Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
"I'd Spit In His Face"; Gingrich: Obama Student Loan Plan a "Ponzi Scheme"; Santorum: I'd Never Skip a Debate; Cain's Fundraising Surge; Tea Party Group Wants Bachmann Out; If Hillary Clinton Ran; Edwards Facing January Trial; Tunisia Election Violence; Boy Rescued From Rubble in Turkey; Oakland Mayor Sorry for Tear Gassing; Statue of Liberty Turns 125; We'll See You Tomorrow Night; Texas Snow to the Northeast; Exotic Pets Remain in Quarantine; Michael Jackson Death Trial; Should Cities Prevent Occupy Protesters from Camping Out?; U.S. Markets Surge; Stalking: There's An App for That?; Gourd Gorging; "Occupy Oakland" Damage Control
Aired October 28, 2011 - 05:59 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): Not buying it this time. Bernie Madoff victims telling the con artist and his wife to keep their sob (ph) stories.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Why is Newt Gingrich calling the president's new student plan a Ponzi scheme?
And Tea Party's message for presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann, drop out, please.
VELSHI: A snow shocker in the Texas panhandle. The snowfall that broke records and projections for the entire year. Is the northeast next?
COSTELLO: And a true fall classic. The St. Louis Cardinals stage a comeback to defeat the Texas Rangers and force a seventh and deciding game in the World Series on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, and happy, happy, happy Friday! My favorite day.
VELSHI: I know.
COSTELLO: Besides Saturday and Sunday. It's October 28th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Christine has the morning off.
VELSHI: That game you know, I was so sad, because the Yankees were out so early, but, boy, these guys, the Rangers and Cardinals have really kept this going.
COSTELLO: Yes, who needs those glamour teams?
VELSHI: It's good baseball.
All right, up first, Bernie Madoff victims are saying this morning don't buy the latest scam. People who lost everything in the $60 billion scheme, retirement and college funds saying they're having trouble finding some sympathy after Madoff's wife -- Madoff said he's happier in prison.
And his wife told "60 Minutes" that the couple tried to kill themselves. The story this morning from our Susan Candiotti.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYNTHIA FRIEDMAN, PONZI SCHEME VICTIM: I think anything that comes out of their mouths is self-serving and are lies.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richard and Cynthia Friedman lost their life saving to Bernie Madoff, so did Ilene Kent's parents. When they heard Ruth Madoff talked about a failed suicide attempt in a new a "60 Minutes" interview.
RUTH MADOFF, WIFE OF BERNIE MADOFF: I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was -- it was so horrendous, what was happening. We had terrible phone calls, hate mail.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Do you believe it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe it. If it's a Madoff, you cannot trust anything they say.
CANDIOTTI: Assuming that she's telling the truth about taking pills, do you feel badly about that?
ILENE KENT, PARENTS VICTIMIZED: I just can't assume it. I think anything that they say is extremely self-serving. Ruth has been quoted in the past as saying that she's very concerned about the victims and feels awful and feels terribly. Well, why reopen the wound three years later?
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Victims scoff at Barbara Walters description of her ABC Bernie Madoff interview. He says he's happy in prison, because he feels safe there.
BARBARA WATERS, ABC "THE VIEW": For 16 years, he has lived in fear that he was going to be found out, and now he's not in control of his life. And so he is happier there than he was on the outside.
KENT: I was very much against sending him to a -- a maximum security prison because I felt that would be revenge, not justice. But he's really just snubbing his nose, he's snubbing his nose at the systems, he's snubbing his nose at us.
CANDIOTTTI: Then there's Stephanie Madoff whose husband, Mark committed suicide last year depressed over his father's crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I saw Bernie Madoff right now, I would tell him that I hold him fully responsible for killing my husband, and I'd spit in his face.
CANDIOTTI: So every time you hear an interview, every time you read an article involving an interview, what goes through your mind?
FRIEDMAN: I had a visceral reaction. I really feel sick to my stomach.
KENT: I wish we could get that kind of publicity so people understand who the victims are. They're everyday people.
CANDIOTTI: You're hearing people ask them a lot of questions. Do you have any questions that remain in your mind that you'd like to ask them?
KENT: If I knew that Bernie Madoff would actually tell the truth for a change, I would say, why, how, and who helped you?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: For victims, there are many questions they feel will never be fully answered. Prosecutors have not charged Madoff's children nor his wife. She's living in a borrowed home in South Florida. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
COSTELLO: To politics now and GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich saying President Obama's pulling a Madoff. Yes, that's what he said. He's pulling a Madoff with his latest student loan plan.
