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CNN Sunday Morning

NFL Player Kills Girlfriend, Self; Gunmen, Bombers Attack U.S./Afghan Base; Political Crisis in Egypt

Aired December 02, 2012 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

A murder-suicide stuns the NFL. What made the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker kill his girlfriend and take his own life?

Another development at Warren Jeffs' polygamist cult. We'll talk to one woman who escaped and now speaks out against her former family.

And a boy named what? Comedian Dean Obeidallah on why bad baby names are a spreading epidemic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It's 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. on the West. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us.

Just five hours from now, the Kansas City Chiefs will play the Carolina Panthers. The team has decided not to reschedule today's game after linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend in front of his mother yesterday and then drove to the Chiefs training where he killed himself in front the head coach and the general manager.

Casey Wian is in Kansas City, Missouri, this morning.

Casey, good morning.

Now, local media is reporting that the two had some sort of fight on Friday night, maybe even following a concert. What do we know about this?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, do know that police say that there was some sort of a disagreement, Randi, between the two Friday night/early Saturday morning, but in speaking to neighbors, they tell us that that's something that was very, very, very uncommon. As far as they knew, the couple had lived together for about a year, and by all appearances got along great.

We spoke with the next door neighbor who did not want us to use his name, said he often spoke with Jovan. Jovan didn't want to talk much about football obviously because the Chiefs are undergoing a horrible season, only one win and 10 losses. But he said he was very proud of their newborn daughter, three-month-old daughter, born on September 11th, and that the couple seemed to be getting along very well.

Just over a couple of weeks ago, Jovan's mother arrived to visit for the holidays, and she was there when that initial tragic shooting happened, Randi.

KAYE: And we also know that before he shot himself, he had some contact with his coaches, and he had a gun on him at the time. Do we know what that conversation was about?

WIAN: All we know is that the police say that he was never a threat to the coaches. The coach, the general manager, another member of the Chiefs' staff who met him outside the training facility just a short distance from here, they apparently tried to talk him out of harming himself, but were unable to do that. Police were on their way when Jovan Belcher put a gun to his head and killed himself.

We did speak with a gentleman by the name of Joe Linta last night. He is the agent for both Jovan Belcher and head coach Romeo Crennel. He said that the Chiefs staff, as you can imagine, is just shocked by this whole incident, but that they will go on, and the team decided that it's best to go on with the game today.

I can't stress more, though, Randi, that everybody who knew Jovan said this was totally out of character. There were no signs of anything like this coming. It's just a shock to everyone here.

KAYE: And what about the couple's 3-month-old daughter who was also at the home at the time?

WIAN: Three-month-old daughter was at home with, as I mentioned, Jovan's mother. According to the "Kansas City Star", they spoke last night with quarterback Brady Quinn, who says that players will be collecting or starting some sort of a fund to take care of that little girl who is now left without her parents.

One more little bit of information that we can share with you about Jovan Belcher and how out of character this all seems is his concern for children. Both his agent said he has a history of working with children. His next door neighbor said he paid local kids to cut his grass -- really a tragedy.

KAYE: The only thing maybe perhaps we can be thankful for is that the child is so young and won't remember what happened there at that home.

Casey, thank you very much.

A scary incident at last night's ACC championship game between Florida State and Georgia Tech. A 22-year-old man suffered serious, possibly life-threatening injuries, after falling through a fourth floor ramp outside the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The Charlotte Observer" reports the man fell between 40 and 60 feet. It's unclear why he fell. On a much different note, the SEC showdown sought two of the best teams in the nation battling not just for bragging rights, but a spot in the national championship game. Alabama rolled right over the Georgia Bulldogs beating them, 32-28.

The Crimson Tide will play against undefeated Notre Dame next month for the coveted BCS title. They're looking to win back to back titles and their third title in four years, which would be an unprecedented achievement.

Police are investigating a deadly bus crash at Miami's international airport. Two male passengers were killed, and others were hurt when the tour bus slammed into an airport overpass yesterday. Investigators say the driver was unfamiliar with the route and drove on the wrong road. The bus had been chartered by a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has some harsh words for the U.N. General Assembly, calling the group's approval of the Palestinian Authority's observer state bid an attack on Zionism. Palestinians hope the new status will give them leverage in their talks with Israel, but Netanyahu says his government will reinforce the start of settlements in any area Israel decides.

