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American Morning: Wake Up Call
E.U. Crisis Deal; Iran Shows off Drone: Is It Real?; Payroll Tax Bill Fails In Senate; Two Dead In Virginia Tech Shooting; Jerry Sandusky Free on $250K Bail
Aired December 09, 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: Developing overnight, leaders at the E.U. crisis talk say they have a deal to save the continent. How are stocks reacting and why isn't Britain on board?
Occupy Boston now on borrowed time. Protesters ignoring a midnight deadline and hoping to avoid what we've witnessed in other cities.
And new surveillance video showing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the hotel maid who accused him of rape and the security guards doing a so- called victory dance. It helps fuel suspicion that he was set up.
This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: And good morning. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello.
Here are this morning's top stories.
Reopening old wounds: a vigil at Virginia Tech University after another deadly shooting on campus. We're learning this morning an officer and another person were shot by the same gun.
The Senate has voted down both Republican and Democratic compromise proposals to extend the payroll tax break into next year. You could lose 1,000 bucks in take home pay if they don't agree on a deal by the New Year.
Iran showing off what it claims is the top secret U.S. drone that went down within its borders. Even though the U.S. admitted it lost an aircraft, some experts are saying this one, the one they're showing, is phony.
Let's get a check of today's weather.
Rob Marciano is in Atlanta. So it's Friday.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is Friday.
COSTELLO: Expecting great weather everywhere.
MARCIANO: And the other thing, you know, not to get everybody robbed on the way home, but today is payday. That was --
COSTELLO: That is fantastic.
MARCIANO: I was reminded of that all morning.
Anyway, good morning everybody. Hope it's your payday and hope it's your Friday, and a lot of people work the weekends. We do have some cold air to start this Friday morning.
Check it out across the country, nine degrees in Minneapolis, 25 in Chicago, 36 in New York City. Finally, you know, we were topsy- turvy there for a while. Now, it's back to normal. But it is definitely December and we are feeling the pinch as it stands right now.
Fairly quiet, though. Little clipper system moving across the Midwest. A little bit of light snow from Chicago. They had a slow start to winter there, now they're getting it. Cleveland also some slight snow and that will be some lake effect enhanced as we go through the day as well.
Fifty degrees is the high temperature in New York, and 58 degrees in Atlanta. If you're taking your payday money and getting on a flight today, we'll go over the flight delays in 15 minutes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's what I'm doing. I'm taking my payday money and getting on a plane.
MARCIANO: You go.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
COSTELLO: First big news coming out of the European crisis summit, E.U. leaders have agreed on a new deal to try and resolve the continent's debt crisis, one that threatened the world's economy. Under this new deal, the European central bank will manage bailout funds and E.U. leaders have decided to add 200 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund, which has assisted in the bailouts of struggling European economies like Greece.
Britain and three other companies, though, refuse to back the deal. The French president Nicolas Sarkozy who helped broker the deal, talked about why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS SARKOZY, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): In order to accept a reform of 27 member treaty, David Cameron requested something which we all considered was unacceptable, namely, that there be a protocol written into the treaty which enabled the U.K. to opt out of a certain number of rules applying to financial services. We were not able to accept that because we consider quite the contrary, that a very large or substantial amount of the problems we're facing around the world are the result of lack of regulation of financial services and, therefore, we cannot have a waiver for the United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, will this win back the confidence of panicky markets? Right now, U.S. futures -- they're trading slightly higher this morning.
New information on the Virginia Tech shooting: police confirming that both people were killed by the same gun in an apparent murder/suicide. Students holding a vigil late last night after a gunman shot and killed a police officer and then apparently turned the gun on himself. Police say they have dash cam video from the police cruiser that shows the gunman and he appears to be the same person they found dead on the road.
This all happening nearly five years after the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history and changes made after the tragedy were put to the test yesterday. The school locking down campus and using a high-tech alert system to warn students and faculty members to stay indoors. Virginia Tech police have identified the murdered officer as Derrick Crouse. He's 39 years old, married with five children and stepchildren.
A big tax hike is looming for millions of American families in 2012. The Senate voted down both Republican and Democratic compromise proposals to extend the payroll tax break into next year. It's now setting up a showdown between President Obama and Congress.
The president saying he won't go on holiday break and neither will Congress if this isn't settled.
And we're keeping an eye on Occupy camp in Boston. A midnight deadline came and went for Wall Street protesters to clear out, but police have not moved in yet like they have in dozens of other cities from New York to Los Angeles and most recently in San Francisco.
Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky free on $250,000 bail this morning after spending a night in jail. Police arrested him Wednesday on 10 additional charges of molesting children after two new accusers came forward. One of them told the grand jury that Sandusky's wife ignored his screams for help while Sandusky raped him in the basement.
Well, now, Dottie Sandusky has released a statement denying that saying, "As the mother of six children, I have been devastated by these accusations and also angry about these false accusations that such a terrible incident ever occurred in my home." She went on to say, "I continue to believe in Jerry's innocence and all the good things he has done."
A Republican congresswoman says heads should roll as Attorney General Eric Holder testifies about the botched Fast and Furious gun- running program. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner grilling the attorney general again over what he knew about the operation and when he knew it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: What are you going to do to clean up this mess?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, first let me make something very clear, and in response to an assertion that you made or hinted at, nobody in the Justice Department has lied.
SENSENBRENNER: Why was the letter withdrawn?
HOLDER: The letter was withdrawn because of information in there that was inaccurate. The Justice Department letter of February --
SENSENBRENNER: OK. Well, tell me what's the difference between lying and misleading Congress in this context?
HOLDER: Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent to come up with something that can be considered perjury or a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The operation allowed illegally bought guns to get into the hands of Mexican drug cartel or gun cartels rather. Two of the guns I should say were found at the scene of a murdered U.S. border patrol agent.
Iran showing off what it claims is a top-secret stealthy looking U.S. drone that went down within its borders. U.S. officials are admitting they lost a plane like it, but officials inside the Pentagon aren't saying whether it is the drone that ended up on Iranian state television.
So, did Iran pull a bait and switch?
Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New video on Iranian TV shows what Iran says is a U.S. drone that crashed within its borders. But by putting it out on state TV for all to see, Iran has sparked a "CSI" type investigation into its prized capture.
Within the Pentagon, uncertainty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't recovered the drone that we believe is missing.
LAWRENCE: One U.S. official says they can't be 100 percent certain it's real, but it would be hard to fake. A second official says, flat out, the drone was not designed to survive a crash like that intact from high altitude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can almost see it here, you can see some dents along the leading edge, and probably the undersurface, you know, might well be pretty banged up.
LAWRENCE: Analysts disagree too. Bill Sweetman thinks it's real. The drone wasn't shot down and could have glided to earth in what Sweetman calls a falling leaf descent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so, you know, you would see in that case fairly limited damage.
LAWRENCE: Globalsecurity.org analyst John Pike calls what Iran showed off nothing more than a parade float. He says the wings here droop down, whereas in most pictures of the sentinel, the wings are positioned higher for better stability.
The bigger question, what was the drone doing when it crashed? A U.S. official says it was a CIA mission, strictly to search for insurgents in Afghanistan, near the border. But several sources point out the Sentinel is a stealth drone, designed to penetrate areas with air defenses. They say it's hard to believe the drone was strictly operating over Afghanistan which has none.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTOIN, AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER (RET): So it could have been used in Iran, it could have been deliberately used in Iran, and it's very likely, in fact, that it was a reconnaissance platform of choice to do precisely that.
LAWRENCE (on camera): A U.S. official says satellite footage shows the drone's wreckage to be a pile of rubble, so, Iran does have what's left of the drone, but in what condition is the issue.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's a sound bite that may end up in a future campaign ad. President Obama responding to GOP critics that he's appeasing in his foreign policy. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The president also defended his efforts to block Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, saying his administration has imposed the toughest sanctions on Iran ever.
He's placed all his chips on winning the Iowa caucus. Now, Republican candidate Rick Santorum is picking up a big endorsement in the state, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz is expected to back Santorum today. He's considered a rising star in the Republican Party.
Also, this is big, because Schultz threw his support back behind Mitt Romney in 2008, but Santorum is only pulling at 5 percent in Iowa in the latest poll.
Still to come, imagine missing a billion dollars and one of the people in charge simply says, "I don't know where it is." We have details of that hearing.
And a second chance at life for a death row inmate and he has social media to thank. We'll explain.
And we're getting a glimpse of what happened moments after Dominique Strauss-Kahn walked out of his hotel room, the day a housekeeper claims she was raped by him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Just about 15 minutes past the hour.
Here's what we're following this morning:
Ballistic tests are back in the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech. Both people shot by the same gun. Last night, students gathered for a candlelight vigil. Another vigil will be held today.
