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American Morning
Yale Lab Tech in Custody in Annie Le Slaying; Baucus to Unveil Version of Health Care Reform Bill; President Obama's Off-the-Record Remarks on Kanye West Sparks Debate on Twitter; President Jimmy Carter Says Racism Behind Animosity Against President Obama; Is Recession Over?; Inside the Secretive Freemasonry Building
Aired September 16, 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: Good morning on this Wednesday, the 16th of September. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. And we have a lot going on this morning. We're going to be breaking down the big stories for you in the next 15 minutes.
First, it's the investigation into the murder of a Yale grad student. Now, they have a person of interest. They're focusing on in the case, 24-year-old Raymond Clark. A Yale lab technician is being held while police collect DNA evidence and search his apartment to see if he's connected to the killing of Annie Le. We're live in New Haven, Connecticut with developments.
ROBERTS: A major move on health care reform. Senator Max Baucus, the leader of the bipartisan so-called Gang of Six about to unveil his proposal this morning. So what's in this plan, and is everyone onboard? We're live on Capitol Hill this morning.
CHETRY: President Obama's off-the-record remark calling Kanye West a "jackass" for his MTV outburst gets picked up and sent into the Twitter sphere (ph). This morning, the incident is sparking questions about just what is and isn't fair game for tweeting at work.
ROBERTS: Well, we begin with a major late-night development in the murder of Yale graduate student Annie le. Police now have a person of interest in custody.
Twenty-four-year-old Raymond Clark, a technician who worked in the same Yale lab building as Annie Le was taken from his apartment in handcuffs last night. Police obtained warrants for DNA and other evidence to determine if Clark is connected to the murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JAMES LEWIS, NEW HAVEN POLICE DEPT.: We're also making sure that there's not other potential suspects and so avoiding the issue of tunnel vision. We're looking at everyone that had access to that building and could have been there during that time period.
At this point, we looked at about 700 hours worth of video. We've interviewed over 150 people. Some we've interviewed a second time. We've got over 150 pieces of evidence seized so far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mary Snow is following developments from the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut this morning. She joins us live with the latest.
Good morning, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. And police described that they would be taking saliva, fingernail and hair samples from Raymond Clark. Also at the same time that he was taken into police custody, there was a search warrant executed for his apartment in Middletown, Connecticut.
Now, investigators are trying to look to see whether any of that evidence, a DNA evidence, could be matched to the 100 pieces of evidence they say they have already. And police say by the end of the week, they should be able to determine whether Clark is, in fact, linked to this murder or whether he will be cleared. And he was expected to be released if he cooperated. No official word this morning, John, on his whereabouts.
ROBERTS: Mary, what was it that led them to Clark in the first place?
SNOW: You know, police really wouldn't elaborate on that but they did say that they have been watching him from the start, because there were questions last night did he try to get away. Is that why they had done this at this point?
They wouldn't answer any of those questions, but they said they have been watching him. And in their words, we have been with him since they took this case over.
And, you know, hours before this was announced, John, we know that there was police presence at his apartment complex, and neighbors told us that the police had been there for more than 24 hours.
ROBERTS: Mary Snow in New Haven for us this morning. Mary, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, it could be good news for the president's plans to overhaul health care. In just a few hours, Senator Max Baucus, one of the so-called "gang of six" lawmakers will roll out his version of a reform bill. The three Republicans and three Democrats have been hammering out the details now for months and may continue to work on it because the Republicans and the gang still are not sold on the plan.
Our Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill. And so, Brianna, as we talked about whether or not they're getting closer to any type of agreement, what should we be watching for in the next few hours?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kiran, you may say what do you mean, because Senator Baucus actually put out a plan last week.
But this is the bill that will go to the Senate Finance Committee that the Senate Finance Committee will pore through line through line, make amendments to, and we're going to be getting the details of this here at about 10:00 a.m. Eastern. Then at noon Eastern, Senator Baucus is expected to unveil formally this plan.
And noticeably absent, we are expecting those other members of the "gang of six," the other two Democrats, the other three Republicans that he's been talking with. That said, they are still at the bargaining table but they still have some issues that they could be working out really into next week, even as this amendment process and the committee goes forward.
Now Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, also at the table with this "gang of six" said, "Unfortunately, we're operating under an artificial deadline set by the Democratic leadership and the White House. There are still some serious outstanding issues that have yet to be resolved." He went on to say, though, "We've been clear from the start that we're willing to stay at the table."
