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American Morning

Investigators Say Fort Hood Suspect Acted Alone; D.C. Sniper Execution Scheduled Today, Reverend Says Muhammad's Life Should Be Spared; Bull Run on Wall Street; Fort Hood Suspect's Past; Is the GOP Losing Women?

Aired November 10, 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 and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're with us on this Tuesday, November 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us today. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.

On the day of a memorial for 13 people killed at Fort Hood, Texas, new information about the alleged gunman. It turns out that U.S. intelligence officials knew the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, have reached out to a radical Muslim cleric. We're live at Fort Hood with the latest this morning.

CHETRY: Tropical Storm Ida bearing down on the Gulf Coast this morning bringing high winds, heavy rain, as much as eight inches in some places. Emergency declarations are now in effect in Mississippi, in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. Rob Marciano is there tracking the storm.

ROBERTS: It's D.C. sniper John Muhammad's last day on earth. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection tonight, but the man who came to know him before he became a mass murderer says it shouldn't happen. He shouldn't be put to death. What he saw upclose that makes him believe Muhammad's life should be spared.

CHETRY: We begin this morning with the Fort Hood shooting spree and some new developments in the quick moving investigation. The FBI now says the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Hasan, acted alone and was not part of a terror plot to attack U.S. troops. That word coming just hours after authorities confirmed Hasan reached out to a radical Muslim cleric in recent years, the same cleric who preached to two of the 9/11 hijackers.

The fed interrupted many of Hasan's conversations with that cleric but we're told never picked up on anything threatening. And these developments come as Fort Hood takes its first steps to move on from the shooting that killed 13 people. In just a few hours, the president and first lady will be taking part in a memorial service at the post.

Our David Mattingly is live in Fort Hood, Texas. And, David, so the FBI knocking down any idea that this was a coordinated plot, but what are they saying about perhaps the motivations of the suspect? DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, what we're finding out today is that the questions of what investigators knew about Major Hasan and when did they know it is now coming into focus because of a statement that was released last night by the FBI. We now know that they were looking at him as far back as last December.

This was because of communications that were intercepted between him and a radical cleric formerly at Virginia now believed to be living in Yemen. They looked at those communications for several months and after looking at them they made this determination and this directly from the FBI statement that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning.

They decided this because looking at the language that he was using, that there was nothing threatening there, nothing to indicate that he was going to do anyone any kind of harm, plus they said it was consistent with research that he was doing as an Army psychiatrist. So they thought there was no problem here. He was an officer in good standing, was getting good reviews. So, again, they thought there was no problem.

Well, he comes here to Fort Hood. He again has a good record as he's working here with the people at Fort Hood. Now, after the shootings here, the FBI has also come out and said that they concluded now that Major Hasan did not have any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot. At this point, investigators say they have yet to determine what particular motive might have driven the terrible shootings that happened here -- Kiran.

CHETRY: David Mattingly for us this morning. Thank you.

And stay with us. Coming up in about 20 minutes, our Drew Griffin looks into Major Nidal Hasan's connections to that mosque where some of the 9/11 terrorists worshipped. Also, CNN's live coverage of the memorial at Fort Hood begins today, 1:30 Eastern. You can see it live on CNN, CNN.com or on your iPhone if you have the new CNN app.

ROBERTS: And here are some of the other stories new this morning. A heavy hitter will be joining Senate Democrats at their weekly luncheon later on today.

Former President Bill Clinton will be making a presentation on health care reform. He's expected to warn Democrats that they will suffer on Election Day if they do not pass a bill. The House has already passed a measure that would provide coverage for 96 percent of Americans at a cost of nearly $1 trillion over 10 years.

CHETRY: The abortion issue is threatening to derail Senate Democrats before they even take up health care reform. Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska is insisting on a provision like the one that passed in the House banning the use of federal funding for abortions. He says it's a deal breaker. Female senators like Barbara Boxer of California are calling that approach, quote, "radical and unfair to women." ROBERTS: And National Security adviser Jim Jones is denying a story by CBS News that President Obama has decided to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The president will meet again with National Security team tomorrow for a final set of recommendations from the Pentagon, and senior administration officials say the president will not make a decision before that.

