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American Morning
Diplomat Found Dead in N.Y. Apartment; Politics and Paychecks; Robert Gates on "Obama's Wars"; Test-Drive the Audio System; Gaga's Dress Becoming Jerky; "Mad Men" Madness; Ahmadinejad Angers U.N. Delegates; Facebook's Founder Gives $100 Million to Schools; Colbert Set For House Hearing; N.J. Gov. Takes on Heckler
Aired September 24, 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 Friday morning to you. And thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's September 24th. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning.
We start with a murder mystery in the backdrop of the U.N. General Assembly. A diplomat found dead with his throat slashed in his doorway on the day that President Obama addressed world leaders at the United Nations. Susan Candiotti with the latest on the investigation ahead.
ROBERTS: Senate Democrats deciding this is not the time to vote on middle class tax cuts. Instead, they're going to wait until after the November elections, leaving a large chunk of your take home pay in 2011 hanging in the balance. We've got a live report from Washington on that story just ahead.
CHETRY: Defense Secretary Robert Gates weighing in on Bob Woodward's account of a big battle within the Obama administration over Afghan war strategy. The secretary says the new book overplays the internal conflict. We're live at the Pentagon with new developments on that just ahead.
ROBERTS: And the amFIX blog is up and running this morning as it is every day. Join the live conversation going on right now at CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: Up first, though, shocking discovery not far from the United Nations during the meeting of the General Assembly.
ROBERTS: A Nicaraguan diplomat who worked in New York City for eight years was found dead in his Bronx apartment. And the search is on for a killer this morning. Our Susan Candiotti joins us now with the latest on the investigation. This was a brutal murder.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. And of course, the question is, why an attack on this 34-year-old diplomat who had been in the country for about eight years now working at the Nicaraguan mission. Cesar Mercado, he was found by his driver who apparently had come to pick him up to take him to a meeting at the United Nations. Of course, the General Assembly is meeting this week. And police found not one but two knives. And they weren't found next to his body. They were found in the bathroom of the small studio apartment where the diplomat lived, Cesar Mercado.
Apparently one of the knives was a 12-inch steak knife, according to deputy New York police commissioner Paul Brown. And he said it was found near the bathroom sink and the sink was filled with blood, unfortunately. And the second knife was a smaller paring knife and that was found inside the sink. So why the positioning of the knives? So many questions to be answered here.
His body was found just inside the front door. And when the driver came, the door was unlocked. He opened it up, looked inside, saw the body, and immediately called the police. So they have a lot to try to figure out. His throat, indeed, was cut. And they also said that he was stabbed in the stomach. So there were all these things. Of course, they have to look into what happened here. But his co-workers at the Nicaraguan mission said they cannot come up with any reason themselves as to why this apparent horrendous murder as they called it happened. And of course, they said clearly forensics will tell the story.
They're looking into this investigation. They removed his body. Of course, it'll be examined by the coroner's office as they try to determine what happened. They also took away his car with the diplomatic plates which was near his apartment building.
ROBERTS: Wow.
CHETRY: Do we have any indication whether or not any items were taken from the home? I mean, are they looking at it potentially as a random robbery, or was this a targeted attack?
CANDIOTTI: Yes. Of course, they would be looking at that as a possibility, random attack. It could be domestic. But from what I understand, his family was not living with him there. But again, these are all the questions they have to look into. Why, why, why?
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti this morning with the latest. Susan, thanks.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama says it will take a global village to finally bring peace to the Middle East. He addressed the U.N. General Assembly. The president calling on member nations to come together and to support Israel and the Palestinians with words as well as actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We should draw upon the teachings of tolerance that lie at the heart of three great religions that see Jerusalem soil as sacred. This time we should reach for what's best within ourselves. If we do, when we come back here next year, we could have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations. An independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The president also said that the door to diplomacy remains open for Iran.
ROBERTS: Well, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cleared the room in a hurry during his address at the General Assembly after blaming the 9/11 attacks on the United States government. The Iranian leader insisting that most of the world agrees with him prompting the U.S. and European delegations to leave the hall in protest.
And that's not all Ahmadinejad had to say in his address to the General Assembly. Jill Dougherty joins us live in our next half hour. She'll tell us about the Iranian leader's demands for a United Nations investigation into the September 11th attacks.
CHETRY: Also later this morning at 8:10 Eastern, we're going to be speaking with Sarah Shourd, the American hiker who was just freed after 14 months in an Iranian prison. She's going to be joining us live here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: Well, don't expect a decision any time soon on extending the Bush era tax cuts because right now your paycheck is being held hostage in the chambers of the U.S. Senate. Senate Democrats deciding not to vote on extending those tax cuts to middle class Americans until after the November elections.
