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American Morning
Amanda Knox Arrived In Seattle Today; One Died, Three Survived In A Helicopter Crash In New York City; A Woman won $25Million; Boat Leaves Scuba Divers Behind; Could "Occupy Wall Street" Be the Dawn of a Liberal Tea Party?; Thousands Protest in Greece; Deadly New York Chopper Crash; Arizona Dust Storm; Wildfires Hit Texas Town Again; Knox Back Home in Seattle; Rick Perry's Unlikely Nemesis; NBA Loses Millions Due to Game Cancellations; Murray Stockpiled Propofol for Jackson
Aired October 05, 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)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Home. It is Amanda Knox's first full day back in the U.S. with her family. Her first emotional words and the questions she left behind.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A deadly chopper crash in New York City. Amazing pictures of East River rescues. We're talking to first responders and renewed questions about safety after another sightseeing trip ends in tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing you kind of think about is there's a famous movie about divers that get left in the middle of the ocean.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Scuba divers ditched left stranded and paddling for their lives. Find out who finally picked them up.
VELSHI: And Greece grinds to a halt. Live pictures now as thousands flood the streets of Athens. More on the growing outrage over tax hikes and pay cuts on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (on-camera): And good morning to you. It is Wednesday, October 5th. It's time to get up. I know --
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS (on-camera): You're late!
COSTELLO: I felt the same way this morning.
ROMANS: All right. Up first, Amanda Knox back on American soil, and what a homecoming it was. Knox touched down in Seattle shortly after 8:00 p.m. eastern last night. She was crying. She appeared overwhelmed. She thanked everyone who supported her during her four- year ordeal in that Italian prison.
Drew Griffin joining us live from Seattle. Drew, you know the story better than anyone else. This family must be just so pleased that she is finally home.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: You could just see the relief on their faces before anybody spoke a single word as they came out. The mother, the father, the sister, the two stepsisters, all relieved. And none more relieved and emotional than Amanda Knox, who, by the way, Christine, had to be reminded just before she went up to the podium, speak in English.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA KNOX, RELEASED FROM ITALIAN PRISON: I'm really overwhelmed right now.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): After spending four years in an Italian prison, Amanda Knox could hardly believe she was back home, in Seattle.
AMANDA KNOX: I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real.
GRIFFIN: Arriving Tuesday night, Knox was greeted by cheering supporters at the airport and surrounded by her family. She struggled to hold back tears as she addressed the crowd.
AMANDA KNOX: What's important for me to say is just, thank you, to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who's supported my family.
GRIFFIN: Her parents joined her in thanking all the supporters.
EDDA MELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: It's because of the letters and the calls and just amazing support that we've received from people all over the world. Especially here in Seattle that we've been able to endure and we've been able to, you know, make sure Amanda had the support she need.
GRIFFIN: Convicted in 2009 of killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher and sentenced to 26 years in prison, an appeals court in Italy overturned her conviction Monday setting her free. Her U.S. attorney applauded the ruling.
THEODORE SIMON, AMANDA KNOX'S ATTORNEY: This decision unmistakably announces to the world that Amanda Knox was wrongly convicted and that she was not, absolutely not, responsible for the tragic loss of Meredith Kercher.
GRIFFIN: While celebrations are under way for Amanda Knox, for her, family is the priority.
AMANDA KNOX: I just want my family is the most important thing with me right now and I just want to go and be with them, so, thank you for being there for me. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: The family spokesperson asked all the people in the media to respect the Knox family privacy. The Knox family has said they want to quote/unquote, go dark for about six weeks to decide what to do next. And I think Christine, the big question we all want to know what is next in Amanda's life? And I think somewhere in a house in Seattle, somewhere there just going to ask one question today of Amanda Knox. What do you want for breakfast?
ROMANS: The Kercher family this morning, they're accepting this decision, right? I mean they're hurt but accepting this decision?
GRIFFIN: Yes. I think they're coming to grips with the fact that the court really took a deep look at the evidence and decided that, you know what, that first prosecution looks like it was wrong. Maybe they were led us straight by the prosecutors and the police in Perugia and are willing to accept what has happened now.
ROMANS: Alright, Drew Griffin thanks for all your reporting on this story over the months.
ALI VELSHI, HOST: This morning federal investigators are on the scene of a deadly helicopter crash in New York City. The helicopter with four tourists and the pilot onboard plunged into the east river seconds after takeoff yesterday afternoon. Three are the passengers rescued from the water. A fourth found dead in the sunken wreckage. Witnesses were stunned by what they saw.
ROBERT DRESS, WITNESS: This thing just went up and down. I thought I would see people bobbing up and down in the water. There was no one. It was just those two struts pointing towards queens. And then they popped up. And I honestly think that they went down and tried like to rescue the others and came back up, and then there look, they're -
VELSHI: Investigators will now try to determine what went so horribly wrong?
Joining us from the scene on the east side of Manhattan is Mark Rosekind. He is a board member with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Mark, thank you for joining us this morning. Investigators have been working since they arrived yesterday to try and find out what happened. What have you learned so far?
