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American Morning
Infant Rescued from Rubble; Rick Perry's Flat Tax; Help for Struggling Homeowners; Police Surround "Occupy Oakland"; U.S. Facing Second Credit Downgrade; Vatican: Global Economy Needs Oversight; Halloween To Cost You More; Rescue Operations Underway in Turkey; Defense Presenting its Case in Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor; Expert Discusses Post-Gadhafi Libya; Overweight Teen to Beauty Queen
Aired October 25, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's Tuesday, October 25th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're up with us. I'm Carol Costello.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to have a special welcome to our international viewers, as well. I'm Alina Cho. Christine and Ali are off today.
We begin with this breaking news.
COSTELLO: Breaking great news, actually, from earthquake-ravaged Turkey. In eastern Turkey, a 2-week-old baby girl has been found alive in the rubble two days after a devastating 7.2 magnitude quake killed more than 360 people.
Let's take you to that scene of that rescue. The town is Ercis (ph) in eastern Turkey. That's where Diana Magnay is standing by live.
We understand it is raining there now, Diana, and there's sort of a flurry of activity around this house where that baby girl was pulled out earlier.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. It is raining quite hard. Rescue workers have been trying to find the little baby girl's mother and grandmother, the mother's mother-in-law, who they have been in contact with for a good few hours now
What happened was, a couple hours ago, the mother made contact. They heard the mother in amongst the rubble. The mother managed to hand her little baby girl over to a rescue worker. They've managed to channel out a narrow passage through which they could pass the baby. They had to find a rescue worker who was thin enough to go through. And he has -- he pulled the baby out. We talked to him a little bit earlier. He said he's been working on this kind of activity for 12 years and this was the first time that he'd eve pulled anyone alive from the rubble from a situation like this. He said, from the moment he took that child in his hands was virtually like him having a second child. And now we know that in there, the mother and the grandmother, who apparently are both healthy and they've been trying to get them out, they've been giving oxygen to them and basically trying to make that tunnel that they took the baby through wide enough to bring them out.
Now, as you say, it does seem in the last few moments as though this sort of flurry of activity around her has gathered. They brought a plastic stretcher, which would, obviously, lead the way to carry the two of them out, once they come out. So, we are hoping that at some point soon we might see those two women carried out alive -- Alina.
COSTELLO: We sure hope so. Diana reporting live from eastern Turkey.
To find out how you can help those devastated by the earthquake in Turkey, visit our "Impact Your World" page. You can find it at CNN.com/impact.
CHO: We want to turn to politics now.
And Rick Perry's big pitch: scrap the current tax code and offer the option of a 20 percent flat tax rate. The Texas governor will unveil his plan at a campaign event this morning in the key state of South Carolina.
Joining us now from Washington, CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, to give us some of the details of that plan. So, what are we going to hear Governor Perry say today, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think Governor Perry today in South Carolina is going to try to make a case for a simplified tax system and maybe he's also politically trying to get some of that 9-9-9 mojo.
And, of course, Alina, what I'm talking about is Herman Cain. His tax plan which he has been touting over the last couple months has helped boost him from an afterthought to one of the front runners in the battle for the GOP nomination. Perry, of course, was the frontrunner back in September, has faltered in the polls.
So, today the plan, it is called "Cut, Balance and Grow." And it includes a new flat rate tax rate of 20 percent or Americans can choose the current income tax rate. The plan also preserves mortgage interest, charitable state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than half a million dollars a year. It increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and independents.
He's calling for the abolishment of the death tax which you hear a lot of Republicans called for.
And he wants to lower corporate tax rate from 35 percent down to 20 percent.
Steve Forbes, the head of Forbes Incorporated and "Forbes" magazine who ran for the presidency in '96 and 2000 pushing the flat tax was one of the co-authors of this plan. And Perry uses one of Forbes' lines, saying that my tax plan is so simple you can fill out your taxes on a postcard -- Alina.
CHO: Governor Perry, obviously, taking center stage because of this today. But he is also trying to revive this controversy over President Obama's birth certificate. He gave an interview to "Parade" magazine. What did he say and why now, Paul?
STEINHAUSER: Very interesting and controversy stuff. You know, today is a big day for the tax plan, but he may be overshadowed by these comments. And, yes, "Parade" magazine, this was in their Sunday over the weekend, not in their printed version, but in their online version.
And Perry said he believes the president was born in the United States, but he was less confident than the birth certificate the president asked Hawaii to release earlier this year was real. Perry went on to say in that interview, I don't know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night. He doesn't think it was real, of course. Trump, remember, was flirting with the run for the White House for the Republican nomination earlier this year and part of his push was to question president's birth here in the United States.
