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Pentagon to Release "Don't Ask" Study; Extending the Tax Cuts; Bush Weighs in on WikiLeaks; Quarterback Pushes Back on Reporter's Questions
Aired November 30, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Yes, we love Linda. She's fantastic. And I would take up on the farmhouse visit, Kiran. It's beautiful up there. Very peaceful.
ROBERTS: Definitely.
CHETRY: If Phil will let me off tomorrow, sure.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: There you go. All right. Thanks, guys.
Well, it's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here's some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
In Wisconsin, police trying to figure out why a 15-year-old boy just walked into his high school classroom taking 23 classmates and a teacher hostage, then shooting himself.
Renewed focus on diplomacy to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea launched a deadly artillery barrage on the South Korean island and now China has called on its communist ally to engage in diplomatic talks.
Assessing damage across parts of the south. A possible tornado strikes Mississippi, even as it recovers from a massive twister that hit in April. The same storm system threatening that area today.
But happening right now, the Pentagon is unveiling advanced copies of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" study on Capitol Hill. Hundreds of thousands of our warriors surveyed about what they think of the ban on openly gay troops.
And today we're getting the answers, answers that could change the future of our military policy.
Brianna Keilar live on the Hill where a lot of moderate lawmakers have been waiting for this report to make a decision. But let's get right to Chris Lawrence, he's at the Pentagon.
Chris, any early clues to what's in the study?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran. I just spoke with a source who said basically that the study is going to show that the majority of troops don't have a problem serving with openly gay service members. Basically that most of the troops who were surveyed in this report found that either they think it's repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is going to have a positive effect, some may have some mixed results, or it's going to have no effect at all.
The number of troops who think that this is going to have a negative effect is small compared to that.
That doesn't mean there's not dissention in the ranks. I mean the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen has said he wants "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed because he says in a culture that promotes honesty and integrity he doesn't feel it's right to make troops lie about who they are.
On the other hand, the commandant of the Marine Corps says, why now? In the midst of two wars when service members are deployed multiple times for long period overseas, why would you try to push this through right now? And still others say, you know, President Obama hasn't done enough to push this issue.
Others say he's just pandering to a special interest group at the expense of the troops. Well, we're all going to hear the details of this report in just a few hours -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And we'll be following it. Chris, thanks so much.
Now a lot of lawmakers who have been sitting on the fence about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" say that this report is the one that they've been waiting for.
Brianna Keilar is on the Hill.
And Brianna, it could be a pretty critical day.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is going to be a very critical day. And Kyra, I'm actually outside of one of these closed door meetings, these briefings that are going on right beyond those walls.
This is a staff-level briefing. There are advanced copies of this report that these staff members are going to be getting and they are going to be reporting back to their members of Congress.
Why does this matter so much? Well, because you have a lot of moderate lawmakers, especially in the Senate, where this is so crucial, and they are going to be making a decision.
A lot of them have said they're not going to go public about what they think about repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" until they get this report. Well, it's here. They don't really have cover anymore and they're going to be under pressure to go public with their position.
Now the other thing is we're awaiting hearings here later in the week. Thursday and Friday. We're going to be talking about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in those hearings. Secretary Gates will be here himself, the co-authors of this report, as well as the heads of the different military branches, all being asked some pretty tough questions s by lawmakers who are on both sides of the issue here -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Brianna, on the Hill for us, thanks so much.
Well, it's crunch time in the push to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' So let's take a look back at how we even got here.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has been the law for 17 years. President Clinton made it official on November 30th, 1993. Since then, the Palm Center, a pro-repeal think tank, says that nearly 14,000 troops have been discharged under the policy. That includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.
But "Don't Ask" discharges are plunging. In 2001, more than 1200 troops were discharged. In 2006, that dipped to about 600. And last year, it was 428.
Most Americans are in favor of letting gay troops serve. 58 percent according to a Pew survey from earlier this month.
The balance of power and the bottom line of your taxes. They're both in play next hour at the White House. President Obama is meeting with congressional leaders of both parties just weeks before Republicans seize control of the House. The big issue, whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts before they expire next month.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us with a closer look.
So, Ed, what's at the crux of the tax cut debate right now?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really about whether do you extend the tax cuts for all Americans or do you break it up as Democrats want to and extend it just for middle class tax cuts. And then hold off on extending tax cuts for the wealthier Americans.
