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Bin Laden Papers Go Online; Obama Opens Up On Bin Laden Raid; New Concussion Suit Filed Against NFL; Seau Played 20 Seasons In NFL; Chinese Activist Wants To Go To U.S.; Doctor's Test Magic Mushroom- Like-Pill; Bin Laden Documents Go Online; Woopra Looking to Expand U.S. Office
Aired May 03, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM. A gold mine of information on the world's most notorious terrorists, Osama Bin Laden, in his own words, his plans and fears and 6,000 pages of documents, parts of it hitting the internet. Right now, we are combing it through you for you.
Zero warning. That is what friends and family are saying about the sudden death of Junior Seau. This morning, new questions about whether his suicide was the result of a concussion in his playing days.
We are in danger. The words of Chen Guangcheng now begging the United States to allow to his family to board Hillary Clinton's plane to America.
LSD magic mushrooms now being used to treat cancer? CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
We begin this hour with a rare and startling look inside the mind of Osama Bin Laden. This morning, the public is getting its first look at documents seized in the raid from the mastermind.
Those documents in his own words, the capture of fading leader desperate to launch another catastrophic strike on the United States. Hundreds and hundreds of pages are now appearing on the web site of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
Nic Robertson is in London. Nic, you've been combing through these documents. What have you found?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, another nugget, a really interesting nugget has emerged. Here is Bin Laden, the son of a Saudi billionaire. He's considering sending one of his top operatives to Yemen and Algeria to get money from one of his affiliate organizations.
One group he thought could at least give him about 200,000 euro not far off of $200,000. So here is the guy looking for money. That's a surprise. And jealousy creeping in as well, Anwar Al-Awlaki, a rising star in Yemen, a cleric suggested by some of Bin Laden's deputies he should take over in Yemen.
And Bin Laden essentially says nice guy, but let's see him get on the battle field first, a real slap down for that rising star. Bin Laden seems to be having trouble controlling the big organization he had created -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting, why is the government releasing the documents to the public, Nic?
ROBERTSON: I think what's emerging here. This is 17 out of about 6,000 documents taken from Bin Laden's compound from a year ago in Pakistan. What is emerging here in the documents that are being released is a narrative that shows al Qaeda and Bin Laden is not as cohesive as we might have thought.
There are differences and concerns. Concerns that Bin Laden should move the al Qaeda camps away from Pakistan where the drones can strike and satellite surveillance and hide them deeper inside Afghanistan in the forest and the mountains.
This is a man who's concerned about what al Qaeda did in Iraq. So the narrative that emerges is, al Qaeda is a fractured organization with differences of opinion that Bin Laden was struggling by sending letters and he might take two or three months to get replies back from commanders.
Struggling to control, deep differences of opinion so I think that's the picture that the government would like us to see and the world to understand about al Qaeda -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Fascinating reading. I'll let you get back to it. We'll check back with you, Nic Robertson. If you would like to read the documents, go to cnn.com. We will provide a link to the West Point site. You can gaze at the documents to your heart's content.
It was only something a few trusted staffers knew about initially. Now President Obama is speaking about the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
This iconic photo capturing the intense scene at the White House that night and in a new interview, the president talks about the relief he felt when the mission was completed and what it means for his time as commander in chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will tell you when I saw that pilot, I gave him a pretty good hug.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most important day of your presidency?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Most important single day of my presidency. The most intense, concentrated day that I have had as president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: The president added that his team wasn't certain that bin laden was in Pakistan. Saying it was, quote, "A 50/50 proposition that the al Qaeda leader had actually been found."
The shock and grief over Junior Seau's death -- this is really difficult to watch. This is his mom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUISA MAUGA SEAU, MOTHER: Junior! Why you never telling me? I pray to God take me. Take me. Leave my child alone. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Seau's apparent suicide hitting all of San Diego hard. Seau not only played most of his 20-year NFL career with the Chargers, but he also helped out with community service projects both during his playing days and afterwards.
He was just 43. He was found dead in his home from a bullet wound to the chest. Now it's too early to know whether violent hits that Junior Seau took on the field had any long term effects on his brain.
