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CNN Saturday Morning News

Obama Endorses Ground Zero Mosque; "Inception" a la Disney

Aired August 14, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Arizona House candidate Ben Quayle standing by a statement he made in a campaign ad that calls President Obama the worst president in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN QUAYLE, (R) ARIZONA HOUSE CANDIDATE: I posted -- this is what I said from the very beginning. I posted a few comments on a website that doesn't even exist anymore. They are innocuous and these are the types of smear campaigns that have been pushed against me about nothing. This is a much to do about nothing. And you know, but since it's a famous last name that people want to focus on that.

So, I'll be tough. And I'm just going to stay focused on the issues and focusing on bringing our country back from the brink right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, what you were hearing there was him actually defend himself against accusations that he posted some comments, blog posts, kind of a racy Web site out there. He has said he didn't, now he's going back and said, yes, he did but he essentially explained it away. That's what he was explaining it there and called it a smear campaign.

Meanwhile, Quayle, he did appear on our "JOHN KING, USA" yesterday and he defended the campaign ad calling President Obama the worst president in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Going after President Obama is not a surprise -- but the worst president ever? He's been in office less than two years. Not Nixon, not Harding, not anybody else, why Barack Obama?

QUAYLE: Well, John, this is a claim that I thought about long and hard, and it was something that I wasn't happy about. But President Obama, through his ideology and his policies, has fundamentally changed our country for the worse. And I think that he's taken a country, which was admittedly in bad shape, but he's made it worse. And his policies are actually going to affect future generations in a negative way and the future that he has created for my generation and other generations is pretty terrifying. It seems like, right now, he's starting to destroy the American Dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: If you haven't figured it out yet, Quayle is the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle.

And here we are now, coming up on the top of the morning. Good morning to you all.

President Obama stepped into the controversy now over that proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero, saying he supports it.

Also, why would you need to go to class to learn how to use coupons? Our financial analyst Clyde Anderson is here, 7:25 Eastern, to explain why clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper is becoming obsolete.

Good morning to you all. So glad you could be here for this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.

It is a big story a lot of people are talking about this morning and that's President Obama, now throwing his support behind the proposal to build that Islamic center which includes a mosque two blocks from New York's Ground Zero. He was speaking at a White House dinner yesterday to mark the holy month of Ramadan. And he acknowledged, yes, it is controversial, but he argued that American ideals and the Constitution demand that the project proceed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground. But let me be clear, as a citizen and as president, I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And that includes -- that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, the president's endorsement drew praise from the New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but it also drew some criticism from a New York congressman.

First, I'll tell you what the mayor said, here quoting, "As I said last week, the proposed mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan is as important a test of separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime, and I applaud President Obama's clarion defense of the freedom of religion tonight."

Now, here's what Republican Congressman Peter King had to say. He has been out front and critical of this mosque. And this is what he said in response to the president, quote, "The right and moral thing for President Obama to have done was to urge Muslim leaders to respect the families of those who died and move their mosque away from Ground Zero. Unfortunately, the president caved in to political correctness," end quote.

New Yorkers, meanwhile, they're split on whether the president should get involved in what many believe is a local matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politically, probably not wise to interject yourself into a local issue that's very visceral here for obvious reasons. Obviously, we all believe in freedom of religion but it's sacred ground for New Yorkers and Americans. So, it's difficult topic for New Yorkers and Americans. I don't know how wise it was for the president to necessarily interject.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad that he's doing it. It's very civilized. It doesn't matter whether you're Muslim or Jewish or Christian, you should be able to -- this country stands for freedom of religion and we should be able to express our faith.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HOLMES: And take a look here. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll that was out just this week, nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan to build that mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero.

The president, meanwhile, taking a vacation today -- at least, that's how it was billed when we first learned about it. He's going to the Gulf. The first family is going. The older daughter is not going to be going because she's still out summer camp.

But the first family will be there in the Gulf this weekend. They're going to spend time in Panama City. The president will only be there for about 27 hours. While he's there, he, of course, is going to enjoy the Gulf a bit, but also going to be meeting with some business owners.

Our Dan Lothian posed what many thought was the big question about this trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On the president's trip this weekend -- this was asked a couple of days ago -- but any plans to get in the water?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm -- I doubt that that will go out specifically on the guidance, but stay tuned. I will wait --

REPORTER: Are the waters clean enough to get into?

GIBBS: Of course, they're clean enough to get into.

