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American Morning
Rick Perry's "N" Word Controversy; "Occupy Wall Street"; Interview With Sen. John McCain; Eastman Kodak Shares Drop To 78 Cents; Lockerbie Bomber Interviewed by Reuters in Libya; Tech Expert Reviews Useful Smartphone Apps; Reaching for the Stars
Aired October 03, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello. Right now, Amanda Knox is waiting to find out if her murder conviction will be overturned in Italy. A plane reportedly waiting to fly her home if she is off the hook.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Race is suddenly a campaign issue for Rick Perry. I'm Ali Velshi. The Texas governor, defending his family's use of a Texas campground that had the "N" word in its name, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Happy Monday. It is October 3. Christine has the morning off.
VELSHI: Well, we begin this hour with the Amanda Knox situation, waiting to find out whether she'll be free or going back to prison in Italy. Right now, the American student is hoping her murder conviction will be overturned. She made her case to a jury in Italy earlier this morning. And now she's waiting for a verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA KNOX, CONVICTED OF MURDER IN ITALY (through translation): I want to go back home. I want to go back to my life. I don't want to be punished, to have my life, my future taken away from me for things that I haven't committed, because I am innocent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Matthew Chance is joining us live now from Perugia, Italy.
Matthew, what's the situation right now? Are they deliberating?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are, yes. The court has been taken back. They said the judges, the jury will go away. They'll discuss their decision over the course of the next seven hours or so. We're not expecting a verdict until about 8:00 local time, so 2:00 p.m. eastern time. So plenty of hours for them to discuss what they want to do.
In the meantime, Amanda Knox, along with her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, also serving a lengthy prison sentence for murder of Meredith Kercher back in2007, they've been taken back to their prisons to await the decision of the court on their fate.
VELSHI: Matthew, how is the process different than what we'd be normally expecting to see certainly here in the United States -- an appeal of a trial where either it's successful or it's not, and she goes back to jail? There's more range in the possible decisions here.
CHANCE: Yes. I think there are. I certainly think that, you know, the idea this is going to be a clean cut verdict on the part of the jury and the judge may be a bit wishful thinking. But certainly, they have the option of setting a free and sort of cautioning all the convictions against her. They have the option of keeping her in prison, of course, to serve out the sentence, or even increasing the sentence as the prosecution have asked to life imprisonment.
But they could also kind of find her guilty of some of the lesser charges she's been convicted of, sentence as of time served or just for a few more years in prison.
So, there's a whole range, a whole gamut, of possible sentences they could hand down at the end of the day.
VELSHI: And the earliest we're likely to hear about this in about six hours from now. We'll have to see how that turns out.
Matthew, thanks very much for joining us -- Matthew Chance in Perugia.
And just in to CNN: the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 is speaking out, saying the truth will come out hopefully in the near future.
COSTELLO: "Reuters" spoke to Abdelbasset al-Megrahi. He was convicted of the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, and sent to a Scottish prison to serve a life sentence back in 2001. But Scotland released him in 2009 because he had cancer.
With Gadhafi now out of power in Libya, the hope was that country would assist in new investigations. But Libya's interim justice minister has said that the Lockerbie bombing case is closed.
We're trying to get Nic Robertson up, because the last time we saw Megrahi, he was in a coma. And now he's giving interviews. So, we are kind of confused about that.
VELSHI: We'll keep you posted on that if we get Nic as well.
COSTELLO: Now to politics and a firestorm over race engulfing Texas Governor Rick Perry. It involves his family's lease on hunting grounds in Texas that had the N-word on a rock in front of that hunting ground, in front of that property. That stone bearing the name stood at the entrance.
Perry says he had the name painted over years ago, buts that has not stop a campaign rival from attacking Perry.
Joining us from Washington, CNN deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser.
How damaging might this be, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's definitely putting Perry in the spotlight this morning, and it all started with a "Washington Post" article that came out this morning and, as you said, it talked about that property in west Texas that they leased. They say, again, as you mentioned, Perry campaign saying, yes, it was painted over years ago when they first leased the property.
But in "The Washington Post" report, the people there who are quoted in that article say, no, that's not the case, that the name was there just a few years ago.
You know, what struck me was the quick reaction from the Perry campaign. I reached out to them yesterday morning soon after seeing the article, and they were quick to react especially on a Sunday morning. And part of the statement said this, "A number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent and anonymous, including the implication that Rick Perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible. One consistent fact in the story is that the word on a rock was painted over and obscured many years ago."
