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American Morning
America Under Attack: Fallout From WikiLeaks; "Slurpee Summit" Finally Happening; Lame Duck Congress to Discuss Tax Cuts, Nuke Treaty; Unemployment Benefits at Risk; Lady Gaga: Please End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; $80 Million in Picassos Found
Aired November 30, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, November 30th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. Let's get you caught up this Tuesday morning on what's going on.
The White House and WikiLeaks in a war of words. Thousands of leak documents sparking a criminal investigation and a warning from the secretary of state that we are under attack. A live report from Washington just ahead.
CHETRY: Hoping to avoid gridlock and brain freeze, President Obama meeting with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle today for the so-called "Slurpee Summit." The Bush tax cuts issue number one. And a big chunk of your paycheck could be on the line if they don't figure out something soon.
ROBERTS: I have an instant cure for brain freeze. Don't forget to ask me about it.
And we're finally going to hear the Pentagon's position on the future of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the law that effectively bans gays from serving openly in the military. The Department of Defense set to release its long awaited report and the possible effects of repealing the ban. We'll have a live report just ahead.
CHETRY: Up first, the secretary of state is declaring that America is under attack and that the enemy is the whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks. So far, only a small fraction of the State Department cables have been released by WikiLeaks.
ROBERTS: But some of the 250,000 documents expected to be revealed at some point, only about six percent of them contain secret information. Another 41 percent are deemed classified, and the rest of them are unclassified. The Obama administration is announcing a criminal investigation promising to prosecute anyone who broke American law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Open and transparent government is something that the president believes is truly important. But the stealing of classified information and its dissemination is a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Jill Dougherty is live from Washington this morning for more on this. In addition to the potential diplomatic disasters, as we dig through these documents, we're also getting some insight on the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this is really fascinating. A real hot spot. And what we're seeing is there are some cables that give the gist of conversations between the United States and South Korea essentially predicting, kind of gaming out what would happen if North Korea were to disintegrate, fall apart. Because as we know, the leader of North Korea is very sick, Kim Jong- il.
So let me read a couple of things from these. One is the fall of North Korea would come in two to three years after the death of Kim Jong-il. That's from one. And then another quote, senior figures in Beijing describing the regime in Pyongyang as behaving like a spoiled child.
And these are fascinating glimpses because, you know, China is usually depicted as the best friend of North Korea. But in these conversations between South Koreans and the United States, the South Koreans are saying it looks as if the Chinese are losing patience. You know, a spoiled child. And also indicating that the Chinese might accept after the North Korea collapses a united Korea that would be under South Korea, you know, with U.S. influence. But that the South Koreans believe they'd have to give some economic incentives up in the North. So we're seeing really diplomacy laid bare. This is fascinating stuff.
ROBERTS: A lot of these cables and communications, Jill, some of which resort to name calling in some instances -- but others which really illuminate the sort of delicate diplomatic dance that countries have to go through to cooperate with each other and try to get something done. Getting that out there in the public, has it damaged our relationship to other countries?
DOUGHERTY: You know, the personal comments, there is no question they are. And actually, you know, U.S. officials are bracing for more stuff this week that could be damaging.
Don't forget that Hillary Clinton herself is on an international trip right now in which she could be meeting some of these leaders who were not very positively described in these cables. But listen to what she said, you know, right before she left. She was talking about the partnerships that the United States has. This is a major focus of this administration. She's predicting they'll survive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: So let's be clear. This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interest. It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity. I am confident that the partnerships that the Obama administration has worked so hard to build will withstand this challenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: Yes, so you can say there's a kind of translation here that even though perhaps other countries, other leaders have been criticized, the secretary would say we're all in this together, we are all making this foreign policy, and you could be heard as well as we could.
ROBERTS: She's going to need her best diplomatic skills on this trip. No question about that. Jill Dougherty for us in Washington this morning. Jill, thanks.
CHETRY: Police in Wisconsin right now still trying to figure out what drove a 15-year-old student to take fellow classmates and a teacher hostage at gunpoint. Twenty-three students and a teacher were freed unharmed last night, but they were held for 5 1/2 hours in a classroom at Marinette High School in northeast Wisconsin. The standoff finally ended after police heard shots and burst into the classroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JEFF SKORIK, MARINETTE POLICE DEPT.: The game plan all along was to have the hostage-taker leave the room peacefully without any injuries. And it was only after the three gun shots that law enforcement became concerned for the safety of the hostages and they breached the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What they found inside was that the unnamed student, the gunman, had shot himself after officers entered the room, as they entered the room. He was taken to the hospital, his condition not known. Classes at the high school are now canceled today. Officials say that grief counselors will be available for students and staff.
