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American Morning
President Obama Optimistic on Health Care; Terrorist on the Move: Looking for Safe Haven Back in Afghanistan; Messages on Work Cell Phone Private?; Fighting Unemployment; Yes, Drill Sergeant!
Aired December 16, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's December the 16th. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the top stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, it's crunch time. Right now, Senate Democrats are reworking the health care bill. And without a vote to spare, President Obama trying his best to keep Democrats together. So how close are they to a deal? We're live at the White House.
ROBERTS: Some top level members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban may be on the run from Pakistan, but they could be headed where U.S. troops are no longer on patrol or in control, posing a real security problem in northeastern Afghanistan. In just a moment, our Barbara Starr gets the border breakdown in a one-on-one exclusive with General David Petraeus.
CHETRY: Plus it's their phone, but your privacy could be at stake. The Supreme Court is taking up the case that could decide if your boss can look at the text messages that you send from your work phone. A breakdown just ahead on what this case could mean for you.
ROBERTS: But first this morning, after months of talk, heated arguments, finger pointing and dire warnings, it's do or die for health care reform. Support for the bill so fragile that changes to satisfy just one senator may end up costing President Obama the support of another. So yesterday, the president summoned Senate Democrats to the White House to let them know it's impossible to please everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The final bill won't include everything that everybody wants. No bill can do that. But what I told my former colleagues today is that we simply cannot allow differences over individual elements of this plan to prevent us from meeting our responsibility to solve a longstanding and urgent problem for the American people.
They are waiting for us to act. They're counting on us to show leadership. And I don't intend to let them down, and neither do the people standing next to me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The president said he is, quote, "cautiously optimistic" that Congress can get this done. Our Dan Lothian is live at the White House early this morning. And, Dan, the president making a big push to salvage the deal here.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He really is, John, and that's because the stakes are high for this administration. The president wants and some would say needs to get health care reform done. It is his top domestic agenda item. And so that's why you're seeing this White House pushing the Senate so hard to really get something down on paper.
The president says that they are on the precipice of an achievement, but the White House and both congressional leaders admitting there are some differences that still have to be ironed out. Having said that, though, the administration is quite pleased with what they're seeing so far, that they do have something that will cover 30 million uninsured Americans, that there are reforms in place to prevent some of the abuses that have been around health care reform. And the president is really laying out in some of the starkest terms what will happen to Americans if health care reform isn't accomplished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we don't get this done, your premiums are guaranteed to go up. If this does not get done, more employers are going to drop coverage because they can't afford it. If this does not get done, it is guaranteed that Medicare and Medicaid will blow a hole through our budget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: So, John, you know, this White House really needs all Democrats. All 60 Democrats really need to be on board in order to avoid a Republican filibuster, and that's why you're seeing the White House pushing so hard. But again, the president pointing out that this is not going to be a bill that everyone can say is perfect. They won't get everything that they want, but the White House really believing that this is the right time and the best time to get health care reform done.
ROBERTS: So after meeting with all those Democrats yesterday, is the president more or less optimistic that he can get this done and get it done this year?
LOTHIAN: Well, you know, that was a question that was posed to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. And he says, you know, the president is cautiously optimistic that he can get this done. But again, they still have to do some pushing here and no one's celebrating just yet.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian for us at the White House early this morning. Dan, thanks so much. CHETRY: Also this morning, the Senate is wrangling over the exploding cost of prescription drugs. It rejected an amendment that would have allowed cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada, where there are government-mandated price controls. This amendment once again put the president up against his own party because it would have gone against an $80 billion deal that he struck previously with drug companies for their support on health care reform.
ROBERTS: The Obama administration saying terror detainees will not go free in this country after they face trial. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano answering critics at the plan to house some Gitmo inmates at a prison in Illinois.
It's a story that we broke here yesterday on the Most News in the Morning. They say if a detainee is acquitted, that detainee will be sent home.
CHETRY: And top operatives of the Taliban and Al Qaeda may be pulling out of Pakistan. American military leaders say they believe that they're setting their sites on Afghanistan once again to find a safe haven, and that's creating a real challenge for U.S. troops who are trying to secure the Afghan-Pakistan border.
A CNN exclusive now. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr in Kabul, one-on-one with the man who is running the war for America, General David Petraeus.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, as we have traveled around Afghanistan for the last two weeks, U.S. and Afghan commanders tell us there are growing indications that some fighters on the Pakistan side of the border may be moving back into this country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): General David Petraeus arrived in Afghanistan after a round of meetings in Pakistan with fresh concerns about border security between the two countries. We caught up with him on the tarmac to discuss reports that the Pakistani military operations in the border tribal region have put some top level Al Qaeda and Taliban on the run.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: Even though in some cases they have not been specifically targeting some of these other groups, they're focusing, of course, on the extremists threatening their country. But in the process of that, there's no question but that they have encountered these other elements of the extremist syndicate and have gotten into fights with them as well.
