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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Recession Fears Rattle Markets; GOP Candidates Face off in Florida; Solyndra Executives Won't Testify; Jaycee Dugard Sues Feds; Palestinian Statehood Request
Aired September 23, 2011 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead:
Chaotic scene after shots are fired at a border check point in California.
On Capitol Hill, the stage is set for a budget showdown. Late last night, the Republican-controlled House passed a spending plan. Democrats in the Senate are already saying no way.
Kids as young as eight taking part in what appears to be cage fighting. The pictures are horrific. Some call it barbaric. But, is it criminal?
Good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Christine Romans, in for Carol Costello, joining you live this morning from New York.
Let's get started with the markets right now. Asian stocks all finishing the week on losing notes. Europe is off to a slightly better start.
U.S. stock futures this morning -- brace yourself -- they're showing signs of life. Maybe your portfolio and your 401(k) will make up a little of what they lost yesterday when the Dow dropped nearly 400 points.
Let's talk to Nina dos Santos in London. You know, yesterday, Nina, the story was recession fear around the world. Today, the story is the health of the European banks.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Christine. What we're seeing is conflicting reports today in a couple of newspapers about whether the Eurozone and European regulators for the banking industry will move to try to recapitalize or shore up the capital that some of the banks across this region hold.
This is on the back of on going concerns about the health of the French banks after Mohamed El-Elrian, he's the head of the world's bond fund, PIMCO, said yesterday that we could be perhaps even a run on French banks and that could undermine the Eurozone, even pushing Europe into a broader recession.
Now, today, the markets seem to be rebounding after flirting with some losses earlier on in today's session, Christine. But we should also remember that we've had really sobering statistics and warning shots from some of the world's biggest institutions this week.
Let me run you through them. On a positive note, overnight we had the G-20 promising to act -- put forward concerted action to try to stop these losses and on going concerns about a return to recession. But we have, nevertheless, had the IMF warning about the path to recovery narrowing considerably.
Earlier on in the week, the IMF decided to cut the growth forecast for global growth for this year and next. Even today, the World Trade Organization is forecasting lower trade next year for the world. And those are the kind of sobering thoughts that economists are trying to put into context.
One of the reasons why the rebound we're seeing at the moment isn't particular pronounce and also one of the reasons why we saw some really significant losses for some of these markets. For final, I'll point, just to give you an indication of the kind losses we saw yesterday, $100 billion was wiped off the FTSE 100 in here London where I am just in yesterday's session alone, Christine.
ROMANS: Yes. And where I sit right now, if you're looking at the Dow, the last two days was the worst two days percentage-wise and point-wise since 2008. And we don't like to have any comparison to 2008.
Nina dos Santos, thank you.
Today, you'll probably read score sheets for the Republican presidential debate in Orlando. It wasn't exactly a trip to Disney World for the front-runner. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann hammered Governor Perry on Social Security, the HPV vaccine in Texas and immigration. They didn't spare President Obama either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a Rick Perry out there that's saying that, almost a quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional. Unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states. So you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Americans just don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with.
PERRY: I've got one question for him. Have you ever even been to the border with Mexico?
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
PERRY: I'm surprised if you have. You weren't paying attention.
SANTORUM: The answer is yes. Of course, I have.
PERRY: The idea that you are going to build a wall, a fence for 1,200 miles and then go 800 miles more to Tijuana does not make sense. You put the boots on the ground.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nothing will turn America around more than election night when Barack Obama loses decisively.
(CHEERS)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president of the United States, that's the very first thing I would do is repeal Obamacare.
GARY JOHNSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROMANS: We didn't show Jon Huntsman in that series of clips. We'll hear from him a little later. Two new polls suggest the former Utah governor is climbing into double digits in New Hampshire.
Palestinian leaders are expected to submitted application today for full membership for the United Nations. President Mahmoud Abbas has been pushing this idea all week. The U.S. has promised to block the application. Experts say Abbas is doing this to help create a legacy because he's frustrated with the go-nowhere peace talks of Israel.
Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the General Assembly. Several delegates walked out after he predicted the demise of the U.S., questioned the 9/11 attacks and accused Europe of using the Holocaust as an excuse to support Israel. Standard fare from the Iranian president.