ROBERTS: Lame duck Congress, money on the line, Congress back in session with the clock ticking on key issues that have sat on the table up until now.
CHETRY: At the White House, President Obama is sitting down with new Republican congressional leaders for the so-called "Slurpee Summit." It's expected to last only about an hour, but it could give us an idea of how they will or won't work together over the next two years.
Brianna Keilar is in Washington this morning. First, though, Ed Henry live at the White House for us. So it's finally happening. As we know, it was famously postponed because they couldn't agree on a date and time, I guess, before Thanksgiving.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. Finally coming together. Bottom line is there's so much at stake for so many of our viewers. I mean, you've got unemployment benefits expiring for millions of Americans right before Christmas. You've got those Bush tax cuts, those rates expiring before New Year's. What will be the fate of them? Will some of our viewers be seeing their taxes go up in the new year?
And then finally, the new START treaty the president has made his top foreign policy priority. In this lame duck session, Republicans saying they don't think they're going to be able to get to it this year, but there's huge stakes there because this is an arms reduction treaty. The president has made this a key part of his resetting the relationship with Russia, said it could affect international relations if it doesn't go through.
And yesterday in advance of this summit, the president tried to offer a little bit of an olive branch by accepting and signing on to a Republican plan, basically, to freeze federal pay. And while he did that, the president said this is really an opportunity, this so-called "Slurpee Summit" to reset the relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My hope is that starting today we can begin a bipartisan conversation about our future. Because we face challenges that will require the cooperation of Democrats, Republicans, and independents, everybody is going to have to cooperate. We can't afford to fall back onto the same old ideologies or the same stale sound bites.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But don't expect any of this to be settled very quickly. The president has been planning to go on vacation in Hawaii around December 18th. But I'm hearing from senior administration officials the president has privately said he's willing to delay that if necessary to get some of these big issues like the tax issues settled and that he's privately said, look, last year it took until Christmas eve to get health care done. He's willing to delay his vacation if he has to if that's what it will take to get these lawmakers to the table and get a final deal on these tax issues -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Maybe the "Slurpee" will feel good on his poor lip. You can still see where the stitches are.
HENRY: Yes, that frozen treat can be good. You know, I had one with crystal light the other day and it gave me a nasty headache. If you have something like 32 ounces, in fact I have it here. If you have, you know, that much crystal light with that artificial sweetener, oh, it's not just a brain freeze. Although I do want to hear about John's cure.
ROBERTS: All right. All right. It will take a second here. If you ever get brain freeze, look straight up. Don't just tilt your head up, lift your eyes up and it will go away instantly. Ed Henry --
HENRY: I can remember that.
CHETRY: This is advice they're going to need today at their "Slurpee Summit," especially if they're chugging 32 ounces of crystal light.
HENRY: Who needs crystal -- you've got John Roberts.
ROBERTS: There you go. Ed, thanks so much.
Well, they're risking brain freeze over at the White House in an attempt to avoid gridlock. Meanwhile, up on Capitol Hill, the lame duck Congress has got a lot on its plate. Brianna Keilar joins us now live. So what are they going to get done if anything in the next few weeks?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the things that they're really trying to tackle here immediately, let's just talk about what they're doing today. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," that military report is going to be coming out today, John and Kiran. And what you're going to be seeing is some senators having to really take a position, a lot of them, especially moderate Republicans who Democrats are trying to win over so they can push this through Congress. They haven't taken a stance yet. And once that report comes out today from the Pentagon, and we're going to be seeing briefings. There will be Pentagon officials up on the hill today. We'll be covering that. It's going to be very difficult for them not to take a position. And we'll start to see where the support is.
The other thing that I think a lot of people will be interested in is a food safety bill. You know, so many people have been scared over the past years for these contaminated food issues that we've seen, be it spinach, most recently eggs and salmonella, peanut butter. I mean, what parent isn't concerned about whether the peanut butter and jelly sandwich their kid is eating could get them sick. So after a lot of delays, this food safety bill is expected to pass the Senate today. This is something that has taken a lot of time. It's already passed the House. And bottom line, it's supposed to give the FDA more control.
Can you believe it, guys, that actually the FDA does not have direct recall power if say peanut butter or spinach or eggs are contaminated? Well, this bill would give the FDA the direct recall power so that they don't have to rely on those companies. It would also increase food inspections. And that is what is immediately on the plate of Congress.
ROBERTS: I think a lot of consumers will be happy about that, not necessarily people in the food industry, though.
KEILAR: Sure.
ROBERTS: Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Brianna, thanks.
