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American Morning
Iran's President Travels to Latin America; Magazine Retracts Car Seat Story; Lack of Snow Leads to Trouble for Ski Resorts; Foods Featuring Probiotics Lauded by Dietitians
Aired January 19, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Basra is in the heart of the Shia south, where U.S. and British military intelligence indicates that a lot of the Iranian influence is concentrated on. There they have seen more sophisticated IEDs being manufactured. They believe that that technology is coming from Iran.
Intelligence has also indicated is that Iran is exploiting the warring Shia factions down in that area. So it could be that Secretary Gates is focusing on that area to try to get a better handle on the Iranian influence in Iraq.
Also what we have seen from the United States is this ongoing effort to try to the Iraqi government and to the Iraqi people the negative effect that the Iranian influence is having in this country, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: All right, let me ask you about this top Sadr aide who has been arrested. First of all, who is he? And what is the significance of the fact that he's been arrested?
DAMON: Well, Soledad, he has been identified by a spokesman for Muqtada al Sadr's group as being Abdul Hadija al Daraji (ph). Now he is the director of Muqtada al Sadr's main office, located in Sadr City. We do, according to Sadr's office, he was arrested in a midnight raid that took place just outside of Sadr City, at a mosque.
The U.S. military did put out a press release -- did not name him, but said that Iraqi security forces, with their coalition advisers, had arrested an individual who was believed to be responsible for kidnapping, torture, and murdering Iraqi civilians.
Now, what we do know -- and this is the interesting part -- is that Muqtada al Sadr office's representatives are trying to encourage or persuade the Iraqi government to release him al Daraji (ph). Now, what we have seen in the past is that whenever U.S. and Iraqi forces arrest senior members of the Mehdi militia, and that would be the militia loyal to Muqtada al Sadr, the Iraqi government has stepped in, and the most part, forced U.S. and Iraqi forces to release these individuals.
Now, the Iraqi government, Nouri al-Maliki, himself, has promised that part of this new Baghdad plan would mean that there would be no more political involvement in military operations. It will be very interesting to see if this time the Iraqi government does bow down to pressure from Muqtada al Sadr's group -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It will be very interesting to see. All right, Arwa Damon for us this morning. Thank you, Arwa.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Wild weather making news again this morning. Snow, ice, freezing rain bearing down on the Southwest U.S. right now. Tens of thousands still without power from those ice storms this past week, you'll recall. Reggie Aqui is in Krebs, Oklahoma this morning.
Good morning, Reggie.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Miles.
This is an area that the governor, yesterday, of Oklahoma, came through and looked around. This is what he saw. It's the reason why he continues to ask the federal government for more support and more money.
He says that these folks are going to need it in the long-term, because -- I mean, take a look at it. This is a week after that first wave of storms came through, and as you can see, a lot of trees still down. The ice still on these trees and bushes making it impossible to get to the front door of this person's house.
To add insult to injury, they're going to get a lot more precipitation tonight, and over the weekend. And already 60,000 people today are still without power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI (voice over): Thousands of people in Oklahoma without power for nearly a week are bracing for another blast of bad news. More snow and more freezing rain are on the way. McCallister, Oklahoma, may look like a picture postcard, but it's already been declared a disaster area. And crews are still working to get the lights back on. In Norman, Oklahoma, a TV news chopper came to the rescue of a deer stuck on a frozen lake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought, well, you know, if I can get close enough, maybe I can just blow the deer over to the shore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it, Bubba.
AQUI: The punishing weather has stretched across the country. Citrus growers in California are surveying damage from the winter freeze. Some 70 deaths in nine states are blamed on the winter blast, many of those killed on the roads.
In Texas a 300-mile stretch of Interstate 10 was closed for two days. Parts of Texas could see ice again this weekend.
Snow and ice were a deadly combination in North Carolina yesterday. In Virginia ice caused a slew of accidents and shut down a section of I-95 near Richmond. Next in line for round one, the Northeast and New England as round two gears up from the Southwest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI: In southeast Oklahoma this is what people are waking up to this morning. They are still looking at icicles on their power lines. You can see that some of the streetlights are on, but that doesn't mean that the lights are on inside the homes. And, of course, Miles, that is a major concern because we're talking about people who still don't have heat, who still aren't able to cook any food in their house, a week after that first storm hit. They are getting ready for that second storm, and a lot of folks around here are waking up in someone else's house or in a shelter.