But the timing of the lawsuit against the NFL is interesting. A concussion lawsuit being filed right now in federal court on behalf of 114 former NFL players and we want to talk about the death of Junior Seau and this lawsuit with NFL star and Seau friend, Jamal Anderson. Thanks for being with us, Jamal.
JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Good morning, Carol. It is unfortunate. Junior was a fantastic guy and one of the better players to play the game and this position.
COSTELLO: You know, one of the players -- one player who played with Junior Seau said that when Seau was injured, he would hide it from his teammates because he did not want them to know he was hurting.
ANDERSON: That is the situation when you are a leader of a football team. They know it is of critical importance to be as healthy as you can to lead the team. Anytime the guy who is a star and leader of your team is hurt, there is a chink in the armor, if you will, with the rest of the squad.
So there may be a tendency to not disclose fully the type of injuries you had and of course, we are talking about a culture of football. When Junior got into the NFL, frankly, when guys were getting banged up, doctors and other people on the staff are trying to get them back on the football field. If the product isn't playing, the team isn't winning especially the top product. It is so early.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the speculation that is out there. Junior Seau is hiding his injuries. You say that the doctors and physicians are hiding his injuries, maybe. And the NFL is 114 -- 114 NFL players are filing this lawsuit today talking about concussions in the NFL and how the NFL didn't take care of its players.
ANDERSON: There is a renewed emphasis about protecting players. You see the fines. You see the suspensions and what took place with the Saints scandal. But it was a different culture when Junior Seau got into the NFL.
COSTELLO: Would you be shocked if it comes out that Junior Seau had some kind of injury to his brain?
ANDERSON: No, because he played football for so long and the way he played football. I fully expect the way that I played the game that I will have some issues down the line. You know, I fully expect these things to happen because if you play the game a certain way, you played it with a certain energy.
Junior Seau, when you talk about a guy who attacked on the football field and was excited and got people fired up. The way he celebrated. The way, everything he did was 110 percent.
I mean, even with respect to giving back to the community and his family, the people that he looked out for. He did everything to the greatest and highest extent you could possibly do it.
If that meant in certain instances, I'm banged up and I don't want to save this, I'll get out and play or with the assistance of doctors because there was a different culture.
The game has changed. There are different things in place to protect players. But you see now the result of all of these things from the brain injuries and from the documents that came out before.
There are lawsuits being filed all over the country. You know, there are several players, including myself, who have to strongly consider what we are going to do next.
The next phase you get involved. You have to look out for your family and you have to understand there were things that were hidden from players and that we discovered in the past. There is a different emphasis now.
COSTELLO: I guess my final question for you, you know, you are watching news reports of Junior Seau's suicide yesterday and you are thinking, my God, this could happen to me?
ANDERSON: You know, there are so many things that happen with retired players. I can't speak to what Junior's state of mind was the past couple of months.
But the last time I saw him, this is not the guy that I would see doing this. When I got the phone call, unfortunately, it was a call before the news because that was next. When I got the phone call, my first thought was, yes, right?
Not Junior Seau. Not this guy. This guy that is always smiling. This guy is so full of life and loves his family and loves giving back. I cannot say what was going on in his head or what was going on in his head literally.
And the circumstances and how unfortunate at times with the other suicides that we have seen recently with players. My hope is that, you know, the best possible outcome can happen from here.
But the damage is done and the football world is sad because we lost a tremendous person and a tremendous player -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It is so sad. He was a great guy. Jamal, thank you so much.
ANDERSON: No problem.
COSTELLO: We have reached out to the NFL for a comment on this just filed lawsuit. As soon as we hear back from the NFL, of course, we will share their response.
We are trying to figure out what exactly happened when a controversial Chinese activist left the U.S. embassy. Chen Guangcheng said he was pressured to leave. But now he says he is in danger and he does want to come to the United States.
And a possible new way for people to cope with terminal cancer. Doctors are experimenting with a pill that acts like magic mushrooms. You remember them. They say it could ease anxiety.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 13 minutes past the hour. Hillary Clinton meets with Chinese leaders to talk about trade, but everyone else is talking about the diplomatic fire storm surrounding her visit.