CHETRY: Well, also if nothing gets done by the end of the year, this take home pay of the typical American could shrink by nearly $1,000 in 2011. Brianna Keilar joins us live from Washington this morning. And, Brianna, so, you know, you had said when we even had you on last week that there is a possibility they would punt, you know, and not tackle this issue until after the elections. But it is shaping up to be a cliff hanger.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is looking -- you know, we've been talking about how this could be delayed. It's official, it's going to be delayed. And Democratic leaders are saying that it's because they're getting no support from Republicans on this. But what you have here is a split in the Democratic Party, on the Senate -- in the Senate, that led to this decision that put off dealing with the tax cuts until after the election.
Most Democrats actually said, yes, let's get behind President Obama's plan. We'll keep in place the tax cuts for Americans who make $250,000 or less. And then let those tax cuts for those making more money than that expire come the new year. If Republicans vote against it, they said we slam them for holding tax cuts for the middle class hostage to tax cuts for the wealthy. But there was a small minority of Democrats who went out here and they said this is a bad idea. We're talking about vulnerable Democrats. They're fighting for reelection and they said, look, we're fighting for our political lives. Don't give our GOP opponents the ability to say that we're raising taxes during a bad economy. And that's why we have this delayed until after the election, guys.
ROBERTS: So, maybe some of this, too, how it plays out after the election depends on what happens when people go to the polls. If the Republicans were to gain an awful lot of seats, I mean, could they put pressure on Democrats to delay any kind of a vote? Or could they help shape the debate? How do you think it might play out?
KEILAR: We know at this point, Democrats are insisting no matter what happens they are going to take this up in that lame duck session some time after the election and before the new Congress. The bottom line that people want to know is, are there income -- you know, are their taxes going to go up? Are they going to be hit? And right now, no one is saying that if you're making a quarter million dollars or less if you're filing jointly that your taxes are going to go up. No one is saying that that's the expectation. The big question here, the question mark, the uncertainty has to do with people who are making more money than that. You've got some Democrats and Republicans pointing to small businesses that fit into that category and say they're really concerned for that, guys.
ROBERTS: Brianna Keilar this morning. Brianna, thanks, but we're watching that one closely.
CHETRY: Yes. And we wanted to take a look just how it would all shake out if Congress does eventually go along with President Obama's plan to extend the tax cuts for the middle class but to end them for the top income earners. There's a new report that reveals just who will be paying the heaviest price.
According to the folks at the Tax Foundation, the wealthiest residents here in New York City can expect a tax rate of 50.7 percent. That would be the highest in the nation. Right behind them would be Hawaii, 49.7 percent. And then rounding out, the top five people in California would pay 49.4 percent, Vermont, 48.8 percent, and in Maryland, 48.6 percent.
So for more on the tax cut vote and full election coverage from "The Best Political Team on Television," check out our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.
ROBERTS: BP's runaway oil well spill nearly 185 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That's the finding of scientists who just published the first independent peer reviewed paper on the scope of the tragedy. Researchers came to the conclusion using high- resolution video clips from the Deepwater Horizon well to measure volume. Their findings back official estimates that this was the largest marine disaster of its kind ever. 4.4 million barrels of oil.
CHETRY: Well, this is a flight delay you certainly do not want. A Russian Soyuz capsule that was supposed to bring home three astronauts from the International Space Station got jammed last night. They were sent back into the station after trying for two hours to get loose. Engineers are now going over pictures and video trying to figure out what went wrong. They say it may be an electrical short and that they're going to try again tonight.
ROBERTS: It's not the sort of thing you want to have happen to you, right?
CHETRY: No.
ROBERTS: I mean, being stuck up in an airplane in an airport is bad enough, but being stuck up in space and say, sorry, we can't get you home, that's even worse.
Rob Marciano is tracking the weather forecast across the country. He's got this morning's weather headlines for us. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Listen, we have some rain that's moving into Chicago. So if you're traveling through that area, be aware there'll probably be some delays. And if you live in Chicago, obviously, that's going to be an issue for your morning rush.
There's some cooler air behind this front that's slowly moving off to the east. Notice that east of the Mississippi, pretty much no rain, at least for now. But as this front progresses, we'll see some action later on. But the big story really is that the second full day of fall is that temperatures remain well above average. Ninety, Atlanta, 94 Raleigh, 96 expected in D.C.