As you both mentioned, Herman Cain, a fellow Republican who is running for the presidential nomination, who is also African-American, he was on the Sunday talk shows. He was asked about it. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My reaction is, that is very insensitive. There are some words that do not basically inspire the kind of negativity like that particular word. And since Governor Perry has been going there for years to hunt, I think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place. It's just basically a case of insensitivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Another telling sign, minutes after Cain made those comments, the Perry campaign came out with another statement reacting to Cain, saying they agreed that the word was insensitive, but said once again the rock had been painted over.
I guess, where does it go from here? Let's see. Will any of the other presidential campaigns, especially, Mitt Romney jump into this and attack Perry over it? That's a telling sign.
And what will Perry say specifically on this? All eyes on Rick Perry right now, guys.
VELSHI: Hey, Paul, your quick take on this because there's increasing talk that Chris Christie is getting very, very seriously considering running for president.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. And this may be another reason why he is again thinking of this, because this latest round of talk came after Rick Perry started to stumble in that debate about two weeks ago. This could be another factor weighing on Chris Christie's mind.
VELSHI: All right. Paul, thanks very much -- Paul Steinhauser in Washington.
Hey, if you're thinking that the economy is tough right now, just wait, because according to the widely respected Economic Cycle Research Institute, the world's largest economy, ours, is headed into another recession. Last hour, I spoke tot the group's Lakshman Achuthan about why he believes there's nothing the politicians or the fed can do to avoid it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: You have now looked at the data and for the first time late last week you said we're now going to have a double dip recession. We might even be in one.
LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Right. Absolutely. And look, it's very hard to have conviction about anything.
But in this case, we have a conceptual underpinning of how recessions and recoveries take place in this country. In a market economy, recessions are part and parcel of a market economy. So, we're not going to get away from them.
And looking at the facts, we see that the forward-looking indicators, not one, not two, dozens of leading indexes are falling. There's contagion among those indexes. They are falling in a way that we only see when a recession is underway or starting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: I notice he said underway or starting. He said we could be in it already. Lakshman went on to say that the recession could be mild, much like 2001, or 1990.
But the question still remains, does something go bad, like Lehman Brothers, which made a normal recession into a much worse recession, is there going to be a negative shock to the system. That's something that Lakshman couldn't tell us, although the one that weighs on everyone's mind is something very bad in Europe.
COSTELLO: Yes. Greece comes to mind.
VELSHIK: Yes.
COSTELLO: The arrest of hundreds of protesters from New York's Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend has done little to stop the Wall Street protesters. The movement is now entering its third week, and organizers say the demonstrations are growing, and becoming more organized.
Our Alison Kosik is joining us live.
So, you went back down there and what did you see this time?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know what? They are just growing here in New York. They are also growing across the country, in Chicago, Seattle, L.A. -- these sort "occupy Wall Street"- like protests.
And you know what? They've been craving this media attention? And you know what? They got it.
But at this point, it's media attention for their arrests that happened this weekend in New York. Not so much their message. Maybe it's because they don't really have one message.
As for what happened over the weekend, take a look -- hundreds of protesters marched on the Brooklyn Bridge, essentially shutting it down to traffic for a few hours. Hundreds were arrested or ticketed for walking on the roadway, for blocking it. And after they got out of the pokey, they went right back to the park.
COSTELLO: The pokey?
KOSIK: Talking about the jail, yes.
They went right back to the park holding the signs, saying they are against corporate greed, to high gas prices, even calling for a four-day work week
But we're seeing that that star power is continuing. When I was out there, Susan Sarandon was out there. Media mogul Russell Simmons lending his name.
Also, Alec Baldwin tweeting about it over the weekend, offering his encouragement, some messages over the weekend there. And some pictures.
Now, they have actually not been able to have a sit-in on Wall Street because it's pretty much barricaded all around the New York Stock Exchange. You can't really get around the perimeter. Not sure if that's essentially what they really want to do at this point. It's branching out.
One weird thing that happened this weekend, I want to show you during Susan Candiotti, she's CNN reporter here. During her live shot there --
COSTELLO: Watch closely. This is crazy.
KOSIK: -- someone just catapulted a dog across. Is that bizarre?
VELSHI: That's the weirdest thing.
KOSIK: What about peace, love, and understanding? They are throwing dogs.
COSTELLO: It was international dog tossing day.
KOSIK: Is that going to bring their message to light anymore, Ali?
VELSHI: I think that is truly -- well, listen, every time we talk about this, you and I both get a lot of tweets. And I was getting a bunch this morning. And someone said, you know, just like the Arab Spring, the message evolved.
A, that's inaccurate. And B, as a business journalist, I kind of take offense to these folks comparing themselves to the Arab Spring, where people were under full oppression, being thrown into jail without trial, being killed arbitrarily by their governments.
But, again, there are some legitimate messages in there.
KOSIK: Sure. It's the whole kitchen sink mentality. They are throwing too much in there.
