>> understand. thank you, carter evans, live from the nasdaq market site. "american morning" continues right now. chilling audiotape. i'm ali velshi. jurors at the michael jackson death trial hear the singer barely coherent talking about the tour that never was. we're live at the courthouse in los angeles. i'm carol chris christie, sounding presidential. a lot of republicans hoping he'd announce a run for the white house. the new jersey governor keeping everyone guessing, or so it seems. on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. it is wednesday, september the 28th. christine is off today. welcome to "american morning." >> yes, good morning to you. up first, a dramatic start to the michael jackson death trial as the prosecution and defense offered their version of who's to blame for jackson's fatal drug overdose.

jurors heard an audio recording of a barely coherent jackson just weeks before his death, and saw a picture of him dead on a hospital gurney. cnn's don lemon is live from los angeles, he talked to the jackson family. were you inside the courtroom, don. set the scene for us. >> reporter: ah, good morning to you, carol, and good morning to you, ali, as well. how do you say this? yesterday, when it all started, the jackson family walked in, and they were -- they are a strong family. i've never seen them together this much, the funeral, but now they are co-hehesantx and walken together supporting their mom, katherine jackson who is a strong woman. when they dimmed the light, played videotape and played that audiotape of michael jackson, they had to play it twice, because the first time you couldn't hear it. it was heart wrenching, and

everyone sort of looked at everyone saying, is that michael jackson? hear it for yourself and then we'll talk about it. [ mumbling ] >> when people leave this show, when people leave my show, i want them to say i've never seen nothing like this in my life. go. go. i've never seen nothing like this. go. it's amazing. he's the greatest entertainer in the world. >> so that was that. and they had to endure it twice, and i -- you know, listen, i'm a young reporter but i'm human. my heart goes out to the jackson family, but it really goes out to that mom who sat right in front of me. i kept thinking about my own mom had this was happening, and when he played that tape, everyone,

janet, tito, receive, la toya, jermaine, all looked down the row at their mom and started passing tissue down and she started crying. the whole courtroom was stunned, carol. >> explain to us where this audio recording was taken from. >> reporter: so the audweudio recording was when dr. conrad murray had just started treating michael jackson. it was an ireporter on a cell phone and conrad murray had recorded michael jackson's, either a conversation or something he was taping him doing and that's what the prosecution found. i don't know the exact date of that recording, but that was heart wrenching.

now, the other part, too, that was heart wrenching, along, carol, with this videotape is a pick color. you saw the picture of him on the gurney. so we want into the courtroom and they start the prosecution and it's normal. then the lights dim and it becomes this production of a movie that they're taking you through. a heart wrenching movie. you see michael jackson up on the stage on the 24th and then the 25th, nine hours later, you see this picture that was taken of him in the hospital, and you wonder, what's going on? how is this family going to endure it? there are jurors who can't even look at picture. they'd look up and then they'd look down, it's so hard to look at, and you -- again, i have to say, as a family, if this had happened to me, i don't know if i would be able to sit in that

courtroom without someone picking me up off the floor. it's hard to deal with. it's hard to look at, but that's the reality of what happened to michael jackson. so today we're going to go back inside of michael jackson's home. we're going to go back inside the final moments of his life, back to the rehearsals, back to all of that, and i'm going to have to sit again right behind that family and witness it all. and they're going to have to relive it all over again. >> yeah. don lemon reporting live from los angeles. the point of that audio recording as far as the prosecution is concerned is that it shows that dr. murray knew that michael jackson was a drug addict and he continued to administer these drugs to michael jackson and, of course, we all know what happened in the end. as don said, the trial continues today. for complete analysis of the michael jackson death trial check out our sister network hln. amanda knox's lawyers are set to give final arguments tomorrow after a break today in her bid to have her murder

conviction overturned. knox is a college student from seattle convicted of the gruesome murder of his housemate in italy. yesterday defense lawyers compared knox to jessica rabbit, the cartoon character, saying she isn't the femme fatale the media made her out to be. shep was just drawn that way. the mysterious outbreak from cantaloupe is the deadliest in almost a decade. 72 infections and 13 deaths are are now lynch elinked to the ta fruit, from california to maryland. it appears to be the generalses fa jensen farms in the colorado area. and the al qaeda-linked group, haqqani, is anticipated for a move by secretary of state hillary clinton, significant because it would freeze accounts

in american banks. officials tell cnn an announcement could come soon. building 1 no ing 1,000 new east jerusalem. britain and other european countries condemned a settlement expansion. secretary of state hillary clinton says the decision is counterproductive to restarting israeli/palestinian peace talk. and moves navy ships very close to u.s. waters. the move is in response to the presence of u.s. war ships in the persian gulf. the u.s. government has had no immediate response to this. back in february, two iranian navy ships passed through the suez canal for the first time since 1979. in the worlds of politics it's going to be a titanic move to get the president re-elected. that's in the words of david axelrod, speaking in new hampshire and was surprisingly blunt about the challenges

ahead. >> we had the wind at our back in 2008. president obama got 53% of the vote. 47% of america voted against him. we don't have the wind at our backs in this election. wep have the wind in our face because the american people have the wind in their faces. so this is going to be a titanic struggle, but i firmly believe we're on the right side of the struggle. >> axelrod went on to say he believes the president will prevail in 2012, because he's on the right side of the struggle, and republicans are spending too much time blaming democrats for everything without offering up solutions of their own. well, will he or won't he? no denials this time, just a clever deflection from chris christie. the new jersey governor delivered a foreign policy speech entitled "real american exceptionalism" as the reagan library last night in simi

valley when someone in the audience asked the inevitable question about whether he's running for president. >> are you reconsidering, or are you standing firm? [ applause ] >> listen, i have to tell you the truth. you folks are an incredible disappointment as an audience. the fact that that took -- the second question -- shows you people are off your game. that is not american exceptionalism. >> he had them eating out of the palm of their hand. >> yeah. but he didn't say no this time. he has been very, very clear about no, no, how many ways die have to say no? do i have to commit suicide to say i'm not running. >> although, he did point the audience to politico and politico has on it a videotape

of every single denial. >> isn't the same as saying no. i just feel like there's a shift last night. >> he's just enjoying it. wouldn't you get into it if people were begging you to run for president of the united states? >> yeah, but unfortunately, sarah palin's already got that one corner. enjoy people wanting you to run for president. he was pushing his own record as governor of new jersey. we're going to talk about whether or not he's going to do it. more people are saying, his closest supporters. >> yeah. that will happen in the 7:00 hoyer, eastern of "american morning." up next, a visit to the west coast, raising millions for his re-election campaign, so why do we, the taxpayers, have to foot the bill for his trip? breanna keilar take as closer look. this life story reads like an international crime novel, but after more than 40 years on the run, the hunt for a man who escaped from prison and hijacked a plane is over. and hallmark is sorry for your loss, or shall i say your job loss.

the greeting card maker, launching a line of cards for the unemployed. it's our "talk back" question this morning. are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? join the conversation. it's 11 minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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that's personal pricing. welcome back. a closer look now at the president's three-day west coast trip. officially he's on the road to promote his jobs bill, which is official business, but he's spending more time raising millions of dollars at a high-priced fund-raiser on your dime, and it's all perfectly legal. here's white house correspondent brianna keilar. >> reporter: on the president's three-day western swing he fielded questions at a town hall meeting in northern california, and visited a high school in denver. two official events to promote his jobs plan. compare that to the seven fund-raisers he headlined on the trip. he raised at least $7.5 million for his re-election coffers and the democratic national committee, and you, the taxpayer, are footing the bill for most of the trip, which also cost millions of dollars.

pete sef is with the national taxpayers' union, a non-partisan group against wasteful government spending. >> usually a political party only covers a fraction of the costs of presidential travel. usually in the single digit percentages. most of the money raised really comes at a free cost to the parties. they only reimburse for a few hundred thousand on a given trip, if taxpayers are lucky. >> reporter: it's expensive for the president to travel. air force one costs about $180,000 per hour to operate, according to the air force. there's a support plane for the president's limousines. sometimes another for his helicopter, marine one. and a secret service detail. hotel rooms and meals for dozens of white house staffers, and don't forget local security costs. like overtime for police officers in the presidential motorcade. >> not for me, but for you. >> reporter: previous presidents, democratic and republican, have done the exact

same thing. in september of 1995, president clinton attended eight fund-raisers in four days on a cross-country swing, and then there's the campaign events that don't raise money but rally support. like this one. president bush's dramatic entrance into a campaign event at a florida baseball stadium less than a month before his re-election, and taxpayers picked up almost the entire tab. call it a perk of the presidency. something a mere candidate does not enjoy. >> that's the point. had the parties themselves have to pay for the costs of the pomp and the circumstance, well, the pomp and the circumstance gets a lot smaller. a lot more modest. >> reporter: there's not a lot of transparency in just how much it cost for the president to travel. we asked the white house, but as other administrations have done before, they don't disclose the costs citing security concern, but a report done by a democratic congressional committee during president bush's tenure put the cost at

