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American Morning
NY Grand Jury Clears Cops in Danroy Henry Jr. Shooting; Hunt on for the Money in Egypt; Tiger Launches Loogie: Woods Fined; Time to Rewrite the Family Budget; Man Vs. Computer; More Whole Grains Please; Wal-Mart Employees Fired for Stopping Armed Robber
Aired February 15, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, a grand jury says a police officer didn't do anything criminally wrong when he shot and killed a 20-year-old student athlete. But now, the Justice Department is stepping in. The parents of Danroy Henry Jr. will be with us live.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The old regime may be out in Egypt, but what are they taking with them? Egypt now asking the United Nations to freeze the assets of some of its former leaders until all of the money can be tracked down.
HOLMES: And President Obama's much-anticipated new budget has been released. He is attempting to cut the deficit by some trillion dollars. But to do so, could that mean the end of some critical tax deductions, maybe the mortgage interest deduction on the line? Our Christine Romans with "Minding Your Business."
CHETRY: Charlie Sheen sounding off in a radio interview talking about sobriety, getting back to work on the set of "Two and a Half Men." And one thing he says has his friends and fans concerned.
All that coming up when AMERICAN MORNING starts in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning. Protesters in Tehran following Egypt's lead. But will batons, tear gas and detentions deter them?
CHETRY: Also, Charlie Sheen breaking his silence, talking about his drug use and his future on his hit TV show. We'll show you why this interview is leading to new concerns about the health of the troubled actor.
HOLMES: Also this morning, man versus machine on "Jeopardy." An IBM computer taking on two former "Jeopardy" champs. We'll tell you who's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Wasn't there a "Terminator" movie about this very thing? The rise of the machines?
HOLMES: Only a matter of time.
CHETRY: I guess so. HOLMES: But before we get to the end of the world and judgment day here with these machines, good morning to you all with AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thanks for being here.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
We start with a crushing setback for the parents and friends of Danroy D.J. Henry. He's the Pace University student athlete who was shot and killed by police in New York last fall. The Justice Department is now stepping in to investigate after a state grand jury decided yesterday not to indict the officers involved. Police fatally shot Henry through the windshield of his car in October, claiming that he ran into officers while trying to speed away from a bar fight. Brandon Cox says it didn't happen that way. Cox was sitting next to Henry in the passenger seat and insists that his friend was simply following orders from another officer to move his vehicle when he says a police officer jumped on the hood and opened fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON COX, WITNESSED SHOOTING FROM PASSENGER SEAT: The justice system at this time has really just failed us right about now. And I'm just disappointed -- just disappointment is pretty much how you could sum it up. By no means am I deterred from what we're trying to accomplish. I know that there's still a long road to go, and there's still ways that we can get to justice, but it was just -- it was just really it would have been nice to have it start now. My friend was taken from me unfairly, unjustly, uncalled for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Cox says he considers himself fortunate to have survived the shooting.
HOLMES: Now to D.J. Henry's parents now. Their reaction? They say they're not actually surprised by what the grand jury did. They say the grand jury actually didn't hear all of the evidence, and they are determined this morning to fight on.
We had them here with us in the studio just last week. Listen to what D.J.'s mother, Angela, told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Would you accept anything less than a murder charge against this officer?
ANGELA HENRY, CLAIMS SON WAS MURDERED BY POLICE: No.
HOLMES: It has to be that. Nothing less. No manslaughter. No nothing. It has to be a murder charge.
HENRY: Our son was murdered for doing the right thing. He was asked to move his car from one police department and a different officer from another police department killed him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And coming up at the bottom of the hour, we will be hearing once again from Danroy and Angela Henry, hearing their reaction. Actually, we've moved this now to the next hour. Forgive me for that. But in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, you will hear from them both about what they're going to do moving forward.
CHETRY: And there's also a developing story out of Italy this morning. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will be tried now on charges of having sex with an underage prostitute and charges of abuse of power. An Italian judge has reportedly put this case on a fast track meaning Berlusconi's trial is now scheduled to begin in early April.
Now also developing this morning, now that the old regime is out of power, the hunt is on for the money in Egypt. Now asking the United Nations to freeze the assets of some former Egyptian officials. It is widely believed that the ex-president, Hosni Mubarak, and his family are worth as much as $2 billion. Much of it in the form of real estate and yachts.
Meantime, in Cairo, the new regime is urging people to go back to work. Many remain on the streets, though. Thousands of state workers protesting low wages and demanding better pay.