We're also watching developments along the Gulf Coast this morning where residents are getting slammed by rain and high winds ahead of tropical storm Ida. The storm expected to make landfall near the Alabama/Florida border in the next few hours. States of emergency are now in effect in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Our Rob Marciano is live in Pensacola, Florida for us this morning. Rob, how's it looking there?

We appear to be having some problems getting in touch with Rob Marciano there. Just getting his equipment in order, but as you can see, he's there. He has not blown away yet, and we'll get back to him just as soon as we establish contact.

CHETRY: There you go. All right.

Well, just other stories new this morning right now before we check back in with Rob in a couple minutes. The White House officials are saying that President Obama will send a senior diplomat to North Korea for the first face-to-face talks with Pyongyang in more than a year. The secretive state extended the invitation months ago. No date has been set, but reports say the talks will probably happen before the end of the year. The goal is to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program.

ROBERTS: New poll numbers released just minutes ago showing America is losing faith in the government's ability to stop the swine flu. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey says just 51 percent of people are now confident the government can prevent an epidemic. That's down eight points from August before promises were broken that the H1N1 vaccine would be widely available by last month.

CHETRY: And a stunning close call captured on tape. A woman loses her balance, there you see it, and literally falls right off the Boston subway platform into the path of an oncoming train. You can see people waiting for the train trying to flag down operators. The train operator made an emergency stop just inches away from the woman. There you see it.

Police say she was drunk and that it was amazing she didn't get run over or hit the third rail which carries 600 volts of electricity. There you see people, bystanders now helping her back up.

ROBERTS: It was pretty guarded (ph). She went to put out a cigarette and she was sort of close to the end of the platform, stepped back up at the end of the platform, kind of wheeled around and then boom, right down to the tracks. What a lucky woman.

CHETRY: Look at how close before it stopped. ROBERTS: Incredible. Remember we had the baby in Australia, now the woman here in Boston. Subway miracles.

Our Rob Marciano speaking of miracles, we managed to flag him down and he's live in Pensacola this morning tracking tropical storm Ida as it's preparing to come ashore.

Good morning, Rob. How is it there?

OK. Once bitten, twice shy. A third time fooled. What was it that President Bush said that fooled me once, shame on me, fool me twice won't get fooled again.

Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta. Let's go to the back-up plan.

Hey, Jacqui, how are you?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good to be on the bench today, guys. Let's give you the latest here on Ida.

It's still off shore, believe it or not. We're looking at maybe 50 miles from the coastline here. Maximum winds around 50 miles per hour and you can see a sampling of some of the wind gusts here across the area. Twenty-five miles per hour in Pensacola. We've got 31 in Mobile, and 33 there in Gulf Port.

Here's a look at the big picture. You know, this is just not a coastal event, guys. Look at how much rain we're talking across all of the southeast and it's covering Alabama, Georgia and moving on into the Carolinas, so flooding will be our biggest threat.

We're expecting to see anywhere between three and six inches of rainfall and some locally heavy amounts are going to be possible. So flood watches are in effect all across the southeast as well as wind advisories where gusts are going to be common between 30 to 35 miles per hour. So if you're trying to travel here today, certainly that is going to be an issue.

There you can see a look at Atlanta with the tower cam where the rain continues to come down. Expect some big-time delays today at Atlanta, Jackson, Hartfield airport.

Here's the projected path and what we're expecting with Ida in the next 24 to 48 hours. We're still on that northerly path right now, but it's going to be taking a big right-hand turn. More weakening can be expected but because it's going to be moving so slowly across the southeast, that's where we're going to be seeing the big rainfall. And if you think you guys are immune to Ida, by the way, John and Kiran, Ida is going to be making its way up the coast with this cold front and eventually it's going to be bringing in some heavy rain and some strong, gusty wind. Places like D.C., Philadelphia, even New York City getting in on the action by Thursday.

ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui Jeras for us this morning.

And why don't we try one more time? No, I'm kidding. Jacqui, thanks so much for that.

CHETRY: Poor, Rob. We'll get it worked out and then when we do, it will be all that much better.

ROBERTS: At least we know he's there this morning.

