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American Morning: Wake Up Call
A New Republican Battle; Iran Claims It Downed U.S. Drone; "Occupy" DC Standoff Ends; Pres. Obama Sends Regrets To Pakistan; Bishop Long Takes Time Off
Aired December 05, 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: Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich neck and neck in the race, but new poll numbers showing Gingrich may be on his way to the top.
A tense day for Occupy D.C. Police forced to move in with a cherry picker to remove protesters one by one.
It's official. Madonna will be taking the stage during football's biggest night. We're going to tell you more about her Super Bowl plans.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: And good morning, everybody. This is your WAKE-UP CALL for Monday, December 5th. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Christine Romans. Carol has the morning off.
Here are this morning's top stories for you:
Newt Gingrich, the one to watch in the GOP race. In a new NBC/Marist poll, Gingrich is leading the pack in Iowa, but Mitt Romney is still ahead in New Hampshire. Although his support has dropped from only a month ago, less than 30 days from the first GOP presidential nominating contest in January.
He's taking some time off. Atlanta megachurch Pastor Eddie Long, he made that announcement to his parishioners yesterday. He says he needs time to work on family issues. Long's wife of 21 years Vanessa, she filed for divorce on Thursday. Last spring, Long settled a lawsuit filed by four young men who accused him of sexual coercion.
The U.S. and Pakistan mending diplomatic fences after that NATO air strike that killed two dozen Pakistani troops. President Obama called Pakistan's president yesterday, making clear the incident was not a deliberate attack on Pakistan. Both presidents agreed to stay in touch.
Let's get a quick check of today's weather. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is in Atlanta for us this morning.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: (AUDIO BREAK) cold weather out west in between a bit of a mess and that's going to cause some flooding issues.
Here's a look at the map and what you can expect on this Monday. The cold air pours in from Canada, the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, up across the East Coast, and there's your frontal boundary. And it's a slow mover.
Here's how the rain shakes out for the next two days. And a bull's eye for potentially heavy flood threatening weather will be across the mid-Mississippi River Valley. Memphis is going to be the center of attention there with several inches of rain, maybe over half a foot in spots.
Ahead of it today, it's going to be a mild 63 in D.C., 59 in New York, meanwhile, 42 degrees in Chicago. On the back end of this system, winter storm warnings are also posted and the Santa Ana winds are blowing again. We'll talk more about that in about 15 minutes -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob. Talk to you in 15.
Newt Gingrich picking up late breaking momentum in the GOP presidential race. In a new NBC/Marist poll, Gingrich surged to the top in Iowa. But Romney remains ahead in New Hampshire, although competitors are catching up. Romney support has dropped from 45 percent a month ago to 39 percent, and Gingrich has 23 percent -- 24 percent there, less than 30 days from the first GOP presidential nominating contest in January.
All right. Now that Herman Cain is out of the White House race, the battle is on for the remaining GOP candidates, like Romney and Gingrich. Who will get Cain's endorsement and where will his supporters go?
Here's our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am suspending my presidential campaign.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR (voice-over): The ride is over for the Cain train, but Herman Cain promises he'll still make an impact in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
CAIN: I will be making an endorsement in the near future.
STEINHAUSER: New front-runner Newt Gingrich was quick to compliment Cain.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, I think he deserves a great deal of credit for having had the courage to run, for having the courage of big ideas and for having had the clarity to say them in a way that many millions of Americans found them very, very positive.
STEINHAUSER: Many Tea Party activists liked him and two candidates with support from the grassroots conservative movement hope Cain voters come their way.
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're going to go somewhere in the next week or so. That's going to happen. So I'm optimistic we'll pick up some votes from there.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Herman Cain supporters have been calling our office and they've been coming over to our side. I think part of that is because people see that I'm the Tea Party candidate in the race. They saw Herman Cain as an outsider. And I think they see that my voice will be the one that will be most reflective of his.
STEINHAUSER: Cain was slipping in the polls. He went from 23 percent support in late October to just 8 percent in a new "Des Moines Register" survey of likely caucus-goers in Iowa, the first state to vote in the race for the GOP nomination. His remaining supporters may go to a bunch of candidates, but the one who may benefit the most is Gingrich, the former House speaker who is surging at the right time.
