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American Morning
GOP Rallies Behind Juan Williams; Gates Limits "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Rand Paul and Jack Conway Race Heats Up; Coffee is Hot; McDonald's to Raise Prices; Welcome to "Oaksterdam"; Bush Back in the Limelight; Fired Journalist Fires Back; Rescue on the Rails
Aired October 22, 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 so much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. It is the 22nd of October. 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.
He landed on his feet, but in the middle of a huge controversy, Juan Williams now has a new job with FOX News after comments he made about Muslims cost him his old one at NPR. The GOP is lining up defending his First Amendment rights. All the new developments ahead.
ROBERTS: What would you do in a case like this? A former Marine hailed as a hero. He hopped off a platform, subway platform, dashed across the fully electrified third rail, two of them, and saved a commuter who had fallen on to the tracks. All with the train bearing down on them. More on the incredible video in just a moment.
CHETRY: California voters just a week and a half away from voting on Prop 19. This is a measure that would legalize recreational pot use. But in one Oakland neighborhood, they're not waiting for the results. They've already embraced the marijuana culture. Welcome to "Oaksterdam" as they're calling it. An AMERICAN MORNING original just ahead.
ROBERTS: Well, first new developments in a controversy that has now become a rallying cry for Republicans, just 11 days from election day. Former NPR news analyst Juan Williams now has a new job, a multi-year deal with FOX News where he's become a familiar face as a contributor over the years. National Public Radio fired him after a decade over these comments he made about Muslims on Bill O'Reilly's show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN WILIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights in this country. But when I get on a plane, I've got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried, I get nervous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, NPR says, quote, "Williams' remarks were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices and undermines his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."
Well, Williams fired back saying, quote, "Now that I no longer work for NPR, let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff. I was the only black male on the air."
ROBERTS: Now, whether Williams wanted it or not, the Republican Party is rallying behind him and calling for Congress to pull funding for NPR. Newt Gingrich saying, quote, "This is total censorship." Mike Huckabee saying, quote, "It's time for the taxpayers to start making cuts to federal spending and I encourage the new Congress to start with NPR." And Sarah Palin tweeting, "NPR defends First Amendment right but will fire you if you exercise it." All three of those people work for FOX, by the way.
CHETRY: Well, the whole thing has clearly touched off a debate about free speech and the First Amendment. Coming up in just 40 minutes, we're going to be speaking with media experts, Frank Sesno and Bill McGowan, about it.
ROBERTS: Well, until further notice only five senior officials at the Pentagon now have the authority to discharge an openly gay member of the military. That order coming straight from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Some people calling it a moratorium on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" while the future of the policy remains tangled up in the courts.
Chris Lawrence live for us at the Pentagon this morning. And, Chris, I guess this is a response to all of those openly gay recruits who came forward to the military during the one day when they were allowed to but now face the possibility of being kicked out.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's really -- exactly, John, and it's really in response to this legal limbo that everyone seems to be in right now, where the policy seems to be changing from week to week based on the latest court decision. Bottom line, of the 1.3 million members of the U.S. military, now only three men have the power to kick out someone for being gay.
In this memo from Defense Secretary Gates to the heads of the services, he writes, effective immediately and until further notice, no military member shall be separated without the personal approval of the secretary of the military department concern. That basically means secretary of the Army, secretary of the Navy, secretary of the Air Force.
Another thing, the Pentagon leadership has been outspoken about wanting to see "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed through Congress. Now, they're hinting at the possibility that might not come down that way, saying we are exploring multiple options. Obviously, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" could be changed through the U.S. court system, John. ROBERTS: So what's been the initial reaction there at the Pentagon to all of this, Chris?
LAWRENCE: Well, some of the gay rights groups that support gay service members say this is a big deal because it slows down the process for moving someone out of the military. It adds another layer, and it really fine-tunes exactly that only a very, very select few people will be able to do it. One senior defense attorney told us that basically this decision used to be in the hands of lots of people. Now, it's in the hands of the few. But others say it really doesn't do anything to allow service members who are gay to come out and live their lives openly.
I spoke to one sailor who was discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," tried to go back and reenlist during the past week when the law was gone. And he is very, very disappointed with President Obama for allowing the Justice Department to go back to court to block "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"'s repeal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR LOPEZ, DISCHARGED UNDER "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL": I'm truly disappointed because, you know, when he was running and campaigning, I was, you know, pro-Obama and everything like that. Now, this is not a Bill Clinton administration law. Now, it's turned into his law because he's pushing against it, you know, of lifting it and taking his sweet time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Now, obviously, the voice you don't hear are the troops who want "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to stay. Knowing that the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the president himself all want to repeal it, you're not going to get a lot of troops standing up on national TV saying I want "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to stay. But I could tell you I've spoken with a lot of them. You know, they won't tell you, you know, that they believe it will hurt morale and unit cohesion. And a lot of them say, you know, they resent being called a bigot because they do support this policy -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon this morning. Chris, we'll see where all of this goes. Thanks.
