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CNN Sunday Morning

Terror Suspects Arrested in Chicago; New Anne Frank Letters Discovered

Aired May 20, 2012 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Here's a look at some of the big news coming up in the week ahead. We have our fancy week ahead calendar. Monday is a big day. Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student, you are probably familiar with this case, he is accused of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate. He is going to be sentenced. Ravi, who was found guilty on a range of charges, including invasion of privacy, could get 10 years in prison and possibly be deported to his native India.

Tuesday is a big day in Joplin, Missouri, of course. It is the one- year anniversary, a somber anniversary, for residents there where a tornado devastated the town and left 161 people dead. Also on Tuesday, eyes will be focused on Washington, because the issue of Wall Street reform will be the focus at a Senate hearing. It comes as JP Morgan, the nation's biggest bank, deals with the fallout from a trader blunder that has cost the firm $2 billion, and that's just so far. On Wednesday we have another big hearing in D.C. The Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan will be in the hot seat as the first hearings on the agency's prostitution scandal are held in the Senate. Nearly two dozen agents, you may recall, have been implicated, and nine have already lost their jobs.

And, finally, it is known as the greatest spectacle in racing. Yes. One week from today we'll put it right there on Sunday for you. Next Sunday, some of the sports biggest stars will start their engines at the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Thanks for starting your morning with us. We've got much more ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING which starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

A terror plot uncovered in Chicago. Three self-proclaimed anarchists accused of planning an attack on today's NATO summit are under arrest. Wait until you hear what police call their other targets.

And there's a new Mrs. Social Network. Mark Zuckerberg marries just one day after an anti-climatic IPO.

And "I'll Have Another," well, had another. The winner of the Kentucky Derby does it again at the Preakness stakes. Will he break the Triple Crown drought? And new letters from Anne Frank found in an old trunk. The man who uncovered them, her cousin. Coming up, I'll ask him what he discovered about one of the most famous voices of the Holocaust.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 7:00 on the East Coast, 4:00 out West.

Let's fill you in on what might have been missed overnight while you were sleeping.

Well, we start with the action in Chicago as the leaders of the NATO nations prepare to meet today. For several days now protesters have crowded the streets of downtown. But what is expected to be the biggest demonstration of all is scheduled to start just a little later on this morning in the Grant Park area. It is billed as a major anti- war protest.

The war in Afghanistan, of course, is going to be front and center on the agenda for President Obama and the other NATO leaders. Police say there were only a handful of arrests during protests yesterday, even though things got pretty tense at times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN PRODUCER: Look, look, look. Come on. Come on. Shoot. Roll, roll.

Listen, this is -- things are changing a lot here. This had been a very peaceful march for a long time, and then this police van tried to come through. Knocked a person down right here, and they're calling out for a medic. Calling now for a medic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: That was our producer Jim Spellman caught in the middle of all that. And as you can see, protesters stood in front of police vans trying to stop them. Those vans were mostly filled with riot police who stayed on the sidelines during much of the demonstrations.

Despite that incident, the protests have pretty much been peaceful. But according to police, that wasn't the intention of three suspected domestic terrorists.

CNN foreign affairs reporter Elise Labott joins me now from Chicago.

Good morning.

Let's talk about this. These guys had big plans to create chaos. What are police saying that they actually wanted to do?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Randi, they say these three self-proclaimed anarchists traveled from Florida to attack -- to basically cause havoc on the NATO summit. Not only attacking President Obama's Chicago headquarters, but also the home of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and also some police stations. They believe that they've been doing reconnaissance, surveying the area for the last few weeks, and were going to try to recruit people.

Basically what their attorneys are saying is that this is entrapment to the highest degree, and they've just really were peaceful protesters that were infiltrated by some bad eggs.

KAYE: We know they're saying that, but they were caught apparently with Molotov cocktails and swords and weapons and throwing stars, as they're called.

LABOTT: That's right. And they were believed to be using these to attack the police station and others. Police say that they've been -- the attorneys say that they've been framed, but certainly there were these explosive he have devices, and they're being charged on conspiracy to commit domestic terrorism. All have been set bail for $1.5 million each by a Chicago judge, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Let's talk about the business of the NATO summit. That's what is really important here. We know that Afghanistan is front and center with talk of withdrawal dates, of course, happening. Where do we stand on that?

