Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
9/11 Terrorist Suspects Are to be Tried in New York City; Wall Collapses at High School Football Game; President Obama Traveling in Asia For the Economic Summit
Aired November 14, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody, from the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for November the 14th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
The president has touched down in Singapore. It happened just the last hour and he is there for the summit of regional leaders at APEC, which is called the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperations, a gathering there. We're going to take you there, in fact, live.
HOLMES: Something we've been talking about a lot this weekend, hasn't even happened yet really, Sarah Palin and her new book is coming out in a couple of days, also her interview with Oprah Winfrey is going to air on Monday. But we've got a few clips right here for you. The new book we have some excerpts from that as well. It's going to have a lot of people talking. It's a best seller even before it hits the stands. Also you're going to be hearing from her former running mate, John McCain this morning.
NGUYEN: A lot to talk about there. First let's get your top stories.
HOLMES: This is one overnight we were following out of South Carolina, take a look and listen to what happened at a football game last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You heard someone say "oh, my God," because what was happening there as that students were on a wall that collapsed. It was a stadium wall at this high school football game. Some two dozen students were hurt. It was a concrete wall that some of the kids were just leaning against and a TV film crew was actually there just filming the festivities of the evening. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening, even though a couple of those students did have to be taken to the hospital.
NGUYEN: The search for more bodies in a Cleveland, Ohio, neighborhood resumes this morning and in fact over the past two and a half weeks, police have found 11 bodies at the home of Anthony Sowell, a convicted sex offender. Sowell is charged with five counts of murder. FBI agents used thermal imaging equipment last night in a search for more possible victims at an abandoned house next to Sowell's.
HOLMES: Funerals for three of the 13 people killed at Ft. Hood being held this afternoon, staff sergeant Justin Decrow's service is in Plymouth, Indiana. The funeral for Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger being held in Keill (ph), Wisconsin and one also for Michael Pearson, Private Michael Pearson going to be held in Ellwood, Indiana.
NGUYEN: Well, it could indeed be the trial of the century. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that five suspected 9/11 terrorists will be tried in a civilian court in New York and among them, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. You see his picture right there, the suspected mastermind of the attacks. Critics say holding the trial in New York is a threat to national security and an affront to the victims.
Here's CNN's homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood, the men who allegedly plotted its destruction will face trial in a Federal court. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has confessed his role and four others will be moved from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay to New York City. Attorney General Eric Holder says prosecutors will seek the death penalty and he thinks they will get it.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm quite confident that we're going to be successful in the prosecution efforts.
MESERVE: Holder's predecessor, President Bush's attorney general called the decision to move the cases out of military commissions unwise.
MICHAEL MUKASEY, FMR. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This step appears to have resulted simply from a commitment to close Guantanamo within a year because regardless of the reality on the ground, it has a poor image.
MESERVE: Capitol Hill critics were even harsher.
JOHN McCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I do not understand why a war criminal should be able to have the same rights as a common criminal.
MESERVE: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was water boarded 183 times and defense attorneys will likely use that to try to block the use of his confessions. Though the Justice Department says there is other evidence that is still not public, critics fear there could be acquittals and the terrorists could be released into the United States, though current law prohibits that. But the father of a firefighter who died on 9/11 is just fine with the administration's decision to bring the alleged terrorists to New York. JIM RICHES, 9/11 VICTIM'S FATHER: Let them come back to the biggest stage in the world and we'll show, they'll be shown, they'll be given a fair trial and then they'll be executed as they deserve because they don't deserve anything else.
MESERVE: The attorney general also announced Friday that the man charged with plotting the attack on the "USS Cole" and four others will be tried in military commissions, not civilian courts. No announcement yet on where those commissions will be held and no word on how the administration will deal with the other 200 or so detainees still at Guantanamo, which the U.S. hopes to close in the new year.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: We want to hear from you this morning. What do you think? You know, there are some folks that just are not happy with the decision to try the 9/11 suspects in a civilian court in New York City. Are you happy with it? Is it the right thing to do? Send us your thoughts, we're reading them today on the show. You can reach out to us by Facebook and Twitter, also on our blog cnn.com/betty or T.J. or you can just e-mail us weekended@cnn.com and we'll be reading those responses a little bit later in the show.
HOLMES: Let's take a look now, take a closer look at Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. According to a transcript from a military tribunal back in March of '07, he said he was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z. He also claims he personally beheaded American journalist Daniel Pearl. He has also claimed responsibility for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and other crimes. He was born in Kuwait but educated right here in the U.S., a 1986 graduate of North Carolina A&T State University.
We are happy that we do have CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen to break a lot of this down for us this morning. Peter, good morning to you. I want you to first and let our viewers listen to some of the first reaction we got to these trials in this happening in the U.S. from President Obama who was over in Japan.
Let's take a quick listen to what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people insist on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well the most, Peter, the most exacting demands of justice, what is this supposed to look like here? Is this supposed to look like a fair trial or is this supposed to just look like we're going through the motions to get these guys to the electric chair?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALSYT: T.J., I think it will be a fair trial. I mean, it's been held in a courthouse that has actually tried quite a number of major terrorism cases, the U.S. Embassy cases for instance in Africa in 1998 where more than 200 people were killed. An al Qaeda plot was tried in the same courtroom and the people who were convicted in that plot are all serving life sentences without parole in Florence, Colorado, the super max facility which makes Guantanamo look like a Sunday picnic.
So, I think this is long overdue. This could have happened several years ago. These people will, the military tribunal system has been a complete failure basically. There's only been three convictions out of Guantanamo in the eight years it's been open and Federal terrorism trials have a very, very high rate of success of appropriately convicting people involved in major terrorist activities and putting them away or executing them.
HOLMES: You say appropriate acquittal. There was one sound bite from the father of someone who died and the piece we had leading up to you, where he essentially said he'll get a fair trial and then we'll execute him. I know you're talked about the military tribunals haven't had a lot of success, so this is the best option but still how do we go into it, for the world watching, that's going to be watching this to go into it thinking that there's anyone that's going to be sitting on any jury who is going to be giving these guys a fair shake.
BERGEN: Well, you know, we have trials in the United States all the time where people are, you know, have committed serious, very, very serious crimes that are very well-known to the juror, to the juries and this is obviously on a very large scale the same kind of thing.
But one thing I would say, T.J., is that not only did Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admit in a military tribunal setting that he was responsible for 9/11, he also gave a very extensive interview to al Jazeera long before he was captured in which he explained how he led the plot, how he was in charge of the hijackers, how they communicated. He gave every detail of the plot. So the reason this case is going forward is it's very low-hanging fruit. You don't even have to get into the water boarding or anything else. He's freely volunteered this long before he was captured.
