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American Morning
WikiLeaks Docs: Arab Leaders Urged U.S. to Attack Iran; Portland Bomb Plot; War Games Off Korean Peninsula; Washington's Unfinished Business; "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder"
Aired November 29, 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: For allegedly planning to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. This morning, we're learning more about the teenage and a possible revenge attack on a mosque that he attended.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And losing John Lennon, all this week, we're previewing a CNN documentary that counts down to Lennon's murder 30 years ago. This morning, an exclusive interview with the wife of killer, Mark David Chapman.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that, up first, part-Bond movie, part Tom Clancy novel. The whistle blower web site WikiLeaks striking again. The huge document dump revealing conversations between Washington and diplomats stationed around the world.
CHETRY: Yes, some of the most fascinating parts are about Iran and Jill Dougherty is live from Washington with more on that. Jill, first of all, how damaging is this latest release of documents?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, you know, it's really hard at this point because it's very early now. Not all of the documents have been released, still more to come. So it's hard to assess what overall this will do.
But I did talk to one U.S. official who said that this could be hugely damaging and one of the factors is the number of these documents, 250,000 of them, and as I said, there are more to come.
It gets into diplomatic issues, leaders, hot spots around the world. Literally almost everywhere the United States has diplomacy. And it's not just U.S. diplomats that are quoted in this. There are leaders from other countries who are quoted talking about third countries.
So the net of this and the impact could be really, really broad. This came out, obviously, over the weekend and now Monday, we should be hearing from around the world some reaction to this. It could certainly at a minimum make life difficult for the U.S. diplomats that are in embassies and missions around the world dealing with people, perhaps, about whom they said very uncomplimentary things.
But then it rises in significance when you get into U.S. strategy and vision, what the U.S. has been doing with its diplomacy around the world. And one last thing, Kiran and John, I've been looking at some of the blogs and one person said, well, if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.
But that's not really what we're talking about here. It's not necessarily anything wrong, it's things that were done -- it's the unvarnished truth about things.
And that is going to make it very difficult for U.S. diplomats to tell and be honest about what they are reporting back to Washington. It's very, very damaging to the structure of how they do business.
ROBERTS: Sort of like if your private conversations were suddenly printed on the front page of the "New York Times." A lot of chatter too about Iran and its nuclear program, specifically regarding both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
DOUGHERTY: Right. Those are some of the most interesting. In fact, you have to say in the Arab world in the Mideast, the most interesting stuff will be those comments by Arab leaders, specifically the leader of Saudi Arabia, talking about Iran, the fear and loathing that they have for Iran, its nuclear program, and for the President Ahmadinejad.
Another one is this disturbing report that Oran is getting missiles from North Korea. That's a very serious part that's come out in WikiLeaks. And another aspect of this is how they gather intelligence and the cable purportedly coming from Washington and Secretary Clinton, although not always do they come directly from the secretary even though it's signed by her, telling diplomats to gather information on other diplomats.
Things like credit card numbers, frequent flier numbers, and that, of course, would lead to the implication that there's spying. Something that Crowley vehemently denies. He says this is what they do, they collect information and added other diplomats from other countries do the same thing.
CHETRY: All right, Jill Dougherty for us with the latest on the WikiLeaks. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jill.
From the White House, to the Pentagon, to Congress, American officials are saying the leak is illegal and may put lives at risk. Congressman Peter King of New York, the Ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee says WikiLeaks should be declared a foreign terrorist organization and called on the Obama administration to prosecute its founder, Julian Assange.
CHETRY: Coming up at the bottom of the hour, we're going to speak with the WikiLeaks spokesperson about the accusations and what they think is an organization that this leaks accomplished.
In just a few hours, a suspect accused of plotting to set up a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon is due to appear in Federal Court. He's 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohammed, a Somali- American charged with trying to use a weapon of mass destruction.
ROBERTS: A sting operation exposed the plot. Authorities say Mohammed wanted those attending the tree lighting to leave quote, "either dead or injured." CNN Thelma Gutierrez is following this developing story for us.
