Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Stabbing Suspect Arrested at Atlanta Airport; Federal Judge Lifts Stay, Kills Prop 8; JetBlue Flight Attendant Wants Job Back; Group + Coupon = Groupon; Pop Culture Sending a Bad Message?; New Orleans: Law & Disorder; "Superbug" Spreads to U.S.; Superbug Spreads to U.S.; Punt Sized Opera Singer
Aired August 13, 2010 - 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 morning, and thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's Friday, and it's the 13th of August.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I thought you weren't going to mention it because it would be bad vibes.
ROBERTS: Are you a triskaidekaphobiac (ph)
COSTELLO: I don't believe so.
ROBERTS: Oh, that's a good thing.
COSTELLO: But I could have that.
ROBERTS: That's if you're afraid of Friday the 13th, that's what you are. We'll be talking about that this morning. Triskaidekaphobiacs as well, people who are afraid just of the number 13. I'm John Roberts.
COSTELLO: Too much to wrap my mind around this morning.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello. Kiran Chetry has the day off. A lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
Brand-new details of a serial stabbing suspect caught at the airport trying to flee to Israel. We now have a name and it turns out cops had him at least twice before he almost slipped out of the country.
ROBERTS: Same-sex couples in California could be free to marry once again. A federal judge striking down Proposition 8. The ruling taking effect next Wednesday giving the other side five days to appeal. In the meantime, city halls across the state are gearing up for what could be a tidal wave of weddings.
COSTELLO: And New Orleans right now dealing with a violent crime wave. The city averaging one murder every other day. People are scared and they want help. Drew Griffin of CNN special investigations unit has details on the new tactic to stop the violence.
ROBERTS: And the amFIX blog is up and running this Friday morning. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
COSTELLO: But first up this morning, the manhunt is over but the questions are just beginning. There is brand-new information this morning about the serial stabbing suspect and his prior brushes with the law.
ROBERTS: We were the first to break the news of his arrest yesterday morning, and now we know who he is. Police say Elias Abuelazam went on a violent rampage across three states and came this close to slipping out of the country. And authorities apparently missed chances to stop him sooner.
Our Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Washington this morning. She has been digging through her sources, coming up with information. And, Jean, what are we looking at in terms of this guy potentially being within range of being caught but still going free?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they didn't know he was a suspect at the time, but now they do. He is an Israeli citizen and he was arrested as he was about to board a flight to his home country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Authorities believe this man is responsible for stabbings in Michigan, Ohio and Virginia. Five of them fatal. Elias Abuelazam, a 33-year-old Israeli citizen living legally in the U.S., was arrested Wednesday night as he was about to board a Delta flight to Tel Aviv.
DAVID LEYTON, GENESSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN PROSECUTOR: Suspect was loaded -- located, rather, at the boarding gate of Atlanta's Hartsfield airport and was called to the front of the boarding area where he surrendered without incident to customs agents.
MESERVE: The stabbings began in May. The last one was just last weekend. They attracted national publicity because there were so many and so many of the victims were African-American. 17-year-old Etwan Wilson was one.
ETWAN WILSON, SURVIVED ASSAULT: I pushed off of him and ran -- ran to the first house I've seen with the light on.
MESERVE: During the investigation, police released a composite drawing and surveillance tape of a green SUV. A tip eventually connected Abuelazam with the car and the crimes and when authorities realized he was en route to Israel, they moved in. Though Abuelazam recently worked in Michigan, he lived for a time in this house in Leesburg, Virginia. A man who lived just steps away was stabbed and bludgeoned to death last year. The murder is still unsolved. The victim's daughter remembers Abuelazam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seemed to be pretty nice. His whole family did.
MESERVE: Officials in Virginia and Michigan had different responses when asked if the stabbings were race related.
CHIEF JOSEPH PRICE, LEESBURG, VA POLICE: My belief is he selected the victims in Leesburg based upon the color of their skin.
LEYTON: We don't have any other evidence that suggests it's racially motivated. I'm not saying it's not, but what I'm saying is, is that without more evidence, I'm not going to make that statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: On August 5th, a week ago Thursday, Abuelazam was arrested in Arlington, Virginia on an outstanding misdemeanor assault warrant. He was driving a green SUV and inside, officials say, police found a knife and a hammer. A hammer was used along with a knife in one of the stabbings, but at that time authorities had not connected Abuelazam or the car with the crimes. He was released and just hours later there was another stabbing in Virginia. John, Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Jeanne, it's so confusing. If the killings weren't racially motivated, why did this guy allegedly do this?