CHETRY: Five minutes past the hour now. We'll get you caught up on what's going on in France.
Demonstrators are still out there. They're still upset about the possible vote today in France's parliament. Police were actually called in to break up a picket line blocking access to an oil refinery near Paris. Protesters are angry over a plan before the French Senate that would raise the retirement age in the country from 60 to 62. Strikes at all 12 of France's refineries have forced a nationwide fuel shortage. Unions say those strikes will continue.
ROBERTS: Police in California still do not know why a 23-year- old suspect allegedly set fire to a mall in suburban Sacramento. At least a dozen stores were destroyed and many more were damaged in the Westfield Galleria Mall in Roseville. The unidentified suspect was captured after barricading himself in the back room of an electronics store.
CHETRY: Right now, one in 10 American adults has diabetes. But a CDC report says that those numbers could triple and as many as one in three Americans could have diabetes by the year 2050 if obesity trends remain the same. Researchers cite two factors in the expected rise. People living longer, people being diagnosed earlier. They also say minority adults are twice as likely as whites to have diabetes.
ROBERTS: The federal government is requiring communities across the country to change every street sign that has all capital letters and replace it with a sign that has upper and lower-cased letters. Officials claim that makes them easier to read. The Feds are offering no financial help to cover the cost of replacement signs. Plenty of mayors are screaming about the unplanned hit to their budgets.
CHETRY: Seth Rogen and rocker Jack White will be Conan O'Brien's guests on his first new late night show. The puppets made the announcement on his Web site during the 23rd hour of his live Coco cam online.
There's a goof online poll asking fans who should be on the fan first. It's still up. So who knows, it could change. Choices right now include Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the pope, the entire cast of 2004 live action "Fat Albert" movie. Conan premieres at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, November 8th on our sister station TBS.
ROBERTS: And we're all looking forward to that.
Seven minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
Good morning, Reynolds. Great to see you.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. Back at you. It is going to be a rough awakening for people across the central and southern plains this morning. The rain is coming down like a sack of jackhammers.
Let's go right to the map. As we do so, we're going to zoom in along parts of the I-35 corridor where from Oklahoma City southward to Dallas, here comes the rain. With that, there is the possibility of a little bit of flash flooding and poor drainage areas in spots that are a little bit low line. We can also expect as more of that rain intensify back towards Lubbock, as that moves eastward just south of Altus, Oklahoma, you get a little of a break in the action but more rain is going to be on the way for you.
It's also going to be in that area in Oklahoma City where we may see a few delays this morning. Seventy-two the expected high for Oklahoma City. New York, sunny with 54 degrees. Atlanta, 78, sunny, dry, enjoy it while you can. We're going to have a slight warm-up into the weekend. And for San Diego, sunny with a high of 66.
That is a quick snapshot on your forecast. We've got a lot more coming up. Plus, we're going to take a look at the tropics. We've got our 17 name storm of the season. We're talking about Richard. It may intensify. It may get a little bit of a move into the Gulf of Mexico by next week. More on that coming up in just a few moments. Let's go back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: All right. Hey, speaking of Richard. Richard Branson is joining us this morning because they're christening their runway at the space board out there in New Mexico. So he'll be talking to us about the space program. It's Richard Branson himself.
CHETRY: Yes, getting closer and closer to just being able to go up there.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: You know, if you've got the green.
ROBERTS: If you've got the green. That's the key.
CHETRY: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, a retired Marine is making national headlines for rescuing a man who fell on the tracks at a metro station outside of D.C. just as a train was approaching. It happened back in August. All of it caught on tape.
Fifty-seven-year-old Dimas Pinzon hopped off of the opposite platform there. There you see it. He's basically hurdling these charged rails, those electrified rails over the set of tracks to help the fallen commuter back up to safety.
ROBERTS: Just so you know how dangerous it is, right there. Watch where he steps on it --
CHETRY: He's already over there.
ROBERTS: He's already over there. So another guy jumps in there. That third rail carries 750 volts of electricity. And that's plenty of electricity to kill him if he'd made a slip. Metro officials say no one should do what Pinzon did. 7:05 Eastern, we're going to talk to Dimas Pinzon about his dangerous act of heroism.
CHETRY: He didn't consider it heroism. He hopped back on the train and gathered up his papers and went to work.
