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American Morning
IMF Chief in Sex Scandal; Morganza Spillway Opened; The Hague to Issue Arrest Warrant for Moammar Gadhafi; Space Shuttle Endeavor to Launch Today
Aired May 16, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Next on this AMERICAN MORNING, a man in charge of the world's money charged with attempted rape in New York City. Ahead, how the arrest of IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Khan could impact the global economy.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: They're opening the spillways in Louisiana, trying to keep the Mississippi River from flooding New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Thousands of people facing evacuation orders right now as the water closes in.
VELSHI: And incredible video of a dust devil ripping through a fifth grade graduation party. It lifted up one of those blowup bouncing castles clear off the ground. How quick thinking parents kept a day at the park from becoming a deadly tragedy.
ROMANS: Plus, Moammar Gadhafi may face war crimes, next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. A lot happening overnight. Let's get you caught up.
A man in charge of billions of dollars of the world's money charged with attempted rape in New York City. Police say he tried to force himself on a hotel maid. Then he tried to hop on a flight out of the country.
ROMANS: Floodgates. I'm Christine Romans. Thousands on the run as the Army Corps of Engineers opens a spillway for the first time in almost 40 years, choosing one flood to save New Orleans from another nightmare on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. It is Monday, May 16th. Big news story we're following right now.
ROMANS: That's right. We've got the stunning arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, scheduled to be arraigned this morning in New York. He is charged with trying to rape a maid in an upscale Manhattan hotel.
VELSHI: Strauss-Kahn is accused of emerging from a bathroom naked, then dragging the 32-year-old housekeeper into the bedroom of his $3,000 a night suite and attacking her. ROMANS: Before his arrest, Strauss-Kahn was considered a front runner to become France's next president. Richard Roth is tracking the latest developments.
Richard, Strauss-Kahn was supposed to be arraigned last night. Why was that delayed?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was sort of like a night court version. They are doing forensic tests and they're apparently reportedly some delays in figuring out a bail deal as this financial bigwig was sitting, cooling his heels in a New York special victims unit precinct house.
This is a bombshell of a story. This man, who leads the International Monetary Fund based in Washington, but a French citizen, walked by New York City police there. This is astounding to see at an unbelievable weekend news development. He is accused of sexual assault on a maid at a Midtown Times Square New York Hotel. Last evening, his attorney explained to reporters outside the courthouse just what was happening with his client.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM TAYLOR, ATTORNEY FOR DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN: Our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't hear what you're saying, sir.
TAYLOR: Our client consented to an examination tonight at the request of the government. That's being done in light of the hour. We've agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning and we expect to be here in court with him tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your client doing?
TAYLOR: He's tired but he's fine. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Strauss-Kahn is expected to be arraigned at a New York court in downtown Manhattan later this morning. He was widely believed to be a potential next French president.
ROMANS: Right.
ROTH: And, of course, he had been dogged by accusations of some types of misbehavior with women before. He had apologized for an incident with an underling at an international conference a few years ago. He is known as DSK in France and in financial circles. They're scrambling, as you know, at the IMF to replace him temporarily.
ROMANS: Right. And also, he is a key figure in the last couple of years, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. All of Europe's debt problems, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is at the center. He's supposed to be in Brussels right now giving a keynote and helping to figure out with European leaders the way forward for Europe's economy. So this is just a shocking, shocking development around the world.
ROTH: I mean, he is a kingpin for helping out in emergency situations. You've got Greece, Portugal, Ireland, you name it he's been involved in it coming to the rescue with millions of dollars of money.
ROMANS: And this is a man now instead who's being picked out of a lineup in SVU, Special Victims Unit in Manhattan. It's an amazing turn of events.
Richard Roth, thank you so much -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Let's talk a little bit more about who Dominique Strauss-Kahn is. The head of the International Monetary Fund, also known by his initials DSK, 62 years old, born in France. He was named the managing director of the International Monetary Fund in 2007.
Now, Christine, you know, 2007 is before the financial crisis hit. He received praise during the financial crisis. As you just mentioned with Richard, overseeing the bailouts of Greece and Ireland, but during that time, Strauss-Kahn was investigated as Richard alluded to, for having a consensual affair with a female employee. He apologized for that.
Strauss-Kahn is a member of the socialist party in France. Over the years, he's been appointed to political positions including finance minister back in 1997. He was instrumental in helping France switch from the franc to the euro.
Now prior to this weekend's incident, Strauss-Kahn was considered a top candidate for the president of France in the elections next year. Richard was talking about that. A French opinion poll published on Sunday taken before the scandal broke showed him in first place among six hypothetical candidates including the current president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Let me tell you about the man himself. Strauss-Kahn is married to an American French journalist Anne Sinclair. They live in D.C. She issued a statement this weekend defending her husband.