And, Kiran, really the do or die day for whether there's going to be some bipartisanship here, some Republican and Democratic buy-in the Senate Finance Committee, could go all the way up to the end of this amendment process for the final vote in the Senate Finance Committee. Maybe as early as next week, so certainly the beat goes on here, Kiran.
CHETRY: And then what are the big hang-ups in the bill right now for critics on both sides of the aisle?
KEILAR: Well, right now, everyone is looking to what the Senate Finance Committee is doing. The House, House Democrats aren't moving forward because they want to see what comes out of the Senate Finance Committee. Releasing is the best chance for some sort of bipartisan compromise here. So the big hang-up for liberal Democrats in the House, of course, is there is no public option.
This is a plan that includes a nonprofit health cooperative system governed by the patients that it serves. But some of the issues that are still being hashed out among the "gang of six," for instance, for Senator Grassley, include decreasing the overhaul costs. Right now, it's about $880 billion. He'd like to see it more or less than that rather.
There's some concern about the federal -- about federal money funding abortions. This is something Senator Grassley does not want in there and this group has been working on, and also some concern that federal money could subsidize coverage for illegal immigrants. This is sort of a flash point that this committee is trying to work on and sort of set up a verification process so illegal immigrants, Kiran, can't benefit from this health care overhaul.
CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning on Capitol Hill. Thanks. ROBERTS: An official slap on the wrist for South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson for heckling President Obama during his health care speech to a joint session of Congress one week ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reforms -- the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You lie!
OBAMA: Not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The two paragraph resolution passed by his colleagues in the House yesterday states that Wilson's outburst was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings. The vote was mostly along party lines. Wilson did apologize to the president and the president accepted that apology.
And former President Jimmy Carter speaking out against some of the public protests against President Obama during an interview with NBC News' Brian Williams (ph). Carter said racism is behind much of the anger toward the president, and it's something that concerns him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American.
I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way. And I've seen the rest of the country share the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans. That racism in connection still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Carter went on to say that he believes President Obama will be able to "triumph over the racist attitude" that is the basis for today's negative environment.
CHETRY: We're going to be talking about that a little bit later with political White House correspondent Nia-Malika Henderson. Some say that it's actually something that has been underdiscussed, the issue of race in this history-making time, the first African-American president. So we're going to get her take on it this morning.
Also new this morning, the Obama White House is in favor of extending three key provisions of the controversial Patriot Act. A Justice Department letter to Congress says the administration supports post-9/11 authority to access business records, monitor so-called lone wolf terrorists and also to conduct roving wiretaps. All free provisions implemented by President Bush are set to expire at the end of the year.
ROBERTS: The new swine flu vaccine good to go. The Food and Drug Administration approving the H1N1 vaccine on Tuesday. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the first flu shot should be available starting early next month. She says eventually there will be enough vaccine for everyone, but children, pregnant women and health care workers will be at the head of the line.
CHETRY: Well, things got out a little out of hand at the new Yankees stadium last night. A bench-clearing brawl erupted between the Yanks and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the bottom of the eighth inning after two Toronto players were already hit by pitches, that's when pitcher Jesse Carlson threw behind Yankee catcher Jorge Posada. Posada glared at the mound, eventually drew a walk. But when he came around to score, Posada then stuck his elbow out and grazed Carlson and that was all it took.
The two players charging each other. Both benches and bullpens emptied out. Posada and Carlson ejected from the game. Fines and the suspensions are likely to follow.
ROBERTS: And they complain about what happened at the U.S. Open. My goodness.
So, the president calls Kanye West a jackass in what was supposed to be an off-the-record comment, and then it suddenly flies around the world of Twitter. How much tweet is too much tweet? We'll talk about that coming up next.
Nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": According to some reports coming out of Washington today, President Obama said Kanye West is a jackass. That's what he said. Yes. Yes. Not since yes, we can has Obama found a slogan so many Americans can get behind.
Kanye West is a jackass.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. President Obama thought that his comments about Kanye West were off the record. They came during an interview with CNBC. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were your girls as hacked off as mine were that Kanye gave Taylor Swift the Joe Wilson treatment?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I thought that was really inappropriate. You know, it was like she's getting an award, why are you butting in? I -- I hear you. I agree with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, does that count as the first question?
OBAMA: The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She's getting her award. What's he doing up there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would he do that?
OBAMA: He's a jackass.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The remark was overheard by people at ABC who then tweeted about it. So just what is fair game for tweeting while you're at work?
Regina Lewis is AOL's consumer adviser and author of "Wired in a Week." She joins us now from Dulles, Virginia.
It's great to see you, Virginia. Thanks for being with us.
