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American Morning: Wake Up Call

A Dictator's Violent End; Gadhafi Son Also Killed; Moammar Gadhafi Is Killed; Bank Statement Mix Up; Clinton's "Frank" Talks In Pakistan

Aired October 21, 2011 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now that dictator Moammar Gadhafi is dead, what is next for Libya? This hour, we'll take you live to Libya for a closer look at what's ahead for the transitional government. Plus, what is NATO's plan? And what about the billions in assets?

An update, too, on that JetBlue flight attendant that made headlines when he cursed out passengers and then jumped down an evacuation slide.

And bank customers outraged when they find out their bank statements were mixed up and sent to someone else's house.

Good morning to you. Happy, happy Friday. It's October 21st.

This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello, joining you live this morning from New York.

Wild jubilation this morning among Libyan in their homeland and around the world over the death of Moammar Gadhafi. Gadhafi was captured alive yesterday, pulled from a drainage pipe in his hometown in sitter. His final moments were as bloody and violent as the revolution that overthrew him.

The country's transitional government says Gadhafi was killed in crossfire after his arrest by rebel forces.

One senior international correspondent, Dan Rivers, is in Libya with more. We want to report you, though -- his report includes some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was how it all ended for Moammar Gadhafi -- cornered and injured. The former dictator was apparently trying to escape Sirte. He appears bloody but alive here, but died soon afterwards, according to NTC officials. His golden gun brandished in wild excitement by NTC troops who seized him, a potent symbol of his decadence.

The news of his death spread rapidly across the country, disbelief turning into jubilation in Tripoli.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very free, and I feel that my birthday is today. Really I feel that I'm six hours old. Really, Libya's free without him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are so happy. It's the greatest moment in all my life. And I have my brother who was killed by Gadhafi forces in 20th, February. We was so, so, so sad.

But now, it's a great moment. We are so happy. We are so, so happy.

RIVERS (on camera): Many of the people here have known nothing other than Colonel Gadhafi's 42-year rule. They cannot believe now that finally he is dead, that Sirte has fallen, and the war is over. Just look at the sea of flags out here in celebration.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Wow.

RIVERS (voice-over): U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton learned of her news from her BlackBerry as she prepared for an interview.

CLINTON: Unconfirmed reports about Gadhafi being captured.

RIVERS: But soon, officials were confirming the momentous news. And it didn't take long for the U.S. president to react himself.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we can definitively say that the Gadhafi regime has come to an end. The last major regime strongholds have fallen. The new government is consolidating the control over the country. And one of the world's longest serving dictators is no more.

RIVERS: The Arab spring came here on February the 17th, when a rebellion against Gadhafi's iron rule spread. Now, the winds of turmoil and change that are blowing so strong across the Arab world have claimed yet another victim, and Libya is finally free of the man who so brutalized this country.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: What Libya faces now: transforming a revolution into a democratic government. That could prove to be as difficult as ousting Gadhafi, if not more so. It involves bringing together the various tribes, militias, and factions who have been at odds with each other for years. Analysts say their differences could easily erupt into new violence.

Joining us from Tripoli with more on this is Ivan Watson.

So, Ivan, what are the most immediate, pressing problems facing the transitional government now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's one example. In Tripoli, a lot of people are without running water because some of the basic services that they had grown accustomed to during Gadhafi's rule have been interrupted during this period of upheaval.

I just came from, you know, a coffee shop talking to Libyans who were all saying, "Freedom, freedom, it's great that Gadhafi's dead." But that big question now after the night of the euphoria, after the night of gunfire -- we rolled in down the Tunisian border down roads littered with spent bullet casings of people shooting in celebration all night. And now, the question is how do we build this country and government next.

And when you asked Libyans, what is important now, what is important, what comes next -- that's where they get kind of hazy. They're still happy that their dictator has been killed for the first time in more than four decades, Libyans waking up to a Libya without Gadhafi. But the question of what comes next, that remains to be answered here, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, we've all -- you can just take a look Egypt to see how difficult it is to build a brand new government. So, how does it work? Will they come up with a new constitution? I mean, what's the timetable for holding elections, for example?

