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American Morning

Floods Threaten Nebraska Nuke Plants; Casey Anthony Trial; Blagojevich: "I Am Stunned"; Bachmann Mixes Up John Waynes; "We are Not Targeting Demonstrators"; On the Ground in Yemen; A 48-Hour Strike Paralyzes Greece; Blagojevich Convicted Of 17 Charges; Pet Sale Ban

Aired June 28, 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: And AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Great to see you on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.

There's a lot happening. We want to get you caught up.

Floodwaters from the rising Missouri River getting dangerously close to two nuclear plants in Nebraska. Officials say they've taken protective measures to prevent a disaster like the one at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans.

Now we know what brought that Casey Anthony trial to an abrupt halt. But what's behind this defense motion questioning whether Anthony is mentally fit to continue.

VELSHI: And I'm Ali Velshi.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is making her first public appearance in Houston. We'll tell you where she was and what her staff is saying -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(MUSIC)

CHETRY: Good morning. Great to see you on this Tuesday. It is June 28th.

We start, though, with some very bad news when it comes to the weather.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: That's right. We're talking about some flooding in the Midwest. Floodwaters near two Nebraska -- nuclear plants in Nebraska, both sit along the swollen Missouri River. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission insists the Fort Calhoun plant and the Cooper Nuclear Power Station, 80 miles away, are not in any immediate danger.

Just hours ago, CNN's Brian Todd toured the Fort Calhoun facility. He joins us live now.

So, Brian, what did -- what did they tell you? What did you see? They gave you some pretty good access.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did, Christine. And the access was very good. We just emerged from there a couple hours ago and what officials here are insisting is that even though this is a (AUDIO BREAK) Missouri River floodwaters at bay, they insist they are winning that battle, that the floodwaters have not breached the buildings where the reactor core and spent fuel rods are housed, and they showed us evidence of that. We got to go inside and see some of these key buildings where those facilities are.

And, you know, when you see the facility all around from (AUDIO BREAK), it looks pretty dire. The floodwaters have pretty much inundated this entire place, but they have been able to construct sand berms (AUDIO BREAK) and what they call aqua berms around this place to keep the floodwaters out of the crucial buildings here.

Now, one thing that they are really keeping a close eye on are the transformers that power the pumps that cool the water, that basically cool the reactor core and the spent fuel rods. Those transformers are working. They had to go off the power grid temporarily, but they're back on the power grid.

But there is water all around those transformers and they're keeping a close eye on that.

I spoke to the CEO of this nuclear power plant with the inevitable comparisons of a catastrophic event about three months ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: People see floodwater all around. They think, oh, no, it's another Fukushima. Is it another Fukushima?

CARY GATES, CEO, FORT CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT: No, it is not another Fukushima. The main difference is the rapid flooding that occurred at Fukushima. This was a predicted event to a degree from the Corps of Engineers.

The floodwaters at Fort Calhoun are outside the plant. There's no water inside the plant. The reactor is covered with water, the spent fuel is covered with water, which we want it to be, that's intentional. That's where it should be.

The floodwaters are outside of Fort Calhoun, not inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, it's worth noting that it was about two years ago that officials from the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission actually cited this facility for not being ready for an event like this. They said they needed to improve their safety measures to get ready for something like this.

Well, the federal officials were here over the past couple of days. They toured this place as well, and they gave a pretty good rating as far as how they're handling this right now. But, again, this is a very fluid situation. The waters are surrounding this area. And it's a real battle to keep these floodwaters at bay right now. Again, they're keeping a close eye on the electrical switch yard, the transformers to make sure that they can run on the power grid -- key, key development there.

In fact, if any of that is compromised, then they're not going to be able to necessarily, you know, have the power on the grid to cool down, run those pumps that would circulate the water that would cool down the reactor core and spent fuel rods that can go on generator power if that fails, but they're keeping a close eye on that, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Brian Todd at Fort Calhoun, the nuclear power facility there -- thanks, Brian.

CHETRY: So, that's what they're dealing with, flooding. In other places, it's fires. A raging wildfire is on the move right now and coming dangerously close to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

More than 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes in the area. The facilities are shut down for a second day and right now, officials say that all of the hazardous material of the national lab is protected.

VELSHI: There's some great news, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords making her first public appearance since being shot in the head in January. She appeared at a NASA awards ceremony last night at the space center in Houston. She didn't speak publicly but she did get together with staff.

Now, these are pictures that were released earlier, a couple of weeks ago by her office. We don't have pictures from last night's event, but Giffords spokesman says it's clear that her physical strength and her cognitive and verbal abilities are improving. What was remarkable, apparently she stood up out of her wheelchair and gave her husband Mark Kelly a kiss after he got his award.

ROMANS: Wow.