MARK ROSEKIND, NTSB: It's really in the early stages of the investigation. We were fortunate to have two people on scene very shortly after the accident. Full team arrived today. Really, the full activities going on today. We have learned and been able to confirm this was not an air tour operation. It was not a revenue operation or a flight. This was a private aircraft, a private flight.
VELSHI: Now, let me just ask you and I know, I know the NTSB and part of why the NTSB does such a great job. You don't go on preconceived notions what happened. Here's the reporting we've heard, though. That the helicopter had problems immediately after takeoff, spun around before it crashed into the river. Does that give you a starting point with looking at the types of problems that you might be focusing on? Are there things that are obvious when this kind of a crash happens?
ROSEKIND: Thank you. You're right's we won't speculate. We're going to collect the factual information. We're fortunate in this situation that the aircraft is mostly intact. So we'll be looking at the wreckage. Also the pilot survived. So, he is another source of information critical for us. All of these will very important aspects that we're just getting started today looking at all the facts.
VELSHI: Obviously that's very helpful, that the pilot will be able to cooperate in this and tell you what he experienced. A lot of the helicopter was taken out of the water, recovered from the water, but there were some pieces missing, like the main rotor. I assume they're diving for that, will get that out and those kinds of things become very important to the investigation?
ROSEKIND: That's part of today's activity. So our investigators are planning to go to Brooklyn, a secure facility there, where the wreckage is currently stored. They're going to be able to look at the engines, the rotors, all aspects basically to understand what kind of shape it's in right now.
VELSHI: A member of Congress that represents the east side said in the last three year, there have been 28 helicopter accidents in New York. We don't have those numbers. We haven't been able to add up to 28. But the bottom line is there have a number of them. We've obviously covered them over the last few years. Is there some sense that there have been an unnatural number of helicopter accidents? And how do you see that as a national trend?
ROSEKIND: The NTSB is going to focus not only on what happened but why, because our mission really is to determine why so we can issue safety recommendations so it doesn't happen again. We're going to focus on this investigation but in that context look for similar accidents that occurred. And in fact, if we see something that's an issue now we will issue urgent recommendations to try and address that.
VELSHI: Alright, it is very early, as you say, in the investigation. You do have good information to work with. Mark, we'll follow the investigation closely and get the information, the news out, as you say, if there are recommendations out to the public as soon as possible. Mark Rosekind is a board member with the NTSB, joining us from the crash site on the east side of Manhattan. Thank you, Mark.
ROMANS: OK. Happening now in Greece. Parts of Greece grinding to a halt this morning as thousands of people take to the streets. You're looking at live pictures from Athens where a 24-hour strike is under way. There they are. Shutting down public transportations. Grounding flights, closing schools and tourist attractions. The anger is directed at a host of new tax increases and spending cuts. Our Zain Verjee is live in London with more.
And Zain, the whole point, is that for Greece to secure a bailout from the European Union, it has to start living within its means. And that means that there will be pay cuts for people in public unions, there will be higher taxes for people of all walks of life. A higher retirement age and all of this is still making the Greek public very, very angry. Isn't it?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are hopping mad. Ten thousand people there. More have gathered in the square there in Athens are really furious. They're basically saying this is just going to make them poorer, all these austerity cuts and it's going to drive Greece into a deeper recession.
Now, the riot police are out there in full gear. There were clashes between them and a small group of protesters. They've also been fired tear gas. Students and teachers are mostly comprised of a lot of the people here out on the streets, but, yes. You've got, like, air traffic controllers that have walked off the job. Ferries aren't working. State schools shut down, even hospitals shut down except for emergency services.
The government, though, guys, as you know, is between the acropolis and a hard place here. They just need it avoid bankruptcy. So they just have to cut, cut, cut. The IMF and the European Union are basically looking at Greece's finances and they need to just do a check on them before releasing any more money so Greece can pay its bills.
But this is the scene on the streets of Athens right now and this isn't just about Athens. This reverberates around globe markets. They've been in turmoil because of fears the Greece may default on its debt. Most of which, as you guys know, held by European banks, in countries like France, Germany and Belgium are exposed to this. We'll see what happens. No the ma matter how much they protest, Greece has to make the cuts.
ROMANS: That's right. And people are upset what's going to happen to their living standards. Except if there is an unmanageable default, or they can't qualify for the bailout loan, their living standards will be even worse. I mean so you're right, caught between a rock and hard place. Very nice turn of phrase, Zain. Thank you very much, Zain Verjee in London.
COSTELLO: At the Michael Jackson death trial, the world is getting a very intimate look at the private life of Doctor Conrad Murray. Prosecutors calling three women to the stand trying to prove that the king of pop's personal physician was more concerned with his love life than with Jackson.
One of those women, a Houston waitress, testified she was on the phone with the cardiologist when he suddenly realized, Jackson had stopped breathing.
Tensions heating up over Security Council resolution aimed at the Syrian regime for its bloody crackdown on protesters. Yesterday China and Russia vetoed the resolution.
After the vote, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice stood up and walk out of the council chambers when Syria's ambassador began blasting U.S. policy in the Middle East.