Without Cain in the race, Gingrich now stands at 28 percent in a new NBC/Marist poll in Iowa, with the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Ron Paul of Texas each at 19 percent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Atlanta megachurch Pastor Eddie Long is taking time off. He told parishioners his decision yesterday morning. Bishop Long says he will be working on his family. This only days after Long's wife Vanessa filed for divorce. But Long did not say how long he'd stay on leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BISHOP EDDIE LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: I haven't stepped down but stepped up. We're not hiding nothing or anything like that. I'm going to take a little time off to work with my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Bishop Long is no stranger to controversy. Four young men sued him last year, accusing him of using his influence to lure them into sexual relationships. Long settled that suit back in May.
A highly classified U.S. stealth drone may be in the hands of Iran. Iranian officials say they downed a drone after it invaded its airspace in eastern Iran. That's right along the Afghanistan border. American military officials only confirming, yes, one of their drones is missing. Now, Iran is vowing an aggressive response.
Here's pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Iranian authorities say they shot down a highly classified U.S. unmanned spy plane over its territory along its eastern border with Afghanistan. Iran says the drone they shot down is an RQ-170. Now, that's one of the most secret drones in the U.S. military and intelligence arsenal -- a stealth drone that can fly largely undetected, gathering intelligence and targeting information.
So far, the U.S. using the NATO alliance in Afghanistan to issue a statement is only saying, quote, "The UAV to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status." That according to the statement.
Now, U.S. officials tell CNN the flight crew operating the drone did report a loss of flight controls before the drone went down. But they're not saying it was shot down and they're not saying it's an RQ- 170.
The key question now is shot down or not, do the Iranians have their hands on classified intelligence technology. If the Iranians do, the U.S. knows it's not getting any of that back.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: The cash-strapped United States Postal Service announces a new cost-cutting plan this morning. Under the proposal, first class mail would no longer be delivered the next day. The agency wants to change its national standard to two to five days, from one to three. No word yet on when the plan could take effect. The Postal Service has lost more than $5 billion this year, and faces a deadline to make another $5.5 billion payment to its health care retirement fund in about two weeks.
Democrats will unveil a payroll tax cut compromise plan today. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will introduce the proposal which would extend a cut in payroll taxes used to pay for Social Security. The compromise between the dueling plans is rejected by the Senate last week. No word yet on the specifics of the plan but Democrats say the hefty $200 billion price tag would be fully paid for.
A fierce of standoff between Occupy D.C. protesters and police -- this after protesters refused to take down a wooden structure. Police moving in with a cherry picker, forcibly removing occupiers who decided to cling to this makeshift building.
Here's Athena Jones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After more than nine hours and at times tense standoff between Occupy D.C. protesters and police, it has come to an end with 31 arrests. The standoff began in the late morning when police ordered demonstrators to take down a structure they erected overnight. Police said that there were safety concerns with the structure and it hadn't gone through the proper permitting process.
Demonstrators refused to take the structure down. Several of them occupying the structure itself and others climbing on to the roof while holding on to the rafters for several hours. They led chants with the crowd of demonstrators who have been in this park occupying it since early October. This is a park, McPherson Square, that's only a few blocks from the White House.
So, the standoff lasted al day. You had demonstrators throwing food and water. Demonstrators in the crowd throwing food and water to the occupiers who were on the structure itself.
Ultimately, the police used ray cherry picker, a giant inflatable cushion, two ladders, various ropes and harnesses in order to get the occupiers off of the structure. It was at times a dangerous operation because the structure itself, we saw it swaying a little bit. There was concern at one point that some of the rafters might break.
But ultimately 31 people arrested at this Occupy D.C. camp here, only a few blocks from the White House.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Athena Jones in Washington.
All right. It's a celebration of the art. The Kennedy Center honors five stars at stage, screen and music. And the gala happened in Washington yesterday.
This year's honorees are Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Sonny Rollins, and Yo-Yo Ma.
President Obama was on hand to toast these individuals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The most amazing thing about Yo-Yo Ma is that everybody likes him. You got to give me some tips. It's remarkable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Tip number one, he stays out of politics.
The president also thanked the honorees for sharing their talents with the world.
OK. Still to come this morning, new developments involving a violent attack at a McDonald's. We'll take a look at that tape again and see if you agree with a new decision in this case.
Also, Facebook reveals more of its plans for next year and definitely won't involve -- it definitely involves absolutely adding more people to the payroll. Thousands of them.
