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American Morning
Obama's "Slurpee Summit"; "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Report; Terror Stings Under Scrutiny; Picassos Stashed In Garage; Losing Lennon; "HIV is not Who I Am"
Aired November 30, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And thanks so much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, the 30th of November. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And time is flying, isn't it? This holiday.
ROBERTS: Goes by like that.
CHETRY: Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
We want to get you caught up on what's going on. They hope that they can avoid gridlock. We'll see if that actually happens. They also want to avoid brain freeze.
President Obama is meeting with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle today for the so-called "Slurpee Summit." Expiring tax cuts and unemployment for millions on the line today in Washington.
ROBERTS: And just in case you have fallen victim to brain freeze, we have a guaranteed cure for you this morning.
The Defense Department is to release its long-awaited survey of service members on the question of repealing "don't ask, don't tell." That's a law banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. We're live at the Pentagon with that -- just ahead.
CHETRY: Also, it was a reason not to keep up with the Kardashians. The prepaid MasterCard tacked on a fee for just about everything. But that's not the only prepaid card you need to be aware of this morning. We're "Minding Your Business."
ROBERTS: Lame duck Congress, money on the line. Congress is back in session with the clock ticking on key issues that have sat on the table up until now. And over at the White House, President Obama is sitting down with the new Republican congressional leadership for that so-called "Slurpee Summit."
CHETRY: It's an effort to bridge bipartisan gaps and partisan gaps I guess you could say. You want the bipartisanship to take place over that bridge.
Well, Republicans get set to take over in the new year.
And, of course, Ed Henry is live for us at the White House with more on what is going to happen today at the "Slurpee Summit." We jokingly called it the "Slurpee Summit" because of the president's, you know, words about Republicans sitting on the sidelines drinking a Slurpee while he tries to push the economy out of the ditch.
But are they really going to be drinking Slurpees today?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, they have dodged that question. So, we're going to have to investigate that very closely. You know, an aide to John Boehner said he really loves the Wicked Apple player, which I guess is a new one. Just yet more promotion for 7-Eleven. But we'll see whether they have that.
More important beyond the menu, of course, is going to be the substance. And will they really hammer out a deal on some of these key issues. As you mentioned, there's so much at stake for our viewers.
I mean, you have millions of Americans who are going to have their unemployment benefits running out before Christmas. That's an issue they're going to try to tackle today, at least the White House is pushing that. Republicans have been somewhat resistant.
They're going to talk taxes. Those Bush tax cuts are expiring at the end of the year. January 1st, millions of Americans could see their taxes go up without some sort of a deal here. So, what the president did yesterday was try to offer an olive branch ahead of this meeting by embracing a Republican plan basically to offer a two-year federal pay freeze and while he did it, the president said he's ready to sit down and try to reset this whole 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's going to have to cooperate. We can't afford to fall back on to the same old ideologies or the same stale sound bites.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, when you talk to Democratic and Republican officials in private, they think the most likely scenario out of all of this is a long-term extension of the Bush middle class tax cuts and at least a one or two-year short term extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy. But don't expect any deal today. You know, the congressional leaders think that they're going to get done by December 17th or 18th in this lame duck session.
But I've been talking to senior administration officials who say the president is planning to maybe stay here even longer and he'll delay his Hawaii vacation if need be. Don't forget that last December, Congress stayed around until Christmas Eve to get health care done. So, this could go on for a little while, John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: You know, tried and true tradition in this country, of course, Ed, is never missed a marketing opportunity, 7-Eleven trying to cash in on the "Slurpee Summit"?
HENRY: Oh, yes. They have been marketing this all around the country, and offering up a Purple Flavor to combine the red and the blue states, if you will. I mean, look, if anything -- if this stimulates the economy in any small way, I guess the president can at least take credit for that, John.
ROBERTS: Do you ever get brain freeze, Ed, when you --
HENRY: You know, a couple of days ago, I got a Slurpee to prepare for a live shot and I think with Ali Velshi. And I had this Slurpee, and I got the crystal light, trying to save on some calories. But when you do that, the artificial sweetener, you know, the big one, it just -- I got brain freeze, as well as artificial brain freeze. But I hear you have a cure for that.
ROBERTS: I do. Next time you get brain freeze or anybody who's watching gets brain freeze, you know, and sits there and you got the pain in your head and then your chest, and all that, look up, straight up. It -- extend the neck, up with the eyes. It goes away immediately.