VELSHI: Alright, he spent months insists he would not run for president. Everybody thought he would run for president. Yesterday afternoon in this tension-filled press conference, he said he's not running for president.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: The New Jersey governor ended all of the speculation yesterday announcing he will not seek the presidency in 2012 saying, this is not my time. The statement sent a chill through countless Republican supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Now is not my time. I have a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Christie says he was tempted to run and had the support of his wife, whom you see there, but he couldn't see himself abandoning the state of New Jersey after just 20 months as governor. At least that's what he said. Maybe he couldn't see himself winning the presidency or maybe as we often like to say said to himself, why would anybody actually want to be the president of the United States right now?
COSTELLO: That's what I always say. Nobody would want to inherit the mess this country is in.
VELSHI: I'm sure there have been times when it's the best job in the world to be the president of the United States. I'm not sure this is it.
ROMANS: He said no, no, no way before this and Republican donors and supporters would not accept that he was not going to do it.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: He had voices in his ear telling him -
VELSHI: One of his key supporters, Franklin (INAUDIBLE), has moved off. He's moved along. Soon as this thing was announced, he moved on and said he's supporting Mitt Romney and other of those donors and apparently Mitt Romney's people spent the afternoon yesterday -
COSTELLO: Doing a happy dance?
VELSHI: Well, waiting for happy dancing calling the bunglers, people raising money for Christie and get them on with Romney saying we are now your best chance. So, come and join us.
COSTELLO: And just a nice trivia aside in case anyone ask. In that speech yesterday that Christie gave, said no 17 times.
VELSHI: Wow!
COSTELLO: There you go.
COSTELLO: On the record as "no."
ROMANS: Alright, she just want add mega millions ticket. All she wanted was a mega millions ticket. But the clerk at the food mart, the shell food mart in Decatur, Georgia, mistakenly sold her a power ball ticket, too. But Kathy Scruggs complaining? Not at all.
She hit the power ball jackpot. A cool $25million. She didn't want that ticket. The 44-year-old Scruggs is has been out of work since last spring. She now plans to buy a car. She is going to travel. She is going to help out to other members of her family. That.
VELSHI: Wow!
COSTELLO: Good for her.
VELSHI: All we ever heard about, the people who didn't play that week or didn't put into the pool.
COSTELLO: Or someone stole their ticket.
VELSHI: Haven't heard this.
ROMANS: I give that clerk a kiss and $50,000.
VELSHI: My goodness me. That is a great, great story. Wow.
ROMANS: Anyway, congratulations, Miss Scruggs. Spend it, have a good time, but save a lot if you can.
VELSHI: Invest some of it. Tune into Christine's show, Saturday morning 9:30 a.m., "your bottom line," and your money is (INAUDIBLE) Saturday also Sunday.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, she's got to watch us during the commercial break for whatever.
They came up from a dive and said, where's my boat? Two divers stranded off the Florida coast after they say a charter boat ditched them. How did they get back to shore? We'll tell you on the other side.
COSTELLO: A race car driver trapped in his burning car and running out of time. Wait until you hear who pulled him to safety with just seconds to spare. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back, everyone.
New this morning -- they came up from a dive and the dive boat was gone. Two scuba divers lucky to be alive this morning after they say a charter boat left them stranded at sea. They were forced to tread water for two hours. They hung on to a small buoy about -- until a nearby yacht spotted them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL KLINE, SCUBA DIVER STRANDED AT SEA: I wasn't going to give up. So, you know, we were -- we managed to find a buoy. We were hanging on to that. So that way if somebody came to look for us, it would be -- we'd be in one spot.
The first thing that you kind of think about is there's a famous movie about divers that get left in the middle of the ocean that doesn't end very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It happened near Miami.
COSTELLO: What is that movie? It's driving me crazy.
ROMANS: I think it's called --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open --
ROMANS: "Open Water."
COSTELLO: Yes.
VELSHI: You guys show up and there's no -- no boat.
ROMANS: Right. Anyway, so the men were part of a group that went out on a boat owned by RJ Diving Ventures. The boat's captain told the "Miami Herald" he's happy everyone is OK.
VELSHI: I bet he is.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. So is the insurance company. It's not clear how it lost track of the divers.
Well, I've done dive trips so you always -- you check in, you check out with your own signature.
VELSHI: Right. Yes. That doesn't make sense.
ROMANS: There you go.
VELSHI: There's something that just shouldn't happen and that's one of them.
COSTELLO: But I'm glad you remembered the name of that movie, because it will just drive me crazy.
ROMANS: Well, I think it was the crew -- it was one of the guys in the crew that were yelling behind the camera.
COSTELLO: She's so honest.
Race car drivers Kip Hughes is being called a hero this morning. He was in the field in a stock car in Oklahoma on Saturday when a fellow competitor Terry Muskrat crashed and became trapped in his burning car.
Hughes says it looked like Muskrat was running out of time, so he stopped his car in the middle of the race. He jumped out and he pulled that driver to safety. It was personal for Hughes. His father was also a race car driver and was badly burned in a similar crash in 1991. He said if he ever saw that happen again, he would stop whatever he was doing and run to the rescue and he did.