LABOTT: Well, they'll want to do a couple of things at this Chicago summit for NATO. At first, they want to solidify the handover to Afghan lead, Afghan security lead, by the end of 2013, and you have already seen troops start to withdraw from some areas as the Afghans take the lead. All NATO troops are supposed to be out by 2014, so they want to kind of reaffirm at this summit that that's what's going to be happening.

But in order to do that, they really have to fund the Afghan security forces. They've been training them up, and at this summit, President Obama is really going to try to get countries to kind of make up the slack for what the U.N. and Afghans are going to pay for. They're trying to raise $1.3 billion for Afghan security forces after 2014 to sustain them, Randi.

KAYE: Quite a lot to talk about there in Chicago. Elise Labott, thank you very much.

Before heading to Chicago and the NATO summit, President Obama hosted the leaders of the G8 nations at Camp David. The day-long talk centered on problems in the eurozone. The financial failures in places like Greece and Spain threaten the world economy.

But the G8 leaders came away with a consensus that growing jobs could combat those troubles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now in the context of these fiscal and structural reforms. That consensus for progress was strengthened here at Camp David.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The G8 leaders also declared their commitment to promoting transition in the Middle East and providing food aid to Africa.

Applause greeted a blind Chinese human rights activist as he arrived in New York. Chen Guangcheng made it to the U.S. after a diplomatic back-and-forth that saw him holed up in the U.S. embassy in Beijing before finally getting clearance to come to the U.S. He had earlier escaped house arrest in China. He's now slated to be a fellow at New York University, working with the university's law school. What a story.

He spoke to the crowd through his translator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRANSLATOR (speaking for Chen Guangcheng): At the most critical junctures, the American embassy in China provided a safe haven and the American government has provided great assistance and given me partial citizenship rights here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Several times during his comments, he mentioned his family members back home saying that he hoped they wouldn't face retribution over his high profile flight from China.

Well, while many of you were sleeping, Italy was shaken by a deadly earthquake. At least six people were killed in the quake centered in northern Italy, 50 others were injured. There are fears that more victims could be found when search crews reach remote villages in the region. You can see some of the damage caused by the 6.0 magnitude quake right there.

We are watching two weather extremes right now. We want to bring in Reynolds Wolf.

Reynolds, we have dry weather out west, of course, fueling those wildfires. We've talked a little bit about that even with folks on the ground there. Firefighters trying to get in place, trying to battle this one, and, of course, a big storm brewing off the East Coast. So, we're watching that as well. It seems to be churning out there, trying to make its way to the coast.

Reynolds, I'll let you take it from here.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIS: You know, why don't we start with what's happening off the East Coast? But it is interesting, though, the two extremes. You have a lot of dryness out to the West, and just the opposite potential of heavy rainmaker in parts of the Southeast.

Here it is. Very hard to see at this point. Tropical storm Alberto very strong winds for the post part, 15-mile-per-hour sustained winds, closed circulation. This was a named storm as of yesterday.

Not unusual -- it is unusual to have it, but not unheard of. There actually was a storm that was named very early in the season actually before the season started back in 2003. That would be tropical storm Anna.

We'll show you where this is forecast to go. The latest that we have from the National Hurricane Center shows that it is expected to make a turn to the north, and we already have at this point tropical storm watches that are in effect for parts of the Georgia and Carolina coast.

Now, as we put this into motion, you'll see the latest path we have. It shows it veering a bit more to the north. It's going to be in the gulfstream and has a chance to maybe fluctuate a little bit in power, but it is eventually going to weaken.

And according to this forecast begin into Wednesday and Thursday, with winds dropping to 45, even 40 miles per hour by Thursday at 2:00 a.m. -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Reynolds, thank you very much --

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: for the updates there.

And we're getting a look into Anne Frank's life. What it was like, right? We've never seen this before. We'll talk to her cousin who found a treasure-trove of letters and postcards in an old attic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

Anne Frank's closest living relative is sharing never before published stories and photos of the family. You know the story. Anne Frank and her family went into hiding during World War II. She kept a detailed diary until she was taken away to a concentration camp where she died at the young age of 15. That diary was published and helped the world understand the true horror of the Holocaust for Jewish families.