The question I have, they say they will be out there until they see change. Change of what, and how will they get there? And if it's change for the country, the way they all of these grievances are listed, they are going to be out there a long, long time.
COSTELLO: I could go for the four-day work week thing.
VELSHI: It's economically not unsound.
COSTELLO: That's true.
VELSHI: Friday off.
COSTELLO: I think, though, that the celebrities lending their support, they are co-opting this group now for their own purposes, like Michael Moore.
KOSIK: Oh, sure.
COSTELLO: I mean, he's yearning for a revolution. Maybe this is his chance.
KOSIK: And they are. They are offering their advice. They're saying -- listen, focus your message more. At least they can take that and try to run with it.
They even came out with a newspaper. It's called "The Occupy Wall Street Journal." Get it?
VELSHI: Occupy Wall Street Journal. That's good. That's clever.
KOSIK: So, they are trying to hone their message a little more. I think they've had one issue. They're trying to get more donations for more issue. I think -- they said it's evolving.
VELSHI: Their social media -- yes, it is evolving. Their social media campaign is effective. And it didn't hurt them that the police had some missteps early on.
KOSIK: Yes, go figure.
COSTELLO: But if they keep on tossing dogs --
KOSIK: I know. I'm stepping in.
VELSHI: I do want to tell you, talking about the four-day work week, we might need to negotiate something on Friday. If there's a game five between the Tigers and the Yankees, I suspect we're both going to have late nights.
COSTELLO: Oh, my gosh!
VELSHI: We'll have to do a coin toss to see who works Friday.
COSTELLO: Well, you know. The series goes back to Detroit. It's Verlander versus Sabathia again. It's a redux. And it will be exciting.
VELSHI: Thanks, Alison.
KOSIK: OK. You got it.
COSTELLO: Thanks. Sorry, I didn't mean to talk baseball there.
KOSIK: That's good.
COSTELLO: Coming up, Senator John McCain will join us live fresh off his trip to Libya. Plus, does he think President Obama owes George W. Bush an apology? And why he's cautioning New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, about a possible run for the White House.
VELSHI: And forget the leaves turning colors. In some places, snow has already started falling. Rob Marciano has got your very wintry fall forecast next.
Plus, the latest on hurricane Ophelia.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time to get up now.
Good morning, New York City. Some clouds right now, 48 degrees. And showers later with a high of only 59 degrees. I think fall is here.
VELSHI: Fall is here. Dramatic, beautiful picture of New York, but it's going to rain again.
Rob Marciano is in the CNN extreme weather center.
All sorts of rainy weather going across this country today.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not only that but, guys, a lot of spots across the East Coast seeing their first snows of the winter, not the winter, the fall.
Check it out. This past weekend, across parts of Pennsylvania, Johnstown seeing a little bit of a dusting on the grassy areas. Higher elevations in West Virginia and even North Carolina seeing accumulating snows with this cold air mass that's continuing to spiral around the Northeast.
Here it is. And it's causing the un-settled weather and it will continue to cause unsettled weather across the I-95 corridor. So, chance of seeing showers there. But the back half of this across the western Great Lakes is starting to see things dry out.
And it's certainly cold the back half of it. Forty degrees currently in Nashville. We've got frost advisories out for parts of the Tennessee Valley and 45 degrees in Atlanta, 43 currently in Montgomery. So, certainly a nip in the air.
Out west as well, got a strong storm system that's about to slam into northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Our first winter storm watches of the season have been posted. Six to 12 inches of snow expected above 7,000 feet, and winds could be gusting to 50 miles per hour.
Windy and warm across the midsection of the country. And there's your cool showers across the Eastern part of the country. And that unsettledness will create some travel delays today -- Boston, New York metros, D.C., Philly, and, of course, San Francisco as well.
We will see a bit of a bounce back in temperatures after temps only getting into the 60s across the Deep South yesterday.
Briefly, tropical storm Ophelia hitting Newfoundland, but it is screaming northeasterly at about 35 miles an hour.
And back by popular demand, if you missed it in the six o'clock hour, this black bear making its way towards a bird feeder.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: I mean, you can't help but laugh. It's a small bear, and obviously, needs to eat a little more. So, maybe it should eat elsewhere for his nourishment, but nonetheless, the folks who own this property watched it climb up, eat the bird feed, and climb back down.
COSTELLO: Oh.
MARCIANO: That will get your Monday off to a decent start.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: The birds in the neighborhood are not so pleased.
MARCIANO: No, they're not.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: But, you know, they can fly. They can cover more ground, more gracefully, as well.
VELSHI: That's right. Can't ever get enough of bears.
COSTELLO: I know. He was smarter than your average bear.
