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American Morning
Obama Awarded Nobel Peace Prize; Obama and Don't Ask, Don't Tell; NASA Blasts the Moon; Weak Dollar; Home Stretch for Health Care
Aired October 09, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And that brings us close to the top of the hour now on this Friday, the 9th of October. Thanks for joining us in the most news in the morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. It's been quite a busy morning. We watched live as NASA crashed this rocket into the moon to see if there's water, in fact, on the south pole. And then of course we got the news right before the show that Barack Obama, our president, actually, is the Nobel Peace Laureate this year.
ROBERTS: That's a big opening to a Friday, wouldn't you say?
CHETRY: It sure is. And we have a lot of stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. As we said, the surprise announcement - it came from Oslo, Norway - earlier this morning that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee honoring the president for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
Reaction from Washington and around the world, just ahead.
ROBERTS: There is a new crater on the moon this morning, and we made it. This is NASA's view as it happened a half an hour ago. NASA successfully ran a rocket into the moon's surface. They did it on purpose at close - of course, at close to 6,000 miles an hour. They're hoping that it shook things up and up (ph) to reveal signs of water on the south pole of the moon.
We're waiting for an update and we'll look at this extraordinary mission, just ahead.
CHETRY: And the dollar's having a tough time. It was high at one point, but over the last year, it's gradually been losing value. Right now, our dollar stands at a 14-month low. Christine Romans is standing by with the reasons why, and also the ups and downs, you can say, of having a weak dollar right now.
Well, even President Obama was shocked when he learned that he won the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. The Nobel Committee giving the president the honor this morning, saying it was for his, quote, "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He becomes the third sitting U.S. president to win the Peace Prize.
Here is a look now at the announcement as it came down this morning in Oslo, Norway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THORBJORN JAGLAND, CHAIRMAN, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, CNN is covering this developing story from every angle. We begin with the White House correspondent, our Dan Lothian, this morning.
And so, Dan, tell us exactly how the president found out the news early this morning.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Listen, I'll tell you that in just a second, but I'm just getting an e-mail now from a senior administration official who says that the president will most likely be making a statement on this prize that he received in the Rose Garden some time mid-morning. That has not been put on the docket yet today, but I'm being told that that will most likely happen. So we'll give you an update on the exact time as soon as we get that.
But the president, we're told, by a senior administration official, was given a surprising wake-up call this morning, shortly before 6:00 a.m., and told about this prize. And we are told by this senior administration official that the president was humbled by receiving this prize from the committee. But clearly, this is an announcement that caught everyone here at the White House off-guard. In fact, one administration official is saying that he was quite surprised by it all.
But another official, who I just ran into a short time ago, told me that he hopes that something good can come out of that. And that's the big question here is, you know, how will this be viewed politically? There are those who believe, according to a Republican who worked in the Bush administration who I talked to this morning, that this could really backfire, that this could be sort of fuel for the criticism from Capitol Hill that this is, quote, "a gift to the right."
On the other hand, this perhaps could provide some clout for the president, who is fighting big agendas on several fronts. First of all, the war in Afghanistan, deciding whether or not to ramp up troops there, additional 40,000 troops there; and also trying to get health care reform done. So this could provide some clout. We'll have to wait and see how it all turns out.
But this also coming on the heels of a disappointment for the administration, the president coming back from Denmark, a short time ago, as you know, empty-handed, not getting the Olympics for Chicago.
And what's interesting is that the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN, jokingly, that it's clear Oslo beats Copenhagen any day of the week -- Kiran?
CHETRY: There you go. All right. Dan Lothian for us at the White House this morning -- thanks.
ROBERTS: And President Obama certainly not the first U.S. politician or even sitting president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt won the Peace Prize for his efforts of brokering peace between Russia and Japan. That Treaty of Portsmouth as it was called. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson won the prize for founding the League of Nations.
And in 2002, President Jimmy Carter won the prize decades after leaving office. That was for his decades of work in promoting peace around the world, including the Camp David Accord that sought peace between Israel and Egypt. And in 2007, former Vice President Al Gore won for his lifetime work on climate change.
And if you look back at the history of sitting presidents winning the Nobel Prize, two of them were in their second term, one as we said was decades after he left office. But President Obama, is barely nine months into his office.
Joining us now, our chief national correspondent and anchor of "STATE OF THE UNION," John King.
And, John, obviously, it's a terrific honor for the president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but he's also got a lot of work to do here at home -- health care, the economy. How do you think this is all going to play out, these international accolades and still so much to do here on the domestic front?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at a time, the president's in a bit of a slump at home, John, because of the stalled health care debate, a bit of momentum lately, but still stalled. He hasn't got that one on the finish line. At a time the unemployment rate is going up.
To have an international acclaim like this and achievement like this can't hurt the president politically here at home to boost his standing. There are many, though, as Dan just noted, calling this award a bit curious. As you noted, those former presidents, they had a pretty good history behind them when they won the award.
What the committee has decided here is to make an investment, to place a bet on this new president and put a belief -- put its belief behind the idea that his promises to have more multilateral diplomacy, to sit down, as the administration is doing with Iran, to put on the table the prospect of negotiations with North Korea, to say he will bring U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, the committee is essentially putting a down payment, a bet on Barack Obama that what he has promised to do will bring fruit in the future. Because if you look at the international achievement so far -- no disrespect intended to the president -- he can't get the Israelis and the Palestinians back at the table. He's had trouble getting NATO allies to add troops into Afghanistan.
