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American Morning: Wake Up Call
Trial Begins Today for Jackson Doctor; Government Averts Shutdown for Now; Senate Reaches Bipartisan Budget Deal; High Court Could Hear Case; Sheen "Two And A Half Men" Settle
Aired September 27, 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: Michael Jackson's doctor officially goes on trial this morning. We'll take you live to Los Angeles for the case against Conrad Murray.
Plus, we have brand new video of Joran van der Sloot telling police he killed the young woman. He also described how he did it.
And Facebook is tracking you. Find out how those little "like" buttons are keeping track of your Internet comings and goings.
Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, September 27th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello, joining you live from New York this morning.
Here we go. America's next big trial is upon us. Opening arguments begin today in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray. Jackson died in 2009 from an overdose of a surgical anesthetic called Propofol.
Prosecutors say Murray used a makeshift I.V. drip to administer the drugs so Jackson could go to sleep. Just after Jackson's death, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta went into the operating room to show us how powerful this drug is and why doctors say that should be given at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What's so attractive about this medication?
DR. RAPHAEL GERSHON, ANESTHESIOLOGIS: Well, people has really been in the advent in the last 10 years or so, even more, 15 years. And it's just basically a quick on/quick off. People may think that this is something they could do at home, because if it goes out of hand, it goes away quickly. The problem is it gets out of hand and there's nobody there to resuscitate you, then nobody could bring you back.
GUPTA: So, that was -- that was pretty quick. You gave some of the medication. You're going to --
GERSHON: Five to 10 minutes.
GUPTA: Five to 10 minutes. He's gone from being completely awake to completely asleep.
GERSHON: He's not breathing. I'm breathing for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Murray could face four years in prison if found guilty.
Let's take a look at the world market. Things are looking better in Asia. All the major markets have made gains this morning. European markets also have gotten of to a decent start.
And U.S. futures, they're also looking positive. Confidence and plans for resolving debt crisis pushed U.S. stocks higher yesterday. The Dow surged 272 point or 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 added 27 points, and the NASDAQ rose 33.
Protesters will be back on Wall Street again today for an 11th straight day. They claimed the big financial firms are greedy, corrupt and have hijacked democracy. Michael Moore, the filmmaker, spoke to the protesters before he did an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: Are we going to live in a democracy that's run by the majority of people or are we going to be living in where the kleptocracy where the kleptomaniacs on Wall Street, who have stolen pension funds, they wrecked people's lives, millions have been thrown out of their homes, millions are without health insurance, millions have lost their jobs. How many more millions of people do they think that they're going to abuse like that before people start to stand up?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Police have arrested about 100 protesters so far.
It looks like the government won't shut down after all -- not at least for another few weeks anyway. Last night, the Senate passed a short term spending bill to carry the country into fiscal year 2012, which starts officially on Saturday. It ended a showdown where badly need disaster relief money essentially became hostage to congressional bickering. The measure now goes to the House.
How do you get a good look at the Washington Monument? You rappel on the side, of course. A team of engineers will do exactly that today. They'll look for more damage to the outside of America's favorite obelisk.
Remember, it was cracked and closed last month after the earthquake?
Officials say the cracks are big enough for sunlight and water to get through. The National Parks Service says the inside is structurally sound.
Now, take a look at this video. You're seeing it right now from inside the monument. This is what it looked like at quake time. It's from a surveillance camera.
You can definitely see the shaking. See the people hurrying down the staircase and even see some debris fall. That had to be really scary.
This answers the question, what is Chelsea Clinton up to? The former first daughter has joined the board of directors of the Internet media giant IAC. The company runs sites you probably heard of or use, like match.com. It also holds 50 percent stake in the "Newsweek"/"Daily Beast" company. Clinton is also working on her doctorate at Oxford University.
And one more of the -- one of the more contentious bake sales we can remember will go forward to. Campus Republicans at the University of California at Berkeley will be selling goodies to white men for $2. Asian, Latino and Native American men and women will pay less. The group says it's their way of protesting a bill to allow California universities to consider race, gender, ethnicity and national origin in the admissions process.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
SHAWN LEWIS, PRESIDENT, UC BERKELEY COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: The purpose of the satire and for the pricing structure, which is inflammatory, was to cause some uproar in response to our event, because we feel that discriminating people based on their skin color for baked goods is discriminatory, the same way that judging people on the color of their skin for admission process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This isn't unique to Berkeley. Similar events have been held at other colleges, rather, across the country.