There's been a shooting at the U.S. border with Mexico. It happened last night in San Ysidro, California. Two customs and border agents fired on a man they say waved a fake handgun at them and pulled the trigger. Our affiliate KFMB in San Diego reports the man is expected to survive. This happened in an area where agents check people who walk over the border into the U.S.
A third state has executed a death row inmate last night. Last night, Alabama put to death Derrick Mason. He is convicted and condemned for the 1994 robbery and murder of a convenient store clerk in Huntsville. Like Troy Davis in Georgia, Mason had a lot of supporters who rallied to save him, including the judge who sentenced him to death in the first place. Alabama's governor denied requests to stop that execution.
And as we told you yesterday morning, Texas also executed a condemned man. Lawrence Brewer was one of three men convicted in the infamous dragging death of a black man, James Byrd. Take a look at the last meal he requested: bacon cheeseburger, omelet, fried okra, fajitas, steaks, barbecue, pizza, ice cream and fudge. How could one man eat all that? Well, guess what? Brewer didn't eat any of it. Because of him he isn't serving special meals to death row inmates anymore. They'll eat with the rest of the inmates.
Now, let's go to Rob Marciano live to Atlanta.
Tropical storm Ophelia losing steam as she treks through the Atlantic. What's the latest, Rob? And good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes, we were thinking this was going to happen. And it certainly has.
But it's not done. Here is a look at Ophelia as of right now, as of 5:00. The tropical storm, it was very close to becoming a hurricane as of yesterday. But had some pretty strong headwinds and that shear is not helping it.
I want to start you off, though, with what's going on across the East Coast as far as the rainfall is concerned. There you go, Atlanta to the Carolinas, heavy rain at times here. We've got street flooding across Atlanta. And this moisture is pushing up towards the Northeast as well. The radar will begin to fill in there.
We've got flood watches and warnings posted for this very, very slow-moving front making its way across towards the East Coast. Flood watches for Friday through Saturday for all this area up and down the I-95 corridor. So, be aware of that and take the precautions you need to.
If you're traveling on this Friday, obviously, there are going to be some delays especially at the metro, airports around New York City, D.C., and Philadelphia as well.
All right. Let's talk about what's going on with this satellite, all right? Things haven't changed since yesterday. Here is a look at the orbit that this thing takes on between 57 south and 57 north.
So, that's the area where this thing can fall out of the sky and cause some damage. But when we think this is going to happen, plus or minus nine hours, this afternoon or this evening. So, there you go.
And this takes North America out of the equation. I found a couple of things that were interesting, Carol and Christine. First of all, from the FAA, they're warning pilots to record and report any sort of observations that they see of debris from the satellite falling out of the sky. They do not mention actually avoiding that debris. I would add that.
The other thing is, this is from NASA's prediction. This is at 9:30 last night they sent this, an update saying that it's still either this afternoon or this evening, but the predictions will become more accurate and more refined in the next 24 hours, which is basically when it hits the ground.
So, we're all pretty much watching and waiting. No telling where this thing is going to fall. They're taking North America out of the equation. Odds are it false in an ocean or uninhabited area of the earth -- Christine.
ROMANS: Odds are. All right. Rob Marciano, we'll check in with you again in a little bit.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROMANS: Comedian Stephen Colbert gives his two cents on European's debt crisis. Here's your punchline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: The E.U. is on the verge of collapse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The European Union itself is falling apart and fast.
SIMON JOHNSON: The great weakness is obviously governments like Greece. If they were to default, which is what's happening in other countries, you would have a collapse of the currency and a lot of problems.
CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, GERMANY (through translator): If the euro collapses, Europe collapses.
COLBERT: And if Europe collapses, where will college students spend a semester abroad to learn how to throw up sangria in Spanish.
The collapse is imminent because once again, Greece is in danger of defaulting on their debt. And to save themselves, they have only two options: A., Prime Minister George Papandreou can turn Greece's creditors to stone by using Medusa's head.
Or B, Greece can convince the other European countries that they're getting their financial house in order. But to do that, someone in Greece may have to do the unthinkable: get a job. Let me explain, Greeks.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROMANS: Very funny.
A group of European researchers stirring up all kinds of controversy this morning. They think they might be able to prove Einstein is wrong about the speed of light. What they say appears to travel even faster.
But, first, our quote of the day, "My father still refers to the Internet as the World Wide Web." Find out which former first daughter said that about her dad, coming up in 90 seconds.