Where the president sort of divides the line is at $250,000 a year if that's what you earn. Under that, he considers that middle class, he wants you to get a long-term extension.
There's some talk, though, that maybe a compromise here if this meeting goes well and there's some more talks down the road that maybe they could have at least a short-term extension on the tax cuts for the rich. Maybe one year or two years.
But don't expect this to happen right away. That today's meeting will be the final one. This is really just the beginning of the conversation and in fact I'm picking up from senior administration officials, the president is already considering delaying his Hawaiian vacation, which is supposed to start around December 18th.
He's already saying in private he might delay it at least a few days because of the fact that they don't think these tax cut negotiations are going to happen quickly. They think this is going to drag out at least for a few more weeks -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Meanwhile, do we say famous or infamous Slurpee summit?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: It depends on which side of the fence you're on, right?
HENRY: Well, famous if you're at 7-Eleven because they're going to be marketing the heck out of this thing.
PHILLIPS: That's true.
HENRY: They're going to make a lot of money off of it. But I think --
PHILLIPS: Extra money.
HENRY: Yes. But I mean, a lot of people are wondering look, is it going to go anywhere? How's the relationship between the president and John Boehner, the speaker to be?
And one thing I find interesting, if you just take a step back, is that the president initially, right after the election, said look, let's do this as a big summit. Let's have, you know, a meeting and do business but then let's have dinner up in the residence. Make this a few hours.
He really wanted to restart the relationship. Instead Republicans a couple of weeks back said that they were busy up on the hill and they couldn't do it before Thanksgiving. They did come up with an amicable time to do it now but they're not going to do dinner. They're just doing an hour, hour and a half meeting and moving on.
So that suggests at least a little bit that the president's whole promise of this whole new start, big dinner together, it's not getting off the ground -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. Ed, thanks so much.
HENRY: Good to see you.
PHILLIPS: Well, you hear that slow drip? Actually it's speeding up a little bit. It's the latest leak of classified information from a whistle-blowing Web site.
WikiLeaks is revealing secret diplomatic messages of U.S. embassies from around the world. And here's some of the latest revelations. China appears to be losing patience with its long-time ally North Korea. Senior figures in Beijing even describe the regime as behaving like a spoiled child.
And one U.S. diplomat says that China is genuinely rattled by North Korea's nuclear missile test. The Chinese envoy is quoted as saying that the nuclear activity is a threat to the whole world security.
The U.S. is condemning WikiLeaks for exposing the candid and valuable exchanges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: So let's be clear. This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well now, just to offer a little bit of context, CNN declined a last-minute offer of WikiLeaks to discuss advanced access to some of its documents. CNN found that the confidentiality agreement requested to be unacceptable.
At the bottom of the hour, we're going to talk to a reporter, though, who is sifting through the mountain of documents amassed by WikiLeaks. He's share his insights.
And next hour, we're going to get some insight into the young army private believed to have leaked some of Uncle Sam's secrets. We're going to find out if his problems with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" might have driven him to do it.
All right. This morning, a lot of folks are assessing that damage across parts of the south. A possible tornado struck Yazoo City, Mississippi, last night. The 138-year-old city courthouse had part of its roof ripped off.
Several businesses in the area damaged, as well. But no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
And severe weather in Winn Parish, Louisiana, destroyed one home and damaged three others.
Now there could be a threat of more severe weather in the South. And Jacqui Jeras has been tracking all of that for us.
Tornado?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wow. Yes.
PHILLIPS: Is that what we're thinking?
JERAS: Yes. In fact there may have already been a touchdown about maybe two hours ago now and this was near Laurel, Mississippi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JERAS: One other note, too, today. November 30th, the end of the hurricane season.
PHILLIPS: Oh. You and you have covered many hurricane seasons and you have been out there.
JERAS: I'll say.
PHILLIPS: You've seen how bad it is. So how bad was it in 2010, would you say, compared to other seasons?
JERAS: Well, we put together a graphic for you to show you that. And it was really very active. You know here in the U.S., you might say to yourself, gosh, it seems like we hardly had anything.
Well, they just didn't hit the U.S. for the most part so that was some good news. But overall, we took the second place for the most number of hurricanes. Zero hurricane landfalls happened here in the U.S. although we did have one tropical storm -- if you remember Bonnie hit Florida early in the season.