She's in Portland, chilling, particularly when we considered that he really tried to detonate this bomb. Thankfully, it was a fake bomb and nothing real, but the intent would appear to be there.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. John, Kiran, the police chief here in Portland told us, even though the public was never in any immediate danger because the bomb was fake, it's frightening to think what would have happened after all, on Friday night, this downtown area was crowded with thousands of people.
Who is the suspect? Mohamed Osman Mohammed, we followed his trail to the town of Corvallis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Corvallis, Oregon, a picture postcard college town, an hour and a half outside of Portland, the home of Oregon State University. This is where 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohammed known as Mo to his friends has lived for the past year and studied engineering part-time.
Alex Masik, a friend from high school said Mohamed was outgoing, the kind of guy everyone wanted to hang out with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a lot of friends like he was pretty popular. He seemed like he was friends from people of every crowd.
GUTIERREZ: FBI investigators paint a different picture. They say Mohamed, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia told an undercover agent he'd been thinking about committing violent Jihad since he was 15.
According to an FBI affidavit, he plotted for months with undercover agents believed to be Jihadists. To detonate a van filled with explosives at a tree lighting ceremony this past Friday in downtown Portland.
In preparation, he allegedly exploded a practice bomb earlier this month and recorded a chilling good-bye tape saying "to my parents who held me back from Jihad and the cause of Allah, nothing you can do to can hold me back." FBI agents are investigating an apparent arson attack on the Islamic Center in Corvallis where Mohamed sometimes worshipped the destroyed much of the front office. These men who grew up in Corvallis worry that Muslims once again will be targeted for the actions of one misguided person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to assume that this mosque is what trained him to do such and such item.
MOHSIN SAEED, GREW UP IN CORVALLIS: My name is Mohamed, and that first thing threw me off. Great, now Mohamed is forever linked with more and more perpetual -- GUTIERREZ: Imam Usif Wanley of the Islamic Center says Mohamed worshipped here once every two months.
(on camera): What was your first reaction when you heard that he'd been arrested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was shocked. And the greatest thing, you know, that affects me most is I wish I could have intervened in a way.
GUTIERREZ: It seems as though you're very saddened by this, very emotional time? Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had the brightest future, you know.
GUTIERREZ: And hurt the Muslim community, as well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And put the civilians in threat and the population as a whole.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: Now the young student who appeared to have it all could face life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He's scheduled to appear in court later today. John, Kiran --
CHETRY: And some of the FBI said they've not made a connection between the apparent attack on the mosque and Mohamed's arrest, but of course, it seems to be more than a coincidence. What are they saying about that?
GUTIERREZ: Kiran, that's exactly what the imam believes. He says this mosque has existed in the town of Corvallis for 40 years, they have never been attacked and now this. He says what has been very surprising to him is that the community yesterday as word got out about the alleged attack, people started coming out and talking to them offering their support. Business people have even told the imam that they will help to raise funds so that they can rebuild that center.
CHETRY: Thelma Gutierrez for us this morning, thank you.
ROBERTS: Some sad news from Hollywood this morning. Actor, Leslie Neilson has died of complications from pneumonia. Neilson's long career as a dramatic actor took a sharp comedic turn in 1980 with his unforgettable role in the movie "Airplane." Surely you remember that?
And of course, he went on to star in the police squad television series and then in three "Naked Gun" movies. The great Leslie Neilson, 84 years old.
CHETRY: So funny that a whole generation of people that only remember him as the comedic actor not the dramatic actor.
ROBERTS: It spawned so many favorite lines. Have you have a favorite line? CHETRY: I still love when he says pudding? And he says no thank you.
ROBERTS: I like that famous line. It's is the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl. Girl finds boy, boy forgets girl. Boy remembers girl, boy loses girl in tragic blimp accident. Goodyear? No, the worst.
CHETRY: You really had that one of those planned out.
ROBERTS: It's one of those things that sticks with you.
CHETRY: He was great. He will be missed, but he'll live on in the movies and quotable quotes.
About 10 minutes past the hour right now. I know Reynolds Wolf has a favorite line from Leslie Neilson. He's in the Extreme Weather Center this morning. Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I've got to jump onboard with John on that one. That was absolutely classic. One thing that's not going to be so classic today is your travel. We've got millions of Americans still trying to get home either way you're going to be traveling and it might be that pain for many of you.