MESERVE: Well, they aren't speculating on why he did this. Yesterday, there were several questions at the press conferences about it. There was a refusal in the Michigan press conference to speculate on what the motive might be. There's still very much in the investigative phase now.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve in Washington this morning with the latest. Jeanne, thanks.
In the next five days, same-sex couples could once again be tying the knot in California. It is a watershed moment for gay rights activists who fought hard for the freedom to marry.
COSTELLO: Celebrations erupted yesterday after a federal judge announced the state's ban on gay marriage can no longer be enforced. More now on the ruling from Dan Simon in San Francisco.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barring a reversal from an appeals court, same-sex couples here in California can resume getting married next Wednesday, August 18th, at precisely 5:00 p.m. That was what was in the judge's ruling. Judge Vaughn Walker issuing that ruling here at San Francisco's city hall. We've got numerous same-sex couples in line hoping to get marriage certificates and get married, but now the judge saying that cannot take place until next Wednesday. We talked to people on both sides of the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE OTTERSTADT, SUPPORTS PROP 8: It undermines the definition of marriage, the institution of marriage, in the same way that a counterfeit dollar bill affects the dollar bill, the real dollar bill in my pocket. It undermines the value of that because it takes away and puts something false in there as something that's true.
PHILLIP ALVARADO AND MATTHEW HAWK, OPPOSE PROP 8: It's life and it will happen for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like one step forward --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But you know, like, it's life and you got to take it through its courses. So we're not going to give up.
PROTESTERS: Free to marry. Free to marry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: We have a statement here from the National Organization of Marriage which supported Proposition 8. It says, in part, "When a lower judge makes an unprecedented ruling that totally overturns existing Supreme Court precedent, the normal thing for that judge to do is stay his decision and let the higher courts decide.
Obviously Prop 8 supporters making it clear that they plan to appeal this ruling and try to keep this ban in place but barring any sort of decision or reversal from the appeals court, same-sex couples can get married in California once again beginning next Wednesday.
I'm Dan Simon reporting from San Francisco.
COSTELLO: But who knows for how long? We're going to get into that in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
OK. We have to talk about the saga of Steven Slater. I guess it's a never-ending story, isn't it?
ROBERTS: The 15 minutes are still taking on.
COSTELLO: That's right. And there's something kind of new this morning. The JetBlue flight attendant turned Internet folk hero, he wants his job back according to his attorney who added that's his life. His life is his job. But a JetBlue company memo obtained by CNN makes that sound quite unlikely. The memo states that "using the safety slide for any reason other than to protect passengers and crew, quote, "will not, and cannot be tolerated." The charges against Slater include two felonies, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, so his troubles have begun.
ROBERTS: And now, some of the passengers who are on-board that flight are coming forward saying, hey, wait a second, this just didn't happen like that. This guy was surly. This flight attendant, Steven Slater, was surly through the entire flight.
COSTELLO: From the beginning of the flight through the end.
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And then the cut on his head? Some people are saying it was already there, and that it wasn't a case of somebody's bag falling and hitting him in the head. ROBERTS: The full story yet to be told on this one.
Now, though, to a true story of true love that got off to a bit of a rocky start. Matt Cawley thought he had the perfect plan to pop the question to his girlfriend. He tied the nearly $9,000 family heirloom diamond ring to a sand dollar and placed it on a Massachusetts jetty. Yes, you know where this one's going. But when his girlfriend picked up the sand dollar, the ring fell off and slipped between the rocks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT CAWLEY, LOST ENGAGEMENT RING: I just kept saying the ring. And she was like what ring? She's like, wait, you bought a ring? Wait, we're getting married? What? It's like, what is going on?
STACEY SCANLON, LOST ENGAGEMENT RING: It's so indescribable, like all of our feelings at once. It was, you know, just you were panicked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The couple searched for hours but came up empty. Luckily, though, the ring was insured. Let's hope that the -- let's hope that the --
COSTELLO: And that makes it so much more romantic.
ROBERTS: She doesn't say whether she accepted or not.
COSTELLO: Well, after he did that kind of irresponsible thing with the ring, you'd have to think twice.
ROBERTS: Wait a minute. Irresponsible?
COSTELLO: OK, you're on a beach.
ROBERTS: Oh, you are --
COSTELLO: You tie the ring to a sand dollar.
ROBERTS: You are the hopeless romantic, aren't you?
COSTELLO: You notice she didn't say yes, though.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Maybe she did.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll look it up. We'll get more information for you.
ROBERTS: We'll give them a call and find out what happened.
COSTELLO: I think we should.
The biggest storms on the planet are controlled by the tiniest creatures in the sea. And they probably have that ring right now.
