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American Morning
David Letterman Extorted Over Sex With Staff; Obama Stumps in Denmark for Chicago Olympics; Olympic Critics Worry About Cost and Displacement; Iran Nuclear Talks; Time for a Third Party?
Aired October 02, 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: Good morning to you. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Friday, October 2nd. I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts has the day off. We have Christine Romans with us this morning. Great to see you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you. Lots to talk about wrapping up the week. Here are the big stories we'll be breaking down in the next 15 minutes.
Some late-night drama from David Letterman. His stunning revelation that he was a victim of an extortion scheme. Letterman says the alleged blackmailer threatened to go public with news that he had sex with women who worked on his show. This morning a CBS employee has been charged with the crime.
Alina Cho is following the developing story. Her live report just ahead.
CHETRY: Right now, President Obama's going the distance for Chicago. He's in Copenhagen, Denmark and he's headlining an all-star team to bring in the effort to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago. A final decision is expected within a few hours. And we're going to be live in Denmark as well as Chicago, were not everyone is hoping for Olympic gold.
ROMANS: And health care reform on the verge of a major step forward in the Senate. The finance committee working until 2:00 a.m. this morning putting the finishing touches on its version of the bill. A vote now scheduled for next week.
CHETRY: We begin with David Letterman's late night confession. The talk show host revealing on his show last night that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion plot by someone who allegedly threatened to expose sexual relationships that he had with female staffers. This morning, a CBS employee who works on the show "48 Hours" is charged with attempted grand larceny in this case.
Alina Cho is following the story. She's live outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan where Letterman tapes his show. And, you know, Alina, I think that many in the audience thought maybe he was joking when he first started talking about this.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, of course, we knew what was going to happen. We had an advance press release from CBS. But, yes, I think a lot of the people in the audience, Kiran, thought that there was going to be ultimately a punch line. But of course we all know that that did not happen.
You know, David Letterman rarely gives interviews. He rarely gives press conferences. So over the years, he has often used his own show as a vehicle, really, to make major announcements about his life. His marriage, heart bypass surgery, but certainly never anything like this until now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): It started out like it has for nearly three decades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the "Late Show with David Letterman."
CHO: Late night laughs.
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": It's so bright and sunny, the skunks were coming out of the subway squinting.
CHO: But after the monologue, it quickly turned serious. The audience stunned.
LETTERMAN: This whole thing has been quite scary.
CHO: When David Letterman revealed he is the victim of an alleged extortion attempt.
LETTERMAN: This morning I did something I've never done in my life. I had to go downtown to testify before the grand jury.
CHO: Letterman said he received a package three weeks ago from a person who claimed to have information about his sex life. And he wanted $2 million. Pay up or he goes public.
LETTERMAN: I get to looking through it, and there's a letter in the package. And it says that I know that you do some terrible, terrible things. And I can prove that you do these terrible things. And sure enough contained in the package was stuff to prove that I do terrible things.
CHO: The 62-year-old host went to the Manhattan district attorney's office which began an investigation. Letterman said he set up several meetings with a man who he said wanted to turn his life off stage into a screenplay, possibly a book, and gave him a fake check for $2 million. On Thursday, an arrest, then another bombshell.
LETTERMAN: And I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I have done that were going to be -- well, now, why is that funny? That's, I mean...
CHO: The admission right from the host, right from his desk.
LETTERMAN: The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show.
CHO: He tried to break the tension by taking shots at his favorite target, himself.
LETTERMAN: And would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. Perhaps it would. Especially for the women.
CHO: It is not known when the sexual encounters with staffers took place. Letterman married longtime partner Regina Lasko in March. The couple has been together since 1986, and they have a 6-year-old son Harry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: This is not the first time that Letterman has been the victim of an extortion plot. Back in 2005, again on his show he revealed a plot to kidnap his son, Harry, for a $5 million ransom. Now last night on his show, Letterman spoke for a full nine minutes revealing something so seemingly out of character, Kiran, that there were audible gasps in the audience and you can bet there were jaws dropping at home, as well.
CHETRY: We're going to have to see how this plays out a little bit later. We're going to be talking to psychologists Dr. Jeffrey Gardere about it.
Alina, thanks so much. That's coming up at 6:30. going to talk to him about whether or not this was the right venue. Is it -- even though these are just allegations, is it proper to joke about it? We're going to hear from Dr. Gardere.
Also at 7:30, we're going to Tom O'Neal from "InTouch Weekly." He's going to have some new information for us about what is being said on this case this morning.