97.3. 97% paid by taxpayers. 3% paid by the party. brianna keilar, cnn, washington. someone at the white house could sure use a geography lesson. look at the press credentials given to reporters covering the president's west coast trip. seep how the three states he's visiting, washington, california and colorado are highlighted? that's not colorado. it's actually wyoming, and they both have pretty mountains. >> not a mistake rob marciano would make. on assignment in broward county, florida. but he still gets up to give us the forecast. good morning. >> deep in the everglades. tell you why in a second. it's warm and buggy down here. i'll take to you denmark, much co cool cooler. a spot where they saw the northern lights. that geomagnetic storm is over for the most part, but this i'm

taking, obviously in motion a little bit. you see this in person it is a spiritual event, no doubt about it. folks across the northeast, hoping for drier weather. a stubborn, stubborn storm system continues to sit and spin and showers pop up in areas you don't need it, especially eastern pennsylvania and northern new york. issues there. in some cases they've seen 9 to 11 inches of rainfall. allentown, included in flash flood watches posted through tomorrow morning for an additional 1 to 3 inches additional rain possible. when will it break down? a low across the great lakes for almost a week. it will get a kick in the pants from a little spot of cool air from canada, and that will help shift things off to the east and bring cooler air down across mitch of the southeast and the northeast over the weekend, but finally switching up this weather pattern just a little

bit. all right. the reason we are down here, because reptiles and amphibians, better known at herpaphona, invaded florida in the last 10 to 20 years and it's becoming a big, big problem. we'll talk about more of that in the next hour. guys? >> what is a cutoff low you just talked about? >> you know, it's basically -- >> from canada? >> yeah. a kick in the pants. basically like a stick in the stream that gets caught and doesn't go anywhere. eventually a bigger stick comes down and moves it out of the way. that's the best analogy i can come up with at 6:00 a.m. things might change in the next few days, guys. >> good to see you, rob. stay as unmanagyunmanagy -- unm you can down there. >> thank you, rob. our "talk back" question, are job loss greeting cards kind

or appropriate? it's a strange question. when there are hallmark cards for everything. birthdays, kwanzaa, valentine's day, depression, divorce, cancer. yes, cancer. well, hallmark's latest, unemployment. it's launched a line of job loss cards. that's right. if a loved one has just lost their job and is on the edge of bankruptcy, just send them a card. imagine them opening up a card and experiencing this hallmark moment? is there anywhere i could hack up a hairball, like on former employer's head. others are more thoughtful. like the one about taking the lemon life gives you and making a martini with a twist. you'll handle this like you do everything else, in your own unique way, and everything will be more than okay. psychiatrists say although hallmark is capitalizing on a niche, it may work for some people. hallmark told us, "cards for people who lost their jobs are a

reflection of the times. hallmark customers were asking for the cards to support their friends and family going through a difficult time." with unemployment perhaps the biggest fear america has right now, i'm not sure a hallmark moment can make it better. or can it? so the "talk back" question today -- are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? face bobook.com/americanmorning facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'd read your responses later this hour. >> two good questions, but spark business. >> for hallmark, maybe. >> create add card for something i didn't know you could get a card for. >> for a person fired, if someone sent me a card like that, i'd punch them. a cheating scheme uncovered at an elite long island high school with students reportedly paying a reasons grad thousands of dollars to take the test for them. we'll tell you about that on the other side. it is 22 minutes after the

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25 minutes after the hour. welcome back to "minding your business" this morning. right now u.s. stock futures are up. stocked closed higher on hopes europe's debt crisis is being resolved. this morning concerns for greece and whether it could be in jeopardy. euro zone members are split over the terms of the loan. some members demanding the private secretary are pay more. new information this morning on the economy's pulse in about 30 minutes. a report on mortgage applications released giving a sense of whether people are taking advantage of the low home mortgage rates and low home prices and we'll learn if odors for durable goods are up. things like planes and cars. in lower manhattan, protester gathering to voice outrage at wall street and over the nation's economy are calling for 20,000 people to flood the area in the next few months. at least 100 people have been arrested since the protests started 12 days ago. more protests are expected on

wall street this morning. the popular ipad could be about to get new competition this morning amazon is expected to reveal its new tablet computer. rumors are it will be called the kindle fire, able to stream movies and tv shows. apple is expected to unvoile the long awaited iphone 5. it's been 15 months since the iphone 4 was announced and among the upgrades, bigger screen, better camera, voice recognition and more carriers. "american morning" back right after this break. ♪

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it is 30 minutes past the hoyer. welcome back to "american morning." good morning to you. time for our top stories. an eye-opening start to the michael jackson death trial. jurors heard an audiotape of the pop star just weeks before he died. jackson is heard slurring his words as he talks about his upcoming tour. in opening statements, prosecutors said dr. conrad murray's negligence caused jackson's death from an overdose of propofol, the defense says jackson gave himself the fatal dose. the iranian army is threatening to move naval ships near the u.s. east coast. the announcement coming from an iranian commander. the move is in response to the presence of u.s. war ships in the persian gulf. the u.s. government had no immediate response. and chris christie is keeping everyone guessing about his plans to run for the election in 2012. speaking at the reagan library

last night when asked if he's considering running for the white house he deflected the question and would only say he's touched and flattered by all the support. a manhunt that spanned three continents in four decades is over this morning. george wright, is convicted killer and airline hijacker who forced fbi agents to deliver ransom money in only bathing suits was arrested in portugal sunday. >> that's different. how police got their big break? i mean, portugal? >> it's always the last place you look. isn't it? anyway, u.s. marshals had tracked him for about a decade and finally got a positive hit along with portuguese authorities arrested george wright in central portugal, about an hour from lisbon on the coast where he was living under an assumed name. the joint statement by law enforcement, the fbi agtd in charge said "even after 40 years the commitment of law enforcement is unwavering." the story is remarkable.

in the early '60s wright was convicted of killing a world war ii veteran during a gas station robbery. 's he escaped from the new jersey prison in the warden's car and made his way to detroit, joined the black liberation army. in 1972, wright along with four other liberation members high jacketed a delta flight out of detroit. wright was dressed as a priest and managed to smuggle a gun onboard in a hollowed out bible. once the plane landed in miami, the hijackers demanded $1 million in cash for the release of the 78 passengers onboard. fbi agents were told to wear nothing but bathing suits as way to ensure they were unarmed. the hijackers kept the crew and forced the pilots to fly to boston where they refuelled the plane and took on another pilot. they then flup across the atlantic to algeria and asked for asylum. the government simply let them go. $1 million is the most ever demanded as a ransom at the

time. it was returned to the u.s. along with the plane. the other hijackers were arrested in paris four years later but wright remained on the run and is fighting extradition and his next appearance in a portuguese court is expected in about two weeks. >> what's he been doing all this time? >> probably living a pretty nice life in sentra. he got the gun onboard because there was no security. well, that's changed. >> a hollowed bible, you ask for a million dollars? it's austin poweresque and you make the plane fly all over the flas nap stuff doesn't happen anymore. >> not anymore. you can barely get on with your shoes. >> this was instrumental in changes and president nixon called on changes to be made with the faa and that's why we have more screening. obviously, after 9/11, taken to the next level. the underwear bomber, a level higher. so it evolves. >> interesting story.

thanks. and several people arrested in an alleged s.a.t. cheating scandal as a suburban new york high school saying six students at the high school paid 19-year-old sam who graduated just last year as much as $2,500 to take the s.a.t.s for them. the district attorney says he was able to pull off impersonating a female student. >> who are the victims in this instance? victims are your fellow students. the kids who don't cheat. the kids who take the s.a.t. prep course. the kids who study. the kids who do their homework. the kids who play by the rules. >> reporter: he faces up to four years in prison if convicted on felony charges. the six others, the people he took the s.a.t.s for are charged with misdemeanors. more on the story when the nassau district attorney kathleen rice joins us at 7:30 eastern. and bets on "american morning," the iphone 5 is coming. not a rumor.

apple confirming the date of its next big announcement. what can we expect? i'll talk to you about that and a new one from amazon today. a new tablet computer. >> we want to talk about rihanna or just look at her, not so from a northern irish farmer, shut down her video shoot. >> what? >> oh, yeah. over what she was not wearing. >> that's a tease. unusual. isn't it? it's 35 minutes past the hour.

were back to "american morning." the tech world is budsing this morning. two big announcements. first this morning amazon is expected to unveil its new tablet and next week apple is expected to finally reveal its long-awaited iphone 5. joining plea to talk about this aened what we can expect, who better than mario armstrong. mario armstrong's digital spin. you are going to attend this amazon announcement today. we pretty much know what this is. >> no, we really don't. we've heard a lot of speculation about what this is and it probably will ring true, but at this point, ali, they're saying a tablet. >> okay. >> what they're going to

announce. >> we know amazon has a base of a kindle? >> right. >> we think it's a kindle-based tablet? >> yeah. they love their kindle. millions have the kindle. amazon has a huge database of customers to reach out to, and people that love their kindle. if it's something a little more than a kindle, maybe color. you know, interneglect connectivity, more apps things of that nature, people will be excited. plus, if it's a kindle, it's going to be way less than the existing marketplace for tablet costs. >> we've gone through this a little, between what ipads cost and the other players cost and when hp was getting rid of its tablet it sort of put them down to $99, couldn't keep them on the shelf. what's the price point for somebody who doesn't own a tablet now? >> probably around $200, $ 250, a legitimate price point. beyond an ereader not quite a

full-blown tablet. >> what, in your experience, you've tried a bunch of these thing. i have an ipad and a kindle, which i like using. what's the stuff that has to be on it to make it you know, the thing that everybody wants? >> for this kindle? >> yeah. >> number one, they already have it. it's going to be key to that. they have the ability to integrate several things. apple was successful at integrating. think about the ipad, the ecosystem, the apps store, music, videos. amazon has that. a music service, video service, online streaming. they have all the components at an apps store. all the components. here's what's interesting. we've been hearing they're going to actually change, i should say, build upon the operating stepof android. so it will not look like existing android tablets that are out there. i think this is a smart move for amazon to say, you know what? we're going to fork it and change the layers on top of it so it's more amazon specific. >> you like the android operating system? >> i do. >> a lot of people -- >> no, no. nothing wrong with the system. this is maybe a smart move on

their point to say, google made it open source. we're going to build upon that and not just be limited to what every other android tablet is out there. android tablets have been tough. >> a lot of them are out there. a few own the market. let's talk about the other big announcement. we know on october 5th, apple is going to be making a big announcement. how certain are we that that's the iphone 5? >> they keep things under wraps. the only reason we now about the iphone 4, a dude left it at a bar and everybody found out about it. that hasn't happened this time. we haven't seen a prototype out there in the jungle. so we don't know. it's safe to assume looking at their ads sometimes, their invitation, they give clues. this one has, you know, it's all about talk. you would assume that it's going to be something phone related. not an ipad 3, you know, announcement or anything like that. but they've been saying iphone 5. what they've been saying, it's presumed you will have a better

camera on there for sure. sony and ces, said we're building the image sensor for the iphone. she they slipped. larger stream, smaller form factor. certainly a faster processor. all of those things should hold true. they may come out with a pre-paid version. not too sure if that will happen and sprint should finally get -- >> more carriers. >> it's huge. >> if i'm a guy to have missed the first four versions of the iphone, tell me why this isn't just an ad to do this? why we haven't all been snookered into doing the free ads? why is this of significance? >> a number of thing. bottom line, you've got to give apple credit. whether you love or hate them, they changed, revolutionized the game. brought a phone into existence carriers hadn't created, manufacturers hadn't created and

changed the game on how you use it's system. for them to be able to own the ecosystem sort of is totally brand new. no manufacture are had that until apple showed that model. they've been revolutionizing and, unfortunately, because we love competition, it's really great. they've just been killing it, bottom line, and everyone wants to be better or as good as the iphone. >> all right. we look forward to it. keep us posted what you learn today with the amazon announcement. >> you tweet. i'll be in touch. >> thanks. >> all right. thanks to you both. an exciting conversation. mario's made me more excited about the i fein iphone 5. andy rooney, signing off "60 minutes" after 33 years. sunday's essay will be the 92-year-old rooney's last regular appearance on the cbs broadcast. it will be preceded by a segment on rooney's career with his

longtime "60 minutes" colleague morley safer. rihanna, nearly causing an international incident by going topless in northern ireland. shooting a video in a wheat field when the owner of the land ordered her to cover up because she was wearing way too little. he didn't like her topless. she was apparently only briefly topless and actually changing into her bikini top. geez. lawmakers even jokingly, about her choice of the bikini. the colors of the british flag. do they -- i guess they must? but, anyway -- >> okay. >> just surprises me that anyone would actually complain about that, but -- >> yeah. >> oh, well. 45 minutes after the hour. still ahead, we're going to talk about exotic pets gone wild. reptile species that shouldn't be found any where are near the united states invaded florida.

