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American Morning
Radical Muslim Confesses to Killing 2 Airmen; Apple Offering $100 Refund for iPad; Women Do It Better; Missing American Found?; "The Pirates of Somalia"; BYU Player Kicked Off the Team for Premarital Sex; Harvard Welcoming ROTC Back on Campus After 40-year Absence; Chinese Artifacts Intercepted by Agents at Newark Liberty Airport; Too Old for a Car Seat?; High Hopes for Jobs Report
Aired March 04, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Moammar Gadhafi has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): President Obama with his strongest words yet on Libya's dictator, but the question remains, would the United States take action on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY (on-camera): And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us. It's Friday, March 4th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi.
We begin the hour with the crisis in Libya. There's a call for mass anti-Gadhafi protests in Tripoli and across the country following Friday prayers. Gadhafi remains defiant. War planes attacked a rebel-held position in the town of Ajdabiya in Eastern Libya overnight. That follows President Obama's warning to Gadhafi against using violence to remain in power. The president stating publicly for the first time that the Libyan leader must go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Colonel Gadhafi needs to step down from power and leave. That is good for his country. It is good for his people. It's the right thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And the president has not ruled out a military option for Libya. CNN's Ed Henry joins us right now from the White House. This is complicated, Ed. It's not that simple. There are some people who want air support, a no-fly zone. Robert Gates, Defense Secretary, saying can't just do that without getting more involved. So, what are we talking about?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Ali. You're right. The intensity was certainly building in the president's rhetoric here at this news conference at the White House yesterday. But the question is whether that's going to be backed up with action.
The president did give his strongest on-camera comments yet in urging that Colonel Gadhafi step down as you noted. And he also revealed for the first time that U.S. warplanes are now being used in a humanitarian way to try to bring people back across the border into Egypt, people who had fled earlier, try and help with this humanitarian crisis.
On top of that, there, of course, has been some action before U.S. and United Nations sanctions. The U.S. has helped seize billions of dollars in assets from the Libyan regime. But so far none of that has really tightened the noose on Colonel Gadhafi. So the president also made clear that there are military options on the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: What I want to make sure of is that the United States has full capacity to act potentially rapidly if the situation deteriorated in such a way that you had a humanitarian crisis on our hands or a situation in which civilians were -- defenseless civilians were finding themselves trapped and in grave danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But as you noted, Ali, those military options are not as easy as they may seem. One option the president suggested was on the table was a no-fly zone to make sure that Libyan planes can no longer drop any bombs on their own people.
But, of course, as you noted Defense Secretary Robert Gates has pointed out first you would have to have U.S. or NATO airstrikes take out all the Libyan missile capabilities, et cetera, to institute that no-fly zone. And it may be difficult to do that, it may be difficult to bring U.S. allies along.
And the bottom line, a lot of people were thinking maybe this would happen in terms of getting Gadhafi out as rapidly as we saw Egypt turn over. But instead it is dragging on. None of the U.S. options so far seem to have really put enough pressure on Colonel Gadhafi.
And the bottom line is the president himself said this could end in his words in a bloody standoff, which seems like the worst of all possible worlds, this just dragging on.
VELSHI: Ed, good to see you as always. Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry at the White House for us.
CHETRY: And Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, fellow dictator and ally to Gadhafi, proposed sending an international good will commission to mediate in Libya. He says he spoke to Gadhafi who requested that the whole United Nations come see the reality on the ground before any invasion in Libya. The offer has been rejected. Chavez has spoken out several times since unrest has erupted in Libya, accusing the United States and other countries of blowing the situation out of proportion in order to justify an invasion.
VELSHI: If those 14 AWOL Democratic senators in Wisconsin don't get back to work, Governor Scott Walker says 1,500 layoff notices will be sent to public workers by this weekend. Those layoffs could take effect on April 1st. Those Democratic senators left the state last month to stall a vote on the governor's budget bill.
And a judge has banned protesters from sleeping in Wisconsin's state capitol building. The order gives authorities the right to remove them forcibly if they disobey. Protesters can continue during the daytime business hours. All reports are that nobody had to be forcibly removed though from the state house.
CHETRY: All eyes on jobs this morning. That's the number one thing that drives the economy, and February's numbers come out less than an hour and a half from now. Economists tell CNN Money that they expect 190,000 jobs in February. Of course, we'll bring you those numbers as soon as they come out.
