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American Morning
Ninth Militia Suspect Arrested in Plot to Kill Police; Nine Students Arrested for Teen's Suicide; RNC's $2,000 Erotic Club Tab; Karl Rove Heckled; Fighting Foreclosures; "Just Vote them Out"; Tea Party Express on Tour; Muslim Leaders: Be Counted;
Aired March 30, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us. It's Tuesday, March 30th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Here are this morning's top stories.
A tense standoff in Michigan late last night. A ninth suspected member of an anti-government militia arrested. The FBI says the group was plotting to kill police officers. We're live on the ground in Michigan as state and federal authorities wrap up a three-day raid.
CHETRY: Nine students in Massachusetts indicted for allegedly bullying a 15-year-old classmate so mercilessly that she killed herself. Three of those kids could face life behind bars. And now it looks like a lot of students and teachers at the school chose to remain silent instead of stepping up to help.
ROBERTS: The Republican National Committee is investigating how nearly $2,000 of its campaign account was spent at an adult Hollywood hot spot known for topless dancers and simulated sex.
Chairman Michael Steele under fire this morning. The party donor who racked up the bill is gone, but Republicans say he will repay the money. We're following the fallout from Washington.
And of course, as it is every day, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. We want to hear from you about the RNC stripper club scandal or anything that's in the news this morning. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX and we'll be reading your comments throughout the morning.
CHETRY: But developing now, a three-day raid ends with a tense late night standoff and the ninth man accused of belonging to an anti- government militia is now behind bars. That man, 21-year-old Joshua Matthew Stone, is due in court today. The FBI says he's part of his father's so-called Christian warrior militia, the Hutaree. Eight others including Stone's father are also in custody.
The group is accused of plotting to kill police officers and their Web site says that they were preparing for the coming of the anti-Christ. But the biggest shock to those living nearby was that it was happening right under their noses and they had no idea. CNN special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin is live in Adrian, Michigan, with our security watch this morning.
Hi, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. And you hit it on the head. We're in Adrian, Michigan. We're southwest of Detroit.
What these people were planning according to a federal indictment, they were going to lure a cop to them, either through a fake 911 call or a traffic stop or even go try and kill a police officer and his family. And then during the funeral for that police officer, they were going to attack the funeral with IEDs and then sink back into the woods and hopefully, according to them, there'd be some kind of a big implosion with all these militia groups coming to their aid and attacking the federal government. That was the plan. Here in Adrian, Michigan, people just can't believe that plan was being carried out right under their own noses.
CHETRY: You know, Drew we always --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Videos, training for assaults, firing weapons. All the more scary to Jane and Bruce Holey who found out about the Hutaree from news reports, went to a Web site to look them up and literally saw their neighbors practicing war on tape.
BRUCE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: There's things on the Web site showing all this training. It is obviously, we can pick out landmarks --
JANE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: Oh, yes.
B. HOLEY: -- it was done in our neighborhood.
GRIFFIN (on camera): So this training or military filming that they were doing, although you didn't know it was happening, it was happening right here.
B. HOLEY: It was happening right there.
J. HOLEY: And one shot is them walking down the street with all their guns and everything, it's like how did we not know? It was how did we not know?
GRIFFIN (voice-over): What they didn't know was that members of the Hutaree militia allegedly were preparing for a major battle against their own country, describing themselves as Christian warriors. They have used their Web site to declare war on law enforcement and all foot soldiers of the federal government. According to that Web site, they're driven by biblical teachings they believe command Christians to take up arms in defense of the one true church of Christ. How attacking the federal government fits into that plan is unclear. This weekend, authorities moved in on this set of trailers in a rural corner of Michigan and arrested 45-year-old David Brian Stone, the man identified as the group's leader, also known as Captain Hutaree. Stone's wife Tina was also arrested, as was his 19-year-old son David Brian Stone Jr. All told, eight members of the group were rounded up over the weekend. The ninth, Joshua Matthew Stone, arrested Monday night.
Prosecutors alleged the group was plotting to kill a police officer then set off bombs at the funeral in order to kill even more law enforcement agents. David Brian Stone's ex-wife was not surprised by his arrest.
DONNA STONE, EX-WIFE OF ALLEGED MILITIA LEADER: Yes, he's got a temper. He can get radical and he wants things done his way.
GRIFFIN: But the younger Stone's fiancee said he had done nothing wrong.