ROBERTS: Just another day in D.C.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Well, the increasingly personal bitter battle for Senate in Kentucky. Rand Paul and Jack Conway really going at it with just 11 days until the election. Jim Acosta live in Louisville with more right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Thirteen minutes past the hour.
It's a horse race in Kentucky. We're not talking about the derby either. We're talking about the Senate race. Republican candidate Rand Paul neck-and-neck with Democrat Jack Conway. And this is a campaign that has gotten increasingly personal and ugly in many cases. Much of the anger stemming from a Democratic attack ad questioning Rand Paul's religious beliefs.
Jim Acosta went one-on-one with both candidates. He joins us live in Louisville. And it got to the point where you had the candidate's wife weighing in about how upset she was by that ad.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's true. That did happen also, Kiran. Rand Paul's wife weighed in and said she was disgusted with this ad. And we had a few moments to catch up with both of the candidates in this case, Rand Paul and Jack Conway. And after a brutal campaign, Kiran, we found out both of these candidates have something in common. They're both tired of talking about Aqua Buddha.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul stopped at this factory to talk taxes, but the issue in this Kentucky horse race this week can be summed up in two words. Aqua Buddha.
RAND PAUL, REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Do we want to have a religious test in our country?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Why was Rand Paul a member of a secret society that called the Holy Bible a hoax that was banned for mocking Christianity and Christ?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The Aqua Buddha ad run by Democrat Jack Conway accuses Paul accuses Paul of belonging to a group in college that mocked Christianity. The ad cites an anonymous woman who told the "Washington Post" Paul's group had her pray to a false idol named Aqua Buddha. Paul denies it all.
PAUL: I've never written or said anything un-Christian in my life. And for him to accuse me of that I think is just inappropriate and he really ought to be ashamed of himself.
ACOSTA (on camera): And to set the record straight once and for all, you're saying what was said in that ad is untrue?
PAUL: Absolutely.
ACOSTA: All of it?
PAUL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Jack.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Paul's not the only candidate who's finished with Aqua Buddha.
JACK CONWAY, DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not questioning Rand Paul's faith, I'm questioning his actions.
ACOSTA: As we tried to press Conway on the ad and other issues, the Democratic contender fired back.
ACOSTA (on camera): I was told we were going to have an interview with you and that's not happening.
CONWAY: I'm happy to sit here and answer your questions. I answer --
ACOSTA: Is it because of the ad? Is it because you felt like maybe I shouldn't have done this?
CONWAY: Have I failed to answer any questions about this ad? Have I failed to go answer for CNN? Have I failed to do it on Matt Lauer?
Where's my -- let me finish this -- we're --
ACOSTA (voice-over): Conway who opposes the bailout but supports the new health care law is fighting to win in a state where President Obama is deeply unpopular. No surprise then that he prefers former President Bill Clinton.
CONWAY: And I'll just wrap up by quoting Bill Clinton. He was in last week and I think he's probably coming back.
ACOSTA: Instead of Mr. Obama on the trail.
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you want the president to campaign with you here in Kentucky between now and Election Day?
CONWAY: Look, this campaign is about me versus Rand Paul.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Conway's latest line of attack is that Paul once supported scrapping the income tax in favor of something called the "Fair Tax". It's essentially a 23 percent national sales tax on all purchases. Paul told CNN he's open to it, but not sold on it.
PAUL: I've always said that I support any tax reform that lowers taxes on everyone and so that's sort of the rule of thumb that would have to be. And that simplifies the tax code. There are various ways to do that. That might be one of the alternatives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And back to that Aqua Buddha ad, Rand Paul says he's so fired up over that spot, he may drop out of a candidate debate with Jack Conway that is scheduled for this Monday. And Dr. Paul says he will have an answer on that question later today -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And just remind us, how -- how is the polling right now?
ACOSTA: The latest poll here in Kentucky shows Paul with a five- point edge. That comes just a few days after a different poll in the state show Conway with a two-point lead. That caught everybody by surprise in this state. Some people are saying that's sort of an outlier. But this is a down-to-the-wire Kentucky horse race that everybody's going to be watching, Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Great reporting, Jim. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Interesting new development this morning to tell you about the fight against bullying, President Obama is joining the fray. The White House blog posted a message from the president overnight as part of the "It Gets Better" project. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But what I want to say is this. You are not alone. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything to deserve being bullied. And there is a whole world waiting for you filled with possibilities. There are people out there who love you and care about you just the way you are.
And so --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The whole message is about three minutes long. In it, the president also said the recent suicides are -- as a result of bullying are shocking and heart breaking tragedies.