CHETRY: See that?
ROBERTS: Keep that one in your pocket.
HENRY: I'm going to use it.
CHETRY: And stay away from the 32 ounces of Crystal Light as well. I don't know if that's good for you.
ROBERTS: Yes. Stay away from 32 ounces of anything.
HENRY: That's a good -- that's good advice.
CHETRY: All right. Ed, thanks.
Seven-Eleven, though, of course, is loving, as we said, all the free publicity. It's not first brand, though, to ride a political wave. We have more now on an A.M. extra.
Before 7-eleven, there was Pepsi, which changed its logo to look almost exactly like Barack Obama's campaign logo back in 2008.
How about J. Crew products? You remember they flew off the shelves when Mrs. Obama gave them a free plug on "The Tonight Show."
ROBERTS: President Reagan loved his Jelly Belly, so much so, in fact, that he had a special dish made for him on Air Force One so they wouldn't spill. The company debuted a blueberry flavor Jelly Bean just for his inauguration.
And the peanut farmer president, Jimmy Carter, never forgot his people. Carter lent his name to help out the industry for decades.
CHETRY: Well, in just a few hours, the Pentagon will unveil the results of its military survey on a possible repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which bans gays and lesbians from openly serving.
ROBERTS: One of the most vocal opponents of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has been Lady Gaga. Last night, the singer posted a message on YouTube urging Congress to act in this lame duck session and also 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)
ROBERTS: We're going to Chris Lawrence this morning. He's live at the Pentagon following developments.
And, Chris, Lady Gaga may not get her wish. There may not be any action by Congress in this lame duck session. But let's talk about the results of the report itself. You got an early look.
What does it say?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Basically, what it's going to tell you is that -- from what I heard from a source, is that the majority of the service members who responded to this study don't have a problem with repealing "don't ask, don't tell." That the majority think it's either going to have a positive impact. Somewhat mixed results are really no effect at all. That the number who think it's going to have a negative effect is fairly small.
And really, that's sort of mirrors the population at large here in America. I mean, if you look at a new Pew Research Center poll, it's going to show that about 58 percent of Americans think it's OK for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Only 27 percent opposed that. That's a 31-point gap.
And just to sort of put that in perspective and show you how attitudes have changed and shifted over the years, back in 1994 when "don't ask, don't tell" was put in place, that gap was only seven points -- John.
ROBERTS: Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon this morning -- Chris, thanks.
Well, the leaks just keep on dripping while the Obama administration starts a criminal investigation into the WikiLeaks latest document dump. We continue on covering new details straight from the lips of diplomats.
CHETRY: Some of the new revelations from the State Department documents that South Korean officials predict the dictator from the North, Kim Jong-il, has just three to five years to live. Also, U.S. diplomats in Singapore referring to the North Korean leader as a "flabby old chap" after he suffered a stroke.
ROBERTS: American diplomats in Moscow comparing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to "Batman and Robin." The embarrassments for the White House just keep on piling up.
(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 interests. 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)
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the Pentagon implementing restraints on the computer flash drive use. The idea to make it harder for one person to copy and then reveal so many secrets as they believe happened in this case.
ROBERTS: Well, a police in Wisconsin still don't know why a high school student took nearly two dozen of his classmates and a teacher hostage at gunpoint. The standoff at Marinette High School lasted five and a half hours yesterday.
Police say they went in after hearing gunshots. The 15-year- old student shot himself. He didn't kill himself, though. All 24 hostages were released unharmed.
The police chief in Marinette, Wisconsin, is briefing reporters this morning. You're looking at live pictures. This has been going for more than an hour. We're monitoring it for you.
At 8:30 Eastern, we're going to talk with Charles Davis. He's a reporter for "The Green Bay Press Gazette" who was at that news conference.
CHETRY: Well, storm-wary residents in Yazoo City, Mississippi, cleaning up after a tornado hit for the second time in less than a year. The twister ripped through the rural town last night, damaging homes, businesses, the courthouse. No reports of any injuries, though, luckily.
Back in April, another tornado killed four people in that town.
ROBERTS: Jacqui Jeras is in our extreme weather center for us this morning. And there are some storm warnings out today in parts of the South and a lot of airline delays expected.
Jacqui, what's going on?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, certainly.