A blind human rights activist, Chen Guangcheng told CNN he wants the secretary of state to help him and his family leave China. Chen left the U.S. embassy in China yesterday.
He sought refuge there after escaping house arrest, but now Chen says he is in grave danger. Stan Grant is in Beijing and I know you sat down and you talked to the U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke. What did he say?
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gary Locke really found himself as the man in the middle here. He is the ambassador. He helped harbor Chen Guangcheng when he escaped from house arrest. He was also there every step of the way when Chen left the embassy.
You saw them smiling together. You saw them in the car together. You saw Gary Locke taking him to the hospital. But everything changed between leaving the embassy and speaking to us at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning.
On that day, Chen had changed his mind. He didn't want to leave the embassy. He didn't want to stay in China. He wanted to go to the United States. He was then pointing the finger back at the U.S. in saying they did not treat him properly.
We put those questions to Gary Locke as well and he said, as far as he was concerned they did do the right thing by Chen. It was always Chen's idea to stay in China. He said Chen wanted to be a freedom fighter for his own country and be reunited with his family and live out his life here.
This is what we had to hear from Chen Guangcheng when we finally got hold of him at 3:00 in the morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRANT (voice-over): It's an a small voice on the end of a phone line, but with an explosive story to tell. At 3 a.m. Thursday in Beijing and Chen Guangchang answer our call. From his hospital bed, the blind dissident the world wants to hear from, now tells CNN he fears for his life.
He says he wants to get out of China and is appealing to President Obama himself. I would like to say to him, please do everything you can to get our whole family out. He pleads. He wants to go to the United States. A country that hours earlier drove him to a Chinese hospital and he says left him there.
Chen had been holed up for six days in the U.S. embassy. He fled refuge there. After fleeing 18 months of what he called brutal house arrest.
After back room negotiations, the U.S. and China seemed to have reached a deal. Chen could live freely and safely. A smiling Chen Guangcheng is seen here leaving the embassy for treatment at the hospital.
But between leaving the U.S. grounds and speaking to us, everything changed. I'm very disappointed with the U.S. government he says. Chen now claims he was urged to leave and then deserted. The embassy kept lobbying me to leave he said and promised to be with me at the hospital.
But this afternoon soon after we got here, they were all gone. Inside the embassy walls, Chen says, he was cut off from the outside world. Now doesn't think he knew enough to make such a critical decision.
At the time, I didn't have a lot of information, he says, I wasn't allowed to call my friends from inside the embassy. I couldn't keep up with the news so I didn't know a lot of what was happening.
What was happening, he now says, is his family in their village was being terrorized. After discovering Chen escaped, police turned on his wife. She was tied to a chair by police for two days, he tells us.
They carried thick sticks to our house threatening to beat her to death. If he didn't leave the embassy, Chen said, his wife was told she would pay the price.
They said they would send her back to Shandong and beat her to death he says. Each time CNN has tried to independently confirm these claims, we have been physically ejected from Chen's village by guys.
This day, Chen passed the phone to his wife. Like her husband, she says there is no future for them here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): After seeing the reality, we both want to leave this place with our kids as soon as possible. It is very dangerous for us.
GRANT: All of this is played out for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing for trade talks overshadowed now by the Chen drama. Secretary Clinton saying, quote, "Chen has a number of understandings with the Chinese government about his future including the opportunity to pursuing higher education in a safe environment.
U.S. officials insist they did not fail Chen, all procedures were followed.
KURT CAMPBELL, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: We have very strict protocols on how to handle these things. I saw on three occasions our ambassadors here, Ambassador Locke ask him specifically as we are required to do with witnesses around, Mr. Chen, are you ready to leave the embassy voluntarily. Each time he said let's do it. Let's go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRANT: Now the story continues to twist and turn, Carol. Of course, we now know that Chen Guangcheng wants to leave the country. He wants to go to the United States.
