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American Morning
WikiLeaks Document Dump; Portland Bomb Plot; Diplomatic Secrets Revealed; Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder; Jailed Hikers Phone Home
Aired November 29, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING, Monday, November the 29th. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We want to get you caught up on what happened while you were sleeping.
WikiLeaks strikes again. Anoter document dump from the web site, confidential, embarrassing revelations about key world leaders. We're live in Washington with the fallout at home and potentially on the battlefield.
ROBERTS: Terror plot foil. The 19-year-old Somali-American could get life in prison for allegedly planning to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregan. This morning, we're learning more about the teenage suspect and a possible revenge attack on a mosque where he occasionally worshiped.
CHETRY: And all eyes on North Korea. It is threatening attacks. The U.S. and South Korean warships now taking part in joint military exercises. How will the unpredictable regime behave during these war games?
ROBERTS: Up first -- it's part "Bond" movie, part Tom Clancy novel. The whistleblower Web site WikiLeaks striking again, releasing confidential U.S. documents published for all the world to see.
CHETRY: In all 250,000 diplomatic cables revealing some sensitive conversations about our allies and world leaders.
Jill Dougherty joins us live from Washington this morning with more.
Hi, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.
You know, it's 250,000. They released 220,000. So, there are still about 30,000 more to go. And those will be coming out in drips and drabs.
But already, if you look at CNN is doing, looking at those cables, one big subject leaps out, and that is Iran -- especially that indication from a cable that Iran gained access to missiles, missiles from North Korea. Here is what that cable says: "Iran has obtained a cache of advanced missiles based on a Russian design. Iran obtained 19 of those missiles from North Korea. And the missiles for the first time could give Iran the capacity to strike at capitals in Western Europe or easily reach Moscow."
And that is important because the U.S. believes that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. If that bomb could be loaded on a missile, that would be very dangerous as you can tell, delivery vehicle to hit Europe or Russia. So, that's one of the most important.
Another thing on Iran is the worry, the concern and really the animosity that the Arab world has. They don't always talk about this in public, but the Arab world has for Iran. In fact, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urging, according to these cables, to the United States to strike, as he put it, at the head of the snake and to attack Iran's nuclear program -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: There are some members of Congress who are saying that WikiLeaks should pay for releasing all of this confidential information. Is it possible that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange might face some charges here?
DOUGHERTY: That's what they want to do. And that's I'm sure what lawyers are looking at right now. What legally could you charge him with?
Now, Peter King, the representative from New York, is saying that he should be charged with the Espionage Act, that they should declare WikiLeaks a foreign terrorist organization. But he question is: legally, can you do that? They have to make that case. Did he have direct access, or did he entice someone else, and we know that Bradley Manning, that U.S. private first class, is the person who allegedly did collect those documents.
But there's a big groundswell to do precisely that.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll see where it goes from here. Jill Dougherty for us this morning with more on this latest WikiLeaks document dump -- thank you.
We're also learning more about the alleged terror plot in Portland, Oregon, and the suspect who authorities say wanted to set off a car bomb at a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and kill and wound as many people as possible.
Nineteen-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud, as Somali American, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
ROBERTS: The FBI says Mohamed plotted for months with undercover agents that he thought were jihadists to detonate a van that was filled with explosives in downtown Portland. Authorities say the public was never in danger because the explosive device was inert. It was a mock device.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is following this developing story. She's live in Portland for us this morning.
And what are you learning about the suspect this morning, Thelma?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the people that we talked to say they are absolutely shocked to find out that this young promising student who was very smart, who was studying engineers, had graduated from high school early, was ever involved with this kind of a thing. They describe him as being a very gregarious, friendly guy -- the kind of guy that everybody wanted to hang out with, very popular on Facebook. Not somebody who ever talked about wanting to harm the United States or had any animosity to it.
In fact, one of his neighbors told me that her son who was a friend of Mohamed's actually said, mom, if somebody like that could do it -- he goes -- that means that I could do it or the guy next door could it. He says he was just that well-liked out here.
CHETRY: Also, you know, a lot of questions about the attack as you said before. This was a mock device. But how long was Mohamud planning to try to carry this out at this tree-lighting ceremony?
