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American Morning

All 33 Trapped Miners are Free; Reactions to the O'Donnell- Coons Debate; Faulty Foreclosures, States Investigate Practices Used by Lenders; Boomerang Kids on the Rise

Aired October 14, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A good Thursday morning to you on this October 14th. Thanks for joining us on the most news in the morning. I'm John Roberts in New York. Good morning to you, Kiran.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, John, good morning. I'm Kiran Chetry here on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware this morning. It was the site of the big debate between the Senate candidates, Christine O'Donnell as well as Chris Coons last night.

We were up here bright and early this morning. We got a lot of reaction from the debate watchers locally, so we'll give you that as well a little bit later.

Meanwhile, a lot to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it. Christine O'Donnell, the Republican Tea Party favorite, taking off the gloves last night in the Delaware Senate debate aired here on CNN. The Tea Party comparing her Democratic opponent to Karl Marx at one point, and Chris Coons fighting back, calling her an extremist and questioning some of her answers.

How did the debate play to voters? Well, we're going to show that in just a moment.

ROBERTS: They are all out, the nation of Chile exhaling this morning. All 33 trapped miners are free after a flawless day-long rescue operation. Their children, newborn babies, wives, even a mistress waiting. Some of the miners may leave the hospital today. We are in Chile with the latest for you this morning.

CHETRY: Also, Apple reaching new highs. This is the time when you say, why, why didn't I buy ten years ago? Well, the stock closing at just over $300 a share, quite a feat for a company worth only $7 a share ten years ago. Wow.

So what's behind the benchmark? We're going to take a look at that as well. Don't you wish, John, that you knew way back then what we know now?

ROBERTS: I wish I would have known in 1982 when I bought my first Apple computer. That would have been a great idea. Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: Exactly. ROBERTS: Up first, Chile's long national nightmare is over this morning. After a lengthy rescue operation all 33 miners are back up on the surface again. All of them seem to be doing well. The final miner out, 55-year-old Luis Urzua. He was the captain, the man whose direction helped keep the group alive.

Then the rescue crew who remained underground held up a banner saying "Mission Accomplished." And this time it was. About two hours later they were all out. It was the end of a flawless and riveting rescue operation, the end of the longest underground entrapment in history, a triumph of technology and the human spirit.

Patrick Oppmann has the latest for us. He's live in Chile for us this morning. Good morning, Patrick. Wow, what a day it was.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a day and what a night last night, John. We were here in the hospital where many of the miners were brought yesterday. The rest were brought late last night.

And we were watching that last rescue, and something incredible happened. Up above us in the second and fourth floors, we started hearing that chanting, the clapping, the crying, the excitement. It was the miners themselves. We were told they were watching the rescue of that final miner, Luis Urzua, their captain, and they were extremely excited and boisterous as they watched him come to the surface.

These men are on bed rest, John, but not surprisingly they're not really following doctors' orders. We're told every patient in this hospital last night was watching the coverage of Luis Urzua being brought to the surface. The two final rescues, including the hospital's most important patients, the miners brought here.

They're getting a full checkup. They're going to have everything from their physical health, mental health, checked over by the doctors. Now, the doctors can see and touch them and examine them properly. And then we're told starting today some of the miners will be released to the families. It's a long overdue homecoming, John.

ROBERTS: So I guess now the discussion is going to turn to mine safety, because the last of the rescuers to come up said to Chile's president they would have to do some about mine safety. This is a very old mine first opened in 1989. They had a number of accidents.

Is that what the discussion is going to turn to now, how this happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again?

OPPMANN: You know, one way to look at this is just look at the miners themselves. Most of these men have been in hospitals many times before because of mine accidents. Mario Gomez is missing two fingers from his hand. Dario Segovia was in the hospital for about a year because of a back injury. His father, a miner before him, lost an eye in a mining accident. These men know the dangers of mining all too well.

And I think for the entire country of Chile, enough is enough. They've missed a bullet here and they can't count on miracles continuing to happen. The president of Chile said last night that things will have to change. The rescuer, that brave man, Miguel Gonzalez who went in first and came out last, told the president last night this needs to change. Mine safety needs to change.

