Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
No Charges In Syracuse Sex Abuse Case; Sandusky Arrested On New Sex Charges; "I Predicted -- He Would Come Back"; Gingrich: "Sure" Campaign Could Implode; The Battle For New Hampshire; Gingrich Opens Commanding Lead; AG Holder On Firing Line; Corzine To Testify About MF Global; New Lead In Serial Killer Case; Plan B Decision; "Blago" Gets 14 Years; Shoe-Ing In New Solutions; Nearing Europe's Moment of Truth?; S&P Warns Europe About Downgrade; Jobless Claims Report Out at 8:30AM ET; Buffett Invests In Solar Energy; Astrazeneca To Cut 1150 U.S. Jobs; Yahoo Wins Lawsuit Against Spammers; Last-Minute Dangers Leaving Iraq; Holder On Hot Seat; Report: 274 U.S. Troops Dumped In Landfill; Corzine To Testify About Firm's Collapse
Aired December 08, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: New details in the child sex abuse scandal the Syracuse. Bernie Fine's third accuser taking him to court after the D.A. says no criminal charges will be filed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When all of his staff left and he was, you know, tanking out I predicted that he would have another run. That he would come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A guy who knows a thing or two about doing battle with Newt Gingrich tells us why he would never count him out.
CHO: And the dangerous road out of Iraq. We are on the move with the 82nd Airborne in steel fortresses designed to get them home live on this AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: And good morning to you. Happy day before Friday. December 8. Christine and Ali have the day off. I'm Carol Costello along with Alina Cho on the AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: Good morning. It's Thursday, isn't it.
And up first, former Syracuse basketball coach, Bernie Fine about to be hit with a civil suit by a third accuser who claims Fine molested him. Lawyers for Zach Thomaselli will announce the lawsuit at a news conference later this morning.
Federal authorities are still investigating his allegations to determine if they are credible, but a state prosecutor says the two original accusers are credible. Bernie Fine won't be charged with sexually abusing Bobby Davis and Mike Lang because New York's statute of limitations has expired.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Gary Tuchman, the D.A. says he was trying to broker a deal with Fine when the audiotapes of Fine's wife and an alleged victim emerged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL FITZPATRICK, ONONDEGA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Before the feds got involved in this case, I met with Bernie Fine's lawyer and with Bobby Davis' permission I suggested the following scenario. I have proof that Bobby Davis is telling the truth. The lawyer didn't seem surprised by that.
Bernie Fine needs to acknowledge that Bobby is telling the truth. That's important. Bernie Fine can then say all the lawyerly like things that he wants. You know, I'm trying to going into counseling. I want to save my marriage, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That's irrelevant to me.
He has got to affirm those things. He has to resign from his position at Syracuse University. With the knowledge that we are going to continue to investigate him, and the lawyer and I, you know, went back and forth and we were fairly close to a resolution with those stipulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Fitzpatrick also talks about what the Fine's nanny revealed about their marriage. We will have much more of Gary Tuchman's interview coming up in the 7:00 hour.
COSTELLO: In the meantime, Jerry Sandusky could be let out of jail again today. Police arrested the ex-Penn State coach yesterday on sexual assault charges involving two new accusers.
One who says his cries for help were ignored. Jason Carroll is live in Pennsylvania for us this morning. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Jerry Sandusky denies these new allegations just as he's denied the previous ones. He now faces, Carol, a total of 52 charges related to sexually abusing young boys.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): For the second time in two months, Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State, was hauled away in handcuffs facing charges of child sex abuse.
In a new grand jury finding two more alleged victims, identified as number nine and ten, claims Sandusky abused them as children. Both accusers say they met Sandusky through his Second Mile Foundation.
They claim he took an interest in them and inviting them to his home for meals and on outings and gradually engaged in sex acts with them. Alleged victim number nine was between 11 and 12 years old when he first met Sandusky in 2004.
