City, coming right up.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
America's non-smoking section getting bigger and bigger and it's moving outside now. You can't smoke in many beaches in California. You can't smoke in any park at all in San Francisco, and the movement now beginning to blow east. There's a new plan to step out smoking entirely in New York's historic central park. But wouldn't that be tough to enforce?
Our Jason Carroll here now with more on this looming outside smoking ban.
Good morning to you.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, yes. I think a lot of smokers already feel like they're second-class citizens. After this, I think they're really going to be ticked off.
You know, if you're a smoker, imagine not being able to take a break and light up in Central Park, as John said, or even Coney Island. Well, some New York City health officials get their ways, smoking in outdoor public places like city beaches and some parks will be banned. The city's health commissioner says thanks to a six-year- old smoking ban in bars and restaurants. The number of adult smokers in the city has been cut by 300,000. The commissioner wants to cut that number even more, and says the new outdoor ban is part of a larger effort to improve the health of New Yorkers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. THOMAS FARLEY, NEW YORK CITY HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We don't think our children should have to be watching someone smoke. And so that could be done through policy with the parks department. It could be done by city ordinance. We just like the general idea, and we want to promote that idea. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, the city's health commissioner also says that the city hopes to raise taxes on cigarettes and limit tobacco advertising. In typical fashion, New Yorkers had plenty to say about the proposed outdoor ban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a smoker. I can't stand cigarettes, but I don't think that -- I think that's kind of an abuse of power, to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's going to be hard to prevent that in outdoor spaces. But, yes, I mean, it's great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've already raised up the taxes on cigarette. If it's outside, I don't feel like it's none of his business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, city officials say they do not know whether they will pursue the outdoor ban through a new law or through a change in the park's policy. And as to when it all might happen, when asked about a time line, city officials were not able to offer any details in that area. You know, outdoor bans are rare, but they're not unheard of. You know, Los Angeles banned -- I'm from L.A. Los Angeles banned outdoor smoking in parks. I think, it was in '07, you know.
CHETRY: And there's a couple little towns. I think Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Montgomery County, I don't think you can smoke outside there. And you know as you said they've been able to do it out west, so...
CARROLL: We'll see if they can do it here.
ROBERTS: You know, you walk down the streets in New York. Is everybody walks in New York City? And somebody thought half a block ahead of you is smoking --
CARROLL: It's annoying!
ROBERTS: It just permeates the environment.
CARROLL: So we'll see what happens. But New Yorkers can be a motley crew. So we'll see if they end up accepting this new one. We'll see.
ROBERTS: Jason Carroll for us this morning.
Jason, thanks so much.
