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American Morning
IMF Chief Resigns; President Obama's Mideast Speech; Shriver, Housekeeper Gave Birth Within Days; Sony Fixes Security Bug; Message from Bin Laden?
Aired May 19, 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: Breaking news on this AMERICAN MORNING. IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns just hours before his bail hearing. He insists he didn't commit a crime and is stepping down because he needs more time to defend himself. We'll tell you what he's prepared to promise the judge just to get out of prison.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And Al Qaeda releasing a new audio tape claiming it was recorded by Osama bin Laden before he died. When and what does it say? New details this morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the first pictures of the other woman, the mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger's secret son. She's a former housekeeper for the ex-governor and there's news this morning about a legal move made by Maria Shriver.
VELSHI: Plus the three ways that you are about to waste money today. Coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: There's only three?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. A lot happening overnight. Let's get you caught up.
The head of the International Monetary Fund resigned late last night right before his bail hearing in New York. He's facing seven charges of sexual assault. Will he walk out of Rikers today?
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. A military jet in flames and in pieces. The plane hauling fuel skidded off the runway and exploded.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Arnold Schwarzenegger's other woman. The first pictures of his reported mistress released. Also, Maria Shriver making a legal move on this AMERICAN MORNING.
VELSHI: Good morning. Welcome. It's Thursday morning, May 19th. We have a lot of news this morning including some breaking news.
ROMANS: Let's begin with that breaking news this morning. The resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the International Monetary Fund. This move is effective immediately coming just hours before a bail hearing later today here in New York. And we're seeing this mug shot for the very first time. The former IMF chief is facing sexual assault charges for allegedly attacking a maid in his Manhattan hotel room. He says he is not guilty, resigning from the IMF so he can defend himself fully.
CHETRY: And here is part of the statement that he released when he announced this resignation. Quote, "I think at this time first of my wife, whom I love more than anything, of my children, of my family, of my friends. I want to say that I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against me. I want to protect this institution, which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially, I want to devote all of my strength, all of my time, and all of my energy to proving my innocence."
VELSHI: All right. Susan Candiotti is covering this case for us.
Susan, it's a pretty strategic move by the Strauss-Kahn defense on the eve of his bail hearing. That's going to be today.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And certainly it's no coincidence that he is making the statement today, this resignation, on the eve of when he's going to be asking the judge to let him out of jail. A judge gets to figure it out. Are the conditions offered good enough to make sure he shows up in court?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn wants out of Rikers where he's been two nights under a suicide watch protectively. If he makes his case, no more cot, no more cell, no more guards looking in on him every 15 minutes. He'd get to live in a comfortable home, possibly his daughter's in Manhattan.
Here's the deal his defense attorneys are proposing. $1 million bail, the same amount they offered at Monday's court appearance. He'd be confined to home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Be under electronic monitoring, likely an ankle bracelet, and sure to include checking in with the court by phone. He's already turned over his passport and would also hand in a United Nations travel I.D.
The internationally known financier is also offering to put up the deed on his $4 million home in Washington, D.C.'s tony Georgetown. He also has a home in Paris. Strauss-Kahn will also tell the court he'll waive extradition to the U.S. should he flee to France, which has no treaty to force his return to the U.S. The alleged victim's lawyer says the 32-year-old mother, because of all of this, is scared to death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY SHAPIRO, LAWYER FOR ALLEGED VICTIM: She's very concerned about her security. She's very concerned about what has happened, what this man is capable of and the fact that he would be free. I'm sure it would be something that would -- she'd be very alarmed about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have said that he will plead not guilty and told the court they have a defensible case. Strauss- Kahn's DNA and other forensic evidence collected at the scene of the alleged attack will be considered by a grand jury. The hotel maid, as we know, is also to testify in secret grand jury hearings.
ROMANS: And, Susan, we're learning new information now about the cart, the maid's cart and the positioning of that and what was just happening as she was entering the room. What can you tell us?
CANDIOTTI: Well, per hotel policy, maids are supposed to keep their cleaning cart in the open doorway. A law enforcement source tells us that in fact that's what happened in this case. So arguably, the prosecution's case might be helped by that to say, well, let's see, would you have consensual sex, for example, if you had the door wide open? Now, of course, the defense could argue it in another fashion, but all of this is yet to be seen.
VELSHI: Susan, thanks very much for that. We'll stay on top of this story. Obviously a lot of developments.
CHETRY: Yes. I mean, he probably didn't really have much of a choice. I mean, he had to resign from the IMF.
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: I'm sure.
CHETRY: I mean, even if he's proven innocent, I mean, this is a fight he has to tackle for months to come.
VELSHI: And that they happened to be very busy.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: The IMF since the financial crisis has been remarkably busy. So, yes, that's true.