M. O'BRIEN: Some frayed nerves, I'm sure. Thank you very much, Reggie Aqui.
The wild weather knows no boundaries this winter. In northern Europe they're dealing with it as well. Hurricane-force winds and heavy rains there; 27 are dead, the damage extensive. In some parts of Europe winds gusted up to 118 miles an hour.
Just to get an idea how powerful those winds were, take a look at this photo. These are some of the waves that lashed the coast of northern France. It's something. Looks like a tsunami. Rob Marciano will bring you all the winter watches and warnings coming up very shortly. About 10 minutes from now -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Just one week ago, today, the son that they feared was lost, maybe forever, came back to them. The parents of Shawn Hornbeck are now speaking out about his four-year ordeal. Shawn appeared on "Oprah Winfrey" show, with his haircut, and his piercings gone yesterday. His alleged kidnapper Michael Devlin appeared in court.
I had a chance sit down with Shawn's parents, Pam and Craig Akers, to ask about Shawn and what they know now about what happened to him over those four years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN (on camera): So congratulations are in order. What great, great news.
PAM AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S MOTHER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: How does Shawn seem to you?
P. AKERS: Pretty good. He is just glad to be at home. He is glad to be back around his family, and his friends, and to -- he is wanting to try to get his normal life back together.
S. O'BRIEN: I know you have wanted to wait to ask him really what happened over the last four years. Do you feel like he is going to be forthcoming? P. AKERS: I do.
S. O'BRIEN: What if he never says?
P. AKERS: No, I believe Shawn will come tell us when he is ready. We've always been close. He has always been comfortable with us. I think part of the reason why he hasn't yet is because he doesn't want us to hurt anymore. He is just wanting us to enjoy the time that we have. And to focus on the good things, but eventually I do believe Shawn will tell me everything.
S. O'BRIEN: There are many people who assume that there was some kind of sexual abuse involved.
CRAIG AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S FATHER: Of course.
S. O'BRIEN: Do you think that that's the case?
P. AKERS: It's a question that no parent -- that every parent is going to go through their mind. That's one of the questions I will be asking Shawn when the time is right, and when he feels that he can talk about it.
But I don't want everybody to think that he had this perfect life with this guy. There's no way he had a perfect life with this guy. Shawn was happy at home. He had a good home. I know he wanted to be at home.
S. O'BRIEN: There are so many people, as you know, who said why not run? Why not e-mail someone? Why not scream for help?
C. AKERS: It's obvious that there was something --some way he was manipulated to where he thought that that wasn't an option. You know, he was 11 years old when he was taken. He was very young, very impressionable. Obviously, something had to have happened for him for him to feel like that it was not possible for him to just walk away.
S. O'BRIEN: Michael Devlin has been in court. Have you thought about the prospect of Shawn having to go to court and testify against him?
P. AKERS: Yes, we have. It's something that I'm sure Shawn doesn't want to do. It's something that I really don't want to have to put Shawn through that again. You know, he lived it for four and a half years. Why make him relive it. One thing I would like to say to him is if he has any decency in his body, he would do the right thing, and not make these boys go through that again.
S. O'BRIEN: What if the prosecutors were to say we could nail the case, if your son gets on the stand?
C. AKERS: He will do it.
P. AKERS: He'll do it.
C. AKERS: He will do it. P. AKERS: Shawn will do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: More of my interview with Pam and Craig Akers in our next hour. We talk about how they never lost hope that Shawn would come home. Also talked about that message from their son, that was on the message board at the foundation that they had set up when he was missing. And how, in fact, Craig Akers talks about how he deleted it. He was getting so many messages he never realized that that was his son.
M. O'BRIEN: How would he know, of course?
S. O'BRIEN: Of course, in hindsight, he beats himself up about that.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I hope he doesn't do that for long. I really don't. They've got to be so overjoyed and, yet, what a horrible ordeal for a parent.
S. O'BRIEN: And a lot to still go through. They know that.
M. O'BRIEN: For everybody.
S. O'BRIEN: I think they're very clear. They said once they're done talking to the media, which they're doing because they're very grateful for all the help that they had from the media when he was missing. And they also want to -- they want people who have lost their children to turn on the TV and say it's possible that my child is alive, too. They've been -- they did a ton of media, and they continue to do that. And so, you know, they really -- once that's all done, they're going to get therapy for the family.