Ambassador Locke says they're going to continue to discuss this with him. They're looking at all options. For Chen to go to the U.S., he would have to seek asylum and he would have to be on U.S. soil. That includes the embassy. The very embassy he walked away from -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Wow. Stan Grant reporting live from Beijing this morning.
A new way to cope with terminal cancer. It involves magic mushrooms and LSD.
Plus Michele Bachmann will endorse Mitt Romney. The same Mitt Romney she slammed liberally for months. In the world of politics, it makes perfect sense. Our "Political Buzz" panel will weigh in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Doctors are trying out a new experiment to help people cope with terminal cancer. Some may find it controversial as medical marijuana. Well, this new solution doesn't involve marijuana, but magic mushrooms. Deb Feyerick has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If somebody were to say, well, how did you feel on your worse day, is this a pretty good representation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I think so.
FEYERICK: Just dark and retched and gloomy.
(voice-over): With incurable stage four cancer spreading through her body, she had nothing to lose. Early one morning in a Manhattan doctor's office, she put on headphones and lay down and swallowed a powerful drug with the same chemical properties as those magic mushrooms that came to define the Woodstock generation of the '60s.
NORMA LAURING, DRUG TRIAL PARTICIPANT: It's kind of a wonderful, visual world of colors and figures and motion and more profound than that, for me, was a feeling of maybe being connected through time to other artists to a creative force and to a feeling of peace.
FEYERICK: In combination with therapy, that feeling lasted nearly five months. For some people taking part in the FDA-approved New York University study, the feeling has lasted even longer.
Because it is in the same legal category as cocaine, heroin and crystal meth, the drug is kept under lock and key. This vial contains 100 doses of the drug and is valued at $12,000.
Dr. Steven Ross, an addiction specialist at NYU has been given a license by drug agents to test whether the drug can help end-stage cancer patients like Norma.
DR. STEPHEN ROSS, DRUG TRIAL LEADER: I have been very surprised in terms of patients having reduction or resolution of death anxiety, decreased depression and living their lives more meaningfully in tracking with family members.
FEYERICK: Dr. Michael Guss is a trial investigator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes people with cancer begin to die earlier than their body actually dies. They begin to withdraw. Feel like life has no purpose, life has no meaning.
FEYERICK: The trial is in the second phase, but Guss says finding a single dose helps people with terminal cancer let go of life-long behaviors and habits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is our hope that helping them have a spiritual (inaudible) experience will awaken and relatively quickly awaken a new way of understanding themselves.
FEYERICK: Norma Lauring, a naturally positive person says she is now more at peace. LAURING: A feeling of being connected to people and the universe and the past and present that I'm sort of passing through here.
FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, should the United States help the blind Chinese dissident leave China?
It's not exactly a 3 a.m. wake up call. It is more like a 1:30 a.m. wake-up call for the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In other words, they won't take us to the brink of war, but it might damage our already fragile relationship with China.
The problem is what to do about Chen Guangcheng. The blind Chinese dissident left the refuge of the U.S. embassy after Washington brokered a deal with the Chinese over his future.
Well, Chen has changed his mind. In a CNN interview and through a translator, Chen pleads with President Obama to help him leave China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN GUANGCHENG, ACTIVIST (through translator): I would like to say to him, please do everything you can to get our whole family out. I'm very disappointed with the U.S. government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Chen says U.S. officials pressured him to leave the safety of the embassy. The U.S. ambassador denies that saying Chen left of his own volition. For now, Secretary Clinton is carefully choosing her words in China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States raises the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. We believe all governments do have to answer to citizens aspirations for dignity and the rule of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But at this moment, we want China's help in dealing with countries like North Korea and Iran and Syria and more cooperation on fair trade rules and currency exchange.
The Chen situation makes things a whole lot tougher because America prides itself in promoting human rights throughout around the world even going to war to further that goal.
So the talk back question for you today, should the United States help the blind Chinese dissident leave China? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Facebook.comcarolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour.
Newt Gingrich exit speech so long, so epic, so pack with different topic that we had to make a full graphic for it. Our "Political Buzz" panel weighs in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Just about 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.