He testified that over three years he often visited Sandusky's home and slept over in a basement bedroom. There he says that Sandusky forced him to perform oral sex and tried to rape him at least 16 times, at times succeeded.
The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him.
Alleged victim number ten, a foster child, says Sandusky had oral sex with him and fondled him in a pool on the Penn State campus. Sandusky's attorney denies the new allegations.
JOE AMENDOLA, JERRY SANDUSKY'S ATTORNEY: I had no reason to doubt what he's maintained from the outset of the first allegation involving accuser number one. He's maintained his innocence. He's maintained his innocence all the way through.
CARROLL: The new charges follow what prosecutors say was a similar pattern Sandusky followed with the other eight victims identified in a previous grand jury report, grooming them with money, gifts, and taking them to Penn State games. The new accusers say that Sandusky often told them he loved them and not to tell anyone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And Carol, this morning, Sandusky remains in jail. Bail is set at $250,000. If he's able to make bail, some of the conditions include that he will be subject to house arrest. He will have to wear an electronic monitoring device.
He will not be able to have any contact with any victims or any witnesses and no unsupervised visits with minors. His preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jason Carroll reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
CHO: At this very moment, Newt Gingrich is the clear GOP frontrunner with less than a month to go before Republicans start voting in Iowa. The former House speaker was all, but forgotten just a couple of weeks ago.
But now in Iowa, take a look at this. A new CNN/Time/ORC poll finds Gingrich up by 13 points. Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are in a statistical tie for second place.
Just yesterday I spoke with former President Bill Clinton, the comeback kid himself, about his one-time political rival, Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Just curious to know what you think about Newt Gingrich being at the top of the polls these days?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm not surprised. Somebody -- one of the -- one of the journalists reminded me the other day that when all of his staff left and he was -- you know, tanking out, I predicted that he would have another run. That he would come back.
And I honestly had forgotten it. I have it on tape. He is first, resilient. Secondly, he's always thinking and he's -- got a million ideas. I mean -- and some of them are good and some are horrible.
CHO: Do you think he's the strongest in the field?
CLINTON: I don't know. I don't know, but -- in both our party and in theirs, very often the strongest person for nomination is not necessarily the strongest person in the general election. It is a mistake to underestimate Romney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Coming up next hour at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, we will have much more of my interview with former President Clinton. Find out what he thinks about Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman even Chelsea and Hillary.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich spent some time with our Wolf Blitzer just yesterday. Gingrich, who experienced both highs and lows during his political career, acknowledged he is a realist. There is still a chance he says that something could derail his run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is it possible? I guess. On the other hand, I had a very long career and I have a very public record.
And I think people are coming to decide that they like substance and they like somebody who actually has balanced the budget, reformed welfare, cut taxes, and gotten it done for real.
So I think that there's probably a little more resilience in my support than in some of the other folks who made a run at this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: So live now is CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He is live in Washington for us. Paul, good morning.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Alina.
CHO: So, you know, this is -- a little bit of -- not quite an about-face, but you know, a little different stance than when he was Newt and not Newt, right? STEINHAUSER: Well, so much has changed in this race. We have seen so many candidates go up and down. Now Newt Gingrich is soaring. You just showed us our brand-new number in Iowa, the first state to vote.
Take a look at New Hampshire, their primary one week later and look at this. This used to be Mitt Romney country, right, home field advantage for him. He was the governor of neighboring Massachusetts. He had a huge lead in all the polls down to 9 points right now in our brand-new CNN/Time/ORC poll.
Gingrich really on the rise in New Hampshire and look at Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas, also in a strong third place. Let's move on to South Carolina. They vote next. They are the first southern primary about 11 days after New Hampshire.
Look at that. Newt Gingrich, our poll indicates has an overwhelmingly lead over everybody else in New Hampshire. Fast forward on to Florida. This is the fourth state to vote.
They vote on the end of January, 31st. There is Gingrich again with a very, very large lead among all the other fields -- Alina.
CHO: You know, given what you know about polling is this a wide enough lead that it will hold, do you think, Paul?
