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U.S.-Born Terrorist Leader Killed in Yemen; Interview With Middle East Expert Fouad Ajami; Bank of America to Charge for Debit Cards; U.S. Born Terror Leader Killed; Advice From Warren Buffett; Red Tide, Blue Water; An ATM With A Golden Twist; Michael Jackson's Doctor on Trial
Aired September 30, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed.
He was considered one of the top terrorists in the world and one of the biggest threats to U.S. homeland security. We are learning more now, details about the killing of Anwar al Awlaki. A government source in Yemen says he was killed today when an air strike hit his convoy. Awlaki had ties to the so-called "underwear bomber" and to the accused Ft. Hood gunman.
Just a short time ago, President Obama talked about the killing of this terrorist leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Earlier this morning, Anwar al Awlaki, a leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in Yemen. The death...
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: The death of Awlaki is a major blow to al Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. Awlaki was the leader of external operations for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In that role, he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Court reconvened just a few minutes ago in the involuntary murder trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray. Now, today the jurors hear from paramedics who responded to the delayed 911 call at Jackson's house. Now, one of the paramedics testified at a preliminary hearing that no pulse was detected and their monitor showed Jackson had already flat-lined.
In Italy, the prosecution wrapped up its closing statement today in the Amanda Knox appeal. Now, the prosecutor said the evidence shows that Knox and her ex-boyfriend killed Knox's former roommate, Meredith Kercher. Well, Knox's lawyers argued that police made mistakes during the investigation and that the evidence does not support the guilty verdict.
Billionaire Warren Buffett responds to critics of his call for the ultra-rich to pay more in taxes. Opponents of the plan to raise taxes on the wealthy -- they call it class warfare. With an interview with CNN's Alison Kosik just this last hour, Buffett says if there's a war, it's been going on for years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: If there's class warfare, the rich class has won. But it's not a tax on all millionaires or 10 millionaires or anything like that. It's only a tax -- or only be a minimum tax on people who make lots of money and pay very low tax rates at the same time. Anybody who's paying normal tax rates, it wouldn't touch. So in aggregate, there's probably 50,000 people in the whole United States out of 310 million that it would affect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Well, the convenience of using a debit card, right, priceless? The cost of using your Bank of America debit card, $5 a month. Yes, that's right. Starting next year, the $5 fee applies, whether you use the debit card once a month or dozens of times. And other big banks -- they're testing this monthly fee idea, as well. They point to new limits on how much they can charge retailers each time you swipe your debit card.
Well, Admiral Mike Mullen retires as the president's top military adviser. In a handover ceremony just this last hour, General Martin Dempsey took over from Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen made headlines last week when he said that Pakistan's intelligence agency was linked to a militant group carrying out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
Engineers back today at work, rapelling down the sides of the Washington Monument. They're looking for any damage from the earthquake that happened last month. The work has been delayed by some weather, bad weather, and there's still a ways to go. But one of the engineers says so far, so good. The project gives tourists something new to appreciate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad there are people who are willing to do this, but it would not be me. When you look up, it really takes a special person to be able to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: U.S. officials say one of al Qaeda's top terrorist recruiters in the world, who which once preached at a mosque in Virginia, in California, has been killed in an air strike in Yemen.
Anwar al Awlaki was born American right in New Mexico. He moved to Yemen when he was 7 years old. He returned in 1991. He attended colleges in the United States, getting degrees at Colorado State University, San Diego State, George Washington University. Well, the 40-year-old was known as the bin Laden of the Internet for his use of YouTube for recruiting wannabe terrorists. In fact, just last year, YouTube removed several clips of Awlaki to try -- because he was trying to incite violence.
U.S. officials say Awlaki helped recruit the alleged underwear bomber, Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to blow up a U.S. flight to Detroit on Christmas Day. They say he also exchanged e- mails with accused Ft. Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan. And he had ties to three of the September 11 hijackers.
Joining me now is CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson to talk a little bit about this, the significance of this. Nic, I know you're trying to find out exactly how he was killed. What is the likely scenario here?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know from Yemeni officials that the attack was launched at about mid-morning Yemen time, that he was in a convoy that was targeted in an air strike. We don't know who was responsible for the air strike. But Yemeni officials have said that there was a close intelligence cooperation between Yemen and the United States.
We know that U.S. drone unmanned aircraft targeted Awlaki in May this year with a missile that just missed his convoy, bounced off the fender of his vehicle, killed a couple of others in that convoy. So what we are seeing at the moment appears to be a similar scenario.