Plus, developing this hour out of Japan -- a radioactive water leak at Fukushima nuclear plant. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It is almost 15 minutes past the hour.
Here's what we're following this morning:
Newt Gingrich surging to the top of the GOP heap. The former GOP House speaker now the man to beat in Iowa. A new NBC poll shows Gingrich leading with 26 percent. Mitt Romney trails far behind at 18 percent.
And you can count Cain out. Herman Cain suspended his campaign on Saturday, dogged by allegations of sexual harassment and then a 13- year-long affair.
A grand jury has decided against indicting a McDonald's worker caught on tape in a violent clash with customers, decided against an indictment. Two women attacked a cashier over a payment dispute in October, even going behind the counter. That's when another worker grabbed a metal object start swinging at them. Both women suffered head injuries. They face charges for menacing and disorderly conduct.
In money, Facebook is hiring thousands of new workers. The social networking giant is gearing up to go public next year. The company anticipated rapid growth and is expanding its team to keep up.
In sports, the drought is over. Tiger Woods has finally won. He won his first tournament in two years. He captured the Chevron World Challenge yesterday, just narrowly beating out fellow American Zach Johnson.
We'll get a first check of today's weather. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is in Atlanta.
Good morning, Rob. The drought is over for Tiger.
MARCIANO: It is. Although that one doesn't count. That's just a fall tournament with 18 guys that all get paid to show up. But he looked really sharp and hopefully will be back. It will be a good year next year.
Good morning again, Christine.
ROMANS: Good morning.
MARCIANO: We are looking at rain across the midsection that's going to be slow-moving, here it is, and how it's going to move which is very slowly across the next 48 hours, Memphis and the mid-South are going to be under the gun for a flood threat over the next 48 hours, two to six inches in some cases of rainfall.
On the western end of this, plunge of more cold air across the Intermountain West. Near blizzard conditions across parts of New Mexico and more in the way of Santa Ana winds across southern California, gusts to 60 miles an hour potentially.
Eleven degrees in Denver, 42 in Chicago, 58 degrees in New York City. If you are traveling on this Monday morning, we'll run down where you can expect flight delays in about 15 minutes -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob. Talk to you again soon.
Syria faces new sanctions from the Arab League, deadline is passed for Syria to allow observers to monitor the government's response to protests. On Sunday alone, at least 22 more demonstrators were killed.
Leone Lakhani is live from Abu Dhabi with the latest.
Good morning.
LEONE LAKHANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine. We're just waiting to hear from the Arab League, how they're going to progress with their demands and whether Damascus actually agrees to the demands of the Arab League.
Now, if the sanctions go through, they're pretty stringent. I mean, the types of things these sanctions include, include a freeze on government assets. A travel ban, ban on weapons shipments, cutting off business with the Syrian central bank and the government, just a very wide range of sanctions. And it's in conjunction with similar conjunctions from Turkey, as well as U.S. and E.U. sanctions that are already in place.
So, we're just waiting to hear how they will progress and if they will give Syria any more leeway, Christine.
ROMANS: Do we know, will these sanctions have any impact?
LAKHANI: That's the question that everyone wants know. We are getting some rumblings from the Syrian government. Over the past weeks, we heard from the oil minister who has been speaking on the Syrian news agency, saying that they've had to cut back on oil production because of the U.S. and E.U. sanctions on their oil exports.
They're also actively looking for other buyers for their oil because more than 90 percent of their oil was previously exported to Europe. Now they have to find buyers for that. And that's key income for them. That's a hard cash that they're not getting at the moment, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Leone Lakhani in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much. Talk to you soon.
A developing story out of Japan this morning. Workers have discovered a new leak of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Some 12,000 gallons of contaminated water found gushing from a purification facility. The plant's operator says some of that tainted water may have leaked into the Pacific Ocean. Sandbags have since been used to stop the leak.
Still ahead, a big week for leaders hoping to solve the debt crisis in Europe. And they're talking about a new strategy now, details in a live report from Paris.
And did you know, one in every 11 people will steal at least one item when they walk into a store this holiday season -- 1 in 11. Oh, come on. We're going to take a look at the top stolen items.