And that is a man, Miguel Gonzalez, who is a mine rescuer. He knows all too well the dangers in Chile's mines.

ROBERTS: Patrick Oppmann for this morning live in Chile, thanks so much. Just five minutes from now we're going to be talking with Arturo Fermandois. He's the Chilean ambassador to the United States on the national pride he's feeling, the international effort to save these men, and where we go from here in terms of mine safety. Kiran

CHETRY: Meantime, back here at the University of Delaware's campus, the site of last night's debate, a lot of fireworks. And one I guess you could say supremely uncomfortable moment of silence highlighting last night's Delaware Senate debate.

The Tea Party favorite, Republican Christine O'Donnell is still trailing badly in the polls. By the latest estimates she's down about 19 percent over her Democratic rival Chris Coons. She went on the attack last night, even in the opening statement.

The entire country watched it live on CNN. We're going to get reaction from our political analyst Gloria Borger. You had a chance to watch it as well.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I did.

CHETRY: First of all, just fascinating that the tiny state of Delaware -- in full disclosure, I know it well. My husband and I were married here. We have a little cottage down in the lower part of Delaware. It's a great state.

But you would never think, and a lot of my friends and family, never thought that the nation would care about this Senate seat.

BORGER: It's so interesting, because as you know very well this is a Senate seat occupied by Joe Biden for, what, more than three decades, very settled politics here. A very safe Democratic seat people thought. But, of course, nothing is safe this year in particular.

Then you inject the tea party into this, Christine O'Donnell, and everything is up for grabs. And then Chris Coons, the Democratic candidate, you kind of have an accidental candidate. This is somebody who is a New Castle county executive.

CHETRY: Right. People didn't think that Democrats would take the seat. They thought that long time representative Mike Castle who was the favorite for the GOP was going to take it. Christine O'Donnell storms in.

And so then no one really knows who she is except for the clips from appearances on "The Bill Maher Show" back in the 1990s. BORGER: Right. And it's interesting because they don't really know who Chris Coons is either, you know. While he's been in the office as a county executive, he hasn't had a high profile. He hasn't really been out there.

And you couldn't have two more different candidates, this kind of voluble woman who is a leader of party, she believe the Tea Party in this state, getting advice from Sarah Palin. And you have Chris Coons who gets advice from Joe Biden on how to handle Christine O'Donnell because he dealt with Sarah Palin during his debate. Delaware has become a very interesting state this time.

CHETRY: And you brought up the parallels between Palin and Christine O'Donnell. Last night, unfortunately, some were reminded of a gaffe. Let's play it and I'd like to hear your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What opinions of late that have come from our high court do you most object to?

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, (R) DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: Oh, gosh. Give me a specific one, I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I can't, because I need you to tell me which ones you object to.

O'DONNELL: Umm, I'm very sorry. Right of the top of my head I know that there are a lot. But I'll put it up on my Web site, I promise you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Does that hurt her?

BORGER: Yes, I think it does. I mean, look, this is a very conservative court. So in the last few years, there are probably, since John Roberts became the chief justice, there are probably fewer things that conservatives object to.

She could have been more prepared on that question, particularly since she knows what tripped up Sarah Palin in the past. And she probably knew that they were going to go after her specifically on policy because the rap against her is that she's not a credible candidate with enough experience.

CHETRY: Also, the parodies, the "Saturday Night Live" skits, the campaign commercial where she said "I'm not witch. I'm you." Let's just hear how the two candidates mixed it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COONS: There's been lots of discussion in the national media that my opponent has said or done that I frankly think are a distraction.

O'DONNELL: You're just jealous that you're not on "Saturday Night Live."

COONS: I'm dying to see who's going to play me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So, in that moment, they were both sort of making light of the jokes. That was probably one of the only light moments.

BORGER: It was. You know, it's interesting, because he was trying to make another point, which is I'm not going to go there on these terrible issues of is she a witch, is she not a witch? What does she believe about evolution? Those are comedy shows. We've got serious things we've got to talk about.

And then she made a joke. So it was very clear that she was prepared to kind of be self-deprecating, if you will, about the "Saturday Night Live" skit and all of that. And that works. But, you know, there weren't a lot of people in there really laughing.