GUTIERREZ: Kiran, there is a very lengthy 38-page affidavit, and in that affidavit, the FBI says that Mohamed Osman Mohamud back to the summer of 2009 had actually sent an e-mail to a person in Pakistan who is suspected of engaging in terrorist activity. He said at that the time that he was interested in traveling to Pakistan to engage in jihad. So, this thing goes back quite a while.
He also, according to that affidavit, provided a thumb drive with all the details of the plot. Of course, he is expected to appear in federal court later this morning. So, we'll learn a lot more, Kiran.
CHETRY: Thelma Gutierrez for us this morning -- thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, you had Black Friday. Today is Cyber Monday. And a major Cyber Monday setback was narrowly avoided. Comcast Cable says a server issue knocked out Internet service in greater Boston and the Washington Beltway areas last night. Comcast says service is back up and running now. Engineers try to pinpoint what went wrong.
CHETRY: Tragedy at Chicago's famed Soldier Field during yesterday's Bears-Eagles football game. Police say that a fan fell 35 feet from an upper level balcony to a small rooftop outside of the stadium. He later died at the hospital. Friends say that the man got up from his seat to go to the bathroom and they never saw him again.
ROBERTS: Wow.
And Hollywood is mourning the loss of actor Leslie Nielsen. He died yesterday at a hospital in Florida where he was being treated for pneumonia. Nielsen had a long career as a dramatic actor before becoming a breakout comedy star in "The Airplane" and "Naked Gun" series of movies. His deadpan humor giving life to a second career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS, PARAMOUNT PICTURES)
LESLIE NIELSEN, ACTOR: Can you fly this plane and land it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surely you can't be serious.
NIELSEN: I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
Strike three!
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROBERTS: Nielsen's family said the actor was the life of the party. He was 84 years old.
CHETRY: And sure be missed.
ROBERTS: You know, it's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl.
CHETRY: It was a good year.
ROBERTS: It was -- no, it was the worst.
CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather this morning. Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys, keeping a sharp eye on some rough weather that we can expect around the country. And it's going to be a combination of rain, sleet, snow, and maybe even strong thunderstorms.
Let's go right to the forecast. One of the first things we're going to share with you will be the delays. You can expect that at the airport in Atlanta, Chicago, Memphis, even Minneapolis, you could have a half hour to a full hour delay. And Dallas and Houston, both those big cities in Texas, low visibility, low clouds, wind and some scattered showers, perhaps even thunderstorms later on on the day.
Another thing to deal with -- if you happen to be out on the roadways, especially in parts of the Northern Plains, we've got some snow that is developing. We're going to see more of that. In fact, some places could see over six inches of snowfall just today. We do have some watches and warnings that are in effect not only up in the Northern Plains but all the way in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the Cascades. I-5 could be a bear of a drive if you're traveling that part of the world.
Forty-five the high in Seattle; for Salt Lake City, about 27. The other side of things, down in Tampa, you're going to be really just four or five degrees away from 90s, a nice warm day for you. Houston with 80. New Orleans with 80. Atlanta, 43, on the other side of the frontal boundary.
And that storm system that's going to be sweeping across the nation is going to bring rough weather to a lot of people. Not just today but also tomorrow because once it gets close to the Eastern Seaboard, places like our nation's capital and New York, you can expect more cloud cover with that possibly a few showers and storms as we fast forward into tomorrow. We might even see some flash-flooding in parts of the Tennessee Valley, the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians. And, of course, the snow will continue back in the Northern Plains and into the Midwest, Minneapolis-St. Paul, possibly some very heavy snowfall for you.
That is the latest on your forecast. We've got more coming up. Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: All right. Reynolds, thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
ROBERTS: Well, the new WikiLeaks data dump -- is it more of an embarrassment or does it actually jeopardize national security? And the crisis between North and South Korea continues to escalate. Is all out war coming up next?
Jamie Rubin, who was the assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration, joins us -- coming up next.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, it reads like something out of a spy novel. Tens of thousands of confidential, even embarrassing government documents, revealed by the Web site WikiLeaks making headlines around the world this morning.
And joining us to talk about the potential impact is Jamie Rubin, former assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration, now teaching at Columbia University.
Great to see you this morning.
JAMES RUBIN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Good morning.
ROBERTS: So, the case is being made that these potentially jeopardize national security. Do you believe they do, or is this more just embarrassing to have your more intimate conversations between your diplomats out there in the front page?