And also yesterday was a better than expected day for the weekly jobless claims report. It helped lift the Dow more than 190 points. The NASDAQ also closed up more than 50 points and the S&P 500 up 22.5.
VELSHI: A rocket carrying an earth observation satellite got off the ground early this morning. It didn't get very far, though. About six minutes into the launch, NASA declared a spacecraft contingency. The unmanned glory spacecraft failed to successfully separate and that made it unable to reach orbit.
CHETRY: South Korea's trying to fend off a massive cyber-attack, and 40 websites have been hit, many of them belonging to government agencies and big banks. South Korea's internet security agency says that hackers outside the country are using zombie computers that have downloaded malicious codes. They're also directing large traffic surges to targeted websites in an effort to paralyze them.
Also this morning, the site that is home to millions of blogs says it is back up and running. Word Press was hit by a massive online attack yesterday making it difficult for the site's 25 million bloggers to connect. The company says it believes the attack may have been politically motivated against one of its non-English blogs.
VELSHI: It's a battle we're seeing play out in one state after the next, teachers and schools fighting for money.
CHETRY: Yes, President Obama has said we need to strengthen our education system if with want to eventually be able to out-innovate and out-educate the global competition. And today he heads to Florida to speak on that very message. Christine Romans joins us now. It's really a catch 22 when we see our state budget in so much trouble, yet at the same time saying we have to outperform.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We've got to do more with the money we've got and turn around underperforming schools and the White House beginning a month-long push here on reform, reform of the worst-performing schools.
Did you know there are 1,800 of the lowest-performing schools in this country are actually getting worse? There are 2,000 schools in this country that are simply dropout factories. You go in, you have just as good of a chance of dropping out and literally doing nothing with your life as you do of getting an education and moving on to something else.
So how do we fix these struggling schools? The president's going to be highlights Miami central senior high, spent some time last year in the Miami-Dade public school districts, a big challenge, big urban school district.
This school they replaced the principal. They replace nearly half of the staff. And after a decade of getting Fs by the state, it's improving, and so is the graduation rate. It worked with the Partnership for Teachers of America.
What are some of the things that the White House is talking about for using and reforming schools? One, closing a school, simply closing a school. Two, reopening a school as a charter, replacing the principal and the majority of the staff. Or in some cases getting a new principal, the teachers can stay, but you spend the money on the development of the teachers and new training for the teachers.
These 1,800 schools that are getting worse talking about those kinds of scenarios. Each school district is different, each state is different. You need different options so people on the ground can figure out what to do. But there's no question we have to fix these schools.
VELSHI: Do you agree with that? There's an interesting argument. With few exceptions, we have public school systems in urban areas with problems across the country. And those problems are very similar. And there's a lot of argument to say let the solution be local. Let us handle this in our school district. When you look at it across 50 states, why should they be local?
ROMANS: What do you mean?
VELSHI: Why should the decision be local? Why it should be the principal needs more power, the school board should be removed. In some districts it should be about, you know, the mayor controlling what happens. I'm not sure that's the solution because the problem's the same everywhere.
ROMANS: But there are institutionalized differences in why the school is bad. And once the school gets bad, it's very difficult to turn it around. We also know that little incremental changes haven't worked in some cases, you know. And so what the president and others are doing are trying to find schools that have turned around, figure out what went right and how does it translate?
VELSHI: It does tend to be empowerment of administrators and principals. ROMANS: It does, unless you get rid of the bad principal, get a new principal. In some cases they're talking about closing schools even if the school is bad. Closing the school and moving kids to schools that do better. And 1,800 schools getting worse, the worst of the worst getting worse in this country.
CHETRY: We have to figure out something. It's a problem not going away any time soon. Christine, thanks so much.
Also, they're going to overtime right now, these talks, to try to get some sort of deal in time for the NFL football season.
VELSHI: It was supposed to be over last night, but the NFL owners and players have extended the contract negotiations through today. The owners may lock the players out, and that could put next season in jeopardy if they can't figure out how to split up $9 billion a year.
CHETRY: We talked about the brush fires burning in eastern central Florida. Now there are two burning in south Florida. Firefighters say at least 50 acres have burned so far in southwest Miami-Dade. High winds and low humidity keeping those flames going. Right now, though, they are fighting it and no homes are in immediate danger.
(WEATHER BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, a radical Muslim is now confessing to killing two U.S. airmen overseas. Brand new information on the killer's motives and whether he acted alone. CNN's terrorism analyst will join us.
