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American Morning
Paris Under Pressure; "Don't Ask Don't Tell" Restored; Mean Girls And Mama Grizzlies; Toyota Recall; Marijuana's Illegal?; Not so Shy Spy
Aired October 21, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's 8:00 on the nose here in New York this morning. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING, for Thursday, October 21st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us.
A lot to talk about this morning, let's get you right to it.
A huge rally is just getting started in central Paris today. Protesters are rallying against a plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. They have all but crippled transportation across the country this week. A live report from our Phil Black is coming up in just a moment.
CHETRY: Slamming the door, opening it and slamming it shut again. "Don't ask, don't tell" now back in effect. A federal appeals court has now blocked the ruling that briefly allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. It's putting the president in quite a difficult position this morning.
In a few moments, we're going to be speaking to former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, who became the public face of opposition to "don't ask, don't tell" after he was discharged.
ROBERTS: Well, next month, voters could make marijuana fully legal in California, but even without Proposition 19, it's not hard to get your hands on some pot. Coming up: See how people are already playing it loose with the law just to get high.
CHETRY: Well, the pressure continues to mount in Paris today. A major demonstration is just getting underway now, perhaps the biggest of the week and police are bracing for more violence. A lot of the anger stemming from the French government's plan to raise the national retirement age from 60 to 62.
ROBERTS: Police say more than 1 million French citizens have already joined the protests. Union leaders put that number as high as 3.5 million.
Our Phil Black is live for us in Paris this morning.
What's the scene like there, Phil? Has this thing started yet? PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the crowds are just beginning to gather we understand a short distance from where we are. This is the French Senate where politicians have now, for several days, been debating hundreds of amendments to legislation to raise the retirement age here by two years.
And while this debate has been going on in this building, it has really been the focus of so many demonstrations and we are expecting this latest one to head this way shortly. Thousands of university students, we understand, are going to try to come here and overtake the place. As you can understand, security is pretty strict and pretty tough around where we are right now. But this really is just one of a rolling campaign, unpredictable strikes, rallies, blockades at key infrastructure that has been going on across the country, in cities and towns.
Just this morning in a southern city of Marseille, the main international airport there was blocked for about three hours by a convoy of truck drivers. And, of course, there still is this ongoing blockade at the country's oil refineries and not producing any gas for the country's drivers. And at such, it's really strangling the supply of fuel across the country -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Our Phil Black, our man on the scene there in Paris as we await those protests to start. Phil will be on the scene all day today.
Also, new developments this morning in the fight over "don't ask, don't tell": Just one day after a lower court's decision allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, the Obama administration asked for and got a federal appeals court to block that ruling.
CHETRY: Yes, the decision puts many gay service members and also people who tried to enlist yesterday in limbo all over again.
Joining us this morning is former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi, a West Point graduate, an Iraq war veteran, an Arab linguist and also a former infantry officer discharged under "don't ask, don't tell."
Thanks for being with us this morning, Lieutenant Dan Choi.
DAN CHOI, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Good morning.
CHETRY: We saw your video yesterday of going up, knocking on the door to the recruitment office and saying, "I want back in."
What's your reaction to the Obama administration pushing for this to be overturned?
CHOI: I just heard Valerie Jarrett talk to you guys, and I'm so absolutely upset at the things that she could be saying at this moment. Yesterday, when President Obama, after "don't ask, don't tell" has been dead for a week, enormous consequences, no people quitting the military because of honest soldiers -- and all of a sudden, you see this president went to give mouth to mouth resuscitation to discrimination and injustice. Valerie Jarrett said that gay people, some of us should try to understand the politics and the situation and that we are a nation of laws. We understand that. We don't need a lecture from Valerie Jarrett on that.
Civics, day one, American government, checks and balances. When Congress enacts a law that's unconstitutional, whose job is it to strike it down? The courts. I understand the judicial branch is now the only branch of government that is filling its mandate to the Constitution.
And that the president is not able to do that upsets me. I'm resentful, absolutely.
ROBERTS: But do you understand the administration's position? That they say that they're committed to repealing "don't ask, don't tell," but they want to do it through Congress, that they don't want to do it through the courts.
CHOI: I don't think they're committed at all.
ROBERTS: You think this is just lip service?
CHOI: I think this is just politics. This is a midterm election calculation from the politicians in the White House and the administration.
ROBERTS: So, you don't trust them?