STARR: Petraeus is in highly sensitive discussions, trying to determine the extent to which these fighters may now have been forced back into Afghanistan.
PETRAEUS: Well, interestingly, some of the Pakistani leaders we talked to today out in the northwest frontier province area, did think that some of these may have been pushed back after initially some coming to help their fellow extremists when they were under fire from the Pakistani.
Indeed, there is some possibility of cross border movement. And one of the reasons for being here, of course, will be to compare notes with the intelligence elements that are here to see if that's been confirmed.
STARR: The next problem? U.S. troops have been pulling back from some of the lightly populated border areas in Afghanistan to concentrate on cities and towns. Petraeus says some Pakistani leaders are now worried that the U.S. strategy could lessen border protection and lead to a new terrorist safe haven inside Afghanistan.
PETRAEUS: Indeed, the Pakistani leaders have some of those concerns as well as do we.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: General Petraeus discounts any report that's Osama bin Laden may be on the move or that he might even be back inside Afghanistan. He says it has been years since the U.S. had any hard information about the Al Qaeda leader's whereabouts -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr this morning. Barbara, thanks.
Here are some of the other top stories this morning. President Obama has reportedly written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il trying to convince him to participate in nuclear disarmament talks. A State Department official telling "The AP" the letter was personally delivered last week by the president's envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth.
CHETRY: Washington City council voting to legalize same-sex marriage, and D.C.'s mayor is promising to sign the bill. The measure passed easily 11-2, but the bill does have to go to Capitol Hill, because Congress has the final say over the district's laws. Gay marriage opponents say they'll try to get lawmakers to overturn the bill.
ROBERTS: Congress is grabbing the remote. The House voting to turn down the volume on loud television commercials yesterday, approving a bill to stop television ads from playing at a noticeably louder level than the programs that they air on. The measure was drafted after lawmakers discovered those annoying jumps in audio level were a common complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
Boy, all they've got to do is look at my e-mail.
CHETRY: It shocks you, right, how loud they get.
ROBERTS: All right. Why are they playing the commercials so loud?
But, you know, I don't know if it's true with us, because it doesn't seem to be. But I've noticed a lot of programs where you're turning up the volume to listen to the program and then the commercial literally jumps out of the television set and grabs you by the throat and wrestles you to the couch.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, we'll see if that actually will change because of this proposed legislation.
Meanwhile, we're talking about the Supreme Court taking up a text messaging case. This is interesting.
You get a work phone. Of course, you use it for personal reasons as well. You make phone calls to home.
ROBERTS: You do?
CHETRY: Text home. Come on, everybody does. But do you have an unreasonable right to privacy or an unreasonable assumption.
ROBERTS: Expectation, yes.
CHETRY: Expectation that what you send has nothing to do with work can then be looked at by your bosses? Well, this is going all the way up to the Supreme Court. We're going to be joined by two attorneys to talk a little bit more about it.
Eight and a half minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. And new this morning.
A French company is recalling hundreds of thousands of doses of its H1N1 vaccine because it's not as strong as it should be. The vaccine is for children under the age of 3. The CDC says there is no safety concern in children who have already received the vaccine do not need to be revaccinated.
CHETRY: Rescue crews on Mount Hood are calling off the search now for two missing hikers. Heavy snow and the threat of avalanches have just simply made the conditions too dangerous for rescuers. A doctor and survival expert says there's only about a one percent chance they're still alive. A third hiker was found dead on Saturday. An autopsy showed he suffered minor injuries in a fall but he died ultimately from hypothermia.
ROBERTS: A higher Supreme Court says police need a search warrant before looking at a suspect's cell phone unless their safety is at stake. In a 5-4 decision, the court found police violated the drug suspect's privacy when searching his phone calls' history, his phone's call history. The defense attorney says the state has brought the fourth amendment which protects from unreasonable searches into the 21st century. The ACLU is calling it a landmark decision.
ROBERTS: And meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to take up another case that could have a huge impact on how you use your office BlackBerry or cell phone. And the big question is, if you send text messages, maybe to your spouse, your kids or a friend from your work cell phone or BlackBerry, is your boss or company have the right to check those messages?
Our Bill Tucker is breaking down the case and looking at what it could mean for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Texting is already changed the social scene and the workplace. Now it's about to change the legal landscape. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving an Ontario, California, police officer who used a government-issued texting pager to send private, personal texts, some of which were explicitly sexual.
Department policy allowed for personal use, so when the police department requested records of those texts, the officer, Sergeant Quon, sued saying his privacy had been violated. His lawyer explains.