This after a police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. His dash cam video captures the gunman who appears to be the same man who is later found dead, shot dead nearby.
A murder conviction tossed out over a tweet. The Arkansas Supreme Court granted a death row inmate Eric Dimas-Martinez a retrial after a juror was caught tweeting during the trial and according to Martinez's defense attorneys, another juror was sleeping. Martinez was convicted of robbing and shooting a teenager last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON CORZINE, FORMER CEO, MF GLOBAL INC.: I simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: "I don't know." That's the former head of MF Global, Jon Corzine, testifying before Congress, saying he doesn't know what happened to more than $1 billion in missing customer funds. It's the former New Jersey's first public response since the failure of MF Global. Lawmakers are trying to figure out what led to the firm's collapse.
In sports, the IndyCar Series will not return to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year. That's where driver Dan Wheldon died in a 15-car crash in October. Officials are still investigating that accident.
In the meantime, the series is unveiling a new car this season and wants to complete testing before putting it on the track.
Let's head to the weather center and check in with Rob Marciano.
OK. What's the best place to travel to in the country today?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, there aren't too many bad places to travel to, how does that sound? Fairly tranquil weather compared to what we've seen the last couple weeks, Carol, although a chilly start and I guess the highlight is the Midwest or the lower Great Lakes more specifically, where the snow is falling at this hour. But it shouldn't be terrible as far as accumulations are concerned. For the most part, it's light, fairly dry system, but it will aggravate the Great Lakes a little bit and create some lake-effect snow.
So, Chicago, if you're traveling through that city, Cleveland and Detroit, those are the cities that will see light snow showers throughout the day and may slow things down. In general, it should stay below an hour as far as what the weather-related delays are concerned.
There's your Alberta clipper, white front that's moving across the Great Lakes and that's about it. We'll take that after what we've endured the past two weeks. Temperatures, it's December. So right around where we should be this time of year, maybe a little chillier than average in Chicago, 29 degrees and 16.
Bring the scarf and the hat, wool hat, if you're traveling to Minneapolis. It is winter after all.
Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: That's true. There's a lot of options out there because, you know, it's Christmas shopping season. So, there are a lot of options for hat, scarves and gloves out there.
MARCIANO: That's right. You know. I'm sure you look cute --
COSTELLO: I might buy some.
MARCIANO: Get you some.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Deliberate air strike. That's what two Pakistani lawmakers are calling the NATO attack that killed 24 of their troops last month. They say no other explanation makes any sense, but the United States still insists it was an accident.
So, let's bring in Zain Verjee live in London.
Any way to definitively determine who's right?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: No, not really. It's Pakistan's word against the U.S. Now, what's happened is, is that this is just serving to add fuel to the fire and just ratchet up the tension that already exists between the two countries.
These two lawmakers went to the senior briefing by a Pakistani military official and they then came out and said that NATO forces knew that these were Pakistani checkpoints. They went on to say that all these checkpoints are very clearly marked that so there was no way that NATO wouldn't know that these are Pakistani checkpoints. And one of them said it was a deliberate attack, it was a planned attack.
So, relations very strained over this, but the U.S. keeps insisting it wasn't a deliberate attack. It was an accident and expresses its regret -- Carol.
COSTELLO: On another topic, the surveillance video that has surfaced of the former IMF boss, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the woman accused of raping him, this video surfaced and it's kind of shocking.
VERJEE: Yes. I mean, have you seen it? It's a little bit weird and we don't know exactly, you know, which side it will support. But let me show you the video and show you what it has here.
You've got scenes of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the lobby checking out of the hotel, but what you're looking at right now is a basement video of two hotel employees kind of dancing around and high- fiving each other and celebrating, who knows why. That was a little bit weird.
And yes, Dominique Strauss-Kahn as you see him checking out, he looks pretty relaxed, doesn't look nervous at all, he leaves the Sofitel hotel, gets into his car.
And then, what is also on this video is Diallo, his accuser, in one instance she seemed subdued. And then all of a sudden, in the next instance, she seems kind of enraged a little bit and she pushes around a security officer. So who knows what al of this means?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers are saying this supports the idea that a conspiracy because why would these guys be celebrating in the basement? Diallo's lawyer says that this supports the fact that she was really disturbed after this incident. So, I think it raises more questions than answers.
COSTELLO: So the guys who were celebrates in the basement, did they know her? Were they friends of hers?