HOLMES: As we have seen what's happening in Egypt spread throughout North Africa, spread throughout the Middle East as well. In Iran now, tens of thousands of demonstrators are defying their government's warning, and they're marching in the streets of Tehran anyway. However, they were beat back by riot police with batons and tear gas. Some of the images here Iran doesn't want you to see. They don't want them to get out. They have slowed down the Internet there, making reporting difficult for many journalists. Some of the video we're seeing here from YouTube, it's difficult to verify exactly what we're seeing, but it's believed to be out of Iran. The government has shown in the past, not afraid, to totally crack down and crush an uprising. Reports from Iran's news agency says at least one person has been killed.
Also, some new video of Iranian parliament. Some chanting taking place there. Again, people protesting of conditions there, doing this initially in support of what's happening in Egypt and Tunisia, but also certainly watching for their own freedom, their own rights. Many of them calling for the execution of two leading opposition leaders.
Also in Bahrain, a human rights group says at least one protester was shot in the back and killed. Reports of several officers, as well, and demonstrators being injured there.
Coming up, we'll be talking to a guest in just a bit about Iran's youth-inspired -- or Iran's youth being inspired by what they're seeing in Egypt. Much tougher road, possibly, for the folks in Iran though.
CHETRY: Well, also new this morning, just a week after losing a vote to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act, Republican leaders in the House were able to regroup and get that passed. They only needed a simple majority rather than a two-thirds vote. The bill did pass 275 to 144 and it gives the government broad surveillance powers in terrorism cases. The Senate now needs to approve the provisions before they expire at the end of the month.
HOLMES: To Arizona now, where an anti-illegal immigration activist has been convicted of murdering a Latino man and his 9-year-old daughter during a home invasion that prosecutors say she led. Shawna Forde (ph) is her name. You see her there. She's a former member of the controversial Minutemen Border Protection Group which patrols the border for illegal immigrants. Prosecutors say she and two accomplices planned this home invasion thinking they would find drugs and money in the victims' home. She could get the death penalty. Her alleged accomplices will be tried later this year. The victims were both American-born citizens.
CHETRY: One investigation is now under way after authorities found a dead body in a pest control truck along Interstate 95 in Florida. They made the discovery yesterday after the driver of the truck and a child became overcome by chemicals inside the vehicle. They were both rushed to the hospital in serious condition. Hazmat teams were called, and that's when they found the body. It was inside of a bag. So far, no one has been charged. Authorities have searched that man's home.
HOLMES: Well, after his sex scandal, Tiger Woods promised to come back and be better to the game. More respectful. Well, he's been fined for that. Did you see what he just did?
Yes. Tiger Woods let go of a loogie on the green. This was at the Dubai Desert Classic. This was on Sunday. This is on the 12th green. The European tour says this is a breach of tour code of conduct. Yes, it may seem like it's a very minor thing, you're outside, and you spit. But this, for the rules of golf, this is a very ugly thing to do. And one of the commentators even called this, and I'm quoting here, one of the ugliest things you will ever see on a golf course. He says someone is now going to possibly have to come behind Tiger Woods and putt through his spit.
Now, the amount of the fine here is not yet known. Tiger Woods did speak on this. He did set up a Twitter feed after his whole sex scandal, and he did take responsibility. Let me read it for you here. And it says, quote, "The euro tour is right. It was inconsiderate to spit like that, and I know better. Just wasn't thinking. And want to say I'm sorry.
CHETRY: One of the ugliest things you can do? I mean, I don't know. If it wasn't Tiger, if it was another maybe no-name golfer, I don't know if there'd be this big of a hubbub about it. I mean, obviously it's impolite but --
HOLMES: It's golf. Those guys live by a different set of rules and a different set -- you know, you're supposed to behave differently.
CHETRY: Right.
HOLMES: He had to spit on the golf course.
CHETRY: And in golf a bright green blazer is considered attractive, I get it.
HOLMES: It is as well.
CHETRY: It's a different set of rules.
HOLMES: It is a different set of rules.
CHETRY: It's eight minutes past the hour right now. Let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the weather center for us.
Hey, Robby (ph).
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Speaking, you know, maybe -- you know, they're live. It may have looked green, as well. I mean, the consistency, the trajectory of that spit may have something to do with how people were offended. So --
HOLMES: Yes, it was nasty.
MARCIANO: You don't want to be putting through that. That's for sure.
Hey, good morning, guys. Golfing weather across the south. In golfing weather, in places that, you know, are under snow just a week ago, an unbelievable warm-up across the midsection of the country. But the northeast and northwest still kind of in wintry weather. Very much so, as a matter of fact.
Blustery day again today in the northeast, although it won't be quite as windy as yesterday. And there won't be much in the way of showers across the north country. But it will be on the chilly side. Temperatures today are going to kind of hover where they are right now, the upper 20s and lower 30s. So you won't see that warm-up today. But tomorrow I think you will. And then on the West Coast, this number of strong disturbances rolling in there for high winds, rain and heavy mountain snow.