M. O'BRIEN: Yeah. OK. Good job.
Well, it may seem like new math, but the Democrats 100-hour push to pass some pet legislation is now over; 10 days, or 240 hours after it began. Last but not least on the agenda, a measure to roll back millions in tax breaks for the oil industry. CNN's Andrea Koppel, live from Capitol Hill with more.
Good morning, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Miles.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's unmistakable message, the era of the do- nothing Congress is now history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The bill is passed.
KOPPEL: Day after day, issue after issue. PELOSI: The yeas are 253.
KOPPEL: House Democrats made good on core campaign promises, in some cases with dozens of Republicans on board.
PELOSI: The bill is passed.
KOPPEL: The last item on the agenda, eliminating some tax breaks for oil companies passed late Thursday. But over in the Senate it's a different story.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D-NY): The good-ethics train was moving swiftly right down the tracks until the Republicans stopped it by putting the line item veto log in its path.
KOPPEL: After Senate Democrats accused Republicans of trying to derail the Senate's first piece of legislation, a bill to tighten congressional ethics rules, and to reduce the influence of lobbyists, a breakthrough. Republicans agreed to shift an amendment giving President Bush the equivalent of a line-item veto, from the ethics bill to another piece of legislation, proposing to raise the minimum wage.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: We're not here to thwart a good pieces of legislation, like the lobby bill, but we will insist on having our votes.
KOPPEL: That doesn't bode well for other legislation, which the House has already overwhelmingly approved during the last two weeks. Like the bill to require the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs for seniors. Iowa Republican Charles Grassley has threatened a filibuster.
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R-IW) Having the government negotiate drug prices for Medicare might be a good sound byte, but it's not sound policy.
KOPPEL: While in addition to the so-called line item veto, a bill to boost the minimum wage for the first time in a decade will also likely include a tax cut for small businesses, something House Democrats had strongly opposed.
Because Democrats hold a slim, one-seat majority in the Senate, a senior Democrat there says the tax cuts are needed to secure Republican support.
SEN. MAX BAUCUS, (D-MT): First of all, it helps small business, but under the Senate rules, it's almost necessary in order to get minimum wage passed, because we need 60 votes in the Senate to get minimum wage. And I don't think there's 60 senators that will vote for minimum wage only.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Another House bill which approved federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research is sure to never become law. That's because even if it passes the Senate, which it's likely to do, President Bush is almost certain to veto the bill. Remember, Miles, that was the one veto that he exercised last year, and the only one so far of his presidency -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: And no surprise if he does that again, I guess, if it comes to his desk. Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: There's been a stunning reversal by "Consumer Reports" retracting their article on infant car seats. Take a look at this videotape. A "Consumer Report" test was reportedly done at 38 miles an hour. You can see here how the seat just flips back and forth. Remember we showed you this? The baby's feet goes above its head.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was so startled by the report, they did their own testing. And they showed -- their tests showed -- that it took speeds of 70 miles an hour to have the same effect on a car seat.
In other words, "Consumer Reports" was not only off, they were way off. We're going to talk later this morning with the folks from NHTSA about these tests.
Also, coming up, a new round of winter weather. The full forecast is right after the break.
President Bush hopes to build his library as SMU, which is Mrs. Bush's alma mater. We'll tell you why some Methodists are a little upset about that.
Will the Saints go marching in? The City of New Orleans is very psyched for their team to march straight towards the Super Bowl. But it is still a tale of two cities. We have a "Reality Check" straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: It's a quarter past the hour. Rob Marciano has the "Travelers' Forecast" for you this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush is stirring up a tempest among Methodists, as he nears a decision on where to build his presidential library. The president making clear the leading candidate is Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm leaning heavily toward SMU. I understand there are some who have reservations, and my admonition to them, or my advice to them, is just understand that a library and an institute would enhance education. (END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: AMERICAN MORNING's Delia Gallagher, joining us now.
What's the beef?
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Well, Miles, it turns our a group of Methodists, some bishops, clergy members, other people in the church have petition online to ask the university not to welcome this library on their campus.
In particular, this petition says, "We believe that the linking of his presidency with the university baring the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate."