It is very politically sensitive, however, for Yemen to admit that the United States would have been involved directly, pulling the trigger, if you will, on the attack against Awlaki. The country is teetering on the brink of civil war, and this would count against President Saleh, who's still just managing to hold onto power and run the country.
So right now, it does appear that there's a strong possibility at least the United States did have a direct role in this. But all we know for sure, it was an air strike on his convoy, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Nic, would that kind of play into the line of Yemen's President Saleh that he is a critical part of fighting al Qaeda in his country, that the United States needs him at the helm despite the fact of what you said, that his country is on the brink of civil war?
ROBERTSON: Oh, absolutely. I mean, he has just returned to the country in the last few days from three months convalescing at a medical facility in Saudi Arabia after an assassination attempt on his life. The country is descending into a many-part civil war. Al Qaeda has gained strength, has taken control, according to the vice president, of three provinces in the country.
There's a tribal insurrection in the north. There's a popular uprising among students, intellectuals and others in the capital. They're -- part of the army has defected. Political leaders have defected. Saleh -- President Saleh faces challenges on a huge number of fronts. And the United States is absolutely, as the Europeans are, concerned about these provinces that al Qaeda has taken control of.
So the best thing that President Saleh can do is to show how he can cooperate with the United States and get results. And this is a result, and this no doubt for him -- he'll be very happy with this right now -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right, Nic Robertson. Thank you very much, Nic.
Here's what's ahead on the "Rundown." It is day four in the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray. Now, Paramedics -- they are scheduled to testify. We're going to take you live to Los Angeles for that.
And Bank of America plans to start charging you a monthly fee for using your debit card. Then, people who want to invest in gold in China -- well, all they have to do is hit up an automated teller machine. And we're going to hear more from legendary investor Warren Buffett. Finally, we're going to tell you the story behind -- this is amazing -- this picture, this gorgeous electric blue surf.
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MALVEAUX: A top al Qaeda leader is killed in Yemen and some are worried that Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, will try and take some of the credit. Why worry? Because Saleh is facing huge protests against his 30-year rule. He may try to argue that Yemen is now a critical American ally in the war against al Qaeda.
Joining us from New York is Fouad Ajami. He is an expert of all things Middle East from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and also, Fouad, it's a coincidence that Anwar al Awlaki -- do we think -- is that a coincidence that he's killed now, or do you think it is part of this campaign that we're talking about, the president's campaign to get support from the United States and other allies to try to stay in power?
FOUAD AJAMI, STANFORD UNIV. MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: Well, just permit me one small correction. I was at Johns Hopkins for many years. Now I am at the Hoover Institution.
MALVEAUX: OK.
AJAMI: I wouldn't want my employers to be upset and to fire me for this.
(LAUGHTER)
AJAMI: So now...
MALVEAUX: You have a long resume. We appreciate that. AJAMI: Thank you. I think what you've said -- the question you put to Nic Robertson is the fundamental question. Why all of a sudden that Ali Abdullah Saleh returns to Saudi Arabia to Yemen, and now all of a sudden, we find Anwar al Awlaki.
Saleh has been a con man. He's been a runaway ally for a very long time. He plays us as fools. And actually, if you go back, Suzanne, to the Wikileaks documents, they tell you without any equivocation, that basically, Ali Abdullah Saleh says, If you Americans want to use drones and you want to kill people of al Qaeda, go ahead, we'll pretend it's us who are doing it.
So it's Saleh, and thank God for the favor he has done us, but we should also understand the kind of customer we're dealing with here.
MALVEAUX: So let's talk about the customers that we're dealing with here because you've got the Arab spring, you've got dictators who -- the United States supported Egypt, Tunisia, Libya. Now they're all gone. They were big fighters against al Qaeda. Now that they're gone, has the U.S. actually lost perhaps its greatest allies in going after al Qaeda?
AJAMI: Well, that's a subject we can have, really, a very long discussion on because these dictators were both our allies and they also were our enemies, in many ways. And the gift of these dictators, if you will, was really 9/11 because at the same time that they put down rebellions in their own country and they killed jihadists in their own country, they channeled the fury of their society and they channeled the furies of these jihadists onto American soil.
So it was always this kind of strange game with the dictators. They knew the terrain. We didn't. They knew the players. We didn't. They used our money. They used our drones. But we never could be sure of the double game that they were playing with us.