WATSON: Well, you know, it's interesting that just next door to the west in Tunisia, the first North African country, Arab country, to have one of these revolutions, they're about to have an election on Sunday, the first election of the Arab spring. And perhaps Libyans will look to that example to see perhaps a model for themselves. The Tunisians, they're re going to appoint an assembly that's supposed to write up an entirely new constitution, determine the structure of the next government.

Those are questions for Libya because its system of government was this strange creation by Gadhafi that was supposed to be direct democracy, Jamahiriya system, which a lot of people scratched their heads trying to understand. He claimed that there was direct government by the citizens, though he in fact was the dictator that ruled the place. So, Libyans are going have to sit down and figure out, are they going to have a parliament, are they going to have a president, are they going to have a prime minister? Big questions in the days, weeks, and months ahead -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ivan Watson, reporting live from Tripoli this morning -- thanks so much.

The international community is calling Gadhafi's death a victory for the Libyan people, but the congratulations are being tempered by words of caution over what lies ahead for a country ravaged by months of war.

In Britain, Libyans took to the streets, waving flags in fits of joy. Prime Minister David Cameron urged the world to remember the victims of the Gadhafi dictatorship.

In Washington, scores of Libyans took to the streets dancing and singing. President Obama pledged U.S. support to Libya, saying that the Libyan people, with the help of NATO air power, lifted the dark shadow of tyranny.

And in an exclusive interview with CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley, Vice President Joe Biden said that the U.S.-NATO efforts in Libya could be a template to use in future international conflicts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is one bad guy, one really tough guy. He for 40 years had his folks under his thumb. And he's dead, and it's going to give the people of Libya the first chance in four decades to actually put together their own government, have a little bit of freedom. Little bit of opportunity.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned in a previous stop about the template, bringing in international --

BIDEN: Yes.

CROWLEY: -- an international coalition and how this works so beautifully.

BIDEN: It's a template in the following sense -- that when in fact there is a cause that the Arab world can unite on and the West wants their help, and we don't -- yes, maybe, but we don't have to do it ourselves is the point. It is that the NATO alliance worked like it was designed to do -- burden sharing.

Total cost to us, $2 billion, no American lives lost. We carry the burden where another NATO is, primary burden is Afghanistan. And so, this is real burden-sharing. That's the model.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You can see all of Candy's exclusive interview with the vice president on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. That airs on Sunday, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

In addition to Gadhafi's death, one of his feared sons was also killed. We want to warn you once again that the pictures you're about to see of his body are quite graphic. Libyan officials say that Mutassim Gadhafi was killed yesterday in Sirte, along with Gadhafi's chief of intelligence. He was Gadhafi's fifth son and the former national security adviser. It is unclear if another of Gadhafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, has been captured.

We have much more coverage on the death of Moammar Gadhafi over the next hour. In about 10 minutes, a look at how Gadhafi's death could impact President Obama and the GOP candidates as they try to win the White House.

At 5:30 Eastern, find out how much money Gadhafi was worth and learn what could happen to his money.

And at 5:45 Eastern, we'll go back to Libya for another live report.

He swiped a few beers, deployed the evacuation slide, and slid right out of the plane. Now, the legal troubles for a former JetBlue flight attendant appear to be nearing an end. We'll update you next.

But, first, our "Quote of the Day," quote, "You have to be pretty confident to run for the top office in this country," and one candidate apparently likes his chances at winning the White House saying, quote, "There's a good shot I might become the next president of the United States. It's not a sure thing, but it's a good shot," end quote. Find out who said that in 90 seconds.

It's nine minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is 11 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

Now, back to our "Quote of the Day," quote, "There's a good shot I might become the next president of the United States. It's not a sure thing, but it's a good shot," end quote.

Who said that? It was Republican candidate Mitt Romney. He was speaking at an economic roundtable of business leaders in Iowa yesterday when he told people he liked his chances of winning the White House.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan this morning. She's delivering more straight talk to the Pakistani government saying that it's time for that country to act against the Haqqani terror network. Secretary Clinton delivered a similar message when she met with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. She says the United States and NATO troops will take the fight to the Haqqani terrorist network on both sides of the Afghan/Pakistan border.

Clinton also says it's time to engage the Taliban in talks to stop fighting.

On Capitol Hill, the Senate has rejected an attempt to pass a slimmed down version of President Obama's jobs bill. The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to bring the proposal to the floor. It would have provided $35 million to states and cities to help hire for teachers and pay the salaries of first responders.

