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American Morning
Wall Street Protests Gain Strength; Top Energy Official Leaves Obama Administration in Wake of Solyndra Scandal; Federal Government Guarantees Loan to Another Solar Energy Company; Was ESPN Right to Part Ways with Hank Williams Jr.?; Entire Town Evacuated After Train Inferno; Entire Town Evacuated After Train Inferno; Anger at Wall Street Spreads; Energy Department Loan Official Leaving; Three Women Win Nobel Peace Prize; Message from Gadhafi; Doctor Facing Treason Charges After Bin Laden Raid; Michael Jackson Death Trial; Fighting Back Against Bank Fee; Chicago Bears Finally Go To White House; Men Warned Against Getting Prostate Cancer Screenings
Aired October 07, 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)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Thrown under the solar panel? A top energy department official is out. Republicans saying it's the first casualty of the Solyndra scandal.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Running at the bulls. Wall Street protests picking up steam, spreading way beyond Lower Manhattan. The other 99 percent demanding to be heard. President Obama now responding.
ROMANS: A health alert that will affect every man out there. New guidelines for prostate cancer screenings. Is the government about to tell you it isn't worth it?
And then this --
COSTELLO: Fed up with fees. A woman cutting up her Bank of America card. 150,000 and counting joining her cause, and she's here live and she's not happy on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (on-camera): Good morning, everyone. It's Friday, October 7th. Ali's off today. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO (on-camera): Yes. Detroit Tigers.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO I just had to say it. First up this morning, you can now feel that it's becoming something bigger. Wall Street protesters will be out again today to begin week four. Now, the protest is nationwide, and people aren't laughing so much anymore. Many are wondering whether this can be harnessed into a political force at the polls. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): It started out as a joke.
JON STEWART, HOST, THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART: How are they not like the Tea Party? All right. Some of them you know, smoke and have pants made out of pot.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: So, call them the THC part.
COSTELLO: Now it has swelled into a nationwide movement, mostly peaceful, but certainly PO'd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got sold out.
COSTELLO: And ready to eat the rich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is like a performance art piece, the corporate zombie march.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see the money hanging out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. This is the breakfast.
COSTELLO: From 1,000 protesters on Wall Street it has gained momentum and spread to tens of thousands of people from New York to Los Angeles and dozens of city in between, even across borders and oceans. The people are angry that they're running second place to profits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want jobs! We want jobs and we want them now!
COSTELLO: The quality of life has plunged while the rich get super rich and the taxpayers bail them out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians can be bought. Political influence can be bought through political donations.
COSTELLO: In Los Angeles, protesters took over a Bank of America and were arrested. And in Philly, thousands broke out in their battle cry, "We are the 99 percent." It has some big wigs on Wall Street looking out their windows. And now the White House is paying attention.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, I've heard of it. I've seen it on television. I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. And that's going to express itself politically in 2012 and beyond until people feel like once again we're getting back to some old-fashioned American values.
COSTELLO: Still, getting organized ain't easy, and it's too early to say whether these protesters will become a political force, a Tea Party from the left, the same frustrations from the other side. But there's plenty of time until next November.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 24/7, if necessary, 365. We're planning on snow, we're planning on summer heat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: One unwanted effect of all of this, the protests are actually costing taxpayers money. The New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly said it's cost his department $2 million in overtime already and that tab will only rise in the coming days.
ROMANS: All right, this morning the jobs report for September will be released. Economists expect the U.S. added only about 65,000 jobs. A majority of those new jobs expected Verizon workers following a two-week strike. The unemployment is expected to stay at 9.1 percent.
Here's a first. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has now fallen to 3.94 percent. That's the first time it's ever dropped below four percent. However, these low rates have done little to boost home buying, in part because the housing stock market still in a very tough spot.
COSTELLO: A top energy official is out even after President Obama defended a controversial $535 million loan to the California company Solyndra. Solyndra, as you know, eventually went belly up. Brianna Keilar live at the White House this morning. Brianna Tell us more.
BRIANNA KIELAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jonathan Silver, Carol, has resigned. He was heading up the guaranteed loan program for companies like Solyndra, very much embattled. He testified before Congress recently and, of course, on this lender controversy, Solyndra right now under investigation by the FBI to see if there was perhaps an accounting fraud there. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in August leaving, taxpayers on the hook for the loan that it had received from the federal government, more than $500 million.