BRITTANY BRYANT, FIANCEE OF ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBER: He wasn't been in it because we had a baby together. And once we had a baby and we got engaged, he stopped doing it for a while.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Kiran, how could this all take place? All this gunfire going on all around this neighborhood? First of all, the neighborhood, the closest neighbor is about a quarter a mile away. There's a fireworks factory nearby that does some testing. And people say, look, a lot of folks around there just hunt all the time. There's a lot of target practicing. Literally all this gunfire was going unnoticed in this area.
CHETRY: Quite surprising. Drew Griffin for us this morning, thanks so much.
We're going to be talking more about this throughout the morning. In fact, coming up in just about 25 minutes, more on this group that called themselves the Christian warriors. We're going to be talking to Michael Lackomar. He's a member of the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia. He trained with this group in the past and knows some of its members.
ROBERTS: Nine high school students in western Massachusetts face criminal charges this morning for allegedly bullying a 15-year-old classmate so relentlessly that she committed suicide. And prosecutors say plenty of people at the school failed to speak up until it was too late.
Alina Cho is tracking the story for us this morning. She's with us. And it looks like another tragic case where too many people decided to look the other way.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, so many disturbing and heartbreaking aspects to the story. But that may be the most disturbing, guys. You know, Phoebe Prince and her family had just moved to Massachusetts from Ireland in the past year. And some believe that part of the reason she was abused was because she was new and because she was from another country. Prosecutors say she took her own life following an especially torturous day in which she was verbally harassed and threatened with physical abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The harassment reported to have occurred that day in the school's library appears to have been conducted in the presence of a faculty member and several students but went unreported to school administrators until after Phoebe's death.
CHO (voice-over): Phoebe Prince was just 15 years old when she hanged herself in a stairway in the building where she lived with her parents, South Hadley, Massachusetts, about 100 miles from Boston. Prosecutors say it wasn't an accident that she was driven to suicide by relentless abuse.
SCHEIBEL: The events of January 14th were not isolated. Rather they were the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally abusive assaulted behavior and threats of physical harm towards Phoebe on school grounds by several South Hadley high school students.
CHO: Nine students were indicted. Three will be prosecuted as adults. Among them, 17-year-old Sean Mulveyhill, facing charges of statutory rape and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. 18-year-old Austin Renaud also faces statutory rape charges. And 17-year-old Kayla Narey. She'll answer to criminal harassment and civil charges.
Phoebe and her family had recently moved to western Massachusetts from Ireland. Students say the torment she endured was harsh. Books routinely knocked out of her hands. Her face scribbled out of photographs on school walls. Threatening text messages constantly sent to her cell phone. The D.A. says the alleged bullying --
SCHEIBEL: Appears to have been motivated by the group's displeasure with Phoebe's brief dating relationship with a male student that had ended some six weeks previous.
CHO: At South Hadley High School, students were stunned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until you guys came around, I had no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they need to be prosecuted. You know, it's not right at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think they should face charges?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they had anything to do with, they should.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: Phoebe Prince isn't the first student in the area to commit suicide in recent months. Last year, an 11-year-old boy subjected to harassment also killed himself.
Now after that suicide, the Massachusetts legislature actually stepped up work, guys, on an anti-bullying law but so far that bill has not passed. And as we discussed, you know, so many disturbing aspects to the story. It appears at this point that school administrators, teachers and other staff members were aware of this abuse against Phoebe Prince but they did nothing to stop it.
ROBERTS: It raises the question, where the heck were the school administrators?
CHO: Right. Well, a lot of people there are outraged as you might imagine. They're calling for the superintendent to resign. So far there's been no action on that. They have created an anti- bullying task force, but we have seen this happen before. We'll have to wait to see what happens.
CHETRY: The other big question is how do you enforce an anti- bullying law?
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: I mean, it's really up to the people that were there that witnessed it to come forward.
CHO: That's absolutely right. It's absolutely right. It is hard to enforce.
I mean, one thing that was just so heartbreaking was that in her obituary in a local Massachusetts paper this morning, it said that her family moved here to the United States in part so they could be with relatives but also in part so that Phoebe could experience America. And so to hear that and that she had come to this country because she wanted so badly to live here and for this to happen is just heartbreaking.
ROBERTS: We're sure we're going to hear a lot more about this. Alina, thanks so much.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: What do you think should happen to the nine people under arrest? We want to hear from you. Go to CNN.com/amFIX and leave a comment on our live blog this morning.
CHETRY: We're nine minutes past the hour. Also new this morning, a day of mourning in Russia after investigators say that female suicide bombers attack two subway stations in Moscow. Thirty- eight people in all were killed in those attacks yesterday. Russia's federal security service says that Chechen rebels are responsible for the bloodshed.
