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Letterman Ribs Lohan on Rehab; S&P Hits New Record; Bubba Watson Breaks Down; Giffords, Fighting for Gun Control; Interview with Suzanna Gratia Hupp
Aired April 10, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Sandy Hook shooting in December spurred Gabby Giffords and husband Mark Kelly to take a stand.
GABBY GIFFORDS, FORMER ARIZONA CONGRESSWOMAN: Sandy brook --
MARK KELLY, GUN CONTROL ACTIVIST: Sandy Hook.
BAST: The brain damage from Giffords' own gunshot wound makes it difficult for her to find words. Even Sandy Hook.
GIFFORDS: Sandy brook.
KELLY: Sandy Hook.
GIFFORDS: Okay. Sandy brook.
KELLY: Sandy Hook.
GIFFORDS: Hook.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Sandy Hook elementary. It's something we just can't -- you know, 20 first graders.
GIFFORDS: First-graders died.
KELLY: In their classrooms.
GIFFORDS: Awful.
BASH: The couple originally called for a ban on assault weapons and limits to high-capacity magazines. Giffords made a dramatic plea to senators.
GIFFORDS: Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you.
BASH: But they now admit there are limits on what is politically realistic.
If you could name the one thing that Congress could do to prevent the kind of violence you were the victim of, what would it be?
GIFFORDS: Background checks.
KELLY: Yes. Certainly. Without a doubt.
BASH: Giffords has learned to navigate an iPad for e-mail with her left hand, because her right hand is paralyzed. But, most of her communicating with former colleagues goes, pressing them for new gun laws, goes through Kelly, mostly on the phone.
I've seen it written that there's irony, that you are such a good spokesperson for new laws to curb gun violence because you can't speak very well.
KELLY: Yes, I guess it's kind of, maybe it's bad irony. I don't know. It's something that --
GIFFORDS: It stinks.
KELLY: It stinks.
BASH: There is no question that gun culture is deeply ingrained in Giffords, even after a nearly fatal shooting, she still owns a gun, which her husband uses in target practice, with her looking on.
What is it like to sit and hear the gunshots go off? Does it startle you.
GIFFORDS: No. No.
KELLY: I think it's because Gabby doesn't remember the gunshot going off the day she was injured. You don't remember that?
GIFFORDS: No.
BASH: It's your hope to be able to shoot a gun again?
GIFFORDS: No, I don't know.
BASH: Not a big priority in your life.
GIFFORDS: Not really.
KELLY: Not at the top of the list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And Carol, we're going to have a lot more on the personal side of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly's life right now. Her recovery and some other things that may surprise you, including whether the 42- year-old Giffords, who was actually going through fertility treatments when she was shot two years ago, may still try to have a child of her own.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Will her speech ever improve? BASH: They don't know. She has something that's called aphasia, and that is not unusual for people who have the kind of head wound that she had. Remember, the bullet went completely through one side of her brain, and she has made remarkable progress. You know, at the beginning she couldn't even ask questions, never mind say words, and just even again in the past few months, she is able to speak more in sentences and so forth.
She has a speech therapist with her a lot. There were a couple different ones there when we were with her just in a couple of days. She is working very hard at it and they hope she continues to progress and be able to speak -- I don't know if she will ever speak like she was able to before. But she will be able to do better than she is now. But it is really amazing how even in just one word she can say maybe what you and I say in three sentences, she knows how to do that.
COSTELLO: Definitely true. And what a wonderful husband she has too. It's really awesome.
BASH: That's true.
COSTELLO: Dana Bash, thank you so much. As our special coverage continues, next hour, we're looking at an unusual program to stop would-be school shooters before they ever do anything dangerous.
And opening bell, just rang on Wall Street. Many investors hoping the rally will continue. The S&P 500 now closer to record territory. Alison Kosik is at the New York stock exchange. Good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And as a matter of fact, Carol, good morning to you. The gains and records continue. The Dow as it tacks on more and more points there, it is setting new records for the Dow and not to be outdone, so is the S&P 500. It's trading at a new record high again.
You know, this is kind of becoming the norm. The Dow and the S&P they have been hitting record after record after record. But you know what? It adds up to some very big gains. The Dow is already up 12 percent just this year. And the timing is interesting, because it comes as first quarter earnings season kicks off and would you believe the expectations aren't that great. We see stocks rocket higher.