CHETRY: No, there were not. And there's still say lot of undecided voters in the state. Whether or not they're turned in their opinion about what they saw last night remains to be seen.

Gloria, thanks. We'll check in with you again in the last hour. And we're also going to be joined in the next hour by Delaware's Democratic candidate for Senate, Chris Coons. You saw him last night in the debate. He did get some criticism. Some people who were watching said he came off as a little dismissive perhaps of Christine O'Donnell.

But did he play it above board and is he going to be able to pull off this unexpected win? Just looking at a few months back, it seemed like it was a safe seat for Republicans. So we're going to talk to Chris Coons coming up in the next hour as well, John.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: It's 12 minutes after the hour. More from the University of Delaware and last night's debate coming up, as well as the Chilean miners. And later on this morning, Goldie Hawn and a new way to teach our kids. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're here at the University of Delaware campus this morning. It was the site of a pretty fiery debate between the Senate candidates here in the state. And Christine O'Donnell was certainly the focus for many who didn't really know where she stood on a lot of issues. She rocked the political world because of her upset win in the Republican primary last month. And since then, she's dominated the headlines.

Well, last night, the Tea Party sensation made her debate debut against Democrat Chris Coons. In her opening statement, she came out swinging. A bulk of what people know about Christine O'Donnell though comes from TV clips when she was a guest of "Political Incorrect with Bill Maher" back in the '90s. That's where she made the famous "dabbled in witchcraft" statement that has since become a parody on "Saturday Night Live," among other shows.

Well, we decided to talk to some of the locals here in Delaware. After the debate, what did they think? And would they vote for her? Let's check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: What do you think people wanted to hear tonight from the candidates? What are some of the biggest issues that you hear people talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think that Christine O'Donnell needed to show that she's a human being, a real person and that she's impassioned. That all this other sort of conversation that's been going on about her is not really accurate. And I think that's what she attempted to do and I think she did very well with that.

CHETRY: What stuck out to you about either one of the candidates?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I actually don't plan on voting for either candidate. I just feel that Christine O'Donnell doesn't really answer any questions. She goes very circular on things. And I just feel like think Chris Coons has been kind of condescending. And it's just I don't get a good feeling from either candidate.

CHETRY: So you're going to sit it out or you're going to write in somebody?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to write in someone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she's just like mean. She's just saying these mean things and she's not answering questions. And I don't think she's doing a great job tonight.

CHETRY: You were happy with her performance tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think she did -- I think she did well. Yes. They're in a difficult -- you know, again, it's a very experienced, you know, Delaware person, whatever, so she held her own. So, I think, you know, it shows what's going on in politics in general and people are tired of politics generally. They want results.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I find it abundantly disconcerting that we have this much in common with Wasilla. Even if you have some concerns about Chris Coons' history or his politics or whatever, yet, again, we have a polarized election where it's a black and white thing, because it's she's so far off the grid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Chris Coons performed better tonight. He seems to have more of a plan, more of a substance to what she's trying to protect everybody, to the American people. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think her message resonates because I think there is a ground swell that wants change. They're upset with the direction of the country. Whether she's a perfect candidate or not is an open question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: So, you know, John, for the die-hard conservative Tea Party voters, I mean, they're comfortable with Christine O'Donnell. There are others who, like the last man we just saw, who voted for President Obama in 2008 as a candidate but says that he is disappointed with how things have gone since then. So he's saying, while Christine O'Donnell certainly isn't a perfect candidate, that she might be the right check and balance in the Senate against the Obama administration. So a very interesting range of opinions last night. But as you pointed out in the last hour, the bottom line is, she's still down nearly 20 points. That's a lot to recover this late in the game.

ROBERTS: And he's attracting the support of 17 percent of Republicans. So there's an interesting split going on there in Delaware.

CHETRY: Yes. And the one local issue, and we are going to ask him about is, people are -- if you ask people what their biggest reservation is with Chris Coons, a lot of people say taxes. They're afraid of the tax hikes. They're afraid of spending. People have seen their taxes raised in Delaware and it's a very, very sore subject here.