We'll start out with that severe weather threat across parts of the South. And we have had a couple of reports of possible touchdowns and damage this morning in Mississippi, near the town of Laurel. We've got warning in effect at this hour for Clarke and Wilcox Counties. That's in Alabama. And these storms are just ripping really fast to the North and the East, between 40 and 60 miles per hour.
You can see that threat includes you in Birmingham, and this may be extended to the east as we progress through the morning and afternoon hours. Now, we don't think things will be severe into the northeastern corridor, just some heavy rain and we're also concerned about the threat of some flooding. We've got flood watches in effect from Upstate New York, stretching all the way down through the Appalachians as we could get between one and two inches of rainfall.
And the backside of the system, it's all about the snow and that's what we're going to be experiencing across parts of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. Up to a foot will be possible in the Arrowhead of Minnesota.
Travel delays will be abundant almost everywhere east of the Mississippi River. We've got a ground stop in effect right now at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport until about 9:25 today. Expecting delays of over an hour in New York, D.C. metros, as well as Philadelphia. And that's really just due to the low clouds that we're experiencing right now. Cleveland, Cinci, Detroit, looking at problems as well, Chicago and Minneapolis because of that snow.
Those temperatures are going to be really wicked, guys. We're talking about 20 degrees for a drop in temperature once that cold front goes on through. Brr!
ROBERTS: As they say in New Hampshire, wicked cold.
JERAS: Wicked cold.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jacqui.
Well, he surfs the Internets, he's the Google user, and now, President Bush also says he's a fan of the Facebook. He sat down for an interview with Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg yesterday.
CHETRY: Sure did. It was broadcast live on the site. It was a first for a former president. And he also gave the hoodie-wearing billionaire next to him a good-natured ribbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Education's a shared interest, a shared passion of both yours and Mark's.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, it should be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw that Mark recently made --
BUSH: You didn't even graduate from college.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: President Bush also said he's avid iPad user, and he urged viewers to buy both the hard copy and digital copy of his book "Decision Points." It was Cyber Monday, after all.
ROBERTS: So, I guess the president like you will be online for the new iteration of the iPad coming up this spring, huh?
CHETRY: No. I'm just going to have to stick with my old, old, old antiquated version that came out two months.
ROBERTS: That's why I like my typewriter. There's not been an update in a while.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Government sting operation to capture terrorism suspect. Is it a necessary tactic or does it constitute entrapment? Some people are saying federal agents crossed the line by training 19- year-old Mohammed Mohamud to blow up a bomb, giving him $3,000 cash to rent an apartment and providing him with fake explosive materials. Both sides of that controversy coming up next.
CHETRY: The Oscar hosts are -- very young and they're not comedians. Some are grumbling, though, over the choice for the Academy Awards hosting duties. We'll have details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 15 1/2 minutes after the hour.
CHETRY: Time for -- oh.
ROBERTS: Oh!
CHETRY: The arrest of a young terrorist suspect.
ROBERTS: Yes. Sorry. Wrong thing up there.
CHETRY: Sorry. Happened last weekend in Portland, Oregon. A lot of people focusing on the use of the sting operations, you know, to stop would be terrorists.
ROBERTS: Yes. It's because Mohamed Osman Mohamud's lawyer says FBI undercover operatives help fund his client's alleged plot to detonate a car bomb during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland. Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joining us live now from Washington. Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran. The defense lawyers made it clear he's going to be taking a close look at this question of when does an undercover investigation build a case and when does it create one?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Mohamed Osman Mohamued arrested as he called a cell phone allegedly to detonate a car bomb at Portland's Christmas lightning. But the bomb was a fake provided by the FBI.
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: But for the interaction that he had with the FBI, he might have come in contact with somebody who, in fact, would have made his plans tragically real.
MESERVE: Undercover operatives have been used in a number of terror investigations including the purported scheme this fall to blow up metro stations near the Pentagon. But increasingly, law enforcement has let plots evolved to their final act to better prove suspect's intent. In September, a terror suspect placed a fake bomb supplied by the FBI a block from Chicago's Wrigley field.
And a year earlier, the FBI provided phony explosives to a man plotting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper and another reportedly targeting an Illinois federal building. Some experts fear, sometimes, the government treads dangerously close to entrapment.
DAVID COLE, GEORGETOWN UNIV. LAW SCHOOL: The government in its eagerness to prevent crime may be creating crimes that never would have happened were it not for the encouragement, cajoling, involvement, assistance, planning of the FBI agent or informant himself.