MALVEAUX: Do we suppose -- we know that under President Bush, the United States government was trying to work with Yemen's president to arrest...
AJAMI: Yes.
MALVEAUX: ... Awlaki, to deliver him to the United States. Now we know that under President Obama two years ago, he ordered a "capture or kill" directive. How was it that Awlaki was able to thrive for so long in Yemen without being caught, captured or killed?
AJAMI: Well, I think that's really -- that's why I thought the question you put to Nic Robertson was the essence of it because we know that Anwar al Awlaki went back to Yemen in 2007. So lo and behold, in 2011, right as Saleh is fighting the fight of his life, he turns over Anwar al Awlaki for us and we can find Anwar al Awlaki and we can kill him. There's no doubt -- I think I will be more daring, if you will, than Nic. He's a reporter, I'm an analyst, and I can push the story a bit further. I think, obviously, the Americans did it, the CIA did it, our drones did it. And I think Ali Adbullah Saleh always had Anwar al Awlaki. He always knew where he was, and I think it was now convenient for him to turn him over.
MALVEAUX: Does this put us in a stronger or weaker position when it comes to our own security?
AJAMI: Well, I think we remain in the same territory, if you will. Our -- the case for our vigilance remains. And I think what's interesting about Yemen and what's interesting about al Qaeda and the Arabian peninsula -- when you think, Suzanne, of all the money and all the effort we have in Afghanistan, where you just spent some time there, when -- and you compare it to Yemen, Yemen conceivably is much more dangerous than Afghanistan.
Yemen is really basically Afghanistan with a coastline. And Yemen is close to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. So we remain -- our exposure to this world of terror remains as dangerous as ever.
MALVEAUX: Do we think -- I want to follow up with that line of thinking. Do we think that that's possible, that if al Qaeda used Yemen as a launching pad to disrupt the oil flow coming from Saudi Arabia -- because I think they provide anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of the world's oil flow there -- could they actually carry out something like that? Could they impact the world economy and the oil supply if they become stronger in Yemen?
AJAMI: Well, you know, no one really knows Yemen more than the Saudis. They share a border with them. They pay off their tribes. They really know the game in Yemen very, very well. And one thing you can trust the Saudis with is the security of their own pipelines and the security of their oil. Saudi Arabia is a big, rich country. Its security system is pervasive. And they have an -- they keep an eye out on Yemen and the turmoil from Yemen. So I think the Saudis can take care of their own affairs on the Saudi-Yemen border.
MALVEAUX: All right. Fouad Ajami, thank you so much, Professor, for joining us.
I want to go for some breaking news here directly to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, who has the very latest information on who we believe was responsible for the killing of this terrorist, Awlaki. Barbara, what do you know?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, a U.S. government source telling our producer, Lisa Jensen (ph), that it was a missile fired from a U.S. drone that killed Anwar al Awlaki and three others traveling with him in this convoy in Yemen.
As you know, the U.S. CIA, as well as the U.S. military, operate these remote unpiloted aircraft that carry missiles. They have used them extensively, the CIA in Pakistan. They've been used in Somalia. They've been used in Yemen. Whether it was the CIA operating the drone or the U.S. military firing that missile off that drone, we don't know. But there are a couple of hints out there, Suzanne. Just a little while ago, the president of the United States publicly paid tribute to the U.S. intelligence community -- that means the CIA -- for its work on this operation. And earlier today, a Yemeni official said that this all involved cooperation between the U.S. intelligence community and the Yemeni government.
So now confirmation that it is a missile off a U.S. piloted unmanned drone that killed Awlaki and three others -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Barbara, explain to us the significance here because we also heard President Obama not only praising U.S. intelligence, but he also praised Yemeni officials, as well. What is the importance of the United States and Yemen working together here to -- for this particular strike in getting this terrorist?
STARR: Well, look, you know, Yemen has been a safe haven, if you will, for al Qaeda in that country now for some time. I'd say it's maybe two years ago that then General Petraeus, now CIA director, was pointing to Yemen as being a major safe haven for al Qaeda and that al Qaeda in that country was becoming a serious -- a very serious threat.
In fact, of course, as we have talked about all day now, it is al Qaeda in Yemen that's been able to stage attacks, reach out and touch inside the United States, with the underwear bomber situation, as well as other inspired attacks. So that's the importance of al Qaeda in Yemen.
But at the same time, the government of Yemen has been under fire for its attacks on its own civilians, President Saleh just recently returning to Yemen after an assassination attempt. So you have a real situation here where the government that's in control that could do something about al Qaeda perhaps very fragile, already under fire.