VERJEE: It's not really clear. Here they are. I mean you can see they do a little jig and they're believed to be hotel staff. We just don't really know. But we know that this was caught on camera and that this happened immediately after the 911 call was placed as well.
So, I think it's the timing that makes that little dance there look suspect.
COSTELLO: Wow. And there's a civil case out there, right?
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. I'm sure they're going to use that as a bit of evidence. It's interesting, though.
VERJEE: Yes.
COSTELLO: Strange, strange case. Zain Verjee, live in London, thanks so much.
Developing overnight, European leaders strike a new deal in the hopes of solving the euro debt crisis. But some countries are refusing to back the plan.
And a significant drop in numbers when talking about household wealth. We'll take a look at what's causing this decline.
It's 20 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We could see the markets recover today after news European leaders have struck a deal to resolve the continent's debt crisis. Stock futures are up slightly right now. Yesterday, the three major indexes plunged into the red at the closing bell, the Dow dropping 199 points, ending a three-day winning streak. The S&P and NASDAQ also finished lower.
Euro zone leaders have struck that deal to fix Europe's debt crisis. It's a new intergovernmental treaty. But not all of the European Union were on board. Britain and Hungary refused to back the changes.
So, let's bring in Christine Romans.
How big of a wrench does that throw into this deal?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the Europeans who are part of the deal are saying 23 out of 27 is good enough for them right now and, you know, the German chancellor and the French president, they are saying we are forging ahead on having a tighter fiscal union of these countries.
I mean, Carol, you look at this has been a relationship 50 years in the making for these countries, 60 years in the making since World War II where they were torn apart and now they're -- they've been trying to slowly come back together. You've got 17 of these countries that share the same currency.
There are another bunch of countries that don't share the currency but are also in the European economic zone, among them Britain, which wants to have a carve out so its own banking system, its own financial services, the city of London, can be protected as David Cameron says, the prime minister, that others in France and elsewhere are saying, well, the point is, we're supposed to be being a little more common instead of having uncommon exceptions for different countries. So, that's where sort of the friction comes there.
But for now, at least, there's optimism that saying that they'll be closer together in how they do their budgets, country by country, is what investors want to hear.
COSTELLO: OK. As far as the finances in our own country, let's talk about personal finances. You know, household income it's dropped again. Tell us about it.
ROMANS: Took a big hit in the third quarter, Carol. On average this means a family's worth fell in the third quarter by about $7,800. Most of that has to do with stock in their retirement funds.
It was a very bad quarter for the S&P, down 14 percent in that quarter. That was when we had the downgrade, the S&P downgrade. I mean, that was a really big hit for American families.
There was also some housing loss there as well in the third quarter.
But here's the bright note, because that third quarter was the worse for your family's household net worth since the battle days of 2008, that was the worse since the Great Depression. So, these are not very happy milestones we keep hitting.
But I will say, since that downgrade, stocks are up 4.6 percent. The housing market, while very weak, it is stabilizing and we've had some small signs of hiring. So, I suspect that in the fourth quarter, your household net worth is slowly, carefully climbing higher again, Carol.
COSTELLO: That slow word is what bothers most people. It's like, oh, it's agonizing.
ROMANS: Look, slow is better than no. That's what we have -- that's what we take for good news these days.
COSTELLO: Yes, you're right about that. Christine Romans, thank you. I'll see you in a bit.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Still ahead, we're learning new details this morning about the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech's campus. Plus, Iran is showing off what it claims is a U.S. stealth drone that went down on its side of the border.
It's 26 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: What did Jerry Sandusky's wife know? Dottie Sandusky now responding after an accuser says his screams for help from the basement were ignored. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: And good morning to you. This is you're A.M. WAKE-UP CALL for Friday. Happy Friday. It's December 9th. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello. Here are this morning's top stories.
Reopening old wounds of vigil held at Virginia Tech University after another deadly shooting on campus. A police officer and the apparent gunman killed in what now appears to be a murder/suicide. Police now confirming both people were killed by the same gun.
The Senate has voted down both Republican and Democratic compromise proposals to extend the payroll tax break into next year. That means you could lose 1,000 bucks in take-home pay if they can't agree on a deal by the New Year.
Iran showing off what it claims is the top secret U.S. drone that went down within its borders. Even though the U.S. has had admitted it lost a drone, some experts are saying this drone is phony.