Stories we are watching right now in the NEWSROOM. We are learning more about the mind of Osama Bin Laden. Many documents seized in the raid that killed the al Qaeda leader are now available online for all to see.
Our security experts are sifting through those papers right now. We will have more on their findings in just a few minutes.
The corruption trial for John Edwards continues today with prosecutors expected to call his driver to the witness stand for a second day. This comes after a dramatic day in court for Edwards' oldest daughter Kate testimony about a fight between her parents over her dad's affair prompted her to leave the courtroom in tears.
And a New Jersey mother has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment. Oh you've heard about her by now. She is accused of taking her young daughter into a tanning salon booth. Her attorney says the child went to the saloon but was never allowed into the booth. The "New York Post" having a little fun with the story today calling the woman the quote, "Toast of the Town."
"Political Buzz" is your rapid fire looks at the political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today Sirius XM radio host and funny guy, Pete Dominick; Sam Sader host of the "Majority Report"; and CNN contributor and the Blaze analyst, Will Cain. Welcome to you all.
PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST, COMEDIAN: Good morning, Carol.
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.
COSTELLO: Ok first question. President Obama is caught between a diplomatic rock and an economic hard place. Chen Guangcheng is pleading for Obama to help him and his family get out of China. But we all know how co-dependent the two countries are. One expert sums it up like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MCGREGOR, APCO WORLDWIDE: Nobody has the upper hand in the U.S./China relationship now. When -- when China really needed the U.S. for -- for capital and knowhow and it's market, the U.S. had the upper hand. But now that the U.S. also needs China to fund the budget deficit and the American business needs the China market for growth -- (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So how big of a crisis is this for the White House? Sam?
SAM SADER, HOST, THE MAJORITY REPORT: I think it actually can be a fairly big one. I mean, you know we're -- this country is sort of in a tough predicament. Because you know we just had John Yu found that he can't be held liable for torture. We have a drone strike policy. We have indefinite detention in this country. It's tough to be morally righteous and be America these days.
COSTELLO: Pete?
DOMINICK: Yes Sam makes some good points. There was a time when -- when these type of infractions or violation, human rights violations in China would have prompted the U.S. to invade that country. I mean we buy so much -- so many products from their factories where people are killed. The one child policy, but this could be a big issue.
The White House I think needs to have a clear focus or message on this. You've got to give this guy credit. Broken leg and blind guy? Maybe we should send in Seal Team Six to help him out because I don't know that he's going to fly out with Hillary Clinton. We'll see but the White House need to be clear on what they do and stay consistent on it.
COSTELLO: Will.
CAIN: Yes I think this is embarrassing -- it's embarrassing first of all for the Chinese but now it's also embarrassing for the Obama administration. You know I'd had a chance to speak to Gordon Cheng. He's a columnist for Forbes and he has written several books on China. And he said the United States has to project strength when dealing with China. That the Chinese do not respond to a conciliatory negotiating tactic or an accommodating tone. They just respond to strength.
Now I've talked to Pete often and give Obama a lot of credit for his foreign policy specifically for example on bin Laden. But this is a place where that lack of strength has consequences. We must project clear strength to the Chinese.
COSTELLO: Ok on to question two. Michele Bachmann will endorse Mitt Romney today. You know the guy she reportedly said could not beat President Obama. Mitt and Michele best frenemies forever. Politics sure is weird. So is this an endorsement Romney will want? Will?
CAIN: Yes I mean, it's not going to have a huge affect on you know how many supporters in the Republican Party go to Romney. Because they're going to go to him anyway because the choice by the way is Barack Obama.
But if Michele Bachmann made a big point, a big stink about not endorsing Mitt Romney. If Newt Gingrich do the same, if any Republican did the same that would have an effect, a negative effect. So it has a limited positive effect, but it could potentially had it not happened have a negative effect.
COSTELLO: Sam.
SADER: You know I don't think it's that strange that Michele Bachmann who thinks that Mitt Romney can't beat Obama is now endorsing him because that basically describes the majority of the Republican Party. I don't think anybody in the Republican Party thinks that Mitt Romney can beat President Obama.