It's 19 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All eyes on Europe this week as investors determine how to bet on the markets. (INAUDIBLE) finish U.S. stocks Friday. Investors, you know, they are worrying about the European debt crisis and what it's going to mean for the euro, the currency, and for U.S. -- biggest destination for U.S. manufacturing goods is the euro zone. The NASDAQ rose just under 1 point. The Dow and the NASDAQ lost a fraction of a point.
The European Union scrambling to overcome this debt crisis. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the German President Angela Merkel will meet today to discuss a possible new E.U. treaty. The big question, can the euro be saved?
CNN's Nina dos Santos is live in Paris.
And, Nina, I even hate to say scrambling to try to fix and to overcome because Merkel herself said this is a marathon that will take years and we know this is a long process. Markets captivated by every little footstep in that marathon.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, probably marathon instead of a sprint, isn't it But at the moment, what we're seeing, Christine, is a sort of sprint towards the final hurdle to at least try to get some kind of legislative framework in place to make sure that the 17 countries inside the euro zone. So, those are the seven out of the 27 within the entire European Union that share the common currency, the euro. The legislation at the moment, they're trying to hammer out just to try and get those countries to rein in their budget. So, stronger budget discipline.
Now what we've got is this crucial summit between Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the leaders of France and Germany, trying to hammer out a initial framework that they're going to be putting forward to other E.U. heads of states and heads of government late on this week. This really is a pivotal week for the euro because just on Wednesday of last week, we had a very senior euro crack from Brussels saying we only have 10 days to solve the crisis to save the euro.
So this marks an initial really crucial week for the euro. We've got Timothy Geithner, the U.S. treasury secretary, arriving here in Europe in just a couple of days from now and that usual meeting where Merkel and Sarkozy probably put forward the framework they agree upon after a lunch which will take place in about an hour from now, Christine.
ROMANS: And so, here we have all the big guns from around the world trying to figure out what to do. It will mean these countries will have to rein in their budgets, but what about technically? I mean, technically, these countries have to maybe agree to a new framework under which to operate if the euro is going to go forward?
DOS SANTOS: Yes. This is very legally complicated territory here, Christine. And it's also fraught with difficulties. Essentially, the European Union because obviously, these are own sovereign entities are governed by a treaty of framework. So, this includes also some treaties, they've been replaced and revised before.
But what Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy really want to do here in Paris today is to put forward some kind of framework by which they can change the treaties with minimal disruption, let's say, without having the individual nations having to vote on them and referendums. What they want to do is to try and make sure that these countries are automatically be penalized if they overspend like for instance Greece, Ireland, also Portugal, so they won't need to have to bail them out again, because this is fast becoming a more than $1 trillion problem as it heads and threatens to head into 2012.
And I should also point out that these two leaders will be coming out for re-election in the next year and a year and a half for each of them, so they have two constituencies to serve, if you like. They have to solve things for the euro zone but they also have to sell any new plans that they're going to be proposing today to their own electorate as well because campaigning will start soon.
ROMANS: All right. Nina dos Santos in lovely -- no, you're in Paris this morning, thank you.
'Tis the season for gift giving and gift stealing? One in every 11 people will steal at least one item when they walk into a store this holiday season. The top three items they take, number one is meat, no joke, filet mignon and other choice cuts are grade A target for thieves. Number two, pricey liquors like Jamison Irish whiskey, getting into the holiday spirit. And number three, electric tools like toothbrushes and power tools.
All right. It's going to be a brown Christmas for many tree farmers in Texas. Their record-breaking drought dried up thousands of Christmas trees. Texas received less than 11 inches of rain this summer. Now, the once green firs are wilted and dead. Many farms are importing trees from other states.
All right. Still ahead, megachurch pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, stepping away from his church for the time being. He explains why just ahead.
And the United Postal Service wants to do away with next day service on letters that you send.
Twenty-seven after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Atlanta's megachurch pastor, Eddie Long, taking time off but says he's not stepping down. The surprise announcement only days after his wife files for divorce.
And good morning, this is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Monday, December 5th. I'm Christine Romans. Carol has the morning off. Here are this morning's top stories.
Four weeks from tomorrow, four weeks from tomorrow, the first votes of the 2012 campaign will be cast by a real honest to goodness voters in the Iowa caucuses. And right now, looks like Newt Gingrich is on top there. In New Hampshire whose primary is the next week, Romney is on top, but it's getting closer. And in politics, a few weeks can be a lifetime.