MICHAEL MCGILL, ATTORNEY FOR ONTARIO, CALIF, POLICE OFFICER: They never put out a policy in writing. They never explained to them unequivocally that it does apply, that there is a no privacy policy.
TUCKER: Quon lost his first trial but California's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision, agreeing with the sergeant. Now the Supreme Court is stepping in and putting the case on their calendar for next year.
ORIN KERR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV. LAW SCHOOL: This will be the first case that the Supreme Court has ever taken which will give the court an opportunity to apply the constitution to text messages and by extension to the Internet. So it could be an extremely important case.
TUCKER: At the core of the case is the question of an expectation to a reasonable right of privacy. Should or can an employee expect his or her private communications to stay private? Lawyers arguing for employers say the expectation doesn't exist for employees working on company-issued equipment.
SHERYL WILLERT, CIVIL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If I have a piece of equipment, whether it's a telephone, whether it's a computer, whether it's a video monitor, and it belongs to me, and I allow you in the furtherance of your performing a job for me, for which you were hired, I should clearly have the ability to monitor what is going on.
PHILIP GORDON, EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY: Employers need -- need that ability. It's important to the way employers run their business.
TUCKER: Privacy advocates argue that while the equipment belongs to the boss, the content of an employee's personal texts don't.
Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, we're going to be digging deeper on this one for the Most News in the Morning. This case could have a huge impact on how you use your work phone. Right? Or your iPod or BlackBerry that's given you by work.
At 7:30 Eastern, we'll be talking more about this with Paul Callan. He's an attorney and a professor of media law at Seton Hall University.
ROBERTS: All right. A key vote in Washington today for jobless benefits. Our Christine Romans "Minding Your Business." She breaks it all down for us just ahead.
It's 15 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Got to get that aerobic engine (ph) going this morning. It's kind of in neutral.
Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
I'm here to tell you about the safety net. The House wants to make sure it doesn't pull out from under millions of people.
This is a safety net for unemployment benefits and some other things that have been helping millions of people get through this recession. More jobless aid in the works, the House will vote on this today, extending the deadline for jobless benefits, and COBRA. There's a subsidy for COBRA that many people have taken advantage of to help them pay the bills on their health care insurance, even if they don't have a job, maintain that $25 boost in jobless benefits.
All of you out there who are getting a jobless benefit, 9 million of you are getting $25 extra in that check because of aid coming from the federal government. They want to extend that. And more money for food stamps.
Now, here's the issue. About a million people are going to lose their unemployment benefits in January, another 3 million stop getting checks in March. This is even after we've already had a couple of extensions, so the House is trying to see here, House Democrats in particular, trying to see if they can extend this.
Also we've been talking about that TARP money, the bailout money for job creation. There's a measure in there, $75 billion, $48 billion for new infrastructure projects, bridges, roads -- roads and the likes. So this is helping people, the safety net part of it, then also trying to get the engine for job creation going, and then also $27 billion for cash-strapped states, in particular here, money to keep firefighters on the job, to keep teachers on the job.
That's something there have been some concern about, teachers in particular, and firefighters and police officers, because once the original stimulus money runs out, there are a lot of states that are going to be -- and school districts and the like, they're going to be having to lay off a lot of teachers and public servants.
CHETRY: So (INAUDIBLE) when -- when you have unemployment rate at -- in double digits and people aren't paying taxes, I mean, all of these cities, large and small, are really suffering right now, and -- and this administration thinks that the -- the best way to -- to do that direct infusion is to give them money right now to plug their holes.
ROMANS: And the Senate will probably take this up once it gets back from the break. I mean, the -- the urgency is not quite there in the Senate as it is in the House, so it will get a Senate -- a House vote today.
One thing I do not see in here, folks, is the Cash for Caulkers. I don't see that in there.
ROBERTS: You're starting that again?
ROMANS: This is what everyone is talking about, the Cash for Caulkers.
CHETRY: Yes. What happened?
ROBERTS: There's the biggest laugh line of the last year.
ROMANS: No, the Cash for Caulkers.
ROBERTS: I know. As I said, it was the biggest laugh line of last year.
ROMANS: But if you actually (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: Did you see what the late night comedians did with that?
ROMANS: No. What did they do?
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. You got to go back and look (ph). You got a Numeral this morning?
ROMANS: I do. I have a Numeral. My Numeral is $111,375. This is a reminder that none of this stuff comes for free.
CHETRY: This is how much it costs for every job saved?
ROMANS: This is national debt for taxpayers, folks. Even as we pay for all these things and we add on all these new things, just a reminder that it all goes on the bill, a bill that we haven't paid. Our national debt keeps ticking up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up...
CHETRY: Can we get a loan for that?
ROMANS: We do have a loan for it. We have a loan from the Chinese and the Japanese and our own...