REGINA LEWIS, AOL'S CONSUMER ADVISER: Of course. Thank you.
ROBERTS: So, let's just illuminate for folks at home what the tweet was that sort of launched a thousand conversations. It said, "President Obama just called Kanye West a jackass for his outburst at the VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now, that's presidential. ABC News says it was wrong for that tweet to go out.
So I guess the caution here is be careful what you tweet these days.
LEWIS: Yes. They're saying that the threshold should be the same if it was published on ABC.com which has raised all kinds of questions within the journalism community. But it extends beyond that. Everybody else at work and that's got a lot of companies scrambling to update their business code of conduct and create things called acceptable use policies around social networking which tweets would fall under.
ROBERTS: Yes. I guess, you know, their Twitter guidelines, Facebook guidelines, you might call them twide (ph) lines, I guess.
"Wall Street Journal" says business and pleasure should not be mixed. The folks at IBM are telling their employees to stay away from controversial topics. It's a new twist of business here that they have to have social networking policies.
LEWIS: Absolutely, and it can happen very quickly. So you certainly want to know your company's policy. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of Twitter accounts or social networking profiles. Companies sponsored and those are usually run by the marketing department or the PR folks versus an individual account. And this is where the lines blur because most people have things that they're talking about that are personal and professional.
The second that you post, even if it's just in your information area that you work at x-company, odds are now your company is going to say OK, so all of this is fair game because you are representing us. That's why the IBMs of the world encourage people to write in first person so that it's clear that it's your point of view not the company's. And if needed, and maybe asked this, should I put a disclaimer that says, hey, anything I post here doesn't necessarily reflect the views of my company.
ROBERTS: And some industries or sports in particular have some unique challenges and unique issues to tackle. The U.S. Tennis Association warned athletes during the U.S. Open not to tweet about matches, court conditions, injury status, et cetera, saying that could constitute illegal gambling.
LEWIS: Yes. Every industry has their own nuances. So take a public company, for example, are there forward-looking thoughts that could spark insider trading? Are there patents? Is it proprietary information even?
And this kind of goes back to the president's off-the-cuff remarks which are considered off the record. What if I happened to see a bunch of guys in suits in the lobby and started to tweet that wow, they looked happy, I smell a merger? That's the kind of comments just based on what you see. You've got to play it out in your head. Be careful what you wish for.
And, of course, on the most effective tweets, the ones just like the Kanye West words out of the president's mouth, are the ones that are controversial. They spread very quickly, so ABC pulled that tweet down. But it was too late. It is already out there.
ROBERTS: So, obviously, it's a challenge for companies always to stay ahead of the new technology. And this one is just exploding as well. Might there come a day when they either have to monitor people's use of Twitter and Facebook or maybe restrict it? And what about people who do tweet or use Facebook during working hours? What should they keep in mind?
LEWIS: Well, you should keep in mind if the company owns the computer, they may have rules about hey, on work time, that's out of bounds. It's our computer and we're paying you. So watch that. But keep in mind people are doing this on their cell phones as well and everybody has got a personal cell phone. So where do you draw the line?
Also, most companies don't want to forego the potential upsides. Some of your most engaged employees are commenting on industry blogs. They like that. That reflects positively on the company. So, they just need checks and balances in place so you get the upside without the potential downside.
ROBERTS: Regina Lewis, AOL's consumer adviser, great to check in with you this morning. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
LEWIS: Of course.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Well, you know, everyone is looking for signs, green shoots that perhaps the recession is over. Our Christine Romans is "Minding Our Business." She's going to be joining us after the break to talk about what the fed chairman had to say about it. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're with us. It's almost 20 minutes past the hour. We have Christine Romans with us, and she's smiling. So, that means the recession is over. Did you tweet that yet?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We won't know when the recession is over until the National Bureau of Economic Research says it is, you know. They haven't spoken on this yet. But Ben Bernanke, the fed chief, basically saying technically this thing is over.
Remember earlier in the spring he was talking about those so- called "green shoots of economic recovery," saying he was starting to see this little signs. Well, he gave his first speech yesterday since he had been reappointed for his next term as fed chief, and he says that technically this is the end of the recession. Listen to it in his words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point. It's still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time as many people will still find that their job security and their employment status is not what they wish it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: From a technical perspective, you know. There's a lot of things that can happen from a technical perspective and doesn't really feel that much that way to you. So anybody who's sitting out there without a job and saying, well, technically maybe the recession is over but I don't feel like it. If you don't have a job, you're absolutely right.
In the stock market, though, the stock market for months has been telling us that what technically Ben Bernanke is saying may be true right now. There has been a bull run of 2009. You have stocks even yesterday a new high for the move, a new high for 2009.