There is a past winner of the prize sitting right here in Washington, D.C., the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the president will not meet with him. And many human rights groups have been very critical of that because the president wants first to sit down with the Chinese president in Beijing.
So, it is an interesting time, both at home and abroad for this award.
CHETRY: Absolutely. And you mentioned that it's an interesting time, as this debate about whether or not we're going to add more troops to Afghanistan. So on one token, getting the Nobel Peace Prize at a time when you have to make a decision about ramping up war. How is that squaring?
KING: Well, there are some on the left who will say the president should take this great award, this prestigious award and prove it by at least holding troops firm and not adding troops into Afghanistan. He's under extraordinary pressure from the left of the Democratic Party that believes it would be a mistake. They don't want as many troops that are in Afghanistan now to be there and they certainly don't want to add more.
But, look, the president will get right back to that business today. You just heard Dan Lothian. We will hear from the president a bit later this morning.
But the biggest thing on the president's plate today is yet another private meeting in the Situation Room at the White House with his war council. General McChrystal will participate from Kabul. Everyone else will be around the table in the White House Situation Room. And on the table is sending perhaps as many as 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan.
So he can bask in the glow of this for a while this morning, and as the White House says, he is truly humbled, but he has some very difficult decisions about war and peace that he must make in the next few weeks.
ROBERTS: And you don't stop being president even though you win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Let me bring you back, John, to this idea of accomplishments versus promise. The president has given three significant speeches around the world, you know, talking about peace. There was the Berlin speech, the Cairo speech, the one recently at the United Nations. He's done a whole lot of international travel. He met with Medvedev here at the United Nations to talk about nuclear arms reduction.
Could that be said to be a body of work that should be recognized by the Nobel Committee, and particularly since the Nobel Committee loves to give prizes to people who are in the middle of their work as opposed to people who are at the end of their careers?
KING: I think you hit the nail on the head. This is an encouragement to this president to continue to follow through on those commitments, when, inevitably, he hits the bump in the road. Can you create a nuclear-free world or at least make a down payment on that in a four or an eight-year presidency? That's a big question for President Obama. And the committee is essentially saying, "Stay at it, Mr. President, you have our prestige behind you now, the international good housekeeping seal of approval."
Can he make the delicate decisions to get it Iraq right, to get Afghanistan right, to get the Israelis and Palestinians back at the table? This is a prestigious international boost to try to get him there.
It's also, I believe, very much a reflection that the committee believes that just the election of an African-American has sent a symbol of reconciliation around the world. So, in the image of President Obama and in the words of President Obama, they are placing a bet that down the road, they will get significant international progress.
And remember also, John, and you know this well from your days at the White House, this is a committee and this is a -- it's the multilateralist push -- those who push multilateralist around the world, very much dislike the prior U.S. president and this is in part a reflection of that as well.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we just got some word on exactly when we're going to hear from the president about this Nobel Prize that he won today. Ten-thirty a.m., they're saying the president is going to be speaking in the Rose Garden. So, we'll hear that. And, of course, that's just 2 1/2 hours from now.
And, John, meanwhile, let me ask you about something else that's been percolating in Washington right now that has to do with Congressman Charlie Rangel. As we know, the GOP tried to get a floor vote again to have him removed from his chairmanship on the ways and means committee. The House Democrats were able to get that moved back into the ethics committee. And so now, they're widening this inquiry.
Why is this so important?
KING: Well, it's important, number one, because Charles Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He's a very influential figure in the House of Representatives. That committee will have a huge role in the future health care debate. It's already invested in a House legislation, but now, the debate will change yet again as the Senate moves forward with a more conservative, somewhat more conservative proposal than the House has sponsored.
Why is it important that he stays in place? The speaker of the House and most of the Democratic leadership publicly has said, "Look, he is innocent until proven guilty." But now, the investigation is being expanded. Congressman Rangel himself has had to pay some back taxes. There are more allegations that he left serious investments, significant investments off his financial disclosure forms.
What Democrats will tell you privately is they wish this would be over as soon as possible because they don't like the cloud of potential corruption, potential. Let's be very clear, he is innocent until proven guilty.
One of the complicating factors right now, though, Kiran, is Republicans hope to make a great deal of hay about this, but they now have a senior senator, a former member of the leadership in the Senate, John Ensign, who faces his own ethics committee investigation. So, it's taken a bit of the steam out of what the Republicans had hoped would be a very, very powerful argument.
ROBERTS: And, John, who will be gracing your studio this Sunday?
KING: We're going to -- among our guests, John, will be an exclusive sit-down with Senator John McCain. We'll get his thoughts. He ran against President Obama in the last election. We'll get his thoughts on the Nobel Award, and also, of course, he is a key player and has been a fierce critic of the administration's process and policy when it comes to the big question of sending more troops into Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: Great. Looking forward to it, John. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KING: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: That's the next generation of Sunday talk, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" and you can watch it, of course, this and every Sunday. It starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Coming up a little bit later in the hour, we're going to be having Ed Rollins, one of our favorite Republican strategist, also our CNN senior political analyst, joining us with reaction from conservatives this morning. As we said a little earlier, some are calling this Nobel Prize for our president "a gift for the right."