STEINHAUSER: Anything can happen. We saw Rick Perry go way up and come way down. Same thing with Herman Cain. You know, why is Gingrich -- why is Gingrich rising? That's the big question right now.
Our poll indicates it is because of Tea Party support. Among people who say they are Tea Party supporters and likely to vote in the primaries and caucuses in these four early states.
They are going for Newt Gingrich in a big way. But, Alina, to your point, anything can happen. Our poll also indicates in all these states we just polled in, about half of the people say you know what, I'm still likely, possibly could change my mind.
CHO: That's right. All right, Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: It's 10 minutes past the hour. Here's what's new this morning.
Attorney General Eric Holder can expect a grilling on Capitol Hill this morning. He will appear before a House committee investigating the botched "Operation Fast and Furious."
The so-called gun walking operation allowed weapons to go across the border to go after drug cartels. Two of the guns were found at a murder scene of a U.S. border patrol agent. Holder admits the program was fundamentally flawed.
CHO: The former head of MF Global, Jon Corzine is expected to face some hard-hitting questions when he is called to testify this morning.
Lawyers are trying to get to the bottom of the firm's rapid collapse and just what happened to the reported $1.2 billion in customer funds that appears to be missing.
COSTELLO: Parts of the northeast getting an early -- late taste of winter, spring lately. But reality has hit us back in the face, Jacqui Jeras.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know it has and these pictures are proof of it, Carol. Take a look at this. Just nasty conditions in North Carolina with heavy snow and then the wind really making things worse. You can see how it is just whipping the snow across the streets making it difficult to keep it clean.
So things are definitely on the icy side for everybody heading out the door and heading to work this morning. Now, the good news is that this is a really fast moving storm. Take a look at the radar picture just in the last three hours, you know, we had rain in Providence. That's already gone.
And so we are just looking at northern New England, still dealing with the rain and snow aspect of this storm, but the wind is going to stick around across much of the northeast at least throughout the early part of the day.
We have two cold fronts that we are dealing with. The second one is just going to bring in a reinforcing shot of cold air. Winds have been amazing, causing some damage, too, guys. Point Juniper Island, 79 miles per hour. That's greater than hurricane force.
So that's going to cause problems at the airports, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, major delays. Under an hour for New Chicago, Detroit, and Miami, and that cold air with the wind combined making it feel colder than the temperature you are seeing on the maps today.
CHO: I know. It's a rude awakening. Waking up this morning, Jacqui. Thanks a lot.
Still to come, new clues this morning in the search for a possible serial killer. Coming up, what police say they found while scouring a beach near New York City.
COSTELLO: And the road out of Iraq still paved with danger. CNN's Martin Savidge hitched a ride on a U.S. military convoy as the war winds down to its final days.
CHO: An "Occupy Wall Street" versus Chris Christie? Think the shouting chased the New Jersey governor off stage? Think again. This one is really good. We will show it to you. It's 13 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It's 16 minutes past the hour. Welcome back. A significant development in the case of a missing sex worker in what could be a serial kill on the loose near New York City.
CHO: That's right. Police are searching on Long Island's south shore. They say that they found items belonging to the missing woman who's disappearance prompted a search that turned up those 10 bodies.
Chris Knowles was on Long Island. He joins us now with the very latest. So what's going on here?
CHRIS KNOWLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. An incredible case even getting more interesting right now you could say. Police say over the last two days that they found a purse, clothes, and a cell phone, all belonging to Shannon Gilbert.
Now Gilbert, who is from New Jersey, went missing in May of 2010 after she advertised sex services on Craigslist. Seven months later while searching for Gilbert police discovered the remains of 10 other people, all with ties to the sex trade.
Police believe all 10 are the victims of one serial killer who has been operating on Long Island for the last 15 years. Police were able to more effectively search the area on Long Island's south shore because they found some draining equipment helping expose all those newly discovered items.