Now, John Harwood, one of the top reporters, top political reporters for CNBC, had an interview with Perry this morning. Here's what he tweets from that interview. "Perry tells me why he kept Obama birther issue alive. It's a good issue to keep alive. It's fun to poke at him." That from John Harwood who just interviewed Perry.
Perry, by the way, Alina, goes in front of cameras this afternoon at the news conference. Our Jim Acosta will be there, other reporters, as well. I would expect this birther controversy will be coming up.
You know, Karl Rove, a top Republican, even yesterday scolded Perry for trying to bring this back. I thought we were all beyond this, didn't you?
CHO: Well, you know, we'll have to wait and see what happens. It is interesting that he has brought this up. I thought it had been settled. But, all right. There you have it.
Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: You thought it didn't need to be settled, but no.
President Obama is saying he's tired of waiting for a dysfunctional Congress, so he's changing the rules himself. In Las Vegas, ground zero for the housing collapse, the president announced a plan that's designed to make it easier for responsible homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
Dan Lothian is live in Los Angeles.
Tell us more, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're talking about here is a revision of that program that government program that could impact up to 1 million homeowners. A lot of people believe that the housing market that the housing market is what is really causing a major drag on the economic recovery. So, this effort by the president, which goes around Congress will ease up on some of the cost, do away with some of the costs that prevent people from refinancing to lower their rates. But it will also help these homeowners who are struggling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to help a lot more homeowners refinance at lower rates, which means consumers save money, those families save money, and it gets those families spending in it again. And it also makes it easier for them to make their mortgage payments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, there are skeptics out there and the president himself admitting that this plan, this revision of the program will not solve all the problems. That's why he's pushing on Congress to pass his jobs bill and saying he will act alone at other points in order to inject some life into this ailing economy.
COSTELLO: But when you get right down to it, Dan -- I mean, the president needs congress to act. Congress needs to pass some sort of legislation to really help people through this housing crisis. Is there anything on the horizon in Congress that may help?
LOTHIAN: Well, as you know, there has been a log jam and a lot of different things that the president has been pushing as part of the overall plan. Now, he's trying to break it into pieces. Hopefully that Congress, he believes, will pass pieces of his plan. But, yes, you're correct. I mean, this is something that only targets up to a million people.
And so, in the big scheme of things, it doesn't solve a major problem, especially in some of these hard-hit areas like Florida and Nevada where we saw the president yesterday meeting with homeowners. The president believing that you have to start somewhere because if Congress isn't acting, then he thinks it's important for the government to do something now.
COSTELLO: Dan Lothian, reporting live for us this morning -- thank you.
Also new this morning, Moammar Gadhafi has been finally buried, I should say. You're looking at burial of an empty cold storage room where the Libyan dictator's body had been on display for the last few days. An official with Libya's National Transitional Council tells CNN Gadhafi's body was laid to rest this morning at dawn at an undisclosed location in the desert.
CHO: An explosion at a crowded bus station in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, has killed at least one person. It happened yesterday just blocks away from the nightclub where a blast went off earlier that morning. Twelve people were hurt in that attack. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for either attack. The explosion came just two days after the U.S. embassy in Kenya warned of an imminent terror attack.
COSTELLO: He's no magician, but Commissioner David Stern is making NBA games disappear. The league will reportedly cancel at least two more weeks of the season today. Talks between owners and the lockout players broke down last week and no new talks are scheduled.
CHO: And the World Series heading back to St. Louis with the Texas Rangers in the driver's seat. The Rangers beat the cardinals 4- 2 last night in Game 5. Catcher Mike Napoli was again the hitting star. Texas is now just one win away from its first ever World Series title. Incredible.
COSTELLO: Their rumba almost turned into a rumble on last night's "Dancing with the Stars." Maksim Chmerkovskiy on a heated exchange with the head judge, Len Goodman, during the critique of his dance with his partner Hope Solo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEN GOODMAN, HEAD JUDGE, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": This is your worst dance of the whole season, in my opinion.
Maks, don't start all that, Maks, because half the fault is yours. So, don't start that.
MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, DANCER: As long as the audience likes our journey, we're good.
GOODMAN: Let me tell you, Maks, the audience like the effect. They judge on efficacy. I've been in this business for nearly 50 years.
CHMERKOVSKIY: Maybe it's time to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't be disrespectful like that.