we sent our own reptile hunter rob marciano to find out about it, and he'll join us on the other side of the break. cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare.

only from aveeno. try nourish plus haircare. ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. 46 minutes after the hour. what you need to know to start your day. day two at the michael jackson death trial. during opening statements jurors heard an audiotape of a drugged up tape just days before he died. and the doctor is accused of

giving him propofol. the defense blames jackson for taking the lethal dose. and the presence of u.s. warships in the persian gulf. the u.s. government had no immediate response. israel announcing plans to expand settlements in east jerusalem. u.s. officials aren't happy about it. secretary of state hillary clinton says it's counterproductive to efforts to restart israeli/palestinian peace talk. tear gas raining down on hundreds of nate everybody bolivians. a plan to build a highway through the amazon on an says true homeland. morales says he never gave permission and it will be part of a national debate. leaving thousands displaced. nearly 75 mile-per-hour winds sent huge waves crashing over sea wall. in the capital, many roads are impassable.

schools and businesses close for the day. the storm is moving offshore. the race to the last two playoff spots coming down to the wire. tampa and boston tied for the wild card. st. louis tied in a dead heat in the national league. that's the news you need to know to start your morning. "american morning" is back right after this.

good morning to you. welcome back. it's ten minutes until the top of the hour. there is an invasion going on in florida, and we're not talking about snow birds. >> the state has got a major problem with reptiles. >> hmm. >> the exotic pet trade. >> who else would we put on this

story? our own reptile hunter rob marciano is on the case. explain, rob. >> reporter: well, you know, guys, back in 1863, a little bitty green house frog made its way over here via a shipping container. for the next 100 years other frogs and lizards an turtles followed the same pathway. in the last couple decades, curious kids and adults who wanted some of the exotic animals in their home, which is fine. the problem is, a lot of them are getting out. >> there goes another guy. whoa! right there. look at this. >> reporter: one of many dangerous animals reptile expert chris gillette has found in this area. whoa. he definitely bites. >> reporter: an exotic species that shouldn't be anywhere near the u.s. >> this kind of snake does not belong in florida. obviously, it came here? >> no. this guy's from africa. very, very common in the pet trade. >> reporter: we found it right next door to an exotic pet

importer along with frogs, lizards and more snakes. >> look at that. another python. another one. look at that. >> right off the sidewalk. >> another bald python. when you find one, you often find more. >> reporter: you've never seen a concentration of exotic reptiles like this in any other spot? >> no. no, i haven't. >> reporter: literally, that has to be the source? >> that has to be. absolutely. >> reporter: the source, according to a university of florida study, is this exotic pet store, strictly reptiles. the study finds 25% of all established non-native reptiles have been legally distributed through this business. strictly reptiles agreed to comment on the phone. >> just because they found an animal loose around my fast is doesn facility, doesn't mean it's invasive or established itself in the state of florida. >> reporter: still, what happens after an animal is purchased at any store is difficult to control. >> if they're responsible owners

it's not a problem. however, if they're not responsible owners, they will release these animals illegally. >> reporter: illegal, but it's almost impossible to enforce. we asked florida fish and wildlife if the laws are strong enough. they simply said, regulations alone will not solve a problem. we see the lay as part of a larger effort to increase public awareness of the problem of releasing exotic animals. the study ultimately found that florida has the largest number of non-native reptiles and amphibians in the world. so far there haven't been any widespread negative impacts on the environment, but the study's lead author says it takes decades to see the consequences. >> for some to say, oh, these have no consequences, no negative impacts on our environment at all, okay. well, let us know in about 30, 40, 50 years. let's see what actually happens then. >> reporter: the scary part. typically about a 40-year lag time. the burmese pythons, we've seen

what they can do to some smaller anim animals. just last week we saw giant african snails take hold in miami. actually suck off people's homes. in backyards across the country, invasive reptiles in your backyard. the pet trade contributed to 84% of the pathways of introductions of ex-sotdic amphibians and reptiles moop knows, 20, 30, 40 year, the buflt everglades could have a bunch of inhabitants that have no business being in florida. >> i wouldn't want to run into an african snake. i mean -- that would be scary. wouldn't it? >> reporter: i didn't get terribly close to that. yeah. a little bit chicken. >> rob, check in in a bit. rob marciano in broward county, florida. we have invasive rat species here. >> and they're big, too. i mean, big. this big. we asked you to "talk back" on one of the stories of the day. the question this morning, are job loss greeting cards kind or

inappropriate? yes, hallmark has a brand new line of job logs cards. joseph says they're inappropriate. the person having the card har the extra money to go and afford such a card. sharon, why spends 3ds to $4 on a card? if someone is unemployed they need their lighted bill paid or food from the grory store. and jody, cards express feelings and let the receiver know they matter to someone. from benny, what about the people who count on the cards being sold and mailed to help them out? what about the people who count on those cards being sold and mailed to help keep them employed? the comments, keep them coming. facebook.com/americanmorning. jay leno notices change. take a listen. >> you know, it's interesting. had he was here campaigning in 2008, remember? every big star, matt damon, all

of these huge stars showed up. not so muches they time. here, take aing who. >> hollywood was certainly a campaign atm machine for barack obama the candidate but maybe not so much for barack obama the president. in 2008, president obama had the support of the hollywood elite including robert de niro and matt damon. last night his celebrity backers included screech, lee majors, and a verbal performance from vanilla ice. >> yeah. >> oh, goodness. >> cracks me up. >> little tiara. just ahead on the next hour of "american morning," test taker for hire pap cheating ring busted. a long island college student accused of taking the test for high school kids who paid in cash. we'll talk to the d.a. whether this is an isolated incident or could be happening in your child's school. it's five minutes until the top of the hour.

opening day in the michael jackson death trial, dramatic, the life he lived. the doctor on trial for killing him, and the jury hear as chilling drugged-up jackson audiotape. iran planning a threatening move putting navy ships off the u.s. coast. what are they trying to prove and who are they trying to test? honor roll, an s.a.t. cheating ring busted. several students arrested. high schools accused of paying a college guy to take the test for them. with many gop voters saying none of the above, is there room for two more? like these two? why it may not be too late for chris christie and sarah palin on this "american morning." and good morning to you. it is wednesday, september 28th.

christine has the day off. welcome to "american morning." >> up first, day two of the michael jackson death trial. again with plenty of drama in the court. jurors heard a chilling audiotape with jackson just weeks before he died barely coherent and apparently in a drugged-up state. prosecutors say dr. murray repeatedly gave him the dangerous drug propofol to help him sleep. the defense says jackson gave it to himself. tell us about that recording. i remember hearing about it yesterday. i asked somebody is that really michael jackson's voice? >> reporter: yeah, and they had to play it twice in court, ali. imagine having to sit through that as a family member, as a mom. it came from an iphone. there's an app on an iphone you can record that. i imagine that's where it came from. not sure if it was a voicemail or that, but prosecutors played that during their opening

statements, and i want you to take a listen. it's very, very sad to hear. listen. [ mumbling ] >> when people leave my show. i want them to say i've never seen nothing like this in my life. go. go. i've never seen nothing like this. go. it's amazing. he's the greatest entertainer in the world. . >> reporter: so, that's really how the day started in court yesterday, and, again, i just -- it just -- it was jaw-dropping. not only that, ali, there's that photograph. have you seen the photograph? i'm sure you have, of michael jackson on a gurney in the hospital, and when they showed that as well, people were wondering how much more?

how much more can we take in the courtroom? especially the family, and the jury to see. that photograph was unbelievable. this was taken just hours after a rehearsal that, just the night before, where michael jackson seemed to perform well. >> i can't imagine being his family and listening to this audio and seeing that photo. you were in the courtroom right behind his family. what was the mood like? >> reporter: listen it was just the luck of the draw. and i'm not sure if it was lucky. as we got to the go in, members of the media have a number of seats, and i sat right behind katherine jackson, joe jackson, janet, la toya, and whens they came on the whole family just sort of looked at each other and started passing tissues down the row to each other and to their mom. everyone was looking at katherine. and katherine seemed to look back saying, i'm okay, but they were all crying and the lights were down so that you could see the videotape. quite honestly, almost like

being in church. you're not supposed to have contact with the family. even though they were turns around and talking to me, because i've interviewed them before, i just wanted to reach out and hug them and say, you know what? i'm sorry you're having to deal with that. i can only imagine my mom and my family. it's a human emotion. nothing to say about the innocence or guilt of conrad murray, just as a human being, you just want to comfort those people and you can't believe. my gosh, i can't believe you have to sit through that. final thing, this family is banded together, taking care of each other and taking care of katherine jackson, and she is a strong lady. >> i want to ask you. was conrad mur any there? >> oh, yeah. conrad murray was in there. i bumped into him in the hallway, with his lawyers and security detail. we had a long stare. i guess he said, that's the guy from cnn. sullen looking. longer than normal. and then in the courtroom, when his attorney started to talk about him and he said, oh, he and michael jackson were