ROMANS: You know, when the treasury secretary of the United States comes out and says at the Harvard Club two nights ago he needs to step down, that's a pretty clear message that you're not going to be an effective leader at the IMF when you're defending charges like this.
VELSHI: We'll continue to follow that story. We've got another one I want to show you with some remarkable pictures.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash of a military plane in Southern California. The tanker jet crashed last night on takeoff at the Point Mugu Naval Station. The Boeing 707 burst into flames at the end of the runway. Three crew members on board managed to escape with just minor injuries. Officials say the plane was being operated by a Navy contractor Omega Air Refueling which provides fleet operations on the Point Mugu sea test range.
ROMANS: Al Qaeda out today with a new audio message said to be recorded by bin Laden before his death. The 12-minute tape was posted by radical Islamic Web sites. It lists bin Laden as the speaker calling him the martyr of Islam. The message refers to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and encourages Muslims to rise up against corrupt rulers and western influence. Also today, growing concerns at the Pentagon that releasing too much information about the raid that killed bin Laden could compromise future missions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. MIKE MULLEN, CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have, from my perspective, gotten to a point where we are close to jeopardizing this precious capability that we have, and we can't afford to do that. This fight isn't over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Just yesterday, CIA Director Leon Panetta sent out a memo reminding agency employees of the importance of protecting classified information.
Coming up at 6:30 Eastern, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, he's going to stop by to talk to us more about this message believed to be from bin Laden, you guys, and about Al Qaeda's new leadership.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: And new leader there.
CHETRY: It will be interesting stuff. Peter's been at the forefront of the new information coming out. So it will be good to talk to him about it.
Meanwhile in just a few hours, President Obama will be outlining new goals for the Middle East in a major speech. It will include an economic boost interestingly for Egypt and also Tunisia.
VELSHI: Yes.
And we can also expect strong language from him aimed at Syria after the White House hit the Syrian government with sanctions for the brutal crackdown on its protesters which we've been following for weeks here.
ROMANS: Yes. Let's bring in Ed Henry. He's live at the White House.
You know, Ed, why now, and what's the goal of this speech? Because it's a complicated narrative that the president has to weave here.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
ROMANS: Why are we reacting one country one way and in another country a different way?
HENRY: It really is. It's a lot to tackle. When you talk to the president's top aide, they say he wants to tie together the Arab spring, you know, all these peaceful protests, the situation in Libya, the death of Osama bin Laden. I mean, that alone is a lot to chew on. You throw in the Mideast peace process which has been intractable for so many years and this is very, very ambitious, obviously. Two years after that speech the president gave to the Muslim world in Cairo, Egypt, this is now a chance to check in again. And aides say when you ask about the goal, that it is a chance to sort of take a breath, a few months after the Arab spring began, and kind of reassess where we are and lay out for the world, not just the Muslim world, but the entire world what exactly the U.S. can do specifically to try and help some of these fledgling democracies as they make these transitions. Specifically what the president's going to lay out is about $2 billion in U.S. aid to Egypt and Tunisia to try and get at the root of where all this started which we can't forget about which is the fact that there are a lot of young people in the Arab world who are not just interested in human rights but also economic power, and the fact that there are so many of them coming out of college without jobs. And so the U.S. wants to try and help Egypt, Tunisia and let them be models for the rest of the region as they try to grow here.
But it's interesting when you look back at that speech to the Muslim world two years ago, the president didn't mention Tunisia, didn't mention Libya, didn't mention Syria. Obviously there are a lot of big countries in that region but it gives you a sense of how in two years so much has changed. This is a chance for the president of the United States maybe to take stock, guys.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ed.
You know, a lot clearly for the president to illustrate for the American people. CNN is going to carry the president's Mideast speech live at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.
CHETRY: Well, after nearly a decade of controversy over this drug, the FDA is taking steps now to curb the use of the diabetes medication Avandia because of its risks of heart attack. Beginning in November, Avandia will be available now only by mail order at select pharmacies and patients must be informed of its risk. Studies have found that the drug increases the chance of heart attack or stroke by nearly forty percent. Some are then asking why is it still even allowed to be prescribed.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: But there are others who have tried to make the case that for some patients Avandia is the most effective at controlling diabetes.
VELSHI: And speaking of medicine, the doctors -- doctors say Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is recovering well. This is another milestone after her surgery. She underwent a procedure yesterday to repair part of her skull after being shot in the head as you remember back in January. Her surgeons are expected to speak later this morning to discuss what is next in her rehabilitation. As you know, she was at the shuttle launch on Monday to watch her husband, right there, Mark Kelly, take that space shuttle Endeavour's last mission into space.
