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American Morning

Convicted Cop Killer Troy Davis Executed; American Hikers Released from Iranian Prison; Palestinian Statehood Showdown; Davis Executed for Officer's Murder; Palestinian Statehood Showdown; Deadly Storm in Japan; The Ahmadinejad Interview; Justice Department Spending Probed; Interview with Senator Chuck Grassley; Study Finds Adequate Omega 3 Fatty Acids Levels Contribute to Good Mood

Aired September 22, 2011 - 06:59   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That sounds awful, but this kind of relief that it's over.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A mother's relief. The man who killed her police officer son executed by lethal injection after the Supreme Court refuses to intervene. Plus this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are so happy we are free and so relieved we are free.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Free at last. Heading home. Two American hikers held prisoner in Iran rush into the arms of their loved ones.

ROMANS: Statehood showdown. Is the Palestinian president backing down on his bid for an independent state?

COSTELLO: You paid for it. $16 muffins, $10 brownies, and you didn't get to enjoy them, but they're on your tab as taxpayers on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: And good morning, everyone. It's Thursday, September 22nd. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: Yes. Good morning to you. After a day of last-minute efforts to spare his life, the state of Georgia executed convicted cop killer Troy Davis late last night. His execution delayed for more than three hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered pleas to save him.

Davis was convicted back in 1991 of a shooting death of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. While Davis maintained his innocence to the very end, in fact right before he died he said he was innocent, MacPhail's mother says justice has been served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNELIESE MACPHAIL, MOTHER OF MURDERED POLICEMAN: It sounds awful but I am relieved it is over for me now. But I have to digest all the things that happened. It was very, very hard to me. I just have to kind of work on that so my mind, I can be alone and realize what everything happened and how it ended now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge joins us from Atlanta from the CNN center. Martin, it's just a sad story all the way around.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes. It was night of many emotions. Davis had been scheduled to die in Georgia at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time last evening. For his supporters gathered outside the state prison in Jackson and others around the world, hope rose when his execution was delayed after his attorneys made last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it appeared the high court began actually considering the case.

The minutes first ticked by and eventually the hours dragged on, and those who had maintained Davis was innocent of the 1989 crime of murdering a Savannah police officer began to see perhaps a chance that the Supreme Court would stop Davis' death. It was not to be as the court of nine justices eventually denied the appeal, and Davis' sentence was carried out four hours later. He was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m.

According to witnesses Davis maintained that he was innocent right up to the moment he died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON LEWIS, WSB RADIO: He asked his family, his family and friends to keep praying, to keep working, and keep the faith. And then had said to the prison staff, the ones he said were going to take my life, he said to them, "May god have mercy on your souls," and his last words were to them "May god bless your souls." Then he put his head back down and the procedure began. And about 15 minutes later it was over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Anneliese MacPahil, as you saw, the mother of the murdered police officer had said afterwards she was relieved that justice was served.

Davis' supporters who had gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court saw differently, saying his conviction was based on the statements of witnesses many of whom over the years since his trial had recanted their testimony. Davis had been scheduled to die three times before, most recently in October of 2008. Then the U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution just two hours before it was scheduled to take place. That was not the case last night.

COSTELLO: Martin Savidge reporting live from Atlanta. Many thanks to you. ROMANS: All right, let's bring in CNN legal Paul Callan now to join us on this. Your thoughts on this? You know, it happened several hours after it was supposed to. The Supreme Court at very end appearing to go over it one last time. In the end, this was an execution that went forward.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, I think this was an extraordinarily well covered case that had human interest throughout the world. And it really focused American interests on the death penalty in a way we haven't seen in so many years.

And I think one of the reasons for that is that a lot of people were very worried we were putting an innocent man to death in this case. And that more than anything else focuses attention on the death penalty and whether it is appropriate.

ROMANS: Do you think an innocent man was put to death?

CALLAN: All I can say is this -- I don't know personally, but I will say we have an elaborate procedure in place in the United States that exists no place else in the world. This case probably was looked at by my count yesterday by maybe 28 different sets of courts at different points in time, each looking at a different part of the case.