CHOI: I do not. And, actually, at this point, I have a message for Valerie Jarrett and all of those people that are -- those politicians in the White House. You've lost my trust. You have lost my trust and I'm not going to vote for Barack Obama after what he did yesterday.
CHETRY: It's interesting, because I asked her about the perception in the gay community that the administration is basically working against them. Why not just let this stand as it is? But, still simultaneously fight to get it overturned and change it. And her response was, that the Justice Department is required to defend the law and she said, "We wish there was another way because the president's been clear."
CHOI: Wrong.
CHETRY: Do you think there's another way and what is it?
CHOI: The president could have done many things in that -- this entire year. While I was going through investigations and so many people were getting kicked out. We are in a time of war. He could have had an executive order that at least stopped the discharges and all of this debate in Congress about unit cohesion and what would happen, et cetera, et cetera. It would fall on its face.
What the president is doing right now, he is following the footsteps of other presidents like John F. Kennedy who did nothing for civil rights and African-American community and stigmatized minority groups were angry. They took it to the courts. This is what's happening and it's absolutely disappointing that the president and his staff is not able to realize this.
ROBERTS: One thing that we're trying to figure out this morning is: what happens to you now? Because you enlisted with the Army, saying that you were openly gay. Do they now cancel that recruitment?
CHOI: I haven't heard anything as far as the Department of Defense, was the voice that said, we are now for the first time in history going to allow honest gay people to serve --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: So your status is unknown?
CHOI: It's still the same. So, I'm going to continue on with the process.
ROBERTS: We'll stay in touch and see where it goes.
CHO: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Lieutenant Choi, great to see you this morning. Thanks.
CHETRY: Thank you.
Well, Toyota out with a major recall this morning. A fluid leak could affect the brakes on some 740,000 cars and trucks sold in the U.S. 2004 and 2006 Avalons and non-hybrid Highlanders are on that list. Four different Lexus models also included.
There's been no reports of accidents so far, but they are warning drivers watch for a brake warning light on the dash and customers can get free repairs at their dealer.
ROBERTS: The great California shake-out gets underway this morning. Millions of people will be ducking for cover from an earthquake. But no need to be alarmed, it's only a drill. More than 7 million Californians have signed up to participate on campuses, hospitals and museums all across the state.
CHETRY: And up in smoke. That's the fate of 134 tons of marijuana that was seized in one of Mexico's biggest drug busts ever. Well, now, they're burning it. Mexican soldiers standing by as the pot was lit on fire yesterday. And military says it was the equivalent of 334 million joints going up in flames.
ROBERTS: The entire town of Tijuana having a siesta today and, boy, are they going to wake up hungry.
Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us this morning with a look at the weather across the country.
Good morning, Rob. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Red flag warning up for the South because of the dry conditions. So be careful firing up the barbecue in the backyard.
Across the Northeast, we do have some rain. It's very light and it's associated with a little weak front that's going to slide across the I-95 corridor. No rain now but in the next couple of hours, you can probably seeing or feel some light showers or sprinkles from Philly to New York and up to Boston. So, just be aware of it.
Once that goes through, it should be OK. A place like Detroit will see temperatures in the mid-50s and sunshine. It will be kind of stormy though in Albuquerque and parts of west Texas today.
We are also watching tropical depression number 19 brewing in the northwestern Caribbean, about 160 miles south of the Grand Cayman Islands. And right now, it's got winds of 35 miles per hour, but is expected to quickly become a hurricane.
And here's the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center and the last couple of days of this are suspect, low confidence. A lot of computer models doing a bunch of different things. But we are hoping that we remain lucky during this busy hurricane season and the U.S. spares itself from a strike of a hurricane.
So far, so good. But we have to deal with what will probably become Richard later on today.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Still ahead: we're going to be joined by Kathleen Parker, host of the 8:00 show here "PARKER SPITZER." Some controversial comments made by several Tea Party candidates, are they hurting or helping the Republican Party? And what about some of the comments from the Republican establishment about whether or not these candidates are good for the GOP?
Ten minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twelve minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Tea Party-backed candidates have been turning the establishment on its head this election season. They've drawn enthusiastic voters obviously to the polls in the primaries and they've also changed the political landscape in America and have been called out in some cases for some controversial statements.
Here's a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I don't know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.
CARL PALADINO (R), NY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out.
FRED DICKER, NEW YORK POST: You will take me out? How are you going to do that?
PALADINO: Watch.
DICKER: What, are you threatening me?