ROBERTS: So that's -- that's different than the number of -- the debt per person, right?
ROMANS: This is per taxpayer. Per taxpayer.
ROBERTS: This is just for people who are actually working and paying taxes?
ROMANS: Yes. Per taxpayer. The debt per taxpayer.
ROBERTS: Yikes! All right. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business"...
CHETRY: And find out where the heck did Cash for Caulkers went.
ROMANS: I'll see -- I'll see where it is.
ROBERTS: And look up what the late night comedians did with it.
ROMANS: I will. I will.
CHETRY: Still ahead, Jason Carroll joins us for yet another part of his ongoing series, "A Soldier's Story." He's been following three recruits from when they decided to enlist, and now he's visiting them at boot camp. How is it going? He's going to join us for an update.
Twenty-one minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You saw him enlist. Now the real fun begins -- basic (ph).
CHETRY: Yes, that right. Jason Carroll followed Private Will McLain through the first few weeks of army boot camp, witnessed a young man sweat and bleed and become a soldier with a cause bigger than his own. And Jason joins us now.
This is the part where we said, oh, how is Will going to handle this one? Basic training.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'm not sure he expected it to be this bad, and it really, really was.
But, you know, the drill sergeants who were out there, they really have a serious job. They've got to turn these men and women into soldiers, and they have just nine weeks to do it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go!
CARROLL (voice-over): It's week three of basic training for Will McLain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
CARROLL: McLain and 193 new recruits have entered what's called "The Red Stage".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to do that in combat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up!
CARROLL: The emphasis? Physical training -- PT.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One.
DRILL SGT. JOSEPH RIX, US ARMY: All right, Private. That was like one and a half miles. Are you seriously coughing and crap?
CARROLL: The voice always egging them on.
RIX: You better (ph) sound off, one, two, three.
CARROLL: Drill Sergeant Joseph Rix.
RIX: Just trying to get them ready when they get to that first unit, if they have to deploy. They have a little bit of a head start, more than what -- what we did when we went through basic training.
CARROLL: On this day, after a quarter mile run, McLain has time for a quick break, while outside...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've done a total of 25 pushups and one (ph) lap. Get up.
CARROLL: A private who cannot make it...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and get up!
CARROLL: ... gets no coddling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurry up! Oh, man, here we go again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get outside and get him in here! Move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three -- lift!
CARROLL: McLain and the others finally dragged him to a bunk and he recovers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurry up and get him up!
CARROLL: Later, more would stumble...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better figure it out, private.
CARROLL: ... carrying 40-pound duffel bags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pick them up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now put your pistol belt back on. Specialist (ph), give me that. (INAUDIBLE). It's gone already.
CARROLL: This time...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get it up (ph), private.
CARROLL: It's McLain's turn on the ground.
CARROLL (on camera): I know he was in your ear whispering some words of encouragement, shall we say?
WILL MCLAIN, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT: We can go with that.
CARROLL: We can go with that.
MCLAIN: You can't take it personally. You know they're just trying to make you a better person, a better soldier.
CARROLL (voice-over): Then, a crucial test of whether their training has paid off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thumbs up, private. You have a good seal on your mask.
CARROLL: Their masks must come off while this chamber fills with tear gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three. One, two, three.
CARROLL (on camera): Now he's going to have to come back and do it again, right?
DRILL SGT. BASHIR ANTHONY, US ARMY: Right. Yes. He'll have to go back and do it again.
CARROLL (voice-over): McLain and the others tough it out, 30 painful seconds.
CARROLL (on camera): It must have felt like an eternity.
MCLAIN: It felt at least like five minutes -- at least. Because you're standing like, OK, open the door. Open the door. Open the door.
CARROLL (voice-over): It's a boost of confidence for McLain who met another goal since we last saw him -- losing weight, 10 pounds in just three weeks.
MCLAIN: I'll have to go get some new pair of pants before the end of this.
CARROLL: McLain also finds he's good at hand to hand combat, winning two matches. His battle buddy -- all army recruits are assigned one -- Demetrius Daniels, cheers him along.
CARROLL (on camera): So how do you two balance each other out?
MCLAIN: Well, he's fast and (INAUDIBLE).
DEMETRIUS DANIELS, BATTLE BUDDY: He's a smart guy and he -- he helps me -- all right, sometimes I'm overwhelmed with helping other people on the team.
CARROLL (voice-over): Their training is also about teamwork, so when one private dozes off during weapons training, everyone pays the price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
CARROLL: A punishment what drill sergeants call corrective training.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Privates, you got to realize I've got nothing but time. Get off the ground!
CARROLL: This lesson on teamwork...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all should not be sleeping, man.
CARROLL: McLain just beginning to learn.