It's about 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Twelve minutes after the hour. Welcome back to your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Let's get back to our quote of the day. "My father still refers to the Internet as the World Wide Web." Who said that? It was Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary. She stays off camera as she pokes fun at her parents' technology know-how during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHELSEA CLINTON, HILLARY'S DAUGHTER: As your daughter, I remember when I helped you send your first text message.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes. That wasn't very long ago, I have to tell you.
Chelsea is being much too kind and gentle because both Bill and I -- if you don't tell anybody, I'll tell you -- we are primitive.
CHELSEA CLINTON: My father still refers to the Internet as the World Wide Web.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Blockbuster finding a way to get back in the game after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year. Let's go to Kristie Lu Stout live from Hong Kong.
Good morning.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hey there.
Blockbuster is back and taking a bite out of the streaming video market. After acquired earlier this year by Dish Network, it plans to launch a flat fee, all-you-can-watch streaming video service. This comes as rival Netflix is dealing with scores of angry customers all upset about its recent price hike.
But let's not forget here, Netflix played a big part in Blockbuster's demise. So, Christine, the streaming war begins.
Back to you.
ROMANS: Yes. And Blockbuster doing everything it can as it remerges from bankruptcy to try to gain relevancy again.
Let's talk about European researchers -- they say, Kristie, that they've clocked a particle going faster than the speed of light?
STOUT: Yes, this is an interesting update here. I mean, nothing can go faster than the speed of light. That is Einstein's Theory of Relatively. It is the pillar of physics. But it may be time to rewrite the books.
European researchers say that they've clocked a sub-atomic particle, a neutrino, going faster than the cosmic speed limit of 186,282 miles per second. Now, it's not a surprise to note that their finding is stirring up controversy. Even the researchers themselves say they are not ready to proclaim a discovery and are asking other scientists to verify what they found.
So, for now, E still equals MC2. Back to you.
COSTELLO: All right. Kristie Lu Stout, thanks.
He's leading in the polls. But his Republican rivals are turning up the heat even more on Texas Governor Rick Perry. One of the big focus: his record on immigration. How Perry is responding is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back.
Congress' approval rating ain't doing so hot. And according to comedian Jay Leno, it's causing leaders to show up in, well, black and blue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JAY LENO, COMEDIAN: Another record broken this week, Congress's approval rating all-time low, just 12 percent. You know, a lot of politicians, a lot of these congressmen went back to their home district this weekend. And, you can tell their constituents are fed up with them. I mean, you can see it in their faces. Show Congress --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: They're telling seniors to pay more for health care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issue is dredging a lot.
REP. FRANCISCO CANSECO (R), TEXAS: Without additional assistance, the capacity to respond --
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROMANS: Time now for your Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS live from Washington.
Let's start with last night's FOX News Channel GOP debate in Orlando. Governor Rick Perry --
TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS XM POTUS: Let's do it.
ROMANS: -- let's do it -- defending his record on border security and immigration. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: I feel pretty normal getting criticized by these folks. The fact of the matter is this -- there is nobody on this stage who has spent more time working on border security than I have. Out of 181 members of the Texas legislature when this issue came up, only four dissenting votes. This was a state issue. Texans voted on it and I still support it greatly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, did he open the door for more attacks or put it to rest.
FARLEY: Well, at least put the key in the door, maybe even turned the knob a little bit.
But there are going to be more attacks, because this doesn't play well. You can hear a little boo at the end of that. And it was one of the lines that didn't get a great response of a conservative audience of 5,000 in Orlando.
It sort of harkens back to what George Bush talked about when he was president, a more compassionate approach to immigration. But there are more Republicans, especially the conservative Republicans who are going to play a big role in determining who the candidate will be and who their nominee will be, they want to hear something a little bit more, I guess, strict if you will on immigration. You could hear that during the debate last week, Christine.
ROMANS: What about Mitt Romney. How did he do last night?
FARLEY: You know, I think you have to look at him and say he was presidential. I think that Rick Perry overall his performance had stumbling moments. He was trying to make a couple of lines here and there.
Mitt Romney, you know, pretty much polished. He's been through this before and he's vetted before. I think when you look at it, overall, really the net gain out of the debate was probably in Romney's favor, although it is still early. And once you get the votes cast in Iowa, New Hampshire and so on, we'll really start seeing how this field is going to take shape.
