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Romney on Defensive and on the Attack; "Fast and Furious" Report Due Today; Back to Work, Back to School; #MuslimRage; Endeavour's Final Voyage; Jays Suspend Escobar over Slur
Aired September 19, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That's our story, what's ahead tomorrow.
Everybody have a great day. CNN NEWSROOM with Carol Costello begins right now. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning for "STARTING POINT".
Hey Carol, good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Soledad. Happy birthday.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the message from Mitt. The Romney campaign attempting to get his campaign back on track this morning. An op-ed in "USA Today", a new attack on Obama. The President taking to late night to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My expectation is that if you want to be president, you've got to work for everybody, not just for some.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We're just two weeks from the first debate. The clock is ticking. But has the damage already been done?
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kyung Lah, live in Chicago, where this hour, the school bell will ring at the elementary schools. The strike is over. That story, coming up in a live report.
COSTELLO: Plus, the mystery in the papyrus. Two words and one big question. A newly revealed fragment, centuries old, where Jesus makes a reference to his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HANKS, ACTOR: Demons, omens, codes, monks. Da Vinci.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: From the days of Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" we're asking, what if Jesus was married?
Also fire, tornado, an amazing sight in the outback of Australia. Flames tunneling 100 feet into the air.
And suspension. Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar sits out for a gay slur on his eye black. He insists it was supposed, quote, "a joke." So should baseball ban eye black messages?
NEWSROOM starts right now.
Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us. We begin this hour with a new threat of Muslim rage. Just hours ago, a French magazine hit the newsstands with cartoons resembling the Prophet Mohammed. Such a move is considered offensive in the Islamic world. And police are now on alert outside the magazine's offices. In fact, security precautions are in place across Paris and beyond.
Just days after deadly Muslim -- deadly Muslim protests swept across much of the Middle East the French government is scrambling, and shutting down diplomatic offices and schools in 20 countries around the world. The U.S. is taking a wait-and-see approach.
Same magazine was firebombed less than a year ago, just as it was set to publish a cover that seemed to make fun of Islamic law. We'll keep you posted.
Now let's turn to Mitt Romney, both on the defensive and on the attack. First, his damage control. Even as some fellow Republicans blasted his secretly recorded comments, Romney embraced them. He went on FOX News to defend his claim that 47 percent of Americans are in the bag for Obama because they rely on government handouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I recognize that those people who are not paying income tax are going to say, gosh, this provision that Mitt keeps talking about, lowering income taxes, that's not going to be real attractive to them. And those that are dependent upon government and those that think government's job is to redistribute, I'm not going to get them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Jim Acosta spent the day with the Romney campaign. He joins us by phone from Dallas. Hello, Jim. Romney is now turning the tables, forcing the Obama campaign to explain a 1998 videotape. Tell us about that.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right, Carol. What we're hearing right now from the Romney campaign is that what they're doing is they're not running from what he said in those tapes that were released by "Mother Jones." He's really embracing that message.
And you heard some of this yesterday in the speech that he gave at this fundraiser here in Dallas, going after the President on this newly leaked audio that showed up on the "Drudge Report" yesterday in which the President talks about redistribution of wealth.
Let's first play that audio that appeared on the "Drudge Report" and then with that we're going to show you what Mitt Romney had to say about that last night at a fundraiser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and, hence, facilitate some redistribution. Because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody has got a shot.
ROMNEY: This idea that the President has of redistributing, I know there are some people in our country who want to have a government take from some to give to the others. They'd like to be the others that are on the receiving end of that. And feel that a redistribution model makes sense.
The President, some years ago, said he favors redistribution. I don't. I believe, instead, the role of government is to help those who need help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And so Mitt Romney continuing with this theme today. He's got a new op-ed in "USA Today", the headline of that is that he is going to deliver a recovery, he says, in this op-ed, not dependency. And so he's really sort of running with what he said in those "Mother Jones" videos, he's not really running away from it.