CHETRY: It is wonderful. And maybe we will see pictures. NASA took some pictures. They're deciding whether they're going to release them or not.

ROMANS: All right. We may know why the judge in the Casey Anthony murder trial abruptly recessed the court on Saturday. The defense filed a motion to determine if Casey Anthony is mentally competent to continue in that trial. Two psychologists and a psychiatrist determined that she is.

CHETRY: So, there's testimony at the trial expected to end this week and there is still a big question, will Casey Anthony herself take the stand in her own defense?

CNN's Martin Savidge is live at the courthouse in Orlando. Of course, this has been the big question and nobody knows for sure at this point.

Are we any closer to any guesses as to whether or not she will actually take the stand?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? At this point, Kiran, I think most people are saying she probably will not take the stand. At least that's the educated opinion of many of the experts down here. They say it simply would be too risky for the defense, too many hard questions would be coming from the prosecution, and at this point, it would be wise that she not take the stand.

However, to say it would be wise, it's not necessarily strategy that somebody follows. It's really up to the defense and that's what keeps many people tuned in here is to find out if Casey herself is going to take the stand.

Regarding the issue of competency -- I mean, this was a huge bombshell that was released on all of us yesterday morning. It began as you say on Saturday when you kind of had this mystery motion by the defense team. The judge made a point saying, look, we're going to work through all day Saturday. We need to make a lot of progress.

And then, very quickly, Saturday, bam, it comes to a standstill. Nobody knew why, a lot of speculation.

Well, as it turns out the defense team was now beginning to wonder about Casey Anthony's mental competency and they say that was based upon something she said to them. Remember Friday was a very emotional day in testimony and apparently she said something to her attorneys that gave them the feeling that maybe mentally she was becoming unglued.

So, the experts looked at her over the weekend. They filed their reports. The judge looked at the reports and this is what the judge said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: Based upon the reports that the court has reviewed, the court will find that the defendant is competent to continue to proceed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And that's Judge Belvin Perry right there. Many of us wanted to know what was in the reports, what exactly did the psychiatrist and two psychologists determine about Casey Anthony. The judge said that those reports are going to be sealed and nobody is going to see them.

So, that's how it all came to an end and the testimony resumed yesterday and it was a very long day, went actually the longest day of the trial so far.

ROMANS: Martin, we understand a new witness has been ordered by the court to testify, the meter reader. SAVIDGE: Right. Roy Kronk. I mean, if you followed this story, you know that Kronk is key in both sides here. This is the man who reportedly found Caylee Anthony's body. He reported it, I believe, it was on December 11th of 2008, and he led police to her remains.

This was a huge break in the case. But the defense is focused on him, saying that they believe that he actually might have been somehow manipulating her body, moving it around, implying he was doing so to take advantage of a $250,000 reward, which he never actually got, which is why the prosecution says that's a crazy theory. It's going to be a big, big day.

ROMANS: All right. Martin Savidge -- thank you, Martin.

VELSHI: All right. Happening right now, a huge protest, mass walkout underway in Greece. It's a 48-hour general strike. You're looking at some pictures of it there. It's a few hours underway. It's shutting down government offices, banks, ferries, train services, schools, hospitals -- basically private and public unions are protesting tomorrow's vote on tax hikes and spending cuts, the so-called austerity measures that Greece needs to undertake to secure its second international bailout.

The world expects that Greece does this. Europe is expecting it to happen. It's a condition of the bailout. Clearly, a lot of people in Greece are unhappy about this.

Libyans are celebrating the news that dictator Moammar Gadhafi is now officially a wanted man. The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, we told you about it on the show yesterday, was welcomed by opposition rebels in Misrata. Gadhafi is accused of crimes against humanity for attacking Libyan civilians.

The White House says the warrant is another sign that Gadhafi has lost his validity. The Libyan government, though, dismissed the move and rejected the court's authority.

CHETRY: A California college student is suing clothing giant Abercrombie & Fitch, claiming she was fired because she refused to remove her head scarf. Hani Khan said that she was initially told that she could wear her hijab while working at Hollister, which is a company owned by Abercrombie & Fitch. But a visiting district manager said the head scarf was not allowed during work hours and when she refused to take it off because of religious reasons, she was fired over the phone.

Well, Abercrombie released a statement saying they are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Coming up, though, a little bit later, 8:25 Eastern, we're going to be speaking with Hani Khan about what she calls the shock of being fired by Abercrombie & Fitch. Her lawyer also joins us right now. Again, she is suing the company.

ROMANS: And that brings us to our question of the day this morning. Should a Muslim worker be fired for refusing to take off a head scarf for religious reasons?

VELSHI: We want to hear from you. Send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We've tweeted it out as well so you can respond that. We're going to read your comments throughout the morning.