What this is about really is momentum, the path of least resistance is higher. Also most economic reports show there is a recovery going on here in the U.S., albeit very slowly, in housing, construction, auto sales and spending. Also, you have the fed pumping billions of dollars into the economy, pushing interest rates down, pushing investors into stocks.
One thing I got to mention that happened this morning, the minutes from the fed's latest meeting in March, they were inadvertently released early yesterday, sent to a group of congressional staffers, so hose minutes, supposed to be released at 2:00 today. So since those congressional staffers got them early, the fed had to go ahead and release them at 9:00 this morning, so investors are going over those minutes. Doesn't seem to be affecting the trade in a negative way. Carol.
COSTELLO: That's a good thing. Allison Kosik, reporting live for us this morning. We're back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: October 16, 1991 started out of as a normal day for my next guest, and it ended as anything but. A lunch at Luby's Cafeteria turned tragic as a gunman drove his truck into the restaurant and opened fire, killing 23 people including Suzanna Gratia Hupp's (ph) parents. She's a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and she is the author of "From Luby's to the Legislature: One Woman's Fight Against Gun Control." Welcome Suzanna.
SUZANNA GRATIA HUPP, (R ) FMR. TEXAS STATE HOUSE: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. So we just found out that the Senate might begin debate on background checks on the floor of the Senate on Thursday. Your thoughts?
GRATIA HUPP: Well, you know, background checks are one of those things that sound so good, even to very conservative people. But the fact of the matter is, it's really just a de facto gun owner registration. And, of course, that makes a lot of us very nervous, because that typically leads to confiscation.
COSTELLO: Well, of course gun control advocates would dispute that saying like why shouldn't there be background checks for everyone when they're buying a gun. Why not stop at least one mentally ill person from getting a gun?
GRATIA HUPP: That's the reason. That's the reason why. Because it leads to confiscation. The truth of the matter is, it will pick up a couple of really extraordinarily stupid criminals, you know, it's going to catch a few of those, you're right. But what it really will do is create that -- that registry, that registry of gun owners and historically that does lead to confiscation and I have to tell you, governments have been responsible for far more murders than the average creep on the street.
COSTELLO: Well, I think some people would dispute that. Many police officers that I talked with though support background checks --
GRATIA HUPP: There's nothing to dispute. That's statistical, historical evidence.
COSTELLO: Well, let's get back to the background checks and the arguments for and against. Many police officers that I've talked with want background checks, they say it's necessary for them to do their jobs. So police officers, that deal with criminals every day. And a lot of criminals are stupid, quite frankly.
(CROSSTALK)
GRATIA HUPP: And they should continue to deal with criminals, but the fact is, the vast majority, in fact, millions of gun owners are not criminals. Look, if guns are the problem then why don't we see these dreadful shootings at gun shows? Places where there are thousands of guns in the hands of law-abiding people? If guns are the problem, why haven't we seen these mass shootings any place --
Look, if we really want to make a difference, there are two things we can do. We can eliminate gun-free zones. Because these shootings always happen where people can't defend themselves. These creeps go where they can rack up high body bag counts. And the second thing we can do is get the media to do a couple of simple things: quit showing the bad guy's face, mention his name the first day because I get it, you have to report who the person it, but after that, make a pact. Say we will never report this guy's name again. We will blur out his face if he actually goes to trial. Take away that infamy that they achieve. There are copycats.
COSTELLO: Right, a lot of people feel that way. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.
GRATIA HUPP: Thank you very much for having me.
COSTELLO: David letterman not mincing words with Lindsay Lohan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: Yes or no, do you steal stuff?
(LAUGHTER)
LINDSEY LOHAN, ACTRESS: Do you?
LETTERMAN: No. You can have that, that's complimentary.
LOHAN: Oh, thank you. We're done?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Coming up, what other awkward, actually mean questions the late night comedian had for the troubled actress. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Lindsay Lohan goes on "Letterman" and ends up in the hot seat. The perpetually troubled actress is headed to another round of rehab next month and she took it on the chin on last night's late show. Now normally we stay away from Lindsay Lohan story. But A.J. Hammer, he was mean, David Letterman was mean.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Now, I don't know if he was mean, Carol. Really, it's David Letterman, he asked Lindsay pretty much what you would expect him to. Because as you know with Dave, as far as he is concerned, no question is off-limits.