Are we that cynical? Well, we'll have to see. We'll hear what Ed says about the distinction today.
ROBERTS: We are moon struck this morning. There's a new hole in the moon and guess who made it.
CHETRY: You?
ROBERTS: No, us, collectively. It's a successful mission. We crashed and we crashed well.
Eleven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: This song is especially appropriate this morning, because it was boom, boom. First we crashed one, then we crashed the other, right into the moon. Successful NASA mission.
Well, welcome back this morning. We are going to be...
ROBERTS: That's why people go to NASCAR races, right?
CHETRY: Well, sometimes.
All right. Let's take a listen to what happened today at NASA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ground stations at Goldstone just reported a...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 11:35, 35.054 seconds.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shepherding spacecraft has hit the surface of the man and this marks the end of the LCROSS flight mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. Some relief there. Some of the NASA scientists clapping. The mission was complete.
And there you can see video of people actually watching it at these watch parties that were taking place at the museum in Washington and many other places. But, yes, it was a success. They ran a rocket into the moon's surface on purpose. Another one hit right after that, that's the one that's going to be tracking all of the sensory data brought back.
ROBERTS: Yes. And scientists after the blast...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's a big animation of it crashing into the moon. That was very interesting.
CHETRY: There it is.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The animation actually looks better.
ROBERTS: Yes, look at that. Boom. And that's the trailing spacecraft, that's the sensing satellite going in to see if there is any water that was revealed that's living underneath the moon's surface. We're going to see very soon what they found out.
Jason Carroll joins us now more with this rare event while other spacecraft has been crashed into the moon, some because it's easier than bringing them back, some for scientific purposes, really a first of its kind experiment.
CARROLL: Absolutely. Without question. You know, we're looking at what actually happened. The computer animation looked a little better than what it actually did. But the reality is this. You saw the applause there. They are calling this a success, for now. Within an hour or so, we should get a better idea of exactly what the sensors were able to find.
Just to recap what happened here, as we look at some of the computer animation. Basically what happened is, you know, we had one of the rockets that plunged into the moon's south pole, in an area of the moon that has not seen the sun for, what, some two -- for billions of years. This is what scientists are saying.
A huge plume, a cloudy plume came up from that first impact and then a sensor went through that plume to see and to analyze, perhaps, if there were any water frozen, water particles in that plume, then it crashed. Then a second plume is created. Then you've got all of these high-tech telescopes stationed and positioned in different areas that are then analyzing that particularly plume.
All of that data should be coming in within an hour or so. The first blush of that data should give scientists an idea of whether or not there is some water there on the moon.
Why is this important? Well, it's important in terms of future space exploration. If you're going to head to the moon and set up some sort of a moon base, you're going to need a source of water. Because water is heavy in terms of trying to transport it to a place like the moon.
So if you've already got it there, you can, what, you can some way develop that water into fuel, you can develop it into breathable air. That's why it's so important to spend $79 million in order to see if it's something that, you know, we can eventually use in the future.
CHETRY: Well, NASA was taking it very seriously. Of course, one of our e-mailers were not. One of the...
CARROLL: Yes.
CHETRY: Steven said, "I'm very concerned about crashing a rocket into the moon. I fear the U.S. has started another war with inhabitants of the moon. We really cannot afford another war. What's next? Mars?"
CARROLL: Well, can I just say something about the crashing of the moon? I mean the impact that was created there on that particular crater was probably about the size of a tennis court, about 10 feet deep.
And you also have to remember, look at the moon, it's pockmarked with craters. So, you know, you get impacts of this size four times a month, every month, according to what scientists are saying. Not a big deal.
ROBERTS: So you're saying, what's another crater, right?
CARROLL: What's another crater on a pock-marked moon?
ROBERTS: Sure.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We're not starting a war, we're just trying to find water.
All right, Jason. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Jason Carroll this morning, with the quote of the day, what's another crater on a pock-marked moon?
(LAUGHTER)
Sounds like a country song.
CARROLL: Yes.
ROBERTS: Jason, thanks so much.
U.S. dollar is in a six-month slide. It came up and strengthened a little bit yesterday, but not a whole lot. What's that going to mean for our economy, for our wages, for our manufacturing base going forward? We'll find out. Christine Romans joins us in just a moment. Eighteen minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. A big development overnight. President Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. While the president is getting a big vote of confidence, though, there's not a whole lot of confidence in the almighty dollar these days. It has been kicked down now to a 14-month low.
CHETRY: So there's some good news and bad news mixed with this and Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" today and she joins us now with more on the implications of this. So 14-month low on the dollar. What's the -- I guess the bad news first?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the dollar is the international language, right, of trade. It is the thing that is -- it's the gold standard, pardon the weird pun. It is the gold standard for international currencies, and frankly, it shows maybe a loss of confidence in the direction of this country, some say.
It shows some concerns about inflation down the road. People are saying that it shows that maybe some of our international partners aren't very confident about our ability to pay back all of our debts, all of these things. But also, it could be telling us, this decline in the dollar could be telling us that the panic has eased and now you've got people putting their money into other things that they think are going to be -- have better returns, frankly, as the economy starts to recover.
So a lot of different things out there. Those inflation fears are what you're seeing in gold and in oil, in some of the commodity markets, and in the weak dollar. All that telling us that these markets are saying there's going to be this big inflation problem, but the bond markets are telling us just the opposite. So some conflicting signals.