Now, let's head to Atlanta to check with Jacqui Jeras.
Any flight delays this morning? Or are things looking fantastic?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, it's 5 a.m. So, it's looking good to start, usually not a lot of planes up yet. But there are areas we're concerned about, Carol.
And a lot of that has to do with the fog this morning. There is a lot of it out there from the Gulf Coast, all the way to the Northeast. And where we have the advisories in effect, which includes you in Birmingham, up towards Huntsville, across parts of Tennessee, London, Kentucky, Columbus, Ohio and even towards Long Island and Rhode Island, we have dense fog advisories.
It's going to be a quarter of a mile or less in those areas. And even into the cities we're going to be seeing some patchy fog. So, take extra time to get where you're going. Low beams, of course, as always. And just, you know, call ahead on the flights because it's going to take them a little bit to do some of those approaches potentially this morning as a result of that.
Now, we got our upper level area of low pressure. This has been sitting over the great lakes since the weekend. And, unfortunately, it's not going to budge any time soon.
So, more cool weather, more showers in the forecast here. And we've got that tropical moisture, which is going to continue to ride up the East Coast. So, expecting spotty showers here throughout the day as well. Of course, all of that will be impacting your travel.
All right. Who is going to get it? Chicago, probably the worst city for travel delays today because of heavy rain as well as the low clouds. The delays mostly this morning in New York and Philadelphia as well as Boston, and that's because of the fog that we were talking about. D.C. is going to get in on the showers too along with the morning clouds, and a little patchy fog. And Florida has been getting hit day after day with showers and thunderstorms also.
What about your temperatures? Well, it's going to stay warm across the South and all across the East. But you can see that pocket of cool air where that low is that we were talking about, bringing that wet weather.
So, Chicago only making it up to 60 degrees today. Everybody else kind of around the periphery feeling good.
All right, Carol, the video of the day. Have you seen this thing? It's like threading a needle.
This guy, Jeb Corliss, have you heard of him? The wing man guy. The bird man.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Bizarre looking.
JERAS: It is. There he goes. And this is in China. This is China's Tiananmen hole.
This is the second time he's tried, this time with success. He goes over a hundred miles an hour. That hole is really small. It's only like 100 feet wide or so. He's crazy.
COSTELLO: That would be the scariest thing to me.
JERAS: He looks like Batman, doesn't he? Look at that.
COSTELLO: I can't believe he stays afloat with that thing.
JERAS: I don't know how he does it. There he goes with the parachute afterwards. With all that rock around, I don't know.
COSTELLO: I've done some crazy things, but I'll never be doing that.
JERAS: Yes, no base jumping for you?
COSTELLO: Pardon?
JERAS: No base jumping for you either?
COSTELLO: No. I'll pass. Thank you, Jacqui.
JERAS: OK.
COSTELLO: Move over Vladimir Putin, comedian Jay Leno says some presidential candidates are getting a dose of Russia. What's that about?
Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JAY LENO, COMEDIAN: Vladimir Putin announced he wants to run for president of Russia. You know, it's amazing how similar their system is to ours now. Here's the story from Russian television.
TV ANCHOR: We begin with Saturday's big announcement that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will run for presidency in 2012. His opponents are expected to include Mittski Romneyev, Rikoli Perryskova, Herman Cainechek, Mishhail Bachmanov, and some guy named Gary Johnson.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: Oh, in our effort to terrify you this morning, Facebook is tracking you even when you're logged off the Web site. It has do with those little like buttons.
But, first, it's time for our quote of the day. Today, it's from a reality star/businesswoman. She says, quote, "There's no curbing the gay man. I've tried to curb you people," end quote. We'll tell you who said that in 90 seconds.
It is 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. "There's no curbing the gay man. I've tried to curb you people," end quote. Well, who said that? It was millionaire matchmaker Patti Stanger, suggesting that gay men have problems with monogamy on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live." She also said that Jewish men lie.