Seventy-one degrees in Dallas. It has gotten well down to the teens and single numbers last week with snow on the ground there. So I was trying to get some of that warmer air across the northeast, but that's not coming until tomorrow and on Thursday. We'll talk more about that in the next 30 minutes. Guys, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
HOLMES: Thanks, Rob.
Still coming up, people still trying to break down the president's spending plan. His budget came out yesterday. We'll tell you how some of his proposed cuts, and there are a lot of them, might hit you at home. CHETRY: Also, the Charlie Sheen interview that you don't want to miss. He's not sorry. In fact, he says crack is OK if you can handle it. He gave a very bizarre and quite long interview on the radio. We're going to play some of it for you coming up.
HOLMES: And could a computer beat two of the all-time best "Jeopardy" champs? Well, that computer is being put to the test. We'll tell you how it's doing.
It's 10 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour right now. We're talking money and budgets. Exciting stuff. Maybe it doesn't sound exciting, but it affects all of us.
President Obama's money team is getting ready this morning to try to sell this thing, this 2012 huge budget proposal to Congress. And today, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, White House Budget Director Jacob Lew, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will all get the chance to make the administration's case for the spending plan, a plan that includes more than $1 trillion in cuts and increases to try to chip away at the deficit.
HOLMES: All right. You can't cut $1 trillion in spending without affecting somebody and a lot of somebodies. You, maybe. Let me bring in Christine Romans here now. And again, this is just a proposal.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
HOLMES: It's a request, a long way to go.
ROMANS: That's right.
HOLMES: But still, people are talking about a lot of these things that could affect just about all of us.
ROMANS: I think it has to go through like 40 committees, 20 subcommittees. I mean, this is a long, tortured process. But if a budget is a reflection of the values and the goals of your president, then here is what you've got in here.
There are a lot of different proposals. These are just a few of them. But I want to talk about the mortgage interest deduction. A lot of you have been asking about this.
The president again proposing to cut the mortgage interest deduction for the richest Americans. A 30 percent cut in itemized deductions overall for high earners. These would be households that make $250 thousand or more a year. If you were in the 33 percent tax bracket or the 35 percent tax bracket, this is who the president is targeting. The real estate industry already moving against this.
Someone at the National Association of Realtors late yesterday told me, look, they don't think this is going to go anywhere, because you can't hurt the housing market when it's so fragile. And - and I said, look, I mean, these are just high-income earners. It's not everybody.
But they say it all trickles down, and they think - some people think it's a slippery slope to actually taking away your mortgage interest deduction for the middle class as well. So they don't think that's going to go anywhere.
Next thing, low-income heating assistance. This is something that many people say proves this president is serious, because he's angering people in his own party, cutting $2.5 billion out of energy aid to low-income Americans.
Now, when you look into the details, you know that this is just cutting money and putting it back to 2008 levels, a time when home heating oil prices spiked. So it's - it's not as dangerous, maybe. on the surface as it would appear. But even Jacob Lew yesterday on this program admitting it would hurt some people, maybe a lot of people who would lose their home heating oil aid there.
And then, finally, airplane tickets. If you are a traveler, the president's budget, if enacted as it's written, would affect you. There's an option in there to raise something called the passenger facility fee to $7. That means if you were taking - if you went from New York to Atlanta to Denver, for example, that would be $21, potentially, on - on the cost of your ticket. Of course, the travel industry, you guys, doesn't think this is a good idea.
Included in that is - is cutting some - some big airport subsidies by about $1.1 billion, adding in the option of adding this - this revenue-raising fee for other airports. Not very popular among traveler groups.
CHETRY: There's a lot of things that aren't popular, and then you hear from the GOP that we need to do more, we need to cut more. So -
ROMANS: And none of this - the three big drivers of the debt, Medicare, Medicaid, social security, that's sort of punted here. And this is a lot of cuts, some programs completely eliminated, so programs that many people say should be eliminated, completely eliminated.
But, you're right. Republicans say we need to go farther. And debt - you know, debt hawks, they - deficit hawks say we haven't gone and touched everything that needs to be touched yet.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: A lot of work to do.
HOLMES: Thank you.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, former First Lady Barbara Bush poking some fun at her husband, former President George H.W. Bush. It was during an interview on "The Today Show" with her granddaughter, Jenna Bush. The former president started to cry when he was reading one of their old love letters, and that's when the former First Lady compared her husband to current Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... Onondaga Street in Rye, New York. I love you."
BARBARA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I love you, too.
JENNA BUSH HAGER, FORMER FIRST DAUGHTER: (INAUDIBLE). Why are we such criers?