Let's head to Atlanta to get a check on today's weather. Rob Marciano is in the house. Any travel delays we should worry about this morning?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think if you're going through Chicago or Detroit, two big hubs across the country, they may be problem spots. Good morning, Carol. We are looking at snow across the Great Lakes. You know, Chicago, has gotten off to a pretty slow start as far as snow is concerned, and they're getting a little bit. Some light accumulation there on some of the spots.
And up through Detroit, a little bit pulse of heavier precip heading through there, and then, Cleveland as well. Now, east of the Great Lakes, we'll get some windy conditions and Great Lakes are warm. So, lake-effect snow machine will be cranked up. I'll tell you what, this has had a slow start to the season as well, but 68 inches just south of Buffalo, up towards Watertown, maybe eight to 12 inches of snowfall.
And there, your highlighted delays, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia maybe because of the morning wind. All things are calm now on the east coast after the excitement yesterday with the rain in the big cities and the snow just north and west of New York City. A chilly start to your day, definitely December, but could be worse. I'll tell you that. Carol, back up to you.
COSTELLO: Yes, it could. You're right about that. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
COSTELLO: New information this morning on the Virginia Tech shooting. Police confirming that both people were killed by the same gun in an apparent murder/suicide. Students holding a vigil late last night after a gunman shot and killed a police officer, and then, apparently, turned the gun on himself. Police say they have dash cam video from the police cruiser that shows the gunman, and he appears to be the same person they found dead down the road. This all happening nearly five years after the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. And changes made after the tragedy were put to the test yesterday.
The school locking down campus and using a high-tech alert system to warn students and faculty members to stay indoors. Virginia Tech police have now identified the murdered officer as Deriek Crouse. He's 39 years old, married, with five children and step-children.
A big tax hike is looming for millions of American families in 2012. The Senate has voted down both Republican and Democratic compromise proposals to extend the payroll tax break into next year. It's now setting up a showdown between President Obama and Congress. The president saying he won't go on holiday break and neither will Congress if this isn't settled.
And we're keeping an eye on occupy, the occupy camp in Boston. A midnight deadline came and went last night for occupy protesters to clear out, but police have not moved in yet, like they have in dozens of other cities from New York to Los Angeles, and most recently, San Francisco.
Former Penn state football coach, Jerry Sandusky, free on $250,000 bail this morning after spending a night in jail. Police arrested him Wednesday on ten additional charges of molesting children after two new accusers came forward. One of them told the grand jury that Sandusky's wife ignored his screams for help while Sandusky raped him in the basement.
Well, now, Dottie Sandusky has released a statement denying that saying, "As the mother of six children, I have been devastated by these accusations. I am also angry about these false accusations that such a terrible incident ever occurred in my home." She went on to say, "I continue to believe in Jerry's innocence and all the good things he has done."
A Republican congressman saying heads should roll as Attorney General Eric Holder testifies about the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-running program. Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner grilling the attorney general again over what he knew about the operation and when he knew it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM SENSENBRENNER, (R) WISCONSIN: What are you going to do to clean up this mess?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, first, let me make something very clear and in response to an assertion that you made or hinted at, nobody in the justice department has lied.
SENSENBRENNER: Why was the letter withdrawn?
HOLDER: The letter was withdrawn because the information in there that was inaccurate. The justice department letter of February --
SENSENBRENNER: OK. Well, tell me what's the difference between lying and misleading Congress in this context?
HOLDER: Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent to come up with something that can be considered perjury or a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The operation allowed illegally bought guns to get into the hands of Mexican drug gangs -- Mexican gangs, I should say. The guns were found at the scene of a murdered U.S. patrol agent.
Iran showing off what it claims is a top-secret stealth. It looks like a U.S. drone that went down missing within its borders, but U.S. officials are admitting they lost a plane just like it, a drone just like it, but officials inside the Pentagon are not saying whether it is the drone that ended up on Iranian state television.
So, did Iran pull a bait and switch? Our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence, has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New video on Iranian TV shows what Iran says is a U.S. drone that crashed within its borders, but by putting it out on state TV for all to see, Iran has sparked a "CSI" type investigation into its prized capture. Within the Pentagon, uncertainty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't recovered the drone that we believe is missing.
LAWRENCE: One U.S. official says they can't be 100 percent certain it's real, but it would be hard to fake. A second official says flat out, the drone was not designed to survive a crash like that intact from high altitude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can almost see it here, you can see some dents along the leading edge, and probably, the undersurface might well be pretty banged up.