HOLMES: Water boarding, you don't think they'll be a part of it, going to throw out those confessions at least since he was water boarded some 183 times.
BERGEN: It'll come up, but as far as the 9/11 plot, he's already admitted it. He gave these very extensive interviews to an al Jazeera reporter in Pakistan in which he admitted the whole thing.
HOLMES: All right and got to let you go. If you can do this for me quickly, how do you secure this place. Every activist and idiot and sympathizer and terrorist, everybody's going to know exactly where these guys are going to be and exactly what time. How do you secure this trial?
BERGEN: Again, Foley Square in downtown Manhattan has been the scene of major terrorism cases before and your police department is probably one of the most effective police department in the world on these sorts of issues.
HOLMES: They have done it before. You're right, Peter Bergen, CNN analyst, we appreciate you as always. Good to have you here on a Saturday with us. Thanks so much.
BERGEN: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: Betty?
NGUYEN: President Obama, he has landed in Singapore. It happened about an hour ago. What he's doing is attending a summit for the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation otherwise known as APEC. He's on a nine- day, four nation tour of Asia and in fact he gave his first speech on Asian soil as president last night in Tokyo.
Andrew Stevens standing by live for us in Singapore this morning and during that speech, Andrew, he called himself the first Pacific president.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is very close neighbor of Singapore, of course, so I think he's absolutely right in describing himself as such, Betty. Just five minutes ago or so, just behind me, we saw the presidential motorcade on its way to the Esplanade it's called.
It's a waterfront area where the president and his 20 peers, the other leaders of the APEC economies are gathering for a night of entertainment before the busy work starts tomorrow, where they sit down and start to put together the final wording on a communique which they always send out at the end of these APEC summits.
As you said he made his first speech on Asian soil in Japan a little less than 12 hours ago. It was certainly a speech aimed not only at Japan but right across this region. He was very, very firm in what he sees as a big opportunity, a much needed opportunity for the U.S. to reengage with Asia. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In addition to our bilateral relations, we also believe that the growth of multilateral organizations can advance the security and prosperity of this region. I know that the United States has been disengaged from many of these organizations in recent years, so let me be clear, those days have passed. As an Asia-Pacific nation, the United States expects to be involved in the discussions that shape the future of this region and to participate fully in appropriate organizations as they are established and evolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Now a lot of those appropriate organizations that he's talking about really does revolve around trade and he sees it is as a two-way street Betty. Free trade will open up much easy access for U.S. companies to make their goods to export back to Asia. It seems to have been a one-way street before but he's seeing this as the opportunity as he tries to rebalance the U.S. economy to get U.S. exports heading this way instead of the other way around Betty.
NGUYEN: He's also being very political as well, urging Myanmar to open up to democracy. What else did he say on that topic?
STEVENS: Well, Myanmar is going to be a focus for him tomorrow as well, when the APEC leaders meet. After that meeting he's going to join the (INAUDIBLE) leaders. This is the association of southeastern nations. It's a fairly loose grouping, a non-binding grouping but that group does include Myanmar and the prime minister, the number two in Myanmar which we all know is a very secretive state.
Remember this is the regime that tried to essentially block aid getting in after that devastating cyclone a couple years ago. More than 100,000 people perished in that, while the leadership there was effectively blocking aid in.
The U.S. administration in their idea of pragmatic engagement say they want to be talking to Myanmar. Sanctions haven't worked over the past 10 years. Regime isolation hasn't worked over the past 10 years. If anything it's forced Myanmar closer into the arms of China. The U.S. wants to try and rebalance that. So Myanmar the leader there, the number two there will be at that meeting with Obama tomorrow. He is expected to talk about human rights abuses in Myanmar, but certainly there is now a level of engagement happening there.
NGUYEN: Very interesting on that front. All right, Andrew, we do appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you a little bit later today. Thank you.
So let's get some background on the APEC, shall we? The name is short for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It's a group of 21 member countries from Australia to Vietnam and they meet annually to discuss regional economic development. Together, though, they make more than half of the world's gross domestic product. APEC was established back in 1989.
HOLMES: It's been called one of the most dangerous nor'easters in years, six people dead, streets flooded, schools closed. A look at where this dangerous storm is headed, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Is somebody watching you? Well, when millions of people around the world use Google, the Internet giant stores information about them and that has privacy advocates very concerned.
HOLMES: Google has come out with a new tool to show what it knows about you. Josh Levs, good morning. What do they know?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys.
Well, now we can all find that out. This new tool is called Google Dashboard and here is the basic idea behind it. When people sign in to Google if you choose to sign in, what it does is tracks a lot of what you do. You use g-mail to Google e-mail services. It keeps records.
Also, Google owns YouTube. Many people sign into that and Google then keeps records of that. Google Dashboard is designed to show you what records Google has kept. I don't personally sign in to Google. Let's zoom here for a second, our story here on cnn.com contains a video from an ITN reporter who does sign into Google.
Let's take a look at what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN COHEN, ITN CORRESPONDENT: Rather like a diary, it charts me booking holidays, finding builders to repair my house, even spraining my ankle. My whole online and offline life has been catalogued, including YouTube searches so if I had a particular liking of something really quite embarrassing like the Euro Vision Song Contest, it's all there in black and white.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now part of what Dashboard does is it lets you actually erase some of these things. Here's a video from Google's official blog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For example, if you click on "manage chat history" you can go directly to our personal settings page for chat history and change the option from "save chat history" to "never save chat history" all from one central location.
Let's look at YouTube as another example.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. So the idea here basically is that Dashboard lets you reach in, get rid of some of the information that Google has held on to. Google says part of the goal here is to stop all these theories that are out there about what Google knows and doesn't know about you in order to provide transparency.
But there are some privacy advocates who say this is still not enough. There's this one group called Consumer Watchdog that put out this statement. Let me show it to you. It says if Google really wanted to give users control over their privacy, it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in crucial areas such as search data and online behavior.
That's from John Simpson there, Consumer Watchdog. That gets at some of the issues surrounding Google and privacy. For example, they offer interest-based ads so you see ads based on where you bid, right where you search for.
Google says Dashboard is its latest effort to give people more control over what information gets stored. You can read a lot more about that online. Let me show you the graphic where we've posted this. It's at the blog cnn.com/josh, also Facebook and Twitter, joshlevscnn.
And to tie it up here Betty and T.J., let me just emphasize to you this whole idea of signing in. A lot of people, I just go to Google and I search there. So I'm not signing in so they don't have that kind of information about me. But people who use g-mail, people who sign in to YouTube, those kinds of things, millions of people sign in. Google then has that kind of information and that's where a lot of these privacy advocates are concerned.
