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American Morning
Congress Rejects Closure, Transfer of Gitmo detainees; Four Jailed for Alleged NY Bombing Plot; Kris Allen Wins American Idol; Dueling Speech on National Security; Police Beating Caught on Tape ; New York Terror Suspects in Court Today
Aired May 21, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Crossing the top of the hour now. It's 8:00 Eastern. We got breaking news to tell you about on this Thursday morning. It's the 21st of May. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
Again, the top stories will be breaking down for you, coming up in the next 15 minutes.
Right now, we want to bring you some breaking news coming to us out of Belgrade this morning, where a government official says there is a bomb threat at the headquarters of the president of Serbia. They say he entered the building with a hand grenade. Police say a negotiating team is heading there right now. It's not clear or anyone else is inside the building, but we will bring you updates as soon as we get them.
The FBI breaks up a home-grown terror plot to bomb a New York City synagogue in Jewish Center. And to shoot military planes out of the sky. Four suspects will be in federal court this morning, and we are live at the courthouse.
President Obama is also giving a major speech on national security. In just about two hours. He'll share it with -- the spotlight, though, perhaps coincidentally with a man who says the president's policies are making the United States less safe. That would be former Vice President Dick Cheney. He's speaking on the same subject at practically the same time. We'll be previewing both of the speeches.
Are jobless claims decreasing? There is an encouraging new report. Christine Romans will break down the figures and tell you what they say about the overall health of the economy.
But, again, we're following new developments this morning in alleged plot to bomb a New York City synagogue in Jewish Center in the Bronx and to shoot down military planes with stinger missiles. Four men now in custody and they'll be in court today.
New York's police commissioner said they wanted to commit jihad. The suspects allegedly planted explosives in cars in front of temple. Prosecutors say the man also wanted to attack military planes at an international guard base in upstate New Burg, New York. The four men will appear in federal court in White Plains today. This is just north of Manhattan.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is there.
So the big question is the motivation behind this suspected alleged terror plot.
What was going on?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, we're learning more about that from law enforcement officials and from court papers. And the simple answer appears to be anger.
You have these four men, the suspects, one -- the parents of one of the suspects is from Afghanistan. And he was saying they were just angry, U.S. involvement being overseas in that part of the world. But we're also learning a bit more about some of the bombs. They weighed 37 pounds each, according to police. Two were planted outside a Jewish community center, one outside a synagogue. New York's police commissioner says, again, this is about jihad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: They stated that they wanted to commit jihad. And, again, you know, more information about the motive, I'm sure, will be developed as the case progresses. But right now, that was a -- stated they wanted to commit jihad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And, Kiran, at this hour, at least two of the four suspects have already arrived at this courthouse, where they will face a hearing.
CHETRY: So you're talking about this four that are in custody now. Do the FBI agents think that they've gotten everyone involved in this alleged plot?
CANDIOTTI: They do, but the case, of course, is just beginning. They are each facing two counts of conspiracy, and if found guilty, could spend the rest of their life in jail.
CHETRY: Susan Candiotti for us in White Plains.
Thank you.
ROBERTS: The Obama administration says the top al Qaeda suspect will be moved from the Guantanamo Bay to stand trial here in New York City. Ahmed Ghailani was indicted for the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa back in 1998.
He'll be the first Gitmo detainee brought to the U.S. and the first to face a criminal trial in civilian court. Gitmo will be a center piece to President Obama speech in a couple of hours on terrorism and national security. He'll spell out his plan for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay a day after the Senate voted overwhelmingly to keep Gitmo open for this foreseeable future, but by denying him the money necessary to close it.
Members of the president's own party have now put the president in a real political bind.
CNN's Jim Acosta has got that part of the story for us from Washington.
Gosh, Jim, you know, he made a pledge to close Guantanamo Bay by January 22nd in 2010. We just talked with Senator Dick Durbin. He's not sure if he can make that deadline.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And Dick Durbin is not alone in thinking that, John.
President Obama made closing Guantanamo one of the center pieces of his campaign and one of his first acts in the Oval Office. But now his own party is making it harder for the president to keep his word. In short, it's Gitmo versus NIMBY or not in my backyard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.
ACOSTA (voice over): President Obama's promise to close Guantanamo by January of next year has run head-on into one of the oldest traditions in politics -- not in my backyard.
REP. LAMAR SMITH (R), TEXAS: Guantanamo Bay was never meant to be another Ellis Island. The terrorists were detained there for a reason, to keep Americans safe.
ACOSTA: In a crushing defeat to the president, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to cut off funds to close the detention camp and block the transfer of detainees to the U.S.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: Well, I think the American people by every poll that I saw and, of course, all of the telephone calls that we were getting from Kansas, certainly do not want terrorists in the U.S. homeland.
REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: They don't want it in their backyard. They -- you know, they hear from constituents.
ACOSTA: Virginia Democrat Jim Moran was almost alone in his willingness to accept detainees into his district, where 9/11 plotters Zacharias Mousawi and American Taliban John Walker Lind were tried and convicted.
Does this mean that that deadline is not going to be met, of January of next year?
REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: I don't see how it can be met now. I think the White House lost that when they failed to give us adequate information, failed to engage in the debate.
ACOSTA: The White House says it's not backing away from its plans.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president would not make a decision or a judgment that would imperil the safety or security of anybody in this country.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Providing financing to the terrorists, radicalizing others.
ACOSTA: But the administration was undercut by FBI director Robert Mueller, who told Congress detainees would pose a risk in American prisons. Democrats noted there are domestic and al Qaeda terrorists already behind bars in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have they presented any particular danger to us?
MUELLER: If you're talking about physical danger in terms of being able to escape and undertake an attack. No.
ACOSTA: Presidential scholar say Mr. Obama now faces a crucial test.
JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Democrats live with the constant fear of being called weak on defense. The president will be defined by this and the president can define this. I think that's where he can use the power of the bully pulpit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Which brings us to this morning when it will be mano-a- mano. President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney giving dueling speeches on the war on terror in Guantanamo. Some in Washington are billing this, John, as a foreign policy debate that was never really had during the campaign.
ROBERTS: Yes. And it will be interesting to watch what both of them have to say. We know some of what the president is going to say. And we'll run this all by Ed Rollins and Lisa Caputo coming up in a few minutes as well.
Jim, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, new this morning. Five officers in Alabama have now been fired over video that just surfaced of a high speed chase in a rollover that happened a year ago. We want to warn you that the dash cam video is graphic after the unconscious suspect was thrown from the car.
The video shows the police officers beating him. That beating lasted about 11 seconds. Birmingham's mayor said over 50 years of combined police experience gone in over 11 seconds.
Well, the manhunt intensifies for a mother on the run with her 13-year-old son who has cancer. The family is refusing chemotherapy for the boy because they believe in natural remedies. Authorities say Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, could be headed to Mexico to treat -- to seek treatment for Daniel's Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Some amazing video of lightning striking Seattle's famed Space Needle. You can see three bolts hit within a few minutes. We'll show you the video. It comes to us from our affiliate there, KOMO. No one was hurt and there was no damage reported. The Space Needle is actually equipped with two dozen lightning rods that safely channel the energy to the ground.
But let's stick with this for a second because we haven't seen it yet in this pretty great video once we do see it. I think it's time lapse here. There you go.
There's one of those strikes. And then just a couple of seconds later, you see another one and then a third. Very dramatic lightning strike that took place right there on the Space Needle.
Wow, there you see it.
Well, it was an upset on "American Idol." It was Kris Allen, the underdog, the nice guy from Arkansas who won this year's competition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN SEACREST, HOST, AMERICAN IDOL: Kris Allen!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you see as he made the announcement. Adam, good sport, hugged him. Kris, a good sport, too, saying you know what, Adam should have won.
As host Ryan Seacrest put it, it was the guy-next-door over the guy-liner. Get it? He wore eyeliner -- the other one. Allen beat Los Angeles native Adam Lambert. The winner stood with a shocked look on his face after the vote was read. The show says nearly 100 million votes were cast. That's pretty crazy.
You know, both of them got to win cars. They won Fords. And, you know, just because you lost doesn't mean you won't go on to be a major success in the recording industry. So, technically, they both won. But anyway, it was a real exciting competition if you like that stuff.
By the way, don't miss Larry King's primetime exclusive tomorrow night. He's going to be speaking with the newly-crowned "American Idol."
Kris Allen, congratulations.
And also the rest of the Idol top ten. They will fill us in on the competition, what went on backstage. 9:00 Eastern tomorrow right here on CNN.
Did you follow it this season? ROBERTS: No, I didn't follow it at all. But I did hear his version of apologize, and he did a really, really, really good job.
CHETRY: You would have like both of them.
ROBERTS: Sound just like the original.
CHETRY: You would have like Adam, too.
ROBERTS: Yes. He had the look, didn't he?
CHETRY: He's a rocker -- yes, with guyliner. He's bringing back guyliner. Not since Robert Smith of "The Cure." You know, young men walked around with that much guyliner on.
ROBERTS: Does it really need to be brought back?
CHETRY: He's not.
ROBERTS: Jury is out on that one, I think.