Now you've got some fog in New York right now, but once that burns off, 85 degrees the expected high temperature. So certainly not feeling a whole lot like fall.
All right. It's hurricane season. This is Tropical Storm Matthew. We talked about this yesterday developing to the next tropical storm. There it is.
Winds of 50 miles an hour. It is going to be making landfall, Honduras, Nicaragua. Right now, it's about 230 miles from that border and then kind of scooting up the Yucatan Peninsula. It's forecast to do some weird things and that includes potentially getting into the Gulf of Mexico. So the southeast U.S. is in play potentially next week. We'll talk about the details of that a little bit later on in the program.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Right now, it just looks like a lot of something moving around there. Hasn't really come together yet.
MARCIANO: Not quite, but the folks who live in Central America certainly are going to get wind and rain out of this over the next 48 hours.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks. MARCIANO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, everyone texts and tweets, right? Well, I guess you need a day like this then. It's National Punctuation Day officially. A California writer who created the holiday says that the most common punctuation error is the misplaced or misused apostrophe -- "it's" as in it is and "its" always seems to get people. So they're asking if you're going to punctuate, punctuate responsibly.
ROBERTS: So is this National Punctuation Day? Is it National Punctuation Day? Or National Punctuation Day, period?
CHETRY: I don't know.
ROBERTS: We'll debate that this morning.
Coming up, the war within the White House. Bob Woodward's new book reveals internal battles over strategy in Afghanistan. Now, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is answering back. Chris Lawrence live at the Pentagon with the details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirteen-and-a-half minutes now after the hour. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offering his assessment to the new book by Bob Woodward about secret debates within the Obama administration over the war in Afghanistan.
CHETRY: Yes. Secretary Gates is downplaying the stories of White House infighting over war strategy saying conflict sells.
Chris Lawrence is following developments this morning. He's live at the Pentagon. And you know, I mean, a healthy bit of debate, obviously, people would think is a good thing. I guess, the concern was is everybody onboard? Does everybody within the administration believe that Afghanistan's winnable?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. He said that. He said that there was a healthy debate going on. Obviously, it was a very, you know, boisterous debate with a lot of disagreement. But I had a very -- a much more basic question for the secretary was that, you know, following what happened with General Stanley McChrystal's interview with the "Rolling Stone," I wanted to know why he agreed to even sit down and speak with Bob Woodward. I asked him that question yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We didn't get into any specifics about issues or anything like that. And I -- I had his questions in advance, and they were sort of at the 40,000-foot level about tone and atmosphere and the role of the president in this process. These were issues I'd spoken to publicly. And so I felt comfortable responding.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAWRENCE: So interesting that he said he had the questions beforehand. And he also told me he was probably one of the last people to speak to Gates. So he felt more comfortable knowing all the people in the Obama administration who had already sat down with Bob Woodward.
ROBERTS: So -- so in Woodward's new book, the president comes off as somewhat frustrated with options he's getting from the Pentagon for the troop build-up in Afghanistan. How did the secretary react to the president coming up with his -- his own memo? That six-page memo that he dictated?
LAWRENCE: Well, he sort of clarified that. He said -- and -- and this is publicly. He said, look, the 30,000 number, even though the military was asking for 40,000. He said, you know, some of that -- some of that extra 30,000 were -- were 5,000 troops who wouldn't have been able to even get into Afghanistan until, you know, middle of next year.
So he said sort of take that off the table. He said some of our allies, you know, provided more troops than we originally thought they would. That gave us probably an extra 5,000. So he said all in all it worked out to him about what the military was asking for.
ROBERTS: Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon with the latest on that. Chris, thanks.
And this programming note, Bob Woodward is going to be Larry King's guest next week on Wednesday night, 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Meantime, embattled megachurch pastor Eddie Long will be making his first public comments on a sex scandal from the pulpit on Sunday. Through his attorneys, Bishop Long has denied the claims in now three lawsuits that he coerced young male church members into sex. Last night, he posted a message on Twitter saying, quote, "Thanks for all your prayers and support. Love you all."
ROBERTS: Well, being late to class at least at one school district is now going to cost you. A high school's answer to dillydallying. Pony up.
Sixteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're "Minding Your Business."
Well, when you're looking for a new or used car, maybe you can test drive the car, check the oil. Do you check the tires anymore? (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: I don't check the tires anymore. That's an old school- type of thing. But did you know that you should take the stereo system out for a spin too. The GM engineer releasing a list of songs to bring with you to perform a sound check. Now, for bass response, he recommends what you're hearing now, "Boom, Boom, Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas.