So if the two countries have been able to cooperate on this, the U.S. certainly wants to show this as cooperation with a very, shall we say, sensitive ally. And the Yemeni government wants to show that it's going after al Qaeda, even as it knows it remains under fire, with people calling for political and democratic reform inside that country -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you very much for the breaking news, obviously putting it all into context for us. We appreciate it.
Up next, the bank that will now charge you, believe it or not, $5 to use your debit card. And guess what? It might be just the first of many banks to try that.
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MALVEAUX: All right, so Bank of America is going to start charging customers a $5-a-month debit card fee. Our Alison Kosik -- she's got the lowdown on all this, from the New York Stock Exchange. OK, Alison, a lot of people are not too happy about this. It may be a good business decision because people can either close their accounts, go to bank somewhere else. I mean, what do we think? Is this going to help or hurt them?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's a good question. And a lot of what I'm hearing, Suzanne, is just, you know what? They're going to go somewhere else. You know, and there's nothing to stop them because so far, no other major bank is charging this debit fee, this $5 fee to go ahead and actually use your money. You know, essentially, it's paying for convenience.
But before you go ahead and change banks, you really want to ask yourself a big question. Will other banks follow Bank of America? Think of it. Bank of America -- it's the nation's biggest bank, and the entire industry is being hit with these regulations. So if BofA is successful, others could follow, and you may not have anywhere to turn. So you know, Bank of America essentially opening the door for other banks to follow suit, unfortunately.
MALVEAUX: So we're all just going to have to live with this.
KOSIK: I think so.
MALVEAUX: How are the markets doing today?
KOSIK: We are in the red. We're off our lows of the session. You know what? It's all about fears that are really driving the trade, fears about Europe still. You know, financial leaders are working to overhaul Europe's bail-out fund. So far, no concrete deal yet, and that's really what investors are looking for, something concrete at this point. So until they do, you're going to see stocks trade this way, at least in the red.
You know, we are closing out a terrible quarter. What a quarter it's been, the Dow, the NASDAQ, the S&P 500 all down 10 to 12 percent just in the past three months. Good riddance to this quarter, if you ask me -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: OK. Good riddance. All right. Alison, have a great weekend.
Well, just a few months ago, CNN spoke with the father of the al Qaeda leader who was killed today and he asked a judge to ban the U.S. government from killing his son. Hear why he says his son is not a terrorist.
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MALVEAUX: Here's what's ahead on the "Rundown." American al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki killed today in Yemen. We're going to take a look at his background, as well as his family. And then we have the latest from trial of Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray. And in just 20 minutes from now, more from billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Well, the top al Qaeda recruiter who was killed today in Yemen was born here, right in the United States, in New Mexico, as a matter of fact. The U.S. even had Anwar al Awlaki on a "catch or kill" order. But his father tried to get a judge to ban the U.S. government from trying to kill him. His father lost that case.
Well, joining us now is CNN international security correspondent Paula Newton, who interviewed Awlaki's father just a few months ago. Well, Paula, did his father believe that his son, first of all, was a terrorist?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I should say that I interviewed him several months ago now, in fact, in early 2010. I have kept up a rapport with him and we do communicate, although now not for several months.
His father was a defender of his son. He certainly did admit that he was not happy with his son's radical preaching of late in the last few months and the fact that he had gone into hiding in Yemen.
What he did not believe, though, was that he would actually promote the killing of innocents and the killing of innocent Americans. But when you try to juxtapose that with what U.S. officials were telling you every day, Suzanne, it became obvious that perhaps his father was in a little bit of denial. And that's not hard to understand.
Suzanne, this is a man who showed me pictures of his son at Disney World. He seemed to be, from what his father said, a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy. His siblings are American citizens. He devoured everything of American culture. He was proud of his American birth and his American roots.
His father believes that what went wrong was sometime after 9/11, that he decided that the way the war on terror was being fought, that he had to do something to defend his Muslim faith. And he says -- his father claims that that's where he believes everything went wrong -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Paula, do we have any reaction today from the news that his son has been killed?
NEWTON: I have called. I have e-mailed. No reaction yet. Suzanne, he always told me that this was his worst nightmare, that he would be killed in this way. He wanted his son to at least be caught, imprisoned, put on trial. He actually even suggested to me that he thought at some point, his son could be of use to U.S. counterterrorism officials in terms of giving them information.