ROMANS: Meantime, the House voted on a measure to keep the government from shutting down. This thing isn't over yet, is it?
FARLEY: No. That was really early this morning. It's kind of a mulligan. John Boehner, if you look at him as the quarterback, he looked at the line and said do I go right or left?
And he kind of went a little to the right to try to get some conservatives, more of them to vote with him, because several Republicans voted against the bill. I think it was 48 on Wednesday. They did the other vote last night. Now, it's 24. But he didn't get a lot of Democratic support.
The problem is this is to avoid shutting down the government, all over FEMA funding as well as a few other things that Republicans are looking for offsets in the bill. They want to figure out a way to pay for it.
The Senate has to act today. Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said they might stay in session next week. If they don't vote for this bill, there's a question about what might happen because the House is out of town next week. The government shuts down a week from today, Christine. We got to figure out what's going to happen.
ROMANS: Wow. All right. Tim Farley, nice to wake up with you this morning. Talk to you very soon. Host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius XM POTUS.
FARLEY: Have a good weekend.
ROMANS: You, too. That's right. It is Friday.
Hundreds of teachers in Mexico say they won't teach until their classrooms are safe. We're taking stock of drug violence in Acapulco and just how bad it's gotten. But, first, do you like red ones or black ones? Come on.
It's Checkers Day. So, call a few friends, invite them over to play one of the most popular board games around. That's right, the National Day of Checkers.
It's 21 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Twenty-four minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Here are three things to put on your radar. Jurors should be seated by the end of the day in the case against the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death. Opening statements are expected Tuesday.
In Florida, jurors could soon reach a verdict in the case of a Florida millionaire accused of killing his wife.
And today is the day we've been warning you about. Pieces of a degrading satellite are expected to fall back to earth. NASA scientists don't know yet where it will land. Probably not in North America.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh is back in his home country three months after leaving to undergo treatment in Saudi Arabia for burns he suffered in an attack on a mosque. But he returns to protest and fighting a country on the verge of a civil war. These are live pictures right now of his supporters rallying. He's clung to power in spite of eight months of protests in which tens of thousands demonstrated demanding an end to his 33-year rule.
Now, hundreds of teachers in Acapulco, Mexico, say they won't teach unless their classrooms are safe. They're marching in protest of a big spike in drug violence -- drug violence spilling onto their campuses.
Now, let's go around the world with Monita Rajpal live in London.
Good morning.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Christine.
Yes, as you're saying, hundreds of teachers in Acapulco have taken to the streets to protest against w what they're saying is a lack of security at their schools. And they say as long as there is violence or even the threat of violence, there will be no classes.
If you remember last month, teachers from about 75 schools in the area didn't show up after they had reportedly received threats demanding -- demands actually for a portion of their salary, and if they didn't abide by those demands, they would be attacked. The teachers are calling on the federal government to improve security. The government for its part says they're doing what they can, including installing alarms in schools in Acapulco.
But they also in a local program called Safe School, that was created. Essentially, it was an increase in security personnel in and around the schools.
Now, in the past five years, more than 40,000 people have died in Mexico as a result of drug-related violence -- Christine.
ROMANS: Forty thousand people and spilling on to school campus is something that is very concerning as the drug wars there continue.
Now, video from Britain appears to show kids cage fighting. This is being slammed by critics. The pictures are hard to watch.
RAJPAL: Very hard to watch indeed, Christine, because we're looking at boys as young as 8 who are taking part in a support that seems to be gaining a lot of popularity here in this part of the world, especially in the northern part of England. And it's cage fighting. There you see two boys attacking each other in front of spectators who pay about 40 bucks to watch. It's got the government chiming in and saying calling it basically barbaric.
Organizers, though, and even the parents of those boys say it is actually a legitimate sport. And they compare it to a form of martial arts. And they're saying it's better they're there in those gyms and those cages rather than out fighting on the streets. The parents say it's not dangerous and because they're younger, they say there's no kicking or punching. They're basically just wrestling.
But the British Medical Association, however, says it's particularly disturbing as the kids aren't wearing any headgear -- Christine.
COSTELLO: My goodness. And it's perfectly legal?
RAJPAL: Yes. Absolutely. It is legal because the places where they are holding these fights are -- they have a license to do so.