But, you know, the Department of Energy, the secretary Steven Chu making the point this was already in the works and there isn't a cause you can draw from the controversy.
And let's take a look at the timeline so we know how the loans went and had he came onboard. The final loan approval for Solyndra was actually in September of 2009. Silver wasn't appointed until November later that year. And it was May 2010 when President Obama went to visit Solyndra to promote renewable energy.
February, 2011, this was when Silver was in this position and the loan for Solyndra was restructured so that they could continue to operate. And it was August, the very end of August, August 31st when Solyndra filed bankruptcy.
Meantime, President Obama defending this loan program overall. Listen to what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Now, we knew from the start that the loan guarantee program was going to entail some risk by definition. There were going to be some company that did not work out, Solyndra was one of them. But the process by which it was made was on the merits. It was straightforward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KIELAR: You're hearing from Secretary Chu, this was already in the works, that Silver had alerted him July he would be leaving for the private sector, and CNN has confirmed he went to work for Third Way, a financial think tank in Washington. Republicans are reading this as Silver is the fall guy, and, Carol and Christine, they're saying that it's not going to be enough to satisfy them as they continue to pursue this issue.
COSTELLO: So they're still going for an investigation into this?
KIELAR: That's right. They're sort of looking into some of the warnings, certainly, that some top administration officials, top advisers to the president received some concern certainly among some people at the Office of Management and Budget about just kind of whether the approval process was ad hoc.
And we've seen some e-mails revealed lately that draw concerns about some warnings that perhaps were not heed. You heard President Obama yesterday kind of saying, you know, looking back on it that obviously there were inherent risks, but overall he said not just Solyndra but for a lot of different companies, he was sort of touting that it was successful.
COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar reporting live from Washington. Thank you.
ROMANS: This year's Nobel Peace prize is being shared by three women. Two from Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, also Tawakul Karman of Yemen, the Nobel committee recognizing their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa, and the Yemeni laureate dedicated to Nobel to Arab spring activists.
ROMANS: On this date in 2001 America struck back. The United States and NATO launched Operation Enduring Freedom to route Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11th attacks. And as you know, the battle continues to this day. It is now America's longest war. And 2,732 U.S. troops have made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.
COSTELLO: Pakistani officials say the doctor suspected of helping the U.S. target Osama bin Laden will be charged with treason. He's accused of setting up a fake vaccination program so the CIA could collect DNA samples from people at bin Laden's compound. Bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. special forces at the Pakistan compound back in May. The U.S. has repeatedly asked Pakistan to release the doctor.
COSTELLO: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords joining Vice President Biden and dozens of other dignitaries to mark the retirement of her husband from the U.S. Navy. Mark Kelly enlisted in 1987 and served as a pilot until joining the space program. He was part of four shuttle mission, the last one coming in may just a few months after a gunman wounded his wife and killed six others in a shooting rampage in Tucson.
ROMANS: And Britain's Prince Harry coming to America for combat training. The prince, who is a British army captain, arrives next week to begin a two-month military helicopter training course at bases in California and Arizona. Harry will be among a group of 20 British Army students taking part in this training.
COSTELLO: Let's talk sports now. Shall we? Fear the fangs. That's right, the Detroit Tigers knocked the New York Yankees out of the American League playoffs last night. A hush fell over Yankees stadium. First inning, Don Kelly bringing in a run to give Detroit a two to nothing lead with back-to-back homers. The bombers had their chances.
You know what? A-Rod -- A-Rod could not come through. You're outta there. He struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, and again with two out in the ninth. The Tigers holding on for a 3-2 victory and prove to the AL championship against Texas. That starts tomorrow night.
ROMANS: You should be a sports anchor. But you show your allegiance too freely.
COSTELLO: I know. It would be bad. At least I'd be honest about it, right?
ROMANS: This may sound familiar. The federal government about to give a U.S. solar company hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed loans backed by you, the taxpayer. It didn't work out so well for Solyndra. So why are we trying it again?
Harvard takes a hit. The Ivy League is no longer at the top of its Ivy League. So what's the world's number one yanked university now?
ROMANS: Interesting.
COSTELLO: And drivers so spooked by a Halloween display that they called the cops to report a gruesome car wreck. I don't mean to laugh, but it is almost Halloween.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. When the solar panel maker Solyndra went bankrupt this summer, American taxpayers found themselves on the hook for more than $500 million in guaranteed government loans.