RUBIN: Well, I think it's both. I think rather than the previous WikiLeaks which were aimed at one policy, the war in Afghanistan, or the war in Iraq, this is a broad-based attack on U.S. foreign policy and the government of the United States. The government can't achieve all of its objectives in terms of fighting terrorism, for example, if a foreign leader knows that when they secretly agree to allow us to bomb a terrorist hideout on their territory, that that secret agreement can be published in "The New York Times."
On the other hand, the basic contours of what's been revealed about Iran, about Pakistan, we've known, because good journalism has shown us that for example, Arab governments say one thing to us in private that is supportive, and then in public, might criticize us.
So I think we've known the basic contours and some of the details are really just as you said, embarrassing. But in certain cases, there is a damage to the State Department and the United States' ability to have private conversations and do the nation's business if these other governments feel that that information is going to be made public.
ROBERTS: You did this for so long as Madeleine Albright's right hand man. How important is it to be able to talk in an unvarnished fashion in diplomatic circles about certain issues? Because when we talked to Kristinn Hrafnsson from WikiLeaks this morning, he said, hey, if you don't want these printed on the front page of "The New York Times," as you said, you shouldn't be talking in those tones.
RUBIN: Well, these people don't know anything about how the real world works.
If the United States needs the help, and in this case, as an example, of the leader of Yemen, to attack a terrorist group planning an attack on the United States and that leader refuses to publicly support us, because of its own problems, we as Americans trying to defend our national security interests need to be able to have a private conversation with him or her, but him mostly in the Arab world, about how to go about defending the country, our country.
And if that leader knows that those statements or actions that he takes privately are going to be made public, he may not do them. And terrorist cells may not be destroyed and Americans may die because of the irresponsibility of these people.
In some cases, he's right. In some cases, these are just embarrassments. But in some cases, they are very real.
And I think the broader point is this isn't about the war in Afghanistan any more or the war in Iraq, which these people obviously opposed and have every right to oppose. This is about America's ability to operate in the world, and they obviously are trying to damage America's ability to operate.
ROBERTS: Just for clarity, we should say that what you were referring to was a cable in which Yemen's president said, "I'll continue to say if the U.S. wants to keep bombing terror hideouts in Yemen, I'll continue to say to my people that the bombs are ours and not America's."
RUBIN: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Because for public consummation, Yemen doesn't want the idea that America is bombing its territory out there.
RUBIN: Exactly. And so, in the Arab world, in particular, where most of these terrorist cells are based, there is a difference between what governments there are prepared to say publicly and what they're prepared to say privately.
ROBERTS: What about the point that (INAUDIBLE) from WikiLeaks made this morning that the public has a right to know how its government is doing business in the world.
RUBIN: Well, they do, and the journalism that is on the front pages of our newspapers and on CNN and other networks does that every day, tells us what our government is doing. But just as journalists like to sometimes have a private conversation, just as individuals like to sometimes have a private conversation about people they don't want to be made public, governments, and particularly, when it comes to securing our nation, have to have the ability to have a private conversation, and that's been destroyed at least temporarily by WikiLeaks.
ROBERTS: One of the other big issues I need to get your take on this morning, North Korea, China calling all six parties to the table to try to deescalate the tensions there. Do you think that China will be able to make a difference here?
RUBIN: Well, China could make a difference if it chose to. But so far, China has been reluctant to use all the leverage it has in terms of cutting off assistance to North Korea. And they've been generally tried to manage all their interests, North Korea's friendship with China, South Korea's interest in the region and America.
And until China chooses sides, that is concludes that it wants to be a responsible member of the international community, and put real pressure on North Korea, unfortunately, we're going to have a North Korea crisis from time to time.
ROBERTS: We'll see if these talks take place. Jamie, it's always great to see you.
RUBIN: Nice to see you.
ROBERTS: Thanks for coming in this morning.
RUBIN: Take care.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, legendary country singer, Willie Nelson, busted with marijuana, and he may face jail time. Details on that story coming up. Seventeen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past hour. Morning talker time. These are some of the stories that got us talking in the newsroom and on the way back in the newsroom and back here in studio. We've been talking all over the place.
Willie Nelson at it again. The 77-year-old country music icon busted at a border checkpoint in Texas after an officer smelled a weed (ph) of something in a tour van. Well, border patrol says they found six ounces of pot onboard (ph). Nelson could spend up to six months in prison time. A local sheriff is promising to make him cook and clean if he's convicted.