You're also hearing a lot of people talking about the eventual, kind of new world order for currencies, that maybe the United States dollar will not always be the reserve currency, it will not always be the -- why is it the reserve currency? Our stable political system. We have transparency in business. We have a legal system that is predictable, contracts are honored and the like.
So some people say that it's a knock on the United States to be talking about moving away from the dollar as a reserve currency.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They do bring this conversation up, you know...
ROMANS: Oh sure.
CHETRY: ... from time to time, and it's never really come close to happening, right? That quote, "basket of currency" they want to use instead?
ROMANS: There are actually some contracts that are being done or at least -- yes, some contracts are being done in baskets of currencies instead of just the dollar.
CHETRY: In terms of setting oil prices.
ROMANS: Right. In terms of setting oil prices. And other kind of contracts, too. But this whole potential erosion of the U.S. as a reserve currency, we talk about currencies a lot, which you're thinking, oh if you go to London, you're going to have more or less for your dollar.
But this really is a statement about the United States. And the United States is -- our government says that it's still -- it still believes in a strong dollar. That is still our aim, but, you know, a weaker dollar helps our exporters so.
ROBERTS: It does. It does.
ROMANS: And the dollar up a little bit overnight because Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, said that eventually we will have to raise interest rates. We will have to raise interest rates when the economy starts to get stronger.
ROBERTS: So if you want to know why there's a little bit of lack of confidence in the dollar, here's a great Web site to go to. Can we get a picture of that?
ROMANS: Oh yes, that's the U.S. debt clock.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: USdebtclock.org. And there it is. Look at all those numbers chocking away there, the one on the upper left hand side.
ROMANS: That's the national debt, almost 12...
ROBERTS: $11.9 trillion and then you've got the deficit cranking in at $1.4 trillion.
ROMANS: Mm-hmm. You know we...
ROBERTS: It's not looking good.
ROMANS: We borrow a lot of money to finance everything and we did even before this crisis. Now we're borrowing money to dig ourself out of this hole and our international partners, in some cases, are making noise and looking at us and saying, hmm, what are you guys doing to make sure you can pay that back?
What's it going to mean for the value of our investments down the road if you keep borrowing like that?
CHETRY: Just brings us to our "Romans' Numeral" today. This is a number that Christine gives that's driving a story about your money. What's our numeral today? This is a first.
ROMANS: It's zero. I've never done zero before. Zero. And John, of course, in the break, I said, John, it's zero. He knew it right away.
ROBERTS: Yes. Percentage of -- interest rates percentage.
ROMANS: Yes, we basically have zero interest rate policy right now. The Fed said basically zero. Maybe a little bit more than zero. And that sort of underscores the fact that when Ben Bernanke can start talking about raising interest rates and we can raise interest rate, maybe that'll hook up the dollar. Sure did say...
ROBERTS: I was getting 1.3 percent on my high yields savings account.
ROMANS: I know. We're not rewarded for being savers. And I just wish they would do something about that.
CHETRY: Yes. Zero percent interest rate, there's nowhere to go but up.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROMANS: There you go, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Christine.
ROBERTS: Although somebody would probably figure out a way to make it negative, right?
ROMANS: Oh yes. Someone in Wall Street will figure that out. ROBERTS: Lend people money and then you pay them to borrow from you.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Still ahead, the news that broke right before we were about to go to air that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. We're going to talk about reaction from that around the world.
ROBERTS: And Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the president as a candidate promised that he was going to change it. Well, nine months into his presidency he hasn't done anything on it. Is it a broken promise? We'll find out. 25 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Tonight Obama is -- he hosted a basketball game at the White House for several members of Congress. He didn't even want to play. He just wanted to see Congress pass something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. 27 minutes past the hour. Four days from now the Senate Finance Committee will vote on its health care reform bill and this is an attempt at a compromise between Democrats and Republicans and it could have the best chance of actually passing both chambers of Congress.
The White House is applauding it but some Republicans are still saying it's too loaded with too many taxes and fees.
Our Jim Acosta looks at just how far this measure might go if it gets beyond the committee that crafted it.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, after a rough couple of months, Democrats are finding the patient has stabilized. Their efforts for health care reform are showing signs of life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats aren't about to pull the plug on health care reform. In fact, some are all but gift wrapping it for delivery to the White House just in time for the holidays.
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: We're going to have it on the president's desk before Christmas.
ACOSTA (on camera): Before Christmas?
HARKIN: Before Christmas.
ACOSTA: You think you'll have a signing before Christmas.
HARKIN: Yes. I do. I believe he'll sign it before Christmas.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Iowa senator Tom Harkin, who's replaced the late Ted Kennedy as chairman of the Help Committee, is confident. That's because there's talk of compromise as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid begins the process of merging two bills from the Help Committee and what's expected out of the Finance Committee.
One compromise is called an opt out, a provision that Harkin says would allow states to choose for themselves whether to join a government insurance program or public option.
HARKIN: In fact, I had suggested at maybe one time that there should be a reverse option. In other words, you have a public option and if the state wants to opt out of it, they can opt out of it.
ACOSTA: Democrats know the public may be coming around with one recent poll showing support for their proposals climbing to 40 percent, from 34 percent a month ago.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: We're coming around the curve. We're coming around the curve.