ROBERTS: The military's top commander touching down in southern Afghanistan early this morning. Admiral Mike Mullen is there to get an update on the massive U.S.-led campaign to root out Taliban fighters in the town of Marjah.
CHETRY: State and federal disease detectives are in Georgia investigating a spike in the number of people hospitalized with the H1N1 virus. In the past two weeks, state officials say that 70 to 80 people have been hospitalized. That's the most since last September.
ROBERTS: And one step closer to no mail on Saturdays. Today, the U.S. Postal Service will file a plan with an independent commission to cut one day a week from the delivery schedule by early 2011. The move is a way to cut debt and save the agency $5.1 billion by 2020.
CHETRY: Are you ready for a Verizon iPhone? Well, according to "Wall Street Journal," Apple plans to unveil two new iPhones this summer, including one that could work on the Verizon network. Right now, the iPhone is only available on AT&T's wireless network.
ROBERTS: And a state of emergency declared in Massachusetts. A storm is threatening to dump up to seven inches of rain flooding roads and basements. Already, more than 11 inches of rain have fallen in Boston this month making it the wettest March on record.
CHETRY: And Boston is not alone in terms of setting records for rain totals. So we'll check in with Rob Marciano right now. He's got a look at some of the other places that got an extremely large amount of rain in a short period of time.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. Not only Boston, but Providence, Rhode Island, setting a record for the month of March, the wettest month of March on the record books. And take a look at just this last 24 hours. So it's saturated to say the least.
Pawtucket 3.9 inches; Provident, Rhode Island, some 3.44; Groton, Connecticut, 3.1; Norfolk, Virginia, 3 inches. And out in the island, Montauk seeing just under 3 inches.
Low pressure is still off the Delmarva so the moisture continues to stream in. And it's going to rain heavy at times, especially Manhattan north and eastward. Jersey luckily will see less in the way of rainfall today.
The winds are still gusting. We're seeing gusts over 30 miles an hour at LaGuardia, so it is just a nasty, nasty morning. The rain and the wind will begin to subside, but not until probably after lunch. So flood warnings are up through then and especially eastern parts of New England are going to get the brunt of this.
Temperatures will be in the 50s but note the orange in the midsection of the country. Once you guys dry out, the entire eastern half the country are going to get into, I want to say, extreme warm-up but a notable warm-up over the next several days. It might even pop up the five-day forecast for the metro area of New York just to kind of give you guys a little bit of hope. I think you'll like it.
John, Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: We need some hope right now, really bad.
ROBERTS: Be able to hang out our laundry. All the clothes that got wet in the rain. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Well, the Republican National Committee's $2,000 tab at a sex-themed club raising some eyebrows. The GOP and the RNC actually weighing in and responding to what happened. We're going to have more about that scandal ignited after a consultant charged and was reimbursed for his night out in an erotic Hollywood hot spot. That's coming up at 6:15 Eastern.
ROBERTS: At 6:25, the Tea Party USA tour headed by Sarah Palin, playing their greatest hits including "Just Vote Them Out." We'll take a look at what is bringing so many people out and making so many people angry.
CHETRY: And at 6:40, the 2010 census count is underway, but not everyone wants to be counted. We're going to tell you what's being done to get skeptical Muslims to participate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour.
The Republican National Committee confirms that it paid nearly $2,000 for a tab at an erotic nightclub in Los Angeles. The Republicans' monthly disclosure report to federal election officials included tens of thousands of dollars for rides in private jets and limousines, but it was a consultant's night out with topless dancers at this club that is raising eyebrows, and this morning, there are questions about Chairman Michael Steele's judgment.
The GOP leader say what happened was wrong. The money will be repaid, and it will not happen again.
Here's Tom Foreman from Washington with the breakdown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As California hot spots go, Voyeur is on fire right now. YouTube is full of videos from Hollywood.TV of the hip crowd pouring in.
The club features risque live floor shows with lesbian and bondage scenes, but a visit there by a political consultant has put Republican National Committee boss Michael Steele in the hot seat because federal records show his committee -- that's right, the RNC, paid for it.
Andy Barr with Politico has been investigating.
ANDY BARR, THE POLITICO: -- there and the whole thing is just kind of weird. The RNC is saying that Michael Steele was not at the nightclub. They're totally denying that. But, at the same time, they're not offering a lot of proof for what did or didn't happen.
FOREMAN: Federal Election Commission record show Eric Brown, a Republican donor, was reimbursed almost $2,000 for a night that included a visit to the club where topless dancers perform.