CHETRY: Also, she just simply wrecked the place, a woman destroying $1,600 worth of booze in seconds. Now she's telling police why she did it. It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We know more this morning about the two American airmen killed in that deadly terror shooting in Germany. It happened when a lone gunman opened fire at a U.S. military bus at the Frankfurt airport.
CHETRY: We're also learning more today about the gunman who was a recently radicalized Muslim according to German officials. They say he confessed and acted alone. CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank has more on that this morning. You have a lot of sources in this. In fact, you just got off the phone with German officials. What else are they saying about this person who seems to be perhaps influenced by a local Islamist Web site?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: This is a guy who was on Facebook connecting with pro-Al Qaeda extremists on Facebook. He doesn't seem to have met them in person but influenced by them, interacting online with them in the lead up to this attack here. And also the day before he seems to have watched a video where the American GIs they say were raping Muslim women. That might have also influenced him in this attack.
VELSHI: There seems to be early comments that there were some words exchanged or some argument. Do we know anything about this? Would he have gone up to these men and said something and then that provoked it, or was he clear that he was targeting U.S. airmen?
CRUICKSHANK: This has been plenty of work to the airports. I mean, deliberately went out to this bus, chatted with the U.S. airmen and then target them. This was a terrorist attack, Ali, we believe at this point.
VELSHI: OK. Now here's the thing. You said that he was talking to people on Facebook or connecting to these Web sites. Do we have any sense that he was recruited to do this or that he was influenced by what he saw?
CRUICKSHANK: Well, that's what German investigators are looking at right now. It's not clear whether he met them in person but he was online interacting with them. Not clear if they were recruiting him. He says he acted alone, that he planned this alone, that he didn't bring other people into this attack, Ali, at this point.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The other thing, at least is scary for those who, you know, try to tackle the challenge of dealing with thwarting terror attacks before they happen. This seems like a case where, you know, it's a lone wolf scenario. It's not somebody who had any ties before this. I mean, his family and the Kosovo community just completely shocked by what happened. How do you track this? And how do you find warning signs before it's too late?
CRUICKSHANK: Very difficult. This came out of nowhere. He was radicalized perhaps over a period of six months. So very, very difficult for authorities to get on to somebody like this. But in Germany, we've been seeing rising radicalization in recent times.
CHETRY: Why?
CRUICKSHANK: Because of social media. It's the same here in the United States. You know, people can interact online and that world view becomes an echo chamber. People are confirming this radical ideas in their head and that can encourage people to act.
VELSHI: Paul, what do you do? It sort of has to shift the way that you look at terrorism and recruitment. We've talked about this a few times whether it was the bombing, attempted bombing of that Christmas day plane, the Delta flight into Detroit or these -- these cargo ships -- cargo planes that they try to put those modified printers on to. What do you do if these people are coming in from this world where they're offering themselves up as opposed to being recruiting?
CRUICKSHANK: Well, it's all about intelligence, about getting inside these cells, preventing these sorts of plots from taking place. But if it's just one guy --
VELSHI: There's not much intelligence. CRUICKSHANK: There's not much you can do. But this guy was on Facebook. We're being told by German officials he was interacting with a radical group based in Bonn that supports Al Qaeda's ideology. So there were warning signs here. But the trouble is in Germany, there are around 200 people there watching because they're considered dangerous.
VELSHI: Right.
CRUICKSHANK: So it's difficult, you know, where do you watch? You know, the resources are limited in these counterterror investigations.
CHETRY: Right.
You know, and when we last talked about the other most recent arrest that took place again, this lone wolf scenario that we're talking about, many terror analysts had pointed out well, it's a good thing that some of those provisions of the Patriot Act that were quite controversial about being able to wiretap or listen and eavesdrop on communications of somebody who was not necessarily affiliated with a sponsor of terror. These lone wolf scenarios, does Germany have that same issue of trying to -- of having it not necessarily be legal or having it beyond their purview to check on people who are not, quote unquote, "part of a terror group"?
CRUICKSHANK: Well, German counterterrorism officials will say it's more restricted on what they can do in a country like Germany.
CHETRY: Right.
CRUICKSHANK: Particularly the approach in Europe is a little bit different as the other states on some of these things. So there are restrictions in terms of these investigations which can limit what they're able to do.
CHETRY: Do they need to change that?
CRUICKSHANK: There is a debate going on in Germany about this. This attack will only create more debate about this.
VELSHI: Paul, good to see you as always. Thanks very much for helping us understand this.
CRUICKSHANK: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, are there spiders living in your car? This is just kind of creepy.