MCLAIN: You know, I try to be independent and I do a lot on my own, but going through boot camp, you can't be like that, man. It really teaches you to use teamwork, and then you really look deep inside yourself and realize this is what you want to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, despite all the struggling that you see going on there, none of the recruits from Will's company has dropped out so far. On average, the army tells us, just about 7 percent of all recruits dropped out of basic training this past year.
CHETRY: That's a pretty high retention rate.
CARROLL: Yes. Yes, and, you know, these men and women, they are really, really dedicated. They're going to -- (INAUDIBLE) see that the drill sergeants are -- are tough on these guys, but the stakes are so high, they have to be.
ROBERTS: Yes, exactly. They've got to train them for battle.
CARROLL: Exactly.
ROBERTS: They're going to some place where people want to kill them, so they've got to be tough.
CARROLL: Yes. It really is a matter of life and death, and so that's why what you see is as tough as it is. And, again, we're going to be following these recruits all the way through the process. We're about to choose another one, and so you can follow along online as they go through, ask questions, and get some answers.
CHETRY: That's right. And, by the way, any regrets from Will?
CARROLL: No regrets so far.
CHETRY: He's holding up great.
CARROLL: Holding up.
CHETRY: All right. And, by the way, again, check out Jason's story. You can follow it on cnn.com/amfix. Jason, thanks.
ROBERTS: We are crossing the half hour now, and here's a check of this morning's top stories.
Iran increasing tensions with the West over its nuclear ambitions. According to its state-run television, Tehran claims it has successfully tested an upgraded version of the Sajil missile, a surface to surface weapon with a range of over 1,200 miles. That range would allow the high-speed missile to reach Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe.
CHETRY: Well, still divided, Senate Democrats meeting in search of a final deal for health care reform, the White House cautiously optimistic, it says, that they will have all 60 votes from the Senate, especially after Senate leaders struck a last-minute deal to keep Independent Senator Joe Lieberman on board. This morning they have abandoned for good a government-run insurance option as well as an expansion of Medicare.
ROBERTS: Well, the White House trying this morning to explain how another pair of uninvited guests ended up shaking hands with the president.
Now, unlike the Sejils, they weren't exactly -- not the Sejils, those are the missiles -- unlike, the Salahis, they weren't exactly gate-crashers though. This time, two tourists for Georgia, Harvey and Paula Darden were let into an invitation-only Veterans Day breakfast. The White House tells CNN that they did it as a nice for a couple that showed up a day early for a tour of the White House. The Secret Service says they underwent a criminal background check, a step that was not taken for the Salahis at that November 24 state dinner.
Well, God has finally called Oral Roberts home. The fiery preacher who pioneered televangelism died yesterday from complications of pneumonia. He was 91 years old. Roberts built a global ministry that reached an estimated 500 million people and at a time, took in more than $100 million a year.
Joining us now from Washington with our A.M. Breakdown is Tony Perkins. He is the president of the Family Research Council.
Tony, great to see you. What did Oral Roberts mean to the evangelical community?
TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, he was one of the prominent leaders, John. He was early in the TV ministry, bringing a really -- the charismatic movement the Pentecostal movement in the evangelical world to prominence. And he's left a lasting legacy, primarily through his university, Oral Roberts University.
ROBERTS: Yes, he was, I guess, some people have called him the patriarch of prosperity gospel, the idea that if Christians prayed and donated with sufficient devotion, they would be rewarded with health, wealth and happiness. He once famously said that God would call him home if he didn't raise millions of dollars in a fundraising drive.
How did all of that fit in with the overall teachings of Christianity?
PERKINS: Well, I think -- well, I think the prosperity gospel aspect, the point there is, it's a biblical principle of sowing into others, not necessarily to his ministry or a particular ministry, but giving away to others was the idea there. That was a controversial point in his ministry, when he was raising money. I believe it was for his -- for the hospital he created. That he need to raise so much money, and if not the Lord would call him home. That was a point of controversy and not everybody understood exactly what he was doing.
ROBERTS: Yes. Did that fundraising moment forever change him?
PERKINS: Well, I think that there are moments in one's life that leaves lasting impressions upon people. But I think when you look overall -- and he had a pretty long ministry. He lived to be 91 years old and was active most of that time. And I grew up in a small town outside of Tulsa. And I remember when I was in high school going to the campus there when he was building the hospital. You know, early on, really continuing the legacy of not just being involved in one aspect of preaching but also helping, you know...
ROBERTS: Right.
PERKINS: ... hospital, health -- dealing with health issues, dealing with poverty issues.
He attracted a very broad cross-section of the community. He had African-Americans, Hispanics -- so he had a broad reach in his ministry.