And controversial documents about the accused Tucson shooter, Jared Loughner, are set to be released. The Arizona Republic is reporting that a judge ruled Pima County Community College, which he attended, has to turn over more than 250 e-mails written about him in the months before his suspension. The school initially tried to block the move citing a privacy law. Six people were killed in the shooting in January. More than a dozen others were wounded.
ROMANS: And in Virginia Tech, we saw something similar, didn't we, Kiran, where we were trying to find out if there was any kind of sign that the shooter in that case --
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: -- had been afoul of mental health officials or with school hierarchy.
CHETRY: And he was in and out of the mental health system. And he had written poems that scared his classmates who had actually gone to talk to them.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: But again, I mean, it's sort of that minority report aspect. I mean, even if you think somebody is troubled and they haven't committed a crime --
VELSHI: The system doesn't allow them or has not allowed them. That's what the school is claiming.
ROMANS: And the privacy trumps everything.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: That's something they've also claimed as well.
The Mississippi River cresting a day earlier than expected in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at over 57 feet. That's 14 feet above flood stage and an all-time record. Hundreds of homes are now under water. Highways are impassable. Right now, thousands of homes are flooded and millions of acres of farmland in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas are submerged.
CHETRY: Also, some other wicked weather taking place in Maryland. Home video now of a tornado that touched down. This is in Hagerstown, Maryland. The National Weather Service confirms it was on the ground for just over two miles. It tore up roofs and knocked over trees but amazingly no one was hurt.
VELSHI: And after capturing the prestigious players championship this weekend, PGA Tour star K.J. Choi is donating $200,000 of his winnings to tornado victims in the southeast. The South Korean golfer took home $1.7 million with his playoff victory on Sunday. He said he wanted those who are suffering right now to know they are not being ignored.
ROMANS: And he's known for this, actually --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- for giving a portion of his winnings to local churches, to charities, to causes that move him. So, that's -- I mean, that's really cool and generous.
OK. Cut these out of your everyday life and you're going to be a little bit richer. Take notes here, folks.
Pretty helpful article up right now on the new CNNmoney.com. The top 10 ways you're wasting money. Here are the first few.
First, ATM fees. Using the closest one instead of your actual bank which is probably just down the block, it adds up.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, you've got to walk an extra block or drive an extra mile for your ATM machine, folks. Number two, lotto tickets. You know the old saying the house always wins. Well, last year, people bought more than $70 billion worth of lottery tickets. Wow, 70 billion. Only 38 billion was paid out.
CHETRY: But if you win, you really win.
ROMANS: And number three, fancy gourmet coffee. The sludge from the office machine is probably just going to work just fine.
VELSHI: It depends on the sludge. But if you don't use the -- if you don't use the ATMs that charge you, then you can use that money for coffee.
ROMANS: There you go. I agree.
CHETRY: That's right. Or an occasional lotto ticket.
VELSHI: Yes. And while I certainly never think buying lotto tickets is an excellent choice, in these tough times it does fund a lot of state operations.
ROMANS: It does fund state operations and people do it --
CHETRY: It pays for schools.
VELSHI: In Georgia, it's their scholarship system. I mean, it's -- ah, but bottom line is take stock of what you're spending.
ROMANS: All right. This is our question of the day then. What do you waste your money on and why? Even if you know you shouldn't do it, why are you still doing it? Why can't we kick this habit?
You can e-mail us, tweet us or go to our blog, or find us on Facebook. We're going to be reading your comments later this hour.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good.
Meanwhile, there are new details about the other woman that broke up Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. New pictures and also a new move, perhaps a legal move by Maria. We're going to have more on that.
Fourteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right.
We're going to get our first look at Arnold Schwarzenegger's other woman. "The New York Times" is reporting that her name is Mildred Patricia Baena, a former housekeeper for the Schwarzenegger family. These are pictures from her MySpace page. She's reportedly the mother of Schwarzenegger's secret child.
CHETRY: We're also getting our first glimpse of Schwarzenegger since this scandal broke in his black Bentley and rolling up to a wall of paparazzi. That's right.
Thelma Gutierrez is live outside of the mistress' home in Bakersfield, California, with new details this morning. Hi, Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.
Well, Mildred Patricia Baena, who is 50 years old and a native of Guatemala, lives here in this very brand new upscale subdivision in Bakersfield, California. This is about a hundred miles away from the Brentwood Mansion where she worked for the Schwarzenegger's. Now, she recently retired after 20 years of service as a housekeeper for the Schwarzeneggers and she moved here to Los Angeles to Bakersfield with her 14-year-old son.
Now, his birth certificate that was recently obtained by CNN shows that the boy was born just days after Maria Shriver gave birth to her youngest son. And the man who's listed on the birth certificate as the father is the man that Baena was married to at the time. But divorce records also obtained by CNN show that the couple separated just weeks after the boy's birth.