And, Carol, the Romney campaign also put out a memo from its campaign manager, Matt Rhodes, talking about the two different visions that they're now laying out for voters this fall and that their vision, they say, is not a government-centered society, as they describe in that memo -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jim Acosta, reporting live from Dallas this morning.
Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, is quick to point out that Obama himself had to answer for some blunt comments he made at a 2008 fundraiser. Then candidate Obama said some Pennsylvania voters cling to their guns or religion. Obama tried to offer some context to those remarks last night on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: What I said, I immediately said, you know, I regret this, that the -- because I think it sent the wrong message to the country. So people understand, I think, that you're going to make mistakes on the campaign trail. What is -- what I think people want to make sure of, though, is that you're not writing off a big chunk of the country because the way our democracy works -- this is -- it's a big country. And people disagree a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: President Obama says Romney's comments are, quote, "writing off a big chunk of the country," adding that if you want to be president, you have to work for everyone.
Today, we could finally learn more about "Fast and Furious." The controversial gun-trafficking investigation which is connected to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms program was supposed to track guns purchased in the United States by low-level drug dealers. Then ended up in the hands of drug cartels in Mexico.
Well, hundreds of firearms disappeared and the guns were used to commit crimes in Mexico and in the United States. Two of the weapons were found back in 2010 at the site of a gunfight in Arizona where Brian Terry, that U.S. Border Patrol agent, was killed.
CNN's crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns joins me now.
So, Joe, this report is due out later today from the Justice Department?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's true, Carol. We're expecting it some time this afternoon. The inspector general, Michael Horowitz, is relatively new to the job. He's been there around six months. This is his first major report.
And, you know, this has been such a contentious issue and a political hot potato. There are a lot of questions you'd want to have answered here. Just a few of them include whose idea was the "Fast and Furious" strategy in the first place, who in the federal government would say that's okay, how high up did it go, who knew about this thing, and for how long. And why didn't somebody stop it?
So we'll be watching it closely to see if this report has any definitive answers.
This is a story that's just badly in need of an honest and impartial broker because the "Fast and Furious" story reached its peak in a political atmosphere during a political year. And of course an inspector general's report is always supposed to be about accountability, waste, fraud and abuse. What we expect to see if nothing else is a recitation of facts. Because it's our understanding based on sources the IG may have had access to documents and information not provided to the some of the other entities investigating "Fast and Furious" -- Carol.
COSTELLO: The Attorney General, Eric Holder, he was found in contempt of Congress because of this investigation. Will this report end that investigation?
JOHNS: Well, no. That is a completely separate track. It's in the courts. There has been a civil suit has been filed, and so that, of course, will play out on its own. You know, one of the key questions there is executive privilege and how much the administration can effectively keep away from Congress and its investigation.
And in all likelihood, they've tried to work out a negotiated solution because it's the kind of thing that could go on and on and on.
COSTELLO: Joe Johns reporting live from Washington for us.
About 350,000 Chicago-area kids will go back to school today after teachers there voted last night to end their strike and to get classes started again. About 800 delegates for the teachers union, but for just two hours before they decided to suspend the strike that's lasted for a full week. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual calls the contract, quote, "an honest compromise." But what really went into that deal?
CNN's Kyung Lah joins us from Chicago. So what are the specifics?
LAH: Well, let's take a look at this deal. Three are main points that we want to highlight here. First of all, there is a pay raise. The pay raise, according to the city of Chicago, the school district, is a 17.6 percent raise over four years. There will be more of an impact of standardized testing. Thirty percent of the teacher evaluations will be based on test scores and there will be more time in the classroom, both at the elementary school level and at the high school level.
What we're seeing here this morning at this particular elementary school is that the lights are on in the school. Teachers are there. It does look like it's going to be a normal day after this seven-day strike. Teachers overwhelmingly saying, hey, this isn't a perfect deal, but it's a deal. They're glad to be back in the classroom.
Here's what one teacher told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRE POELLINETZ, CHICAGO TEACHER: Everybody is happy to go back to work, get with the kids. It's been long enough. So I think we've accomplished what we wanted to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And the school bell, Carol, rings in about 45 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: So who got the better end of the stick?