And so they all are going to hop along on the band wagon just so they look like team players.
COSTELLO: Pete.
DOMINICK: Yes, I think this is a good endorsement for Mitt Romney. He needs that kind of you know right wing, unhinged social conservative doesn't believe in science endorsement. He doesn't need any more you know super billionaire monopoly men endorsement. I mean, he needs that part of Republican unhinge part of the Republican Party. And you know the funny thing is Michele Bachmann doesn't want do this. But nobody is left, Newt Gingrich is left, so I think this is right on the bottom of her "to do" list right next to heading into complete obscurity.
COSTELLO: Oh man. Ok on to the third question which would be your "Buzzer Beater" 20 seconds each. And this could be the last Newt Gingrich-related question in the buzz ever.
CAIN: Doubtful.
DOMINICK: Doubtful.
COSTELLO: Doubtful.
Anyway his exit speech lasted about as long as the 100 years war and the movie "Titanic." He talked about Captain John Smith in 1607, asteroids, his novels about George Washington, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Ellis the elephant and the Strait of Hormuz, Alzheimer's Disease, Chinese bond holders and Todd Palin and electromagnetic pulses, radical Islamists, C-Span, his high school years, Nixon, Carter and Reagan, the Civil Service, the Civil War and finally, I'm out of breath. The moon colony. Did he leave anything out, Pete?
DOMINICK: Yes, his marriages.
He -- he read his resume Carol. It reminded me the end of the Scooby doo episode where they take the mask off the villain. It was Newt Gingrich saying and if it weren't for the meddling Romney, my book tour -- presidential campaign would have continued. The shorter Newt was I'm going to head into maternity and heal Parkinson's and Alzheimer's by writing historical fiction about George Washington.
COSTELLO: Sam. SADER: Yes, he left something out. Where -- where is the announcement about the show on Fox? I mean, surely he's got a -- a next plan to raise more funds off this campaign. Like Pete almost implied there, this is a book tour. And so I want to find out what his next entertainment product that will be putting out is and frankly, I am sitting here with bated breath.
DOMINICK: To be -- to be clear, to be clear Sam that was a direct implication. It was a book tour yes. Speaking engagement book tour.
COSTELLO: Will.
CAIN: You know I think it's obviously pretty easy to mock Newt Gingrich. But I'll say this. Somewhere hidden in that (inaudible) deprived word soup of that he gave, there is some good stuff -- there is some good specific stuff like on asteroids. And there are some good schematic stuff like being aspirational as you head into modernity. So as we mock, you might just look closely to a few of those things.
COSTELLO: Ok we're -- we're sufficiently chastised, Will Cain. Thanks -- thanks to all of you for playing today. We appreciate it. Pete, Sam and Will.
SADER: Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: A new ad for Pop Chips featuring Ashton Kutcher in "Brown Face" is yanked. His impression of an Indian Bollywood character upset a whole lot of people. Now the company is having to explain itself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Right now we're sifting through newly released documents that capture some of the final words and thoughts of Osama bin Laden. The public getting its first look at documents seized in the raid that killed the al Qaeda mastermind. They capture a fading leader, desperate to remain relevant by launching another catastrophic strike on the United States.
Hundreds of pages now appearing on the Web site of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Nic Robertson has been looking at all the documents. Anymore interesting nuggets come your way?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think the more you look, the more you realize how much time bin Laden had on his hands to be sort of pedantic about some of the details that -- things that he was watching on the television.
He saw the media as being hugely important to al Qaeda's fight. And one of the things he wanted to do was centralize al Qaeda's control of whatever they did and whatever they said in the media. He wanted a centralization of al Qaeda's planning. Everything he wanted to be signed off by him or by his senior deputies that any of the affiliates should be doing.
But it really shows up here the sort of complexity as I'm trying to manage this massive organization; it's got huge differences going on with the Taliban affiliate of al Qaeda in Pakistan with those in Somalia and directions for those in Yemen, jealousies creeping in here. He doesn't want to support the move of a young rising star -- Anwar al Awlaki. He sort of shoots that down. Instead she's saying -- put him on the battlefield and let's test him out.