ROBERTS: Oh, that Willie. Another product that gives you a buzz is creating a buzz this morning. Alcohol infused whipped cream.
CHETRY: Taste pretty good.
ROBERTS: Yes, they've got everything.
CHETRY: Just kidding.
ROBERTS: It's on the store shelves now. One of them simply called cream. It comes in five flavors, the alcohol content 15 percent which is about three times what you get in your average beer.
CHETRY: But you'd have to work really hard to get drunk off of whipped cream.
ROBERTS: I would think --
CHETRY: I think you could get sick --
ROBERTS: You have to eat an awful lot of whipped creams.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it is official. He is really happening now. Our very own Wolf Blitzer, presenter at the Soul Train Awards. He wound up getting some dance lessons from the man himself. Doug E. Fresh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The real reason I came here tonight because I want to learn how to do the Dougie. They don't have to teach me how to do the Dougie. You know why? Because I can learn the Dougie from the man himself. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Doug E. Fresh.
(CLAPPING AND CHEERING)
CHETRY (voice-over): There he is. And there it is. Wolf presents the Dougie. Not bad. Get it his own little facial expressions too with it as well. He made it his own. He also wound up accepting an award on behalf of Eminem.
ROBERTS (voice-over): So, Wolf has gone from happening to now to happening now.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS (on-camera): And life in south beach not going as well as LeBron James had expected which is why this is causing so much controversy this morning. Check it out. Wait a minute here. (INAUDIBLE) lost the Dallas. LeBron James bumped his angry head coach, Erik Spoelstra, as he walked to the bench during a time-out. No big deal. Just not enough room. Message sent. You decide. Some people thought that he might challenge the Chicago Bulls' all-time best record of 72-10, but Miami's off to a very ordinary, shall we say, 9-8 start.
CHETRY: That doesn't look like a very cordial exchange.
ROBERTS: No. It didn't look like, oh sorry, I didn't have enough room to get by.
CHETRY: They both look mad.
ROBERTS: Yes. I think he sent a message.
CHETRY: Here's another ugly moment in pro sports. This is a game that took place this weekend. Houston Texans and the Tennessee Titans. Houston's Andre Johnson in the dark blue, you'll see soon enough, because he and Tennessee's Cortland Finnegan in the white go toe-to-toe, ripping off together with helmet.
There you see it, on the ground. Now, it looks more like a WWE match. Personal fouls and ejections for both. No word yet from the NFL on the punishments, but you can pretty much bet they're coming.
ROBERTS: I would expect so, yes. It's being called the Play of the Year in college football. Have a look at this. This is pretty incredible. The acrobatics, Oklahoma state defensive back, Broderick Brown, launches himself into the air, tips the ball, falling out of bounds to teammate, Shaun Lewis. Remarkable interception against Oklahoma. Take a look at that in slow motion to really appreciate the acrobatics there. Clip has been viewed nearly 900,000 times on YouTube. Probably up over a million by later on today. Look at that. Wow!
CHETRY: Yes. A lot of people just trying to figure out whether it was in or out. Did it right.
ROBERTS: Both feet in the air from the playing field when he tapped it. So definitely inbounds.
CHETRY: Good for you. Well, planning on taking a little holiday shopping break at work today. You're not alone. It's cyber Monday. I mean, people are going to be online all over the place. What deals should you watch out for? Also, what you were just looking at, of course, John Lennon.
ROBERTS: Yes. It was 30 years ago next Wednesday that he was shot and killed outside of his apartment building in New York City. The gunman, Mark David Chapman, but what do we know about him? Coming up an exclusive interview with his wife Gloria, soft-spoken Hawaiian woman who has stuck by her infamous husband for 30 years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You know, stop trying to fight it. I just -- I wholly embrace the holiday season, trimmed the tree over the weekend.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You did?
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANS: My husband is making me wait till next weekend. I'm crazy. I would -- I love --
ROBERTS: Well, you better get rid of the 24 people who at your house for Thanksgiving
ROMANS: I know. I did. I have 24 people --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: There you go. Well, look, some of them have probably gone home, and they're probably shopping today. Seventy million people will be shopping from work today. It's cyber Monday. The very beginning we thought this was all kind of like a scam to get you to spend more money, but Cyber Monday is becoming its own sort of Black Friday.