VELSHI: Rob, thank you, my friend.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
COSTELLO: Arizona senator, John McCain, just back from Libya says he was inspired by what he saw. Senator McCain and three other Republican senators are the highest ranking American officials to visit Libya since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi. Senator McCain joins this morning from Capitol Hill. Good morning, senator.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Good morning. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm good. Thank you for being here. So, you went on this trip to Tripoli to assess the situation there and to assess the new government leaders, but I think, right now, the American people are still wondering where the heck Moammar Gadhafi is. Did you get any update?
MCCAIN: Well, there's a lot of rumors that he is either in his hometown of Sirte or he is down on the border with Chad (ph). Actually, they don't really know where he is, but they are certainly making progress. And I think within days, if not weeks, they will have the entire nation secure.
COSTELLO: Some people are worried that extremists could be part of the government there. How concerned are you about that?
MCCAIN: I'm concerned about the fact that they don't have a national army. They just, basically, have these militias running around and some of them are fine, some of them are not so fine. So, they need to form up a national army. But one thing we could do is help care for their wounded. They've got 30,000 wounded people.
Many of them maimed, many of them amputees, and they simply don't have the capabilities to care for these people. The Germans and the French have already are helping out. We could send a hospital ship. We could bring some of them to our hospital in Germany. But right now, they need a lot of medical assistance.
And the wounded continue to pour in. I went to a hospital there in Tripoli and saw a lot of the gravely wounded, and, they clearly need our assistance. We could do that. They'd be very grateful.
COSTELLO: Wow. We just got word that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, suddenly, he's awaken from this coma he supposedly has been in, and he said the truth will come out. Of course, this is the convicted Lockerbie bomber, responsible for so many deaths, including American deaths. Do you think he should be brought back to the United States and did you have any conversations about him while you were in Libya?
MCCAIN: Yes, we did, and they want to cooperate with us on this issue, whether he should be brought to the United States, international criminal court, is something for discussion. But frankly, I'm not surprised at this miracle that he is, again, hanging on in a Lazarus-like fashion.
COSTELLO: Would you like to see him brought back to the United States?
MCCAIN: Either there or the international criminal court. You know, there were other citizens of other countries who were killed as well. In all candor, this is a black mark on the government of Scotland and the British. The guy never should have been let go.
COSTELLO: On another subject, al Qaeda's online preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, was killed by a drone strike in Yemen on Friday. Of course, You know that. Candy Crowley, over the weekend, asked former vice president, Dick Cheney, was about that strike, and I'd just like you to listen to what he said and then get your reaction. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT: I think it's very effective use of our drone technology. The thing I'm waiting for is for the administration to go back and correct something they said two years ago when they criticized us for, quote, "overreacting" to the events of 9/11.
They, in effect, said that we had walked away from our ideals or taken policy contrary to our ideals when we had enhanced interrogation techniques. They clearly have moved in the direction of taking robust action when they feel it's justified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Senator, can you equate the two, an attack on an American citizen on foreign soil and enhanced interrogations?
MCCAIN: I cannot. There's two entirely different things. One is that this was specifically authorized by Congress after 9/11. And, it's action that is taken against a declared enemy of the United States of America. I'm glad they did it. I'm glad that they will continue. In the case of, quote, "enhanced interrogation," i.e. torture, there are Geneva conventions. There are laws that prohibit it.
And it is very obvious that one of the great recruitment tools that our enemy has is the fact that we tortured people, which is not in keeping with the standards of the treatment of prisoners which is a long held custom. And by the way, we never got useful information as a result of torture, but we sure got a lot of angry citizens from around the world and deservedly so.
COSTELLO: So, President Obama owes no apology to President Bush or Vice President Cheney?
MCCAIN: I think as a partisan Republican, I'm a critic of the administration from time to time, but I, along with I think almost every American, congratulate the administration and congratulate the president and his team for carrying out this elimination of an avowed enemy of the United States who was bent on our destruction.
COSTELLO: And no apology necessary from the Obama administration to the Bush administration?
MCCAIN: About what?
COSTELLO: About the enhanced interrogation matter.
MCCAIN: Well, it was 90-6 in the United States Senate to prohibit cruel and inhumane mistreatment. It was an amendment in a peaceful legislation that I was the sponsor of. The Senate has spoken. The American people have spoken. The people of the world have spoken.
Torturing people in violation of international agreements such as the Geneva conventions is prohibited, and frankly, very harmful to the image of the United States of America.