COSTELLO: Wow. Monita Rajpal, thank you so much. Have a nice weekend.
Jaycee Dugard, the woman who spent 18 years as a prisoner in the California backyard, she is suing the federal government. Why she says the fed made outrageous mistakes in tracking her captor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. Did I say it's Friday? It's Friday, September 23rd. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Christine Romans in for Carol Costello. I join you live this morning from New York. It's about 31 minutes past the hour.
The big story right now, the markets. Wow! It was a rough ride on Wall Street yesterday, a really bad couple of days. Let's go to Carter Evans live at the NASDAQ MarketSite for the latest. Futures stabilizing a little bit, though, this morning.
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Looking a little bit better. I remember, yesterday, we were both in the newsroom kind of shaking our heads looking at the market.
ROMANS: Yes.
EVANS: It was a rough day yesterday, you know, not just here, but all around the world. We are seeing some recovery today. European markets are slightly higher right now. We don't really have any big economic reports here today. So, investors are going to be on their own, but it looks like they're going to spend the day breathing a sigh of relief, maybe, recovering a little bit.
ROMANS: Yes. Couple of bad. Those two days -- the two-day loss on the Dow was the worst since 2008. You don't like to compare anything to 2008. Meanwhile, over at HP, some big changes over there this morning.
EVANS: Very big changes. There's a new CEO over there. Her name is Meg Whitman. You might recognize that. She was the CEO of eBay before. Now, listen, HP stock is down more than 46 percent this year. The board was not happy with its current -- with its CEO, Leo Apotheker. Basically, they decided to let him go yesterday. He made some big changes at HP. He ditched his tablet just months after it went to market.
He suggested that HP get out of the PC business altogether. Basically, a lot of people weren't happy with that. And the chairman said on the conference call yesterday that the board considered many candidates and decided that, together, Whitman was the right fit. I don't feel too bad for Apotheker, though. He's taking home a $25 million severance check.
ROMANS: $25 million severance check. All right. Carter Evans, we'll check with you again in a few minutes. Thank you, sir.
EVANS: Sure.
ROMANS: When the Republican candidates weren't treating frontrunner, Rick Perry, like a political pinata at last night's debate, they offered up ideas on how to fix the economy and deal with taxes. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You should get to keep every dollar that you earn. That's your money. That's not the government's money.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people that have been hurt most by the president's economy, the Obama economy, is the middle class. That's why I cut taxes for the middle class.
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To lower that tax burden on the small businessmen and women.
HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nine percent business flat tax, nine percent personal income tax, and then nine percent national sales tax.
JON HUNTSMAN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not going to raise taxes. This is the worst time to be raising taxes, and everybody knows that. We need to grow.
GARY JOHNSON, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fair tax which would absolutely reboot the American economy because it does away with the corporate tax to create tens of millions of jobs.
NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obama's socialist policies, class warfare, and bureaucratic socialism, we created zero in August. I believe, with leadership, we can balance the budget.
RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've seen these battles on the state level where unions have really bankrupted states from pension plans to here on the federal level.
REP. RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to deal with the Federal Reserve system, you have to deal with free markets, and you have to deal with the tax program and the regulatory system.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That was the third Republican presidential debate in as many weeks. The next one is set for October 11th in New Hampshire. Top executives of the failed solar power company, Solyndra, will not be testifying before Congress today. They plan to plead the fifth. The justice department is investigating the government's backing of this failed company. Solyndra declared bankruptcy last month after it received a $535 million federal loan guarantee back in 2009.
Kidnap victim, Jaycee Dugard, is suing the U.S. government, blasting what she calls an inexcusable lack of supervision of her captor, a convicted rapist who was out on parole. Phillip Garrido abducted Dugard in 1991 in front of her home, holding her captive in a California backyard then for 18 years.
The complaint accuses the government of gross neglect in failing to properly track Garrido. He was under the federal government's watch until 1999 when California took over. California has already settled with Dugard for $20 million.
We may learn more today about that deadly air race crash in Reno, Nevada last Friday. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a preliminary report into that dramatic crash which was caught on tape. Eleven people died when the plane nosedived into the crowd.
28,000 students in Washington state head back to class today. Their teachers have voted to end an eight-day strike. They were picketing over class size, teacher pay, and educator transfers, but they've reached a tentative agreement with the Tacoma School District, one that leaves class size and teacher pay alone and will let a joint committee decide which educators end up at which schools.