MESERVE: Cole points to the case of the liberty seven, a Miami group caught in an undercover sting purportedly planning to blow up the Sears Tower. Even the FBI call the more aspirational than operational. But the FBI ran the Portland case differently, letting it play out and according to court documents giving the suspect repeated opportunities to back out. The attorney general insists the FBI acted appropriately.
HOLDER: I am confident that there is no entrapment here. No entrapment claim will be found to be successful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Whether one views these stings as an important law enforcement tool or entrapment, some experts worry that if they are overused, it could corrode law enforcement's relationship with Muslim and other communities and could make terrorists increasingly wary. Developments which could make it more difficult to thwart future threats. John and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning, thank you. ROBERTS: Well, it is a jaw dropping discovery. A retired electrician has found nearly 300 works by a little artist who happened to work in his town. Pablo Picasso. He has them in his garage. They're worth tens of millions of dollars, but there's a little bit of a catch as you can imagine. Why he may never see the cash coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour. "Morning Talker" time. This is one a lucky electrician, at least.
ROBERTS: Maybe unlucky.
CHETRY: Yes. Or at least if the law sides with him because he really has an extraordinary art find. 271 previously unknown Picassos from his most creative period, they say worth $80 million. He had them hidden for four decades. Now, the 71-year-old man in France says he came forward to figure out what they were worth to get this as estate in order. He says they were gifts from Picasso himself, but Picasso's estate says that he is responsible for the biggest art theft in history. They're suing. In fact, France seized the pieces. They're now in a vault in Paris.
ROBERTS: But he insists that he did some work for Picasso, and Picasso was sort of --
CHETRY: Paid him back in these.
ROBERTS: Giving him 271. And he was famous for that, you know? If somebody, you know, -- who was having dinner at some place, he didn't want to pay. He just do a little doodle and say, here you go. Keep that.
CHETRY: But it never works when I try that.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: They always want the plastic.
ROBERTS: Try a little harder.
Southern California man in big trouble for dropping a cruise ship's anchor while the ship was under sail. The FBI says a surveillance camera on board. The Holland America Ship caught Rick Ehlert in the act. Still dressed in formal wear from the night before. You can imagine, formal wear. Next morning.
CHETRY: There's your clue.
ROBERTS: Dropping an anchor. Big clue, yes. Ehlert confessed. I was drunk. He's facing federal charges, and there was no damage to the cruise ship.
CHETRY: Well, if you rarely see sight this actually in an NFL game. The Houston Texans, Andre Johnson and Tennessee Titans, Cortland Finnegan, they (INAUDIBLE) pretty good on Sunday. We showed you the video yesterday. We talked about how much trouble with the punishment for this. There you go. One helmet, and the second -- their helmet off, and they're literally just duking it out.
Well, the league did not hit them nearly as hard as they hit each other a lot, people are saying, because all they got were $25,000 fines, each, which, when you talk about the big NFL contracts, that's chump change. A lot of people are saying, wait a minute. I thought the league was getting tougher. Neither one of them suspended.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, I guess, didn't look like they were the type of illegal hits that really would have hurt them, so unsportsmanlike conduct, 25 grand. They were kicked out of the game, though.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: So, maybe that serves as the suspension.
He was known as King James when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now, courtside seats for LeBron James' return to Cleveland this week are going to cost you a king's ransom. Selling for more than $5,000 apiece. Cleveland ticket broker says the demand to see James at the Miami Heat played the Cavaliers Thursday night rivals an NBA's finals game.
CHETRY: Can you imagine -- I mean, can you imagine how nervous he must be returning to the city that just hates his guts now that he left?
ROBERTS: Well, particularly, since the Heat doesn't have a particularly stellar record this year, you know? The Heat will be on LeBron and company to perform.
CHETRY: That will be the game to watch.
ROBERTS: We'll see.
CHETRY: Well, this one had all of us going, what? The academy announcing that Anne Hathaway and James Franco are going to be the hosts of the Oscar. This is an unusual move. These two actors are very young, a lot younger than the host. They're not comedians like you usually see, and that's the biggest night in Hollywood. A lot on their shoulders to carry.
You know, even a lot of comedians bomb. So, will they both get a chance? They're both actually getting rave reviews for hosting "SNL," but will they live up to the Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin performances come February 28th? I guess, we'll have to wait and see.
ROBERTS: One thing you can be guaranteed of, though, because any time they change things up, people are going to complain. So, some people will like them and some people won't. It's the way of the world.