B. BUSH: You know what? You could be Speaker of the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's pretty good.
CHETRY: It's just so adorable. I mean, you know, when you see people that have been married that long and they can still bring each other to tears with their love, that's the true Valentine's Day spirit.
HOLMES: How many years have those two - OK.
CHETRY: Sixty-six years they've been nearly - they've been married, nearly.
HOLMES: That's a nice -
CHETRY: It is. It's adorable.
HOLMES: -- Valentine's Day moment.
CHETRY: I like that.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, also coming up, you remember those Chilean miners? They stayed underground, what? About three months? Well, we're getting more of an insight in just how they were able to survive down there. That's coming up.
CHETRY: Also ahead, no more nightmares on the tarmac? If you're stuck on a plane without food or water, crying babies, backed-up toilets, well, the Passenger Bill of Rights is headed to Capitol Hill today. Will it actually change anything? We're going to have more on that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour right now.
The dramatic rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners, of course, that captured the world stage. We watched it unfold live here on AMERICAN MORNING. But the real story, though, is what supposedly happened half a mile underground during all that time.
And there's a new book out called "The 33," and it really brings you there to the harrowing details of what happened. The author claims to make their ordeal a little bit more bearable with - the author is claiming in - in the book that marijuana was smuggled down in letters to their family, that the miners also reportedly requested blow-up dolls, but they were denied.
In the book, the miners also admit to contemplating suicide, and even cannibalism, although perhaps the most shocking revolution, it claims that the rescue video feed was dubbed with old footage at times to cover up embarrassing incidents.
Well, it is a face-off of intellect, a battle of wits, man versus machine. IBM researchers created a smart computer, and they're putting it to the test against the country's top "Jeopardy" winners.
HOLMES: All right. Not the first time we've seen something like this. Back in 1997 here, you're seeing here, the world chess champ Kasparov. He was playing against IBM's Deep Blue computer. Deep Blue beat him.
Jason Carroll here with - was this Deep Blue 2? What's this one's name? They call him Watson.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Watson.
HOLMES: All right. But does he have a more technical name than that or it's just -
CARROLL: Just Watson. Did you see the expression on Kasparov's -
CHETRY: I know.
CARROLL: That's how I felt when I went up against him. I know that feeling. It's - it's not a good one.
CHETRY: But - but "Jeopardy" is so much stranger than just doing chess, because you have all the time in the world to make your chess move. With "Jeopardy" you actually have to interact and you have to beat the buzzer.
CARROLL: Takes about three - three seconds, you have to answer the question, and it - it is tough.
So, first let's explain what Watson is all about. This is what happened. IBM researchers fed Watson encyclopedias, dictionaries, Bibles, movie scripts - you name it - more than 200 million pages of data, and they also taught it "Jeopardy" strategy. Now, they think Watson is ready to take on "Jeopardy's" best.
So let's take a look at what we've got going on here. In this corner, you've got the challenger, IBM'S Watson, as you see there. He's got 10 refrigerator-sized racks of IBM computer servers. And then, let's take a look at the other corner now. We've got legendary champions Ken Jennings, holder of the longest "Jeopardy" winning streak, 74 games; and Brad Rutter, undefeated champion and the show's biggest money winner.
Last night, three men - well, it was two men and one computer - squared off in the first of three nights of competition. How did it come out? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: "Jeopardy! The IBM Challenge."
ALEX TREBEK, HOST, JEOPARDY: A split personality.
"WATSON", IBM SUPER COMPUTER: Who is Hyde? Who is Michael Phelps?
TREBEK: Yes.
"WATSON": Event Horizon.
TREBEK: Yes.
"WATSON": Grendel.
TREBEK: Yes.
"WATSON": The Last Judgment.
TREBEK: Correct. Ken?
KEN JENNINGS, FORMER JEOPARDY CHAMPION: What are the '20s?
TREBEK: No. Watson?
"WATSON": What is 1920s?
TREBEK: No. Ken said that. Brad?
BRAD RUTTER, FORMER JEOPARDY CHAMPION: What are the 19 teens (ph)?
TREBEK: Yes. Watson?
"WATSON": What is Sauron?
TREBEK: Sauron is right. And that puts you into a tie for the lead with Brad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, you see he got a few wrong there, Watson got a few wrong.
Well, we actually spoke to Ken Jennings and Watson's lead researcher about what it's like to face off against a computer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNINGS: You can't psych that guy out. It's - it's never going to get cocky, it's never going to get stage fright. It's just implacable. It's like the Terminator. It just keeps coming.
CARROLL: Can the creator beat what was created?
DAVID FERRUCCI, IBM WATSON RESEARCHER: Absolutely not. I'm one of the worst "Jeopardy" players on the - on the face of the planet. Not - not good at it at all.