He said that he was not in regular contact with his son. I have to believe him on that. At the same time, though, he believed that his son had protection of his clan and his relatives in Yemen. It turned out not to be enough. The U.S. did finally catch up with him. And I know that this is what kept Dr. Nasser (ph) up at night. He wanted it to turn out so much differently, even if the allegations against his son were true.
MALVEAUX: All right. Paula Newton, thank you so much. Excellent reporting.
Well, Awlaki was a U.S. citizen, so what are the legal implications of a "catch or kill" order, even for an American, even if he's a terrorist? We're going to talk to CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin about that in just a few minutes.
And it is day four of testimony in Dr. Conrad Murray's trial in Los Angeles. Attorneys are expected to spend much of the day questioning two paramedics who responded to the 911 call the day that Michael Jackson died. We're going to get an update on what is happening there in Los Angeles.
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MALVEAUX,: In L.A., the fourth day of testimony in Dr. Conrad Murray's trial. It is under way right now. Attorneys are expected to spend much of the day grilling the paramedics who responded to the 911 call the day that Michael Jackson died.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is covering the trial for us.
Ted, what do we expect to hear from these paramedics? Why are they important today?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're critically important because they will testify to this jury that -- they'll testify two major things. One was that when they arrived and when the entire time they were with Michael Jackson, both of them will testify that they never felt a pulse on Jackson.
And one of them will testify that he asked Jackson how long has he been flat lined, without a pulse, Murray, and Murray responded, oh, it just happened. And that paramedic said, you know, that didn't seem to add up to me. This is what he said in the preliminary hearing, because Jackson felt cold and was starting to turn blue.
The other thing and the most critical thing that both will testify to is that they asked Murray, what did you give Michael Jackson? What does he have in his system, and Murray never mentions Propofol. So two very key witnesses coming up later today. We expect them to come up later today.
Right now we're hearing from one of Murray's former patients in Las Vegas. And he is testifying that he had a procedure done, and while he was talking to Murray, Murray was excited about leaving his practice and going to work for just one person. He didn't tell him it was Michael Jackson, but he said he was leaving to be a personal doctor. He also says when he had a procedure done, there was an anesthesiologist there. It wasn't Murray that was putting him under.
MALVEAUX: All right. Ted, thank you very much.
For some analysis, I want to go to Holly Hughes. She is with us now. She is a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.
So, Holly, first of all, tell us, how important is it to have these two paramedics who are coming out and testifying about how long Jackson was dead?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This goes directly to the heart of the state's case because what they're saying is, Dr. Conrad Murray was so negligent, his standard of care was so low that in fact he should be held criminally responsible.
So when these paramedics take the stand and they say his patient was deceased. They're also going to testify Dr. Murray didn't want them to declare him deceased on the scene. And the reason that's legally significant is if, in fact, they had said, you know, he's flat lined, he's dead and declare him dead on the scene, that scene would have been sealed off right then and there with Michael Jackson's body still in the bed. They would have had a medical examiner and his investigator come to that scene. Nobody would have been able to get in there.
So he wouldn't have been able to collect those vials and start tampering with that time scene. It would have been a done deal. And we also would have had photographs of poor Michael in that bed deceased. And so what Dr. Murray is saying is, no, no, no, you have to take him away, try to resuscitate him.
And the other thing is he's also not admitting that he administered Propofol to this man. Now if you think you just administered an acceptable amount, why are you lying about it? Why are you hiding it? So, again, this goes to consciousness of guilt. This goes to, if he's not declared dead here, they take the body away. That gives me time to clean up what I want to clean up. We heard the testimony yesterday that the IV bag was taken away. The vials were packed up.
MALVEAUX: And what about -- Ted had mentioned that there was another patient who was testifying, Conrad Murray. What is that important, even relevant that you have other patients talking about this particular case?
HUGHES: Well, it's interesting because what it does is it shows Dr. Murray's state of mind. It tells you where the defendant's head was. And he was so excited about, you know, he's going to only have to work for one person and obviously it's a big famous person. If you're going to make enough money that you can quit your other practices.
So what they're trying to say is he was so eager to please and so eager to keep this job with Michael Jackson. Although he didn't name him to the patient, that he would have done anything that Michael Jackson asked.
So, again, prosecution is proving that even if Michael did ask him, please give me more drugs, please give me more Propofol. As a doctor, with a proper standard of care, you should have said, no, that's not in your best interest. But they're showing that Dr. Murray is kind of like a kid who hit the jackpot. You know, he found the prize in the Cracker Jack box until he is going to do whatever it takes to maintain this job with a superstar for the money.