The Supreme Court ordered an actual innocence hearing where a federal judge went back and reviewed all of the evidence and he said claims that Davis was innocent consisted of smoke and mirrors. So all I can say is a lot of very bright judges looked at the case and in the end thought he was guilty. On the other hand, there is some serious claim being made that key witnesses had recanted.

COSTELLO: In the end U.S. Supreme Court said those accusations weren't good enough.

Troy Davis' lawyers also spoke out after the execution took place. They had some pretty strong words for what happened. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS RUFFIN, TROY DAVIS' DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This night the state of Georgia legally lynched a brave, a good, and indeed an innocent man.

JASON EWART, TROY DAVIS' DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Our sadness, the sadness of his friends and his family, is tempered by the hope Troy's death will lead to a fundamental legal reforms so we will never again witness with inevitable regret the execution of an innocent man like we did tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so you heard him. He hopes that this will lead to reforms. How likely is that? CALLAN: Well, really the only reform that you will ever see with respect to the death penalty is either we use it and impose it fairly or we eliminate it. I think the real problem with the death penalty in America, it takes too long to administer it. This case has been in court for 22 years. That's how long ago the murder in this case took place. The death penalty really is --

COSTELLO: But there are questions about the case, Paul. Why does it take too long? I understand it's expensive. It is expensive to keep the appeals process going. But if there are real doubts a man who might be put to death is innocent, who cares if it takes 20 years?

CALLAN: Well, I think the point, though, is those doubts should be resolved early in the process. I try cases, lawyers who try cases know that you want to try a case close to when it happened because that's when memories are fresh. You bring in a witness in 15 years later who says well the man was wearing a yellow shirt, not a white shirt, I think, and that's some of the evidence in this race, how reliable that evidence?

The evidence is reliable when the crime is fresh. So let's get a system that determines guilt and we get through all of the appeals with the -- within two, three years post crime and then impose the sentence or eliminate the death penalty. If you are going to use it, use it swiftly and fairly. If you are not going to do it that way, we shouldn't be using a death penalty in America.

COSTELLO: We will see if there's any real change coming and what you said. Paul Callan, many thanks to you.

ROMANS: It is not American soil but next best thing. Americans Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer running into the arms of their families at the airport in Oman, the emotional reunion coming just after their release yesterday from an Iranian president where two men had been held for more than two years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are so happy we are free and so relieved we are free. Our deepest gratitude goes towards his majesty, Sultan Qaboos of Oman for obtaining our release. We are sincerely grateful that the government of Oman released us to our families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two years in prison is too long. And we sincerely hope for the freedom of other political prisoners and other unjustly imprisoned people in America and Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: What's next for them? CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is live in Muscat, Oman. And Mohammed, sounds like the two of them had been thinking about what they were going to say, and they were trying to recite their first words to the cameras.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, it did seem that way. And -- just to talk a little bit about what Shane Bauer said, talking about, you know, hoping for the release of unjustly imprisoned people in America and Iran. It was interesting because this seemed to echo some of the comments we heard from both Iranian officials and Omani officials. Iranian officials last week were saying they believed the hikers would be released and they were calling on the U.S. to consider granting clemency to political prisoners and Iranian prisoners that had been unjustly imprisoned in the U.S.

And last night, the Omani government released a statement, the foreign ministry, in which they said that they hoped that America would why possibly releasing prisoners and they would take into consideration humanitarian gesture on the part of the Iranians.

This was a very emotional moment. We saw Josh and Shane running off the plane, leaping into the arms of their family members. Very long and coming reunion between Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer. They got engaged when both detained in prison. You saw Shane Bauer giving a flower to Sarah Shourd as they were embracing and kissing, a very, very emotional moment.

As far as what's next for Josh and Shane, American officials aren't commenting today. We know that they were handed over to American embassy officials last night along with their families. We heard from other officials here that possibly they are getting medical checkups done today, that they are spending time with their families.

Omani officials told us they believe their families will be here at least 24 hours, but we are waiting to find out officially how long they will be here and when they will leave and begin their journey back to the U.S. Christine?

ROMANS: Mohammed Jamjoom, thank you so much.