ROBERTS: Just under three weeks to go, it's going to be a tight race there. Well, maybe not so much tight, but it will be an interesting race. Let's put it that way. All right.

So much for the empty nest, more college grads are planning to move home than ever before and that can be a real strain on your finances. So how do you make it work? Our Christine Romans has some important tips for you coming right up.

It's 20 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour now, "Minding Your Business" this Thursday morning. And Christine Romans is here. Good morning to you.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We're following this foreclosure crisis, John, that just continues to mushroom here. You have 50 attorneys general. All the states now are investigating the practices of the big mortgage servicers. As they were robo signing, you've heard this term, right? They were signing off on foreclosures in the courts without actually reviewing, in some cases, the documents leading up to that foreclosure. So now they have frozen many of the big servicers, have frozen foreclosures, foreclosure sales around the country and has put the brakes on the foreclosure process. So we're continuing to follow this.

Iowa's attorney general Tom Miller leading this investigation says that this has gone beyond just shoddy paperwork. They're really reinvestigating whether laws were broken.

John, I wanted to point out the number of bank repossessions last month topped 100,000 for the first time ever. That is about two a minute, I think, two people a minute were losing a home. It's really a very big problem. Five million people are behind in their bills. So this isn't a small story, folks. The foreclosure issue right now and this big debate about whether we should just stop the whole process and do a big time-out gut check, it's got big ramifications for the housing market, healing the housing market. It's also got big ramifications for a lot of people who are trying to decide whether to pay their mortgages.

ROBERTS: A lot of people are losing their homes but at the same time, a lot of people's homes are becoming more crowded these days.

ROMANS: That's right. This is this issue of the boomerang kids. CNN Money has a fantastic story today about boomerang kids, the number of people coming back after college. Eighty-five percent of kids graduating from college coming back and living with -- you probably --

ROBERTS: Eighty-five percent?

ROMANS: Yes, and this number has been growing. It was 81 percent last year. This is a trend we've been watching.

Look, there aren't two in 10 kids in the class of 2010 got job offers. Well, the other eight are going home. In my book "Smart is the New Rich," I've got some advice for you if you are getting in one of those crowded homes.

We talked to a lot of experts about this because this is a new -- this is a new phenomenon in this country. Make sure your kid knows it's a close-ended commitment. You make them pay rent. You can. And if they don't pay rent, maybe you can make them put money aside as their first down payment for an apartment. They have to give you jobs search progress reports. And do not -- I always say this -- do not put, you know, imported beer in the refrigerator. Don't. Just don't.

ROBERTS: Unless it's the kid that buys it.

ROMANS: Unless it's the kid -- unless it's part of their rent. But this is something I think we're going to continue to see. So you're going to see a lot of families with the foreclosure crisis, with the housing crisis, with high cost of living, and now with kids coming home and living at home. Baby boomers thought they're planning for their future, and suddenly they're planning for their kids' futures again.

ROBERTS: Yes. This is something I had some experience with.

ROMANS: Oh, really?

ROBERTS: Yes. All the boomerang is over.

ROMANS: But I'm sure your boomerang was very charming and did the dishes?

ROBERTS: Yes.

ROMANS: Yes?

ROBERTS: He was what?

ROMANS: Was he charming and did he do dishes?

ROBERTS: Oh, yes, yes. Absolutely.

ROMANS: OK, good. Do the dishes. If you're staying home with mom, at least do the dishes.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure.

ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour. We're going to talk with Chile's ambassador to the United States right after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 7:28 this morning here at the University of Delaware. That was a shot of the University of Delaware campus this morning, the site of the debate last night, John, where the Senate candidates from the state battled it out. It was live on CNN last night. And it was pretty interesting to see.

We had a chance to see Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell, as well as Chris Coons, the Democrat, go head to head on various issues. Wolf Blitzer moderating that debate. But we're going to play a little bit more of it for you a little bit later, John, and also hear from the candidate himself. Chris Coons is going to be joining us a little later. Of course, we did reach out to Christine O'Donnell's camp but she was not available for us this morning, unfortunately.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, continuing with our top stories this morning.

They are all out. Those 33 Chilean miners who spent 69 days underground, all rescued. Some of them in the hospital this morning. They survived longer than anyone else ever has underground. Chile's health minister says no one -- says that one person is being treated for pneumonia but some may be able to leave today.