Discovery.com has the goods on a new study showing that plankton can actually determine whether a tropical system spins into a monster hurricane, and plankton can even stir mature storms across the ocean. The study comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA. Plankton are everywhere in the ocean, as you know from watching "Sponge Bob Square Pants," and their bodies tint the blue water to a green color. That's what plankton does. That green-colored water traps light and heat and hurricane- like warm water.
ROBERTS: Wow.
COSTELLO: Got all that?
ROBERTS: Perfect opportunity to check in with Rob Marciano who's at the weather center in Atlanta. And that's some pretty interesting information. So what does that mean about what's going on with the storms like the tropical depression we saw in the last couple of days that fizzled out and a couple before that had?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well -- yes, those were -- you got to remember that, you know, half the equation is what's going on above the water with the winds and the weather patterns. And that's what's killed these past couple of storms. And the other thing is I really never liked plankton to begin with. So the fact that they're messing with hurricane is really --
ROBERTS: They're good sauteed in butter.
COSTELLO: Oh, no.
MARCIANO: Right up there with escargot, right? Yes.
All right, guys, listen. A couple of rain showers across New York, down to Philly and D.C. Nothing like we saw yesterday morning where it was just coming down to beat the band across the nation's capital with severe weather in through Maryland. These are more, you know, run of the mill showers, just kind of wet the pavement on your way to work.
More severe weather across parts of the upper Midwest, in through Minneapolis. Severe weather watch boxes up for that.
This is a cool front that's trying to make its way south and east and will have a harder time to go south than it will east. And places like St. Louis and Dallas will once again be smoking hot today. A slew of triple-digit record highs which we'll detail later on.
Hey, you didn't get outside last night. Check out these (INAUDIBLE) meteor showers. A couple of iReports to show you. This is probably the best meteor shower of the year, and it happens every year if you missed it. That's with total atomic kind of interacts with the earth's atmosphere and you could see some shooting stars. So if you're waking up real early, well, listen, on the west coast, get out there if your skies are clear. You may still catch a few of these. And don't forget to make a wish.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MARCIANO: See you, guys. Yes, there's the romantic in me, Carol. Huh?
COSTELLO: Oh, would you tie your ring to a sand dollar and put it on the beach?
MARCIANO: No. Come on. That's just -- no. And you've got to have the bling that's why she didn't say yes. You made a good point there.
ROBERTS: You know, sand dollars are very spiritual things.
COSTELLO: They are?
ROBERTS: Yes.
MARCIANO: And quite unstable as far as holding rings go.
ROBERTS: Well, I guess it's just, you know, you've got to make sure that you attach it properly.
MARCIANO: He should have secured it more importantly.
ROBERTS: The all-important attachment.
COSTELLO: Figure it out when the tide was coming in and going out. Things like that.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
Well, finding the good fight. See how New Orleans' new mayor is trying to rebuild the city he loves as the cycle of violence there continues. It's a CNN special investigation.
COSTELLO: And Dr. Laura Schlessinger apologizing for an "n" word barrage on the air. We will play you the tape.
It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up now at 15 minutes after the hour. Talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger has apologized on the air for saying the "n" word several times during an on-air conversation about race with a caller this week. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: I was a little caught back by the "n" word that you spewed out. I have to be honest with you. But by point is, race relations --
DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER: Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians.
CALLER: But that doesn't make it right.
SCHLESSINGER: Yes. I think you have too much sensitivity --
CALLER: So it's OK to say "n"?
SCHLESSINGER: -- and not enough sense of humor.
CALLER: It's OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: Well, it depends how it's said.
CALLER: Is it -- is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?
SCHLESSINGER: It's -- it depends how it's said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it's OK.
CALLER: But you're not black. They're not black. My husband is white.
SCHLESSINGER: Oh, I see. So a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can't do much about that.
CALLER: I can't believe someone like you is on the radio, spewing out the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) word, and I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: I didn't spew out the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) word.
CALLER: You said, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
SCHLESSINGER: Right. I said that's what you hear.
CALLER: Everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: Yes, they did.
CALLER: I hope everybody heard it.
SCHLESSINGER: They did, and I'll say it again --
CALLER: So what makes it OK for you to say the word?
SCHLESSINGER: -- (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is what you hear on HB --
CALLER: What makes it --
SCHLESSINGER: Why don't you let me finish a sentence?
CALLER: OK.
SCHLESSINGER: Don't take things out of context. Don't double N -- NAACP me.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The ironic thing about this, of course, was the caller was black and she was having a problem with her white husband's family and she turned to Dr. Laura for help, and this is the conversation that she got.