Meantime, world markets are falling sharply overnight, financials taking a big beating after the Fed said the U.S. economy is facing significant downside risks. This is when it announced another stimulus measure yesterday to boost the economy. Take a look at the market reaction. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index off nearly five percent, Japan's Nikkei down two percent. In Europe, more of the same, the French, German, London markets all down by more than four percent. You have oil down sharply. You have gold down as well, a big worldwide sell-off under way.

COSTELLO: Headed towards a dark down Wall Street, right?

ROMANS: Yes. Probably 200 points down for the Dow. That's what it is looking like now.

COSTELLO: Ouch.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas still plans to submit a request for statehood to the U.N. Security Council tomorrow. The United States and its allies have been negotiating behind the scenes with Abbas to head off a diplomatic disaster. President Obama addressing the general assembly yesterday, insisting there is only one legitimate path to Palestinian statehood. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One year ago, I stood at the podium and called for an independent Palestine. I believed then and I believe now that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that a genuine peace can only be realized between Israelis and the Palestinians themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Negotiators from the United States, the European Union, and France have been trying to persuade Abbas to start peace talks with Israel and stop demand for statehood. President Obama met with Abbas for nearly an hour last night, the White House not releasing any details.

And we're still facing the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of the month, the House voting down a temporary spending bill to keep the government operating into November. It is a big setback for Republicans. Their measure called for spending cuts to offset additional funds for disaster relief efforts. And 48 Republicans joined Democrats to reject the bill.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROMANS: Still to come this morning, the Justice Department spending more than $120 million on conferences, paying $16 for muffins, $6 for cans of soda. We will ask the ranking member of the judiciary committee Senator Chuck Grassley how it happened and what we can do about this kind of waste, finally. We have been talking about this since Ronald Reagan was president? Why is the government still wasting your money?

COSTELLO: And I remember those toilet seats and how expensive they were.

ROMANS: I know.

COSTELLO: And with the Palestinians ready to seek statehood from the United Nations, a lot of people are wondering if America still has the standing to stop them. We are going to ask Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs when AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seventeen minutes past the hour.

There's a showdown looming at the United Nations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas preparing to request statehood status from the General Assembly despite fierce opposition from the United States.

To join me now to talk about that - to talk about that diplomatic stand-off and how to solve it is Daniel Ayalon, Israel's deputy minister for foreign affairs. Thank you so much for coming in this morning. We appreciate it. DANIEL AYALON, ISRAEL'S DEPUTY MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Good being here with you, Carol. Thank you.

COSTELLO: So Mahmoud Abbas is still going to apply for statehood, but he's not going to push for a vote from the Security Council because, frankly, he doesn't have the right number of votes to push it through. How do you feel about that?

AYALON: Disappointed. It's very unfortunate that the Palestinians instead of coming to the table and negotiate with us just like they did in South Sudan. South Sudan, and the president gave in his speech, is a perfect example of how things should be done. You iron out all the differences on the ground between the parties and then you take it to the U.N. for endorsement.

You cannot put the whole process top down because then it's - it's just a mess. Not just for our conflict with the Palestinians, but also for - it could be a best precedent for other conflicts throughout the world. So we still hope that the Palestinians would come to the table.

And, you know, Carol, there's nothing better that I would like than to join the Palestinians together - Israel and Palestinians together, come to the U.N. for endorsement of a peace treaty and for welcoming Palestine to the U.N. But we have to do it after we finish all the agreement. You know, we have to talk about -

COSTELLO: But the Palestinians, you understand, are frustrated because Israel hasn't put forth a plan for this. And critics say, you know, why isn't Israel putting forth its own plan? Why not, as the president - President Obama said yesterday, doesn't Israel put itself in the Palestinian's shoes and vice versa?

AYALON: I'll tell you, Carol. Because we have put out so many plans that were rejected by the Palestinians. I mean we went, not only halfway towards their direction, we went 90 percent. There was - former Prime Minister Olmert, who gave them almost 90 percent of all their wishes. Before that there was Barack.

You know, we evacuated settlements in Gaza in 2005. The entire -

COSTELLO: But you are building there today?

