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American Morning
New Face of Al Qaeda; White House Defends Libya Mission; Weiner Scandal: Porn Star Asked to Lie; Fans Riot in Vancouver After Loss to Bruins; Prosecution Rests in the Casey Anthony Trial; Syrian Refugees Flee to Turkey; Same-Sex Marriage Bill Passes NY Assembly
Aired June 16, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, Osama bin Laden's successor. Al Qaeda elevating its long-time number two to the top spot. So who is Ayman al-Zawahiri? Where did he come from and what can we expect ahead?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also, a war of words over the mission in Libya. Ten U.S. congressmen suing President Obama saying that he overstepped his powers. Now the White House is fighting back. A live report next.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And the House may try to remove Anthony Weiner from a key committee today. This as a former porn star is talking about her contacts with the congressman.
VELSHI: Plus, Justin Timberlake tells us what he does to stop thinking. All of that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Al Qaeda has a new chief. I'm Kiran Chetry.
Breaking news this morning. Osama bin Laden's successor has been chosen. He is the terror organization's long-time second in command. We're digging deeper this morning of the background of Ayman al- Zawahiri.
VELSHI: A Libyan -- a lawsuit over Libya. I'm Ali Velshi. Lawmakers claim the president exceeded his powers in authorizing the military mission to Libya as the White House makes its own legal case for continuing the campaign.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. A former porn actress goes before the cameras to say Congressman Anthony Weiner told her to lie about their online communications.
CHETRY: And welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Thursday, June 16th. Glad you're with us this morning.
ROMANS: Good morning, everybody. Up first this morning, the new face of Al Qaeda. The story breaking right now. The terror organization announcing it has chosen a new leader to succeed Osama bin Laden.
VELSHI: It is Al Qaeda's long time number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Nic Robertson is live in Bahrain this morning. He has followed this very closely.
Nic, how did we learn about this appointment? How does an appointment like this even happen?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Al Qaeda put out a statement on various Islamist Web sites saying that their general command have met and they have come up with this decision that Ayman al-Zawahiri was taking over. Perhaps no surprise he's been the heir apparent. Bin Laden was charismatic. He's ideologue. He's driven the organization to where it is. Kind of surprising it's taken them so long to come up with announcing this, though, Ali.
VELSHI: Is this -- it's surprising it took them so long, but it's not surprising to you. Who knows the structure of Al Qaeda that it's him? What should people expect? Is Al Qaeda going to be more militant? Is it going to go after new targets? Are we in more or less danger?
ROBERTSON: We're going to expect it to go after the same targets and perhaps with a renewed energy. Zawahiri is going to want to put his stamp on the organization and he's probably going to want to sort of counteract. Well, we've seen at the Arab spring this democratic uprising in the Middle East. He doesn't want to lose supporters to this new movement, the democracy overthrowing what they call the dictators of the Middle East which has been Al Qaeda's aim, as well as taking on the United States, Europe, the west in general. So we're going to expect more of the same and to see him kind of expand influence across the Middle East and take advantage where governments and situations are weakened across the Middle East, Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Nic, thank you for that. We'll see what else develops out of this. Nic Robertson for us this morning.
CHETRY: Also, new questions this morning about the military mission going on right now in Libya. NATO is in charge of the mission. The alliance launching air strikes overnight in Tripoli against Moammar Gadhafi positions. But it comes as Congress and the White House engage in a war of words over the U.S. involvement in Libya. The Obama administration defending the military action after a bipartisan group of lawmakers filed suit, claiming that the president violated the War Powers Resolution by failing to consult Congress. CNN's Brianna Keilar is live at the White House today with more on this.
Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys. Take a look at this. This is the report that was sent over from the White House yesterday, in the evening, to Congress, really justifying the U.S. military involvement in Libya and also giving a legal rationale for why the president says he doesn't need to seek congressional authorization.
A couple of big headlines, one, the cost of U.S. military involvement in Libya. We hadn't seen a price tag before and we got to see one in this report. About $715 billion, or pardon me, million. So that's about three-quarters of $1 billion and that's how much it has cost up until June 3rd, about a week and a half ago. There's also a projected estimate for how much it would cost to take this through the end of September, and that's about $1.1 billion. But really the even bigger headline is the president's legal rationale for why he doesn't need to seek congressional authorization in line with the War Powers Resolution that says after 60 days, if he doesn't have that authorization he has to pull troops out. And the rationale is this, that basically the president believes he doesn't need it because the U.S. military operations in the words of this reporter, distinct from the kind of hostilities contemplated by the resolution 60-day termination provision.
So what you have here is the White House really looking at the fine print of this law, saying this is a limited military operation that they're involved in. And therefore, they don't need to comply without part of the War Powers Resolution, guys.
CHETRY: So will that be enough to satisfy Congress and those congressmen and women who took issue with our involvement in Libya?