CARROLL: I'm not either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Yes. He says one of the worst. I think I'm probably one of the worst.
But, you know, the implications here are what - that's what you have to think about, because perhaps someday scientists can create some sort of a computer that can help, I don't know, doctors diagnose illnesses, and -
CHETRY: Right. I mean, artificial intelligence.
CARROLL: Exactly.
CHETRY: So you had a chance to see what it was like to take on Watson. How did this go?
CARROLL: Yes. You know, it's not something I like to talk about. It -
CHETRY: Show us what happened.
CARROLL: Yes, OK. Well, we can actually take a look at how it - how I did against Watson. It was - it was ugly. It was ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our contestants are Jason from CNN, and Watson from IBM.
CARROLL: I'll take "Those animals frighten me" for 400.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Herpetophobia. Watson?
WATSON: What is reptile?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watson?
WATSON: What is Baghdad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. Watson?
WATSON: What is Birmingham? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Watson?
WATSON: What is Buffalo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buffalo. Yes.
Well, you ran that category, Watson.
CARROLL: I have no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question mark was not what we were looking for.
How much did you wager, Watson? $26,599, bringing you up to just a dollar short of $60,000.
CARROLL: I want you to know I did know a lot of these answers, but I couldn't - I couldn't -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The buzzer is hard.
CARROLL: I couldn't figure out how to buzz in.
Well, that's humbling.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Yes, we all use the buzzer as the excuse.
CHETRY: The buzzer excuse. We've heard that a few times here.
CARROLL: Yes. But you know what was interesting? There was one category that Watson did - Watson did not do well at, and I didn't either. It was laundry detergent.
HOLMES: Who would do well at that category?
CARROLL: You know, you -
HOLMES: Laundry detergent. That's a category -
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: Well, that was one of the categories, laundry detergent. I could not answer one of them, and Watson couldn't either.
CHETRY: Just one quick question, because I know we have to move on.
But when he - when - when Alex Trebek said, "Ken already answered that," I mean, does he process any of that? I mean, that - that somebody else answered it the same way, or does - is that not something he can process?
CARROLL: You know, that's - you know, I don't think that's something he can process at that particular moment. I mean - and this is still a work in progress for Watson. But, even so, you can tell that even in being a work in progress - CHETRY: Yes.
CARROLL: -- he's still clearly is light years ahead of where someone like me is.
HOLMES: That's cool. That's very cool.
CHETRY: The rise of the machines.
Thanks, Jason.
HOLMES: Thank you.
CARROLL: All right.
CHETRY: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a poet, a president, a slugger and an oracle all receiving the highest civilian honor in the country.
It was a big day at the White House as President Obama handed out the Presidential Medal of Freedom. We'll show you some of the big names on the list.
HOLMES: Also coming up in just a moment, the parents of a Pace University student athlete shot and killed by a police officer. That police officer now will not face an indictment. That decision just came down yesterday. The parents are here with us, this morning, to react.
It's 27 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Crossing the half hour right now. We want to get you updated on our top stories.
First, power. Now, money. Egypt has now asked the United States to freeze the assets of some former Egyptian officials. The State Department says that the request does not include ex-President Hosni Mubarak by name, but he's believed to have a fortune worth billions, scattered around the world, that he built up over his 30 years in power.
HOLMES: Well, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor out there, and a ceremony will take place today at the White House, and the honorees, listen to this list, including the former President George H.W. Bush, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou, Congressman John Lewis, who, of course, was a giant to the civil rights movement, and baseball icon Stan "The Man" Musial will be there.
CHETRY: Well, "We, the flyers." Today, California Congressman Mike Thompson will introduce the Air Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2011. It includes the three-hour rule that limits how long a plane can sit on a tarmac loaded with passengers. The government began fining airlines for delays over three hours back in April. But travel analysts that say some airlines just started cancelling flights to try to avoid those fines.
HOLMES: We want to give you an update now on a story that many of our viewers reacted to just found heartbreaking. It's the story of the family of Danroy Henry, Jr. D.J. was his name. He was a student athlete at Pace University, who was shot and killed in October by a police officer outside of a bar.
Now, police say that D.J. was speeding away, and hit a police officer. That police officer was then on the hood of the car, firing into the vehicle, hit D.J. and D.J. was killed. But D.J.'s parents dispute the police accounting of that incident. They say the son was simply following the officer's instructions, and that another police officer stepped in front of his vehicle. They wanted the police officer charged with murder.
But, yesterday, a grand jury decided not to indict, and the police officer who shot and killed D.J. did nothing criminally wrong. D.J.'s parents were here with us last week in studio to talk about their hopes for their indictment. They're here with us once again this morning to talk about the reaction to there being no indictment.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry, Danroy Henry, Sr. and Angella Henry, thank you all for once again being willing to talk to us here. First of all, both of you say you're not surprised at all by the grand jury's decision not to indict. Why?