Gilbert was last known to be in that area after she made an early morning 911 call saying someone was trying to hurt her. She also knocked on a door and screaming "help me, help me" and indicated that someone was chasing her, but she then ran off.
Police believe they will find her remains there as well and plan to search again today starting at around 8:00.
CHO: She just came so close. It is a mystery as to why she ran off after -- asking for help, really frightening. So do police believe that her killer is the serial killer?
KNOWLES: No. Their story is -- no. It is interesting. Last few weeks, police have told us that they believe Gilbert is not connected to those others and here's how the local police commissioner explains all of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE COMMISSIONER RICHARD DORMER, SUFFOLK COUNTY: This may be just a young lady that ran into the brush in a hysterical state and fell down and expired for some reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KNOWLES: So now police will dry out that pocket book and see what clues they may be able to get.
CHO: What?
KNOWLES: -- from the cell phone.
COSTELLO: She calls 911, she goes and knocks on someone's door for help and they believed she just tripped and died accidentally?
KNOWLES: Yes, it truly sounds unbelievable, but police say they believe this and this is what they are putting out there publicly. Remember, at first, they found a man and a toddler along with the victims and thought there was more than one killer.
But the man was wearing women's clothes potentially tying him to the sex business as well. One of the women is related to the toddler that was found, possibly his mother. So these theories, you know, can change.
CHO: What I want to know, though, is if this -- if this latest case is not linked to the others then what does link all of the others together?
KNOWLES: You know, it is strange because they know the man that called Miss Gilbert, the girl that they were originally looking for out there. But police tell us that they cleared him.
CHO: Interesting. All right, Chris Knowles, thank you very much.
The morning after pill will not be made available over the counter to young teens. It will stay prescription only for girls under 17. The secretary of Health and Human Services overruled an FDA recommendation saying more research and data needs to be done on plan B, the emergency contraceptive. The FDA found the pill to be safe.
COSTELLO: Three years ago, the U.S. attorney said the charges would make Lincoln roll over in his grave, remember that? Well, yesterday, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was finally sentenced to 14 years for trying to sell President Obama's old Senate seat.
Blagojevich said he was sorry in court yesterday, but the judge said that apology sounded more like a politician or a lawyer, one, you know, that they would give.
CHO: Hard to believe that that saga is over, but maybe it is not. We will have to wait and see. On AMERICAN MORNING, don't mess with a guy from New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie heckles the hecklers in the crowd in Iowa. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are used to dealing with jokers like this in New Jersey all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Sound like a presidential candidate? He's said no, he's not running, but will he? We'll have more just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Old can be new again. That's what Okabashi Brands is doing one shoe at a time.
BAHMAN IRVANI, CEO, OKABASHI BRANDS: Primarily one material. You can recycle them.
BALDWIN: The shoes are made from a patented blend of plastics called micro blast. They're 100 percent recyclable with scraps and rejects going right back into the hopper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It goes in the grinder. It comes out the other end.
BALDWIN: Customers send their worn shoes back to the plant where they are cleaned, round up, and blended into a whole new pair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing going in the landfills. Nothing in the garbage cans. Nothing floating in ocean or any of those things, we use 100 percent of all of our material. Obviously, we are keeping the planet clean and we are not wasting anything. Our costs are lower because of it.
BALDWIN: We had about 30 million sandals sold. Being green is paying off in more ways than one. Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning. Can the Dow extend its three-day winning streak? U.S. stock futures are trading lower this morning.
At the moment investors are not feeling so optimistic that Europe can solve its debt problems. In Brussels, the leaders of France and Germany are expected to urge all of E.U. members to adopt a new plan designed to prevent a repeat of Europe's debt crisis.
Even so that debt crisis is far from resolved. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's placed 17 members of the euro currency zone on review for a possible downgrade. Germany and France are on the list.
In about two hours from now we will get a fresh read on the employment situation. The initial jobless claims report is expected to show that 402,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week. That's up slightly from last week. Any time that number is above 400,000, not a good sign for the labor market.