COSTELLO: And just weeks later another U.S. solar company is set to receive a fatter check for nearly three quarters of a billion dollars. And it's backed by you, the taxpayer, again. But this company insists it's the real deal. Here's Casey Wian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The remote mining town of Tonopah, Nevada peaked during the early 1900s silver boom. When the last mine shut down in 1947 Tonopah struggled. The historic hotel, once Nevada's tallest building, closed 12 years ago. But locals say their future is bigger than ever. Mines are reopening and 600 new construction jobs are coming thanks to Tonopah's other abundant natural resource, the sun.
KEVIN SMITH, CEO, SOLAR RESERVE: It's called the Crescent Dune Solar energy facility, this is where the large towers, about 600-foot, 650-foot tower will be built here in the middle of the facility, and then that tower surrounded by a field of mirrors, about 17,000 extremely large mirrors that focus the sun's energy at the top of this tower.
WIAN: Reflected sunlight will be collected by a receiver and heat molten salt to 1,000 degrees. That will be combined with water to produce steam generated electricity starting in 2013. Solar Reserves investors have put $260 million. Construction began in September. But the entire project hinged on help from the energy department, still reeling from the collapse of another solar company, Solyndra.
Last week Solar Reserve received final approval for a $737 million federal loan guarantee to finish this project. That's $200 million more than Solyndra received before it filed for bankruptcy. The Solar Reserve says they have little in common with Solyndra.
Solar Reserve has a 25 year contract with a Nevada power company to provide enough electricity for up to 75,000 homes.
SMITH: Our financing is based on electricity projects. Solyndra was a manufacturing facility manufacturing PV panels.
WIAN: Solar panel manufacturers have been crippled by competition from China. Solyndra was further hurt by a bad technology bet. Companies in other segments of the solar industry say they're being unfairly tarnished by Solyndra's collapse.
(on camera): How confident are you as the CEO of this company that American taxpayers are not going to be left on the hook for $737 million that you've received in federal loan guarantees?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're very comfortable. The DOE loan guarantee we think is a very - a very good investment by the U.S. government, investment in jobs and investment in technology.
WIAN (voice-over): But it's an investment some say is misplaced.
SEVERIN BORENSTEIN, UC BERKELEY, HAAS BUSINESS SCHOOL: These industries, solar TVs, solar thermal and other alternative energy producers have real economic disadvantages and continuing to invest in the current technologies for alternative energy production is not likely to yield big payoffs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Chinese are pouring 20 times the money we are to their technologies. We can either decide to try and compete or withdraw from the market and let everybody else lead that market.
WIAN: Back in town, restaurants welcome the solar project. Hotels are booked solid and the Mizpah has reopened.
JAMES EASON, TONOPAH TOWN MANAGER: Just a long time coming, a lot of hard work and it was a big relief knowing that the DOE funding came through.
WIAN: But two other federally-backed solar projects just worth nearly $3 billion have been delayed recently as Solyndra casts its shadow over solar.
Casey Wian, CNN, Tonopah, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Casey Wian reporting.
Is that a tear we hear in the hallowed halls of Harvard? After eight years on top, the Ivy League University is no longer the world's most prestigious university that's according to a British higher end magazine. It is now second. And if that's not bad enough, Harvard must share the honor with Stanford.
Oh, whoa. Who came in at number one? It was the California Institute of Technology, Caltech. Oxford and Princeton also made the top five.
ROMANS: It isn't so bad to be number two or tied for number two.
COSTELLO: And I went to Kent State and I'm fine. I don't really care.
ROMANS: Iowa State. We went to a couple of state schools.
All right. Some Halloween displays are just too real. In fact one on a country road in North Carolina scared someone into calling the cops. Take a look for yourself.
COSTELLO: Oh!
ROMANS: OK. There's half of a fake dead body sticking out from underneath a tractor. It's really a lawn mower. One car going that was going 50 right by it called 911 to report a gruesome accident with a lawn mower. Someone else called the authorities that it was all in good fun, before the police wasted their time in the end.
COSTELLO: Oh. That's pretty good, though.
This is interesting. You didn't see this coming on the GPS. Zombies ahead. It's another Halloween prank it happened in I-44 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It turns out someone hacked the electronic sign and there weren't really any monsters looking to eat your brains.
ROMANS: All right.