CHMERKOVSKIY: It's not disrespectful to everybody, right, because everybody is putting a lot of effort. Everybody on that balcony has been dying and killing themselves only to hear your guys a little judgmental comments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I don't know how they can take that, that really terrible critique sometimes. I would give some choice words back myself.
Host Tom Bergeron finally getting in the middle, trying to defuse the situation. Hope and Maks ended up with 20 out of 30 possible points.
CHO: Still to come this morning, why the United States is now facing another credit downgrade by the end of the year. Here we go, again. What does it all mean?
COSTELLO: Plus, did you see it? The northern lights lighting up the sky across parts of the U.S. So, what caused -- oh, isn't that beautiful?
CHO: It's gorgeous.
COSTELLO: We'll show you more after a break.
It's nine minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: And good morning to you.
Breaking news out of Oakland, California, to tell you about.
CHO: That's right. You look at the pictures here live. Kind of a tense situation there.
Police have arrested more than two dozen people in the "Occupy" tent city there. Protesters have been in this area called Frank Ogowa Plaza for about two weeks.
As you can see there, police put on gas mask and there's been some smoke released. Again, more than two dozen people have been arrested. The "Occupy Wall Street" protests began, you'll recall, in New York City back on September 17th. The protesters outraged at what they call the top 1 percent of the country.
But some critics have said that unlike the Tea Party movement, they have been disorganized about finding a solution to the problem.
Nonetheless, the "Occupy" protests have spread not just around this country, but around the world to more than 80 countries, hundreds of cities. And we are monitoring this story very closely, again, out of Oakland, California.
COSTELLO: This situation in Oakland is pretty serious. This is a camp near 14th Street and Broadway. You see police in riot gear there. They dispense something that spewed smoke. We're not sure what it is. But you can probably guess.
They have been trying to get these people to leave for weeks in Oakland because the problems we have been hearing about here in New York City with public urination and garbage. They say that the "Occupy Oakland" people are, you know, making the rat problem in this area worse and they want the people to clear out. They gave them a letter the other day, saying, please, desist and leave. And, of course, the protesters refused. So, some of them are sitting down and getting arrested, which is apparently what they want to happen.
CHO: More than 100 riot police. And, remember, it's 5:00 in the morning there and you're looking at live pictures. Obviously, the situation which has been tense now for a few weeks reached a boil. More than two dozen protesters arrested today.
And again, this is a situation we're following very, very closely and we'll bring more as we get more details into our news room.
COSTELLO: Let's head to Atlanta now and check in with Jacqui Jeras.
Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.
We're looking at some drizzly, wet conditions this morning across the Great Lakes and in the Upper Midwest. And this is going to be the real focus of where a lot of the wet weather is going to be today and impacting your travel. So, if you're still heading out the door yet, make sure you have your umbrella with you and make sure you take a little extra time as the roadways are slick.
We have been seeing rain along I-94, as well as along I-39. Green Bay down towards Milwaukee, even into Radford (ph). Chicago, you're staying dry for the most part. The rain should move in later on today, and we're just starting to see this move into the Detroit area, as well.
Again, mainly light, but enough to kind of be a nuisance overall this morning. So, major delays are going to be expected this afternoon. Over an hour in Chicago, not only do you have some of that light rain to deal with, but also, very windy conditions. We also have wind in Boston. Minneapolis looking for showers especially this afternoon.
The wind in Dallas and Kansas City, although, a warm wind, and Denver looking at some afternoon showers. The only delay currently that we have to report is at Newark. It's about a 15-minute departure delay, so it's not major and it's not weather related, at least, not at this time.
All right. Let's talk a little bit more about the delays in Denver that we're expecting. You're going to start out as rain later on today, but overnight tonight and into tomorrow, that's going to change over to some snow. We've got winter storm warnings in effect. This is after hitting 80 degrees yesterday, Denver. 80. That was a record high for you.
So, hard to believe by tomorrow we'll be lucky it hit 40. Several inches of accumulation expected in Denver. You get up into the high country. We could be talking about well over a foot, possibly as much as two feet for a few of you. Of course, keeps a lot of people happy when you're talk about the ski season. All right. The nation's mid section, this is our big storm system that we're going to be watching over the next couple days. That cold air filtering in back behind it and on the south side of it, it's very warm, dry air which is moving in. That's why temperatures here are going to be a good 10 to 20 degrees above where you should be for this time of the year. Eighty-three degrees in Kansas City for the end of October.
You guys have that snow in the end of October before, so that's really good. Eighty in Memphis, 72 in Chicago before that cold front moves on through. Brings you back down into the 50s.