On average, one out of four hurricanes make landfall in the U.S. So to have so many, and not have one hit us, we were really very fortunate.
PHILLIPS: Good. We like to be fortunate.
All right. Question for you. If you can be honest, if you could turn back time, what age would you go back to?
JERAS: And I'm telling how old I am.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Just give -- or give years.
JERAS: Thirty was a great age. I love being 30.
PHILLIPS: You love being 30.
JERAS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK.
JERAS: It's a good year.
PHILLIPS: You'd go back only a short period of time then.
(LAUGHTER)
JERAS: Just, you know, a year.
PHILLIPS: OK. Well, you might want to tune in to this. You know Cher saying about turning back time, we all love that song, right?
JERAS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, researchers might have actually done it, as well. They have made old mice young again. So how long before they can do the same thing for old men and women or young women like me and Jacqui Jeras that just want 15 years off of our life?
We're talking about that in just a second. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Well, are you in the holiday spirit yet? Well, let's take you Cross Country, beginning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You might now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(JINGLE BELLS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Pretty. Bob Cox loves to make the holiday light display a pretty big spectacle with 150,000 computer-animated lights. Now, it cost $300 to $400 extra each month on his power bill, but he says it's all worth it.
All right. Our next stop, off to the coast. St. Augustine, Florida, where the captain of a tow boat, who was assisting another ship, ended up having to be rescued himself. The St. Johns County Fire Rescue says that the tow boat was bringing in a disabled ship when the towline snapped, capsizing the tow boat and sending its captain into the water. Good thing he was wearing a life jacket. It took rescuers an hour to pull him from the water.
Another rescue with a happy ending. This one is out of Fruita, Colorado, where a 27-year-old horse named Pepsi somehow got stuck in a drainpipe yesterday. Neighbors, volunteer firefighters, and an area veterinarian armed with a backhoe were able to successfully pull Pepsi from his tight spot.
All right. The Fountain of Youth. Scientists might have found what Ponce de Leon was looking for after all these years. Researchers have found a way to actually turn old mice into younger mice. Our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk more about how it works. I was trying to look at this enzyme and all of the technical medical -- we're going to actually talk to one of the researchers coming up next hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that's great.
PHILLIPS: So, give us a preview.
COHEN: That's great. All right, so, here's a preview. This is a really exciting day for mice. If I were a mouse, I would be on the next plane to Boston.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Because you can just -- they can just instantly or almost instantly become young again. So, this is a big deal. And I want to show you the before and after mice, All right?
PHILLIPS: OK, all right. COHEN: It's not -- it's not like a lightning strike, but it is pretty amazing. So, the guy on the right, you see, he's kind of gray, he's kind of balding, the hair is a bit sparse.
PHILLIPS: He's, like, 80.
COHEN: Yes, he's like 80, I guess. Or maybe 75. All right. The guy on the left, he is young. And that's what they did is that they made them old, and then they made them young again.
And so, it's not just the outer appearance, but it's their insides, too. Their hearts became old, and then they become young -- became young. Their brains kind of shrunk down, neurons died. Neurons were reborn, and their brains bigger again. They couldn't -- they were infertile when they were older, and then, they became fertile again. So, it's really pretty amazing.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about how exactly they did it, then.
COHEN: A short science lesson for my friend Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Uh-oh.
COHEN: A very short one, I promise. You'll be fine, even if you --
PHILLIPS: I struggled in these classes.
COHEN: OK, though, you'll do fine with this. It has to do with something called telomeres.
PHILLIPS: OK.
COHEN: And those are the caps on the ends of chromosomes. And so, what happens is, is that -- take a look at this. See those nice red caps? They're big, that you can see them, they're big and obvious. That's a young chromosome, with those nice telomere caps on the end.
Now, look what happens as we age. Those caps start to fray, and you just have these little sort of nubs on there. And that's not good. When you get those little ends like that, it tells the body to start aging. So they made the telomeres grow back again. And to do that, they had to go in and monkey around with their DNA.
PHILLIPS: So, now the question is, of course, how long could this take to work into humans? How do you do it on humans? And, obviously, there's risks involved, too.
COHEN: Right.
PHILLIPS: We'll talk more about that next hour.
COHEN: You can't do this on humans. Because you'd be messing around with their DNA. But -- well, I'll let you ask the doctor what you could possibly do with humans. You can talk to him about that.