AYALON: Not in Gaza, no.

COSTELLO: Or the West Bank.

AYALON: Where we - where we build is only in areas that everybody agrees would be in any - any future solution would be part of Israel. These are the major blocks. That's also, Carol, is something very important. The settlement has been like a mantra. The settlement issue is only one of many.

Basically four, five main issues. You know, we had the territory issue, the borders, security arrangements -

COSTELLO: Right.

AYALON: -- recognition of Israel. They have not recognized us yet as a - as a Jewish state. You know, not giving us the benefit for (INAUDIBLE) as we do to them.

There's issue of defensive of borders and there was of refugees. And the settlement is one of them, and they're all interconnected. We said let's put everything a little - you cannot just cherry pick settlement as one of the issues and say well, let's (INAUDIBLE) - this doesn't go this way, because there's give and take on all issues together.

COSTELLO: Right, so the two sides are far apart, it's safe to say, still. But let's talk about -

AYALON: Unfortunately.

COSTELLO: -- President Obama and what he said about Israel. There have been allegations from Republicans here in the United States that the president has sort of thrown Israel under the bus.

But the president spoke at the United Nations yesterday. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakable. Our friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. And so, we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that Israel faces every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Some people say that President Obama caved because of political pressure he is feeling here in the United States, and Israel has put him in this box where he can't get out and he must say these things. From your perspective, what do you think?

AYALON: Not at all. First of all, I would say that the United States and Israel are natural allies. You know, based on long tradition of - you know, the bond is - is bond of values, of ethos, of traditions, of interests.

You know, we are facing the same threats. We work together, shoulder to shoulder to counter terrorism -

COSTELLO: Is President Obama throwing Israel under the bus?

AYALON: No. No way. No way.

You know, we - see, this is something which is very important. I know there's coming a very heated political season here. But Israel is not part of the campaign.

I think what - we have been blessed to be a bipartisan issue. When it comes to Israel, I don't see a difference between Republicans or Democrats. We see only Americans.

I know, you know -

COSTELLO: Really?

AYALON: Yes. Really. And I know here from the American perspective, and you're going to a very heated campaign season, we have the same way in Israel. But, truly, for us, you know, it's a bipartisan support for Israel, and we appreciate it.

And I believe it's a natural support, because these are the real interests, national security interests of the United States, to have Israel strong and on the trenches, defend our values, defend our interests, counterterrorism, counter proliferation of nuclear weapons. And, of course, also one thing, Carol, if I may, people talk about Israel-American alliance also in terms of defense relations, strategic intelligence, which is fine, but economic relations is so important.

You know that Israel is the largest trading partner of the United States in the Middle East. We buy more American products and services. So this also is something which keeps our countries together very well.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining us this morning. I appreciate it.

AYALON: Thank you,

COSTELLO: And you'll be at the United Nations later this afternoon -

AYALON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: -- to listen to the procedures, I'm sure.

AYALON: Absolutely. Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much - Christine.

ROMANS: OK, Carol.

Still to come this morning, $16 muffins? Out of control spending at the Justice Department? How did it happen? We're going to ask Senator Chuck Grassley, ahead.

And after 17 years as the richest person in America, can Bill Gates make it 18 in a row? How much money does he have? How many muffins would that buy at the Justice Department?

The answer, when AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Right now stocks are falling sharply, so is gold and oil. The Fed said the U.S. economy is facing significant downside risks when it announced another stimulus measure to boost the economy.

Right now U.S. stock futures trading sharply lower ahead of the opening bell. Dow futures look like maybe a 200-point decline if this holds.

The rogue trader caught at UBS has been remanded in custody in London until October 20 - the accused rogue trader, I should say. The British court added a charge of fraud and abuse of position in his case. He's being accused of unauthorized trading amounting to $2 billion in losses for the Swiss bank.

In about an hour we'll have the latest read on how many people are collecting jobless benefits. The Labor Department's initial jobless claims report will tell us just how many people filed for new benefits last week. We'll get you those numbers as soon as they're available.