Gingrich have an education forum in New York went after part of the president's plan that would forgive outstanding student loans after 25 years of payments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd like to see the Department of Education become a research and information center. I'd like to see us re-privatize the student loan program before the president bankrupts the entire country by promising every young person, you will not have to pay your student loan as a student.
However, you will later on have to pay off the national debt as a taxpayer. I'm being good to you so by the time you figure out you're paying it off as a taxpayer, but you'll re-elect me because of your gratitude because you won't be paying it off as a student loan, which is a Ponzi scheme even by Governor Perry stance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: At the same forum, candidate Rick Santorum took a dig at Texas Governor Rick Perry after his campaign suggested he may skip some of the remaining GOP debates. Santorum suggesting it's a sign of weakness to take a pass on them and of course, Santorum will be there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would never skip a debate. I never skip the opportunity to let the American public know what I think about these issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Perry nosedived in the polls after a series of stumbles onstage. Right now, he's committed to a November 9th debate in Michigan, but none after that. As many as 18 more GOP debates are in the works.
VELSHI: What's crazier, that he's not debating or there are 18 more in the works?
Perry's loss has largely been Herman Cain's gain. Cain is surging in the polls, and now in the bank. Cain's chief of staff, Mark Block, yes, that's him, the smoking guy from the ad told our Erin Burnett, the fundraising really picked up this month with Cain raising $3 million in October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK BLOCK, CAIN CAMPAIGN CHIEF OF STAFF: We've actually doubled in a little over a month, and that's what we're seeing in our grass roots activism growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Cain now finds himself at or near the top of all the latest national and state polls right there with Mitt Romney.
COSTELLO: You know where he is? He's in Alabama. He's going to a game tonight running an unusual campaign.
VELSHI: Running an unusual campaign. Now, Michele Bachman is a proud card carrying Tea Party member, but now one Tea Party group is totally slamming Michele Bachmann telling her to quit the race.
A statement from American Majority President Ned Ryan says she's not a serious candidate and her campaign is more about Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann is the leader of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives. She's dropped to the bottom of the polls after an early jump. CN reached out to the campaign, but did not get a response.
And it's the biggest "what if" of the 2012 race that will likely never happen, but what if Hillary Clinton ran? A new "Times" survey shows that she would do better than her boss, President Obama.
In fact, she totally blows out Mitt Romney in a hypothetical race 55 percent to 38 percent. She'd also clobber Rick Perry and Herman Cain, both by more than 20 points. Wow.
COSTELLO: Looks like former Senator John Edwards will go on trial in January. A federal judge in North Carolina has rejected a motion by Edwards' attorney to dismiss his criminal indictment. He faces felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly violating campaign contribution laws and could get 30 years behind bars and a $1.5 million fine. VELSHI: Elections in Tunisia ending in violence, but it was sparked by the disqualification of six people's petition candidates who had already been declared victorious. An independent commission overturning results for what it calls funding issues. Angry demonstrators responding by setting fire to the headquarters of the Anhada movement, the moderate Islamist party that turned out to be the big election winner.
COSTELLO: Another miracle rescue from the rubble in from eastern Turkey. A 13-year-old found alive after more than 13 days. More than 500 people killed in Sunday's earthquake.
VELSHI: Oakland's mayor apologizing after police tear gassed Wall Street protesters and put an Iraq was veteran in the hospital. She also says city officials have started an investigation into the use of force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JEAN QUAN, OAKLAND: I am very deeply saddened about what happened last Tuesday. It totally didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. People were hurt, and I am the mayor, so I take responsibility and I apologize to those who were hurt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Veteran Scott Olson suffered a skull fracture in the violence Tuesday night after witnesses say a tear gas canister hit him in the head. This video posted on YouTube shows him bleeding and being carried out. He suffered a fractured skull and will need surgery to relief pressure on his brain.
COSTELLO: The Statue of Liberty welcoming the huddled masses once again today on the 125th anniversary of her dedication. There will be a special naturalization ceremony to welcome 125 new citizens to America.
There are also be Macy's fireworks show and brand new web cam installed on the torch during the face-lift. We'll give viewers a stunning look at New York heartland.
VELSHI: That should be fun. All right, World Series game six, one for the ages. The St. Louis Cardinals twice downed their final strike scored two runs in the ninth inning two more in the tenth that gave them a tie against the Texas Ranger and then won it on David Freese's home run in the 11th, the score, 10-9.
COSTELLO: There is goes.
VELSHI: That's unbelievable. Look at. It sets up a seventh and deciding game between the Cards and Rangers tonight in St. Louis. It's the first time since 2002 that the World Series has gone to a seventh game, and there is nothing in the world more fun than a seventh game in the World Series.