Now at the bottom of the hour, we are going live to Paris. CNN's Jim Bittermann has the reaction to the news of Strauss-Kahn's arrest and the impact that it could have on the global economy -- Christine.
ROMANS: Right. As concerns about the global economy, Ali, that are weighing around stocks down around across the board around the world. Markets are down in Europe and Asia. And here in the U.S., futures are lower after the Dow closed down more than 100 points on Friday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are also lower.
VELSHI: New this morning, an arrest warrant expected today for Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is charging Gadhafi and two others from his regime with crimes against humanity. Allegations include the killing of unarmed protesters and air strikes against civilians. Libya's deputy foreign minister tells CNN the government is just going to ignore the warrants.
ROMANS: Bloodshed along Israel's borders as pro-Palestinian protesters marked the anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state. A dozen people were killed, hundreds more wounded as demonstrators from Syria and Lebanon clashed with Israeli forces. Israel says its troops were defending its borders while both Syria and Lebanon criticized what they call Israeli attacks.
VELSHI: Senator John Kerry this morning says it's a critical moment in relations between the U.S. and Pakistan following the death of bin Laden. Kerry arriving in Islamabad overnight after a visit to Afghanistan, says there's a strong message for Pakistani leaders, do more to root out insurgents in Pakistan or face losing vital U.S. aid.
ROMANS: And the wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is set to undergo open heart surgery. Officials say Suzanne Mubarak suffered a heart attack Friday after learning she was being detained in a corruption investigation. She's in intensive care at a hospital in Egypt. Mrs. Mubarak and her husband are both suspected of abusing their positions to enrich themselves.
VELSHI: And back here, the sudden death of pro hockey player Derek Boogaard remains a mystery. The 28-year-old family -- the 28-year- old's family has donated his brain to Boston University where researchers are studying the effects of concussion injuries. Boogaard who played for the New York Rangers was found dead in his apartment in Minneapolis on Friday. The medical examiner is waiting for toxicology test results to determine the cause of death.
ROMANS: Wow, at 28 years old.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Space shuttle "Endeavour" fueled up, ready to go for its last ever liftoff less than three hours from right now. The weather looks good this morning. The electrical problem that delayed this launch two weeks ago, Ali, has been fixed now. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wife of mission commander Mark Kelly, will be -- she will be among the 500,000 people watching in person when "Endeavour" blasts off at 8:56 Eastern.
VELSHI: And if it does, it will be the last time.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: And I wish that we are there to be able to see it. But we will see it here. John Zarrella on top of this for us. Sanjay Gupta --
ROMANS: Yes, we will be able to watch it live in just a couple of hours.
VELSHI: -- he'll be following how Gabby Giffords is doing. So we'll be on top of that story for you. Eight minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center in Atlanta for us this morning.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Let's talk shuttle launch. Pretty good chance of this thing going off as far as weather is concerned. Sixty-eight degrees the expected temperature. There will be some clouds. There's a chance of seeing some showers around, but I think most of those will hold off to the afternoon. So I believe that last check it was 70 or even 80 percent go due to launch, so that's better than average. That's for sure.
All right. We've got some rain across parts of the northeast and this is going to add to the troubles for flooding across northern New England. Look for the rain to pretty much begin to fill in and intensify, not just today, but really through the rest of the week. And that's going to be -- the main concern I think is the potential for seeing heavy rain from the mid-Atlantic all the way up towards New England.
Daytime highs today will be around 68 degrees there in New York City, so above average. Here are the latest forecasts for the cresting river situation. The number in the middle is the date that we expect the crest and the number on the right is the feet above flood stage. Natchez, Vicksburg, Red River, well above record stage and as we've been reporting on, Baton Rouge and New Orleans seeing a little bit of alleviation due to the opening of that spillway. But obviously that causes more troubles downstream.
We'll be checking in with our live reporters throughout the morning. I'll be back out there tomorrow. More weather in about a half an hour, guys. Back up to New York.
VELSHI: All right, Rob. Thanks very much for that. We'll check in with you in a little while.
ROMANS: OK. Ali, (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: A college diploma, is it really the ticket to the good life? Is this the entry prize into the modern economy?
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, a majority of college grads say getting their diploma was a good investment. Grads say they earn about 20,000 more dollars a year because of their degree, a figure that closely resembles what the government found. But the study also found that 75 percent of Americans think college is no longer affordable.