Frank's cousin, Buddy Elias and his wife, Gerti, helped write the book "Anne Frank's Family" after finding letters, drawings, postcards, and poems written by Anne.

I want to welcome both of you to our show this morning, Buddy and Gerti.

Nice to have you on.

BUDDY ELIAS, ANNE FRANK'S COUSIN: Thank you.

KAYE: So, tell me, Buddy, I want to start with you. How did you stumble upon these letters and poems, and where were they found?

B. ELIAS: Well, they were found by my wife, actually. She wanted to clean up in the attic. In our attic there are lots of suitcases and closets from my grandmother and mother, and Gerti went up to clean up, and she got nosey, and she opened a trunk or a closet.

Come on, tell us about it. How did you find it?

KAYE: Gerti, what did you think then when you found all of this?

GERTI ELIAS, BUDDY'S WIFE: It was amazing. I could not -- I couldn't believe it because there were so many letters and photographs and more than 6,000, can you imagine, and I had to read all this archive. It was amazing. I had to do -- had to read and work with it for two and a half years.

KAYE: What do you think all of this says? I mean, is there something, Gerti, that really stood out to you that it says about your -- about the family and the times in which they were living?

G. ELIAS: Yes. They talked about like when Otto was in Auschwitz and he could come home and when he road from Amsterdam after the war and before the war -- maybe you can tell a little bit about.

B. ELIAS: Well what about --

KAYE: I have another -- I actually have another question for Buddy. I mean, Buddy, what are the earliest memories of Anne, because you're first cousins, and I'm curious, what was she like as a child?

B. ELIAS: Well, she was a normal child. She was not a wonder child at all. Her talent for writing, that came out when she was in hiding. I mean, she was always writing before. She loved to write letters to us every time. We received letters almost every week from her during her time they were in Holland.

But as a child, she was a normal child. We had a wonderful childhood together, as long as we were able to play together. She was a wild little animal -- girl, and we have a wonderful time, play time, together.

We played normal things. We played hide and seek and she loved the theater. She wanted to get dressed up with me all the time and play theater, play actors. That's what she loved the most.

KAYE: You know, I have been to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, and it's so interesting to hear these stories from you because it really does paint a very different picture of what I think we've all thought about, Ann frank, and your mother, Buddy, actually once wrote that you and Anne had a lot in common.

Did you see it that way?

B. ELIAS: Yes. We had a lot in common. We were both mad about the theater and films. I mean, I became an actor after my schooling, and the last thing she saw -- she got a letter, she got informed, that her cousin, Buddy, me, started acting school.

And she -- the last thing she has in her diary and one of the last pages is that she heard from Basel, which was my home, that I finished drama school, and that was a big thing for her. KAYE: That's great that she knew that.

I know that she talks about the troubles of being occupied there, but she's also pretty chatty just about everyday life. So, I'm curious, Gerti, how much do you think she really understood about the situation for the Jewish people and what they were facing at that time?

G. ELIAS: I think she understood a lot. She knew she's a Jewish girl, and she couldn't do what the other children did, and it must have been for her very, very sad that she could not skate anymore, that she could not go with bicycle anymore.

And I think for her she was such a lively, lively, sweet girl, and then she was locked in, and I think it was very, very sad.

KAYE: Buddy, what do you understand, buddy, about the time when your family hadn't heard anything from Anne and her family? What was the thought? I mean, what did you think happened to them?

B. ELIAS: It was a horrible time. We knew that they were in hiding somewhere, but we have no idea where. It was not possible for the family to let us know where they are. It was too dangerous because every letter or every postcard was censored by the German army, so their helpers were not allowed to let us know what they are.

And especially our grandmother -- I mean, the mother or father Frank which lived with us in Switzerland, she was desperate. She had no idea where her son and family was, and it was a horrible time for us not knowing where Anne and the family were. We have no idea. Not even when Otto Frank was liberated in Auschwitz. We knew then what happened.

KAYE: So now you have this book, Anne Frank's family. What would you like people to take away from it?