What's next at Facebook? Today we'll find out. CEO Mark Zuckerberg will speak at the company's annual F-8 conference in San Francisco. That's this afternoon.

Subscribers are bracing for - yes - even more changes to the site. Don't you love it when Facebook changes? This after some recent tweaks were met with resistance, like changes to the site's news feed feature.

And Forbes releasing its annual list of the richest Americans. Here are the top three. Microsoft founder Bill Gates holds that top spot for the 18th year in a row. He has $59 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is second, $39 billion. And Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison is the number three spot, with $33 billion in wealth.

Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all new CNNMoney.com.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's 31 minutes past the hour. Good morning. Top stories now.

The state of Georgia executing by lethal injection death- row inmate Troy Davis happened late last night after the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-second stay.

Davis was convicted of murdering an off-duty officer more than 20 years ago. Witnesses to the execution say Troy Davis insisted he was innocent until the end.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas still plans to submit a request for statehood to the U.N. Security Council tomorrow even though the United States promises to veto it.

President Obama addressing the general assembly yesterday insisting the only path the Palestinian statehood is through direct talks with Israel.

It is no longer a typhoon, but Roke left a deadly mark on Japan. At least 10 people were killed across the country. Four others are missing. There were concerns torrential rains would do more damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The plant managed to weather the storm.

ROMANS: All right, just a day after two American hikers were released from the Iranian prison, Iran's president will deliver a speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

What about that timing? "New York Times" columnist, Nicholas Kristoff interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week. Welcome to the program.

NICHOLAS KRISTOFF, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thank you.

ROMANS: So tell me what was his mood? This was the first -- only print interview he's doing here during the New York event. What was his mood like?

KRISTOFF: By nature he is a provocateur. I mean, he's - I think most comfortable tossing verbal hand grenades, but he really was trying to be on his best behaviour. He was trying to be conciliatory.

The release of the two hikers I think was imminent and that was a calculated move also to improve his standing. He also talked about an offer to ease the nuclear stand-off between his country to reduce sanctions. I think that was one of the purposes.

ROMANS: What did he offer? He said that he would -- if the U.S. would allow him to purchase --

KRISTOFF: Yes. What he said is that if the U.S. or the west would provide enriched uranium, 20 percent level then Iran would stop all enrichment. And, you know, this is -- worth pursuing. This is something that was proposed to Iran and that Iran had actually rejected a couple of years ago.

Ahmadinejad had seemed to embrace it and then their supreme leader had rejected it. They had also signalled recently that it was off the table. So if it is now back on the table, there are a lot of reasons to be skeptical, how do we verify? But it is worth pursuing. It is interesting they are making that -- offering that olive branch.

ROMANS: But how much do -- of what he says do we believe? How much is image and bravado for this audience and how much of it is serious diplomacy?

KRISTOFF: We really don't know. There are two questions. One is, is he really speaking for the Iranian government? Because there is a gulf between him and the supreme leader and, you know, he may be speaking, but not representing the others. He was a little defensive when I raised that possibility.

ROMANS: Really?

KRISTOFF: Yes. He got a little prickly here.

ROMANS: He said that these Iranian hikers would be released within two days and then you could see that there was this delay within the judiciary, which shows perhaps a rift within the country.

KRISTOFF: Yes. You get a feeling that people in the judiciary kind of wanted to show him up. Show that, you know, he's not the real boss. There's the same -- this would happen with a nuclear deal.

And then you know, they -- also trying to get out of sanctions and so they may be offering something, stalling technique. But I don't see any real harm in testing their resolve and seeing how real it is.

ROMANS: His take on the Arab spring, I'm interested in the U.S. specifically that recent protests in Syria and how President Assad should handle them. This is what he said to you.

He said, quote, "Fairness, freedom and respect is the right of all people. With clashes and confrontations problems will not be solved. They will be multiplied." Sounds like a guy who does not want protests, clashes and revolt in his own country.

KRISTOFF: Well, obvious question, which I then asked him, if dialogue is right for Syria and clashes and confrontation, how come you resorted to clashes and confrontations in your own country?

ROMANS: What did he say?