VELSHI: Two major questions. And in addition to how much extra you earn just in this economy, it's about being employable. Again, a lot easier with a college degree. We'll talk more about that.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: We want to know what you think about it. Is college worth it? E-mail us at CNN.com/am. Give us a tweet at CNNAM or at Christine Romans or at Ali Velshi. Or go to Facebook.com/American Morning. We'll read some of your thoughts later in the show.
ROMANS: All right. We're going to talk more about the Louisiana spillway and some of the tough choices they're having to make there as they open the Morganza Spillway --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and flood one area to save others. Ed Lavandera is live with some amazing and dramatic pictures going on in the Mississippi River.
VELSHI: And while it may seem obvious to some people, a lot of people not happy about that.
What happens to "Celebrity Apprentice" if Donald Trump were to run for president? We'll tell you what the network is saying about that.
ROMANS: And some pictures that if any parent who has had a kid in a bouncy house, you've got to look at these pictures.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: A dirt devil picks up this bouncy house at a children's party and tosses it into the air. We're going to tell you what happened and how amazing there were no injuries. Look at that.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: Right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: One by one they're opening the floodgates in Louisiana. The Army Corps of Engineers letting water from the Mississippi River pour through something called the Morganza spillway. They're protecting two major cities, Baton Rouge and New Orleans from severe flooding.
VELSHI: So you see what they're doing.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: They're opening it up so the river rather than forcing its way down to those places ends up spilling out into other land, but that means other communities downstream are now directly in the path of those floodwaters. Thousands of evacuations have been ordered right now.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in one of those communities that's on the run. He's live in Butte La Rose, Louisiana -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ali. As you mentioned this is one of those towns that will be initially affected by the floodwaters that have been redirected from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya River Basin through that Morganza Spillway. They had opened up four bays over the weekend. Late yesterday, they opened up five more. So there are nine of those floodgates opened up at the Morganza Spillway now. And that means a lot more water will be flowing down this river. And it's a very slow process. It's very kind of painstaking for the people who live in these communities.
Yesterday in St. Landry's Parish just north of where we are, there were mandatory evacuation orders issued out to several hundred residents who lived in these low-lying areas. The problem is, this river goes downstream. It backs up all these other creeks and tributaries and it causes the water to swell up in a lot of these communities and that will be the problem here for weeks.
We spoke to some of these residents who were evacuating yesterday. For the most part, they're taking it all in stride, but they know it's a long waiting game here. This process could take a month to dry out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are fortunate we have what we have and we have an opportunity to get out. Material things we can replace. Our family and what we believe in daily is just - can't put - can't put prices on that.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Did you put up this sign?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes. I put it up. I'm proud of that sign. Because it's just what we say, we will be back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And, Ali, what these residents are being told is that they should plan on probably staying away almost up to a month and in communities like Butte La Rose where we are, they've been told to expect as much as 15 feet of water which would put so many of these homes under water.
And just upstream in Krotz Springs where you heard - we're very close to where that gentleman that you just heard from is living, they've been told in some of those areas to expect anywhere between 5 to 10, even in some other places 15 feet of water as well.
So a very dramatic few days here for a lot of these people who are up against the clock, taking out what they can and salvaging what they can, because in the next 24 or 48 hours, they're really going to see that water slowly start to creep up and they're being told that they need to get out - Ali.
ROMANS: You know, Ed, how can they afford this? I mean, people must be really worried about whether they can rebuild and what kind of insurance they have. I mean this is a big financial -
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- strain on these families.
LAVANDERA: There's no question. The insurance is a big deal. You talk to a mix of people, some have insurance, others don't. But the other weird thing about this is that life kind of goes on. It's not like every - every area of these communities is being - is being flooded, so a lot of these people have to deal with this and, you know, continue going - going to work.
So what we found here in the last few days is that there's so many of these people relying on family and friends, packing up what they can, sticking it in moving vans and on trailers and literally going over to a friend's house and parking it in the yard for as long as it takes for them to be able to go back into their homes. So you see a lot of that here in these areas.
You only have to drive a couple of miles to get to dry land, so, you know, you're really leaning on friends and family to get you through this.
VELSHI: All right. And we'll stay in touch with you on this through the course of the morning.
Later, we're going to be speaking to the president of that parish. It wasn't the - you know, think about what they've been through.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Katrina, Gustav, Ike, the oil spill. I mean, on one level it's tough and on the other level these are some of the hardiest people I've ever met.
ROMANS: Unbelievable. It's just unbelievable. One hit after another.
All right. Thanks, Ed.