MALVEAUX: In watching the testimony this week, what stands out in your mind? Do you think that they're making their case?
HUGHES: I do think they're making their case. And they're doing a couple of things. They're fulfilling the elements of the crime.
Remember that the prosecution has the burden of proof. So they're going to have to prove certain things. They have charged him on voluntary manslaughter. They're going to have to prove that there is a deceased person. So hence that tragically sad, pathetic photograph we saw of Michael. They have to prove it. They have to show it to the jury.
So they're going through their elements. They're laying them out. And they're not attacking Dr. Murray like he's an evil, horrible person. They're just simply saying with this particular patient, on this particular day, he did not exercise the standard of care because his mind was elsewhere.
And so I think they're doing a great job and they're also doing a really fantastic job of keeping Michael alive in that courtroom. Because we have to remember, this was somebody's daddy, Suzanne. Take away all the other stuff. When you hear the testimony about his children, Paris is on the floor in a ball crying, and Prince -- Paris screams out, daddy? What they're doing for this jury is they are painting the picture, this was a live, vibrant human being.
Strip away his celebrity. He was daddy to three children that he absolutely adored. And so they're bringing home for the jury, this isn't a celebrity trial, guys. This is a trial about a man who died way too young because somebody else was so negligent that he deserves to be held criminally responsible.
MALVEAUX: All right. Holly, thanks for bringing it home for us and we'll be watching it. Have a good weekend as well.
HUGHES: Great. You, too.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Holly.
Billionaire Warren Buffett has President Obama's ear. Well, now he's talking to us. Our conversation with Buffett from Wall Street coming up.
But first, here's free money advice from the CNN Help Desk with Carter Evans. CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. With me now, John Ulzheimer. He is the president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com. And Manisha Thakor, she is a personal finance expert.
OK, let's start with Millicent, Brentwood, California. She says she's got a loan modification last year. Now the bank wants her to accept another modification on the second loan. Her credit score has gone up in the past year. She doesn't want to do anything that's going to cause it to go down.
What should she do?
JOHN ULZHEIMER, PRESIDENT OF CONSUMER EDUCATION, SMARTCREDIT.COM: The good news is if she is current on her payments for that second mortgage and enters into a loan mod program, then they will not report her delinquent to the credit reporting agencies.
The bad news is if she is delinquent, then they will continue to report her as past due. If the load modification application is denied, the bank is going to want any back or deficiency balance back immediately. If not, they're going to start foreclosure proceeding which goes on your credit report so be very, very careful not to just ignore it if it does, in fact, get denied.
EVANS: Get on it right away.
Lee in Colorado Springs says, my wife is retiring next year. In her 401(k) account she's got about half a million bucks. The money is going to be used as income after retirement but she only wants to use the interest earned from it.
So where should she put her money? Where are you making any money these days?
MANISHA THAKOR, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: Yes, I want to have a chat with your wife. It's a noble desire not to want over nibble of that NASDAQ and have a low withdrawal rate. I applaud that. But being overly conservative especially for women, Carter, can really hurt you because of inflation.
And so my advice would be to be buying blue chip dividend paying stocks, have a nice mix. If you want some bonds in the portfolio, keep the duration short. And then take out a moderate amount based on sustainable withdrawal rate. Two percent or three percent if she wants to be super conservative. That makes a lot more sense to nibble on a little bit of the principle than to stuff it all into interest- bearing account which aren't going to give you very much at all.
EVANS: No interest these days by dividend paying stocks. Companies that will be around for the long haul.
Have a question you want answered? Send us an e-mail any time to CNNHelpDesk@cnn.com
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MALVEAUX: The killing of Anwar Awlaki raises questions about the targeting of U.S. citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement today condemning the killing.
It said, quote, "The government's authority to use lethal force against its own citizens should be limited to circumstances in which the threat to life is concrete, specific, and imminent."
I want to bring in our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Jeff, you and I have been talking about this throughout the day. There's a law in the books which has been in effect since the 1970s which bans the U.S. government from assassinating individuals. Well, clearly Awlaki was a bad guy, but how does the United States government legally justify killing him?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, I think in fact, if not in law that ban on assassinations is simply gone. And it's been gone for a long time.