Columnist Dan Savage was the person who started the "It Gets Better" campaign and we're going to talk to him live in our 8:00 A.M Eastern hour about the president now joining in.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there's a new book that claims a card containing top secret nuclear launch codes went missing for months during Bill Clinton's presidency. The author, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Hugh Shelton says that a Clinton aide lost that card known as the "Biscuit", which is supposed to be with the president at all times. Shelton calls it a gargantuan deal and says we dodged a silver bullet.
ROBERTS: And the biscuit and the football and all those things (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: If it's is so unbelievably important, which it clearly is, why would you just have it n a card in your pocket of your blazer? ROBERTS: Well, you have -- we have a guy carrying the football, which is a way of remotely launching nuclear weapons too, so -- and that's just carried around not chained to his wrist, so --
If you're planning to buy coffee this morning, you might be in form some sticker shock. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" right after the break.
It's 18 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 22-and-a-half minutes after the hour and --
CHETRY: That song is called "Black Coffee in Bed." It's just funny.
ROBERTS: It's perfect. It's a segue. Because, I mean, this is something that we seem to talk about every six months or so, but yes, the price of coffee is going up again. Your little cup of java in the morning is -- will set you back --
CHETRY: That's why we drink Red Bull. We can't afford coffee in the morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far those coffee they've been stuck in the -- in the bagged coffee, but you're going to see it in the cup of joe, eventually.
ROBERTS: I think it's, though, because first thing in the morning, like 3:00 in the morning, coffee upsets my stomach, so --
ROMANS: And remember when 3:00 in the morning wasn't the first thing in the morning, but it was the last thing at night?
CHETRY: Yes. Times have changed.
ROMANS: Oh, bummer.
CHETRY: We're getting older.
ROMANS: We are getting older.
Coffee prices are going up and you're probably going to notice it, and we've been watching it on the -- on the exchanges and it's been an amazing rally for coffee prices.
Here's why. It was pretty wet in the Caribbean earlier this year, and that means the quality of some of the beans isn't as good, the crop isn't as good. And that means the big producers, the people who make your cup of coffee, they're having to dip into their old stores of their perfect beans and try to mix those in with some of these new beans. And it just means that the supply isn't what they'd like to be.
So you can see here we've shown you that we're above $2 a pound for coffee for the first time in about 13 years. Coffee is hot. Whoever wrote that headline gets -- deserves a star today. Yes, coffee is hot.
CHETRY: But here's the good news, is you can always go to McDonald's and get a cheap cup.
ROMANS: Ah, but McDonald's even says that it's going to be raising prices. They had an earnings call yesterday and the company --
ROBERTS: Just coffee or --
ROMANS: They wouldn't say what they're going to raise prices on. But keep in mind that meat prices are at the highest in about 30 years.
ROBERTS: Because of corn, because of --
ROMANS: Because of corn. Corn is up --
ROBERTS: -- corn keeps in Iowa.
ROMANS: Yes. Corn is up very sharply. There's a big rally in corn prices. It was the fastest rally in corn prices in some 40 years this summer. So you've got a, you know, a drought in Russia, all of these different things that are happening both weather wise, and because the dollar has been weak, people are rushing into commodities.
Commodities is a -- as a safe haven for your money, has been an amazing story too because of what's happening in the international economy. So you're going to see prices rise at McDonald's.
They wouldn't say what yet. They're making a lot of money on those frappes and those wild berry smoothies -- smoothies, though, if you're interested.
CHETRY: All right. We'll do the Google story another time, though, but --
ROMANS: OK.
ROBERTS: I'm just -- just teasing about your peeps in Iowa. I know they wouldn't (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: They're working hard to bring you that corn.
ROMANS: Well, you know, isn't it -- it's just the -- it's just the -- you know, it's the frivolities of -- of nature.
ROBERTS: Christine, great to see you this morning.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: All right. Well, in 11 days, California voters will decide whether or not to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. There's a lot of talk about the medicinal use. But, no, this is the recreational use.
Well, one neighborhood in Oakland says we're not waiting till Election Day, we've embraced the pot culture already. We're going to take you to a place called Oaksterdam, seriously, in an "A.M. Original" next.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. To an "A.M. Original" now and a story that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
If California's Prop 19 passes in November, the recreational use of marijuana will become legal in non-public places. And local governments would be allowed to collect fees and taxes from the sale of pot, which would probably make all of those revenues from casinos look like nickel slots.
But one city in California already has that infrastructure in place. Oakland, in fact, one section of Oakland has embraced the marijuana culture so wholeheartedly it has earned the nickname Oaksterdam. And here's Ted Rowlands with the look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marijuana pipes for sale, a coffee shop selling pot, it may feel like Amsterdam, but this is Oakland, California. And this five-block area is known as Oaksterdam, a neighborhood that has been built around marijuana.