It's eight and a half minutes after the hour. This is John Allen Muhammad's last day on earth, but there is at least one man out there who thinks that putting him to death is the wrong decision to make. We'll hear from that man coming right up on the Most News in the Morning. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Montgomery County has been traumatized by (INAUDIBLE) in less than 16 hours.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Word of another shooting...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone is so mean spirited that they shot a child. Now, all of our victims have been innocent, have been defenseless, but now we're stepping over the line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A look back there at 23 days of terror in the Washington, D.C., area when John Allen Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Malvo went on a shooting spree. That was back in 2002. It was a spree that killed 10 people. Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection tonight. His attorney claims that his client is mentally ill and should not be executed, and a man who knew him before he became a mass murder agrees.

Our Jeanne Meserve live for us this morning in Jarratt, Virginia.

Good morning, Jeanne. This is an interesting story that his fellow has to tell.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is, John. You know a lot of people feel that execution is exactly what John Allen Muhammad deserves, but this one person we talked to disagrees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): John Muhammad is slated to die by lethal injection today at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. What will you be doing Tuesday night?

REV. AL ARCHER, FORMER DIRECTOR, LIGHTHOUSE MISSION: I can tell you what I will be thinking about, but I can't tell you what I'll be doing. I'm just thinking about John. I'll be thinking about John's family because I hurt for those children. It breaks my heart to think what they have to face, not just immediately, but as life goes on.

MESERVE: Reverend Al Archer got to know the children and John Muhammad in 2001 when they stayed at the mission for homeless people. He ran in Bellingham, Washington. Muhammad was polite, hard working, almost too perfect says Archer.

Archer was disturbed by Muhammad's unexplained absences and after he lost custody of his children, the peculiar relationship he had with a young man named Lee Malvo. As Archer has learned more about Muhammad's troubled military career, his abusive marriage, his abduction of his children, his trading in fraudulent documents, the sniper killings, Archer has formed a strong opinion about his punishment.

How do you feel about this execution?

ARCHER: I think that John Muhammad is a typical case of untreated mental problems. And I'm, I'm very opposed to mentally deficient people being executed.

MESRVE: Archer believes the sniper shootings might never have happened if military, law enforcement and mental health systems haven't missed red light warning signs about John Muhammad. Muhammad killed 10 people during the sniper spree. He has never admitted his crimes. He has never expressed remorse. But Reverend Archer has forgiven John Muhammad.

Is there anything you'd like to say to him?

ARCHER: I love you. Don't love the things you did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: Reverend Archer recently wrote John Muhammad to tell him I love you. He didn't get a response. But Muhammad's first wife, Carol, was on Larry King live last night. She said she's been getting two letters a week from Muhammad. She and their son Lindbergh (ph) are coming to the prison today to have a visit with Muhammad. They will not witness the execution but she says afterwards, they will take his body back to Baton Rouge for a private burial.

John, back to you.

ROBERTS: Jeanne, is there anything in the 11th hour that could stop this execution?

MESERVE: Well, you know, the Supreme Court yesterday turned down an appeal from Muhammad's lawyers on the grounds that he was mentally ill. But the governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine has yet to weigh in. He's got a clemency appeal before him. And it also is possible that the lawyers could -- could make another legal appeal, but we haven't heard anything along those lines as yet, but there are still several hours to go -- John.

ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in Jarratt, Virginia. Jeanne, thanks so much. Coming up at 7:40 Eastern, We are going to speak with the former head of the DC Metro Police, now Philadelphia's Police commissioner, Commissioner Charles Ramsey. He was the face of the sniper investigation. We'll get his thoughts on the final outcome.

CHETRY: Still ahead, we're also going to be joined by a political panel to talk about whether or not the GOP is losing support of women. As we know, a more Moderate GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava in one of the congressional races was sort of pushed out after some of the big party bigwigs decided to go with a third party Conservative and now some are asking is there is enough room in the party for moderate GOP women. We're going to talk about it just ahead.

Sixteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Nineteen minutes past the hour.

Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" for you on this Tuesday morning and a big, big surge for stocks yesterday.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Really, a 204- point rally for the -- for the DOW. You know, the S&P 500, that broader measure of the stock market which a lot of -- the stock portion of our 401(k) probably mirrors that S&P. That's up 58 percent from a low (ph).

I mean, think of that. This is a once in lifetime rally. How can this be happening? People keep saying to me why can stocks be up almost 60 percent but the unemployment rate is 10.2 percent? Just this morning we heard from Sprint they're going to lay off 2,500 people. Lay offs every single morning. Half a million people every week are lining up for the first time for unemployment benefits.