And Hurricane Paula slowly turning towards the west coast of Cuba this morning. It's weakening but it could dump up to six inches of rain on the island with sustained winds of 80 miles an hour. Forecasters say by the time Paula reaches Havana tomorrow, it could be downgraded to a tropical depression. Mission accomplished. The San Jose Mine is empty this morning. All 33 Chilean miners are out after being buried alive for a record 69 days. President Obama said the rescue inspired the world, and the world not only watched but helped out, too.

Joining us now live from Washington is Ambassador Arturo Fermandois. He is the Chilean ambassador to the United States. Mr. Ambassador, thanks for joining us this morning. We want to get your reaction first of all to the scene yesterday. I mean, this must be an enormous source of national pride, the way that that rescue came off literally flawlessly.

AMBASSADOR ARTURO FERMANDOIS, CHILEAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Absolutely. Absolutely. John, thank you for having me here. The word today probably for Chile is - yesterday was happiness, it was spiritual highness. Today, it's accuracy, it's perfection. This is the most successful mining rescue in the history. We're so proud of the Chilean engineers, about the friendship that we received from the other countries.

Today, perfection is the word. And the way that man can defy destiny with spirit and also with human support and human efforts and the strength of all the miners, all of these feelings are coming to my mind now.

ROBERTS: Yes, it was amazing to see at that the spirits that they were in almost to a person, and of course, it was demonstrated by super Mario, Mario Sepulveda. But the question today is who is going to play Super Mario in the movie that will inevitably be made about all this. But there was high praise, Mr. Ambassador for the operation every step of the way. NASA officials who went down there in the early going said that the Chileans are basically writing the book about mine rescue. What led to the success?

FERMANDOIS: Well, sometimes, when you're ambassador like me here and you are forced to talk about your country and to say that we have a mining, a leading mining industry in Chile. We got good professors there. We got good universities there, sometimes, it's very hard to explain that part. But with a story like this, it's easier to get the feeling that we are really a good country, in terms of technical capabilities and abilities.

And I think that there's many, many skills on those miners and on the professionals. The leadership they showed from the very beginning, with themselves, in terms of keeping the environment clean and for the food issue. And also the leadership the government took. The president made it a personal thing. He made no political declarations ongoing and then rescuing them.

When we had no news about them for 17 days, the percentage of having them alive were about two percent, say the experts. So, so many abilities there for having a happy end. Today, we are extremely happily for our country and for the world.

ROBERTS: Yes, we all remember the moment, Mr. Ambassador when that exploratory drill that came up with the note taped to the bottom of it saying we're all alive, all 33 of us. At the same time, though, there were a lot of problems with the San Jose Mine. Manuel Gonzalez who was the last person to come from the mine. He was the first rescuer to go down appealed to President Pinero to do something about it.

Here's what he said, we got a translator on this to the president yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL GONZALEZ, MINE SAFETY EXPERT (through translator): Mr. President, I hope this never happens again. I hope that the Chilean mining will be different, that I hope things will be done correctly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Mr. Ambassador, when you look at the overall record of mining in Chile, certainly, there are some very good mines, well run mine but then there are mines like the San Jose Mines, 50 miners died in the country last year and while Chile only accounts for one percent of the mine workers around the world, it does account for eight percent of the accidents. So the track record not exactly stellar. What's the government going to do about it?

FERMANDOIS: Well, exactly. Here are two realities. And the government recognizes that. There is a huge mining industry with large companies, and they have very excellent, excellent standards of safety. Overall, Chile has a very good figures there. But then we have small miners. Small mining. And because the price of the ((inaudible)) is high, we have small miners going with lower safety standards. And the government is going to push this.

The sentence about the last miner, the message he sent to the president is a very fair one. So what we need to do here, in the country, is going to the small miners, increase the oversight. Higher the standards. Taking more efforts in covering the small miners with lower capitals.

And of course, there is a mistake here. The government took office in March so there's a huge movement to have this dream of not having this again.

ROBERTS: What about the San Jose Mine? Is it going to remain open or do you think it will be shut down? It's an old mine. It was originally opened in 1889.