COSTELLO: I know. I like the way David Freese ran into that crowd of Cardinals. That was cool.
VELSHI: That was a good game. They're pulling something there.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Still to come this morning, the cold front that took Texas by surprise could mean snow -- yes, snow for the northeast this weekend. Rob has the forecast, next.
VELSHI: And the widow of the Ohio man who released dozens of exotic animals won't be getting them back anytime soon. What the state of Ohio is doing to keep the animals in a zoo.
COSTELLO: The Smartphone tracker that Washington says has gone too far. The battle against stalking apps, ahead. It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 15 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The state of Ohio steps into stop six exotic animals from going back to the pens where they were released last week.
The widow of the man who freed 56 pets before killing himself wants to take custody of the remaining animals. Animal conservationist and director of the Columbus Zoo, Jack Hanna told CNN's Anderson Cooper, the animals are just now recovering and there's no way they're going back to those cages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: There's no way over my dead body, it might be that pretty soon, those animals are going back there to the same conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Hanna says if he has his way, a new law in Ohio would prevent 90 percent of people who try to keep exotic pets on their property from doing so.
VELSHI: And about face this morning for the family of 11-month- old Lisa Irwin who's been missing for nearly a month. The parents cancelled a police interview with baby Lisa's two brothers who were home on the night she disappeared. Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley are still refusing to be interviewed separately by police.
COSTELLO: The manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray on track to go to the jury next week. The defense's Propofol expert, their last and most important witness, will be back on the stand today. Our report this morning from CNN's Ted Rowlands.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali and Carol, when court resumes we expect more testimony from Dr. Paul White. He is the star witness for the defense in this case.
It is up to him to try to convince the jury that Michael Jackson may have accidentally killed himself. We got a little bit of that from White during his testimony on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PAUL WHITE, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: I was somewhat perplexed as to how the determination had been made by essentially all of the experts that Dr. Murray was infusing Propofol because in my examination of the documents and the evidence that was described, it wasn't obvious to me, and I thought that there were questions if, in fact, Murray had administered the drugs that he described in his conversations with the police department and the doses that he described, I would not have expected Michael Jackson to have died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Before Dr. White took the stand, the defense put on an addiction specialist. And the reason for this witness was to establish for the jury that Dr. Conrad Murray wasn't the only one treating Michael Jackson in the months before his death. This addiction specialist was also a physician, went through the medical records of Dr. Arnold Klein, and established for the jury that Michael Jackson was given a lot of Demerol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you considered -- and I understand that based on records alone -- have you formed an opinion about whether or not by May 4th, at least, or even earlier, that Michael Jackson was dependent on Demerol?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that opinion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe there's evidence that he was dependent upon Demerol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about addicted?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Janet Jackson was back in court today leading the Jackson contingent inside the courtroom. We expect that closing arguments in this case will now be pushed to next week, because of all the delays that we've seen this week -- Ali, Carol.
VELSHI: All right. Ted, thank you.
Mexican resorts on the Mayan Riviera all boarded up this morning. Tropical Storm Rina is whipping up 60 miles per hour winds and could drop up to 10 inches of rain over the eastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula today. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated in Cancun and Cozumel. The storm is expected to fizzle out before reaching the U.S. coastline. COSTELLO: And it was supposed to be one of the driest years on record in Amarillo. But now the Texas Panhandle is cleaning up after a huge snowstorm broke a 100-year-old record. Amarillo had just over three inches by the time all was said and done.
Meteorologists, you know, like Rob Marciano say it's not -- it's unusual, but not unheard of.
VELSHI: And let's talk to him. Big story -- the weather story this weekend, probably the chance of some snow like you just saw in October in the northeast. Rob is in Atlanta with a striking orange tie.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And I like the -- the theme there, Ali.
VELSHI: We're getting -- we're getting into Halloween a little early.
MARCIANO: That's right. That's right. Exactly.
Happy Halloween, everybody. It's going to be a chilly one for folks especially across the northeast and in some cases it will be a white one. You saw the video of the whiteness in Amarillo. While we have white conditions across parts of Massachusetts and Vermont and upstate New York yesterday. It went from four to seven inches from this little system that rolled through the area. Obviously the area was cold enough for snow there.
But we've got an even more impressive system that's gathering strength, and it has prompted the issuance of winter storm watches from Maine, all the way down to Virginia. Two to five inches above 1,000 feet along the Appalachians and then three to six expected across parts of interior New England.
Associated with this system that will be rolling up the Eastern Seaboard is bringing some -- some rainfall to parts of the Tennessee Valley. This would get into Atlanta as well and some of the rain or some of the moisture from Rina getting up into Florida. But that's about it as far as Rina is concerned for us.