CHETRY: Well, it's 10-and-a-half minutes past the hour. Time to get a check of the weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center for us today. Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. A miserable morning for a whole lot of people. Pretty much everybody east of the Mississippi River looking at some lousy weather today. The worst of it though came late yesterday and in the overnight hours with several tornado touchdowns.
Here you can see some pictures from Atlanta, Louisiana, that's in north central parts of the state where three homes were destroyed. There were no injuries. Eight reports of tornadoes so far. That threat of tornadoes still out there at this hour with watches across parts of the south. As we go back to the radar, it will show you where that threat area is across parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and on into Georgia now. That watch will be in effect through much of the morning.
And we do have several warnings in Mississippi and Alabama right now. One heading towards the laurel area and one in the meridian, as well. We don't think it will be severe in the northeast. That rain mostly may get into the big city later today, but there is the threat of flooding for that and snow on the backside. We don't even need to mention the airport delays, guys, because pretty much everybody along the east. Back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, when John Lennon was gunned down in front of his New York City apartment building 30 years ago next month, they were the first cops on the scene. This morning, they're sharing that unforgettable experience with us.
CHETRY: And an electrician who claims that he got paid in Picassos, a remarkable art find in Paris. More than 200 original Picassos turning up in a guy's garage. But is his story for real?
Twelve minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Lawyers for the college student accused of trying to set off a car bomb in Portland, Oregon, say he was entrapped by the FBI. Mohamed Osman Mohamud pleaded not guilty in federal court.
A federal agent said the Somali-American planned to ignite a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, not knowing that the bomb was inert. A defense attorney claims undercover agents basically groomed Mohamud for months. A trial is set for February.
CHETRY: The White House is warning more tough choices could follow President Obama's two-year freeze on federal pay. The president says it would save $60 billion over the next decade. Military personnel would not be included -- not affected in that. Congress needs to approve, first, but some Republicans have been proposing a wage freeze for months.
ROBERTS: Southern California man is in big trouble for dropping the cruise ship's anchor while the ship was moving. The FBI says Rick Ehler was caught on surveillance video early Saturday still dressed in formal wear from the night before. Ehler later confessed and said, "Yes, I was drunk." He's facing federal charges. No damage, thankfully, to the ship, though.
CHETRY: You know, that's a dead give away, you know, when you're in your formal wear from the night before --
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: -- the next morning.
ROBERTS: And you're playing around with the ship's anchor.
Well, if you were about to throw another sausage on the griddle this morning, here's another reason for you to watch what you eat. Researchers at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have discovered that belly fat, the kind that makes you look like an apple, puts women at a higher risk of bone loss, osteoporosis. They also found that fat around the hips, the kind that makes you look like a pear doesn't carry that same risk. Apple-shaped people, by the way, are already at higher risk for heart disease. So add another motivation to keep that plate a little bit smaller.
CHETRY: Poor sausage.
Well, the Chinese have been doing it for 2,000 years, does it work? Scientists in Germany put it to the test doing brain scans while patients were stuck with needles -- acupuncture is what we're talking about. They found that area of the brain that typically lights up when a pain stimulus, they were significantly dulled when patients were treated with acupuncture. Acupuncture also reduced the patient's expectations of how bad the pain was going to be. So they're saying that it seems to work in two ways.
ROBERTS: Ever had acupuncture before?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: It does work.
CHETRY: Yes. I had it -- I had it for knee pain and I actually had -- it was this weird one for sinus headaches, when they're sticking the needles all over your head.
ROBERTS: So you look like a pin cushion (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: It's -- that would be cute. Yes.
Well, if you're one of those people who has to have the best Christmas lights on the block, these guys have you beat. Make sure you don't live next door to him. We're going to take you to Pittsburgh for one of the most impressive holiday displays you'll ever see as long as you don't live directly across the street.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. That's U2 "Elevation."
ROBERTS: That is.
CHETRY: Yes. There you go.
Well, "Morning Talker" time, and this one had all of us going a little bit. The fact that the Academy announced that Anne Hathaway and James Franco will be hosting "The Oscars" this year, they're perfectly nice and talented actors. But, you know, when you think of the hosts of "The Oscars," they're the Steve Martins, the Billy Crystals, the Ellen Degeneres making you laugh.
Well, anyway, these two actors may actually take home trophies. Usually takes a comic to carry the biggest night in Hollywood. And even though a lot of them bummed (ph), these two got rave reviews for hosting "SNL," but will they be the Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin come February 27? A ton of people -- I think it was a record number watched when those two hosted.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, we'll see if they can repeat the success. Will lightning strike twice?