ROBERTS: Yes. He also claimed to have healing powers. There was that famous moment in 1955 where before the congregation, he had a boy with polio in his lap and the boy with polio got up and suddenly walked off the stage. He also claimed to have brought a baby back to life. He later said, OK, so the baby wasn't clinically dead but he looked dead, we thought that he was dead.
Very difficult, Tony, for a mainstream preacher to claim those things now, but back then, people believed.
PERKINS: Well, there are still a number of people that -- I mean, you see in the charismatic movement that healing is prominent.
ROBERTS: Sure.
PERKINS: Still today, healing takes place.
ROBERTS: But somebody of Oral Robert's stature now, you know, thinking of a Joel Osteen or somebody like that, or, you know, Franklin Graham, people wouldn't believe that now. But back then, they did.
PERKINS: It was a different time. It was clearly a different time and that you saw a different emphasis on different moods in people's lives.
What was unique about Oral Roberts, I think, is that he was a -- you know, appeared to Billy Graham, Dr. Falwell and others, there was a -- you know, a handful of very prominent evangelical leaders. His focus, you know, was on ministry that was focused on his educational institution. He created a law school which became Regent University.
He was not involved that much in politics. But he had a motto, and that was: take your faith to every man's world. And through him, he literally has planted people all across this nation in different realms of society working aggressively from a Christian world view.
ROBERTS: So, he was a groundbreaker in evangelism. Where is the movement headed now?
PERKINS: Well, you know, it's a very interesting question, John, because I don't think you see today just a few leaders who are kind of staking out a particular focus, an area of focus. I think what you see are many, many leaders that may not have the reach and the impact of a Jerry Falwell and Oral Roberts, or a D. James Kennedy. But in their wake, you literally have, I think, hundreds of folks that have -- I know for instance several friends of mine who are graduates of Oral Roberts University and have mega churches.
ROBERTS: Right.
PERKNS: So, he's left a legacy through the people and the young people that he's taught and raised up in this -- in the generation that came behind.
ROBERTS: He certainly lived a rich life. No question about that.
Tony Perkins, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks for dropping by.
PERKINS: Thanks, John. Good to be with you.
CHETRY: All right. And right now, we're taking a look at some live pictures from Las Vegas. Today is the grand opening for City Center. It is a very big gamble in a town that does a lot of it, in a very tough economy. Full details coming up.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Well, it may be just the biggest gamble Las Vegas has ever taken. It's an $8.5 billion City Center. Opens its doors to the world today actually and it features a resort, there's casinos, hotels, restaurants, condos and some high-end stores as well. The complex is said to be the most expensive privately-funded project in U.S. history.
Dan Simon joins us live from Las Vegas with a CNN exclusive.
And so, it's very interesting, this concept of being the largest privately-funded investment at a time when the economy is tough, and Vegas itself has taken a lot of hits.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line, Kiran, so many people are pinning their hopes on this one single piece of property, that it can bring Las Vegas really out of its economic slump.
Let me tell you where we are. We are at the Aria Hotel and Casino. This is the biggest piece of property that makes up City Center. You can see people trying to get this place ready for opening night.
And when developers thought about City Center five years ago, they wanted something that had never been done before. They wanted something obviously on a grand scale. But they also wanted an architectural masterpiece, and they think they've got it with City Center.
I want to show you now what it looks inside the casino. Obviously, empty at this moment, but tonight, it's going to be buzzing as they have their official launch today. And thousands and thousands of workers begin their jobs in earnest.
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SIMON (voice-over): It's soaring glass towers and world class sculptures are eye-popping centerpieces.
MARIA GAINES, NEW CITY CENTER EMPLOYEE: You came up with two purchase tickets?
SIMON: But for Maria Gaines, it represents a life-preserver, a job that saved her from drowning in debt.
GAINES: Looking at all the bills that were kind of piling up and knowing that you didn't know where that next dollar was coming from. You didn't know if you were going to be able to make that payment, you didn't know if maybe your cable is going to get shut off next month. You didn't have -- you'd probably end up evicted.
SIMON: She's one of 12,000 people hired to work at the massive 67-acre, 18 million square foot City Center. It's a complex of hotels, spas, condos, pools and restaurants. There's convention space, loads of artwork, and, of course, a casino. And a brand-new Elvis Presley Cirque de Soleil show.
DAVID SCHWARTZ, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA-LAS VEGAS: People are hoping that it's going to really grow the market, that it's going to draw people who haven't been coming to Vegas before and it's really going to reverse these declines.
SIMON (on camera): In essence, save Las Vegas.
SCHWARTZ: In some ways, yes, save Las Vegas.
SIMON (voice-over): That's because Las Vegas has seen 22 straight months of declines in gaming revenues, a disastrous chain of events that's produced a 13 percent unemployment rate. The city leads the nation in foreclosures.