ROWLANDS (on camera): This is coffee shop "Blue Skies", one of four dispensaries that's licensed with the City of Oakland. And you can see it in the front here, it looks like any other coffee shop. The marijuana is sold in the back.
Mitch here stands at the door. He checks people's medical marijuana cards. If he says it's OK, you can go on back.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Behind the curtain is Jen, the bud- tender.
JEN, BUD-TENDER IN BLUE SKY: Hi. Welcome to Blue Sky. This is our menu.
ROWLANDS: Customers select what type of marijuana they want. It varies in price depending on potency. High grade goes for $44 an eighth ounce.
JEN: Grand daddy, cheese and lemon skunk are our high grades today.
ROWLANDS: The City of Oakland has embraced Oaksterdam and the medical marijuana dispensaries because the city is getting a cut in the form of tax revenue. And officials say there have been no major problems. ARTURO SANCHEZ, OAKLAND NUISANCE ABATEMENT DIVISION: It's actually been some of the best businesses to deal with. They've been responsive, they've dealt with nuisance issues. They've really responded to anything, concern that the city has had.
ROWLANDS: There's even Oaksterdam University where students learn how to grow and sell medical marijuana.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And marijuana for federal purposes is codified in the Controlled Substances Act and is completely schedule one prohibited.
ROWLANDS: On a recent Tuesday night, students learned about the differences between state and federal drug laws. More than 13,000 students have taken classes here since the school opened three years ago.
"JANE," OAKSTERDAM UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I would like to be able to grow high-quality marijuana in the comfort of my own home and use it at my discretion and give it to people that I know that needs some relief.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Local business owners say that Oaksterdam helped revitalize what was a dying part of downtown Oakland. The owners of The Lunch Box say their business is booming.
ANN MARIE ANDERER, OWNER, THE LUNCH BOX: People are coming to take classes there. People are coming to have their prescriptions filled. People are in and out. So, yes, there's definitely an increase of foot traffic and it does benefit us. They do have munchies. They really do.
ROWLANDS: If Californians vote on November 2nd to legalize marijuana for non-medicinal purposes, Oaksterdam is one place where it will be quickly and readily available.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Oakland, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: You know, I'm so amazed whenever we see stories like this, how much the world has changed in the last 20 years.
CHETRY: I love this (INAUDIBLE) university, cannabis.
ROBERTS: Cannabis.
CHETRY: People copiously taking notes, everyone studying.
Well, it's 30 minutes past the hour, time to look at the top stories this morning.
One of the big issues is the big controversy over free speech issues. Juan Williams is now signing a new multi-year deal with FOX News after comments that he made about Muslims on the network cost him his job at NPR. Many leading Republicans are now calling on Congress to pull NPR's funding after the move.
ROBERTS: A threat that the FBI is looking into to try to figure out who mailed a toxic powder to Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva's office in Tucson. Also inside the envelope: swastikas that were drawn on two sheets of paper. About a dozen staffers were in the Democrat's office at the time.
No one was injured in any way. No effects from the toxic powder. Agents are analyzing the substance at the laboratory to try to figure out just what it is.
CHETRY: How about this one? A mystery donor left $10,000 cash in a 9/11 donation box at the World Trade Center site in New York. The money helped pay for a memorial at Ground Zero. Usually people slip in singles and coins. Well, this person left 99 $100 bills and five $20s. Officials don't know he or she is, but they say that they'd like to know so that they could thank them.
ROBERTS: Well, one minute you're the leader of the free world, and the next, you're living in seclusion in a ranch in the heart of Texas. That's former President George W. Bush flying well under the radar since he left the White House 21 months ago.
Well, not anymore. He's on YouTube talking up his forthcoming book, "Decision Points," which he calls an untraditional memoir. And then, there's the new museum.
Ed Lavandera live for us in Dallas this morning.
Good morning, Ed. What's this all about?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you mentioned, President Bush has kept a relatively low profile. Mostly here in Dallas, it's been kind interesting. Over the last couple of years, the most we've heard is people kind of posting pictures on the Internet saying they've seen him at restaurants around town and that sort of thing.
But all of that is about to change dramatically as his book comes out early in November. He'll be doing rounds of interviews, talking about the memoir, as well, and also the groundbreaking on his presidential library here on the campus of SMU. And this exhibit, you hear -- you see here is a part of a big effort to promote this over the next two years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you, and the people --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BUSH: And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ALAN LOWE, DIRECTOR, GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: That was the bullhorn that President Bush used when he first visited the World Trade Center site on September 14th, 2001.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Our guide is Alan Lowe, the director the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
(on camera): How did it not get lost in the commotion or --
LOWE: Right. The folks with him that day luckily kept it with him. And it was transferred to the White House office.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): September 11th takes center stage at this exhibit.