ACOSTA: Former Senate majority leader Bob Dole is predicting a bill will pass and he's warning his fellow Republicans to get on board, stat.
BOB DOLE, FORMER SENATOR: They don't want Obama to get it, so we've got to kill it. Not because of the merits of the bill, because they don't want the president to get any credit. Now, you can do that, and I'm probably guilty of it, but you can't make a habit of it. And health care is one of those things.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: I don't know what kind of process this is, but I think it's outrageous.
ACOSTA: But current GOP leaders on Capitol Hill want none of it, accusing Democrats of hiding the true cost of health care reform.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: That's because the real bill will soon be cobbled together in a secret conference room somewhere here in the capital by a handful of Democratic senators and White House officials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: In the end, Senator Harkin believes Democrats will support a robust public option in the final bill. But Senate Democratic leaders are keeping the opt out in their back pockets. Just in case they have to win over any last minute hold-outs.
John and Kiran?
CHETRY: Jim Acosta for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: We're crossing the half hour now and checking our top stories.
President Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace prize less than nine months into his presidency. The announcement made jaws drop even at the White House. Mr. Obama's name was never even mentioned as a possible contender.
The gob-smacked president will make a statement at 10:30 a.m. eastern from the Rose Garden.
CHETRY: The other big story, NASA successfully bombing the moon, or at least successfully crashing a rocket into it. This is NASA's view as it happened. The space agency ran a rocket into the moon's surface on purpose at close to 6,000 miles per hour. They're hoping it shook things up enough to reveal signs of water.
ROBERTS: The house has voted to make it a federal crime to assault someone because of their sexual orientation. It's a significant expansion of the hate crimes law that was passed back in 1968. The measure is attached to a $680 billion Pentagon budget and will likely pass in the Senate.
As a candidate, President Obama said that he would be a fierce advocate for gay rights, but so far he hasn't delivered on one of his biggest promises to the gay and lesbian community, and that is repealing the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that forbids gays and lesbians in uniform from serving openly.
For more, let's bring in Aubrey Sarvis the Service Members Legal Defense Network, and Lieutenant Dan Choi of the Army National Guard. He's an Arab linguist who is facing discharge after he came out of the closet.
Dan, let's start with you. The president promised, as we said, to make don't ask, don't tell a priority of his administration when he was a candidate. A lot of folks were expecting that there would be some movement early in the presidency. We're now nine months into it and nothing. He's not even really talking about it.
How are you feeling about all that?
LT. DAN CHOI, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Well, John, it wasn't promised just to the gay and lesbian community, it was a promise to the entire nation, because when you're kicking out Arabic linguists and needed soldiers and service members in a time of war, you hurt the entire national security, you hurt the entire nation, you hurt the entire unit.
ROBERTS: Aubrey Sarvis, where is Congress on all of this?
AUBREY SARVIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SERVICE MEMBERS LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK: Well, John, over in the house, we're doing just fine under the leadership of Congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, 176 house members have co-sponsored HR.1283, the bill to repeal don't ask, don't tell.
In the Senate, I think we're on the brink of a bill introduction with leadership coming from many members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
ROBERTS: Without the support of the president, though, without him leading the charge, can you really get anything done?
SARVIS: Well, the president has said he's committed to getting this done, and we're looking for him to provide more specifics and a timeline hopefully this weekend here in Washington.
ROBERTS: Yes, there's that big rally, and the president will be making a speech at the human rights campaign on Saturday. We'll talk about that in just a second.
But, Dan, back to you, the president just won the Nobel Peace prize this morning. He's got a lot on his plate -- the economy, to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, what's going on in Iran and North Korea.
Is now the time to wade into don't ask, don't tell for him, particularly when you look at, historically, it didn't turn out too well for the Clinton administration in the early going.
CHOI: Well, I know what you're saying, John, and you're saying that there are so many things are going on. But let me translate that.
Essentially what people say when there are so many other things that are on the plate, that means, gay and lesbian folks, you can wait, America, you can wait to have people that are discriminated against enjoy the full benefits of citizenship.
And the president has respect all over the world and in our country. Well, what kind of a message is that to the rest of the world where we can have different classes of citizens? How long should we wait to serve our country in a time of war, to have all of those rights bestowed and conferred? How long do we have to wait for that dignity?
I would say that as citizens, we have a responsibility not to wait, to speak up. And silence for me as a soldier is not a strategy.
ROBERTS: Aubrey, is there any way to measure quantitatively what the effect of waiting is on the military?
SARVIS: Well, we know that 13,500 service members have been discharged since don't ask, don't tell was enacted. We know that more than 4,000 service members leave every year because of this law.
So, yes, there has to be a sense of urgency about this. This military cannot afford to lose the 65,000 LGBT service members on active duty and in the Reserves today.
So we need the Congress and we need the president to partner and come together with a sense of urgency to get this done. We can get it done in this Congress, but it will require leadership and it will require a partnership between the Congress and the White House.
ROBERTS: Dan, you're an Arab linguist. Things are being sort of wound down in Iraq where you really would have been of service to the military.
But I think the last time we talked, you said you were also beginning to learn, it was either Pashta or Dari, which would have made you effective in Afghanistan.