NGUYEN: That was my question, so if you're just doing a random search, you pull up Google and do a search on that, they're not logging what you're searching, correct?
LEVS: Google shouldn't really have a way to know who you are unless you sign into g-mail, sign into YouTube, one of their services that requires to you sign in there.
NGUYEN: Josh, good information. Very interesting, thank you.
And from that good information to some compelling video to show from Russia, check it out. It looks like a sunrise, but it's actually an explosion at a military arsenal about 500 miles east of Moscow. Officials say the blast erupted while workers were destroying ammunition at that facility. Russia's state-run news agency is reporting that two people were killed and several others were hurt.
HOLMES: Also, take a look at this picture, a frightening scene here in Rwanda, a pilot lost control during an emergency landing and crashed that passenger jet through a wall at the terminal of the airport. One person killed here. An executive for the airline says the pilot had earlier reported technical problems with that plane.
NGUYEN: Will NASA's small crash in space become a giant splash for mankind? Scientists say last month's $79 million mission that included intentionally slamming a satellite into the lunar surface helped them find water on the moon. Scientists aren't sure exactly how it got there, but they say it could lead to the development of a lunar space station. Kind of cool, right?
HOLMES: You know -- yeah, I don't know.
NGUYEN: Why are you laughing?
HOLMES: No, I just, water and I know it means a lot of things possibly down the road.
NGUYEN: Water on the moon, yes.
HOLMES: The big splash and explosion, we bombed the moon and we found a drop of water. I just can't put it into technical terms what it means down the road so I'm just a little lost still about the water.
NGUYEN: We'll get you online with NASA, maybe they can explain it in better terms.
HOLMES: We know what she did last summer and then she posted it on the Internet and you know what happened next? She lost her job. We're talking about a teacher. Well, she's fighting back now.
NGUYEN: Plus "Going Rogue," we get a sneak peek at Sarah Palin's new book set to hit the book stands next week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Some people apparently still have not learned their lessons. You don't need to be going out to a party, don't go to vacation and then run home to the computer and post pictures of what you did, because that's what a high school teacher in north Georgia did. Now she's out of a job.
Davida Moore with CNN affiliate WSB with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVIDA MOORE, WSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like so many people Ashley Payne has a Facebook page updated often with pictures. Many are from her summer vacation.
ASHLEY PAYNE, FORMER HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: I visited the Guinness brewery. I went to Italy and had wine. I went to the temple bar district of Dublin and drank some alcohol there, like any normal adult would.
MOORE: Payne and her friends took pictures at various spots across Europe. A few pictures show her with a glass of beer or wine.
PAYNE: They're not even me drinking the drinks and I don't look like I'm intoxicated or doing anything provocative or inappropriate.
MOORE: Payne was called into the principal's office at Apalachee High in Barrow (ph) County where she was an English teacher. She was told because of her pictures and the "B" word on one of her posts she should resign immediately.
PAYNE: The principal said he had talked to the superintendent, so he had represented that the decision had already been made and that the only way to avoid having a suspension on my record would be to resign.
MOORE: Her lawyer says she was unfairly given an ultimatum.
RICHARD STORRS (ph), ATTORNEY FOR ASHLEY PAYNE: You can't suspend a teacher without having a hearing and without the whole board acting and they did not do that.
MOORE: Payne's Facebook page is private. She doesn't allow students or strangers as friends. Several fellow teachers are included in her pictures. One was even on the European vacation, but Payne is the only one out of a job.
PAYNE: I do not think that any of this could jeopardize my job because I was just doing what adults do and having drinks on vacation and being responsible about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Hmm.
HOLMES: That's a tough one. People who have countless stories now of people, this happening to folks, some people not getting jobs, a lot of employers will even look at Facebook pages.
NGUYEN: Or Twitter sites to see what is being posted, what's being said on there, what pictures are on there.
HOLMES: Got to be careful with that stuff. The county superintendent is not commenting on the lawsuit, says it's a personnel issue. Payne resigned August 27th, had been a teacher there for some two years, don't know if she's going to get her job back, get some kind of restitution but that's a tough one.
NGUYEN: All I know is, you will not see any vacation pictures on my site.
HOLMES: Learn a lesson, don't even take cameras on vacation anymore. Just don't do it.
NGUYEN: That is a good one.
Moving on to this story a civilian trial for the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, hear what family members of those victims are saying about that civilian trial in New York City.
HOLMES: Also this morning, Sarah Palin, people are talking about her book even though it hasn't even hit book stands just yet causing quite a stir. We've got details on "Going Rogue."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on: resident Obama arriving in Singapore early this morning, he's attending a summit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or the APEC Summit. This is the latest stop on his nine-day four-nation tour through Asia. He was in Japan first there yesterday called himself America's first Pacific president. South Korea and China also on the schedule.
NGUYEN: Well, police in Percy, Arkansas have identified one of five bodies found there. Police say the victim is Edward Gentry Sr., he was found in a house near a burned out mobile home. Four bodies were found inside it, a relative tells TV station KLRT that the four victims are related to Gentry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, this is a scary scene here at a high school football game in South Carolina last night. The concrete wall collapsed. This is in Union, South Carolina. Several students you see some of them lay out there. But several students were injured. Some of them even had to be taken to a hospital.
The students were also up on top of that and leaning on a wall there and it just so happened that a TV news crew was filming during halftime. Now, like I said some of the injured had to be taken to the hospital. None of their injuries however considered life-threatening.
NGUYEN: The trial in a civilian court of suspected 9/11 terrorists including the suspected mastermind is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials ever in this country. But the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in New York is raising a lot of questions and drawing a lot of fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will actually be able to stand trial, if they'll be found mentally competent and that their harsh interrogation techniques like water-boarding, if they'll still be able to go to trial, despite that?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I would not have authorized the bringing of these prosecutions unless I thought that the outcome -- in the outcome we would ultimately be successful. I will say that I have access to information that has not been publicly released that gives me great confidence that we will be successful in the prosecution of these cases in federal court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Our Susan Candiotti spoke with three people who lost family members in those terrorist attacks and some call the decision to try the suspected mastermind and four others in New York quote, "Tasteless and insensitive." Others well, they welcome the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Eight years of waiting is eight years too long for retired firefighter Jim Riches. He wants the alleged 9/11 conspirators tried in New York. The attack killed his son, a fellow firefighter.
JIM RICHES, FATHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: I just want to get this moving, justice that delayed is justice denied.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Riches is one of a handful of civilians who got a close-up look at suspected terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others in a Guantanamo courtroom last January. That's when KSM told a military judge he was the mastermind of 9/11. "We don't care about capital punishment or a life sentence." He said, "We are doing Jihad for the cause of God."