LAH: It's really hard to tell because both sides had to give a little bit. There was compromise on both parts. So both sides are saying compromise. No clear winner in this deal.
COSTELLO: Kyung Lah, reporting live from Chicago this morning.
Dozens of Chinese protesters attack the U.S. ambassador's car while he is inside of it. The car is damaged. The ambassador is not hurt. We'll tell you more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 13 minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories.
Fifty Chinese protesters surrounded the U.S. ambassador's car outside the embassy in Beijing yesterday. Protesters caused minor damage to the vehicle but Ambassador Gary Locke was not hurt.
The U.S. embassy is close to the Japanese embassy where Chinese protesters have been demonstrating over a regional dispute.
A federal judge says Arizona can enforce the most controversial part of its immigration law. The judge has upheld the section, allowing authorities to question the immigration status of people while enforcing other laws. It's not know now if civil rights groups who fought the measure will appeal that ruling.
Bank of America has not explained the reason behind a problem with its Web site. The site was slow or not available to many users yesterday. A bank spokesman says the company is working to ensure full availability.
And check out these pictures from a fire tornado in Australia. This rare event is caused when a warm, rotating and rising column of air picks up a bush fire. The filmmaker who took these pictures said the twister stayed around for 40 minutes and it sounded an awful lot like a fighter jet.
Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: What if Jesus were married? I know. It's a loaded question, isn't it? It's a heated debate that's been around since -- oh, "The Da Vinci Code," a blockbuster movie that explored whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
Totally completely fiction? Well, maybe not. Professor Karen King of Harvard Divinity School has discovered a centuries old papyrus fragment suggesting that some early Christians believed Jesus was married. The fragment, written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, says in part, "Jesus said to them, my wife."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN KING, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL: Scholars consistently and I must say, myself included, in the past, have argued that, oh, no, that language is all spiritual. It's all spiritualizing. It's using it metaphorically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But today, maybe there is a real clue that Jesus had a wife. Already, the news has gone viral. So have the inevitable jokes.
Filmmaker critic Roger Ebert tweeted, "Now at work: 100 novelists on inevitable forthcoming bestseller 'I was Mrs. Jesus.' My money's on Philip Roth."
Seriously, though, other scholars are now studying the scroll to check its legitimacy and trying to put their discomfort aside. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: It's very difficult when you have spent your whole life, where you spent, in fact, Christianity spent 1,500 years or more talking about, understanding Jesus not being married to actually know it when we see it, so to speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So in the spirit of debate, we'll bite. Talk Back question of the day, what if Jesus were married?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your comments later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The political firestorm is still growing strong, two days after a video of Mitt Romney talking about the 47 percent went viral. Check out the front pages of some papers around the country. "The New York Post" says "The Truth Hurts," supporting Romney's comments. "The New York Daily News" calls Romney's comments "a spit in the face." And "The Philadelphia Daily News" headline reads, "Mitt Versus the Moochers." Can this campaign be saved?
For his part, Governor Romney is sticking to his guns. He's not backing down or making any apologies, just clarifying what he said. In an op-ed this morning in "USA Today," Romney polished his comments saying, quote, "Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty," end quote.
Joining me now is Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee. Welcome, Sean.
SEAN SPICER, RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. I think many voters are wondering what Romney's comments really means. If Mr. Romney is so upset that many Americans are not paying income taxes, does that mean taxes on middle class or lower middle class Americans will go up?
SPICER: No. What the governor was talking about is that there are two visions in this campaign. One vision that's espoused by the current administration is a government-centered society where everyone is dependent on the government and the government is the center of all of our lives. It's, quote-unquote, "the only thing we belong to," according to them. It's the life of Julia that they espouse where everything has to be tied to the government and the President himself has comments where he talked about redistributing the wealth.
And on the flip side, Governor Romney is talking about --
COSTELLO: One second before we get to the redistribution thing, and we will get to that, I just wanted to talk about --
SPICER: Okay.