The time that he has on his hands and the complexity of what he is trying to do and the differences in the organization are all breaking through here, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, we always wondered through the years, how much control he actually had over al Qaeda since he was hiding out -- and now we come to find out he was hiding out in Pakistan. So does it seem to you he still has complete control over the movement?
ROBERTSON: No, he didn't. There were differences of opinion. There were those in his organization that wanted to embrace some of the wildest elements of al Qaeda. He is very critical himself of al Qaeda and Iraq, for the beheadings, the attacks on Christian, for fighting the tribes of Iraq, which was ultimately al Qaeda in Iraq's downfall.
And there were others in his organization who are saying, no we should embrace these people. And you look at some of the decisions that have happened since bin Laden's death. He said that the al Qaeda, what is now their affiliate in Somalia, should never announce that, they should never joined al Qaeda. So now these alternate views are taking over -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic Robertson, I know you'll continue pouring through documents. We appreciate it. If you want to see the documents for yourself. It's easy , go to cnn.com. We have a link there to the West Point Web site. And you can peruse all you want. And take a look at history -- a terrible look, but history nonetheless.
Some business owners say they have to help wanted to sign out, but people they don't have the special skills. We have a NEWSROOM special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: 45 minutes past the hour. Checking our top stories now.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Chinese leaders for talks on strategic and economic issues but a diplomatic crisis overshadows those talks. A blind Chinese activist who left the refuge of the U.S. embassy in Beijing now begging Clinton to help his family come to America; says he fears his life and his family's life in danger if they stay in China. John Edwards' trial continues this morning. And his driver is expected to give more testimony. Edwards' daughter Kate left the courtroom in tears yesterday after a former aid described an argument between Edwards and his wife Elizabeth. As you know, a breast cancer patient was upset after learning of her husband's affair with Rielle Hunter. Edwards is accused of misusing campaign funds to hide that affair.
Police find $1 million in a storage unit and believe the money is connected to a fugitive. Bobby Thompson is that man. He is accused of setting up a phony Navy charity and scamming millions of dollars from people in 40 states. He's been on the run for two years.
You know every week, we hear about the numbers of people looking for a job who simply cannot find one. So why are some employers saying, hey we're hiring but we cannot find any workers. That's what we wanted to know.
So all this week we're looking at business that have positions to fill and why they can't seem to fill those positions. Yesterday, we hit the East Coast. Today, we're going to hit the West Coast. In California, unemployment of 11 percent. And while that's down from last year, it's still higher than the national rate of 8.2 percent.
So let's bring in Elie Khoury. He owns a company Woopra, a web analytics company. It was founded in Lebanon in 2008. Its San Francisco office has five staffers but he wants to double the size in the next couple of months. Elie, welcome.
ELIE KHOURY, OWNER, WOOPRA: Hi, how are you? Good morning.
COSTELLO: I'm good. So you put out the word for more workers. And you're thinking. Wow, I have plenty of people to choose from and what happens?
KHOURY: Well, first we moved to San Francisco and the plan was to get the talent pool in the region. The biggest problem was that there are a lot people -- there's a huge demand on you, designers and it's so hard. At the same time, there are very few designers willing to work for companies.
I have been spending a lot of time with the designers. And like I figured out fixed that they can make a lot more by freelancing rather than working with a company. This is why --
COSTELLO: Well now, hold on a second. That really is a trend because when you talk to young people coming out of college, they don't dream of working for someone. They dream of starting their own business. So you are actually seeing that in real time.
KHOURY: Exactly. That is correct. I think the biggest problem is that in the UI industry, UI engineering, or UI outfront and development. It's not something that can be taught in schools. There are a lot of people doing graphic design and a lot of people doing software development.
There is a big confusion here that graphic designers are not really designers. Graphic designers are -- the difference between both are as different between UI design and Fashion Design. And that's why every time we try to hire a UI designer, we keep getting portfolios from just graphic designers.