You know, we want to take a closer look now at what's happened since the flood gates were opened in Louisiana and what's expected in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (voice-over): On Saturday, at 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza spillway. The waters rising to Interstate 10 which cuts through the spillway. Now by 3:00 P.M. today, 48 hours later, the communities of Krotz Springs and Butte La Rose expect to be hit by the water. Parts of Krotz Springs were evacuated yesterday. In Butte La Rose, where Ed Lavandera is this morning, there are some 800 homes in the flood path.
Flooding will spread through Tuesday, 72 hours after the flood gates were opened. On Wednesday, the flood waters will reach Morgan City, Louisiana, where residents have been working round the clock creating temporary barriers to protect their homes.
The water flowing across Cajun Country expanding west by Thursday afternoon. Then for the next few days after that, the swollen Mississippi continues its slow crawl spreading to the east hitting the towns of Huma, Louisiana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK. We'll continue to follow that story.
In other news this morning, President Obama is going to be in Memphis this morning to deliver the commencement speech at a high school. The school is Booker T. Washington High. It won the president's race to the top competition. President Obama will also meet with first responders and families affected by the flooding along the Mississippi River and hundreds of Memphis residents as you recall were forced into shelters when the river crested here at an all it time high last week, just shy of it.
ROMANS: The high school went from some 50 percent graduation rate -
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- to the 80s.
VELSHI: Great story, yes.
ROMANS: All right. A new era in Chicago, the era of Rahm (ph). Rahm Emanuel, the president's former Chief of Staff will be sworn in today as Chicago's Mayor. The first transition of power in 22 years in the Windy City. Vice President Biden is expected to be on hand for it. Imagine those two off the cuff -
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
ROMANS: -- talking in front of the cameras. There's a lot of work on Emanuel's desk already. He's inheriting a $587 million budget gap.
VELSHI: Twenty-two years for this daily, almost half a century with a Daly -
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: -- in charge of Chicago.
"All the factors say go, but the heart says no." That's what Republican Mark - Mike Huckabee said over the weekend about why he has chosen to stay out of the 2012 presidential race. Some polls had him leading the pack among the likely GOP contenders, especially in southern states. So who is he supporting instead? He says anyone but President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FMR. ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: If Mitt Romney is the nominee for our party, I will support him because I believe that Mitt Romney would be a better president to the United States than Barack Obama on any day.
I believe Donald Trump would be better for America than Barack Obama because he understands business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Talking about Donald Trump, NBC is renewing "Celebrity Apprentice" with or without Donald Trump. The network says the show is going to remain in the prime time lineup even if the Donald decides to run for president. The head of NBC's Entertainment Division insisting someone else will sit at the head of the board room table if Trump is on the campaign trail. He has no - not given any hint as to who that might be.
ROMANS: Because you couldn't have Trump sitting there doing both jobs.
VELSHI: That's right.
ROMANS: And the other thing for these Republicans who have lucrative TV contracts, if they decide to run for president they have to change all of their -
VELSHI: It changed the world, definitely.
ROMANS: It really has. It really has.
All right. Look at this video. We told you about this a few minutes ago.
VELSHI: Wow. This is incredible.
ROMANS: It's a terrifying moment. This is a fifth grade graduation party in Tucson, Arizona, this weekend. Powerful winds from a dust devil, I don't know if you've been in a dust devil in the American southwest, but they're - they're scary and very quick. It swept away this blow-up bouncy castle. Several children got hit with flying debris, suffering minor injuries.
This could have been a lot worse. Because the alert parents -
VELSHI: Got them out. Yes.
ROMANS: - got the kids of this castle just in time. Look at that.
VELSHI: That's incredible.
ROMANS: Wow.
VELSHI: Wrapping around a pole.
ROMANS: I know.
VELSHI: Wow. Good for them.
All right. For those of you who have been following this whole Sony PlayStation network outage, it is coming back online. Some people were getting it back, they'll have to do something. You'll have to download something and it's still going to be about a week before it's fully online, but it's coming back. We'll tell you exactly about that when we come back.
ROMANS: You know, gamers and PlayStation users have been complaining about this -
VELSHI: Sure.
ROMANS: -- for weeks now.
VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Also, you know, we call it affectionately around here in the middle of the night - the Pretzel. Her hat. This is Princess Beatrice. This is what she wore to the royal wedding. It's about a $3,000 Philip Treacy hat. It got her thousands of dollars of press actually.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: She put it up for auction. We'll tell you how much it's up for now.
VELSHI: We're coming back in a minute.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
The U.S. expected to reach its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling today. That's the amount the U.S. is legally allowed to borrow. And while both Republicans and Democrats agree failing to raise the debt ceiling is not an option both sides still far from a deal. The Treasury Secretary has a few weeks of wiggle room until it's really critical here.