friends. of course, you saw it on television. he started to tear up. we could see the back of his head, we saw him reach for a tissue and saw the jury. the jury saw it all. saw him doing that. looked over to the family during emotional time. had they saw the picture, some couldn't look at it. never seen anything like this in court. >> very emotional. don, thank you. check in later. don lemon outside the courthouse in los angeles. for complete coverage and analysis of the michael jackson death trial check out our sister 234 network, hln. 2008 jailhouse videotape of casey anthony reacting to the news her daughter caylee's remains had been found. this afternoon in orlando, the judge who presided over her murder trial will decide whether it will be released to the public. ruling three years ago the tape could not be released in court because it would hurt casey's chances of guesting a fair trial. tough talk from iran. the country is threatening to move a powerful presence of navy

ships very close to the u.s. coast. a state-run news agency says the move is in response to the presence of u.s. war ships in the persian gulf. the u.s. government has had no immediate response. back in february, two iranian navy ships passed through the suez canal. that's their boldest move in decades. will they or won't they? two influential republicans getting a lot of buzz these days simply by playing coy. new jersey governor chris christie after spending months denying he's running for president didn't really deny anything at a speech in california last night, and sarah palin may have finally tipped her hand for her 2012 plans in an interview with fox news. jim acosta tracking it all live in washington. if you had to lay bets, come on, do it. >> reporter: oh, boy. my bet is, the field is the field, and there are politicians who run for president and there are politicians who run for publicity, or run for, perhaps, the next election cycle, and

that might be what we're looking at last night. carol, for a governor known for his new jersey brand of straight talk, chris christie never really came out and said he was not running for president last night and sounded very much like a candidate at the reagan presidential library. accusing the president of divi e dividing the country to win re-election. and asking about christie's views of giving money to illegal immigrants. he said he wasn't heartless to oppose that policy and twice asked whether he was reconsidering his repeated statements that he is not running for president. one woman got very emotional imploring christie to run. christie seemed to say, sorry. it is just not his time. >> do it for my daughter. do it for our grandchildren. do it for our sons. please, sir, don't -- we need you. your country needs you to run for president. >> it's extraordinarily

flattering, but by the same token, that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. that reason has to reside inside me. >> and that was not a definitive answer. i talked to a close adviser to the new jersey governor yesterday who said basically that only christie knows what christie is doing adding "the storm of speculation is incredible but this is a decision that will come from chris christie on his terms." carol, we all thought the decision was already made. so -- >> face it, he is running again in new jersey? right? all of this publicity is good for him afar as raising money goes for his re-election campaign and other things he wants to do with the state of new jersey. it can't hurt. his approval ratings have gone up since this talk about running for president. >> reporter: it has. now above 50%. it wasn't just a few months ago.

so this is good for chris christie. if he wants to fundraise, this doesn't hurt. politicians like to keep their names out in the hopes they'll be remembered in 2016. chris christie appears to be weren't ever those. daniels, marco rubio is another. playing for the next cycle, not this one. >> talk about sarah palin. quickly, on greta van suss gr show last night. >> the former alaska governor basically said she likes to play the maverick and running the president might get in the way of that. >> in other words, she probably won't? >> as a title and as a campaign, too shackling. does that prohibit me from being out there? i'm out of a box, not allowing handlers to shape me.

>> reporter: and, carol, the reality is, here's the reality -- both candidates are running up against looming fall deadlines to get on the ballots for next year's primary. for example, florida's deadline is at the end of october. if you're not on the bam llot f florida, carol, you are not running for president. i talked to a longtime republican strategist, ed rollins, extremely difficult to set up a campaign for president on the fly. basically what both governors would have to do and basically a month from now. >> jim acosta reporting live from washington. thanks. >> reporter: you bet. still to come this morning, jurors in the michael jackson death trial hear a chilling audiotape from the king of pop. we'll have analysis of the trial's first day. and a test-taking scheme uncovered on long island. six high school students allegedly paid a former classmate to take the s.a.t.s for them. and the scandal is still growing. the old saying says you can't fight city hall. what about wall street?

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it is 13 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. the manslaughter trial of dr. conrad murray, michael jackson's personal physician, resuming later this morning. a dramatic and emotional first day in court. perhaps most memorable and most disturbing, an audiotape of jackson taken in the weeks before he died. he was barely coherent, slurring his words, and dr. conrad murray, he broke down several times at the defense table. joins with analysis, paul cowen, cnn's criminal contributor and a legal defense attorney. let's talk about this. while defense attorneys were presenting opening arguments, dr. murray broke down in tears.

they're saying he did the best he could with a man clearly addicted to drugs. he was doing what he thought was best for michael jackson. how do you think that came off? >> the sympathy aspect will be really important for the defense here. as a matter of fact, i'm going to name this defense. i think it's the good samaritan defense. you've heard of the twinkie defense and some other defenses. here's what the defense is saying. the defense is saying when poor dr. murray got involved with his good friend michael jackson, jackson was already addicted to drugs and had been addicted by other doctors, and they had been giving him propofol, and dr. murray was desperately trying to wean michael jackson from those drugs. and as a result, on the night in question, he had given michael jackson only a tiny amount of propofol to help him get to sleep, and then michael jackson self-administered enough additional drug to kill himself. so like a doctor arriving at the scene of an accident or a train wreck, you know, there are laws

in all the sthats sates saying doctor can't be sued if trying to help someone out and make as mistake. they're called good samaritan defense. >> let's talk about that good samaritan defense, because also introduced at trial by the prosecution was this audiotape taken from the doctor's iphone. let's listen to it and talk about it later. this is michael jackson. [ mumbling ] >> when people leave my show, i want them to say, i've never seen nothing like this in my life. go. go. >> so the prosecution says dr. murray had this conversation with michael jackson. he knew michael jackson was terribly addicted to drugs. especially in the weeks before he died. and conrad murray continued to give him these drugs. >> well, and that, you know, that video and that audio, i

should say, there were video presentations and pictures as well. it was so hollywood. you know, in california, they try a murder case and all of a sudden you know, you've got all this audiovisual stuff, media stuff, it was all presented, but that tape, that audiois chilling. it says to the jury, this is a guy terribly sick. depending on a doctor to protect him. and what does the doctor do, prescribes propofol. a drug only allowed to be used in operating rooms with an anesthesiologist present. and the claim, murray was unqualified to administer the drug, and this really hurts. charging $150,000 a month as his fee to jackson. now, does that sound like you're hiring a drug dealer? it certainly does. but he happens to be a doctor. >> how about the good samaritan pass? >> it's a hail mary pass for the

defense. and it's really going to come down to this, and we get back to your first question. sympathy. if in the end the jury likes dr. murray, and if in the end the jury says, you know, a celebrity like michael jackson has the ability to go out and hire any doctor. they spend a lot of money. if it wasn't mariaurray, wouldnt be somebody else? is it fair to single out dr. murray and convict him of murder? the defense with this approach gives the jury something to hang their hat on. he was trying to wean him from the propofol. >> uh-huh. >> even though he knew it was improper to give his propofol. what would michael jackson have done if conrad murray hadn't come along? murray was trying to save him doing this unorthodox medical practice. i don't know if it will work. i think the prosecutor put a very, very strong case on the

boards, but it's a very inventive, unusual defense, and we'll have to see how the jury reacteds. >> a final question, we need to keep it brief. this jury, it's astounding to me that this jury can be impartial in this case? >> it is astounding. seven men, five women, who are not sequestered, and the press coverage is unbelievable. have they formed opinions before? i will tell you they did a questionnaire with the jurors. most are michael jackson fan. most had some knowledge of the case, but all said they would base their vorerdict on the evidence. we've done high-profile cases in the past. did it in the o.j. simpson case. jurors promising they're only base their verd ict on the evidence in the case. >> casey anthony -- >> they were sequestered. >> so much before the case began, that jury seemed to know

a lot and came out with a verdict totally add ots. public opinion says casey anthony's guilty. more often than not jurors surprise us even in the high-profile cases. >> i think you're right about that. thanks, paul. appreciate it. let's go to florida. to broward county where rob marciano joins us. oh, what a beautiful sunrise, rob. >> reporter: oh, it is spectacular out here this morning, carol. the sun coming up over the everglades. the magnificent birds are beginning to wake up looking for a bit of breakfast. also waking up, our nation's capital, the goings-on go far beyond politics. a live shot of the washington monument. of interest today, they'll try to rappel down that thing and check out the damage from the earthquake last month. they got ready to do that yesterday, but tlunder and lightning in the area did not allow them to do that. they're going to try to saddle

up again today. there's already thunder and lightning. maybe this afternoon things will be more quiet. they want to see how bad it is before they reopen it to the publpu pupu publ publ public. here's a satellite, showing rain. over-saturated ground, eastern pennsylvania. new jersey, in a flash flood watch in some cases through tomorrow morning pap potential of seeing one to three inches of rainfall on top of what you're already seeing. fairly sporadic. when it comes down it comes down fairly heavily. the. >> news, this whole pattern should schaech ohake out throug weekend. more stable air. until then, the unsettled stuff continues. live from the everglades, deep in the everglades, where the mosquitoes have lightened up a bit and the skies are getting lighter. >> you needed to bring your off.

appreciate it. now's your chance to "talk back" on one of the stories of the day. our question this morning, are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? i know. it's a strange question when there are hallmark cards for everything. birthdays and kwanzaa and valentine's day, depression, divorce, cancer. yes, cancer. well, hallmark's latest, unemployment. hallmark launched a line of job loss cards. that's right. if a loved one just lost their job and is on the edge of bankruptcy, just send them a card. imagine them opening up that card and experiencing this hallmark moment. is there anywhere -- is there anywhere i could hack up a hairball like on a former employer's head? other messages are a little more thoughtful, like this one about taking the lemon life gives you and making a martini with a twist. you'll handle this like everything else in life. in your own unique way and everything will be more than okay. a psychiatrist says although

hallmark is working on a niche, it works for some. cards for people who lost their jobs are a reflection of the times. hallmark customers were asking for these cards to offer support to their friends or family going through a difficult time. people in need always look for ways to connect. maybe i'm being a tad harsh, with unemployment perhaps the biggest fear in america, i'm not sure a hallmark moment will make it better. or can it? the "talk back" question, are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your responses a little later. it's 22 past the hour. the,

i know pleasing fans is a top priority, 'cause without the fans, there'd be no nascar. just like if it weren't for customers, there'd be no nationwide. that's why they serve their customers' needs,

not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide doesn't report to wall street, they report to their customers. and that's just one more reason why the earnhardt family has trusted nationwide for more than 30 years. nationwide is on your side. 26 after the hour. welcome back. stocks are up on hopes europe's debt crisis is in the process of being solved. this morning, new concern about the bailout for greece and it

could be in jeopardy. according to the financial times, euro zone members are split over the terms to the agreement. arguing the private sector put more money in. and mortgage applications in the united states up slightly last week. more people are taking advantage of the low, low mortgage rates and refinancing, but a glut in home purchasing is still holding back a number of mortgage applications. later we'll learn from durable goods are up. things that last more than tleen years, things like planes and cars. accordal to aaa, down $3.47. lower than the record set in july of 2008. the popular ipad expected to get more competition. humors are, amazon's kindle fire, able to stream movies and tv shows. and apple is expected to unveil the long awaited iphone 5

at a precedent next two. 15 months since the iphone 4 was announced. among the upgrades, bigger screen, better cameras, voice recognition and more carriers. "american morning" is back right after this break. [ woman ] my grocery bill isn't wasteful spending. [ woman ] my heart medication isn't some political game. [ man ] our retirement isn't a simple budget line item.