KEILAR: You know, we're still waiting for some of the reaction. But you don't even need to wait for it to know that this is not going to be sufficient because this reasoning that you're hearing from the White House that they don't need congressional authorization isn't going to fly. And take a listen -- or isn't going to fly with some members of Congress, I should say.
Look at what the spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said. He called these creative arguments made by the White House and said that they raised a number of questions that must be further explored. I mean, that's not as much, I guess, sort of a hard knock of a response as you could get from the speaker's office. But what we do know, guys, and this is pretty interesting, there are a number of rank-and- file Republicans who are looking at the defense spending bill on the floor next week, talking about adding some sort of provision to defund this operation in Libya.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see where it goes. Brianna Keilar for us this morning, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Meanwhile, a powerful reminder if you will, of the challenges still facing our economy and the world's economy.
Take a look at the streets of Athens, Greece. You saw the riots breaking out at this time yesterday in our program. They continue this morning though. We're told they're not as violent. The crowds furious over drastic cutbacks to social programs as that country struggles to get out from beneath its crippling debt. Crippling debt because of years of living beyond its means. The country's prime minister is reshuffling his government and announcing he's seeking a vote of government today. This is to ensure Greece gets a second bailout because a default for Greece could drag other European economies under. These fears, plus weak manufacturing data pushed stocks sharply lower in this country. In fact, market right now on track to decline for the seventh straight week. It's the longest losing streak in a few years.
VELSHI: Yes. ROMANS: The Dow fell 179 points yesterday. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also down. And also, oil prices fell by more than four percent because of fears the global economy is slowing down and therefore demand for oil would decline if the prices went down.
VELSHI: And as the pressure mounts on New York Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign, House Democratic leaders are scheduled to meet this afternoon. Weiner's name is sure to come up. "Politico" is reporting that the House leadership could -- Democratic leadership could begin the process of removing Weiner from the Energy and Commerce Committee. Weiner's wife has just returned from an overseas trip. He was said to be waiting for her return before making a decision about his career.
ROMANS: Meantime, we're hearing from a new player in the Weiner sexting scandal. Mary Snow with that part of the story.
Good morning, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And this is just the latest strange chapter in this story. Enter Ginger Lee. She's a former porn star, now stripper and she's involved. Famed attorney, Gloria Allred, she was by her side yesterday. She said that Anthony Weiner coached her and told her to lie about the online exchanges they've been having since March. She said she started following on Twitter because she was interested in health care, Planned Parenthood and wrote something on her blog about them. She says he started following her on Twitter. The two started e-mailing.
Now after the scandal broke, Lee claims she reached out to him for advice on what to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGER LEE, CORRESPONDENT WITH ANTHONY WEINER: He asked me to lie about our communications. I put out a three-sentence communication that he told me to say. I knew I couldn't lie for him. But I didn't want to be the one that kicked him under the bus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now she went on to say that Weiner should resign. We did reach out to Weiner's office for a response to the allegations but didn't get a response.
Now why she has a lawyer, why she went public at this time, still a big question. Allred said she felt she needed to break her silence, to get on with her life, get back to work. Lee says that she contacted Allred after she received threats. Someone had threatened to release a statement she didn't authorize. Not clear though. Not a lot of details given yesterday about that statement or those specific (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: This is the second news conference that you've covered with respect to Anthony Weiner. The first one was really weird because he was supposed to speak and then Andrew Breitbart showed up.
SNOW: Right.
VELSHI: Was this one normal?
SNOW: Again, another surreal one. And there was some bizarre moments. And, you know, very awkward at times and Gloria Allred didn't have answers to some of the questions. And also, you know, she did not mention the word "porn" or stripper.
VELSHI: Right.
SNOW: And she kept calling her a feature dancer. So, of course, being in New York, one of the reporters asked, well, what exactly is a feature dancer? Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is a feature dancer? Can I ask you that?
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: A feature dancer is a dancer who is featured. She dances at clubs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: One of the lighter moments.
CHETRY: Even Ginger Lee got a laugh out of that one.
SNOW: Exactly. You know, just hour hours after that press conference, Ginger Lee has said that she had to go into hiding, that she couldn't work. Well, she went back to work last night in Atlanta capitalizing now on the whole Weiner-gate.
VELSHI: Right. Yes, yes.
You were saying it's unclear why she held a press conference. It might be ---
ROMANS: It doesn't appear she's hiding very much?
SNOW: Exactly.
CHETRY: What did the sign say --
SNOW: Weiner-gate something.
VELSHI: Right.
SNOW: Making money now on that link.
VELSHI: All right. Mary, glad we got you on this beat. Mary Snow.
ROMANS: Can't wait to see what your next --
CHETRY: Thanks, Mary.