New York metro, Atlanta and Miami all see some showers that will create a little bit in the way of delays. All right, this is how the storms are going to get to the Delmarva, it will intensify. This will be a nor'easter, pretty -- for the most part, our first one of the season and not only rain will be potential, but three to six inches of snow across parts of interior New England, New York will probably not see a whole lot of snow, but the suburbs might.
Boston on the back side of this will see a little bit of wet snow as well. But the problem with this storm is going to be there are still leaves on the trees. So you get three to six inches of wet snow, that's going to bring down some tree limbs and that certainly going to knock out some power. So that's going to the big issue with this particular storm. Briefly on what's going on with Rina. Right over Cancun now is the center of the circulation. But you see the moisture is being strewn up towards Florida. The actual track of this is to go farther to the south and diminish completely.
So a big road block in the Gulf of Mexico in part because of the storm systems that are going to be rolling up the eastern half of the country, bringing very winter-like weather for this Halloween weekend.
COSTELLO: Oh. That so stinks.
MARCIANO: Come on. You know -- you know what, Ali? Carol was kind of poo-poo in the market rally. And now --
VELSHI: Right.
MARCIANO: -- I'm thinking she's probably short in the market.
VELSHI: Right.
MARCIANO: And does not have enough winter gear.
VELSHI: That -- I think that's exactly the way we need to look at this, Carol.
COSTELLO: That's not. I've got enough winter gear.
VELSHI: Shopping later on. Let's talk about your 401(k) after the show.
COSTELLO: OK. I like that.
Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning -- should cities prevent Occupy protesters not from protesting, but from camping out?
If you're a protester -- if you're a protester, the answer's a cinch, right? No. Camping out is a form of unity, organization and protest. For city, it's expensive. For police -- tense, especially in light of what happened in Oakland.
As Oakland Police tried to clear out Occupy Oakland protesters, Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran was injured. Protesters insist overzealous police lobbed a tear gas canister into the crowd hitting Olsen in the head. Oakland Police are investigating.
In New York, the city's Sergeants Benevolent Association claims 20 police officers have been injured trying to keep order in Zuccotti Park.
In Georgia, the mayor decided to clear Occupy Atlanta protesters, because he says things were getting out of hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KASIM REED (D), ATLANTA: We warned them, did not arrest them. My feeling was that this was escalating, and escalating out of control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Many protesters are incredulous. They say chaos ensues only when police try to rob them of the right to protest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've restrained ourselves just by getting into what looked like they could be or what the police were prepared to be hostile situations. We've successfully remained a peaceful protest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the "Talk Back" question for you today -- should cities prevent Occupy protesters not from protesting, but from camping out? Facebook.com/AmericanMorning, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
VELSHI: All right. Coming up, are you worried that your bank might start charging you for using your debit card? We know others have. Some banks are already doing it, and some banks are not, however. And we're going to have details for you after the break.
COSTELLO: And, no more of the old spaghetti for brains or a hole for (INAUDIBLE), haunted houses have become much more sophisticated and more successful than ever. Our Rob Marciano goes zombie to show us what's scary.
It's 21 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
A big rally on Wall Street. News on a eurozone debt deal and a relatively strong report on economic growth here in the United States pushed markets higher yesterday. The Dow gained 2.8 percent. The NASDAQ was up 3.3 percent. The S&P 500 closed 3.4 percent higher. At this rate, we are looking at the best month for U.S. markets in nearly 40 years since October of 1975. The S&P 500 up about 13 percent so far this month.
Two more days of trading left, though, and that optimism over the eurozone deal is already losing some steam. Right now, U.S. stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. A lot of criticisms are out there that that deal doesn't map out a clear path to recovery and may not be enough to help Europe avoid a recession.
Home appliance maker Whirlpool just announced it's cutting 5,000 jobs in North America and Europe as part of its cost cutting plan. That amounts to about 10 percent of its workforce in both regions. Whirlpool is the parent company of several familiar household names like Maytag and KitchenAid. Talk about 180, Hewlett Packard have decided not to spin off its PC business. The company made the surprising announcement in August that it was considering getting rid of one of its core businesses. But CEO Meg Whitman, who took over last month, says they've changed their minds. They're keeping the PC business. It's the right thing to do for their customers and for their shareholders.
It's been a month since Bank of America announced its controversial debit card fees. The company is looking like most -- it's looking now like most of the other big banks are opting not to follow suit just yet. The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting this morning that JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, PNC Bank and Keycorp have decided not to charge customers for debit card purchases.