ROMANS: All right. For the first time since 2006, there won't be a Williams in the women's quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Both Serena and Venus Williams were eliminated in the fourth round. Defending champ Serena was beaten in three sets by Marion Bartoli of France. Then Venus lost in streets to Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. The Williams' sisters won nine of the past 11 Wimbledon titles.

The top seeded men's player Rafael Nadal won his match, but suffered a foot injury, leaving questions about his health for the quarterfinal match and Prince William and his new bride were watching all the action from the royal box at center court.

VELSHI: I couldn't believe it when I saw -- I saw it in an e-mail yesterday that they had been knocked out. That was incredible.

ROMANS: First time since 2006 that there will not be a Williams.

CHETRY: I also wonder about their parents. Who do you console first?

ROMANS: I know.

VELSHI: All right. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING: the legal and political drama of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is over. The verdict is in. We're going to tell you the jury's final decision.

ROMANS: All right. And some trouble for team Herman Cain. Two key staffers jumping ship and one was his only guy in a critical state.

CHETRY: Michele Bachmann officially jumping into the presidential race. She's off to a fast start but she slipped up yesterday, perhaps mixing up John Wayne with serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

It's 12 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, the verdict is in for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He is guilty.

ROMANS: That's right, convicted of 17 of 20 public corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat. The conclusion to his long running legal battle, his first trial ended last year with the jury deadlocked on most charges.

Ted Rowlands joins us live from Chicago with more. He was shocked. His wife slumped in - in her chair against her brother, shocked at these 17 - 17 convictions.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was really a dramatic scene in the courtroom, a packed courtroom yesterday. The former governor sat there, and he - he appeared stunned. He basically stared straight at the jury. He was trying to make eye contact with some of the jurors, but none of the jurors would look anywhere close to him as the guilty verdicts came one after another.

You mentioned his wife, she was in the front row, she dropped back into her brother's arms, and both of them were very stunned. But jurors afterwards talked to the media. One juror said we wanted to find him not guilty. He was a likable guy. Keep in mind he took the stand for days in this trial. They say they - they liked him. They wanted to find him not guilty, but the evidence was there and they had no other choice.

Here is Rod Blagojevich after the verdict of guilty was read 17 times against him at the federal courthouse. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: Patti and I, obviously, are very disappointed in the outcome. I frankly am stunned. There's not much left to say, other than we want to get home to our little girls and - and talk to them and explain things to them and - and then try to sort things out. And I'm sure we'll be seeing you guys again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Prosecutors later said this sent a very clear message that corruption would not be tolerated in the State of Illinois. Eleven women and one man on that jury, took them 10 days to come to the conclusion. Blagojevich is 54 years old. If you look at the charges that he has been found guilty on, wire fraud 20 years, extortion 20 years, extortion/conspiracy 20 years, solicitation of a bribe five years, this is in addition to lying to the FBI, he was found guilty the first time around here, another five years, he clearly is looking at spending a considerable amount of the rest of his life behind bars.

CHETRY: And that's the question, right? Because I understand they're still determining that. Is there any chance this could run concurrent and he could be out or is he literally looking at dying in prison?

ROWLANDS: Well, I doubt - no, he wouldn't be dying in prison, but, you know, he's referenced he's got two little girls, a 7- and 13-year- old. He is going to be missing an extended portion of their lives as they grow up. Even the lowest minimum guidelines and he serves concurrently, he's looking, you know, unless this judge departs from the federal guidelines, he's looking at probably 15, 20 years.

CHETRY: All right. I was hearing they were saying he could technically spend up -- I mean, he could be sentenced to 300 years in prison if you take all the charges, but I guess that's highly unlikely.

ROWLANDS: Yes.

CHETRY: All right, Ted -

ROWLANDS: Absolutely.

CHETRY: -- thanks so much.

ROWLANDS: Probably more in the middle.

VELSHI: All right. Two top staffers for GOP candidate Herman Cain have resigned. One was the director of his campaign in New Hampshire, which is the critical first primary state. Cain is a businessman and a former of Godfather's Pizza. A spokeswoman for his campaign denied that the team is in any trouble, saying it's already hired a new point man in New Hampshire.

ROMANS: Sarah Palin the movie hitting theaters today. Not in Hollywood but in Iowa. The former Alaska governor expected to be there for the premier of a documentary about her political career called "The Undefeated." And, of course, the timing and location only adding to the buzz that she, too, could jump into the presidential race.

And President Obama also touching down in Iowa today, two hours away, though, talking up manufacturing in America. He'll visit a factory in Bettendorf that makes aluminum parts for the aerospace industry. The White House insists today's visit is about the economy and jobs and not politics.

CHETRY: And Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann officially jumping into the Republican race for president. She declared her candidacy in her birth place, Waterloo, Iowa. She hammered away on big government and President Obama saying spending was way out - spending our way out of a recession has not worked.