Well, same-sex marriage, the bill is one step closer to passing this morning in the state of New York. The state assembly approved the Marriage Equality Act by an 80-63 margin last night. Now the measure goes before the state Senate where it faces a closer vote. Governor Andrew Cuomo supports the bill. If it becomes law, New York will be the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
And take a look at a former U.S. senator and one-time presidential candidate in his mug shot. That is John Edwards smiling for the camera even though he could face prison time for allegedly violating campaign finance laws. Edwards was indicted on federal charges earlier this month for allegedly using nearly $1 million in illegal campaign money to cover up an extramarital affair.
A major milestone for Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She was discharged yesterday from the Houston hospital where she's been undergoing rehab. Now doctors say that her cognitive abilities and her physical strength have improved to the point where she no longer needs to stay in the hospital. We're told Giffords is expected to start outpatient therapy right away.
VELSHI: All right. Stanley Cup going back to Boston for the first time in nearly four decades.
ROMANS: Wow.
VELSHI: I got the "Boston Globe" right here in my hand. It says "Raise the cup."
CHETRY: They drove this to us this morning.
VELSHI: They brought this to us to show you on TV.
ROMANS: But (INAUDIBLE) is so proud about it, they drove it to us.
VELSHI: Boston, after 1972 they haven't had a cup, they deserved to have us put the newspaper up here. The Bruins won the cup with a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh and deciding game of the series.
Here comes -- here comes -- he scores!
I do. I'm working on that.
Home team, by the way, had each of the first six games. So each, every time a team was at home, they won the game. This was the tiebreaker. Boston last won the cup back in '72. Bruins' goalie, Tim Thomas, won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP. But that is not where the story ends. That was just part of it.
CHETRY: Well, talk about sore losers in Canada. I'm sorry.
VELSHI: It was a rough -- it was a rough day in Canada. You know, this postal strike, and then Air Canada has a strike. So they were just not feeling all that good.
ROMANS: That's true. That's true.
VELSHI: So it didn't go over well with some fans.
CHETRY: So we set cars on fire.
ROMANS: Thousands riding the --
VELSHI: Look at this. Look at this.
ROMANS: It's something you usually don't see.
VELSHI: You know what they always say when it's --
ROMANS: Burning cars.
VELSHI: I think they're not Canadians. I think it's like the G-20. These people are from somewhere else.
Look at that, setting cars on fire, overturning them. Police tried to calm the angry and disappointed crowd. It got pretty rough out there. The events are reminiscent of what happened in 1994 when the Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in game seven of that Stanley Cup final.
ROMANS: Those weren't Canadians either. My brother loves Canadian and I'll say, you know, it's just hockey and he's like -- he can't even respond when I say that.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: It's just hockey.
VELSHI: It's not just hockey.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: So you know what, we're not going to be sore losers about this. Congratulations, Boston. Raise the cup. First time since 1972.
It is what it is.
ROMANS: There you go.
All right. The prosecution wrapping up its case in the Casey Anthony murder trial. We're going to give you the compelling details ahead.
CHETRY: It's called Operation Fast and Furious. Federal agents say it let firearms flow into Mexico and drug cartels. We're going to have more on that still ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Did the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ignore calls from agents to stop an operation that deliberately allowed weapons to get into the hands of Mexican drug cartels? Now, this was known as Operation Fast and Furious. The goal was to track the flow of weapons across the border and eventually bring down an entire arms trafficking network. Well, at a Congressional hearing that was looking into it, whistle- blowing ATF agents said the tactic was a colossal mistake and it led to the death of a border patrol agent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPECIAL AGENT PETER FORCELLI, BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, FIREARMS AND TOBACCO: We weren't giving guns to people who were hunting bear. We were giving guns to people who were killing other humans.
SPECIAL AGENT JOHN DODSON, BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, FIREARMS AND TOBACCO: Rather than meet the wolf head-on, we sharpened his teeth, add a number to his claw, all the while we sat idly by watching, tracking and noting as he became a more efficient and effective predator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: More than 1,000 of the weapons that walked are still unaccounted for. Congressman Darrell Asa called the Operation Fast and Furious "felony stupid."
CHETRY: Well, later this morning, the defense will begin presenting its side of the story of the Casey Anthony murder trial. After the prosecution rested yesterday, Anthony's attorneys have been trying to convince the judge to dismiss the case, insisting no proof has been presented that a murder even took place. The judge was not buying it, denying that motion.
ROMANS: Martin Savidge joining us live from Orlando this morning. Martin, what about the defense asking for acquittal? What was that all about?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's been no shortage of drama when it comes into this particular case. We're now into Week Four. And as you point out, the prosecution rested.