Think of it, you guys, last fall, seriously, the financial system collapsing every morning, it was another hit. All this concern about actually the system that we were living under. CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: And there has been this recovery along the way. We were just talking about your 529s, you know. For anybody who's been putting away a little bit of money all year, a little bit of money all year for a very long term, there has been some bit of a recovery here. But we're all still all down pretty substantially from where we were at the peak so --
ROBERTS: Yes. Get another 5,000 points on this and so those more concerned will be pretty happy.
ROMANS: I know. I could say it's been the rally of a lifetime right up to the collapse of a lifetime, so we all feel a little -- a little confused.
ROBERTS: You've got a "Romans' Numeral" for us this morning.
ROMANS: I do. The number is 59.2 percent, and this has to do with the new normal and what's going to feel like for you. You know, Ben Bernanke said the jobless rate is going to come back quite slowly.
ROBERTS: Oh, wait a minute. That's going to be the interest rate that I'll be earning on my savings account after the recovery is complete.
ROMANS: It's how much I'm still down on my personal -- no. 59.2 percent. This is percent of the working age population with a job. Think of that.
CHETRY: That's scary because this is different than saying 9.7 percent unemployment.
ROBERTS: Wow.
ROMANS: You will keep hearing that, oh, you know, 9.7 percent is the unemployment rate. That means 90 percent of the population is working. No, it doesn't mean that.
There are two -- the number -- the percentage of the population that's not working is too big. Some of these people are in the military, some of them are in prison, some are disabled. They're stay-at-home moms, the retired.
ROBERTS: So that includes people who choose not to work.
ROMANS: That's right. There are many of those people who choose not to work want to get back in, and there's no opportunity for them to get back in. So that gives you 59.2 percent of the population has a job. That number needs to be higher.
CHETRY: All right. Good stuff. Christine, thanks.
And still ahead, we're going to be talking more about what former President Jimmy Carter said that racism is behind much of the animosity against President Obama. We're going to be discussing his remarks and also how it relates to a big move in the House on Congressman Joe Wilson, just ahead.
Twenty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Our nation's capital vacation destination, of course, with its towering monuments to past presidents. But this morning, the city is bracing for a new wave of visitors. Thanks in part to "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown who's turning his attention to Washington and the secretive Freemasons in his long-awaited new book called "The Lost Symbol."
Elaine Quijano is digging deeper on that this morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, there's an unusual building in northwest Washington that's the setting for the opening scene of Dan Brown's new book. It's the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the southern jurisdiction of the United States. And we got a chance to take a look inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): This is the actual room and the ceremonial altar where the startling ritual in the opening scene of Dan Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol," takes place. A secret initiation ceremony inside a building that Freemasons of the Scottish Rite call the House of the Temple. But grand historian Arturo de Hoyos says in this case, truth is definitely more boring than fiction.
ARTURO DE HOYOS, GRAND HISTORIAN, SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY: He has his candidate drinking wine out of a human skull.
QUIJANO: That doesn't take place here?
DE HOYOS: I've never seen it.
QUIJANO: Any wine drinking at all.
DE HOYOS: Not that I'm familiar with.
QUIJANO: De Hoyos says this is a formal meeting room where ceremonies do take place but he explained Freemasonry is not a secret sinister society.
DE HOYOS: Freemasonry is simply the world's oldest and largest fraternity.
QUIJANO: After all, George Washington, the most famous freemason was wearing the ceremonial apron when laying the cornerstone of the Capitol. Still, in a town where conspiracy theories flourish, even the book's arrival was shrouded in some mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sort of serious stuff. State secrets.
QUIJANO: Washington's tourism bureau is fully embracing the novel and all the attention. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Right in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Even partnering with a publisher to market the book and city with this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Discover powerful connections as a D.C. insider. Plan your trip to the nation's capital at Washington.org.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Elliott Ferguson is president of Destination D.C.
ELLIOTT FERGUSON, DESTINATION D.C.: I think the book exposes its readers to a different perspective of Washington, D.C., going into the neighborhoods itself. Also, exposing them to the U.S. Botanical Gardens and the temple on 16th Street.
QUIJANO: As for the Scottish Rite, Arturo de Hoyos is still reading the novel but says so far no harm no foul.
DE HOYOS: As long as people understand that it's a work of fiction, I think everybody will enjoy it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: As for tourism, a local trolley company is considering a special tour based on the book. And officials at the Masonic Temple which gives thousands of visitors a year, say they wouldn't be surprised if the number of tourists jumps now that the book is out -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano for us this morning. It's all very fascinating stuff.