[ man ] i worked hard. i paid into my medicare. [ man ] and i earned my social security. [ woman ] now, instead of cutting waste and loopholes, washington wants to cut our benefits? that wasn't the agreement. [ male announcer ] join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits.

top stories -- the iranian navy threatening to move navy ships near the u.s. east coast. the announcement coming from an iranian naval commander. a state-run news agency says the move is in response to the presence of u.s. warships in the gulf. the u.s. had no immediate response. chris christie's new jersey governor gave a speech at the reagan national library last night, many hoping he might make a big announcement. >> are you reconsidering, or are you standing firm? [ applause ] >> listen, i have to tell you the truth. you folks are an incredible disappointment as an audience.

the fact that that took -- the second question -- shows you people are off your game. that is not american exceptionalism. >> deflected. governor christie told audience members he's incredibly flattered and touched by all the support. jurors this morning will hear from michael jackson's assistant about the chaos moments after dr. conrad murray realized jackson had stopped breathing. jurors heard an audio recording of a barely coherent jackson weeks before his death and saw a picture of him dead on a hospital gurney. prosecutors blamed murray for jackson's death saying he reportedly gave him the deadly sleep aid propofol. the defense says jackson gave himself the fatal overdose.

an alleged s.a.t. cheating ring busted. several people are under arrest on long island, new york. sam eshacoff, arrested. scored a 2200 out of 2400. concern the test-taking scandal could grow. joining us, district attorney kath reen rice from nassau county. i can't believe this story. >> it's really unbelievable when you think about it. this weekend hundreds of thousands of high school students are going to sit for the s.a.t.s, and i think the message has to be sent loud and clear that if you cheat, you're going to get caught, and you're not going to be able to go to the college of your dream. that's the most incredible thing about this. there are kids, who most kids study really hard and doed right thing. these kids didn't. >> so this kid would impersonate -- how did this

work? so he -- how did the kids find out about him, i guess? and then how did he pose as them and take the test? >> sam eshacoff graduated from the high school. it's likely he knew some of the kids for whom he took the test and had a great business deal going. he would make up the fake school i.d. went to different test centers so the proctors wouldn't recognize him. stat for the test. he's incredibly smart. tested in the 90 percentile. these kids had access to money. the school administration after hearing rumors some kids were cheating actually did an investigation and compared these test scores that were, again, 97 percenttime to the gpas these students were carrying. such a wide gulf between the two that it raised a big red flag. >> so he charged $2,500. that's a lot of money for any high school student to come up

with. >> enormous amount of money, when you think about how much money the kids who play by rules have to pay to take the s.a.t. prep schoolers, to get tutors. the real victims of the students who do everything right. study hard, work hard to get a high gpa, study hard, take the courses to do well on the s.a.t.s and get into a good field. we have to level the playing field. when kids get caught cheating, there is to be held accountable. >> why i was asking that question, 2500 bucks, makes you wonder if the parents were involved? >> in this case we don't have evidence that the parent were involved. look, we're talking about an area where there is enormous amount of pressure. not just from parents to the children, but on the children themselves, in the school that they go to. this is a very high-performance school. one of the highest performing schools in the country. what we need to do and talk about as a national issue, ets

is the nonprofit organization that administers the testened do it across the country. kids across the country are taking tests. we need ets to tighten security at the test centers. take a picture of each student as they come to take the test, and attach that pick color to the test results. they're sent to the high school. so there can be a check and balance to ensure that the child who showed up to take the test is actually the student who is, whose name is on that test. >> i found it interesting that you guys chose to also charge the kids who paid this kid to take the s.a.t.s for them. >> well, there's no -- without these six students willing to pay him to take the test for them. i think that the criminal justice system is going to deal with them as it will, but the way that you hold kids accountable, the way thaw hold kids accountable for cheating, like these kids did, is to ensure that when this scandal, if this scandal ever happens again, and we don't know yet how

broad this is going to be, but when this happens, there has to be a mechanism by which the colleges these kids are applying to are informed that they cheated on the test. whether from ets informing the school. right now all they do is withdraw the score. they don't tell the colleges why. and i think the high schools have to have the responsibility of informing the schools that these kids are applying to as well. >> so the guy that took the test, if he's convicted, what could be his sentence? >> he is charged with an efelony and faces up to four years in priz prison. look, he's a smart kid but should have been using his brain in a different way. he's obviously in college himself now and going to have time to think about the mistakes he made, but the message has to be clear. we have to level the playing field so that honest kids are not bump out a seat in the college of their choice because of a kid ahead of them because they cheated. >> the cheaters are going to

juvenile court. probably no time in a detention center at all, but there will be consequences, most likely? >> i think, my hope is there will be consequences and certainly going forward my hope is that by sending this message, especially now when just four days, three days from now, on saturday, kids will be sitting for this exam. the kids have to understand that they can't cheat, and if they cheat they're going to get caught, and they're really putting in jeopardy the rest of their educational career. might not be able to go to the college of their choice. that's a big penalty. >> oh, yeah. that's a big, big penalty. not only for the kid but for the parent these days. >> absolutely. >> kathleen rice, thank you for joining us this morning. appreciate it. ali. >> thanks, carol. coming up, protesters against wall street are digging in. what do they want to accomplish? do they have a clear goal? alison kosik has more. it's 38 after the hour. two of the most important are energy security

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good morning, new york. it is cloudy outside. 69 degrees. raining when i came in. >> me, too, yeah. >> just a little dlizally. expected showers with a high of 70 degrees. >> welcome back. so they say they are marching for the average american. hundreds of protesters for days have been out on the streets in lower manhattan trying to call attention to what they say is greed and corruption in the financial system. remarkable they've caught up with this whole idea several years after the financial collapse. alison kosik joins us live. she went out and spoke to smfr t some of the organizers. any sense of their goal? i saw their tweets. looks more like a tweeter movement than an actual protest? >> kind of is. what's their goal? it's hard for them to pinpoint what their goal is and put it in one sentence.

the grievances are a mile wide. asking for a four-day workweek. yeah, all over the map. one thing really stood out to me when i was out there talking to the protesters, that is, they believe in their cause or causes and now are actually getting some celebrity help. on day 11 of occupy wall street, the number of protesters didn't appear to be growing, but their star power was. >> i think that all change starts from the bottom up, and i think people have gotten tired of hearing the same -- little news quotes every day, day in and day out and it's time for a new paradigm. >> reporter: protesters descend and lower manhattan to express outrage against a financial system she say is broken, but no one can agree on how to fix it. >> most people agree, you're right. the system isn't working for most average americans. so that's what we want to focus on. what do we agree on?

what do we as americans agree on and what can we do about it? >> reporter: organizers say that lo lack of focus hasn't stopped them from growing but skewing skepticism about what they're doing this gives you an idea how much different demands they have. >> social and economic reform. >> reporter: but it's clearly a protest against corporate america and wall street yet it's a big corporation these protesters are relying on to get their message out. >> you bought a computer from one of the most valuable companies in this country. >> apple. >> the most valuable company. it flies in the face of what you're sitting here for day after day? >> i think that's a very good point and it is true that this mac is, represents the values that i'm not, but i'm just one person, and 90% of my life is in the direction i want to be.

>> reporter: one of hundreds who really believe in their cause, so much so they've traveled hundreds of miles to be here. >> it's a matter of working the same job for next to nothing for the rest of my life or creating a system in which there is an opportunity for advancement. >> reporter: has your boss called you yet? >> i called in and told him there was a family emergency. >> reporter: i think he's going to know the truth now. >> i hope not. >> another ironic moment. josh talking how he pretty much ditched his job, paid addses 250 airline ticket to come to the protests and a lot of protesting they're college educated and can't get jobs yet this guy left his job because he believes in the cause. we can understand that. >> how many people did you talk to? i mean, we heard from three who didn't seem to have it all together, frankly, but there are plenty of others down there. >> i talked to a good amount of people and talked to bystanders. people walking down wall street

grabbing lunch. they asked me what is the message? they don't know what the message is. they run the gamut. the focus is the issue that these protesters are -- >> we've seen this at g-20s or at world bank events, things like that, where it attracts a group of protesters who are generally dissatisfied with the social structure, but one of the things that's happened in the last few years, we've had a movement dissatisfied for other reasons, formed the tea party and got a lot of people elected to the house of presentati irep and things could be protested in washington, like the fact there's no head to the consumer protection bureau. i'd love to hear if they have a view on that and protest somebody's office as opposed to this generalized protest about stuff that isn't working so well. >> maybe they'll tweet you. >> oh, they've been tweeting. thank you, alison, for telling us what's going on down there. morning headlines coming

your way next and our "talk back" question of the morning. are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? we'll read your responses. it's 46 past the hour. and good news for father. why men who have children live longer. 46 after the hour. i'm going to have that for you on the other side. stay with us. [ female ] we will always be dependent on foreign oil.