COSTELLO: What Mr. Romney really meant. He wants Americans to take responsibility. Those who aren't paying income taxes aren't taking responsibility. So how does Governor Romney make them take responsibility? That's what so many voters are wondering.
SPICER: I think what Governor Romney is going to do is put a plan in place that gets America back to work and our economy turned around. He wants to help. Right now under the current administration, more people are living on food stamps, more people in poverty, more people unemployed.
Governor Romney wants to put a plan in place that's going to turn the economy around, allow people to succeed, to get that job, to help become part of -- to get back on track. That's what he wants to do.
He wants to help people, lift them up, put them back to work, give them the job, get involved back into the mainstream. He is looking at it, saying this administration is not providing the tools to put people back to work. He wants to ensure that we have a society where people are out there. We're applauding success and we're putting people back to work.
COSTELLO: Well, I think another reason that many people were upset by Mr. Romney's comment at this fund-raiser, you know, these people who aren't paying income tax aren't doing anything wrong. They're taking advantage of the tax code, just like Mitt Romney takes advantage of our tax laws and pays a rate of about 13 percent. Isn't that now a fair argument to make?
SPICER: Yes. But again, I think part of what he's trying to get at is if you don't have an economy that's moving forward, that's allowing job creation, that's encouraging entrepreneurialship, then you're trapping people in a lifestyle of government dependency.
What he wants to do is instill policies that create that sort of free enterprise opportunity society where people are out there, applauding success, taking those chances.
COSTELLO: Right.
SPICER: Getting back to work.
COSTELLO: He wants to decrease taxes on the wealthy, right? He wants to drop their -- keep the Bush tax cuts, let's put it that way.
SPICER: He wants to do it across the board. No, he wants it across the board deal where it's targeted at middle income. In fact, he's made it very clear about that.
COSTELLO: Why is he upset with so many Americans not paying income taxes? They pay other kinds of taxes. If he wants to --
SPICER: He's not upset at them. Carol, I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding. He is not upset at the people. He is upset at the current government that's not giving them the tools to get back on track.
That if you are -- he is mad at the administration that is saying, hey, we're not going to foster a free enterprise system that encourages business, that gets government out of the way in terms of regulations. And so, if you're not doing that, you're trapping people in government dependency. That's what he's mad at. He's not mad at the people but the system that's trapping them.
COSTELLO: Okay. Let's talk about redistribution now. The Romney campaign is hitting back. They're using this clip of President Obama, talking about redistribution. That video is from 1998.
What do you think that Obama says in this clip that's upsetting to many Republicans?
SPICER: Well, I don't think it's just Republicans. I think it's sort of the whole notion of what we want out of a society here in America, which is we're not looking to punish people that are successful. That's what he gets at. He talks about this idea of we want to redistribute wealth and redistribute services. The idea that if you do well, once you do well, we're going to take it and give it to somebody else.
I think there's no question in America we want to lend a helping hand to those in need. But at the same time, we don't want to punish success. We want to encourage it, applaud it. We want that entrepreneurial spirit, the innovation that makes America great to flourish and thrive, as opposed to discourage it and punish it, which is what we're currently seeing.
COSTELLO: This sounds so familiar. It's like deja vu all over again, Joe the plumber, John McCain. Let's listen to a bite from 2008 campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: You know what Senator Obama ended up in the conversation with Joe the plumber, we need to spread the wealth around. In order words, we're going to take Joe's money, give it to Senator Obama and let him spread the wealth around. I want Joe the plumber to spread that around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It sounds awfully familiar and John McCain lost.
SPICER: I don't think a lot has changed in terms of that point people in America we were buying into a slogan of hope and change. We've seen it in practice. We had a trillion dollar stimulus that went to campaign donors, companies like Solyndra that ended up going bankrupt, a ton of deal, quote-unquote, "clean energy" companies where it got squandered.
I think we've seen what redistribution in practice means. There's a big difference between when you talk about it in practice. And now after four years, we can see the results in it, in terms of more people in poverty, higher unemployment, 43 months of unemployment above 8 percent, and deficit that has crossed a trillion dollars for four years in a row and national debt that's now $16 trillion.