But stocks are rallying, gold is in the $1,100, the dollar's getting hit -- this is an interesting relationship that's held for some time now. What's happening here? This post-crisis surge in some of these markets.

Some people will tell you that basically everything is going up the government bonds. There's a wall -- and you heard me say this before. There's a wall of money coming into the market stocks. The DOW up 16 percent. This here you're see that gold up 24 percent, $1,100 an ounce for your gold, everybody. At the same time, the dollar is going down versus the euro, $1.50 now. Look at this, down 7 percent against the euro.

Now some people will tell you the reason why the dollar is going down, the dollar is going down because the crisis has faded so all the interest in the money is going into other things, it's coming out of the dollar. Others will tell you that it's a proxy for the direction of America, concern about all of our -- our debts and our deficits and the direction of our government spending. Just this weekend the Chinese, by the way, warned us again -- I wouldn't say warned -- reminded again that they're hoping that we're -- that we're careful and cautious with how we're spending money in the future.

ROBERTS: So, again, why is all the money going into the market?

ROMANS: All this money is going into the market I guess on the idea that things are going to be better around the corner. But I'm telling you that things aren't better for -- for the American people. So, you know, people are -- I guess they're right to be confused about why the stock market is doing so, so well when there's all this caution about -- you know, just there's Wall Street, there's investing and there is the way we feel, Main Street, and those two things are in complete disconnect right now.

CHETRY: All right. Well, very interesting stuff. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure.

CHETRY: See you in the next hour.

ROBERTS: The Fort Hood shooting suspect. The FBI says that they had their eye on him last December, a year ago, because he was in contact with a radical Islamic cleric. What were the communications all about and did it -- did it indicate some sort of nexus to terrorism? We'll have all the details coming up for you next.

It's 21 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Continuing with our developing story today, the alleged gunman in the Fort Hood shootings is now talking. He'll soon face questioning by investigators.

CHETRY: This morning, though, it's the feds facing some difficult questions. They knew that he reached out to a radical Muslim cleric, yet apparently no one acted, and now today people are asking why.

Here's our investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was inside this suburban Washington mosque that Nidal Hasan may have first heard radical anti-American views. It is a mosque identified in this, the 9/11 Commission report on the attacks of the morning of September 11, 2001. Now, eight years on, the FBI is looking at whose paths may have crossed here at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center.

It was in early 2001 a cleric named Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen arrives at the mosque. He'd already been the subject of several terrorism investigations but was never arrested or charged. By April of that year, the 9/11 Commission reports two of the 9/11 hijackers were attending services here. And just weeks later, Nidal Hasan chose to hold his mother's funeral services at this same mosque.

There is no evidence Nidal Hasan attended the mosque regularly at that time, nor that he ever met with or was influenced by the cleric al-Awlaki who left the United States a year later. Now, al-Awlaki is thought to be in Yemen, where he is on the most wanted terror list. Al-Awlaki has applauded the Fort Hood attacks on his website, calling Nidal Hasan a hero.

The mosque authorities denounce both the attacks on Fort Hood and their former Imam, and they dismissed any link between Hasan and the 9/11 plotters.

SHAKER ELSAYED, IMAM: To say that he was here when they were here as if they converged on a place, which is not the case. We know better now.

GRIFFIN: Meanwhile, in Texas, authorities are trying to track down six people Hasan Nidal had dinner with the very night before the shootings. This man was there, a local imam who said the gathering was for a fellow worshiper about to make a pilgrimage. Hasan was not the focus, but he is now, and all six names of the diners have been turned over to the FBI.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Wednesday night, there was a party dinner. I think six, seven, people are invited. In that party, Nidal also there. So he asked me, who -- who person (ph) -- can you give me the names? So I give the names to the FBI.

GRIFFIN: The FBI is also poring over Nidal Hasan's computers -- computers he used or had contact with, trying to find out if the accused killer visited extreme Jihadist websites or even tried to make contact with dedicated terror groups.

FRANK CILLUFFO, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: It's obviously very troubling to think that a mass murder has -- has attended some of our events.

GRIFFIN: Frank Cilluffo met Nidal Hasan here at George Washington University in Washington, DC where Cilluffo heads the Homeland Security Institute. It turns out Hasan was a frequent attendee at counterterrorism conferences here, including this one in January where Hasan is seen sitting in the second row, in uniform, taking notes and attracting little attention.