It's about 18 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is off today. Jacqui Jeras is in the Extreme Weather Center. And for some reason, Rob just has not been calling in. I mean, we were wondering if he was going to call in, but we haven't heard - we haven't heard anything from him.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: When you get up regularly at this time of the day, what do you do on your vacation -
ROMANS: It's morning, however.
COSTELLO: I don't think that's it, Jacqui.
JERAS: He sleeps.
COSTELLO: I think he's a sore loser because the Tigers beat the Yankees last night.
JERAS: I do know Rob and I do know that perhaps he'd be a little - yes.
ROMANS: On a day off, he doesn't want the Carol victory lap.
COSTELLO: He's going to wear that Boston Red Sox outfit.
JERAS: OK. Monday.
COSTELLO: OK.
JERAS: I'll make sure of it. All right. I'll send him an e- mail. You can call him. I'm not waking him up.
COSTELLO: We already did.
ROMANS: We already did.
JERAS: You're so funny. I'm happy for you, though, Carol. It's great to see a fan who got the outcome they were looking for, right?
How about the weather? Are you getting the outcome you're looking as we're heading into the weekend? It's Friday, Friday, Friday, and a lot of people want to go out looking at the leaves this weekend. Unfortunately, the winds may be blowing them off the branches here across the Upper Midwest, and wind is going to be a big story from the Upper Midwest all the way down to the Gulf Coast. The worst of it here, though, and we do have a high threat of fire danger. Winds are going to be gusting up to 50 miles per hour. It's going to be making it rough on the roadways especially for that drive home later on tonight. This is ahead of a strong cold front that's going to bring some showers and thundershowers. A few of these here could be severe later on today. The threat of high winds as well as hail and even an isolated tornado can't be ruled out.
But gorgeous ahead of it, high pressure in control. It's going to be a great weekend all around the East Coast with the exception of Florida. A high risk of rip currents and we may see a low developing here that could bring some very, very heavy rain.
On the back side of our front out west, we're dealing with the snow. Yes, this has been the first biggie of the season. Over a couple feet into the high country. Temperature-wise, it will be cooler than normal across much of the west. But we're staying nice and warm in this bubble across the plains with 80 degree temperatures ahead by all and then out on the coast, things look a little bit cooler out there.
Overall, things look so great. Really, the Mississippi River eastward, enjoy the weekend. It's going to be awesome.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's the best gift of all. Thank you, Jacqui Jeras.
ROMANS: Thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the stories of the day. The question for you this morning - was ESPN right to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr.?
Williams doesn't care. He's so hopping mad he was out of there anyway. On his Web site he blasts ESPN for stepping on the toes of the first amendment and adds, "Me, my song and all my rowdy friends are out of here." ESPN said, in essence, don't let the door kick you in the arse because you're fired, and here's why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You mean when John Boehner played golf with President Obama?
HANK WILLIAMS, JR., MUSICIAN: Come on. Come on. It will be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu. They're the enemy. They're the enemy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's the enemy?
WILLIAMS: Ah - Obama! And Biden. Are you kidding? The Three Stooges.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: OK. It's a free country and it's not like Hank Williams Jr. chairs the Republican National Committee.
He's well - well, here's Whoopi Goldberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ACTRESS/TV HOST: Well, he's a musician and musicians do provocative things. And I think of all the football players and all the musicians that have either taken a misstep or done something, you know, and what kind of standards are we holding, folks, to when we say, oh, no, you can't say, we can't say, listen, man, that's not a good thing to do. So instead we pull.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Right. It kind of sounds like what happened to the Dixie Chicks. Remember, Natalie Mane said the Chicks were ashamed of President Bush because of his stance on Iraq, and while the Chicks weren't fired, per se, they were blackballed by not only many country music fans but by the country music establishment.
So the "Talkback" today, was ESPN right to part ways with Hank Williams Jr.? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your responses later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come this Friday morning, prosecutors say that bottle of propofol that killed Michael Jackson had fingerprints on it belonging to his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. We'll tell you why that didn't stop Conrad Murray's attorneys from going on the defensive.
COSTELLO: And pay up, she will not. One Bank of America customers taking action against the bank's new $5 fee for debit card users. What's she up to? You'll find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Today it's all about the big September jobs report released about an hour from now. Economists expected to show that we added 65,000 jobs in the month. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 9.1 percent.