RICHES: And they call for Jihad against America; they were proud of what they did. And here I am sitting there the man that murdered my son is standing there and saying he's proud that he killed my son.
CANDIOTTI: But another relative who met us the World Trade Center site says, "Bringing the terror suspects back to the scene of the crime will bring unbearable pain." He lost his son in the attack.
LEE LELPI, FATHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: To bring it back here for me, my feelings, it's tasteless. It's insensitive. And those scars which have never been healed are just going to be opened again. So I am not comfortable one iota with this call.
CANDIOTTI: Kristen Breitweiser who helped push for the independent 9/11 commission says New York is ready. She plans to attend the trial as often as she can.
KRISTEN BREITWEISER, WIDOW OF 9/11 VICTIM: I think New Yorkers are certainly more than capable of handling it and I think again, it speaks to the very heart of who we are not only as New Yorkers but as American citizens. If a crime is committed on our soil, you are going to be given a trial. You will be given access to an attorney. You will be innocent until proven guilty.
CANDIOTTI: Some worry about massive security needs, with worldwide focus on five accused terrorists, a few blocks from Ground Zero.
RAY KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: We are certainly prepared for any eventuality. We handle a lot of high profile events here. We had the blind Sheikh's trial here, other high profile trials and events; that's what we do. So I think we're in excellent shape to handle it.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): We also asked the families what about worries the evidence will hold up? They say the Justice Department has assured them it will. A judge and jury will decide.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, we do want to hear from you because a lot of people had definitely had an opinion on this. Should this be tried in New York City in a civilian court? And we are getting lots of great responses. We'll be reading them a little bit later in the show.
But right now, be sure to send them to us at our Facebook sites, our Twitter sites, also our blog, CNN.com/Betty or CNN.com/TJ.
In the meantime, though, Sarah Palin in her own words, that is what readers can expect this Tuesday when the former vice presidential candidate releases her book called "Going Rogue." Here's an excerpt, though, about her ill-fated interview that many of you do remember with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, and it reads, "I really didn't have a say in which press I was going to talk to, but for some reason Nicolle seemed compelled to get me on the Katie bandwagon."
"Katie really likes you" she said to me one day. "She's a working mom and admires you as a working mom. She has a teenage daughter like you. She just relates to you," Nicolle said. "Believe me, I know her very well, I have worked with her." Nicolle had left her gig at CBS just a few months earlier to hook up with the McCain campaign. I had to trust her experience, as she had dealt with national politics more than I had."
HOLMES: Yes, how did that work out, Nicolle?
Paul Steinhauser is here with us. Oh that Nicolle, she gives some great advice there, didn't she? Good to have you here with us in Atlanta for a change.
The book, I mean what is this thing supposed to be about? Is this supposed be more about inside what happened with the McCain/Palin campaign, is this supposed to be more about the woman, just a little bit of it all? What is it?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, as you mentioned the book doesn't come out until Tuesday.
HOLMES: On Tuesday.
STEINHAUSER: We're trying to get our hands on it, everybody.
NGUYEN: Everybody is.
STEINHAUSER: Now, we've seen excerpts you just read that one; that was from Drudge Report. AP also had a -- they say they got the book and have some excerpts out. That's specific excerpt, well, it seems like she's trying to settle some scores.
I mean, we knew there was bad blood between Sarah Palin and her inner circle and the McCain campaign. But we saw it last year during the campaign but she there is talking about Nicolle Wallace...
HOLMES: Right.
STEINHAUSER: ... who is one of the senior advisers to McCain. Our Candy Crowley reached out to Nicolle Wallace, she says, no, not true...
HOLMES: Wow.
STEINHAUSER: ... she did, she takes the -- and there was another incident, too.
AP's excerpts talk about Palin saying that she had to pay for out of her own money $50,000 for her, when she was named running mate they had to check her out.
HOLMES: Background checks...
STEINHAUSER: Right, background checks, well, the McCain campaign sources are saying not true. So it seems like she's trying to settle some scores.
NGUYEN: Yes, well, that's another question, I mean, is this a way of rehabilitating her image in a sense?
STEINHAUSER: In a way -- in a way it gets her message out. Again, we don't know what's going to be in that 413 pages of the book. But there may be some other stuffs in there that's not just about the campaign, about maybe, where she wants the -- what her ideas are, where she wants the country to go.
NGUYEN: Levi Johnston. We've heard that name come up and talking about, in fact, didn't she speak with Oprah about that?
HOLMES: Speaking of Levi...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Let's go ahead and listen to that right now what she had to say about Levi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "OPRAH": So, one final question about Levi. Will he be invited to Thanksgiving dinner?
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, that's a great question. And it's lovely to think that he would ever even consider such a thing, because of course, you want -- he is a part of the family and you want to bring him in the fold and kind of under your wing.
And he needs that, too Oprah, I think he needs to know that he is loved and he has the most beautiful child and this can all work out for good. It really can. We don't have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama all the time.
We're not really into the drama. We don't really like that. We're more productive, we have other things to concentrate on and do including...
WINFREY: Does that mean yes he is coming or no, he is not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Way to ask it, Oprah.
HOLMES: We want to go with it; I'm going to go with no. Paul, what do you think?
STEINHAUSER: He... NGUYEN: She said he's welcome and he's loved, right? She doesn't know if he would entertain it.
STEINHAUSER: And this is interesting. I mean, she's talking about Levi Johnson and that's probably a painful thing in her family...
HOLMES: Right.
STEINHAUSER: ... but she's getting it out there and she's talking about it, and maybe that will with some people bring some sympathy. But that's not the kind of thing, if, if you want to run for president you really don't want to be delving into this too much. You want to be talking more about policy...
NGUYEN: Well and yes...
STEINHAUSER: ... and where you want to take the country.
NGUYEN: And that's the big question, is this kind of setting up for that run for the presidency. Because we saw, Obama had a couple of books, and then we have McCain had a book. I mean, does this really help someone who is wanting to run?
STEINHAUSER: Well, first of all we don't know if she wants to run. Right now, we know she wants to sell books and she will sell a lot of books, no doubt about that. But we don't know if she wants to run for the White House in 2012. Does this help?
Yes, it gets her story out there; it puts her in the limelight, in the spotlight. We're all talking about her. And other possible 2012 Republican hopefuls are writing books. Mitt Romney has got one coming out next near. Mike Huckabee has got a Christmas book; he's out there right now pushing that on a book tour.
So yes, traditionally you write a book and then maybe you go down the road you run for the White House...
NGUYEN: When is your next book?
STEINHAUSER: I don't have a book.
NGUYEN: And you're not going to be running for president?
STEINHAUSER: No, I'd rather stay with you guys.
NGUYEN: Well, good.
HOLMES: Sure thing.
