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CNN Saturday Morning News
Police Investigating Rep. Weiner; CIA Panetta in Pakistan; Morgan Apologizes for Anti-Gay Rant
Aired June 11, 2011 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning.
Congressman Anthony Weiner sexting investigation dominated headlines this week and now we are learning that a teenage girl got messages from him as well and police are investigating.
Plus, he's getting a friend to defend him. Hear what Congressman Charlie Rangel has to say about Weiner's investigation.
Also, pretty good highlight from the week, the BCS champions, the Auburn Tigers visit the White House and we have in studio one of the players who presented President Obama with a special gift just a couple days ago.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. This is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for June 11th, 9:00 a.m. here in Atlanta. Thank you for spending part of your weekend right here with us.
Messages to a teenage girl from Congressman Anthony Weiner, reports say she is only 17 years old. And the congressman has admitted sending salacious pictures to a number of women on-line but his people say the teenage girl did not get any of those salacious pictures. Despite all of this, supporters are still rallying around the congressman.
Our Jason Carroll is in Congressman Weiner's district this morning in Queens. Jason, good morning to you. What do we know about this latest investigation police are looking into about these messages he may have sent to this teenager?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, police in Delaware have interviewed this 17-year-old girl in Delaware. Apparently what happened, T.J., is she began following the congressman on Twitter after the congressman came to her high school and spoke there. She began following him and there was some messages that were exchanged between the two of them.
Apparently, she told detectives though that none of the contact, the on-line contact, between the two of them, none of it she told them, was inappropriate. A spokeswoman for the congressman also coming out and releasing a statement with regards to this basically saying that, according to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit or nor indecent.
Also, obviously we are out here we've been speaking to some folks in his particular area here and a recent poll sort of reflects what we've been hearing. A recent poll, (INAUDIBLE) poll showing that some 56 percent of registered voters here in Weiner's district do not believe he should resign, 33 percent saying he should resign.
We want you to listen to how conflicted one voter was when we spoke to her this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUESTION: Should he resign?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I guess he should. Everybody else is resigning. I mean I don't think he did anything so awful but he's taking away from the party. He's just causing so much furor THAT we shouldn't be talking about him. That's the only reason.
I feel sorry for him as a person because to see a man's life fall apart right in front of your eyes is very, very depressing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Also speaking out on the issue, Congressman Charlie Rangel who himself has experienced congressional scandal in the past and weathered that particular issue. He also speaking out on this issue basically saying that Congressman Weiner should not resign, basically saying this whole idea of resignation is a bit of media hype.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: He wasn't going with prostitutes. He wasn't going out with little boys. He wasn't going into men's room with broad stances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: It was also interesting, T.J., to hear from House minority leader Nancy Pelosi to get her perspective on this. As you know, she also called for a congressional investigation into this particular issue with Weiner. She basically came out and said "I believe that is up to the individual member and to his constituents as to who represents them in Congress." But again, when you look at some of the polls, at least what registered voters here say, again 56 percent or so basically saying he should not resign -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jason Carroll for us this morning. Jason, good to have you as always. Thanks so much.
We want to turn to Alabama now where they are taking steps to slam the door on illegal immigrants with a new, tough law. The new law considered one of the broadest and most stringent in the country. Governor Robert Bentley signed it this week. It allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if they're stopped for any reason. It requires schools, public schools to report the immigration status of students. It also makes it a crime for anyone who knowingly gives an illegal immigrant a ride or shelter. Another provision requires businesses to check the legal status of workers using a federal program called e-verify.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ROBERT BENTLEY, ALABAMA: The sponsors of this bill really worked hard on that. They looked at laws across this country and they looked at the challenges across the country and they did an excellent job in evaluating those. You know that some of those have already been upheld. Some of the Arizona bills have already been upheld.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also this morning, in what may become the largest mass firing in the agency's history, the Transportation Security Administration is working to remove as many as 36 people at Honolulu International Airport, screeners and managers among them.
The move follows a TSA investigation to claim screeners routinely allowed luggage to go on flights without being screened for explosives. At least 12 TSA workers face suspension.
He was facing 35 years in prison, charged with espionage, but he probably won't serve any jail time at all. The government changed its mind on how to punish former national security agency official, Thomas Drake. He was accused of passing classified information to a newspaper reporter supposedly documenting mismanagement at NSA.
The government dropped those charges saying they didn't want to present classified material in court. So, Drake accepted a plea deal that will likely keep him out of jail. He's only pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of exceeding authorized use of a computer.
When the president meets with the national champions at the White House it's usually the team's biggest star that greets him. Had a bit of a twist this time, though. When we come back we'll tell you why one of Auburn University's unsung heroes was chosen for that honor on Wednesday. Cody Burns was at the White House on Wednesday. He's here in our studio today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Eleven minutes past the hour now. Reynolds joining me here on this couch. We have a special guest that - OK, I'm excited that he's here, but Reynolds is more excited than I am that we got this particular (INAUDIBLE).