She's never one to bite her tongue, but now, Stanger has issued a formal apology saying, hey, I didn't mean to offend anyone.
Right now, Facebook has some 800 million active users. According to the social media giant, more than 2 billion posts are liked or commented on every day. Well, now, Facebook is being accused of tracking your web history even when you're logged out of Facebook. Hmm.
Let's go live to Hong Kong and check in with Kristie Lu Stout.
So, without getting too technical, what's the deal with Facebook tracking people?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: OK, here's the deal. Now, recently, a tech watcher in Australia revealed that Facebook gathers data from its "like" buttons even after users logged out. So, if you're logged out, Facebook can still track every web page you visit. Facebook says it did a collection, it's part of a system to prevent improper log-in and that it does not keep the information.
But if you want to play it safe, you can do two things. Number one, you can delete every Facebook cookie in your browser or just use a separate browser for all your Facebook activity -- Carol.
COSTELLO: As for what Facebook says, does just say hey, it happens?
STOUT: That's right. Facebook has been on the defense on this. But it's one of many privacy concerns that have been raised by the company. This one is particularly eyebrow-raising because it is collecting data from users even after we log out. But Facebook is saying it deletes the information after it collects it.
COSTELLO: Gotcha. Let's talk about depression. Because actually, let's talk about depression relief, OK? And coffee. I like this story.
STOUT: That's right. It's an incredible study. It included more than 50,000 women analyzing their coffee consumption and health. And apparently, women who drink caffeinated coffee are less likely to become depressed and the more we drink, the more the risk of depression goes down. In fact, drinking four cups a day was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of depression.
Now, the study does not prove cause and effect here, just a link. The researchers say there's no reason to believe that drinking more coffee will prevent depression.
That said, Carol, I just had a tall soy milk latte before this hit and I'm feeling OK. Just OK.
COSTELLO: Just OK? I think I've had 12 cups -- I've only had four cups of coffee and I'm feeling fine.
STOUT: Good for you.
COSTELLO: Kristie Lu Stout, thank you.
Two states down and one more to go for President Obama as he continues to raise campaign cash and continues to push his jobs plan out West. How is he doing? Where is he heading today? We'll tell you coming up.
It's 14 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Fifteen minutes past the hour. Good morning.
We keep hearing the chatter about even more Republican candidates for president. Well, comedian Jon Stewart has had enough. Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: Romney is the front-runner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also once again, we're hearing those calls for Chris Christie to jump into the race.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And renewed talk that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie might very well jump in the race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doubts about Perry reportedly fueling a new push to get Chris Christie in the race.
STEWART: You want to add another candidate? It's like the primary is a season of "American Idol" in reverse, where every week, we just add some other idiot. All that's missing is the humiliating audition where the contestant mangles one of our favorite songs.
(GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE SINGING)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: He sang it better than I could have.
Time now for a Political Ticker with Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS live from Washington.
Good morning, Tim.
TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS XM POTUS: I learned long ago, never mess with the boss.
COSTELLO: No. I was going to ask you to sing it, but I said no, I'm not going to ask him. Let's talk about President --
FARLEY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. Let's talk about President Obama. He heads to Colorado today on the last leg of his three-state West Coast visit.
Of course, the big focus is jobs and his proposal to get Americans back to work. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have a job. But that's because I've been lucky enough to live in Silicon Valley for a while and worked for a small startup down the street here that did quite well. So, I'm unemployed by choice. My question is: would you please raise my taxes?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. Tim, so a lot of people might say, ah, that was a setup.
FARLEY: Yes. Well, what happened to the Chuck Woolery discussion that we had last week. Give it up for the WAKE UP CALL when we discussed the fact that you can voluntarily give more money.
You watch that and you wonder, all right, where did this guy come from? But there are a lot of people that would agree with the president that taxes need to be raised. The problem he's going to have is that this America Jobs Act that he's been touting has a difficult pass through Congress. Parts of it may pass.
But economists who say that, you know, like Mark Zandi, who says that, you know, it could create 1.9 millions of jobs in 2012, but you need 150,000 jobs a month, according to most economics, just to stay even with the economic growth of this country. And 1.9 million, that's compared to 1.8 million, 150,000 a month. That's not a lot. And after 2012, the benefits go away, assuming you could even get this act paid for.