And I spoke to these people, the man who wrote this, and he said that the problem with this is that the Bush administration, they are against some of their policies, particularly the war in Iraq, allegations of torture in Guantanamo, and Iraq. And that the linking of those policies and those accusations with the Methodist, name in particular, with the university, the Methodists have 123 schools -- Emery, Duke, for example.
But they say Southern Methodist University, where Methodist is actually in the name is problematic for them. They have put this petition online. They're asking people to sign it. They have 3,000 signatures so far, as of yesterday.
S. O'BRIEN: So, it's not unprecedented for a president to have a library in a Methodist campus, Emery, of course is affiliated with the Carter Center. So it is this particular presidency? They say his presidency, not just any presidency?
GALLAHGER: This is a political sort of statement that they are making that they have disagreed with some of the policies of the administration. And the linkage of the legacy of the administration, because it's not just a library, it's a think tank and an institute. So what the concerns are on behalf of these people is there will be these sort of scholars that are invited to sort of talk about the Bush legacy, and that that kind of a conservative bend will become allied with the name of Southern Methodist University.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, what is the university saying about all this?
GALLAGHER: I spoke to the university spokespeople yesterday. And they say that this -- you know, the board of trustees has unanimously approved this. Laura Bush sits on the board. The first lady sits on the board of trustees. They say they have no problem with this.
Some faculty members did raise reservations. The president addressed them according to the university spokesperson. And they say they're going ahead. They consider this something that the larger Methodist community is voicing their opinion, and they're welcome to it. But in terms of SMU community, the university feels that they are happy with -- and, indeed, delighted to host the library.
M. O'BRIEN: It seems like there's a long tradition in academia of inviting all points of view, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
GALLAGHER: That's right.
M. O'BRIEN: Faith and Values Correspondent Delia Gallagher, thank you for coming in this morning.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the loophole closes for big oil. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Then, a tale of two cities. The Saints giving New Orleans a big reason to cheer, but there's a "Reality Check" around town, from the Superdome. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: This Sunday the New Orleans Saints are playing the Chicago Bears for a spot in the Super Bowl. And while the Saints are giving Katrina-weary residents some hope. Some people say it's overshadowing the city's ongoing struggle to recover. AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs is live for us this morning, right on the field, at the Superdome.
Hey, Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning. I feel like Reggie Bush here, in the end zone, today. Not nearly that athletic.
Nothing like winning a lot of football games, winning a division that can turn a lot of smiles on in this city, but if you talk to people in and around this area, as thrilled as they are for the Saints, they say it is only part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: One step from the Super Bowl there is no question the New Orleans Saints are energizing this city. Cheering, smiling, celebrations; images of the city flashed around the country. But lest anyone forget -- this, locals say, is a much more accurate picture.
CHUCK BACIGALUPI, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: There's are so many people around here that are, you know, living in tents, inside gutted houses, because they just don't have means.
CALLEBS: The Lower Ninth Ward, Lakeview. These are current pictures. Not something from months ago.
BACIGALUPI: This neighbor over here hasn't done anything. Her refrigerator is still in there. It stinks. There are rats. There are more holes where there used to be houses than there are houses now. CALLEBS: So, come on, you say. It can't be that bad. We've seen Bourbon Street. After all, Brad and Angelina are moving to the city, right? Business leaders say tourism is slowly coming back, but still --
EARL BERNHARDT, BOURBON STREET ALLIANCE: In normal times, these businesses, all of them on the street would be doing better than they are, but the times are tough, and the strong survive, and the weak don't.
CALLEBS: And even though the French Quarter was spared when 80 percent of the city was flooded, there is no question it's still suffers.
BERNHARDT: New Orleans is tourism. Without tourism, they're nothing.
CALLEBS: So few residents have been able to return to areas decimated after the levees gave way. They wonder where are city, state, and federal government leaders? Where is the money for rebuilding? But people here are resilient, and they will take the black and gold until the city starts seeing the green.
BACIGALUPI: Hopefully it will come. This is helping, the Saints winning. People are smiling.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Yet, to a person, this city has really been energized about the Saints. And what went on in here during the season did a lot to purge the horrific memories of what happened in here after Hurricane Katrina. But people want tourism and convention business to come back. And they point out, Soledad, what better way to bring people in by being able to hang a banner that says Super Bowl champs.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a pretty good point of view. Before I let you go, Reggie -- I mean -- you wish -- Sean.