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jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. 48 minutes part the hour. here are your headlines. wall street's rally may continue. there are concerns in europe the eu is now split on the bailout for greece. a titanic struggle. that's what it will take to get president obama re-elected, according to his own campaign manager, david axelrod. axelrod says the economy and its

gridlock congress are tough obstacles to overcome but believes the president will prevail because "he's on the right side of the struggle." chris christie, he's been kind of mum. the new jersey governor delivered a foreign policy speech at the reagan library in california last night. republicans were hoping for a big announcement. when asked if he's running for president, christie deflected the question saying he's touched by all the support. after 41 years on the run a notorious airline hijacker george wright is now in custody in portugal. the convicted murderer escaped from prison in 1970 and hijacked a plane to get to algeria. no trace of him for decades. he's now 68 years old. a long island college student and six former classmates under arrest in an alleged s.a.t. cheating ring. authorities say 19-year-old sam eshagoff at great neck north high school. they say he scored as high as

2240 out of 2,400 for them. day two of testimony during the michael jackson trial. a chilling audiotape of jackson just weeks before he died. lawyer accuse dr. conrad murray of repeatedly giving jackson the drug propofol to help him sleep. the defense says jackson is to blame himself for that fatal overdose. jared loughner to decide whether he is competent to stand trial. he has been on suicide watch and he's been forced to take his meds in prison. and andy rooney, one of america's most famous curmujens is signing off "60 minutes." his last regular appearance on the cbs broadcast. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after a break.

good morning, atlanta. it is 63 and sunny. that is a beautiful atlanta morning. partly cloudy later on, about 83 degrees. >> awesome. >> yeah. good morning to you, the listeria outbreak from canada is one of the most deadliest outbreak in the united states in a decade. 13 deaths are now linked to the tainted fruit. the illnesses have been reported in 18 states from california to maryland. investigators say the source of the outbreak appears to be jansing farms in the rocky ford region of colorado. >> just seems healthy for you. costing you more to insure your family. a family of four, look at this,

is paying $15,000 for health insurance. that's up 9%. that is the largenist creast in the history of the survey. it is not clear if this is a one-time hike. a new study finds two-thirds of teenagers here in the united states are getting less than eight hours of sleep on school nights and that lack of sleep, according to researchers, could lead to risky behaviors like drug and alcohol use, low physical activity and feeling sad or helpless. sort of like -- >> that seems like a stretch, don't you think? eight of hohours of sleep feels a luxury to most people, even who don't work to those hours. >> teenagers supposedly need more sleep than grownups do. they need nine or ten hours of sleep. >> come on. >> honestly, i've heard that. >> nine or ten hours of sleep. >> they're young, they're growing, they need that. >> all right. good news for dear old dad,

137,000 men found those without kids were at a 17% greater risk of dying from cardio vascular disease. the study's author says why fathers are less likely to die from heart disease, but one that kids influence dad to boost their overall health. that makes some sense. >> you buy that one, huh? >> i think for the early years kids influence dad to eat the food on their plate. unhealthy for the first ten years but then they're physically active and run around with them. we ask you this question in our talk back segment. are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? this is from laura. i don't want one. save the five bucks or if you must spend it to show your support, take me out for a drink. it's not like i have to get up in the morning. this from barb, inappropriate. kind would be a card saying thinking of you, with a monetary gift included. they're inappropriate because job loss is no laughing matter

and many people are very sensitive when talking about it. however, it is a way to show that you care to some degree. hone honestly, get them a sympathy card, they work just as well. you know, one of those wlablank ones. oh, we heard about your job loss. we are sorry this from jonathan. we spend a lot of money on greeting cards for all occasions, most of which are made-up anyway? a personal note or face-to-face is far more appropriate. interesting comments this morning. facebook.com/americanmorning, if you would like to join the conversation. all right, our top stories when we return, including iran's navy is planning to send ships near the u.s. coast. is it time to pan sic? we're live at the pentagon with more on this. it's 56 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] it's a fact:

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iran with a real attention getter. i'm carol costello.

the nation planning a threatening move putting navy ships off the u.s. coast. what is iran trying to prove and who are they trying to test? i'm ali velshi. republicans were hoping to hear a big announcement. chris christie delivering a foreign policy address at the reagan library could have been the perfect place to announce a bid for the white house, but the new jersey governor is still keeping us guessing on this "american morning." good morning to you, it is wednesday, september 28th. christine has the day off. a lot of news to follow. we'll tell you about chris christie in a minute. tough talk from iran. the country is threatening to move navy ships very close to american waters saying the u.s. does the same thing to them. barbara starr has more on this from the pentagon. barbara, what's going on? >> well, you know, ali, i talked to some of my sources here at the pentagon what they thought about all of this and i got to tell you, i got some rolling eyeballs when they were talking

about this announcement by iran. look, international waters are open to everybody. the u.s. navy is happy to let iran sail into international waters, not into u.s. waters, though. but these kind of maritime operations international naval operations that iran is talking about is a lot harder and a lot more expensive than you might think at first blush. they're going to have to, if they want to do this, a very highly trained force and they're going to have to have ships and airplanes and refuel, resupply and stay at sea for months. that's something they haven't had a lot of practice with in iran. earlier this year, they sent some ships through the suez canal into the mediterranean. that's about the furtherest they've ever gone. if they want to do this, the reaction at the pentagon is, have at it. it will cost you a lot and is it what you really want to do? what message are you trying to send? >> i was just going to ask you

that. what is iran's real goal here? >> you know, a lot of the thinking is that iran is very determined to be perceived as a power on the world stage. their nuclear program, their political moves, their support for some bad actors in the region that they live in. but, you know, going all the way to the east coast of the united states, what does that really get them? much of the thinking is that iran will stick to its naval military strategy of being the power in the persian gulf. their focus for so many years has been to be able to control those vital shipping lanes through the gulf, that's what they might be a lot better suited to, according to a lot of pentagon officials. >> all right, intriguing story, barbara, thanks very much for that. also this morn, drama in the courtroom. chilling audio from the king of pop just weeks before he died. michael jackson's barely coherent and slurring his words.

it's part of the prosecution's case against dr. conrad murray, who they say is to blame for jackson's fatal drug overdose. don lemon outside the courthouse in los angeles. tell us about this audio recording. >> it came from dr. murray's iphone. that's according to the people, the prosecutors yesterday. apparently, the investigators in this case got it off of his iphone, a recording there. and according to someone who testified yesterday, they said that was shortly after dr. conrad murray started to treat michael jackson. let's listen, carol, and then we'll talk about it. >> when people leave my show, i want them to say i've never seen nothing like this in my life. go. go. i've never seen nothing like

this. go. it's amazing. he is the greatest entertainer in the world. >> okay. so, when they played that in court, we were wondering, what is that? is that michael jackson? we couldn't understand it. we couldn't see the words up on the screen like you're seeing them there on the screen. and everyone just sort of looked around like, what in the world is that? and the family, as well. if that wasn't bad enough, carol, this photograph of michael jackson in the hospital on a gurney, his lifeless body. we were agasp when we saw that and the family, as wem. the jurors, the look on the jurors' faces when that picture popped up, carol and ali, it was -- i can't even explain what it was like to you to be inside of that courtroom and to just --

you could hear a pin drop. >> i bet. the reason behind the release of this audiotape by prosecutors and the release of this photo is to show that dr. conrad murray knew that michael jackson was addicted to drugs, yet, he continued to administer these heavy doses of drug to michael jackson. >> yes, yes. yes. and that's what the prosecutor said. listen, i want to tell you, though, that the defense in this case said, hey, listen, you know, dr. conrad murray gave michael jackson propofol and these drugs for two months and michael jackson went on about his life and he functioned. it was when he stopped giving it to him when he took his life. that's what their defense is. that's what happened. but i have to tell you, you know, ali and carol. we all have parents, we all have families and this has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of dr. conrad murray. but imagine sitting there, as i was and many of the members of the press and jurors and having to witness not only that, but

the family, the mother of michael jackson having to see that and live this all over again. i mean, everyone was on the verge of tears. it was unbelievable to see. >> don lemon reporting live from los angeles, thanks. for complete coverage and analysis of the michael jackson death trial check out our sister network, hln. a 2008 jailhouse videotape of casey anthony reacting to the news that her daughter, caylee, remains were found. a local tv station is fighting for it. the original judge in the case ruled three years ago that the tape could not be introduced into court because it would hurt casey's chances of getting a fair trial. the accused gunman jared loughner due back in court today to decide if he is stable enough to stand trial. he has been forced to take his meds in prison. he is accused of killing six

people and wounding 13 others, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords seen here on the house floor on august 1st for the debt ceiling vote. a long island college student and six former classmates are now under arrest. 19-year-old sam was paid $2,500 to take the s.a.t.s. he scored as high as 2,200 out of 2,400 for them. a cupcake sell dout on the campus of uc berkeley. they say it was meant to be racist and to get people fired up about a bill on the governor's desk that would allow colleges to consider ethnic backgrounds in the admissions process. there was no violence, but neither side backed down. >> before the bake sale met it was to start discussion about

this politically incensensitive topic. i think if we had any type of forum or discussion about it, it wouldn't have reached local news. national or international. >> it's very offensive. i'm offended. it's fine making a point, but you can make a point at our expense. people like me. >> hundreds of students staged a mass lay down in opposition to the republican bake sale. president obama reaching out to hispanic voters in an online round table later this morning. going to be answering questions about issues that affect latinos. the event streamed live on the white house website and president obumma will also visit a washington, d.c., high school where he will deliver his third annual back to school speech to students. someone at the white house needs a refresher course in geography. take a look at the press credentials given to reporters who are covering the president's west coast trip. see how the three highlights are highlighted there. visiting, washington state,

california and colorado. that's not colorado, that's wyoming. this is the real state of colorado, a little south and east, but, hey, they're both rectangular and have really pretty mountains. he sure sounded presidential, but if chris christie has plans to run for president in 2012, he is playing it coy. a lot of republicans were looking to hear a big announcement from the governor when he delivered a foreign policy speech at the reagan library, but that's not what they got. >> are you reconsidering or are you standing firm? >> listen. i have to tell you the truth. you folks are an incredible disappointment as an audience. the fact that that took to second question. shows you people are off your game. that is not american exceptionalism.