The committee says the incident is being investigated, but none of it bodes well for Steele, who's been under fire from a wide range of Republicans ever since taking the top party post; by Conservatives, after he attacked Rush Limbaugh and later apologized; by moderates for suggesting he'd lead a right wing attack against them; and by some of the party faithful for his spending, and because they fear he is not positioning the GOP well enough to hammer vulnerable Democrats in upcoming elections.
BARR: He's a huge distraction for Republicans who want to win this fall.
FOREMAN: The RNC says Brown will now give back the money for that night at the nightclub, but for Steele, the incident has laid bare another problem.
FOREMAN (on camera): We called Eric Brown and received no response, but the RNC is suggesting that he too may have been caught up in an ill-considered move by some staff members who are no longer with the committee.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And here's your chance to weigh in on all of this. So what do you think should happen to RNC Chairman Michael Steele and why didn't this expense raise any red flags until now?
Join the conversation on our live blog at cnn.com/amfix.
CHETRY: Well, hecklers chased off former Bush adviser Karl Rove from his book signing in Beverly Hills, California last night. A group that opposes U.S. involvement in the Iraq War called Rove a liar. One woman even tried to make a citizen's arrest of Rove.
Dave Bryan from CNN affiliate KCAL has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL ROVE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: No, no, no. I didn't say go ahead. I would say you get away.
DAVE BRYAN, KCAL-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former White House Senior Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was shouted down and forced to leave by a small group of anti-war protesters at a book signing event in Beverly Hills.
The co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink tried to make a citizen's arrest of Rove and advanced toward him with a pair of handcuffs.
JODIE EVANS, CO-FOUNDER, CODE PINK: Look what you did. You -- you outed a CIA officer. You lied to take us to war. You ruined the country. Totally ruined the country.
BRYAN: As Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans was pushed away, another protester confronted Rove, charging he's a war criminal.
ROVE: Here's the deal --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only comfort I take is that you're going to rot in hell.
BRYAN: With no visible security around, Rove was left to fend for himself and engage the protesters in some heated exchanges.
ROVE: With all due respect, this goes to show the totalitarianism of the left. They don't believe in -- they don't believe in dialogue. They don't believe in courtesy. They don't believe in First Amendment rights for anybody but themselves.
BRYAN: The signs of conflict came early in the program when another anti-war member of the audience accused Rove of participating in a campaign to purposely lie to and mislead the American people about Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction.
ROVE: You know what? If you want to keep interrupting me, you can get the heck out of here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, about 10 protesters showed up for the book signing. No one was arrested.
Rove's book "Courage and Consequence" ranked third on the New York Times Non-fiction Bestseller List last week.
ROBERTS: Well, the White House for a second time trying to stop the swell of foreclosures in America. Our Christine Romans is working the story this morning. She's here with an early look. Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Three hundred twenty-two foreclosure filings every minute in 2009. We're expecting at least that many this year. The Obama administration ramping up its efforts to try to save your biggest investment -- your house, pumping more money into this, $600 million more.
We're going to tell you what neighborhoods, what states are going to get this cash. That's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the White House is trying to help homeowners again. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning, and as we know, the first try at the help for homeowners did not work out well at all according to the Inspector General.
And so, now they're going back at it.
ROMANS: They're going back at it, and this is the second big new tweak of the program that we've seen in -- in just about a week, Kiran and John. And this is more money to help states deal with the housing crisis.
And the -- the goal here from the Treasury Department is to put $600 million of your bank bailout money, by the way, that TARP money, into state housing agencies so they can come up with innovations, as they say, to try to figure out how to fix this mess.
They're finding out that when you look at the big picture and you start from the top down, you know, it hasn't really been successful, as -- as many would have liked. But if you can get into these communities and -- and help the local people find ways to solve the problem, it might help.
This is going to be $172 million to Ohio. Why Ohio getting the most? Because Ohio has the most people living in counties with very high unemployment.
Rhode Island will get $43 million, North Carolina and South Carolina each getting more than $100 million, and Oregon getting $88 million.
This is the second phase of this, by the way. These are five states on top of these red states that have been a very serious problem. Nevada -- do you know that in Nevada 70 percent of the home mortgages are underwater? Incredible. That is -- that is really the worst place in the country.
California, 35 percent of all home mortgages are underwater, meaning a third of the people who live in California, their home is worth less than their mortgage. Arizona, Michigan and Florida also have already had this.
The reason why these states are being focused is because there's 12 percent unemployment or higher in all of these places and they really need some desperate help.