Well, he surfs the Internets and uses the Google, and now President Bush says he also uses the Facebook. He sat down for an interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg yesterday, was broadcast live on the site. It was a first for a former president. President Bush also said he's an iPad user and urged viewers to buy both the hard copy and a digital copy of his new book "Decision Points."
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Might as well have them both, right?
CHETRY: I know. Well, Zuckerberg asked him, you know, why you decide to sit down and come talk to us? And he said, "Well, because a lot of people seem to like you guys and I'm trying to sell books."
ROBERTS: Smart move.
CHETRY: Well, if you happen to be in Pittsburgh this month, punch 1736 Beryl Drive into your GPS.
ROBERTS: And that's B-E-R-Y-L.
CHETRY: And when you do, this is what you'll see. It's Robert and Raquel Cox's home and they have a computerized Christmas display. We'll show you a little bit of it. A year round labor of love featuring more than 265,000 lights and over six miles of extension cord. All of it computerized and synchronized to "Jingle Bells." Here's a look.
There's a jingle bells party.
ROBERTS: Wow.
CHETRY: They just have a different intro to it.
ROBERTS: It -- were saying it's great as long as you don't live across the street.
CHETRY: They'll keep you up at night.
ROBERTS: Well, next up this morning, a critical lifeline for millions of Americans set to expire today unless Congress extends unemployment benefits. We're going to tell you why this could affect you even if you have a job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour now, and Christine Romans joins us this morning "Minding Your Business," looking at unemployment benefits and whether or not there's going to be another extension.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and, right now, I mean, it is down to the wire and a lot of people are asking some big questions. About two million people are slated to lose their extended unemployment benefits.
Let me explain to you a little bit. There's this phenomenon called the 99ers. You get 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment benefits when you lose your job. But, under the stimulus and other extensions, people can get unemployment benefits up to 99 weeks. That has never happened before, and now that has expired officially and Congress has failed to pass, so far, an extension.
What does this mean? Two million people will stop getting their unemployment checks by the end of the year. It will be basically the size of the state of New Mexico. Think of that, that many people suddenly without that check from $290 to $400 and some a week.
This is money that goes directly into the economy, and there are many economists who are quite worried about what kind of a jolt it could send to the -- but, look, it's -- it's money we don't have. It's borrowed money that we're putting into the economy.
But extending or ending the extended benefits program would drain the economy, according to the Joint Economic Committee, of some $80 billion. That's about a million plus jobs that are sustained by that money that goes directly into the economy immediately.
Think of it. Somebody who's getting an unemployment check, it's -- it's not money that they're saving, in many cases, it's money that's going immediately to pay the car payment, to buy groceries, to put gas in the car, to buy a new outfit to go look for a job, these sorts of things. So this is what's so incredibly important about this.
How much does it cost, though? Again, it's borrowed money. We have to figure out a way to pay for it. It's an emergency situation that has now become a chronic condition.
The last six-month extension was $34 billion. That's a whole lot of money. The jobless, so far, have collected $319 billion, and -- and I -- yesterday there was a -- a new TARP watchdog report, or a CBO report about the Troubled Asset Relief Program that found that it will probably ultimately cost about $25 billion. Imagine, $25 billion. Think of that. The banking industry bailout, $25 billion, the bailout to the American people has been much, much, much, much bigger than that.
ROBERTS: So, actually, $25 billion is a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be.
ROMANS: Much, much smaller. So you think about the cost of all these things we've done in the economy and the benefits of all of them. Just an interesting way to -- to put in perspective how much we're spending here.
So Congress -- this -- this week in front of Congress, if they don't do something this week, that's it.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Well, we'll keep following it.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Christine, thanks so much.
Meanwhile, we're crossing the half hour right now. Time for a look at the other top stories this morning.
And the White House on the offense and trying to turn up the heat on WikiLeaks after the whistle-blowing Web site leaked thousands of classified, confidential State Department documents. The Obama administration announcing a criminal investigation now while trying to contain the diplomatic damage that's been done.
ROBERTS: Tax cuts, a new treaty, unemployment benefits, Medicare payments --- critical issues on the table as Congress gets back to work. And President Obama holds his so-called Slurpee Summit with the new GOP leadership today.
CHETRY: Twenty-three Wisconsin high school students and on of their teacher all safe this morning after a five and a half hour hostage ordeal. Another student at Marinette High School, a 15-year- old, held them at gunpoint in the classroom.
Authorities say that the student gunman then shot himself right before police entered the room. His motive is still not known.
ROBERTS: Well, in just a few hour's time, the Pentagon will unveil the results of its military survey on a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' which bans gays and lesbians from serving openly.