Check out this map behind you -- behind me, rather. Delays in Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Dallas, some of those delays possibly up to an hour or so. The reason why is because this immense storm system right in the middle of the country, top half is going to bringing some storms to the northern plains. Thunderstorms will be a possibility.
Very quickly, your temperatures for the day, a bit on the cool side, no surprise for billings, 23 degrees, 71 in Dallas, 53 in D.C., 50 in New York, 85 in Tampa, and 59 in San Francisco.
OK, guys, you're up to speed. Let's pitch it back to you in New York. Pretty good day for you guys.
ROBERTS: Yes, and 50 degrees not bad in anybody's book this time of year. Reynolds, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Still to come on Most News in the Morning, stepping back from the brink of war, China is calling for emergency talks on the crisis in Korea. We're live in South Korea with the latest developments.
ROBERTS: Next week marks the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's murder. We have a special documentary this Saturday that looks into the months leading up to it. And this morning, part of our exclusive interview with the wife of Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman.
CHETRY: And could it be true? Does Wolf Blitzer really do the dougie? Well, we have the "Soul Train" awards. Got to see more of this video coming up. I love the facial expressions, Wolf. Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Fifteen minutes past the hour and a show of force this morning. American warships in the waters off the Korean peninsula we're now more than 24 hours into the war games involving the U.S. and South Korea.
ROBERTS: And as the tensions escalate following last Tuesday's deadly attack by the North, China is now calling for an emergency meeting to diffuse the crisis. At the same time, Senator John McCain telling our Candy Crowley on "STATE OF THE UNION" that it is time for the North Korean leadership to go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think it's time we talk about regime change in North Korea, and I do not mean military action. But I do believe that this is a very unstable regime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, we're tapping now into the global resources of CNN. Stan Grant is live in Seoul, South Korea, of course, this morning. South Korea's president did address his country today. What did he say?
STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Kiran, John, this is a very defiant (INAUDIBLE) and you will pay a very, very big price. The (INAUDIBLE) attack on Yeonpyeong Island last week was an inhumane act. (INAUDIBLE). Now, many people in South Korea have been waiting -
CHETRY: You know what? We're actually - I have to apologize for interrupting, Stan. We're unable to hear him. Just lost the connection right when we went to him. We'll try to get him back a little bit later.
But to find out a little bit more about what's going, as we said, 24 hours into these war games, tensions ratcheted up, and a lot of people wondering how this is going to end.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, the - the latest is that China is beginning to take a role calling for resumption of six-party talks to try to put some pressure on on all parties to dial back the escalating tensions.
And I think we have Stan on the phone again now. Stan, can you hear us better?
GRANT: Yes, (INAUDIBLE), John.
ROBERTS: And there we go. Go - go ahead, Stan. Start back from the beginning, because we - we literally couldn't hear anything you were saying.
GRANT: OK. Yes. A lot of pressure has been on President Lee Myung- Bak in South Korea since that attack by North Korea last week. Basically, South Koreans are angry that the South Korean military did not respond hard enough or quickly enough. Well, he stepped up today and spoke to his people basically saying he gets full responsibility for not being able to protect lives and property. Then he drew a (INAUDIBLE) in the sand, he said to North Korea, any more active provocation, anymore aggression and North Korea will pay a big price.
Now, he said that this was an inhumane act, the attacking of civilians at Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea, an unprecedented act since the end of the Korean War. And as he said to the South Korean people today, it is time now for action, not words - John.
ROBERTS: So what about, Stan, this call from China for everybody to come to the table here and talk about what's going on and try to ratchet the tensions back down?
GRANT: Absolutely crucial. China is North Korea's biggest ally. It, of course, has a lot of triumph (ph) in North Korea. It has been able to chair the six-party talks in the past, which basically bring together China, the United States, Japan, Russia, and the two Koreas to discuss North Korea's nuclear program. And what it's calling for is to bring the heads of the delegation of those six-party talks together to try to find a way through this crisis, talk this down, provide some legal room to negotiate and then resume the talks in full.
The problem is getting the others to sign on right now which could seem to North Korea like a reward for bad behavior, John.
CHETRY: All right. Stan Grant for us this morning in Seoul, South Korea. Thank you.