>> all right, so, will he or won't he run? let's ask john ablon and maggie haberman senior political writer for "politico." last night you and i and your wife were together at an event and you were convinced, as was she, that he's not going to run. this is the first time he has been asked where he has actually been coy about this. he hasn't been coy. listen to some of the responses he has given every other time he's asked. >> i don't feel ready in my heart to be president. >> i don't feel like i'm ready to be president. i don't have the ability to run for president. >> i'm not stupid. i see the opportunity. i see it. that's not the reason to run. i threaten to commit suicide. i did. i said, what do i have to do

short of suicide to convince people i'm not running. apparently, i have to commit suici suicide. last night was different. he was coy. >> he was somewhat coy but did go on to say, i did not feel it and that's the true. he said 100% not running. like that old snl skit, he's not running. the story hasn't changes. i think his team is enjoying all the interest. he is a national republican leader and gave a great speech last night and he's not running. >> i don't totally agree. i don't think he is running, but i do think he is considering it. his answer last night is very different. this is not the straight talk, i'll go lay down in the street and kill myself answer. this was, you know, i am hearing what you have to say. that woman who asked him a question at the end, he is listening to what people are saying to him and he is taking that in. that was absolutely not, i'm not ready, i'm not feeling it.

what he has said at every other turn. i don't think this will end up in a campaign but he's thinking about it and wants people to know he's thinking about it. >> it's donors. there are people with money who have not put their money behind mitt romney. they have not put their money behind rick perry and they are saying, get into this race and we'll back you. >> that's the real news here. i think it's the highest level donors and party recognized that, frankly, it is a weak field. no one representing the strong center right. but isn't far right on social issues necessarily and i think that's the real news out of this whole courtship of chris christie. it's been a fascinating process. they're coming around, again, and they're stirring up this pot because they want to pressure him through the media, as well. >> not taking no for an answer. and repeatedly coming back month after month. he is giving it a moment's thought. i don't think he'll run, but last night was interesting. >> if he ran, how would it change the race? >> he would suck all the oxygen

out of the room in two seconds. the path is not very clear, but very problematic for mitt romney because they would draw from very similar areas. supporters, donors, voters. i think it would set up this epic battle between him and rick perry because rick perry is not going to gently go into that. >> he would take support -- >> he's not so interested on the social issues. >> no. here's what's fascinating. one of the first strong indications this straw party straw poll which he won. you listened to that speech last night, what is fascinating he is talking about leadership and criticizing the president for failure of leadership and principal compromise. >> it was also not a message of strict hard right moment that this party is in right now. he was talking not in the neocon vain of go out and attack everyone who we think is hurting our interest overseas.

he was very much more pick and choose. a lot more jon huntsman. >> i think chris christie probably would do a little better than that, but chris christie is not tested either. but could he take one? >> the northeastern elite conservatives, including "the wall street journal" endorse jon huntsman or his economic -- >> his plan. >> you know what i mean. the northeast money that hassant committed itself yet hasn't got itself a candidate and certainly hasn't got itself a candidate the main stream republican primary voters seem to be interested in. >> is this chris christie's time? he is unapologetic and it is all about strong leadership. so, that's a real question. only been in office two years and he doesn't feel ready, but is this his time? >> the national stage is different, as rick perry is seeing. >> there have been concerns about his health. they popped up. he's quite overweight. he said he's trying to tackle

that. quite overweight and something about breath and asthma. can that affect him and does that change when he gets into a race. does that guy have stamina and run that anyway? >> that was a blip that concerned a lot of people, especially those supporting him. you never understand how rigorous a campaign is at a presidential level until you are in it. that would be in the back of a lot of people's minds, not the least of which would be his and his families. >> does he do what mike huckabee did? lose a lot of weight and play that. >> he owns it. he says, look, i'll deal with it. that's part of what people like. people want uth enticity. >> no question about that. great talking to you both. john has a great piece right now because of our in depth coverage

on cnn about broken government. called politics as ideological blood sport. check it out on cnn.com/am. >> you always come up with these good things. blood sport. i like it. chris christie's funny. i think that's his biggest asset. the man is funny. >> yes. he makes people laugh. still ahead, incredible video. an underground gas leak actually sets a road on fire. so, how do firefighters put out the flames and what exactly is underneath the street? plus, no more rain. much of the country wondering this morning when we will see the sun again. plus, new action in the tropics. rob is all over that from a very special place in florida. love the skin you're in. that's the message from new children's book author and actor taye diggs. he joins us in our studio and i'm pretty excited about that. [ oswald ] there's a lot of discussion going on about the development of natural gas,

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good morning, washington. engineers probably starting to decide if they're going to repel down the washington monument again this morning. there are going to be thunderstorms and they were really worried about lightning yesterday, which is why they cut short their mission to find out if there was any more damage to the washington monument. we'll let you know what they decide. >> rob marciano in the florida everglades this morning. talk to us about the weather and why you're there. >> for one thing, we're here to do a story on reptiles and amphibians. muggy down here. it's muggy across the northeast. we'll talk more about reptiles in the next half an hour. the problem with this weather pattern is it's been kind of stuck in a rut. so, as clear and calm right now across d.c., you had thunderstorms earlier and you probably have some later on today. there's the pinwheeling motion that we become so familiar with and unsettled weather.

the problem is when it does rain, it will come down fairly heavily and we had reports of flooding across northeast pennsylvania. there you go, flash flood warning and potentially water rescues happening even as we speak. most of which will be through tonight and tomorrow morning and an initial one to two, to three inches of rainfall on top of what they've seen in places like philly and allentown, pa, and northwestern parts of jersey. already seen 9 of 11 inches of rainfall for the month. they don't need any more, that's for sure. all stuck in a cutoff low. basically this low is cut off from the main stream. when that happens, that doesn't move very much. we have been stuck in this very unsettled weather pattern but a disturbance come down from canada and also bring down cooler air and more stable air as we go towards the weekend and until then things will be a little bit on the steamy side. it is steamy down here and sun comes up over the everglades here in south florida.

florida is a state that has a problem with reptiles, amphibians that don't belong here. nonnative, invasive species that have been blown up because of the pet trade. we'll talk more about that story in the next half hour. guys? >> can't wait. thank you, rob. a strange and pretty scary sight on the road in california. take a look at this. the middle of the street is on fire and the fire is spreading. it looks like a barbecue. it's not that far off, actually. utility crews say a gas line ruptured underneath the road last night. burning when it hit the air. nearby businesses were evacuated and firefighters said the burn was a good thing because they didn't have to look for the leak. that's a glass half full way of saying it. they dug 50 feet on each side to cap the leak. your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. actually a story of the day. are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? i know, it's a strange question

when there are hallmark cards for everything. birthday, kwanzaa, depression, divorce, cancer, yes, cancer. hallmark's latest, unemployment. it's launched a line of job loss cards. if a loved one is on the edge of bankeranruptc bankruptcy, send a card. imagine them experiencing this hallma hallmark moment. is there anywhere i could hack up a hairball? like on a former employer's head? you'll handle this like you do everything else, in your own unique way and everything will be more than okay. psychiatrist gale salt said t t thatnes does work for some people. cards for people who have lost their jobs are a reflection of our times. hallmark customers were asking for these cards to offer support to their friends and family

going through a difficult time. maybe i'm just being a tad harsh, but with unemployment perhaps the biggest fear in america right now, i'm not sure a hallmark moment can make it better or can it? the talk back question today. are job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. great response to this question this morning. keep them coming. >> very good responses. a check of the early morning markets next. apple next generation iphone 5 is finally coming. what can we expect from the new model? we have the short list of things.

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27 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. right now u.s. stock futures are higher. stocks have closed higher for the past three days on hopes that europe's debt crisis is closer to being resolved. this morning, concerns about the bailout for greece and it could be in jeopardy. euro zone members are now split over the terms of the loan. a new report says the number of mortgage applications in the u.s. was slightly higher. a lull in home purchasing is still holding back the number of mortgage applications. the popular ipad could be abut to get new competition. this morning amazon expected to reveal its new tablet computer. it will be able to stream movies and tv shows. apple is expected to unveil the long awaited iphone 5 at a press event next tuesday. 15 months since the iphone 4 was announced. a new better design, better

cameras, voice recognition and more carriers. a fugitive hijacker from new jersey is caught overseas. that amazing story, next. life insurance companies

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31 minutes past the hour 37 welcome back to "american morning." sources inside the pentagon now reacting to a threat from iran to move their navy ships near the u.s. east coast. told our barbara starr, the pentagon, that is, it's fine as long as iran stays in international waters, but the pentagon also announced iran has the know how to play it off. chris christie playing it coy for president. delivered a speech at the reagan library in california last night. many republicans were hoping he might have a big announcement. >> do it for my daughter, do it for our grandchildren, do it for our sons. please, sir, don't -- we need you. your country needs you to run for president.

>> it's extraordinarily appreciated. but that is also not a reason for me to do it. that reason has to reside inside me. jurors this morning will hear from michael jackson's personal assistant about the chaotic moments after dr. conrad murray realized jackson stopped breathing. jurors heard an audio recording of jackson before his death and saw a picture of him dead on a hospital gurney. they claim he repeatedly gave him the drug propofol as a sleep aid. the defense claims murray was trying to wean him off the drug and they sajakson gave himself a fatal overdose. a convicted killer and airline hijacker that once forced to deliver ransom money

in only their bathing suits was arrested in portugal. how police got their big break. >> absolutely. you know, u.s. marshals have been tracking him for about a decade and got hit a hit with po portuguese authorities. about an hour from lisbon just off the coast. he was living there under an assumed name. the fbi agent in charge said, "even after 40 years the commitment of law enforcement is unwavering." now, the story is remarkable in the early '60s wroilight was convicted of killing a world war ii veteran during a gas robbery. he escaped in the warden's car and made his way to detroit where he joined up with the black liberation army. then in 1972, wright along with four other liberation members hijacked a miami-bound delta flight out of detroit. he was dressed as a priest and he smuggled a gun onboard in a

hollowed out bible. once the lane landed they demand $1 million in cash for the release of some 80 passengers. fbi agents were told to wear bathing suits and deliver the money on to the tarmac. this was a way of ensuring that they weren't carrying any guns. the hijackers kept the crew onboard and forced the pilots to fly to boston, refueled, took on another pilot and then flew across the atlantic to algeria where they asked for asylum. the government there briefly detained and then released them. the million dollars, most asked in ransom money, was returned along with the plane, but the other hijackers, ultimately, about four years later were arrested and wright remained on the run. he is fighting exrudition and expected to be in court in about two weeks. >> we don't know what he was doing in portugal for all this time. >> no. it is very interesting. the there are ways of finding people and one of them is simply waiting. that may sound kind of

simplistic yet, every now and again what happens is these people who have been gone for so long feel the need to connect with family and that's one way that people just wait and watch and listen. so, but it takes time and it takes patience. they have been working on this since 2002. >> does the u.s. have an extradition agreement with portugal? is he likely to be extradited? >> it is unclear at this particular point. depends on how much he fights and some time before he arrives back on the united states soil. he may just give up because he's still facing the murder charges. it was a sentence up to 30 years and then the hijacking charges and the other people ontime the plane did serve time for air piracy. he's facing both of those right now. going to be a long time. >> thank you, deb. he's an actor, a father and now taye diggs can add children's book author to his resume. taye diggs here live in our studios to talk about "chocolate me." it's 35 minutes past.