And Korean telecom company Samsung giving Apple a run for its money. Samsung surpasses Apple in global smartphone shipments in the third quarter, making it the world's largest smartphone maker. Shipments for the company's phone jumped 44 percent from the second to the third quarter and the company profits doubled from nearly a year ago.
AMERICAN MORNING right back after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING as we cross the half hour, time for the top stories now.
Victims of the biggest rip-off in history is saying they have to sympathy for Bernie Madoff or his wife after think media blitz this week. Ruth Madoff told "60 Minutes" the couple agreed to kill themselves but failed. One victim saying he doesn't believe the sob story.
VELSHI: Looking for a snow shovel in Amarillo. The Texas panhandle blasts a 100-year-old record as a surprise snowstorm dumps just over three inches. Look at that. Look like 15 from pictures.
Meteorologists say it's unusual, but it's not unheard of, even though it was predicted to be one of the driest years on record in the area.
Pretty, isn't it?
COSTELLO: It does look beautiful. But, man, I hate snow.
Let's talk about the boys of summer now, right? After being down to their final strike twice, the St. Cardinals stage a remarkable rally in game six of the World Series, scoring two runs in both the ninth and 10th innings to tie it, before a walk-off home run by the Cards' David Freese in the 11th to beat the Rangers 10-9. The deciding seventh game will be tonight in St. Louis.
VELSHI: Sweet.
All right. And October could go down as one of the best months that Wall Street has ever seen especially after yesterday. The Dow surging 3 percent higher on news that the Eurozone had cut a deal to bailout Greece.
Now, the broader S&P 500 might look a little like your 401(k), is up 13 percent so far in October. There hasn't been a month like this since 1974.
Our friend Nina dos Santos is live in London this morning, where markets are edging back a little bit. Is that out of concern as we look at fine print in the Euro deal or is it just because we've had such a strong month and a strong reaction yesterday?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, you really hit the nail on the head there. It is concerns that the devil is perhaps in the details when it comes to this Eurozone plan because, of course, we got more than we're expecting for in terms of sort of meat on the bones. But putting those plans into action will be fiendishly complicated.
We talked to the chief executive of this EFSF, the Eurozone bailout funds, currently having meetings in China, sort of informal meetings to try and find out the Chinese, see what they'll invest in the Eurozone bailout funds -- perhaps the IMF, or indeed buying euro bonds eventually.
But he's stressed at the moment these talks are just informal and that we don't actually have any figures in place as to just how much the Chinese could invest.
And the markets, as you say, still rising on this final Friday session, but we do have a little bit of cautious nervousness entering the markets there, because they're off their intraday gains and that's largely on the back of wondering when exactly they'll be able to put these deals into place, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes, we'll be watching that closely. And, of course, any speed bumps that they hit are going to start to get these markets, again. They've been very jittery. We'll watch it very closely with you, Nina.
I know you've been covering it very closely. Thanks very much. Nina dos Santos, back in London.
COSTELLO: Also new this morning, critics saying one "Occupy" Wall Street sympathizer went too far in Miami by hanging a banker an effigy along I-95. He's holding a briefcase, because, spieling with cash. The mannequin was hung by a street artist next to a mural that reads, give a Wall Street banker enough rope, and he will hang himself.
New video of police rounding up protesters in Nashville overnight. They were warned yesterday to obey a curfew or get a permit or leave a legislative plaza. But after a meeting last night, the occupiers said they're not going anywhere.
VELSHI: Overseas, at least six deaths are reported from torrential rains and severe flooding in northern Italy. Some towns have been completely cut off because of floods and mudslides. The storms have caused major transport problems across the region.
Thailand is seeing some of the worst flooding in decades. Nearly more than 400 people have been killed. Floodwaters have been rising in Bangkok, sending millions of people fleeing for higher ground. A CNN iReporter captured these picture captured of dogs being evacuated from an area in Bangkok in cages, while others can be seen wading through flooded roads.
COSTELLO: CIA Director Leon Panetta's friend makes good on a very unique bet. The restaurateur will uncork a 141-year-old bottle of wine as promised to mark the successful mission to get Osama bin Laden. The wine, by the way, is worth an estimated $10,000 to $15,000. It must be nice to have friends like that.
VELSHI: I think you lost on me -- $10,000, $15,000 bottle of wine, you know?
COSTELLO: I'd love it.
VELSHI: It comes with people who will give you a massage for a week.
COSTELLO: No, no. I think it would be -- I think it would be astounding. So, if you want to invite me --
VELSHI: A glass of wine -- I'll just give it to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. Deal.