In an interview, though, after the speech, she slipped up a bit with a reference to another famous person in her birthplace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I want them to know is, just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, that's the kind of spirit that I have, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: It looks like she got her John Wayne's confused. John Wayne the acting legend is actually from Winterset, Iowa. It's about 150 miles away from Waterloo. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who raped and killed 33 men and boys, did live in Waterloo before his killing spree began.

The Bachmann campaign pushed back saying that actor John Wayne's parents did live in Waterloo although he never did.

VELSHI: It would be easier if they didn't push back on stuff like that.

ROMANS: But, you know, but people who are -

VELSHI: So just say it's a mistake.

ROMANS: -- from Waterloo, I mean, they - they take him as a hometown guy -

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: -- because his parents were there.

CHETRY: She also said it was the John Wayne spirit.

ROMANS: So there is this lore in Waterloo about John Wayne. There really -

VELSHI: OK. OK. Cool. Come in.

ROMANS: There's no lore in -

VELSHI: Does anybody really believe that?

CHETRY: Yes.

VELSHI: She made a mistake -

CHETRY: But the thing is -

VELSHI: -- and she should just say she made a mistake.

CHETRY: Well, the thing is, is that I don't -

VELSHI: We shouldn't make excuses for her.

CHETRY: But the fact that John Wayne Gacy lived there, that's not where the killing spree happened. I mean -

VELSHI: OK. I agree. It's a misspeak, but they should say it.

ROMANS: That is an unfortunate coincidence.

CHETRY: It is unfortunate.

ROMANS: She may have had no idea John Wayne Gacy -

VELSHI: I make excuses like that where I'm completely wrong and then I said, but, you know, what I really meant -

CHETRY: Right.

VELSHI: -- was that the earth was sort of flat once before it was round.

CHETRY: Before they rounded it -

VELSHI: Yes. Before they - before they rounded it out.

CHETRY: But this is what, I mean, we talk about this, too. In every statement you say once you're in the presidential, you know, field and -

VELSHI: Right. CHETRY: -- in the spotlight is -

VELSHI: Right. And if you don't want that to happen, don't run for president.

ROMANS: Analyze every (INAUDIBLE), every (INAUDIBLE).

VELSHI: She says a lot of things that require clarifications so, you know, that's -

CHETRY: We're going to ask her herself about a few of them coming up at 7:30 Eastern, we're speaking to candidate Michele Bachmann. What's her strategy for being more than just a one state wonder polling high in Iowa, not the case in New Hampshire where she is today. So we're going to talk to her about that.

VELSHI: All right. Let's take a look at the weather. We'll see what kind of delays we're expecting, because we're going to get some - some rain across the country.

Rob Marciano is for us in the Extreme Weather Center. Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. I'm kind of like politicians, meteorologists and weather men, we - we learn very quickly that, you know, it's - you can't make everybody happy. You kiss a lot of babies and such and - buy you do a lot of back pedaling, you know, after a bad forecast that's for sure.

We got a couple areas of thunderstorms. Severe thunderstorm watch for the Tennessee Valley. One cluster heading into Northern Arkansas and another heading right into Nashville right now. So those are two areas we're watching this morning. That watch in effect until noon local time.

Later on today, we're looking at delays at the airports at D.C., at New York, Philadelphia, as well, and Atlanta. And some low clouds out there in San Francisco, too.

The heat is the other big story; 112 in Tucson yesterday; Oklahoma City 103 and that heat is not going to help the fire situation certainly and the one that's approaching rapidly to Los Alamos. Temperatures in Texas will easily get up in over 100 degrees again today; 102 expected in Dallas. It would be 88 degrees in Atlanta and 82 degrees expected in New York City.

We're also watching something down in the Gulf of Mexico at this point, guys, no threat of hitting the United States.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Rob Marciano -

VELSHI: You said it was going to rain yesterday, Rob, and it didn't rain.

CHETRY: You're so -

MARCIANO: No. I said there was a chance of rain in some spots. See that's how that works.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROMANS: That's like saying futures are pointing higher, but we can't tell you how the stock market is going to close.

VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE). All right, Rob. Good to see you, buddy.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHETRY: The notorious Irish mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger is now talking. What he told the Feds about his trips to Vegas and Tijuana during his 16 years on the run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Right now, U.S. stock futures are down following a big rally yesterday fueled by tech shares. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all closed up to kick start the week.

Investors, though, on edge as protesters hit the streets in Greece. Policymakers meet today to debate new tax hikes and spending cuts. This is all critical towards securing another bailout from the European Union. Workers starting a two-day general strike this morning.