Took a cherry picker and a forklift but a day-long standoff between police and Occupy D.C. protesters is over. They were clinging to wooden structures in a Washington Park. Police used a cherry picker to get the protesters down and a forklift then to destroy the structure. Thirty-one people were arrested.
The U.S. and Pakistan mending diplomatic fences after that NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops. President Obama called Pakistan's president yesterday making clear the incident was not a deliberate attack on Pakistan. Both presidents agreed to stay in touch.
Let's get a first check of today's weather. Meteorologist, Rob Marciano, back with us in Atlanta. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine, some action on the radar in the way of some rain and some snow. Here it is. Across the northeast, we're seeing some rain stretch into the Great Lakes region. It's making slow progress eastward, so I think D.C. to Boston at least today will be dry. Tonight will be another story. Indianapolis back through parts of Texas will see not only rain but snow.
Back side of this is certainly going to be cold and blizzard-like conditions across parts of New Mexico. Santa Ana is going to be blowing. Sixty-degree in Los Angeles, going to be 42 degrees in Chicago, and 58, mild out ahead of this front in New York City. Speaking of, some fog there this morning, so you'll see some delays in New York, Philly, Chicago some wind, and Cincinnati and Cleveland, you saw rain, maybe slowing travel there at the airports in Cinci and Cleveland. Christine, back up to you.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Rob. Talk to you soon.
Newt Gingrich picking up late breaking momentum in the GOP presidential race. In a new NBC poll, Gingrich surged to the top in Iowa, but Romney remains ahead in New Hampshire. Although, you know, competitors are catching up. Romney's support has dropped from 45 percent a month ago to 39 percent. Gingrich has 24 percent.
We're less than 30 days from the first GOP presidential nominated contest in January. One person who won't be participating in that contest, of course, is Herman Cain. You know, unless, you live under a rock you know he's now out of the race. So, who will pick up his supporters? Who will he endorse?
Let's bring in CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. He joins me from Washington. The conventional wisdom is that Gingrich gets this support. I mean, this has been a week now Gingrich has been seeing a big surge of Cain supporters who've been leaving. Does it hold up?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's what everybody is looking. You know, last week, we had all eyes on Herman Cain to see when he will drop out. Now, it's who will he endorse and when will he? You're right. A lot of Gingrich's support, Christine, over the last month has come from Cain supporters who were fleeing Cain after first the allegations of sexual harassment and then, of course, the allegations of a 13-year affair.
They're both from Atlanta. And it was interesting, on Saturday, soon after Cain announced that he was suspending his campaign, Newt Gingrich in an event was in Staten Island, New York, actually said some really nice things about Cain. So, we're going to keep our eyes on Gingrich.
The only thing we know about Newt Gingrich today is he's at an event, at 1:45 news conference. Not sure what that's about yet, so we're going to keep our eyes on that. Will Herman Cain show up there? We don't know. We're making calls. We'll see.
ROMANS: All right. Gingrich met with Donald Trump today in New York. You know, how important is Donald Trump's endorsement?
STEINHAUSER: No, it's actually before Gingrich has that 1:45 news conference later this morning. He is in New York City, goes to Trump tower, meets with Donald Trump, becomes the fifth Republican presidential candidate to do that. It seems like if you're running for the GOP nomination, you have to kiss the Trump ring.
Remember, Trump himself thought about -- flirted with making a bit for the GOP nomination back in May and June before deciding not to, and he's trying to moderate a debate in later this month in Iowa. So, he's trying to be influential and has his say in the nomination process. No word on any endorsements today.
Though, he's met with a bunch of the other candidates and has a meeting with him but not endorsing anybody. But, yes, Trump is trying to be a player, of course, in this battle for the nomination, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thanks, Paul.
A highly classified U.S. stealth drone may be in the hands of Iran. Iranian officials say they downed a drone after invaded its airspace in Eastern Iran. It's right along the Afghanistan border. American military officials only confirming that one of their drones is missing. Now, Iran is vowing an aggressive response. Here's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Iranian authorities say they shot down a highly classified U.S. unmanned spy plane over its territory along its eastern border with Afghanistan. Iran says the drone they shot down is an RQ-170. Now, that's one of the most secret drones in the U.S. military and intelligence arsenal.