Can the markets make it four straight days of gains? Well, right now, U.S. stock futures are down this after overseas markets turned lower as European leaders continue to try to solve that region's debt crisis.
A dozen European banks taking a hit this morning after the credit rating agency Moody's cut their rating. The reason Moody's says is that it believes the U.K. government may not support some of its banks if they need a bailout. Mortgage rates have never been cheaper. The average 30-year fixed rate down to 3.94 percent. That's the first time in history that rate has fallen below four percent. That's the good news. The bad news is the percentage of Americans who own their home has seen its biggest drop since the Great Depression. According to the Census Bureau, home ownership fell to 65.1 percent in April of last year. That's down about a percentage point since 2000.
The NBA's credit rating could be cut if the season is cancelled because of the labor dispute with players. The credit rating agency Fitch says it watch listed the league's triple BBB-plus rating because there's a strong likelihood that the ongoing lockout will result in missed games.
Parents certainly took advantage of the back-to-school sales. Thompson Reuters report sales at a number of companies jumped 5.1 percent last month. That's the biggest increase since May.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking news just in now, an entire town evacuated after a train derailment sparked an inferno there. These are pictures from WGN, our affiliate. Authorities are evacuating the entire town of Tiskilwa.
A major train derailment overnight that left multiple tanker cars exploding that's according to fire officials and local residents. The town of about 800 people located about 8 miles south of Princeton. This is in Illinois, 115 miles west of Chicago.
COSTELLO: The real danger here is what these cars are carrying. Apparently they're carrying ethanol and, of course, ethanol when it's burning gives off a vapor, which could be dangerous to people, which is why they evacuated those 800 people.
Started out with one car on fire and of course, it spread because there are chemicals in the other cars and there's been explosion after explosion after explosion. This thing happened at 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
So it's been going on a long time. So they finally got the town evacuated and hopefully they can figure how to put out chemical fires because as you know those are the toughest to extinguish.
ROMANS: Tiskilwa is the name of town. Again, it's about 115 miles west from Chicago, 8 miles from Princeton, Illinois. You can see those pictures. It's dark there, 6:30 in the east there. So people getting up this morning to what is going to be an inferno for several hours now.
COSTELLO: Moving on to other top stories, now Wall Street protesters entering their fourth week today and spreading nationwide. They're popping up all over the map from New York to Los Angeles.
Even in occupied Washington, a sister protest in D.C., President Obama weighing in for the first time saying the demonstrators are giving voice to those frustrated with our financial system.
ROMANS: The head of the Energy Department loan program is out. Jonathan Silver oversaw that program that supported dozens of projects including the solar company who's bankruptcy could cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the Energy Department, Silver's departure was announced in July before Solyndra's Chapter 11 filing.
COSTELLO: Three women have been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, two from Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf then Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman from Yemen. The Nobel committee is recognizing their work as a fight for women's rights. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa.
ROMANS: He's proved to be a master escape artist, Libya's deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi is still trying to exert influence. An audio message said to be from Gadhafi blast the country's new ruling Transitional Council. Gadhafi questions the National Council's legitimacy. It urges the Libyan people to take to the streets in protest of its new leaders.
COSTELLO: And Pakistani authorities planned to charge a doctor suspected of helping the CIA track down Osama Bin Laden with treason. The doctor allegedly set up a fake vaccination program to collect DNA samples from people living in Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.
ROMANS: Certainly a strain on the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan no question.
During day eight of the Michael Jackson death trial, lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray finally got a chance to go on the offensive and they did everything they could to discredit the investigation conducted by the L.A. County coroner's office. Here's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the hours after Michael Jackson died, investigators scoured the bedroom of his rented mansion for clues to what killed him.
Elissa Fleak, an investigator with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office found 12 bottles of the powerful anesthetic Propofol in Jackson's bedroom. She told the jury yesterday, one of them was empty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you locate on the floor a 20-milliter bottle of Propofol?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where was that located?
ELISSA FLEAK, CORONER'S INVESTIGATOR: On the floor next to the left side of the bed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And was it empty?
FLEAK: Correct.
KAYE: The coroner says Jackson died of acute Propofol intoxication. His doctor, Conrad Murray denies charges of manslaughter.
In court, the jury learned Murray's finger print was found on the 100-milliter bottle of Propofol that prosecutors say led to Jackson's death. The bedroom looked more like a pharmacy.