COSTELLO: And that's because of the redistribution of wealth? All of that is because of the redistribution of the wealth from the wealthy to the poor?
SPICER: I think it's a general philosophy. The philosophy is that --
COSTELLO: Has it happened?
SPICER: How the government is going to solve the problem. We're going to pick winners and --
COSTELLO: I'm just --
SPICER: Sure. I think you have competing philosophies in terms of how you're going to govern and where we want America to head. One is where we pick winners and losers, have the government at the center of deciding how society operates. And one is where we have an opportunity society where we encourage free enterprise system. I think it is a fundamental choice in this election about which vision of America we feel comfortable with.
We've seen what those policies the last four years have resulted in. The question is, do we want to continue down that path or look at a guy like Mitt Romney who has had a successful business record, successful record as governor, turning around the Salt Lake City Olympics and say, hey, we would rather have a record of success than what we've had over the last four years.
COSTELLO: Sean Spicer, thanks so much for being here this morning.
SPICER: It's a pleasure. Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Writing an article about those protests around the world last week over that offensive YouTube clip. "Newsweek" added to the controversy by publishing a cover emblazoned with the words "Muslim Rage," and that turned into a comedy rage on Twitter. More on that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
Stories we're watching right now in THE NEWSROOM. Just moments ago, the opening bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange.
Wall Street expected to open higher thanks to Bank of Japan's plan to stimulate the economy.
Ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the President and CEO of the job matching company, On Assignment. He's switching from the New York stock exchange from the NASDAQ. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is back on the campaign trail today. He is about to speak at a rally in Danville, Virginia. After today's campaign stop, he'll head back to Washington.
Police in France are outside the offices of a satirical weekly magazine, which is currently publishing cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad. That's a move strictly forbidden by Muslim law.
The magazine, "Charlie Hebdo," is publishing the images today. Now, the publisher is defending his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANE CHARBONNIER, CHARLIE HEBDO'S PUBLISHER (through translator): When the government asks us not to do any provocation, we have the impression that three idiots who demonstrated in the streets represent all of Islam. It's the government who insults Muslims by saying that. You have to take them as they are. One has to mock them using humor, disarm them with humor. We'll not give them any credit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, it turns out this isn't the first time the magazine has published cartoons of Muhammad. In November, the magazine's officers were burned in an attack after the editors named Muhammad as the guest editor.
The editor of that French magazine isn't the only one using humor to combat hatred. Lots of people are using Twitter to defuse some of the tensions surrounding that offensive YouTube video, that so-called film that sparked protests across the Arab world last week and prompted this controversial cover from "Newsweek" magazine. See the title there, the headline rather, "Muslim Rage," all in caps. How can we end it?
Only problem, not all Muslim people are enraged. And lot of them actually think the cover just perpetuates old stereotypes.
Joining me now is Arab-American comedian Dean Obeidallah. Good morning, Dean.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: Nice to see you. I'm raging right now. You might not able to tell but I'm really angry inside. I can't contain myself. I'm so outraged.
COSTELLO: You're going to burst at any moment.
OBEIDALLAH: I'm fighting every part of me extinctually (ph) right now for this.
COSTELLO: Before we get to this funny, because some of these tweets are really funny. Let's look at the "Newsweek" cover and tell me why some Muslims in this country are so upset about it.
OBEIDALLAH: Well, clearly, first, it's a bad picture right off the bat. I don't like the picture at all. I don't recognize anyone in that picture. I don't like that at all.
I'll be honest with you. It's not just "Newsweek." There's been sensationalism about the whole coverage of the protest that we've all seen. And it's not that media isn't mentioning the small numbers of people protesting. It's sort of buried.
For example, Indonesia, approximately 500 to 700 people protest in a country of over 200 million people -- 500 people are getting all the press. And that's defining Islam in Indonesia.
Lebanon didn't have any protest whatsoever because the Pope was visiting and they waited until Monday to have protests.