A stealth drone that can fly largely undetected gathering intelligence and targeting information. So far, the U.S. using the NATO alliance in Afghanistan to issue a statement is only saying, quote, "The UAV to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over Western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV los control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status."
That according to the statement. Now, U.S. officials tell CNN the flight crew operating the drone did report a loss of flight controls before the drone went down, but they're not saying it was shot down, and they're not saying it's an RQ-170. The key question now, is shot down or not, do the Iranians have their hands on classified intelligence technology? If the Iranians do, the U.S. knows it's not getting any of that back.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Atlanta mega church pastor, Eddie Long, is taking some time off. He told parishioners his decision yesterday morning. Bishop Long says he'll be working on his family. This only days after Long's wife, Vanessa, filed for divorce, but Long didn't say how long he'd stay on leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BISHOP EDDIE LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BATIST CHURCH: I haven't stepped down. I've actually stepped up. We're not hiding nothing or anything like that. I'm going to take a little time off to work with my family.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Bishop Long is no stranger to controversy. Four young men sued him last year accusing him of using his influence to lure them into sexual relationships. Long settled that suit in May.
The cash trap United State Postal Service will announce a new cost cutting plan this morning. Under the proposal, first class mail would no longer be delivered the next day. The agency wants to change its national standard to two to five days from one to three. No word yet on when the plan could take effect.
Postal service has racked up more than $5 billion in debt this year and faces a deadline to make another $5.5 billion payment to its healthcare retirement plan in just about two weeks.
Democrats will unveil a payroll tax cut compromise plan today. Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, will introduce the proposal which would extend a cut in the payroll taxes used to pay for Social Security. It's a compromise between the dueling plans rejected by the Senate last week. No word yet on the specifics of the plan. Democrats say the hefty $200 billion price tag would be fully paid for.
A fierce standoff between Occupy D.C. protesters and the police, this after protesters refuse to take down a wooden structure. Police moving in with a cherry picker forcibly removing occupiers who decided to cling to this makeshift building. Here's Athena Jones with the details.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After more than nine hours and at times tense standoff between Occupy D.C. protesters and police has come to an end with 31 arrests. The standoff began in the late morning when police ordered demonstrators to take down a structure they had erected overnight. Police said that there were safety concerns with the structure and that it hadn't gone through the proper permitting process.
Demonstrators refused to take the structure down. Several of them occupying the structure itself and others climbing onto the roof holding on to the rafters for several hours. They led chants with the crowd of demonstrators who have been in this park occupying this park since early October. This is a park, Macpherson Square, that's only a few blocks from the White House. So, the standoff lasted all day.
You had demonstrators throwing food and water -- demonstrators in the crowd throwing food and water to the occupiers who were on the structure itself. Ultimately, the police used a cherry picker, giant inflatable cushion, two ladders, various ropes, and harnesses in order to get the occupiers off of the structure. It was at times a dangerous operation because the structure itself, we saw, it swaying a little bit.
There was concern at one point that some of the rafters might break, but ultimately, 31 people arrested here at this Occupy D.C. camp here only a few blocks from the White House. Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Athena Jones in Washington.
All right. It's 40 minutes past the hour. Let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "American Morning." My friend, Alina Cho, my co-anchor joins me now. Good morning, Alina.
CHO: Hey, good morning, Christine. Good morning, to you. Coming up in about 20 minutes on "American Morning." The hunt for a serial killer on long Island. Ten bodies tossed along a remote beach, some of them sex workers. Now, there's a new theory about what may have happened. Our Susan Candiotti will be along to explain.
Strip search and traumatized at JFK. Listen to this, an 85-year- old grandmother claims that TSA agents pulled down her pants, even her underwear. What happened and why? We'll tell you.
And American soldiers pulling out of Iraq returning home just in time for the holidays. Our Chris Lawrence will take us to Ft. Hood for the happy reunions.
All of that plus much more your latest news. "American Morning" at the top of the hour, but Christine will be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Here's what's happening this morning.
Newt Gingrich surging to the top of the GOP heap. The former GOP House speaker now the man to beat in Iowa. A new NBC poll shows Gingrich leading with 26 percent. Mitt Romney trails far behind at 18 percent. And you can count Cain out. Herman Cain, as you know, suspended his campaign Saturday dogged by allegations of sexual harassment and a report that he denies of a 13-year-long affair.