PHILLIPS: OK. So there's much more research yet to be done, correct? COHEN: I will tell you that I'm not booking a plane trip to Boston. If I was a mouse, I would be, but since I'm not a mouse, I'm here in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: Oh, good, and I'm very glad. It's a Talker, nevertheless. All right, but before we let you go, some breaking news out today. We've heard about drunk driving, texting and driving. Now drugged driving. Some of us would say, all right, that's a no-brainer. We know there are certain things that you shouldn't do behind the wheel.
COHEN: But it's the number that's so interesting about this. What they found is that people who drive and are involved in a fatal accident, they looked to see if they had drugs in their system, and one out of three of them. That is really a pretty high number. For some of them, it was an illegal drug, for some of them it was a prescribed drug, for some of them it was over-the-counter drugs. And so, we talked to the drug czar about this, and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIL KERLIKOWKSE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY: I was very shocked by the number. It is a very high number. Clearly, getting this message out to the public about doing drugs and getting behind the wheel is critical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Now, there is a caveat here. And the caveat is is that just because they had a drug in their system didn't mean that that drug impaired their ability to drive. For example, maybe they were taking an anti-depressant. Doesn't necessarily mean that their ability to drive was impaired.
But this is the first study of its kind, and it sort of gives them a place to start and say, hey, if you're taking a Xanax, should you really be driving? And maybe it should be illegal to drive with certain drugs in your system. So, it's a starting point.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Elizabeth, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Serenading Larry. Musician extraordinaire Stevie Wonder tickles the ivories for one last time on "Larry King Live." You're going to get a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVIE WONDER, SINGER/SONGWRITER (singing): I remember listening to you when you interviewed James Brown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Well tonight, you won't want to miss a very special hour of "Larry King Live." Grammy-Award-winning performer Stevie Wonder drops by one final time, and among the high points of the hour, how and where Stevie finds the inspiration for his masterful compositions. Check this one out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WONDER: Like --
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Play something.
WONDER (singing): Larry, we're going to miss you, so don't ever go too long.
If you're a woman I may have kissed you, but that will never ever happen ever.
Larry, I remember listening to you when you interviewed James Brown on the radio.
I was younger then, and you were, too, a few years ago.
(CLAPPING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can hear more from Stevie Wonder tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," 9:00 PM Eastern right here on CNN.
A "New York Times" reporter escapes Taliban captivity and lives to write about it. But there are two sides to every story and, in this case, the other side is his wife.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right.
(AUDIO GAP)
PHILLIPS: At home are back in focus, along with ongoing concerns about debt problems in Europe. Alison --
(AUDIO GAP)
PHILLIPS: With all that. Alison?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. We are expecting a rough start to the trading day today. What's happening is investors are growing more and more nervous about the US economy. Sure, the recession is technically over, but the economic reports that we've been getting about the health of the economy, those have been weak.
Case in point, one report that we just got a short time ago, the Case- Shiller Home Price Index, it fell two percent from July through September compared to the three months before that. What this index does is it measures home prices in the 20 biggest cities of the country and it shows that these home prices are falling faster this these areas. Clearly, this isn't good. There's got to be a bottom for prices before the housing market is able to go ahead and turn around.
Later today, we'll get more indications on the health of the economy, we'll get reports on manufacturing, consumer confidence, as well. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is going to be speaking in Ohio before a group of business leaders. We'll see if he gives any clues to the health of the economy. We're also going to have a really big day on Friday. We're getting the big government jobs report, as well.
All right. The opening bell just rang. The Dow right down about 35. The NASDAQ off about 28.
And the results are in, Kyra, from Cyber Monday. I know you have been anxiously awaiting these results. It is actually the biggest online shopping day of the year so far. The company that tracks this is called Core Metrics. It says that sales jumped almost 20 percent compared that last year. More people shopped and they spent more per person than last year.
Gosh, did anybody work yesterday, or were they only on their computers shopping?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: No, and you and I were talking about that. We wondered how many people would get busted for shopping at work.
KOSIK: I don't know who got busted, but I think a lot of people shopped yesterday, that's for sure.
PHILLIPS: Yes. We'll, it's good for our economy. Let's look at it in a positive light.
KOSIK: It is.
PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks.
KOSIK: I will. Yep.