ROMANS: Also this morning, it's fingers crossed for the city of Chicago and President Obama. In less than seven hours, the International Olympic Committee will decide whether the summer games will be Windy City bound in 2016.
Right now, President Obama is on the ground in Copenhagen wrapping up meetings in the hopes of selling his hometown. He's had star power by his side from his wife Michelle to Oprah. But the other cities in the running, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro, they're putting up their own very tough fight.
We're all over this story and counting it down. Ed Henry is in Denmark. Ali Velshi is live in Chicago where some -- some would rather see the games go elsewhere.
We start with Ed. And, you know, Ed, was the president's sales pitch worthy of a gold this morning?
Well, good morning, Christine. Certainly it was a very strong pitch by the president, but I think he probably took the silver while his wife got the gold.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Christine. Certainly it was a very strong pitch by the president. But I think he probably took the silver while his wife got the gold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): After flying through the night for seven hours, the president arrived in Copenhagen for just four hours, immediately joining forces with First Lady Michelle Obama to help make the final pitch for Chicago and the U.S. to host the 2016 Olympics.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is nothing I would like more than to step just a few blocks from my family's home with Michelle and our two girls and welcome the world back into our neighborhood. At the beginning of this new century, the nation that has been shaped by people from around the world wants a chance to inspire it once more.
HENRY: But his wife stole the show with a speech that tugged at the heart strings.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: And my dad's early 30s, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And as he got sicker, it became harder for him to walk let alone play his favorite sports.
HENRY: Mrs. Obama spoke emotionally about her father getting sicker, but still teaching her how to play sports while propping himself up on crutches.
M. OBAMA: My dad was my hero. And when I think of what these games can mean to people all over the world, I think about people like my dad. People who face seemingly insurmountable challenges, but never let go. They work a little harder, but they never give up.
HENRY: It also wouldn't be Chicago without lobbying from the mayor.
RICHARD M. DALEY, MAYOR OF CHICAGO: We want to share our city with the world. We want to welcome people from all nations. You have my commitment that Chicago will work every day for the next seven years to be an Olympic city, that you and the world would be proud of.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: But the final word went to the president as he departed. He said the only thing he's upset about is that he had to follow his wife Michelle. That's never good, he said with a smile.
Meanwhile, while there was a lot of drama in those final presentations, the real drama starts just about 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time when these IOC members will be voting.
Just a few years ago, London beat Paris by only four votes. A lot of people here on the ground in Copenhagen think it could be every bit as close especially between Chicago and Rio. They're expected to be the favorites, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. But there's some major star power there. There's no doubt about it.
All right. Ed Henry, thanks. We'll talk to you a little bit later.
CHETRY: And after a four-year $48 million campaign and a last- minute pitch by President Obama, the excitement is certainly building this morning in Chicago. But not everyone feels that this city and the games are good for each other.
Our chief business correspondent Ali Velshi is live in Chicago. And it was interesting, that one of those polls out from the "Chicago Tribune" showing it was 50/50 split among folks there, which is a little bit surprising. You think most would want the Olympics in their town.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Kiran, actually, there are few different polls showing a few different things, like one a little earlier this week showed 70 percent support in favor of it. There's a very vocal crowd here in Chicago that doesn't think the Olympics need to be here.
Now, they probably won't be here this morning. We're in Daley Plaza where the announcement is going to be broadcast over that big screen right behind me. You can see there's a bandstand over my shoulder. There'll be performers and speakers. And then over here, all the media gathered to listen to this announcement and deliver to the rest of the world.
People will be gathering here. There has been a great deal of money spent on this bid. But this is a city that was doing particularly well before the recession hit. It's a city that's taken advantage of its layout, its lake, its river. A lot of people say Chicago has its time now. This is the time in the sun for Chicago.
But there are those people who say it's not the time for this. It's not the time to be spending money on things that the city doesn't need. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
N'DANA CARTER, CITY RESIDENT: My mother would pack up some food and we'd have blankets and sheets and we'd come and sleep in the park.
VELSHI: A smile lights up N'Dana Carter's face as she remembers the nights her parents would take her and her sisters to spend the night in Washington Park, a huge space with more acreage than Washington's National Mall. But that smile disappears when talks shift to Chicago possibly winning the bid to hold the Olympics and plans to build an 80,000 seat stadium in Washington Park over the very spot Carter slept under the stars as a child back in the '60s.
CARTER: The biggest negative is the cost. There's no city that has had the Olympics that hasn't spent more than 20 years paying for it.
VELSHI: That's not true of every Olympic city, but there's more. CARTER: Then it's the displacement. This displacement is going to hurt a lot of people.