President Obama issued this statement, quote, "For the second time in two weeks, every single Republican in the United States Senate has chosen to obstruct a bill that would create jobs and get our economy going again," end quote.

The president went on to say this, too, "That's unacceptable. We must do what's right and pass the common sense proposals in the American Jobs Act."

An update now on that JetBlue flight attendant who made national headlines when he got on the plane's loud speaker and cursed at passengers, grabbed a beer, and jumped out of the plane by sliding down the evacuation slide at JFK airport. His name is Steven Slater. Well, he's been sentenced to a year of probation after completing a mental health treatment program. It was part of a plea deal he cut. Slater must also pay JetBlue $10,000 in restitution.

Let's head to Atlanta now and check in with Reynolds Wolf.

Is it still cold in the Midwest? It's chilly here.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is -- it is, indeed. Absolutely. Especially up in the Appalachians and near in the Deep South. We definitely have some temperatures that are a bit below normal at this time. We also have potential delays.

Let's show what we have up on the maps. And as we do, you're going to see a lot of places on the East Coast and the West Coast where you might view backups.

Let's go right to it. New York City, Cleveland, Boston, the wind and the low clouds may keep you with some delays, about an hour, maybe less in a few spots. And then out to the West Coast, low clouds in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Expect delays under an hour. The marine layer may be especially thick near LAX. I would expect as soon as we get to noontime or so, things begin to warm up, a lot of the marine layer will begin to subside.

Meanwhile, something else is going to remain locked in place the good part of the morning hours, those cold temperatures. Take a look, the freeze threat this morning through places like Cincinnati, back in Chicago, even in the St. Louis out by that arches Memphis and downtown Atlanta, we've got those cold conditions, also for much of Alabama, near Mississippi.

Now, current temperatures, here they are for you: Memphis with 41, 53 in billings, 56 in San Francisco, 52 in New York, 67 in Miami. Rebounding nicely for much of the Northeast, Boston going to 63, New York in with 58, 81 in Dallas, 86 in El Paso, 73 in San Francisco. And San Francisco also plenty of sun later into the afternoon, nice and warm for you in Texas, the cool weather continues to make its way through parts of the Southeast, and look for a chance of scattered showers in the Pacific Northwest.

For tonight, you have, of course, the Orionid. It's great opportunity to see wonderful meteor shower. The best places, if you look at the cloud cover -- looks like cloud cover's going to be light in parts of the Southeast, across some of the Midwest, and across the Southern Plains. The Orionid is, by the way -- as we wrap things up -- just the tail end of Halley's Comet. And once that tail end passes through, the earth goes through parts of that, that comet's tail, the tiny particles pass through the atmosphere and we can see wonderful, wonderful meteor showers. It should be incredible.

Carol, by the way, some of the little tiny particles that move through the atmosphere that create these falling stars about the size of a grain of sand. Good stuff.

COSTELLO: Wow. So, we really won't know what they are exactly. But --

WOLF: Just tiny stuff. Just tiny stuff.

COSTELLO: Tiny stuff. Reynolds Wolf, thank you very much.

WOLF: You bet.

COSTELLO: First, Osama, now, Gadhafi. Will the death of these two men help bolster President Obama's re-election bid? We will talk about it in our Political Ticker. That comes your way next.

Sixteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seventeen minutes past the hour. Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS live from Washington.

Good morning, Tim.

TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS POTUS XM RADIO HOST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Let's talk politics in the death of Moammar Gadhafi because we must, just wondering -- actually, I know, how are those Republican presidential candidates responding to Gadhafi's death? Are they giving the president any credit at all?

FARLEY: Well, of course not. The part of the reason is because right now they have to worry about getting elected among the Republican base. And that means not siding with the president, as often as possible, distancing yourself.

I don't think they were being overly critical of the president. Mitt Romney was somewhat dismissive as he was walking out of a town hall yesterday. He quickly told reporters, yes, it was fine. And he also said on a radio station when he was doing an interview that it was about time.

The other top candidates, Herman Cain and Rick Perry, both expressing concerns about the missiles, whatever stockpiles of weapons were left and who they would wind up being in the hands of.

But this is not a time to be overly critical of the president. It's not a time for them because they are looking for that primary voter to show up. They're not going to really embracing of the president.