DANRONY HENRY, SR., CLAIMS SON WAS WRONGFULLY KILLED BY POLICE: Not at all, T.J. In fact, we believe that all along this process was designed to get to a no true bill, not of an indictment. We were prepared ourselves for that. It would be impossible for us to accept. It would be naive of us to accept that a police department that knows it has both criminal and civil liability could investigate this fairly.
Their evidence was the evidence used by the district attorney's office, who were their inherent conflicts, both that we experienced and that are just inherent in the process. It would be impossible for us to accept that would be a fair and impartial process that would lead to an indictment.
HOLMES: And -- am I hearing it right? It sounds like you're not really taking much issue with those people on the jury, that grand jury. It's more so you don't think they were presented with all of the evidence and all of the facts.
D. HENRY, SR.: That's right. Or the presentation of the evidence and the facts was absolutely ineffective, based on what we know to be the truth, given our own investigation.
HOLMES: How did you all get the news about the grand jury decision yesterday?
ANGELLA HENRY, CLAIMS SON WRONGFULLY KILLED BY POLICE: We got a call from the district attorney. And she just let us know that the decision was made, that there would be a no true bill. And she did offer us an opportunity to come and speak with her if we felt that we needed to.
HOLMES: What was that conversation like?
D. HENRY, SR.: It was pretty brief. And I should say that I think it was a courtesy extended to us, not, frankly, in accordance with how we have been treated by that office. I think it was extended to us more because I called last week and asked them to make sure that they called us, when this wasn't released to the media. We had a brief conversation.
HOLMES: OK. I want to share with you all and our viewers here the reaction from the attorney for Officer Aaron Hess, who's the one who shot your son. And I'll put up on the screen. And this is just part of it. It says, "The tragedy of D.J. Henry's death cannot and should not be distorted to pursue an agenda which ignores the sad and painful truth that a 20-year-old man, who by all accounts was a good and decent human being, made very, very poor decisions that night, and morning, that brought about his own death."
This is not the only part of that statement that says, in fact, it was D.J. Henry who is responsible for his own death. What's your reaction to hearing that?
D. HENRY, SR.: Same reaction we had when the Chief Alagno essentially said the same thing at 10:00 a.m. that morning, hours after our son was shot, blaming him before an investigation had even begun. It's consistent with the script that has been out there, but it isn't true.
HOLMES: All right. Two more --
A. HENRY: It's not true.
HOLMES: -- two more things I want to get to before I let you go. From -- you all said you haven't talked to Officer Hess, don't know him at all. But from what you have read, what you have heard about him, do you all believe he too is a good, decent human being that maybe made a mistake that night?
A. HENRY: It's possible. It's possible. I haven't really read that much about Mr. Hess. So I really can't respond.
HOLMES: You all are pursuing a civil suit now. And the number amount that's been out there is $120 million. Nothing, of course, is going to bring your son back. But what now? What does a possible civil judgment against the officer or against that police department, what does it bring you? Or what does it do to that police department or that officer?
D. HENRY, SR.: Yes. Look, without accountability, this will happen again. It will happen to somebody else's family. It will happen the same way. It's happened before, it will happen again.
So, we always believed there should be both punishment and penalty. A civil judgment would be the penalty. But we're still very interested in the punishment. We still believe that there needs to be a murder conviction here, starting with an indictment.
We never believed the indictment would come at the state level. We always thought it would have to come at the federal level. And we hope that would happen now.
HOLMES: All right. I know the Justice Department, it is their practice to look into such cases like this, they are doing so. And we will talk to you all down the road, it seems.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry, once again, I appreciate you all being with us. Unfortunate that we always end up talking under sometimes the worst of circumstances for you all. But thank you for sharing your story. And we'll talk to you again.
D. HENRY, SR.: Thank you.
A. HENRY: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And to our viewers, we're going to take a quick break here on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, this was quite the talk yesterday and this morning. Charlie Sheen calling into a radio show, giving an interview, he was actually talking to Dan Patrick. He ran the gamut when he was asked a lot of questions about his own sobriety, his addiction, some advice about smoking crack, even. He was open and honest and probably gave his publicist a bit of a heart attack.
Here he is talking about a pep talk he gave to the UCLA baseball team.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: I said, "Stay away from the crack," which I think is pretty good advice, unless you can manage it socially, Dan. If you can manage it socially, then go for it. But not a lot of people can, you know?
DAN PATRICK, "DAN PATRICK SHOW": Did you think that you could?
SHEEN: Sorry?