Some advice for you here. Compare prices because different sites are going to have a lot of different prices on things. Check for coupons. You should not be paying shipping for anything, and you should be getting 10, 20, 30% off on whatever you're buying. Don't wait to buy if it's a really great deal in the electronics, in particular, because some of these deals are only an hour long. But also, don't dismay because later on in the season, we're expecting prices to go down again.
CHETRY: That's something I ordered for you making its way.
ROMANS: I know. I didn't know --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Didn't you say earlier that $30 billion of merchandise on things people don't want gets spent every year?
ROMANS: 13 in this country and 25 for the author (ph) figured it out.
CHETRY: Come on in. That's what I got for Christine.
ROMANS: Yes. You got me the 12 days of Christmas, right? All 364 items. The 12 days of Christmas is fascinating. PNC Wealth Management does this every year and it's there Christmas cost index, and it's up almost $100,000 now if you're going to buy all the things on the list. The problem here, gold. I mean, gold prices are up sharply. Those five gold rings are going to set you back. This is not the year for gold, honey. And also, the turtle doves and the French hens, those prices are up. The feed costs are up. Remember, we talk about --
CHETRY: How much can a couple of French hens really eat?
ROMANS: Oh, come on. I mean, the cost of all of those grains and everything and then the dancing ladies apparently, $6,200 for the dancers because --
CHETRY: You hear that, guys.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Not the kind of dancer's crew (ph) we're talking about. I think these are professional dancers, we're talking about.
ROBERTS: Well, those are professionals, too.
ROMANS: I knew we were going to go down this path. I knew this was going to happen. But also a lot of the entertainers are going to get higher prices.
CHETRY: The lords a-leaping.
ROMANS: Right. They didn't have a pay raise. Wages and benefits are probably up for all of you. So, PNC bank, it's just very clever.
ROBERTS: If you want to save on the French hens we'll go across the street in the Central Park and dress up a couple of Canada geese.
ROMANS: There you go. In fact --
CHETRY: Turtle doves.
ROMANS: There you go.
CHETRY: Pigeon.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Use of Central park turtle doves --
ROMANS: Dress up what you got, but this is for all of you buying gold, silver and platinum trinkets this year, you're going to be digging deep in your pocket. There you go.
CHETRY: Twenty-eight flat screens a singing. That's what people want.
ROMANS: Buy them (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: We could go on, but we won't.
Crossing the half hour right, we're taking a look at the top stories. Diplomatic secrets revealed. Fallout from another massive WikiLeaks document dump. The website released more than 250,000 diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies around the world. Some detailing U.S. spy operations on allies and the U.N.
ROBERTS: And 19-year-old Mohammed Osman Mohammed, a Somali- American could get life in prison for allegedly planning to set off a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court today. Mohammed is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
CHETRY: And the lame duck Congress returns to a daunting agenda. Topping the list, the Bush era tax cuts. President Obama and most Democrats want to extend them for families making $250,000 or less. Republicans want them extended for everybody, including the richest Americans.
ROBERTS: More on the fallout from the latest WikiLeaks leak. The website is under fire from the U.S. government for exposing a massive collection of confidential diplomatic documents.
CHETRY: The White House is calling it "reckless and dangerous." Ed Henry is live for us at the White House this morning. Some are questioning whether or not this will do real damage to the president's foreign policy goals.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. Some are wondering whether it's just embarrassment. I can tell you from going through some of the cables, there could be real damage to the foreign policy goals.
You look at, for example, some of the revelations on Guantanamo, the military prison there and the fact that the documents say that for the leader of Slovenia to get a meeting with President Obama the administration suggested that country would have to take at least one prisoner from Guantanamo, sort of "let's make a deal diplomacy," as The "New York Times" calls it.
That could make it even harder to close this prison that they already had problems closing.
Then you have the situation in Yemen. The fact that the U.S., it's alleged for a long time, has been launching secret drone strikes in Yemen to target Al Qaeda. These lay out the president of Yemen acknowledged all of this and said look, we'll keep saying publicly that your bombs are our bombs and really the Yemen government that's doing it, not the U.S. government.
