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American Morning

North Korea Begins Succession; Chile Miners Rescue as Early as Wednesday; Mass Overdose at College Party; Bret Favre "Sext" Scandal; Karzai Confirms Taliban Talks; Paladino's Anti-Gay Comments; Google in the Driver's Seat

Aired October 11, 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 Monday morning to you and thanks so much for joining us. It's October 11th. I'm John Roberts. Good morning.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you. I'm Kiran Chetry. We want to get you caught up on a lot going on this morning.

Tanks, missiles, thousands of soldiers welcoming a dictator in waiting. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and son, the heir apparent, both appearing at one of the biggest celebrations in the communist country's history. Alina Cho is one of the few foreign journalists allowed in. She'll be joining us live from Pyongyang in moments.

ROBERTS: Stunning homophobia. That's what Democrats are accusing New York Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino of, after he condemns gay rights and the politicians who support them. The remarks weren't off the cuff. They were actually prepared. We'll play them for you in just a moment.

CHETRY: And developing this morning, a light at the end of the tunnel for those 33 trapped Chilean miners. Just this morning, crews finished reinforcing the rescue tunnel with steel tubing. So now, they're deciding how they're going to start lifting the miners to the surface. We're live in Chile with the latest developments.

ROBERTS: Up first this Monday morning, power parade, the succession process underway in North Korean with a massive show of force. Thousands of soldiers, tanks and missiles with banners that said "defeat the U.S. Military."

CHETRY: Yes, North Korea's ailing dictator, Kim Jong-Il, made a rare appearance with his son, the heir apparent, basically saying this will be yours. And, of course, the U.S. is watching closely as North Korea enters a new era. Alina Cho was granted rare access inside of North Korea and she joins us from Pyongyang -- Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening from Pyongyang where North Koreans are in the middle of a week-long celebration officially commemorating the 65th anniversary of the formation of the ruling workers party. But this is a coming out party, as well, and it's offering us a rare glimpse inside one of the most secretive societies in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): The most reclusive dictator in the world opens his arms and his doors to the world. An unofficial and elaborate coming out party for Kim Jong-Un, the hermit nation's hidden prince, the son of Kim Jong-Il, who one day will become its leader. This is the world's first glimpse of him in action after being named a four-star general last month.

Just after touching down, we're whisked to Pyongyang's May Day Stadium for the first event, the mass games.

CHO (on camera): There are 100,000 people performing in a massive display of coordinated song, dance and gymnastics. They practice eight hours a day every day for a year, and there's never a guarantee that Chairman Kim Jong-Il will be in attendance. But tonight, he is.

(voice-over): What's different this time is that Kim Jong-Il appears alongside his son. When the show is over, North Koreans in the audience applaud not for the performers, but for their leader.

Next up, a massive military parade, billed as the country's largest ever. A goose stepping show of firepower by one of the largest armies in the world.

Kim Jong-Il said to be in frail health and rarely seen in public shows up again for the second time in two days, walking unaided, but with one hand on the railing.

(INAUDIBLE), this woman says. Long live the general, and long live his son. Here Kim Jong-Il flashes a rare smile as his son jokes with elders. The crowd goes wild, jumping, clapping, even crying. Then as night falls, yet another spectacle.

(on camera): Tonight's event called the soiree is the third such event in less than 24 hours and it is pure pageantry. Take a look behind me. The colors, the choreography, literally thousands of dancers in traditional dress. The media has been invited as guests. This is the invitation. But make no mistake, the real guests of honor are up there in the balcony. Kim Jong-Il and his son, the heir- apparent, Kim Jong-Un.

JOERGEN MELSKENS, ACTOR/VISITING FROM DENMARK: I think it was fantastic.

CHO (voice-over): This man, an actor from Denmark, one of a handful of private citizens invited by the North Korean government is among those watching.

(on camera): What about all of the reports of oppression and the people starving and --

MELSKENS: I can't see it. Maybe it is, but I can't see it. I can just see lucky people.

CHO (voice-over): This secretive nation will soon close its doors again, leaving many questions about its future. How will the young son rule? How long can North Korea continue as an isolationist state? The world's eyes are watching as North Korea begins its transfer of power.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: U.S. officials say this transfer of power is something they've been expecting. When it does eventually happen, it certainly won't be a surprise. Having said that, all of this weekend's events here in North Korea are just added proof that this plan to keep the Kim family firmly in power here in North Korea, John and Kiran, is well underway.