All right. There was a spectacular display last night of the aurora borealis. If you have a chance to see it, if not, get over to your TV. Look at that. Just amazing colors. You could see the green, the blue, the purples as well as some of the red up there. This is not a necessarily a rare event, but what was more unusual about this is that this was seen in the southern parts of the United States.
Usually, you have to be way up there into the northern tier of the U.S., but people in Atlanta saw it. People in Alabama saw it. There are reports in Arkansas, as well as Ohio. So, really, a lot of people got to see this beautiful, spectacular display. Kind of a weak ejection from this solar storm overall, but, man, look at the results. Isn't that beautiful, guys?
COSTELLO: That was beautiful. You're right. I could sit here and watch it all day.
JERAS: All day, over and over. And never gets old. It's so beautiful.
CHO: Too bad that Rob Marciano isn't there to witness that in Atlanta. I understand he's filing an investigative report out of Denver on the ski slopes.
JERAS: Oh, that could be the case. I'm not sure. Maybe a quick trip, because I think he's back tomorrow.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: What he deserves. Jacqui, thanks.
CHO: United States could be just a couple months away from another credit downgrade. The problem, a Congressional Super Committee charged with crafting a debt reduction plan may be too divided to get anything done. Here's Lisa Sylvester.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 12 members of the Super Committee share one thing in common. Strong ties to their party caucus and political base. That kind of division makes it challenging to find common ground and Wall Street seems to know that.
A new Bank of America Merrill Lynch report says the deficit commission is, quote, "very unlikely to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan." The committee is more divided than the overall Congress. The Merrill Lynch report forecasts an additional downgrade from another major ratings agency by the end of the year if the Super Committee fails to act. University of Maryland professor, Peter Morici says that's a scenario he also sees playing out.
PROF. PETER MORICI, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: We're getting to budget dysfunction. We need a whole restructuring of how the federal government spends money in its relationship with the states regarding health care, Medicaid. That's not happening. So, the credit rating agencies are quite correct to say the United States is not AAA and even less.
SYLVESTER: Standard & Poor's in August lowered the U.S. rating a notch from AAA to AA. S&P left the door open to further rating cuts if there's less reduction in spending than agreed to. Moody's and Fitch rating still scored the U.S. government (ph) AAA, but Moody's has a negative outlook and has also warned a risk of a downgrade if further fiscal consolidation measures are not adopted in 2013.
But the way the committee was set up by Congress, there is something called sequestration, a trigger if the Super Committee deadlocks or the president vetoes their proposal.
JAMES HORNEY, CENTER ON BUDGET & POLICY PRIORITIES: What happens then is in the first year, that year, you get about a nine percent cut in defense spending and in nonexempt domestic spending. On the domestic side, things like Social Security, Medicaid are exempt, a lot of other things aren't'.
SYLVESTER: Things like Medicare, homeland security spending in addition to defense cuts. That would take effect in 2013. The Merrill report predicts a lot of uncertainty for investors and the markets ahead. On the day the S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating, the stock market dropped seven percent.
(on-camera) Most of the work of the Super Committee has been done behind closed doors. Now, there is a public hearing scheduled for this Wednesday, but they only have about five more weeks to go than Congress has until December 23rd to vote on whatever proposals the committee comes up with. It's a tall order to get all of this done.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning, prosecutors for Conrad Murray as an inept and opportunistic doctor who's responsible for the death of Michael Jackson. Now, the defense will try to convince the jurors otherwise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 24 minutes past the hour. Welcome back. "Minding your business" this morning.
U.S. stock futures are pointing to a flat open this morning. Markets got a boost yesterday from strong quarterly earning reports and a few merger announcements.
We're one day away from finding out the details of a grand plan to save the European Union. If the announcement could not come soon enough, recession fears for the region are on the rise this week after new survey shows business activity has stalled with France, in particular, showing major weakness in that sector.
The Vatican is calling for an overhaul of the world's financial systems, according to a proposal by the church. The Vatican suggests creating a global political authority that would regulate the financial markets.
More bad news for Netflix. The company announced it lost 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter. Customers have been jumping ship since the company announced price hikes this summer. Stock is down more than 35 percent in premarket trading.
And how this for a horror story. Halloween decorations and candy will cost you much more this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Americans are expected to spend $6.9 billion this Halloween. That's up 19 percent from last year. The reason, bad weather has driven up the price of pumpkins, peanut butter, and sugar.