Now, we had mentioned that the couple - that the family resettled here in Bakersfield. Here's what neighbors had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARVINA HEIMILLER, NEIGHBOR: They seemed to be very pleasant neighbors. And the boy, he is - he seems very well liked. He's very, very polite. Very polite. He also has a little dog he plays with a lot and he rides his bike. Not a whole lot, but you know once in a while I see him, but not a whole lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Now, as for the boy's father Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has kept a very low profile. A source told us a couple of days ago that he is contrite, that he apologized to his children before this information went public. CHETRY: "People" magazine reporting, Thelma, that Maria Shriver has hired a divorce attorney. Do we know any more about the timeline for when their marriage could be officially dissolved?
GUTIERREZ: No, we don't know exactly when that will happen. But the attorney is a high powered attorney in Hollywood, Kiran. She's Laura Wasser. Again, "People" magazine reported that Maria Shriver had hired her. Now she's represented other women, high profile women like Robin Gibson who is Mel Gibson's wife. Also Angelina Jolie and at one time Brittney Spears.
CHETRY: Thelma Gutierrez for us this morning in Bakersfield. Thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK. And one of the questions we get a lot in these tough times for people ready to - or of the age that they're ready to retire, should they retire now or do they continue working because of the tough economic times? We're going to talk about that when we come back.
ROMANS: And you don't have to worry about retirement if the end of the world comes first. Some say Saturday is D-Day. Jeanne Moos takes a look at what could be the end of the world, or not.
VELSHI: Twenty minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-four minutes past the hour right now.
Thousands of New Jersey State workers are getting out I guess you could say while the going's still good.
ROMANS: That's right. They're worried about the future of their state and their pensions. Public employees feel they may lose their pensions and their benefits because of looming state budget cuts. They're running out of time and options.
So is early retirement, is it what you should do - early retirement applications are pouring in in New Jersey.
VELSHI: Yes. There's - there's certainly a lot of - a lot of question about this.
CNN's Felicia Taylor joins us. She's looking into this. It's a very common question. Should I take my pension while there still is a pension and a state budget or - or wait?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of fear out there and that's part of the problem because there's also a lot of misconception. And certainly this is a problem that resonates with every single one of us in the workforce.
VELSHI: Sure.
TAYLOR: Should you and will we have enough money out there when it comes to retiring? And that's a question faced by a lot of people right now. And some government workers feel that they are being forced to make some unwanted decisions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH JACOBS, RETIRING STATE EMPLOYEE: It scares me. It scares me. I don't know how much money I'm going to get, how long I'm going to get it, but I want to get some of it while it's in there.
TAYLOR (voice-over): Debra Jacobs has worked at the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles for 34 years. In June, she's retiring one year ahead of schedule at the age of 54.
JACOBS: I've really been forced to make a decision. I would stay a little longer, but with the rules that they're trying to make, with the laws that they're trying to pass, it's scaring me that I may have to be here until I'm like 60.
TAYLOR: Jacobs is one of thousands of state employees heading for the exits in a handful of states facing a pension crisis. In New Jersey, early retirements surged 60 percent in 2010 and are on the rise again this year. In California, 30,000 state employees retired in 2010. And in Wisconsin, where protests against government benefit cuts made national headlines in February, retirement applications have nearly doubled in just the first four months of this year.
Economics Professor Theresa Gilarducci says many want out before their pension goes bust.
TERESA GHILARDUCCI, PROF. OF ECONOMICS, THE NEW SCHOOL: It is important for states and localities that have expensive pension bill right now to reassure employees that they'll get all their pensions.
STEPHEN SWEENEY (D), N.J. STATE SENATE PRESIDENT: There's no sense for anybody to race to leave. If you're vested and in New Jersey it's five years, they can't make those changes to you legally.
TAYLOR: State Senate President Stephen Sweeney is working against the clock to get a road map to save New Jersey's pension fund.
SWEENEY: I'm actually working with the governor on a plan that's going to create a more private sector management type of pension system that I think will be something that could go nationally.
TAYLOR: While he works on it, retirement applications keep rolling in. And Ghilarducci says the quality of state services will suffer.
GHILARDUCCI: As the best employees head for the door, especially those employees who are really valuable, because they can get jobs someplace else.
TAYLOR: And that's exactly what Deborah Jacobs is doing.
JACOBS: I have to venture off and do something. Thirty-four years doing this job, this is a career for me. A new family - it's been a family for me, but now I have to leave it. (END VIDEOTAPE)
TAYLOR: Most states have to rein in costs. We've been hearing about this for a long time. In New York, the Governor Andrew Cuomo is looking at targeting future workers by saying, listen, the younger workers are going to have to retire later, maybe at age 65. There will be no early retirement options and they will have to contribute twice as much as workers do now, increasing from three to six percent in terms of pension cost.
So at some point states have to make concessions. It's a question of who they're going to make it with.