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm going cuckoo for (INAUDIBLE). It's a dream come true. That's right, T.J., we're going to talk about our guest in just a few moments but first let's nail this down. It's a sports tradition, you win the BCS championship, your team gets to visit the president of the United States. This is an amazing thing. But for the Auburn Tigers Football Team they had to put the trip to the White House on hold and here is why.
When one of the most devastating tornados in history ravaged the state, they stayed behind to help out and on Wednesday, on Wednesday, they finally made it to Washington, D.C., to the White House, to meet the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KODI BURNS, FMR. AUBURN WIDE RECEIVER: On behalf of Auburn football, we want to present you with this helmet.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's a nice looking helmet there.
BURNS: As well as your exclusive Auburn Football National championship.
OBAMA: Exclusive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: How about that? Isn't that incredible. That's Kodi Burns handing the jersey to the president of the United States. He hope he appreciates that incredible jersey. Yes, Kodi graduated and he was the wide receiver for the team. He joins us now in the studio. Kodi, what's it like meeting the president of the United States?
KODI BURNS, FORMER AUBURN WIDE RECEIVER: It's amazing. I'm at a loss of words because I felt like as I was talking to him, I felt like I was watching through a TV at the same time. So it's really weird.
HOLMES: Now everybody knows Auburn and what you guys went through, an amazing year, but everybody knows Cam Newton, the Heisman trophy winner, the number one pick in the draft. How did you get the honor? People might think he's the one that gets to hold the jersey up there to the president. How did you get the honor doing that?
BURNS: I have no idea.
HOLMES: You don't?
BURNS: I've been through a lot since I've been at Auburn but it was real fitting to be able to do that. Cam Newton and Nick (INAUDIBLE) really did good for us this year. And the thing about it, what a lot of people don't realize is we had a lot of seniors in that team that did good for us as well. I was one of those. Just so happy that I got to do the honors.
WOLF: You know, Kodi, we often talk about the big rivalry in the state of Alabama, one of the biggest rivalries, I'll argue, in the country between Alabama and Auburn. But when we had the tornado that struck the state of Alabama, it really was a moment for both teams, for both families of each school, really to get together, wasn't it?
BURNS: Yes, exactly. I mean, the rivalry only goes so far, but when you look at its people and when people are in need, whether it's rivals or anything like that, you have to help somebody out. That's what we did, as an Auburn family, we opened our arms out to Tuscaloosa and tried to help them in any way we could. HOLMES: Help people put this in perspective. I tried to do this when the whole incident when somebody poisoned the trees there at Auburn, and don't get me wrong, I had to walk past that tree after you beat Arkansas before, so I don't have any love necessarily for Auburn, it hurt my heart that these trees were poisoned like that.
That's part of a 100 year tradition at that school. Help people understand just how crazy Auburn versus Alabama and how crazy just Alabama, just football in that state really is and that experience what it's been like for the past several years for you?
BURNS: It's really something that you just, you know, embrace. I had no idea when I came to Auburn what that was about. I was like the iron ball, what is that? And, you know, after being there for four years, like, you really get it. And you understand what these people are about. You understand how Auburn people love their football, how Alabama loves their football and that's what makes the rivalry so good.
WOLF: Now, the rivalry itself is just absolutely insane but your career at Auburn has also been nuts. When you came into Fort Smith, you were highly recruited not wide receiver but you were a quarterback. And over four years you've had two head coaches, four offensive coordinators.
BURNS: Exactly.
WOLF: And you had to reinvent yourself from a quarterback to a wide receiver.
BURNS: Yes.
WOLF: Tell us about that.
BURNS: It's been tough. Whenever you commit to a college say somebody goes to O.U., you expect Bob Seuss to be there. And you know, I expect Tommy (INAUDIBLE) to be there at Auburn. But things didn't work out that way. God saw it differently. And I just kind of rode with the cards I was dealt. And it could have transferred. It could have took a lot of ways out. But I just hung through there, stayed tough and tried to make the best of the situation.
HOLMES: What are you going to do now? What's next for you, my man?
BURNS: Oh, man. I'm one of these victims of the lockout, waiting on free agency to open up. It's really tough right now because you work out once a day, really can't make any money, can't get a job. You're just waiting around for a call for, you know, several months. I'm just praying about it and going to see what happens next.
HOLMES: But you're definitely going to be playing in the NFL, whenever they open up for business again.
BURNS: Yes. Let's hope so.
HOLMES: All right. Kodi, it's good to have you here. Still upset you're an Arkansas guy who didn't end up at the University of Arkansas. Don't let that fool you, folks. He went to Auburn but that's an Arkansas boy sitting there.
BURNS: Yes, I might be an Arkansas boy but you can call me an Auburn guy now.
HOLMES: That's all right. And Reynolds, I didn't realize you wore your tie, the appropriate colors today.
WOLF: Absolutely. You know, I got orange blood on the inside too. (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Congratulations on your success, the national championship and also it's a great honor to be at the White House with the president. That's good stuff. Good luck.