ROBERTS: And, Alina, what do we know about Kim Jong-Un? He seems to be as much of an enigma as North Korea itself.

CHO: John, you are absolutely right. We know very little about this young man. We don't even know his age, frankly. He is said to be 27 or 28 years old. We believe he did some schooling at a boarding school under an assumed name in Switzerland. The classes were conducted in English. So we do believe that he speaks some English, some German, possibly even some French. He is said to be passionate about American basketball with a certain fondness for Michael Jordan and James Bond and Jean Claude Van Damme. But what we don't know is will he continue the policies of his father, military first, a communist nation? And, John we won't know the answer to that question until that handover of power eventually takes place -- John.

ROBERTS: Alina Cho this morning with a remarkable live report out of Pyongyang this morning. Just the fact that she's live is very remarkable. Alina, thanks so much.

The Most Politics in the Morning now. He has been a lightning rod for controversy, and this morning, New York's fiery Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is in hot water again. This time for making anti-gay comments while speaking to Orthodox Jewish leaders. In prepared remarks, Paladino called himself the religious values candidate and said children are better off not being gay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL PALADINO (R), NY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I just think my children and your children will be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family. And I don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option. It isn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: A spokesman for Paladino's opponent, Andrew Cuomo, blasted the speech's, quote, "stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality." The chairman of the Republican gay group, the Log Cabin Republicans of New York, also criticized Paladino's harsh words saying, quote, "I don't want New Yorkers to be brainwashed into thinking that ignorance is an equally valid and successful option. It isn't.

CHETRY: And the story, of course, continues because then late into the night, Carl Paladino's camp gave a comment to CNN, as well, saying his position is exactly equivalent to the Catholic church and if Andrew Cuomo has a problem with the Catholic's church's position on abortion and homosexuality, he needs to take it up with his parish priest.

ROBERTS: Paladino's campaign knows how to slug it out. There's no question about that.

CHETRY: Yes. We're going to be talking more about that. John Avlon is joining us in about 30, 40 minutes. How did things get so ugly in the campaign in 2010? Is it really the worst that we've seen? We're going to talk about it with John.

Meanwhile in Chile, crews are getting closer to bringing those 33 trapped miners out of the ground. This morning, crews finished reinforcing the rescue tunnel with steel tubing to prevent rocks from falling down and hitting the escape capsule.

CHETRY: Our Patrick Oppman is live in Copiapo, Chile for us this morning. And, Patrick, one of the most interesting aspects of all of this is that there is argument among the miners as to who is going to be the last one out.

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You would think, John, after spending so much time underground these men would be fighting to be on that first rescue capsule out, but the solidarity is so strong that there's actually been a bit of an argument between the men and officials over who goes last. These other men want to see their colleagues, their friends now taste freedom, hug your families before they do.

Officials have a very different plan. They want the strongest men, the most technically adept men to lead first. If there are any problems with that rescue capsule, they'll be the ones who can fix it. Then they want men with health problems, or men who suffer from hypertension, suffer from diabetes, some men who quite understandably are having difficulty with claustrophobia, their living conditions. They want those men to go next. And then at the very end they want the strongest men, the men who'll be able to watch their colleagues, their friends leave before them and not break down. That's going to be mean an ordeal on top of the ordeal they've already experienced -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: You can imagine what it must be like as they try to figure that out. And they're worried about panic attacks on the way up, as well.

ROBERTS: Yes. You can imagine it's going to take what? Forty-five minutes to get each and every one of them up 2,300 feet. So a big ordeal still ahead for all of them.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROBERTS: But getting closer though.

Also new this morning, one giant leap for space tours and two pilots flew the world's first manned commercial spacecraft yet today. Virgin Galactic Spaceship II soaring way, way, way over the Mojave Dessert in California. The mother ship carried it to an altitude of 45,000 feet before it flew solo for about 11 minutes. It's undergoing some serious testing before it takes passengers into space. Passengers who will be paying 200 grand per ticket.