VELSHI: Wow. And he did. He got a chance to actually do it. That is fantastic.
COSTELLO: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Carol, if you don't mind, I'll read this next story.
Three baseball teams -- three baseball teams had a chance to advance last night, only one did. The Texas Rangers, thanks to three home runs by third baseman Adrian Beltre, they won the game 4-3. They won the series three games to one knocking the Tampa Bay Rays out.
Take a look at this. During one of those Adrian Beltre home runs, a cameraman follow him, saw him, got a little tangled up. Look at this.
ROMANS: Oh, no.
VELSHI: Trips and falls.
ROMANS: Ouch.
VELSHI: And he's trailing the runner down the baseline.
ROMANS: And the (INAUDIBLE) is watching him going (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: Get out of the way, man! Get out of the way!
COSTELLO: Why do we laugh when people fall? I've also -- I've always wonder that.
VELSHI: Well, as you know, at baseball game, it's the best stuff to watch.
All right. Now, meantime --
ROMANS: You're just trying to distract Carol from.
VELSHI: This is it. Right. We're not going to distract her anymore, because, Carol, we're going to the Bronx right now.
COSTELLO: This isn't coffee. It's something quite stronger.
VELSHI: The Yankees --
ROMANS: Bring in (ph) the box of tissues.
VELSHI: The Yankees and the Tigers will play a deciding game five tomorrow night. You see, Carol wasn't here yesterday when we kept reading that, you know, the Yankees, it's their last chance not getting knocked out. The Yankees won the game 4-10 -- sorry -- 10 -- they won game four last night, 10-1 last night.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Who were they playing? Were they playing an amateur team or they're actually playing the Tigers?
COSTELLO: Oh, that's just mean. That's just mean.
VELSHI: Check this out, by the way. Check this catch by Curtis Granderson. Totally laying out. A potential game-saving catch in the sixth.
COSTELLO: Who do you have to thank for Curtis Granderson, by the way? The Detroit Tigers.
VELSHI: That is true. The --
All right. So that means there's a game five tomorrow night.
COSTELLO: Right.
VELSHI: Carol. And I'm hoping that you and Christine are going to get some good rest tomorrow night so that you can be here bright and early on Friday morning.
COSTELLO: Rob, Ali's made me cry. Take it away.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you what, Ali's going to make me cry with joy if he can get me a ticket to the game. I'll be up there in a heartbeat.
I'm taking Friday off. I've already arranged for that. I think either Reynolds or Jacqui is going to be in here. Also, I'll be watching the entire game.
Carol, feel free to wear your Yankees' garb Friday morning, even if I'm -- even if I'm not here. I mean, either Friday morning or Monday morning after --
COSTELLO: I got your Boston outfit ready to go, baby.
MARCIANO: Yes. You know, if I wear -- I do end up wearing the Boston, I'll do nothing but ridicule Boston and people will get upset. I don't want to do that. VELSHI: They're nasty.
ROMANS: Rob is the man of the whole country.
VELSHI: That's right. He's got the whole map. He represents everybody.
MARCIANO: I don't want to upset anybody.
Anyway, let's go to -- actually let's go to Boston where their baseball season ended, what? It seems like a month ago. We don't have the video.
Torrential rains yesterday. We showed them to you out of (INAUDIBLE) up to Essex and Middlesex County. You saw it. But today, the radar is looking clear. Finally we've broken that streak of wet, unsettled weather across the northeast.
And look at West Coast. Boy, they're just getting slammed with rain at the lower elevations. Snow -- this looks more like a November or December event here, with a powerful jet stream. All of this action spiraling into the Sierra Nevada. We have winter storm warnings that have been posted, another four to eight inches potentially there, maybe a foot, a foot and a half across the Wasatch of Utah and through parts of the Colorado Rockies.
Dry, windy and warm across the pars of the Plains. I mentioned the (INAUDIBLE) fire flared up last night. Good thing, though, they've got a lot of resources left over and they're able to fight that fairly readily. But fire threats will continue today with warm and windy conditions.
Temperatures in the Upper Plains, 86 degrees in Minneapolis; some spots hit over 90 degrees. So that feels like summer back when Boston was still playing baseball.
All right. Good luck to everybody. It's the playoffs and that's the way it goes.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
VELSHI: The Twitter board is going to go nuts now. For everything else that everyone's been complaining about, we're going to hear about, talking about the Red Sox.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: A lot of fights this morning.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, could "Occupy Wall Street" be the dawn of a liberal Tea Party?
Ever since the dawn of the Tea Party, liberal activists have yearned for a revolution of their own. Example, you saw him, Michael Moore, who's hungry for a mass movement. How better to get that -- get that going than railing against Wall Street.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOORE: This is the end result of these bankers overplaying their hand. They were already filthy rich, but filthy rich wasn't enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Moore is lending his celebrity to the movement and paying to help protesters expand the use of social media. With the help of Twitter and Facebook, the movement has spread to other cities. Hundreds of people have been arrested.