LAWRENCE: Analysts disagree, too. Bill Sweetman (ph) thinks it's real. The drone wasn't shot down and could have glided to earth in what Sweetman calls a falling leaf descent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so, you know, you'd see, in that case, fairly limited damage.
LAWRENCE: Globalsecurity.org analyst, John Pike (ph), calls what Iran showed off nothing more than a parade float. He says the wings here droop down, whereas in most pictures of the sentinel, the wings are positioned higher for better stability. The bigger question, what was the drone doing when it crashed? A U.S. official says it was a CIA mission strictly to search for insurgents in Afghanistan near the border.
But several sources point out the sentinel is a stealth drone designed to penetrate areas with air defenses. They say it's hard to believe the drone was strictly operating over Afghanistan, which has none.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER (ret.): So, it could have been used in Iran. It could have been deliberately used in Iran, and it's very likely, in fact, that it was a reconnaissance platform of choice to do precisely that.
LAWRENCE (on-camera): A U.S. official says satellite footage shows the drone's wreckage to be a pile of rubble. So, Iran does have what's left of the drone, but in what condition is the issue.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Republican presidential candidates are getting ready for their first debate since Herman Cain suspended his campaign. They're going to meet up tomorrow in Iowa. Yahoo! News political reporter, Chris Moody, joins me now from Washington. Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS MOODY, POLITICAL REPORTER, YAHOO! NEWS: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Oh, we're glad you're here this morning. So, you've said to expect a shift in the power structure. Explain.
MOODY: Right. It's a whole new ball game for the debate tomorrow night. Newt Gingrich is rising nationally, and he's especially rising in Iowa. He's leading in the state, far ahead of Mitt Romney. So, you can expect Newt to be standing, perhaps, next to Mitt Romney up there. The question is, will Mitt Romney attack him to his face?
His people have been spending all week going after Newt Gingrich but is he going to go after him tomorrow night right there on the debate stage? Also, look to see if Newt Gingrich hits back. Gingrich has, you know, kept kind of quiet about attacking him, but expect the media tomorrow night to try to, you know, push them and get them to fight each other. And it's going to be a question of will they bite that hook.
COSTELLO: Well, if Mitt Romney does decide to attack Newt and take him head on in this debate, Newt has, well, a tendency to put his foot in his mouth sometimes and say things, perhaps, he shouldn't say.
MOODY: You know --
COSTELLO: So -- go ahead.
MOODY: Right. It's funny you say that. I spoke to Mr. Gingrich a couple of weeks ago and I asked him what has he learned about himself in this debate, and he said, well, I'm impressed with myself, how much I've restrained myself from attacking my opponents. So, he has this tendency to want to go after people and he has to constantly tell himself, no, no, don't do that.
These are fellow Republicans. But, at some point, he's not going to be able to resist the temptation and that could be tomorrow night.
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll see. This isn't, of course, the big Donald Trump moderated debate that doesn't take place until December 27th, and it's going to be sparsely populated at least by debaters.
MOODY: That's right. We only have two folks -- two candidates that have said that they want to come, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. All of the other ones have declined. Some of them in more grand fashion. Ron Paul said it was beneath the presidency to go to a debate like that, and Jon Huntsman, who is the first to decline, said he looks forward to watching it with a bowl of popcorn at his house.
So, you know, it's going to be a lot of fun to see. It's going to be a circus, it's going to be entertaining, but it might just be two people up there on stage.
COSTELLO: Yes. It will be, what, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
MOODY: That's right. Yes.
COSTELLO: OK. So, you've written a story that I found interesting about two people who would love to participate in the Trump debate, share, please.
MOODY: Well, there's a couple of candidates, you know, who don't get as much air time as the other ones, and they really want it. You remember Gary Johnson who made the dog poop joke a couple of months ago at the debate in Orlando, and also, former Louisiana governor, Buddy Romer.
These guys have been actually traveling the country campaigning, running for president. A lot of people have never heard of them, and they're saying, hey, let us join in if you're not going to have anybody up on stage, you know, we'll do it. Just ask us, we'll show up.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see if Donald Trump will extend the invitation, but somehow, I doubt it, but you never know.
MOODY: We'll see. You never know. Not with Donald Trump and not with, you know, politics these days, anything can happen.
COSTELLO: Yes. It's been an interesting primary season, that's for sure. Chris Moody, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
MOODY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: It's 41 minutes past the hour. let's get a check of what's coming up at the top of the hour on "American Morning." Christine Romans joins us. Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Coming up in 20 minutes on "AM," what does a Euro Zone deal mean for your money? EU leaders reaching a deal that could stop a global economic panic.