Well, that was on Tuesday. That conversation took place on Tuesday. And, the next day, Dr. Laura Schlessinger said, "I talk about -- I talk everyday about doing the right thing, and yesterday I did the wrong thing. I was attempting to make a philosophical point and I articulated the "N" word all the way out more than one time and that was wrong. I'll say it again -- that was wrong."
So she said saying the actual word was wrong, but she's -- with -- you know, the context of the conversation, she didn't admit it was wrong in any way.
ROBERTS: Right. But, my goodness. What did she miss?
COSTELLO: Well, the saddest part is this woman obviously respected Dr. Laura and turned to her for help, and that's what she got.
ROBERTS: Well, sometimes things just go a little bit -- oh -- oh, well.
COSTELLO: Sometimes -- sometimes you just go, what?
ROBERTS: Some -- some things in life are just inexplicable, and I guess that's one of them.
If you like to go online for bargains, the odds are you've heard of Groupon.com. "Forbes" magazine is calling the site the fastest growing company ever. So how did its CEO make so much money by saving you money? We'll ask him, coming up next.
It's 17 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Cleveland may have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but there's another town in Ohio that claimed it rocks even more than Cleveland does. Next Saturday, for one day only, the town of Cridersville, Ohio will be renamed Snidersville after living metal legend Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. Remember him? He looks a lot different in that photo than he did back in the day.
This is all for charity. That same day, Snider will lead a March of Dimes Bikers for Babies motorcycle ride, all to raise money for premature babies -- John.
ROBERTS: You know, I -- I still have a scar on my elbow from where Dee Snider tackled me back in 1985 and gouged me with his --
COSTELLO: Wait. He tackled you?
ROBERTS: -- studded belt.
COSTELLO: He tackled you?
ROBERTS: He tackled me.
COSTELLO: Why?
ROBERTS: He was just having fun.
COSTELLO: Oh. I'll hear the rest of that story later.
ROBERTS: He's like that.
And there's another mystery to talk about.
It all goes without saying, we love a bargain, and a growing number of websites are pooling people together to get bargains. One of the first and one of the most popular is Groupon.com. It's a combination of group and coupon. Put those together you got Groupon.
It turns out that saving people money is big business. "Forbes" magazine calls Groupon the fastest growing company ever.
"Minding Your Business" this morning, I'm joined by Groupon's 29- year-old CEO Andrew Mason. Andrew, great to see you this morning. Thanks for joining us.
ANDREW MASON, FOUNDER AND CEO, GROUPON.COM: Thanks for having me, John.
ROBERTS: So Groupon really kind of redefines the term limited time offer. Quickly explain to people at home what Groupon does.
MASON: Sure.
So every day, for 24 hours, we have one deal on -- on great businesses in cities all over the world. It could be a restaurant, theater tickets, a spa, just about anything cool to do in the city, and there's always a minimum number of people that need to buy. As long as we hit that minimum, then everybody gets the deal. That way, the business owner is getting what they want, which is a huge number of new customers in the door, and the customer's getting a great price.
ROBERTS: So -- so is this really capitalizing on these -- on these bad economic times and the fact that if people can save money, they'll go do it?
MASON: We think that Groupon -- the reason it's taken off in the way that it has is it's an alternative to the classic city guide. It's a way from people to get out from in front of the computer and rediscover their cities. People are using it not just for Tide or the things that people traditionally use coupons for but for experiences, sky diving or getting bar tending or motorcycle lessons, all kinds of really interesting things.
So we think when the economy recovers, people will be even more inclined to get out of the house and have experiences and Groupon will do even better.
ROBERTS: You know, I'm -- I'm not really buying in -- I'm a member of Groupon. I'm not really buying into the social aspect of it. I'm Scottish by heritage, so I'm just looking for the deal.
But you -- you guys are laughing all the way to the bank here. You're -- you're headed for a billion dollars in sales in the not-too- distant future, and "Fortune" magazine says you are the fastest company to ever reach $1 billion in sales in this country's history. That's incredible.
MASON: Well, it's really resonated, and it's really -- it's really solved a problem for merchants. There's never been such an effective way to get customers in the door. In one day, we're often able to bring in thousands of new customers for a small business. Historical alternatives, like newspaper or radio advertising might only get them a couple dozen.
So we -- our biggest problem actually are these huge waiting lists, the overwhelming demand we have from merchants. We have something like 35,000 businesses just in the U.S. lined up to be featured.
ROBERTS: So -- so this, you're saying, is a different form of -- it gives people at home a bargain and this is a different form of almost advertising for the people who you sign up these businesses? Because you split the revenues 50-50, and in many cases the discounts are so deep that these companies are barely making any money on it.