And though we see many of them dressed like zombies and often with confusing messages, these protesters are also attracting some powerful allies including a half dozen unions who will march on New York City Hall today. So when you combine clout, money and anger with the powers that be, it kind of sounds like the start of something, although protesters don't see themselves as political animals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER COMBELIC, OCCUPY WALL STREET: We don't want to be, you know, a left political group. We don't want to be a political group at all. We want to be, you know, a group that calls for activism.
Ideally, you know, if this continues to grow, if more people get involved, suddenly people will have the same power that, you know, lobbyists have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But heads up, Wall Street, even FOX News.com says this could be more than just another loony protest movement from the left.
So the "Talk Back" question for you today -- could "Occupy Wall Street" be the dawn of a liberal Tea Party? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. "Minding Your Business" right now.
U.S. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell, and nearly a 400-point swing on Wall Street helped bring the S&P back from the brink of a bear market yesterday. The rally fuelled in part by Europe's new efforts to prevent a global banking crisis. A global recession, though, can't be ruled out next year. That's the new warning from the International Monetary Fund. The group is also urging Europe this morning to boost stimulus spending.
Also new this morning, more evidence of Europe's financial crisis is widening. Dexia, one of the biggest banks in Europe is on the verge of being dismantled. That means higher borrowing costs for a lot of U.S. cities who received cheap financing by this bank.
And a lot of folks weren't impressed by the new iPhone 4S. The stocks closed down slightly after the company did reveal a more radically redesigned iPhone 5. In fact, the new phone looks the same but it's faster. It's got a new voice command feature that can do everything from texting to taking notes.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 30 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Happening now, thousands are protesting in Greece. Part of a 24-hour strike against a new wave of salary and pension cuts, tax hikes and layoffs. The government says the cuts are needed to avoid bankruptcy.
VELSHI: The NTSB is beginning its investigation of a deadly helicopter crash in New York City. The chopper carrying four tourists and a pilot plunged into the East River just after takeoff. One of the passengers killed. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we spoke with the NTSB's Mark Rosekind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ROSEKIND, NTSB: We're fortunate in this situation that the aircraft is mostly intact so we'll be looking at the wreckage. Also the pilot survived. So he's another source of information really critical for us. All of these will be very important aspects that we're just getting started today looking at all the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: He says NTSB investigators will inspect the chopper wreckage today at a secure facility in Brooklyn where it's now being stored.
ROMANS: A deadly dust storm is being blamed for a series of car crashes north of Tucson, Arizona. Police say drivers had zero visibility on Interstate 10 when the storm kicked up yesterday afternoon. Look at these pictures. I mean, at least 30 vehicles involved in the accidents. One person was killed. Fourteen others were injured.
COSTELLO: Another round of evacuations in Texas this morning. A wildfire there has already burned 1,000 acres. It comes just a month after another fire destroyed 1,500 homes in the town.
VELSHI: And 30 hours after her murder conviction was overturned in Italy, Amanda Knox arrived home in Seattle last night tearfully thanking everyone who believed in her during her four-year ordeal in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA KNOX, MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED: What's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who's supported my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Knox went on to say she just wants to spend time with her family now.
ROMANS: And I guess her family, what, spent $1 million on this whole process? Mortgaged their home to the hilt? We'll see if there's a book deal. What happens next to Amanda Knox? I'm sure we haven't seen the last.
All right, someone's watching Rick Perry very carefully these days and it's not Mitt Romney. John Washburn, a private citizen tangling with the Texas governor for the better part four years. He thinks Perry is trying to keep too many secrets.
Ed Lavandera joins us live from Atlanta with this developing story. So a private citizen who has been tangling with him for some time.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is actually dating back to 2007 in Texas. John Washburn has become kind of a relatively well-known name in Texas circles basically because you have this guy from Wisconsin who's been kind a thorn in the side of Rick Perry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): To find the man who's become an unlikely thorn in the side of Rick Perry, drive more than 1,200 miles from the Texas governor's mansion to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and meet John Washburn.
Washburn is a computer programmer, Open Records Advocate, a self-described Ron Paul Republican and the lead character in a battle over forcing Rick Perry to save thousands of government e- mails.
JOHN WASHBURN, OPEN RECORDS ADVOCATE: He doesn't like the idea of people looking over his shoulder, seeing what he's doing, where he's going, but the whole idea of American government is you don't trust people in power. You watch them.
LAVANDERA: Four years ago, Washburn learned Rick Perry's staff destroys many of its e-mails after seven days. Open Records Advocates say this is an unusually short time.
So from his home computer, Washburn created a program that sent automated open record requests to the governor's office every four days.
WASHBURN: This is the --
LAVANDERA (on camera): All the back and forth that took just to get those e-mails?
WASHBURN: Yes.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): But it was the price that Perry's office charged that stunned Washburn.
WASHBURN: It's $568 for four days of e-mails.
LAVANDERA (on camera): What did you think?
WASHBURN: I laughed. I did. I laughed out loud the first time I saw it.
LAVANDERA: Had you ever come across a response like this?
WASHBURN: No, certainly not for this kind of money.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): But it wouldn't be the last time Governor Rick Perry's office would shock John Washburn. As word spread through Texas of his fight with the governor's office, Rick Perry defended his e-mail destruction policy like in this memorable interview with the "Texas Tribune" web site.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not have them stay around longer for the purpose of open records?