Well, we talked about Larry King. We've got "LARRY KING LIVE," literally. Broadcasting legend with more than 40,000 interviews under his belt, and now we have a few questions for him. Larry King, coming up, live this morning.
President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney squaring off on national security. Two of the sharpest political minds will break down the dueling speeches for us.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Vice President Joe Biden is on a trip to Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. The White House are calling operation "Keep Biden Away From the Microphone."
(LAUGHTER)
Yes. And then he goes to Antarctica next. Antarctica next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
In a couple of hours, President Obama delivers a major speech on terrorism and national security. But the president will be only one- half of the main attraction. His chief Republican critic, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also giving a speech on the same subject at almost the same time.
Joining us now to talk about all of this, Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo and Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins. So we got dueling speeches this morning with the president now a little bit handcuffed because of what the Senate did with his Guantanamo Bay closure funding. And I can just imagine that the former vice president will come out and say, see? Even the Democratic Party doesn't trust him to do this.
Is he in a little bit of a bind.
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, he's doing -- if you'll recall exactly what he did on the economy, he's kind of trying to take hold of the economy, seize the day and have a speech to take charge again. Because he has been diverted, I think, his agenda, by the noise of Nancy Pelosi and also by the vice president. There's no question. And so he wants to take charge.
And he's going to have to lay out some detail today, I think, particularly since Democrats on The Hill pulled away the $80 million. But I think it's important to remember there's a poll out this morning that has him at 62 percent or 63 percent approval on national security and Cheney at 55 percent disapproval.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, we know a little bit about what the president is going to say today, Ed. He's going to say, when possible, try some of these detainees in the federal court system, and where possible try them through the military system reviving the tribunals, and where possible try them in foreign courts. But, is that going to satisfy anybody?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It certainly may not satisfy his base. I think at the end of the day here, the Defense Department report that nearly 75 of these have been released and now gone back to terrorist activity. So I think the country is supportive of holding them. I think the Gitmo battle has always been kind of a bad battle to be waged in. I mean, where do you want to put these guys? Leave them there. They are safe. Give them whatever due process.
The problem is the president had been weak. He had his mission's control bill. He's had the credit card bill. And he's here. He's now talking about terrorism, which is certainly not one of his strengths and not to his base.
ROBERTS: And Lisa, he certainly not getting any help either from the Senate leader. Harry Reid came out yesterday and said, we don't want any of these detainees in the United States, which wasn't exactly on point with the talking points, but he said it now so it becomes true.
CAPUTO: He did. And then his press secretary as I believe went in and had to do a little bit of cleanup. So I think that's why you see him coming out today trying to take charge. But he's got to -- he's got to address the position that he has on the releasing of the photos. The position on the military commissions. He's talking now about preventive detention, and he's going to have to explain that.
But I do agree with Ed. He's now got an FBI director who's come out with saying, you know, they are dangerous on American soil. He's got a Pentagon report now saying that 27 of them who were released resorted back to terrorism. But, at the same time, he wants to have a legal system in place that will be good for today and for future presidents. That's the right kind of leadership, I would believe.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, and when we look at this fact that we've got the dueling speeches this morning.
Ed, we've got the president, and right on his heels, the vice president is going to be giving a speech I think it's to the American Enterprise Institute.
Is Dick Cheney becoming an effective counterweight to the president particularly on this issue of national security, because he does seem to have some Democrats second-guessing themselves?
ROLLINS: On this issue, he is raising the points that obviously Republicans care about. And he's got a support of audience. As I said, the president has got kind of an audience that is not very happy with what he's saying.
So, you know, my sense is every time Dick Cheney is on TV, it's good for Dick Cheney, and it's good for that cause. You know, as I said the other day, what is good for the Republican Party is not what's relevant. It's not good for the president when he basically has to share the spotlight with a former vice president.
ROBERTS: Are Democrats going kind of wobbly on this thing, because of what the vice president is out there say?
CAPUTO: Well, I think you have Republican ideology, which obviously Cheney is embracing in becoming the face of. And then you have Democrats dealing with constituents in their districts, right? And so, the Cheney verbiage is resonating perhaps in the district.
ROBERTS: Yes. He's finding a little bit of a sweet spot there.
CAPUTO: It's a fear-mongering. So I think that's why the president is exerting leadership today and taking the bull by the horns. I also think it's important to know where these two speeches are occurring.
Cheney before a Republican think tank, very conservative and Obama before the National Archives. I think that that's very presidential.
ROLLINS: Both -- both are on television, on CNN.
CAPUTO: Yes, exactly.
ROLLINS: That's the bottom line.