VELSHI: Carter is among those who don't want the Olympics because they think thousands of low-income Chicagoans will be moved out to make room for construction of new sports venues. But the city has said all along that won't happen. They say the sheer size of Washington Park plus the fact that the athletes' village is planned for an abandoned hospital means the city can construct enough new venues without forcing renters out of their homes. And Olympic bid supporters say it will bring in the type of construction that this city needs to put people back to work.
TOM VILLANOVA, CHICAGO BUILDING TRADES: We're talking about an initial $4 billion in construction. So there will be effect across the board for all 24 trades that I represent.
BOB KERSEY, CITY RESIDENT: I really don't see any reason why we shouldn't get it. I'm all for it.
VELSHI: But some people will be moving out. Developers not necessarily affiliated with the Olympic bid are anticipating a property boom and they've offered South Side homeowner Bob Kersey money to sell his childhood home, regardless of whether Chicago wins the bid. And if the city is victorious, Kersey gets a bonus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me what that bonus was?
KERSEY: No, I can't tell you. Wish (INAUDIBLE), but I can't tell you that.
VELSHI: Most Chicagoans according to a new poll support the bid, but that doesn't sway the city's many opponents. No one's offered N'Dana Carter a bonus and she says she's not leaving whether or not the Olympics come to town.
CARTER: They will drag my cold dead body out and my ghost will hurt them. That's the way it's going to work. I'm not going. I'm staying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Drag my cold body out of there. So the opponents of the Olympics coming to town, Kiran, are vocal about it. They are here. Most people do seem to support the idea, but as you heard, some people really couldn't care less.
CHETRY: Yes. She said her ghost is going to come back. That's how dedicated she is.
But -- so if it goes over budget, which oftentimes it does and, you know, the city has to fill in that gap, I mean, that could be problematic, as well.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Do they expect they would make that up from all the tourism and from all the money being spent because of the games?
VELSHI: Well, that's the hope. It's often hard to measure how it trickles down to small businesses. Tourism is a little easier to measure. But the bottom line is, Chicago enjoys a great deal of tourism from Americans. It doesn't get the foreign tourists that Los Angeles or New York gets. It feels that this is the time for Chicago to shine.
The other thing that's interesting, Kiran, is that a lot of cities that get the Olympics have long-term infrastructure builds. Chicago is looking at about $1 billion worth of infrastructure, but this is a city that has roads that work, a lot of traffic. It's got a subway that works. So the long-term gain may not be as great for Chicago as it is for less developed cities.
That's part of the argument here. Why not use that money to build things like schools and things that the city needs? So, there's still an ongoing argument, but most people around here are still rallying for the Olympics -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Couple more hours left and we'll know for sure, finally, whether or not they got that bid.
Ali Velshi for us this morning. Good to see you, thanks.
ROMANS: All right. Brand new this morning, late night action in the Senate bringing health care reform to the brink of a major event.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus says they finished work on their version of the bill and a final committee vote is now scheduled for early next week. Approval will clear the way for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to merge the bill with one that includes a government-run public insurance option.
CHETRY: The first doses of the H1N1 vaccine should be available by next week, but there's a new concern over what federal health officials are calling "upsetting numbers." According to the CDC, at least 28 pregnant women have died from the swine flu. That's out of 100 who were sent to intensive care since the outbreak in April. Expectant mothers are advised to get the swine flu shot as soon as it becomes available.
ROMANS: And the word going out from President Obama to all federal employees, no texting while driving. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the president has signed an executive order banning the practice. It involves 4 1/2 million government workers, including military personnel. It covers employees when they're using government-provided cars or cell phones, and when they're using their own phones in cars to conduct government business.
CHETRY: All right. Got to stick by it.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: We know that it's not good.
ROMANS: It's not good.
CHETRY: It can be tempting, and then you just got to put it away.
ROMANS: Yes. And Ray LaHood says it's going to be like -- it's going to be like a 55 speed limit some day or no drinking and driving. Wear seat belts. It's the kind of thing that, you know, in a few years we're going to look back...
CHETRY: It will be so taboo.
ROMANS: We're going to say how -- why did we ever think that we could do that?
CHETRY: I know.
Well, still ahead, Iran saying that nuclear inspectors can have access to that newly-disclosed uranium enrichment plant. The president now saying they have two weeks to prove it. Jill Dougherty live with more on what this possible turn around from Iran could mean.