MASON: Exactly. And they look at it as a way to get an amazing amount of exposure. In a city like Chicago, where we're based, an e- mail goes out exclusively about your business to hundreds of thousands of people. Our distribution is larger than, say, the "Chicago Tribune".
And then you're getting new customers in the door. You might break even, you might make some money. But then, those customers hopefully become customers for life, if you have a great business.
ROBERTS: Well, it's an interesting business model, a successful and one worth copying. I think some 200 companies have popped up since you guys started.
Quickly, how -- how do you maintain your competitive edge here?
MASON: We just keep focusing on improving the product for our -- for our customers. We recently announced a deal personalization, so now in a city, two different people will get different deals depending on gender, exact location, buying history, et cetera.
So our biggest -- our biggest concern from our customers -- our male customers would say stop sending me deals on manicure, pedicure packages. Female customers would say stop spending -- sending me deals on paintball, and -- and this allows us to -- to serve both better.
ROBERTS: Well keep the deals on golf coming. That was yesterday's here in New York City.
Andrew Mason, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much.
MASON: Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: Oh, you bet -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Wow. He's 29 years old, huh?
ROBERTS: Yes. Twenty-nine years old, and the company on track to do $1 billion in revenue maybe in the next year or so.
COSTELLO: I hate him.
ROBERTS: Imagine.
That's -- that's the second great Internet idea that I didn't come up with first. It was YouTube, and now Groupon.
COSTELLO: I know. I know. I'm with you.
ROBERTS: Dang.
COSTELLO: Have you heard the song "I Love the Way You Lie" by Rihanna and Eminem?
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. It's a good song.
COSTELLO: It is a good song. It's very catchy.
But domestic violence counselors are very concerned about it because they say it's sending out completely the wrong message about domestic violence, despite the intentions of Rihanna and Eminem.
ROBERTS: And -- and I told you about this this morning, and you were shocked that it's become one of the most popular songs to play in spin classes across the country.
COSTELLO: I believe my reaction was you've got to be kidding.
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Because if you listen to the lyrics, you might change your mind about liking this song.
We're going to get into that. It's this morning's "Gut Check."
It's 26 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
("LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE" VIDEO PLAYING)
COSTELLO: That song has become so popular. On YouTube right now, more than 30 million views of that video. That's how popular that song is.
ROBERTS: It's on my iPod.
COSTELLO: It's on your iPod?
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: You hear it in spin class. It's everywhere.
But domestic violence counselors are really worried about this song because they say it brings up this scary premise that domestic violence is somehow acceptable. Some who work with victims of abuse say the way domestic violence is portrayed in all of pop culture these days is at best confusing and at worst dangerous.
Keep in mind, one out of four women will suffer physical or psychological abuse in her lifetime. A "Gut Check" this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
("LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE" VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It's a video sensation some 30 million YouTube hits in just over a week. It stars Rihanna, whose battered face shocked the public just a year ago, and Eminem, who's known for his turbulent relationship with his ex-wife. Together, along with two beautiful popular actors, they tell the story after violent relationship.
(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The video ends with fire, then cuddling.
Rihanna wouldn't speak to CNN but she told "Access Hollywood" --
RIHANNA, SINGER: It was really a deep song and the lyric were so deep, so beautiful and intense. It's something that I understood, something that I connected with, which made me think it was a hit and I want to be a part of a hit. So, of course, I couldn't say no to Eminem.
COSTELLO: But some domestic violence experts say whatever Rihanna's intentions, she dangerously missed the mark.
AYONNA JOHNSON, WOMEN'S RESOURCES CTR. TO END. DOM. VIOLENCE: It illustrates a sense of normalcy to a very abnormal dysfunction. It also tried to portray domestic violence as this reciprocal relationship. You're loving me, you're hating me, you're abusing me, as well as I'm abusing you.
COSTELLO: Johnson says that's blaming the victim. It's become a common theme. Take Mel Gibson. He denies abusing his ex-girlfriend despite his alleged enraged rants.
JOHNSON: I've heard numerous feedback about Mel Gibson's former partner, Oksana, and the negative person that she is and she's a gold digger and she's this -- as if we're still not quite ready as a society to place responsibility and accountability where it lies which is on the abuser.
COSTELLO: And she says nothing illustrates that better than the case against Charlie Sheen. This is a 911 call from his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband had me -- with a knife. And I fear my life and he threatened me.
COSTELLO: Sheen did plead guilty to misdemeanor assault, his punishment? Rehab, counseling and community service. And he'll have ample time to star on his hit TV show.