CILLUFFO: You're going to have folks who aren't necessarily on anyone's radar screens who are coming up with their ideas on their own and then acting on some of those ideas. So, there is no conspiracy. There is nowhere to -- to pull the thread on the investigative chain. So, clearly, that is a concern.

GRIFFIN: A concern there are more out there, lone wolves waiting to strike and no clear way just yet how to find them.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: Drew Griffin for us. Thanks.

Coming up at 7:10 Eastern time, in just about 40 minutes, we're going to be talking to Congressman Peter Hoekstra. He's the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. He calls the mass shooting at Fort Hood a terrorist attack, and he's accusing the government of dragging its feet when it comes to releasing important information about the suspect.

John is going to be speaking to him in just about 40 minutes.

ROBERTS: And as we approach the half hour, new information this morning about the alleged Fort Hood shooter kicks off our top stories.

"The Washington Post" report that back in 2007 Major Nidal Hasan warned a roomful of senior army physicians about the dangers of waging war in Muslim lands. His lecture at Walter Reed was supposed to be on a medical topic. Instead, Hasan reportedly lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and said Muslims in the military should be released as conscientious objectors rather than fight Muslims. An army spokesperson says they were aware -- they're unaware of the presentation.

Details coming in this morning after North and South Korea navies exchanged fire, each side blaming the other for violating their disputed western sea border. There were no casualties on the South Korean side. It's still not clear whether the North suffered any.

It's the first clash in seven years and comes a week before President Obama is scheduled to visit Seoul.

And a striking symbol to mark the 20th anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall. A giant display of dominos decorated to look like the infamous Wall was topped one after another along the spot where the Wall once stood in Central Berlin -- Kiran.

CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, all this week we're taking a look at the future of the Republican Party in our series "GOP, the Next Chapter" and with her memoir out this week, Sarah Palin is still a big player in the party. Some critics, though, on the Left say the GOP is alienating its moderate wing and that that's having an impact on GOP women.

One of the critics is author and columnist for "The Daily Beast" Linda Hirshman. She joins me now. In fact, her latest piece is called "How the GOP Loses Women." Also joining us from D.C. is author and Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez who also wrote a book about women in politics.

You've come a long way, maybe. Thanks for being with us, Leslie, as well.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.

CHETRY: Well, Linda, let me start with you. You wrote this piece for The Daily Beast. As we said, called, "How the GOP Losses Women." It's sort of ironic, though, because the GOP in 2008 was the party that ran a woman on the presidential ticket. How did these two sort of merge?

LINDA HIRSHMAN, COLUMNIST, "THE DAILY BEAST": They did. But they run a particular kind of women, which was a woman who did not believe that woman should be able to control their own reproduction. And was otherwise very conservative in her beliefs and also in her family life. So, so she represents a very tiny segment of the population. Women who want to rule, who want to run for office and be political, and also believe that women should not control their own reproduction. So it's a very odd phenomenon. I don't think that she represents numbers of women.

CHETRY: What I wanted to ask you about that, I was reading your article, and to some, it's not just necessarily the choice, the reproductive choice. They believe that really it's a true belief that abortion is morally wrong. How does that take away power from a woman who truly believes that?

HIRSHMAN: If you truly believe that abortion is morally wrong, then you are laying down a particular kind of life for women, which is a life in which they cannot ultimately control their own reproduction, which is also morally wrong. But if you believe that, then you're saying that women will have to reproduce as fate would have it. And then they are often trapped in marriages, in the home and so fort in a way that would disable them from being political figures. So, that's the consequence of that moral belief.

CHETRY: I want to bring Leslie in on this because, Leslie, you wrote about Sarah Palin extensively in your new book that's out as well. And she was very vocal figure in the party. How does Sarah Palin represent GOP women and the future of the party?

SANCHEZ: She has a tremendous impact with evangelical and conservative women. They are looking not only at traditional values with respect to family, certainly life is one of those issues, but also pocketbook issues. You're seeing kind of a transformation in terms of these women. They want sensible government. They want a government that is limited to the extent that it can affect their small businesses. It's not just looking at what was considered a traditional, feminist agenda that's very political. It's looking at a broader set of issues.