COSTELLO: Senator McCain, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
MCCAIN: Thanks for having me on.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance To "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Our question for you this morning, should the United States have targeted Anwar al-Awlaki despite his American citizenship? President Obama is two for two. First, they got Osama Bin Laden, and now, Anwar al-Awlaki, aruguably, the most wanted terrorist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans. He repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women, and children to advance a murderous agenda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Another American al Qaeda collaborator was killed in the al-Awlaki operation. What a relief, right? Not for everybody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL, (R) TEXAS: If the American people accept this blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. I think it's sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yes, they were bad guys. Really bad guys. still, some say that's no excuse for basically murder. The American civil liberties union, which once accused Obama of morphing into Bush says, and I quote, "The targeted killing program violates both U.S. and international law. It is a mistake to invest the president, any president with the unreviewable power to kill any American whom he deems to present a threat to the country."
Although, former vice president, Dick Cheney, disagrees. He praised the Obama administration for targeting al-Awlaki and says President Obama should apologized for his veiled criticism of the Bush administration's enhanced interrogations. Chaeney added in essence, sometimes, you've got to do what you've got do.
So, the "Talk Back" question today, should the United States have targeted Anwar al-Awlaki despite his American citizenship? Facebook.com/americanmorning. Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: All right. A check of the early morning markets coming up next. The futures are down over more of these concerns about what's going on in Europe.
And little later, we're going to talk to the first African American to walk in space. Former NASA astronaut, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. joins us live, and he's going to talk about how he's inspiring students to dream big. It is 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
This week, it's all about Europe and jobs here in the United States. European markets are down this morning after the Greek government announced over the weekend that it will miss its deficit targets. The news is raising concerns that the next EU bailout of Greece may be in jeopardy, and that the country will have to default on its debt.
Two more warnings about the growth of the global economy also weighing heavily on markets this morning. An IMF official announced today that a further slowdown in the U.S. economy is hurting global growth as a whole.
Also, the ratings agency, Fish (ph), downgraded the growth forecast for all of the world's most powerful economies. These warnings and the news out of Greece are pushing U.S. stock futures down right now. This week, we'll get a fresh reading on growth in the labor market when the government releases its big jobs report for September. That happens on Friday morning.
A stock to watch today, Eastman Kodak is up in pre-market trading after taking a nose dive on Friday. The stock sank more than 50 percent down to 78 cents a share after rumors started swirling that the company could be preparing to file for bankruptcy protection. Kodak denies those rumors.
The CEO of the Chinese internet giant, Alibaba, says he is interested in buying Yahoo. Right now, Yahoo's stock is about 5.5 percent higher ahead of the opening bell on this news. Yahoo has no comment about this report, but the company is holding a press conference today in New York. No other details available just yet.
Still ahead, the top five must have apps that you need now. It's 28 minutes after the hour. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
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COSTELLO: It's 32 minutes past the hour. Here are your top stories.
A jury in Italy deliberating the fate of Amanda Knox right now. The American student hoping to have her murder conviction overturned. She spoke to the jury earlier this morning, calling the accusations against her unjust. If her conviction is thrown out she is expected to be on the first plane out of Italy for America.
VELSHI: An American charged with plotting to attack the Pentagon and capital will appear in court today. And 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus from Massachusetts allegedly planned to carry out the attacks using remote controlled aircraft filled with C-4 plastic explosives. He is also charged with attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda.
COSTELLO: A major scare in the air for hundreds of passengers aboard two separate flights. Six people were hurt when a Jetblue flight there San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Boston hit severe turbulence. In the meantime, a Lufthansa flight in route to Munich from Charlotte, North Carolina, had to be diverted to Boston after hitting rough air. Eleven 11 passengers onboard that plane were hurt.
VELSHI: The only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 is speaking now, saying that the facts about Lockerbie will be revealed in a few months. Reuters spoke to Abdelbasset al-Megrahi. When our Nic Robertson found him over a month ago, he wasn't talking. He was in a coma. Nic Robertson is joining us now on the phone. Nic, what's the latest?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that he seems to be speaking in this Reuters interview. His wife places an oxygen mask over his face at various moments. The family tells Reuters what they told me, that he is short of medication. But clearly he is in a better condition than he was when I saw him a month ago. His family told me then he was slipping in and out of a coma.
Now he is protesting his innocence, saying that he was seen in jail by the head of the victims' committee, the Scottish victims' committee, and says that during that visit with Swyer, (ph) Dr. Swyer (ph) told him that he believed that Megrahi was innocent and the truth would one day come out. So Megrahi really here seems to be in better health slightly, although he says that he could die in days, weeks, or months, wants to be left alone, but still maintaining his innocence, saying that the truth will come out.
VELSHI: Nic, what's the best guess that the truth is going to come out as to where it will come from? This must be something that Megrahi knows.
ROBERTSON: He says that he was a victim of many liars, more than you could know at Camp Zeist. That was piece of Scottish territory designated in the Netherlands for the trial back about 12 years ago. He said that he was a victim then.