BURNS: Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks so much.
We're at 16 minutes past the hour here now. We're going to have to turn next to a story everybody was talking about the past 24 hours. Tracy Morgan, up close and uncensored, some thought he should have censored himself a little bit. It didn't end well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN ROGERS, MORGAN SHOW AUDIENCE MEMBER: I knew that I was going to see a comedian that said - does push the envelope and was expecting to hear, you know, all sorts of different probably inappropriate humor but I didn't expect to hear an attack on the gay community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: If you don't know what he said, we'll tell you coming up next. And also, his apology and why some say that apology is not enough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello, 20 minutes past the hour now on this "CNN Saturday Morning." Tracy Morgan is apologizing for his comedy show last week in Nashville. Parts of that show described by a lot of folks in the audience as a vile rant against homosexuals. Just part of it, at one point, he joked that if he had a gay son, he would pull out a knife and stab him.
CNN entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From "Saturday Night Live" to NBC's hit comedy "30 rock," actor and comedian Tracy Morgan knows how to deliver a punch line.
TRACY MORGAN, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: If you've learned anything from me it's how to do a bad job.
WYNTER: But a recent stand-up comedy show in Nashville is drawing more jeers than cheers. Morgan's homophobic rant during an onstage performance last week stunned some audience members like Kevin Rodgers, who says he cringed at the hateful comments.
ROGERS: I was absolutely shocked and amazed at what I was hearing.
WYNTER: Rogers says Morgan lashed out at lesbians and gays saying gay was something kids learned from the media. That victims of anti-gay bullying should stop whining. Rogers says the comic even took a shot at Lady Gaga.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WYNTER: Bashing her chart smashing gay themed song "Born This Way."
ROGERS: I knew I was going to see a comedian that does push the envelope and was expecting to hear all sorts of different probably inappropriate humor but I didn't expect to hear an attack on the gay community.
WYNTER: Rogers says Morgan also joked about stabbing his own son to death if he were gay.
ROGERS: The entire thing really did hurt me. The violent aspect of that comment. It seemed to go from a joking demeanor to this is a point in my show to where I'm very serious about what I'm saying.
WYNTER: And while we don't know for sure how serious Morgan's remarks were, he just released a statement to CNN saying - "I want to apologize to my fans and the gay and lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I'm not a hateful person and don't condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context."
But glad, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, says the apology doesn't go far enough and that Morgan should meet with youth and families who have been affected by anti-gay violence and that "Jokes that make light of violence directed at gay and lesbian youth aren't only offensive, they put our kids in harm's way. Tracy Morgan must not only apologize but assure us that this won't happen again and send a clear message to Americans that anti-gay violence is no joke."
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Here's more reaction now from the head of NBC Entertainment saying that "Tracy's comments reflect negatively on both "30 Rock" and NBC to very all inclusive and diverse organizations and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated."
Also in a statement to TMZ, Tina Fey says she's glad Morgan apologized but explained, "The violent imagery of Tracy's rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the GLBT community.
We turn to cross country now. Time for us to look at stories our affiliates are covering. Look at this here, the swollen Missouri River forcing people and entire towns to higher ground. The river expected to crest five to seven feet above flood stage in Iowa and Nebraska next week and that is causing some folks to literally uproot their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JARED KENNEDY, SEARS HOMES: We didn't think we were going to be able to move it, but we got to move it otherwise we lose it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releasing water from at least six reservoirs.
Also, one North Carolina kindergartner, look at this surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew it. I knew it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: She knew it. She knew it. That's five-year-old Madison. She opened the massive birthday present. It was pops. Daniel is the dad, he has been working as a contractor in Afghanistan since October. He said he wants his daughter to remember the milestones not the miles.
Also in North Carolina, the final destination for the miracle on the Hudson plane. You know this plane well. Don't you? You remember Captain Sully. He safely set the Airbus down on the Hudson River two years ago after it struck several birds and lost power. Many of the crew and passengers will reunite in Charlotte, that's where the plane will be on permanent display at the Carolina Aviation Museum beginning in January.
A deadly new worry in tornado wrecked Joplin, Missouri. A rare fungal infection that threatens more than just storm victims. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Taking a look at some of the stories making headlines.
CIA director and defense secretary nominee Leon Panetta is in Pakistan. His first visit since the successful U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden that strained ties between two countries. Panetta is expected to reaffirm a U.S. commitment to cooperation with Pakistan against Al Qaeda.
Also in Orlando, Florida, the murder trial of Casey Anthony resumes this hour, a day after the prosecution used a graphic video that features a smiling Casey Anthony with a skull and duct tape superimposed over her face.
Also health officials in Missouri say eight people who were injured in last month's tornado in Joplin have contracted a rare type of fungus. Three of them have died. One of those deaths traced directly to the infection which can occur when dirt becomes lodged under the skin.
Well, do you know if your house is making you sick? We've got tips on what to watch out for in "Your Bottom Line." It starts now. I'll be back with you at the top of the hour with more live news.