ROBERTS: That's the bottom line, all right. It doesn't matter where you give the speech.
ROLLINS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: It it's on TV.
ROLLINS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: All right. Lisa Caputo, Ed Rollins, always great to see you. Thanks for coming in.
CNN, by the way, is going to carry both speeches live. President Obama is at 10:10 Eastern, and Dick Cheney's remarks at 10:45 Eastern. Both will also be stream live on cnn.com.
So as I said, it doesn't matter where you give the speech as long as the public can see it.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, John.
Well, the right way to pay down your credit cards and get out of debt. The road that one woman took to find her way out.
It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A beautiful shot this morning of New York harbor. There we see Lady Liberty, the Statue of Liberty. Right now, it's fair. It's 61 degrees, and it's going to get nice and sunny and hot here in Manhattan. A high of 82 today.
Right now, it's 21 minutes past the hour. We fast forward through the stories that will be making news later today. At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, the only Somali pirate to survive that standoff aboard the Maersk Alabama will be in court. He's a teenager. He is charged with nine counts, including piracy, conspiracy and hostage taking.
At 2:30 Eastern today, former Illinois police sergeant Drew Peterson is expected in court. Prosecutors in the case will argue that the judge should be removed on the grounds of prejudice against their office. Peterson pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. His fourth wife, Stacey Peterson, is still missing.
At 1:45 Eastern Time, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, will be in Baltimore. She's giving the commencement address at Johns Hopkins University. The trip to Baltimore could be a nice respite from Washington for the speaker, where tensions continue to surround the comment she made last week regarding the CIA.
And at 1:30 Eastern this afternoon, President Obama is going to be meeting with this year's Super Bowl champions -- The Pittsburgh Steelers. The president will speak briefly and then help the Steelers make a care packages that will be sent to U.S. troops. That should be a fun respite for his day as well.
ROBERTS: Asian stock markets are following Wall Street lower after the U.S. central bank predicted that America could suffer through an even deeper recession than first thought.
Here, at home, experts say the recession is causing more and more people to become delinquent on their credit card payments.
Well, CNN's John Zarrella find a woman whose debt kept her up at night, but what she did next is something that everyone out there can do. And we're not talking, Ambien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last summer, Maria Calderon was overwhelmed with credit card debt.
(on camera): So you had -- what -- one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine different credit cards?
MARIA CALDERON, PAYING OFF HER DEBT: Yes.
ZARRELLA: And you had, when you went to them, you owed $21,000?
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA: She was laughing about it when we talked to her in February. But last August, she was so worried about her debt, she couldn't sleep.
CALDERON: Nights, crying, thinking. I'd say, God, help me. And now I can say thank you.
ZARRELLA: Thank you because she found help. Maria called Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you talked to the creditors?
ZARRELLA: CCCS is a nonprofit agency that counsels people in financial trouble. Maria's counselor negotiated lower interest rate with their creditors and put her on a repayment plan.
JESSICA CECERE, CCCS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY: This plan helps her get control of her debt so that she can repay her debt within 36 to 48 months, three to four years.
ZARRELLA: Credit advisers say choose your counseling program carefully.
STEVE BUCCI, AUTHOR, "CREDIT REPAIR KIT FOR DUMMIES": First, it should be a nonprofit agency. Second, it should be absolutely free to get your counseling and to get you advice. And third, you want to make sure that the agency is accredited and the counselors are certified by independent third party.
ZARRELLA (on camera): With her repayment Maria sends about $300 less each month to her credit card companies. How does it work? Lower interest payments means more of Maria's money goes to paying off her balance.
Debt is under 10 percent now, right?
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA: And what were they charging you before you went to the consumer credit counseling?
CALDERON: Well, this specific one, I believe it was 23.
ZARRELLA: 23 percent.
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): In February, Maria told us she wanted to buy a home when she paid off her debts. And she hoped this experienced would teach her children to make smart financial decisions in their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Just to be clear, Maria did pay a monthly fee to participate in the debt repayment program. Since we first talked with Maria, we've learn that she's run into some financial troubles. The Consumer Credit Counseling Service tells us that due to circumstances beyond Maria's control, her income has been reduced and she's no longer able to make her payments.
John?
Kiran?
ROBERTS: John Zarrella reporting for us this morning. And don't miss more of our series "Money & Main Street," how to cope in a rough economy. That's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
CHETRY: All right. Well, shocking video of a high-speed chase. A rollover. The suspect thrown from the vehicle, and then it was caught on a dash cam. The dramatic story that followed and what happened next.