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm sorry. I didn't bring my Constitution with me. Fortunately, senators don't have to memorize the Constitution. Can you let me -- remind me of what the other ones are?
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHETRY: Kathleen Parker joins us now. She's the co-host of "PARKER SPITZER," the new 8:00 show here on CNN. Also, a columnist for "The Washington Post."
Thanks so much for being with us.
KATHLEEN PARKER, CO-HOST, "PARKER SPITZER": Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: So, while the Tea Party has really generated a lot of enthusiasm and they've actually used some of the knocks against them by the -- Sarah Palin calls it lamestream media, to say, see, this is -- we're real people. They also have been called out for some of those comments.
What is it going to the GOP right now as we move closer and closer to the midterms?
PARKER: Well, you know, the GOP has always been dull. We can't say that anymore. I mean, they've got the most colorful characters in politics. Obviously, it's not helpful when you have candidates who are saying rather bizarre things or sort of flashing ignorance about things that they really ought to know about if they're running for public office, particularly the U.S. Senate.
But I think there is also this very anti-elite movement out there that that is resonating. I mean, some of these candidates -- you know, look, we'll go back to the interview that Sarah Palin had with Katie Couric. And she was -- Katie Couric was asking pretty reasonable questions, frankly.
But when Palin couldn't answer them, when she couldn't, for example, think of a Supreme Court decision she didn't agree with, everybody in America was saying, well, I don't know how to answer that question either. But she's got good values and she's one of us.
And you start picking on people for not knowing, for not being, you know, Ivy League smart. And that's the thing that keeps playing.
Then, you know, you've got some voters behind you who are just going to come to your defense on the basis of, well, I don't care if she can answer these questions. I don't care if she was a straight A student and I'm certainly glad she didn't go to the Ivy League college because then her values would be completely off, right?
So, it hurts them and the general population, but I think when it comes to the GOP base, it actually is going to help them.
CHETRY: It will be interesting to see what independents think, though.
Karl Rove had some criticisms in what he said is, he likened it to not the Reagan revolution where he said this was a well-organized, coherent, ideologically-motivated conservative revolution, and he did not say this. He says, if you look underneath the surface of the Tea Party movement, you'll find that it is not sophisticated.
PARKER: Well yes. If you talk to GOP establishment people, they will say that off the record. Karl is, I guess, liberated and can say whatever he wants to. But they're unsophisticated in certain ways and I don't even want to talk about all the Tea Party people as one thing. It is not a monolithic group. There are some people who identify with the Tea Party movement who are very smart, who are brilliant, in fact. Who did go to the Ivy League colleges but not out in the front. But they are unsophisticated in this way, I think they have high expectations for what they can actually accomplish once they are in Washington.
And what I'm told is that there is a lack of understanding that there are actually three branches of government here. And you can only accomplish so much. And I think part of, you know, part of the pledge to America from the Republican Party and from John Boehner which particularly is to try to keep -- try to tamp down the expectations a little bit. I mean yes, if the Republicans take over the Congress, there are certain things they can do but they can't remake the country the way the Tea Party people think they can.
CHETRY: I want you to hear what Sarah Palin said in response to some questions about whether or not the Tea Party is splitting the GOP and whether or not the mainstream GOP is on board. Let's hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: You know, I don't think that it will because I think more of the machine within the GOP will understand that the we, the people message is rising and this resonating throughout with independents, with hard core conservatives, with moderates because it's just so full of common sense and time- tested truths to put the economy on the right track and heaven forbid that the GOP strays from the message. If so, GOP is through. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Those are strong words. Heaven forbid they stray from this message because they're through. Is that an accurate assessment?
(LAUGHTER)
PARKER: I'm sorry, I get a kick out of this woman. You know her mannerisms and her voice. All of it, the whole message. Are they through? No. Look, the GOP is a very disciplined machine and when and if the Tea Party candidates come into the Congress they're going to learn to play according to the rules. There's a - you know they don't come in and completely shift the power -- the powers from one sector to the other. Freshmen Congressmen usually don't have a whole lot to say, they usually sit quietly and pay attention and do --
CHETRY: What about the Gentleman's Chamber, though, the Senate, that's where it is going to be interesting, you have Angle in there.