VELSHI: Right.
CHETRY: What about if you're in the private sector, if you're, you know, a taxpayer and you work in the private sector, how does this affect you?
TAYLOR: Well, listen, when government workers leave a job, they're not going to be replaced. So that means services to you get affected. Take a look at police, firefighters, teachers, those jobs are not necessarily being replaced. Deborah Jacobs, the woman that we spoke to, her job wouldn't be replaced. State workers in New Jersey have gone down 10 percent. So you will get affected in terms of services.
VELSHI: You're going to get fewer services.
TAYLOR: Yes. Exactly. Everything gets stretched.
ROMANS: Felicia Taylor, come back soon. Great piece, thanks.
It leads us to our question of the day actually. What do you waste your money on and why? Because especially if you're a young worker, if you think that maybe you're going to have to tighten your own belt -
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- you're going to have fewer - you're going to have to work longer, you know, you can e-mail us, tweet us, go to our blog, find us on Facebook. We're going to read your comments throughout the - throughout the hour.
VELSHI: We'll be right back after this. Twenty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Time for our top stories now.
The head of the International Monetary Fund resigned last night, right before his bail hearing today. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of raping a hotel maid in New York City. In his statement, he said he needed to devote all of his energy to proving his innocence. ROMANS: Thick black smoke pouring out of a military plane in California. The tanker jet, an old Boeing 707 crashed last night on takeoff at the Point Mugu air naval station. Burst into flames at the end of the runway. Three crew members escaped with just minor injuries.
CHETRY: New pictures out this morning of Arnold Schwarzenegger's reported mistress, the woman, the mother of his child that was kept secret for more than a decade. "The New York Times" is reporting that her name is Mildred Patricia Baena. Meantime, "People" magazine is reporting that Maria Shriver has hired a well-known high profile divorce attorney.
VELSHI: Well, it might be Osama bin Laden's last message. An audio recording released by al Qaeda and posted on radical Islamic Web sites.
ROMANS: Al Qaeda claims the voice is bin Laden's, offering praise for the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and talking about winds of change in the Muslim world.
CHETRY: And this is interesting.
CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen joins us.
They have this 12-minute audio tape. Welcome, by the way. It says that he talks about the "Arab Spring," says he's joining in the victory.
And this is interesting because a lot of people said this would run counter to what al Qaeda would want. They wouldn't want to see democracies in the Arab world.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right. Certainly, their analysis was the only way to bring change in the Arab world was violence. And, of course, much of what happened in Egypt wasn't violent. And also, they want to cause -- install Taliban-style theocracies from Indonesia to Morocco. No one in the streets of Cairo or Benghazi is asking for the Taliban to come into power.
CHETRY: Right.
BERGEN: So, you know, and one of the interesting things is this is the first time now that we've had bin Laden comment on this. Usually, he'd comment on any big news in the Muslim world within three weeks. Now this is posthumous, several months later.
ROMANS: Maybe it was a struggle. Maybe they're trying to figure out what their message would be because many had said that the Arab spring did leave them behind.
BERGEN: Yes, I think cognitive dissonance, you know? It's like this was what they always wanted, but it was nothing to do with their ideas, their people. And the outcomes are not going to be to their satisfaction.
VELSHI: Tell us about this new interim leader, what they are calling like the caretaker leader. What is the story?
BERGEN: Right. Well, the story is, according to people who are close to al Qaeda that, you know, there's a problem, there's a succession problem. They haven't appointed a formal successor. And this is becoming a problem within the jihadi community.
So, they've appointed a guy called Saif al-Adel. He's a former Egyptian special forces officer. He's been involved in anti-American activities since Somalia in 1993. He's long been a part of al Qaeda's inner circle.
ROMANS: He's Egyptian, right?
BERGEN: He's an Egyptian, you know, with a sort of -- he was a colonel in the Egyptian special forces. So, not insignificant military performance.
ROMANS: Will Saudi and Yemeni and extremists be able to rally behind an Egyptian?
BERGEN: That's kind of the question, because Osama was -- his family is from Yemen. He grew in Saudi Arabia. That's the holy land. For people from al Qaeda they want someone from the Arabian Peninsula. An Egyptian might be controversial. This might be an effort to grease the skids for Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian surgeon who has long been bin Laden's deputy, to take over.
CHETRY: This is also interesting because there's more information comes out about exactly how the U.S. military took down bin Laden. We've been hearing more and more details. We're now hearing from Defense Chief Robert Gates who's saying that he's worried that all of these leaks about the raid and about the killing are actually jeopardizing our ability to do this again for the people that are still out there on the most wanted list.
BERGEN: Well, yes. But we live in an open society and it was a huge victory of both the military and also the CIA, and a political victory. So, I mean, I think, you know -- I mean, while that may be true, I think it's going to be very hard to put a lid on all this. After all, we know a lot about what happened now.