These are all the medications Fleak says she discovered. She also said she found a syringe, an IV stand and an IV bag with Propofol in it.
On cross today, the defense tried to make her investigation look sloppy showing she didn't note Propofol was inside the IV bag in her report until nearly two years after Jackson's death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In fact, the very first time you noted that there was a Propofol bottle in an IV bag was the 29th of March, 2011.
FLEAK: In case notes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Isn't that right?
FLEAK: Yes.
KAYE: The prosecution's case hinges on the fact that Propofol was inside the IV bag, which would mean Jackson could not have taken the fatal dose himself as the defense suggests. The defense pressed on, attempting to show Fleak made more mistakes, touching a syringe she'd found in the bedroom without wearing gloves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This syringe has your fingerprint on it, right?
FLEAK: Yes, it does.
KAYE: Investigator Fleak also took heat for not mentioning the IV bag in her original reports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you consider that a mistake, Ms. Fleak, on your part?
FLEAK: I describe something in detail later on. I didn't include it in the general initial narrative. Is it a mistake? I could have described it more in detail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could have described it at all, right? FLEAK: In the initial report, yes.
KAYE (on camera): On the stand Wednesday, a computer forensics examiner who analyzed Conrad Murray's iPhone, on it a recording from May 10, 2009 of Michael Jackson sounding wasted and slurring his words.
In a portion never before played in court, Jackson was speaking of his love for children and his own unhappy childhood. And then suddenly silence and then Dr. Murray's voice, sleep. Michael Jackson wanted it so badly, it killed him.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Testimony in the Michael Jackson death trial continues today. Be sure to check out our sister network HLN for your source of complete expert coverage.
COSTELLO: Just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, how do you feel about your bank?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm finished, and I'll probably move on to a credit union. I knew other people would be fed up with it, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Kind of like she feels about her bank. Coming up next, we'll meet a woman who is so fed up with fees that she cut up her credit cards and her debit cards looked right at the cameras and decided to fight back. It's 37 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 40 minutes past the hour. Welcome back and good morning, New York City. Sunny outside right now, 48 chilly degrees, but later today it's going to be beautiful, have a high of 67. That goes for much of the east coast and the middle of the country. So we ought to be very happy today.
Welcome back, as I said. Higher fees and more of them that's what's most likely coming to a bank near you. But one customer is not just complaining, she is taking action.
Joining me now is Molly Katchpole, a now former Bank of America customer. Welcome, Molly.
MOLLY KATCHPOLE, CANCELED HER BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNTS: Thank you. How are you doing, Carol?
COSTELLO: I'm doing great. So had you a checking and savings account with Bank of America and when you heard about that $5 debit card fee you said, enough. Why? KATCHPOLE: Yes, well, because you know, I'm 22 years old. I work two part-time jobs, and I don't have $60 a year to give to Bank of America, and I knew that thousands of Americans would feel the same way.
COSTELLO: So you started this online petition a week ago. This morning we checked. It has close to 200,000 signatures now. Did you expect anything like this?
KATCHPOLE: You know, I'm not surprised by it at all. I mean, given the mood of our country right now. I think people are ready to sign on and make change happen.
COSTELLO: So you marched into a Washington, D.C. branch of Bank of America and you presented them with 152,000 signatures.
KATCHPOLE: Yes.
COSTELLO: What was the bank's reaction?
KATCHPOLE: They didn't really have a lot of reaction. I think they were a little taken aback, but it was kind of just a normal transaction. I went in. I gave them the petitions and then I closed my bank account. That was kind of it.
COSTELLO: Didn't you want more? I mean, didn't you think somebody would say something like, we're really sorry and thanks for this petition and we'll send them straight up to the CEO?
KATCHPOLE: I know. I know. I was hoping for that. I had my fingers crossed, but you know, I was trying to be realistic about it. That didn't happen, but that's all right. I think they'll get there.
COSTELLO: Do you think that the people who signed your online petition are Bank of America customers and do you think they will leave the bank?
KATCHPOLE: I think most of them are, absolutely and I think thousands of people have left the bank already.
COSTELLO: So Bank of America didn't have a comment specifically on your petition, but the bank's CEO, Brian Moynihan, told CNBC that customers like you should just understand that the bank has a right to make a profit.
I mean, Bank of America lost money last year. So they have a right to make a profit. They're a private company. They have to make up the money somewhere. When you hear that from Mr. Moynihan, what do you think?