PHILLIPS: Some good news on the taxpayer money used to bail out some of America's iconic businesses. You may remember the government spent $700 billion to keep companies like General Motors and AIG in business while any watchdogs howled that it was a waste of cash. Now, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that most of that money has already been repaid. Taxpayers are still waiting on about $25 billion. That's less than four percent of the total bailout costs.
Well, it's 6:30 a.m. on the West Coast, 9:30 in Washington, D.C. And that's where one of our hot stories will happen in about an hour. President Obama meeting with congressional leaders of both parties. The big issue? Whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts before they expire next month. Of course, Republicans take over the House in just a few more weeks.
One of every three drivers in fatal crashes tests positive for drugs. That's a new government study just released today. Illegal drugs and also prescription and over-the-counter medicines were included in that study, by the way.
And some drama shaking up the art world. Two hundred and seventy-one works by the legendary Pablo Picasso that no one has seen before. A retired electrician has them. He claims they were gifts. Picasso's family says they were stolen. Those works are worth about $80 million.
Also this morning, we are closely monitoring the latest revelations from WikiLeaks. The whistleblowing Web site is making Washington squirm right now by revealing secret diplomatic messages from U.S. embassies from around the world.
Here's some of the latest embarrassing examples of private messages now made very public. One of the most interesting insights comes out of China. It appears that Beijing is losing patience with its long- time ally, North Korea. Senior figures in China even describe North Korea as "behaving as a spoiled child." And one U.S. diplomat says China is genuinlely rattled by the regime's nuclear missile test. China's envoy is quoted as saying North Korea's nuclear activity is a "threat to the whole world's security."
Joining us now is a journalist who's actually been sifting through all of those documents. I don't know how he does that. Andy Lehren is a reporter for "The New York Times." Andy, are you working 24/7 or do you take a break?
ANDY LEHREN, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I try to take a little bit of a break every now and then. But thanks, yes. It's been a lot of work.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. Well, that's the best part of this job is when you get to discover things like this. As you have been going through, I understand that there were two things stood out to you. First, let's talk Iran. What grabbed your attention as you were going through all these documents with regard to Iran, Andy?
LEHREN: Well, may not surprise many of your viewers that Iran is a big issue. But reading these cables, you just get a sense of just how large an issue this looms for our diplomats around the world. Not just those in the Middle East, but also, those all around the world who might be trying to, for instance, clamp down on nations delivering goods to Iran that might help it become a nuclear state or help it develop long-range missiles. And also, its neighbors. Incredibly rattled with the developments of what's going on inside Iran.
PHILLIPS: So, as you were sifting through then, you definitely saw examples that -- I guess, it's more concern would you say within conversations about our national security?
LEHREN: Concerns about what's going on in Iran to a large degree. Particularly the -- its ability to get missiles. Countries such as Saudi Arabia bending over backwards, for instance, to try to convince China not to allow certain shipments to go to Iran. And to also prevent technology flowing to Iran that could help it become a greater military threat.
PHILLIPS: Now, Andy, do you -- you know, a lot of critics have been saying, look. These are personal conversations that shouldn't be revealed. These are more embarrassing than anything else. I mean, there was a comment of Kim Jong-il being flabby. So, you know, do you think as a journalist it's important that we learn about these discussions, or do you think that there is a sense of privacy here that should remain private?
LEHREN: This is without a doubt an incredibly difficult decision that we've had to make at The Times. And it's one that's not being made lightly or easily.
We've been going through this material, and we've been very careful to try to not release anything that would damage national security. And that includes not just our reporters -- most familiar, I've been working with a wonderful group of colleagues. We have reporters with years of experience covering military, national security and diplomatic affairs for years. They have been going through this.
But also, we've had reporters sitting down with the White House to review the cables that we would be publishing and to make sure that we don't publish anything that would endanger Americans or put our nation at risk.
PHILLIPS: Let me ask you a question. "The New York Times" wrote an article, it caught a lot of our attention. We're talking about it this morning, Andy. And I want a chance to ask you about it. You guys published an article about Manning, the suspected source that's been leaking all of these documents. And it talks about the fact that he is openly gay, and he talks about his -- the treatment toward him in the military.
Do you think that WikiLeaks is not happy about that article and that it taints WikiLeaks' motives with regard to the release of these documents and how they're getting them?
LEHREN: You know, I think that's one of those issues that you might be better off asking the folks at WikiLeaks about. Or, you know, or Bradley Manning if, you know, you're able to interview him. We did not get these particular set of documents from WikiLeaks, by the way.