President Obama is offering up ways for states to work around no child left behind. Today, he's expected to announce opt-out for some of the toughest parts of the federal education law, but in return, states have to adopt some of the president's own education agenda and show that they're committed to closing achievement gaps in American public schools.
Yemen's president returns from Saudi Arabia to a cheering crowd of thousands, but protesters have been working for months to oust him. We'll get the latest developments just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Next year women will be able to compete for the first time in what has been a male-only sport in the Olympics, boxing. Now, meet Marlen Eseperaza (ph) -- Esparza, rather. She only weighs, what, 112 pounds, but her dream is to be the first female boxer to go to the Olympics representing the U.S. Soledad O'Brien here in New York joins us to tell us more about this fascinating young woman whose name I butchered. Good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's OK. You know, the name like Soledad, people butcher those names all the time.
(LAUGHTER) O'BRIEN: We forgive you. Anyway, Marlen Esparza is 21 years old. When we started shooting her for our documentary, "Latino in America," she was the five-time national champion in boxing. We decided to tell her story, because it was her dream to go to the Olympics, but the path was not all that easy.
A lawsuit, devastating loss, and also, just lots of drama as she tries to fight her way through a box-off. All were the obstacles that she had to over come. Her story is really amazing. We're not really about boxing even, but about a testament to what it takes to make it when things may be against you. We wanted to tell her story in "Latino in America 2" which will air on Sunday.
ROMANS: What drives her? Why does she want to be a boxer?
O'BRIEN: You know, she's in boxing since -- and she's been a great boxer since she's been 11 years old. She won her first national championship when she was able to sneak into the fights at the age of 16. She loves boxing. It is her life. She is unlike any young woman I've ever seen.
When we talked to her coach, he was really, I think, largely responsible for a lot of her success. He says no boyfriends, no dating, no going out, certainly, no drinking, et cetera, et cetera. So, these are the things that made her a champion. They also, you know, make her unusual as a young woman. We wanted to explore what does it take to really succeed at that level.
ROMANS: Awesome. All right. Soledad O'Brien, thank you so much. Can't wait to see it. We'll talk to you again very, very soon. Good morning. And so early.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
ROMANS: CNNs "Latino in America 2" in her corner Sunday night, September 25th at 8:00 eastern. You don't want to miss it.
All right. It's time to "Get Smart" now. How many people were sentenced to death in the U.S. between 1970 and 2009? Here you go. Your "Get Smart" challenge of the morning for this Friday. Was it 5,319, 7,512, 9,722? The answer comes up in two minutes. It's about 40 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Forty-one minutes past the hour, almost 42. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Now, back to our "Get Smart" question. How many people were sentenced to death in the U.S. between the years 1970 and 2009? There you go. There are your choices. The answer is C, 9,722. By the end of 2009, 12 percent of those sentenced had been executed. Still, about a third were still on death row. The rest either had their sentence commuted, their conviction overturned, or they died in prison. That's according to the Bureau of Justice statistics. Now, let's go to Rob Marciano live from Atlanta. Tropical storm Ophelia losing steam as she treks across the Atlantic. What's the latest, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Winds have come down just a little bit to the 45 to 50-mile-an-hour range. At one point yesterday, it was looking to be hurricane strength, but it is still tracking our way. It has strong headwinds. And obviously, it doesn't look all that healthy there in the satellite. Here's the track.
Forecast by the National Hurricane Center actually decreases its strength potentially to a tropical depression and maybe back to tropical storm, and then, lightly re-curving out to sea. This time of year, it's tough to get them all the way towards the east coast because we get these fronts, these fall fronts, that sometimes push all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.
And we've got one right now which is the focal point of the heavier rain that's going to be moving through Birmingham, Atlanta, Greenville, Spartanburg, up to Raleigh and getting up to the northeast as well. This radar will begin to fill in across the I-95 corridor as we go through time.
As a matter of fact, there's a flash flood watch out for the Del Marva, parts of the mid Atlantic and the northeast, especially along the coastline for the rest of today and through tomorrow because of rainfall that's supposed to be heavy at times.
And New York metro, you'll see rainfall today as well, and because of that, we'll see some delays at the airports, and D.C. metros as well as Philadelphia, also.