ROBERTS: And coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, it's the video that you just have to see. Wolf Blitzer does the "dougie" and stands in for Eminem? What's that all about?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after 6:00 here on the East Coast.
And here are some of the stories that got us talking in the Newsroom this morning. It's being called the play of the year in college football. Check this out. Oklahoma State defensive back Broderick Brown launches it into the air while falling out of bounds. He tips the ball to teammate Shawn Lewis for a remarkable interception against Oklahoma.
CHETRY: Oh, it happened so fast, you don't even -
ROBERTS: Look at that.
CHETRY: -- see him do it. There you go.
ROBERTS: Oh. You see he hasn't put his foot down, so he's still in play, still on the field. It's amazing. When you see it in slow motion, it's - look at that. Look at the acrobatics there. Wow. Well done. It's like a little bit of an alley-hoop in football. CHETRY: The defense is just confused. He's just sort of standing there. Great play.
ROBERTS: Nine hundred thousand times this has been viewed so far. Well on its way to over a million.
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
Well, it is now official. He is really happening now. Our own Wolf Blitzer, a presenter at the "Soul Train Awards". He wound up getting some dance lessons from none other than Doug E. Fresh. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You have to teach me how to do the "dougie", you know why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
BLITZER: Because I can learn the "dougie" from the man himself. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Doug E. Fresh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, Wolf wound up accepting the award, by the way, on behalf of Eminem who did not show up at the "Soul Train Award". But are we going to see it? There he goes. I don't - I don't know if they taught him that - that facial expression, but - not bad.
ROBERTS: That - that studied over - over years and years in working here at CNN (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: The funniest part is that you're supposed to actually touch your hair. Wolf doesn't want to mess his up, so he's doing - he's doing a high dougie.
ROBERTS: Two things you never thought you'd ever see on television. Wolf Blitzer doing the "dougie" and standing in for Eminem.
Mom and dad to be giving power to the people, really, when it comes to naming their first born. A couple from Toronto couldn't decide on the first name so they're letting Facebook users pick one. There's a snag, though. Just when they settled on a middle name of Lauren -
CHETRY: Very pretty.
ROBERTS: -- and, of course, the number one name that's emerging so far on Facebook, Sophia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMMY ALPINELLI, ASKING FACEBOOK TO HELP NAME HER BABY: If it ends up being Sophia, then I have to change the middle name, for sure.
ROBERT ALPINELLI, ROMMY'S HUSBAND: It might be a little weird to have a Sophia Lauren. Mind you, it is my father's favorite actress so it could work out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It could work.
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: And hers is Sophia Lauren, so it'll be slightly different.
ROBERTS: Slightly different, but, you know - there you go. It's the great universal democracy of Facebook, right?
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: Picking baby names now.
CHETRY: Well, up next this morning, Congress gets back to work. They have a lot on their plate certainly from taxes to extending unemployment benefits for people out of work. But what will they really be able to get done? We're "Minding Your Business".
ROBERTS: Plus, Black Friday, a big success? Or was it a big turkey? A top analyst helps us digest the numbers this morning. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour right now. We're "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The business of Congress and a lot of what they do or don't do affects your bottom line.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. And this week, they've got a year's worth of work to cram into one week, and almost every single thing that the lame duck Congress is going to look at this week and tackle this week is going to affect you, your money, your paycheck, your taxes, if you're a doctor, how much you get.
So let me walk you through what is a really important calendar for Congress this week. Today they're meeting on the Medicare payments to doctors. It could be a 23 percent cut there. Tomorrow, they're going to be talking Bush tax cuts with Congressional leaders and President Obama, also the alternative minimum tax fix.
Look, there could be some 20 million American middle class - upper middle class households who could be hit with higher tax bill (ph) next year, if another patch doesn't push through, how do you pay for that? Oh, of course, you just tack that right on the deficit, of course, and we've done that year after year, but this is something that could result in a higher tax bill if it's not tackled again.
Jobless benefits on Tuesday. Two million people could lose their benefits in December, and it's looking more and more like they're going to punt on this, that two million people will get - will no longer have a $290 to $400 a week unemployment - unemployment check.