LOWE: It's right over here. When he's going to make his first public statement, he made notes himself on what to say. So, in the heat of the moment on that amazing day -- he says, "Today, we've had a national tragedy."
BUSH: Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center, in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.
LOWE: Goose bumps, you know, as you think about what was going on, what he was in the middle of right at that moment.
LAVANDERA (on camera): The other great one, the baseball.
LOWE: The president threw out the pitch on the game three of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium not long after the attacks.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The George W. Bush Presidential Center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2013. Friends of the Bush family say you might see more of the former president here soon, but not much more.
MARK LANGDALE, PRESIDENT, GEORGE W. BUSH FOUNDATION: I think you'll see him and Laura active in things here at the center. But they enjoy their private life, too.
LAVANDERA: The exhibit also offers a small glimpse into that life. A painting given to Laura Bush by Senator Ted Kennedy, the dress worn by Mrs. Bush to the first ever white tie state dinner with the Queen of England, and more impressively, this necklace.
LOWE: A sapphire-and-diamond set from the king of Saudi Arabia that was given to Mrs. Bush -- absolutely stunning.
LAVANDERA: And there's also Saddam Hussein's gun from the day he was captured. We're told it's one of the president's prized possessions.
LOWE: A very historic piece.
LAVANDERA: Of course, this exhibit showcases the greatest highlights of the President Bush years. Don't expect to find the lowlights of a controversial presidency.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, John, this is kind of the best we have. We can show you right now, what the presidential library will look like here in the spring of 2013. One of the interesting things here, as well, that the archive here, are going through is the hundreds of thousands of documents. This is just obviously a small sampling of everything that they have.
But one of the interesting things is, is that, one of the -- really one of the first presidents to have so much e-mail that they will have to display. And there's hundreds of thousands of e-mails they will put on display. It increased dramatically from the President Clinton years to the President Bush years -- John.
ROBERTS: I'm sure it's increased tenfold again to the Obama presidency. It's interesting to see, though, the way the president -- former President Bush is flying below the radar compared to his predecessor who got right out there on the speaking circuit almost immediately.
LAVANDERA: Well, President Bush has done speeches like that and, you know, obviously, making good money doing that over the last two years, but those have been very low profile.
And as I mentioned off the top, living here in Dallas, really, the vast majority of what we've heard around town are the sightings that people like to post on the Internet. Hey, I saw the president and the Mrs. Laura Bush at a restaurant around town. That's kind of been the extent of what we've seen, even some pictures of him going to a hardware store early on after he left the presidency, as well.
ROBERTS: Yes, he likes private life, no question about that, and so does she. She was the real person for her privacy.
All right. Ed Lavandera this morning -- great story, thanks so much for that, Ed.
CHETRY: We're following the Juan Williams controversy this morning. Now that he has a new job, he's firing back at NPR for dumping him over comments he made about Muslims. Up next: we're going to talk media expert Frank Sesno and Bill McGowan about what is going on.
Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Fired for comments that he made on FOX News, journalist Juan Williams is now firing back today.
Williams says that he feels he's been branded a, quote, "psycho" and mentally unstable after his former boss at National Public Radio said that the thoughts he shared on "The O'Reilly Factor" should have been between him and his psychiatrist.
Well, if you haven't heard what he originally said, here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, look, Bill. I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on a plane, I've got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, those comments touched off a fiery debate about the freedom of speech and the First Amendment because of his firing.
Here to help break it all down in Washington, Frank Sesno. He's the director of School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.
Welcome, Frank. He also used to be CNN's Washington bureau chief.
Also here in New York: Bill McGowan. He is the author of "Gray Lady Down: What the Decline and Fall of the New York Times Means for America." It comes out next month.
Great to see you, as well.
WILLIAM MCGOWAN, AUTHOR OF FORTHCOMING BOOK, "GRAY LADY DOWN": Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: So, Frank, let me start with you. I know you are friends with Juan Williams. What did you think about all of this? First of all, should he have been fired?
FRANK SESNO, FORMER CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, gosh. First of all, let me say that what I think about it is: it's terribly sad. I know Juan, I respect Juan. I think he's terrific.
The fact of the matter is, Kiran, he and NPR were on a collision course and have been for a long time. He knew that. They've documented that. Forget the comments about the psychiatrist, those were unfortunate and wrong.
But fundamentally, NPR says in its publicly published ethics code the following: NPR journalists, quote, "should not participate in shows, electronic forums, or blogs that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis." They're very explicit about this.