(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Maybe the best thing about all of this is that we're talking about domestic violence, although advocates say not seriously enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Not seriously enough. And for those counselors who see thousands of victims every day, that's pretty scary. They say the message should be zero tolerance and they fear the Eminem video glamorizes violence, that the Mel Gibson case makes it a joke, and the Sheen case? They say it makes domestic abuse a crime without real punishment.
We want to know what you think this morning: is domestic violence becoming acceptable behavior somehow? Write to me on my blog at CNN.com/amFIX. And we'll read your comments in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Interesting footnote to the Charlie Sheen case as well, is that not long after he got out of rehab, he re-upped for CBS for "Two and a Half Men" for just shy of $2 million an episode.
COSTELLO: And what message does that send? Isn't he the highest paid actor on television now?
ROBERTS: Yes, I think so.
COSTELLO: Yes. So, domestic violence counselors worry about that, too. I mean, you hold a wife -- you hold a knife to your wife's throat and you're still a really popular comedian making lots and lots of cash.
ROBERTS: Yes.
Well, crossing the half-hour now, time for this morning's top stories.
The mug shot of the accused serial stabber. His name is Elias Abuelazam, a 33-year-old Israeli citizen. He was picked up Wednesday trying to slip out of the country in a flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv. And this morning, we're learning that he had at least a couple of brushes with the law in the United States where he has been linked to attacks.
COSTELLO: Wreckage from the plane crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens and four others has been recovered and brought back to Alaska's Dillingham Airport. Investigators are now finished with their work at the accident scene. NTSB officials say the search for the plane in the moments after it crashed Monday may have been delayed by hours because of communication breakdowns on the ground and problems with the aircraft's emergency beacon.
ROBERTS: And the founder of WikiLeaks says he's prepared to release another 15,000 documents from the war in Afghanistan, even though the Defense Department is warning him not to do it, calling it, quote, "the height of irresponsibility." Julian Assange says WikiLeaks staffers are going over the documents right now, analyzing information that could put lives in jeopardy. The Web site says it is committed to publishing the documents once that process is done and the documents have been appropriately redacted.
COSTELLO: New Orleans, it's a hotbed for violent crimes. And police have been playing catch-up ever since Hurricane Katrina really.
ROBERTS: Yes, residents say that they've had enough with a justice system they claim simply is not doing its job.
Our special investigations unit correspondent Drew Griffin joins us now live.
And, Drew, the city's mayor, Mitch Landrieu, is really trying to turn things around there.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John and Carol, and he's targeting the police department of New Orleans. Here's why -- 16 New Orleans police officers are now either under indictment or have pleaded guilty in post-Katrina related shooting, police officers. Two more are likely to be indicted.
The revelations just now coming out five years later showing cover-ups, planted guns by police, witnesses that the police simply made up and in one terrible case, a mentally disabled man gunned down like a wild dog on New Orleans' Danziger Bridge. The new mayor says he is trying to call what he calls, the mayor calls, one of the worst police departments in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): On this summer evening, not yet three months in office as New Orleans's new mayor, Mitch Landrieu's getting to know the city's poor neighborhoods.
MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS, LA: He tackled me! He tackled me. Did you see that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He almost tackled the mayor.
LANDRIEU: Why are you tackling for, you think you are a funny, huh? You think you're funny, don't you?
GRIFFIN: Landrieu and his new police chief, Ronal Serpas, are leading a walk in a show of police presence and support on this crime- riddled street.
This woman appeals for help to stop gunfire in a nearby park so children can play in safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) going boom, boom, boom. I went down there one day last week with my granddaughter. I had to lay on top of her. She's 5 years old.
GRIFFIN: On this street, guard dogs are no protection against gunshots in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saturday night between 11:00 and 11:30, my mother's house got shot up. There is bullet holes right there. A drive-by.
Come on. Let's go inside. Let's go.
Look. The bullet, it went through that window and went to the third room of my mother's house. Bullet went through here.
GRIFFIN: The new mayor concedes people are reluctant to trust police, with 16 officers now under indictment for pleading guilty in shooting deaths in the week after Hurricane Katrina. Two of the victims killed on this bridge.
(on camera): When you read the revelations in the Danziger Bridge case, not just the crime itself but the cover-up, can people in this city right now have faith in their police department?
LANDRIEU: No, I don't think so. The department is supposed to protect and serve. And right now, it's not doing either of those things well. My top priority as mayor is to make this city safe. It can't be safe without a police department that people trust.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Civil rights attorney, Mary Howell, says police failures have not only fed mistrust but have encouraged crime.