And it's not quite the same, Moammar Gadhafi, as it was with Osama bin Laden. I would say that they probably would have done themselves a favor to remember the victims of the Lockerbie bombing because it would have seemed more putting their arms around some of the victims in this country. But that said, this is the way it played out, and so we will move along now.

COSTELLO: Well, I'm not sure anything involving foreign policy is going to matter in 2012. I mean, what do you think? Will these deaths, Osama bin Laden and, you know, al-Awlaki, and Moammar Gadhafi -- I mean, will any of these deaths help President Obama in 2012, or will people really just be concerned about the economy?

FARLEY: Well, that's the $64,000 question, depending on how many millions of dollars, maybe $1 billion spent on his next presidential campaign. And you hit the nail on the head. And that is the president has become, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in December of 2009, in some sense, the killer-in-chief. I mean, you've got Osama bin Laden, it was not directly involved with the death of Anwar al-Awlaki but there was another drone involved in this.

So, the United States was responsible, in many ways, for getting these three thugs. That said, how do you turn that to a victory?

And to your point, Carol, in 1991 when George H.W. Bush was president, he had a tremendous victory, one that was hailed worldwide, and that was the victory in Iraq. That did not turned into a victory in the polls in 1992. People are fickle about such things and are more concern about what's happening in the backyard and what specifically is happening with their wallets. So, I think that is going to be a part of it.

The other is how do you turn this into a victory when in your base, you were not doing things like closing Guantanamo, you were maintaining the same kind of judicial review that the Bush administration had had and some of the other things that made George W. Bush so repugnant to the left, this president hasn't really changed that much. So, it's unclear how he turns into a campaign promise.

Still in all, I think a pretty good day in that Moammar Gadhafi is gone. And what comes next is the big question mark, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're right about that. Tim Farley, host of Sirius "Morning Briefing" on POTUS Radio -- thanks so much.

What's going on with the defense in the murder trial of Michael Jackson's doctor? With the key defense lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray, well, he'll be on the sidelines today. We'll have details on that, coming up.

But, first, today is National Mammography Day. It always falls on the third Friday of October and was first proclaimed by President Clinton in 1993. On this day or throughout the month, women are encouraged to make a mammography appointment.

It's 21 minutes past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

The prosecution could rest its case today against Dr. Conrad Murray. A key witness will be back on the stand for the defense to cross examine him. But one of the defense team's most knowledgeable lawyers when it comes to Propofol will be sitting this one out.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When court resumes, Dr. Steven Shafer will be on the stand still for the prosecution. It will be the cross-examination phase of that. It's not expected to last too long because the defense has their own expert and he was such a solid witness for the prosecution and will be hard to attack.

What he did effectively for the prosecution was lay out the scenarios of what could have happened to Michael Jackson to cause his death. And specifically, he told the jury there was only one plausible scenario, and that was that Dr. Conrad Murray used an I.V. drip on Michael Jackson and then left the room.

DR. STEVEN SHAFER, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Michael Jackson died while the infusion was running.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the Propofol was going into his body even as his heart was stopping?

SHAFER: That is correct.

ROWLANDS: For the first time, we saw some emotion out of Dr. Conrad Murray. He became very upset as did his lawyers while David Walgren, the district attorney, was doing a demonstration with Dr. Shafer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this --

ROWLANDS: Walgren unpeeled a sealed handle, a plastic handle on top of a very important piece of evidence. The bottle of Propofol that the state alleges was used to deliver the fatal dose to Michael Jackson. Walgren unsealed it -- a previously sealed plastic little handle and put it up on an I.V. stand.

Immediately, the defense and Murray became very upset. They told the jury to leave. Eventually the jury did come back in, and it was explained through a stipulation what had happened during that. But for the first time, we saw some real emotion from Murray who normally is very stoic as he sits at the defense table.

What we expect now is for the defense to start their case at some point after court resume in the morning here. They'll start with Shafer on cross-examination, that shouldn't take too long. But we do expect the state to -- the defense rather to start its case at some point after court resumes.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Moammar Gadhafi is gone, but his billions remain. And Libya's new government, its wants that money. But how difficult will it be for them to get their hands on the cash?

And one of the nation's largest banks mails monthly statements to the wrong homes. Thousands of customers affected. Ahead, what the bank is doing to correct that mistake.