And -- I mean, I think that was a specific reaction to a story in "The Washington Post" yesterday about a very, very specific drone that was used in this. And so, you know, the operational details about that drone I think was what Gates was reacting to.
CHETRY: Not so much, you're saying, the details of how that operation happened in the compound?
BERGEN: I think this drone -- yes, operating at a pretty classified level and "The Post" had a pretty detailed account of how it operates. So, I think that's what was getting people's attention.
VELSHI: Good to see you this morning. Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst.
BERGEN: Good morning.
CHETRY: Thanks for being here.
VELSHI: All right. This Sunday, service in a Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, is going to include a prayer for Osama bin Laden. A parishioner at the Holy Name of Jesus Church made the request, and as you might imagine, not everyone in the congregation supports the idea. Others say they'll pray for the U.S. servicemen who were sent overseas because of bin Laden.
ROMANS: United Airlines is apologizing for reusing the flight numbers for two planes that were used in the 9/11 attacks. United flight 93 and flight 175, they were both retired after 9/11. But a computer glitch caused former Continental flights to be reassigned with those numbers.
A United spokesperson says, quote, "It should have not happened and we should have caught the mistake sooner than we did." He says 93 and 175 will remain off the books for good. United kind of merged, so that's why. I mean, it was retired from the United Airlines --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Hopped up because of the Continental flight.
VELSHI: Yes. And they fixed it really quickly.
CHETRY: Well, if you're a person who uses your android phone at Starbucks or any other location at open Wi-Fi, there is a warning that you might want to hear. Scientists say they found a major security flaw that affects all android phones. What does it do? Well, it basically gives hackers easy access to your calendars, to your photos, to your contacts -- all of this happening over the unsecured wireless network that you're using.
Google says it's aware of the problem and that a fix is already in place for the calendar and contacts applications in the latest versions of android.
What about the pictures? What about those pictures?
VELSHI: That's why there's pictures of me all over the place.
OK. Rob Marciano is down in Louisiana. He's talking about the oyster harvest, and what the state of that harvest is. With everything they've gone through down there. And he's going to tell us if they're safe to eat.
ROMANS: OK, save the date. This Saturday could be the end of the world. It's also Jeanne Moos' birthday. So, she's celebrating early, just to be safe. Take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty minutes past the hour right now. The Mississippi River crested a day earlier than expected in Vicksburg. It's at all all-time record high of more than 57 feet high. That's 14 feet above flood stage. Hundreds of homes are under water there, highways and roads remain impassable.
And, also, take a look at this house. This is in Yazoo County, Mississippi. This is the home of Governor Haley Barbour. Flood waters have reached the second floor. Barbour said that he tried to sandbag. I mean, everybody, you know, tried to do the best that they can, but he said he knew it was likely to go under.
ROMANS: There's just nothing worse than all that sandbagging, and then it just
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: All that work.
VELSHI: All right. Right now, thousands of homes are flooded. Three million acres of farm land are under water in the South. And that's the damage we can see in shots like that.
ROMANS: That's right, because in Louisiana, beneath the surface of the swollen Mississippi, sensitive oyster beds are being threatened by the onrush of water.
CHETRY: That's right. I mean, they have to keep a certain salinity. They have to keep a certain type, you know, of silt in there. And it's very difficult when you talk about this type of flooding.
One oysterman says it's like Mother Nature is waterboarding us. Pretty strong language.
Rob Marciano is live in Port Allen, Louisiana, this morning.
And, you know, we were down there last year, it's because of oil spill that they were concerned about -- the oyster harvest. They can't get a break.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. It's a double whammy, guys, but for the same reason. Now, let's remember that the majority of the oysters struggled last year from the oil spill because we were releasing water from the Mississippi and other rivers to kind of try to flush and push the oil out of the marshes, and that added fresh water to those areas. And as you mentioned, the salinity factor -- that's the key to whether oysters survive and thrive or if they die off.
And there was a 50 percent reduction in the crop this year because of the fresh water pouring into the marsh last year.
So, we went out there with oyster farmers to take a look at their crop and, quite honestly, do some product testing. And with the fresh water coming down this year with this flood, it looks like it's going to be the second year in a row where they're going to be struggling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being out on the water, there's a lot of unexpected. And it's very, very similar to harvesting any crop in the land or out on the water. So --
MARCIANO: But it's been a lot of back-to-backs, the Katrina, Gustav, oil spill, now, this flood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ike. Missed that one.
MARCIANO: How do you survive this one? It's been tough for you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we just -- you know what? There's a little bit of pirate in each one of us. And I think you just kind of -- you just figure your way through it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: They're figuring their way through it. And again, they might take a 50 percent reduction next year. So, not good news for those folks as the water flows down the Atchafalaya and into Vermilion (ph) Bay.