To Afghanistan now where an attack on a joint U.S./Afghan base has left five people dead and at least 18 others wounded. No reports yet of any casualties on the U.S. side, which happened near the Jalalabad airfield in eastern Afghanistan.

Joining me now by phone from Kabul is the journalist Ben Farmer.

Ben, good morning.

So, the Taliban is claiming responsibility for this attack. Can you tell us how this happened?

BEN FARMER, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, it was a dawn attack that happened soon after dawn, around 6:00 this morning. There seems to be a very coordinated, quite complex attack. It began with two suicide car bombs at the gates of Jalalabad airfields.

After these two explosions, large explosions, cars packed with explosives. They followed away sort of attackers on foot. These attackers were armed with assault rifles and some of them were wearing suicide vets.

Now, as they tried to get in, there was a two-hour firefight. The defenders of the base that was both Afghan forces and American forces fought for two hours to keep them out. During that time helicopters on the airfield scrambled, took part in the battle. They fired down on the militants. It was all over at about 8:00, 8:30.

NATO said that none of the militants managed to get inside the base. We understand there were nine that were all killed during the battle. Also killed were four Afghan private security guards who were guarding the gate and two civilians who had the misfortune to be passing by during the battle.

KAYE: And this all took place on this base that was located in an area that NATO recently turned over to Afghan forces for security. How could this, do you think, affect security considerations moving forward?

FARMER: Well, you are quite right that all eyes are on this security transition. The idea is that NATO here built up the Afghan forces. They take charge of combat duties and the forces that are here now for more than 11 years can go home.

Now, attacks like this will make people worried, and I'm not sure they will change the strategy. The handover of security duties has been going on for two years now and it's really the main focus of efforts here. The NATO coalition hasn't got a plan B.

I think what this attack does show, though, is that when security duties are handed over, the Afghans will still have a lot of security trouble on their hands. They will still have to fight a lot.

KAYE: Journalist Ben Farmer in Kabul for us this morning -- Ben, thank you.

Wanted, hundreds of Pentagon spies to head overseas. That's according to "The Washington Post." The paper says as many as 1,600 undercover operatives, military attaches, and other agents reportedly will be positioned around the world in a Pentagon overhaul of the Defense Intelligence Agency. They will be trained by the CIA, but they will get their orders from Defense Department.

"The Post" says, quote, "The DIA overhaul -- combined with the growth of the CIA since the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attack -- wills created a spy network of unprecedented size. It adds the plan reflects the Obama administration's affinity for espionage and covert action over conventional force."

The expansion reportedly still faces some hurdles, including creating cover assignments for all of these additional spies.

Political crisis in Egypt. First, it was the president versus protesters. Now, it's protesters versus the court. We'll take you live to Cairo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Egypt will be strongest and so will our partnership. If Egypt is Democratic and united behind a common understanding of what democracy means. Democracy is not one election, one time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talking about Egypt there. The country has been dealing with political turmoil and mass protest in the streets and there's a new twist today. Egypt's supreme constitutional court has just issued a statement suspending its activity because of the protests.

Let's get more now from CNN's Reza Sayah who is in Cairo.

So, Reza, why did the court do this today?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It looks like they were worried about their safety, Randi. This is a big development, and these opposition factions behind us around going to like this, but this seems to shift the momentum in favor of the president and his supporters.

This was the top court in Egypt. They canceled a hearing where they were about to rule on the constitutionality of President Morsi's decrees last week, and the constitutionality of this special panel that did the draft constitution.

In a statement, they called today, the judges did, a dismal black day. The statement said they tried to walk in the courthouse, and protesters demonstrating in favor of the president had blocked the entrances, climbed on the walls. They were chanting against the judges.

They said in their statement because of the uncomfortable security situation, they suspended the hearing.

No word on if or when they're going to reschedule this hearing, but if they would have ruled on these decrees, it would have been a direct challenge against the president. They didn't, and at this point it seems the path is now clear for the president and his supporters to get their way for this national referendum on December 15th to take place, where all Egyptians will have the opportunity to vote on this constitution.

Of course, these opposition factions don't like this process. They believe they've been squeezed out to the sideline from the drafting of this constitution, Randi.

KAYE: And as we know, President Morsi had issued a decree that really put him effectively out of reach of the courts. So it really is in a sense an indication of his growing power.