And immediately after that point, the defense team jumped up and moved for acquittal. Not that unusual in a case like this where essentially what happens is that the defense team is going to make the argument that, all right, look, the prosecution's laid out their whole case here, put down all their witnesses and they have not proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that our client, Casey Anthony, is guilty, have not even proven that there has been a homicide. And that's exactly the argument that was made by one J. Cheney Mason of the defense team. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. CHENEY MASON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR CASEY ANTHONY: We have no evidence to exclude a reasonable hypothesis that there was no murder at all. That there was no premeditation. There's no history to suggest culpable negligence. There's no history in this case to establish any basis of aggravated abuse.
And in counts one, two, and three are not just ripe for, but screaming loudly in demanding justice of acquittal. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Chief Judge Belvin Perry listened quite patiently through all of that and then he ruled, he said, yes, there is enough evidence that this case needs to be decided by a jury. And the motion was basically denied. That was it.
VELSHI: All right. Now, it seems like the defense is getting poised to call an unexpected witness. Who is this?
SAVIDGE: Yes. This is, again, why this case is so fascinating, because there is just one surprise after another. And this is a clear example of new suspense that's been introduced as a result of the defense. The defense team -
(AUDIO GAP)
SAVIDGE: -- discovered this fellow, who is identified as 52-year-old Vasco Dagama Thompson. What a dramatic name. And according to their investigation, they say that this man is a convicted felon who served time for kidnapping.
And here's the point that the defense team makes in documents that are filed to the court. It says that Mr. Thompson had contact with Casey Anthony's father, that's George Anthony, the day before Caylee Anthony was reported missing.
Now here's the question, well, what is a convicted kidnapper doing contacting George Anthony? And that's exactly the question the defense team wants to plant in people's minds. The attorney for George Anthony says, hey, this is easy to explain, it never happened. They say that George Anthony does not know who Mr. Thompson is, and that there was never any communication. Although the defense team says we have cell phone records that prove it.
Now, in order for Mr. Thompson to testify, it has to be approved by the judge, and the judge has yet has not ruled on that matter. But, again, huge drama, more suspense.
VELSHI: -- Dagama Thompson.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see how that goes. Also, there's some talk that perhaps Casey Anthony herself may be taking the stand. So that will be a riveting day in court as well. Thanks so much, Martin.
SAVIDGE: You bet.
VELSHI: New details on Arizona's largest wildfire in recorded history. About 200 people who were forced to leave their homes are now being allowed back. Firefighters who have spent two weeks battling the fire, have gotten some control over it. It's scorched more than 740 square miles and is still only 20 percent contained.
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour.
Let's check in with Rob Marciano. He's in our Extreme Weather Center for us today. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Winds are going to pick up unfortunately across the southwest. So red flag warnings have been posted in the critical fire danger for the area that for the past couple of days, at least, the winds have been laid down a little bit. So that helped them a little bit. But today the winds cranked back up, and even though we're officially getting into the monsoon floor (ph) or monsoon season, we don't see much in the way of that happening or rainfall any time too soon.
The heat is still on across, not only the southwest, but the southeast. Look at these numbers yesterday, 105, I believe that's an all-time record for Tallahassee. So we are cooking. Austin, Texas, 104. And Birmingham, Alabama, seeing 98 degrees, and 97 degrees in New Orleans and Miami, 96 degrees plus humidity.
This is what happened last night across the southeast. Look at the storms rumbling through Atlanta. We had at one point 200,000 people without power. That number has been trimmed to about 40 or so thousand, but it was a rough go for sure. Actually, check out some of this lightning video from an Atlanta - Atlanta Tower camera. I can say firsthand, I was at the Braves game last night, they had two rain delays and it was - whoa, it was a rough go for sure.
Speaking of sporting events, guys, the U.S. Open first round gets kicked off today, Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland; 75 degrees. Probably see a couple of thunderstorms pop in from time to time in the afternoons. So that may delay things as well. And you in New York may get some rain later on today and tonight, too, so beware of that.
Back to you guys.
VELSHI: A nice cool day, though, to start off with. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROMANS: OK, guys. In a healthy job market, Americans can quit their jobs and find a better one. This turnover is - is common, right? But this morning's Bloomberg reports that fewer Americans are willing to tell their boss, I quit. In fact, between January 2009 and this past April, it's reported 28 million Americans stuck with jobs that they would have ordinarily - they would have left in ordinary times.
VELSHI: Right. But there aren't as many jobs out there.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: So this is our question of the day, would you change jobs if you could? Send us an e-mail, a tweet or tell us on Facebook. We'll read some of your thoughts later this hour.
ROMANS: All right.
Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, lawmakers want to give you more power when it comes to information that your cell phone shares with other companies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Investors on edge this morning. All major markets closed down yesterday on turmoil in Greece and overall economic uncertainty. Greece's prime minister reshuffling his cabinet today amidst mounting pressure from protesters about austerity measures. Demonstrators have already gathered outside Parliament this morning for a second day of protest, which could affect U.S. markets as we saw yesterday.