So, the difference here, you guys, is that now this rescue is switching. The rescue is switching to try to give state and local housing agencies a little more authority, a little more money so that they could try to figure out new innovations, as the Treasury Department says, to try to slow down the pace of foreclosures and help people who can be helped, who do have a chance to save their home, even as their neighborhoods are literally imploding around them with foreclosures, Kiran and John.
ROBERTS: All right. Christine Romans for us this morning, "Minding Your Business". Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: We were telling you another arrest in the case of that Hutaree Christian militia late last night. In just a few minutes' time we're going to be speaking with a member of the Southeast Michigan volunteer militia about this whole thing and what it's all about.
Twenty-six and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-nine minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Time for an "A.M. Original". It's something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
"Get the government out of my life." That's what we're hearing from voters as the Tea Party Express rolls across the west this week.
Ed Lavandera has a look at what's bringing so many people out to join this movement.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, today is the fourth day of a 22-state rally as the Tea Party Express makes its way across the country from Nevada to Washington, D.C., and one of the big questions facing this group is whether it can remain organized and energized enough to influence the November elections.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Tea Party Express is on a "Vote Them Out" tour across the country, while the group's leaders are fighting off accusations that Tea Party members are advocating violence to bring about reform.
MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY EXPRESS CHAIRMAN: Don't believe the crock you're reading in some media about racism and about violence and threats of violence.
LAVANDERA: Nearly 2,000 people turned out for this rally in Saint George, Utah. Anger over health care and taxes and what they call out-of-control government spending has Anne McClain fed up. She drove down from Montana to join the Tea Party rally.
ANNE MCLAIN, TEA PARTY SUPPORTER: I've been watching what's happening in the country and I just see our rights disappearing. I see everything that I've ever believed in just slowly dying, and actually, quickly dying. Rights are being taken away very quickly. And our government doesn't listen to us any more. It's becoming more progressive, which to me is just code word for, you know, socialism, Marxism, all of those things.
LAVANDERA: Tea Party organizers are trying to build momentum and energy that will keep the Tea Party an influential force in congressional races across the country. You won't find many incumbents campaigning at these rallies, but you will find political hopefuls, like Neil Walter, looking for support -- a Republican trying to unseat Utah's only Democratic congressman. And he's speaking the Tea Party's language.
NEIL WALTER, CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: People are here to voice their discontent about the leadership that we have today and the direction that our country is going. And we've got to get back to some sound principles.
LAVANDERA: The most fervent supporters believe this is the beginning of a major political revolution. Kirk Dyorich brought his homemade "don't spend on me" banner down from Idaho.
KIRK DYORICH, TEA PARTY SUPPORTER: People are getting to that boiling point to where they are wanting to actually come out and make a difference, you know, in a peaceful, law-abiding way.
LAVANDERA: But some, like this self-described conservative Republican, is skeptical of the Tea Party's staying power.
GREG STEVENS, ST. GEORGE RESIDENT: I don't think that these national movements should be the -- you know, people shouldn't rely on those to make their decision. They need to meet the candidates, find out the issues, do the research, study and make their own opinion, form their own opinion. And not just come to something and be a cheer leader for their team.
LAVANDERA (on camera): The Tea Party Express will hold rallies in Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah, before moving into Colorado tomorrow -- John and Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Ed Lavandera for us this morning -- Ed, thanks so much.
We're crossing the half hour -- that means it is time for this morning top stories.
Many homeowners in the Northeast are afraid they're going to lose everything, again. It's been raining for more than a day and forecasters say the third major storm this month will continue for at least another day and a half. There is a state of emergency declared in Massachusetts, but neighboring Rhode Island may be under the biggest threat with the National Weather Service predicting serious and life-threatening flooding on the Pawtuxet River.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama's approval rating getting a boost after health care had passed. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey says that 51 percent of Americans approve of the job he's doing. That's up five points from before he signed health care reform into law.
ROBERTS: Less money, fewer flyers. It looks like the economy kept about 43 million people from flying in the United States last year. The government says that's a drop of more than 5 percent from 2008. Southwest Airlines had the most passengers of any domestic carrier for the third year in a row.
CHETRY: Well, it's the brain child of the Founding Fathers and it's under way right now -- the census count of 2010. The government is now mailing an additional 1.6 million census forms to addresses that it missed the first time around. So far, 46 percent of the people who've received the form have sent it back. Now, back in 2000, 72 percent of Americans filled out that form.
ROBERTS: One challenge for the Census Bureau is urging skeptical Arab-Americans why it is so important that they be counted.
Richard Roth joins us now.
