Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Gets Three Years in Prison; Bernie Madoff Expected to Plead Guilty; Former Congressman Says Jim Cramer May Have Crossed Line
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is 7:01 right now. Some of the top stories following we're following for you this morning, we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. Three years in prison, that's the sentence for the Iraqi journalist who grabbed headlines by throwing a shoe and then another shoe at former President Bush. A look at the trial and the charges live from Baghdad in just a moment. Also happening right now, from his penthouse to the jailhouse, these are live pictures of accused swindler Bernie Madoff now on his way to court, wearing a bullet proof vest as always for his appearances. His attorney says that the man will plead guilty this morning. He faces 150 years in prison for the alleged $65 billion Ponzi scheme. And China issuing an ultimatum this morning. Beijing's defense ministry is demanding the U.S. end surveillance missions off the southern coast of China. That follows a confrontation at sea between one U.S. and several Chinese ships this weekend. You can bet it will come up when President Obama sits down with China's top diplomat that's happening later today. And we begin again with a sentence of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President Bush. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live in Baghdad for us this morning. And so he's getting, you know, quite a serious sentence. You told us in the last hour, it could have been much worse, but he's doing three years in prison for this incident.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's pretty harsh. Certainly that's the judgment of all the supporters that he has in Iraq and around the region. They were expecting that the judges would actually let him off. What the lawyers and his family had feared was the worst-case scenario, where if convicted, he could get 15 years but the judges haven't done that. They've been more lenient on him giving him just three years. The charges are assaulting a visiting foreign head of state. Now, he's always maintained that this was a sort of an act of passion that he was listening to President Bush talking about the successes and gains in Iraq, but he was motivated by thinking of all the suffering in Iraq and just pulled his shoes off and threw them at -- threw them at former President Bush. That is really a huge insult in this region. And that's what's caused such a stir. The government doesn't want anyone repeating this when other foreign dignitaries come to Iraq. So that's really what it appears is what's driven this case a lot.</s>CHETRY: Absolutely. All right. Thanks so much, Nic Robertson for us this morning in Baghdad.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Also breaking this morning, one of the most hated men in America and the biggest con man in U.S. history will plead guilty today. Bernie Madoff is on his way to court right now. These are new pictures just outside of his apartment on the Upper East Side of New York City as he left just moments ago. He's looking at 150 years behind bars. Victims who lost everything say that's not enough. They're afraid he'll take the secrets he has to his grave, and they want to know how $65 billion just vanished into thin air.</s>BENNETT GOLDWORTH, BERNARD MADOFF VICTIM: In terms of the government involvement, they -- you know, they've done nothing in this whole process to address the victims. We've been stripped of everything. This is like any other emergency that's occurred in our country, you know. No, I don't have next month's rent. You know, I don't know where I'm going to work. I don't have anything. And there are many victims who are older than I am who can't start over, who can't work, and they have nothing and they don't have relatives to turn to and the government has done nothing.</s>MARCIANO: Allan Chernoff now live outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Allan, you can just hear the angry (ph) in the voice of the victims. What's the scene like down there?</s>ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are some victims here and they are hoping to speak before the court. We'll get to that a little bit later on. But the scene right here, you can see the crowd. Lots of photographers, police, all set for Mr. Madoff to arrive. He should be here within about 15 or even maybe ten minutes, getting down from the Upper East Side pretty quickly. Now, he is expected to plead guilty to 11 criminal counts. And that plea is expected to come without any cooperation agreement with the government, which would have required him to tell the government everything he knows. So the question remains, where's the money?</s>CHERNOFF (voice-over): Eleven days before confessing his alleged fraud to the FBI, Bernard Madoff sent account statements to thousands of clients around the globe, claiming they had assets of nearly $65 billion with him. The number was pure fiction. In fact, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities appears to have been holding less than two percent of that amount. Victims are wondering, what happened to their money?</s>RONNIE SUE AMBROSINO, MADOFF VICTIM: I want to make sure that the rightful people get their rightful money back.</s>HELEN LOUIS CHAITMAN, MADOFF VICTIM: The justice for me would be restitution to all the victims.</s>CHERNOFF: The bulk of the money, prosecutors charged, was used to fuel the allegedly Ponzi scheme. Money coming in was used to pay investors withdrawing funds.</s>DAVE KETTEL, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It is a con game. And it's always surprising that people think that they can get away with this. Because eventually in every single case, the house of cards eventually falls down.</s>CHERNOFF: Madoff allegedly took a big cut for himself. The criminal complaint says he spent investor dollars buying and maintaining properties. He has homes in France, Palm Beach, Florida, Montauk, New York, and the Manhattan apartment where he's been under house arrest. The government also charges Madoff laundered money, transferring $250 million from his New York headquarters to a London office using some for his personal use and sending some funds back to the New York office. Madoff also allegedly used millions of investor funds to support what had appeared to be a legitimate stock-trading business, which matched buy and sell orders for brokers, like Fidelity and Charles Schwab.</s>CHERNOFF: Victims will be permitted to speak before the court on two issues -- should the court accept a guilty plea and if that guilty plea does come, should Mr. Madoff be sent immediately to prison or be permitted to stay out on bail until he's actually sentenced -- Rob.</s>MARCIANO: So he could very well not see the light of his penthouse there in the Upper East Side again potentially today.