CHETRY: Well, just in time for Halloween, a new world record for the world's largest pumpkin. This gourd weighed in at 1,810 1/2 pounds which shattered last year's Guinness record by 85 pounds. Growers Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin says the key is leaving just one fruit on the vine so all of the energy goes to that one pumpkin.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, what about paddling in a pumpkin? Dozens of racers taking part in the annual pumpkin regatta in a place where they know how to have fun, Windsor, Nova Scotia. The course is a half mile from start to finish. You have to do in 10 minutes time. A couple pumpkins never made it to the starting line because they capsized at the dock then sunk. The event began in 1999 with just five pumpkins. And you can see the extent of which it's grown.

CHETRY: Pretty cool. They've got a lot of big pumpkins there too.

ROBERTS: They do. Windsor, Nova Scotia where everything is bigger than everything else.

CHETRY: Well, it's 10 1/2 minutes past the hour. We'll get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center.

We certainly had some gorgeous weather if you were out there doing some pumpkin picking this weekend.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Gorgeous. Yes, Kiran. Hi, John, good morning and happy Friday (ph) to you.

We do have some action that's heading towards, trying to head towards the northeast but I don't think it's going to get there until later on tonight. Just some sprinkles across parts of upstate New York right now. I think for the most part Columbus Day, be it hunting gourds or going to a parade should be OK. But it will be warm, especially across the eastern half of the country. The unusually warm spell continues. It will cool down later in the week. But until then, we're looking at temperatures that will be 10 to 20 degrees above average. And 84 in St. Louis, it'll be 87 in D.C. A little bit cooler up there in New York.

One other point I want to make is this little piece of activity in the tropics. Honduras, Nicaragua, this could develop into something over the next two days and potentially get its way across Cuba and maybe into the Gulf of Mexico. We'll talk more about those possibilities a little bit later on into the program.

Yes, it was a toasty weekend for a lot of folks. Definitely didn't feel like fall, but they will here in the next two weeks. That's for sure.

CHETRY: And today feels like a Friday to you. You said happy Friday to us.

MARCIANO: Did I? I said that downstairs, as well. Yes, it does feel like Friday.

ROBERTS: There's nothing like pushing the weekend. I'm with you, Rob.

CHETRY: You know, maybe around Wednesday or Thursday, but come on, it's Monday morning. We've got a long way to go.

MARCIANO: I want to get in that pumpkin patch. Come on, let me go.

ROBERTS: 6:00 Monday morning, looking forward to Friday already. Thanks, Rob. We'll see you soon.

MARCIANO: You bet.

ROBERTS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, a college party takes a frightening turn. What caused a dozen students to get sick? Police want to know if they were poisoned. And if so, who did it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifteen minutes past the hour.

Troubling story out of central Washington State. A college party went terribly wrong when 12 people, 11 of them women, became violently ill.

ROBERTS: Police say it appears that someone spiked their drinks, and now an investigation is underway to determine who did it and why.

Ted Rowlands is following it for us this morning.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, the party was thrown by a college freshman here at a second home owned by his parents. According to police, 11 out of the 12 victims were girls, all of them between the ages of 18 and 21.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS (voice-over): Students at the party say it was clear something was wrong.

KATELYNN ALLEN, CWU FRESHMAN: Everything was going fine. The music was playing. People were having fun. And then all of a suddenly - sudden, all the girls were puking everywhere. Girls were outside, like, on their back, and people were so drunk, they didn't know what to do.

ROWLANDS: Police believe the victims were drugged without their knowledge.

CHRIS UNGER, CWU FRESHMAN: People were saying don't drink out of the red cups. Don't drink out of the red cups. And I know I had saw someone drink out of the red cup.

I took one sip of it, I immediately threw up without even a single drink. I mean, that's how powerful it was.

ROWLANDS: For police, the night started in this grocery store parking lot. A girl was unconscious in a car. Officers traced her condition back to the party.

They had to break down the door because nobody would answer.

CHIEF SCOTT FERGUSON, CLE ELUM-ROSLYN POLICE DEPARTMENT: I would hate to think what could've occurred had there been another 15, 20 minutes that would have passed.

ROWLANDS: Police detained a man who was having sex with a semi- conscious female. He was released after it was determined the two were dating. The man may still face charges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: Blood and urine samples have been taken from the victims in an effort to figure out exactly what they consumed. Police plan to interview everybody who was at this party so they can find out who was responsible for drugging the students -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: Ted Rowlands, thank you.