FERMANDOIS: Exactly.

ROBERTS: It was shut down for a while and then reopened, as you said as the price of copper went up. But it's got a long history of accidents. Should it be reopened or should it be closed permanently?

FERMANDOIS: Probably, it's going to remain closed after this story. There's a lot of investigations going on for picking up the responsibilities there. And also, the authorities are looking deeper whether this mine should be closed and other mines should also be closed probably. So this say big lesson for avoiding new accidents in the future. And the President Pinero is very aware about that.

ROBERTS: All right. Ambassador Arturo Fermandois, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much for coming in. Appreciate it. And congratulations on the rescue.

FERMANDOIS: You're welcome, John. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Thank you. Kiran.

CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, it's 36 minutes past the hour right now.

The investigation into a reported shooting of an American jet skier along the Texas border has taken a bizarre turn. The officer overseeing the search now found murdered. So does this lend more credence to the wife's claims about what may have happened to her husband? Ed Lavandera is live for us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 40 minutes past the hour right now. We have some new developments this morning on a story we've been following closely, taking a bizarre turn this morning. U.S. and Mexican officials are still moving forward with their investigation into the disappearance and alleged death of American David Hartley.

Now, this is happening, despite the grisly murder of the lead Mexican investigator in this case. Hartley's wife has claimed all along that her husband was killed by drug pirates while they were jet skiing on Falcon Lake. It is a lake that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. At this point, his body has not been found, and neither has his jet ski.

It's been raising a lot of questions. This morning our Ed Lavandera has been following all of it for us this morning. He joins us from McAllen, Texas this morning. So the latest on this murder of the Mexican investigator seems to lend a little bit more credence to Hartley's wife's claims that he was murdered by Mexican pirates.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only that, but it also kind of starts painting the grisly picture that perhaps his body will never be recovered on the Mexican side of the border, if indeed, that's where it is. But that is the realization that people here, especially those close to David Hartley, his wife and family members here who have come here to kind of stand vigil in the Texas area are coming to the realization.

We met up with Tiffany Hartley last night, amid a report suggesting that perhaps this was a case of mistaken identity. An intelligence agency, a company called Stratforo (ph) which does a lot of investigative work and a lot of analysis along the Texas-Mexico border on drug cartels says that perhaps the case of mistaken identity. The Hartley's truck had Mexican license plates on it. He worked across the border. That was not an uncommon thing around here.

This agency suggests that perhaps this was a case of mistaken identity. One drug cartel mistakes him for a spy for another. But what's interesting, Tiffany Hartley, last Wednesday, eight days ago, met with the very investigator, in a private secret kind of meeting that took place just on a border checkpoint last Wednesday. Six days after that, that man was murdered.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIFFANY HARTLEY, WIFE OF DAVID HARTLEY: I met him. He sat right next to me. We talked through a translator. And he just seemed like a really good guy who really wanted to just do good for his, you know, his country.

LAVANDERA (on camera): But do you worry that the next person is going to say, "hey, look, I saw what happened to the guy before me? I'm not interested."

HARTLEY: It is. You know, it definitely makes me worry that nobody is going to want to take over. But right now, they're still searching and until, you know, they decide that they need to back off or whatever, until that day comes. But right now, we're still asking, please search for David. Please find him so we can go home.

SHERIFF SIGIFREDO GONZALEZ, ZAPATA COUNTY, TEXAS: I think it's a message for the search to stop. To back out on the investigation. I think what it means, in Mexico, in a case like this, I also understand that they do their own justice to their own people (INAUDIBLE) .

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: So there's no question, and this is a situation that has happened many times over the last few years, along the Mexican border, where you see beheadings like this, and it more often than not has a very chilling effect on the investigations that go forward.

However, Tiffany Hartley and her family believe that Mexican authorities will continue with the search. U.S. officials on this side continued their search yesterday out on Falcon Lake. They say as much as anything, they're trying to send a message, that they're not giving up.

CHETRY: And I know that there are some questions about whether her story checked out. There was some talk about whether they want her to take a lie detector test. Has the talk of her being a suspect receded in light of this latest developments?