I want to talk briefly about what's going on here in Baton Rouge. The river crested yesterday. But it's going to remain at this level, around 45 feet for the next several days. That's affecting people here. Because they opened the spillway up stream and diverted that water, Baton Rouge, New Orleans were saved. But the river is so high here, it's tough for commercial shipping traffic.
And just about a half mile to my south, there's a huge lock here in Port Allen, which is on the other side of the river from Baton Rouge. And they've shut that lock down to commercial shipping. That is key, guys, because it eliminates a shortcut. There's a 120-mile shortcut that ships take to the Gulf of Mexico that now has been closed. And that is costing commerce about $1 million a day every day that that lock is closed to commercial shipping.
So, across the board, this flood is affecting just about every facet of the eight or nine states that it's been affecting here for over a month -- guys.
ROMANS: Rob Marciano, thanks for walking us through it. Have a good morning.
CHETRY: Forty-four minute past the hour. Let's get a check of the weather headlines.
Kiran Maginnis is in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
Any relief in sight? I mean, we're talking about this, been talking about this flooding, but it's been a mess in other parts of the country as well.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It certainly has been -- quite a bit of activity, especially in the Northeast and New England. These are record-setting rainfall totals. These aren't just your basic one- day totals you see ordinarily. We saw more than a couple of inches fall around New York City, in Central Park.
Over the last two to four days, we've seen just about that much in the way of rainfall totals. This was stuck in the mid-Atlantic, this area of low pressure, but now, it starts to move a little bit. As it does, it sweeps on off the coast but not for long.
In New York City and Boston and Philadelphia -- Philadelphia, by the way, yesterday afternoon a very weak tornado, a little bit of damage reported there, but no reports of any injuries. So, you get a little bit of a break but not much before this weather system moves on this. And you're going to pick up another round of wet weather.
Today, we're watching for the risk of severe weather, right across the central United States, could see strong to severe weather in the form of some large sized hail, gusty winds and maybe some isolated tornadoes.
Our other big story is the spring snowstorm across the Rockies. That's going to get things a little interesting there. Some of those higher peaks could see as much as 18 inches of snowfall. And big delays over the last several days at major airports across that northeastern corridor, I-95. For New York city metro areas, it looks like you could see some low visibility. Might another around of some delays as we head later in the morning. Back to you in New York.
VELSHI: Karen, thanks so much for that. We'll check in with you. Boy, this rain --
CHETRY: We're all talking about it, too. Christine is in New Jersey. I'm in Westchester.
ROMANS: Over there like wet and bubbly inside the house.
VELSHI: They aren't even in the basement.
ROMANS: They're not even in the basement.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: So, something is coming through the shingles.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: We had to tape cups to our windows to catch raindrops. I mean, maybe it is the end of the world.
VELSHI: I'm in Manhattan. It's fine here. We're going to come back in a minute, but there's another problem with the Sony PlayStation network. It is not a hack, thankfully, but it's a password issue, and we're going to tell you about it and why it's happening and what you can do about it.
ROMANS: Because you're a big gamer.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I use the PlayStation network to watch movies. I have nothing against gamers. You draw me into this fight. You always call me a gamer, and then, I say I'm not a gamer, and then, the gamers will all tweet me, what do you have against gamers?
ROMANS: What do you have against gamers, Ali? Gamers are nice people, too.
CHETRY: We have more on that coming up.
VELSHI: We're also going to say with Oprah when we come back.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: So, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
VELSHI: The embattled head of the International Monetary Fund has resigned. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of trying to rape a maid at a New York hotel last Saturday. He could get out on bail later today.
A son fathered by Arnold Schwarzenegger with his housekeeper was born less than a week after his wife, Maria Shriver, gave birth to another Schwarzenegger son. The housekeeper, Mildred Baena, separated from her then-husband less than three weeks after her son's birth.
A bridge over I-40 just outside Albuquerque, New Mexico collapsed yesterday. A construction worker was hurt but not seriously. Crews were trying to dismantle the bridge at the time. No word on the cause.
Sony had to take part of its PlayStation gaming network off line again to fix a possible security problem. Sony says the problem affected users trying to log in via the web, and it was not another hacking incident.
Lady Gaga tops this year's "Forbes" magazine list of the world's most powerful celebrities. Gaga earned $90 million last year. Oprah Winfrey dropped to number two. Teen sensation, Justin Bieber, is in the number three spot.
And our question of the day. What do you waste your money on and why? E-mail us, tweet us, go to our blog, or find us on Facebook. We're reading your comments next.
AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. We've all got them, bad money habits. In fact, Christine will say some of us have more than others. I don't think you have any bad --
CHETRY: You're surrounded by frugality.
VELSHI: I am.