CHETRY: Yes. That one doesn't sound great in a minivan. For clarity, "Hotel California" -- huh, by the Eagles, and "No One" by Alicia Keys. And for vocals, it should be "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez.
ROBERTS: And to assure that the sound is very natural-sounding, Norah Jones "Don't Know Why" should be on your playlist.
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
ROBERTS: They are.
CHETRY: Not bad. You get a copy of his little iPod Shuffle. He's GM engineer.
ROBERTS: He had some good tunes -- he had some good tunes on it, yes.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: And obviously looking for lots of response from your stereo system. Give it a workout.
CHETRY: Well, it's a frustrating week for Facebook users. For a second day in a row, the world's largest networking site was down for several hours yesterday. People couldn't post, "Finishing second round of laundry," "Daughter ate apple sauce for lunch."
Anyway, Facebook says it was a technical glitch. On Wednesday, Facebook said a third party network provider crashed the site. Some folks on Twitter had fun with the situation. Oregon Public Broadcasting jokingly put out a breaking news bulletin reading "Worker productivity rises, U.S. climbs out of recession."
ROBERTS: Well, are you late to class ever? Well, if you are, in one particular school district, fork over your lunch money. A high school in Salt Lake City is fining kids $5 if they're late. Of course, they also have an option, they're serving 30 minutes detention if they don't want to or can't pay the fine. School says the money raised goes to the teacher who stays after school with those kids who chose the 30 minutes detention as opposed to the $5.
CHETRY: It's almost like the game of Monopoly, you get the pot in the middle, right?
ROBERTS: There you go. You know, pass, go, and with your $200 go directly to jail for some kids who can't afford the $5.
CHETRY: Wow.
Well, coming up, America's mad about "Mad Men" and CNN's Brooke Anderson gets a behind-the-scenes look at the shows unique style. They're basically recreating the 60's. How do they do it? She's going to show us. Coming up.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour.
Remember Lady Gaga's meat dress? Well, now it's getting chewy. They're making beef jerky out of it. The designer of the meat dress said that she wore at the VMA says it's going to go through a process where it becomes a sort of jerky and will be archived. Gary here in the studio --
CHETRY: Oh.
ROBERTS: -- know how they're going to do that. He makes his own beef jerky.
CHETRY: Gary and Dean.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: And we -- we're just so lucky on this show, we get so much homemade jerky. It's wonderful.
ROBERTS: Now, we don't believe you're going to get a chance to taste Lady Gaga's dress and which she said she wore in protest of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, right? That people shouldn't be treated like meat.
CHETRY: I guess so.
ROBERTS: They should just wear it.
CHETRY: I guess so. But I can't believe Cher actually hugged her because I would not have hugged that bloody meat dress.
ROBERTS: And Cher's a vegan, isn't she?
CHETRY: Oh, I don't know.
ROBERTS: Or just a vegetarian I believe.
CHETRY: I don't know but that would have made it even worse. Look at that. Oh. I hug you so tight. All right. Now I need a Clorox wipe. Anyway --
ROBERTS: I love the little steak that she's got on her head.
CHETRY: Yes. That was a nice touch.
ROBERTS: Yes. Isn't that (ph)? Yes, very nice.
CHETRY: Delicious. Well, now to an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see on AMERICAN MORNING. It's TV's best drama three years running now. Not just Emmy voters who are mad about "Mad Men."
ROBERTS: Yes. The show set in the 1960s has certainly become nothing short of a pop culture phenomenon. CNN's Brooke Anderson has got a closer look at Don Draper and Company for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): John and Kiran, one of the most talked about TV shows these days is no question AMC's "Mad Men." Fans of the show are obsessed, not just with the latest plots, twists and turns, they are in love with the look of the show, myself included.
To find out why so many are mad about "Mad Men," we are going straight to the woman responsible for the stylish appeal of the show. And I get a "Mad Men" makeover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must be Don Draper.
JOHN HAMM, ACTOR: Don.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Stunning suits --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pleasure to meet you.
ANDERSON: -- gorgeous gowns. The vintage fashion on "Mad Men" gets as much attention as the Emmy-winning drama itself. Janie Bryant is costume designer for "Mad Men" which has developed a cult following.
JANIE BRYANT, COSTUME DESIGNER, "MAD MEN": It's about these people's journey through life, and I think everybody can relate to that.
Because it's a period show, there's a little more eye candy. I think all of the elements of the show are very contemporary.