Well, next on the Most News in the Morning, everyone's talking about Brett Favre, and not for his playing on the field but for graphic pictures he's accused of texting to a woman. We're going to talk more about what's going on. His comments on this, as well.

Seventeen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour now.

And for the third year in a row - pay attention, Mike Stein (ph) -- the Philadelphia Phillies will play for the National League Pennant. Go Phillies.

They completed the three-game sweep last night beating the Reds two- nothing. Paul Hamels struck out at nine. Chaes Utley homered, the Reds barely showed a pulse - showed a pulse in the entire series. They were no-hit once, shut-out twice, had more errors than runs in the series.

Mike Stein (ph), of course, is a diehard Yankees fan. Hates the Phillies.

CHETRY: Yes. It's tough - it's tough to be him sometimes.

Well, T.O. flagged for a tweet. Cincinnati Bengals' wide receiver Terrell Owens may have to pay for violating the NFL rules against using social media within 90 minutes of the game. I mean, this is what we've come to now because of all of our tweeting and twittering and Facebooking.

An hour before takeoff, T.O. tweeted that a fan wearing his jersey would get a signed ball. But the league fined his teammate, Chad Ochocinco, $25,000 for tweeting before a preseason game and during a preseason game. He was the first player fined for violating this policy.

ROBERTS: What - what don't they get about the rules? I don't understand.

It's a text or an alleged sext that may have Minnesota quarterback and NFL living legend Brett Favre in some hot water these days.

CHETRY: The NFL said that it will be reviewing allegations that Favre sent a nude photo to a former game host while he was the Jets' quarterback in 2008. Favre also returns to New York or New Jersey tonight to play his old team.

Joining us now is CNN contributor Max Kellerman. In addition to the alleged text messages, there were also voice mails that were released, as well. We have one of them. Let's listen to that right now.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BRETT FAVRE, NFL LIVING LEGEND: (INAUDIBLE) come over tonight. But I know (INAUDIBLE) came up and ask you if you would give him your number or he was going to give you my number. But I understand. But give me a text. I'd love to see you tonight.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHETRY: So, joining us now is Max Kellerman. How much trouble is Brett Favre in, if any?

MAX KELLERMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, the Yankees made it there before the Phillies, I just want to let you guys know. They swept their way in.

ROBERTS: Yes. But was there any doubt?

KELLERMAN: It looks like we're going - we're heading towards a - could be a rematch of last year's World Series if things - if they hold up in the League Championship Series.

You know, it depends if he did it. If Brett Favre actually left these messages and it sounds like him, but you know, people aren't sure yet. This story's been on the internet, rumored online for, you know, months and months now. But now it's kind of breaking into the - into more mainstream press and print press and now the electronic media. Look at this over the air waves.

It depends if he did it. If he did it, it shouldn't be that hard to tell, right? Because you can see the time that it was left, and you can check his phone and et cetera, et cetera.

The interesting thing to me about all of this, what's in jeopardy is his consecutive games played streak. He has the most of any position player, let alone quarterback history of the NFL of the NFL's 288 straight games played. But he hasn't denied it. And the trouble usually comes from the denial. Roger Clemens insists on testifying in front of Congress.

ROBERTS: Yes.

KELLERMAN: I didn't use steroids, what if he did? He could be in big trouble. Favre when asked about it simply said I have my hands full with the Jets this week and didn't deny it. And I think it's kind of smart especially if he did it.

ROBERTS: In fact, you know, let's play what he said last week at a press conference. As you said, been out there for a long time sort of swirling, finally came out in public, at least him being asked about it. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAVRE: Yes. You know, I mean, no. I'm not getting into that. I got my hands full with the Jets, and trying to get some timing down with our guys. So, I mean, that's all going to discuss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So the allegations are that that he sent some racy messages and perhaps even some photographs to Jenn Sterger, who is this game- day hostess with the Jets, there's also some allegations about some massage therapists, as well. But where does that run afoul of the code of conduct with the NFL?

KELLERMAN: Well, you clearly - sending those - he's in a -

ROBERTS: No, I'm asking you - obviously if it does.

KELLERMAN: Yes, I mean -

ROBERTS: I'm asking you for the pure definition of why he could be suspended.

KELLERMAN: I suppose that the commissioner could simply say this is outside the code of conduct - conduct for an NFL player. I'm not sure exactly what rule they would cite other than - other than that.