So, it's not like there's an uprising across the Middle East. You're talking about 500, a thousand each country. And in Indonesia, a few months ago, 50,000 people bought tickets to Lady Gaga concert. Who defines Islam more, the 50,000 who bought ticket to Lady Gaga, or the 700 in the street about the video, that a YouTube film?
COSTELLO: Well, "Newsweek" magazine is standing by its story and its cover because that's a picture that was taken in Morocco during a protest.
OBEIDALLAH: Sure. There's no doubt, there are protests.
Look, we just on Monday had the one-year anniversary of Occupy movement. There were protests across the country, 1,000 people in New York, almost 200 arrested. Would that be fair to define America by those protests across the country if that's the way we were defined in the Arab world or the country? No. The world? Of course not.
Those are limited little glimpses into who we are. The same thing in the Middle East. These are small numbers. People are going about their daily business in the Middle East, Muslim world. Their businesses are open. It's not anarchy the way it's looked it.
I just wish the media would look at it a little more closely and say, hey, this really is a small amount of protesters, some with a political agenda, let's be frank, that's part of it, and some are organically mad.
COSTELLO: "Newsweek" tried to do that, right? Because it asked for tweets responding to the covering using the #MuslimRage. And people used the hash tag to make fun of the idea that anything could send Muslims into a rage.
OBEIDALLAH: Right, exactly.
COSTELLO: So let's take a look at some of the tweets they received. This one says, "I'm having such a good hair day. No one even knows. #MuslimRage."
Another one, "I don't feel any rage. Does that mean I'm not Muslim?"
And finally this one, "When you realize the person on TV who is a Muslim expert is neither Muslim or an expert. #MuslimRage." So there was this like onslaught of humor on Twitter.
OBEIDALLAH: That's great. That's satire at its best. It's showing the folly of the "Newsweek" article. And not the whole article itself. If you read the article, there's some good points made in it. It's the sensationalism of the cover, also just some of the media reports saying, oh, Muslims are enraged. There's over a billion Muslims in the world.
We have literally, out of all the protests, maybe 10,000, maybe 20,000 people, 99.8 percent were not protesting. Yes, they're not the story. There's no companion story. Muslim rage in these limited numbers, and the rest of the Muslims going on, raising their families, going to work, living the daily life.
COSTELLO: Let's look a little deeper than that. This is sort of saying that, you know, with humor, we can combat extremists. Really?
OBEIDALLAH: I think humor is a great way of undermining an opponent. I'm a comedian. I hold up stereotypes about Muslims and Arabs in my comedy show. Try to break them down, I raise political issues as well.
I think you can inform people. And I think it is a much more effective argument sometimes than a straightforward speech. You're making people laugh. And you're thinking going, you know what? That's so ridiculous, I'm actually laughing at it.
So, the idea of Muslim Rage, people are saying I can't throw a football around because it's pigskin. Muslim rage. Or, you know, have some glow sticks and it's Muslim rage. It's funny. It's humor. It makes fun of the whole premise that all Muslims are mad. In fact, we're not. We're laughing -- we're having a good time at the ridiculous press that's sensationalizing the whole story.
It's a hard story, believe me. It's a challenging story when the protesters are out there. I understand the media has to cover it. There are protests. It's just a little more responsibility. I hate to use that term but a little bit more from the media would be great on this.
COSTELLO: Dean, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
OBEIDALLAH: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Come back soon.
OBEIDALLAH: I hope so.
COSTELLO: Dean Obeidallah blogs for CNN. You can check out his latest piece on Muslim rage, turning into comedic rage on CNN.com.
Surveillance video released this week shows Jennifer Aniston pregnant with triplets. Oh, my. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Jennifer Aniston is pregnant with triplets and has a huge, huge, huge bump to prove it! Take a look at this surveillance. She is huge. It's actually all a big joke.