And mosques are playing an important role on this, your census count.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
I went to Astoria, Queens section of New York City where there is a considerable Arab-American population. And we found still, there's some skepticism about filling out the census form, but mosques and other locations are trying to pump up the volume.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): The traditional Muslim call to prayer. This mosque is also issuing another call for compliance with the United States Census.
AMADA QUESADA, DAR AL-DAWAH MOSQUE: It's very important for us to educate our community how important the census is.
ROTH: The mosque says it's important the Muslim community in Queens is counted and represented. Institutions like these play an important role in persuading a wary population to take part.
IMAM MOHAMMED ELBAR: So -- I mean, census is something that is so important to me and I think it is a religious duty to do so.
ROTH: However, there is fear and concern in neighborhoods like these, suspicion of government questions runs high. These men from the Census Bureau spent the winter hitting the street spreading the census message.
AHMED SHADEED, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU: I came to this country almost 30 years ago and know the fear, I know how people think, and I'm one of them. Believe me, trust me.
ROTH: The census workers stress the questions are private and there are only 10, which should take 10 minutes to answer. But reaching out to the Muslim community could be difficult.
AYMAN GHALY, CENSUS BUREAU: Some of them in the community, it's Middle Eastern and they're Muslim. And you can go to knocking the door, and the female is there trying to answer to a male. So, that's not going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody knows -- show hand -- what is a census?
ROTH: In this Islamic school, a special census briefing --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more they know about us, the more they know we exist, the more money we can ask the government to give us.
ROTH: Census counters hope the children will prod their parents into answering the census.
AMIRELSAMAD ISI, STUDENT: Everyone is scared and all. But I think when you explain the positive effects and they think it's going to be good, they'll learn and they could tell other people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like simple questions can actually bring the whole United States together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Another thing that upsets Arab-Americans is they don't like that on the form, there's no place to put that you're Arab- American, that they have to put other. And there's a big campaign underway so that you check other and then you can write in Arab- American. They think they should be represented also in that way.
CHETRY: You can write -- I mean, you can check off more than one. They also say you can check off more than one. So -- but you can write in your nationality.
But -- do they think more people are going to do it? You said 46 percent so far.
ROTH: Over time, people do get the message. But in Queens, one of Census Bureau people said they are going to -- they're going to knock on doors. They can legally knock on a door of a home up to six times in their pursuit for the form.
ROBERTS: All right. Richard Roth for us this morning -- great to see you, Richard.
CHETRY: Thanks, Richard.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much.
We're 36-and-a-half minutes after the hour.
Of course, you've heard the story about the Hutaree Christian militia, what were they up to and what was their movement all about? We're going to talk with a member of another militia about all of that. This is a militia that actually did some training with the Hutaree some years ago. So, it'd be interesting to hear what Michael Lackomar has to say.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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ROBERTS: A Michigan man is due in court today. He is accused of being part of an anti-government militia called the Hutaree. The feds say they wanted to kill police officers. The group says their doctrine is based on faith and the testimony of Jesus.
CHETRY: Their insignia features the cross and spears and the letters CCR -- there you see it -- which stands for "Colonial Christian Republic."
And Southern Poverty Law Center though claims that there has been a 244 percent increase in active anti-government Patriot groups, those would include militias just last year alone. But could they all be considered really, all of them, a threat?
Joining us now with more about this is Michael Lackomar. He is a member of the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia.
And we featured your group, our Jim Acosta went out there to talk more about your group and what you guys do and what you believe. And thanks for joining us this morning.
MICHAEL LACKOMAR, MEMBER, SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER MILITIA: Good morning. How are you doing?
CHETRY: Great. I want to ask you about this group, because I know you have some experience with them. You're not a part of them. They allegedly plan to kill a police officer and then try to attack other officer who's would be then gathered for the funeral.
What do you know about this group?
LACKOMAR: Well, this is a group that I would classify as neither a militia, nor as a Christian group. They're really a fringe group, outside of anything we do.
ROBERTS: So, you do have some fairly extensive knowledge of them, Michael, because you had actually done some training with them some time ago. Can you tell us about that? And what happened to that brief cooperation?
LACKOMAR: Well, this was a little over three years ago. We had -- as we usually do -- we invite any group out there that want us to come and train with us to do so. And we had a new team come in. They were about six members at that time.
And the first thing I noticed them is they were all dressed identical. They all carried identical gear. Whereas most of us, since we're self-funded, most of us are family people, we just scrape together what we can afford.
CHETRY: Right. And when you said that you believe that they're not a militia and they're also not Christian but a fringe group -- what do you mean by that?