All right, Paul good to have you here in Atlanta with us. We're going to be talking to you again this morning.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks so much, buddy. We're also going to be talking about Rolex, Silverware.
NGUYEN: Silverware, yes.
HOLMES: Other fine things, with the -- some of them have I guess, "BM" stamped on them, though. That's the initial, if you can deal with that...
NGUYEN: Yes, if they're not your initials maybe you can get that scratched out.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: All this belonging to disgraced financier Bernie Madoff. Well, now all of it can be yours at a discount.
HOLMES: Yes and also from free-throws to free-fers, some discounts some NBA teams are offering in order to keep fans in the seats during these tough economic times.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. Welcome back. Taking a look at top stories right now:
The Obama administration's decision to try accused 9/11 architect, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in New York is drawing some fire. The Republican House leader labels the decision, quote, "irresponsible." And he suggests a civilian trial may increase risk of a new terror attack.
HOLMES: And just a horrible story here out of Los Angeles, where a woman was stabbed to death while police officers sat outside in their patrol car. What was happening here is that investigators say they had just taken that woman home after she filled out a police report.
Why -- because she wanted to file some kind of restraining order against a particular guy. They were looking -- weren't looking and the suspect apparently climbed in the window. Police rushed inside, found that suspect attacking the woman. They shot him. He was taken to the hospital and died as well.
NGUYEN: Goodness.
Well, former U.S. Congressman William Jefferson will spend 13 years in prison. Jefferson was sentenced for his conviction on 11 counts of corruption, and next week a judge will decide whether he stays free pending appeal. The Democrat represented Louisiana's second district for nine terms.
HOLMES: Some dangerous flooding, Virginia, New Jersey. We are talking about this nor'easter, which is pretty nasty and one of the worst we've seen in years apparently.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is. Karen Maginnis has been following all this for us from the CNN Weather Center. When is it all going to end, Karen?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's tapering off but we still have that onshore flow so that's not going to allow some of those inlets and bays and coastal areas to be free of this water. So it's still going to be backing up, even though the winds are tapering off. But wow, we have really seen quite a mess, all the way from coastal Carolinas into Virginia, and now it's affecting the New England area.
IReports -- gotten great iReports over the last several days, when this weather system Ida nor'Ida, our nor'easter. Take a look at this, this is from Tova Cohn. This is the barge that just was making its way toward the coast. They said that this was a barge that had a bunch of containers on it that was filled with chemicals. And we don't know what those chemicals were, but nonetheless, they were very concerned about it, there is a pier. People came down to watch, they brought their dogs and as you can imagine they cast a wary eye.
This is just one of a number of things that happened along the coastal areas, and still some of these areas, the roads are closed, state roads are still causing detours because they have so much water on them.
We'll continue with the weather just after the top of the hour. "CNN SATURDAY MORNING" will continue right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: From lay-ups to layoffs: the NBA feeling the financial squeeze this season in some unexpected ways. Let's bring in Rick Horrow, our sports business analyst and I love saying this part, visiting expert at Harvard Law School because Betty, when you think Harvard, you think Rick.
All right, Rick, good to have you here with us. The NBA, really, going through some things? When people hear this you think about the huge exorbitant salaries of the players but still they're laying-off other folks.
What's going on?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Thanks for that Harvard promotional jingle. I'm waiting for you to sing it actually.
You know, the NBA, when you think about it is not immune from all of the stuff we're all feeling economically. About 5 percent, 6 percent reduction in revenue and the NBA itself laid off some people.
That's the issue. Half the teams losing money so Sacramento, Miami, Indiana, Dallas, just a few of them are laying people off and by the way, here's the big one. If you're a Cleveland Cavalier fan expect a paperless Christmas card this year because they're cutting down on budgets, no paper Christmas cards anymore.
And in Denver the employees by the way, they can't text each other on company time so they're cutting down little budget items as well.
HOLMES: Ok. So what we're talking about here is simply, this is just a matter of ticket sales, people aren't buying tickets and going to the games, that's why the revenue's down?
HORROW: No, they're talking about revenues down from corporate sponsorships, a little bit from television viewing and ad rates. But, by the way, we're seeing the beginning of the end of that. We're seeing it turn around a little bit.
As you know there are certain teams that are taking the bull by the horns so to speak and actually doing some stuff creatively. We've got some screens up to talk about it for example, Atlanta with Chick- Fil-A has nights where for $85 you've got dollars and deals. You've got people that are able to have combo meals almost all you can eat and tickets.
You've got a deal in Cleveland where it's kind of a man's night out night is what they say. You get to look at the cheerleaders, you get to read the cheerleaders calendars. You get to eat some bad food like pizza and chips and you get to spend the dollars as well.
By the way, Los Angeles -- that's one, Clippers, $9 season tickets. You get what you pay for.
HOLMES: Ok. There's that.
Well, you're talk about all these things cutting back and cutting down and laying off but still these players seem to be still getting these huge contracts. A lot of these guys are still making the money. Are we ever going to see there be a cutback in those salaries?
HORROW: Salary cutback, maybe when the sun rises in the west and maybe longer than that. You got to remember there's this whole labor structure where you have a guaranteed salary cap luxury tax system in certain sports. There's what's called the soft cap in the NBA.
You have free agents coming up this year, you know that. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, a few of those guys, so the salaries are probably going higher. And remember, you got a dreaded prospect of a work stoppage at the end of a couple of years from now so they got to solve their labor issues as well.
HOLMES: Ok. The salaries not going to go down, you have to have those entertainers on the floor to even get the people to come buy the tickets in the first place.
So Rick Horrow, again our business sports analyst and visiting expert at Harvard because Betty...
HORROW: Don't you forget.
HOLMES: ... when you think Harvard...
NGUYEN: You think Rick Horrow. All right.
HOLMES: Rick always good to see you. See you later.
NGUYEN: Ok.
Coming up at the top of the hour from a cough to a coma, what's it like to be deathly ill from H1N1? Well, one man was given a 10 percent chance of survival. How he beat the odds coming up.
Also Bernie Madoff's victims would like to have a piece of the disgraced financier. Well, now they can. Yes. Today hundreds of his possessions go up for auction. We're going to show you some of the big ticket items.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well the stock market is heading north, and that's a good sign, of course. But is now a good time to get in and possibly cash in? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis, here now. All right.
The Dow hit the highest level in 13 months. Sounds great. Is this time to get back in it?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Let me tell you, it's never a good way to make a financial decision, where is the market, and that's how I'm going to decide whether or not to get in. That's not how you want to do it.
At the end of the day, you want a dollar-cost average, putting your money in a bit at a time is a better strategy. Remember a lot of people last year sold into the market's freefall and they haven't dipped their toe back in. Not only did they lose money selling it with the market downdrafts but they also missed this year's rally.