SAYAH: Well, he rejects any claim that he has dictatorial powers. He says when he was voted president he inherited legislative powers because there was no parliament, and he says he was elected to establish these democratic institutions in the best way to get the draft constitution done and to have people vote on it.

And he points out that if the referendum is voted on -- if the constitution is voted on all those controversial decrees will be annulled and cancelled immediately. He hopes that's going to calm down these opposition factions behind us.

We'll see what the coming days bring -- Randi.

KAYE: And do you think that this constitution will win public support?

SAYAH: Well, look, the Muslim Brotherhood and president have widespread support. The Muslim Brotherhood is the most powerful political movement in Egypt. They're the most organized movement.

And for the same reason, President Morsi was elected president by a small margin, many believe that this constitution will be approved on December 15th, Randi.

KAYE: Reza Sayah for us in Cairo -- Reza, thank you very much.

Protests overshadowing this weekend's swearing in of Mexico's new president. Demonstrators clashed with police outside the congress building as Enrique Pena Nieto took the oath of office. They're upset his PRI Party is back in power.

Inside the building, Mexico's new leader promised return peace, prosperity, and security to the country, which has been racked by killer drug violence.

Rescue efforts continue in Japan following a horrifying accident. The highway tunnel west of Tokyo collapsed, trapping cars inside and sparking a fire. Police say they have found several burned bodies in one vehicle. They're trying to get to at least two other trapped cars. It's not clear how many people may still be inside that tunnel.

Reality television star Kim Kardashian reportedly sparked fan frenzy in Bahrain. Witnesses say crowds gathered for her appearance in an upscale mall in the capital there. Fans broke into hysterical screams.

But there were also protesters on hand. Some displaying banners that Kim is not welcome here. Police reportedly scattered them before Kardashian arrived.

A commonly prescribed drug given to teens and young kids is landing some NFL players with suspensions. Are we seeing the started of a new trend?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was floored. It was a shock to everybody. How could something like this happen? Like, there was no evidence of him doing things.

I thought he was OK. I don't know -- I can't clarify that. I don't know what was wrong with him, but it's just -- it's a tragedy in itself. It's sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: Friends and neighbors who watch Kansas City Chiefs linebacker grew up on New York's Long Island are shocked and saddened by this weekend's news. The 25-year-old NFL player shot and killed his girlfriend yesterday before turning the gun on himself.

And when you think of athletes and drug scandals, you probably go straight to steroids or human growth hormone. But what if I told you it was something else? It's actually Adderall that's making headlines this time. It's a drug that's prescribed to help teens and kids with ADHD focus better. But now, the drug could be gaining popularity among professional athletes, as a way to help them memorize plays.

Joining us on the phone to help explain this is Eric Vincent of bleacherreport.com.

Eric, good morning.

I want to get to that Adderall conversation in a moment, but first, I want to ask you about this tragedy in Kansas City involving the Chiefs player that we've been talking about all morning. Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, as we said, killed his girlfriend and himself in that murder-suicide. Now, just a few months ago we saw the suicide of football player Junior Seau, another linebacker.

Do you think that this could be related to the game?

ERIC VINCENT, BLEACHERREPORT.COM (via telephone): It's a lot of stress that comes along with the NFL. It's hard to pinpoint if it was strictly just the football. Obviously, he must have had some sort of issues back at home resulting in the situation with his girlfriend who's 22-year-old. He might have had a 3-month-old daughter as well.

So, the fact that he took his life into his own hands in this kind of fashion showed that he might have had some issues outside of football. It could have been stress from the game. But it might have been more of a personal issue than football itself.

KAYE: Sanjay Gupta here on CNN has done a whole lot of work on the affect of concussions which are common in football.

I'm just curious. Do you think -- have you ever heard anything about him having a concussion and might that have played a role?

VINCENT: Not that I've been told. He was more of a role player. He didn't play a ton -- didn't see a ton of action with the Chiefs. So, not sure if concussions or injuries had any kind of affect to it that magnitude, but it's very unfortunate that he had to make a decision to this kind of -- in this kind of way.

You know, my prayers and thoughts go out to his family and the Chiefs organization. You know, them still having to play a game today is going to be a little hard for them to focus, but you can't help but root for Kansas City at this moment in time.

KAYE: Yes, certainly. Well, going back to the conversation we originally going to have with you this morning, it's about Adderall use in the NFL. We just saw four suspensions of NFL players. They are using it, I guess, to help focus and help them memorize plays.