I know it's Friday, we have to preview whether or not the president will go swimming. I'm going to let --

REPORTER: That's the biggest tourism pull though.

LOTHIAN: Swim -- we're not saying swimming. He can just walk in the water.

GIBBS: I see, just waiting walking in the water.

LOTHIAN: No, no, above the knees.

GIBBS: You guys maybe get together, figure out -- what would appropriately check the Aquaman box --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, you see a lot of the White House reporters really got into that particular question. It might seem like a trivial thing, but a lot of people are saying it could be a significant symbolic gesture to see the president of the United States in those waters. A lot of people have been turned away, haven't been going to the Gulf because they believe the water is dirty, or they believe the beaches are dirty. So, it could be a symbolic gesture.

The president gets there just around noon or a little before today, and again, going to be spending 27 hours in the Gulf. Of course, the first lady's trip to Spain last week was criticized for being extravagant. Now, criticism of this trip, many saying he is just doing a stop-over in the Gulf and it's certainly not a real vacation.

Also, our Reynolds Wolf is in the Gulf. We planned to have you hear from him right now about what's happening there in tourism, but got a bit of lightning going on right now where he is in Gulf Shores, so we will get him back up as soon as we can.

Coming back up here: you've heard of the morning-after pill for women, but have you heard about the five-day after pill? A new pill just approved that some say can keep a pregnancy from taking place some five days after unprotected sex. The controversy, we'll tell you about it coming up.

Seven minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: At nine minutes past the hour -- we are now getting new details coming in to us here about that shooting in Buffalo, New York. Four people have been killed in this overnight shooting. This was at a downtown restaurant. Seven in all were reportedly hit by this gunfire.

Witnesses are telling WKBW that one of the victims had just arrived in town for his wedding. Reports are that, in fact, this was a gathering of many in the wedding party to celebrate before the wedding took place, which was scheduled for today.

But again, four people killed, seven shot all together. And among them, the groom was supposed to have his wedding today.

We continue to follow this story. We'll bring you details as we get them.

Also, nearly 500 Sri Lankan migrants are in Canadian custody after officials boarded a small ship suspected of human smuggling. Canadian officials have been monitoring the MV Sun Sea since it left Sri Lanka three months ago. The ship first stopped in Thailand before crossing the Pacific and moving to the coast of British Colombia. Mounties say all of the Sri Lankan migrants are claiming refugee status.

Also, you have heard about the morning-after pill for women for some time. Now, the five-day-after pill is here. Food and Drug Administration has now approved this new emergency contraceptive. It's called Ella. And it can be used up to 120 hours, that's five day, after unprotected intercourse to prevent pregnancy.

It's expected to hit shelves in the U.S. later this year, available in Europe since last year. But, of course, both sides of the abortion debate are now getting involved, calling this on some sides just another form of abortion.

Also, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has had more surgery in Los Angeles. Last night, this was an emergency surgery, doctors removed a blood clot. This was from a complication from that hip replacement surgery she had three weeks ago. She broke her hip after falling out of bed, you may remember.

She has been in pretty frail health, have been using a wheelchair since she had an accident, a car accident back in 2002. She is 93 years old.

Well, the movie "Inception" was a huge box office success. And it's a little confusing. Is it possible it drew some inspiration from a Disney character?

Our Josh Levs is going to tell us about this. Josh, I made it no secret. I went and saw this movie on Thursday night and I left the theater just upset.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you really?

HOLMES: I was upset.

LEVS: Because of the ending?

HOLMES: No, not the ending -- the beginning, the middle, the end, what happened?

LEVS: I know.

HOLMES: I have no idea what happened.

LEVS: And this is one of the reasons that everyone is so fascinated by where it got its inspiration. And now, there are real questions. This is legit questions about whether it got inspiration from a Disney character. Which Disney character had a plot that mirrors "Inception" and did the director draw any inspiration from that?

This is huge talk online. And I am going to tell you all about it -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Thirteen minutes past the hour.

Did you see the movie "Inception"? It's a little complicated. Some people call it profound, revolutionary. Some even, Josh, compare this to "Matrix." I've heard people make those comparisons.

But, Josh is here to tell us now "Inception" might not be that complicated after all. It might have gotten its inspiration from a Disney character. Please tell me.

LEVS: Yes. I mean, I didn't see this one coming at all. They could have this kind of similarity. It is true people are talking about how deep it is -- and this is one of the most popular stories on CNN.com this week. Was "Inception" inspired by Donald Duck?

And this isn't just some random thing people are making up. I'm going to show it to you. And it's not that people are complaining. They just really are wondering if this is where it got its inspiration.