PARKER: Well yes, that's probably - well you got one person in there that can muck up the works. But I think, you know, this is Sarah Palin being Sarah Palin and everything she says is essentially for her. I think. No. The Tea Party -- look. The Republicans and the Tea Party are people are not so far apart. It is not as though they'll come and start pulling strings and everything has to go their way. I mean this is what Republicans want to do anyway. Cut spending and freeze tax cuts in place. It's not like they're suddenly on different battlefields.
They're essentially speaking with one voice ultimately. Now, can -- is the GOP through if they don't listen? There's a problem. There is one tension here that is problematic. That is that if the Tea Party people out yonder being jacked up by Sarah Palin, don't like what is happening, if they don't see results fast enough, they will start attacking Republicans and that is not helpful. They're going to attack people who will listen to them. They're not going to attack Democrats. So it could be a problem in terms of launching attacks against the people who are there representing them.
CHETRY: Interesting stuff. Kathleen Parker, great to have you on the show with us this morning, thanks so much.
PARKER: OK, nice to be here.
CHETRY: Don't forget, "PARKER SPITZER" tonight 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN. John?
ROBERTS: All right, 18 and half minutes after the hour now. It's supposed to be only for medical reasons but it seems that getting a prescription for marijuana in California is a piece of cake. Or maybe more like a piece of brownie. We take a look at the controversy ahead in a "A.M. Original." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well Christine Romans is here with us this morning "Minding Your Business," and we are talking about Toyota. The problems just never seem to end.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right in the break we were talking about how the company was so big so fast. Started selling so many cars and now we've had 13, 13 by my count, recalls over the past year of Toyota and Lexus models. The most recent is 1.5 million cars for possible brake and fuel system problems, 740,000 of those in the United States.
This is just two weeks after Toyota finished the repairs on the 5 million cars we told you about early this year and late in 2009 that caused a real crisis about the safety and reputation of this company. One of the cars today we're talking about in the U.S. involves a brake master cylinder seal. It is 2005 Avalon, 2004 to 2006 Highlander, the non-hybrid model versions. These are all 2002 and 2006 models. There's several different Lexus models, as well.
You can find all of these at the Toyota web site and also at cnn.com and cnnmoney.com. But it brings to about 10 million cars and SUVs that Toyota had had to recall. And it raises the question I think about the powerful American consumer. Over 10 years who has sucked up so many consumer products from cars to toys to children's jewelry to cribs to all of these thing that is we see recalls of all the time, companies started producing things quickly and cheaply on a globalized basis and now we are seeing an awful lot of recalls. And it raised the question. Are they related? Interesting.
ROBERTS: Well we talked to the North American president when the recalls first happened earlier in the year and admitted maybe we were too big, too fast.
ROMANS: The company is trying hard to try to fix the safety image. But this is another recall after many, many this year.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: All right, coming up, the visions of the hereafter a new movie explores the subject. But what does an afterlife really look like? We are going to be speak with David Kessler. His new book is about who and what you see before you die. Twenty three minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome Back to the Most News in the Morning. Just days from now voters could make California the first state in the nation to fully legalize marijuana. Right now, you need a doctor's prescription to possess pot. At least that's the law.
ROBERTS: In reality it is not that hard to get high though even without proposition 19. Our Ted Rowlands live in Lost Angeles this morning to show us just how easy for some people to beat the system. Good morning, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran. You know a lot of people argue that prop 19 is really not needed in California because pot is basically legal. Starting in January the penalty for possession is going to drop down across the state to the same thing as a traffic ticket. And as you're about to see, getting a pot card is pretty simple.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Twenty one-year-old Justin and his buddy 19-year- old John are using their marijuana prescriptions to buy some hash and a bag of pot at a dispensary in Oakland. It is John's first time getting medical marijuana. John claims he suffers from insomnia. Justin says he has anxiety and trouble focusing.
(on camera): Do you really need weed?
JUSTIN: It's much safer. You don't have to deal with anybody that's going to rob you. Out to get you or your money.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Some people seem legit. Chris says it helps him with the pain of being shot seven times. A lot of other people here seem to fall into Jane Klein's category.
JANE KLEIN, MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT: I use it for emotional balance. In our society, we tend to use external substances to help to celebrate, help us recover from a shock. And I've used cannabis that way probably since the sergeant pepper album was released.
ROWLANDS: California voted yes to medical marijuana in 1996. Many people assumed at the time it was for cancer and aids patients. Fourteen years later, many argue it's a free for all.