VELSHI: It's a very strange story, yes.
CHETRY: Probably one of the most strange recalls we've heard about recently. We'll tell you about it.
VELSHI: And did you just buy an iPad? Well, if you did, don't worry. You may be able to get some money back. We'll explain after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: You have to see this video. This woman smashed bottles containing $1,600 worth of booze. Look at her. She's walking up the aisle just bringing it all down. Check this out. Look at how she does it.
Police in a New York City suburb say the woman who trashed a Rockland County liquor store has now turned herself in. She says she's sorry and it's not in her character, but she took offense to what the store owner allegedly told her. The owner is telling a different story. He says she picked up a fight after she was told she couldn't use the bathroom. She was charged and could spend a year in prison.
No justification of doing that sort of thing, but I have to say people do a little crazy about not being able to use the bathroom in stores.
CHETRY: Wow. That surveillance tape really shows the rampage.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Well --
VELSHI: Love this story too.
CHETRY: Spiders living in your car. This is strange. Mazda is recalling 52,000 Mazda six sedans in the U.S. because it says, oh, yellow sac-like spiders like to build their nest in the fuel system and that the spiders may spin their webs in lines and create a blockage. Experts say this could possibly lead up to a build-up in pressure and a fire. There have been 20 reported cases of spider infestations so far.
So I have two questions. One, isn't there a car called the Mazda spider, or is that a different car? Is there --
VELSHI: Not a Mazda.
CHETRY: Maybe the spiders heard about it.
VELSHI: Right. You got the wrong car, yes.
CHETRY: Secondly, what do you do to make your fuel tank less spider --
VELSHI: Right. Do they like other fuel tanks, or is there something about this particular design that they like? This is a curious story.
Well, Kiran, unfortunately this story isn't going to affect you very much. But if you just purchased an iPad in the past two weeks, Apple is going to give you $100 back because Apple just lowered the price of the first generation iPad by 100 bucks because of the new iPad. Folks can also return their iPads if they just bought it, although Apple may charge extra fees if the device has been opened or use.
CHETRY: So bottom line, they might let you trade it in. They're going to let you trade it in, put something to the new one?
VELSHI: Bottom line, yes, yes.
Unfortunately, yours has been with you and used for more than the last two weeks.
CHETRY: I know. I'll keep it. Don't worry.
Well, still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, senior U.S. officials say there is evidence that a retired FBI agent missing -- this is amazing -- for nearly four years, thought he was dead is actually alive.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: We're going to get details on this from CNN's Jill Dougherty at the State Department.
VELSHI: And the results are in. Women superior to men in just about every category. We're not making this up. There are cold, hard facts on this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, when it comes to the battle of the sexes, it's no contest, apparently. Women are far superior to men in just about every category. That is according to one new book.
VELSHI: And before I make some smart aleck comment, there appears to be research to back up this claim. Alina Cho is with us to tell us why women do it better -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indisputable evidence. More than a 100 gender-based studies -- good morning. You know, we told you that women were better cooks, teachers, nurses more emotional, more nurturing than men. Not a surprise. But this may be. Better drivers, better competitive eaters, better beer tasters -- it's true according to this new book and there is evidence to back it up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): The battle of the sexes, who's superior? New research shows the so-called weaker sex is actually stronger.
(on camera): What do you make of that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's awesome. Right on. Who wrote it?
CHO (voice-over): Dan Abrams, legal analyst for ABC News, is the author of "Man Down." The book's premise, based on more than 100 gender-based studies, women are better cops, gamblers, world leaders, even hedge fund managers.
DAN ABRAMS, AUTHOR, "MAN DOWN": The men tend to swing for the fences. They tend to go for the home run. And women are more methodical, they're more careful.
CHO: More trustworthy.
(on camera): We are both newscasters --
ABRAMS: Yes.
CHO: I've known you a long time. I mean, I can say this without question that I'm better than you.
ABRAMS: Yes, you are. You are better -- and if you and I were to both read a similar item of news, studies would show that those words coming out of your mouth would be viewed as more credible.
CHO (voice-over): And while you're at it, men, don't get behind the wheel.
ABRAMS: Men get more accidents. They get more tickets. They drunk drive more often.
CHO: But don't tell that to a man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're better drivers when you're right next to us and you're telling us what to do.
CHO (on camera): Oh, no!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Otherwise no way.
CHO: The evidence says that men get in more accidents?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, because we drive more.