The legal justification for this act is the congressional authorization for the response to 9/11. Passed right after 9/11. It's the legal justification for the Iraq war, for the Afghan war. And it basically says we are entitled to defend ourselves militarily against al Qaeda. And that has been interpreted by both the Bush administration and the Obama administration as justification to attack the individuals who are leading the war against us, Osama Bin Laden, and now Awlaki most prominently.
MALVEAUX: So two years ago President Obama issued a presidential order to capture or kill Awlaki. Essentially putting him on the U.S. hit list, if you will. Is that a part of the authorization you talk about? Congress' authorization for use of force? Or is this something that a president can do, issue an order for anyone he deems dangerous to the United States?
TOOBIN: Well, that's a good question. The Obama administration says it is authorized by Congress. I suspect that the administration would argue they could do it in any case given the seriousness of the threat. But, you know, one of the very important things to point out about this whole legal controversy is that it's never been in court. No judge has ever evaluated it. And because of the weird legal setting, it's not clear that a court ever will. I mean when you think about Osama bin Laden, Awlaki, they don't really have the opportunity to go to an American courtroom.
MALVEAUX: Do they, Jeff, do they have any kind of legal recourse, his relatives? Could his heirs potentially sue the U.S. government for damages? Would they have a case?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, his -- Awlaki's father actually went to court to get him off the hit list. And the judge in Washington threw the case out saying the father didn't have standing. The hit list wasn't, you know, directed at the father. So I think that's a hard question. I cannot conceive of how any of these people could ever really get access to an American courtroom. So I think this is an interesting theoretical, interesting political debate about the legality. But will a court ever judge thumbs up, thumbs down on this policy? Frankly, I doubt.
MALVEAUX: And just to be clear on the first point, Jeff, you talked about the fact that, you know, there was a law that was in place that banned the U.S. from going ahead and assassinating individuals. You say Congress, by authorizing this use of force that allowed us to go to war in Afghanistan and subsequently Iraq, that is a way of getting around that law or does it basically make that law null and void?
TOOBIN: Well, no, the law is still on the books. And if the president wanted to assassinate, you know, someone in some country where we have no hostilities involving an issue that has nothing to do with al Qaeda, I think clearly it would still be illegal. What the administration has argued is that because of the congressional authorization, because we are in, in effect, a state of war with al Qaeda, these targeted assassinations are legal.
MALVEAUX: All right. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Warren Buffett, he's made billions of dollars off his investments. Well, when he speak, of course, a lot of people listen. He recently raised some eyebrows, however, when he said that rich people should be paying more taxes. Buffett was at the New York Stock Exchange this morning where he rang the opening bell and he spoke one- on-one with our own Alison Kosik.
So, Alison, you pressed him a bit on this issue about taxing the wealthiest Americans. Why that would make any difference when it comes to the debt. How did he respond to you?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, so when I talked to him, Suzanne, he actually clarified what he meant. He said it's only a small portion of the population that he's talking about. And you know this. Lately, you know, Buffett's been getting a lot of flak from some fellow millionaires on his suggestions about tax reform. In fact, President Obama even created a proposed rule with his name on it, called the Buffett Rule, just a few weeks ago. And the idea behind that is that the oober rich should pay more in taxes. Now what you see is some millionaires coming out and are crying foul. They say, hey, don't lump us in with Buffett, who is a billionaire, and in a class above everyone else.
So I talked to Buffett about this. He downplayed it saying, you know, the proposed reform isn't going to affect all millionaires. Only a small portion, 50,000 people. Meaning, only a small bump when it comes to chipping away at our deficit. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: It probably would come in at about $20 billion a year. But no one thing is going to solve a deficit of over $1 trillion. But I think when you're going to ask the poor and the middle class to give up things in terms of Medicare or whatever it may be, as part of the shared sacrifice, the idea that you don't get $20 billion from this group, for whom it's only 10 points on a very low tax rate to start with, I think is simply unfair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: So even though it's not going to affect a lot of people, I think his idea is that, you know, we're all in it together, saying basically, you know, you can't ask one group to give up something without asking from another. So in this situation, I think it's less about the money than it is about making attitude adjustments.
Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Alison.
KOSIK: Sure.
MALVEAUX: I noticed, too, it was interesting, he downplayed the European economic crisis as well and the impact that it would have here at home. So we'll see how all of this plays out. People listen to Warren Buffett, that's for sure.
Thank you, Alison. Really appreciate it. Have a great weekend.
KOSIK: Yes. Sure.