A vote on the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund expected later today. French Finance Minister Christine La Guard gaining the most support. Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned over attempted sexual assault and attempted rape charges back in May.

In a new lawsuit to be filed on Paris today, a French Internet company called "1PlusV" is seeking damages from Google over anti-competitive behavior. The French company says this is the biggest claim of its kind against the search engine so far. Google refusing to comment this morning, saying the company has just received this complaint.

Wall Street buzzing over what some people are calling, you know, the Holy Grail of IPOs - Facebook. Investment fund GSV Capital's shares jumped about 40 percent yesterday after the announcement that that company had purchased a stake in Facebook and valued Facebook at $70 billion.

And a fresh survey by a Pugh Internet Research says ownership of e- reader, those are Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook doubled in the past eight months. And according to this survey, who's buying these e-readers? Hispanic adults, college graduates and adults younger than 65 are some of the groups most likely to own an e-book reader.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after the break with an exclusive report, live from inside Syria where this morning, there are new signs of a violent crackdown.

It's 27 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's 31 minutes after the hour. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories we're following here at CNN.

Officials at one of Nebraska's two nuclear power plants say they're 100 percent confident, their words, that the protective measures they've taken will keep the overflowing Missouri River from damaging the plant and creating a danger to the public.

Arizona Congresswoman Giffords Gabrielle making her first public appearance since being shot back in January. She attended a NASA awards ceremony in Houston with her husband astronaut Mark Kelly last night. We don't have pictures from the event. But we got these pictures that Giffords' office gave to us a couple weeks ago. But Giffords reportedly smiled, waved to the crowd, got up from her wheelchair and gave her husband Mark Kelly who was receiving an award a kiss.

And testimony in the Casey Anthony murder trial set to resume in a couple of hours. Two psychologists and a psychiatrist examined Anthony over the weekend at her attorneys' request. They found her competent to stand trial and to assist in her own defense.

CHETRY: Well, speaking of launching a defense, it was surprise testimony in the appeal that's going on right now for Amanda Knox. She is the American student that's been convicted of a murder in Italy back in 2007. Rudy Guede also convicted in the case took the stand and there he denied claims that he told a fellow prisoner Knox and her then boyfriend were not part of the murder. It's a big blow to the defense.

Well, now, the appeal may depend heavily on forensics. Knox's attorneys are hoping a DNA report on the murder weapon due Thursday will help her case.

ROMANS: Now to the unrest in Syria where security forces have been conducting a bloody campaign against anti-government protesters, but Syrian government officials, they tell a very different story.

An adviser to the President Bashir al-Assad says they're not targeting peaceful protesters. She spoke exclusively to CNN's Hala Gorani. CNN, the only U.S.-based TV network in Syria right now and Hala joins us live from Damascus.

Hala, what did the government tell you about who they're targeting?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, from the beginning they've had this narrative, that these are not peaceful demonstrators, that they're armed gangs terrorizing civilians. But, today, something interesting happened with Bouthaina Shaaban, the presidential adviser here in Syria. She said that she acknowledges now that there are peaceful protesters. It seems as though this regime is trying to send a different message to the world, perhaps even internally, that they are understanding that some of their citizens have legitimate grievances.

The question, however, is, whether or not they will listen to those grievances and respond in a positive manner. I asked Bouthaina Shaaban, I said, look, the world wants to know, why are security forces in this country targeting peaceful demonstrators? There have been almost 1,300 deaths in the three-plus months of uprisings we've seen in this country. This is what she answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOUTHIANA SHAABAN, SYRIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: We're not targeting demonstrators. I think peaceful demonstrators have made their point and they're making their points today. We have no problem with that. They have legitimate grievances.

But I think it is a complex problem. You have peaceful demonstrators but you have extremists who are using demonstrations to incite sectarian violence in Syria. This is our biggest challenge at the moment.

Right from the beginning, the president has spoken two months ago and said that they have legitimate grievances and there are peaceful demonstrators. But I think we are not reaching the international media. That was our major weakness early.

GORANI: But there are peaceful demonstrators. Now, you acknowledge it. But they are still being targeted. We're still seeing violence.

Why do security forces continue to target them?

SHAABAN: Well, the security forces are there to -- against the armed group. They are not there against peaceful demonstrators. And, in fact, last Friday, in many cities, like in Hama, in Deir Ezzor, the security and the police forces were not there at all. What we are trying to do, to test every possible way that will put an end to violence or will show us where the violence exactly is coming from.

We have no problem with peaceful demonstrators. We have no problem with their grievances. And I feel the national dialogue will be addressing all issues that were requested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, CNN is accompanied by government minders. Ali and Christine, here when we are filming out on the streets, we asked Bouthaina Shaaban why that was, why we are not allowed to unilaterally and independently report out of this country, we were told if you sign a piece of paper that you take responsibility for your own security in Syria, then you can shoot anywhere you want.