MARY HOWELL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: At the same time that we're having these terrible problems with corruption and brutality in the department, we also lead the nation in crime and in homicides and in violent crime.
GRIFFIN: In this first year in office for Mayor Landrieu, New Orleans has been averaging a murder every other day. Landrieu asks the Justice Department to come in and help reform his police force.
LANDRIEU: As a kid that grew up in the city of New Orleans, you know, you get very, very frustrated that things have been allowed to get this bad, but you have to acknowledge that, and then you have to right the ship and you have to turn it around and force it to go in the right direction. And that's what we're intent on doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: And to do that, John and Kiran, to right the ship, so to speak, the mayor has overhauled the management of the department, added civilian oversight and literally invited the U.S. Justice Department to basically partner with the NOPD more or less to try to show police how to do what the their motto says they should be doing, "To protect and to serve" -- John.
ROBERTS: One important point in all of this, Drew, is that the mayor has admitted that there's a big problem and the first step to attacking it is to admit that you've got one.
GRIFFIN: Yes, and that is a big first step. The second step is: does the mayor have the political -- I don't want to use too strong of a word here -- but the political capital to change this entrenched department?
I mean, if you go back into the history of this department, just recently, Marc Morial, when he was the mayor, tried to overhaul it and did make huge changes. But then, activists say, it just got worse and worse as soon as that mayor left.
So, it's hard to say, number one, if the changes will stick and it's hard to say if he'll be able to carry this out in the first place.
COSTELLO: I guess we'll keep our fingers crossed. It just sounds so hopeless. But at least the mayor's up and he's trying.
GRIFFIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Drew Griffin, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: And I think, Drew, since Sarah Palin used it. You can use the stronger word, too.
GRIFFIN: I didn't want to go there! John, you know, we think alike.
ROBERTS: All right. Drew, great report. Thanks so much.
And, by the way, this weekend, CNN investigates the actions of the New Orleans police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Did some overstressed officers take "shoot to kill" orders too far?
"Shoot to Kill" airs this Saturday and Sunday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
COSTELLO: Doctors are calling it the new "superbug" and it's spreading around the globe, resistant to antibiotics. And now, it's showing up here in the United States. So, what kind of health risk are we facing?
It's 39 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Doctors and infectious disease specialists are growing increasingly concerned about a new "superbug" that's spreading around the world. It's a bacteria mutation that's apparently resistant to most antibiotics. The strain is prevalent in India and South Asia, and it's beginning to surface now in Europe, Australia and, yes, here in the United States.
So, just how dangerous is this "superbug"?
With me now: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.
Good morning, Doctor.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Good morning.
COSTELLO: And thank you for joining us so early.
FAUCI: Good to be here.
COSTELLO: Tell us about this new "superbug." What exactly is it?
FAUCI: Well, it's a -- it's a bacteria has the capability of being resist tent to the powerful antibiotics that we use so frequently in serious infections. Bacteria get resistant by just changing their genetic makeup, by mutating.
And there is a particular gene -- bacteria have genes the same way humans have genes. And there's this one particular gene that confers resistance against antibiotics on the part of the microbes.
But the difficult thing is, is that it can spread from one bacteria to the other. So, it isn't just something in isolation. And what we've seen now that this is relatively widespread in India so that when people get secondary infections, for example, when they go into hospitals, they can get this resistant microbe. And unfortunately, if they leave India and go someplace else, they can take that microbe with them and perhaps come into a hospital in Europe or the U.K. or even in the United States --
COSTELLO: So, I could --
FAUCI: -- and then there can be spread. Yes.
COSTELLO: So, I could be undergoing a medical procedure in another country and I could somehow contract this bacteria and not get sick from it, but bring it back home to my own country and pass it on.
FAUCI: That's correct. You can either get sick and then get treated for it and not completely well-treated and still have the bacteria there, and then bring it someplace else. In fact, that's what authorities are getting concerned about.
There's a good deal of what's called medical tourism where people will go to India or other countries for relatively inexpensive and convenient procedures such as cosmetic surgery, go there, get infected -- either clinically apparent or not -- and then come back to their country of origin and bring the microbe with them.
So that's the concern. As you mentioned just a moment ago, Carol, that there -- it has really been here in the United States now to a lesser extent certainly than in other countries, but, for example, there were three cases that were reported in the United States. All of which were directly traced to India. People who had gone to India for medical reasons.
COSTELLO: And when people get these bacteria, how does it manifest itself? Do they have flu-like symptoms? I mean can it be deadly?
FAUCI: No, no.
COSTELLO: How does it manifest itself?