So, for the local economy, City Center feels like a massive economic stimulus.
(on camera): Describe that moment when they said yes, that you've been hired.
GAINES: It was elation. It was totally elation. I couldn't believe it.
SIMON (voice-over): Maria had been laid off from an old job at a casino and spent months looking for a new one. She was one of an astounding 175,000 workers to apply for a job here.
That the place is even opening is something of a feat. Earlier this year, the project nearly ran out of money and pushed MGM Mirage, the developers, to the brink of insolvency. And its Middle East partner, Dubai World, as it's been widely reported, was unable recently to make debt payments. MGM insists however that City Center is financially secure.
The project may pack in visitors, but gaming experts wonder whether it will be at the expense of other properties.
SCHWARTZ: If it succeeds to drawing people away from other casinos, and obviously, it's going to cannibalize the market. If it succeeds in drawing people who hadn't been going to other casinos, it's going to grow the market. And it's really hard to say which it will do.
SIMON: That's why it's being called the city's biggest bet ever.
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SIMON: And here's the big bet according to skeptics. They're saying what City Center is doing is essentially dumping 6,000 hotel rooms on the market when they can't fill the other hotel rooms in town.
But here's the thing with all this. There's a big winner here, and that's consumers, because they can get deals that they've never ever seen before in Vegas. They can stay at a top-rate hotel in an unbelievable resort for less than $150 a night.
Don't want to sound like the Chamber of Commerce here, but there are some amazing deals in Las Vegas, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes. And as you said, they're betting on it. But, you know, what are their odds in terms of whether or not this is going to be worth all of that money in the long run?
SIMON: Well, when you look at history here, we talked to gaming experts about this. And they say, any time you have a massive resort that opens in Las Vegas, it does have potential, it does have the ability to bring in people on a large scale. They point to the Mirage, which was the big resort that opened in about 1990 and that created a wave of people coming to Las Vegas. Then later in the decade, you have the Bellagio, and once again created this whole new wave of interest with Las Vegas.
And they're hoping that they're going to accomplish the same thing with City Center. Of course, only time will tell -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Keep us posted on how it goes. Dan Simon for us out there in Vegas today -- thanks. John?
ROBERTS: Heavy rains in the southeast today. Well, actually, those rains finally stop. It's going to be colder in the northeast. Rob Marciano tracking it all from the CNN Center in Atlanta. He's up right after the break.
It's 44 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Forty-seven-and-a-half minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A live look right there at Chicago from our affiliate WGN where it's a frigid 10 degrees right now. It feels more like -2 though. Clear skies in the forecast. Warming up today. It's going to be balmy, a whole 24 degrees. Bundle up there today in Chicago.
Let's fast forward through some of the stories that we're covering today on CNN. At 2:00 Eastern, the acting administrator of the Transportation Safety Administration will be in the hot seat on Capitol Hill. The House Homeland Security Committee investigating why a sensitive airport screening manual was posted online last week.
At 9:00 Eastern, Federal Reserve policymakers reconvene for the second day of their meeting on interest rates. The Fed is expected to keep rates at record lows, at least for now. We'll be watching for that announcement this afternoon, but likely nothing surprising.
And tonight at 9:00 Eastern, stars of the film "Avatar" will begin arriving for the U.S. premiere in Los Angeles. The event will be screened live on the Internet. It's James Cameron's first movie since Titanic, and it opens in theaters this Friday. You have interest in seeing that?
CHETRY: To be honest, no, but I know a lot of people do. He's taking a big gamble on this one, $500 million to make this movie.
ROBERTS: It's hugely expensive.
CHETRY: Far, far more expensive than even "Titanic." Which at that time was so expensive. He actually was to create his own camera to do the 3-D effects.
ROBERTS: Yes, and there was a time when I probably would have been standing in line to watch for a film like that, but...
CHETRY: Yes, and?
ROBERTS: I like stories more now, you know.
CHETRY: They claim this is, but the people are very disturbing to look at the Avatar.
ROBERTS: I mean stories without special effects.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Just stories.
CHETRY: We'll see. There are a lot of people who have been lining up for this film, though.
ROBERTS: Because the Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin film is supposed to be good.
CHETRY: I can't wait to see that one, "It's Complicated." Our Rob Marciano is at the Weather Center in Atlanta. I know you're going to be talking about some extreme cold in the Northeast, but are you into this "Avatar?"
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm quite interested in blue people.
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CHETRY: You've gone to love for the Smurfs and it's just gone from there.
MARCIANO: It'll be interesting. Yes, I might take a peek at it. Blue people, snow, it makes sense, I guess, but I don't think you're going to see blue ones up there in Buffalo as where we're looking for lake-effect snows that are cranking. Blustery conditions across the Northeast today, so it definitely has cooled down as compared to yesterday, but not drastically cold.