Finally, on Iran, take a look at the fact the administration has been touting the fact that new tough new sanctions against Iran is getting the job done in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
When you look at these documents all of these leaders in the Middle East saying they are nervous about Iran getting nuclear weapons anyway, that maybe the sanctions are not enough. That could be a problem for this president.
No wonder then that Robert Gibbs put out this tough statement, quote, "President Obama supports responsible, accountable, and open government at home and around the world, but this reckless and dangerous action is counter to the goal. By releasing stolen classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights, but also the lives and work of these individuals.
We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information." You also have documents suggesting that the U.S. officials and administration officials here don't believe that Russia is really a democracy. That could further complicate and strain that whole reset of Russian relations that's already under some peril now by the president's own account because the START treaty is stalled in the Senate right now.
And so these documents could complicate the U.S-Russian relationship as well, John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: So WikiLeaks has a quarter of a million documents. They have put out a small number compared to the overall number. Is there anything the White House can do to try to prevent more documents from coming out?
ROBERTS: That's the big question moving forward. You've got Republican Congressman Peter King in the House saying why don't you declare this a terrorist organization and prosecute them?
The administration is looking at all options of course, but the question is going to be is it Private Nanning accused of leaking the documents initially who is really the person who may have committed the crimes here? Is WikiLeaks just the middle man? What can the U.S. do to try to prosecute this company overseas?
So there are complicated questions and no real easy answers right now, John.
CHETRY: Ed Henry for us this morning. We'll keep following it. Thanks so much.
Also, it's crunch time on taxes. Up next Vera gibbons, a contributor for Turbo Tax, is going to be joining us live. The things you can do now before the years ends to help lower your 2010 tax bill. It's 34 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: No one likes it, but you got to do it. It's not only the season for shopping and gift giving, but you have to plan for taxes as well. December 31 is just around the corner, and that means you have about five weeks to get some finances in order for 2010.
Vera Gibbons from Turbo Tax joins us now with some of those yearend tax tips. Good to see you.
VERA GIBBONS, CONTRIBUTOR, TURBO TAX: Good to see you.
CHETRY: One thing as we talk about the fact that Congress is debating whether to extend the Bush era tax cut, some of those other concerns, they are not affecting 2010.
GIBBONS: Right. We're waiting to see. You can get a program like turbo tax up to date with all of the legislation once that takes effect. But we're talking year-end 2010, stuff you can do now to lower your tax bill. CHETRY: You gave us a check list of things. One is retirement, of course. And for many it's contributing to the 401(k).
GIBBONS: Boost your retirement accounts. This is the time to do it. This is the easiest way to reduce your overall tax income, to reduce your tax bill and you're saving t money grows tax deferred. So the maximum for 2010 is $16,500 or $22,000 if you are 50 or over. You have until December 31 to do that.
CHETRY: You call and you figure out through your benefits?
GIBBONS: Call your benefits department. You have a couple more pay stubs probably, ratchet it up and you'll save. That's one of the easiest ways.
CHETRY: What about people not employed or lost their job. Can they contribute to their retirement even if they are not getting a 401(k)?
GIBBONS: There are solo 401(k)'s, IRAs, Roth. You have until April 15. I'm talking about the 401(k) and 4013-b.
CHETRY: Something you talk about are those flex dollars a lot of people have in their child care or a lot of them have flex spending health accounts. What should they do?
GIBBONS: As you very well know it's use it or lose it. So you may have until March 15th to use this money. But in some cases you only have until the end of December. Any money that is not used is forfeited completely.
So now is the time to go out, buy over-the-counter medications, band aids, contact lenses, have the teeth cleaned. I should point out too that this is the last year, 2010, that you can use the FSAs for the over-the-counter, so you might require a prescription in 2010. Even if your plan allows you to do this until March 15, you have to use the over-the-counter stuff now.
CHETRY: That's good advice as well.
The tax credits, things like whether you made home improvements, whether there are things you can write off because of that, you have to make sure you put in for that now?
GIBBONS: Now is the time to do the energy efficient moves, energy efficient windows, door, add insulation, because you could be eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit up to $1,500. This is valuable. Credit reduces your taxes dollar for dollar. So if you owe the IRS $2,000, and you have a $1,500 credit, your tax liability drops to $500. And you've done something, and saving energy. This is the time of year you want to do that.
CHETRY: As if people don't have to think about it but if you can and have it all together power to you.