CHETRY: Polls show that most Americans favor lifting the ban. One of the most vocal opponents of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," has been Lady Gaga. Last night, the singer posted a YouTube message defending her role in the cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LADY GAGA, POP SINGER: This issue means so much to me. And I know that sometimes political activism, when you're a pop singer, can be kind of trivial. But in truth, I feel very close to all of you, and I feel like I share a very special connection with my fans. And I feel like I can speak for you. And you're screaming, please end this law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, let's bring in our Chris Lawrence right now. He's following developments live at the Pentagon.
It's interesting to hear Lady Gaga talk about the repeal and how much her fans want it to happen. There are others, like John McCain, who questioned whether or not people really want it to happen.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran. I mean, you know, there's even dissension within the military.
I mean, you know, on the one hand, you've got the man who helps train soldiers in the Army who says if the policy were repealed, the Army would simply enforce its values and things would go on very smoothly. He didn't see much of a problem. You know, you've also got the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs both coming out in favor of repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
But you've also got an element of the service, people who don't want "don't ask, don't tell" repealed. A lot of soldiers, Marines, who feel that the policy is working. In fact, the commandant of the marine just said this is exactly the wrong time to repeal this in the middle of two wars. You know, he doesn't say that just on principle. What he's saying is that -- well, you know, this is just the wrong time and he worries about unit cohesion at a time when troops are deployed for long periods in a battlefield.
I spoke with a man who runs a group that is dedicated to overturning "don't ask, don't tell" about what some of the dissension from the service chiefs could mean once this report is released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER NICHOLSON, SERVICEMEMBERS UNITED: They're going to say that the military can make this policy change happen in a smooth way with only isolated and minimal incidents of distraction. You know, that would include, obviously, in the middle of two wars, the drawdown of one and the continuation of another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: So again, we'll be waiting to hear from both Secretary Gates, Chairman Mullen, and, of course, the service chiefs, as well, a little bit later today.
ROBERTS: And how is the report going to impact members of Congress who actually have to vote on this?
LAWRENCE: Certain members, John, it's not going to impact at all. You know, I think it's safe to say certain members like Senator McCain, you know, are not going to vote to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." Others are already on record as saying, you know, they didn't need this report, they already going to vote to repeal.
It's that group in the middle, you know, the moderates that we hear so little about in today's Congress, conservative Democrats, more moderate Republicans, Senator Olympia Snowe, Senator Scott Brown, folks like that. They're the ones that have said, look, we want to hear this report, read this report before we make our decision. That's where the votes really going to come down to.
CHETRY: It's interesting a prominent Republican on defense, Lindsey Graham, said he doesn't think it's going to happen in this Congress. It's not going to get through.
LAWRENCE: That's right. It's such a small window, Kiran, with the lame duck session. You know, you've got Christmas coming up, you know, very, very quickly here. And all indications are Congress is not going to want to stick around as late as they did last year, right up until Christmas Eve. So, this really has such a small, small window to get raised in the proper way in order to make it through.
ROBERTS: All right. Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon this morning -- Chris, thanks.
A "New York Times" reporter kidnapped by the Taliban. The story kept from the public at first. Now, the victim and his wife have written a book about it, detailing their extraordinary ordeal. And they join us coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour now.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning American reporter kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan, his bride of just two months back in the United States desperately trying to free him. It sounds like a great mystery novel. But this story really happened. The kidnap victim, "New York Times" reporter David Rohde, his wife, "Cosmo" passion editor, Kristen Mulvihill, have written a book about the experience. It's titled "A Rope and A Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides." And they join us this morning.
Great to see you.
DAVID ROHDE, AUTHOR, "A ROPE AND A PRAYER": Thank you.
KRISTEN MULVIHILL, AUTHOR, "A ROPE AND A PRAYER": Thank you.
ROBERTS: We should lay out the story. You were kidnapped by the Taliban November 10th, 2008, south of Kabul. And it's really ironic, too, because you had been very cautious. You'd traveled all over Afghanistan, but you've been very cautious. You wanted to meet a Taliban leader, but you didn't necessarily want to put your life at risk for doing it.
Why did you decide you had to do it?
ROHDE: I really felt like the Taliban had this tremendous resurgence and I wanted to find out sort of why we were in a way of losing this war and why had this guy joined Taliban? Why was he getting so much public support? So -- and he'd done three interviews before with other foreign journalists and it seemed to be a safe thing to do, and it wasn't. It was a trap.
ROBERTS: Yes. And you committed the fatal error, too. You didn't tell your new bride what you were going to do.