With gas prices near $4 a gallon, President Obama announces plans to speed up oil and gas drilling in the U.S. He says the administration will expand drilling in Alaska, explore new oil sources off the Atlantic and extend drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
The CEO of Starbucks says they expect coffee prices to begin falling from their 34-year high. He blames market speculation, not supply and demand for the current spike.
Sony restores power to its PlayStation network. It's already back up and running in California and the Northeast. The network went offline last month after hackers stole personal information from its 77 million users.
Apple setting a few Guinness World Records. The iPhone 4 was named fastest selling portable gaming system beating out Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS. The Apple App Store also named most popular application marketplace. All right. Weigh in, crazy or couture? The hat worn by Britain's Princess Beatrice to last month's royal wedding is now going for more than - you see it there, $18,000 on eBay. There are just six days left to bid.
And our question of the day, is college worth it? A majority of Americans say it's no longer affordable. What do you think? E-mail us at CNN.com/AM, give us a tweet @CNNAM or tell us on Facbeook.com/AMERICANMORNING. We're going to read to you some of your comments later this hour.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. We're passing the half hour right now.
Let's bring you up to speed on some of the top stories we're following here at CNN.
A man in charge of the world's money charged with attempted rape in New York City. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was pulled off an Air France flight moments from takeoff from New York on Saturday and arrested. Police say he tried to force himself on a hotel maid in Manhattan. He's expected to be arraigned later today.
ROMANS: The floodgates are open. The Mississippi River unleashed on purpose in Louisiana. Officials sacrificing a region with 25,000 people to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
VELSHI: Wanted for war crimes -- The Hague is expected to issue an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, one of his sons and his top spy. It outlines allegations of attacks against civilians by Gadhafi's forces since February.
ROMANS: And the arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund turning France's presidential election campaign upside down. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, he's been a clear front runner in the polls before being arrested for allegedly trying to rape a New York hotel maid this weekend.
VELSHI: He was yanked from the first class cabin of an Air France flight Saturday night just minutes before takeoff to Paris. He's facing arraignment in New York this morning.
Jim Bittermann joins us live from Paris.
Jim, Dominic Strauss-Kahn, or DSK, as he's called there -- his arrest could have major and political and economic implications.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely on both fronts. He was a key player in terms of the politics here in France. He was the leading contender for president, according to the public opinion polls. He topped all the other candidates, including incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy. So, his disappearance into a jail cell in New York is now really throwing the whole presidential race open for grabs and it means there are a whole new parameters and a lot of the political classes here, doing a lot of chattering this morning.
Now, I just want to show this, Ali. This is the "Liberation," the socialist party newspaper. His party, "DSK OUT." You can translate that even if you don't know French. Basically he's out of the race as far as the political mavens here are concerned.
And then, on a financial side, the International Monetary Fund, he was the director of one of these key world institutions, a man who goes around the world lecturing to world leaders about exercising discipline and self-restraint. And then in his personal affairs gets caught up in something like this. We don't know whether he's innocent or guilty, of course, but nonetheless, it's not exactly a great example to show -- Ali.
ROMANS: You know, Jim, he's supposed to be in Brussels right now where really important debt negotiations about the future of some of these countries that are facing these sovereign debt crises. He is -- you talk about the future potential candidate for the presidency of France, he is right now a linchpin in the future -- the economic future of Europe in some of these ailing countries, isn't he?
BITTERMANN: Absolutely. And I mean, he was a key player. One of the things that I think one of the reasons why he was somewhat excused for all the rumors that circulated for many years here about his personal life was that he was such a brilliant economist and a great negotiator and was able to put together deals and was very well-respected on that front.
He was also supposed to be a key player at the table in the G-8, which is coming up here towards the end of the month. Now, it looks like -- very unlikely that he's going to participate in any of that. He may have his feet nailed to the floor in New York. We have reported that, in fact, they've already taken away his passport. So, it's unlikely he's going to be able to continue in his current position.
ROMANS: Jim Bittermann in Paris, thank you so much. Jim and Ali, so -- the idea of him being picked up of a special victims unit lineup, a man of his stature -- it just shows you how quickly the NYPD reacted, got him off that plane and now facing these charges.
VELSHI: They couldn't care who you are in New York. Even though we often talk about how things are a little more per missive in Europe with respect to leaders and what they do with their time, this crosses the line. An alleged rape is a different story.
ROMANS: It's a very serious allegation. He is going to plead -- his lawyers say he intends to plead not guilty, he's not guilty. He's arraigned later today. So, we will follow these developments, of course.