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: How long?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tell me.
PERRY: But I'm asking you. I've already said, it's seven days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Governor, do I get to pick? How about a month?
PERRY: No, you don't get to pick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it ought to be 30 days.
PERRY: OK, I don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's the end of the conversation?
LAVANDERA: Governor Perry went on to say he didn't want state employees wasting time organizing open records requests for people going on fishing escapades.
WASHBURN: Obstructionist by far. No one in the league in that regard.
PERRY: President of the United States.
LAVANDERA: After Perry announced he's running for president, John Washburn fired up the automated opens records request again. The governor's office just sent Washburn the latest bill.
(on camera): And the bill for that for another four days with the e-mails is now how much?
WASHBURN: It's $2,304.
LAVANDERA: It's $2,000 for four days of e-mails?
WASHBURN: Correct.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): If he ever wants to see them all, it will add up to almost $210,000 for a full year of e-mails. A hefty price tag, but John Washburn says it's the principle of his battle that's priceless.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: In all over the last four years, John Washburn has filed probably close to 20 open records request. He's only actually followed through and paid for one, one of those early batches back in 2007.
Obviously, the price tag on these latest batches of e-mails is much too hefty for him. As for the governor's office, they say they are following the rules that simply have been in place for some time in Texas.
And that they instruct their staff to properly save all e-mails and print them of if need be. Not all of the e-mails are destroyed.
But many open records advocates say that many of e-mails in the background of the 10 years of Rick Perry's time as governor has simply been lost.
ROMANS: All right, Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Still ahead, the protests on Wall Street showing greater organization and actually some widening appeal. Is this the beginning of a real movement? It's 36 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning, New York, sunny outside, 57 degrees. It's going to be a beautiful day, actually, 70 degrees outside later today. Isn't that gorgeous?
VELSHI: It's 70 and sunny in New York? Like a big kiss from God.
ROMANS: It is.
COSTELLO: Well put, Ali Velshi.
VELSHI: Yes. And the fact that they won last night and --
COSTELLO: Stop that. Ignore them. Shall we? ROMANS: I had a feeling it wasn't the weather that's making you so happy.
COSTELLO: OK, let's ignore them and move on. At first glance, many did not take the Wall Street protesters seriously. I mean, the movement started as a bunch of unfocused, unemployed college kids. In fact, here's how comedian Jon Stewart summarized it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": All right, I guess that is what democracy looks like. Although to be fair, it's also what Bonnaroo looks like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. They looked silly, but they have been protesting now for three weeks and the movement appears to be growing. It now includes community groups and unions. Celebrities are even joining the cause. So what does it all mean?
Joining me to talk about that is Michael Kazin, professor of History at Georgetown University. Welcome.
MICHAEL KAZIN, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: OK, so you've just written a book about activist on the left. So when you look at this group on Wall Street, what does it say to you?
KAZIN: It says there are a lot of people angry in this country about the damage that banks and investment houses have done to the economy, and this is the first attempt by progressives, really, to generate grass roots mobilization, grass roots discontent to yell and express that unhappiness.
COSTELLO: Well, it wasn't so long ago that the Tea Party was formed and everybody said that was a grass roots organization. Remember how people dressed, revolutionary costumes. Some people brought weapons to political events.
And everybody saying, this is just a bunch of crazy people, but it turned out to be a very powerful political force. So, can you compare the two groups at all?
KAZIN: The difference in the Tea Party I think and this Wall Street protest, the Tea Party from the first was well connected to Republican Party circles, to conservative business people, like the Coke brothers.
Remember one of the first Tea Party groups is Freedom Works, which was run by Dick Armey, who's a former House majority leader. So the Tea Party was already connected, I think, into the Republican Party, almost from the beginning.
Whereas, these Wall Street folks are contentious for the most part of both political parties though obviously, they're much closer to liberal Democrats than to conservative Republicans. This in many ways is a true grass roots or perhaps pavement side of the movement -- I'm sorry?
COSTELLO: So the big difference here, I mean, with the Tea Party is it had money. Money backing it, and it had a political force backing it as well because even though the Tea Party doesn't like government so much, it knew it had to use government to evoke change.
KAZIN: Right.
COSTELLO: This group needs that big money backer, which could come, we don't know. What does that say to you that the unions, at least the local unions here in New York are joining the cause? Might that be a sign that groups with money are starting to back these protesters?
KAZIN: Maybe. If you have a lot of numbers, you don't need quite as much money, and unions have actually been demonstrating on Wall Street since 2009, since the AIG bailouts, which probably people have remembered.
But they weren't getting much attention because unions -- you don't think of unions having demonstrations in the same way you think of young people like this having demonstrations.
So what it shows I think is that there's a lot of pent-up energy within working class America, as there is within sort of young college age America. We're doing something about the economy, and trying to regulate Wall Street.
COSTELLO: We've asked our viewers how they feel about these protesters on Wall Street, and many of them say, I know they seem unfocused, but at least they're out there and they're doing something.