But the president is continuing his West Coast swing. He's at Abraham Lincoln High School today in Colorado. Will be talking about developing schools and rebuilding schools, and as well as all the fundraising he's been doing which, by the way, should total out about $8 million after this three-day trip is done, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's just incredible. Let's talk about the Republican side of the coin and candidate Ron Paul. He probably doesn't stand a chance of actually winning the nomination, but he sure is giving it a go.
Actually, we have a part of his interview on the "Daily Show" from last night. It's interesting. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: What it about your candidacy that they so easily dismiss? And are they right when they say Ron Paul is not an electable figure?
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're wrong on that. I've been elected quite a few times already. I can be elected. We're 10, 14, 15 percent.
So, I think we very well could be and most likely are on the verge of an explosion of interest in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I always wonder about a guy who doesn't believe in government running for the presidency. I don't know. There seems to be a contradiction there.
FARLEY: A small role. But he is, you know, to his point about being elected, when you're elected in a congressional district, it's one thing. It tends to be either Democratic or Republican, or in his case, certainly, a conservative district.
He is libertarian. He is against the grain in some conservative circles because of his really isolationist views. But if you look at the numbers, Ron Paul probably can't get to the nomination.
But I see a difference, Carol, between this and the 2008 campaign where we knew he would be running for Congress again. This time around, he's not running for Congress again. He's got a lot of money. He's shown he can do that.
And then when you look his schedule today, he has three town halls, plus, he's addressing a Republican dinner tonight. This in a week when the House of Representatives is off.
I think at the very least, he has something to say, wants to say it. He can certainly last through Iowa, through New Hampshire. And if he does well in Iowa, he can certainly have an effect on those who might -- he might take votes from other candidates, for example, like Rick Perry or Mitt Romney. I'm not sure which. I think he'll probably take more from Rick Perry.
So, it remains to be seen. But I think he just want to be a player this time around.
COSTELLO: Thank you very much, Tim Farley. Live from Washington, D.C., we appreciate it, as always.
The long time suspect in the murder of Natalee Holloway confesses to killing a different woman -- and it's on tape. We're getting a look at the interrogation video from Peru. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 24 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
An Egyptian pipeline bombed again.
Let's head round the world with Zain Verjee, live from London.
Zain, these pictures are spectacular. But this is a serious, ongoing problem in Egypt.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. It's becoming increasingly worrying, but basically, what you've got going on in the north Sinai region is that there are terror groups operating there that are believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda. They've attacked the gas pipeline something like five or six times already.
Now, this is important because the gas coming from Egypt goes to Israel and to Jordan. Actually, Israel gets something like 40 percent of its gas from Egypt. They signed this big historic agreement back in 2008. It was one of the biggest business deals between the two countries to make this happen.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al Qaeda, is Egyptian. And he had actually come out with an audio message recently where he said, you know, attack these oil -- these gas pipelines and that's what we're seeing.
COSTELLO: Got you. OK. Let's switch gears and talk about Joran van der Sloot because he's finally confessed to a murder, but not the murder of Natalee Holloway.
VERJEE: No. He's confessed to strangling a 21-year-old woman in a hotel room in Lima, in Peru. He's confessed to killing her, but the thing is, we've got it on tape and I want you to listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE (through translator): So, it is true and I'm going to ask you this. You can say yes or no. Did you kill Stephany Tatiana?
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT (through translator): Yes.
POLICE: You killed Stephany Tatiana Flores, right?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: The way this went down, Carol, was they were at a casino, he invited her up to his hotel room. She got on his laptop and started reading articles on Natalee Holloway and what happened in Aruba and his connection to it.
And he just lost it. He hit her on the head and then strangled her. But it looks like as this continues that he's facing life in jail.
COSTELLO: All right. Zain Verjee, live from London, thanks as always.
Charlie Sheen, he's winning again. The actor's $100 million lawsuit with "Two and a Half Men" resolved. We'll tell you what transpired.
It's 26 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, September 27th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
I'm Carol Costello, joining you live this morning in New York. It is just about half past the hour.