It's 26 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. Happy Friday to you. It is October 21st.

This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello, joining you live from New York this morning. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

The Libyan people are beginning their first full day of life without Moammar Gadhafi in more than four decades. The death of the former Libyan leader has prompted celebrations from Benghazi to Tripoli with people pouring into the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very free, and I feel that my birthday is today. Really, I feel that I'm six hours old. Really. Libya's free without him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are so happy. It's a great -- the greatest moment in all my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Col. Gadhafi was captured while hiding in a sewage drain in his hometown of Sirte. We're told a vehicle transporting him was hit crossfire. he Died soon after that. The transitional government will formally announce the country's liberation on Saturday.

From the streets of Libya to the streets of the world. First, outside the Libyan embassy in London, waving flags and shouting cheers of joy.

And in the United States, here's what White House staffers could see out of their window, singing, dancing, people banging on drums. A celebration of hope about new era in Libya.

In an exclusive conversation with vice President Joe Biden, CNN chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley, got his reaction to the news of Gadhafi's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This is one bad guy. One really tough guy. He, for 40 years, had his folks under his thumb. And, he's dead, and -- going to give the people of Libya for the first chance in four decades to actually put together their own government and have a little freedom, little bit of opportunity. CROWLEY: You mentioned in a previous stop about the template of bringing in international -- an international coalition and how it worked so beautifully.

BIDEN: It's a template in the following sense that when, in fact, there is a cause that the Arab world can unite on and the west wants their help, and we don't have -- yes, maybe, but we don't have to do it ourselves is the point. It is that the NATO worked like it was designed to do. Burden sharing.

Total cost to us is $2 billion. No American lives lost. We carry the burden a lot of other places where NATO is, primary burden like in Afghanistan. And so, this was real burden sharing. That's -- that's the model.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You can see Candy's entire exclusive interview with Vice President Biden on CNN'S "State of the Union." That airs Sunday at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

With Gadhafi out of the picture, those looking to rebuild the government as a country turned their attention to the former leader's money. Felicia Taylor is live in London for us. Gadhafi had a lot of money, and when I say a lot, I -- I'm talking billions of dollars, right?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. The wealth of Moammar Gadhafi was literally staggering. It's reportedly believed that he had up to $160 billion worth of both state and personal assets. Now, there was a leaked document to global witness that I'm holding here that reveals some of the information from just one portfolio. The amount in that portfolio was about $64 billion, $65 billion worth.

That was back, though, in September of 2010. So, the numbers may have changed. But let me give you a little bit of an idea of what was in just this one portfolio. Let's take a look at cash and deposit. He had sitting in cash about $20 billion worth of money. Just -- just sitting there, literally. When you take a look at what was held throughout the world, there are many different stock and equity portfolios that he had.

So, let's take a look at what was going on in Italy. In Unicredit, he had a billion-dollar stake, and in Eni, he had a $900 million stake. What's interesting to point out about things like this is not always does a company know who its investors are, but when it's this kind of a number, you absolutely know that Moammar Gadhafi has a significant stake in your company.

So, what does that mean for countries like that? It's a question that's one to pose. In Germany, he owned a significant trust in Simmons (ph). It's not the only company he owns in Germany but a signified one. And also, in the United Kingdom, he owned Pearson PLC, which is the publisher of "Financial Times," and "The Economist," a significant state and that's about three percent or $400 million worth.

And in the United States, he had many different companies that he had shares in. General Electric being a significant one, $250 million worth. When it comes to some of the banks that he was doing business with, he had significant holdings with HSBC and Goldman Sachs. But also, in his bond portfolio, take a look at what was being held.

In Italy, $50 million worth in just one investment. $20 million worth in Spain. At Lloyds here in the U.K., $32 million worth. At Bank of America, $20 million worth. Now, what's interesting to find out about this, these assets, many of these assets were frozen back in February and placed under the U.N. sanctions.

Some of those sanctions are being lifted now, but they have to be proven that they're for humanitarian reasons, such as for the people of Libya. That's a very slow process. That's happening for the state assets. When it comes to the personal assets, though, those are incredibly difficult to recover.