VELSHI: A former pop star is Haiti's new president. Michel Martelly took the oath as the country's new president over the weekend. Former President Bill Clinton was on hand for the ceremony. Many Haitians see this as a new start after last year's earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 1 million others homeless.
ROMANS: A midair scare for passengers on a Cathay flight out of Singapore. A stall warning forced pilots to bring the Airbus A-330 headed for Jakarta back to the airport for an emergency landing instead. Firefighters then doused sparks coming from one of the jet's engines. No injuries to the 136 passengers or crewmembers.
VELSHI: And a San Francisco Giants baseball fan who was nearly beaten to death outside Dodgers Stadium in March is now showing some signs of cognitive function. Doctors say Brian Stowe has been taken out of a medically induced coma and has opened his eyes several times in the past week. He's scheduled to be transferred from Los Angeles to a San Diego hospital today.
ROMANS: And a warning now: Social Security and Medicare funds will be depleted sooner than expected. That's according to the trustees that run the funds for both of these programs. Medicare won't be able to pay 100 percent benefits beyond the year 2024, and Social Security will come up short in the year 2036. The reason: more baby boomers are retiring and fewer people are paying into the system.
VELSHI: And our question of the day, as many people graduated from college this weekend --
ROMANS: Congratulations.
VELSHI: Congratulations.
ROMANS: Is your degree worth it?
VELSHI: That's the question.
According to a new poll, graduates believe they make about $20,000 more a year than those who don't have a degree.
So, what do you think? E-mail us at CNN.com/AM, tweet us @CNNAM, @ChristineRomans or @AliVelshi. Or tell us on Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. We're already getting great responses from you. And we'll read some of your thoughts later in the show. ROMANS: And the majority thinks that the college education is increasingly out of reach for most people.
VELSHI: Still worth it if you can afford it.
ROMANS: Still worth it if you can afford it.
All right. We're going to go live to Kennedy Space Center because this is a really important day. Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour are preparing for launch right now. We're going to bring you live pictures of what's going on as the countdown is on.
VELSHI: Plus, movie theaters -- not just more movies anymore. We'll explain what we're talking about when we come back.
Stay with us. It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. A very exciting morning.
ROMANS: Sure is.
VELSHI: And this is always one of those things right down to the wire. But as of right now, all systems go for space shuttle Endeavour.
You're looking at live pictures from the Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour is on the launch pad, fueled up and ready for liftoff in a little more than two hours from now, 8:56 a.m. Eastern Time, and historic mission.
ROMANS: Yes, it was scrubbed a couple weeks ago, last week, I think. And now, here we go again. The weather is perfect.
Onboard for NASA's second to last shuttle mission, a crew of six astronauts led by mission commander, Mark Kelly. He's, of course, the husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and she is there to watch in person just four months after surviving a bullet to the head.
VELSHI: John Zarrella is live at Kennedy Space Center for us.
John, what it's looking like? How is the mood over there? Tell us -- tell us what's going on.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali, Christine, yes, the mood is good. The astronauts are a lot further along than they were two and a half weeks ago when the astrovan got literally right here to the vehicle assembly building, stopped, and they had to turn around and go back to the crew quarters because they had that malfunctioning heater system. That, of course, has all been fixed and it does look very, very good this morning for the liftoff of Endeavour on the 25th and final space shuttle flight -- a mission, of course, to the International Space Station.
And as we were mentioning, couple hours ago, the astronauts got up and over at the operations and checkout building, they got suited up, put on their flight suits, and had their breakfast this morning, and then, of course, made their way down the elevators, out the front door. The tradition of waving to the crowd of workers from the NASA workforce, that gather there to watch them as they depart crew quarters and head out here. All of the astronauts are now on board the space shuttle. They're going to close the hatch in about 10 minutes or so now.
And Mike Fincke, one of the mission specialists, about an hour or so ago, tweeted this out. He said, "Dear God, please bless our crew. Help us in our mission and to return safely home." And he finally added, "Please help me not to mess anything up."
Now, Fincke is a veteran. He's flown a couple times on space station missions, but this is the very first time he's flown on a space shuttle. And actually with his flight, it marks the end of every single astronaut qualified to fly on a shuttle will now have flown on a space shuttle.
And, of course, as you mentioned, Gabrielle Giffords, the wife of the commander, Mark Kelly, is here. She arrived yesterday and tweeted -- her people tweeting out, you know, "Excited again to be here."
And, you know, they're taking the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer off, a wonderful piece of equipment that may revolutionize our understanding of the universe. They're not only taking that up, they're taking energy bars up.
The interesting story here, Ali and Christine, is that a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old sisters from Battle Creek, Michigan, won a competition -- a national competition. Their bar had to meet NASA standards.