Yeah, I was going to ask you to do that. That was pretty good. Sean Callebs for us. Thanks, Sean.
M. O'BRIEN: Congress is going after tax breaks for big oil. A little after 25 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business".
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: You had me at Reggie
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. Andrea Koppel was just telling us about the six bills that were passed. HR-6 was the last one yesterday, in that first 100 Hours, and it was the one about royalty relief for oil companies. Now, what happened is back in the '90s the oil companies -- the government was worried that oil companies would bail because of oil prices being down as low as $11 a barrel, and drilling for oil in the water is expensive. So, it said that the royalties that the oil companies pay the government to drill in the water, they get excused from. Once oil gets back up 30 bucks a barrel, the royalties kick in again.
A bunch of leases that were signed with the oil companies in 1989 and 1998, and 1999 didn't have that clause, and a bunch of oil companies have been getting away without paying the government royalties. The bill yesterday was meant to recover some of those -- amongst other things.
We have some response from the oil companies to that bill being passed. ExxonMobil says once a contract is signed, do not violate it. We also heard from Shell, which said, this "will cost U.S. jobs, make U.S. industry less competitive, and penalize millions of workers who have oil and gas stock retirement plans."
This bill still has to get through the Senate, and the White House may or may not be interested in it -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Ali, thank you very much for the update. We'll check in with you in a little bit.
Top stories of the morning are coming up next. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq right now. We'll bring you a live report in just a moment.
Also, a stunning reversal by "Consumer Reports". We'll tell you why the government insisted on its own follow-up tests about car seat crashes.
And searching for white? Finding lots of brown. Not much green, as in greenbacks. We'll tell you about the financial struggles for ski resorts across the country. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Developing story: Iran's president issuing a new threat toward America as another U.S. warship moves toward his country.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Wicked weather overseas here. Hurricane force winds turn deadly in Europe, and snow is set to fall again in the south-central U.S.
M. O'BRIEN: On the hot seat. "Consumer Reports" backpedaling on its car seat crash tests. Why federal safety investigators were alarmed enough to weigh in on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. Friday, January 19. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us. Happening this morning, another blast of winter weather to tell you about, barreling into Texas and Oklahoma. Thousands of residents in those states are still without heat and power after dual ice storms this week.
Conflicting reports on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korea says it reached an agreement with the U.S. this week, but American officials are saying only that future talks look promising.
Concerns at the Pentagon about China's recent missile test. The Chinese recently used a ground-based missile to take down one of their old weather satellites, 537 miles above the earth. The U.S. military is now concerned that American satellites, used for everything from communications to missile guidance, could now be vulnerable.
And Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq right now. He's meeting with U.S. and British troops. He arrived in the country unannounced overnight tonight. This is Gates' second visit to Iraq in a month, his first since President Bush announced a plan to send 21,000 more troops into that country.
M. O'BRIEN: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is lashing out against the U.S. yet again, this time over the buildup of the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf. It comes after Ahmadinejad traveled to Latin America this week, meeting with other anti-American leaders.
CNN's Aneesh Raman with a look at that trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking his anti- American rhetoric on the road, Iran's president this week wrapped up a five-day three-nation tour through Latin America, shoring up friendships among some of Washington's most vocal critics, from Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega to the newly elected leftist president of Ecuador to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.
There was a diplomatic love fest among leaders eager to see U.S. influence in the world significantly curtailed. And for the Iranian president, it was a chance to do what perhaps he does best, provoke the United States.
"We can understand the importance of this trip," Ahmadinejad said, as he returned to Tehran, "from the anger the enemies of the Iranian nation."
But surprisingly, the trip has sparked anger, as well, from within Iran. In an unprecedented move, more than 150 members of Iran's parliament are now publicly criticizing the president for his handling of foreign affairs, and a conservative newspaper owned by country's the supreme leader has said Ahmadinejad's language when it comes to defending Iran's nuclear program is, quote, "offensive.
MOHAMMED SHAKEEL, ANALYST, GLOBAL INSIGHT: It's just a question of how far on a limb the president is willing to go in order for the international community to clamp down on Iran, and there is no one within Iran, especially not the supreme leader, who wants Iran isolated to that extent.