And certainly his family believes that he's been a victim of not only international justice but of the Gadhafi regime as well, who used him essentially as a scapegoat to be the fall guy for something that the regime was responsible for.
And this is why Megrahi's testimony and his knowledge and information about exactly what transpired within the regime leading up to the attack is so critical, and that's why there are demands for him to go to the United States and face questioning and certainly face having answers to those questions demanded of him. He says that he wants to remain at home, that he doesn't have long to live. But the real question is, if he believes he is innocent, who does he believe is guilty? And that's information that he has, and many people want to hear. Ali?
COSTELLO: Nic, this is Carol Costello. I'm just wondering, Moammar Gadhafi has now been ousted. He ain't coming back to power. Everybody is wondering if Moammar Gadhafi gave the order to put that bomb onboard that Lockerbie plane. If this guy is innocent, why doesn't he just come out and say either Moammar Gadhafi ordered it or not?
ROBERTSON: That's actually I believe certainly -- he certainly benefited from Gadhafi when he returned to Libya, although he says he was treated badly. But his family is building a huge new house in a very upmarket part of Tripoli at the moment clearly with an aim for him being around for some time. We took a look at the house. It's got four levels, and we saw plans for a very expensive elevator to be installed in the center of the house.
He may well fear that Gadhafi may come back and attack him. He may fear that he will be used as a political pawn in some way. He still clearly feels that he's not in a strong position, that he's short of medication. He is relying on people to help him out of goodwill at the moment. But this is a man who still has answers and he won't say what is keeping them hidden.
VELSHI: Nic Robertson, thanks very much. Nic Robertson joining us on the phone about Abdelbasset Megrahi.
Up next, love them or hate them, smartphones are a way of life. Whether you use them to order food or track your family expenses or organize your next vacation or check the weather, we'll check out the top five apps that you need to have.
It is 37 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: Whenever I would ask my grandfather a complicated question, he would say, you know, there's an app for that. That's not true. The term was coined by Apple, and it really underscoring the amount of information at your fingertips when you're on your cellphones.
So joining me now for an in depth look at our mobile society and the apps that every busy person needs is Joe Brown, the editor-in- chief of gizmoto.com. The Apple world has become so big whether you're using an iPhone or android or blackberry, you sort of narrowed some of them down for us. Show us the first one.
JOE BROWN, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GIZMODO.COM: It's huge. There are over 425,000 apps in the app store. Can I just pull that down?
VELSHI: Yes, pull that down.
BROWN: Sorry. I've always wanted to do that.
VELSHI: There you go. We have an app for that. You have shown us one to start your day, one called "Simple note." I don't really get why I need this, but tell me why this is important.
BROWN: This is my most essential app ever.
VELSHI: Really?
BROWN: It is what it says it is -- simple note. It's the essence of note taking distilled. The promise of smartphones is it makes your life easier. That's what this app does. It's completely connected from your phone, to the web, to your iPad. And you take notes and they appear everywhere simultaneously. The syncing is instantaneous, and it doesn't overwrite anything. If you want to share it with something, write their email address in the tag field, instant.
VELSHI: We overthink that we need complicated apps but this is a simple one called "Simple note," and it's free.
BROWN: Yes.
VELSHI: Let's take a look for travellers.
BROWN: Trip it. If you travel at all, get this an. Trip It Pro is the one I use. It's $50 a year. I travel a lot. The regular Trip It is worth it as well. You can track your itinerary, your mileage points. You can share your itinerary with your girlfriend or your wife, whoever needs to know where you are. If you don't know where you're supposed to be, it will help you.
VELSHI: This is for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry? BROWN: It's everywhere.
VELSHI: All right. Trip It or Trip It Pro.
This one appeals to me, for your money.
BROWN: Mint. It's a pretty old name. They have had a web interface for a long time, and now they have apps on most every platform. And so the thing that's great about Mint is you enter in your account numbers and passwords, and it's all in one place. You can actually make budgets with it.
VELSHI: It shows here they are showing you the budget in a particular month and where you are today.
BROWN: Yes. And the thing that I like about it is you get these weekly financial statements, keeps me in check.
VELSHI: Very good. That's one is for your cash.
Things when you have downtime. I love Kindle.
BROWN: I love kindle too. I love to read. And the great thing about kindle on your smartphone is that if you have a Kindle device you actually can use kindle on your computer, even, but if you have a Kindle or a Kindle device, you just read it there and you don't have to worry about taking the actual device with you on the subway, on a plane, to a boring meeting. It's all on the iPhone and synced up perfectly.
VELSHI: You can look like you're doing work, but you're actually reading a book in a meeting. It's available now for all of the platforms. And this one I like, Epicurious. Tell me about this.