Market timing is a fool's game, T.J.
HOLMES: It's a fool's game, not one to play but some people might be willing to risk it. A lot of people might need to make a quick buck, might want to make some money. Is that a good idea? People maybe want to get in there and try to get something and get out.
WILLIS: Yes, absolutely, T.J. First it's possible. Monetize a hobby. You don't have to do it in the stock market. You can actually set aside money by doing some of the things you do all the time. You can earn $2,000 to $5,000 a year.
Do your research. Talk to people who already do what you want to do. Determine if there is a market for your product. Interview others who are doing what you want to do. And most any hobby can become a money maker from crafting to playing an instrument.
HOLMES: Crafting or playing an instrument, all right, I will take up some new hobbies.
WILLIS: You need a little extra dough. Everybody needs a little extra dough.
HOLMES: Everybody does especially right now.
It is the weekend, of course, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" what have you got for us this weekend?
WILLIS: We've got a lot coming up. We love this show. We're talking about winterizing your home before the cold really sets in, and traveling on the cheap this holiday season, we have some great deals out there. Join us at 9:30 a.m. Right here on CNN for "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."
NGUYEN: And at the top of the hour our weekly special half-hour devoted to health care and H1N1. We'll have the latest debate on the health care reform bill as it moves through the senate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We're trying figure out how this song goes with 1the story.
HOLMES: There's a diamond in here.
NGUYEN: Yes, there's several of them in fact. A lot of items indeed belonging to convicted financier Bernie Madoff, they going up for auction today and after all, he's got no use for them right now.
HOLMES: How many billions did he bilk people out of? What was the number again? 70?
NGUYEN: Somewhere -- 67. It was a lot.
HOLMES: It was a lot. They only expect about $500,000 from this auction but about 500 items going up for sale, some of them just mundane stuff. Here are the diamonds you were asking about.
NGUYEN: There you go. Those are beautiful.
HOLMES: Diamond earrings expected to get maybe $21,000. That's not bad.
NGUYEN: Holidays around the corner, folks. Check this out, this Rolex expected to go for $87,000.
HOLMES: That's gorgeous.
NGUYEN: That is a nice watch.
HOLMES: Also look at this jacket, would you walk around with that? Madoff in the back?
NGUYEN: I think I might be a little nervous if I did.
HOLMES: Yes, you would. But expected for some reason to bring in $720; I don't know how they estimated that but yes all of these items, all of the money collected is going to go toward the victims of that Ponzi scheme.
I think some boogie boards are in there, like key chains, some stuff with his name on it.
NGUYEN: Silverware is in there. So there's lots of different things and hey you may want to get in on the action. It's for a good cause right?.
HOLMES: It's a very good cause. But we'll see how much they fetched.
Right now we're going to head on over to the next hour of "CNN SATURDAY MORNING" for this November the 14th. So glad you could be with us this morning. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen. All right. We're going to start off this half hour as we always do, we're focusing on health care and talking about the H1N1 this week. And you see right here folks lining up in Georgia, Atlanta, in fact, this is coming from our affiliate WSB, lining up to get the H1N1 vaccine.
HOLMES: This is Meadow Creek High School we're told, just north of Atlanta. This is in a Norcross, Georgia, but this is what happened. A lot of people having a tough time finding that vaccine apparently have been told they can find it here in some cases places people have been going around the country, clinics, doctors, emergency rooms and other places that do have it.
Some people are being allowed to get it if you're not in that high risk group, that includes our pregnant women and also those with other underlying health conditions, but if you're just a healthy 27- year-old trying to go in there and get a shot a lot of times they won't give it to you because they are in short supply. According to the CDC, more and more of the vaccine is becoming available each week but still behind what we thought we would have at this point.
So we will be keeping an eye on what's happening there, also taking a look at also African-Americans, who are shying away right out in from getting the vaccine.
NGUYEN: Yes. And the underlying reasons as to why that is the case especially on L.A. county. And this, this is quite an interesting story, a new bra that aims to stop the spread of breast cancer. We've got our tech guy in today to show us exactly how that works, but quite fascinating.
HOLMES: That is interesting. A person walked in this morning, said we're doing a segment about the bra.
NGUYEN: And T.J.'s doing the same.
HOLMES: That's Betty's story, right? No, but this is very interesting stuff, I don't think we'll get a demonstration necessarily from Mario.
NGUYEN: Mario might perhaps. There's a vest, too, that comes with it.
HOLMES: A vest as well.
A very important story we'll get into it this morning.
NGUYEN: All right. Meantime though, President Obama arrived in Singapore earlier this morning, he is attending a summit for the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation, also known as APEC. It is the latest stop on his nine-day four-nation tour through Asia. Now in Japan yesterday, he called himself America's first Pacific president. South Korea and China are also on his schedule.
HOLMES: A car bomb killed at least 11 people in Peshawar, Pakistan, today. The blast targeted a police checkpoint, injured some 26 people as well. The police officers said as much as 132 pounds of explosives were in that car. The explosions is the latest of a string of extremist attacks in Pakistan.
NGUYEN: You got to check this out. A scary moment in South Carolina last night, just take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You hear that right there, someone says "oh, my god." You hear the screams and in a minute you'll see the people on the ground, the bricks all around them. A stadium wall collapsed during a high school football game, two dozen teenagers were hurt. They were taken to the hospital but we're told there were no life-threatening injuries.
Now, police say the students actually leaned against the wall while news crews were filming them and that wall ended up collapsing. They fell some six feet.
HOLMES: Turning back to health care now, we saw that the House did its thing, passed their version of health care reform. Now it's in the Senate's hands.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Who knows what will happen here. But the fix now for the ailing health care system could be in the hands of the Senate. Now debate on their version of health care reform could begin next week. Could? Really?
NGUYEN: The operative word right there is could.
HOLMES: Could.
NGUYEN: So let's bring in Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director to talk about this. All right, so before the debate could possibly happen there's got to be a vote on the debate, right?
STEINHAUSER: Sounds funny but yes, that basically is you have to vote to start talking and that's going to be the first showdown in the Senate next week, maybe later in the week because Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, he needs 60 votes to get just about anything big done in the Senate. Well, they got 60 votes in the Democratic coalition but maybe not all of them are going to be in favor.
In fact, Ted Barrett, our senior producer in the Senate side says that Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, moderate, may be not on board. So first showdown next week. Does Harry Reid have enough votes to even begin talking about the bill?
HOLMES: We know already a lot of deals had to be made to get the version out of the House. Nancy Pelosi had to offer up a lot, give a lot. How much had to be given in the Senate, people have that question. How are these going to look different, the House bill and the Senate bill at the end of the day.