Warren Buffett is making a big bet on the battered solar industry. The billionaire investor's energy company just agreed to buy $2 billion solar farm in California, one of the biggest solar projects in the world. America's solar industry has been struggling because of the lack of demand and massive oversupply. Drug maker Astrazeneca is cutting nearly a quarter of its U.S. work force that's more than 1,100 jobs. Layoffs are part of an objective to cut costs as cheaper generic drugs loomed for several of its key products.
Yahoo has been awarded $610 million in damages from Tie, Nigerian scammers. Those groups reportedly sent more than 11.6 million e-mails telling people they won a lottery run by Yahoo. So Yahoo stands little chance of collecting. None of the defendants responded to Yahoo's complaints.
AMERICAN MORNING will be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: They were given a second home, but there are no guarantees they'll get there. We're on a dangerous road out of Iraq with the 82nd Airborne -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(MUSIC)
CHO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday.
It's 30 minutes past the hour, time for this morning's top stories.
The allegations are credible but too old to prosecute. That from a New York district attorney who says ex-Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine won't be charged criminally with sexually abusing two former ball boys because the statute of limitation has expired. Lawyers for a third accuser do plan to file a civil suit today against Fine.
COSTELLO: Eric Holder on the hot seat. The attorney general testifies this morning before the House Judiciary Committee, a hearing on the Fast and Furious gun running operation that put weapons in the hands of Mexican drug gangs. A growing number of lawmakers want Holder to resign because of that botched ATF program that may have caused the death of a U.S. border patrol agent.
CHO: Former senator and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine returns to Washington, only this time to testify. Lawmakers are expected to grill the former head of MF Global about why the firm filed for bankruptcy. And also why an estimated $1.2 billion in client money appears to be missing.
COSTELLO: The nearly nine-year war in Iraq now in its final weeks, all but a handful of troops leaving the country by the end of this month. The last remaining American soldiers the way out of Iraq is a long and potentially dangerous road trip.
CNN's Martin Savidge went along for a ride on one convoy from the north of Baghdad to a base in southern Iraq. Martin Savidge is live in Baghdad this morning.
Good morning, Martin. What kind of precautions do they need to take?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they take plenty of them. Good morning to you, Carol.
They are watching these convoys not just from within but also from above. You've got everything from spy satellites, to drones, to jet fighters and to helicopters that act as "overwatch," as they call it.
If you want to get on one of these convoys, you don't get up early in the morning. You get up in the middle of the night. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Two-thirty a.m. and a convoy comes to life in the dark bitter cold.
Despite the time and temperature, these soldiers of the 82nd Airborne are in a good mood. This trip will mean their war is almost over.
The trip has taken six weeks to prepare, mainly because of security. Convoys are tempting targets especially for IEDs. The U.S. military began using MRAPs, mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, steel monsters weighing several tons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Get in the truck!
SAVIDGE: Looking like snowplows, truck with massive rollers designed to detonate mines lead the way.
(on camera): This is part of the first group (ph) that's heading out the front gate, the convoy's divided going into various section that makes it's easier to travel. So, this group will run ahead of the group that we're with. All told, though, 160, 170 trucks, seven to 10 hours, all of it heading south.
(voice-over): Once on the Iraqi highway, the soldiers are now the most vulnerable they have been during their entire deployment.
(on camera): How are you feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Petty excited to get home but careful to get too excited because anything can happen.
SAVIDGE: Helicopters providing cover from the air check in. If there is going to be trouble, convoy leaders believe it will be in and around Baghdad. But instead the only convoy meets is the rising sun. The drive drags on and on.
The MRAP is so packed with bodies and gear, it's hard to find a spot to rest your feet. The air conditioning is kept near freezing so the soldiers remain alert.
Then --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bravo Company just called up that they may have received small arms fire in the vicinity of the rest stop.