Why do you think the sudden increase?

VINCENT: It seems like drug use in the NFL has been pretty common for a while. It seems now Adderall is the drug of choice to keep players a little more focused, a little more disciplined because, you know, football players, you know, in their mind they're supposed to be focused for an entire game, but realistically it's still three, three and a half hours. So it's going to be a little bit tough.

So players try to find any kind of way to get a mental or competitive edge against their opponents, and now they're pulling for Adderall. As you see, it's a little more common with defensive backs and other defensive players because they don't rely strictly on the physical prowess. They like to be instinctive and have to think on their toes in the course of a game.

So, as you see, they're reaching to try to get the advantage over their opponents with this drug.

KAYE: And so, this is really, I guess, by some being considered a performance enhancing drug, but two of the players who were suspended are appealing. What do we know about that?

VINCENT: Yes. Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, both cornerbacks from the Seattle Seahawks, are trying to appeal their suspension. It doesn't look too promising, because a lot of players who have appealed. I know (INAUDIBLE) both cornerbacks in the NFL also try to appeal and it didn't go too successful.

So, the outcome will likely be the same for Browner and Sherman, which is too bad, both very talented, very gifted players. But, you know, the league has their strict rules. Adderall is allowed, but you have to have a prescription. But according to ABC Sports research, over 75 percent of Adderall users use it illegally.

So, if they get caught, if it shows up in their drug test, the league will come down on them with a harsh suspension, as you see here with four games due for Sherman and Browner.

KAYE: Yes. Eric Vincent, appreciate you weighing in on both of these important stories this morning. Thank you.

She ran away from a sect run by Warren Jeff at the age of 16. But her family is still inside being punished for her escape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Randi Kaye, bottom of the hour now.

And here are some of the stories that we're watching. The Kansas City Chiefs will play today, despite a personal tragedy for the team. Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend yesterday before heading to the team's practice facility where he turned the gun on himself, in front of his coach and the team's general manager. The two had a 3-month-old daughter together.

Judges at Egypt's supreme constitutional court are walking off the job as protests continue in the country in what they call a dismal black day for Egypt's judiciary. The judges say they will not return to work until they are guaranteed they are safe.

This follows days of sometimes violent protests. Supporters of embattled President Mohammed Morsi surrounded the court building today to keep the judges from entering. The court was due to rule on whether to disband Egypt's upper parliament.

Nobody loved basketball and teaching kids more than Rick. That's how one friend and colleague is remembering Rick Majerus. The legendary college coach who has died at the age of 64. Majerus, who stepped down from St. Louis University last month for health reasons, had only one losing season in 25 years.

This morning former President George H.W. Bush remains in stable condition in a Houston hospital. He is being treated for bronchitis and in a hospital now for more than a week. At 88 the World War II veteran is the oldest living former president.

It is the latest chapter in the Texas battle against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. This past week the state attorney general's office announced it will try to seize Jeffs' 1,600-acre ranch where prosecutors say he and other leaders sexually abused children.

Joining me for today's "Faces of Faith" is a former member of Jeffs' fundamentalist church of Latter Day Saint and the woman who discovered that ranch's location when Jeffs initially told no one where it was. Her name is Flora Jessop -- she's the author of "Church of Lies."

Flora, good morning to you and thank you for coming on the show here on this Sunday. You escaped the sect when you were just 16 years old. How did you manage to do that?

FLORA JESSOP, AUTHOR, "CHURCH OF LIES": You know, back when I got out of the cult, it -- it was very difficult. I was one of the first girls that ever made it out of the group and lived. They -- they have their own police force, so they would have routinely hunted down the women and children that tried to escape from them and it was very, very difficult to get out at that time.

KAYE: And not only getting out as part of the difficulty, but even making the transition, I would imagine, once you've left the sect into a normal society, if you will. What were some of the challenges facing you and even other former church members on the outside?

JESSOP: Well, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of education that the children are getting and that -- we've been taught that everybody outside the group is disciples from Satan that are trying to drag you to hell. And so you're afraid of everybody and just trying to figure out how to -- if you've ever read the book "1984" everything is taught backwards to you inside of the group so you have to relearn essentially every single thing you know. And that -- and recognizing that your parents lied to you your entire life is very, very difficult for these children.