Here's some video from the movie. And let's just tell everyone the basics. What happens in "Inception" is that a group of people have a device that they use to enter people's dreams.

In the dreams, they break into these safes that people have in their dreams and there are all these layers, these dreams within dreams. If someone falls in their dreams, they ultimately wake up and it just deals with all this complexities. Well, now take a look at this cartoon right here, this comic rather of 2004 that I got on the screen behind me. Let's come over here.

This is Uncle Scrooge, "The Dream of a Lifetime." And in this comic, it shows Donald Duck -- what happens here is that a group of thieves use a special machine to enter Scrooge McDuck's dreams and steal the combination to his safe. And then Donald Duck and his nephews then go ahead and enter those dreams as well.

And when someone falls within the dreams, they immediately wake up, and they chase bad guys inside the dreams using this special machine. I'm going to show it to you here, online.

We can go back to that video now because that was some video of Donald Duck. So, McDonald and friends, they're not exactly what you think of when you hear about this mind-bending thriller that explores the nature of humanity and dreaming, and what is reality. There's Donald getting his star back in 2004. But, what's happening here, you can hear T.J.'s response to this movie "Inception" -- this is what people all over the world are saying. It's made $500 million so far and so many people want to know where did this movie get its inspiration from.

And the director, Christopher Nolan, the guy behind it is the same guy who created "Memento" and "Batman Begins" and the "Dark Knight," he's actually not saying where he got his ideas for all this imagery. But there are a lot of talk about there's a lot of talk about various films out there that have dreams in them.

So, look, in the end, what do we know? We know a lot of bloggers are pointing out the similarities to this Donald Duck cartoon. Maybe it's a coincidence. He says he's been working on the movie for 10 years. This comic came out in 2004.

That said, when you read a comic and you see the movie, it really is striking how many similarities there are right here. You can let us know what you think, of course. I'm always available at Facebook and Twitter.

In the meantime, T.J., I'm sorry to say -- this is just going to have to be another mystery for you surrounding this phenomenon that is now "Inception."

HOLMES: If somebody would have told me ahead of time the inspiration was Donald Duck, I would have understood a little better, one of those things. I need to read the Donald Duck first. It makes perfect sense to me now.

LEVS: It sets you all up for the movie.

HOLMES: I get it.

LEVS: All right.

HOLMES: All right. Josh, we appreciate you, as always. Talk to you again here shortly.

Also, coming up here, more and more coupon hunters put down the scissors. You don't need to clip out coupons anymore. You need the computer mouse for your coupons now.

Clyde Anderson, our financial analyst, he is here. And he's going to show you why those scissors and those coupons in the Sunday paper is obsolete now. You need to download info. He's coming up next.

It's 17 minutes past the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Maybe you have, maybe you have not noticed the coupon section in the Sunday paper is shrinking. And you know why. People aren't clipping coupons necessarily anymore. They're actually downloading them. In fact, there are coupon-clipping classes -- Clyde.

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: Yes.

HOLMES: All right. Our Clyde Anderson, our financial analyst.

First of all, that just sounds crazy. And why do you need a class to teach you how to clip out a coupon?

ANDERSON: Well, times have changed.

HOLMES: They have.

ANDERSON: Coupon 2.0, the new age.

HOLMES: OK.

ANDERSON: And now, there are so many manufactures in stores that are taking it online. It's cost savings. But there are so many different things they can do that are creative.

HOLMES: Do you actually have to go to a class?

ANDERSON: Well, you know what, it's interesting, because some people just don't know where to start and what to do. They know the Sunday paper coupons, but they don't know this level of couponing. You know, in class, they teach you a lot of things. You know, they teach how to understand what to do.

Facebook is jumping in on it. You know, and using promotions to get people and consumers in the door. A lot of these classes are free. Some of them range from free to probably $25.

HOLMES: OK. Are these classes you actually go to or you kind of sign up for it online and you do it at your computer?

ANDERSON: You got some online, but then you have actually some physical locations that offer these classes.

HOLMES: All right. Where can you find these things? I know you got something to show us.

ANDERSON: Yes. We got several Web sites that you can go ahead and take a look at it. You got like www.timetosave. You got also Coupon Classes. You got Clipping and Living (ph). You got SouthernSavings.com.

There are several companies offer 'em, but you really just got to take a look and feel out which one is comfortable and which one is in your area as well.

HOLMES: And what are -- again, you go to a class whether you go physically or you're doing it online. What exactly are you supposed to learn in there? What are they teaching you?