ROHDE: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: In fact, you left her a note about it.
ROHDE: Yes.
ROBERTS: And here -- I'll quote it from the book. Here's note. You said, quote, "I believed I had to do this to make this a credible book." You were writing a book about this. "I honestly believe this is a calculated risk that will be OK." And then you add, "If I get kidnapped, use money from my book advance"?
ROHDE: Well, I felt it was my responsibility, it was my decision. She's a very strong woman and incredible woman. And I knew -- I thought frankly if I told her, she would say don't go.
ROBERTS: Yes. But you left her a note?
ROHDE: Well, I thought I should leave something behind. And I wanted -- you know, and I told other reporters that were on this trip the name of the commander, his phone number, the village we were meeting. So, I had met the night before one of the reporters who interviewed this Taliban commander before. And they said he won't kidnap you, he's trying to use the media.
And, look, it was a mistake. I was trying to get the story, and it was an error and wrong to not tell her.
ROBERTS: And your reaction to all of this was anger? You said you felt thrown under the bus.
MULVIHILL: I was angry that he hadn't told me. But I really have to put the blame where it's due. You know, he didn't kidnap himself, the kidnappers kidnapped him.
ROBERTS: Correct. You won't say -- you were mad about this. You went to visit your mom in Maine and you say in the book, you say, quote, "I tell her that I'm shocked and upset by David's letter that he was willing to risk everything for the sake of the story without consulting me."
MULVIHILL: Yes.
ROBERTS: What did your mother say to you?
MULVIHILL: I said, you know, we'd just taken a vow and my mother responded, "It's your chance to live up to it now, put that aside, just focus on bringing him home." And I'll always be grateful to her for saying that for not taking sides.
ROBERTS: So, you're here in the United States, worried sick about what's happening with David.
MULVIHILL: Yes.
ROBERTS: And, David, you say in the book that you learned really about the value of prayer while you were being held captured by the Taliban, struggling to remember the Lord's Prayer.
ROHDE: Well, I -- and what I saw was the religion at its best and its worst. Religious extremism, you know, led to my kidnapping. These guys were deluded fundamentalists. The Taliban have this mini- state in Pakistan, and that was sort of religion at its worst.
And then I did find that sort of saying a prayer every day helped me just kind of center myself and keep going. I'm still skeptical of organized religion. I covered the war in Bosnia. Terrible things were done in the name of religion there. So, you know, it's a mixed bag, religion. But it did help me, I found through this captivity.
ROBERTS: We should also mention too when you were in Bosnia in 1995, covering the war there, you were captured and held by the Serbs for a time before you were finally released. So, you've been here before.
ROHDE: Yes. And, you know, unfortunately, journalists don't have neutrality they once did.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROHDE: My captors just said, "You are American. You are, therefore, guilty of the crimes of the American government."
ROBERTS: So, back here in the United States, Kirsten, you are doing everything you can to try to get him released. "The New York Times" is involved in negotiations.
MULVIHILL: Exactly.
ROBERTS: There was talk of a payment of maybe $1 million that they --
MULVIHILL: No, we never -- we never had to pay anything.
ROBERTS: I know you never had to, but there was talk of that.
MULVIHILL: Yes, and as a family, I mean, we absolutely explored that option if we felt it was the only way we were going to see David again.
ROBERTS: And there was concern by other journalists in the area, (INAUDIBLE), I believe, was one of them, who said, hey, wait a minute you start paying ransom for journalists, that puts a price on all of our heads, puts all of us at risk.
MULVIHILL: Exactly. And that is -- that is something we had to deal with. And part of the reason we hired private contractors was so the family would have a voice that would represent us that wasn't conflicted about making an offer if we had to do so.
ROBERTS: And we should say that you thought about escaping several times. At one point, you thought about picking up a Kalashnikov that was just sitting around, and you thought, boy, we're going to be a target if we do this. It's we kill them or they're going to kill us.
You eventually, together with your fixer, sort of just climbed over the wall and down a rope and out through the streets?
ROHDE: Well, what happened was that the Taliban felt so comfortable in this place we were taken in Pakistan in the tribal areas. This is where al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden were thought to be that they -- the last house we were held in was only 3/10 of a mile from the Pakistani military base. The Pakistani military never comes off that base. It's really a Taliban mini-state.
So, we -- when they were asleep -- went over the wall, used this cartel rope I found and made it to this base. And then a moderate Pakistani army captain let us inside. And he actually apologized to me for what had happened to us. And, you know, we were elated to escape and we were elated that, you know, my captors got nothing.
ROBERTS: Sure. Seven long months. Are you ever going to let him do something like that again?