FedEx is gearing up for the holiday shipping frenzy in a big way. The global shipping giant says December 12th is set to be the busiest day it's ever had and is expecting more than 17 million packages to be shipped this year. The company also says it's adding 20,000 temporary workers to help handle the holiday rush.
Don't forget for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): And we have breaking news from Turkey this morning. A second person has just been rescued, possibly, the mother of a 14-day baby, who was rescued earlier today. A little girl who is said to be in good condition. You are looking now at video of the woman. Again, there are some indications that it may be the mother of a two-week-old baby who was rescued from a collapsed building.
This is all happening in Eastern Turkey. Earlier, our Diana Magnay, had been reporting that the mother and the grandmother were still trapped, but told rescuers they were in good shape, doing well, and that rescue could happen within a day. Well, it is looking like, it appears as though we're looking at one of those rescues right now.
We are watching this story very closely. Obviously, a wonderful, remarkable story that we're bringing to you from Eastern Turkey. We'll bring you more as more details come in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So the baby is safe, we believe the mother is safe. They still have yet to rescue the grandmother and they still don't know where the father is.
CHO: That's right. Not quite a totally happy ending yet. But two of the four family members have been, it appears, it appears, have been found. We're watching that very closely.
COSTELLO: Happening too right now in Oakland, California, police in riot gear moving in to oust demonstrators from a tent city set up in Occupy Oakland. Protestors have been in Frank Ogawa Plaza for about two weeks. About two dozen of them have now been arrested so far this morning, and we expect more arrests to go down later.
CHO: Moammar Gadhafi has been buried. An official with the National Transitional Council tells CNN that the Libyan dictator was laid to rest at dawn this morning at an undisclosed location in the desert.
COSTELLO: And Texas Governor Rick Perry unveils his flat tax plan in South Carolina today. The plan gives Americans the choice between their current tax rate or a 20 percent flat tax rate.
CHO: At the Michael Jackson death trial, prosecutors have painted Conrad Murray as a reckless doctor who prescribed a powerful anesthetic and failed to properly care for his patient.
COSTELLO: Now as the defense presents its case it's trying to shift the blame for Jackson's death to the singer himself. CNN's Ted Rowlands has been covering the trial.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alina and Carol, when court resumes the defense's case resumes. What they're doing right now is establishing for the jury that Michael Jackson was shopping for Propofol, basically. On the stand right now is a nurse by the name of Cheryl Lynn Lee. She is testifying that she treating Jackson in February for sleep and that eventually he asked her to give him Propofol.
Before she took the stand we heard from Dr. Allan Metzger. He treated Jackson for 15 years, and he, too, told the jury that in February of the year Jackson died, he asked for Propofol.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ALLAN METZGER, TREATED MICHAEL JACKSON: He asked me about intravenous medicine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he happen to mention the name of this medicine?
METZGER: I think he used the word "juice."
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROWLANDS: At some point today also we're expecting to hear some character witnesses. The defense has to try to build up Murray's reputation. He's taken an incredible beating during the prosecution's case. We will hear from a couple folks we actually met in Houston and in Las Vegas. Ruby Moseley is a patient in Houston and she'll testify that Murray is a very caring doctor and helped out her neighborhood with medical care. And then we'll hear from a man named Gerry Cause show says he had a heart attack 10 years ago, and he claims that Dr. Conrad Murray saved his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERRY CAUSE, PATIENT OF DR. MURRAY: I had a heart attack 10 years ago and he saved my life. And he's been my friend ever since.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Alina and Carol, as you know, Janet Jackson has canceled her tour in Australia. She was not in court yesterday. We do expect her, though, to be in court today along with the rest of the family. Alina and Carol?
CHO: All right, the case could go to the jury by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann's camp trying to downplay claims that her senior staff is downright mean. Yesterday her entire New Hampshire senior staff, which resigned last week, released a letter accusing the congresswoman's national campaign of being "rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel." Her spokeswoman telling our John King it's unfortunate they want to call names.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. This morning's question, should the president bypass Congress to help the economy? President Obama has gone from, "Yes, we can," to "We can't wait." Since Congress isn't exactly eager to discuss any part of the president's job bill, the president is going rogue. Instead of waiting for Congress to act, he's implementing a series of executive actions, like new rules aimed at making it easier for homeowners to refinance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. The barrier will be lifted that prohibits home buyers from refinancing that their home values have fallen so low that what they owe on their mortgage is 25 percent higher than the current value of their home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Many economists say it won't be enough to solve the housing crisis. Republicans say it won't solve anything and the president is simply using the excuse of presidential gamesmanship to get around Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: They're ashamed to mention any of the things they do with Republicans because it steps on their storyline. Their storyline is that there must be some villain out there who is keeping this administration from succeeding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: What is clear, the economy won't be greatly helped unless Congress does act in some way, and Congress is not likely to act on the president's job proposal. So President Obama is moving forward on his own. Monday, the home mortgage plan, tomorrow a plan to help with student loans. He is intent to show Americans he is doing something and to shame Congress into acting.