It did. NASA then cleared it. That energy bar, which has a lot of cranberry and oats in it, they were telling me. And that cranberry bar is flying on Endeavour as a meal supplement for the astronauts.
And the two girls are here, again, to watch hopefully the liftoff of Endeavour, carrying their energy bar into space.
I tasted it. It was actually pretty good -- Ali, Christine.
ROMANS: Wow. Proof that there's an awful lot of American ingenuity inside of that space shuttle.
VELSHI: That's great. That is really great. Ed, I'm as excited as you are. We will keep checking in with you and, of course, we'll be live with you at 8:56 when that window opens for the launch, the first opening. But we'll start a little earlier than that, obviously, and we'll check in with Ed again.
Stay tuned. This will be the last launch, if it happens, of the space shuttle Endeavour. There is one more space shuttle launch after this, but it won't be the Endeavour.
ROMANS: Yes, you're really watching history, folks.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: This is the end of an era for the space shuttle.
All right. Forty-three minutes after the hour.
Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. For that, Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center. Hi there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Let's light that cannon, huh? Let's set that thing ablaze and send it into orbit.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: Seventy percent chance of a go weather-wise, guys. You know, technically, for all the other technical issues, I can't speak to that. But the weather looks pretty decent.
We got a couple big storms that are happening across the U.S., and both are pretty much locked down and slow movers. One across the Northeast, that will be with you for the next few days, and then, one across the West Coast. In between, a fairly nice weather, although it will be on the cool side, that's for sure.
Let's talk radar. Scattered showers right now across the Allegheny through Upstate New York and through the Adirondacks. More rain heading through Vermont which doesn't need it as the flooding issues there continue.
But this radar, I think, is going to fill in as we go through time. And here's why: we've got this low which is going to not move a whole lot. Watch it. Yes. It's just kind of sits there, taps moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. Disturbances around it kind of intensify things. And we could see anywhere from three to five inches of rainfall over the next five days in New York City area.
So, if you are traveling anywhere up and down the I-95 corridor, bring along the rain gear, at least that pocket umbrella you may have, just in case.
Temperatures I mentioned going to be cool behind this thing: 54 in Chicago, 66 in Memphis, and 62 degrees for the high temperatures, far south, as Atlanta, 76 degrees expected in New Orleans.
Other travel issues today, across parts of the airports, New York, you'll see some travel delays because of the showers and low clouds spinning around that area. Same deal in Philly and Boston but shouldn't be as intense. Chicago, 30 to 60-minute delays and Orlando and Miami, 15 to 30 down there because of a little bit of wind.
Might have cross winds out there at KSC that might be prohibiting as well, but again, 70 percent chance of seeing that shuttle go off as the weather looks to be OK. Guys, let's send it back to you up there in New York.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob. Talk to you soon.
MARCIANO: OK.
VELSHI: Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, movie theaters reinventing themselves as people's movie habits change. What are you doing with all these theaters if fewer people are going to the movie theater? We'll tell you when we come back.
ROMANS: And is college worth it? Is that expensive degree worth it out there. E-mail us at CNN.com/AM. Send us a tweet at @CNNAM or you can tell us on Facebook, Facebook.com/americanmorning. Your responses right after the break.
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VELSHI: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice-over): The head of the International Monetary Fund denies trying to rape a housekeeper at a New York City hotel. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to be arraigned later today. Police say his accuser picked him out of a lineup.
At least nine floodgates along a Louisiana spillway have been opened to help protect big cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans from flooding. That comes at the expense of smaller, lower lying communities along the Mississippi where evacuations are under way right now.
Space shuttle "Endeavour's" final mission scheduled to launch a little more than two hours from now. Live coverage of the final countdown right here on AMERICAN MORNING starting at 8:50 a.m. eastern time.
A dozen people killed as violence breaks out along Israel's border with Syria and Lebanon. Pro-Palestinian protesters were marking the anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state.
Billy Graham back at home in North Carolina after five days in the hospital with pneumonia. Doctors say the evangelist, who is 92 years old, responded well to treatment but faces a slow recovery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The high cost of higher education. A new Pew Research Center study looks at whether college is really worth the price, and a majority of those surveyed, they say -- thought they said yes.
VELSHI: Yes. People think it's worth it. They do think it's less and less affordable.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: Separate issues. So, we want to know from you. The question of the day is, is it worth it? That separate from whether or not you think it's affordable. Here's some responses that we got from you.
ROMANS: So, this is from Fire_Isis, "No. For an English major, college is not worth the price. Will need to attend grad school, unless, I want to teach or something." And you know what's interesting, the highest paid English majors are technical writers. So, there you go. You got to pick the right career.