PATRICK: Did you think you could?
SHEEN: Yes, yes. But that kind of blew up in my face, like an exploding crack pipe, Dan. Sorry.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, some people find that funny. Maybe he thought he was making a joke -- but clearly, this a talented guy who is capable of doing big things on TV and in movies in his career. But this can't seem to get it together. He admitted that at some points of the interview. But he's also said right now, his show is on hiatus, he is ready to get back to work.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PATRICK: But you want to go back to work?
SHEEN: Oh, yes, man. It's -- I mean, I'm a man of my word. I have a contract. They said, you know, get your act together, and I did. And now, they just -- I don't know, I just think maybe it was a timing thing. They didn't think it was going to happen this fast.
But check it, it's like, you know, I heal really quickly. But I also unravel pretty quickly. So, get me right now, guys!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: I mean, the reason that it's also disturbing is because -- I mean, he -- the show is on hiatus because of his problems with substance abuse. And when he was asked, are you sober? He's like, yes, right now, and I was sober before for five years, but it was boring. And he also called sobriety inauthentic. So, there's a lot going on there.
And, you know, of course, dealing with addiction is tough. We are going to be talking about it later in our show. Jane Velez-Mitchell who just wrote a book "Addict Nation" is going to be joining us, and also Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He was hospitalized, Charlie Sheen, this past couple weeks because of some partying I guess that led to some trouble for him. So, we're going to ask Sanjay about that, as well.
Still to come this morning, a big warm-up on the way for the Northeast. Meanwhile, the West Coast is seeing some pretty big storms and wind. Rob Marciano is going to be joining us with the travel forecast.
HOLMES: And you hear doctors say it all the time, you want to live longer, got to eat that fiber. But we're not talking about any old fiber here. Your A.M. house call is coming up next.
It's 43 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: OK. So, we're on to something when they said eat an apple a day, keep the doctor away because if you like to live to a rightful age, you need to eat more fiber and not just any kind of fiber. Researchers studied thousands of men and women over the age of 50, and they found those who consumed grains had a 22 percent lower risk of death.
They say fiber from whole plant foods appears to provide the most significant health benefits that men should eat around 29 grams of fiber a day, and women should eat about 25 grams of fiber a day.
HOLMES: I was talking to Rob Marciano now. Rob, have you had your fiber this morning? MARCIANO: Not this morning, but I appreciate you --
CHETRY: Looking out for you?
MARCIANO: Yes. 22 percent, I guess, you know, that's like when we say 20 percent chance of rain. A lot of people just kind of roll the dice.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: I'm going to wash the car anyway. Good morning, guys. Good day to wash the car down across the south where the temperatures are heating up, that's for sure. Just maybe a 20 percent chance of the shower in the mid-section of the country, but the northeast and the northwest really is where we're seeing most of the action. Do want to point out this to give you some words of encouragement. Little rock, Arkansas or North Little Rock officially 73 degrees for record high temperature yesterday.
Just a week ago, where they got about six inches of snow and just to the north and west of Little Rock, they got two feet of snow. Now, they're in the 70s. Salt Lake City, 58 degrees, some wind there, as well, and Hartford, Connecticut seeing 55. Montpelier, Vermont 47, even after a little bit of a snowfall across parts of New England yesterday. We're not looking for that today.
But from Seattle again all the way down to San Francisco, a series of storms out here continue to pummel the West Coast, heavier rain, mountain snow, and some wind. So, this will be the case, and some localized areas of flooding across parts of extreme Northern California and Southwest Oregon. Wind today, yes, across the north east, not quite as much as what we saw yesterday, but it will be blustery enough to probably cause some travel delays.
We already have an hour delay at LaGuardia and now Boston into it at about 30 minutes. Other spots where you're probably see more in the way of delays, we'll include San Francisco, and Philadelphia, and Boston. Daytime highs today will be a little bit warmer than yesterday across the mid-section but just chilly again in New York, 34 degrees. It will warm up tomorrow.
Check this out. In Illinois, this is what you do when the weather finally turns warmer. After the snow, you go for a swan dive off the porch deck. Unless, the railing on the deck breaks. This is where i- Reports don't really, you know, not giving us a whole lot of, you know, editorial content, but certainly giving the guys there a couple of laughs, and could right there a little bit --
CHETRY: Yes. You know, it's actually -- I watched this earlier this morning, just to see what the heck it was when I saw snow fail. It's actually pretty infectious. You know, they're cracking up. Clearly, they were having fun. No one got hurt.
MARCIANO: Not sure how much fiber is in snow, but that kid certainly has his daily fiber worth.
HOLMES: Good stuff, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Maybe he ate too much fiber, and that's why he broke the railing.