So the talk back question for you today, should the president bypass Congress to help the economy? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
CHO: They've been streaming in all morning long.
Up next, a dictator's final resting place. Now that Moammar Gadhafi has been buried, the question is, what is next for Libya? What role will the U.S. play?
Plus, WikiLeaks says it may be forced to shut down. We'll tell you why. It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: We want to take you back to eastern Turkey, where a massive rescue effort is under way in the wake of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Earlier this morning, and we've been following this all morning long, we brought you the incredible news that a 14-day-old baby had been rescued from a collapsed building.
We are getting word now just within the past couple of minutes that another two people have been rescued. And we don't want to presume, but we certainly hope that it is the mother and the grandmother of this young baby. We have been getting reports earlier from our Diana Magnay who is there on the ground that rescuers had been in contact with both the mother and the grandmother. They were said to be in good condition and rescuers were said to be very, very close to rescuing them.
However, just in the past hour, we had, the rescue is underway right now, as you see. You're looking there live at it. But our Diana Magnay had reported that the conditions had gotten measurably worse. It has been raining there pretty heavily and weather conditions have been bad over the past couple of days.
But again, the headline being it appears at this point three people had been rescued from the rubble of the earthquake. More than 2,200 buildings have been destroyed, more than 300 dead, 1,300 injured. And so we are hearing this remarkable story and hoping it's true that the three people of the same family were rescued. We will follow the story throughout the morning and bring you more as we get more details.
COSTELLO: CNN going in depth now and the future of a free Libya and America's possible role in a free Libya. Moammar Gadhafi was buried this morning, closing the chapter on a 42 year dictatorship marked by bloodshed and brutality. Our next guest is the author of "Rock the Casbah -- Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World." Robin Wright joins us live from Washington this morning. Thanks for being with us this morning.
ROBIN WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "ROCK THE CASBAH": Good morning.
COSTELLO: So up until last week, nearly all of these tribes and clans inside Libya were unified in one thing, hunting down Gadhafi. Now that they've achieved that, the big question is can they stick together and build a government? How optimistic are you?
WRIGHT: Well, Libya has a lot going for it. It has a small population and it has a lot of oil wealth. But the reality is it also faces deep divisions. There are 140 tribes and clans, 30 of which are important. This is a country with a long past of divisions. The east centered in Benghazi and the west centered in Tripoli.
And the challenge is bringing all these people together not just politically, but also the militias. One of the biggest challenges is all these groups that have led the way in challenging the regime of Moammar Gadhafi but from different parts of the country. There is no single chain of command today still established to the Transitional National Council, and all of these groups will want their own share of the political and economic spoils.
COSTELLO: That's right. I spoke with a senior member of the National Transitional Council on Friday and he said something that, you know, after what you've said seems unbelievable. He said the militias are disciplined and quote, "They obey the orders of the National Transitional Council exactly." But after what we saw, after they caught Gadhafi, they don't seem all that disciplined.
WRIGHT: No. And the Human Rights Watch and other groups have begun to chronicle some of the human rights abuses, the killings, extrajudicial killings, the lootings and human rights abuses. There have been 50 bodies found in one town alone that appear to include many members of the loyalist group to Moammar Gadhafi. And they had their hands bound behind them and it looks like they're executed. And then all the questions about what happened with Gadhafi, his son, and his defense minister, which increasingly appear to be executions, as well.
COSTELLO: So, in light of that, let's talk about what this new government in Libya could look like. And I want to read to you part of an editorial in "Washington Post" this morning. This is it. "The rise of Islamist parties is inevitable in a democratic Middle East." What is crucial is that these parties forswear violence and accept the rules of democracy and human rights. So far Tunisia's largest Islamic movement has done that. If its success is accepted by secular Tunisians and by western democracies, its moderate model should get a boost in Egypt and Libya."
Let's talk about Libya, because the leader of the National Transitional Council said this weekend that Sharia law would be obeyed in the legal system, but then he came out yesterday and said, "I would like to assure the international community that Libyans are moderate Muslims." So which is it?