But, his level of arrogance, I think, if it's true, his level of arrogance does not quite meet what some, you know, incredibly narcissistic, arrogant professional athletes, you know, that standard. Because, as you see, he says - it's interesting how he did it. He says no, I'm not getting into that. So it almost sounds like a denial, but then ultimately doesn't go there. And if it's true, he may have saved himself by not denying it.

CHETRY: So we'll see what happens. As you said, he's going to schedule to make his 289th consecutive start Monday. If he gets suspended, that's obviously in jeopardy. But right now all the NFL is saying is that it's under review. KELLERMAN: Yes. And there's a tremendous story lines, by the way, heading into tonight's Monday night football game with this -

CHETRY: I mean, is he going to be suspended possibly by tonight?

KELLERMAN: It seems unlikely. But going into tonight's game, he now has Randy Moss' receiver. After Randy Moss' falling out with Tom Brady and apparently in New England, although now Brady is denying that, and Bill Belichick trades Randy Moss to team up with Brett Favre. Favre facing his old team - his old team, the Jets.

A lot of people think he only went to the Jets so he could get to Minnesota from Green Bay. It's a tremendous Monday Night football game tonight.

CHETRY: We'll be watching. (INAUDIBLE). Sorry. That's what happens. Thanks, Max.

KELLERMAN: Thanks, guys.

CHETRY: It's 26 minutes past the hour.

Top stories are next and then a live report from Ivan Watson in Afghanistan for more on negotiations with the Afghan government and the Taliban. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-nine minutes past the hour. Actually it's crossing the half hour right now. It means it's time for our top stories.

The transition of power is under way in North Korea. The communist nation putting a military parade billed as the nation's largest celebration ever on in front of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il and his son, who the U.S. believes is the country's next leader. According to "The Associated Press," North Korea threatened a nuclear strike if the U.S. and its followers "infringe on our sovereignty."

ROBERTS: Just hours ago, crews finished re-enforcing the rescue shaft to bring up the 33 trapped Chilean miners. Officials are now making plans to send down a doctor and a rescue worker to prepare the miners for their journey back up to the surface.

CHETRY: Another wave of toxic sludge threatening an already devastated area of Hungary. Crews are building an emergency dam in case a cracked wall gives way at that same aluminum plant where last week a reservoir burst and unleashed a deadly flood of industrial waste. Officials have said that cleanup could take a year. They're concerned that toxins from the drying sludge could be spread through the air. Thousands of people have been evacuated, and troops are now on standby for rescue operations.

ROBERTS: Well, now to the war in Afghanistan. And President Hamid Karzai has confirmed he's been in peace talks with the Taliban -- talks that he described as countrymen to countrymen in an interview that will air tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." CHETRY: This comes as new attacks show that the Karzai government and the coalition may be losing their grip on another part of the country.

Ivan Watson is live for us from Kabul this morning with more. Hello, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.

That's right. Hamid Karzai, in an interview with Larry King, confirming after lots of reports and statements coming from U.S. officials that there was some kind of communication between his government and the Taliban. He came out and confirmed that these, some kind of contacts, were I fact taking place. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: We have been talking to the Taliban as countrymen to countrymen talk. Not as a regular official contact would with Taliban with a fixed address, but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time. Now that the peace council has come into existence, these talks will go on and will go on officially and more rigorously, I hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, he's referring to this high peace council that's a 68-person body that is organized to try to negotiate some kind of settlement with the Taliban. It does not include any members of the insurgency. The chairman of this peace council was just announced a couple of days ago.

But it's important to note, this doesn't seem to be having a short-term impact on the violence here, John and Kiran. Nine Afghan civilians were killed by a roadside bomb yesterday. And in Italy, there are mourning ceremonies for four Italian soldiers killed in an insurgent ambush in western Afghanistan over the weekend -- John.

ROBERTS: We also heard about a British aid worker who was killed during a rescue attempt. What do you know about that?

WATSON: That's right. A tragic incident that took place Friday night. And it was announced Saturday. Linda Norgrove, 35 years old, originally from Scotland. She spent more than three years here and was overseeing $150 million U.S. aid project to create jobs in eastern Afghanistan, kidnapped last week along with three Afghan employees.

There was an apparent rescue effort to try to free her Friday night, and the U.S. Military and the British government say that she was killed in that rescue effort, at least two Taliban commanders also killed according to Afghan sources.