As I say, they've been on a collision course for a long time. And just as CNN fired Rick Sanchez when he stepped over the line, they've been uncomfortable with these last comments for Juan Williams stepping over the line for NPR.
CHETRY: And, Bill, you disagree, though, that this was a fireable offense. That he should've lost his job over what he said on "The O'Reilly Factor." Why?
MCGOWAN: Profoundly. I don't think it's any breach of their policy. "O'Reilly" is not just a punditry show. "O'Reilly" does break stories. He has a news content there.
What Juan said was maybe perhaps not as phrased as delicately or diplomatically as it could be, but what he said was not what a lot of people in America say. And if he had said it through that prism instead of saying it through his personal feelings, he'd be fine.
The other thing is, NPR has a lot of people making, you know, opinions. Daniel Schorr for a long time -- I mean, his opinions were obvious. And they let Juan Williams going on for years without doing anything. So, essentially, I think they waive their right to crack the whip on him.
CHETRY: Go ahead, Frank.
SESNO: You know, this is the problem. I mean, the fact of the matter is, that this is, in some case -- ways, a larger issue of how the media wars are being played out. And Juan Williams is both a participant in them and now a victim of them.
NPR's trying to hold some kind of vaunted line about, you know, you're not going to do opinion when you go some place else, you're supposed to be this detached journalist. It may be quaint and it may be wrong, but that's what they're trying to do in the voice that they've got.
CHETRY: Yet, let me --
SESNO: And they say, you just shouldn't be doing this.
CHETRY: However, in response, the CEO of NPR, Vivian Schiller, went on to say that he should've kept what he thought between himself and his psychiatrist, her publicist then seemed to sort of chuckle.
MCGOWAN: Absolutely disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful, and I think it's probably going to provide another set of grounds for a lawsuit against NPR that Juan Williams has going for him.
CHETRY: Well --
SESNO: Yes, that was really -- that was really an unfortunate comment.
CHETRY: The other question -- and this is what happens when you take a full conversation and then break down parts or extract parts that are maybe more controversial than others. Juan Williams says that if you'd actually went on to see the entire thing that he warned against generalizing and blaming members of a certain religion.
And yesterday, he went back on "The O'Reilly Factor" to talk more about what happened to him. He's obviously still very upset. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: They take something totally out of context, like one word or one line, and forget that here I am engaging you, Bill O'Reilly, right?
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Right.
WILLIAMS: We're having an honest discussion. This is what America should be.
O'REILLY: OK.
WILLIAMS: People having a real debate and telling you -- you pointed out rightly in the talking points memo. This is what I felt. If I have --
O'REILLY: It wasn't an opinion.
WILLIAMS: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He's saying that he was just saying what he felt. And this speaks to the blurring of the lines as you talked about, Frank, between objective reporting and providing analysis and more and more journalists are being expected to sort of give an opinion, you know, in the onset of blogging and Twitter and everything else that goes on.
SESNO: It's what I'm doing here. I guess, I can't work for NPR. Look, this is the problem that we've got now. The coin of the realm. What television and radio and the blogs are all about is opinion. and There's this quaint notion that reporters can be detached and separate and they have no opinion and they're not going to express it. It's in the "New York Times" ethics code.
It's in the "Washington Post" code at some level. And you had a "Washington Post" executive editor who said, I don't vote. That's how out of it I am. But that's not the way the world works anymore. And so, that's what I mean by this is this gigantic collision between what NPR is trying to hold up and what's actually happening out there, and Juan's a victim of it.
CHETRY: And Bill, what is your take on that collision course between expressing opinion, people wanting to hear analysis and opinion versus playing it completely objective and straight?
MCGOWAN: I think it has a lot of dangers ahead. I am a believer in objectivity and detached neutral professionalism. And I think Frank's reporting has always shown that capacity to do that. Absorbing opinion into that, OK, I don't like the way our news culture is clefting one side to another and becoming ideological and partisan. And I think that's something we really need to think about. We need to attach neutral, professional observers.
SESNO: Kiran, if I can make this one very quick distinction. What NPR is trying to say, and Bill knows about this and we talk about it a lot. They're trying to make the distinction between news analysis and news commentary.
CHETRY: Right.
SESNO: The point they make is what happens on Fox and what you just saw Juan doing is commentary, over the edge. They want analysis. Is it a, you know, distinction without a difference? No, it actually does matter, but the line is getting harder and harder to identify.
CHETRY: All right. Food for thought this morning from both of you. Frank Sesno and Bill McGowan, thanks for being with us.
MCGOWAN: Thank you.