RAMAN: These are tense times between Iran and the United States. Despite U.N. sanctions, nuclear program is defiantly still active, and a second American aircraft carrier is currently en route to the Persian Gulf.
(on camera) Of course, a big factor in all of this is Ahmadinejad himself, a man who has shown no desire to soften his aggressively anti-American policies, even if his people want something else.
Aneesh Raman, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: There's been a stunning reversal by "Consumer Reports". They're retracting their article about infant car seats.
If you take a look at this videotape, the "Consumer Reports" test was reportedly done at 38 miles an hour. You can see this car seat flips back and forth. The babies are -- the feet go back over the head, et cetera, et cetera. Looks absolutely devastating.
Well, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was so startled by those tests that they did their own. And they showed that it took speeds of 70 miles an hour to have the same effect on a car seat, not 38 miles an hour.
Nicole Mason is the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, and she's in Washington, D.C., this morning.
Nice to see you again, Nicole.
NICOLE MASON, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for talking with us this morning.
MASON: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, in this "Consumer Reports" article, they didn't just do a test. They said that the seats failed disastrously. That was their words. And they showed, as we just showed there, these car seats completely, you know, crumbling, practically.
What was your first clue that "Consumer Reports" in fact had made a big mistake?
MASON: Well, you know, I think I reacted just like any parent would when I first saw the video footage. I was horrified. I have two little girls. It wasn't that long ago that my youngest was in an infant seat.
And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the agency charged with reducing fatalities and injuries on our nation's roads, and we just haven't seen the data that we've been tracking for decades didn't bear out that infants were being injured and killed at 35 and 38 miles per hour. So we knew something was wrong. The question was what was wrong?
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, then, let's get to that question. What was wrong? What did they do wrong, and was it deliberate, do you think?
MASON: Oh, I absolutely do not believe that it was deliberate, but what they did wrong was essentially confuse the physics of a front impact crash with a side impact crash. These are very different crashes to recreate.
If you're trying to simulate a front impact crash, you're trying to simulate a car essentially driving into a wall and coming to a complete stop, but if you are simulating a side impact crash, you need to take into account that both the striking car and the struck car tend to be pushed along together, and so it's a much slower stop, and the physics are very different.
And they really didn't run their tests properly, and when we calculated what they had done, we realized they were simulating crash tests at speeds somewhere between 70 and 80 miles per hour.
S. O'BRIEN: "Consumer Reports" released this statement. I'm going to read it. "We withdrew the report immediately upon discovering a substantive issue that may have affected the original test results. The issue came to light based on new information received from the NHTSA concerning the speed at which our side-impact tests were conducted."
So in a nutshell, essentially what you've said. Now, Evenflo Discovery was one of those car seats that we saw videotape of it, I mean, crumbling is almost fair to say in the test.
MASON: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Do you stand behind that car seat? In your tests that you've done, is that actually a car seat that does well in the tests?
MASON: We tested the Evenflo Discovery. We tested 11 of the 12 seats that "Consumers" said they tested, and we go out and buy them off the shelf like any other parent would. We don't take them from the manufacturers.
And so we were able to find 11 of the 12 seats, and one of them was the Discovery, and we didn't see any separation from the base in the Discovery or in any of the other seats in either the front impact crashes that we recreated or the side impact crashes, so we don't see any need to issue a recall at this time.
S. O'BRIEN: You hear a story like this, and I got to tell you, you think lawsuit. You know, it's all over this. If, in fact, there is some kind of a lawsuit against "Consumer Reports" from the car seat manufacturers who might feel that they've been maligned in a big way, would NHTSA get involved in some way, shape, or form?
MASON: I'm sure if there is a lawsuit that the car seat manufacturer will want to have our data because, of course, we did what we could based on the article to try to recreate what "Consumer Reports" was telling parents that they were doing, and I'm sure that people will want to see what we've done, and we are happy to provide that to the public.
S. O'BRIEN: Nicole Mason is with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nice to talk to you, as always. Thanks for being with us.
MASON: Thank you very much, Soledad. Appreciate it.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Blame it on global warming, or blame it on El Nino, or maybe it's both. Ski resorts in the northeast seeing the wrong kind of green this year. Longing for diamonds, black diamonds. Details, we've got the ticket.
And the pros, probiotics. How a bacteria in some of your favorite foods is leading the charge of the latest health craze. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning right here.