CHETRY: We'll see what happens. A ton of people and they had a record viewing last year for the little combo team of Alec Baldwin and Steve martin.
ROBERTS: I haven't seen much of her, but I've seen him, of course, in all the Spiderman movies and couple of other things. He's very talented.
CHETRY: And in her new movie, you see a lot of her.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: If you haven't seen it --
ROBERTS: Oh, that's the one with Jake Gyllenhaal?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Oh, yes. Cover of Esquire magazine, I think, they're showing a lot, too.
CHETRY: Yes. They like it so much they made three covers of them shirtless.
Well, it's pretty tough to keep up with the Kardashians by using their debit cards because these prepaid debit cards rife without rages fees so much so that the Kardashians are now canceling it. What about the other debit cards out there? Could they also be robbing you blind? Christine Romans breaks it down next.
ROBERTS: Plus, on December 8th, 1980, Mark David Chapman shot music legend, John Lennon, four times in front of his New York apartment building. As we approach the 30th anniversary of that terrible day, we'll take you to the scene of the crime and talk to the officers who were there. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-nine minutes after the hour. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." When is it good to hear about the Kardashians? When they have an affect on our business news.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm like so disappointed that like my --
CHETRY: And John is going to be, too, because this Kardashian card is his favorite.
ROBERTS: I know.
ROMANS: Yes. You are one of 250 people who ran out and got the prepaid Kardashian card. And it turns out that keeping up with the Kardashians is a little bit hard on their Kardashian credit card because the fees are so high. You're nickeled and dimed to death and you don't really get any value out of it.
Because of the negative spotlight from it, the Kardashians, in fact, are pulling out of this agreement that they are backing a prepaid credit card. Let me -- can I say about the fees here, just to own it for a year is $99, to own it for six months is about 60 bucks. The monthly fee after that original period is about $8. To replace the card, it's about $10. An ATM withdrawal is a buck and a half. An ATM inquiry or decline is about -- it goes on and on and on.
ROBERTS: This is a card you already put money on it?
ROMANS: What is a prepaid credit card? It's a card that you just put money on, and you take the money off. It's your money on a piece of plastic. It's a debit card, basically.
CHETRY: A debit card with ridiculous amounts of fees. You can go any magazine, cut out a photo of these girls, and paste it onto on your other debit card.
ROMANS: Just paste it on the pile of $20 bills as far as I'm concerned. Very few people wanted this. The Kardashian sisters were asked about this. They stopped by the studios for a Joy Behar interview. No comment. But one of the attorneys said that the negative spotlight, it's not what the girls tried to cultivate in terms of reputation and their persona and that they would be pulling out of this.
Look, these prepaid cards, let me broaden it out from the Kardashians. The prepaid cards, be very, very careful. It costs money to get them, costs money to load money on them, if you overdraw them. Frankly, after credit card reform, it's much more difficult for young people to get their own credit card, so prepaid credit cards can be an important way to teach kids how to use money.
But watch out for the fees. Wal-Mart is the most popular issuer of this card. There are a lot of fees on all of them. Not free.
CHETRY: I don't understand why you can't get a checking account and get a debit card.
ROMANS: Yes, you can. You can. But that's so old fashioned.
ROBERTS: Why for simply an ATM fee when you can pay all these other fees?
ROMANS: We have had the reforms to protect consumers, but there are still ways you can get nailed with fees. Read the fine print and don't every pay $90 for the right of a starlet's picture on the debit card. That is dumb.
ROBERTS: It's one of the most ridiculous things.
ROMANS: And it's dumb to be the Kardashians and not do due diligence and have a little bit of a hit to your reputation.
CHETRY: It's so pretty. My face is on the card.
ROMANS: Keeping up with the Kardashians and spend money I don't have and get fees all the way, yes.
CHETRY: Stick with the magazine and glue stick. (LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Nice warning, thanks, Christine.
We're crossing the half hour. It's time for this morning's top stores. A terrifying ordeal for 23 students and teacher at Marinette high school in Wisconsin, a 15-year-old classmate holding them hostage at gunpoint for five and a half hours. The standoff ended with the hostages released, the student gunman shooting himself. Not fatality, though. We'll get an update on his condition in just a moment.
CHETRY: A Toronto -- a tornado -- sorry. I'm going to Toronto after the show.
ROBERTS: Tornado.