SAVIDGE: Some lead vehicles have come under fire at place where the convoy planned to take a break. The rest of the MRAPs bypassed the problem, opting instead to stop later at a side of the road.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Make sure everyone has a chance to trade out their drivers, trade out their gunners. And basically make sure people have a chance to stretch out their legs.
SAVIDGE: Eventually, we make it to Camp Potter (ph). It's been a grinding 10 hours at an average speed of just 13 kilometers or 20 miles an hour. Here, the convoy will spend the night.
(on camera): What does that mean for you?
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: That means one step closer to home hopefully if everything goes to plan.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Tomorrow, they'll be on the road again for the final six hours to Kuwait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Nice group shot of the whole team there. By the way, we should point out, Carol, U.S. officials say there have been IED attacks on some of the convoys and most of them have failed to even damage the vehicles.
However, there is a very strong concern that these attacks could increase as the days draw down and the number of U.S. forces in Iraq draw down as well. There are some groups that would like to give the impression Americans are leaving being chased out under fire -- Carol.
COSTELLO: We hope they all make it out safely. Get home in time for Christmas.
Martin Savidge, many thanks -- reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
CHO: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got -- he got occupied during an appearance on behalf of Mitt Romney in Iowa. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: It's depressing right now about our situation in America. There is one thing that's extraordinarily uplifting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike check!
CROWD: Mike check!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chris Christie and Mitt Romney!
CROWD: Chris Christie and Mitt Romney!
CHRISTIE: Oh, yes!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. You know what's coming next, right? Christie is not known for biting his tongue and gave it right back to them, and basically scolded the protesters like kids for supporting President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: Their anger is rooted, not at me or Mitt Romney. Their anger is rooted in the fact that they believed in this hope and change garbage they were sold three years ago by this president. They believed in the fact that this president was going to be a post- partisan leader. They believed that this president when he said he was going to be a transformational figure in our country. And so, now, they are angry, but they are not mature enough to know they should be angry with themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Governor Christie endorsed Mitt Romney after he flirted with his own presidential run. He was there as a surrogate for the candidate.
COSTELLO: The CEO of one of the largest tech firms is sick of getting so many e-mail, so he is banning company e-mail altogether. Man, I think that's a smart move, but is it? Or is he overreacting?
We are going to talk to him after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Just imagine a workday without any e-mails. Can you imagine it? Well, guess what? One of the largest information technology companies in the world wants a zero e-mail policy to be in place by 2013.
ATO's CEO Thierry Breton says there's just too many e-mail population. He's also the former French finance minister. He joins us from Paris.
Good morning to you from the city of light.
You know, e-mail population, I think you've coined a term here. You know, you are one of the biggest tech companies in the world -- kind of ironic that you decided to get rid of e-mail.
What exactly are you doing? And why did you do it?
THIERRY BRETON, CHAIRMAN & CEO, ATOS: Good morning, yes. We decided to ban, over the next three years, internal e-mails. Not external. We will continue to use external e-mails. That's a fantastic tool to communicate between organizations.
But internally, we have discouraged our people, our employees. We are spending so much time on internal e-mail. We made our own studies and we realized that by 80,000 employees under worldwide activities, we were spending between 15 to 20 hours a week to do internal e-mails.
CHO: So --
BRETON: We asked how many of these e-mails are use useful for you, for your work, and they said 15 percent only.
So, we decided it was time to walk slowly with the new tools that technology is waiting to us.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: That's interesting.
BRETON: Instant messaging.
CHO: I find that interesting. Some of your younger employees were saying that they felt e-mail was passe.
So, how do you want your employees to communicate then?
BRETON: You know, Atos is a young company. I mean, average age of our employees is 35 years old. We hire -- next year, we'll hire 10,000 new employees. Most of them are leaving from college and universities.
And guess what? They don't use e-mails anymore. They are using instant messaging, collaborative tools, social networks.
And when they join us, they discover we give them a tool they don't use anymore. We asked them with the social network called Well Being at Work made of a lot of new upgrades, when will be your dream. And now designing (INAUDIBLE).