KATCHPOLE: I think that people also have a right to stand up for what they believe in and try to make change happen.
COSTELLO: OK, so you did that. You cut up your credit cards. You closed your accounts at Bank of America. Where are you taking your business now? KATCHPOLE: I'll probably take it to a credit union. I need to do a little bit of research first, but that's looking liked the direction I'm headed in.
COSTELLO: I think the most interesting part of your story, you're working two jobs. You're working really hard, but by taking action against Bank of America and coming up with this online petition, you discovered a new passion.
KATCHPOLE: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I've already -- you know, I've always been kind of an activist, and this was just a really exciting, awesome way to kind of channel that energy.
COSTELLO: OK. So if people want to sign your petition, give us your web site.
KATCHPOLE: They go to change.org. It's a wonderful platform for petitions and it's right there on the front page.
COSTELLO: All right. Molly Katchpole, thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
KATCHPOLE: Thank you so much.
ROMANS: She said she was going to do some research. I would suggest going to bankrate.com and cnnmoney.com and also small banks and community banks, many of them like to lure the business from the big banks.
And if you do direct deposits or online bill pay with a smaller community bank, they'll waive their own fees. But that's the thing to make sure you have all your banking -- a few direct deposit and a few online bill pays might be enough to waive some of those fees at other places. There you go and credit unions are not for profit.
All right, morning headlines next and trivia time, today's "Romans' Numeral," 15-1. Here's a hint. We should rename it the "Romans' Numeral."
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ROMANS: It's 46 after the hour. Here are your morning headlines.
An entire town in Illinois being told to get out after a train derailed and at least three tanker cars exploded. The fire is still burning now. This is in the town of Taskila (ph). About 800 people live here. It's about 115 miles west of Chicago. The train was transporting ethanol.
Right now, U.S. stocks are set to open lower after a three-day winning streak. Right now, investors are waiting for this morning's September jobs report that comes out in less than an hour. That report is forecast to show the economy added 65,000 jobs last month. And economists expect the unemployment rate to stay steady at 9.1 percent. Wall Street protests spreading across the U.S., even to Canada and Australia, as they enter their fourth week this morning. President Obama saying the demonstrators are giving a voice to those frustrated with the financial system.
Three women's rights activists have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Two are from Liberia, the country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen. The three will share $1.5 million. They also share a place in history.
An influential task force is about to recommend that men under 75 forgo prostate screenings. They say the problem with the test is it flags too many patients for follow-up procedures that can be expensive and sometimes risky.
The Detroit Tigers knocking the New York Yankees out of the playoffs. Back-to-back homers by Don Kelly and Delmon Young in the fist inning, propelling them to a 3:2 victory in game five in the ALDS. Two more game fives in the National League tonight with the Phillies hosting the Cardinals and the Brewers tangling with the Diamond Backs.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after the break.
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COSTELLO: Good morning to our friends in Washington. Sunny skies, 53 degrees. I don't know what that stuff is blowing in front of the camera.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I'm sure nothing harmful. Later today, sun with a high of 73 degree.
ROMANS: This morning's "Romans' Numeral," a number in the news today, it's 15-1, which technically, makes it the Romans' statistic of the day.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: That's the 1985 Chicago Bears regular season record. And we bring it up because the Bears are finally going to the White House. President Obama will welcome the 1985 Super Bowl champs this afternoon. They are his home team. Right? And they never had a chance to meet then-President Reagan after they won 25 years ago because of the shuttle disaster.
COSTELLO: I was going to say, it's about time, but that explains it.
ROMANS: Yes, that's right. Here's a question for you, Carol. Who would win a fight, Ditka or God?
COSTELLO: God. (LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Trick question. Ditka is God.
COSTELLO: What?
ROMANS: If you're from Chicago.
(LAUGHTER)
Look how young they look.
COSTELLO: I know. I think the Lions, the Detroit Lions play the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football."
ROMANS: Oh, really.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROMANS: Well, that's exciting. Anyway, so --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Detroit could be 5-0, baby. Sorry, 'da Bears. I'm irritating this morning, aren't I?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I know, the sports stuff -- I'm sorry, everybody. Anyway, that was the "Romans' Numeral," which is actually a sport stat today.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: And I loved it.