CHETRY: What do you want with yourself?
VELSHI: But, you know, we all buy things that we don't really need, and it adds up.
ROMANS: It does. CNNMoney.com has joined us the top ten ways that you and the rest of us are all wasting money. ATM fees --
VELSHI: Guilty.
ROMANS: Fancy coffee --
VELSHI: Not guilty.
ROMANS: I know. You aren't fancy --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Losing lottery tickets. Those are the things right at the top.
CHETRY: As opposed to winning lottery tickets. A great investment.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It's our question of the day this morning. What do you waste your money on and why? And we have some funny responses.
First one comes from Robert via Facebook where he says, "I waste my money, and I guess, waste you're using loosely here on food, medicine and gasoline because I don't have enough left to waste on anything frivolous."
ROMANS: That's clever.
VELSHI: J.K. Rodgers tells us on Facebook, "Clothes off eBay. I love getting a good deal on something. That's peace to all these sort of flash sales sites and these instant internet deals. A lot of people spend money on those things that they, wouldn't, otherwise, buy."
ROMANS: That's right. Mary Shipman on Facebook says, "To many of us, this is a moot question. There is no money left in the budget to waste on these things if you're living on a fixed income or unemployed. Just covering the necessities of living takes it all."
CHETRY: I also love the other one that was written in here. It said, "booze." He goes booze because I'm an American.
VELSHI: Keep your comments coming. Lots of great ones coming in. Send us an e-mail or tweet, tell us on Facebook. We'll read some of your thoughts a little bit later in the show. ROMANS: All right. Save the date, May 21, 2011. That's Saturday, by the way.
VELSHI: Is this the world coming to an end?
CHETRY: According to some. There are some who really believe that.
ROMANS: People have left their jobs, left their families, are traveling the country to tell all of us the rapture is about to happen.
VELSHI: It's a bad bet. In the short time that Jeanne Moos has left, she spoke to some of the true believers in this. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I hate to be judgmental (INAUDIBLE) this Saturday, the end of the world is almost here. It doesn't improve the daily commute. Here's what's supposed to happen around 6:00 p.m. eastern time Saturday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The largest earthquake the world has ever seen is going to be banks, buildings will collapse. It's going to be quite awful.
MOOS: Like the disaster movie, "2012," arriving early. Earthquakes worldwide, believers will experience rapture, heavenly ascent while nonbelievers stay for a few hellish months until the fiery end of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-seven percent of the people God will destroy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe in such (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
MOOS: The generally low key and polite folks who believe this need tough skin. They hand out their leaflets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, right!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all over. It's all over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See you this time --
MOOS: And you're convinced, you're absolutely convinced.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because the bible guarantees it.
MOOS: The bible as interpreted by this California preacher, Harold Camping (ph), head of family radio. Lately, he's been getting some flak.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My bible warns about false cheater (ph), and buddy, you are one of the worst.
MOOS: Camping miscalculated his last end times prediction for 1994.
What happens if on Sunday we're all still here and there's no earthquake and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there will be an earthquake.
MOOS: This retired New York City transit engineer spent $140,000 in subway and bus shelter ads warning of judgment day.
That's your life savings?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A good chunk of it.
MOOS: On Saturday, where will Robert Fitzpatrick be?
ROBERT FITZPATRICK, AUTHOR "THE DOOMSDAY CODE": As of now, I'm planning to be in Times Square.
MOOS: With media tagging along expecting to see him with egg on his face or in rapture. And if those in heaven need someone to take care of the pets they leave behind. You can arrange with services like after the rapture pet care and eternal earthbound pets to have non- Christians take care of your animals.
One nonbeliever wants to celebrate we're still here day on the 22nd. For some of us, the 21st is problematic.
But this is my birthday. Putting this on me is just weird. So, if my birthday is on the 21st, what do you recommend I do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray.
MOOS: And maybe celebrate early.
(SINGING) happy dooms day, dear Jeanne. Happy doomsday to you
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: In a hard hat!
VELSHI: I'd be too worried that I would be wrong, and I'd spend all my money and I have this night of debauchery, and then, Sunday, the world's still here.
CHETRY: Exactly. I mean, after y2k and everything turned out fine, I stopped getting nervous about it.
VELSHI: Yes, I hear you.
ROMANS: Maybe it's a bad bet. We'll never know.
VELSHI: Coming up, new details on the Arnold Schwarzenegger situation that we've been following. "Time" magazine has got some interesting questions they're posing. I'm sure you're posing them, too, you're posing those questions. Why do powerful men act like pigs? the executive editor is here to talk about it.
ROMANS: Making child meds easier to understand. The FDA is holding hearing that could matter. The next time your kid wakes up with a fever, very important information here on how we're dosing our children.
VELSHI: It's 57 minutes after the hour.
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