A bathroom break warranted a quick call to 911 after a Toronto man found a 3.5 foot python wrapped up in his toilet. Officers put the snake in a pillowcase. It was the second snake -- stop, I'm trying to get through this.
COSTELLO: After the wine story, it's kind of weird.
VELSHI: The second snake-related incident police responded to within a 24-hour span. What with these snakes, though, in Toronto? That's my hometown.
The snakes have been turned over to animal services. Police are hoping to identify their owners.
COSTELLO: Still to come this morning: some ads promise smartphone apps telling you if your husband or wife is cheating on you by tracking every move they make. Troubling? Yes. Illegal? A group of lawmakers say yes and what they're doing about it now.
VELSHI: And scaring you right out of your pants. Rob Marciano showing us Halloween horrors proving to be a huge profit.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 39 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
There is growing concern this morning over so-called stalking apps, the ability to secretly track someone's movements from the GPS on their cell phone. Now, a group of senators is putting pressure on the government to do something about those kinds of apps.
John Abell, bureau chief at Wired.com is with us this morning.
So, first, explain to us what stalking apps are.
JOHN ABELL, NEW YORK BUREAU CHIEF, WIRED.COM: Well, it's kind of a broad and somewhat misleading term. Smartphones always have been able to tell you where you are. It's a big part of their functionality.
What they also do is they can tell someone else where you are. And there's always been the ability to sort of share your location with friends and stuff like that. Applications like that existed for years.
COSTELLO: And you have one on your phone right now?
ABELL: I do. The phones have always had something like that.
The new thing on Apple iPhone is something called "find my friends." It used to be "find my phone." But they realize that people not only want to find their phone but they incorporate that into sort of a group activity.
So, I just made friends with my friend and colleague Charlie Sorrel, who is a "Wired" writer extraordinaire. He happens to be in Barcelona, which does me no good, but I know his exact address and I can pinpoint him on the map and I could message him and I could say, what are you doing there? Why aren't you writing something for me?
COSTELLO: But he has to agree to that, right?
ABELL: He has to agree. Right. So --
COSTELLO: But there are apps where -- I guess they call them secret stalking maps.
ABELL: Here's the thing. I own this phone. I have a family plan. That means I own my phone. I own the phone that I give to my wife and my daughter.
So, it's kind of sketchy what the law is here. I own the phone, but they possess the phone. So I could turn on all kinds of functionality.
And, frankly, with parental controls can turn off a lot of functionality so that my daughter can't do certain things and go to certain sites. I've always been able to do that with her home computer. I now can extend that power to her mobile phone.
COSTELLO: So, you can actually apply that app without her knowledge and track her movements?
ABELL: Absolutely, because I possess the phone. And that's a part of this which has to be understood. There's almost nothing you can do to someone's phone without having physical possession of it at least for a little while. So I can't, for example, magically snap my fingers and suddenly do something to your phone which tells me where you are or whatever you're doing.
COSTELLO: Yes, I wouldn't put it past someone to maybe get ahold of my phone and do something to it without my knowledge?
ABELL: Absolutely. Now, you do go to sleep sometimes and things like that. You can always lock your phone. All phones have the ability to lock and there are lots of good reasons for that. You don't want people looking at your e-mail and voicemail, stuff like that.
So, the basic precautions that you would take against people reading your stuff physically are the same precautions you ought to take so they can't install bad software, malware.
COSTELLO: OK. So, here's the bigger question, the Senate wants to do something about this.
ABELL: Yes.
COSTELLO: Can it?
ABELL: Well, sure. I mean, the Senate can do whatever the Senate sort of wants to try to do.
Personally, I'm not always very happy with sort of legislative oversight, in emerging technology areas, because we really don't know exactly has the implications are.
However, in this kind of area, applications which may or may not exist yet -- and, by the way I spent a lot of time in the iTunes store looking for something like this. They're not really quite there. There's a lot of sort of phony stuff. These companies exist, though.
Having said that, these things exist primarily to do bad things -- the not advertised things, which are, to put it in stealth for private detectives, for jealous spouses, for things like that. Once that exists and you can do that, that's bad news.
So, yes. I think we do need to look at this a little closer.
COSTELLO: So what type of legislation might they pass that would be effective?
ABELL: Oh, good Lord.
COSTELLO: I mean, what could you possibly pit in, like, we'll just --
ABELL: This is the problem. You can require people to inform other people. You can -- you can make it illegal to make certain --
COSTELLO: That will work.
ABELL: Well, yes. Putting aside the gridlock in Congress, it's very hard to imagine how you could sort of legislate something which would make the technology impossible to use, unless you made the technology illegal to use. And there are so many good uses for this, that that would be wrong.