(LAUGHTER)
And "A.M. House Call" right now, one that could impact every man out there. Men have been warned for years not to neglect prostate cancer screenings. Now CNN has learned a task force is about to recommend just the opposite, that men do not get screened for the disease.
CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us from Atlanta.
So, this is just confusing.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is confusing, so I'll try to lay this out for you. Remember the group, Ladies, that said, two years ago, that women in their 40s shouldn't get mammograms? Probably remember that story. This same group is telling men not to get screened for prostate cancer. They say that the screening actually could lead to harms and those harms outweigh any benefits. And in a nutshell, here's the reason why. Most prostate cancers are very small and very slow growing and will never cause a man any problems at all. Most of the time, you'll catch those kind of cancers, which a man would be fine living with, and you'll treat it and that treatment can cause problems. It can make a man incontinent. He can make a man impotent. And it can even kill him. Some of the surgeries actually -- there is a chance you could die from the surgery. That's why this group, the Preventative Services Task Force, is saying they don't think men should get the PSA test.
ROMANS: But, you know, Elizabeth, some men say their lives were saved because of the screening, just like many women, when that other ruling came down or that recommendation came down and said, wait, if my life was saved by the screening, then it was worth it.
COHEN: Right, and this is where this gets sticky. There's no question that some men whose lives were saved by the screening but there are far more men whose lives were ruined or were really harmed by the screening. So, there's this real balancing act going on.
Let's look at some numbers going on. Not "Romans' Numerals," but Cohen's numerals. These numbers sort of spell it all out right here. In one study, they looked at 1,400 men that were screened. 48 of those men were found to have cancer but only one death was prevented because the other 47 men had cancers, again, that never were going to cause a problem. But that one man whose death was prevented, boy, was he glad he was screened. Those other 47 men probably not so glad that they were screened.
COSTELLO: What age group are we talking about?
COHEN: Right. Many times, the men that get screened are in the 50 to 70 age range. What this group is saying is they don't think anyone should be screened. Now, there are plenty of people, including especially urologists, who really disagree with this, who say this is a tremendous mistake and that men should continue to get screened, depending upon their family history, starting at various ages.
COSTELLO: It's funny. I argue with my parents about this because their feeling is, you know, we're in our late 70s now, so, why bother getting this anyway? It's a slow growing -- isn't prostate cancer generally a slow growing disease?
COHEN: Right, most of the time it is a slow growing disease. So, Carol, I want to tell you your parents, most doctors would say, are actually right, that there's no reason for a man to be screened after age 75 because, if he does have prostate cancer, something else will probably kill him, given the age that he is.
And, Ladies, this is a really important point here. medical science is not good at figuring out which cancers are going to be slow and which are going to be fast. So they are going to find these little cancers and most of the time they're going to be slow and never cause a problem. Could it be one of the fast-growing cancers? It could. And what we need is a test to discern one from the other. We don't have that test right now. COSTELLO: So men are now --
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: -- just as confused about prostate cancer screenings as women are about mammograms.
COHEN: Well, I have some guidance here. What you can do, if you go to CNN.com/thechart, you'll see a blog that has a link to a story that I did called, "What's a dude to do"? That tells you all the questions you need to ask. Each man will make a different decision on this one. He needs to chat with his wife and his doctor and make the right decision for him, and that column will help.
ROMANS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back this morning." The question for you, was ESPN right to part ways with Hank Williams Jr?
This is from Robert, "I think ESPN is taking a political stance and did not like the comments the Williams made. Maybe we do not agree with his position, but he clarified it, and it did make sense. I think ESPN is making a mountain out of a mole hill, maybe to enhance the ratings of "Monday Night Football."
I don't think they need to do that. Those ratings are phenomenal.
This from Tomas, "Hank Williams Jr, is an American like the rest of us. He retains the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression regardless of whether people choose to agree or not. Diversity in interests is what makes us unique in this society. I'm not condoning or condemning his opinion, but remember, this is America."
This from Angela, "The freedoms we have, including free speech, come with responsibility. We are responsible for what we put out into the world. Freedom to say what you want means you should be willing to take the consequences that come along with your words. So many people wave the flag of freedom without recognizing the power of those freedoms and the responsibility that comes with that power."
Keep the comments coming, Facebook.com/Americanmorning. We'll read more later on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: And we'll have top stories when we return, including that big jobs report. Is anyone hiring? Which categories? Where? I'll tell you that.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
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