B. ELIAS: I didn't quite understand.

G. ELIAS: From the book, what people shall take away from it?

B. ELIAS: That this book is so informative about everything of the family, from the old ages on, I mean from our forbearers, up to the modern times. It's hard for me to say which part is the most interesting one because the whole book is so interesting.

KAYE: I'm sure it's all very interesting. Certainly, her diary was read by so many, and I'm sure this book will be as well. Buddy and Gerti Elias, thank you very much for your time.

B. ELIAS: Thank you for inviting us. Thank you.

G. ELIAS: Thank you.

KAYE: It's been nearly two decades since it happened, but tonight is the night. Get ready to view the moon and the sun in a way that is sure to leave you captivated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Oh, yes. Atlanta can see perfectly clear this morning. It's a beautiful shot there in the city waking up.

Good morning, Atlanta. And good morning, everyone. Welcome back.

Get ready to look up to the skies tonight. A rare solar eclipse will be visible over parts of the U.S. at least. It will be the first one of its kind in 18 years, and the first one this century, just in case you're keeping track.

Reynolds is back with us.

So, what makes this eclipse exactly so different?

WOLF: What makes this one a little bit different is when you have an eclipse, either a lunar or you have a solar eclipse, in this case obviously being a solar eclipse, a lot of times, it almost blocks out the entire sun. In this situation, though, you're going to have a very distinct ring of fire all the way around the sun. It should be very interesting, to say the least. Very harsh also to the eyes -- you don't want to look at it directly, unless you have the proper eye ware, like, say, belled welders glasses to avoid issues with the eyes. Watch it here on CNN or go to CNN.com for the latest.

Basically what happens is the moon passes between the earth and the sun in a situation like this. The best viewing area: in eastern Asia or the western U.S. If you happen to be in the United States, especially along the outer banks of North Carolina or south Georgia, east Georgia, where we have a lot of rough weather, you might not be able to see it at all. Partial eclipse, much of Asia, and for western two-thirds of North America.

So, to show you how this is going to run through -- in Lubbock, Texas, you'll be able to see it begin 7:31. It ends after 5:00. And Albuquerque, New Mexico, best viewing time is at 6:28. As we make our way over to the Grand Canyon area, begins around 5:25, and back over to Reno, you see again around 5:00 or so ending around 7:37 and back over towards Redding, California, beginning at around 5:12 and then ends at 7:36.

But it should be incredible to see. Very, very interesting to say the least. Again, let's think about safety and think about the eyes.

Let's send it back to you.

KAYE: Safety first always.

WOLF: Always a pretty wise way to go.

KAYE: All right. Thank you, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: And, of course, I remember, as Reynolds was saying, don't looking directly at the sun without special viewing equipment. You can visit CNN.com/lightyears for much more on how to stay safe watching this this evening.

World leaders are gathering in Chicago and so are the protesters. Counting down today's NATO summit.

The Triple Crown is now in reach for "I'll Have Another". A look at the horse's odds defying win at the Preakness.

And just a quick note for those of you who might be heading out the door. You can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone, or if you are heading to the local coffee shop, perhaps. You can also watch CNN live from your laptop. Go to CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Grab that cup of coffee. Time to get you caught up on some of the morning headlines.

Protesters are swarming Chicago where leaders from more than 50 nations, including President Obama, are gathering for the NATO summit. Three men have been arrested in connection with the plot to attack the Obama campaign headquarters there, but police say there are no imminent threats no any of the officials in attendance.

And what a week for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. First, he made billions off that little IPO on Friday when he took his company public. And now, another big change. A status update from Zuckerberg and his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan, married. Of course, it was announced on Facebook. There's the wedding photo. Pretty amazing. Zuckerberg actually wore a suit and not his signature hoodie.

And surprise win puts "I'll Have Another" one step closer to that elusive Triple Crown. The horse took first place in the Preakness stakes after entering the race with 3-1 odds. His jockey says "I'll Have Another" winner of the Kentucky Derby "just keeps proving people wrong."

No horse has won the Triple Crown in 34 years. The Belmont Stakes, the final of the three races, is set for June 9th.

More top stories at the top of the hour when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.

But, first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.