KAYE: I remember speaking with one former sect member who said that just even going to the grocery store and the scanner at the grocery store was something so new to them that they just weren't even aware that things like this existed, but -- but your father, a former sect spokesman, was actually kicked out, right, of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints by Warren Jeffs.

He later sued him alleging he was blackmailed and forced to lie. But what was it like for you and your family to -- to play such a prominent role within this group?

JESSOP: Well, my -- that wasn't my father. Willy Jeffs is actually my cousin, so -- but the Jessop name is huge within -- within the group. My -- my uncle was the bishop, so there was a big connection within the group and essentially there's a -- there's a -- two -- two people inside of the group and that is one of the very rich and one of the very poor.

So I know what it's like to stand on in both sides of that, and it's -- it's very troubling to watch the dynamics of the group now, the control that Warren still has over the people and the -- with the Texas taking this move to confiscate that compound, we're just a little bit worried about the family members and where they're going to be at because there's no way for us to track them once they leave that compound.

And that's -- that's a little bit hard for us to do -- to cope with right now.

KAYE: Yes you still worry about them. And but getting back to Warren Jeffs. I mean, he's currently serving a life sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault against two girls, but as you said, he still in some ways in control, controlling the cult, controlling the sect members from jail. Why is that?

JESSOP: Yes.

KAYE: How is he able to have such control of them from behind bars?

JESSOP: You know, he has the same rights as every other prisoner in this country. He gets phone calls. He gets letters. He gets visits.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: But why do they still believe in him and follow him?

JESSOP: Because he has -- he had exerted such a mass control over the people at the time that he was convicted that for them to relinquish and he has forbidden any kind of access to newspapers, Internet, television, anything like that, that the people don't understand or know what's going on and they won't accept it anyway because he has convinced them that it's all propaganda, it's all lies. He has gone so far in the last months to ban sex between married couples.

There are -- that he is determined that there are only 15 men in the group that can now father babies for heaven and so men are being ordered to deliver their wives to one of these 15 men to be impregnated. He has told them that you are no longer allowed to eat corn and -- and stuff like that.

And here most recently one Texas issued this affidavit to confiscate that compound, he ordered the people to pack a backpack and told them specifically what to put in it and told them to be ready at a moment's notice.

So -- so that's another cause for concern of what is he going to order next?

KAYE: Right. And getting back to this latest action by the state of Texas, do you think that authorities are really doing enough to stop the abuse of children? I mean, it certainly sounds like it's still continuing with the children who are there. And what do you think should happen next?

JESSOP: Well, I think Texas has done a lot compared to Utah and Arizona where the headquarters for the FLDS are and I think Arizona, Attorney General Tom Horn has taken a step in the right direction in trying to decertify the entire police department which gives the FLDS legitimacy here in Arizona, but I think Utah continues to not only enable the FLDS and their abusive ways, but to -- they help protect them and it's very difficult to try and get services and things to these people because of that.

KAYE: Flora Jessop --

(CROSSTALK)

JESSOP: One of the -- one of the other things I would just like to say is part of our biggest challenge right now is in the Child Protection Service issue, is the cultural sensitivity. Children do not have culture. Adults do. You can put five children from five different countries in a room, and they're going to play together. It's when you introduce the parents that you have --

KAYE: Right.

JESSOP: That the problems start coming, but we have a situation in our Child Protection Services where they culturally sensitize facilities for the parents and what that does is when a child that's abused comes into a facility that's been culturally sensitized that child says, oh, stop, my abuser has control of this facility. And it blocks them from being able to get the services they need.

KAYE: Flora --

JESSOP: And we need to take a hard look at that.

KAYE: Flora Jessop author of "Church of Lies." We appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

JESSOP: Thank you.

KAYE: Well, tonight is the night. CNN Heroes, our annual salute to those who help make life better for those in need. Someone you might know from "Dancing with the Stars", knows a thing or two about lifting up others. He shares his thoughts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. 42 minutes past the hour now. Tonight is the annual tribute to our CNN Heroes, an all-star event that airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And one of those stars is J.R. Martinez, who won "Dancing with the Stars". Listen to how he describes the joy he feels when lifting up others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.R. MARTINEZ, BURN SURVIVOR: As a burn survivor you think you're all alone. You think you're the only person that has scars on your face or has, you know, skin graph on your hands. We all have a story. I joined the United States Army in 2002, and deployed to Iraq. I was driving a Humvee and my left front tire went over a land mine. I was in a medically induced coma. And by the time I came out of my 33 degree burns were on my head, my face, my arms, my hands, a portion of my back, a portion of my legs.