OK. Let's talk satellite. By the way, it just passed over Graceland for you, Elvis fans. It is currently -- quickly now, it's over the Caribbean. How about that? This sucker is moving fast. We still think, Christine, that, you know, give or take nine hours, say around five or six o'clock this afternoon and evening, that's when this thing is scheduled to fall out of the sky.
And once it stars to do that, we won't be able to track it anymore. We've been saying all along, NASA thinks it will break up into about 26 or so different pieces, and that will fall to the ground. They say North America is out of the equation, but everybody else is a fair game, watching ERs (ph) at the moment.
ROMANS: I know. Two kinds of cones of uncertainty, one, is a hurricane, and the other is a big piece of space junk. All right.
MARCIANO: And by the way, fall arrived at five minutes after five.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. I was going to put an egg here and see if --
MARCIANO: You can do that tomorrow, too.
ROMANS: Oh, can I? Good. All right. Thanks, Rob. MARCIANO: You bet.
ROMANS: Coming up, we'll tell you about broken glass and flying objects at one of President Obama's campaign offices.
But first, the next time you fly, you might want to remember this day in history. In 1925, the airmail act took effect paving the way for (ph) commercial airlines. There you go. Forty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Christine Romans in for Carol Costello this morning. We're joining you live this morning from New York.
Developing right now, thousands are packed in the streets of Yemen as President Saleh returns after being away for three months. Mohammed Jamjoom joins us live from Oman (ph). Mohammed Saleh has been clinging to power despite calls for him to step down, and he was ailing and being treated in Saudi Arabia. Now, he's home. What happens next?
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question right now, Christine. If I can just tell you about some pictures that we're seeing on Yemeni State television. We're thousands of people packed in Central Sanaa.
These are pro-government demonstrators, and we're also seeing the bodies of what are being called military martyrs, military men that died in various conflicts that have been playing out across Yemen the past few months, and caskets being taken through the streets, funeral processions that are going on.
These are people that around trying to show their loyalty to President Saleh. The concern right now is that this day could get very chaotic and very volatile. Many people didn't expect that President Saleh would actually return to Yemen. He had been recovering from an assassination attempt in Saudi Arabia for the past three months.
He had extensive surgeries then to help him in his road to recovery. And a lot of people didn't think that he would be back, that he would use the opportunity of being in Saudi Arabia to listen to the calls from a lot of people in his country asking for him to step down. And I spoke to activists today that say this is absolutely terrible news.
They believe it will make the situation more volatile. The international community in the past few months, including the U.S. has said they thought it was wise for Saleh to step aside, to sign a transfer of power agreement. Saleh never signed that agreement. Now, there are reports Saleh may give a speech today.
We're also getting reports that there are clashes going on in Change Square. That's where the anti-government demonstrators have been gathering for the last several months. And all the protesters and activists I'm speaking with are really fearful. They say the situation is very, very tense.
Nobody expected Saleh to return in this fashion, even though, he's vowing to return. People said they thought Saleh might try to install his son in power, and that he would bow out of this gracefully. That did not happen. He is back now clearly being defiant and showing the world community that he will return to Yemen when he wants to despite what people expect of him -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Mohammed Jamjoom, thank you so much.
Now, today, you're probably going to read score sheets for the Republican presidential debate in Orlando. It wasn't exactly a trip to Disneyland for the frontrunner. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann all hammering Governor Rick Perry on the Social Security, the HPV vaccination program in Texas and also immigration, and they didn't spare President Obama either.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMNEY: There's a Rick Perry out there that's saying, almost to quote, it says that the federal government shouldn't be in the pension business, that it's unconstitutional. Unconstitutional, and it should be returned to the states. So, you better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.
PERRY: I think Americans just don't know sometimes which Mitt Romney they're dealing with.
I've got one question for him. Have you ever even been into the border with Mexico?
SANTORUM: Yes.
PERRY: I'm surprised if you have, but you weren't paying attention.
SANTORUM: The answer is yes, I have.
PERRY: You're going to build a wall, a fence for 1,200 miles and then go 800 miles more to Tijuana does not make sense. You put the boots on the ground.
GINGRICH: Nothing will turn America around more than election night when Barack Obama loses decisively.
(APPLAUSE)
BACHMANN: As president of the United States, that's the very first thing I would do is repeal Obamacare.
JOHNSON: My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.