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Eighteen minutes past the hour. Remember that Facebook poll that caused a lot of controversy and ended up being taken down, asking if President Obama should be killed? Well, it turns out it was a teenager behind that posting. The Secret Service says it was just a prank and that actually no charges are going to be filed. That poll was put up Saturday but later removed by Facebook.
ROMANS: The "L.A. Times" reports the U.S. Forest Service ordered a reduction in the use of state and local firefighters just three weeks before a deadly wildfire erupted in Los Angeles County in August. The report cites an internal memo warning that the looming budget shortfalls require "fire resources be managed to ensure no deficits." Two firefighters died battling the suspected arson fire which burned more than 250 square miles and destroyed 89 homes.
CHETRY: The Obama administration's planning to hire as many as 1,000 cyber security experts over the next three years to safeguard US computer networks. Christine told us many times that the government - that's where the jobs are right now.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano making the announcement at an event to kick off National Cyber Security Awareness Month. She says the president has made the issue one of his top domestic priorities.
ROMANS: Historic talks involving the United States and Iran may have produced a breakthrough concerning Tehran's nuclear secrets. Iran has agreed to let international inspectors visit a suspect uranium enrichment plant. The concession's coming at the six-party talks in Geneva. The White House says it's a good start, but Iran needs to follow - follow through with swift action.
Jill Dougherty is following developments for us from Washington. Good morning, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Well, so far so good. Iran says it will allow those inspectors to see that secret enrichment facility and a top US and top Iranian diplomat hold direct and candid 45-minute discussions during a lunch break in Geneva. They talk about nuclear issues but also about human rights. It's the start, US officials say, of an intense diplomatic phase but it wouldn't be open-ended.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY (voice-over): At crucial talks in Geneva between Iran and the U.S. and its big power allies, the Obama administration's pledge to engage with its enemies swings into action. A pledge to meet again, and a one-on-one meeting out of camera range during a lunch break between a top US diplomat and Iran's chief negotiator.
OBAMA: Today's meeting was a constructive beginning, but it must be followed with constructive action by the Iranian government.
DOUGHERTY: It's a dramatic detour from the path George W. Bush traveled on Iran.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil.
DOUGHERTY: But is it a breakthrough? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls the talks productive, but she's treading carefully.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've always said we would engage, but we're not talking for the sake of talking. We're not involved in a - a process just to say that we can check a box on process. We want to see concrete action and positive results, and I think today's meeting opened the door, but let's see what happens.
DOUGHERTY: Critics of engagement warn Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be trying to simply run out the clock. One Iran expert cautions the longer talks with Iran continue, the more pressure there may be on President Obama.
KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: If after weeks and months of meeting with the Iranians there's no headway, we've not seen any signs of compromise by the Iranian government, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the Obama administration to justify these conversations if they're simply an exercise in futility.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: And for the Obama administration, engagement always has had two tracks: reach out and try to talk, but if that doesn't work, ratchet up pressure. And President Obama says he does not intend to negotiate indefinitely - Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Jill Dougherty, again, the story, I guess, just beginning from this point now, right? We're going to have more on the nuclear talks at with Iran 7:10 Eastern. That's when we'll talk to former Assistant Secretary of State during the Clinton administration, Jamie Rubin.
CHETRY: All right. Well, all the partisanship that we've seen over the health care debate has a lot of people fed up with the two- party system, but in recent history, has any third party really been able to challenge that system?
Carol Costello, "Just Sayin'." Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Okay. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. For all of its flaws, our nation's two-party system, you know, it's brought us a long way since the 1800s.
CHETRY: Yes, but now we are talking about health care being on an impasse and a growing partisan divide over political and social issues, and many are wondering is it time for a third party?
Our Carol Costello's live in Washington, and of course, Carol, we do have, you know, other parties. I mean, when you fill out your ballot, you're sitting there, going, wait a minute, wait a minute - there's all of these ones to choose from, but one that can really challenge the Democrats and Republicans - will we ever see that?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe. There's a fascinating local election about to happen in Cleveland, and a member of the Communist Party is running for city council and he may win. He says it's not because he's a communist but because voters don't care about party affiliation anymore. They just want someone in office who can help them. "Just Sayin'".
While some might view this as a sign of the apocalypse, others might say it's a sign Americans are finally fed up with the two-party system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK NAGIN, CANDIDATE, CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL: Anything that's on your mind.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Rick Nagin, candidate for Cleveland City Council, registered Democrat and member of the Communist Party.
NAGIN: I believe in socialism. I - I believe that - that corporate greed is the source of the problems in this country and that we'd all be a lot better off if working people and their organizations were running things instead of big business.