So, it's a wait and see situation as far as our reporting goes in Syria right now.

Back to you.

ROMANS: You know, Hala, so, am I hearing her say, the presidential adviser, that their weakness is bad P.R. in the international -- international news gathering and not the tactics of the government and regime itself?

GORANI: That's what they're saying. They're saying our message didn't come across in the early days of this uprising. Now, international crews, some, just hand-selected crews are allowed into the country and they're able to communicate their message.

But you have to take what is said by her against the backdrop of what continues to happen on the various streets in the country, Christine. Just on Friday, 20 people at least were killed in demonstrations and protesters and activists in this country are too afraid to come to us on camera to tell us their story. They say they're afraid of being arrested.

So, while all this is going on publicly, behind the scenes, from demonstrators and on the streets of Syria, there is still, according to activists, a crackdown that is ongoing.

Back to you.

ROMANS: That is not P.R. That is a crackdown.

All right. Hala Gorani, thank you so much, Hala. Amazing reporting from there.

VELSHI: Yes.

All right. New this morning, the former head of the Irish mob in Boston, this is real life guy from "The Departed" will be back in court this afternoon. Court filings show that James "Whitey" Bulger has been chatty. He admitted to the FBI that he made several trips to Vegas to play the slots during his 16 years on the lam, and one of the most wanted men in the country also bragged that he traveled to Tijuana to get his medication and came back using fake IDs. That's gutsy when you're a lam.

Bulger is facing charges in 19 mob-related murders.

ROMANS: All right.

CHETRY: In Syria, and now, we're heading to Yemen, CNN exclusive live from Yemen, a country in chaos and a leader still missing in action.

It's 37 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Yemen is a country in chaos right now with the president who was injured in an attack on the palace. He's recovering in another country. In fact, President Saleh was expected to make an appearance yesterday. He never showed. CNN is the only U.S.-based TV network in Yemen right now. Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in the capital of Sanaa on the phone right now.

Nic, what is the situation in Yemen right now? It has been slowly coming apart at the seams for weeks and then the president was injured. What's happened since?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Since the president left the country to Saudi Arabia to get treatment, there's been a sort of uneasy calm over the capital Sanaa. There are two protests going on here -- there's the anti-government protests, by far, the latest protest, and a small pro-government protest.

Today, people are marching, this anti-government protesters, descended on a square. It is very peaceful. It's a small city, very much like people in Tahrir Square in Cairo. They call it Change Square here.

And, today, security is up, it's high, it's been heightened in the capital because of those anti-government supporters are going on the march.

What else is happening here, the price of gas is going up. There are massive fuel lines at the gas stations. People park their cars there for days because there's a shortage for gas. Hospitals are being forced to close, they say, because they're running out of electricity, running out of fuel to run their generators. The price of food is going up.

The situation is very tense, it is unstable because the president refuses to step down and people are telling us here, anti-government opposition opponents here, are telling us this can only go on for another couple weeks. If this continues as it is now, then there will be much wider spread fighting than there is right now, Ali.

CHETRY: All right. Nic Robertson for us this morning from the capital of Sanaa -- you see those amazing pictures again, the only western television station operating out of there as well -- thanks so much, Nic.

ROMANS: All right. Meanwhile, Iran announcing it has built its first ballistic missile silos as it began a new round of military exercise. Iranian TV reporting the silos are capable of launching long-range missiles. Some western experts say they may be capable of hitting targets 800 miles away. To put this in perspective, the range could cover nearly the entire Middle East.

VELSHI: All right. It's 42 minutes after the hour.

Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING: it's alarming how much of your personal information is just kind floating around the Internet. There are very specific ways to protect your privacy. We're going talk to you about passwords and talk to you about Facebook, very specifically.

Parents, you want to tune in. You'll learn something for your kids.

ROMANS: And the -- or yourself, too.

CHETRY: I learned some of the pre-show notes.

ROMANS: And one California city considering a unique way to end animal cruelty. We're going to explain that for you.

Forty-three minutes after the hour.

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CHETRY: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Here's a look at your headlines this morning.

Despite the floodwaters that have surrounded two nuclear plants in Nebraska, officials say the plants are not in any immediate danger. The Fort Calhoun reactor which is near Omaha, has been idle since April. The Cooper Nuclear Power Station remains several feet above the rising Missouri River.

A wildfire burning within miles of the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico, the nation's nuclear weapons research facility shut down for a second day. Officials at the lab say that all radioactive and hazardous materials are protected. More than 10,000 residents have been told to get out.

Much of Greece paralyzed this morning by a 48-hour strike. Greece's transportation systems, banks, schools, and hospitals all shut down. Protesters who are right now gathering in Athens are upset over budget and benefit cuts needed to ensure a second international bailout.