Nischelle Turner from "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is in Los Angeles. I love this.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Me, too. It really is funny, Carol. You know, here's what she's doing and I really like this -- she's saying if you can't beat them, join them. Since it's pretty much a given and nothing can stop the pregnancy rumors or speculation or any rumors for that matter surrounding Jennifer Aniston, the newly engaged actress decided I'm going to play along. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTRESS: It's so hot out there. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, oh, so much better. How are my little triplets doing? You must be so thirsty. Oh, my Lord.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: This is all an ad for Smart Water. You see there. She's the spokesperson. She's done these types of ads before but in this one she steps up her game. Now, along with apparently hiding that enormous baby bump, she secretly is also the mother of Jimmy Kimmel, an alien kid. I know.
And as you saw, the ad shows this faux security footage from inside her home. It apparently aired on a fake magazine show that was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. There are so many other scenarios in the commercial.
Jennifer seems to love every one of the crazy moments. She also digs on her hair, which I love this part. We learn that she's been hiding this dark, curly hair under an extensive collection of wigs and calls herself Rachel, her "Friends" character that she never will escape before she goes to bed. Just really, really funny.
I don't know about you, Carol. She is a movie star now and whatever, but that makes me long for the days of Jennifer Aniston on a television sitcom. I want to see her back on TV.
COSTELLO: I know. I'm wearing the Rachel today.
TURNER: You are. And I'm liking the dark. I'm liking the flip. Looks good.
COSTELLO: That's why I love you, Nischelle. Thank you so much.
In the next hour, Nischelle --
TURNER: Having fun. COSTELLO: In the next hour, Nischelle is talking about one of the highest prized music tourists of all time, Barbra Streisand. Wait until you hear how much people are paying to see her.
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DAVID EAGLEMAN, NEUROSCIENTIST: I'm interested in neuro law because it's really where the rubber hits the road in neuroscience. It's where we can take all the things we're learning about human behavior and how humans are different and translate that into social policy, how we are actually running the system here.
I'm David Eagleman and I'm a neuroscientist.
At some point, there will be a crime committed like the Virginia Tech shooting or the Columbine shooting or the Aurora movie theater shooting and we will find that the perpetrator had a brain tumor. I'm not suggesting that any of those events were explained by brain tumor, but at some point that will happen, and then society is going to have to deal with this very serious difficult question about this relationship between brain and behavior, and this question of culpability.
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COSTELLO: The space shuttle Endeavour is on its final voyage, piggybacked to a modified 747. The shuttle took off from the Kennedy Space Center just a couple of hours ago. In just a few minutes -- actually just a few minutes ago. The 747 with the shuttle on top flew over the city of New Orleans.
Endeavour will take a sentimental journey of sorts as it makes its way to a retirement home in Los Angeles. John Zarrella is in Florida. He was there for this morning's send-off. And oh, it's just bittersweet, looking at these pictures.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, it really is, Carol. And yes "Endeavour" flew 123 million miles during 25 flights over its history after it came off the assembly line in 1991. And this is, by far, one of its shortest flights cross country, as you mentioned, on the back of that 747.
And it's definitely kind of a victory tour of sorts, lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center. About 7:20 a.m. this morning, heading cross country. It flew over the Stennis Space Flight Center in Mississippi first as you mentioned. Then it went over the Louisiana area, New Orleans. Michoud Assembly Plant where they built the giant external tanks for the shuttle.
And from here, it's on to Houston. It'll fly over the Houston area in just a little while, probably about an hour from now. Making several passes, flies over Houston and then ultimately landing at the Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center. So folks there can get a look at "Endeavour" before it takes off tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning it heads out, continues the victory tour. Refueling stop in El Paso at Biggs Army Air Field, then it flies over the White Sands Missile Range. White Sands, we all know was -- where the shuttle emergency landing strip was. Then it'll fly on to down out to Dryden where it will overnight in California at Edwards Air Force Base before that final victory lap on Friday over California which will be spectacular -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure it will. John Zarrella, thanks so much.
Toronto Blue Jay shortstop Yunel Escobar gets hit with a three-game suspension for a slur scrolled on his eye black. We'll talk about that.