Concerns that the financial crisis in Greece could spread, also pushing oil prices lower, (INAUDIBLE) crude down more than four percent, the lowest point now since February.
Foreclosure filings fell last month to the lowest in almost four years. That's according to a new report from Realty Track. The decline is a result of foreclosure processing delays and also banks have so many seized homes, they might be slowing down on new foreclosures.
Two senators want to make it easier for you to protect your mobile privacy. They've introduced a bill that will require companies like Apple and Google, along with application makers to get your permission before they collect and share information about your location.
And Citigroup now says more than 360,000 accounts were affected by last month's cyber-security breach. That's more than originally thought - a lot more. Hackers got access to customers' contact info, but the company says Social Security numbers and security codes were never compromised.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break with the story of one city hit especially hard by the housing crisis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 30 minutes the past. Time for look at our top stories this morning.
Al Qaeda has a new chief, the terror organization's long-time number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The announcement posted on an al Qaeda Web site.
Zawahiri is 59. He comes from an upper middle-class Egyptian family. He is reportedly a qualified surgeon and joined forces with bin Laden after meeting him in 1986, becoming his personal physician and adviser.
New explosions reported overnight in Tripoli as NATO steps up its assault on Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi. These airstrikes coming as a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers filed a lawsuit challenging America's military involvement in Libya. It claims that the president violated the War Powers Resolution by failing to consult Congress before committing troops to Libya.
Hockey violence off the ice on the streets of Vancouver after Canucks fans went on a rampage following the game, game seven -- the Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins last night. They were setting fires, overturning cars, police had to use tear gas and disperse the crowd of angry fans.
ROMANS: Now, if you want to get a handle on just how bad U.S. housing crisis is, consider this: one in every 605 homes in this country received a foreclosure filing in May, with the banks seizing -- actually seizing 67,000 homes. And those depressing numbers are actually an improvement over the month before.
Believe it or not, there are fewer foreclosures every month, but still -- just a sea of them.
Poppy Harlow is with us this morning.
There's an awful lot of pain out there, Poppy. And you've got a town for us that's literally foreclosure-built.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's so much worse than the numbers that you just gave. We got reports this morning, folks, that foreclosures were down 33 percent in May.
You think that would be good news. It's actually not good news. What the experts say is it's actually just a result of the robo-signing scandal that a lot of the banks didn't have the proper paperwork to foreclosure on these homes. So, they say, look, the housing market is not in recovery. You have to look past those latest numbers.
We visited a town in New Jersey -- central New Jersey. Plainfield, New Jersey, is what it's called, where one in 10 homes -- one in 10 -- is in foreclosure. And what you're going to see is the devastating impact this is having on the entire town. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW (voice-over): At a bird's eye view, Plainfield, New Jersey, may look like lots of small towns across America. But when you walk the streets and talk to the folks here, you start to realize something. The bank own as big chunk of this city.
REGINA PERRY, PLAINFIELD RESIDENT: I moved in three houses and three of the houses that I've lived in have foreclosed and I was forced to move.
HARLOW: Of the roughly 9,000 homes in Plainfield, nearly 900 are in foreclosure. That's almost three times the national average.
LEA MCDONALD, PLAINFIELD RESIDENT: It's terrible. I mean, my kids have to walk past these empty houses. And -- I'm afraid for them.
HARLOW: You won't find padlocks or boarded-up windows. But it's not tough to find people thousands of dollars in debt on their homes.
(on camera): Right here on East Front Street alone, there are 25 homes in foreclosure. And just down the way, on Berkeley Terrace, you'll find eight more. (voice-over): Crime is now rampant in Plainfield. The police spend their time breaking up gang activity.
And determining which came first is a chicken-and-egg situation for Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.
(on camera): Do you feel that the amount of foreclosures, really, the foreclosure crisis, in this city, led to this increased gang violence?
MAYOR SHARON ROBINSON-BRIGGS, PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY: There may be a relationship in terms of certain areas in the city of Plainfield where some of our residents have been laid off, who feel kind of hopeless at this point.
HARLOW (voice-over): The highest density of foreclosures is near the gang violence, 123, within a half-mile. But there are hundreds more all over town.
MCDONALD: The town is going down. Taxes are going up. We're suffering.
HARLOW: Today, home prices continue to fall. There are layoffs in the schools and the city has cut 50 percent of its workers since February.
At Rise N' Shine Restaurant, the owner says business is slumping.
SAUL GUIDARDO, RISE N' SHINE RESTAURANT: There are ups and downs. Some days are better, some days are slow. It's tough.
PERRY: Unless like something can turn around, we need a miracle. You know --
HARLOW (on camera): A miracle?
PERRY: We need a miracle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: They certainly do need a miracle.