BROWN: This is a product of "Condi Nast." The editors of Gourmet magazine and "Bon a appetite" magazine, they have amassed tens of thousands of recipes every year, and there are in this app is simple, searchable, beautiful. You can do you can say, I have chicken. What should I cook? This one is really just good. It's just really good step-by-step instructions from some of the most talented cooks out there. It's easy to use, fun, and free.
VELSHI: This is great. You've given us some great ideas, free apps that are just handy for everybody, for busy people. I'll check them out and we'll call you back and talk about some more, Joe. Thank you very much. Try one more. Take this one off the screen.
BROWN: Goodbye.
VELSHI: There we go.
AMERICAN MORNING is what you're watching right now. And coming up, your headlines. And are kids dreaming big enough today? Coming up we're going to speak with a former NASA astronaut, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. He was the first African-American to walk in space. And he's out there now inspiring kids to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We're going to tell you what he's doing to help kids do a little better. We'll be right back.
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COSTELLO: It is 46 minutes past the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines."
The only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 speaking from Libya. Abdul Basset Al-Megrahi telling Reuters his role in the attack has been exaggerated and the truth about what really happened over Lockerbie will soon come out.
Right now an eight-person jury in Italy is deliberating the fate of Amanda Knox. The U.S. student is hoping to have her murder conviction overturned on appeal. She spoke to the jury earlier this morning declaring her innocence, calling the accusations against her unjust. A verdict is expected later today.
U.S. markets open in just about 45 minutes, and we could be in for a rough day. U.S. stock futures trading lower ahead of the opening bell right now. And world markets are down too. All because Greece announced over the weekend that it will miss its deficit targets, increasing its chances of default.
The protests against Wall Street entering their third week. Over the weekend 700 people were arrested after police say they blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Rick Perry fighting back against charges that he and his family used hunting grounds in Texas with the "n" word in its name prominently displayed. GOP campaign rival Herman Cain called it very insensitive. Governor Perry says the name was changed and painted over soon after his family leased the camp.
He said no, no, no, a thousand times no, but the Republican leadership may have finally gotten through to Chris Christie. Reports say the New Jersey Governor is now considering getting into the presidential race. His advisors are assessing if there's enough time to set up winning operations in Iowa and New Hampshire.
And that's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break.
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VELSHI: Good morning, New York. Cloudy and 53 degrees. It's going to get up to a balmy 59 degrees. And there are going to be some rain today as has been the case recently.
All right, getting kids to dream big and giving them the tools to make those dreams a reality, it's all part of a program that's trying to get kids excited about science, technology, engineering and math. What are known as the STEM subjects.
And with kids' scores in math and sciences in the United States slipping, it's more important than ever. Dr. Bernard Harris is the first African-American man to walk in space. He's going across the country with "The Dream Tour" to get kids to reach for the stars. He joins me now.
Dr. Harris, a pleasure to see you again. You are -- you're in Harlem right now I believe. You're -- you're with some students. And you're -- you're in this -- in this post shuttle era where kids got to dream about being astronauts.
You are now trying to get kids to dream big again. And -- and -- and take on -- study the things that are going to make them well equipped to compete in science and technology and engineering and math. Tell us what you've got. I think you've got some kids there.
DR. BERNARD HARRIS, ASTRONAUT: I sure do, Ali. You -- you named it right. Or you said it right. What we're trying to do is go around the country and support math and science education. But right here at the Harlem Armory -- and I do have a couple of kids that I'll show you in just a few minutes. And what we're trying to do is excite kids about math and science, because that is the future.
VELSHI: Those kids I just saw, they -- they are sort of on their backs lying down. What on earth is happening?
HARRIS: I know, so let me get down here, if I can. And I have Sydney and Vance here that are demonstrating what it's like to blast off in space. And so we do this during our program where we put kids in this position. And about two hours before a liftoff, we get in this position like this. And as you can see, we have the smoke going. And then we do a countdown.
So you guys ready to do a countdown? Ok. So let's see if we can hit it. If we can do the countdown, there we go. There is the shuttle launch. And --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10, nine, eight, seven --
HARRIS: Are you guys getting nervous yet? Not yet? Ok because you're not moving. So what we trying to do here is demonstrate how the shuttle that I flew, on both Colombia and Discovery --
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VELSHI: That smoke is nothing to worry about, right?
HARRI: -- that smoke is nothing to worry about, Ali. But we are trying to excite kids about math and science. This is a program we have been doing with Exxon Mobil for the last three and a half years. And so it's been well received as we go across the country.
VELSHI: So here is my question for you. If there isn't a shuttle right now, and look, there will be commercial enterprises and NASA will come up with something else. But at the moment, it's -- it's a little tougher to convince people to become theoretical physicists and mathematicians than it is to do what you're doing, and convince them that they may be astronauts.