A grand jury has decided against indicting a McDonald's worker caught on tape in a violent clash with customers. Two women attacked a cashier over a payment dispute in October, even going behind the counter. That's when another worker grabbed a metal object and started swinging at them. Both women suffered head injuries. They face charges for menacing and disorderly conduct.
In money, Facebook is hiring thousands of new workers. The social networking giant is gearing up to go public next year. That means the company anticipates rapid growth and is expanding its team to keep up.
In sports, ten people injured at the Oklahoma State football game Saturday. They were trampled in a postgame celebration gone awry. OSU beat rival Oklahoma, 44-10.
Let's get a quick check of today's weather. Meteorologist, Rob Marciano, is in Atlanta. Wow! You see the goalpost come down. Wooh!
MARCIANO: Yes, and that was for celebration. I'm wondering what they're doing this morning knowing that their team is not going to be playing for the national championship. It's going to be Alabama instead. Sure they're not happy about that. Anyway, congratulations to the Cowboys, on domination there.
We are looking at rainfall across, well, a good slice of the country, and it's not moving all that quickly. Here's a look at the radar scope where the flood watches and warnings are posted up and down the Mississippi and then stretching across the Ohio River Valleys. This is where the rain is located now, and actually, in the southern end of this, we got some cold air behind it.
Look at the snow popping up on the radar scope across the panhandle of Texas getting into Oklahoma City and blizzard conditions potentially today across parts of New Mexico and Albuquerque, specifically, and some of the higher terrain. As far as how much rain, we expect two to four inches, maybe six in some spots, across the mid-Mississippi River with this very slow-moving front.
We'll get to the rain towards the northeast tonight and tomorrow, and again, the back side of this will have some snow. And also, we'll have strong Santa Ana winds again today and tomorrow, critical fire danger across parts of Southern California. Eleven degrees for the high in Denver. That's chilly. Forty-two in Chicago.
It will be 58, mild in New York and Boston and D.C. today. Enjoy rain cometh for the I-95 corridor tomorrow. Christine, we'll see you on "American Morning" in just a few.
ROMANS: All right. See you there, Rob. Thanks.
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, fighting extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations. He's planning to take his case to Britain's Supreme Court. CNNs Atika Shubert is in London with the latest. Good morning, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. Julian Assange has basically managed to convince the judges that his appeal should be granted. This will be his last and final chance to stay in the UK, but judges basically said that on some points, his argument was granted that, perhaps, they should take another look at the European arrest warrant.
And it means he will not be extradited in the next few days. So, he has won the right to stay in the UK at least a little longer while his appeal is ongoing, Christine.
ROMANS: How long will this process go on, Atika?
SHUBERT: Well, it's likely to go on at least for a few weeks possibly months. It's now gone on for more than a year, and he's been under virtual house arrest during that time. So, it could go on for a little bit longer but, again, this is his last chance, his final appeal, and after that, the decision will be made either to extradite him or keep him here in the UK.
ROMANS: All right. Atika Shubert, thank you so much, Atika.
We're working to bring you several big stories at the top of the hour including Iran's claim that it shot down a U.S. spy plane. Now, it's promising to take an aggressive response. We're going to have the latest straight from the Pentagon.
And after the break, is Stevie Wonder ready to put on his dancing shoes for live TV? Details ahead. It's 48 minutes after the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
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ROMANS: Herman Cain, as you know, is out of the presidential race, but still on the minds of comedians like the cast of "Saturday Night Live." Here's your punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This whole ordeal has been crazy. It's nonsense. It's character assassination, but I'm sorry, it's true. I am suspending my campaign. Now, listen, this is a decision that I made with the help of my family. No one forced me out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you still deny the allegations that you had an affair with Ginger White?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's garbage. The truth is that Ginger White and I are friends and, yes, I gave her money, because that's what friends do. Seth, you and I are friends, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, take some money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, you know that money ain't free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I'll just give it back to you.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's been rumored for weeks, and now, it's official. Madonna has been tapped to perform at the Super Bowl. The 53-year-old material girl will entertain football fans during the halftime show in Indianapolis on February 5th. You're going to be hearing a lot about Madonna that weekend. Her new romantic dramedy "We" opens nationwide two days before the big game.
Time now to check some other entertainment headlines. Executive producer, HLN's "Showbiz Tonight," Dave Levine, joins me now on the phone. Good morning. Up early, Dave.