CHETRY: A tornado slammed parts of Mississippi last night leaving a trail of splintered trees, damaged homes, and blown-out windows. The second time this year that Yahoo City was hit by a tornado. No injuries this time, no reports of injuries or anyone killed, but that wasn't the case back in April when four people were killed after a storm.
ROBERTS: And tax cuts, a new treaty, unemployment benefits for millions of people, Medicare payments, all critical issues on the table and President Obama holds a so-called "Slurpee summit" with the new GOP leadership today.
CHETRY: More now on the hostage drama that played out at Marinette, Wisconsin at a high school where 23 students and one teacher were held hostage for five and a half hours there. They're safe this morning but, of course, a lot of scary moments.
ROBERTS: Yes, and a lot of questions to be asked, as well. We have new information now from the police chief who just wrapped up a lengthy news conference. Charles Davis is a report for "The Green Bay Press Gazette" and joins us on the phone there from Wisconsin. Thank you for being with us. What are we learning today particularly about the motivation of this gunman?
CHARLES DAVIS, "GREEN BAY PRESS GAZETTE" (via telephone): Police say that the 15-year-old sophomore was well liked and they're searching for clues as to a motive.
ROBERTS: Wow. So they just have no idea why he just brought two guns to school and just started shooting randomly and held these 24 people hostage for five and a half hours?
DAVIS: Yes. That's the point. They say earlier in the hostage situation he was laughing and sort of joking with some of the students and then towards the end of it he was agitated and whether authorities burst into the secured door and 19 remaining hostages were inside.
CHETRY: And so tell us about his injury. We're hearing it's potentially life threatening. He shot himself after police entered the room? DAVIS: Yes. Police entered the room and there were -- excuse me, 18 students still in the room. They got them out in safety and then upon trying to take the suspect into custody, he shot himself once but police won't say where but describing -- they are describing the injuries as potentially life-threatening.
ROBERTS: You say things were pretty calm for the first while and then agitated later. Did the police chief go into detail how students in the classroom and the teacher tried to keep this from escalating?
DAVIS: Well, he had said that the teacher acted as a hero. She was on the phone with negotiators because the student would not speak with them, trying to keep them calm and sort of relay some of the messages they didn't give us details as to why he was upset and fired three shots before they entered the classroom.
ROBERTS: Any word on just how preplanned this was? We understand it two guns found, bullets found in the pocket but do they know anything about what he was planning to do?
DAVIS: Yes. Authorities actually aren't saying that they have any idea as to motive but we know that they found a nine-millimeter an and .22 caliber handgun in a backpack they found in the room they also found a knife and a cell phone and an additional ammunition for both weapons, and as he was taken to the hospital they found bullets in the pocket. As to a motive, they don't know.
ROBERTS: Charles Davis, thank you for being with us this morning.
And it's 36 minutes after the hour now. John Lennon's final moments examined. Coming up, rare interviews with police on the scene and killer Mark David Chapman's shocking first words to the officers. What until you hear what he said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 40 minutes past the hour. Next Wednesday marks a tragic anniversary, 30 years since the legendary John Lennon was gunned down outside of his apartment in New York City.
ROBERTS: All this week we're previewing a CNN documentary coming up this weekend on Lennon's murderer. This morning we hear from some of the first New York City police officers that arrived at the scene of the crime on December 8th, 1980, men who remember it like it was yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I remember seeing red coming out of his mouth. He was face down on the rug.
ROBERTS (on camera): You thought right then that he was gravely wounded?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Yes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that point I looked to the left and I saw a man standing there reading a book, heavyset man. He was reading a book.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Tony Palma and Herb Frauenburger were the next officers on the scene.
ROBERTS (on camera): Did you look at the book?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, later on. It was "Catcher in the Rye."
ROBERTS (voice-over): With Chapman subdued, Palma and Frauenburger They rushed to Lennon's side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just said we have to go. We can't wait for an ambulance. It could take 10, 15 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did the only thing we could do. We picked him up and carried him out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chapman stood there watching as they drug Lennon to the car. 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 car.
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 says you're apologizing for ruing -- you know, you just ruined your whole life.
And he said, well, he said, 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: That was police officer Pete Cullen who was with Spiro, Steve Spiro, the very first officers on the scene. And, you know, he says, Chapman ruined his life, you know, also killed John Lennon, ruined the lives of Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and some of the other people close to him.
CHETRY: And also the lives of the police officers who still 30 years to the day can remember it like it was yesterday. They're changed forever, as well.