So I want you to tell me about that. And then, I just want to remind our viewers about your own background. African-American, born on an Indian reservation, astronaut was not likely to be in your future.
HARRIS: Yes. You know, I grew up poor, I came from a broken home. And the thing that got me through was education and my dream of becoming an astronaut. So this is the kind of thing that we're trying to do here. That's why we call it "The Dream Tour."
And so to your question about where we are going in the future, as kids these days still have the opportunity to become astronauts. This -- this change in our program is really a transition where we'll have private industry involved in getting us to lower earth orbit. But NASA is going to be involved with that. We're going to continue to be involved with further exploration to the moon and Mars.
VELSHI: So what -- what is it that -- this is great. You're showing these kids what it felt like to be in the chair. And by the way, the these NASA astronauts always tell me, shuttle astronauts always tell me, that was the worst part about it, just sitting around and waiting for that launch to happen.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: But what is it that -- you're hoping these kids take away from this and that they end up doing? Are you hoping that they go away and say, I want to keep studying math, I want to keep studying science?
HARRIS: That's exactly right. You know, being an astronaut provides me the platform to have dialogue with young people about math and science. As I always say, we're in the 21st century, where technology drives everything.
And if you look at the studies, you know, folks say that 80 percent of the jobs require expertise in math and science. And I would say in these days, 100 percent of the jobs involve some type of math and science.
So we're going to make sure that we are investing in these young people for -- for their future.
VELSHI: All right. Dr. Bernard Harris, it's always a pleasure to see you. Great that you're -- you're doing this, you're spreading this kind of great message to our kids.
It's so important to keep American kids competitive on the world stage. Dr. Bernard Harris, is a former NASA astronaut, the first African-American to walk in space.
HARRIS: Thank you.
VELSHI: And the founder of the Harris Foundation. Going across the country trying to -- trying to get -- to keep people to think about this.
COSTELLO: Those kids were very cooperative.
VELSHI: They were. And you know, the real astronauts like you said have to sit there for two, sometimes three hours. The first one is always the worst, because it takes so long to put each one in. That you've got to pile the rest of them in, they say that's really the worst part.
And then it's those fake outs when you're counting down for launch and they don't really happen. Because all you want to do is get into space at that point.
COSTELLO: Exactly. That was a nice interview.
Coming up next, our "Talk Back" question of the day. The question for you this morning, "Should the United States have targeted Anwar Al-Awlaki despite his American citizenship?" We will read through some of your many responses. It's six minutes until top of the hour.
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VELSHI: Good morning, Washington. It is cloudy and 50 degrees. Going to get some rain up there, down there, wherever you're looking at Washington from. But it's going to up to 54 degrees. A balmy October Monday.
COSTELLO: Oh man, at least the Redskins won, huh?
VELSHI: It's cold. Even in Texas it's like in the 80s. I mean, it's just a cold day in America.
COSTELLO: I guess that is cold for Texas, huh?
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: Now to our "Talk Back Question." We asked you this question this morning, "Should the U.S. have Targeted Anwar Al-Awlaki despite his American Citizenship?"
This from Ed. "The individuals in question were traders who would volunteer to join in the war against the United States. They were soldiers for the enemy and I believe when they signed up for that duty they forfeited the right of their American citizenship."
This from Douglas, "Absolutely, were we to respect the FBI to knock on the door with an arrest warrant? No. Awlaki turned his back on the United States, the land where he was born and embraced radical Islam. He effectively renounced his citizenship when he did that. He and the other American with him got what they deserve as will Adam Gadahn (ph)."
This from Jason, "I would rather use a missile on the terrorist than waste the life of one soldier trying to arrest the terrorist."
And this from Joshua, "Terrorism is like cancer, if you find the cell you have to take it out. Otherwise it'll attack your body and kill you. It doesn't matter whether the cell is home-grown or not, if you find one you have to kill it first and ask questions later. Congratulations to our intelligence agency for finding this cancer. Congratulations to our military for removing it and congratulations to our President for authorizing the operation."
You know at first the comments were 50/50.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: We shouldn't have taken out a U.S. citizen.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: We should have tried at least bring him back to the United States but then the comments took a turn.
VELSHI: And so and now mostly folks are saying --
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COSTELLO: Most people saying, yes, the United States did the right thing.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Because he was a terrorist and a traitor to our country.
VELSHI: Though a very interesting conversation and we'll post it online that you had with John McCain about the -- Dick Cheney's comments about equating being ok with taking out a terrorist and enhanced interrogation or torture. So we'll put that online for you.
Well, that's it for us. We'll hand it over to Martin Savidge right now in a chilly Atlanta. He'll continue with "CNN NEWSROOM." Good morning, Martin.