SESNO: Thanks.
CHETRY: John
ROBERTS: OK. We'll see where all this goes to because Juan's got some powerful friends behind him now.
Reynolds Wolf is going to have this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
And then at 10 minutes times, black in America. Why debt is a bigger problem than racism in the African-American community? Thirteen minutes now after the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back right now. We were going to show you a tower cam as we were checking the weather, but then we decided, no, just look at us.
ROBERTS: Weather's right there.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: We can tell them, even though we can't see it.
CHETRY: Fifty-three.
ROBERTS: Washington, D.C. is who we were going to reach out to this morning, where right now it's 53 degrees. But we have no idea what the weather's like there. Later on, 62, sunny this afternoon. There you go.
CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Hi, Reynolds.
WOLF: Hey, guys. Looks like it's giving you pretty nice day for much of the eastern sea board as we make way from Atlanta northward into the nation's capital and back then to New York City, 70s, some 60s and some 50s. Fifty-four degrees your expected high in New York City. Back down to the West Coast, San Diego, beautiful at 66, but the big trouble spot we're going to see nationwide is smack dab in the middle of the U.S.
Oklahoma City, chances of storms, 72 degrees the expected high. You might have some delays there. Also southward into Texas, into Dallas Ft. Worth, some delays into the midday and afternoon hours. Now, let's shift gears a little bit farther to the south in the Caribbean. See all this purple and this red popping up on the map? It's some deep tropical convection due to tropical storm Richard. Winds currently40 miles an hour sustained gust has been up to about 50 or so.
The storm stationary, very little movement for the time being. However, it's not expected to stay that way. It is expected to pick up speed and veer its way to the east -- west rather, and it should increase in power too as we fast forward into Sunday and then into Monday. The storm possibly a category one storm according to this latest forecast, the National Hurricane Center. And it is then expected as we trail out the weekend into early next week across the Yucatan Peninsula.
And with it's interaction with land, it's going to be away from its primary power source, that warm ocean water. So, it should weaken a little bit and the forecast carries it back into 2:00 a.m. Wednesday as a very weak tropical depression. But you see that line, storms don't move just in the linear fashion. They tend to wobble a bit. You also look at this wild field that we have all covered in white.
That is your cone of uncertainty. So, there's a chance storm could veer a little bit more to the north, perhaps, back to the west. There's a lot of uncertainty with it especially over the next 12 to 24 to 48 hours. We'll have the latest for you. Let's send it back to you and certainly certain about that to New York.
ROBERTS: Boy, the Yucatan Peninsula has been pretty unlikely this year. They've been hit a number of times.
WOLF: Absolutely. It's been a batter (ph) in rain. No question about it.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
ROBERTS: This morning's top stories just minutes away now, including, we're talking to the D.C. metro subway hero. A marine who jumped two, third rails in 750 volts of electricity to save a man who fell on to the tracks.
CHETRY: Also, too hot for "Glee." Stars of the hit show in naughty schoolgirl pictures. And the Parents Television Council say they (INAUDIBLE) on pedophilia even though the actresses themselves are adults. We'll debate whether or not this went too far. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. A new documentary on CNN "Almighty Debt" takes a look at how the church is trying to help African-Americans cope with the economic crisis.
According to a pastor who was profiled in our black at America special, debts is a bigger problem than racism in America. CNN's special correspondent, Soledad O'Brien, tells us about one of the pastor's congregates who lost his job but not his faith.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARL FIELDS, MEMBER, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was amiss because I saw a strange face sitting in the room. The lady proceeded to tell me that her company was undergoing further reorganization, and my job had been eliminated.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was a year and a half ago. After 25 years working his way up the ladder to vice president at a large insurance brokerage firm, Carl Fields was let go. It was four days before his 58th birthday.
FIELDS: I must tell you, there were a number of grown people who when I told them what had happened to me literally stood there crying. And I said to every one of them, don't cry for me. Rejoice for what God is about to do. And that's what keeps me going.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord.
O'BRIEN: Keeps him going still.
FIELDS: Even now with amidst (ph) of the storm. Oh, boy. Amen. My day starts with prayer and meditation. Very seldom do I miss that.
Now I can face the day, Lord.
O'BRIEN: Has your faith diminished at all?
FIELDS: No.
O'BRIEN: Not one moment were you said --
FIELDS: It was not a question to God about why did you let this happen to me? Never.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Tough times. Soledad O'Brien's special documentary, "ALMIGHTY DEBT," airs Saturday and Sunday nights, 08:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: He seems like such a positive person, though. So, it weighed something a lot for him soon (ph)
Well, it's two minutes till the top of the hour. We have your top stories after a quick break.
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