NGUYEN: That's a great question.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. Well, the Senate bill is probably going to be a lot more moderate than what we saw on the House bill but we know what's in the House bill. They already voted on it. But what's in the Senate bill?
NGUYEN: Right.
STEINHAUSER: They're still working on it behind closed doors. And we don't know how much it's going to cost. Though we believe it's going to cost less. One big difference though, the Senate bill if it has a public option and you know that's a government plan that competes with private insurance. If it has one it will probably allow states to opt out, it's very different from what the House bill has. Other differences the cost and also how you pay for these bills.
NGUYEN: So if the Senate does debate it and they come out with a bill, do you think the vote will be close like we saw in the House?
STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes, it could be very close. Are they going to get that 60, that's a big question mark.
NGUYEN: Yes.
STEINAHUSER: It will be very close and also you're not going to have that vote for awhile. Because remember, next week they're working but after that they take a break for Thanksgiving and we're into December already.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: All right. Let's do one - before we let you go, a reality check here. Because we saw the high fiving and the chest bumping and all the celebrating once we saw that bill out of the House.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: That's just one step. There is a long way to go in this thing.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, sir and you know what? You've heard the president say he wants that bill on his desk by Christmas or by the end of the year, that's probably not going to happen. Even if the Senate finishes their stuff, you got to take the Senate bill, the House bill and put them together, we're into 2010.
HOLMES: Easily.
NGUYEN: How far into 2010 is the big question. All right. Paul, you know, you're not a prognosticator, you can't look in the future. We appreciate you trying to. Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks.
NGUYEN: The CDC is rechecking its swine flu math, revising the number of Americans who have died from H1N1. And earlier this week federal health officials estimated some 4,000 Americans had actually died from the virus since April. That is about four times higher than the old estimate, and the new number does include deaths related to complications from the bug.
HOLMES: U.S. troops overseas receiving the H1N1 vaccine as well. It's been a severe outbreak of that virus in Afghanistan. The military says getting U.S. forces inoculated is a top priority. U.S. forces in Afghanistan are the first to receive the vaccine, also being sent to U.S. troops in Iraq as well as in South Korea.
He was not a high risk patient, but he got the H1N1 flu and it almost killed him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little over four weeks, he was in the induced coma, and paralyzed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: An incredible story of how this man survived the swine flu, you'll meet him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. So surviving the H1N1 virus, one man nearly did not. In fact, he almost died.
HOLMES: He was in a coma for a month, and has a message for everybody now and our Brooke Baldwin talks to him and takes a look now at the experimental drug that saved him when Tamiflu was not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Betty and T.J., imagine this, John Boudreau totally doesn't remember the month of September. The reason? He was in a coma with the H1N1 virus.
JOHN BOUDROT, H1N1 SURVIVOR: Let me get some ice.
BALDWIN (voice-over): In his 51 years, John Boudreau has never gotten a flu shot. In fact, he says he rarely gets sick, but eight weeks ago, what started out as a cough nearly killed him.
JOHN BOUDROT: And 51 is much too young to go anywhere.
BALDWIN: It was late August and both John and his wife fell ill but unlike Renee who bounced back after three days John was hospitalized, the entire month of September spent in intensive care.
RENEE BOUDROT, HUSBAND BATTLED H1N1: A little over four weeks. He was in the induced coma, and paralyzed.
BALDWIN (on camera): For basically all of September?
RENEE BOUDROT: Yes.
JOHN BOUDROT: That's right.
BALDWIN: Gone?
JOHN BOUDROT: Yes.
BALDWIN (voice-over): John's organs shut down, his body paralyzed as part of his treatment, and according to doctors, John's chance of survival 10 percent.
DR. ROBIN DRETLER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: It would have to be the swine flu. There really wasn't any question about what it was going to be.
BALDWIN: Infectious disease specialist, Dr. Robin Dretler knows John's situation was dire. The Tamiflu John was taking wasn't enough. So with permission from the Food and Drug Administration granted because this was an emergency, Dr. Dretler tried an experimental anti- viral drug called Peramivir.
DRETLER: We were telling his wife, he had a 10 percent chance. He had been on two days of the drug, if the drug didn't give him some catch up space in the next day or two he was going to run out of time.
JOHN BOUDROT: It's worse at night than it is during the day.
BALDWIN: After five days of taking Peramivir intravenously, John was out of his coma and in physical therapy, learning how to walk and talk all over again. John and Dr. Dretler credited the drug with saving his life.
John's lesson is simple, once it's readily available, get the H1N1 vaccine.
JOHN BOUDROT: I know how fortunate I am, and you know especially getting back again to that darned Dr. Dretler, I mean, that's why I'm here. Because of him. I wasn't going to cry.
BALDWIN (on camera): But you feel that grateful.
JOHN BOUDROT: Oh, absolutely. I think without that drug, we don't know what would have happened.
BALDWIN: According to Dr. Dretler, the CDC has just released this experimental drug called Peramivir for emergency cases, meaning if you are a patient, you come down with H1N1 and you are exhibiting severe symptoms like in John Boudrot's case - organ paralysis, your doctor can then contact the CDC to get the drug again, emergency situations only but what a story -- T.J., Betty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. Well, you know, in Los Angeles county, African-Americans make up about one-third of the population, but very few there are taking advantage of free H1N1 shots. The "L.A. Times" wrote about it and their story piqued our interest.
So we invited Los Angeles County supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas to join us this morning to delve a little bit deeper into what's going on and why. So how few African-Americans are getting this shot?
MARK RIDLEY THOMAS, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR: Well, we think there are too few and we are aggressively seeking to address that issue in a county of Los Angeles, the largest in the nation as we all know, approximately one million African-Americans reside in this county, and when they target it and evaluated the number of people who came forth initially, the preliminary data said about three percent of all those who had been vaccinated were African-Americans.
NGUYEN: Really, three percent of one million. Yes.
THOMAS: Three percent of those who had come forward at the time.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK.
THOMAS: And it's really a matter of us aggressively moving forth and we've tasked the Department of Public Health with being more creative, more assertive with respect to outreach across throughout the county.
NGUYEN: Well, yes, what is the problem? Is it simply that there's not enough outreach, people are not aware that these vaccines are free or is there something even deeper than that?
THOMAS: It's probably a combination of things. The most of which I think is the appropriately defined culturally competent outreach, through messaging, through the kind of location of the clinics and places that are frequented by those that we target, and that would be the case for ethnic group, Latinos, Asians, as well as the balance of the population.
And so given the fact that there has been less than what we hoped with respect to the dissemination of the vaccine, we need to aggressively, assertively cause balance to come to the distribution of that which is available. NGUYEN: Is there also a fear, I know in us talking about it a lot of people are just worried, you know, what is this vaccine? What are the side effects? Is it safe? Is there a fear within the African-American community when it comes to the H1N1 vaccine?