LACKOMAR: Well, first of all, a militia comprises the citizens of a community that stand up and assist the community in times of emergency. I would consider this more of a private army or a terrorist organization, or even just a criminal organization. I mean, they are really no more militia than an armed gang of thugs in Los Angeles against the police department.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROBERTS: Yet, at the same time, they seem to feel some affinity for your group. On Saturday when that raid was taking place on their compound, one of their leaders telephoned one of your leaders to say, "Hey, we've got this raid going on, come and help us."
Can you detail that a little more and what was the outcome of that phone call?
LACKOMAR: Well, it was the pleader of one of our affiliate organizations, a different militia that we have close ties with. Right after this all started going down, he got a phone call from the -- Josh Stone and was asked to meets Josh. Well, he showed up with two of his teammates, met Josh and five other people, which as it turns out are the five more that were taken into custody yesterday.
CHETRY: Right.
LACKOMAR: They were asking for help. They were asking for a place to hide. They were asking for a way to get out of the area. They said they were under attack by the ATF and that everybody else had been arrested.
Bu the team leader that they had contacted encouraged them to turn themselves in, didn't want anybody to get hurt, and to take care of this the right way.
ROBERTS: And now, I read one report that that team leader had actually tried to join the Hutaree at one point, but was refused entry. Is that correct?
LACKOMAR: Well, he had inquired about it. Like I said, they were a new unit.
ROBERTS: Yes.
LACKOMAR: They were different group than we've seen before and we really wanted to see what they were about. It wasn't that long after we started speaking with them that they start posting their posts on the Internet, the rambling diatribes and we decided that they didn't really identify with the cause the way we do.
CHETRY: Right. Well, I want to outline a couple of the allegations in this indictment, claiming that they were going to use IEDs, improvised explosive devices. And according to former FBI agent, Tom Fuentes, he said that if you look at it in terms of fire power, that they basically had the same amount of fire power as the attackers in Mumbai.
Do you think that they were capable of actually pulling off a large-scale attack?
LACKOMAR: The members of the group that I know and that I've trained with, while they were well-equipped, I would be surprised if they could pull off an operation of this size. They just didn't have the attention to detail. They didn't have the skills to do so.
Now, if they were being coached by the group leader, you know, he's the wild card in the whole situation. I have no idea what his capabilities are.
ROBERTS: The Hutaree, Michael, describes itself as a religious survivalist group and you call them a fringe group, perhaps even a terrorist group. But they said they were planning for a grand "end of days" battle against Satan, which some people have interpreted to potentially be the government. And one thing that many militias share is a distrust of government.
When our Jim Acosta went out there to visit you, you said that you thought that President Obama was potentially dangerous for this nation. And people at home may be a little confused as to, OK, how do you separate the ideologies of these various militias?
LACKOMAR: I've been looking for a chance to clarify that statement for a long time. By dangerous, I meant dangerous to the health of the nation, to the financial stability of the nation. I didn't -- I never believed that our president is going to bring an end to the nation. This group is more of a doom's day situation than just a, you know, the vote didn't go the way we wanted to.
ROBERTS: Right.
CHETRY: Right.
LACKOMAR: And what you have with these people, they truly believe that the government was being conducted by Satan.
CHETRY: Right.
LACKOMAR: We're not just the government is the anti- Christ. We're talking literally. And they believe that Jesus was going to return and they had to assist Jesus. Now, the rest of us in the movement, and those of us that follow religion realize that if Jesus were to come back today, he's not going to need my a-Qaeda to pull off what he needs to do.
CHETRY: You know, you also said in the interview when you said you want to clarify. You said that if Barack Obama came over, you, guys, would have him over for barbecue as well. But one of the things that we noted is this nearly 250 percent increase in militia groups. Why is it that right now it seems that there's a heightened interest. What have members said to you? Why are we seeing this growth?
LACKOMAR: Part of it is the gun rights issue. Everybody that has been put into place here in the government, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, all of them have consistent records of voting against gun right issues. Regardless what they're saying now. We look at the record and what they did. So, people are just hedging their bets.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks for joining us this morning and shedding a little bit more light on the situation. We appreciate it. Michael Lackomar. Thanks for being here.
LACKOMAR: Thank you for helping me clear up the differences between what they are and what we are.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks for coming on. We really appreciate it.
CHETRY: Forty-six minutes past the hour right now. Rob is going to be along with the morning's travel forecast right after the break.