And Capitol Hill staffers fired for TWI, tweeting while intoxicated. Oh, and they were on the clock at their government jobs at the time. What they were doing on the government dime?
And putting down their weapons. Updating their resumes. CNN in depth on the long road home for Iraq. Thousands more veterans about to enter one of the toughest job markets ever.
You're A.M. WAKE-UP CALL is back right after a quick break.
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COSTELLO: It is 45 minutes past the hour. Here's what we're following this morning.
Ballistic tests are back in the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech. Both people shot by the same gun. Last night, students gathered for a candlelight vigil. Another one will be held today. This after a police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop.
His dash cam video captures the gunman who appears to be the same man who was later found dead nearby.
They're high powered, armored, and fully loaded. The Texas Department of Public Safety rolled out its latest weapons to combat drug dealers and smugglers. It's a fleet of six 900 horsepower patrol boats armed with four machine gun turrets. The boats will patrol the Rio Grande and the international lakes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON CORZINE, FORMER CEO, MF GLOBAL INC.: I simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That's the former head of MF Global, Jon Corzine, testifying before Congress saying he doesn't know what happened to more than $1 billion in missing customer funds. It's the former New Jersey's governor first public response since the failure of MF Global. Lawmakers are trying to figure out what led to the firm's rapid collapse.
In sports, if you want the best, you got to pay big. The Los Angeles Angels struck a deal with free agent first baseman, Albert Pujols. Get this, $254 million for a ten-year contract. Goodbye, St. Louis. It's the second highest baseball salary in history right behind A-Rod.
Rob, it just hurts me that Pujols is leaving St. Louis. MARCIANO: It's tough, you know, but money talks. I thought he was going to Florida, actually, but, I guess --
COSTELLO: Well, they offered him a big salary. But, you know what, St. Louis offered him $200 million for ten years.
MARCIANO: I don't know. Yes.
COSTELLO: So, it wasn't even that -- I mean, after a while, what does it matter?
MARCIANO: I guess, you know, you take your skills out to Manhattan beach is what he wanted to do.
COSTELLO: I don't know. It's just sad.
MARCIANO: Listen, well, good luck to him.
COSTELLO: I'm just going to expound one more thing. St. Louis went to the World Series. What more could Albert Pujols want?
MARCIANO: Money and glitz and glamour and Southern California. I don't know. I can't speak for the guy, but, you know, it's America, and he went for the big bucks. St. Louis, though, is an American franchise, and they will carry on with Mr. Pujols.
All right. Temperatures today, chilly not only St. Louis but across much of the country. Nine degrees in Minneapolis, 25 in Chicago, 36 degrees in New York City. Just some light snow showers from Chicago back through Cleveland, up through upstate New York. Some lake effect today.
That is about it. The storm that rolled through yesterday with rains and snow is off to sea, so pretty tranquil conditions, including -- look at that big sunny sky there in Southern California. How can you resist that, Carol? I don't blame Albert, one bit. Good luck to him.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I do. There's such a thing as loyalty.
MARCIANO: Yes. That's so last century, Carol.
COSTELLO: I know.
MARCIANO: So last.
COSTELLO: You're a Yankees fan. What would you understand about players being loyal?
MARCIANO: We're paying Rodriguez's salary, the ten-year salary we can't get rid of.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I know. You're stuck with it now, baby. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
COSTELLO: It's called a dignity strike, and it could be the latest protest in Syria. Syrian activists may pack the streets blocking roadways and urging small businesses to shut down this weekend. This after the Syrian's president said he feels no guilt about his uprising crackdown.
Let's bring in Zain Verjee live in London. At times during this interview with the Syrian president, he seemed sort of delusional.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He did. He said, crackdown? What crackdown? I haven't ordered any crackdown. He also went on to insist that he doesn't feel guilty about it because he's not responsible for it and, in fact, he said, I'm the president and I deal with policy. I don't command the security forces.
They're not responsible what their actions are for him in terms of the president's office. But, this dignity strike idea is something that's really gaining momentum in Syria, online, on Facebook. It's supposed to occur in different stages. And the idea is basically civil disobedience. You know, get out on the streets, block roads, close businesses, tell kids not to go to schools, things like that.
And what activists are now hoping is that by using this new tactic, that they can put even more pressure on the regime and go that kind of strategy rather than violent protests.