MALVEAUX: Well, it looks like a scene from another world. This is the water off San Diego. It's electric blue at night. We're going to fill you in on what's actually causing that.
And for our social media fans, from 2008 to 2009, after the Twitter boom began, how many tweets do you think were sent worldwide over 14 months, say? Was it 5 million, 59 million, or 509 million? The answer after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: So, before the break we asked you, how many tweets do you think were sent worldwide over 14 months? The answer, 509 million messages written by 2.4 million people. That's pretty amazing.
Another amazing thing that's happening in southern California. These are some amazing pictures. I want you to take a look at this. Lately the water off the coast of San Diego, it's electric blue at night. Yes, you can see that picture. This i-Reporter who sent us this picture says, it looks like an ocean on an alien planet. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele, she's here to explain all of this.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Isn't it amazing?
MALVEAUX: Wow. So what do we suppose is happening? What is cause that? STEELE: It's so cool. You know, I'm a mama, so we watch Rapunzel in "Tangled" and Rapunzel's hair glows when she sings and it has that same effect. Some mamas out there, you know what I'm talking about, Rapunzel's hair glowing. It's really amazing.
Now, what it is, is the result of something called the red tide. Now that is a bit of a misnomer because, a, they're not all red, some are green, and, actually, it has nothing to do with the tide. So that is a misnomer.
So scientists like to call it the algae bloom, because what it really is, is a concentration -- a mass concentration of algae and so it kind of looks like a big bloom and it happens, for the most part, along the coastline. And we're seeing it -- we see it off the coast of Florida. But this, of course, is the coast of southern California.
So it's red during the day because of this mass concentration and it accumulates and it discolors the surface. So that's kind of the red element and that sometimes green element. But why it's blue at night is because these organisms in the water kind of get jostled. And when they get jostled, they emit this incredible blue light called bioluminescence. So that's what they were seeing off in the distance.
But if you're standing at night on where the soil is kind of wet and damp, kind of kick your foot and kind of jostle the sand and you're going to see these kind of spark. Just quick second like lightning. So it's really been an incredible phenomenon.
It doesn't happen that often. Maybe every six to seven years it happens. They did have kind of a paler one in 2010. But this is really cool.
It can with beneficial and it can be harmful. It can be beneficial because all these plants are the major fuel, the energy, and the oxygen in the water. So that's the good side. It can be quite negative in -- because of the toxins being released. It can affect human because it gets into the fish and then it gets into the shellfish and, thus, you eat it and that's where it's harmful. It can be also quite harmful with the algae depleting all the oxygen in the water, so it's killing off all the fish.
This, though, is not a harmful one. It's just an incredibly beautiful one. So get out there if you can see it. It's going to last, actually, Suzanne, for the next couple of weeks, even the next couple of months. But scientists don't actually know why, in the end, it kind of really just goes away.
MALVEAUX: That's so cool.
STEELE: Yes.
MALVEAUX: We love it. We love it. All right, thanks.
STEELE: Sure.
MALVEAUX: Appreciate it. Well, forget cashing in. This ATM, it's got gold bars inside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Investing in gold, so popular in China, that they are now dispensing it at golden ATMs. I'm not kidding. CNN's Jonathan Mann explains the rush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stocked with 200 kilos of gold bars, Beijing's new gold dispensing ATM is ready for service.
ZEHENG RUIXIANG, BOARD DIRECTOR, BEIJING GONGMEI GROUP (through translator): The Chinese people have become enthusiastic to purchase and invest in gold. So the traditional gold sales model can hardly meet the demand.
MANN: The gold ATM will officially be put into service Saturday during China's national day holiday. The machine updates the market price for gold automatically every 10 minutes, giving the buyer the best possible price.
RUIXIANG: The ATM machines can provide customers with different sizes of gold bars and the machine can hold a maximum of 200 kilograms of gold. The number of customers using gold ATMs may vary a lot in different locations and we'll load the ATMs with different volumes accordingly.
MANN: On social media sites, some Chinese netasins (ph) said a gold ATM was a source of national pride. Others were more wistful. "I don't have the money to buy gold bars," one wrote, "but I do have the strength to carry them home."
China is just the latest country to try a gold ATM. Gold to go machines are already located in Germany, the U.S., the U.K., Italy, and the United Arab Emirates. They're placed only in locations with high security, such as banks, hotels, casinos and airports. And, persuadably, near the people who can afford them.
Jonathan Mann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: An amazing story.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye, live from Los Angeles.