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M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning is right here. In the mix this Friday, Toyota is recalling Tundra pickup trucks made between 2004 and 2006 and Sequoia SUVs from '04 to '07 because of a potential steering problem. So check into that if you own one of those vehicles.
And let the healing begin. "Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington apologizing for using a gay slur to refer to fellow actor T.R. Knight.
S. O'BRIEN: Apologizing again, because he used the slur once, apologized, allegedly. Apologized. And then just the other day revisited the whole thing.
M. O'BRIEN: So he's a serial apologizer, so to speak.
S. O'BRIEN: That's the very least of his problems, is the serial apologizing.
Moving on, though, winter may have arrived across much of the U.S., but it could be too little too late for ski resorts. CNN's Rob Marciano has more on that. It is just dirt out there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Unfortunately, dirt is much uglier than snow. Hopefully, they'll get a little bit as we go through time. But the problem is that all winter long it's been more brown and green that the white that they need here in New York and right upstate and through parts of New England. And you bet, ski operators are worried.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARCIANO (voice-over): It may be winter, but it looks more look like spring on many mountains. Whether it's global warming or El Nino, one thing is certain, the climate is changing, and many ski resorts around the world are hurting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in trouble.
MARCIANO: Brown spots instead of snow in the Pyrenees. In the Alps, World Cup ski races canceled. And in the eastern United States, the story is the same: more green than white.
What Mother Nature can't give, man must make. Man-made snow is simply water mixed with compressed air and then sprayed into subfreezing temperatures. It's been around for a while, but it isn't cheap.
These high-efficiency tower guns cost over $3,000 each, and Vermont mountains like Okemo can have as many as 1,300 of these guns to help cover the slopes. That's nearly $4 million. Plus, a system can cost thousands of dollars to operate every hour.
In the west higher altitude helps in the snow-making department, but even here ski operators are forced to make snow.
LANCE MILES, MANAGER, STEAMBOAT SNOWMAKING: We're like snow farmers, and we've got to plan really well, so we watch our temperatures. We maximize our opportunities. We map where the snow is being used or where not and where we need to put it.
MARCIANO: Helping on the science end is Dr. Gannet Hallar. She and her team of researchers at the Storm Peak Lab high atop Mount Warner analyze the chemistry of global warming and its effects on snowfall.
GANNET HALLAR, DIRECTOR, STORM PEAK LABORATORY: We've seen an increase in temperature, and, also, we're seeing an increased in sulphate pollution, which comes from power plants, and we have shown that that reduces snowfall by about 15 percent.
MARCIANO: And that reduction in natural snowfall is expected to accelerate.
JIM WHITE, CLIMATOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: Unfortunately, the models seem to be in agreement that the amount of snow is going to go down. Some models as much as 50 percent by the year 2050 or so, and I really hope that, you know, these predictions are wrong.
I think ski resorts are in trouble. I think that's -- and I think ski resorts know that.
MARCIANO: A problem ski operators can only hope to dig their way out of.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: There are larger issues with global warming beside the obvious, which is if it's warmer, you're going to get more rain than you're going to get snow.
But with greenhouse gases, they do something interesting to the atmosphere, especially at night. They kind of insulate the atmosphere. And during the fall that's a critical time for ski resorts to make snow at night, because during the day it's a little too warm. And if the temperatures are up at night, they can't make that -- that real good blanket of snow that they need.
S. O'BRIEN: They're not getting snow, and it's harder to make snow.
MARCIANO: And on top of that, the pollution is dropping snowfall by about 15 percent, so it's...
S. O'BRIEN: What are they going to do?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, there's not a whole lot you can do other than make -- it has to be below freezing to make snow. They can't make the atmosphere colder. What they're doing is really more taking the lead as far as being green-friendly, you know, reducing their carbon footprint and hoping for the best.
M. O'BRIEN: Or put a bubble over the mountain. I guess that's not practical just yet, is it?
MARCIANO: Not practical.
S. O'BRIEN: Not yet.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the forecast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Rob. Back here in just a little bit.
They are the other bionics. Up next, find out why a lot of people can't say anything anti- about probiotics. Our health pro is Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's in the house. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
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M. O'BRIEN: So what are you having for breakfast this morning? How about a heaping helping of bacteria? Well, if you're having yogurt, a smoothie, or even some cereals, you are, in fact, getting a belly full of little germs. But worry not. It's all for the good.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN center in Atlanta with details.