With the president now considering an appeal from General Stanley McChrystal to send 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan to try to turn things around there, how important are people with skills like yours?
CHOI: Well, obviously, it was extremely disappointing to get the letter saying that the army was beginning to discharge me as I was right in the middle of my classes, just trying to learn some of the basics.
And it's really disappointing, particularly to the people that were in my unit, and we were trying to learn some of the basics all together.
So really what you look at, and what you have to see is the devastating effects not just for the service member that's discharged, but for the unit that now has to deploy without those capabilities.
And it's, for me, it's been quite a crazy year, coming out of the closet to my parents and to my friends and to people, you know, all around me.
And I know that when you come out, when you make that step, when you sign up, just as we signed up to serve our country and put our country first, you know, we take that step because we know there are other people that need to hear that message.
I just heard a couple days ago from my dad that he accepts me as his gay son, and he's a southern Baptist minister. You know, we have to step up whether as soldiers or as citizens or people in our families and step up to do the right thing and make our message known.
ROBERTS: It's a very important step, even in your own family.
Dan Choi, it's good to talk to you this morning. Aubrey Sarvis, thanks very much, and of course we'll be watching the president's speech tomorrow at the human rights campaign. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: Still ahead, as we talked about the Nobel Peace prize going to our president, Barack Obama, we'll be talking to Ed Rollins and getting GOP reaction about it in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right, welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's 40 minutes past the hour right now, as we take a look at the White House.
We've got word from our own Dan Lothian, our White House correspondent that the president was woken up today with a new surprise. You've won the 2009 Nobel Peace prize. ROBERTS: Happy Friday, Mr. President, you're a Nobel laureate.
CHETRY: Anyway, it's 62 degrees right now a mostly cloudy. A little bit later, though, it will be mostly sunny and 83. Nice day in Washington.
And welcome back to the most news in the morning. By the way, just a quick reminder, coming up in about two hours, just under two hours, the president is going to be speaking, 10:30 in the Rose Garden. He'll be making a statement on how he feels about winning the Nobel Peace prize.
Just nine months into office, he gets that award, and there was really an audible gasp in the room when the decision was announced in Oslo, Norway this morning.
ROBERTS: Yes. You here stateside a lot of politicos are scratching their heads after the surprise win. But a lot of people also saying, well deserved.
Let's bring in our CNN political contributor, Republican strategist Ed Rollins. You said this morning when we had you on the telephone that you were astonished by all of this.
So let me lay out the other side. The president has given three significant speeches talking about peace in Germany, in Cairo, and at the United Nations. He's travelled the world very extensively in the first nine months of his presidency.
Could that not be said, and considering too, the change in tone, to be worthy of being recognized with the Nobel Peace prize?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You usually get recognized at the end of some major accomplishment. I think three speeches are a start from his perspective.
And I want to congratulate him. I'm always for America winning, whether it gold, tennis, or on the international stage. And it's a lot better than last Friday when he woke up saying we came in fourth.
I think at this point the thing I'm curious about is this is a storybook, made for TV story. A young senator basically gets elected president after a very short period of time. Nine months into his administration, when the world is still at war, he gets the Nobel Peace prize.
If you presented that for made for TV, you would probably get the script rejected.
The key thing is how does he think of himself now? Is he basically "I'm now a Nobel Peace Prize. I've got to go out and make sure I create peace in the world." Not a bad objective, except, are you as commander chief going to advocate...
ROBERTS: You're saying he's been given the award, now he's got to win it. ROLLINS: He has to win it. I think clearly you don't get the award for three speeches. I think there's a very strong anti-American sentiment around the world. I think he tapped into that by his apology towards, and I think to a certain extent, he was awarded by that.
I think now at this point in time, Nobel Peace Prize winner, what does he do with it?
CHETRY: How much does a Nobel Peace Prize matter when you're witting in the White House right now and you have so many things on your plate, health care...
ROLLINS: It doesn't create any jobs, it's not going to get any votes on the health care package. It certainly gives him a prestige on the world stage, but does it make Prime Minister Putin sit down and say, this guy is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, I've got to be better to him, does it make --
CHETRY: Does it?
ROLLINS: No, I don't think so. And I think there may be a little bit of jealousy, jealousy by ex-presidents. We talk about Bill Cliton. What does Bill Clinton do at this time, who worked very hard to reduce nuclear --
ROBERTS: And came this close to peace in the Middle East.
ROLLINS: He did, and he worked very hard at it.
So I think to a certain extent, once again, I congratulate him for it, I'm happy for America. I think the key thing is now what does he do now to go earn it?
ROBERTS: Clearly, the Nobel Committee appeared to award him this prize for the work that he has done so far and the potential for work in the future. And the Nobel Committee loves to award people who continue their work.
I mean, they gave the peace prize to Al Gore. He didn't say, that's it, I'm done, thanks. He continues to work on climate change.
ROLLINS: And they gave it to Jimmy Carter, a failed presidency who was rejected overwhelmingly by the public.
ROBERTS: But Jimmy carter did manage to broker those Camp David Accords.
ROLLINS: He did --
ROBERTS: That's fairly notable.
ROLLINS: But that was not what he got his --
CHETRY: You noted that no Republicans get the Nobel Peace Prize.
ROLLINS: I don't want to say it's an anti-Republican or an anti- Bush family, per say --
CHETRY: Except for Roosevelt.