ANDERSON: Several things that you'll learn there. You're going to learn couponing, first of all. You understand where to look for 'em.

HOLMES: You're killing me. OK.

ANDERSON: It's an art to this. So, you learn about where to find them, you know how to look for them, you know how to match it up with different manufactures. Sometimes, you've got the double coupons, you've got the extended coupons where you know, make sure you know the expiration dates.

So, they're also going to teach you budgeting. They're going to teach how to organize these things, to keep them together. They teach you things like how to make sure you can feed a family or four, five or six even on $50 a week.

HOLMES: All right. And keep this wrapping up for a second. The lingo down there, what is the --

ANDERSON: The lingo -- the lingo is good. Now, have you heard B1, G1, or BOGO?

HOLMES: What is that?

ANDERSON: You heard that before?

HOLMES: I have not.

ANDERSON: It's buy one get one.

HOLMES: Oh.

ANDERSON: So, you got to learn the lingo, it's important. You know, you got things like "Peelie." Those are the coupons that are on the box that you actually peel off. You got think called "Catlin (ph)" and Catlin is the name of company that manufactures the machine that shoots those coupons out at the register.

You know, things like that and MIR. You would think it's a medical term, but, no, it's mail-in rebate, you know?

HOLMES: OK.

ANDERSON: So, these are things are keys. And they're going to teach you these things so you know what to look for.

HOLMES: I had no idea. Those things they teach you where to look for.

ANDERSON: Yes.

HOLMES: Where do you actually look for them? You told us about classes, but where do you go -- right now, if you just want to do it on your own to try to find some coupons?

ANDERSON: Well, remember, the classes are going to give you a lot of options based on your area as well, but there's also several sites that we have, I think, we can put up there to show you exactly some of the sites that we picked out that I think are some of the best sites or some of the most populated sites to kind of look at and see.

You got Smart Source, you got Smart Saver, you got Coupons Even.

Restaurants.com is good one. They offer, you'll get $2 sometimes, you get a $25 food gift certificates that you can use. Great gift idea as well.

And then Coupon Mom, Cool Savings. You know, the Mom Network is exploding out here on the Internet and they're offering several deals and several ways to save money, especially in these times.

HOLMES: And I'm sitting here -- I mean, I'm kind of making light of it and whatnot because you don't imagine having to go to class for something like this. But at the same time, we're talking about some real money. And these times, people can use this.

ANDERSON: Yes. And we were talking real money. To annualize this, it's going to be thousands of dollars. And think about it, every manufacture is doing it. Target is doing it. You know, go to target.com.

So, anything that you're looking for that you want, go to the manufacturer's Web site and you can find coupons for a lot of those things, and even codes that you can just put into the Web site when they ask you for that special promo code.

HOLMES: Clyde, always -- always good stuff, always bring something here that's fascinating.

ANDERSON: My pleasure.

HOLMES: All right. It's 24 minutes past the hour. Quick break here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING -- and we are right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a look at the stories we are keeping a close eye on this morning. President Obama, he has thrown his support behind the building of that controversial Islamic center and mosque in the shadows of the 9/11 site, Ground Zero. Obama said yesterday the Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. Developers have approval to build the property just two blocks from the site of those terrorist attacks.

Also, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, she had surgery for removal of a blood clot last night. Her publicist says the blood clot is a complication related to the recent hip replacement surgery she had. The 93-year-old is expected to remain in the hospital for several more days.

Also, there is video of Steven Slater's infamous slide. It has been released now by JetBlue airlines. Look on the left side, it's hard to see but you can see the emergency chute deployed. It's behind that pole there. The emergency chute comes out, boom, there it goes.

And as you know, he hopped out a short time later, beer in hand. But not before he cursed somebody out and went down that slide. But this video has been released.

Slater, meanwhile, says he actually wants his job back. And would you believe the company right now has not gone as far as saying he has been fired necessarily. They said it was under review.

But again, you can barely see it behind the pole there, but again, you can see the chute come out and him take that infamous slide. You want to show it again, go right ahead. But again, it's kind of hard to see.

There you go. You see the slide come out -- the emergency slide there. And then a moment later, you see him take a little hop and goes down. There it is.

But a little video or story that had a lot of people talking this past week.

Well, we are going to keep you talking coming up at the top of the hour. We'll have more of your top stories as our live news continues on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

But, first, right now, I'm going to hand this thing over to my good friend, "SANJAY GUPTA, MD" starts right now.