KRISTOFF: Completely different. He -- I told him that 100 to 200 people had been killed in Iran and he denied that figure. I asked him about the famous photo of a young woman, pro-democracy protester who was shot in the chest and bled to death on the streets there.

For just a fraction of a moment, he just looked a little bit sad. I thought he might apologize, but then went off into his own kind of reality show and said, she had been murdered by his opponents.

ROMANS: And that's not what so many people within his country say. She has become a face of what happened in that country and just does -- denies it. He denies a lot of things.

KRISTOFF: Yes. I mean, there's no doubt as far as I'm concerned that she was killed by their government. In that respect, number of respects, he's kind of living in a very different world than the one I have been.

ROMANS: A lot of things have changed in the past six, seven, eight, nine months. I mean, the -- sands have shifted beneath his feet. There's no question about that.

KRISTOFF: That's right. You know, a lot of Americans were initially concerned that Iran would be a beneficiary of Arab Spring. I don't think that's right.

I think that Iran is increasingly perceived as, you know, one more repressive regime in the region and they may well lose their closest ally, which is President Assad in Syria. I think they are on the defensive to some degree.

ROMANS: All right, Nick Kristoff, the only print interview with Ahmadinejad who will no doubt make headlines again today. Thank you so much. Nice to see you.

KRISTOFF: My pleasure. Good to be here.

ROMANS: Carol --

COSTELLO: No doubt. Thanks, Christine. Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question this morning, should patriotism be a political tool?

I ask you this because of Texas Governor Rick Perry's new web ad. It is compelling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No more manufactured prices, no more games. We are headed in the right direction. I love these folks that say it is democracy. That's fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not a single job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No jobs created.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are demoralized. What has happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zero new jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So you get it. President Obama's hoping change thing is destroying America, but at about minute into this ad, it becomes all about patriotism. Right when Perry says we don't need a president who apologizes for America. The ad emphatically states Rick Perry is an American.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The last great hope of mankind. It is time to get America working again. You don't need a president to apologize for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It is a tactic that's been proved quite effective. Remember the infamous swift boat ads by a pro-Bush group questioning Vietnam Veteran John Kerry's heroism?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crimes committed on a day-to-day basis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He betrayed us in the past. How can we be loyal to him now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ravaged countryside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This country, more importantly the people he served with. He sold them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Bush eventually denounced the ads, but damage was done. Kerry lost the election. Patriotism has worked for Democrats, too.

During the 2008 campaign vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said wealthy Americans should pay more taxes because it is time to be patriotic.

Now that sounds familiar. So the talk back question today, should patriotism be a political tool? Facebook.com/americanmorning. I will read your comments later this hour.

ROMANS: All right, still to come this morning, you paid for it, $16 muffins, $10 brownies. You didn't get to enjoy them, of course, but they are on your tab as taxpayers. How did this happen? What in the world are we going to do about it?

COSTELLO: And a new study suggests lack of omega 3 fatty acids could increase the risk of suicide. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will break it down for us. It's 38 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's about 42 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Three years ago, the Department of Justice spent $121 million on conferences. At some of those events, guests enjoyed $16 muffins. I'm talking apiece, $8 cups of coffee and cans of soda costing nearly $6 apiece.

ROMANS: I'm laughing because I'm crying. It is outrageous spending and will be the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting today.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is the ranking member of that committee. He joins us live from Capitol Hill. You know, I have to tell you, I hold in my hand a transcript of a presidential radio address, Senator, talking about waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement except this is dated 1984.

I think you were my senator from Iowa even back then. It is President Reagan. He is calling it an unchecked cancer of a monster that we need to get under control. Thirty years later, can you believe we are spending $16 for a muffin?

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: When you consider that Washington is an island surrounded by reality and it is easier to spend other people's money than your own money and you realize that families in Iowa would not pay $16 for a muffin and it is done in Washington.

It isn't right. It is ridiculous, but it is one of those things that's happened and what it calls for is to put more restrictions by Congress on how the executive branch can spend money. Now, can we cover everything in an appropriation bill? Probably not because you expect a lot of common sense out of bureaucrats that are spending the money.