ROLLINS: Except for Teddy Roosevelt, who we all loved.
The other part we have to be concerned about, people like Woodrow Wilson who wanted...
ROBERTS: But how much of this is just sour grapes on the part of people who complain about the president getting this? Obviously, the Nobel committee took a look at all 205 people who were nominated and said, this person is the most deserving. Why should anybody question what they did?
ROLLINS: Who was the Nobel Committee? And what were the reasons for it? If it were the three speeches, then say that. Is it really that he's built peace in the world on were just that he wants peace in the world? That's the critical question.
CHETRY: A very, very interesting conversation, though. And, as we said, it took everybody by surprise, even the president himself.
ROLLINS: It was nice of you all to wake me up this morning and talk about this at 6:10.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That's right. I teased him. You have to sleep in, you mean. It's 6:10.
ROBERTS: You slept in 10 minutes longer than the president, who was called by Robert Gibbs to say, by the way, you won.
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: I contrasted what I said earlier. Reagan was woken up when the Libyan jets were shot down by Gadhafi. Presidents never know when they're going to get woken up to.
ROBERTS: But if he had won the Nobel Prize, I'm sure they would have woken him up for that, too.
ROLLINS: He would have been very happy.
ROBERTS: Sure.
ROLLINS: What about drag about how great the new order was...
ROBERTS: Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, speaking of happy. Jay Leno was very happy yesterday to show the nation Kiran Chetry's legs. And we've got that for you. That little moment from the "The Jay Leno Show" coming right up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC HOST: In a recent list of the manliest names ever -- they make a list of the manliest names -- the top spot went to a computer technician in North Carolina whose name is Max Fightmaster. That's true. Max Fightmaster.
Yes, not making the year's list of manliest names, his neighbor, chief of police, Bob Uterus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. At 6'4", Conan O'Brien is one manly man, according to our next story.
CHETRY: Yes, that's because, they say in this study out of the UK that tall men are more likely to have attractive partners and that they have more children.
They say it's kind of like survival of the tallest. The heights in this study range from 5'1" to 6'5".
ROBERTS: Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, Tom Cruise, for example.
CHETRY: Yes, a lot of Hollywood stars, actually, are not that tall and they're successful and have cute kids.
ROBERTS: Yes and there is Tom Cruise, at what, 5'6" or something like that, 5'7" and then Keith Urban, who rings in at about 5'10".
CHETRY: What?
ROBERTS: Both had the same mate.
CHETRY: Oh, oh.
ROBERTS: So they're not exceptionally tall.
CHETRY: I got you.
ROBERTS: Beautiful women are attracted to them.
CHETRY: I thought you were saying Keith Urban was short. I was thinking well, maybe compared to you and Rob Marciano.
ROBERTS: No, no, he's about 5'10", 5'11". He's not short but he's certainly not "tall" tall either.
Rob Marciano is definitely is tall. What do you clock in, about 6'1", 6'2"?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: 6'1, I used to be 6'2", I think I'm shrinking at this point.
ROBERTS: Happens with age.
MARCIANO: I do have a hottie back home -- I do have a hottie back home. I'm not sure why she's with -- I don't really care as long as she stays with me. I'm great for that.
CHETRY: That's so cute, Rob.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: I love it.
MARCIANO: I might unlock the door today and let her out.
CHETRY: All right, there you have to go and blow it. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Way to go, you were really witting there Rob.
CHETRY: Right, first you called her a hottie and then said I hope she's stays with me and then you go off the cliff.
MARCIANO: I will never do that.
Welcome to the cliff show.
We're looking at storms down across the southeast and across the Mid-West. This is all marching slowly to the east, another day of record-breaking temperatures across the East Coast. Well, the temperatures will be in the 70s, 80s and in some cases 90s. Look at some of these numbers.
Five inches of rain in Centralia, Oklahoma. Fayetteville, Arkansas almost five inches, that's 24 hours of rainfall over a pretty short period of time. So we've got some rain, we've got some flood watches and warnings. Issued a lot more warnings this morning than we saw did yesterday. That's the brighter colors.
As far as the radar is concerned, strong line of storms moving across south -- northeast Texas and those have some flood warnings in them in through the Shreveport area, also into Memphis. So these storms will be marching off to the east as we go through time.
We might see a few travel delays as well: Dallas, Cincinnati, Memphis, Chicago and Detroit, New York, and Metro.
I'm just hoping that she lets me into the house later on today.
Back to you guys in New York.
ROBERTS: It's pretty easy to change the locks there in Atlanta, Rob.
MARCIANO: Yes, it is.
ROBERTS: All right, Rob. Thanks so much. MARCIANO: See you guys.
ROBERTS: So, you know that Jay Leno took the Mickey out of us the other day for talking about what's under the desk, which has now become one of our favorite features.
Well, he was at it again last night on his show. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": A couple of nights ago, we poked fun at CNN's AMERICAN MORNING anchors. Remember this, Kev, we did the things with the shoes and the two anchors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, right.
LENO: Well, the following morning, they ran our clip on their show. And now here, take a look.
ROBERTS: And now that nobody's seeing your feet, you're perfect. Can we at least take a shot of her feet? All that trouble?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Liz, Liz, can we see his feet?
Look at his feet. Good. See what I'm saying?
CHETRY: The funny thing is those were not my legs.