Why? The paying for the extension. We've done this again and again, and it is expensive, and at what point is it no longer an emergency anymore but is now a chronic condition?
Also, on Friday, you're going to have them tackling the fiscal 2011 - we don't have a budget. We still don't have a budget. No action ,the government, of course, could shut down, but what they're expecting to do is to approve a continuing resolution. A temporary spending plan that is in place right now expires on Friday.
Also, we have the Deficit Commission that's preparing its final report. It will on Wednesday vote on its final - its final proposal and present that to Congress and the White House. So an awful lot going on that will affect everything from, if you're a doctor, how much you're paid; if you pay your taxes and you're in the middle class, what - what your tax bill will be next year.
The Bush tax cuts, we know that everyone agrees for middle class, lower -
ROBERTS: And - and they're expected to just leave those in place?
ROMANS: They're expecting for the - for the lower and the middle class to leave them in place. But, the question is, for the - for the rich, and - or do you just - just extend all of them for a year and punt it again?
CHETRY: And those unemployment benefits, that's, you know, the difference between being able to stay in your house or - or continuing to rent or not.
ROMANS: And that is - will have an immediate effect. That means by Wednesday people would not be able to file for an extension, a federal extension of unemployment benefits, by Wednesday. So -
CHETRY: They've got a lot of work to do.
ROMANS: It's all happening this week.
CHETRY: They better get to it.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Good to see you. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.
ROMANS: I did. Gobble, gobble.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour now. Your top stories this Monday morning.
Joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea underway this morning in the Yellow Sea. The drills are taking place nearly a week after North Korea shelled a South Korean island. Now, China is calling for an emergency meeting in an attempt to diffuse the crisis.
CHETRY: Haiti's government declaring Sunday's national elections a success, despite widespread of voter fraud. Just two hours earlier, 2/3 of the candidates denounced the vote, demanding that the results be tossed out.
ROBERTS: And diplomatic secrets revealed -- fallout from another massive WikiLeaks document dump. The Web site released more than 250,000 diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies from around the world, some detailing U.S. spy operations on allies and the United Nations. The White House is warning that the leak could threaten lives and national security.
Joining us now from London is WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn, thanks for being with us this morning. Explain for folks who might quite not -- not quite understand it, why did you want to put these documents out there? Why did you think it was necessary for the world to, I guess, see how the sausage is made diplomatically?
KRISTIN HRAFNSSON, WIKILEAKS SPOKESPERSON: Well, this is a -- we are a media organization, and it's very much a journalistic decision. People have the right to know what their governments are up to. But I have to correct you, though -- we hadn't put out 250,000 documents, only a few hundred are out there yet. We will -- we will release them in batches in the next coming weeks.
ROBERTS: All right. So, you will be putting them out there eventually. You say that the public has a right to know. I mean, there are a lot of things that go on militarily, in the intelligence community, in the diplomatic community, as well that maybe would be intriguing to know about, but for reasons of national security, they have been kept under wraps and there are people today who were suggesting that what WikiLeaks is doing is actually threatening national security.
What do you say to those charges?
HRAFNSSON: Well, I think it's a bit farfetched. And it is important to keep in mind that these cables are not in the top secret classification. Even -- I mean, almost half of them are unclassified. So that this (INAUDIBLE) could cause imminent threat to national security, and may I add because of the accusation the information in these papers may cause danger to individuals that we have and will go to great length and scrutinize materials of our organization and our media partners in order to redact names or individuals that might actually be harmed by the exposure.
ROBERTS: You know, a lot of what we're seeing -- I mean, you know, I guess the State Department and the administration is calling it sort of unvarnished communications in the diplomatic world, between the members of the diplomatic corps, things seems like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being compared to Hitler; French President Nicolas Sarkozy called an emperor with no clothes; the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, driven by paranoia. I mean, this is the sort of thing that if you are an American diplomat, you don't necessarily want these people to know about. But is it really --
HRAFNSSON: If you're an American diplomat, should you actually just say those things? Compare leaders to Hitler?
There are other revelations there that are big interest in general public. I point out, for example, the cable instructing the State Department diplomat to conduct spying of the United Nations and even collected (INAUDIBLE) information. That certainly would fall outside the scope of normal diplomatic activity to collect DNA samples from the members of the United Nations Security Council. And I think it might even be a breach of international conventions.