ANDERSON: Some of the themes explored on "Mad Men" -- divorce, drinking, dating may be contemporary, but set in the mid-60s, the show is a throwback to fashion formality. Something Bryant says has modern day appeal.
BRYANT: I think people have maybe grown tired of being so casual. And I think that they've really responded to the beautiful aspects of late 1950s and '60s.
ANDERSON: Bryant styled me head to toe in two "Mad Men" looks. And ladies, I learned you've got to start with your foundations.
BRYANT: Foundations, yes. That's what you would call your intimate apparel back then. The foundations -- that really is the foundation of how your garment is going to look on your body.
ANDERSON: As for the actual "Mad Men," dashing and dressed to impress, Don Draper's real lifestyle is different.
HAMM: I very much dress for comfort rather than style when I'm not -- when I'm not working.
ANDERSON: Bryant's attention to detail has won her praise from the cast.
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS, ACTRESS: Each one of us represents a different style of -- of woman in our fashion sense. And -- and so you really get to see a real gamut of -- of styles from the '60s between Peggy, Betty, and Joan.
ANDERSON: Despite its water cool of popularity, all great TV shows run the risk of jumping the shard. Yet four years into the series, "Mad Men" madness are growing. There are Facebook fan pages, contests for walk-on roles and lines by Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic inspired by the series.
Bryant credits "Mad Men" creator, Matthew Weiner, for its ongoing success.
BRYANT: You just fall in love more and more and more and more with each episode.
ANDERSON: And each episode is another opportunity for fans to fall back in time and into fabulous fashion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Jamie Bryant recently launched her very own fashion line on QVC, Janie Bryant Mod. So now anyone can have her very own vintage- inspired look -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Brooke looks good in the 1960s.
CHETRY: She looks really, really beautiful.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Plus, you know, (ph) elegant. Nice look.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now, it's time for this morning's top stories.
Senate Democrats deciding now is not the time to vote on extending middle class tax cuts of being instead to wait until after the midterm elections, leaving millions of taxpayers wondering what will become of their take home pay in 2011.
CHETRY: Well, a space capsule in a jam. A Russian Soyuz capsule that was supposed to bring home three astronauts from the International Space Station got stuck last night. They were sent back into the station after trying to get loose for two hours. Engineers are now going over pictures and video trying to figure out what went wrong and they're going to give it a go again soon.
ROBERTS: And the search for a killer this morning after a diplomat was found dead in his New York City apartment, his throat slashed, as world leaders met during the U.N. General Assembly. The Nicaraguan official had lived in New York City for eight years.
CHETRY: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants the United Nations to launch an independent investigation of the 9/11 attack. The Iranian leader is telling the U.N. General Assembly yesterday that the U.S. was behind it and the entire world knows.
ROBERTS: That remark prompted the U.S. and European delegations to get up and leave the hall in protest. But along with the outrage comes hope that Iran may be ready to sit down and talk about its nuclear ambitions.
Jill Dougherty is following it all. She is live in Washington for us this morning.
And his statements about 9/11, somewhat bizarre, many people think, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, there's really -- I think you'd have to say -- a perverse fascination with watching President Ahmadinejad, because every year that he comes to the United Nations, he does make over-the-top statements.
But this one was really more over-the-top than usual. He said essentially that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to help its economy, its ailing economy, and to help Israel. And he did say he wants an investigation to look into the causes for 9/11.
Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is proposed that the United Nations set up an independent fact-finding group for the event of September 11th so that in the future, expressing views about it -- so that to ensure that the different views about it are not banned from discussion in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: The White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said that President Obama found those comments outrageous and offensive, especially since they were said very close to Ground Zero. And then there was a statement from the U.S. mission to the United Nations saying that -- calling these vile conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable.
So, in a way, John, I think you have to have kind of a double mind here, because as you pointed out, there may be some movement toward talking with Iran, even in the midst of all of these comments.
CHETRY: You know, it is interesting. And you hear some other comments like former New York Mayor Giuliani was very upset by his comments and said that this should show that the time for dialogue is over. So, it's almost as if Ahmadinejad, at least here in the United States, is hurting his own cause.
DOUGHERTY: Well, yes, you'd have to say that, although I'm sure in his mind, he thinks he is expressing the right view and at that point after he made those statements, of course, the United States walked out and several other nations walking out of that hall, out of complete frustration on these comments.