And testimony resumes this morning in the Casey Anthony murder trial. The judge revealing in court that Anthony underwent a psychological evaluation over the weekend at the request of her attorneys. She was found competent to stand trial.

Former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, convicted of 17 corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's old Senate seat. He was acquitted on one count of bribery. The jury deadlocked on two counts of attempted extortion. The most serious of the counts he was convicted of carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

And Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, making a public appearance in Houston where she attended a NASA function with her husband astronaut, Mark Kelly. Her staff saying it's clear the congresswoman's strength as well as her cognitive abilities are improving.

You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a quick break.

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VELSHI: Unless you stay -- unless you stay off Facebook entirely, you can't stop people from finding your profile or seeing pictures of you, but there is a way you can at least make it harder for them to search you out if you want to. Joining us now, my good friend, Mario Armstrong. He's host of Sirius XM's "Mario Armstrong's Digital Spin." He joins us now.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, HOST, SIRIUSXM'S "MARIO ARMSTRONG'S DIGITAL SPIN": Hey, Ali.

VELSHI: All right. Good to see you, my men. All right. Let's talk about -- some people don't care.

ARMSTRONG: Right.

VELSHI: They put all their stuff on Facebook.

ARMSTRONG: That's fine.

VELSHI: I want you to show our viewers four settings they can either use for themselves or maybe their kids that will help maintain a little bit of privacy on Facebook. Let's start with -- show me what's the first thing.

ARMSTRONG: OK. So, the first thing is you log into your account and you get to your privacy settings page which is what we see here.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: And the thing is you want to customize the settings. Don't go with the Facebook defaults.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: That's where a lot of people go wrong right off the bat.

VELSHI: All right.

ARMSTRONG: Secondly, once you're inside, you want to be able to look at the different settings that you have here. We scroll up just a little bit there, we'll be able to --

VELSHI: All right. Let me do that for you.

ARMSTRONG: One of the things I want us to pay attention to right off the bat is this include me in people here now after I check in.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: So, here's the example. You can see by default, it's enable.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: Facebook doesn't give us the option. They already enabled us into this -- VELSHI: Got it.

ARMSTRONG: So, if you want to opt out of that, you uncheck it.

VELSHI: OK. The people here now, you want to disable that.

ARMSTRONG: Disable that. That shows up when you check in to places, people can see that you're at that location.

VELSHI: All right. Now, you've got another setting that you want to -- where do you want me to go?

ARMSTRONG: We're going to do a trade above it. Actually, it places you check into. Let's scroll down. Let's scroll down. Here you go. Things other share.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: OK. You want to get in friend can check me in to places.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: This is not really cool for some folks. The example is if I see you at a coffee shop --

VELSHI: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: And I say, oh, my buddy, Ali, is here. I'm on Facebook. I can check you in making your whereabouts known to all of my friends. You may not want that. Go to edit settings --

VELSHI: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: Select one and you hit disabled and OK and now you're clear.

VELSHI: All right. We're going to put this on our website, too, so people are going to see it. Now, you got another one.

ARMSTRONG: Yes.

VELSHI: Which deals with your phone number.

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. Down in your contact information.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: If you use your mobile device, a phone number will be here. We have it blanked out --

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: So that no one can see it, but your phone number would be here, and you would want to change that phone number, you would customize that so that it could only be seen by you.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: By default, your phone number, your mobile phone number could be seen by your quote/unquote "friends." And I don't know about you, but not every friend is somebody I would give the keys to my house.

VELSHI: OK. There may be sick (ph) people out here who say, what do I care? I want people to have my phone number. Should you or shouldn't you?

ARMSTRONG: No. You absolutely should not. I mean, unless, they're family and friends. No, that's the first step to identity theft.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: You get that phone number, so many other things real quick for these hackers to be able to get to or people that want your identity.

VELSHI: Here's another one that you talk about. It suggests photos of me to friends.

ARMSTRONG: Yes.

VELSHI: You want that cut out because it's facial recognition.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. And so, that's right here. Suggest photos of me --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Things other share. So, just photos of me to friends.

ARMSTRONG: Yes. And you edit that now. It's automatically enabled.

VELSHI: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: Now, you want to disable this. Now, some people may want this. This is an OK feature.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: What this does? It's about photo tagging inside of Facebook.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: And so, photo tagging is all about when you upload an image, I can say, that's Ali in that photo, let me tag him in that photo, and you're made aware of that.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: Now, once I do that once, the software knows, oh that's Ali in all 50 of those photos.

VELSHI: OK.

ARMSTRONG: They will automatically suggest you. Some people may want that because it saves time.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: Other people may not want that suggestion of them to show up. VELSHI: That's a decision you have to make. Now, here's another big one. You -- it's important to talk to your family and friends about what your expectations are because they might be different. Some people may want this stuff going on. I may not.