ROBERTS: And that is something that we should point out that the State Department is denying, saying it never happened.
Just back to, again, what the impact this would be, Kristinn. The White House calls this reckless and dangerous. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, says lives could be put at risk here. The State Department says it could risk counterterrorism operation, certainly impact relations with other nations. I guess they're saying you're playing a dangerous game here.
HRAFNSSON: Well, these are comments that were -- and statements -- before, actually, we started releasing the materials. And this is nothing new to us. We had similar strong statements when we were releasing the Iraq War logs and the Afghan war diary. Later on, even, top officials on the Pentagon had to admit that there has been no danger caused when the Iraq War log was released prior to the release, the Pentagon was saying that we were putting the lives of 300 individuals into danger.
ROBERTS: Yes.
HRAFNSSON: In fact, when we released the material, we had redacted all names. So, there was no danger there.
ROBERTS: Now, this is being ratcheted up by American politicians. Republican Congressman Peter King says that he wants WikiLeaks prosecuted for espionage. And he's also pushing the secretary of state to declare WikiLeaks a foreign terrorist organization. And I'm wondering what your response to that is.
HRAFNSSON: Well, I think this is a very serious thing to say from lawmakers, and I hope that is not the sentiment in Washington in general.
ROBERTS: All right. Kristinn Hrafnsson from WikiLeaks -- thanks for joining us this morning.
CHETRY: Well, they call it Black Friday. But they say it's getting a little grayer and grayer each year as people don't wait for the day after Thanksgiving to start shopping for those deals. Plus today's Cyber Monday. Are there any good deals we should know about? We're going to be joined, coming up, by an expert on all of this in just a moment.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Forty minutes past the hour.
We're more than six hours now into Cyber Monday here on the East Coast. It is the biggest, most critical online shopping day of the year.
Here to help check out the deals to be had and tell us how Black Friday turned out for retailers is retailing analyst Marshal Cohen. He is the chief industry analyst for the NPD Group. It's a market research firm on Long Island.
Welcome. Thanks for being with us.
MARSHAL COHEN, CHIEF INDUSTRY ANALYST, THE NPD GROUP: Good morning.
CHETRY: So, a lot of people wondered how Black Friday went -- because we know that times have been tough for retailers over the past few years because of the recession.
COHEN: Black Friday actually did pretty well. Retailers did a good job of making sure that the consumer got really good deals and they staggered their opening hours. So, the consumers who were those crazies, who are very devoted to shopping, were able to go to store to store to store to store. Last year, they had to pick one, wait in line, and try to get those great doorbuster deals.
CHETRY: Right.
COHEN: This year, they were able to go to lots of different places.
CHETRY: So, the bottom line, well -- the National Retail Federation, which tends to be a little rosier about this, said 8.7 percent increase in spending over last year. Some of the other calculations had it a little bit lower than that. But the bottom line is people bought much more and also bought for themselves.
COHEN: The real key is looking at the holiday season with: are the consumers opening up their purse strings and buying? Well, we clearly got the answer yes. They were also buying for themselves and for people extended beyond their lists.
Last two years, there was no impulse purchase. There was no self- purchasing.
CHETRY: Right.
COHEN: This year, the consumer saw really good deals and said, OK, one for you, and two for me. And that's a really big piece of the puzzle. If we can get the consumer to start to put impulse back into the equation, it'll be a good holiday season.
CHETRY: Some of the other things that were interesting. I happened to be at a Walmart on Black Friday, because diapers, you know, you need diapers at all times. What I saw, everybody seemed to have a huge flat screen TV.
And when we looked it up, Walmart had incredible prices -- $250 to $400 for these very large flat screen TVs. A lot of people buying them. So, electronics big.
What else?
COHEN: Electronics came in second. Apparel is still the number one gift given items. So, apparel came in firs, but electronics is continually year after year climbing up the list. Toys comes in third.
And then you have movies. The DVD business did exceptionally well. It was also a huge doorbuster deal. People were waiting in line to get $1 movies on recent releases. So, it's really an interesting thing.