The U.S. Military is also telling us that she was killed by one of her captors who had an explosive device in very close proximity to Linda Norgrove. This was a woman who spent three years here working on the ground with the United Nations, prior to her current job. She had learned Dari and had even taken vacations here in Afghanistan. She is just one of the growing list of casualties of this war as it goes into its 10th year -- John.

ROBERTS: What a shame. Ivan Watson this morning in Kabul -- Ivan, thanks so much.

You can watch all of Larry King's interview with Afghan President Hamid Karzai tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, New York Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino, igniting more controversy after some anti-gay remarks that he made. We're going to be talking to CNN contributor John Avlon up next. It's 34 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm you. And just like you, I have to constantly deny that I'm a witch. Isn't that what the people of Delaware deserve? A candidate who promises first and foremost that she's not a witch?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: "Saturday Night Live" getting in a few laughs after Christine O'Donnell's campaign ad last week.

Meanwhile, welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning.

New York's Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino, is drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle after some anti-gay comments that he made at a New York synagogue.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL PALADINO (R), NEW YORK GOV. CANDIDATE: I just think my children and your children will be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family. And I don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option. It isn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Spokesman for Paladino's Democratic opponent, Andrew Cuomo, blasted the comments, calling them, quoting, "stunning homophobia."

And then joining me now is John Avlon, CNN contributor and columnist for "The Daily Beast."

Thanks for being here, by the way, this morning. JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

CHETRY: Why did he go there?

AVLON: You know, what's amazing is that normally this would be filed under a gaffe by a politician. But this was scripted, this was intentional, and this is another example of the kind of politics of incitement we've been seeing this year -- where politicians are going after the ugly with both hands in an attempt to get attention and to sort of change the conversation to have them included in it. No matter how ugly they get. Under this new ethos in American politics, there is no such thing as too extreme, and this is the latest example of that.

CHETRY: Well -- and, you know, the Paladino camp fired back at the criticism that came from Cuomo's camp, saying, quote, "Carl Paladino's position on this is exactly equivalent to the Catholic Church and if Andrew Cuomo has a problem with the Catholic Church's position on abortion and homosexuality, he needs to take it up with his parish priest."

AVLON: Yes.

CHETRY: So, in a way, he's doubling down on the comments.

AVLON: He is. And those comments are very strategic. New York is a state with over 40 percent Catholic population. So, this was clearly a set-up to use that line. But that shows how much this is a strategy. And remember, it's coming at a time when we're in a nationwide gay civil rights movement. This is definitely reigniting the culture wars, on a territory and in a state where that strategy wouldn't seem to have much effect.

CHETRY: Meaning New York?

AVLON: Meaning New York, which isn't known for the hard-right social conservatism. But he's playing a traditionalist rift here, but at a particularly awkward time, an ugly time in American politics, where we are -- we just had in New York a case of gay-bashing that sent eight members of a local gang into jail. We are, again, in this moment of a national gay civil rights movement, an ongoing debate.

So, this is really planting a flag in a middle of the culture wars, an intentional attempt to hijack the conversation and be divisive. It's the politics of incitement.

CHETRY: This is also taking place on the other side of the aisle, as well. Some things got nasty in the campaign. Congressman Alan Grayson, he's Democrat out of Florida, and he went after his opponent Daniel Webster in an ad where he actually refers to him as Taliban Dan. Let's listen to a little bit of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: Daniel Webster wants to impose his fundamentalism on us. DANIEL WEBSTER (R), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: She should submit to me. That's in the Bible.

NARRATOR: Webster tried to deny battered women medical care and the right to divorce their abusers.

WEBSTER: Submit to me.

NARRATOR: He wants to force raped women to bear their child.

WEBSTER: Submit to me.

NARRATOR: Taliban Dan Webster, hands off our bodies and our laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So that ad was checked out by FactCheck.org among others, and they said that it was very misleading because it took his comments, Webster's words out of context. When he was saying submit me, he was actually cautioning husbands to avoid picking that passage from the Bible and then throwing in the Taliban reference.

AVLON: That's of course, is an issue. Look, we're at war against the Taliban right now. Members of the Taliban are targeting U.S. troops in combat operations in Afghanistan. And this is an example of clearly the politics of incitement, an attempt to change the conversation.