CHO (voice-over): Which begs the question --
(on camera): What are you better at?
ABRAMS: The book says almost everything.
CHO: Like?
ABRAMS: Men are certainly better athletes.
CHO (voice-over): Really?
ABRAMS: No.
CHO: Too bad, a scratch. My turn.
(on camera): This is the first and last time you're ever going to see me play pool.
ABRAMS: Yes.
CHO: I believe I've won.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Yes, I did.
CHETRY: That was not for you. You won.
CHO: You know, so you heard that women are better cops. Why? They're less corruptible according to a study.
Also, listen to this. This is so interesting. Men get struck by lightning four to five times as much as women. Lightning strikes. Why? It appears that men are more reckless, as Dan says in the book. You know, the man will see that a thunderstorm is coming and he'll say I'm going to go play that last round of golf. I'm going to go fix that roof. I'm going to go finish whatever I'm doing whereas the woman will say I'm going to go inside and not get struck by lightning. How about that?
VELSHI: What he said stuck out. You know, guys swing for the fences. They are a little more reckless.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Insurance companies have been seeing this for years, which is why men, particularly young men pay more for insurance and get into more car accidents.
CHETRY: In defense of men, and I know this is empirical evidence, but, I mean, guys are -- guys have to be --
VELSHI: Come on, don't struggle so much.
CHETRY: No.
VELSHI: You can get something out that's good, right?
CHETRY: We love you for a reason. That guys are a vital part of our life and our society.
CHO: Bald is beautiful.
VELSHI: Oh, man, that is --
CHETRY: You know, that can knock all the guys out there because you guys are really good.
VELSHI: Thank you. But really good stuff. Thank you.
CHO: Thank you. You're welcome.
VELSHI: There is real research behind this.
CHO: Enjoy your weekend. VELSHI: Thank you very much. I will.
CHETRY: She's going to shoot some pool.
All right. Thanks, Alina.
Well, we're crossing the half hour right now. Time to check our top stories. President Obama delivering a message and a warning to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The president says that Gadhafi has lost his legitimacy and that he must step down. He says those who perpetrate violence against the Libyan people will be held accountable. The administration is said to be exploring a full range of options and response to the crisis.
VELSHI: Wall Street's got high hopes this morning for a strong jobs report. It comes out one hour from now. Economists are predicting that the economy added 190,000 jobs in February. If that's true, boy, we may be off to the races in this economic recovery.
CHETRY: And the season could be on the line. Talks between NFL owners and players have been extended now through today. The current collective bargaining agreement was set to expire at midnight last night. The owners may lock out the players and put next season in jeopardy if they can't figure out how to split up $9 billion a year.
VELSHI: Check this story out. There could be a major breakthrough in the search for a retired FBI agent who went missing in Iran nearly four years ago. Senior government officials say that there is evidence that Robert Levinson is alive and being held somewhere in Asia. What an interesting story.
CNN's foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is at the State Department with more on this. Jill, tell us what you know.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ali, well, the first thing was a statement that came out from Secretary Clinton saying that they believe that Bob Levinson is being held in southwest Asia. Now, what does that mean? Well, it could mean Iran, and that's believed to be where he is.
Let's remember who Bob Levinson is. He's a retired FBI agent. He was working as a private investigator, and then he disappeared in March of 2007. And at that point, Secretary Clinton asked the Iranians to help. And now, again, she's asking -- in fact saying, you know, you made this offer that you would be able to help us with humanitarian information, please do it again. And his family is there, I would say cautiously, they're tremendously encouraged but also concerned about his safety and security. They really want him back. It's a big mystery, Ali, and maybe this could be some break.
VELSHI: Wow, that is an interesting story. We'll follow it along with you. Jill, thanks very much for bringing it to us.
CHETRY: Well, dozens of ships, hundreds of people held hostage right now by pirates.
VELSHI: Again, I was kind of fascinate by how many people were being held hostage.
CHETRY: The sheer numbers are really surprising but who are these pirates, how do we stop them? Up next, a man who knows a thing or two about pirates. He actually went to Somalia and spent time with them to find out what it is that they're hoping to gain.
VELSHI: Here's an interesting story. How old is too hold to keep your kid in a car seat? One state thinks it knows the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-six minutes past the hour. We've been following the story of the Danish family kidnapped by pirates last week as they were sailing around the world and they're reportedly now taken to Somalia. This could be a long ordeal as hostages because the couple along with their three children were abducted while they were yachting around the world.