MULVIHILL: You know, the great side product of this is that he doesn't want to go back. So, he came to that conclusion on his own.
ROHDE: Yes. My days as a war correspondent are over. Incredibly lucky and happy to be home, and a very lucky man.
ROBERTS: Well, it's a fascinating tale. It's "A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Both Sides." Thanks for being with us this morning to share your story.
MULVIHILL: Thank you, John.
ROHDE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Amazing story.
Well, still to come, Jacqui Jeras is in for Rob. She's going to be along with this morning's travel forecast, talking about the potential for some delays. So, you'll want to keep it here.
Also, in 10 minutes, they were the first New York City police officers on the scene when John Lennon was gunned down. Now, 30 years later, they revisit the tragedy.
Forty-three minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Stashed in an electrician's garage, maybe the most extraordinary art find ever. 271 previously unknown Picassos from his most creative period said to be worth $80 million and hidden for four decades.
ROBERTS: Now, a man claims that they were gifts over time from Picasso himself. The man was doing some work for Picasso, but Picasso's family isn't so sure about all that. Our Zain Verjee is live for us in London this morning. So, Zane, this fellow is claiming he was electrician. He did work some for Picasso. Picasso said, here, let me do a little piece of art for you. There you go. That's payment. But the family saying, not so fast.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the family's saying, hold on a minute. You know, Picasso did give gifts. He was known for that, but whenever he did that, they would be dedicated, they would be signed, they would be dated at least. And on top of it, they say he wasn't going to give away 271 pieces of great art. Things like notebooks, sketches, portraits, water colors, but they say that that was the case, so they had it stashed in their trunk in a garage at their home on the French Riviera.
So, what they decided to do is let's go get it authenticated by Picasso's estate, and when they went to do this, they were slapped with an accusation of stealing and a lawsuit. So, the situation is pretty controversial right now. What the French authorities have done, John and Kiran, is that they've taken all the Picassos, and they've stashed them for safety in a vault somewhere on the outskirts of Paris.
So, it's pretty amazing that we know that there are 271 extra Picassos, and they worth more than $80 million. Pretty lucky for them, but raising huge controversy and headlines around here.
CHETRY: That's interesting. So, they're not questioning the authenticity of the Picassos? His estate says, yes, these are, you know, Pablo Picasso's works, but they question how they got them?
VERJEE: Right. Exactly. They're saying this is definitely authentically Picasso, but how on earth do you have 271 of them in your garage? A lot of people are saying, well, you know, if you have got them honestly, why are you only coming forward with this now? Why were they sitting in your garage collecting dust in a trunk for 40 years or so?
And what both the electrician and his wife are saying is, you know, we're getting old in life and we want to come forward with the fact that we have these Picassos because we don't want our kids to have any problems, and we want to give it to them. And they also say that they don't actually want to sell it, they want to hold on to it.
ROBERTS: That's interesting. I wonder how they're going to prove that these were actually gifts and that he didn't kind of nick them when he was there working around the workshop.
VERJEE: He said/she said, that's basically what was going to probably end up in a lot of litigation.
ROBERTS: An $80 million he said/she said. Zain Verjee for us this morning. Great to see you, Zain. Thanks so much.
VERJEE: You too.
ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center. You got any Picassos or Monet or anything light around the house?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Maybe somewhere in (INAUDIBLE). I'll let you know. I haven't gotten them checked out yet. Long story. Tell you about it some time.
We've got a stormy start here today, by the way. Showers and thunderstorms, some of which have been severe. This is quite a whopper of a storm affecting everybody from the upper Midwest all the way down to the Florida Coast. The worst of the weather right now across parts of Louisiana into Mississippi and Alabama where we have that threat for tornadoes, and this will be ongoing throughout much of the day today as the storm system advances eastward.
We do have a couple of warnings down towards St. (INAUDIBLE) Parish as well as into Jones and Washington County. See, you need to take cover now. So far, knock on wood, no actual reports of tornadoes, but there's a lot of rain wrapped into these storms as well as it being nighttime. So, it's tough to see. All right. The rain holding off in the northeast, that's some good news. Temperatures holding in the 30s and 40s, but the clouds are there, which means we'll likely have some airport delays, even potentially out of the gate this morning.
That will be the rule up and down the eastern sea board. And even on the backside, once we start to see that change and you start to dry up, the winds are going to be strong. So, that could cause some trouble for you and what a contrast that we have in temperatures. On the backside of this storm, you can expect your temperatures to drop about 20 degrees in less than 24 hours. So, quite a difference. Winter trying to make its progression off to the east. John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right Jacqui, thanks so much.