A bipartisan budget deal has been reached in the Senate averting a government shutdown. Senators approved a measure last night to fund the government through November after FEMA found it had enough money to pay for disaster relief until the end of the fiscal year. With that contentious issue of the table, lawmakers were able to compromise. CNN congressional correspondent; Kate Bolduan, explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Democrats and Republicans had, all along, been battling over whether or not the additional funding they wanted to give FEMA for disaster recovery efforts needed to be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere, but only the money that they were offering for the rest of this current fiscal year ending Friday. Republicans said yes, it should be paid for. Democrats had been saying no. Well, now, that issue is off the table.
So, the Senate approved a measure to fund the government through November 18th and also give an additional sum $2.6 billion to FEMA for the next fiscal year, but that part was not in dispute. Now, the House still needs to have its say on this short-term spending measure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I know. You're saying yea.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters plan to be back out today. They've been camped out in Lower Manhattan for more than a week protesting what they say is too much corporate influence over politics. Some are accusing police of using excessive force after the release of a video showing an officer pepper spraying several women.
The New York City police tell CNN that the protesters who engage in civil disobedience can expect to be arrested. About 100 people have been arrested so far.
Healthcare reform could be headed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. This after the Obama administration chose not to challenge a lower court's decision that called the requirement of all Americans to buy health insurance unconstitutional. This sets the stage for a case that could be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court smack in the middle of a presidential campaign.
Remember the underwear bomber who had explosives in his underwear on board a flight on Christmas Day? His trial could include actually setting off a similar bomb. At a hearing today, a judge will decide on a motion to actually set off an explosive device to show how powerful that bomb was. There will also be a jury questionnaire review and two other motion hearings.
Charlie Sheen has made peace with "Two and a Half Men." His $100 million lawsuit against Warner Brothers has been settled out of court. Sheen sued after being fired from the CBS sitcom. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Sheen's attorney says both parties are happy.
One of America's favorite snacks is going six feet under. We'll tell you who's getting buried with some Doritos. It's 32 minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 33 minutes past the hour. We are expecting to see more protests in Greece today. They will likely follow the expected approval of a property tax, but what does this financial situation in Greece have to do with our economic mess here in the United States? With details on that, let's go to Christine Romans. She's here in New York. So, Christine, what does it mean?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it means is Greece's financial troubles obviously have huge implications for the European banks and for American banks, some of whom, by the way, may have written insurance policies against Greece and defaulting on its debt. So, all of the banking system is intertwined, and that's why it's incredibly important what happens in Greece.
We'll be watching today, because when you see protests in the streets in Greece, Carol, what it' telling you is that the Greek people are not going along with what the Greek government is promising to the rest of Europe about how it's going to get its financial House in order. The property tax, wildly unpopular. I mean, keep in mind that in 2008, six out of 10 Greek residents did not pay any income tax at all.
We told you -- how many times have we told you how the lack of transparency in the tax system, property tax system and how the government collects revenues and how much greasing of the wheels there are to do business there and the like. I mean, these are the things that Greece has to get under control.
So, any signs that the people of Greece are still not on board with the rest of the -- with what the government is trying to do, all of that still troubling, Carol.
COSTELLO: Gotcha. Let's turn our attention to this new study that says stock traders of the United States are more competitive than psychopaths.
ROMANS: Actually, (INAUDIBLE) went to the German magazine, and it was a Swiss study. So, I don't know what it says about United States traders. I'll say that. It was an international study, but it showed, with the study showing of 28 traders that they studied, these brokers professional traders, actually, they put them in various simulations and intelligence tests, and they did the same thing with a group of psychopaths and found actually that the stock traders outperformed diagnosed psychopaths in terms of how competitive they were and how they were able to take risk and not worry about the consequences.
We've seen sort of studies like this before, and a lot of people like to say, oh, it shows that all the wild swings in the market are because these crazy traders who are just to, you know, for a quick buck and they don't care about consequences. I will say this time, much of the volatility has been driven by computerized trading.
And there is nothing more cold and calculating than a black box computer that's just trying to find the edge between two commodities, Carol. So, I'd like to compare the computers and the psychopaths and see how they do.
COSTELLO: That would be interesting. Christine Romans, many thanks. I'll see you in a bit.
ROMANS: Sure.