COSTELLO: Nagin, long considered a fringe candidate in Ohio, is hot this year. He survived the primary and may win the November election. And while much of the country may be aghast that voters are seriously considering someone who espouses communist beliefs, some say it's a sign of the times.
JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR, INDEPENDENT NATION: Voters are getting more and more frustrated with politics as usual. They want some alternatives.
COSTELLO: "Just Sayin'" - are Americans ready to elect a third party?
BOB BARR, LIBERTARIAN: I think the time is really right for that.
COSTELLO: Bob Barr ran for president on the Libertarian ticket in 2008. He lost, but says today interest in the Libertarian party is at an all-time high.
BARR: There's a sense of unease among people in this country that the two major parties simply are no longer listening to them and responding to the people of the country.
COSTELLO: According to Politico.com, independent candidates are poised to run serious campaigns for governor in half a dozen states, among them, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. And some analysts say they have strong support.
AVLON: A vast majority of Americans are independent and centrist, so that's where the sweet spot is for an independent candidate.
NAGIN: Because now in Pearl (ph) here.
COSTELLO: Back in Cleveland's Ward 14, Council hopeful and self- described Democrat-Communist Rick Nagin says he's offering voters who are suffering economically something different, and something very much the same.
NAGIN: I consider myself to be a very patriotic American. I love this country. I'm proud to pledge allegiance to our flag, and if I'm elected, I will be very proud to swear to uphold our constitution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Nagin has long worked for organized labor in the Cleveland area. He's backed by the union. He's done a lot of work within Cleveland's Hispanic neighborhoods. His opponent, by the way, is a Democrat. He's also a member of the Green Party.
We would love to know what you think. Is it time for a three- party system? And what do you think about what's happening in Cleveland, or what may happen? Write to me on my blog, cnn.com/amfix. I'd love to see what you think. Are you tired of the Democrats and the Republicans constantly sniping? Are you ready to actually vote for a third party candidate? CHETRY: Very interesting. I'd like to hear what people say, Carol, especially since the - the guy you talked to is a Communist. It's interesting, isn't it?
COSTELLO: Yes.
CHETRY: People are just fed up. People are fed up. They want something - they want another way. All right, Carol. Thanks.
ROMANS: All right. It's - what? Twenty-nine minutes after the hour. Let's check our top stories quickly.
The Associated Press says the autopsy report on Michael Jackson shows he was fairly healthy for a 50-year-old when he died in June. Jackson weighed 136 pounds. His arms were covered with punctures, and his face and neck were scarred. But the AP says he wasn't the sickly skeleton portrayed by tabloids. Jackson's heart was strong and his other organs were normal.
CHETRY: The hero of the Hudson, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger teamed up with his trusty co-pilot, First Officer Jeff Skiles, for the first time again yesterday. The two completed a round-trip flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to New York's LaGuardia Airport.
And on Captain Sully's return trip, four passengers from January's flight that landed safely in the Hudson after a bird strikes were on board, as well.
ROMANS: And David Letterman stunning his late-night audience telling them he was a victim of a $2 million extortion plot by someone who threatened to reveal Letterman's sexual relationships with female staffers. Here's how Letterman addressed it on last night's show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. Now, my response to that is, yes, I have. I have had sex with women who work on this show. And would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. Perhaps, it would, especially for the women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Especially for the women. He's sort of trying to make a joke about it.
Joining us to talk about the Letterman bombshell, clinical psychologist Jeffrey Gardere.
And so, this was interesting because it was a very public confession that he made about these allegations. What is the appropriate venue for him to do it?
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think he really had no choice. The cat was out of the bag at that point. And the public knows about it, and he has to address the public because that is his obligation now.
CHETRY: As opposed to releasing a statement perhaps or not having it -- I think the question that some people were surprised is that it almost came off like a comedy bit, but at the same time he was talking about something very serious.
GARDERE: Well, this is the way that he can be personal with his public to let them know what his feelings are. But he did say something that you pointed out which is very important. It's embarrassing to him, but how embarrassing is it going to be to those female staffers who may be named in this thing? And that's where the real damage will come in.
Not to mention the fact that they may have been involved with him, sexual harassment, workplace issues, so on and so on. So this is a huge problem. Not just for Letterman, but also for CBS.
ROMANS: That's what I was wondering about. The women who work there, I mean, anybody who works there who is a woman right now is probably worried that the tabloids are trying to dig through their garbage to find out if they had some sort of an affair with him. I mean, it's really kind of a sticky situation. For him to go on television and have to -- you know, it was almost a cringe-worthy performance.