CHETRY: Oh, yes. You have to head to D.C. now and check out all this.
ROBERTS: One of the real interesting things and you c can do this on Google Earth if you've got it under your computer is if you take a look at the Capitol building and if you flip it on its end and you see the way that the streets come out from the Capitol building, it forms a compass and a square which is the symbol of the freemasons.
CHETRY: See that.
ROBERTS: Everybody is going -- I got it. It's right here.
CHETRY: If you fold a dollar in a certain pattern and way, it...
ROBERTS: All sorts of Masonic symbols on the dollar as well. CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: You know, it's all there.
Just about half past the hour now. A Yale lab technician in custody this morning in connection with the murder of Yale grad student Annie Le. Raymond Clark is not a suspect, just a "person of interest" at this point. He was taken into custody so police could compare his DNA with evidence from the crime scene. Clark and Le worked in the same university lab building. That's where her body was found.
CHETRY: There's also some new information this morning about the alleged terror plot uncovered here in New York that we first told you about in AMERICAN MORNING yesterday. Sources tell CNN the targets of the raid were Afghan nationals who all attended the same mosque. Several people were questioned but later released, and officials say that no explosive devices were found. It's the first time sources can recall Afghans being involved in any alleged plot to attack the United States.
ROBERTS: And this just in. Serena Williams is sorry. Try as she may, Williams cannot escape the controversy surrounding her obscenity-laced tirade directed toward a line judge at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Serena says she was in the moment and doesn't really remember the now infamous outburst. Williams was fined $10,000 for that. Also, a separate fine of $500 for racket abuse.
Serena's apology tour continues this morning. She is going to be our guest at 8:15 Eastern, so make sure that you're around for that.
CHETRY: Also, the House formally reprimanding Congressional Joe Wilson of South Carolina for saying "You lie" during the president's address to a joint session of Congress. That outburst has only stoked some of the public protests against the president.
Well, now, former President Jimmy Carter is saying the majority of the anger directed at the president is because he's a black man. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, joining me now to talk about this is Nia-Malika Henderson. She's a White House reporter with "Politico." And also joining us on the phone, Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist.
I want to start with you Nia. Jimmy Carter's statement pretty striking coming from a former president to say that a lot of the animosity is because President Obama is a black man. What did you think about those comments made by former President Carter?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, COVERED OBAMA'S 2008 PRES. CAMPAIGN: Well, Jimmy Carter certainly has some credibility along this issue. He was, of course, the first big official to kind of come out publicly against segregation in the '60s and '70s. And he has in many ways saying what a lot of people have been saying, whether it's elected officials or average Americans, what they've been saying or thinking in saying off the record for a couple of months now.
And I think in some ways the Joe Wilson censure that we saw yesterday was a forum for them to really kind of express what they've been thinking and really kind of push back against what they see as in some ways some rhetoric that's based on race, that's based on some people's inability to become comfortable with Barack Obama as president.
CHETRY: You know, Alan Wilson, who is Congressman Joe Wilson's son, weighed in on that and he basically called any allegations of racism regarding his father ludicrous. He went on to say, "There's not a racist bone in my dad's body. It's unfortunate people made that jump. People can disagree -- appropriately disagree on issues of substance, but when they make the jump to race, it's absolutely ludicrous."
So, he's basically saying that in no way, shape or form is his dad a racist. And the fact that he screamed "you lie" had nothing to do with race.
What do you think about Alan Wilson's comments?
HENDERSON: I mean, I think it goes to the fact that, I mean, when you make allegations of racism and they're very difficult to prove -- racism or claims that people have kind of racialized thinking. I mean, it's a very nebulous idea. Even though the idea of race is very pervasive, racism is certainly pervasive as well. It's very difficult to prove.
So that's why, for instance, you haven't seen a lot of people say this publicly. And even the -- it's an issue that's coming up for the White House and they pushed back on it. They essentially say that people are under a lot of stress, the economy is really shaken now, and that it isn't necessarily race-based, it's just part of politics as usual.
CHETRY: Right.
Well, let's bring Leslie Sanchez into the situation. You know, former President Carter went on to say, Leslie, that many white people, not just in the south, but around the country, think that an African-American is not qualified to lead this great country. He called them "abominable circumstances and it's one that grieves me and concerns me very deeply."
What do you make of the allegations of racism made by Jimmy Carter? LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via telephone): I think that, with all due respect to our former president, this is another example of the president, you know, expressing solely his own opinion. I don't think it is reflective of a larger population.