VELSHI: Vauuhn Ramdeen (ph) writes and says, "Yes, I think, I mean, if you want to major and have great qualifications but the only way you can get a job is if you know someone who can get one for you." Speaks a lot to the amount that you have to network these days just having a qualification doesn't do it for you. ROMANS: That's right. Vinny in New Jersey says, "We're actually shopping for loans today. It's sad that my son may graduate with a mortgage payment. Depending on the field they work in, the degree is needed. I just wonder why some states are more affordable than others?"
VELSHI: And Jamar Sanders says, "It depends on what degree you obtain while there." And that is true.
ROMANS: Absolutely true.
VELSHI: It is tougher these days for Liberal Arts graduates if they don't go further and get some sort of specialization.
ROMANS: For those of you who are considering borrowing money right now, remember the rule of thumb is don't borrow more than you expect to earn in you first year out of school. So, that's, you know, -- and the average is about 20 to $29,000 is what people are borrowing these days.
VELSHI: Yes, but the average starting salary this year is going to be a little above $50,000, but if you get into one of the high-end professions, these high-end demand professions, software engineering, data systems analyst --
ROMANS: Anything engineering.
VELSHI: You're upward of 80 or $90,000. Here's one thing to remember, though, the unemployment rate in this country is 9 percent. The unemployment rate for people with a college education, a degree, is 4.4 percent.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: So, your chances of being employed are a lot greater if you have a college education. Keep them coming.
ROMANS: Yes. We want to hear more what you think. You can send us an e-mail or tweet. You can tell us on Facebook. We're going to read more of your thoughts later on in the program.
Meanwhile, at the box office, "Thor" rules for the second weekend in a row. The superhero film taking in an estimated $34 million. The next one is what I want to see.
VELSHI: Yes, that's what my wife tells me that she wants to see.
ROMANS: The comedy, "Brides Maid," debuted at number two. It took in better than $24 million, and some of the critics have been saying it's so good. That means the next "Hangover 2" has got a lot to live up to.
VELSHI: Wow. All right. Maybe, I'll have to go see this.
Speaking of movies, by the way, theaters aren't just for the motion pictures anymore. They're evolving, they're showcasing sports events, the concerts and opera. Here's Kareen Wynter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tickets, check. Coffee, check. Fredda Weiss is heading to an L.A. Movie complex.
FREDDA WEISS, OPERA FAN: Thank you.
WYNTER: Her friends have arrived, and the show is about to start.
WEISS: Laurie B. (ph), let's go.
WYNTER: But they're not here for a movie. They're here for this. A live performance of the metropolitan opera transmitted to 600 cinemas coast to coast.
WEISS: It's a beautiful facility. The chairs are very, very comfortable, and it's reserved seats, which is ideal.
WYNTER (on-camera): And a growing number of cinemas are complementing their usual fair with alternatives like opera and classical music.
WYNTER (voice-over): The L.A. Philharmonics beamed two concerts to movie theaters this year. A third is set for June, but, it's not just high art that's filling seats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming to move theaters.
WYNTER: In the past year, broadcasts of World Cup Soccer and ultimate fighting hit hundreds of movie screens. Colorado Based NCN Fathom is a leader in bringing new kinds of entertainment to the multiplex. CEO, Kurt Hall, says the market is expanding.
KURT HALL, CEO, NCM FATHOM: We did around two million people in movie theaters over our network last year. This is clearly a new and growing business.
WYNTER: Attendance for Hollywood films is down this year, which has made the revenue from alternative events vital to theater owners.
HALL: They get a piece of the ticket price as well as selling concessions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
WYNTER: The Broadway production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" will be broadcast to movie theaters next month. Tickets range from $18 to $22, a fraction of the cost to see it on stage. Fredda Weiss paid $22 for her ticket to the met live broadcast as a subtitle says for her, "It's heaven-sent joy."
WEISS: It just knocks your socks off. It's quite wonderful.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS: Oh! Little opera to start your morning, Ali.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: These theaters are sitting empty from time to time, why not get some --
ROMANS: Do you sing like that in the shower?
VELSHI: I'm not a big opera fan.
ROMANS: Yes. Top stories minutes away, including the world's money chief charged with attempted rape. This is a shocking story from the weekend. It has the political classes around the world just absolutely blown away. He could have been France's next president, perhaps. Reaction from France live.
And some scientists have identified a gene that could be a trigger to make you fat. The number of obese people in the world has doubled since the 1980s. Scientist may have found the switch, but I'll tell you why it's no excuse to stop exercising just yet when we come back. It's 56 minutes after the hour.
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