LAVANDERA: A lot of that has gone away and I talked to the sheriff yesterday who you just talked briefly there from yesterday. I asked him again and he said that, you know, he's got no doubts that the story she's telling is true. Tiffany Hartley herself has said that a lot of those questions and a lot of the intensity of those questions and doubt has really started to go away in the last few days.

CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Texas. Thanks so much. John?

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.

Heavy rains, strong winds and inevitable travel delays. The northeast gearing up for a Nor'easter.

Plus, on the bottom of the country, will hurricane Paula reach Florida? Bonnie Schneider is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: About 48 minutes after the hour. A shout outside of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, where right now it's sunny and 52 degrees. But the weather's not going to be so nice for the rest of the day. In fact, it's going to go to a warm place in a hand basket.

Bonnie Schneider in Atlanta this morning, tracking the weather for us. We've got bad weather heading into the northeast and some bad weather potentially head for Florida.

Hi, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. You're right. You're getting ready for a nor'easter after a week of spectacular weather up north.

But down to the south we go and we are watching Paula, still a hurricane. A small, compact hurricane but look at it. As you can see, as some of the wind shear breaking it down a bit as it advances towards Cuba, a category 1 storm right now. It will weaken rapidly as it interacts with the rugged mountain terrain of Western Cuba.

Because of the mountainous terrain, one of our biggest concerns with Paul is mudslides. We can see up to 10 inches of rain, possible three or four inches on average. But those heavy, intense rainfalls certainly possible as we go through the afternoon and into tomorrow with Paula.

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ROBERTS: Well this morning's top stories just minutes away now. More post game live from the Delaware debate just ahead. And also, the miracle at the mine. They spent more time trapped underground than anyone ever. How are the 33 miners doing this morning? We're live in Chile with an update for you.

And Academy Award winner Goldie Hawn is going to be with us this morning, talking about her passion, a new way to teach our kids. The power of positive pathways in the brain. Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.

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ROBERTS: Coming up on 54 minutes after the hour and new this morning, police in Atlanta praising rapper T.I. for helping to save someone's life. They say he persuaded a suicidal man not to jump from a roof of a high-rise hotel yesterday. T.I. recorded a cell phone video message that police took to the man. He then agreed to come down in exchange for a face-to-face meeting with the rapper.

CHETRY: Wow, that's pretty amazing.

Well, if you're feeling any safer these days, you should because a government survey says that the nation's violent crime rate continues to drop, actually, falling last year to the lowest levels since 1973. The survey asked people about crimes that they've reported, as well as those that they have not reported. And that's because according to the Bureau of Justice statistics, only about half of violent crimes and 40 percent of property crimes are actually reported.

ROBERTS: It is the $1 million question. Did President Obama see the man who bared it all at a rally last weekend? You remember Juan Rodriguez was arrested for trying to run naked through the crowd in exchange for a shot at a $1 million payday that was offered by a web site. Now that web site's owner, Alki David says he wants the White House to confirm that President Obama before Rodriguez can claim his prize. So far, the White House not responding.

But, you know, out of a sense of fun, you'd think someone at the White House would say, oh yes, the President saw him. Now pay up.

CHETRY: Come on. A million dollars is riding on it. The president should say it. Certainly make that man's day.

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CHETRY: Hey, that'll will be funny if the guy gets it.

If you're feeling disgruntled at work, maybe this costume might work for you this Halloween season. Check it out. It's called the angry flight attendant. Of course this is modeled for former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater. It's complete with the shirt, the tie, the bandage, of course, for the head wound supposedly caused by an unruly passenger's carry-on bag. But you're going to have to BYOB> It doesn't come with beer. I guess you're going to have to bring your own emergency chute, as well, because the costume doesn't have one of those.

ROBERTS: If you can't bring a beer, what about a coffee? Starbucks telling baristas to slow down. The "Wall Street Journal" says baristas can now only make two drinks at once -- and listen to this -- must steam new milk for every drink. That's going to slow things down. The paper says it's over customer complaints that the baristas have cheapened the fine art of coffee making. But how long are you willing to wait for that fine cup of art? Yes, that'll tell the tale.

Top stories coming your way right after the break. We'll be right back.

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