What's interesting here is that ad appears to have backfired. All of a sudden, Alan Grayson started losing ground in his swing district, in the wake of that ad airing. Started playing defense, took it off the air, and then aired another ad questioning his opponent's lack of military service when Grayson himself hadn't served.

So, it's part of a cycle we're seeing. It's a cycle where the extremes empower each other. And it's designed to take out the political attention, to change the conversation, but that line, Taliban Dan, comparing your opponent to a member of the opposition camp at a time of war, that's close to a new low and that's saying something.

CHETRY: You know, it's interesting, because for people who enjoy, you know, the sport of politics, they may follow every in and out of this. But for the average person, and we're seeing it this year, the independent -- the number of registered independents is on the rise.

AVLON: Yes.

CHETRY: And independents are going to perhaps to in many of these places decide the election. How do you get the full story? How do you know who's playing straight out there?

AVLON: Well, that's the problem right now. I think with the rise of partisan media in particular, you don't have folks being the honest broker, saying, look, we're going to call out the extremes and lies on both sides. That's one of the things I think that we have the responsibility to do.

But you do see the rise of independent voters into the largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate is in direct reaction to the polarization of the two parties. When they see this ugliness, when they see this extremism, this tendency to play to the base at the expense of the center, that leads more and more Americans to declare their independence. And they will punish the candidates who play to the base in ugly and increasingly extreme ways.

CHETRY: Our polling has independents breaking toward Republicans in greater numbers in a generic --

AVLON: Absolutely.

CHETRY: But we've also seen sort of a real shift to the right in terms of these of Tea Party candidates. So, how do independents view that?

AVLON: Well, it's interesting. Independent voters have been swinging hard core towards Republicans in part because they've been consistent about their principles. They're deficit hawks, they're angry about the spending, and they tend to like divided government. And they've been uncomfortable with Democrat control of government.

What's going to be interesting is in the specific races, like the Christine O'Donnell, for example, where they're going to clearly not -- they're not trending in that direction because of the perceived extremism of that Republican candidate. But overall, the tide is very clear. Independent voters are swinging two to one for Republicans over Democrats this year.

CHETRY: All right. We'll see how it shakes down on Election Day. John Avlon, great to have you as always, thanks so much.

AVLON: Thank you.

CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.

Still to come this Monday morning, Rob's got this morning's travel forecast. He'll be up right after the break.

Plus, Google in the driver's seat? For real. The new system the Internet company is developing to replace human hands behind the wheel.

It's 43 minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Google has changed the way that we use the internet. Now, it may change the way that we drive our cars. The internet giant is developing a new system that will drive your car for you. It uses artificial intelligence and GPS to control the vehicle. So far, engineers have tested the system over some 140,000 miles. Only one accident when a car driven by a human being rear ended the Google car while at the stoplight.

CHETRY: Was the Google computer texting and driving at the same time?

ROBERTS: I don't believe so, but I think I heard a report. I don't know if this is true that the Google car actually flipped off the driver behind them.

CHETRY: And exchanged insurance information and things got ugly. But where are we headed next? It's pretty neat. We'll see what happens with that. Forty-six minutes past the hour. We got a check on the morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center. What do you think, huh? Your car just drives itself.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, I wouldn't mind that.

CHETRY: Wakes you up in the morning, gets you some coffee, takes you right to the studio.

MARCIANO: It may be as close as I get to having a driver and take me to work every day down here in Atlanta. So, I suddenly (ph) take that. Good morning, guys. A marvelous weekend across the country with temperatures really above average, felt a lot like summer as opposed to the middle of fall. Eight-seven degrees expected high temperature in Atlanta. I think we're going to see a number of records fall today, much like we saw yesterday. Seventy-five in New York, that's still very mild for you.

It'll be in the 80s across parts of D.C. and 94 in the Desert Southwest. Here's a look at some of the high temperatures yesterday. Ninety-one degrees in Little Rock. Now, that's the 117th day they've seen a temperature reading over 90 degrees. That's a record. Montgomery, Alabama 94 degrees, Ft. Wayne, 88. That's the highest temperature they've seen this late in season, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 88 degrees, and Bluefield, West Virginia, 80 degrees there.