ROBERTS: Their recollection of it is so vivid. And not only that, but the emotions are so close to the surface. Tony Palma, the one police officer we talked to, Lennon literally died in his arms on the way to the hospital. They put him in a squad car, and it was only about 15 blocks to Roosevelt hospital, and he literally died in his arms.
And I asked him in the interview with him what the impact of that was like. Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY PALMA, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE OFFICER: It's pretty huge, you know, huge. People used to come up to me and want to touch me. They would say, you know, Tony, if he had to die in somebody's arms, we're glad it was you that responded. They used to say that to me.
ROBERTS: I could see the emotion of the day almost 30 years ago is still right there.
PALMA: Yes.
ROBERTS: Do you think back to this often?
PALMA: Sure.
ROBERTS: What are you feeling right now?
PALMA: Sad.
ROBERTS: It's 30 years later.
PALMA: He was a man so far ahead of his time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He's a tough guy, a veteran of the New York City police department in a tough precinct, and 30 years ago and still the emotion's that close to the surface.
CHETRY: But it is, you know, a real gift to history for them to tell their first-person stories because there are so many in the younger generation that don't know who John Lennon was but know he made an impact.
ROBERTS: And these police officers in the 60s. On the 40th anniversary they'll be in their 70s, and there's a risk of the oral history getting lost. So it's good to visit with them.
And there were some people, it was a point of controversy. Any time you bring up Mark David Chapman, people who are real fans of John Lennon will say, why do you give him any publicity? He only wants the fame.
But we have uncovered some interviews. You will hear them for the first time with Mark David Chapman that really are an important part of the historical record here to understand how all of this happened. It is like if you're doing anything on the Kennedy assassination, you always need to learn something about Lee Harvey Oswald and what drove him. So we for the very first time unearthed these interviews with Mark David Chapman and Gloria Chapman, his wife. We played some of them yesterday. And it's important to get a sense of the path that this all went down, and it's a path that actually was forged when Chapman was probably 11 or 12 years old. It lasted a long time.
CHETRY: It is fascinating and we're really looking forward to seeing the documentary.
ROBERTS: Thank you. We look forward to bringing it to you. The documentary "Losing Lennon: Countdown to Murder" premiers Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: We'll be watching.
Meanwhile, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back more on these strong storms, even tornadoes possible in the southeast this morning. They're headed east, as well.
Jacqui Jeras following all of it for us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Good morning to Tampa, Florida this morning where it's cloudy right now; 73 degrees. But it's going to be a nice day. Sunny and 86 later today.
ROBERTS: So those of you in Minnesota, Wisconsin, places like that or --
CHETRY: Eat your heart out.
ROBERTS: -- even here in the northeast, nice a little bit of sunshine there for you. Because you aren't going to have any today.
Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center for us with the forecast. And how bad it's going to be across the country?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's going to be brutal. You know Tampa is one of the very few locations across the east that's going to have a pretty decent day overall. And even if you're not getting wet in the east, it's going to be cold or windy or cloudy. So, you know, take your poison. We've got a lot of it out there.
One of the biggest things we're dealing with down here across the southeast is this severe weather threat. And we've got a new tornado watch that has just been issued from Mobile stretching on up towards Atlanta that's in effect until 3:00 Eastern Time.
We have one warning still in effect here includes you into Washington County so a possible tornado at this hour. Moving very quickly to the north and east. So we'll watch this stretch spread eastward throughout the day today.
Now, it's not going to be severe in the northeast other than the heavy rainfall and that's certainly going to impact your travel, whether it's on the Interstate or the airways for today.
Temperatures at this hour in the 40s to upper 30s and the rainfall could reach anywhere between one to two inches and so we do expect to see some flooded urban highways today as well as into the Appalachians. So watch for that if you're going to be traveling, as well.
We want to talk about the backside of this system. Yes, those people in Minnesota who are suffering and taking a look at that Tampa shot. You're going to get some heavy snow at times today. We could see as much as a foot into the arrowhead of Minnesota.
And even though it's going to be a relatively dry day, say for you in Chicago, it is going to stay very much on the blustery side so we could have some wind delays. Our Atlanta delay, it looks like it just came off. So that's some good news there was a ground stop at Hartsfield.