Also foiled by the Fed. Four men accused of a plot to bomb a synagogue in Jewish Center in New York City. They're facing a federal judge today. We're going to get the latest developments on this case.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Not a cloud in the sky this morning in the nation's capital. There is a shot of Washington, D.C. It's partly cloudy they say, but I don't see one from that picture. 53 degrees. A little bit later, it's going to be sunny -- nice and sunny and 81. Maybe it was partly cloudy a little earlier when we took that shot.
What do you think?
ROBERTS: I don't see a cloud in the sky. CHETRY: There you have it.
ROBERTS: Except for the dark storm clouds that typically hang over the capital, but they are all inside.
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right. Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Five Alabama police officers are watching -- or without jobs this morning after this high-speed chase that was caught on tape ends with the officers beating an unconscious man. We'll tell you more about what happened.
The initial chase really only half the story, but there you see where it starts. That driver clipping a police officer, knocking him to the ground at the beginning of this chase.
Our Carol Costello has more now on what else happened from Washington.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty disturbing, Kiran. Those officers were fired because of the video you were about to see. The video is disturbing so I'm going to pause for just a second in case you want to look away or you want to get the kids out of the room, OK? Here it goes.
These pictures were recorded from a police officer's dashboard cam. It shows police chasing a van driven by Anthony Warren who they suspect of drug activity. You see the van clipping the police officer there and knocking him to the ground. Warren then continues to drive sometimes at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. Eventually, he loses control of the van. It flips over. You see him being thrown from the van. He is clearly unconscious. And take a look at what happens next.
This goes on for a full 11 seconds. Police officers beating this man with batons and their fists. The beating actually happened back in January of 2008 but the tape in its entirety didn't turn up until this year. As many as six police supervisors are believe to have viewed this tape over the past year, but not one of them told the police chief about this 11 seconds.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's "NO BIAS, NO BULL," Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford responded to the cover-up allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR LARRY LANGFORD, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: You're dealing with human beings who in many cases try to protect one another. The fact of the matter is they shouldn't have tried it in this particular case. We won't tolerate it and everyone responsible for covering it up will -- in all probability needed a job.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Well, the police chief say the officers involved have already been fired. They may face criminal charges, but, you know, some are defending the police officers actions. Here is what a police trainer told Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EUGENE O'DONNELL, NEW YORK STATE POLICE TRAINER: The reality is the cops had no way to tell for sure that he was acquiescing. There are many, many examples of individuals who are shot multiple times and who still literally in their dying moments are able to injure or kill police officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Anthony Warren, by the way, the man beaten in those pictures is currently in prison serving a 20-year sentence. An attorney for Warren has now filed a claim against the city. So it's not over yet, Kiran.
CHETRY: A sad case for sure. All right. Carol Costello for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: 31 minutes now after the hour. And checking our top stories. A developing story to tell you about. A potential terror attack in New York foiled. Four men will appear before a federal judge later on today, accused of a plot to bomb a synagogue in a Jewish center in New York City. They also planned to shoot down military aircraft with surface-to-air missiles.
Authorities say an FBI informant gathered intelligence and passed the men fake weapons. They were apparently upset about the war in Afghanistan and violence against Muslims in Pakistan.
An international manhunt under way this morning. Australian authorities and Interpol are looking for a New Zealand couple. The two had applied for a $10,000 loan but someone at the bank transposed a decimal point for four of them and they were accidentally given $10 million New Zealand dollars. That's over $6 million in American. The couple has not been seen since.
And on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend a big jump on the price of the pump today. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded, up nearly three cents to $2.36. In a new report in "USA Today" this morning says the 25 percent hike in oil prices over the past month also has airlines worried.
As we mentioned just a moment ago, four men will face a federal judge just hours from now. They are accused of a bomb plot on a Jewish center and a synagogue here in New York City. It's up in the Bronx. City officials say the public was never actually in danger and that an FBI mole gave the men fake weapons.
For more on all of this, I'm joined by New York Senior Senator Chuck Schumer. Senator Schumer, you were briefed on all of this, what is your understanding of how this all went down and just how real this threat was?
VOICE OF SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Well, clearly these people had evil intent, but the FBI penetrated them early, almost a year ago, was monitoring everything they did. I guess if there can be any good news when there's a proposed terrorist attack, when someone is trying to do a terrorist attack, the only good news in this case is, a, they were penetrated early, b, they were rather unsophisticated and, c, they didn't had many links to other terrorist groups. They had no links to other terrorist groups.
ROBERTS: You know, when you look at this whole thing, they were infiltrated very early on, as you mentioned, it was a year ago in June of last year when the investigation began. As you say, they didn't have any links to terrorist groups. They weren't well organized. They were supplied fake weapons by, I guess, the FBI and this confidential informant actually last night they were caught in the process of planting what they thought were real bombs but were actually inert bombs -
SCHUMER: Right.