VELSHI: Right now in the waters off Somalia, about 30 ships and more than 600 people are being held hostage by pirates. So who -- we've been talking about this for years. Who are these pirates? And how can they be stopped? We've all been looking at this from the outside. But now we've got somebody who is actually on the inside this thing or has been.
CHETRY: That's right. Jay Bahadur is the author of the upcoming book "The Pirates of Somalia." He spent three months in the area, actually getting a chance to speak to these pirates, living among them to find out what it was like. Thanks so much for joining us this morning, Jay.
JAY BAHADUR, AUTHOR, "THE PIRATES OF SOMALIA": Happy to be here.
CHETRY: First, just sort of give us an overview. We understand the hijacking of these oil tankers where shipping companies are willing to pay millions to get those back. Why have we seen it take a turn to private sailboats? The four Americans that were killed were on a mission. And this family appeared to be just sailing for enjoyment.
Yes. I don't think when you say there's been a turn towards it, I don't think there has been a turn towards it in recent days. I think hijacking the yachts has been going on since 2008. And I think what now you're seeing is the violence is causing it to hit the headlines a lot harder. And so obviously the emphasis is going to be on these recent yachts that were captured.
Most pirates are out there floating in a boat with little food, little water and are happy to take any ship that comes along. It's like an oasis in the desert. So it's not a matter of targeting commercial ships or not. What's important are the lives of the crew onboard and quite frankly, they'll take any ship they can get.
VELSHI: How organized are they, Jay? Are they cartels? Are they like gangs, or are these, you know, a bunch of guys getting together in a boat looking for a target and dealing with it on a case- by-case basis?
BAHADUR: I like to think of it as a business. A free-market business with very few entry barriers and very high capital mobility. I don't think -- there's been a lot of play in the media about how these are sinister international cartels, conjuring up the image of a James Bond villain sitting behind a Marine monitor and punching buttons. But I really don't think that's the case.
When I was there what I saw were disorganized groups of originally fishermen, now a lot more inland militia men who generally come together. They're part of family and kin networks. Come together, a boss will front -- not that much money -- to start a mission, maybe $30,000 to $50,000, set out on a mother ship, a few skiffs, and it's all about dividing the money. You really don't need --
CHETRY: No, I was just going to ask you, I mean, $30,000 to $50,000 is not easy to come by in a country like Somalia either in terms of capital start-up costs. I guess if you're likening it to a business and many of them who are arrested have said they were paid, that they were just fishermen and that they were hungry and they need to feed their families and they were paid by a larger group that then took a big cut of that money.
BAHADUR: Right. If you -- I think what's happened now, there's been various methods of financing it, but now what you see is generally it's a one-man operation. A one-man financier operation. Who fronts the cash, like I said, about $50,000 and will take close to half the ransom. So it's quite a good return for this one individual. I think what you see is that -- you mentioned $50,000 is a lot to come by in Somalia. I would say it's really not.
You have -- these are businessmen who are -- who generally live in that - generally spend their time in and out of Somalia. And there is a lot of money to make in legitimate ways in Somalia. And I don't think you need. There's this idea that you need money coming from outside of Somalia to fund these missions. But -- especially now that it's a self-sustaining process, the capital is continuing being reinvested. I really don't think it's a stretch to imagine that all money funding pirate missions is coming from inside Somalia.
VELSHI: Let me just ask you this, Jay, why were you not taken hostage when you were hanging out with these pirates?
BAHADUR: Well, I rolled with the right people, I guess, you could say. I was very lucky because I connected with the local journalists there. Local news agency called get away online, which was the only news station in the capital city of the region I was in (INAUDIBLE). And his -- my partner's father was actually elected president of the region about a week before I first got there. So on one hand, I was a little worried about getting caught up in a political hit, something like that. But it turned out that it worked quite the opposite way. I had very good connections. I sort of came with my hand stamped. And the pirates talked to me and respected me because I was with the ruling clique of the area. CHETRY: Now, I mean, the thing is you talked to some of them and they did look sympathetic. I mean, they were facing life in prison. They were talking to you through the fence as they were sitting there, saying they had life sentences that it was not fair. But on the flip side, I mean, the people that are losing their lives, this is also a very, very disturbing situation. It appears to be a growing problem.
You have Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling the recent killings of the four Americans "deplorable" but she was also calling for international cooperation to as she put it "fight the scourge of piracy in the waters off the horn of Africa." If there really is more of a concerted international effort, what do they need to do to actually crack down on this?