COSTELLO: Right. You know, especially with your daughter. I can understand why you might want to put something like that on her phone to know where she is -- especially if she gets into trouble, right?
ABELL: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Just give us the broader perspective. Is this something we should be worried about?
ABELL: Well, yes, if you don't have control of your phone, your control of your phone, and only if you got people in your phone that you're suspicious of, that you don't trust, that don't trust you. But that's the same -- that's always been the case.
The difference now is that this thing -- the device is so small, and you always have it with you, it is a wonderful target for things like this. Because instead of just knowing what you're doing at your home computer and your search history and stuff like that, you have that, plus where you've been, when you were there, what are the things around it, the contacts in your phonebook, which might link up with your geo location -- all kinds of information that can be aggravated about you which in the wrong hands would be a terrible thing.
COSTELLO: Yes, sir. John Abell, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it -- Ali.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
VELSHI: Major shake-up in the U.K. this morning. The ancient rules of royal succession are changing in Great Britain. Just a little over an hour ago, the British Commonwealth announced that princesses will finally be getting their fair shot at the throne.
Max Foster live in London for us.
Max, what is this news?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, it's not just Britain. It's actually 16 countries where the queen is head of state, and they've been gathering in Australia for a commonwealth heads of government meeting, and David Cameron has been pushing this change in the law, these ancient laws, which were completely out of date. Everyone's agreed, but it's very complex process.
So, we're talking about the act of succession and what he's going to try to do is change it. Under current system, if Catherine had a girl followed by the boy, the boy would become king. He's trying to change that so the sexes has taken out and the first born automatically becomes the monarch.
Also, if William had chosen to marry a Catholic, he couldn't become king one day. That's going to change as well. So, in the future, we may have a queen with a younger brother and marries to a Catholic. So, it's pretty historic and it affects 16 different countries around the world. It's not a done deal, though.
The prime ministers have agreed they're now going to take it back to their parliaments, and they're going to change the law in each one of those parliaments. It's not done yet, but I think we can assume. It's a major breakthrough.
VELSHI: Does the royalty have to agree?
FOSTER: The royalty is completely out of it. Interestingly, the queen, when she opened and told the meeting in Australia did refer to women in her opening speech. So, she's certainly giving her seal of approval to it, but if she, in any way, got involved in this, politicians and Parliament will have a few words to say she's completely out of the picture.
But you can assume, obviously, the queen is a woman so she would probably agree.
VELSHI: Right. She's probably into it. Max, let me ask you this. On a separate note, there's a lot of talk about a scar on Kate Middleton's head that people could see when her hair was pulled back.
COSTELLO: Like Harry Potter?
VELSHI: Exactly. I can't really make it out, but what do we know about this?
FOSTER: Well, if you look just above the ear, you can see a mark there.
VELSHI: Right.
FOSTER: And this is the talk of yesterday. People talking about hair extensions and stuff. That's completely out of my comfort zone on this one. The palace, and they told us that she had a childhood injury.
VELSHI: Right. FOSTER: And lots of people are saying this is a scar from an operation. It might be the injury. I'm not really sure. But, it's pretty visible about, but they're quite relaxed about it and they say, I'm not going to say anything more about it beyond that. It's a personal matter.
VELSHI: You think you're out of your comfort zone talking about hair extensions?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Could mean you're a hair pie.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: You're a handsome fellow, Max. Thank you very much. Good to see you. Thank you for the very interesting story coming out of the royal family.
What do you think? Carol, you like to or --
COSTELLO: I'm just laughing about the whole controversy. Oh, my gosh! She has a scar on her head. What could be it?
VELSHI: What could be it? All right. We're going to look into it a little deeper.
We're coming right back. It's 47 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, how long should occupied protesters be able to camp out?
This from Adam, "Protesters shouldn't be allowed to camp out at all on public property. It's called trespassing. They wouldn't allow families who lost their homes to live on public property. Why should the protesters who have homes get special treatment?"
This from John, "As long as they obey the law, they should realize the best way to make themselves be heard, though, is to get organized and vote. That's where the real power of the people can be felt."
And this from Joshua, "I feel bad for the people that live in the neighborhoods where the protesters are camped out. The protesters have a right to be heard, but not all night long. Where did this new phenomenon come from? They should go home at night and come back in the morning. By the way, I agree with a lot of what they're complaining about so my comments aren't aimed at the messages, just the messengers."
Keep the comments coming. Facebook.com/americanmorning. We'll read more of your comments throughout the show.
VELSHI: Are you a haunted house person?
COSTELLO: I love haunted --
VELSHI: In haunted house attraction industry is actually scoring big bucks these days. Everything from corn mazes, spooky houses, generating an estimated $300 million in ticket sales every year here in the United States.