FAUCI: It can be very, very serious. You can get what's called bacteremia or septicemia where you can go into septic shock. There are two types of -- several types of bacteria but two in particular, the common E. coli that we know so much about, and then another one called klebsiella pneumoniae, both of which can cause urinary tract infections, serious pneumonia.
So it goes beyond just the flu-like syndrome with (INAUDIBLE). You can get very seriously ill from the infection.
COSTELLO: OK, so that's pretty scary if antibiotics don't kill these bacteria. So what do we do about it? How do we combat it?
FAUCI: Well, there are two ways that you address the situation of antimicrobial resistance, and that one is good hospital control, good surveillance. Contact, tracing, isolation, as well as, on the other side of the coin, getting a new pipeline of antibiotics that can replace the ones to which the microbe has become resistant.
That's really one of the big problems we have to get enough incentive on the part of the pharmaceutical companies to make a new pipeline of antibiotics because antibiotic resistance has been around for a long time. We've heard of MRSA, methicillin-resistant staph aureus, et cetera, et cetera.
But those kinds of things keep coming and you have to keep up with it by protecting against spread but also getting a new pipeline of antibiotics.
COSTELLO: Dr. Fauci, thanks for enlightening us this morning. And I hope you guys all work together to come up with something. I appreciate it.
FAUCI: Thank you. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Got 47 minutes after the hour now. Rob Marciano's got this morning's travel forecast right after the break. Quite a dramatic temperature difference here in the northeast to tell you about this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Another hot day expected here. That's a quick check on the weather. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Six minutes now to the top of the hour, which means it's time for the "Moos News in the Morning," and move over Susan Boyle because there's a new singer taking the world by storm.
COSTELLO: Did you see that kid?
ROBERTS: No, I haven't. I'm looking to this.
COSTELLO: I mean, it's amazing. She's only 10 years old. We'll let Jeanne Moos tell the rest of the story. She has a voice, though, that is charming millions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You never know what's going to come out of a kid's mouth.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MOOS: Mama Mia. From "Britain's Got Talent" we got Susan Boyle. And now from "America's Got Talent," we've got a pint-sized kid singing Puccini.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MOOS: But the minute the 10-year-old Jackie Evancho finished, the doubters started. "Absolutely positively lip-syncing fake," read a typical post.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MOOS: One conspiracy theorist wrote that after investigating the claims, he concluded Jackie's older brother was the actual vocalist.
We're happy to have a voice coach drive a stake into the rumors. Glenn Seven Allen spoke via Skype from where he was performing at the Bard's Summerscape Festival.
GLENN SEVEN ALLEN, PROFESSIONAL SINGER/ACTOR: I'm positive she's not lip-syncing because I can literally see the vibrations of the sound in her face and I also can -- you can hear her breathing.
I saw a sort of naturally poised young lady with sort of a freakish talent.
MOOS: Good freakish, he specified. On Wednesday night as Jackie made it into the semi-finals, judge Howie Mandel addressed the lip- syncing rumors and comments he heard.
HOWIE MANDEL, JUDGE: They said, was it really her? Is there any way you can just sing a note right now?
MOOS: Jackie-mania swept the crowd.
JACKIE EVANCHO, "AMERICA'S GOT TALENT" CONTESTANT: I feel like I'm just about to burst in tears.
MOOS: That was before this kid from Pittsburgh heard some doubted her voice.
(On camera): You want bad lip-syncing? This is bad lip-syncing. Do not adjust your set.
(Voice-over): And do not adjust your set when you hear an adult voice come out of a 10-year-old.
ALLEN: You're looking at Dakota Fanning eight years ago basically who sang like Maria Callas. I mean it's absolutely strange.
MOOS: Maria Callas, as seen here, singing the same Puccini aria. A star is born -- born just 10 years ago.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It just looks freaky. It looks unnatural.
ROBERTS: It looks fake.
COSTELLO: It does.
ROBERTS: It looks Milli Vanilli.
COSTELLO: It does.
ROBERTS: But I guess it's not.
COSTELLO: No. And according to her coach, you could see her chest vibrate. Although I couldn't, but he's the expert. Right?
ROBERTS: Well, having taken a couple of singing lessons which never really amounted to anything at some point -- COSTELLO: I've heard him sing.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Yes, believe me, yours isn't the only reaction like that either. When you sing operatic it's totally a different shape to your throat and your mouth so maybe that's why people think that it's lip-sync.
COSTELLO: Well, I know one thing for sure. She's going to win that contest.
ROBERTS: Yes. Wow. She is phenomenal. If that's real, she's unbelievable.
We'll be back right after the break with the top stories coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