GARDERE: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, he's trying to be funny, but it was really shocking.
GARDERE: Well, this is the personality of David Letterman to be so acerbic in his personality. And so he plays it off as that way. And so this is nothing that should be very different for us to think about him.
CHETRY: Is it another example, though, of powerful men who may or may not have used their position and their fame to get sexual satisfaction or gratification from people who are their subordinates?
I mean, when you came on you said, here we go again.
GARDERE: Yes. This is a prime example of someone in a very powerful position who's unable to check the ego. They buy their own hype. And what we're seeing here are unequal relationships. Even if these women said, OK, I want to be involved with you, David. The fact is that he is a powerful person, he is the boss, and maybe even subconsciously they're giving into his sexual advances because it could be a quid pro quo situation or a situation where they may feel that if I don't do this, then I won't be able to move up in the ranks. So it's not healthy.
CHETRY: So that's...
GARDERE: These are not healthy relationships.
CHETRY: Well, and also, I mean, he's had a longtime girlfriend. So we don't know the timeline for this, but I think he's been with her since the late '80s.
GARDERE: Exactly.
CHETRY: I mean, she's now his wife. But this is also a guy that ridiculed everybody from former President Clinton to Eliot Spitzer. I know that's what late-night comedians do, but he was really out there, sort of leading the charge in some cases. So where does this moral high ground go? You know, can he recover professionally, too?
GARDERE: Well, professionally, we know that he's going to recover. But the real deal is, psychoanalytically, what we see these are people who are involved in projection. Whenever someone talks about someone else around certain conflicts or issues, it means that they're having issues with it themselves, and so they feel more comfortable by projecting a lot of those impulses on someone else. We've seen it with the politicians who talk about issues of sexuality, but yet they're acting out themselves. So we have to be careful. When you're in those positions, we know that you have clay feet. So please don't be a hypocrite. The lesson that we seem to never learn.
ROMANS: So much personal drama surrounding all of this. We don't even know how many people could be involved. All of their personal drama now right up there on the front page of all of these newspapers and tabloids this morning. It must be very difficult for David Letterman aside, it's difficult for a lot of people.
GARDERE: Absolutely. And this will unfold and unfold. But let's be honest here, the real deal is the women who are involved are the victims.
CHETRY: All right.
Jeff Gardere, clinical psychologist, always great to get your perspective and point of view.
Thanks for being with us, Jeff.
GARDERE: Always a pleasure. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, now, key military officials making their case for more troops in Afghanistan. But, you know, does the administration agree?
What's the plan? What's the way forward in Afghanistan?
Barbara Starr is here with us, live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Right now, President Obama facing a political dilemma as he charts a path of victory in Afghanistan. Key military officials now making their opinions very clear. When it comes to winning the war, they want more troops. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.
Barbara, what options does the administration have here?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, really, the bottom line is more troops, less troops, the options are all on the table. But positions are now being staked out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Secrecy has surrounded the high-stakes White House deliberations about Afghanistan. But key military players are now putting their cards on the table.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES, AFGHANISTAN: We need to reverse the current trends, and time does matter. Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely. Public support will not last indefinitely.
STARR: In London, General Stanley McChrystal laid out his urgent case that it is troops on the ground that are a must to fight the insurgents.
MCCHRYSTAL: A strategy that does not leave Afghanistan in a stable position is probably a short-sighted strategy.
STARR: Vice President Joe Biden wasn't mentioned, but Biden and National Security Council adviser Jim Jones are said to be calling for a more limited effort, going just after al Qaeda, using fewer troops on the ground.
In Washington, McChrystal's boss, General David Petraeus, was asked, "What if the president decided to use drones or a small number of Special Forces on the ground?" He pointedly failed to endorse the idea.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I think we would go back to, I think is -- let's talk about again what are the goals and objectives. I think this is why this is a hugely important and hugely valid conversation to have.
STARR: By all accounts, Petraeus and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are backing McChrystal. But what side his Defense Secretary Robert Gates on? A senior Pentagon official tells CNN Gates is becoming more comfortable with the notion a significant number of additional combat forces will be sent. It just may not be the entire 40,000 the military believes are needed.
But Gates' bottom line?
ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETAR OF DEFENSE: The reality is, failure in Afghanistan would be a huge setback for the United States.
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STARR: You know, now that everyone has laid out their positions, the next step start making some decisions. General McChrystal says it's important to take the time to get it right, but just not to take forever to do it.
ROMANS: So you sort of call this the clash of the titans. Everyone is taking out their position. In the end, who decides? I mean, the president obviously, you know...