BOB WEINER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY SPOKESMAN: What we have found is law enforcement is saying between 90 percent and 95 percent of the people that go to the medical quote unquote "clinics" in California going there to get marijuana and aren't really sick. So that's a fraud to begin with. It's a front, a fraud and a red herring.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Getting a card is simple. Took me about 20 minutes and cost $80. I told the doctor that I was suffering from back pain and that I had some trouble sleeping. I did not have to go a physical exam and didn't have to provide any medical records. I found my doctor on the internet but there are some advertise on bill boards. But there are some doctors here in L.A. that actually advertise on bill boards. One of them is Dr. Sona Patel who in Los Angeles, known as doc 420.
DR. SONA PATEL, PRESCRIBES MEDICAL MARIJUANA: I'm not doing anything wrong, I strictly follow all the laws and since I really believe in what I'm doing, I see nothing wrong with aggressively marketing.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Dr. Patel says she screens all her patients vigorously. Reading the law, there's a list of very serious illnesses that qualify patients to use medical marijuana but at the end of the list it adds "any other illness" which opens the door to hard to prove complaints like insomnia and back pain.
(on camera): It is pretty easy to get a medical marijuana card.
PATEL: Well the law is worded loosely with loopholes in there and people are capitalizing on that.
ROWLANDS: And a lot of people are legally getting high.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: And there are about 300,000 medical marijuana cardholders in the state of California. That is a conservative estimate. More are joining every day. And, the bottom line here, John and Kiran, law enforcement basically has turned their back on enforcing possession and so people are getting these cards just willy- nilly. For states that are thinking of voting in medical marijuana, critics say watch out, this is going to happen to your state. But on the other side, Californians that are for medical marijuana say it's a good example of what could happen. We haven't had any problems. And you do talk to law enforcements, they say this hasn't created any public nuisance issues to this point
But it is basically a joke if you talk to anybody of this whole idea of just cannabis being given to very sick people. If you want a card, you can get one.
CHETRY: Interesting stuff. There's a whole economic element, too. If they can tax us and help their bottom line.
ROWLANDS: Absolutely, which they're doing in Oakland. One dispensary made $20 million, just one dispensary last year, and the city got a cut out of that. And they have embraced it. Other cities did the same.
ROBERTS: So what happens if Prop 19 passes?
ROWLANDS: While, it could put the medical doctors out of business and the medical cannabis, some people that are providing the cannabis out of business.
But for those dispensaries that are now dolling out the medicine, they're going to be in the cat bird seat in terms of dolling out marijuana. And they already have relationships with cities. So those folks are totally pro-19. The doctors writing the prescriptions I suspect voting against it.
ROBERTS: Amazing how things change. Ted Rawlins this morning, Ted, thanks so much.
Crossing the half hour. Rising anger in France today over the government's plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. A massive rally is just getting underway this hour in Paris with thousands of university students also taking part.
Police are bracing for possible violence. More than a million French citizens are said to join the protest so far. Lawmakers expected to vote on the unpopular reform bill tomorrow.
CHETRY: She's stepping down as Washington, D.C.'s school chief. Could Michelle Rhee be headed to New Jersey? There are rumors of becoming the state's education commissioner. Rhee is not saying if she's been offered the job or if she would consider it.
During her controversial D.C. tenure she closed dozens of failing schools and fired hundreds of underperforming teachers.
ROBERTS: And longtime NPR analyst Juan Williams getting the boot for comments of Muslims on FOX News. Williams told FOX's Bill O'Reilly that he gets nervous around Muslims on a plane. NPR says the remarks were, quote, "inconsistent with the editorial standards and practices and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."
CHETRY: The Most politics in the Morning now. And crossing the political ticker, a throwback to another century at a town council meeting in Georgia when one councilman told another that he should be working on a cotton farm.
ROBERTS: Our Senior Political editor Mark Preston is live in the CNN Politics Newsroom with all the latest on that. What else is on the Political Ticker? Mark, good morning to you.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, John, good morning, Kiran.
Let's first start with Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. They were here at CNN yesterday and they were interviewed by Wolf Blitzer. They have a new movie coming out called "Fair Game." It has to do with their whole saga with Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent being revealed.
Joe Wilson is insisting that Vice President Cheney involved in leaking the name even though it's never been proven that. And when Wolf Blitzer asked yesterday to give a quick reaction, when he said Vice President Cheney's name, the first word that came to Wilson's mind, "traitor." Very, very strong words from Joe Wilson, the former ambassador about the vice president. We'll let you know when we hear from the vice president and the response to that.