There are very few who are designers doing the job very well. I'm just not interested in to work for companies like (inaudible) for example like Facebook. It's so hard to hire UI designers. So that the recruiter at Facebook, got Mark Zuckerberg to call them personally so that they can respond to them.
COSTELLO: Oh my gosh. Ok. So you're sitting back. Obviously you've analyzed this problem. So do you have a strategy?
KHOURY: I think there are a lot of ways to deal with that. One of them is like try to get someone who is passionate about UI design with not a lot of experience and try to train them in-house. Some other ways to do that is like -- basically I'm a UI designer myself. I'm passionate about the subject. I have been doing UI design since I was 13. We are lucky to have a UI designer in the company.
A lot of founders out there like big companies like Pinterest and (inaudible) UI designers as well. So we're are seeing a lot of UI designers founders in the industry, which is helping a lot to start up, start from the ground up.
And other solutions for this problem would be by just -- we are seeing a lot of universities starting new programs for UI design. They understand now the difference between UI and graphic design. We started seeing (inaudible) have a program for that. I hope to see more programs like that because it is a huge battle here in the Silicon Valley on those UI designers. And it's so hard to hire them.
COSTELLO: That's just so frustrating. Thank you so much for talking with us today. If you are interested in Elie's company, go to cnn.com/money. There's a profile on there. Thank you so much for joining us.
KHOURY: Thank you for having me here.
Tomorrow we're going to take the fifth -- you're welcome. Tomorrow we're going to head to Pittsburgh to talk to another small business owner who is struggling to find qualified workers. For more on the story as I said, check out our web site, cnnmoney.com.
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COSTELLO: Ashton Kutcher and potato chipmaker PopChips have some explaining to do this morning. They -- well take a look. They released this ad featuring Kutcher playing a variety of characters. But one of them featured Kutcher in -- you see it there -- brown face. He was portraying an India Bollywood man; it did not go over so well. A.J. Hammer from SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is in New York to tell us about the ad and fall out. Hi, A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Thought they were being funny. Thought they were being catchy Carol. Ashton is taking a lot of heat this morning because of this pop chips viral campaign that they put out. And as you said, Kutcher appears in this PopChips/Worldwide Dating Video portraying four separate characters. But yes, it is the one where Kutcher is wearing makeup to look Indian. That's really getting into trouble today.
He is dressed in traditional Indian garb as you see. Portraying a Bollywood producer named Raj, who's looking for the most delicious thing on the planet. Well, shortly after this ad premiered, Twitter users went nuts on it. They started criticizing the actor and the company for racial insensitivity.
And after all the negative feedback the CEO of PopChips has apologised and he did that in a blog post, posted on the company's Web site. I want to read a bit for you. We received a lot of feedback about the dating campaign parody we launched today. And appreciate everyone who took the time to share their point of view.
"Our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs. We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended."
Now, there are reports that the ads have been pulled, but the problem with the viral Internet ad campaign of course, means the ad is probably out there everywhere. We have not heard from Ashton Kutcher on this just yet.
COSTELLO: I'm sure we will thought. Thank you, A.J. We appreciate it.
We asked you to talk back on one of the big story of the day. This is the question for you. Should the United States help the blind Chinese dissident leave China? We're going to have your answers on the other side of the break.
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COSTELLO: We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of day; the question for you this morning. Should the U.S. help the blind Chinese dissident leave China?
This from Larry, "I've been working in China for the last ten years. No, we should not help him. He dug his own hole in his own country and is just drawing attention for his own benefit."
This is from Brad. "It's the Communist Chinese who are the terrorists. Their government is murderous, illegal and a burden to the world. To not stand up to them is disgraceful. They need us economically as well."
This from Andy. "It is really not the time to risk our relationship with China for something small like this. The whole situation went the wrong way when it went public. The Chinese government would be less willing to negotiate when everybody in the world knows about it."
This from Liz. "We can sympathize this fellow human being. I don't think it's the obligation of the United States or any other single country to right the wrongs of the world governments at large.
Please keep the conversation going, facebook.com/CarolCNN; Thanks as always for your comments and thanks for watching. I'm Carol Costello. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.