COSTELLO: One week after the release of a controversial book about Sarah Palin, Palin is threatening to sue the author and the publisher. Palin's attorney says the rogue is full of lies and rumors. It's also been criticized by others for using unnamed sources, but the man who wrote it, Joe McGinnis, stands by its accuracy. McGinnis moved next door to the Palins while doing research for his book.
New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, is no fan of Snooki and the cast of "Jersey Shore." He's axed more than $400,000 in tax credits that would have gone to the show's production company. Christie said he doesn't care for the tax credit program, and, he dislikes the way the show depicts his state. The show hit the road to film the most recent season in Italy.
And Doritos are literally going six feet under. The man credited with creating the popular snack, Arch West, has died. His family plans to toss Doritos into his urn. West was 97 years old. His burial is set for this Saturday.
Facebook allows its users to weigh in on what posts and pages they like. Now, its employees may soon be able to reach into their pockets to show which politician they like the most.
But first, it's time to "Get Smart." Which of America's -- which is, I should say, America's most caffeinated city? Which is America's most caffeinated city? Is it A. Chicago, B. New York, or C. Seattle? The answer in two minutes. It's 38 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 40 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Good morning.
Back to our "Get Smart" question. Which is America's most caffeinated city? It turns out the answer is -- you thought it was Seattle, but it's Chicago. That's according to a survey by Bundle which analyzes spending at coffee shops.
Now for our "Political Ticker," let's bring in CNN senior political editor, Mark Preston. He joins us live from Washington. Mark, as you well know, the threat of a government shutdown has been avoided yet again, and yet, another late night Senate session. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: We've got the money for FEMA that's need for at least the next six weeks, which protects the people all over this country who so badly need the help now.
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: I'm up here day after day not voting, sitting around, having no debate, and then, the deadline comes, and it's hurry up or the government shuts down. How come we didn't have this debate last week or the week before or the week before that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Fine questions, don't you think, Mark?
VOICE OF MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, but it's true. You know, look, Carol, what happens is that things don't get done in Washington, unless, people's backs are up against the wall. This isn't the first time this happened this year. This is the third time this has happened this year where Democrats or Republicans at odds over how to handle a budget crisis, have waited to the last minute to avoid a government shutdown, and this is nothing new.
It's just what happens when you have two political parties who don't agree on how to solve problems. So, it's nothing new. It's interesting, you know, that Rand Paul is out there complaining about it, because in many ways, it's true. It shouldn't reach this point, but the fact that that's the way business is done in Washington.
COSTELLO: Yes, and a lot of Americans think that's just wrong, and it should change, but it doesn't, and no one quite understands why. Let's talk about Facebook employees. They can now make political endorsements?
PRESTON: Yes, they will. Political endorsements as is let's try to use a correct in financial power of Facebook to try to influence policy here in Washington. Really, we talk about how Facebook is on the cutting-edge really they are in the 21st century. This is the old-fashioned way. What they've done is they've created a political action committee where employees will be able to give donations.
Those donations in turn will be used to influence policy here in Washington, whether it has to do with tax issues or probably the most pressing issue they're facing right now, and that's regulatory efforts on how they collect user information. So, Facebook, on the cut edge of the 21st century is really using an old-fashioned way of influence here in Washington.
COSTELLO: Mark Preston, many thanks for joining us this morning.
The trial of Michael Jackson's doctor is set to begin today. We'll have a live report for you out of Los Angeles right after the break.
But first, on this day in history, in 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The commission presented the 900- page report to President Johnson some ten months after JFK's assassination. It's 43 minutes past.
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COSTELLO: Hello, San Francisco. I don't know if you could tell, but that was San Francisco and most of it is probably sleeping still. That's OK. Good morning to you, though. It's Tuesday, September 27th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello joining you live from New York. It is 46 minutes past the hour.
Jurors will hear opening statements today in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray. Jackson died in 2009 from an overdose of a surgical anesthetic called propofol. Prosecutors say Murray used a makeshift IV drip to administer the drug so Jackson could go to sleep, and he violated the standard of care by doing so. CNNs Don Lemon is covering the story in Los Angeles. Good morning, Don.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, good morning, Carol. It's hard to believe it's been two years. Two years and just a couple of months, and now, we're here trying to figure out exactly what happened in that bedroom on the evening, the day that Michael Jackson died. You were talking about propofol, the little viles (ph) that we have been seen.