All right. We've got some great Christmas pictures I want to show you guys. Have you seen this yet? Really amazing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Let's take a look and a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(AMATEUR VIDEO SUBMITTED BY IREPORTER BOB COX)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JERAS: That is an amazing display from Robert and Raquel Cox. It's a computerized system that they have there; 265,000 lights and six miles of extension cords. Man that is impressive guys.
Have you ever seen the movie -- what is it -- "Deck the Halls" with Danny DeVito?
CHETRY: We were talking about -- we love this one. We were talking about how weird it sounds at first because it's supposed to be "Jingle Bells" but they really -- they crunkified (ph) the song.
JERAS: They did, it's a very jazzed up version.
ROBERTS: It kind of sounds like the music for -- it kind of sounds like the music for "Six Flags and the Weird Guy" that does the dance.
CHETRY: You know who the guy looks like? He looks like -- he looks like Uncle June on "Sopranos".
ROBERTS: He does.
CHETRY: And he's dancing around.
ROBERTS: Very much so.
CHETRY: We digress.
Sorry, Jacqui. Cool display, though. We love that.
JERAS: Yes it is.
ROBERTS: Thanks for the bad weather, Jacqui, but you brightened our spirits with the lights. I appreciate it.
JERAS: Oh you're still welcome. I'm glad I can help.
ROBERTS: Well, the late Elizabeth Glaser, she was honored this month for all the work she did for children living with HIV and AIDS. She lost her own battle with AIDS, if you remember back in 1994. But her son Jake is carrying on her work and up next we'll meet this amazing young man. He's living with HIV carrying on his mother's legacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Six minutes until the top of the hour.
You may not be familiar with Jake Glaser but you probably know his parents. His dad is Paul Michael Glaser, he played Starsky in the 1970s series "Starsky and Hutch" and his mom was an Aids activist, Elizabeth Glaser.
Jake lost his mom and sister to the disease but he is now in his mid-20s, he's healthy. And in today's "Human Factor" Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a young man who refuses to let a deadly disease define him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jake Glaser has lots of passions. Riding his skateboard, photography, making gelato --
JAKE GLASER, SON OF ELIZABETH AND PAUL MICHAEL GLASER: It was pretty good, huh?
GUPTA: -- and being a spokesman for the foundation his mother, Elizabeth Glaser, created. Jake was born with HIV, passed on to him by his mother at birth. He had to learn at a very young age how to overcome living with this virus. I spoke with him earlier this year.
GLASER: When my sister passed, I was, you know, three-turned- four years old. It was something that was relatively difficult for me to grasp. But when my mom got sick it was when I really faced the actuality of I am HIV positive and this is something that -- that can affect you.
GUPTA: Jake says his parents blessed him with a healthy immune system and so far, he's not been sick.
GLASER: I was born with HIV. It is not something that I had a choice about. When I speak to people about it, I have no issue telling anybody that I'm HIV positive.
GUPTA: People who don't know your story, when you tell them you have HIV, does that stigma still exist? Do you feel that?
GLKASER: I do a lot of photography and I film in the skateboard, action sports world. And one of the people I was filming with, one of the kids found out just through talking to one of my friends that I was HIV positive and he expressed that he was afraid to touch me.
It was something that I hadn't dealt with since my childhood. I kind of told everyone, stop what you're doing. Let's talk. And it was honestly as simple as he just didn't have the information.
GUPTA: That's quite a moment. I mean --
GLASER: I know.
GUPTA: You stop the shoot and you said, all right. This is an opportunity to educate.
(voice-over): And that's exactly what Jake plans to continue. To educate, particularly young people who, unlike himself, have a choice and can prevent getting infected with HIV.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, that is going to do it for us today. Thanks so much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Yes, if you get back. You're headed up to Toronto, right?
CHETRY: Yes. Doing a -- we're doing a continuing series on bullying solutions. So we're doing a really neat story up there, but hopefully I'll make it back.
ROBERTS: Say hi to my peeps when you get up there. I'll get my sister to make you lunch.
CHETRY: Thanks. Or I may need a bed to sleep in if the weather doesn't hold.
ROBERTS: I can fix you up there. I can hook you up. She can even take you to the farm for the weekend; great, great place. My sister, she's a lovely person.
"CNN NEWSROOM" starts right now with Kyra Phillips, who knows my sister well. Good morning.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": That's right. Yes, we love Linda. She's fantastic and I would take up on the farmhouse visit Kiran. It's beautiful up there, very peaceful.
ROBERTS: Definitely.
CHETRY: If you all let me off tomorrow, sure.