LIZ: They weren't?
CHETRY: No. And those were not his -- I mean, those were not his legs obviously, but they weren't my legs either.
LENO: She was a little miffed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
LENO: And we have to admit, those were not her legs. We feel bad -- they were nice legs...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're nice...
LENO: They just weren't her legs. So, to be fair, we thought we should show her legs, just so she doesn't...
CHETRY: Now we're good.
ROBETS: And now that nobody's seeing your feet, you're perfect.
Can we at least take a shot of her feet? Oh, they are horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: I've been telling you sometimes you run out of time, run out of razors. ROBERTS: All I can say is thank goodness you shaved your legs today.
CHETRY: Yes, well at least I tried and Jay, thank you. We did a little makeshift kiss for jay. We appreciate it. But again, those were not my legs, either, really, for anybody who thinks -- on my best day, you wouldn't get that hairy.
ROBERTS: Actually, they were. Don't believe her.
CHETRY: Ok, well, any who, John really has those shoes, by the way, the Lucite platforms with the sparkles.
ROBERTS: They're my favorite.
CHETRY: He only brings them out once a year.
ROBERTS: I'm taking them on a Friday night. Let's go.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, Carol Costello, "Just Saying," we love certain bad boys. Can certain guys get away with being cads when we like to just stomp on others? She takes a look; "Just Saying."
Fifty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, oftentimes we let Carol tell us about different things that she notices. And you know, she's good at the social commentary.
One of the things she did notice was that fans of the TV show "Mad Men" love Don Draper, even though he's a real bad boy. He's a fictional 60s ad exec. He's famous for drinking, for smoking, and also for cheating.
ROBERTS: Diving into the secretarial pool, head first.
He may be the picture of male chauvinism, but he also may be today's ideal man. "Just Saying;" Carol's live in Washington.
Hey Carol. So do women really want the bad boy?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they do. We're going to lighten the mood, just a bit this morning, and talk about Don Draper.
Here's where I'm going with this. David Letterman admits he's been a cad. He's had affairs with women on his staff. His wife is not happy, and yet his ratings have soared.
Could it be that most women just don't care? And you might ask why do we like certain cads, and dislike other men who cheat. Just saying -- it's got to be the Don Draper Syndrome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Don Draper. He's the charismatic lead character in AMC's "Mad Men," a TV show that takes place in the '60s, when women mostly stayed at home and men brought home the bacon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy.
COSTELLO: Draper is a suave ad man who cheats on his wife but supports her financially.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing?
COSTELLO: And who treats most other women like dirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told you to stop talking.
COSTELLO: And women who watch the show love him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don Draper, he's just so mysterious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a very particular type of magnetism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just so confident. And he never doubts himself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know it's not good for you, but you still want it so much. Like, oh, my God, I have to have it.
COSTELLO: Some female viewers love Don Draper so much, they didn't blink an eye when he went beyond bad boy behavior to sexual assault.
Even "Jezebel," a feminist women's magazine gave him a pass for this, because "Sometimes assertive women get tired of always being so damn assertive. Sometimes they like to be told what to do."
Just saying. Are women secretly yearning for a bad boy?
DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST: I think that women have, throughout the ages, yearned for the bad boy.
COSTELLO: Psychiatrist Gail Saltz says women love the idea of Don Draper, because today they feel overwhelmed in a down economy with work, the kids, and the needy husband.
According to a study by the Wharton School, women's happiness has fallen both absolutely and relative to men's. The '60s world of "Mad Men" is what Dr. Saltz calls a fantasy solution.
SALTZ: The idea that the knight would come in and scoop them up and make everything easier is also very appealing, but it's a fantasy that doesn't include being suppressed. You're not having anything of your own -- it doesn't include those things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm worried it's a fantasy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, but it is just a fantasy. In real life, women have scorned cheaters like former New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, South Carolina's Governor Sanford and John Edwards. Yet they've given some cheating men a pass, like Bill Clinton and now seemingly David Letterman.
Want the real life reason why? Psychologist Dr. Saltz says it's very much a function of how much you identify with the woman who's been hurt. If you feel sorry for her, you hate the man, if you think she can take it, his cheating heart just might be okay.
Food for thought this morning -- Kiran and John.
ROBERTS: I don't know. How do you think his wife would feel about it, if it was a real wife and not just another actress?
COSTELLO: I don't know. I mean, personally, if my husband cheated, I would be really, really angry and I would be out of there.
ROBERTS: You would?
COSTELLO: I would.
ROBERTS: There's a threat. I hope he's listening.
COSTELLO: I hope he is, too.
If you want to comment on this story, visit our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Right. And that includes your husband too.
COSTELLO: Yes, right.
That includes my husband.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Carol, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Thank you.
That's going to do it for us.
But we just want to recap real quick that if you were just tuning in, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. It was less than nine months into his presidency. The news came just this morning right before our show.
ROBERTS: Entirely unexpected by even the president. It's sparking debate around the world right now.
The president, by the way, is going to speak at 10:30 a.m. Eastern from the Rose Garden. You can see all that right here on CNN.
CHETRY: And glad you were with us this week. Hope to see you back here Monday morning. And please continue the conversation on any of today's stories by going to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Have yourself a great weekend. We'll see you again on Monday.
The news continues on CNN with Heidi Collins in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