And then you -- you know, you also have footwear which has entered into the equation. And it doesn't sound like a big gift item, but it actually has turned out to be a big holiday item.
So the top five categories are those. But then also look for other areas where the consumer -- remember, consumer goes in to buy the $400 flat screen TV --
CHETRY: That's right.
COHEN: -- but also buys a lot of other products, maybe even diapers included.
CHETRY: That's right. We didn't get any flat panels, though.
I wanted to ask you about today, which is Cyber Monday and sort of the official online retail day. What should you be looking if you're trying to get a deal today?
COHEN: Some great deals this year. The difference is -- you know, Cyber Monday was almost a little bit more hype than reality. But really what's happened is now, the regular brick and mortar, the stores that have online sites have gotten in on the action, as well. So, what that has done is create a greater competition.
This year, Cyber Monday is going to offer some really great deals. But there's one caveat: don't buy at a site unless they're giving you free shipping. Every product that you could possibly buy online should come with free shipping this year and even free returns. So, do a little homework before you click the "buy" button and make sure you're getting the best price.
And don't be shocked if you find that other deals are going to come throughout the rest of the week. It isn't just today only. CHETRY: So, don't pay for shipping.
Also, what about taxes? I mean, is there ways that you can sometimes avoid sales taxes by buying from places that don't have sales taxes?
COHEN: You know, every site has different laws that they have to be governed by because some states don't charge tax if you buy from that site in that state.
CHETRY: Right.
COHEN: So, look for that, as well. At the checkout point, you don't always have to -- once you get to check out -- you don't have to push buy. So, look for what your total is before you click. And if you are paying tax, then look at another site that may be as hosted from another state.
CHETRY: All right. Bottom line: things are looking better for retailers this year. But all of this is still preliminary.
COHEN: Yes. Still very early in the game. But the good news is that the consumer was there and the retailers did a good job.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much. Marshal Cohen for us. He's also author of the book, "Buy Me: How to Get Customers to Choose Your Products and Ignore the Rest."
Thanks so much for being here this morning.
COHEN: My pleasure.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
Still to come this morning: Reynolds Wolf is in for Rob Marciano. He's got this morning's travel forecast.
And Gloria Chapman -- hear from the wife of John Lennon's killer. It's part of our documentary to mark the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death.
It's 44 minutes now after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Sun coming up over New York City this morning where it is chilly. It's in the 30s. It'll be not bad today, though, sunny with a high around 50.
CHETRY: Not bad. Let's check in with Reynolds Wolf right now for a look at weather across the country, as well. Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. We're beginning to see a bit of a pattern now starting to click up in parts of Rockies and then storm system that brought some heavy snow to the Rockies, some parts up to a foot of snowball. It's now beginning to move on to the central plains. We've got some scattered snow showers in parts of big sky country and in the northern plains. And before the day is out, some spots could see up to 5 maybe even 6 inches of snowfall today.
In this spot, you happen to see that it's shaded in purple or pink, that's where you have your warnings or watches. As we expand our view a bit, we're going to notice more of those developing out towards the west. We have a winter storm warning now in effect for portions of the cascades and also a winter storm watch that is currently in effect. The big weather maker again is this area of low pressure that's going to bring a lot of cold air to the parts of big sky country, the Northern Rockies, like 23 degrees for a high in billings.
But when you want a contrast, it would be on the Tampa, 5-degree shy from the 90-degree mark by later this afternoon, 53 in Washington D.C. And you guys were talking about the temperatures in New York, 50 will be your expected high. Here's the big weather maker. This area of low pressure, once it gets moving towards the east, it's going to change a lot of things. We're going to see more cloud cover develop along parts of the Great Lakes, some scattered showers in the mid- Mississippi Valley.
Your snowmakers farther back out to the west. And as everything ramps up and really intensifies for tomorrow, we could see some strong thunderstorms develop from the Gulf Coast clear up to parts of the Appalachians and then more snowfall back from the twin cities. In terms of delays, very quickly, we're going to wrap this up for you. You can expect to wait in Atlanta. For Chicago and Memphis, also some backups. Minneapolis, Dallas, even Houston. Houston's had delays due to low visibility and showers anywhere from a 15 to a 30-minute wait.