ARMSTRONG: That's right.

VELSHI: How does that conversation go?

ARMSTRONG: You don't want to get the fisticuffs with your family.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: So, the conversation is, look, let's have a discussion. Are we going to let each other know before we post anything online of -- especially photos and things that could be damaging to us, but just in general, before we post anything about each other online, let's make a commitment that we'll call or text each other and say, hey, are you OK with this image or are you OK with this?

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: Because in Facebook land, everything goes up first, then you're alerted about it, and then, you have to remove it. So, you have to be more proactive.

VELSHI: OK. Once a picture is up there, somebody else can grab it and do something else with it.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. Absolutely.

VELSHI: OK. This is an important conversation for parents to have with their kids to talk to the kid's friends so that these kids can say, look, I'm not into you tagging me or putting pictures of me. Do me a favor. Can you ask me before you put anything up? That's a great way to sort of prevent something from showing up --

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely.

VELSHI: Because there are these privacy concerns that we have, and then, there are the safety concerns that kids have. You don't want things with the school's name on it.

ARMSTRONG: No, no, no. I mean, because --

VELSHI: Here I am at Wednesday's soccer practice.

ARMSTRONG: That's right. Little bits of information can be pulled together, your mascot, your time zone, all these things, these people can find out, and next thing you know, they have a profile about you.

VELSHI: Give me 30 seconds on what you do if there's stuff on the internet about you that you don't want.

ARMSTRONG: A lot of reputation sites are up there now. So, first thing is take control of your own image. Secondly is you can go to places like Spokeo and actually go online and as you search your name to see where information shows up about you. These are people based searches.

VELSHI: So, this is a real one. We searched Barack Obama. Gives you his address, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue.

ARMSTRONG: And you can see, you know, all types of things, ethnicity, age, whether or not he's married, what the household income is of that area, even a map to that location.

VELSHI: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: So, a lot of sensitive but publicly available information here.

VELSHI: Right.

ARMSTRONG: You get worried about that. You want to look at companies like reputation.com. These are companies that offer free services but also pay services to not only remove information but also make sure the information is accurate about you.

VELSHI: And there are some alerts. We'll talk about that a little more. You have to come back a little while. We're going to talk about passwords, how to choose the perfect password. Mario, good to see you here. Mario Armstrong, we'll talk more about internet privacy a little later in the show -- Christine.

ROMANS: I always feel smarter after hearing -- and I feel safer, too. So, I'm going to check all that out. Thanks.

All right. San Francisco tossing around the idea to ban the sale of all pets. Yes. That includes dogs, cats, hamsters, even fish. "The Los Angeles Times" reports the city's Animal Control Commission says this will help overcrowding in shelters. They say it's a way to end impulse buying from pet stores.

Going green and almost au natural? They called it the naked bike ride in Lisbon, Portugal. That's right. Well, I mean a little bit of clothing going on. Thankfully for us, no one we saw went to full Monte. It's a little uncomfortable, I'm sure.

CHETRY: At least he's wearing a top hat.

ROMANS: We get to see wearing in a (ph) bikinis, booty shorts, briefs. The ride is supposed to draw attention to the need to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.

VELSHI: Did you say booty shorts?

ROMANS: I think booty shorts. I've --

VELSHI: Put a lot of money on the fact that Christine has never said the word booty shorts --

ROMANS: Actually, it feels kind of -- booty shorts. CHETRY: All right. There's a controversy about clothing, sort of. This is in California where a woman is suing Abercrombie and Fitch. She says that the retailer fired her when she refused to remove her religious head scarf call a hijab while working at their Hollister store.

VELSHI: That brings us to our question of the day, should a Muslim worker be fired for refusing to take off a head scarf for religious reasons? We got some responses.

CHETRY: Yes. we had a lot of different opinions this morning.

Donna Moody writes on Facebook, "In my opinion, religious freedom in this country is just that - freedom. Didn't they notice her hijab when they hire her? Let the girl work and leave her alone."

VELSHI: Rose on Facebook says, "No one should be fired for covering their head. However, I have seen many workers that should be fired for not covering their bodies."

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: True. And Gembak on Twitter, "The suit is entirely without merit. Companies have the right to enforce dress codes, especially for employees in the public eye."

CHETRY: That's right. Keep your comments coming. Send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook, and we're going to be reading a little bit more of them coming up in the seven o'clock hour.

Meanwhile, coming up next, we will speak to presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann. She is pulling really high in Iowa. She is now in New Hampshire. Another early primary state where she's lagging a little bit behind, and what are news being made about some of the gaffes? Can she keep up her momentum in Iowa. We're going to talk to her about it.

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