Kiran, you had just mentioned this very ugly exchange that happened down in Warner Robbins, Georgia, which is a city a little bit south of Atlanta about two hours. It happened during a city council meeting earlier this month.
You know, what happened, it wasn't between a Democrat and a Republican but it was between two city council members. Let's take a listen to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired of you all talking to me in any kind of way. I'm not working in the cotton field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I should be? OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: Now the city council member that made that offending remark, John Williams, defended it. He said it wasn't a racist remark. He said he himself worked in the cotton fields and he drove a cotton basket many miles.
For his part, the council member who was the target of that exchange claims that this is not the first time that this racist remark has been said and he's pretty much used to it by now. So much for civility. John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: Yes, really. I mean, seriously. Mark, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: You can check out the stories by going to the Political Ticker at CNNpolitics.com.
ROBERTS: Coming up, visions of the hereafter -- a new movie explores the subject of what does the afterlife, if there is one, really look like? We'll talk with David Kessler. His new book is all about who and what you see before you die.
It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Read it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You still don't get it, do you? You think because I make money doing this -- just because I can that I should do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. I do. I also think you have a duty to do it because you have a gift.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a gift, Billy. It is a curse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A look at Clint Eastwood's new film "Hereafter." And it's bringing new attention to an age-old question, what happens when we die?
ROBERTS: A lot of people would like to know about that. Well, David Kessler is something of an expert on the subject. His new book is "Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms, who and what you see before you die." He's also got a piece on CNN.com titled, "Do the dead greet the dying?"
David is in Los Angeles for us this morning. David, so great to see you. Thank you so much for being with us. This piece you did for us on CNN.com is hugely popular. Obviously, this is something that people are very interested in.
DAVID KESSLER, AUTHOR: I'm quite overwhelmed by the response. It's just the stories are coming out of the woodwork. It really is a statement about how much people want to talk about this and how they each do have a story to tell.
CHETRY: It's interesting when you say the stories are coming out of the woodwork, the question, which is the title of your piece, do the dead greet the dying -- do they? And how are people describing this as it happens?
KESSLER: Yes. It's interesting that I interviewed so many physicians, nurses, clergy, social workers for the book, and with all due respect, didn't allow any mediums or psychics. It was strictly medical professionals who witnessed patients one after the other having visions of the dead coming to greet them as they were dying.
They would also talk about going on a trip, and they would see these crowds of people that were coming. I don't think it was any accident that the cover of my book as well as the afterlife in the movie are so similar, because that is what people describe to us.
ROBERTS: Now, you have got extensive experience with this. You are the director of a hospice. You watch so many people pass on. And you have personal experience with it, as well, because of the situation your father was in. Tell us about that.
KESSLER: I have to admit, I was a skeptic early on, and my teacher and coauthor for years talked to me about this. And I would hear about it from patients.
But it wasn't until I saw my father who was at the end of his life dying somewhat hopelessly and lonely and missing all those he had loved. And all of a sudden something changed. And I said to him one morning, what happened? And he said "Your mother, who died years ago, came to visit me last night." She said we're going to be together again. All of us are going to be together.
And I realized he was now not dying into an emptiness but into a fullness, and his hopelessness went to hopefulness. And it made me realize what if everything we know about dying isn't true? What if everyone we have ever loved, ever cared for, ever lost we will see again? That would be a true heaven.
CHETRY: You know, it's true. It's what all of us want to believe. You also have people that describe the near-death experiences saying it seems so pleasurable and they were really in euphoria because they were know they were going to pass on to something better.
However, scientists of course come in and say, wait a minute. If we stimulate certain parts of the brain, we can recreate the feeling and may be some sensory or synapses in the brain and not really this experience. What do you think?
KESSLER: Well, I have certainly heard and read those articles myself. The interesting thing is when you look at deathbed visions and the dying coming to greet the -- the dead coming to complete the dying, people have visions of their mother coming for them a month before they die, before they're ever on any medications or there is any lack of oxygen, when they don't have a euphoric feeling until they see their mother.
There is truth. We can create a euphoric feeling, maybe after you had surgery from the medications. But when you're dying and you look over weeks before and see your mother there to tell you it's going to be all right, when you're in the living room with your family, that's not something that's been recreated by oxygen deprivation.