Most of us knew nothing about it until this trial, and now, it's being called the Michael Jackson drug. How much we've learned in just those two years. Let's talk about what's going to happen today, what's going to happen here in a couple of hours once people start to wake up here. You know, we're three hours behind the east coast. It's really early.
So, what they're going to do about 8:45. 8:45 is when the court is going to go in session, and that's when the jurors are going to get the jury instructions from the superior court judge here, from Michael Pastor. And then, at about nine o'clock, 9:15, that's when the opening arguments are going to start here, finally, in this case against Dr. Conrad Murray.
A bit of a break here a little bit later on in the morning and then the arguments are going to resume just about noon here. And I'm telling you, every time that I'm giving you his local time here. And then, later on, Carol, this afternoon, that's when they believe the first witness will take the stand, will take the stand in this case against Dr. Conrad Murray.
COSTELLO: Talk about whether there's security around the courthouse, because I understand that Dr. Murray has gotten death threats.
LEMONS: Absolutely. Absolutely, there's going to be security. And, of course, we're in downtown where the L.A. Police Department headquarters is. And there's going to be security. Not quite a lot of security out here right now because no one is here. But, close to that time, yes, a lot of security. And, one reason is because we're expecting the Jackson Family to come as well.
You know, Jermaine Jackson said they had seven seats inside the courtroom, the family, at least. So, you can expect to see them. In every single case that a family member and Michael Jackson has been involved in, you can expect to see the family members. They have been there, and they're going to be here now.
The mom for sure, she has said to the best of her ability, she's going to show up here every single day. So yes, lots of security, and it's going to be, who knows, if there's going to be lots of hoopla, but I think it's going to be interesting, especially when you see people as famous as the Jacksons, and you're talking about one of the most famous people in the world here.
The first witness, I do have to tell you, is also going to be a very famous person, and that's Kenny Ortega. I mean, Carol, you know who he is. He's a famous producer, director, choreographer. He'd been with Michael Jackson for 25 years. He produced the "This Is It."
The last scene that Michael Jackson was doing here, and he also produced Michael Jackson's funeral at the Staples Center. So, they're starting out here, Carol, with star power. So, yes, security is going to be in force.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Don. We'll check back with you on "American Morning." We appreciate it.
The typhoon is slamming the Philippines. Let's go around the world with Zain Verjee. She's live in London. So, Zain, what's the latest on this typhoon?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At least seven people are reportedly killed, Carol. This is called Typhoon Nesat, and it is so powerful. Just take a look at some of this video. It was traveling at something like 87 miles per hour. It's moving toward China right now. It will get there in a couple of days.
But basically, schools closed down, some businesses shut down. The U.S. embassy closed down. The Philippines Stock Exchange shut down, and even in one of the main hospitals there. The whole ground floor was just totally flooded. You can see from these pictures people just wading through the streets.
The cars desperately trying to get through and they can't. So, basically, this is the situation and a lot of the people in the Philippines live in this particular area. The majority of the population is based here. So, they're really suffering, and it's a tough situation. They're out of the woods right now, and the target is now China. COSTELLO: Wow. OK. So, let's talk about something that's happening in your backyard there in London. British officials upset with Britney Spears over a music video?
VERJEE: Yes. They're hopping mad, Carol. They're mad, because Britney brandished a fake gun in one of the videos for her single that's coming up. It's called "Criminal." And, she's running out of a store in Hackney which is in the area here in London, and she's brandishing this fake gun, and it's kind of like this very Bonnie and Clyde-esque scene. They're saying that this is terrible.
You know, this is a glamorous pop star. What kind of an example are you setting for people, particularly, in an area like Hackney where the crime has gone down, and partly, it's because of what they're trying to do with their gun laws and everything. And so, they're saying that she needs to apologize for having a gun.
And also, they're saying that she didn't get permission to use one. And if they had known she was using one, they would have said no. So, it's kind of a big deal here.
COSTELLO: It was a fake gun.
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VERJEE: But it looked like a real gun.
COSTELLO: Oh.