</s>CHERNOFF: That certainly is a possibility. That has been an incredible frustration to the victims, the fact that Mr. Madoff has been allowed to stay in his luxurious apartment while this entire event has transpired. While we've waited for some resolution over here, the government has been trying to get him placed into jail but they have not succeeded.</s>MARCIANO: I certainly would feel that frustration as well. Allan Chernoff live for us. Also, you're seeing live pictures of the courthouse where Allan has been reporting from as we await the arrival of Bernie Madoff for his hearing, where he is expected, as Allan mentioned, to plead guilty to all counts and seemingly keep his mouth shut otherwise. So, this case continues to unfold. It continues to get more and more interesting and no doubt frustrating for those victims who suffered major, major losses.</s>CHETRY: Yes. You can already see all the people lined up alongside trying to get a glimpse of what's going on down there. A lot of action this morning. So, we'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, it's been a must TiVo or a must DVR all week long. It's the ongoing match between daily show host Jon Stewart and CNBC's Jim Cramer. All the buzz is only encouraging the kids at Comedy Central. Take a look.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war of words is brewing between two TV personalities.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Jon Stewart giving CNBC a daily pounding.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war of words between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A full-blown war.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anchor war that's getting ugly.</s>CHETRY: All right. So you know -- love it. You dropped your hat, Jon. Oh, great, now he hurt his back as well. Well, you know, the economy hasn't exactly been comedy gold but some people have some serious questions for Cramer about things that he said and advice he gave in the role that he might have played in some of what's going on with the market. Our CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Washington. You know, and it's an interesting call because you can cut and paste. You know, the beauty of editing is that you can certainly make someone look like a fool.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. That's right.</s>CHETRY: And Jon Stewart has really made his career off of that.</s>ACOSTA: Not a big boo-yah week for Jim Cramer, you're right. You know, Jim Cramer once made a fortune running a successful hedge fund. He went on to host his own TV show "Mad Money" that offers stock tips to investors but as Cramer has found out lately, a lot of Americans are mad at him. One former congressman believes Cramer may have crossed a line.</s>JIM CRAMER, HOST, CNBC'S "MAD MONEY": You know, I don't want to stick my neck out anymore because it seems to get chopped off every single night around 11:00.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): The war of words has gotten personal. In one corner, CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer.</s>CRAMER: A comedian is attacking me. Wow.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Daily Show."</s>CRAMER: He runs a variety show.</s>ACOSTA: In the other corner, "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart.</s>JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": A variety show? What? Makes it sound like I am some kind of buffoon.</s>ACOSTA: Who spent the last week lampooning Cramer's bad stock calls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a fun game and it's a lucrative game.</s>ACOSTA: But this video made in 2006 has suddenly gone viral, and it's no joke.</s>CRAMER: Go in and take a bunch of stocks and make sure that they're higher. And maybe commit $5 million in capital and do it, and that could affect it.</s>ACOSTA: Cramer explains to his own financial Web site, thestreet.com, how he could influence stock prices up and down as the manager of a massive hedge fund.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way, no one else in the world would ever admit that, but I do care.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right, and you can say that here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to say it on</s>TV. ACOSTA: Largely unregulated, hedge funds were attractive to wealthy investors and at their peak may have controlled more than $2 trillion in assets.</s>TOM DAVIS (R), FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Well, I think he's become a poster child for why hedge funds need more regulation and transparency.</s>ACOSTA: Tom Davis, a former top Republican on the House Committee that investigated hedge funds last fall, says Cramer's comments in the video show the need for reform in the markets.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, is any of this illegal?</s>DAVIS: It wasn't. But it should be. He may well have crossed the line. I think that's something somebody ought to be looking at. I think the tragedy is over the last few years, nobody's been looking at this at all.</s>ACOSTA: Cramer issued this statement to</s>CNN: "No one knows and respects the securities laws more than I do. I didn't go to Harvard Law School for nothing. When I was a hedge fund trader in the 1990s, I played fair and I did nothing that violated those laws." The "Mad Money" host will have a chance to explain himself in a scheduled showdown with Stewart tonight.</s>STEWART: The annoying guy with the money show. I don't know. He'll be here tomorrow in this studio.</s>ACOSTA: And by tomorrow, Jon Stewart means tonight. Now a spokesman for CNBC declined to comment on that video, noting that at first became public in 2007. Cramer does have his legions of fans who say tips from the "Mad Money" hosts have boosted their portfolios but over the years, Cramer concedes, he's made some bad calls -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. The brave guy is going to show up on "The Daily Show" though, right?</s>ACOSTA: We'll see.</s>CHETRY: All right. We'll be watching.</s>ACOSTA: Tune in. Yes.</s>CHETRY: As you said, it's must-TiVo. All right. Thanks, Jim.</s>ACOSTA: You bet.</s>MARCIANO: We'll probably have highlights, I'm guessing, I'm hoping tomorrow.</s>CHETRY: Yes, of course.</s>MARCIANO: That will be good TV. All right, we're on Berniewatch. Con man Bernie Madoff on his way to court. Live picture now. You're looking at near the courthouse. He's accused of bilking investors out of almost $65 billion, tracking that story throughout the morning. It's 13 minutes after the hour. The first lady's first 50 days.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle Obama is out of the gate much faster and more focused than most of the first ladies we've seen.</s>MARCIANO: Setting fashion trends, visiting soup kitchens and schools.</s>MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: In a place where they make candy and chocolate.</s>MARCIANO: Can the mommy-in-chief keep up the pace? You're watching the Most News in the Morning.