STARR: Obviously, the president will decide this. But make no mistake, General McChrystal, General Petraeus, and Admiral Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, are really lining up on the side of we need to do more. The White House national security and political staff were lining up on the other side. So at the end of the day, it really may be Defense Secretary Gates who gets the final ear of the president and says this is my recommendation. He's the man to watch right now.
ROMANS: All right, Barbara Starr.
Thank you, Barbara.
CHETRY: All right. Still ahead, we are going to be joined by Rob Marciano. He's keeping an eye on extreme weather for us as we head into the weekend. Is it going to be nice seeing your neck in the woods, Rob will tell us, coming up.
Forty-one minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's a live look at Washington, D.C. where right now it's 57. It's going to go up to 75. A little bit cloudy in the nation's capital today. Meanwhile, it's 44 minutes after the hour. Time to fast forward through the stories that you'll be hearing about on CNN today.
At 4:00 Eastern, President Obama returns to the White House. He's expected to make a statement in the Rose Garden about the international Olympic committee's decision to host the 2016 games.
Of course, you know he's rooting for Chicago.
That announcement, by the way, happens at 12:55 Eastern Time. You can see it right here on CNN live.
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the September unemployment figures will be released. The report is unfortunately expected to show another increase in the number of people out of work nationwide. Job experts are saying that the jobless rate could hit 10 percent.
And we're standing by to learn more about why the highly anticipated U.S. tour featuring Kanye West and Lady Gaga was canceled. As you remember, Kanye said that he planned to take some time off after he grabbed the microphone from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. So no word on whether that was actually the reason why this is highly anticipated concert was canceled, but interesting timing to say the least.
ROMANS: It is interesting timing.
CHETRY: People still talking about that performance.
ROMANS: All right. We have another performance teed up here. Rob Marciano is at weather center in Atlanta. It's going to be stormy down South, huh, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes Christine Severe storms right now across the parts of Louisiana, severe thunderstorm warnings. Actually a tornado watch in effect for the next hour or two for the gulf coast from Vermilion Bay back towards New Orleans. Some of these storms have produced some heavy duty rain showers and some wind. Winds gusting in some points in Texas up to 80 miles an hour yesterday. So, certainly some rough and tumble weather here.
Where is this all going? It's pushing off to be all part of a pretty vigorous storm system that is actually centered right around here. So this is all drifting to the East pretty slowly and you'll get some wrap around from this in Chicago, I think, during the day tomorrow. And then this is a push toward of the New York City area which will, I think, bring a little bit of storminess to you for Saturday. But I think all this nicer weather will push East for Sunday. So that's we will look in their West Cost. It looks pretty good. I want to touch on this.
Typhoon Parma, this is the second typhoon to head towards the Philippines. It is the equivalent of the category four hurricane and that's the forecast track just North of Manila, if it drifts any farther South, then we're looking at a bit of a problem there as you know from the flooding that they had last week from the last tropical storm and typhoon that went there. 75 in Memphis for a high with storms today, 65 degrees in New York City against strong as you guys in the Big Apple. I know there's a big American morning party happening this afternoon. You guys should be okay for that. I wish I was there to join you.
CHETRY: You still have time to fly up here? You could make it.
MARCIANO: If Ryan Bell pays for it, I'll wish him a Happy Birthday.
ROMANS: All right of. Nicer weather coming through Sunday. That's what I need to hear. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: We love to hear from Jon Stewart on the "Daily Show." He is very funny, reverent, and often times, it will close at home when he makes fun of us some of our newscasters. Well, yesterday, we were the target here on AMERICAN MORNING. Let's see what he said.
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ROMANS: Okay. So when we come in bright and early in the morning, one of our colleagues said, did you see yourselves on "The Daily Show" last night? Do you want to laugh or cry? Last night it was funny. I laughed.
CHETRY: Let's check it out.
JON STEWART, "DAILY SHOW": We spend a lot of time on this program poking fun at the cable news networks, your CNN, your Fox News, your Univision. But sometimes -- sometimes they do actually perform valuable public service.
CHETRY: Dire warnings about texting and driving, it can be more dangerous than being drunk behind the wheel and that the government wants to lay down the law.
STEWART: Yes. Thank you, CNN'S Kiran Chetry with a reminder that using the hand held devices in your car is a very dangerous practice, which reminds CNN's Kiran Chetry about this really cool new thing you can do with your cell phone in you car.