COSTELLO: Wow. OK. Let's talk about something much happier. The royal Christmas card.
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: I don't know if that looks a lot happier. Just take a look at their faces here. They're not looking very cheery.
COSTELLO: Oh, no.
VERJEE: Carol, what's with Prince Charles and Camilla here? Take a look at this picture. This, you can see them on the balcony at Buckingham Palace right after the royal wedding, actually, and, you know, Prince Charles is holding up Camilla's granddaughter. Remember the moody bridesmaid, the one who was sulking in all the pictures?
That's her. They're holding her up. And Charles is sort of looking away in the distance, and Camilla is sort of standing there on the balcony.
COSTELLO: That's on their Christmas card?
VERJEE: I don't know. What do you think?
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: That's on their Christmas card? VERJEE: Yes. And it says, "Wishing you a very happy Christmas and New Year."
(LAUGHTER)
VERJEE: So, yes, no, thumb's up, thumb's down?
COSTELLO: It's just confounding. I mean, why would you choose that picture? Of all the pictures out there of them, why would you choose that one?
VERJEE: I know. Last year, they had a much nicer one. They were looking happy. They were skiing. They were looking cool. It was a very nice picture, actually, but this one seems a little weird, especially to have a grouchy bridesmaid in there. I don't know why.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Zain. That made me laugh this morning, and I needed that.
When we come back, your entertainment headlines. A judge refuses to throw out a lawsuit involving the singing super star, Beyonce. It's 51 minutes past the hour. This is you're A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.
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COSTELLO: Will "American Idol" host, Ryan Seacrest, replace Matt Lauer on the "Today" show? I'm joined now by "Us Weekly" senior editor, Bradley Jacobs. So, there's been a lot of speculation about this, but I wasn't really aware that Matt Lauer was actually leaving?
BRADLEY JACOBS, SENIOR EDITOR, US WEEKLY: Well, Matt's contract is up December of next year, and, you know, there has been a lot of noise about him kind of being tired of waking up at 3:00 a.m. --
(LAUGHTER)
JACOBS: -- after all these years. And, of course, there's been so much shuffling on that show already, you know, with Katy Couric leaving and being replaced by Meredith Vieira, and tgen, Meredith leaving and being replaced by Ann. So, they really want to have somebody strong next to Ann Curry.
And, apparently, this meeting happened between Ryan Seacrest and the executives on Tuesday, and there has been mixed reaction to it, for sure.
COSTELLO: Well, in the world of journalism, I've been talking to some of my colleagues, we're not so happy about it. I mean, Ryan Seacrest? The "Today" show, from the first half hour, it is a news show, and then, it goes off into la-la land, but Ryan Seacrest is not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination, and I guess, that tells us the direction the "Today" show is going in?
JACOBS: Well, he is a host, and he is an interviewer, and he's extremely popular. And you know, these morning news programs in the fragmented media universe that we're in, the morning news programs still bring in millions and millions of dollars, and the "Today" show is the top-rated one of all, and Ryan Seacrest is, according to some standards, is actually more popular than Matt Lauer.
And remember, if America were to become under attack or something like, you know, something very serious were to happen, it wouldn't just be Ryan Seacrest alone there. He would have Ann Curry next to him. He'll have a whole stable of other journalists within NBC who could also handle it. But for the lion's share of that show, it is interviews, cooking, fashions, celebrity stuff that is very familiar -- that Ryan's very familiar with.
COSTELLO: Yes. That's why so many people watch CNN. I'm happy about that. Whatever. Let's talk about Beyonce and this lawsuit against Beyonce. What's it about?
JACOBS: This is interesting. You know, celebrities get sued all the time and a lot of these things get thrown out. Beyonce wanted this to be thrown out of court, but it wasn't. A judge ruled that it could move forward. She was involved with a company that they were producing a video game called "Super Star Beyonce" that was going to be about her dance moves and they filed a suit against her saying that she double crossed them.
Those were their words, double crossed them, and (INAUDIBLE) lose millions of dollars and have to lay off 70 people the week before Christmas last year. So, a judge has ruled, looking at all the documents, that it can move forward and that possibly Beyonce would be liable in this situation.
COSTELLO: All right. Bradley Jacobs, senior editor of "Us Weekly," thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
JACOBS: Sure. Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: That's it for this Friday edition. Thank you. That's it for this Friday edition of A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. "American Morning" continues with lots and lots of hard news, that's right after a break. You have a great day.
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