CHETRY: I want to ask you, though, Leslie about Deedee Scozzafava in this race in New York for the congressional seat, the 23rd congressional sit. She talks about basically being attacked by conservatives. In fact, she said that she heard that there were conservative robocalls going on in her district describing her as a child killer, a lesbian lover and a homo. She described in this article just literally crying, sitting in her car crying not knowing what to do. Ultimately what she did was throw her support behind the Democrat who won. How do you view what she claims happen to her because people felt she wasn't conservative enough?

SANCHEZ: I think the bigger issue, there's a tremendous amount of pushback certainly with conservatives. I think it's a fair argument to say that she was not conservative enough for a lot of the constituents in that district. I think that's a fair argument. What I will tell you that Sarah Palin like some others were able to do was shed light on the conservative candidate, Hoffman.

With respect to the type of attacks that she face, that's a problem regardless of sex. Nobody should face that on gender, sexuality. Any of those types of issues. That's just dirty politics. But I think it's a fair case to be made she was not what ideally you would think of as a Republican candidate, not even just conservative. She was much more moderate, much more left of center, and I think that was a very difficult candidate for many Republican voters to embrace.

CHETRY: Where does it leave women, in your opinion, Linda, who are fiscally conservative who may be, as Leslie said, are a little bit more practical. They don't necessarily, you know, think ideologically, but just, you know, on some ways they want to make sure that women have health care and the children have health care, and others are very fiscally conservative.

Is there room in the GOP tent?

HIRSHMAN: You know, the Republican Party has been formed by three very conservative forces. Fundamentalist, religion and the conservative revival that started in the '50s, and all of those have a place for women and that place is in the traditional home.

So regardless of what they think about health care, the newly conservative Republican Party has their idea of women's place is not consistent with that. As it happens, health care would be very good for women. Many of whom are dependent upon their spouses for their health care and so forth. So just in a practical kitchen table way, the Republican opposition to health care not only hurt, well it hurts women as a substantive matter. And they also can't find candidates to field because most women who seek public office don't see themselves in that extremely conservative Sarah Palin way.

So you get, for example, in Texas, there's going to be a primary involving Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the current senator. And she has a very uphill battle to fight because she won't say that abortion should be criminal. So, the Republican Party is both taking substantive positions that hurt the interests of women in general. And also don't, don't advance women candidates. The numbers are really pretty shocking.

CHETRY: And Leslie, let me ask you about that. Is it getting harder to increase the ranks in terms of women in the GOP?

SANCHEZ: I think to be fair it is always been a challenge. You have many more Democratic women elected. They tend to be elected in democratic districts. You run a Democratic candidate or a minority candidate in a very safe district on the left. You see them a lot throughout the northeast.

Republican women are different. We didn't come from academia to run or civil service or from some sort of union background. The path of Republican women is different. Look at the types of candidates you see now. You're seeing a mug woman, women of business and industry. And they're economic conservatives.

You're seeing people like Kay Bailey Hutchinson with respect to the senator, she's not having an issue on the choice, she's getting tremendous support from women. It's small business owners and more so men. It's actually dividing on gender in Texas who want to keep the status quo. Women are changing. It's not just reproductive rights. It's another basket of issues.

CHETRY: Well, we're going to have to leave it there. I want to thank both of you.

Leslie Sanchez and Linda Hirshman, thanks for being with us this morning.

HIRSHMAN: Thank you for having me.

CHETRY: Also coming up at 7:25 Eastern, our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has an in-depth look at new author and former governor, Sarah Palin. It's part of our special series "GOP: The Next Chapter." That's all still ahead right here on the Most News in the Morning.

John?

ROBERTS: Bad news for three American hikers being detained in Iran a month and a half after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asks the Iranian courts to treat them with maximum leniency. They are charged with espionage, a charge that potentially carries with it the death penalty.

What can be done to free them out of Iran's notorious Evan Prison? Our Jill Dougherty takes a look coming right up.

It's 37 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained in Iran since the 31st of July. The U.S. government says they accidentally hike over the border from Kurdistan in northern Iraq. But an Iranian prosecutor has accused them of espionage, charges that could result in the death penalty.

For the latest, let's go to our Foreign Affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty. She is live in Washington.

These are very serious charges and not a good turn in this episode, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. You know, this is a really delicate situation. We have two dramas playing out. The fate of these three Americans and the difficult negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq is hot, it's cause I'm in Iraq.