And I have to tell you, walking the streets, what you feel and what you hear from residents is the banks own so many homes. But here's the difference between a bank owning a home and a family owning a home -- the banks don't fix chipped paint or broken windows. They don't go shopping. They don't go eat at local restaurants. And that's why you have this impact.
Now, the mayor told us we want and we need more help from the banks. We reached out to the two biggest lenders in the Plainfield, that's Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Bank of America wouldn't comment. Wells Fargo said they continue to work with borrowers to find alternatives to foreclosure. Neither though would come on camera with us.
ROMANS: And here's the big crisis now. These banks have the homes sitting on their books and that's what they do.
HARLOW: Right.
ROMANS: So, people don't live in them. They're sitting on their books. It's a problem for the people who live in this town. It's a problem for the mayor. It's a problem for the tax base and it's a problem for the banks.
And it just doesn't get solved.
HARLOW: It doesn't get solved and it's dangerous. Parents are concerned about letting their kids walk by these empty homes and I said to the mayor, we focus a lot on Detroit -- how do you not let the city get as bad as Detroit is when it comes to foreclosures? How do you not let that many homes get abandoned?
And at this point, she said people feel hopeless, they're trying -- they're having these housing fairs. But to be honest, you need a lot more than that.
ROMANS: All right. Poppy Harlow, thanks for bringing us that report.
HARLOW: Sure.
ROMANS: Ali?
VELSHI: While housing prices plunged nationwide, there are still some areas where it is far from cheap to buy a home. Here are the top five most expensive housing markets in the country as determined by our friends at CNNMoney.com. Not quite sure why we're using a green gummy (ph) to represent a house, but that's what that is.
Let's look at market number five: the New York City metro area. The median home price, half of all homes sold for more, half sold for less: $439,300. The New York market is down about 20 percent from its peak in 2007, compared to the national average, drop of more than 30 percent.
Now, New York has three things that have helped keep prices up, not a lot of land to develop, it's an island. A constant influx of people who are looking for a place to live and the low dollar makes this international city cheaper for foreign buyers.
Number four on the list is San Francisco. The median home price: $465,900. Like New York, San Francisco has limited space, a diverse economy, including finance, tourism and technology.
OK. Let's head down to California coast and you'll find market number three, Anaheim. Median home price there: $511,800. During the housing bubble, price there is skyrocketed.
Prices -- these prices, believe it or not, are down 40 percent from the peak. And it looks like they've stabilized. It's just an expensive area where a lot of people live.
The number two market in the country for high prices is also California: San Jose. Median home price there: $545,000. Why is it so expensive? Silicon Valley, have you noticed the tech boom lately?
And the most expensive housing market in the United States is Honolulu. The median home price is sitting down: $579,300. The weather is great. The setting is beautiful. But land is scarce. A lot of it set aside for preservation, military use or agriculture, and nearly all the materials needed to build a home have to be shipped in.
You can read more about these markets online at CNNMoney.com.
ROMANS: All right. Ali, feeling price out of the market? I see your list and I raise you one list. Where are the most affordable homes?
Coldwell Banker Real Estate released its list of the cheapest places to live right now, Niagara Falls, New York. You can a buy for $60,800.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: Riverdale, Georgia, is next, about 61 grand there.
Coolidge, Arizona, average of a home: $69,000.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: So, if you're looking for some affordable places and you can somehow get a job in those places --
VELSHI: Niagara Falls, New York, and then you go to Niagara Falls whenever you want.
CHETRY: But the problem is, a lot of those places, the reason the housing is low, or the housing prices are low, is because there isn't a lot of job opportunities.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: The correlation is always exactly that. If there's no work there, people are not flocking there.
ROMANS: Twenty-eight million people say they feel like they can't leave their jobs. So that mobility is gone. But there you, there's a really wide disparity between someplace like Anaheim and Niagara Falls.
CHETRY: I'd pick Hawaii, Honolulu, sorry. Can't afford it.
Hey, if you own a Citigroup credit card, you should listen to our next story. It turns out that hackers did gain access to more accounts than originally thought. Isn't this often the case?
The company now says 360,000 cards were affected during last month's security breach. Hackers got access to customers contact information, but Citigroup says that they were not able to access customer Social Security numbers, or security codes.
ROMANS: Does that make you feel better? VELSHI: We believe them, because they didn't even tell us about this breach for weeks.
ROMANS: It was only 200,000.
VELSHI: And then they said it was 210,000.
ROMANS: Oh, wait, it's 380,000.
VELSHI: I don't understand.
CHETRY: Because they needed time to cancel and then reissue new credit cards for people.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, you have to figure out for yourself unfortunately. You can't necessarily trust that they didn't get your Social Security number.