Also, the charitable deductions, this is the time when you need think about that. That's what you can write off.
GIBBONS: Right. Whether you give cash, check, make your contribution with a credit card, you give donated goods, household goods, whatever the case may be, now is the time to do that. Of course you have to have a receipt for $250 or more. The charity has to be legitimate, registered 4013-b.
So these are the kinds of things you have to think about. So if you really want to double your tax benefit, you might want to think about getting appreciated stock. This is the way to go because there's no capital gains, and you get to deduct the full amount. So if you give $10,000 to your charity, you get to deduct that full amount. If you were to sell it, you would be up against a 15 percent capital gains.
CHETRY: Some good tips there.
This is interesting. The IRS claiming they are sitting on $164 million worth of refund checks from 2009 because people didn't either update their addresses.
GIBBONS: This is Crazy.
CHETRY: This is your money.
GIBBONS: Sitting in the IRS. Now we could all use this. If you have money sitting in the IRS.
CHETRY: How do you know?
GIBBONS: You didn't get your refund. The average refund that the IRS is sitting on, these are checks that came back, and the average refund of those specifically was nearly $1,500. So if you didn't get your refund, go to irs.gov. Go check it out. This is your money.
CHETRY: It's just sitting there, absolutely. Good advice. Good to see you as always.
GIBBONS: Nice to see you.
CHETRY: Thanks, Vera. John?
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
Rain, snow, thunderstorms could make a tough travel day across the country. Our Reynolds Wolf got your travel forecast coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Not the nicest of days in Atlanta, Georgia. This morning it's cloudy and 45 degrees later on today. You're going to get some showers and the temperature is not going to move a whole lot.
CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf is in the Extreme Weather Center to break it down for us this morning. Hey, Reynolds.
WOLF: Hey guys. Yes, you just saw in that -- shot a moments ago some of the low clouds. We're going to have some wind coupled with that and those showers that could give some people some delays, especially in Atlanta. They will be from a half hour to a full hour in Chicago and Memphis, same story. Minneapolis, snow might be a problem possibly an hour delay there. And also in Dallas and Houston, you might be waiting for just a bit.
Now, one of the biggest issues we have around the country is some of the -- the heavy snow that's been forming not only in parts of the northern plains, we're going to see some of it across the country. In fact some are going to have up to six inches of snowfall today from Fargo back over to Bismarck as far south as Rapid City and Sioux Falls.
We're seeing more snowfall in parts of the Rockies. In fact outside of Salt Lake City they have roughly a foot of snow just this weekend alone. And as we make our way to the Pacific Northwest up and down I-5, just expect some rainfall. But in the high elevations of the -- of the mountain range along the coast and the Olympic Mountains you can expect some snow. It's going to remain in the Cascades for the next couple of days. Even Spokane may get up to about seven inches of snowfall between now and Tuesday.
Cold air out towards the west and much warmer in the east. How warm? Try Tampa the high expected to be around 86 today; 80 in Houston, 54 in Kansas City, 29 in Denver, and 27 in Salt Lake City.
Everything in the west is going to pull towards the east. Now as it does so, along that frontal boundary that area of low pressure we can expect some scattered showers, some of this possibly flood inducing especially into parts of Tennessee, southeast of St. Louis and even into southern Illinois.
As it drives eastward it's going to bring more of the rain along the Eastern Seaboard. But the back half of the system is going to bring some snowfall to parts of the twin cities, so I would not be surprised tomorrow if we see some very long delays in the twin cities, possibly over toward Chicago before the day's out. Even Milwaukee getting into these delays.
The only good news about this is that we are getting some heavy snows still in the Rockies. So anyone who is flying out of Denver, and hoping to do some skiing in places like Steamboat it has been just a dream beginning to the season.
So at least we've got that going for us. Let's send it back to you in New York.
CHETRY: I can't complain.
ROBERTS: Whenever snow falls where it's supposed to, it's a good thing. Reynolds thanks so much.
WOLF: Absolutely. You bet. ROBERTS: Well, how did your bird come out? Now that we're looking back on Thanksgiving as being in the past. Hopefully it turned out better than this one which was sent in by one of our CNN iReporters over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put it back.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the turkey out of there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the turkey out of there.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: How did they get this video inside my home? No, I'm kidding. But you know, can we go back and look at the video. The guy, she's holding a steaming flaming bird and he's pulling her with both hands. Is that really the smartest thing to do?