PHILLIPS: How did you get them? There's been reports throughout from "The Guardian" --
LEHREN: Sure. That's correct.
PHILLIPS: Okay. So you did receive them from "The Guardian."
LEHREN: Yes. That's correct. Yes.
PHILLIPS: And what made you -- what made "The New York Times" comfortable with getting those documents from "The Guardian"? LEHREN: Sure. Well, keep in mind that we had had a working relationship with "The Guardian" this summer going into the fall, looking at the documents from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. So, this is part of an outgrowth of that cooperative effort.
PHILLIPS: Well, it will be interesting to follow your work, Andy. And as you continue to sift through. How much more do you have to go, by the way?
LEHREN: It's not over yet. And The Times itself will be publishing a series of stories in the coming days and weeks ahead.
PHILLIPS: We'll be following it. Andy Lehren, New York Times. Thanks, Andy.
LEHREN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Next hour, we're going to get some more insight the young Army private believed to have leaked some of these Uncle Sam secrets. And we're going to find out if his problems of "don't ask, don't tell" might have driven him to do it.
Pulitzer Prize winning American reporter kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan. He has quite a story to tell, but so does his wife, who fought to free him. Get him back here to the U.S. The couple actually wrote a book together. "A Rope and a Prayer." And this morning, John Roberts had a chance to look at both sides of the story.
That brings us to our "A.M. Extra." John, the book reads like fiction, but it really happened. And the title, you hit on both of the subject matters. I guess maybe we should start with the first part of it, the prayer part. It was interesting what he had to say.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Let me just set it up for you. November 10th, 2008. David Rohde was captured by the Taliban as he was going to interview a Taliban leader south of Kabul. He had been very careful not to travel into dangerous areas. He had only been married for two months. Had a brand-new bride who was anxiously waiting for his return back in the United States.
But he was captured by the Taliban. Held for seven months before he finally escaped on his own. Even the negotiations and potential ransom payments were being talked about.
And the prayer part comes in where he says he learned, even though he was skeptical of religion - he learned the value of prayer everyday. It gave him comfort. It gave him strength. He did have to struggle to remember the Lord's Prayer but he eventually came up with it. Here's what he told me about the prayer part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ROHDE, AUTHOR, "A ROPE AND A PRAYER": Well, what I saw was religion at its best and at its worst. Religious extremism, you know, led to the kidnapping. These guys were deluded fundamentalists. The Taliban now this mini-state in Pakistan. And that was their religion at its worst.
And then I did find sort of saying a prayer every day helped me just kind of center myself and keep going. I'm still skeptical of organized religion. I covered the war in Bosnia. Terrible things were done in the name of religion there, so you know, it's a mixed bag, religions. But it did help me, I found, through this captivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. The first part of the title (sic). And then the second part, the rope, which of course, leads to his interesting escape.
ROBERTS: It does. Again, there were all of the negotiations being undertaken by "The New York Times," who he worked for. His wife, Kirsten Mulvihill, was also trying to get contractors to negotiate his release. People on the ground there trying to do it, as well.
There was one point where he saw a Kalashnikov rifle lying on the ground. He thought about picking it up, shooting his captors before they had a chance to shoot him but thought better of it. In the end, he and his fixer, to hear who he'd been captured with, had a plan where they would simply keep their captors up late playing a game of checker. And when they fell asleep, they dropped a rope over the wall and dropped down to freedom. Here's what he told me about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROHDE: The Taliban felt so comfortable in this place we were taken in Pakistan, in the tribal areas. This is where al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden are thought to be. The last house we were held in was only three-tenths of a mile from the Pakistani military base. The Pakistani military never comes off that base; it's really a Taliban mini state. So we, when they were asleep, we went over the wall, used this (INAUDIBLE) rope I found and made it to this base. And then a moderate Pakistani army captain let us inside. And he actually apologized to what had happened to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And we should add that his wife, of course, had a lot to say about this whole ordeal and she made it very clear, his job as an international correspondent is over.
ROBERTS: Well, and here's the thing because his wife is a very strong woman. And I know something about having a strong woman in the relationship, and he was afraid to tell her what he was going to do, so he left her a note. Left her a note saying, I'm leaving. I have to interview a guy. Have to do it for a book I'm writing.