VELSHI: All right. Coming you up: the crisis unfolding in Turkey. Thousands of Syrian refugees are fleeing across the border, how the two sides are coming together today to try and find a solution. It is 40 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: The Obama administration cracking down on companies that hire illegal immigrants. Notices were sent to 1,000 companies yesterday, alerting them that government auditors plan to inspect their hiring records. Now, officials say they plan to focus their inspections on industries that are key to U.S. security, like energy, banking and technology.
CHETRY: Without releasing the actual names of the companies yet?
VELSHI: No.
ROMANS: No, but Chipotle, the restaurant chain, was snared up in this earlier this year and said that they were changing policies to make sure they prevented hiring people who weren't legal in the country. But the Obama administration is clearly trying to step up its enforcement of employers, so that they can prove if there is immigration reform that they believe in American laws.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: We're also continuing to follow the latest on this growing refugee crisis right along Syria's border with Turkey. The prime minister of Turkey now plans to meet today with a special envoy representing Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.
ROMANS: The issue: what to do with 8,400 refugees who've already fled violence in Syria, and how to stop thousands more from crossing into Turkey.
Zain Verjee live from London, tracking the latest development on this.
Good morning, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good morning.
That meeting is going to be really important, because Turkey is so worried about the situation with the refugees and they continue to spill over the Syrian border into Turkey. The message is likely to be: stop the bloody crackdown, because that is what is forcing about 8,500 refugees into camps into Turkey.
They have no food, no water, no medicine. It's a really difficult situation.
Aid agencies don't necessarily even have access to them.
The stories they are telling are horrific -- stories about the army coming in, killing people, burning livestock, burning crops.
Now, the Syrian government is saying: come back to your villages, everyone, things are OK. We have it all under control, it is safe.
But with our reporting and our conversations with refugees, there's no way they say, they're going back.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll have to continue to follow the latest on that, because you're right, they're getting two different stories. I mean, people are -- the Syrian government is saying, hey, it's OK, you know? We were just clearing out people that we were worried were, you know, radicals.
VELSHI: Gangs.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: People do not trust their government. I mean, they don't believe their government, and they're not likely to want to go back.
CHETRY: A tough situation there. We will continue to follow it.
Also, on a little bit of a lighter note, you guys are enjoying across the pond, the total lunar eclipse.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We're not seeing that here.
ROMANS: Yes.
VERJEE: Absolutely spectacular, guys. Let me just show you how beautiful the moon looked over Bahrain. Just take a look at this. This lunar eclipse went on in different parts of the world. You could see it amazingly for about 100 minutes. That was the longest in about a decade, and what was really cool about it.
Look at that closely, it' actually red, and in some parts of it, and that's because it's light coming from the sun that's refracted through the atmosphere and also because of the ash. Remember the volcano in Chile? The ash is also in the atmosphere, and it's giving it this kind of a tinge. It's very cool. And if you want to see how it unfolded, go to Google doodle today, guys, because they did this very cool thing.
And basically, you can see it happen in real-time because they managed to tap into telescopes all around the world and that's how it happened.
VELSHI: That's very cool.
CHETRY: That's a beautiful sight.
ROMANS: All right. Zain Verjee. Thank you, Zain. You can watch Zain every morning at 5:00 a.m. eastern on "World One" right here on CNN.
VELSHI: Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, find out why fashion icon, Anna Wintour, is apparently out of fashion when it comes to the internet. Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 48 minutes past the hour right now. Here's a look at some of the headlines this morning. We'll start in, with al Qaeda.
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CHETRY (voice-over): They've chosen a successor to Osama Bin Laden. It's the terror organization's long-time number two, Ayman al- Zawahiri, 59 years old, joined forces with Bin Laden after meeting him in 1986, becoming his personal physician and adviser.
NATO war planes carrying out another round of raids near Moammar Gadhafi's presidential compound in Tripoli. The latest air strikes come as members of Congress challenge the U.S. involvement in Libya in court.
Later this morning, the defense will begin presenting its side of the story on the Casey Anthony murder trial after the prosecution rested yesterday. The defense tried unsuccessfully to convince the judge to dismiss the case.
A same-sex marriage bill a step closer to becoming law in New York. The state assembly approved to the marriage equality act last night. Now, it goes on to the Senate. And if it passes, New York would be the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
It was an ugly scene on the streets of Vancouver after the Canucks lost The Stanley Cup final. Angry fans threw bottles, turned over cars, and set fires. Vancouver's mayor blames the chaos on a quote "small number of hooligans."
Meantime, the Boston Bruins are the Stanley Cup champs. They shut out the Canucks, 4-0 to win their first cup in 39 years. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (on-camera): Well, you're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.
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ROMANS: She said to be one of the most powerful women in fashion, Anna Wintour, the famed and feared editor of "Vogue" magazine.
VELSHI: And while (INAUDIBLE) when it comes to fashion, she's also one of the last to embrace the internet.