The Libyan government is now going to have to prove to the courts in various different countries, whether it's the United States, the U.K., Italy, that those things were acquired under criminal intent. And that's going to be very difficult to prove. It could take years -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness! Just -- the amounts -- it's just staggering. That's all I have to say. Felicia Taylor, thanks so very much. We appreciate it.

Leaders around the world are speaking out about the capture and killing of Gadhafi. Not all of them are happy about it. So, what are they saying? That's just ahead. It's 35 minutes past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The death of Moammar Gadhafi clears the way for Libyans to choose their own government for the first time in recent memory. So, let's head around the world with Zain Verjee. She's live in London. Zain, I know leaders all around the globe have been making statements about the capture and killing of Gadhafi. What are they saying?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, those statements can't come fast enough. They are saying that his death really marks an end to tyranny and violence in Libya as well as threats around the world. Let's listen to what the British prime minister, David Cameron, says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Prime Minister Jibril has confirmed that Col. Gadhafi is dead. I think today is a day to remember all of Col. Gadhafi's victims. From those who died in connection with the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie to Yvonne Fletcher in a London street and, obviously, all the victims of IRA terrorism who died through their use of Libyan Semtex. We should also remember the many, many Libyans who died at the hands of this brutal dictator and his regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Carol, made this statement, he says this, "Sirte must mark the beginning of a process approved by the NTC in Libya to establish a democratic system in which all parts of the country will have that place and where the fundamental freedoms will be guaranteed. A new era has begun for the Libyan people, one of reconciliation in unity and freedoms."

And then, Hugo Chavez, the leader of Venezuela and a buddy and good friend of Moammar Gadhafi takes a slightly different tone here, Carol. Basically he's saying that Moammar Gadhafi will be remembered as a great fighter, a great revolutionary, and a martyr. He's the only one saying that kind of stuff -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was going to say, I -- I was just going to ask you that because it's so outside the norm. But, it is Hugo Chavez.

Let's switch topics now and talk about Thailand, because the flooding there is still -- I mean, they're in such dire straights in Thailand. Tell us what the prime minister offices urging Bangkok residents to do.

VERJEE: They're basically saying move to higher ground. Take all your stuff, take yourselves, and just get as high as you can. What they're saying is that they don't want to declare a state of emergency. Just look at these pictures. This is the worst kind of flooding Bangkok has seen in something like 50 years.

Also, the army is out there, and they're going to people's houses by boat to try and help evacuate them really. The situation is pretty dire. What the government is planning to do is that they kind of want to open up dams, and they hope that they can get some of the waters to come out and just go to sea.

Initially, they were reluctant to do that, but now, that's kind of their latest plan. But this is a really awful situation Thailand's experiencing. About 320 people have been killed. Nine million affected.

COSTELLO: Wow! Zain Verjee live in London. Thanks so much.

Customers at a couple of states are outraged this morning after learning their bank statements ended up in the wrong hands. So, what's the bank doing about it?

But first, it's time for your "Get Smart" question of the morning. The IRS released new figures showing how much you have to earn to be in the top one percent of American taxpayers. Is it A. About $345,000, B. $750,000, or C. About $1.5 million? We'll have your answer in two minutes. It's 40 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: It is 42 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Now, to answer your "Get Smart" question of the day. The IRS released new figures showing how much you have to earn to be in the top one percent of American taxpayers. Is it A. About $345,000, B. $750,000, or C. About $1.5 billion?

The answer is A. about $345,000 a year. That is the latest information just released by the IRS from 2009 statements. To put that into perspective, in 1986, you had to make about $233,000 to be in the top one percent.

What a scare for thousands of Wells Fargo customers. Many learning that their bank statements were sent to the wrong customers. For more morning money news, let's head to Christine Romans. She's in New York with me. How could this happen?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it just looks like it was a computer error, a printer error. And Wells Fargo won't tell us exactly how many people were affected, Carol, but, quite frankly, because of affiliate coverage and because of complaining customers, we know that South Carolina and Florida is where many of these accounts were, and it could be up to 4,000 different accounts.

So, imagine, opening up your mail, opening up your statement, and it's someone else's account number, someone else's activity, someone else's information right there in front of you. Now, Wells Fargo says they think the chances of someone running away with your information or doing something with it are very low, but just to be sure, they're going to give all these affected customers, Carol, one year of free identity theft protection. There you go.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's great.