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ROBERTS: Coming up on 10 minutes now to the top of the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's headlines. We got some big ones for you this morning. Rob Marciano in Atlanta with a look at the forecast. The northeast getting hammered yet again, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It'll start to wind down but not until later on this afternoon. This loaded really has traversed across cape cod and with it, at least the eastern side of it, a lot of rainfall with this, and the winds have really been hammering much o in Rhode Island, which if things don't go as according to plan, it could hit 16.5 feet later today. If that happens, they're calling a severe flooding expected and that would be worse than what happened two weeks ago.
Right now, I expect it to crest tonight at 16.1 feet. Again, if it goes a half foot above that, then we have a whole world of problems there. You see that raging river making just its way downstream.
All right. We got the wind as well. Winds have been gusting at La Guardia last hour to 39 miles an hour out of the north right now. So, that's making things even more miserable, and it's going to slow down flights, you better believe it, Boston, New York metros, D.C. metros, Philly as well. And there's other storm in the west coast as no picnic either with high wind watches posted with high wind warnings for them.
Warm and windy across the midsection which actually that is going to be the saving grace. Big changes on the way this week. Jet stream out to the east is going to shift and the trough is going to be replaced by a big ridge. That means warming and drying temperatures.
Today rainfall, yes, 100 percent, you better believe. It will taper off later on tonight, but look at the five-day forecast for the New York City metropolitan area, I will step out of the way so you can soak it in all its glory. Temperature is right around 70 degrees on Friday with nothing but sunshine, but until then certainly through today, it is a nasty, nasty go -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: You know, if you're going to get weather that nice, Rob, at the end of the week, you don't mind suffering just a little bit.
CHETRY: As long as the flooding stays at bay.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
CHETRY: Not quite alright. Rob, thanks.
ROBERTS: It is the very latest in survival cuisine. Cheeseburger in a can? Our Jeanne Moos checks it out coming up next. Stay with us.
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CHETRY: Wow. If we didn't want summer to come fast enough, we have to hear some Jimmy Buffet this morning.
ROBERTS: Another week, another week you can get out there which paired (ph) head on and chill out.
CHETRY: That's right. All right. Fifty-five minutes past the hour right now. It's time for Jeanne Moos. If Armageddon hits and you have a big Mac attack, you're in luck, kind of.
ROBERTS: That is, of course, if you have a cheeseburger in a can stocked away on the back of the shelf. Yes, the cheeseburger in a can that you boil. Jeanne Moos took the taste test for us.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a cheeseburger that doesn't come medium. It doesn't come rare. It comes in a can.
UNKNOWN MALE: I can hear something inside, yes.
MOOS: Oh, yes. An entire cheeseburger, bun, onions, tomato pulp, but yes, even some real beef. We fell for the cheeseburger in a can mystique. There was buzz about it on the Internet. Though it surfaced on Web sites like Dig Your Own Grave, it got no respect. Jay Leno even joked about it.
JAY LENO, HOST: They say that cheeseburger can last for a year in the can and up to two years in your colon.
(LAUGHING)
MOOS: Go ahead and laugh. What other cheeseburger has its own Facebook page. So, we ordered several from the Swiss company that sells them via the Internet mostly to campers.
You know, we were supposed to have more than one.
UNKNOWN MALE: Couldn't afford it?
MOOS: They got stuck in customs.
No wonder. Pretty frightening. We took our only can to the Parker Meridien Hotel's burger joint where the burgers are rated among the best in New York finds a gap (ph). Boil it for ten minutes.
UNKNOWN MALE: Okay.
MOOS: And by it, we mean the whole can.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Oh my God, it closed.
MOOS: Sometimes, it rattles. Web taste testers were sorted to scissors to a flipper to fish it out.
Do you think I should flip it?
UNKNOWN MALE: Do you think it can overcook?
MOOS: Do you think it's overpriced? Each burger is about $6.50. It's the shipping that really adds up. It sort of looks like Spam, you know.
The Parker Meridien chef, the hotel's managing director, and a guest served as guinea pigs as we exchanged meaningful glances.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: It's gross.
UNKNOWN MALE: It's like bad salami.
MOOS: You seem sort of speechless.
UNKNOWN MALE: I am?
MOOS: But the guest wasn't?
UNKNOWN MALE: It's really good. Yes. A little chewy but good. Awesome. Is that meat?
MOOS: Okay. So, maybe it doesn't look quite as tasty as advertise, and certainly, it doesn't live up to Jimmy's Buffett's famous song.
So what? It looks like leftover cat food. Just wash it down with another product from the same company, powdered red wine.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
UNKNOWN MALE: Why bother to boil it? MOOS: New York.
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