Still ahead, the top stories just minutes away. But also, we knew it was coming right after we bought the first one. The rumblings of the iPad 2.
ROBERTS: Oh, no.
CHETRY: Oh, man. This one has a USB port, apparently, you can use face time, a camera. Why didn't I wait? Well, if you need --
ROBERTS: If you wanted to be first, that's fine.
CHETRY: I've enjoyed it all these months, so I really can't be mad. All right. You may have to wait, though, until after Christmas to pick the new one up. We'll explain.
ROBERTS: And coming up right after the break, a preview of our special documentary "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder." Thirty years after John Lennon's killing, we will talk to the first New York City cops who were on the scene. The men who rushed him to the hospital and spotted a deranged fan turned killer. Stay with us. Ten minutes till the hour.
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ROBERTS: Next Wednesday marks a tragic anniversary. Thirty years since the legendary John Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment building here in New York City. All this week, we're previewing a CNN documentary on Lennon's murder. This morning, we hear from some of the first New York City cops to arrive at the scene of the crime on December 8th, 1980. The men who remember it like it was yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember seeing red coming out of his mouth. He was face down on the rug.
ROBERTS: You thought right then that he was gravely wounded?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that point, I looked to the left and I saw a man standing there reading a book, heavy-set man. He was reading a book.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Tony Palma and Herb Frauenberger were the next officers on the scene.
Did you get a look at what book he was reading?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, later on it was "Catcher in the Rye."
ROBERTS: He was reading "Catcher in the Rye?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROBERTS: Just sitting there calmly reading?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROBERTS: With Chapman subdued, Palma and Frauenberger rushed to Lennon's side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just said, we got to go with this guy. We can't wait for an ambulance because they came (ph) 15 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we did the only thing we could do. We picked him up and carried him out.
ROBERTS: Chapman stood there watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They dragged Lennon to the car. I saw blood all over him.
ROBERTS: While two squad cars raced to the hospital, one with Lennon and one with Ono inside, Chapman waited in another police vehicle for his fate to play out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left me alone in the car in the back, which frightened the heck out of me. I thought -- I kept thinking someone was going to shoot me, kill me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one point, while we were driving from the scene into the station house, he even apologized to us for giving us a hard time and ruining our night. I said, you got to be kidding. I said, you're apologizing for ruining -- you know, you just ruined your whole life. And he said, well, I have two people inside of me. I have a little person and a big person. And he said the big person won the battle the last few weeks. Tonight, the little person won the battle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (on-camera): That's Pete Cullen who was the first officer on the scene along with his partner, Steve Spiro. But it's amazing, first of all, three decades later how clear the recollections are.
CHETRY: Probably never forget such a traumatic and life-changing event.
ROBERTS: It's something that they will never forget. But also how raw the emotions still are three decades later. Tony Palma who took Lennon along with Herb Frauenberger to Roosevelt Hospital just around the corner, Lennon literally died in his arms. And I asked him about that, what the impact of that was on him. Here's what he told me 30 years later. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty huge, you know. Huge. People used to come up to me and want to touch me, and they'd say, you know, Tony, if he had to die in somebody's arms, we're good that was you that responded. They used to say that to me.
ROBERTS: I can see the emotion of the day, even though, it's 30 years ago, is still right there. Do you think back to this often?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
ROBERTS: What are you feeling right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sad.
ROBERTS: Thirty years later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, he was a man that was so far ahead of his time, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That's amazing.
ROBERTS: You could imagine. A couple of decades on the force here in New York City and then the passage of 30 years and the emotions are still just under the surface.
CHETRY: It's -- it's -- why did they agree to sit down and be interviewed?
ROBERTS: They wanted to tell the story. They thought that it was time. You know, they have talked in the past, but they haven't talked for awhile. But we talked to some people in this documentary who have never spoken about this. And they just thought 30 years later, let's talk about it.
CHETRY: And let's get on the record with somebody who, you know, was so universally loved and admired and revered for so long. And there's a whole generation of people who -- yes, I think I've heard the Beatles. I think I've heard Lennon. And the people that were there firsthand, I mean, they're not going to live forever.
ROBERTS: And there are some people who say, you know, you should never even speak the name of Mark David Chapman ever again, but it's important because we have interesting documentary evidence of what was going through his mind and the build-up to it that we put out there this Saturday. So, it's something that will be fascinating for people to learn about.
CHETRY: We'll be watching it.
ROBERTS: Yes. The documentary "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder" premieres Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 eastern here right here on CNN.
CHETRY: We're looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, we're coming up to the top of the hour. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up.
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