COSTELLO: I especially love corn mazes. I get lost. But not like those people who have to call 911.
VELSHI: Right.
COSTELLO: Rob Marciano actually went undercover in one of the most popular haunted houses the in the entire country to show us how much things have changed. I can't wait for this story, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, who doesn't like a good scare, right?
COSTELLO: Yes.
MARCIANO: The haunted house industry as you -- my goodness. That scared me right there -- is booming. And, yes. I went undercover to bring you this hard-hitting investigative report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: I always enjoy meeting new friends at Halloween, and this is some of the creatures of another world haunted house. Do you mind if I take a look inside? I'll take that as a yes.
Oh! Aww! Your friend. Your friend. I'm here with Ben Armstrong, one of the owners of Netherworld. Ben, this place is massive. It's got to be a year-round operation?
BEN ARMSTRONG, CO-OWNER, NETHERWORLD HAUNTED HOUSE: Oh, yes. We work on this absolutely all year long. We conceptualize it. We work on all the creatures and begin construction as early as February. What we're going to do now, though, we're going to make into one of the creatures. We're going to transform you into a monster that even your mother will be proud of.
MARCIANO: (SINGING) I feel pretty. I feel pretty
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: OK. I'm all zombied up. I'm teaming up with the nightmare -- I'm going to go scare some kids. Come on.
So, this is our spot, right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it.
MARCIANO: What's the call? What's the game plan?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You use the dark to your advantage. Dead man rising from the grave.
MARCIANO: Yes, I love it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zombie yes!
(SCREAMING)
MARCIANO: I just had my first scream. It felt good.
(SCREAMING)
MARCIANO: Every night, they line up around the block at haunted houses like these across America bringing an estimated $300 million a year.
ARMSTRONG: The haunted house industry has changed dramatically in the last 15 to 20 years. So, you really need to deck it all out, 360. Everything's got to be good. And the technology is increasing. We have artists that have a lot of animatronics, sophisticated characters that move.
We use a lot of projections. We use a lot of illusions. So, we're constantly upping the ante to give the customer more than just a guy jumping out and scaring them, although, that is the core of what we do.
(SCREAMING)
MARCIANO: Well, that is sensory overload. Working at a haunted house is an adrenaline rush. But now, I have to get back to my day job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: That was the late-night report, and quite frankly, I couldn't get all the makeup off yesterday. So, I had to take the morning off.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: Guys, I can't even explain to you. You know, I wasn't that jazzed about it until I got the makeup on and got in there.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: And you get your first scare. I mean, the poor kid dropped to his knees screaming, and I was like --
VELSHI: I forgot. I'm here with the kid-haters!
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Christine is off today. That's the excitement you got out of it. You made some kid wet his pants.
(LAUGHTER) COSTELLO: I don't hate children. I just like other people's children for a short time.
VELSHI: You like scaring other people.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, I was going to ask you about that, because you can't scare them too much, right? You have to sort of temper --
VELSHI: Hey, a kid chooses --
MARCIANO: They do. You know, I asked, is there a height restriction? Is there an age restriction? They don't recommend kids younger than six to go in. But, basically, you know, you pay $20-some odd bucks to go in here, you know what you're getting into. So, it's pretty much play your own risk.
COSTELLO: It doesn't matter if you're five!
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: It did look like fun. That was -- that makeup was incredible.
MARCIANO: They do a great job with makeup, and there's over 100 actors that go in there. And you know, I'm sure they're not making a whole lot of money. They do it for the love of the game. And once you're in there, you get a taste of it, you're hooked.
VELSHI: Very good.
COSTELLO: Give me a blood!
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Very good, Rob. We're going to check that out later in the show. That was really good.
COSTELLO: That was awesome.
VELSHI: All right. You haven't seen a meerkat eating a pumpkin, you simply haven't lived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Chicago's Brookfield Zoo gives their animals a real Halloween treat. Hippos, gorillas, African wild dogs all feasted on these gourds.
The lions and bears will be fed pumpkins in front of visitors over the weekend. Let's be honest, though. Nothing beats the meerkat inside the pumpkin. Check this out. Oh. We already saw that.
COSTELLO (voice-over): I saw the meerkat inside the pumpkin, and it was quite cute.
VELSHI: That's very cute.
COSTELLO: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (on-camera): Just ahead in the next hour, the threat of new crackdowns and legal moves against Occupy Wall Street as Oakland's mayor does some damage control. We'll speak to a New York City police sergeant who says cops need protection from the protesters. He'll be here to go head-to-head with a protester in our studio. It's four minutes until the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