All right. You're up to speed. Let's send it back to you.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks so much. We'll see you again.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
CHETRY: And this morning's top stories just a few minutes away. It's cyber Monday, and it's your day to save if you know where to search. We're going to show you where to click for all the best feelings (ph).
ROBERTS: And coming up next, looking back at the life and the legacy and the music. A sneak peek at our documentary, "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder." Next week, we'll mark 30 years since Lennon was gunned down, and we will hear from the wife of the man who pulled the trigger. Yes, Mark David Chapman is still married. Why has she stuck with him for all these years? We'll find out. It's 49 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's 53 minutes after the hour. Thirty years ago next week, December 8th, 1980, John Lennon was gunned down in New York City. The killing, of course, shocked the world. In the wake of the murder, we learn more about Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon, including the fact that he was married. Well, 30 years later, Gloria Chapman has stuck by her infamous husband. All these years have gone by.
In the documentary "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder," we hear from her exclusively about her husband, their life, and Lennon's death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): It was a remarkable press conference. December 10th, 1980.
GLORIA CHAPMAN, WIFE OF MARK DAVID CHAPMAN: Being a Beatles fan, I mourn the death of John Lennon and feel great sadness for his wife Yoko and his son, Shawn.
ROBERTS: Two days after her husband shot John Lennon, Gloria Chapman appeared oddly disconnected. Her answer to one question shocked many people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gloria, do you still love him?
CHAPMAN: Yes, very much.
ROBERTS: In this exclusive interview, she reflected on those days saying she couldn't comprehend the enormity of what had just happened.
CHAPMAN: For I guess the first few weeks, I was just in a dream kind of thing. I mean, it just didn't seem real, you know?
ROBERTS: As reality sunk in, it left Gloria wondering what happened to the life she had dreamed of when she first met Mark David Chapman in 1978?.
She saw him as sort of a knight in shining armor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did, she did.
ROBERTS: Jim Gaines is one of the only reporters to have interviewed Gloria Chapman. He says she spoke lovingly about her engagement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were walking on the beach and Mark said to Gloria, would you marry me? And she was just ecstatic. And she described it to me as the happiest day of her life. Mark never did.
ROBERTS: Perhaps that was a glimpse into the misery, and she says abuse that soon followed.
CHAPMAN: I don't remember what I said, but I have said something sarcastic. And he hit me real hard on like my ear, and it really kind of sent me, you know, my ears were ringing and stuff, and I had to sit down. It was so bad.
ROBERTS: Gloria's naive dreams of happily ever after vanished altogether.
CHAPMAN: The only place you could go for privacy was in the bathroom. I'd just go in there, lock the door, and just cry. You know, I can't take this, you know? How long will it be like this, you know? This is miserable.
ROBERTS: Why do you think she stayed with him all these years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was faithful. It was a virtue. You obeyed virtues. She was trying to be a good wife in an impossible situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (on-camera): It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Thirty years later, she is still married to Mark David Chapman. She still visits him at least once a year in Attica prison for conjugal visits. You would think that she would have pulled the plug a long, long time ago.
CHETRY: It is. It's amazing. And does he talk about their marriage, as well?
ROBERTS: He doesn't really talk about their marriage too much. He does talk extensively, though, about what was going on inside his head leading up to the murder, his remorse after the murder, how he has tried -- he was just recently denied parole for the sixth time. Gotten rid of the demons that he says possessed him and drove him to kill John Lennon. We've got a documentary coming up this Saturday night 08:00, "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder" right here on CNN.
It also repeats on Sunday. We talked to all sorts of people. Julian Lennon, Yoko Ono, the first police officers who were on the scene, (INAUDIBLE), Tony Palma, Dr. Steven Lynn who tried to treat Lennon that night, Vance Hunter, who's a childhood friend of his, and a whole lot of people to give you some really amazing insight into the events leading up to the murder. The type of person Mark David Chapman was and really how significant John Lennon was.
CHETRY: It should be a fascinating look and certainly must-see television. Very cool.
ROBERTS: It really is. Very proud of this. I think it's going to be great.
CHETRY: It's pretty great. That's awesome. We'll be watching.
Meanwhile, we're going to take a quick break and your top stories coming up. Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.
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