CHETRY: This is a cool thing. If you're in the car already, right, you need to know what's traffic is going to be. It doesn't make it any sense if you're sitting at home trying to figure it out, so check it out. You can get real time traffic. This is for the New York area, and you can just scroll up, go through all the various places where there are problems on the roads and then you can also check out the weather.
STEWART: It says here on CNN.com that there's been a price ahead, a five-car pile-up with people that have died caused by careless use of, no! oh, no! Now it's a six-car pile-up! As I'm passing out I must submit an iReport. In fairness -- in fairness --in fairness to Kiran Chetry, she delivered the warning against texting while driving one day after she debuted the amazing new phone app you can use while driving. All right.
ROMANS: What Kiran meant was if you're in the passenger seat or in the back seat.
CHETRY: Right, helping out the driver because I said in the car, I didn't say behind the wheel. But you know what? He got us. I mean, come on. Yes, it is fabulous to be able to have that hand-held situation and it's great to have your BlackBerry in the car, but I'm not advocating rolling down the road and scrolling down the page. Jon Stewart's funny.
ROMANS: The crash pilot...
CHETRY: I bet his wife never wins an argument because he has a funny way of letting you know you're wrong. And you just --OK. You win.
ROMANS: All right. So that one we laughed at. We didn't cry at that one.
CHETRY: No. It was pretty good. It's pretty good, actually, it could have been way worse.
Meanwhile -- speaking of way worse... (LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: ... things were pretty bad for Dave Letterman when he came on the show yesterday and just delivered a bombshell, saying he was the victim of attempted extortion plot and admitting to having sex with staffers on his show. What's the fallout? We're going to have more coming up. It's 54 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We've all heard the phrase "war is hell." But it's also really expensive. Plenty of our lawmakers on Capitol Hill are adding all kinds of earmarks and pet projects to the defense budget telling the Pentagon how to spend its money. Dana Bash tracking that story from Capitol Hill for us this morning. Dana, news flash, big important bill, a big important budget is full of earmarks. That's never happened before.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You got it you know Christine. Even in a time of war, even in a time of record deficits here on Capitol Hill, Pork still rains.
Utah National Guardsmen returning from risky deployment receive a gesture of appreciation. A video scrapbook about their battalion and tour of duty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's your story told your way.
BASH: It's produced by a business in Utah called Story Rock. Utah's Senator Robert Bennett wants to help his home state company take this nationwide so he secured a $5 million earmark in the defense spending bill and get this, it's coming from the fund that's supposed to pay for basic needs for troops at war such as food, fuel, and ammunition. We found Senator Bennett and asked him why he's taking money from wartime operations funding.
Why is it important to make what is essentially scrapbooks for members of the national guard?
SEN. ROBERT BENNETT (R), UTAH: It's been proven to be a very strong retention tool, recruitment tool. The military spends a lot of money to try to get people to reenlist, we're frankly saving them some money.
BASH: Bennett is unapologetic and hardly the only senator using this budget to bring home the bacon. We counted 59 earmarks from both republicans and democrats totaling nearly $172 million in the fund slated to pay for troops' essential needs.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: This is the life blood of our military.
BASH: Anti-earmark crusaders like John McCain call it an outrage and the Pentagon which didn't ask for the pet project doesn't like it either.
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Every dollar that we are forced to spend on things which we do not knee need, requires us to take money from things which we do need. And the people who lose in that tradeoff are our troops and the taxpayers.
BASH: The pentagon did not request cold weather gloves for troops in Afghanistan, but Delaware's, Tom Carper got $5 million for one company, W.L. Gore Gore-Tex, which has 640 employees in his state.
SEN. TOM CARPER (D), DELAWARE: There are special forces fighting in very difficult conditions in the weathers and the mountains in the Afghanistan. I want to make sure they have what they need to be safe.
BASH: Carper admits his earmark will help folks back home but said it helps troops too. That's what Olympia Snowe says she's sending $20 million home to Maine to fix Humvee.
Is it something that the Pentagon specifically asked for?
SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: You know, I don't know. But you know we -- it's not only the Pentagon's decision. There are several branches of government. Legislative branch is one of the three. And I think it's a mutual decision-making process.
BASH: In fact, all the senators we talked to with pork projects had one common defense.
BENNETT: Congress has the power of the purse.
BASH: It's their job.
Now, there is more transparency and earmarks these days. Lawmakers are required to disclose them and post them online, but watchdog groups argue that earmarks are still a problem because they are still pet projects sent back to senators' home states for their interests, and Christine, the other issue is right now there is no bidding and no competition for these projects.
ROMANS: All right, Dana Bash, in Capitol Hill. Thanks, Dana.