Evidently the message is getting through because I believe that the president overnight put out some sort of a message that somebody high up in agency was supposed to approve conferences now so that ridiculous things like $16 muffins doesn't happen again.

ROMANS: You are right, it has -- high levels have to approve this kind of stuff now.

COSTELLO: But Senator, as Christine said, we have been dealing with this problem since at least 1984. Yes, maybe there are new rules coming down the pike. But I mean, what can you say to the American people to make them believe those new rules will actually be put into place and they will be followed?

GRASSLEY: Yes. Well, listen, I said that you ought to have more restrictions on appropriation bills and it is my responsibility to help put some of those there, but will it get done? I don't know and if you put those restrictions in, there's still a great deal of leeway.

So that you -- appoint to the common sense of people making these decisions and I don't know that there is any way that I can guarantee you and I wish I could guarantee you that mistakes won't be made like this in the future.

But it is one of these things that in this period of austerity now where we have a select committee on debt reduction, a joint committee, and bipartisan committee made up. It is one of the first things that they ought to look at when you got a $1.6 trillion deficit.

ROMANS: It's always trendy to say waste, fraud, abuse, we have to clean out the waste, fraud, and abuse, everyone says they want to do it but it never gets squeezed out, which makes the American people, I would say, rightly cynical that you can raise taxes to raise revenue or you can cut spending only to raise receive new. You know, I mean, people just look at government and don't believe that our elected officials can fix it because we are still spending $16 on a muffin.

GRASSLEY: Well, remember, elected officials have the power and can put a lot of restrictions on exactly how that money ought to be spent. But it is still going to be spent by the executive branch of government, and Congress is making decisions in September for the next 12 months of the fiscal year. And it is going to take some common sense of unelected people within the bureaucracy to make sure that the money is spent according to law.

COSTELLO: Senator --

GRASSLEY: You can -- go ahead.

COSTELLO: Senator, should someone be fired?

GRASSLEY: Unless people are fired, and heads roll, you never get changes made. I made that statement so many times maybe for a lot of things -- lot more serious than $16 muffins. But the answer is unless heads roll, there isn't going to be any changes made.

ROMANS: What is the culture in Washington that allows this kind of stuff happen? What's the culture that allows -- there's just so much money that's flowing so freely and it is borrowed and not -- belongs to us. We borrow it from China and from ourselves. What is the culture that makes that appropriate?

GRASSLEY: There is a culture of elitism. And one of the reports coming from the inspector general said why do you spend this kind of money for conferences? That isn't just the muffin, the whole conference. And they said well, because of the political appointees and the senior executives, just because they are, quote, unquote, "somebody of high level," you know, then they expect it.

Well, it is that sort of elitism and the culture in Washington that we ought to encourage elitism, that's wrong. In other words, we ought to bring some of the common sense, the grassroots of America to Washington and in a democracy and representative government where I work for the people of Iowa. They don't work for me. Or the bureaucrats work for the people, the taxpayers. The taxpayers don't work for them. It is that sort of attitude that has to be changed if things are going to be changed in Washington.

ROMANS: So if firing is the only thing that will change that sort of culture, who wields the ax?

GRASSLEY: Well, Congress can't fire people. So it has got to be the president. That's where the buck stops. He delegates it to other people. And somebody in the senior core of executive got -- has to decide we are not going to spends $16 for muffins, and anybody that does is going to be fired.

COSTELLO: Senator Chuck Grassley, thank you for joining thus morning. It was pleasure.

ROMANS: That was a two-year period, 2008 to 2009. I will have to dig back and see, you know, under which administration's -- I suspect, though, Carol, this is a kind of thing that's a culture of, you know, how Washington works no matter who is running the White House.

COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, is there a link between Omega 3 deficiency and suicide? We will talk to Dr. Gupta but a new study that suggests there certainly is.

ROMANS: And your "Romans' Numeral" this morning, $13,830. Here's a hint. Multiply that by eight if you are Kate. It's about 48 minutes after the hour.

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COSTELLO: It's 7:50 eastern time. Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. The state of George executive by lethal injection death row inmate Troy Davis. It happened late last night after the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute stay. Davis was convicted of murdering an off-duty officer more than 20 years ago.