ROBERTS: -- in cars outside the synagogue. But the question many people may have this morning, senator, is if they weren't provided with that material, would they have been able to do anything?
SCHUMER: Well, they clearly wanted to. I mean, they weren't being forced to drive over to the synagogue and place a bomb there. I think what the law enforcement tries to do is keep them going for as long as possible because it may lead to other leads. In this case, it didn't, because they were isolated. But I think law enforcement did exactly the right thing.
You want to keep - if you have this group under complete surveillance there is no danger and, at the same time, they may give you other information about other people.
ROBERTS: Right. We do know that one of the suspects here had some relatives who lived in Afghanistan and he was apparently upset about civilian casualties as a result of the Afghan war, angry at the U.S. military for that, wanted to strike back.
Based on what we have seen in Afghanistan over the last eight years, do you expect that there may be more people out there who would want to cause harm here in the United States?
SCHUMER: Well, look, you can't be too careful here and, obviously, in a country like America, there are people just about who have relatives or even who were born in just about every country of the world. I think what this shows is that our FBI and our police department, certainly New York Police Department, are really doing a good job. They are on top of things. Of course, they're not perfect, but they are - every time one of these plots seems to originate, there always seems to be an informer in the middle of them watching them, being careful making sure they don't do any harm.
ROBERTS: Yes, thankfully that has been the case recently. Senator Chuck Schumer from New York, thanks for being with us, senator. Good to talk to you.
SCHUMER: Thanks, John. Have a great day.
ROBERTS: All right. You, too.
The latest job numbers just in to CNN. Well, a spike in auto layoffs keep the numbers high or are more people starting to find jobs? Christine Romans breaks down the numbers, coming up next. It's 36 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: 38 minutes past the hour right now. And just in to CNN, a new report on jobless claims that came out just minutes ago. Christine Romans is here to break down the numbers. And the bottom line is and we try to look for good news. We try to look for the silver lining but these numbers are high.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: These numbers are uncomfortably high and they show the economy has been in a painful recession and continues to be. And, now, just when you were hoping you would see at least a mass layoffs slow, you are seeing automobile industry layoffs starting to affect these numbers again.
So in the most recent week 631,000 people lined up for first-time unemployment benefits and when you count the people who were already getting unemployment benefits, so they weren't filing for the first time but something we call continuing claims, never before have so many Americans been on the continuing claims part of this so never before have so many people been continuing to get jobless benefits.
6,662,000 people in this country continuing to get jobless benefits. Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, even Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, layoff in the automobile industry, the government says are a reason why you're seeing so many people losing their jobs. It's something that we have to really watch here as we continue to see what's going to happen with GM. Next there is a deadline coming up pretty soon. There are many people who think that GM is headed toward a bankruptcy filing in the next couple of weeks and that would certainly add to these numbers if that were to happen.
ROBERTS: OK. Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Tonight, by the way, don't miss "Money & Main Street" right here on CNN. In a rough economy, see how real people are finding a way out. That's tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, how do you interview a legend? I guess I'm going to find out in about five minutes.
ROBERTS: If you listen to a legend, you don't do any research.
CHETRY: I mean, well, maybe everyone has their own method, right? Method to the madness. Larry King though is a legend truly and he is here to talk to us about his new book. He joins us live in the studio, coming up in just a couple of minutes. It's 40 minutes now past the hour.
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CHETRY: We're playing the song "Steal my Sunshine." Apparently someone stole Atlanta's because right now it's cloudy, 64 degrees. They are looking at afternoon showers today, going up to a high of 74. Poor Atlanta because at least here in New York and in Baltimore and in the nation's capital today, it's going to be great and sunny, 80 degrees.
Well, he is a broadcasting legend. He has a career spanning more than 50 years almost half of them as the host of "Larry King Live" right here on CNN. With more than 40,000 interviews under his belt. He has interviewed heads of state. There you see him interviewing our current president and first lady. He has had a close relationship or interviewed presidents since Richard Nixon and now at the age of 75, Larry King is penning his own memoir, "My Remarkable Journey." And he joins me now to talk about it. Great to have you on the show.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Thank you. It's great to be here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: The last time we saw you was two years ago when John and I were first starting.
KING: Have you ever been on a book tour?
CHETRY: No.
KING: I tell you.
CHETRY: What's it like? A little tiring?
KING: I'll say this AMERICAN MORNING must be New York?
CHETRY: That's right. Last time I checked.
KING: Nice here in New York.