MARCIANO: Could be. Launching, yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you later.
HOLMES: Coming up here in a bit, we will be talking to a man live in studio who is attempting to run, literally, from the North Pole to the South Pole. Yes. He's even going to the South Pole. He's going to the South Pole. No. we're talking about 14 countries here, 13,000 miles. He'll explain, though, why exactly he's doing it.
CHETRY: Wow. That's going to be tough on the knees.
Passing the time with porn and marijuana. A new book claiming the real story of what life was like for the Chilean miners was very different. What happens in the mine, stays in the mine, unless, they write a book about it. Fifty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-two minutes past the hour. Their actions could be described as heroic, even courageous, but four Wal-Mart employees are now fired after disarming a suspected shoplifter who pulled a gun on them. This happened last month at the Wal-Mart store in Layton, Utah near Salt Lake City. One of the fired workers says they had no choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN RAY, FIRED BY WAL-MART AFTER DISARMING ROBBER: He looked right at me, and said "The gun is cocked, come on, guys, just let me go. I don't want to do this. I don't want to hurt anybody."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't make me do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Wal-Mart says that their actions violated company policy, and put fellow employees and shoppers at risk. So again, they were fired for that. At 8:10 eastern, we're going to talk to two of the fired Wal-Mart workers, Lori Paulson and Shawn Ray.
HOLMES: In New York this week, a big week, it's fashion week. Designers putting what on display? Their latest -- they go by spring and fall and stuff with this thing?
CHETRY: Yes. HOLMES: They do. OK. So, where we're seeing now?
CHETRY: Spring and fall. We are now seeing, safe to say, the fall collection, right? Because I'm always a day late and a dollar short. Alina is on it. It's not always what is on the runway but also who is on the runway. A huge amount of competition to be that model for that show.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. I mean, it can be a hard job. Before you say, don't feel sorry for the models, it can be a hard job. You know, designers call it a make or break moment. Sure, the clothes on the runway are important, but if the wrong model is wearing them, it can be a fashion disaster. That's why casting a fashion show is so important, and if you think models just have to be beautiful, think again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHO (voice-over): The glitz, the glamour. Fashion's cat walk is where the clothes come alive, and the model is key.
JASON WU, FASHION DESIGNER: It's almost like match making. What does this outfit want to go with? What kind of personality does it go with?
CHO: A cut throat, lucrative business, where models can earn $500 to $15,000 a show. Carola is a rookie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what you have to do, every day, like nine times.
CHO: She's on a casting call at the Daniel Petal Agency, competing against 300 other girls for just 35 spots.
JOURDAN DUNN, MODEL: Not everyone is going to love you. Some people are going to hate you, some people are going to like you. It's just part of the job.
CHO: There are the basics, height, 5'9", beauty, a good walk. And then there is that (INAUDIBLE) like personality?
SCOTT LIPPS, PRESIDENT, ONE MANAGEMENT: If the photography (ph) is going to meet you on the casting, they want to make sure that, you know, that you have energy to give on the shoot, that you're just not a pretty face that's not going to give something back.
CHO: So, what are designers looking for?
LIPPS: Certain seasons of designer will say the look of this show is going to be, for instance, there's a sort of sun-kissed look, and we want girls that have freckles and red hair.
CHO: Or blonde or edgy brunettes. Or this. DUNN: I was just about to go into a cast, and my agency calls me, like, don't go in there. They only want white models. And I was like oh, OK.
CHO: Yet, Carola wants in, and this season, she's one of the lucky ones.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was such a great feeling. It was like butterflies in my whole body. It was really, really great.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (on-camera): Carola also walked the Diane Von Furstenberg show on Sunday. Of course, that's a very, very big deal. Lots of press, lots of editors there, and, of course, the holy grail of modeling is that fashion or beauty contract that you get because you might only get $500 a show on the runway, but you can make millions with an advertising contract like that.
You know, there is always the criticism season after season. The models are too white, they're too thin, they're too young. You know, the models, themselves, admit, yes, this that is the case. I mean, they start 13, 14 years old. The agencies are quick to say we have chaperones with them to make sure they're eating properly, sleeping properly, not going out too late and all of that.
You know, but the reality is, these designers love those fresh, young faces by the time you're in your 20s, often you're too old to be on the runway, sadly.
CHETRY: They are, though, I mean, thinner than 99 percent of the population. And they've tried to make a move over the years to say we're not going to accept people that look like they have a problem, but how is that --
CHO: The Council of Fashion Designers of America has issued guidelines, of course. You know, they want the models to be at least 16. Those rules aren't always followed. Having said that, there is a strong industry push to make some rules for it. Yes.
HOLMES: Fascinating look. Alina Cho, we appreciate you as always.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