While I was recovering, I remember asking one of the social workers how can I help burn survivors? She said there's a great organization called The Phoenix Society. They are teaching them different ways to kind of cope. I went to this conference. Everybody had big smiles on their face. I made a choice that I was going to be positive every single day and I'm using this positivity to give back to other people.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC360: Please welcome a former U.S. Army soldier and an inspiration to all of us, plus I hear he is a pretty good dancer, J.R. Martinez.

MARTINEZ: I got involved with CNN Heroes because of my friend Dan Geraldo who was one of the CNN Heroes of 2010.

What an amazing night. The second time being at the show I had the opportunity to present.

Please join me in honoring CNN Hero Taryn Davis.

This show is literally about highlighting people that are doing things to help better their communities. They've empowered so many people and have saved so many lives. This program highlights the real heroes that we have in this world that said, you know what, there's a problem, but instead of complaining about the problem, we're going to create the solution.

I love coming to the show, being a part of it because I at the end of the day I feel inspired. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I'm looking forward to being inspired tonight. I will be there along with Anderson Cooper and many others. Be sure to catch the CNN Heroes pre-show special "SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT" tonight at 8:00 Eastern and then at 9:00. the main event "CNN HEROES AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE"; it all happens tonight right here on CNN. And you definitely don't want to miss it.

All right, let's get you ready for the week ahead with our "Week Ahead" calendar. On Monday we are going to be watching the Supreme Court of the United States. Awaiting a decision on whether it will hear cases on the legality of same-sex marriage. It could come as soon as 9:30 tomorrow morning. So be sure to stay tuned to CNN for that one.

And on Tuesday the President will be entertaining at the White House. He's going to be meeting with governors there. They're going to be talking a whole lot about money, how to keep our economy growing, and, of course, how to reduce the deficit.

On Thursday we'll have all eyes on Washington actually -- talking about same-sex marriage. Two very controversial changes in Washington: same-sex marriage will become legal there, and we'll also, of course, they'll be legalizing pot and the adults over 21 can legally carry up to an ounce of pot starting on Thursday in Washington.

On Friday yet another jobs report -- the November jobs report this time. 171,000 jobs were added, you may recall, in October, but experts think that maybe Superstorm Sandy might have slowed the growth this time around. So we'll see if that really does have any effect when that jobs report comes out on Friday morning.

And on Saturday, college football fans pay close attention here. The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced. We'll find out who the best player in college football really is.

All right. Now, a little morning trivia for all you political junkies watching with us this morning: who was the only sitting president married in the White House? No googling around here. If you know the answer, you can tweet me @randikayecnn. We'll have the answer for you right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before I break I asked all of you who was the only sitting president to marry inside the White House. The answer -- Grover Cleveland, our 24th president. Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the Blue Room of the White House in 1886. There we have the proof right there for you. At 21 she's the youngest first lady in our nation's history.

America's top diplomat also has a pretty good sense of humor. At a forum on U.S./Israel relations on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was honored with a video tribute. And take a listen to what she noticed in particular about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I prepared some remarks for tonight, but then I thought maybe we could just watch that video a few more times, and then the next time I could count the hairstyles, which is one of my favorite past times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Something that is not a laughing matter, of course, though is the fiscal cliff. We're now just one month away from the deadline with no clear solution in sight. Candy Crowley joining me now for more on this; Candy, we've been talking about this for some time. What is the President -- what's the President doing, and what can he do really to avert this cliff, if anything?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: Well, let's take, first, everybody here is responsible -- The Democrats in Congress and the Republicans in Congress and the White House. I can tell you that some folks are saying the President needs to get personally involved. We know that they had -- they meaning the leadership on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats, and the President, had one meeting. And that there are, you know, meetings at the staff level going but a lot of people think this is going to take a lot more muscle from the President in the room because in the end this is a deal that will have to really be agreed to by the Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Democratic president at the White House, Barack Obama.

So in the end that's where the deal is going to come. Obviously, the Speaker is going to have to get some of his guys to vote with him, as well as Nancy Pelosi, who is the Democratic leader. So a lot of people think the President, he went out and in kind of campaign-style event in Pennsylvania on Friday kind of pushing from what he wants.