As a CEO of I.T. company, it is may duty to do it slowly but to do it. so, I decided during the next three years, we will eradicate internal e-mails and replace, buy these tools.
CHO: What is the reaction been and have you -- have you been able to pull it -- have you been able to pull it off? I mean, has it been effective so far?
BRETON: So, today, we are investigating all the tools. There's a lot of tools, by the way, available today. We are developing also our own tools. And now, we are finalizing the selection of what would be the new tools that will allow progressively within the next two years in our company.
We are finalizing this selection. We have some pilots. And guess what? The pilot that we have, with 600 of these (INAUDIBLE). They just love it.
Again, they use instant email, but using these tools, the tools of their generation change their lives. This is what they say to us, you know -- they were sitting before more than 100 internal e-mails a day. So, now, they are working differently. And it is my duty to combine them in this journey.
CHO: Well, it is an interesting idea. It caught our eye because you mentioned in "The Wall Street Journal" recently that you hadn't sent a work e-mail in three years. So, let's see if the idea catches on for your 74,000 employees and beyond that.
Thierry Breton, Atos CEO, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: That's fascinating. So, they are going to create a social network within the company but -- I just wonder, will that cause the same problem?
CHO: Well, that's a whole another issue. Right. That could be another issue. At first I thought, are they actually going to call on people to talk face to face? Call each other? How about that? How archaic.
COSTELLO: It's 45 minutes past the hour. Talk about road rage. CNN's Poppy Harlow took the ride of a lifetime inside a British army tank where you can crush anything in your path. First, live look at New York City.
CHO: Wow!
COSTELLO: I wasn't connecting the two, mind you.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Beautiful, though, outside, but cold. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
CHO: That's right. Grab your coat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNIE DUKE, PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER: I'm Annie Duke. I'm a professional poker player.
He didn't say raise. It's not a raise.
I spend about three months a year in Las Vegas off and on. Number one is never, ever check a bag. I really bring the minimum, and I make sure that everything is mix and match. Jeans are really good because, look, let's be honest, you can wear a pair of jeans more than once. You should commit to a pair of shoes that can look dressed up or dressed down.
In what world this is not enough clothes for two days?
This is the toothpaste I like. And I have in my pantry at home 20 of these. Like 90 percent vegan. I don't eat any meat at all. I actually have a trail mix company called my mixed nuts, and I travel with mixed nuts packages because quick energy when you literally can't find anything to eat.
Are you still in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got knocked out.
DUKE: Oh. Sorry.
I'm Annie Duke, and I'm a road warrior.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It is 48 minutes past the hour. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Saved by the statute of limitations. Former Syracuse basketball coach and alleged pedophile, Bernie Fine, won't face sex abuse charges brought by two former ball boys because the charges are too old to prosecute.
Attorney General Eric Holder expected to face tough questioning at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Panel is investigating the botched gun walking "Operation Fast and Furious."
New records reveal that the Air Force dumped the remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill. That's far more than the military previously reported. A federal investigation revealed gross mismanagement at the Air Force's Dover mortuary which handles the bodies of U.S. war dead.
In Washington, the former head of MF Global, Jon Corzine, will go before lawmakers who want to question the former New Jersey governor about the collapse of his brokerage firm. Corzine is also expected to be grilled about the estimated $1.2 billion in customer money that remains missing.
Alec Baldwin apologizes, kind of, sort of. In a letter, the actor said he's sorry to passengers on a flight that was delayed after he refused to stop playing "Words with Friends" and was booted off the plane. Baldwin then went on to rant about the airline industry saying they make flying a, quote, "greyhound bus experience."
Greyhound fired back saying they don't even know if he's ever been on one of their busses, and they don't know why he even mentioned them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (on-camera): That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Welcome back.
CHO: It's one of a kind of extreme adventure, if you will. The only place in the country where you can drive an army tank, crush a car, and fire off some military grade weapons to boot.