Temperatures in the lower 20s across parts of up state and upper 20s to lower 30s across parts of New York, but the winds are blowing, so wind chills obviously below that. Actual temperature in Chicago is 60 degrees, 0 degrees right now in Minneapolis, and 29 degrees in Memphis, so it's colder in Memphis right now than it is in New York City, but the winds will slow down air travel as typical in the New York metro airports, Philadelphia, Boston, D.C., San Francisco, and Seattle.
Rains take a break today in New Orleans. Check out some of this video out of the Big Easy yesterday. They have just had unbelievably wet month, and you know, people are getting around in stride, but on the outskirts, we did see some flooding issues there. Record breaking amounts of rainfall, not only yesterday in Jackson Square but for the month itself; 5.71 in Louisiana.
West Palm also has some rain, Alexandria, Louisiana, as well as the West Coast, but New Orleans has seen over 21 inches of rainfall this month alone and that basically makes it the wettest month ever, and we're not even just barely halfway through, so certainly mind boggling there.
Another storm coming into the West Coast with rain in the valleys and mountains. Just hold on to your hats up there, guys. Temperature is a little bit chillier today than it was yesterday, but not too bad.
ROBERTS: We will. All that rain in the South and the West, is that El Nino, Rob?
MARCIANO: The Southern stuff, I got to tell you, that is El Nino signature. Any time you get that kind of rain across the Gulf Coast with juiced up southerly jet stream that would be an El Nino signature, so yes, many folks in New Orleans can probably proclaim our friend El Nino for the wet month they've had this December.
ROBERTS: We'll be watching that all weather long. Rob Marciano this morning. Rob, thanks.
But how mad are some liberals at Senator Joe Lieberman? Our Jeanne Moos shows us how the online community is roasting Joe.
CHETRY: And also still ahead, for some kids trying to stay out of trouble, boy, it's hard just surviving the walk to and from school. Our T.J. Homes is here with our a.m. original series "Walk In My Shoes." Fifty-two minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Moveon.org is now targeting Joe Lieberman saying it's had enough of the Senator, launching a huge ad campaign to make sure that every last Connecticut voter knows. Members are donating almost $350,000 to the cause; that was just in a few hours.
ROBERTS: Yes. The former Democrat turned independent may be the most hated man in America, at least if you're talking about liberals, for throwing a wrench into health care reform. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on how critics are expressing their outrage on the Internet. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): From the days of high-fives, Joe has hit a new low among liberals.
UNKNOWN MALE: Isn't Joe Lieberman particularly odious?
MOOS: From regular Joes on the Internet to progressive radio hosts.
UNKNOWN MALE: Schmuck? The sour little prune. This man turns my stomach.
MOOS: They have turned on Joe, saying he has turned on health care. Traitor Joe plasted on a doggie T-shirt. He is being mocked.
UNKNOWN MALE: My crummy Joe Lieberman impression.
MOOS: And this hostage video, Lieberman was accused of holding the health care bill hostage.
UNKNOWN MALE: I can do whatever I want to it unless you give me what I want.
MOOS: Senator Lieberman hasn't been fed to the liberal lions yet, but he's been fed to the cats.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, (I) CONNECTICUT: I can tell you inside myself I've not enjoyed this period of time. I've done what I thought was right.
MOOS: Yes, right, say liberal blogs. "The Huffington Post" asked readers, what would you give Joe Lieberman for Hanukkah and got suggestions like a muzzle or a horse's head like in "The Godfather."
The Left-Wing Daily Post posted a poll asking, which word describes Joe Lieberman and offering only the same word, so much for multiple choice.
On YouTube, Joe Lieberman's eyes and other body parts were fried in hell.
MOOS (on-camera): Now, you'd think Senator Lieberman would be feeling the pressure of all this liberal hate, all the bad vibes, the insults being hurled at him.
MOOS (voice-over): He was still putting the Joe in jovial. CNN's Dana Bash asked about those who bash the senator, saying he's enjoying the limelight.
LIEBERMAN: It's no fun to have your colleagues be angry at you. All right. Am I excused?
UNKNOWN FEMALE: You are excused, sir.
MOOS: Not by everyone. UNKNOWN FEMALE: What do you think of Joe Lieberman?
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It gets so creative on the Internet.
CHETRY: Yes, they sure do. There you go. They plugged in though what's going on
ROBERTS: They are. Joe Lieberman, it's like a love him or hate him type of thing these days. Under a lot of pressure obviously.
Soledad O'Brien has a follow up on a report to the 2008 killing of a Latino immigrant in the small Pennsylvania town. Was there a cover-up? There has been a big development in that case. Now, it's been classified a hate crime. We've got that and the top stories coming your way in 90 seconds. Stay with us.
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