There were a lot of Republicans who were not all that pleased with it saying he ought to be back here. There were some Democrats who also thought it might not be what you're doing. But right now where are we? We are almost a month after the election, the fiscal cliff we've been talking about since this summer. They put it off until after the election. And we're now a month past it and we are finding that Democrats describe the two sides as very far apart. And the Speaker said they're nowhere.

KAYE: Yes. Certainly not --

CROWLEY: You know. Somebody has to get busy somewhere.

KAYE: Absolutely. One guy who has been pretty busy and involved in this is Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. I know you're going to have an interview with him on your show this morning. We certainly look forward to that, Candy. Nice to see you on this Sunday.

And keep it here for STATE OF THE UNION. It starts in about eight minutes at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. And once again, you'll find that interview with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner here on CNN. Apple, Ocean, Blue Angel -- what's with all these, I guess you could call them unusual baby names, and could they actually impact a child's development?

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KAYE: You're going to love this story here. All right. So it may be the cold months of winter, right, for some of us, but this pooch really knows how to cool off when it's hot out, having his own special pool party. Apparently his owners set up this camera to catch what they thought would be some neighborhood kids using the pool. But they found out, yes, guess what, it was their own dog -- so cute. Kind of makes you miss the summer, doesn't it? Look at him go -- very, very cute.

All right. Siri, Ocean, Apple -- seems like a fair amount of celebrities are giving their kids these off-beat names, but it's not just a problem in Hollywood. It's catching on everywhere.

In fact, Dean Obeidallah is joining me live now from Boston. You have been investigating this. This is very serious stuff. You wrote an op-ed on cnn.com about it, so I guess give us some of the craziest names that you've heard.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: I have been investigating it Randi. This is a breaking story. This should be national. These are actually names in the new list that just came out that are becoming more popular for babies in 2012. Siri is up there, Mac, Mars.

And in 2011 there were names like Moo. You know the sound the cow makes -- Moo. I can't believe people named their baby Moo, Draper, Graceland, Tequila, and last year there was a baby named Facebook which means in time, there will probably be a baby named Gangnam Style, or you know, Twitter. You know, I don't know where we're going with this, but I'm really determined about the children growing up with the most bizarre, off beat names that are not always a good thing for the kids.

KAYE: All right. Let's talk about some of what is behind this, though. Does this have to do with ego? I mean do you think this is because the parents want the child to stand out more, or is it really about the parents wanting themselves to stand out more?

OBEIDALLAH: Well, I blame celebrities. They started it. Remember, you had Jay-Z and the baby and Beyonce Blue Ivy, and Penn Jillette, the comedian has a baby named Moxie Crime Fighter, and Bono has a baby Memphis Eve. I think we caught it from them.

And I honestly do not think it has anything to do with the baby. It's about a parent saying look how clever I am. Look how cute I can put words together that make no sense, and now my baby is stuck with it.

Parents think about it. The kid is stuck with it the rest of their lives. It's part of their identity. Have a little sense when you are giving a name to a baby. The baby, not you, but the baby is saddled with this name.

KAYE: All right. So you actually think this can impact a child's development? Really?

OBEIDALLAH: I do. Yes. I'm clearly a psychologist. No, I'm not. I'm a comedian. But in my article I do site good studies and research done by psychologists which show off-beat names are not always good. It can lead to the child being teased and disciplinary problems at school, and actually babies with low -- with names that have low economic socio status have been shown to be less than gifted student class and also more likely to be labeled disabled -- learning disabled. There's actually an impact on it.

I hope people will look at the article here. If you're a parent to be, look at the article. I shared some great studies on a serious not -- take a look at them.

KAYE: And your name, Dean, has that ever caused you any problems?

OBEIDALLAH: No, Dean is an easy name. I mean it's a little off- beat and I like it. And your name Randi of course; our names are a little different. But we're not named after appliances. Hello, parents. Don't name your kid after your appliance; or a hash tag like Internet; perhaps a hoax, perhaps not. Don't name your baby after Siri. It probably doesn't even work.

What are you saying about your kid? To me I think, Dean for me was a good name. It was a compromised name. My parents are both ethnic. My dad is Palestinian, my mom is Italian. She wants a Dino, he wants a Salahadin, much easier life being Dean.

KAYE: Yes. All right, Dean. Thank you very much. Great to see you.

And thanks, everybody for watching today. STATE OF THE UNION with Candy Crowley starts right now.