BAHADUR: Well, I think calling for an international effort may just be a little political noise because there has been an international effort, if you want to call it that, in place since 2008 in the form of the international task forces that are operating off the Somali waters. Now, about 30 to 40 ships, warships are continually in the region. I think what history has shown is that isn't working. It's a big waste of money, quite frankly.
CHETRY: And she seemed to go further, Jay, actually calling for an international peace-keeping mission in Somalia. How realistic is that?
BAHADUR: I would say given, I mean any such mission would have to have the U.S. backing. And given the U.S. history in Somalia and the very visual images that are still in the minds of America of the Blackhawk down incident and the now considering now the political situation on the ground in Somalia and the security situation is so much worse than even what it was in 1993 that I just don't think it would be realistic at all.
VELSHI: Jay, good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us.
BAHADUR: My pleasure.
VELSHI: Jay Bahadur is the author of the forthcoming book "The Pirates of Somalia."
Still ahead, violating the honor code. A star college athlete kicked off the team for having sex.
CHETRY: Also Rob will have the morning's travel forecast coming up after the break. It's 43 minutes past the hour.
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VELSHI: A top college athlete kicked off the team. For fighting? For swearing? For hitting somebody? For having sex. According to the "Salt Lake Tribune," Brigham Young University basketball star Brandon Davies admitted to school officials that he had sex with his girlfriend.
Premarital sex is an honor code violation at the Mormon University, which requires students to live a, quote, "chased and virtuous life." BYU is the third ranked team in the nation and was gunning for a national title in their first game without Davies? They were beaten badly. It was just their third loss this season.
CHETRY: It's got to be tough for the team and for him and also he apologized to his teammates and coaches. It's just a sad thing because they were doing really well this season and again, he was a top player on their team.
Well, now that Congress has repealed the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned openly gay soldiers from serving in the military, Harvard is now back to welcoming the ROTC on campus.
It's been 40 years since the Ivy League School expelled the Reserve Officers Training Corps or ROTC from the campus to protest the Vietnam War. In recent years, the school's outright disagreement with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy continued to keep the ROTC out. Harvard's president and the secretary of the Navy will sign a formal agreement today, which brings the program back to the university.
VELSHI: And federal agents have seized two ancient Chinese artifacts that smugglers tried to bring through Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. A 5,000-year-old pot and the thing you're looking at now, the horse and rider -- a horse and rider figurine from the Tang dynasty, that one there, that could be 1400 years old.
They were discovered by a team of customs investigators and Homeland Security agents. They are considered priceless. Officials say they will be returned to their owners in China.
CHETRY: It's 47 minutes past the hour. Let's get a check of the weather headlines with Rob Marciano. If you're travelling today, are in the clear?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, in some spots. Getting back to the Tang dynasty, I think in a couple hundred thousand years, maybe a couple of thousand years, if somebody finds a jar of Tang, that stuff in the '70s --
VESHI: They should keep it?
MARCIANO: Well, they have equal value. Who knows, I mean --
VELSHI: That would be our American Tang dynasty. Our noted historian Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: About all we got. There's going to be some rain across parts of the Midwest and the Ohio River Valley. Areas that really don't need the rain today and there's a threat for severe weather also across parts of the midsection of the country.
Some warm air coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, and that's going to feed some of these storms. All right, right now, temperatures are warming up across the northeast. It's still chilly, but not as cold as it was yesterday. As a matter of fact, right now, it's about as warm as it was for your daytime highs yesterday.
So we'll continue to see things warm up. We'll be dry to start, but there's more rain coming in. Here it is, from Chicago back through Cincinnati into Cleveland, Pittsburgh. Light right now, but it'll increase in intensity. We don't need a ton of rain because we already got a ton of it this earlier in the week. And because of that, there's flash flood -- flood watches and some warnings posted for that area.
Many of the major rivers are still in flood stage. We're supposed to crest tonight and tomorrow, and that may be delayed because of the oncoming rain. They could use the rain across parts of Florida. My goodness has it been dry in this part of the world. This is the drought monitor. Especially the eastern parts of Florida are seeing not much in the way of rain the past four months.
One of the driest winters on -- in decades, and that's one of the reasons we're seeing the wildfires break out. The other reason that the winds are very, very blustery so that's not helping the cause there. Here are your flood watches for a good chunk of states, about a dozen of them from Western Pennsylvania all the way down to the mid south.