CHETRY: And last time you were here you said this place was so big we could turn it into a bowling alley.
KING: That's right.
CHETRY: We thought about it and our request was denied.
KING: Is this all for you?
CHETRY: Every bit of it is just for us. We sometimes just walk around this place. You know, during the commercial break.
KING: And then what time is the game?
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CHETRY: Were not sure. Probably 9:01. But anyway, it is great to have you with us in person. The book is hilarious.
KING: Thank you.
CHETRY: A lot of funny stories. But the one that I love the most because everybody that I talked to that wants to be a journalist or wants to start out in TV or radio always asks the same question of us who are here, how did you get your start? And were you nervous? And you describing your first day on the radio, tell it to us. It's one of my favorite stories.
KING: That was - you never forget that day. It was May 1st, 1957, I was 23 years old. All my life, I wanted to be in radio. I looked at radio. I just - I would listen to shows and imitate, you know, the shadow of! Now I go down on Miami and knock on doors, a small radio station, WHHR, the general manager, a wonderful guy Marshall Simmons, gives me a mike test. I never tested a mike. He says "we like you. You got a future. Hang around here." That's the way I looked. Look at that.
CHETRY: Wow.
KING: I'm Benjamin Button! He goes we got to give you a mike cast. He gave me a mike test and he liked what I did. He said "I tell you what, you've never been on before? " I said no. "Hang around here. First job opening, you got it." And worse of all, station we had people on the way out, we had people on the way up. And there's usually there is openings. Anyway, Tom Bair, I never forget him. He quit because his alimony was $60 a week and he made 55.
So one day he figured out he can't do this! So he quit and they gave me the job. I'm going to start Monday morning. And he says, "you start Monday morning and you're on from six to nine. You're a disk jockey and pick out your own music. " So I stayed up all weekend, no sleep, and practice good morning, good morning, hi, my name is Larry Zeiger, that was my name.
And finally I meet him Monday morning. It was about 20 minutes before the show and he said "what name are you going to use?" I said "what is wrong with Larry Zeiger?" He says "it's too ethnic and people won't know how to spell it. We got to give you another name." I said what? He had the "Miami Herald" open and an ad for King's wholesale liquors. "How about Larry King? OK. Larry King, go get them."
Now I go down, I sit down the studio and I'm on. The music is Les Elgar "Swinging Down the Lane." I lower the music and turn on the mike and nothing comes out.
CHETRY: A joke.
KING: Up goes the music and down goes the music. Up goes the music. The general manager kicks open the door of the control room and says "this is the communications business, damn it! Communicate!" He slams the door. I turned on the mike and I did something that morning that I would do to this day. Be honest. I said, good morning. My name is Larry King. That's the first time I've ever said that. This is my first day on the air. I wanted it all my life and I've been scared to death and the general manager just opened the door and he said, this is a communications business, communicate. So I better communicate and I never was nervous again.
CHETRY: And you told that story at your 50th anniversary that we went to. It really stuck with me. Because it's one of the things that you said that you've done since then. If you bring the audience in because they know you're authentic and they know you're real, it works for you.
KING: I learned something that day that is so true. You do it. John does it. If you're real broadcaster, you do it. I was being interviewed once, years ago and the guy said wow, that's fine, what if you're walking down the hall at NBC, someone grabbed you and said Tom Brokaw said you're on, right? I would say, hello, I'm Larry King. I was walking down the hall. A guy grabbed me, he said Tom Brokaw is sick, you're on! And then I would say I've never anchored the news before, bear with me. What do you have then? First, nobody tunes out. How is this guy going to do?
CHETRY: Right. They want to see the train wreck if it happens, right?
KING: If it happens they don't blame you. You were walking down the hall. But the stupidest thing would be is to say, hi, I'm Larry King and here to do the news at 6:00 and I don't know what I'm talking about!
CHETRY: You know, I'm sure people ask you this all the time. You've done so many interviews. I mean we've talked about you've interviewed 40,000 people and you know, people always ask you about your wish list, what were some of your most memorable interviews. But one thing I've always been curious about is how do you maintain that same curiosity? Because you bring it every night -
KING: I've had it all my life. I cannot explain it. I remember being a kid, I get on a bus and I asked the bus driver, why do you want to drive a bus? I go to the Ebbets Field and watch the Dodgers play and most kids wanted autographs and I wanted to ask questions. Why did you bunt in the third inning? Who is pitching tomorrow? That is fascinating. Who, what, when, where and why has fascinated me all my life, right up to last night. I just have not lost that. And the hard part about being on this side is I'd rather interview you.
CHETRY: You did last time and we got in a lot of trouble because we ran out of time.