ROMANS: But they lost control of this information, no question. Yes. I know.

COSTELLO: So, we don't know how many statements went to the wrong customers? Like, it's hundreds, thousands --

ROMANS: It could be up to 4,000. The affiliates of some of CNN's affiliates are reporting based on what they're hearing from customers, it could be up to 4,000, but Wells Fargo will not confirm how many. They say it's a low probability that something bad will happen with your information.

I guess, you're trusting that whoever is the person who get your statement doesn't do anything nefarious with it.

COSTELLO: Yes. Let's hope everyone's honest, huh? Switching gears a little bit. Let's talk about lawmakers because they're proposing this controversial plan to help the struggling real estate market. So, tell us about it.

ROMANS: It's pretty interesting. This would complement an existing visa program that allows foreign investors if they have a half a million dollars to invest, they could get a visa if they invest in this country, buy a company, build a company, and hire people. This particular program, bipartisan -- bipartisan proposal, that if a foreign investor wants to come in with half a million and invest in real estate, that they could get residence visa.

The idea is to boost the housing market to sop up some of this demand. The first option, $500,000 cash on one home. So, I mean, it's not going to actually help the little foreclosure markets in some of these towns, but it would help the top end for sure. Second option is you buy a 250,000 property, again for cash, and then, you invest the rest in real estate to rent out.

So, that's where you could start to mop up some of these properties that haven't been sold. You know, Canadians and Chinese have already been doing this. And we've seen, I think, $82 billion of foreign purchases of American real estate over the past year or so. And that's up pretty significantly, because Canadians and Chinese seem to be doing a lot of purchases, specifically in South Florida and other parts of the country where you've got really depressed real estate.

This would give a visa, a residence visa, in return. I was telling people, bring your cash, bring lots of cash, and we'll let you live here legally.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Christine Romans, see you on "American Morning" in about 15 minutes.

ROMANS: You got it.

COSTELLO: This morning, the news of Moammar Gadhafi's death spreads to every corner of the world. We're going to where it all began. We'll have a live report from Sirte, Libya, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. Happy Friday to you. It is October 21st. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello joining you live from New York this morning. It is 48 minutes past the hour.

News spread quickly around the world that Moammar Gadhafi had been killed. His rule finally over. That news began in the former Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte, and that's where we find reporter, Ben Farmer, this morning. He joins us live now. So, Ben, what's it like in Sirte now?

BEN FARMER, REPORTER, "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH" (on the phone): It's much quieter than it was yesterday. There's far fewer rebels, but the ones that are here are driving around almost leisurely. (INAUDIBLE) the ruins of the center of Sirte. They're looking through the buildings. They're curious. they're sightseeing. But there's a lot less firing in the air, and a lot of the rebels have actually gone home.

COSTELLO: Can you still hear me, Ben? I think --

FARMER: Yes, I can.

COSTELLO: Oh, good. I was afraid there for a second. So, the rebels have gone home. So, what will be next for the people of Sirte? I mean, I know that the National Transitional Council is trying to put together a government, but that's something that will not happen quickly.

FARMER: I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question?

COSTELLO: Sure. I just wondered, you know, Moammar Gadhafi's dead. The people of Sirte have gone home. They're sleeping now, but what will tomorrow bring? There's no government in place in essence.

FARMER: No. And that's the real priority for Libya's new interim rulers is after months of waiting for this city to

(GUNFIRE)

(INAUDIBLE)

FARMER: The final resistance to leave, they have to get a government in place. They've said that they will officially declare the country liberated tomorrow. That's when they will start picking a new government, and they will then put a timetable to free elections in place. Those elections should take place in about 18 months.

COSTELLO: I'm not sure if it's gunfire we're hearing live or it's on tape. Is it -- you say it's quiet there, right?

FARMER: No, it is -- it's celebration and fired close to me.

COSTELLO: I just wanted to get that cleared up. There are still questions about how Moammar Gadhafi was killed. Some say, here in the United States, it appears he was executed. What are people in Sirte saying, and do they really care?

FARMER: No. There was very little sympathy for Col. Gadhafi. It's still not clear what happened. But, when I asked rebels whether they cared if he was executed, they don't. They're just glad that it's over. I think many of them boast that they would have liked to kill him themselves.