If you are traveling today, Atlanta 30 to 60-minute delays. I don't expect to see a ton of delays at least at the New York Metropolitan Airport. That's good news. We don't get to say that too often. Tomorrow if you are traveling, though, that may be a different story.
It's 75 in Dallas today, 53 degrees in Chicago, 43 degrees in New York City. In a Toronto forecast, specifically designed for Ali's parents, mostly cloudy right now, minus 2, maybe some rain starting out as freezing rain later on in the afternoon. Of course, minus 2 would mean about 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
VELSHI: I appreciate that. They appreciate that. They have been tuning in and my father's biggest complaint is while he enjoys watching the show, he is missing his local weather. So thank you for that, Rob. My mom and my dad appreciate it watching from Toronto.
CHETRY: I love it. Dad wasn't just going to watch his son anyway. He needed you to throw in the Toronto weather. Thanks, Rob.
VELSHI: At least something we're doing that is offering a value! My dad is watching because Rob is here.
All right, in the 8:00 hour of AMERICAN MORNING, 8:00 Eastern, coming up in ten minutes, a big problem for Mazda. Why the automaker is recalling thousands of cars because of spiders!
CHETRY: And you'll meet the man who spent 96 minutes without a pulse. It was the help of his community and some quick thinking rescuers that saved his life. It's 50 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Well, should the government require you to keep your child in a car seat past the age of, let's say, seven or eight? That is what families in Georgia are asking after a potential tweak to their law.
VELSHI: Yes, a law passed in the Georgia House that raises the child car seat requirement in Georgia from 6 to 8 and parents could be fined $50 if they don't comply.
Elizabeth Cohen joins us now live from Atlanta. Elizabeth, Kiran and I were talking about this. I guess, I don't really know much about this so there's a distinction what I think is a car seat and a booster. What are we talking about here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: OK, what we are talking about here is a booster, this one right here. Kids who are smaller go in different seats. What they want if your kid is 6, 7, 8 years old, they want your kid in this seat and the reason why, Ali, is that it raises them up.
A child who is too short, if they put on that shoulder belt, it cuts them across the neck and you can only imagine what would happen if there were to be some kind of crash. So what they're encouraging or what they want to require parents do is when you have your older child, the 6, 7, or 8-year-old, put them in this seat.
CHETRY: So is there any evidence to show some the numbers out there that they are, indeed, safer if God forbid there is a crash with the booster even if they're old enough to not be in a car seat?
COHEN: Yes, there is some evidence again because it literally -- it boosts them up. It has less to do about their weight and much more to do about their height. They are not just tall enough to have a regular shoulder belt on them.
VELSHI: All right, so what do you think about this? You're a mother of four. Not somebody age 4, but of four people. Give us a little car seat 101. What car seats do kids need at what age?
COHEN: OK, let's start at the beginning. From birth, they need to be in an infant car seat. This is this one. Your child will come out of this usually at around age 1. Then toddlers will sit in this car seat here, and come out of this one, let's say, age 4 or 5. Again, it depends how big they are and then they move on to this booster seat. So that is three car seats for the life of your child.
CHETRY: And you know, it is interesting. It's important. States have varying laws, as you said, Georgia was 6 and gone up to 8 and 8 is about the highest some states let you determine for yourself about the age of 5. But, yes, I mean, better safe than sorry as we all know as parents.
COHEN: Right, exactly. I mean, I live in Georgia and I've had my kids in this kind of a booster forever. It just makes sense. You want to do what is safe for your child, not necessarily what the law says. VELSHI: Elizabeth, we want to talk about this other story both of us are kind of fascinated with. We're going to be talking to this fellow in about an hour. He was in cardiac arrest, no pulse for 96 minutes. He lived. He was revived after CPR was performed on him continuously over an hour and a half. I have just never heard of such a story. What do you know about this?
COHEN: Well, you know what, Ali, his doctor hasn't heard of such a story either. He is amazed that this guy lived for so long. Ali, I can't wait to see him on your show. Most of the time, people don't live this long when they have had cardiac arrest. Sometimes it's a matter of minutes and if they do it's because they are submerged them and cooled their bodies down. That is not the case with him so I can't wait to meet him.
CHETRY: All right, well, we are going to be talking to him. Elizabeth, thanks so much for all of the info. In the next hour, we are going to be talking to him. Howard Snitzer, the man who probably be dead today if it was not for a very determined medical crew and also the help of his community.
VELSHI: All right, we'll tell you about that. Some top stories are coming your way just after this. Stay with us.
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