(LAUGHTER) (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That got the big laugh line, of course. The next GOP presidential debate is set for October 11th in New Hampshire.
Palestinian leaders are expected to submit an application today for full membership in the United Nations. President Mahmoud Abbas has been pushing this idea all week. The U.S. has promised to block that application.
Yesterday, several delegates walked out on Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He predicted the demise of the U.S., he questioned the 9/11 attacks, and he accused Europe of using the holocaust as an excuse to support Israel. Standard fair from the Iranian president.
Los Angeles police trying to figure out who vandalized one of President Obama's campaign offices. Someone, apparently, shot BBs, broke glass, and threw something into the west side office last night. So far, we don't know what was tossed or who is responsible. The president visits L.A. to raise money in a few days.
In Texas, they're changing last meal requests for death row inmates because of Lawrence Brewer. He was put to death Wednesday night for the infamous dragging death of a black man, James Byrd. Take a look at what he requested as his last meal. A bacon cheeseburger, omelet, fried okra, fajitas, steaks, barbecue, pizza, ice cream, fudge.
How can one man eat all that? Well guess what? Brewer didn't eat any of it. Because of him, Texas is now not serving special meals to death row inmates anymore. They'll eat what the rest of the inmates eat.
And endurance swimmer, Diana Nyad is giving it another shot. Tonight, she'll get back in the water in Cuba (ph) and try to swim to Florida, a 100-plus miles. Remember, she tried in August but only got about halfway. She tried it back in the 1970s, too. Maybe the third time will be a charm. Nyad, 62 years old.
Let's take a look at the word of the day is gamete. Find out what it means and why you need to know what it means right after the short break. Fifty-three minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: It's almost 57 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Back to our word of the day. It's gamete. Without digging too far into the biology 101 textbook, it's a reproductive cell such as sperm or egg cell, capable of fusing with another cell to eventually make a new individual. So, why are we talking about it today?
Well, apparently, these little gametes of red-headed men are no longer accepted at Denmark's Cryos International, one of the world's largest sperm banks. Nothing personal, but the bank says it has 140,000 doses of red-headed sperm, more than enough redheads for now.
Congress' approval rating isn't doing so hot. According to community and Jay Leno, it's causing leaders to show up, well, black and blue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAY LENO, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO: Well, another record broken this week. Congress' approval rating now all-time low, just 12 percent.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: You know, a lot of politicians, a lot of these congressmen went back to their home districts this weekend. And, you can tell their constituents are fed up with them. I mean, you can see it in their faces. Show Congress today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're telling seniors to pay more for health care.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issue is where do the spoils go.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without additional assistance, the capacity to respond in the future --
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Very clever. Now, let's go to Carter Evans for a look at your money this morning. He joins us live from the NASDAQ MarketSite here in New York. And things have stabilized -- two horrible days for American investors, but things are stable in the futures market this morning, Carter.
EVANS: Right. Let's put this behind us. These are real ugly numbers, and let's move to the green. This is the CNNMoney.com pre- market page. Dow futures are currently up about 50 points right now. NASDAQ up about 15. S&P 500 up about 6.5. Not huge gains, but after yesterday's huge declines, we'll take just about anything we can get.
ROMANS: Headlines on CNNMoney.com.
EVANS: OK. One of the big ones today is that Americans are adding to their credit card debt.
ROMANS: No! Saying it aint so.
EVANS: I know. $18.5 billion in the second quarter. It is 66 percent more than the same time last year. It's also 368 percent more than Americans tacked on to their debt in 2009. So, what's going on here? Well, banks are loosening their lending standards. There is good news, though, Christine.
Banks say they're seeing fewer late payments and much fewer defaults. And the amount of debt they we're adding right now and the amount of debt they were carrying is still, still much less than in years past.
ROMANS: Yes. They're loosening up on the credit a little bit because they've pushed out a lot of borrowers who didn't have great credit histories. Those borrowers are having a terrible time borrowing money, but they're trying to find new customers who can pay on time, I guess.
EVANS: Yes. Trying to find people who can pay on time, trying to find people who will actually use credit and earn this company's money.
ROMANS: All right. Carter Evans, so, good to know futures are stable, but it had been a couple of bad days, and it has definitely been a bad week for your 401(k). Thanks, Carter. We'll talk to you soon.
"AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.