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39 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "american morning." he starred in the hit broadway show, "rent," "chicago" and you also know him as dr. sam bennett in the hit series "private practice." here's something you may not know about taye diggs. author of a new children's book called "chocolate me." he joins us this morning to tell us what it is about. >> thank you for having me. >> the book is called "chocolate me!" i'll read a little passage from the book. >> what a treat. >> it was a fun book to read. this is the passage. you have skin like velvet fudge frosting mixed in a bowl, you can lick the spoon. cotton candy hair soft to the

touch of my fingertips and your smile, she says, and she's a mom, makes me so happy i could cry. no amount of money could buy how it makes me feel, for real, it's perfect. what are you trying to -- >> thank you. i thought that was quite nice. >> thank you very much. it's quite a nice passage, actually. and why did you write it? >> well, let me give you the short version. i wrote a poem in college when i was very self-reflective about this period in my life and i was 5 living in this neighborhood where none of the kids looked like me. you know, kids would be kids they made fun of me and i went to my mother and asked her these questions. why can't i be, why aren't i more like my neighbors. these other kids. and she basically just sat me down and taught me to love myself. to love my differences. to embrace, you know, that which these kids were making fun of and how that made me special.

so, years later my best friend, shane, who is also the illustrator of this book, challenged me to turn this poem into a children's book. and we did. he, obviously, made some beautiful additions with the illustrations. and we sold it. and now it's a book and now i feel it's a message that everybody can use because i feel it's universal. everybody at one point in their life has felt on the outside. this is a book about, you know, self-esteem and loving your differences. >> and chocolate comes from your father. used to refer to black people as chocolate. >> when i was growing up, there wasn't any african-american and there was black, all of those words at a certain instance had a negative or could have a negative connotation. but i noticed and my father, rest in peace, i wish i could

ask him. he always referred to us as chocolate and later in my life i realized that chocolate, to a kid, there are no negative connotations for chocolate. i grew up having a very positive after all of this. you know, very positive thoughts about being chocolate as opposed to, oh, this person thinks black is this, this person, this means to this to this person. >> which is a lovely thought. but i'll be honest when i saw the title i thought the former new orleans mayor when he called it a chocolate city and it had sort of a negative connotation then. >> right, right, right. not this. this is only positive. how about that? >> i like that better. >> so, you have a 2-year-old with you, your beautiful wife. >> i read this book to him. >> did you tell me she was on "glee" last night. >> why don't you tell me about these things? >> get with the program. >> but you have a 2-year-old, adorable 2-year-old. >> who is milk chocolate? >> what would he be?

he's latte. you know what i mean. >> have you read the book to him? >> i have. very sentimental moment. it was very special to me because, obviously, we wrote the book prior to him being born, but him being born adds so much more to what it means to me and what it will mean to him. >> i know what you said about your father, but you said in part the inspiration came from your son. >> absolutely. you know, he's going -- i'm jealous of him already. he's got a pretty good life, but at some point he's going to come up against a situation like this and i hope he carries this message with him. >> i was talking to one of the guys who works on our floor here who grew up in a similar environment. is it, it's not really racism. it was curiousty and ignorance of kids around you. >> that's what i want to spread because i don't want people to think that this is just a book, you know, for young african-american children. it's a book for anybody. anybody that feels on the outside -- >> a little different on the

outside. >> i think that's the way we're programmed. anything we don't understand, we fear. and we poke fun at. that which makes us different can make us stronger. we should appreciate that. >> children are brutally honest. things just come out of their mouths, they don't really think before they say. >> no, no, no. i'm hoping that this can help a few people. >> a great book. like i said, i read it three times already. which often isn't the case. we get these books and we've got people i have to interview and try to get through the 500-page book. so, if you write another one, please come on. i'll be able to research it fully. taye diggs, great to see you. author of "chocolate me!" he is an actor on "private practice." >> ask him. >> what about "private practice." >> it's such a great show, you all should watch it. it's premiering, i think, thursday. >> the new season is starting. you're not going to give us any

hints. >> it's juicy. some juicy stuff. a lot of tension. a lot of tension. >> juicy, chocolate, a lot of food themes going on this morning. you're making me hungry. taye diggs, thanks for coming by. what a pleasure. read the book, good book. your morning headlines are coming up next, it is 45 minutes after the hour. (rambling phone conversation)

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up, but a new report just released said orders for durable goods were down last month and a good sign for growth of the economy, that's orders for planes and cars and anything that lasts longer than three years. a long island college student and six of his former classmates under arrest in an alleged cheating ring. sam eshaghoff was paid as much as $2,500 to take s.a.t. tests for six students. they say he scored as high as 2,200 out out of 2440 for them. the event streamed live and this afternoon he'll deliver his third annual back to school speech to students. chris christie playing it coy. the new jersey governor delivered a foreign policy speech at the reagan library in california last night. republicans were hoping for a big announcement, but when asked if he's running for president.

christie deflected the question saying, only he's touched by all the support. day two of the michael jackson death trial. the most memorable and disturbing day of part one, a chilling audio of jackson barely coherent slurring his words just weeks before he died. dr. conrad murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in jackson's drug overdose death. 2008 jailhouse videotape of casey anthony reacting to the news that her daughter caylee's remains have been found and this afternoon in orlando the judge who presided over her murder trial will decide whether the public can see that videotape. a local television station is fighting for its release. rihanna scolded by a farmer in northern ireland. she was shooting a video on a wheat field when the owner of the land ordered her to cover up because she was wearing way too little. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after a break.

welcome to the jungle. welcome back to "american morning." an invasion going on under way in florida right now. the state has a major problem with reptiles. been traced to the exotic pet trade. >> and you thought reptiled ws e part of the florida culture, but not these kind. >> rob is there and investigated the whole thing. very serious. in broward county, florida. rob, tell us the story. >> well, you know, invasive

species and amphibians we call and they have been coming over here for over 100 years. back in 1863 a cute little green house frog came over via cargo shipment and now the thing runs rampant and that happened with other lizards and snakes and turtles and such. but just in the last 10 or 20 years curious kids and adults are fascinated by these animals and taking them in as pets, well, the problem is, some of them are getting out. >> here goes another guy. right there. look at this. >> one of many dangerous animals chris gillette has found in this area. >> he definitely bites. >> reporter: an exotic species that shouldn't be anywhere near the u.s. >> this kind of snake does not belong in florida. >> thisafrica. very common in the pet trade. >> we found it right next door to an exotic pet poimerter along

with frogs, lizards and more snakes. >> look at that, another python. >> another one. got right off the sidewalk. >> that is another ball python. when you find one, you often find more. >> you never seen a concentration of exotic reptiles like this in any other spot. >> no. no, ivent. >> clearly, that has to be the source. >> it has to be. >> the source is this exotic pet store, strictly reptiles. the study finds that 25% of all established, nonnative reptiles have been legally distributed through this business. strict strictryly reptiles agreed to comment on the phone. >> just because they found an animal loose around my facility does not mean that it is an establish established itself in the state of florida. >> if they're responsible owners, it's not a problem. however, if they're not responsible owners, they will

release these animals illegally. >> illegal, but almost impossible to enforce. we asked florida fish and wildlife if the laws are strong enough. they simply said, regulations alone will not solve the problem. we see the law as part of a larger effort to increase public awareness of the problem of releasing exotic animals. the study ultimately found that florida has the largest number of nonnative reptiles and amphibians in the world. so far, there haven't been any widespread negative impacts on the environment, but the study's lead author says it takes decades to see the consequences. >> for some people to say these have no consequences, no negative impacts on our environment at all, well, okay, well, let us know in about 30, 40, 50 years. let's see what actually happens then. >> and that's a problem. the lag time once species get established is about 40 years before we see any effect to the environment. the fact of the matter is, the

last ten years alone, the number of invasions are introductions have quadrupled via the pet industry. when you look at the bigger picture. 84% of such introductions lately are from the pet industry alone. so, it's not just that. we've got snails that have invaded parts of south florida. if you look in your backyard across america, probably nonnative invasive plants that have taken over and you're fighting against. here in the everglades where it's just teaming with life, 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now they could have a lot of inhabitants that just don't belong. >> that happened, not with reptiles, but in fairfield, connecticut, the green parrots, i don't know the official name, but they're not indigenous to fairfield, connecticut, there are flocks of them. they destroy trees and it's exactly what you say. some pet store or somebody imported them, one of them got away and they reproduced.

>> two of them would have been able to reproduce. >> and some of them become pests like you mentioned there. so, we all love animals, especially the ones that are more fascinating. you just got to keep control of them. if you are tired of them and you do want to get rid of them, return them back to the pet stores. often, guys, they'll buy them back because those animals are so valuable. so, just be responsible. >> good story, rob, thank you for that. rob marciano in florida on that. sorry about the parrots. >> they're actually enjoyable, unless you're walking under a tree where they're all doing whatever they do up there. the tree rains down upon you. up next, your responses to our talk back question of the morning. the question this morning, our job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? we have great responses this morning. thank you, we'll read them after a break. it's five minutes until the top of the hour. i want healthy skin for life.

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we ask you to talk back this morning and you certainly did. the question this morning, are

job loss greeting cards kind or inappropriate? yes, hallmark has a new line of cards for the newly jobless. this from bob, if a job loss card can put a smile on someone's face, i say go for it. roses are red, violets are blue, we're all unemployed and so are you. this from michelle, what are we supposed to do, pretend the problem doesn't exist? despite being one of many unemployed people encouragement through a card is perfectly fine. this from christopher, if someone sent me one of those cards, that would be nice. someone cares about what happens. inspiration to find another job in times of despair with regard to the unemployment rate care goes a long way. this from joshua, i'm writing 537 of these cards, one for every member of the senate and house, can't wait to mail them. keep the conversation going on facebook.com/americanmorning. thanks, as always, for your comment. >> i don't understand how he gets to 537. it's