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): In a video shot days before they were arrested at Iran's border, the three American hikers look like anything but spies -- held for more than 100 days, now apparently accused of espionage. Once again, Americans appear to be bargaining chips for Iran, even as the Obama administration tries to engage with Tehran to stop its nuclear program.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever. And we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them so they can return home.

DOUGHERTY: But beyond asking for compassion, the U.S. has virtually no leverage. Washington has no diplomatic relations with Iran, the hikers have been visited in a Tehran prison twice by a Swiss diplomat.

In a statement Monday, the families admit the hikers apparently strayed into Iran by accident, but say: "The allegation that our loved ones may have been engaged in espionage is untrue."

The families are trying to use public pressure, a Web site and rallies for Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal across the U.S. and in eight countries.

Monday, Iran's president insisted the Americans broke the law by crossing the border, but said he had no opinion on any charges of espionage. The mother of one of the hikers says.

CINDY HICKEY, HIKER'S MOTHER: It's way too long and we're anxious to get them home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: Now the State Department still has not received official confirmation that the hikers have been officially charged with espionage, but they say if those reports are true, it would be outrageous and for the families, devastating.

John?

ROBERTS: So, Jill, what happened in the last six weeks here at the United Nations General Assembly meeting, you had President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appealing to the Iranian courts for maximum leniency in this case? And then according to the Iranian news agency, the judge does this.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. There are a lot of different factors and factions in Iran. And one of the problems is sometimes they work across purposes. There was actually a theory among some officials that it might be for internal consumption that the government, the Iranian government is trying to whip out some anti-American fervour by holding these hikers.

ROBERTS: All right. Jill Dougherty for us this morning in Washington. Jill, thanks so much.

CHETRY: Well, still ahead, they say, you know -- Nancy Pelosi that passing health care in the House may have actually been the easy part, now it faces a big fight in the Senate. Our Dana Bash is going to join us to break it down.

It's 44 minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's time to fast forward through the stories we'll be tracking later today. At 2:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama and the First Lady will attend to memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting. The President is expected to speak there. Our special coverage starts at 1:30 Eastern. You can see it on CNN or cnn.com/live.

At noon Eastern, the Letterman sex scandal is back in court. "48 hours" producer Robert Halderman is accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman to keep quiet about some of the late night host's affairs. Last month, during a taping of the show, Letterman revealed that extortion flood and confessed to having sex with women staffers.

Starting today, Google is offering free Wi-Fi in 47 airports across the country. Company's calling it a holiday gift to travelers at the time when they may spend more time on the ground than in the air. Hope not, but, still. The promotion ends on January 15th. There you go, John. There's -- you know, we're always talking about airport troubles. At least if you get stuck, you get free Wi-Fi. Thanks to Google.

ROBERTS: You know what I hate is if you're stuck in a layover in an airport for an hour or a couple of hours and you want to do a little bit of work or you turn over your computer or you flip over smart phone to Wi-Fi and it will be $9.95. I don't want to do it for 15 minutes, 9.95, come on, so have it for free, that will be great.

Don't tell the Democrats but steering the health care bill through the house might have been the easy part. The legislation still faces use hurdles in the senate and as our Dana Bash reports, the clock is ticking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hours after house democrats nearly pass health care, presidential pressure for the next steps.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now it falls on the United States senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people. BASH: And an unabashedly clear White House deadline.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President wants to sign health care before the end of the year.

BASH: That deadline demand is risky since the earliest Senate Democrats would start debate is the week before Thanksgiving, and it could continue through mid-December. House and Senate Democrats would then only have two to three weeks to iron out big differences to pass both chambers, again, by year's end.

And huge issues still divide democrats. First, the public option. It passed the House, but Senate Democrats still don't have 60 votes needed to pass it.

Next, taxes. House Democrats paid for much of their health care overhaul by taxing the wealthiest Americans, a nonstarter in the senate, which instead taxes high-cost insurance plans.

Then, there's the wrenching issue of abortion.

REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D), OHIO: No federal funds authorized under this act may be used to pay for any abortion.

BASH: To secure the votes of anti-abortion Democrats, House Democratic leaders passed a health care bill that prohibits abortion coverage in a government-run plan and in private plans that accept anyone using government subsidies to buy insurance coverage.