ROBERTS: Interesting. So this comes as a couple of very interesting things to consider. And that is, when someone is dying, and they're having the visions, how should we deal with them? And then for somebody who's witnessing someone dying and just can't bear the thought of them passing on, what will they do without this person, does it give them something to hang on to?
KESSLER: Yes, absolutely. I think when -- when we are dealing with a pain of loss and the idea of losing someone so dear to us, what could be greater than to maybe have a glimpse that it's not the end of the relationship, that maybe birth isn't the beginning and death isn't the ending. And maybe we will be joined again together. I think that's very, very powerful.
CHETRY: It certainly is. In many religions there's a belief if you've done right you are going to heaven or someplace good and if you have done wrong you go to some place bad. Has anyone described a devil coming for them or seeing themselves go to hell?
KESSLER: Kiran, that was so fascinating. What a great question. One of the things I was curious about was just that and, whether or not there were people who said, my gosh, you know, I had a father who abused me or someone who was not kind to me. Will they be greeting me?
The fascinating thing that came out of all the interviews, the person who always came for us was a very comforting person. So, the good news is in the afterlife it doesn't seem like our enemies show up for us. It is someone we care about us who comes and comforting and a good place.
CHETRY: It's fascinating. I know why your book is flying off the shelves right now. David Kessler, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KESSLER: Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it. We'll talk to you again.
Time to change gears and have a little bit of fun this morning. A pet chimp's cop car smash -- new video from inside the cruiser. It's dash cam of the chimp smash. We'll have it right after the break. Stay with us.
CHETRY: And a quiet start to the day in much of the country. Rob will be along with the travel forecast right after the break. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes now to the top of the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines with Rob Marciano who is in Atlanta this morning. Good morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Hey, John. Hey, Kiran.
Listen, I want to update you on what's going on with tropical depression number 19. There has been a hurricane hunter aircraft in and out of there and the latest report we have from it is that it has yet to find tropical storm force winds. So it looks like at least for the next couple of hours or it will remain a tropical depression but we do expect it to strengthen here throughout the day today.
Thirty-five-mile-an-hour winds right now, a kind of drifting; it's south of the Cayman Islands and the forecast is a little bit on the tricky side. We do expect it to become a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center forecast brings it to hurricane strength rather rapidly. And this is kind of a hot bed for -- for hurricanes in the month of October. This is where Wilma exploded five years ago to become the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin on record.
And this is what we expect this thing to do at least but there's a huge margin for error there. Just keep that in mind.
Some of our computer models bring it through the Yucatan channel into the Gulf of Mexico more rapidly. So we're watching for that potential, as well.
Some showers rolling across the northeast. A pretty weak front it's pushing eastward and as it does so it creates some breezy and dry conditions behind this; some stormy conditions across parts of the southern plains. And if you're wondering what the weather is going to be like in San Francisco, cloudy, cool, 61 degrees. For the Phillies- Giants game tonight it should be a good one with two good hurlers on the mound.
Storms tomorrow across the southern plains again and that will probably get into Dallas and Arlington where the Chanks (ph) are playing the Rangers. And so it's good to have a rain delay there.
CHETRY: You are allowed to have an opinion.
MARCIANO: Opinion on what, dear? On -- on the game? Is that what you guys, you guys are talking baseball again?
CHETRY: Well, no. We're actually just talking about whether or not you, you know, should say what you feel sometimes or zip your lip. I'm going to vote for zip my lip.
MARCIANO: Yes, I wish I would abide by that. I would probably be a little more successful but that's -- that's --
CHETRY: Wouldn't we all?
ROBERTS: And how many times do our mouths get us in trouble? Rob thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Well, get ready for the close up. This is the dash cam video. Yesterday we saw the video of the chimp on the leash well, now this is what it looked like if you were inside that cruiser when this chimp was just going ape, I guess you could say. Bouncing on the cop car, smashing the windshield and hold on, I think he's going to circle back again right now.
ROBERTS: But wait. This is a tease.
CHETRY: Ok.
So then I'll tell you more when I come back.
ROBERTS: Yes and as we countdown to Conan O'Brien, his debut -- coming up on November the 8th. This is a look at the live streaking coco cam in the Conan O'Brien headquarters. Obviously, the mama grizzly is getting a workout this morning.
Ten minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. It's 56 -- 53 minutes past the hour right now.
We want to show you the best video of the morning before we say goodbye. This is the dash-cam view of that chimp on the loose, right in your living room. We showed you yesterday the wide shot of the scene that was taken from people around but now this is the new video clip from inside the cop car that this pet chimpanzee smashed up in Kansas City.