He began the interview, perhaps a little perplexed about how she was even able to be on a show last night in the first place. So let's watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: Aren't you supposed to be in rehab now?
LOHAN: Do not watch anything that goes on in the tabloids now. May 2nd.
LETTERMAN: I do. Now here's what I -- I was under the -- May 2nd.
LOHAN: Yes.
LETTERMAN: And how long will you be in rehab?
LOHAN: Three months.
LETTERMAN: How many times have you been in rehab?
LOHAN: Several.
LETTERMAN: And what -- how will this time be different? What are they rehabbing, first of all? What is on their list? What are they going to work on when you walk through the door?
LOHAN: We didn't discuss this in the pre-interview.
LETTERMAN: Do you have addiction problems?
LOHAN: Now you sound like Dr. Phil.
LETTERMAN: Yes, I'm sorry. Is it like alcohol? Do you drink too much.
LOHAN: We've discussed this in the past.
LETTERMAN: Did we really? When did we discuss --
LOHAN: Well because I'm like --
LETTERMAN: See, I'm the one who's having the blackouts. I'm just saying. I ought to be on rehab. Oh my God. What is wrong with me? Who is taking to you rehab? You don't want to talk about that either, right?
LOHAN: Oh, God. Jimmy Fallon.
LETTERMAN: Jimmy Fallon and you.
LETTERMAN: Jimmy and I will drive her to rehab.
LOHAN: And Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels.
LETTERMAN: Yes and so when you come out you'll --
(CROSSTALK)
LOHAN: No, but I don't want people to think that I'm making a joke of that.
LETTERMAN: No you shouldn't make a joke of it.
LOHAN: I'm not.
LETTERMAN: Because this could be good for you. It will be good for you.
LOHAN: Yes it will.
LETTERMAN: And she's tearing up a little bit. God bless you.
LOHAN: I love you too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Carol, I think this is classic Letterman. You can put it right up there with his encounters with Joaquin Phoenix and Madonna.
COSTELLO: Yes but -- I don't know, I just go back, number one, why did David Letterman invite her to be on? She's a troubled young woman, and she needs to deal with her troubles and -- and like he was poking fun at her problems whatever they are. And the national audience was laughing at her.
HAMMER: Well, you know, again, it is the Letterman show. It's a comedy show and he always has had this great success at sort of balancing what's real and serious with the comedy.
She was on to promote "Scary Movie 5" and if Lindsay told Dave that he wasn't going to go there last night and he did, that's an issue. I don't think that would have happened because he would never agree to any kind of restrictions. However when you do talk about addiction issues and ask those specific questions Carol I do agree that can be very, very touchy.
She could have handled it with a bit more grace perhaps but then again, if she had done that, it would have been inconsistent with her.
COSTELLO: Well he could have asked her those same questions, those very same questions in perhaps a more caring way? I mean, maybe I'm just a bleeding heart. I don't know. But I kind of felt sorry for her. I don't think anyone should interview her at the moment because she's so troubled.
HAMMER: I agree with that.
COSTELLO: Just let her go take care of her problems. I know.
HAMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: All right. At least we agree on something. A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
COSTELLO: Ok, the S&P breaking records. So let's head to the New York Stock Exchange and check in with Alison Kosik. Do tell.
KOSIK: Up, up and away go stocks. That's what this is all about. The Dow making new inroads into record territory. Now the S&P doing that too. Keep in mind, these records that we're seeing happen right now, they are called intraday records, meaning these are trading levels. What really, really counts is that the S&P 500, the Dow close -- close at these record levels when the closing bell rings.
Still this is pretty interesting to watch. You look at these gains, adding up. You look at the Dow it's up 12 percent just for the year and the timing of this is kind of interesting, because, you know, we got that lousy jobs report on Friday. First quarter earnings season kicked off earlier this week, it's not expected to be very good, but yet -- yet we see records being broken here on Wall Street.
Why is that? Well, one of the big reasons is because the fed had got its hand in this. Meaning it's buying up $85 billion of mortgage- backed securities and treasury bonds. What that's doing is that's moving interest rates lower. And investors are saying I'm not going to make any money in the bond market, really the best game in town is the stock market.
So you're seeing investors move into stocks, moving their money, it's creating this wealth effect that you're seeing on the big board today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's a good thing for people with lots of money, but maybe not such a good sign for others who don't have lots of money.