WRIGHT: I don't think we know the answer to that question yet. That will probably define the region in some ways as it evolves into something different over the next decade.
But there is concern particularly among women in Libya, because the things that he announced a man who wanted to marry a second wife no longer need the consent of the first wife, encouraged polygamy, in effect. He also talked about eliminating interest and banks, which is considered usury in Islam.
This is going to be very worrisome to the outside community and to the west who was so involved through NATO in eroding the power of Moammar Gadhafi and without which the rebels could never have ousted him from power this quickly.
WRIGHT: So if Sharia law dominates the new government in Libya, how might this affect the whole Middle East and also, you know, I guess, how could it affect us here in the United States?
WRIGHT: I think we need to be careful. In other countries, including Egypt, they have in constitutional provisions that no law could be in contradiction to Islam, and yet you had a secular government in power.
The question is, how originally are they going to be implemented? What is the interpretation of Sharia law? Is it merely Muslim values that are supposed to be reflected in legislation, or is it the strict implementation of laws that date back and practices that date back to the seventh century. And that's a very important distinction, and we don't know the answer to that yet.
COSTELLO: Robin Wright, thanks for joining us, this morning. We appreciate it.
WRIGHT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We appreciate it.
CHO: Still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, the two GOP candidates set for a face-off to -- a face-to-face debate without the rest of the presidential field.
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CHO: Forty-eight minutes after the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines".
Video just in of a third person pulled from the earthquake rubble in eastern Turkey. Just moments ago, crews freed a woman believed to be the grandmother of a young baby that was rescued earlier this morning. That baby's mother was also just rescued and we're told the baby girl just two weeks old is alive and well.
Texas Governor Rick Perry trying to one up the 9-9-9 tax man, Herman Cain, with his own flat tax plan. The Perry plan would give Americans the option of the current tax rate or a 20 percent flat tax rate. The Republican candidate will unveil his plan at an event today in the key primary state of South Carolina.
WikiLeaks announcing it's close to shutting down because well, it's running out of money. Cash donations have been hard to come by ever since Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America and PayPal stopped doing business with the site after it published a number of confidential U.S. diplomatic cables last year.
A one-on-one debate planned in the GOP race for president; Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich will face off Saturday, November 5th, near Houston. The debate is sponsored by the Texas Tea Party Patriots and it'll focus on fiscal issues.
President Obama kicks off the second day of his three-day trip to the West Coast with a visit to Jay Leno. It will be Mr. Obama's fourth time on the "Tonight Show", his second as president. Later today the President will be in Colorado for two fundraising events.
And the Texas Rangers have never won a World Series, but now they can taste it. The Rangers beat the Cardinals 4-2 to take game five last night in Texas. They're just one win away now. Game six tomorrow night, and if necessary, game seven the next night, back in St. Louis.
That's the news you need to know to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break.
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COSTELLO: Whatever you say about Washington, it's a gorgeous city. Good morning, Washington. It's kind of chilly outside now. But later today it's going to be gorgeous, 67 degrees. The leaves are starting to change. Nothing prettier than Rough Creek Park in the fall.
CHO: Well, this is your home. So I know, well, you've been in New York for quite a while, but this is your official home, Washington. So I'm going to take your word for it. Welcome back everybody to AMERICAN MORNING.
Immigration reform could become a big issue on Capitol Hill come December. Democratic sources tell CNN there are discussions taking place right now that could involve reintroducing the Dream Act. The Dream Act would allow children of illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military to become U.S. citizens.
Sources say Democrats want to keep Hispanic voters in the fold by contrasting their position with Republicans who favor tougher security along the U.S./Mexico border. COSTELLO: There just may be a solution to the political stalemate on Capitol Hill. If you missed it, Erin Burnett had a special guest on "Out Front" last night. Elmo you see Elmo and he wasn't pulling any punches. Listen to Elmo's plan for getting Republicans and Democrats on the same page --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELMO, SESAME STREET: Play dates.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Play dates.
ELMO: Yes, everybody has play dates.
BURNETT: Like put a Democrat and a Republican play date.
ELMO: Play dates.
BURNETT: Harry Reid and John Boehner play dates.
ELMO: Yes play dates and everybody brings their own food.
BURNETT: Ok, yes. John Boehner is kind of your color --
ELMO: And they had to share and they have to sing songs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: What game would they be playing? Battleship, maybe. I don't know. Just the thought of that makes me laugh. Elmo and his alter-ego puppeteer Kevin Clash (ph) are hitting the media circuit to promote their new documentary "Being Elmo: a Puppet's Journey."