KING: I did?
CHETRY: Yes. I was wearing the black suspenders. You asked me a lot of questions. You asked what my dream job would be here and I said you know when that 9:00 hour comes open. You know, I heard there was possibly an opening. I just say, I was walking down the hall and Larry King said -
KING: Let me add that - if this book tour keeps up like it is, the opening could be tomorrow!
CHETRY: Oh, goodness. Well, I'm glad you did stop by.
KING: My pleasure.
CHETRY: The book is filled with so many fascinating anecdotes. You keep your humor through all of it.
KING: And by the way, if you're in New York, I'm signing books tonight and my man, John, is going to be there and we're going to do a little Q & A along with signing books -
CHETRY: Where are you going to be?
KING: At Barnes and Noble on Union Square. Fifth and 17th Street. I think it's square, you snow, Union Square?
CHETRY: That's what I heard.
KING: Well, New York. If it says Union Square, it better say that. I grew up here.
CHETRY: Exactly. I know.
KING: Where did you grow up?
CHETRY: I grew up outside of D.C., in Maryland.
KING: Where in Maryland?
CHETRY: Gaithersburg.
KING: I know Gaithersburg.
CHETRY: How about it?
KING: I lived in Washington for 20 years.
CHETRY: You did and what is your favorite place that you ever lived?
KING: L.A., where I am now. Well, I got two little boys and they are in Little League and I go to the Dodgers Games there and it's a beautiful climate and I like the city. And Los Angeles is a great place to live. Nothing against New York where I grew up or Washington which is one of them or Miami, but sure if I had to pick one, it would be L.A.
CHETRY: Well, for everyone out there looking for something to read, this is great, "My Remarkable Journey" by Larry King. And who are you kissing in the back cover. KING: Here is what hurts me? See that little boy there?
CHETRY: Yes. He is so adorable.
KING: He is now 10. That's chance. And I was sitting with one guy and he said, oh, your grandson! Dear me.
CHETRY: That's all right. You know what, you're only as old as you feel. Larry, thanks for being with us.
KING: My pleasure, dear.
CHETRY: Good to talk to you.
KING: It happens so fast, doesn't it? Wow.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: And I'm John, by the way. I'm just a kid from the Boonies who managed to get a break and got into radio and done this a few times but I can still screw up. So stay tuned.
We had huge response to our Dr. Gupta's video blog on post traumatic stress disorder. So just ahead, Sanjay opening up his mailbag and taking your questions. 51 minutes now after the hour.
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ROBERTS: So many of you have commented on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's post-traumatic stress disorder video blog last week that we wanted to get some of your question answered. We are paging CNN's chief medical correspondent. He joins us now from Atlanta. Sanjay, great to see you. First question this morning comes from Margaret via the "Paging Dr. Gupta" blog. Margaret wants to know, do PTSD symptoms ever really go away?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we did get a huge response. A lot of questions on this. The answer to that question which was a common one is no, unfortunately. In part because you're talking about a pretty profound psychological reaction and physiological, meaning your heart can start to race, you can have increases in blood pressure. So there's lots of things going on here. But the severity of them can vary and go down over time.
Take a look at some of the symptoms of PTSD overall. People get frightening thoughts. They may have flashbacks. They may have outbursts of anger and on the flip side of that they may have emotional numbness, trouble sleeping. It an manifest itself in all sorts of different ways. You can start to sort of mitigate those symptoms over time, Margaret, and get rid of some of the triggers, identify those. Counseling can help but you sort of have it for life.
ROBERTS: All right. Second question comes from Tracy, Sanjay, who writes "is there any counseling that would prepare or protect a person from developing PTSD?"
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting. We asked this question a lot as well. So the way I think of it is you can prepare, you can try and predict who is going to develop it. But it's very hard to prevent it overall. And that is sort of the key. There's a lot of sort of programs out there to try and predict who is most likely to develop PTSD. There's even a program out there called Battle Mind which is specifically for people who are going out into the battlefield and preparing them for some of the things that they might see.
What they have noticed is people who see some of the things that are particularly awful and they feel helpless about doing anything about those things, those are the people who are the most vulnerable, it seems. You know that sort of leads to some of the counseling and some of the programs they have to prepare people for this.
ROBERTS: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning, doc, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: And you can join in on the conversation, by the way, on PTSD. Right now, Dr. Gupta is on twitter this morning. Send Sanjay your questions at twitter.com/amfix.
Well that's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here bright and early again tomorrow.
CHETRY: That's right. Coming up after the break, the latest developments on the alleged terror plot in New York.
"CNN NEWSROOM" takes over with Don Lemon.