She's 160 pounds. Her name is Suko. She broke free from her owner, a truck driver who lets her ride shotgun. Ride shotgun not with the shotgun. And Suko's new home will be at the Kansas City Zoo.
ROBERTS: Yes. There's -- there's more to this video here, too because the chimp comes back and actually smashes the windshield.
CHETRY: It smashes right there. So you mean bust right through it? ROBERTS: No I mean, like -- oh bust right through. You bet.
And for you Conan O'Brien fans, if you can't wait until November the 8th, you're in luck because here's a picture of it. You can check out the live coco cam online. This is a streaming video now. and if you're wondering where all of that smoke from the huge marijuana burn in Tijuana ended up, it would appear that that would be a likely destination.
CHETRY: Hey they are moving quite slowly for aerobics.
ROBERTS: Well, their bear is doing aerobics in the first place and yes bizarre people in bear suits who are doing aerobics and we're not quite sure why they're doing it this morning but it's certainly intriguing to look at. It's taking Conan fans behind the scenes at team Coco headquarters for a period of 24 hours. And you can check that out yourself if you like.
CHETRY: I want to -- I want to see the behind the scenes signing up for the shifts. Ok, so you're taking 2:00 in the morning until 4:00? What are you doing, we're going to play poker, dressed as dogs.
ROBERTS: And -- and you're in the bear suit this morning doing aerobics. All right, thank you. That is not Olivia Newton-John by the way. It's 55 minutes after the hour.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, time now for "The Moost News in the Morning" and Anna Chapman turning heads again.
CHETRY: Yes, she is the deported Russian spy who just posed for a sizzling magazine spread and she has some jaws dropping.
Jeanne Moos got reaction around New York City. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not what you would expect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wish I had that body.
MOOS: To spy a Russian spy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not undercover anymore.
MOOS: Right.
Anna Chapman went from the busted spy mug shot to her cover shot in the Russian version of "Maxim."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is hot. She's definitely hot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like my wife more.
MOOS: She was the spy the media couldn't resist digging up old tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was so excited.
MOOS: Everyone was so excited by the looks she became an action figure. You can play even poker with her using this iPhone app.
After being arrested she and nine other spies were swapped for Russian prisoners. And now she's maximized her assets in "Maxim."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.
MOOS: But the U.S. has its own beautiful spy and when we sprang the "Maxim" cover on her.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "SITUATION ROOM": Take a look at this picture over here on the issue -- the Russian issue of --
VALERIE PLAME, FORMER CIA: Now we know why she was hired.
MOOS: Outed operative Valerie Plame noted her Russian counterpart is 20 years younger. As for her own offers --
PLAME: I was asked to be on "Dancing with the Stars" but I politely declined.
BLITZER: But nobody asked you to be on "Penthouse" or "Playboy" or "Maxim"?
PLAME: That e-mail I think got lost in, you know, all the e- mails I get every day.
MOOS: But she does have actress Naomi Watts playing her in the new film "Fair Game" featuring Sean Penn as her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you have like lovers all over the world? Do you have a gun? Have you killed people?
MOOS: The way female spies are portrayed in other films bothers Plame.
PLAME: It's very much sexuality, physicality. How good she is with an AK-47? And you know, this is your best weapon.
MOOS: But in "Maxim," Anna's wielding a handgun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her grip is completely off. I go to the shooting range. I have a boyfriend who's an ex-Marine. I have been trained. This chick is definitely not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Jessica Rabbit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks like Jessica Rabbit.
MOOS: Oh, Anna's getting some money. She's a cross between an Austin Powers girl and a Bond girl.
URSULA ANDRESS, ACTRESS: What are you doing here? Looking for shells?
SEAN CONNERY, ACTOR: No, I'm just looking.
MOOS: Same goes for fans of Anna. And judging from his comments to Leno, the fan club includes Vice President Biden.
JAY LENO, NBC HOST: Do we have any spies that hot?
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me make it clear, it wasn't my idea to send her back.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: That was a great line by the Vice Prez. "It wasn't my idea to send her back."
ROBERT: As long as it looks like he doesn't care about it.
CHETRY: Yes.
Well, thanks so much for being with us today. We'll be back here for Friday morning, bright and early. Hope you'll join us then.
ROBERTS: "CNN NEWSROOM" begins right now with Kyra Phillips. Good morning, Kyra.