That said, there are, you know, the P5-plus-one, those are the six countries that are dealing with Iran's nuclear program, they believe and want -- they said this week -- an early resumption of talks with Iran. Mr. Obama in his speech which preceded this said that the door is still open to talking and engaging with Iran. And there have been indications for Mr. Ahmadinejad himself that he wants to talk.
So, I think it's best to keep a split mind and look at those comments but also look at what's going on behind the scenes.
ROBERTS: If he has a desire to talk, he sure expresses it in a strange kind of way, doesn't he?
DOUGHERTY: Yes.
CHETRY: You know, and, Jill, a lot of people were asking me this morning, why is he allowed to speak? I think a lot of people are wondering why he gets this platform in the United States of America when it comes.
DOUGHERTY: Well, it is the United States of America, but it is the United Nations inside the United States. So, he as a -- as the leader of a country, he after all is the president of a nation. And he, according to U.N. rules, does have the right to speak. And that's all part of the way it should be.
What he says, of course, people can react to and that's why he had the walkouts.
ROBERTS: Jill Dougherty this morning -- Jill, thanks so much.
Facebook's founder has about 40,000 new friends this morning. He's giving about $100 million to the troubled inner schools in Newark, New Jersey. Only about half of those 40,000 Newark students will graduate and only a fifth of them will go on to a four-year college.
We'll talk about whether this huge chunk of charity will make a difference.
It's 34-and-a-half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: If you had $1 million, you might do one thing. But what if you had $100 million? Well, a tech whiz kid, a young Democratic mayor, rising Republican star, and Oprah all getting together today to help give inner city kids what they hope is a brighter future. Today, on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Facebook's 26- year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg will announce that he is giving $100 million to the troubled public school system in Newark, New Jersey.
Joining us now to talk more about this whether it will work and why Zuckerberg is doing it is: CNN education contributor, Steve Perry.
And David Kirkpatrick, he is the author of "The Facebook Effect."
Great to see you both of you this morning.
Steve, let's start with you and the education aspect of this. Newark schools are nothing short of terrible. They spend about $22,000 per student on education. That's 47 percent higher than the state average. Yet, 46 percent of those students fail to graduate, and only 20 percent go on to attend a four-year college.
So, you've got to ask yourself, giving this school system $100 million -- is it going to make any difference?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: First, we have to say that congratulations to the district for attracting this level of attention. And Mr. Zuckerberg, I mean, has really done something amazing by committing this amount of money.
However, no -- money is not the reason why Newark's public schools have failed. They failed because they've been run ineffectively. They failed because they're not designed to perform. And as a result, the children are being given a horrible academic experience.
So, money's not going to solve this problem at all.
ROBERTS: So throwing $100 million at it, what does that do?
PERRY: It doesn't -- I don't know what it's going to do. I don't know that it can do anything. I think what we need to look at is how are the schools going to change? Is the money going to give us more programming so our students now are going to have band when they didn't have band? Are they going to have more math classes as opposed to better -- I mean, as opposed to before? And is everything going to be improved?
See, it can't be just giving this district money. It has to be changing the way the district operates.
Mr. Booker said to me in an interview earlier this year that he understands that choice and accountability are, in fact, paramount in terms of improving education.
But choice in and of itself is not the answer. It has to be monitored choice, because at the rate in which charter schools are growing nationally, we can't monitor the effectiveness of them. So, we need to put in place strategies to ensure that they're not just opened but they're better.
ROBERT: All right. Hold on that point, Steve. Let's bring David in.
Why do you think Zuckerberg is doing this? And it's not just a philanthropic gift here, really, a spotlight philanthropy because he's going on "The Oprah Show," along with Mayor Cory Booker, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey. They're really drawing an awful lot of attention to this.
What do you think is behind it?
DAVID KIRKPATRICK, AUTHOR, "THE FACEBOOK EFFECT": Well, also, make no mistake, for him, this is a huge move. He's never given any big gift to philanthropy before. In fact, he's never really sold his Facebook stock in any quantity before. So, this is a huge gesture on his part that's very different from the way he's ever behaved before.
Clearly, you know, despite what we were just hearing, he believes he's going to make a difference in Newark somehow by doing this, you know, charter schools and giving people choice. And I'm sure he also believes that technology could be a factor in helping American education in Newark in particular, and I'm sure he hopes that'll be used for that in some part.
ROBERTS: The question has been -- has been raised, the premiere of the "Social Network," the new film, is out tonight. It doesn't exactly portray him in the most favorable light. Is he trying to fight back against that image?