And this is -- this is the same that we had all of 2008. That there's going to be hint of racism, that the president -- you know, we could never have an African-American as a president, that he wouldn't be qualified, that he wouldn't get support from black community.
I think that what this president was able to do is bring people together and show that this country has moved in a very significant way beyond that. I think in many ways, this is another type of effort to paint individuals especially individuals from the south in a way that it's not there and it's not reflective of the political realities of today's America.
CHETRY: And, Nia, I want to ask you about the Representative David Scott. He's a Democrat from Georgia and he said that this racial undercurrent against President Obama is something that actually has been the least discussed aspect of his presidency. He says that, you know, there's just this historic event in African-American actually being elected president and that more sort of not really discussing or examining some of the racial issues involved in that enough.
What's your take?
HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, that's what a lot of folks are also saying, that essentially, there isn't enough discussion about it.
And I mean, if you look back at President Obama's campaign for the presidency, he didn't talk about race a lot either and when he did, he got some pushback. Of course, he made that speech last spring or spring of 2008 about race in the aftermath of the Jeremiah Wright controversy.
But when he did discussed race, like I remember there was a comment he made about the fact that he wouldn't look like the other presidents on the dollar bills and, you know, people thought that he was playing a race card.
So, I think people do want -- a lot of people essentially do want him to discuss race more, and think in some ways because he isn't, there is this vacuum that he's created an environment for people to say things that might be based on race.
CHETRY: Leslie, there are some conservatives who charged that, you know, there's -- that if you criticize a president at all, people are going to call you a racist.
How do you balance -- disagreeing with policies and not making it appear or at least not stoking which is what some Democrats are saying is happening, that maybe these comments are not racist, but it's stoking underlying racism. How do you balance disagreement with going over the line? SANCHEZ: No. I think, to be fair, it is inexcusable. Joe's behavior is inexcusable. And I think it agrees, and I there's funny comment about his wife saying who's the nut that just made that statement. I mean, everybody understands this is -- in the past, it was kind of ironic (INAUDIBLE) -- there's this very strong sense of respect to the president.
And that is what I think Americans expect right now especially in an economic downturn. For there to be reasonable discourse, debates and to the extent that you see these salacious statements, I think that it opens the door for that type of criticism, Kiran.
But to say that it is race-oriented is an old tactic. I don't think it's completely fair. And in many cases, it completely dismisses the fact that Congress is so incredibly unfavorable and seen as unpopular right now because they're in effective, they looked like clowns.
CHETRY: And finally, I want to ask Nia about this -- the vote to formally admonish Joe Wilson. It was basically along party lines. There were some Democrats who voted against it. There some Republicans that voted for it.
But the bottom line and this is a good conservative argument and one that some independents are making as well as -- I mean, Barney Frank said aren't there other things to do with our time here?
So, what is the reaction from this formal censure of Joe Wilson?
HENDERSON: Well, I think Barney Frank said what a lot of folks are thinking, that essentially it was a waste of time, it's slap on the wrist, it's essentially meaningless, and that there's a lot of work to do for this Congress.
They need to take up health care. And I mean, I think that's why you saw it happen so quickly. There wasn't a lot of your celebration. Pelosi didn't really kind of come out and say this is what we needed to do. They did it quickly. They're moving on and turning to health care.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Nia-Malika Henderson and Leslie Sanchez, I want to thank both of you for your time this morning. Thanks for being with us.
HENDERSON: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
ROBERTS: After allowing it to slip through the cracks several times, investigators are now digging deeper into what Phillip Garrido has been up to all of these years. They're out there searching his home again today. We'll have the very latest on that investigation coming right up.
Thirty-seven and a half minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning and time to fast forward now through stories that will be making news later on today.
This morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, the health care reform bill from Senator Max Baucus makes its public debut. They'll be rolling out the red carpet. The paparazzi will be out there. The so-called Gang of Six has been sweating the details for months, but still the three Republicans in the Gang of Six aren't onboard this early. It's just kind of a gang of three at this point.
This afternoon at 2:15 Eastern, House Republicans will call for increased transparency and accountability for President Obama's so- called czars. Right now, there are about two dozen czars reporting to the Obama White House and none of the so-called high-level advisers are subject to congressional approval.
Right now there are about two dozen czars reporting to the Obama White House, and none of the so-called high-level advisers are subject to congressional approval.
And at 12:30 Eastern, the Senate Committee will hold a hearing to discuss an independent review of future plans for human space flight, including a possible return to the moon. A report submitted to Congress last week warned that NASA was hugely under funded and on a, quote, "unsustainable trajectory."