The United States stepping up pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani terror network which is blamed for attacks on U.S. forces across the border in Afghanistan. Sources telling CNN the CIA has increased drone attacks inside Pakistan against the Haqqanis.

A French court firing two women for wearing burqas. They're the first to be sentenced under France's new ant anti-burqa law. The court could have also ordered them to take citizenship courses, but it did not.

Newly released surveillance video of a shooting inside an Arkansas courthouse that shows a man who, police say, opening fire after demanding to see a judge and being told he was not allowed to see that judge. The gunman was shot and killed.

Mitt Romney is still way ahead of Rick Perry and everyone else in the first primary state of New Hampshire. In a new Suffolk University WHDH survey, the former Massachusetts governor is at 41 percent, 27 points ahead of his closest rival.

You're now caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back in 60 seconds.

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ROMANS: It's time now to reveal "Romans' Numeral." I teased you with it before the break. It's $13,830. It's not the price of a used car. That's the cost of raising a kid for just one year.

COSTELLO: One year!

ROMANS: According to the department of agriculture, that's what a parent spent on one single child in 2010. The good news -- that's food, lodging, doesn't include college or saving for college, unfortunately. But the good news is, the more kids you have, the overhead on each goes down.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: So that's the answer, unless they all go to college.

"AM House Call" now -- we all know that omega 3 fatty acids are good for us, but a new study out suggests there is actually a powerful psychiatric benefit of fish oil, too.

ROMANS: Researchers looked at the levels of omega 3s in our military men and women and found that active duty men with low levels were more than 60 percent more likely to commit suicide.

COSTELLO: So bizarre. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been following the story. So Sanjay, what is it about omega 3s that have this effect?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting. And it may be one of these things, like you said, that not having enough of it is more of a problem. It's not necessarily that you need to get more and more. It's just that most people in the United States simply don't have adequate omega 3 fatty acid levels in their blood.

And that's what they're studying here and trying to figure out if we should bring up the levels a bit in the entire population. A lot of people in the military focused on this. We were investigating this for some time, noting that there are 155 suicide among active duty personnel last year, 114 so far this year. This is compared to around 52 back in 2001.

So, the numbers are going up and a lot of people trying to figure out why exactly. Omega 3 fatty acids -- let me tell you really quickly. There's two types of omega fatty acids, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. And one of the researchers in the study, someone who looks at all of our various foods and tries to figure out what foods specifically to get, this is Dr. Hiblin, and he takes foods, blends them down, and tries to find the exact amounts of the good the omega 3 fatty acids and what people should be getting.

And what he found as part of the study is people who didn't have enough, had 50 percent less dopamine, 50 percent less serotonin in their blood and in their brains. These are things that are associated with good mood. So less omega 3, less good mood enhancers in the brain. That's what he's finding.

ROMANS: Also, let's be clear. The military experience, the military suicides, I mean, trying to transfer that into the general population is difficult because post-traumatic stress and all the things happening there. But what does it mean for everyone, I guess?

GUPTA: There are some parallels even though the experience is different. Certainly in terms of diet and suicide rates are higher, but not significantly so compared to the general population. So I think the message seems to be overall exactly how much omega 3 fatty acids should we get in our diets?

It's not necessarily more is better, but there is probably an amount that is the right amount, that's what people are trying to hone in on.

The point that you made earlier is a good point. Leaving, you know, the idea of mental illness aside, all the other potentially good benefits of these omega 3 fatty acid with regard to heart disease and stroke, these are things that are shown. What the scientists want to do now is really replicate what they see here and say is simply getting people to normal levels of omega 3 fatty acids, which we don't have very many people in this country that have that, could that help reduce depression and help reduce some of these awful tragedies, including suicide?

COSTELLO: Fascinating. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks to you.

ROMANS: Ahead next hour, they needed to build a trivia terminator to beat him on jeopardy. Who is Ken Jennings?

COSTELLO: And why did he sleep with a geography book? We want to know why. We'll ask him.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: We'll also a sneak peek at his new book.

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