KIRKPATRICK: This can't be a complete coincidence. So, clearly, the movie that premieres tonight and opens nationwide next week, which really does portray him unflatteringly is something that he's not happy about. It cannot be a complete coincidence that the first time he's ever come out of the gate and basically done anything related to anything other than Facebook is exactly when the movie's coming out.
On the other hand, I do believe he really does believe in education. And I think probably what happened was -- you know, this is something he's been talking about for a long time with a sort of vague aim to counter the image problem with the movie. The fact that it ends up coming on the exact same day that the movie premieres has got to have been an uncomfortable coincidence that even he didn't want.
ROBERTS: Right.
Steve, we understand as part of the deal, Governor Chris Christie is going to hand over at least some control of the school system from the state to the local government. So, Mayor Cory Booker will have a greater say in what happens in the schools there.
Will that help to make this public/private partnership more effective, do you think?
PERRY: I don't know. Fifteen years ago, Newark had control of their school district and they lost it because they failed to educate the children. Mr. Booker seems to be well-intended. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to do.
But I don't know that he has the options within his academic menu to provide the children what is it they need. I don't know that he has enough school providers in his -- in his district to even create the level of schooling he's going to need. It's not just about turning around failed schools because you need to create from ground up better schools.
And so, whether or not Cory Booker is responsible for that, I don't think that's going to determine the effectiveness of the product. He has to be able to attract academic providers from all over the country. And in some cases, as New York is doing, from all over the world to come in and be part of the solution.
If this money is a way to do that, then it could prove to be effective. If it is not -- if it is simply spent, then it'll be right back where they were.
KIRKPATRICK: You know, that all makes sense to me. Regardless, though, the fact that we have the premiere young entrepreneur in the world and probably the greatest leader of his generation, the most impactful person of his generation, making this gesture that what he really cares about is improving American education, that could be catalytic in some way itself. And he is definitely in line with Bill Gates. And, you know, the richest people, the people who are thinking the hardest about how can they really make a difference with a lot of money, are saying this problem of American education is so serious that something dramatic has to happen to make it better.
So, you know, whether or not the specifics are going to happen in Newark or not, I don't know.
PERRY: This is not -- this is not about the founder of Facebook. For me, it's about -- it's about academics and is about what happens in the schools. And we've been throwing money at the problem for a long time.
So, I'm going to applaud the fact that he's giving the money, but I'm not going to break my arms patting him on the back. What I'm saying is, in terms of performance, in terms of creating a better academic experience, if money were the issue, then prisons would be the most effective place to send children because that's where we spend the most amount of money.
This is not about the money. It's about transforming the way in which we operate public education.
ROBERTS: All right. And with that, Steve Perry -- always great to see you, thanks for coming in.
David Kirkpatrick, you, too, as well. It's great to see you this morning. Thank you.
KIRKPATRICK: Thanks.
PERRY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, guys.
Well, it's 44 minutes past the hour.
Rob Marciano will have the travel forecast. He talked about showers on the way for Chicago, could be causing some delays. But he also has his eyes on Tropical Storm Matthew. He's going to be giving us an update.
Also, spending the day picking vegetables at a farm. Stephen Colbert spends a day on Capitol Hill after doing that for a House hearing about farm workers. We're going to get details from our Politics.com desk -- coming up.
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CHETRY: Welcome back. Forty-eight minutes past the hour right now. Time to get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys. You know, this front that's trying to make its way across the east coast and cool things off to where it's a little bit more normal, it's moving real slow. And we've seen some rain here along this front that's been pretty heavy, especially across parts of Wisconsin where, right now, there are still flood warnings out because of the rivers that will be cresting over the weekend.
Here's video out of Arcadia, Wisconsin. Evacuations were ordered yesterday as this river, the Trempealeau River, was rising quickly. And about 2,000 people were forced to evacuate. National Guard called in all sorts of nasty stuff. They had over 1/2 foot of rain coming in less than a 48-hour period. And that will do it there. Other parts of Wisconsin, including Columbia County and along the Wisconsin River may very well see flooding that was -- hasn't been this bad since 1993 as that river begins to crest some time over the weekend.
Here are some of the numbers. This is just 24-hour rainfall tallies. Again, you go 48 hours and you're talking 6 to 10 inches in some areas. So, tremendous amount of rain across this part of the world and this front, again, trying to make its way into some very, very warm air, and so warm that we're seeing temperatures 15 to 20 degrees above average, over 90 again yesterday in D.C. That's the 56th day that they've seen plus 90, and that sets a record. All right. Here is tropical storm Matthew. Look at how it explodes here. It's about 200 miles east of the Honduras/Nicaragua border. It will make landfall there over the next 48 hours. And then what it does after that is interesting for our purposes, kind of hovers over the Yucatan, we don't know, actually, John and Kiran, what this is going to do next week, but it could very well get into the Gulf of Mexico, which makes obviously everybody a little bit more nervous. Back to you guys in New York.