She was very angry about that. She went to see mom in Maine. And told her about it and mom said, okay. You just took wedding vows. Two months ago. Now's the time --
PHILLIPS: And he's leaving you a note.
ROBERTS: -- to live up to the vows.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ROBERTS: I know. But she said, you took wedding vows. Live up to the vows. You can get angry at him later. Right now, do all you can to win the release.
PHILLIPS: As we well know, you want to keep in good graces with the mother-in-law and the new wife. Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. Got to make sure you don't upset those strong women because the repercussions -- oh.
PHILLIPS: Brutal. Yes, they are. It's a good read. Thanks, John.
Well, former GOP Congressman and current MSNBC correspondent Joe Scarborough has a message for Republicans. He wants them to man up on Sarah Palin's criticism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, George Bush adding his voice to the outrage over the WikiLeaks document dump.
Senior political editor, Mark Preston joining us at the CNN Politics Desk with more on the former president's comments. So what did he have to say, Mark?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well Kyra, you know, the Bush administration and now the Obama administration don't really agree on a whole lot but what they do agree on is the whole WikiLeaks controversy, the fact that these 250,000 documents have been released into the public.
Last night, out in California, at a Facebook forum, President Bush was asked about this. And this is what he had to say. He said, that the release of this sensitive information was very damaging. And he goes on to say, it's going to be very hard to keep the trust of foreign leaders which is what we've heard from -- from the Obama administration over the past couple of days.
Mr. Bush goes on to say, if you have a conversation with a foreign leader and it ends up in a newspaper you don't like it. I didn't like it.
So again, Republicans and Democrats not always agreeing on very much, certainly not the Obama and Bush administrations. But on the WikiLeaks controversy, they do seem to agree.
Well, Kyra, right now as we speak, Pentagon officials are on Capitol Hill briefing Congress about this new report on "don't ask, don't tell". And this report we're told, our Chris Lawrence is reporting that, in fact, that the new report says that most service members and majority of them don't really care about repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" -- gosh -- "don't ask, don't tell" thing in place -- I can't believe I just can't talk here, Kyra. My gosh, I'm jumping over my words here.
Well, in addition to that, Lady Gaga, the -- the famous pop singer, has a video out right now and she's urging her supporters to actually call their senators and tell them to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" situation.
So Lady Gaga weighing in. She even talks about how as being a Hollywood star how some people would kind of dismiss it but the fact is she says that she feels she is so close to her fans that she can speak for them, Kyra. So "don't ask, don't tell" another major issue taking place on Capitol Hill today.
PHILLIPS: There we go. "Don't ask, don't tell" issue, policy.
PRESTON: Policy. That's it.
PHILLIPS: There we go.
PRESTON: You just grabbed it. You grabbed that out of the air and pull it in.
PHILLIPS: My friend Mark, I have been there a million times. Ok.
Former GOP Congressman turned MSNBC host Joe Scarborough not holding any punches in his critique of Sarah Palin, right?
PRESTON: Yes. Yes, not holding any punches. So Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host of "Morning Joe", he served in Congress from 1995 to 2001, he came in on that 1994 Republican wave.
Well, Joe Scarborough in a column that he writes for "Politico" just out this morning is very critical of Sarah Palin. He's actually urging Republicans to come out and express their criticism of Sarah Palin.
In fact, this is what he has to say. He says, "Republican have a problem. The most talked about figure in the GOP is a reality show star who cannot be elected. And yet the same leaders who fret that Sarah Palin could devastate their party in 2012 are too scared to say in public what they all complain about in private."
So what is very interesting about this is that Sarah Palin has been very critical of the GOP establishment. Some would say that Joe Scarborough is part of the GOP accomplishment. Will this open the flood gates of more criticisms to Sarah Palin? We'll have to wait and see but I will tell you this that a lot of Republicans are afraid to take on Sarah Palin. So Joe Scarborough might be one of the lone voices out there that's critical of her -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Thanks, Mark.
We're going to have your next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news, of course you can go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com 24/7. But first, "Flashback". On this date in 1940, Lucille Ball and Cuban musician Desi Arnaz tied the knot. Of course the couple became one of television's best known husband and wife comedy teams on the iconic show "I Love Lucy". So let's take a little stroll down memory lane, shall we?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't mind, she loves the producer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the producer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, you got it under control, don't you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right, let's scan our "Morning Passport", shall we?