In the Senate, anti-abortion Democrat Ben Nelson tells CNN he would vote against health care without those restrictions.

SEN. BEN NELSON (D) NEBRASKA: There's a public money going to fund abortions. I can't support it, period. No matter what else is in it.

BASH: But abortion rights Democrats, including many of the 17 senate women may object.

PENNY LEE, FORMER SENATE DEMOCRATIC AIDE: Some of them just to rubberstamp that and say, oh, because the House dictated it, we're going to accept it. I think it's going to tough for some of them to swallow that.

BASH (on-camera): Yet many ardent supporters of abortion rights did just that. They voted for the House Bill anyway. But now, more than 40 house Democrats signed a letter vowing to block a health care bill from going to the President's desk unless abortion restrictions are eased.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Dana, thanks. Still ahead, there's some new information this morning about the alleged Fort Hood gunman and warning signs that were ignored. We're live at Fort Hood.

ROBERTS: And we're up next with our latest chapter in our new series, "GOP, The Next Chapter." Sarah Palin, could she be a contender for the 2012 presidential election? We'll find out just how hot Sarah Palin is these days. Stay with us.

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A college soccer player has become an Internet celebrity for all the wrong reasons.

CHETRY: Yes. Don't make her mad. Video of showing Elizabeth Lambert's physical plays especially her ponytail takedown of an opposing player. It has gone viral. It actually got her suspended, as well, but Jeanne Moos is sampling some fan reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was the hair pull that had jaws dropping and tongues wagging.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: That's incredible. She did not think anybody would notice? That's outrageous.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Oh, my goodness.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. How rude.

MOOS: The reviews of Elizabeth Lambert's conduct were brutal. The dirtiest player in women's soccer, the most violent female soccer player in history, cheap-shot Lambert. YouTube verse with the University of New Mexico's student moves to music. Lambert got lamb- based (ph) by TV hosts.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: It is sick. It's vile.

MOOS: By kids on YouTube.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: That Lambert chick, she's really crazy.

MOOS: By a hooded guy called Mr. Dudy head.

UNKNOWN MALE: It's like an angry man, and the weirdest thing is, she's an attractive lady.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: She's a bully.

UNKNOWN MALE: Wow. I thought my ex was bad.

MOOS: In her defense, her Brigham Young University opponent did elbow her in the chest before Lambert whacked her back, and another opponent grabbed onto her shorts before Lambert grabbed her braid. (on-camera): The hair pull has become the new head butt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOOS (voice-over): Remember the Zinedine Zidan, the French captain who head butted an Italian player at the world cup. The head butter's team lost, and so did Elizabeth Lambert by one goal. The girl, Lambert, jobbed in the back, got back at her by pointing at the scoreboard.

Some were more forgiving.

UNKNOWN MALE: Stuff happens.

MOOS: And though a "ban Elizabeth Lambert from college soccer" page sprouted on Facebook, a "free Elizabeth Lambert" Facebook page also popped up. My kind of chica; she's tough, so are these high school girls, Rhode Island soccer player who got into a little brawl on Sunday night.

Later, the fans got into it.

Elizabeth Lambert apologized and was suspended indefinitely. Her player profile says she's studying Occupational Therapy which could come in handy treating the opponents she decks.

UNKNOWN MALE: Bruitish but also kind of hottish.

MOOS: Hot under the collar.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Like that. That's a really mean girl.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: No. We're talking about it with such amazement and the region and -- if it was a guy?

ROBERTS: Yes, if a guy pulled another guy's ponytail and drag him to the ground.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Look, with the NFL players these days with the long hair, it could happen. This is so tempting. It's just flying out the back of their helmets.

ROBERTS: Here's the problem with Lambert. Obviously, what she did was wrong, but she's being so vilified for this on the Internet that it's having some serious repercussions on her personally. Now, I mean, you can say, she shouldn't have done it, but then at the same time, the pile on effect of the Internet is just an exponential multiplier.

CHETRY: When something goes viral, you don't want it to be about you, right?

ROBERTS: Exactly, yes.

CHETRY: Still ahead, coming up top stories including new information about the alleged Fort Hood gunman, the government had some suspicions about the suspect, and now, some are asking today, were obvious warning signs simply ignored? We're getting a live report in 90 seconds.

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