VERJEE: But it's different here in the UK. You know, it's not like in the U.S. where OK, you know, it's not that big a deal, because of how -- because of the laws of guns in the U.S. here, it's much more uptight. They don't like that sort of stuff. They feel that this should just not have happened. So, I'm with you, but this is the situation here.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see if Britney Spears apologizes. Somehow, I think not, but I could be wrong.
VERJEE: I think not, too. I think not, too. And you know, a little bit of fewer roar around this is good for the single, right?
COSTELLO: Absolutely. No publicity is bad publicity. Thank you, Zain Verjee.
Let head to Atlanta now and check in with Jacqui Jeras. She's going to tell us whether you'll be really, really irritated at the airport today.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Chances are yes if you're flying somewhere across the east, and if you're flying out of Philadelphia this morning or trying to get into Philadelphia, the answer will definitely be yes. It's already, you know, before six a.m., and we've got some flight delays to talk about. Philadelphia International looking at ground delays around 40 minutes. So, this is generally arrival delays. This has to do with the low clouds and fog that's in the area. And we do expect that to be the case in some other cities across the northeast. Chicago looking for heavy rain today. Major delays will be possible, over an hour there. New York City looking for delays because of the fog and showers later on today.
Boston, we've got the fog. D.C., we've got the fog, and it's mostly thunderstorms that you're going to be dealing with out of Miami. We've got fog advisories out there it's so bad from the gulf coast all the way up to the Great Lakes. So, places like Birmingham, Huntsville, up into London, Kentucky, Columbus, Ohio, into New York City, Long Island, Hartford and over into Providence.
So, it's going to be a quarter of a mile or less. If you're driving this morning, leave a little early if you can and leave a little extra room between you and the car ahead of you. Our upper low is still sitting there across the Great Lakes, and it's not going to budge until probably Thursday, and we'll watch for that shower up and down the east coast, but much of the rest of the nation's mid section is looking pretty nice.
Temperature will be warm across the Rockies, across the southern tier, and up and down the east coast, unless, you're getting those showers. You can see that pocket of cool air right there in the middle. All right. We got some cool pictures to show you. Some new surveillance video from the Washington Monument from that earthquake that happened back in August.
You can see all of the shaking and even a little debris and a cloud of dust it looks like there, and the people that look very scared making their way very quickly down there. Today, Carol, they're going to be repelling. Engineers taking a look at some of those big cracks, some of which are about a quarter of an inch. You can see daylight, and it's also letting some rain in. So, be kind of interesting to take a look at that today. You ever been repelling?
COSTELLO: No.
JERAS: No. Should try it sometime. It's fun.
COSTELLO: I'll try it. Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: All right.
COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the word of the day. Actually, it's a phrase today. The Great Isaiah Scroll. Find out what it is and why you need to know right after a break. It's six minutes until the top of the hour.
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COSTELLO: It is just about three minutes until the top of the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
Now, back to our word of the day, which is actually a phrase today. It's the Great Isaiah Scroll. It is the largest and best preserved dead sea scrolls, and it dates back to around 125 B.C. It's now among the scrolls digitized and searchable online. Thanks to a project by Google and the Israel museum. It's a big deal, because some of these biblical scrolls are over 2,000 years old, and it's the first time some of these images are appearing online. Fascinating, right? >
Let's head to the NASDAQ MarketSite and check in with Carter Evans. What are the numbers looking like this morning?
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, they're looking pretty good. I mean, so far, our futures are higher. Yesterday, we had a really good day. There was some hope about what's going on over in Europe, and the leaders over there might be able to solve the debt crisis.
Today, we've got the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. We'll get an idea of what homes are selling for around the country. We're also going to get a read on how people are feeling about the economy with the latest numbers on consumer confidence.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about something good. Macy's has given a little boost to the economy?
EVANS: Yes. And not just a little boost, a huge boost. Macy's is hiring 78,000 seasonal workers. That's a lot of people, and it's up four percent from last year, which is important because a lot of analysts have said that companies are not going to hire any more this year than they did last year. The best thing about these seasonal jobs is that some of them do end up leading to full-time jobs.
COSTELLO: Fantastic. Thank you very much, Carter Evans, live from the NASDAQ MarketSite.
"AMERICAN MORNING" continues right now.