ROBERTS: Yes. It looks like it's taking a right turn there when it hits the Yucatan. If it gets back into the warm water of the Gulf, it could have rolled back up into a big storm?
MARCIANO: Very easily. The question is does it make it across the Yucatan? Does it die completely? Does it reform and resurrect itself? You know, we just don't know at this point, but it certainly there as watching very closely.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: You bet.
ROBERTS: True to his tough guy persona, the wrecking ball, New Jersey governor, Chris Christie goes face to face with a heckler, not New Jersey, though, in California. Video straight ahead from our CNNPolitics.com desk.
CHETRY: We're not used to that type of confrontation there in California.
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CHETRY: About seven minutes until the top of the hour. Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. We're taking a look at the Political Ticker. Stephen Colbert is called before Congress. Is this a joke or is this expert testimony?
ROBERTS: Our senior political editor, Mark Preston, live at the CNNPolitics.com desk for us this morning. Mark, there's a lot to talk about this morning.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: There sure is, John. There sure is, Kiran. Look, Stephen Colbert has Capitol Hill abuzz. You know, Fridays here in Washington tend to be kind of sleepy, the congressmen go home, the senators go home, but today, Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central is going to be on Capitol Hill testifying about his very hot-button issue of immigration.
You know, he spent a day on a corn farm up in New York, spending really walking a day in the shoes of a migrant farm worker. He's been talking about it on his show the last couple of nights. I will tell you having watched those clips, it will be interesting to see what he does say today during this hearing. I suspect he is going to be probably sympathetic to the migrant farm worker.
So, Stephen Colbert in just a few hours on Capitol Hill, a story, of course, we're following here at CNN. Very interesting story.
But check this out, as well. Governor Chris Christie takes on a heckler out in California. Chris Christie was doing a campaign even for Meg Whitman. She's the former eBay CEO who's running for governor, and a heckler got up and really started to get into Meg Whitman's face. Chris Christie stood up for her. Let's take a look at what he did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Hey, listen, you know what, you want to yell, yell at me, but don't give her a hard time. We're here, we're here talking about the future of the state of California and the future of our country, and you know what, and you know what, let me tell you, and let me tell you this, you know what, it's people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are dividing this country. We're here to bring this country together, not to divide it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: There you have, Chris Christie right there, the New Jersey governor standing up to a heckler. Tell you what, the take away from this week in politics, too. And it all has to do with Chris Christie. One, chivalry is not dead, certainly not in politics. And if I'm ever in a barroom fight, I think I want Chris Christie having my back -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: That's why they call him the wrecking ball, right?
PRESTON: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: I mean, in fairness, Chris Christie didn't have to yell, he had a microphone.
PRESTON: He did have a microphone. But I'll tell you what, he was sitting down and he got up and he really, you know, addressed that heckler soon, you know, right on. A lot of people might have just sat there and didn't engage. So, kind of interesting that he did it.
CHETRY: It is true. Sometimes, the best moments come out of that. I mean, the president also addressed hecklers when they were protesting, I think, the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He said, listen, I'm on your side. I'm trying to make this happen as well. And it was a good moment, you know, where you got to see people, you know, acting a little more real.
PRESTON: Yes, no question. And often times, a great defense is a strong offense. And that's when you see that the present often times, we'll call people out in the crowd, hey, calm down. Be quiet. Let me keep on talking. You know, kind of adds to the whole live aspect of the event.
ROBERTS: Yes, California not quite ready for Chris Christie. All right. Thanks, Mark. We're going to check back in with Mark in an hour's time. And for all the latest political news, make sure to go to our website at CNNPolitics.com.
CHETRY: So, a lot of New Jersey reality shows out there. This is just the latest.
ROBERTS: What else? Should we send them Snookie, maybe, next time?
CHETRY: Maybe. He was Jersey licious (ph) out in California.
It's 57 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder mystery in the backdrop of the U.N. A diplomat found with his throat slashed. The search for a suspect intensifies this morning.
Powering up, tropical storm Matthew on the move, bracing for landfall this weekend.
And healthy lunch 101, Congress giving schools a lesson in eating right on the Most News in the Morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