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COSTELLO: How about them O's -- the Baltimore Orioles is back in the first place tie in the American League East, but they had to work overtime to get there. The Birds beat Seattle in an 18-inning game, 18 innings. It lasted five hours and 44 minutes. Taylor Teagarden yes, he was the hero. He had just 152 batting average, and he had the game winning pinch hit singled there. The O's tacked on another run to make the final 4-2. Baltimore tied in the standing with the New York Yankees who were rained out last night.
And the Toronto Blue Jays have suspended their shortstop Yunel Escobar for three games without pay for homophobic slur that was written in his eye black in Spanish. Speaking through an interpreter yesterday, Escobar apologize for the remarks saying, "Hey, it was a joke" he didn't mean it to be offensive.
So let's talk about this with SportsIllustrated.com baseball editor Ted Keith. Good morning Ted.
TED KEITH, BASEBALL EDITOR, SPORTSILLUSTRATED.COM: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So -- help us understand this. Nobody really noticed this slur in Escobar's eye black, but a fan did. And he posted it on Twitter and then it became this big deal, right?
KEITH: Yes. You know it's not completely uncommon for guys to write things on their eye black and what's interesting here is that we're getting a little bit of an insight into how clubhouse culture works versus how kind of common society works.
You would never put something like this out publicly on you know Facebook, Twitter. You wouldn't say anything like this to the media but this is the case maybe of a player sort of doing something that he says in his defense he was saying well, I talk about this, this way with all my teammates. This doesn't mean what you think it does to Latin ball players.
But by putting it out there, it suddenly became public information for everybody to jump on and they see and then it becomes questions about what did you really mean by this? So I think he was a little bit shocked by the fact that this came out there and he had to be answering questions about what does this mean, when to him it was just a common everyday part of the baseball culture.
Maybe that's what we need to be talking a bit more, about on trying to fix and get a handle on rather than just this isolated incident.
COSTELLO: Well, is it part of baseball culture or Latino baseball culture?
KEITH: Probably both. And I should clarify I'm not just talking about you know using derogatory language, obviously that's not condoned by anybody, but in terms of the jocular nature of a club house there are things that go on that most people never get an insight to. And this is a little bit of an insight into the way that players talk about themselves.
At least that's what Escobar what had you believe because that's what he's saying is his defense here. So yes, a little bit of an insight into that and it doesn't reflect very well obviously on him or on baseball players in general. And of course, we know that athletes tend to be a little bit behind the curve in sort of catching up with the accepted societal norms.
COSTELLO: Did he really say "I like gay people. My decorator and my stylists are gay?"
KEITH: He did. But he also said, you know, "I have plenty of friends who are gay," and you can interpret that as what you will in terms of, you know, how legitimate are these friends as you point out he is talking about his decorator and things like that. But, you know, he was caught off guard a little bit by this.
I think if he had given it a little bit of forethought, he never would have done it, because now he realizes this is going to be something that's going to be kind of attached to him for better and worse for the rest of his career. Whether he meant the slur or not is almost beside the point at this point. It's opened this dialogue now about, you know, homophobia and sports and there has been some progress in that regard especially in football these past couple of weeks already where certain players have come out in favor of gay marriage.
And any time sports kind of intersects with a topic like this, we find that, yes, there are some advanced athletes, but then there are some guys who are still a little bit behind the times and it's really reflective of what we are seeing right now.
COSTELLO: Ted Keith. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KEITH: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Coming up next, your responses to our Talk Back question. We asked you this question this morning, "What if Jesus were married? Facebook.com/CarolCNN.
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COSTELLO: Talk Back question this morning, "What if Jesus were married?" This from Noreen: "I think it was a good thing for him to fully experience life and be a good role model of how to do it right. A lot of people could use that kind of help these days."
This from Ed: "Married? Not a chance. That wasn't even on his mind or God's plan."
This from Linda: "I cannot think of one reason why it would be a bad thing."
This from Mark: "My only response is does it really matter? Why so much emphasis on this instead of the message? I mean does the fact that Jesus was married change his message in any way?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN. More of your responses in the next hour of NEWSROOM which begins right now.