KOSIK: It's true, but not necessarily. I mean, if you're invested at all. If you've got a 401(k), if you've any mutual funds, as we see the S&P 500 hit these record levels. In fact right now it is at another record level.
They're going to see that reflected in your 401(k) in those returns. So even though maybe you're not a day trader you know if you -- you know let's say you do work and you invest in your 401(k), you'll see it in your 401(k).
COSTELLO: Well let's hope a lot of people are contributing to their 401(k).
KOSIK: Exactly. That's where it counts.
COSTELLO: I hope so. That's right. Alison Kosik thanks so much.
It's a Masters tradition and this year it's Bubba's turn. The reigning champ's dinner selection when we comeback.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Fifty-three minutes past the hour. Time to check our "Top Stories".
An American couple sits in a Florida jail this morning after Cuba sent them and their two children back to the United States. Josh and Sharyn Hakken face several charges including kidnapping. The family arrived in the U.S. early this morning after being spotted by a CNN crew in Havana. The children who live with their grandparents, the grandparents have legal custody.
A circus elephant is expected to fully recover after being wounded in a drive by shooting. The 39-year-old elephant was shot in the shoulder on Tuesday morning. The animal is part of the Ringling Brothers' Barnum and Bailey Circus in Tupelo, Mississippi. A $16,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.
And former Congressman Anthony Weiner might return to politics. He told the "New York Times" magazine he is considering running for New York City mayor. Weiner says he's already spent $100,000 on polling and research. As you know he resigned in 2011 after tweeting lewd photos of himself.
President Obama's new budget plan is expected to put a cap on retirement plans for the rich. It would remove the tax advantages for retirement accounts exceeding $3 million. Every day savers aren't likely to notice. But a study says less than a tenth of one percent of retirement plans would be affected.
A man named Bubba he's putting his stamp on the Augusta National as he gets set to defend his Masters title.
Joe Carter is here with "Bleacher Report".
JOE CARTER, "BLEACHER REPORT": Hi good morning Carol.
Yes. Bubba, he likes to cry. And yesterday he broke down and he's telling the story about his son to the press and we're not too surprised to see him get emotional. Because he did last year of course when he won the Masters. We watched him win it like a man and then break down like a little baby.
Here he is with his mom just after he won. Gushing tears of joy. So here we are one year later, he's back in Augusta sharing a story about what he did with his infant son Caleb just after winning the green jacket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUBBA WATSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I told him I was going to go home and wrap Caleb up in it.
Out of respect, out of honor. I'll finish this one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.
WATSON: I'll try to. Out of respect and honor for the Augusta National and one of the greatest clubs we have. One of the greatest tournaments out of respect for them, I didn't do any of my funny antics that I normally would do. And so the only thing I did was wrap Caleb up in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CARTER: That's sort of a real moment there from Bubba Watson. Ok of course he's the defending champ. So he got to pick the menu for the champions' dinner which was Tuesday night. And Bubba well, he went Bubba as you see there. Chicken mashed potatoes, corn, mac and cheese. I love how it's grilled chicken. He should have just went all the way with fried chicken.
COSTELLO: I know come on.
CARTER: Just take it there Bubba.
So Tiger, of course, got to attend that dinner because he's a past champion, he's won the Master four times before. This year he says he's feeling, quote, "Very balanced with his life and very comfortable with every aspect of his golf game.
Beware, the rest of the competition, he's back, he's got three wins so far this year, ranked number one in the world again and he's the overall favorite to win the masters.
Now the annual par three contest is later this afternoon in Augusta, it's always the family affair. You've got current and past players bringing out the kids, bringing up the grand kids. Rory McIlroy on the other hand is bringing his girlfriend, tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki. She's actually going to caddy for him today. And you can check out a complete guide to this year's Masters at bleacherreport.com.
Louisville head men's basketball coach, Rick Pitino -- excuse me -- made the flight from Atlanta to New Orleans yesterday to watch the Lady Cardinals take on UConn in the women's national championship game. They did not fare as well as the men did. UConn dominated from start to finish. They crushed Louisville, 93-65. Most lopsided game ever in a championship. UConn and Tennessee now are tied for eight for most national championships.
There you saw more tears of joy. A lot of tears in today's Bleacher Report, Carol.
COSTELLO: I know. That hurt me physically. Thanks so much, Joe Carter.
CNN continues after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