We begin in London where a showdown looms between police and students protesting the rising college tuitions. This isn't the first such demonstration by the way. A similar display last week ended up in the arrest of 15 people.
And on to the French Riviera, that's where a retired electrician has spilled the beans on a previously unknown treasure trove from acclaimed artist Paolo Picasso. The estimated $80 million worth of art carted (ph) away in the electrician's garage believe it or not. But Picasso's family is saying not so fast. We've got more on the controversy as who really owns this art in just about an hour.
Well, we're finding lots of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM as well. Let's check in first with Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon -- Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, it took about a year for the Pentagon to put together it's "don't ask, don't tell" survey. They're going to release the results in a couple of hours, but if you stick around in just a few minutes, we'll tell you what our sources are telling us about what that report is going to say.
It's coming up at the top of the hour.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. Severe weather hits the south and hard. There have been at least ten reports of tornadoes, and one city got hit by an EF-4 tornado earlier this year. This is the second time. We'll have pictures and the latest coming up.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. Well, the Kardashian sisters seem to be everywhere. But there's one place you'll no longer find them. I'll tell you all about it. That's coming up in the next hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys. We're going to talk with the Harvard doctor who helped make old mice young again. The little guy on the left is actually older than the one on the right, thanks to some gene tweaking. The doctor will tell us what surprised him about this research. We'll also ask him about some of the concerns about it as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I love this song. I love this -- Rufus and Chaka.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
HARRIS: You guys are getting into the archives on this stuff, huh.
PHILLIPS: You know it. We have to dig into the old songs because you're an old man.
HARRIS: Thanks. Is this my mark right here? Put your foot in it.
Hey, I know, you don't have a lot of time --
PHILLIPS: That's ok.
HARRIS: But I want to get to some great sound. You want to get to some great sound from last night?
PHILLIPS: Ok. Let's get right to it.
HARRIS: Derek Anderson is the quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, right?
PHILLIPS: Monday Night Football.
HARRIS: Monday Night Football. They're playing a miserable game at home. Shellacked. Booties spanked, right? Losing 27-6.
At the end of the game -- that's right, Kyra. There it is. Spanked.
There he is. Derek Anderson is the quarterback for the Cardinals. He's laughing with a teammate on the sidelines as they're getting spanked, right.
So a reporter in the post game news conference called Derek Anderson on it. Take a look and a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEREK ANDERSON, ARIZONA CARDINALS: I'm not laughing about it. Do you think this is fun? I take this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) serious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not.
ANDERSON: Real serious. I put my heart and soul into this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) every single week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I'm saying is the camera showed you --
ANDERSON: I'm just telling you right now what I do every single week. Every single week I put my freaking heart and soul into this. I study my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off. I don't go out there and laugh.
It's not funny. Nothing's funny to me. I don't want to go out and get embarrassed on Monday night football in front of every.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why I'm asking you.
ANDERSON: I'm telling you right now. We're not -- we're talking -- Goose and I were talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the context?
ANDERSON: I'm done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Oh.
HARRIS: Ok. And we have to be done too. I have comments but I have to hold them because we have to get to another intrepid reporter doing his job.
PHILLIPS: That's a right. A little different --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Set this up Kyra.
PHILLIPS: A little response.
Five-year-old Joey, ok, junior Chicago Blackhawks reporter. That's all I need to say -- adorable.
Let's roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much money you get from the tooth fairy?
DUNCAN KEITH, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: How much money did I get from the tooth fairy? Well, she was really good to me. She left me a dollar for every tooth. So I got $7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you buy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did I buy? I bought a pack of gum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So he can chew it with his one tooth.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly. He got his teeth knocked out.
HARRIS: Seven of them.
PHILLIPS: All seven of them.
HARRIS: All seven of them.
PHILLIPS: This kid is great. You got to watch this online. He goes further. He goes up on top of that and says, who is the biggest turkey on the team? Who is the biggest turkey on the team? And he names every player. Anyway, it's awesome.
HARRIS: Joey has got it real.
PHILLIPS: Joey got a future in this game. Tell me something good.
HARRIS: Rufus and Chaka, is this the one. No "Sweet Thing" was written by Prince. Yes, "Tell Me Something Good." Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You're good. Too good to be true.
HARRIS: Top of the hour for you.
PHILLIPS: Yes, sir.
HARRIS: I'm back to show prep.