We still don't know exactly what happened. All we know is that he was alive when he was captured. He was driven through the city of Misrata, and he never made it to Misrata alive.

COSTELLO: Ben Farmer reporting live for us this morning from Sirte, Libya. So, you can see it's not completely quiet there. There's still gunfire going off, you know, gunshots in celebration, but, for the most part, the city of Sirte quiet this morning.

Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is in Pakistan this morning. She's delivering more straight talk to the Pakistani government saying that it's time for that country to act against the Haqqani terror network. Secretary Clinton delivered a similar message when she met with the Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai. She says the U.S. and NATO troops will take the fight to the Haqqani terrorist network on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Clinton also said it's time to engage the Taliban in talks to stop the fighting.

On Capitol Hill, the Senate has rejected an attempt to pass a slimmed down version of President Obama's jobs bill. The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to bring the proposal to the floor. It would have provided $35 million to states and cities to help hire more teachers and pay the salaries of first responders.

President Obama issued this statement, quote, "for the second time in two weeks, every single Republican in the United States Senate has chosen to obstruct a bill that would create jobs and get our economy going again." The president went on to say, "that's unacceptable. We must do what's right for the country and pass the common sense proposals in the American jobs act," end quote.

Remember the JetBlue flight attendant who swiped a few beers, deployed the evacuation slide, and slid out of the plane at JFK airport? His name's Steven Slater. Well, he's been sentenced to a year of probation after completing a mental health treatment program. It was part of a plea deal he cut. Slater must also pay JetBlue 10,000 bucks in restitution.

The IRS wants to motivate people to contribute more money to their 401(k). Details in a live report from the NASDAQ MarketSite.

But first, let's take a look at the phrase of the day, it's arctic oscillation. Find out what it means and why you need to know right after a break. It's 53 minutes past.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is three minutes to the top of the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Today's phrase of the day, arctic oscillation. It represents the state of atmospheric circulation over the arctic. It's in the news because it will have a big impact on weather this winter. Experts say it can generate strong shifts in climate depending on whether it's in a positive or negative phase. Now, you know.

The next time you fly, you might be bombarded by ads all over the plane, not just the inside of the plane, but the outside of the plane, as well. Think it's too much? So does comedian, Stephen Colbert. Here's your "Punch Line."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE COLBERT REPORT: Spirit is also selling ad space on their overhead bins, tray tables, and air sickness bags.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: That is genius. Now, when passengers vomit, they'll be reminded of Cinnabon twice.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Why stop there? Why not replace the pilot and co-pilot with Captain Morgan and co-Captain Crunch?

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: And why limit the nonstop ad-slaught to planes? Isn't it time the TSA agents use the hamburger helper hand to conduct cavity searches?

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Relax, it's only three fingers.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: And he's so happy about it.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, I love that. Now, let's go to the NASDAQ MarketSite and check in with Carter Evans. Good morning, Carter.

CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever flown on Spirit Airlines before?

COSTELLO: No.

EVANS: OK. If you're over six feet, like I am, suffice to say, you need to buy the seats with the extra leg room. Trust me on that one, OK?

COSTELLO: Wow! OK.

EVANS: As far as economic reports go today, we really don't have any that are coming up. So, nothing really to move the markets. We're looking to earnings. We're going to hear from G.E., McDonald's, and Verizon before the bell. And our futures are looking OK this morning. Dow futures on the CNNMoney.com premarket page up 22 points. NASDAQ up 3.75. S&P 500 up 1.5.

COSTELLO: OK. I'll take that. What's making headlines on CNNMoney this morning?

EVANS: Well, you can now put more of your money away for retirement tax free or, at least, pretax. Check this out. This is on the CNNMoney.com main page today. The IRS is raising the 401(k) contribution limit to $17,000. Now, it's been at $16,500 since 2009. The reason it's going up now -- inflation.

You know, we just got a reading on inflation this week that shows it is up four percent, almost four percent over the last 12 months. So, you're going to get to put a little more of your hard-earned money away.

COSTELLO: And I know everybody says it's a good thing, and it probably is, but the stock market is so volatile right now. I think a lot of people think twice.

EVANS: Yes. A lot of people think twice, but you should still save that tax-free money or that pre-tax money if you can, just put it in a safer investment.

COSTELLO: Carter Evans, thanks, as usual.

"AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.