So, they have mild temperature. It will continue east to the Mississippi, especially, got a little disturbance here that's rotating across parts of the heartland, and we're seeing severe thunderstorms roll across the red river just north of Dallas. And then Fannin County, we do have a severe thunderstorm warning for this batch of cells that are moving to the east. Some hail in there, but mostly I think damaging winds as this thing rotates to the east at about to 45 miles an hour.

Again, 81 degrees in Dallas today and 88 degrees in Houston. Let's talk about what's going on in the tropics. This disturbance here just east of Nicaragua and Honduras has some chance of developing into something, and the National Hurricane Center certainly watching this very, very closely and some of our preliminary computer models do develop into something. It's towards the western tip of Cuba, potentially towards the Florida keys and get towards the end of this week.

So, this is going to be something that bears watching. This is kind of sort of where hurricane Wilma developed back in the 2005, which was the strongest hurricane here in the Atlantic basin, and it was in mid to late October. So, this is certainly a spot to watch this time of year. John And Kiran, back up to you.

ROBERTS: One thing about hurricane season, it ain't over until it's over.

MARCIANO: That's for sure.

ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

ROBERTS: Next stop on Most News in the Morning, it's a celebration fit for a queen. We'll take you onboard the luxury liner of the Queen Elizabeth as she get sets to leave on her maiden voyage. Stay with us.

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ROBERTS: There it is. The new queen ready to rule the high seas. Britain's Queen Elizabeth is going to officially (inaudible) new Queen Elizabeth Liner today in an elaborate royal ceremony.

CHETRY: Yes, the ship leaves on her maiden voyage headed to the Canary Islands tomorrow. And get this, the trip was fully booked less than 30 minutes after tickets went on sale. Our Zain Verjee has already toured the luxury liner. She joins us live in South Hampton, England. So, what's it like, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, guys. Think of it as being Buckingham Palace on the high seas. There she is, the Queen Elizabeth. I went in there, and it was really felt like a throwback to the elegant 1930s. You know, people like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Carry Grant, old partied on ships like the Queen Elizabeth. There were a couple before this one that ended up being sold and then one was burned and another was retired.

But it's really quite amazing inside. The rooms are spectacular. There's a top of -- state-of-the-art theater there, a ballroom, loads of shops. It's really very elegant. So, we are waiting. The queen is just a few hours away. And as you can see, there are a lot of last-minute preparations going on here. The red carpet, the security is pretty tight as you can imagine. So, we're waiting for her majesty to wish a bon voyage to her name sake.

ROBERTS: It really does seem to redefine modern luxury. You know, we see all these modern ships out there. But this one has -- as you said, that timeless elegance to it as well. What's the schedule for the christening of the ship today?

VERJEE: When the queen gets here, she'll immediately get onboard the ship. She's going to go for a tour. She'll go and stand in a box in the theater just so they can call it the royal box. She'll meet with the captain and meet with various members of the crew there, as well, and she'll press the whistle, and then she's going to come down here.

There's going to be a big orchestra and a ceremony here. And then, John, I went upon to the podium where she'll be, and there's a wooden button that she's going to press and that triggers a mechanism all the way to the front of the ship here where there is a Rothschild 2009 bottle of white wine ready to be whacked across the ship and make it official -- John.

CHETRY: So, she doesn't -- this is how technology works these days. She doesn't have to actually break the bottle against the ship. She just triggers it.

VERJEE: No, she doesn't. She just presses it. I tried to press it, but they said back off because it's bad luck. It's superstitious. Do not do that. Just one of thing, guys, in case you're thinking, you know, I'd like to get me a room on the Queen Elizabeth, the cheapest room is about $2,000, and one of the most expensive ones that we toured was $24,000 --

ROBERTS: Wow.

VERJEE: For the 13 days this is going to be out on the high seas. So, pretty expensive, but you know, there is a market that sold out every room in under 30 minutes. So, we'll see whether it can navigate the choppy economic waters.

ROBERTS: Just like our Zain Verjee to sort of, you know, get in trouble there pressing the button. The question, why are they using white wine instead of champagne?

VERJEE: Great question. I asked the same thing. They only used champagne once on another of the Cunard's ships and that was the Queen Mary II. They said that it's a tradition. I asked that, you know, you guys just being cheap and just going with the wine. They said no, it's a tradition, so.

ROBERTS: Yes. 2009 Rothschild never known to be cheap. Zain Verjee for us this morning in South Hampton. Zain thanks so much.

Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.

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