CHO: A documentary -- right.
It's a remarkable story of weight loss. A young woman transforming herself from overweight teen to beauty queen.
COSTELLO: And now, she's inspiring others to lead healthy lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more in this morning's "Human Factor".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREE BOYCE, MISS SOUTH CAROLINA, 2011: I actually used to sit where you're sitting. I'm the same person that I was in high school, although my exterior may have looked a little different.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Bree Boyce, becoming a beauty queen was beyond her wildest dreams.
BREE BOYCE: I was just so unhappy with the way I looked, but, yet, I still continued to eat unhealthy and lack of physical activity.
GUPTA: And at 17 years old, Boyce weighed 234 pounds.
BOYCE: I would come home from school, sit on the couch for hours and watch TV and snack all day long.
GUPTA: It was nagging pain in her knees that led her to go see her doctor and what he said led her to change her life.
BOYCE: He said, you know, this weight has to come off. At that moment I knew that he's right. And it's up to me and only me to change it.
GUPTA: She didn't try a quick fix to losing weight.
BOYCE: I completely threw out all the junk food. I joined the gym. I educated myself. I went to a nutritionist. I did all the right steps.
GUPTA: Three years later, Boyce had transformed her body from pudgy duckling to beauty queen. In July she was crowned Miss South Carolina, even winning an early round of the bathing suit competition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you really excited?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a big fan.
GUPTA: Every beauty queen has a platform. Hers, as you might guess, is eating healthy and fighting obesity and it's a mission she happily promotes whether it's doing Zumba with kids at health fairs or speaking at her hometown city council meeting.
BOYCE: I'm going to bring the crown back to Florence.
GUPTA: Or talking to students at her former high school.
BOYCE: I challenge you all to make a change today and to make a change to be a happy, a healthy and confident individual and whatever it is in life that you want to set out to accomplish.
GUPTA: And she practices what she preaches. Still making her health her top priority.
BOYCE: Yes, I block out, you know what am I going to eat and how I'm going to eat that day.
GUPTA: Boyce still wants to achieve more. She has her sights on winning the Miss America title 2012 in January and she's not afraid of this next challenge.
BOYCE: And anything in life that you want to do it takes hard work and determination and most of all perseverance.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Good for her.
CHO: Yes good for her, we wish her a lot of luck. COSTELLO: Wow. Coming up next our "Talk Back" question of the morning. "Should the President bypass Congress to help the economy?" We'll read through your responses next.
Its five minutes until the top of the hour.
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COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Now our "Talk Back" question of the morning, we asked you this, "Should the President bypass Congress to help the economy?"
This from Tony, "Obviously Congress cannot do anything on their own so the President is doing his job in taking over. If the Republican-controlled Congress is upset about this, it's only because they were not able to grandstand and create more problems and drama. Let President Obama do his job."
This from Jennifer, "The system is set up with built in checks and balances; bypassing Congress upsets that system and set a bad precedent for future administrations.
This from Shontell. "Sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures. It seems as though anything President Obama tries to pass runs into some type of roadblock from the GOP. The Democrats aren't innocent in this either but you have to give the President some credit for trying to take some type of initiative. Of course, the policies he is trying to pass may not be an immediate fix, but hopefully it's a step in the right direction."
Most of our respondents -- and we had over, what, 200 of them -- said the president should at least do something, should bypass Congress to do something about the economy.
CHO: Well, let's hope he can push some of those measures pass Congress --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Congress can come up with some type of legislation that makes everybody moderately happy and get it passed.
CHO: Why can't we all get along.
President Obama is finding out what showbiz is all about during his West Coast trip. Here are your late night laughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, TALK SHOW HOST: Some political news. Today President Obama went to Las Vegas for a campaign fund-raiser. He spent most of the time at the visit working on his new economic recovery plan. Come on, 7, let's go. Come on, you can do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JIMMY KIMMELL, TALK SHOW HOST: President Obama visited Los Angeles tonight. I don't get that. You know, there has to be an easier way for the President of the United States to get medical marijuana than to fly all the way out to California.
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: President Obama was back in Los Angeles today where he will appear on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. No, Obama is appearing with Jay Leno to highlight the one job that was saved during his administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, I think he's still a little bitter about that whole thing out there. Then, again, so is David Letterman and it has been years.
Anyway, it's time to get over it, boys.
Let's head to Atlanta now and check in with Kyra Phillips. Good morning Kyra.