At least they're expressing anger, and people kind of enjoy seeing that these days, because there is a lot of anger and frustration out there in the country.
If someone, like a strong leader, would become the voice of this movement, I guess I'll ask it to you this way -- who would that strong voice be who could focus these protesters and turn it into a real powerful movement?
KAZIN: I'm not sure. No particular leader has emerged. But then there's no one leader in the Tea Party Movement either. What really you need for this movement to grow I think is a much stronger sense of what they want, what changes they want, more regulation in corporations, whether they want unions to have an easier time organizing, this kind of things.
Right now, what comes out to folks, what comes out in your reporting is the sense of tremendous unhappiness with what's going on. That's shared very widely. So I'm not sure they need leader so much as they need more coherence, more clarity about what their demands are and where they want to go.
COSTELLO: Michael Kazin, thanks so much from Georgetown University. Michael is the author of "American Dreamers: How the Left Changed the Nation." We appreciate it.
KAZIN: Thank you.
VELSHI: Well said. That was a good conversation. Because as he points out, the Tea Party, we haven't got that obvious leader. You've got a leader in Congress, and you've got a leader of various groups, of the Tea Party Express, but there is remarkable cohesion in their march.
COSTELLO: Because they have one message.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: They're focused and --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes, we could probably do more than one. We could probably go to three, maybe even five, but right now, as Alison Kosik was saying last time she was there, there were about 50.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Shorter work week, anti-corporatist, anti-banks. What were some of the other ones?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: So some Ron Paul supporters, legalization of marijuana.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Made a lot of sort of disparate, I would say, left -- well, some left, but not --
VELSHI: Well, supporters of Ron Paul. That's interesting.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But, again, what we're hearing from viewers, they understand that, and they think that's kind of strange, too. But the fact that these people have been out there for three weeks, in large numbers --
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- that says something.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: At least somebody's doing something.
ROMANS: That makes it different than the anarchists of the G-20 meetings who have these same --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Blow in for a day or so.
ROMANS: Right. Right.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Having the same sort of message, and then disappear, right.
VELSHI: Yes, that's true. All right, good.
Morning headlines coming up next, including why one company is trying to stop the iPhone from hitting store shelves.
ROMANS: And today's "Romans' Numeral," $1,754,386.
Ali Velshi, here's a hint.
(LAUGHTER)
It's money lost per game.
VELSHI: Wow.
ROMANS: It's 46 minutes after the hour.
VELSHI: I'll have to think about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 48 after the hour. Here are your the morning headlines.
Thousands protesting in Greece, as part of a 24-hour strike against a new wave of salary and pension cuts, tax hikes and layoffs. The government says the cuts are needed to avoid bankruptcy.
U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open this morning. This is despite a new warning from the International Monetary Fund that a global recession can't be ruled out next year.
Samsung is taking legal action to try and block the new iPhone 4S from going on sale in France because of a patent dispute. The two smart phone giants have sued each other in nine countries in over 20 cases since April.
The NBA has cancelled its entire pre-season. NBA Commissioner David Stern also said a Monday deadline to save the start of the regular season. Citibank announcing it will charge mid-level account customers $20 a month if they don't keep at least $15,000 in their combined bank accounts. The bank blames the fees on recent regulations, saying they changed the economics of offering debit cards.
Johnny Depp is making stupid money for the "Pirates of Caribbean" movies. Not me saying it, Johnny Depp saying it. He basically told "Vanity Fair" that he's being overpaid and is only doing the franchise for his kids. He's reportedly earned more than $300 million from the films.
That's the news you need to start your day.
AMERICAN MORNING, back right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right, welcome back. I teased you with this morning's "Romans' Numeral." It's a number in the news today. The number is -- $1,754,386 per game. That's how much money the NBA will lose each canceled pre-season game. This is according to Commissioner David Stern. There's a total of 114 pre-season games, you guys. That works out to a grand total of $2 million lost for the NBA.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: You know what is really amazing about that, is they can lose to afford that.
ROMANS: Yes.
COSTELLO: That means they're making too much money.
ROMANS: I worry about the staffs of some of these places and the attendant companies and businesses --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. They make money around --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- that go around them and that now, all of a sudden, everything is stalled for them.
VELSHI: Right. We think about owners and players, but there's a whole industry around it.
ROMANS: Parking guys.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Parking vendors, stuff like that. So, we'll continue to follow it for you. That's "Romans' Numeral" for today.
COSTELLO: In this morning's "A.M. House Call," 18 people have died from eating listeria-tainted cantaloupe. The Centers for Disease Control says at least 100 cases of listeria have been reported in 20 states. A Colorado cantaloupe grower issued a recall last month, Jensen Farms. Health officials say the number of listeria cases may continue to grow because it can take up to two months to develop.
VELSHI: Wow.
A new CDC study says there were more than 100 million drunk- driving incidents last year. Four out of five drivers were men. 85 percent of the incidents involved binge drinking. The states with the highest number of drivers under the influence, North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Michigan.