And if you are at NASA you want to be on a sustainable trajectory. That's how you get to where you are going, right?
CHETRY: Exactly. The moon, Mars, any of them. You need a trajectory working in your favor.
Thanks, John.
Well, this morning, police in northern California are going to be back out to search the property of Nancy and Phillip Garrido. They are the two who allegedly kidnapped and held Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years. Now investigators are looking for clues that might link the Garridos to the disappearance of two other young girls back in the 1980s.
Dan Simon is following that for us.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, when this case first broke late last month, police said they were going to look at Nancy and Phillip Garrido as possible suspects in other crimes, including kidnapping. Well, now police are back out of the house, and plan to be here for the next several days. They are looking for evidence that might tie the Garridos to a pair of kidnappings that occurred about 20 years ago in this area. The first case involving Ilene Misheloff. She was just 13 years old when she vanished while walking home from school. The second case, Michaela Garecht, who was 9 years old, when she was abducted near a supermarket. That case in particular has drawn a lot of attention, because first of all police say Jaycee Dugard, of course, was held captive for about two decades. They say she and Michaela Garecht kind of look like each other. Both have blond hair, blue eyes and about the same age when they disappeared.
The second thing is this. Police say a composite sketch of the suspect in the Garecht case bears a striking resemblance to Phillip Garrido. If you look at them side-by-side police say they seem to look like each other.
Now I want you to listen now to the mother of Michaela Garecht, who is desperately hoping the search will yield some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON MURCH, MICHAELA GARECHT'S MOTHER: I am hoping that this will lead to a resolution, and I'm hoping that it will lead to a positive resolution. I know that if Jaycee Dugard can be found alive and come home after 18 years, then my daughter can be found alive and come home after 18 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Police say the search will continue for at least the rest of the week. One of the things they are using while doing this search is some ground-penetrating radar equipment to look for anything that might be buried beneath the ground, including bodies.
John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: And we know that those two families are looking for answers. We interviewed the parents on our show a few weeks ago, and they just want to know what happened.
ROBERTS: Yes. You can't imagine what they've been going through for all of these years. So the investigation continues.
Dan Simon, thanks so much.
It is now 44 minutes after the hour. And we will be checking out what's going on with some weather across the country. Got a lot of flooding in the south, and taste of autumn coming up for the northeast.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: You see the White House with a few lights on this morning. 46 minutes after 6:00 there in D.C. And right now, 69 degrees. It's going to be going up to 75. But they say keep the umbrella handy. Showers in the forecast today for Washington.
ROBERTS: See the Masonic symbolism in the front edifice to White House there. CHETRY: Yes, you can't stop.
ROBERTS: It's everywhere. It's everywhere.
Rob Marciano is at the weather center in Atlanta this morning. He's checking in on all the extreme weather.
And got some more flooding down at Texas and northeast about to get a little chilly.
Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: All right, Rob, thanks so much.
From movies and music to television shows, just about everything is on demand these days.
Well, could books be next?
CHETRY: Hey, we're not talking about e-books that you can download to your Amazon kindle. We're talking about physical books you can hold in your hands.
Becky Anderson has more on this week's "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Blackwell's book shop in London recently added over 400,000 titles to its inventory. But they didn't need to add more shelves. Just this.
It's called the Espresso Book Machine. You won't find a latte here, but you can find many rare titles. It only takes about five minutes for the espresso to print, cut, and bind a book.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it not just amazing? What an amazing thing.
ANDERSON: At Blackwells out of print books cost $15 plus three cents per page. And it can also print unpublished works giving aspiring writers a chance to see their own name on the cover.
MARY CADE, UNPUBLISHED AUTHOR: I saw this machine. I went, oh, how wonderful. A wonder machine for new authors. I must go straight to Blackwells. I rushed down here, and there it was. And I immediately thought how fantastic.
Espresso maker says it will soon have a catalog of over 1 million titles. Plus, it might be a while before it comes to a bookstore near you. There are only 22 machines like this one in the world.
Becky Anderson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTS: Interesting machine, though. And if it proves popular, there will be some -- many other places. So if your bookstore's inventory is not up to your liking, just wait a little while.
CHETRY: There you go.
Well, did you hear Taylor Swift? She was weighing in on what happened to her at the MTV Video Music Awards about Kanye West stealing the spotlight. It was pretty charming what she had to say after the fact she certainly took it in stride. We will show it to you.