ROBERTS: You know when --
CHETRY: I mean, look. Look, she start scrubbing, she has the hot turkey and she half way in the oven. Just let her take it out. He shuts it back up.
ROBERTS: But -- but if there's a flaming turkey should you take it out of the oven?
CHETRY: Well, I mean, what are you leaving the oven to flame? I --
ROBERTS: But you can close the door and maybe snuff out the oxygen and therefore the fire goes out. Which I think happened there.
CHETRY: Clearly that -- that eventually happened.
ROBERTS: If you take it out, you just spill it on the floor and suddenly you're burning down the house as if you had to deep fry the turkey.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, somebody grabbing you with both hands and pulling you from it isn't probably the best way to go either. But hey, the kitchen looks nice. I mean, look, everything else looks great.
ROBERTS: Lesson learned, if your wife has a flaming turkey in her hands, leave her alone. CHETRY: Leave her alone.
ROBERTS: December 8th, 1980, it marked the end of an era. The night that John Lennon was shot and killed by crazed fan Mark David Chapman. Well, who was Chapman and what was he like?
Up next, an exclusive interview with his wife Gloria Chapman as we approach the 30th anniversary of losing Lennon.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Almost 30 years ago next week, December 8th, 1980, John Lennon gunned down in New York City and the killing that shocked the world. In the wake of the murder we learned more about Mark David Chapman, the man who shot Lennon including the fact that he was married.
ROBERTS: Yes and remarkably, you might not know this, Gloria Chapman has stuck by her infamous husband all these years. They are still married and she visits him in prison. In our upcoming documentary here on CNN "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 CHAMPAN, MARK DAVID CHAPMAN'S WIFE: 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.
(on camera): She saw him as a -- sort of a knight in shining armor.
JIM GAINES, INTERVIEWED GLORIA CHAPMAN: She did. She did.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Jim Gaines is one of the only reporters to have interviewed Gloria Chapman. He says she spoke lovingly about her engagement.
GAINES: 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 must have said something sarcastic, and he hit me real hard -- like on 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 just go in there and lock the door and just cry and just say I can't take this. How long will it be like this? It's miserable.
ROBERTS (on camera): Why do you think she stayed with him all these years?
GAINES: 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: It really is some -- some incredible insight into the head of Mark David Chapman. We talked in this documentary where so many people who knew him when he was younger, noticed changes that happened in him. He went on a really bad acid trip once when he was in the very beginning of high school. Came back from that acid trip believing he was John Lennon.
One of his childhood friends we talked to has a theory that the reason why he killed Lennon was because he thought he was Lennon in his twisted mind and the real John Lennon had to be eliminated.
CHETRY: That's unbelievable. It's also unbelievable that she stayed with him despite the descriptions of abuse. And that they are still together now.
ROBERTS: Yes, that they are together 30 years later is just extraordinary. And she goes to visit him at least once a year in Attica Prison for conjugal visits. And as Jim Gaines was saying it's just out of a sense of duty that she has maintained their marriage.
CHETRY: It's almost a sentence for her as well.
ROBERTS: It has been. Over all these years and continues to be because Mark David Chapman was denied parole in September for a sixth time. And there are many people who believe that if he were ever to be released that he wouldn't last very long on the streets.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, I guess it's certainly going to be fascinating to see this entire documentary.
ROBERTS: We talked to so many people including his son Julian Lennon, Yoko Ono. All of these people that were connected with him during that time.
The documentary "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder" premiers Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
And it's 56-and-a-half minutes after the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: New information now into the CNN NEWSROOM of a story we've been following for more than a year. Two American hikers who have been jailed in Iran for 16 months were allowed to call home over Thanksgiving. The families of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal released a statement saying that they each got five minutes to speak to the two.
This is the only -- the second time that Bauer and Fattal have been allowed to phone home. You may remember Sarah Shourd -- pictured there -- was also with them in captivity. Iranians released her earlier in the year.
ROBERTS: And the parents thought that maybe that was an indication the two men would be released but they remain in captivity. At least they got a chance to phone home. I mean it's a small piece of comfort.
That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us this Monday morning. And we'll see you back here again bright and early tomorrow.
CHETRY: Meantime the news continues, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Hi, Kyra.