ROMANS: All right, in the Michael Jackson death trial, jurors and the entire world are getting a look into the personal life of Dr. Conrad Murray, the king of pop's personal physician. Prosecutors called three women to the stand yesterday trying to prove that Dr. Murray was more concerned with his love life than with his patient. One of those women, a Houston waitress, testified she was on the phone with the cardiologist when he suddenly realized Jackson stopped breathing.
VELSHI: We're also learning more about the powerful anesthetic, Propofol, that Dr. Murray stockpiled for Michael Jackson.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us this morning in New York.
Sanjay, you have been following this, and I know you did a lot of work on Propofol. What stands out in this testimony?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just how much he was accumulating. That's what stands out. In the first couple of days of the testimony, you hear that he's trying to wean Michael Jackson off of Propofol. Basically, they're trying to make the case, the defense is, that, look, he had been on Propofol for a long time and this new doctor is now in the picture. He's going to get him off the stuff. Then you come to find out that he ordered 255 milligram vials of the Propofol. I mean, it just doesn't -- those two things didn't correlate.
By the way, I also thought what was interesting, just as a doc, that you could get that much of it, have it delivered to a private residence in Nevada --
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: -- and then shipped to California. It's not a controlled substance, Propofol, which people don't realize.
It also struck out what you mentioned about the fact that this waitress was on the phone with him. Important to try and establish at what point did Conrad Murray actually figure out that things have gone wrong. That he had actually seen something bad happen.
VELSHI: Let me ask you this. You said it's not a controlled substance. And often those type of drugs are those types of prescription drugs that are prone to abuse. Are there a lot of things that wouldn't be meant somebody to be taking at their home that aren't control substances?
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: Because you don't expect --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's usually in a hospital.
VELSHI: I'm not supposed to get my hands on Propofol.
GUPTA: Since 2009, when we first started talking about this, I said this is just so bizarre because I had never heard about this sort of thing.
VELSHI: Right. Right.
GUPTA: Now that I've done some more homework over the last couple of years, you do find out that it is sometimes abused, although rarely.
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: But that abuse often takes place in hospitals and is often by anesthesiologists who would give themselves a quick fix of this Propofol.
ROMANS: To go to sleep.
GUPTA: Well, you get a little euphoria.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
GUPTA: If it's a small dose, a little euphoria. Its' very short acting. That's the attractiveness of it. But the idea that it would be abused outside the home and in some controlled fashion like this, where doctors are literally prescribing it night after night. We found another anesthesiologist from a couple years ago when we started investigating who used to tour with Michael Jackson. An anesthesiologist used to tour with Michael Jackson. And the quote was, you know, he used to put him down at night and bring him up in the morning.
VELSHI: Wow.
GUPTA: Which sort of fits with what Dr. Murray also --
COSTELLO: Kind of like he's a robot or something.
GUPTA: Yes. Dr. Murray telling his girlfriend --
COSTELLO: Like an animal. GUPTA: -- that he would leave the house at 9:00 at night and return in the morning because he would be with Michael Jackson. That's the case that they're making. Was he doing the same thing, putting him down every night and waking him up?
COSTELLO: That he was ordering that much Propofol, shouldn't some sort of red flag have gone up somewhere?
GUPTA: Carol, I think, in the future, it probably will. There's been a lot of campaigns since then to make Propofol a controlled substance. But there are a lot of substances, like Ali said, that are not controlled that you think maybe should be.
Also, doctors order these things sometimes for clinics and for large medical practices with the idea that it's going to be used for many patients, not just for one.
COSTELLO: Right.
VELSHI: Right. So you may not know. What an interesting story. It continues to --
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: And Propofol doesn't put you to sleep, by the way, as well. That's the other part of it.
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: It's a general anesthetic inducer. So the fact that Michael Jackson was continuously still tired makes perfect sense --
VELSHI: Right.
GUPTA: -- because he wasn't getting the sleep that restorative, that makes you feel better in the morning.
VELSHI: Right.
Wow. What a story.
COSTELLO: Sanjay, thanks.
Disturbing.
VELSHI: Sanjay, good to see you.
GUPTA: You, too.
COSTELLO: Now, your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, is Occupy Wall Street be the dawn of the liberal Tea Party? Here are some of your responses. Let me grab them here.
This is from Mark. He says, "I think it very could be. Surprisingly, you don't see the difference between the two. They both have their roots in Libertarian ideals and both see the root of the problem as corporatism. They just direct their anger in different directions. In my opinion, they're both right. It's Wall Street and the government's fault. That's what corporatism is."
This from John, "Yes, the Democrats need some kind of political rebirth. We all know these things start at the grassroots level. If we don't, Wall Street will get away with destroying our already weakened economy. Believe me, somebody has to stand up to the class bullies."
This from Roger, "I think the country is so divided and angry that if things don't get better quickly, we could be facing either a revolution or civil war. In the past, I never thought that this could be possible, but after watching things continue to unravel and looking at the way we disrespect each other for our opinions on the way things should be, I'm afraid we're closer than anyone realizes."
This from Nick, "See what's happening in Athens this morning? Coming soon to a city near you."
(LAUGHTER)
Keep the comments coming, Facebook.com/Americanmorning. We'll read more later.
VELSHI: 57 minutes after the hour. Top stories when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