Fifty minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, from Kanye West, another apology for ruining Taylor Swift's night at the MTV Video Music Awards, but this time a personal apology to Taylor herself. Kanye reached out to the singer right after she appeared on "The View" yesterday to describe what happened Sunday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: Well, I think my overall thought process was something like -- wow, I can't believe I won. This is awesome. Don't trip and fall. I'm going to get to thank the fans. This is so cool. Oh, Kanye West is here. Cool haircut. Kanye West is here. Cool haircut. What are you doing? And then ouch. And then, I guess, I'm not going get to thank the fans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She's so real, though.
ROBERTS: Oh, Kanye West is here.
CHETRY: Yes -- Kanye - hi -- oh, where's the mike? OK.
But, you know, as we know, all's well that ends well, because, Beyonce, class act, let her go ahead and give her thanks to the fans anyway. But she handled it in stride. She's only 19 years old, you know.
ROBERTS: And I think, you know, Kanye is doing a little introspective moment right and now figuring out where he wants to go with his life. So, Taylor Swift, meanwhile, continues to do this, so.
And speaking of speaking out, President Bush's former speechwriter, Matt Latimer, has got a new book coming out. It's one of those tell-alls. Got some interesting, shall we say, behind-the- scenes looks at the president's thinking and we'll be talking about that coming up next. Stay with us. This you don't want to miss.
CHETRY: Yes. He weighs in on Sarah Palin. He weighs in on Hillary Clinton and... ROBERTS: Certain part of Hillary Clinton's anatomy to be specific.
Fifty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifty seven minutes past the hour right now.
There's another tell-all about the last White House that's about to hit book shelves. It's called "Speech-less" and it's by President Bush's former speechwriter, Matt Latimer. In it, he claims the former commander-in-chief was rather plain spoken and blunt about last year's presidential candidates, saying about Hillary Clinton, quote, "Wait until her fat keister is sitting at this desk." But he says that the former president didn't exactly say keister.
Our Brian Todd picks things up from there.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
This book is getting a lot of brush back from former top Bush aides who we corresponded with. They say the president described in this book is not the man they know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice over): New portrayals of a president taking his plain-spoken vernacular to very personal levels. Matt Latimer, speechwriter for George W. Bush for the last two years of his presidency, writes in a new book that Mr. Bush made disparaging comments about several major political figures at the time. Excerpts from the book "Speech-less" are posted on GQ's website.
Latimer writes that after then candidate Barack Obama gave a blistering speech against his administration, President Bush fumed, "This is a dangerous world and this cat isn't remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you."
Another quote, "If B.S. was currency, Joe Biden would be a billionaire."
We tried several times for a response from the president's and vice president's press offices and got none.
No one at President Bush's office responded to our repeated calls and e-mail. Ed Gillespie, former counsel to President Bush who was one of Matt Latimer's bosses, tells us Latimer's recollections don't ring true to him.
ED GILLESPIE, FORMER COUNSELOR TO PRES. BUSH: It's possible he was at meetings of the president that I wasn't in. But it's unlikely and I just don't recall that. The fact is President Bush has been nothing but gracious towards President Obama and Vice President Biden. TODD: Latimer says President Bush wasn't too impressed with the Republican ticket either. And after Sarah Palin was tapped as John McCain's running mate, Latimer writes Bush said, "I'm trying to remember if I've ever met her before. I'm sure I must have. His eyes twinkled. Then he asked, what is she, the governor of Guam?"
GILLESPIE: The notion that he didn't -- you know, he didn't know who Sarah Palin was, I can tell you flat out it's just not the case.
TODD: That sentiment echoed by former Bush aide Jason Recher who was loaned out to the Palin campaign. Recher said Latimer was not a significant figure at the White House. Quote, "You'd be hard-pressed to pick him out of a lineup."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: We tried to get reaction to that from Matt Latimer's representative. She didn't respond directly to those comments, instead pointed to us some general praise of the book by various pundits. We were told Matt Latimer would not do any interviews until his book is released next week.
John and Kiran back to you.
CHETRY: So got all that stuff, then you have, you know, President Obama off the record saying Kanye West was a jackass. Can you as president ever say anything anymore off the cuff without people...
ROBERTS: Not when there's so much money to be made out there in the world of publishing. But it's really interesting the pattern is always the same. A former administration insider writes a tell-all book, says all these things and all of the people who were in the inner circle say I don't remember that, that person is crazy, why would you listen to them?
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: But they still sell a lot of books. So, it's the Washington gig, I guess.
CHETRY: That and picking out all the symbols of the Freemasons.
ROBERTS: Yes, we'll be talking about that for some time to come.
CHETRY: Dan Brown's new book is out, yes.