DAVE LEVINE, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" (on the phone): I notice that you're up early too, so how great is this?
ROMANS: I know, right. Is Stevie Wonder headed to "Dancing with the Stars"?
LEVINE: Now, talk about great. Stevie Wonder has been making noises about wanting to do "Dancing with the Stars" for a few years now. But it's something he just said to Ellen DeGeneres on her show that everybody is saying, wait a second, maybe he's going to do it. But again (ph), he's coming to Ellen on Friday and he started talking about how he's losing weight because Ellen was pressuring him and saying, Stevie, you're going to do it.
And he basically said, yes, I pretty much am getting in shape, and he said, quote, "when I get to where I feel like I'm going good enough, what I want to do, I'll do that. And he even predicted and said I'm going to look good in the beginning, I'll look even better in the end, because as you know, everybody loses weight when they're competing on "Dancing with the Stars."
Now, it's not a big deal just because somebody is impaired. Let's not forget that Oscar winner, Marlee Matlin, who is hearing impaired. She competed. She came in seventh place during season six. But just because Stevie Wonder is blind does not mean that that's going to get in his way.
He may be 61 years old, but, hey, let's not forget that Florence Henderson was 77, and she competed in 2010, and she did really well. She didn't win, but she did really well. So, hopefully, he'll do it, Christine.
ROMANS: And it's a big draw. I mean, I watch -- I know that it would be a big draw to the show. Meanwhile, I'll ask you about John Travolta gearing up to play the role of a notorious mob boss.
LEVINE: Yes. You know, a lot of people have been saying forget about it. This movie is never going to happen. This is one of the movies that an unbelievable rollercoaster. The name of the movie is "Gotti in the Shadow of my Father." It's written -- it was written by and it's going to be directed by Barry Levinson (ph).
You may recall, this is also the movie that Lindsay Lohan was going to be in, but now, she is cleaning up bodies at the morgue or something like that. And anyway, the movie was apparently canceled because they couldn't come up with the money or at least put on hold. Well, now, Barry Levinson says, he told E! in a new interview, we've got the money sorted out, and it's coming together.
Christine, listen to this cast. I can't wait to see this. I can't wait for them to make this movie about mobs and John Gotti (ph). John Travolta is going to play Gott, right? His real-life wife, Kelly Preston, will play Gotti's wife, Victoria. Al Pacino has signed up, and he's going to play the consigliore, (INAUDIBLE). It's going to be absolutely terrific. I think it's not going to be the new idea "Godfather," but I can't wait to see it.
ROMANS: Yes. Without Lindsay Lohan, but --
LEVINE: Without -- not necessary.
ROMANS: Let me ask you about Amy Winehouse, the late Amy Winehouse. A new album coming out.
LEVINE: Oh, I can't wait for this. This is coming out tomorrow. Tomorrow is the official release date, her first posthumous album. The reason I say first because when stars unfortunately passed away, they usually have a wealth of material to come. Anyway, this album is called "Lionness, Hidden Treasures." It's being described as quintessential Amy Winehouse.
The tone a bit when I've heard and I've listened to a couple of tracks -- I was listening to it over the weekend, a couple of tracks have come out. It's been described as neosoul, blues, R&B, Motown. It's really going to be a really excellent mix of stuff, and she started putting this together, writing the songs to this back in 2009, and already, some of the prerelease sales are saying particularly over -- particularly in England that this may be her biggest selling album yet.
Of course, we all know that, unfortunately, Amy passed away when she was 27 in July over the summer. The coroner eventually ruled that it may had been related to alcohol, but she'll be missed. Hey, let's not forget, Christine, after Michael Jackson died, his music has been at the top of the charts ever since.
What happens with a lot of these stars is they're constantly recording, recording dozens if not hundreds of songs, and then, it's decided which ones are going to go out in the album, but the other stuff is still sitting there.
ROMANS: There's so much --
LEVINE: This is the stuff that sitting there that eventually gets release.
ROMANS: So much material in the vaults and, you know, her fans want to hear it. That's just the bottom line. Dave --
LEVINE: Based on presales of the album, they definitely want to hear it.
ROMANS: Dave Levine, HLN's "Showbiz Tonight," nice to hear you this morning. have a great weekday.
That's it for this Monday edition of A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. "AMERICAN MORNING" continues right after a quick break. Have a great day, everybody.
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