THOMAS: I think there is concern within the African-American community. I also know that it is not unique to the African-American community but be that as it may we need to have a full-on push to make sure that those targeted groups among which would be African-Americans get the vaccine and get it immediately, and so message carriers throughout the county of Los Angeles and beyond will be on point with this regard.
The chief medical officer for the county of Los Angeles indicates being on the national conference calls, makes it clear that this is an issue that's not unique to a Los Angeles county, and so there needs to be a nationwide push to make sure that all persons who have children, who are minors, those who are pregnant women, those who have particular health maladies, need to get to the clinics.
If they have private health insurance, go and do what you need to do. Those who do not, that is made available through the public health departments throughout the nation and particularly in the county of Los Angeles. And so we're pushing very hard to make this right.
NGUYEN: All right. Very good. Well, Mark Ridley Thomas, we do appreciate your time. Good luck with that as we know those vaccines are free. We showed earlier a long line here in Atlanta, Georgia, where people were already out there trying to get their hands on the vaccine. So thank you for your information today.
THOMAS: Thank you so much.
HOLMES: Nine days, four countries, President Obama crisscrossing Asia this weekend. So what is on his agenda? Those details and our top stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: President Obama arriving in Singapore earlier this morning, he's attending a summit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum or the APEC summit. It's the latest stop on his nine-day four-nation tour through Asia. He was in Japan yesterday and called himself America's first Pacific president. South Korea and China next up on his schedule.
NGUYEN: The House Republican leader says President Obama is wrong. Congressman John Boehner says 9/11 suspects should not be treated as ordinary criminal defendants but terrorists. Even one Democratic senator is criticizing the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men in New York. Virginia Senator Jim Webb says quoting here, "they do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts."
HOLMES: Funerals for three of the 13 people killed at the Ft. Hood, at Ft. Hood are being held this afternoon. Staff Sergeant Justin Decrow's service is in Plymouth, Indiana. A funeral for Army Reserve Staff SGt. Amy Krueger being held in Wisconsin and one more for Private Michael Pearson being held in Ellwood, Indiana.
NGUYEN: Well, a piece of clothing that is being marketed as an incredible medical break-through, and it's all about saving women from breast cancer.
HOLMES: You can't buy it just yet but you can see what it is, you can see how it works. You're going to see it from our tech guru, Mario Armstrong. He joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Folks, listen up. There is a bra, in fact, that will soon be on the market, and the claim is that it can help women fight breast cancer.
HOLMES: We got a lot of questions about this one, and if it works, you know what? This is one of the greatest inventions ever.
NGUYEN: You can imagine, wow!
HOLMES: So let's bring in radio host and tech expert and friend of our show here on Saturday and Sunday mornings, Mario Armstrong.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, RADIO, TV & ONLINE TECHNOLOGY JOURNALIST: Yes.
HOLMES: Who this morning is trying a new fashion.
ARMSTRONG: You like my vest, you like my look here?
NGUYEN: It's all for a reason.
HOLMES: It's all for a reason. So explain to us ...
ARMSTRONG: That's right.
HOLMES: Explain to us first of all because this all ties into the bra what that thing is and what it does.
ARMSTRONG: Yes. Good morning, T.J. and Betty. What this vest that I'm wearing is currently something that's being used by health care professionals and even patients in hospitals. It's also being utilized by the military and the vest is made out of a material, a fabric called demron. And what it does is it decreases or shields me from any radiation exposure.
So Dr. Demio who created this and he's a surgeon, but he is also an inventor recognized that serving cancer patients, he started seeing even on his own arms using existing technology today that he was starting to see radiation effects on his own body, and he decided to try and develop something that could further shield, fully shield from radiation or other radiological agents that are out there.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get to the bra. Because I think a lot of people are really interested in that. How does this thing work?
ARMSTRONG: Yes. So the idea is that, you know, this technology is very lightweight, first off. This fabric. You can't feel it, but it's very lightweight. It's easy to bend and if you've been in many scenarios where you had to get an x-ray, you know that a lot of those things are like plastic or they're easy to crack and they're very heavy and rigid. So this material now can bind itself into a bra.
So the idea is and you know, here is a shot of a cup of a bra. And the idea is that this fabric could actually do one of two things. One, it could be inserted into the bra itself. So that you could just -- and place it into the bra or they're looking at actually developing a bra fully made of this particular material. Those are the two options now.
HOLMES: Now who would this be targeted for? Because, you know a lot of women will be listening to this and think OK I go get this bra then that cuts my chances of breast cancer. Help us understand exactly who this bra would be targeted for and who this could help?
ARMSTRONG: Yes. So initially this bra is going to be targeted towards those women who are already breast cancer patients, and they're probably receiving a treatment that's called Breaking Therapy, and Breaking Therapy is essentially a way of, an alternative therapy for breast cancer. What that means is they're actually placing in seeds or little pellets into the breast tissue near the actual tumor site and that's radioactive.
So a lot of times in some cases those women can't go home right away or they have to have very limited close proximity to family members. So this bra would enable them to move away from that particular fear, or that particular problem of maybe getting other people, you know, exposed to that radiation.
So that's one, but then other women that are at high risk could be wearing this bra to reduce the potential of breast cancer. So a lot of testing still needs to be done but they got the go-ahead to move forward.
NGUYEN: Well, explain to me very clearly, how does it reduce the risk of breast cancer for those who maybe don't have it?
ARMSTRONG: Well see, I think that's still what needs to be worked out. They don't have a defined answer for that just yet. What they are saying though at this point, for those women that do have breast cancer or have known risks in the family for breast cancer, this could be something that could help them, but we're talking about high risk situations.
So those situations where you could in fact get cancer if you were to wear this bra, it may, it hasn't been proven, but it may be able to help you. So we still have a lot to see going forward.
NGUYEN: Interesting. All right. And quickly, how much does it cost? ARMSTRONG: Yes. So the idea is that hopefully they don't know the price of the actual bra but they're hoping that within $1 to $2 the inserts would cost on the bra itself. So not much.
HOLMES: Not much at all.
NGUYEN: Wow.
ARMSTRONG: Yes.
HOLMES: This is interesting stuff.
NGUYEN: Fascinating.
HOLMES: You always bring us something interesting here and that could have some really effects to people who are dealing with breast cancer maybe keep her from dealing with it at all.
Mario Armstrong, again, always good to see you. We always appreciate your information. Thanks so much.
NGUYEN: Yes, thanks, Mario.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you, T.J. Thank you, Betty. Appreciate it.
NGUYEN: And "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis starts right now.