CHETRY: That's about to change now, though. Our Felicia Taylor sat down with Anna Wintour, and she joins us this morning. Hi, there. Intimidating to talk to her?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, yes, absolutely. When she walks into the room, I mean, she certainly commands a presence, and she comes with a bit of an entourage and the whole thing, but let's face it --
CHETRY: Would you expect anything less?
TAYLOR: No. I would have been disappointed. But they say, you know, she -- you can't make it in the world of fashion unless you get the nod of approval from Anna Wintour. And you're right. She has come to the end of the party a little bit late. But even now, she admits that there's room for collaboration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA WINTOUR, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VOGUE: I mean, one is sort of very sort of fantastic visual experience, where you look at the kind of photography and read the kind of articles that you really can't see anywhere else. And it's something that you can carry around with you and enjoy for months at a time. And I think you go to the website for a very different experience. Instant information, access, I mean who is wearing what at the Tony's last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR: So, that's what sets vogue.com apart from any of the other websites out there that concentrate on fashion, but when it comes to her, she says that "Vogue" is going to be the leader, even though, she admits that she came to the party late, as I said. And even her boss, Si Newhouse, has put pressure on her to make it number one, but she has a funny story recalling what it used to be like when it came to the internet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINTOUR: The internet people were put like in the 20th row if they were lucky at a Chanel show. And then, you fast-forward to today, and for whatever reason, if we don't put half a collection on the website, they're calling us up to complain. So, you know, obviously, we learned with the internet explosion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR: She has been called fearless by her peers. I have no doubt that when it comes to vogue.com, it will surpass style.com, which at the moment, I think has about double the numbers of viewers that "Vogue" has. But, frankly, you know, she has also said that when she makes a phone call, everybody answers. And it's true, she's got the cache that nobody else does in the world of fashion.
VELSHI: Yes. She's definitely in the stratosphere of fashion.
CHETRY: Right. Is she going to tweet now?
(LAUGHTER)
TAYLOR: No.
CHETRY: Facebook fan page?
TAYLOR: But you know what, she's done that's really interesting and fairly frankly pretty innovative. She has editors at vogue.com who do tweet. You can access them. You can talk to them about whatever shows that they're doing, and they get them online faster than anybody else does. So, I think, you know, vogue.com is going to definitely transcend what other websites have started, even if she came late.
VELSHI: That is the benefit of being late in anything to do with technology or the internet these days, you can leap-frog, you don't actually have to redo, you know, start again.
TAYLOR: Well, she knows what the other people made in terms of mistake. And I spoke to a friend of mine who worked for her for ten years, and he said, you know, if she were a man, she would have a different reputation, which is interesting, as we all know what people say and think about her. I mean, cool is an understatement, right?
But you wonder, if she were a man, what she would have really been thought of. And these days, frankly, I give her a lot of credit, because she has kept that reputation and has been the industry leader for well over two decades.
ROMANS: She's been a brand before it was cool to be a brand. And she hasn't changed her brand.
TAYLOR: Not at all. She's maintained the sunglasses, the hair.
ROMANS: Internet will be interesting because there are a lot of very young, new, I mean, not "Vogue"-like names that are doing very, very well in fashion on the internet. So, she's got some interesting competition.
VELSHI: Speaking of brands before they were brands, Hugh Hefner is another one of those, but he's had some issues.
CHETRY: Yes. He had, he had a really sad situation. His soon-to-be wife, who he thought was going to be Mrs. Hefner actually called off the wedding. However, the cover of "Playboy" was already off the presses. We're going to show you that in a minute. Oh, there it is. OK. So, that was supposed to be, that's Crystal, right? She's supposed to be Crystal Hefner.
ROMANS: So, they put a sticker on it and says "Runaway Bride" on the issue.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: So, they turned, you know, they turned that whole thing around. That's really interesting.
Also, it appears fewer Americans are quitting their jobs during these tough economic times. According to Bloomberg, between January 2009 and this past April, 28 million Americans stuck with jobs they would have otherwise left in ordinary times.
VELSHI: Statistically speaking. We don't know that they would have left their job, but in a good economy, these are the number of people who would have gone to new jobs.
ROMANS: This is our question of the day. Would you change your job if you could?
VELSHI: We have some good responses. Markus puts on our blog, "No. Wouldn't change it for the world. I'm a Chicago cop, and I enjoy every minute of it."
CHETRY: LXM1010 on Twitter, "Of course, I would. Better opportunities and better pay with benefits in a heartbeat.
ROMANS: Paul_DPW on Twitter, "No, I have a government job, and I would not leave even in my salary was tripled. I've seen a former co- worker -- I saw co-worker leave and regret it."
CHETRY: All right. Keep your comments coming to us. Send us an e- mail, a tweet, or tell us on Facebook. We'll read some more of it later in the hour.
VELSHI: Top stories coming up after the break. Fifty-six minutes after the hour.
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