COSTELLO: I love this story. I'm so jealous.
CHO: Sounds like a job for Poppy Harlow.
(LAUGHTER)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: You know, just another day at the office.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly.
HARLOW: It was fun experience. I'm just going let you watch this story, and you can see exactly what went down. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW (voice-over): Meet Larry. A 120,000-pound Chieftain battle tank.
That's destroyed.
Here you can drive it and crush almost anything you want. I found Larry about an hour south of my hometown.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the drive a tank world headquarters in Kasota, Minnesota.
HARLOW: Don't you know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure, you betcha!
HARLOW: Marie Borglum (ph) and her son, Tony, own seven tanks. And for 500 bucks a pop, people get the ride of their life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We imported them in pairs. So, we got two, and then, we got two more and two more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had an investment banker from Saudi Arabia stop by. I've had a group of engineers come there from all around the world. There's one from India, China.
HARLOW: These puppies are all bricks. Sixty to 80 grand a pop. Turns out you can't buy American tanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got to be a thinker to have these. I mean, it's not like just anybody can go out and buy them and make them run and keep them running.
HARLOW: And you've got to take a safety class before getting behind the wheel. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're here to drive tanks and shoot some guns. Do we have any questions, so far?
HARLOW (on-camera): OK. So, this is where we're going to drive them. Take a look. We're in the middle of the woods.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drive a tank army. We can get it together. Ooyah!
HARLOW: Meet Rick. Driving instructor. of sorts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo-yah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo-yah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: sounds like a real life-sized G.I. Joe. Perfect thing for the midline crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you get up (ph) a man that has everything but a tank.
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: But don't even think of trying to shoot it. These guns won't fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disneyland for an army retiree.
HARLOW (on-camera): Now my turn. Down in hatch. Watch your feet. How do you brake? Here we go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slow down just a little bit. Pull right. Pull right. Pull right. Good job. Perfect. OK.
HARLOW: I only hit one tree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go down. There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You nicked a couple but got one pretty good.
HARLOW (voice-over): It turns out, half the folks that drive them are women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Women love to be in charge, have power. A tank is about as cool as it gets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had one gal that came in a camel skirt and flip-flops.
HARLOW: And at the end of the day, you get to do this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER) HARLOW (on-camera): First time for everything.
COSTELLO: That is so awesome.
HARLOW: I was terrified. Oh, yes. I was terrified driving the tank. It is so claustrophobic when you get in there. It is tiny. It's not that hard to drive once you get used to it. You just pull right on this lever to go right. You pull left. Actually, the scariest part was at the end, shooting a machine gun. I've never touched a gun.
COSTELLO: Oh, you can actually shoot the gun?
HARLOW: You can shoot the guns. That's the end of the experience, shoot these World War II guns. So, it was unbelievable, but I have to tell you, really interesting --
COSTELLO: Did you hit anything?
HARLOW: The target.
COSTELLO: You did?
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Trying to get on target, but what was interesting as they tried to start this company in their hometown in Waseca, Minnesota, and they told me their neighbors just freaked out.
And, there was a battle inside the town about it or not -- Tony who runs this even told me some of the neighbors told him they thought terrorists would come and try to train driving the tanks. So, long story short, they moved to another town. Apparently this town is pretty welcoming.
CHO: I love that so many women want this experience.
HARLOW: I know.
CHO: I mean, we were joking that I'd be the woman in the camel skirt and the flip-flops.
HARLOW: And stilettos.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Carol would be first in line, meanwhile.
HARLOW: You know, it was surprising that women are doing it, but I get it now. This really empowering experience. And at first, when I got behind the wheel I thought I cannot do this. There's no way. Looking around, is anyone's foot near here? I don't want to, you know, run over anything. But once you do it, you think, all right, I can do that, too.
COSTELLO: I love that story. I'm going to Minnesota, baby. (LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: Don't you know.
COSTELLO: You betcha!
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