What did you have for breakfast this morning?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I haven't had breakfast yet, but I've got to tell you, the bacteria doesn't sound particularly appetizing, especially at 8 a.m. in the morning.
But you're right. We are talking about something known as probiotics, something that's really catching on, and it is present in all sorts of different foods. The yogurt, you mentioned. The tofu, sauerkraut. Some cereals have it, as well.
It is something -- it is sort of a healthy bacteria. Think of your intestines, actually, filled with bacteria, and normally this is a way to actually replace bacteria, and this is becoming increasingly common. A lot of dietitians will actually recommend that you take a dose or two of probiotics every day.
So it's no surprise then the food industry has really latched onto this. You're starting to see all sorts of specialty products, special yogurts, special bars with probiotics in it.
And also supplements. You're you starting to see the supplements as well, now. One or two capsules a day seems to help. And many doctors recommending it, reminding people that if you get your probiotics from dairy, you're also getting your calcium. But supplements of probiotics becoming popular, and a good way to make up the shortfall, if you're not getting enough.
M. O'BRIEN: What about those supplements, Sanjay? Have they tested them? Do they do the job as well as a thing of yogurt?
GUPTA: You know, there's a lot of testing going on right now. A couple of things that they seem to work for in some of the existing tests is actually warding off allergies and actually helping with some intestinal problems.
But there are lots of studies that are ongoing now at several institutions around the country, looking at the value of probiotics. For example, looking at things like warding off inflammation, actually improving immune function overall, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, as well, fighting liver disease. These test are ongoing right now.
When we did some homework on this yesterday, Miles, I thought it was sort of interesting. Dr. Weill, who's been a -- Dr. Andrew Weill, who has been a proponent of these supplements for some time, talks about the fact that it could even help children with ADHD and autism. Now, those studies haven't been done yet. There's been some sporadic reports of that, but those studies may start up, as well, to see if there may be some additional uses of probiotics.
O'BRIEN: And just finally, before we get away. Are there any people who should steer clear of these probiotics?
GUPTA: Well, the supplement, you've got to remember, is sort of -- you've got to consider it an active culture. It actually has bacteria in it. So there are people, for example, with weakened immune systems or maybe someone with HIV that probably should stay away from it.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. GUPTA: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: We're very pro-Sanjay Gupta, for sure. And pro- probiotics this morning. Go have some yogurt, will you?
Coming up, get ready for another winter storm. Your Friday forecast is straight ahead.
Plus, President Bush's plans for his presidential library running into some opposition. Some Methodist ministers upset over the proposed location. We'll explain that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
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M. O'BRIEN: Are you, like me, lusting for an iPhone? Well, if you are, it's going to set you back $500 or $600, depending on which model you choose. But wait until you hear how much profit Apple is going to make off of you.
It's a little before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business".
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
You know, the iPod itself is not cheap compared to other, you know, digital music players of its ilk, but it's stylish and it's Apple, and Apple can get away with this stuff.
So when it announced the iPhone, sort of lost in that whole shuffle is that a four gig iPhone is going to cost you $500, plus a two-year commitment to Cingular, and an 8 gig iPhone is going to cost you $600.
This is kind of interesting, because 4 and 8 gigs are really not much in the world of music.
But take a look at this. A company that has presumed what the manufacturing and component costs of an iPod would be -- this is not confirmed by Apple -- says that the four gig would sell for $499, actually costs Apple $245 to make, and an eight gig, which is going to sell for $599 costs $280 gigs. Now that's manufacturing costs and components.
There are, obviously, other costs built into that, but that's a fairly healthy gross margin, which means if this business about them being too expensive sticks and people don't adopt this or they get indications that people won't pick up these iPhones, when they start marketing them in June, they might have some room to bring things down. Not saying that Apple would do that, but maybe we might start a movement to say Miles wants his iPhone, make it cheaper.
M. O'BRIEN: Start it right here, right now.
VELSHI: It's started.
M. O'BRIEN: The question, as you say, I mean, there's research and development, design costs...
VELSHI: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: ... that are kind of baked into these first models, right?
VELSHI: Yes, and that's exactly what it is. Apple is so -- it's so sexy to have one of these iPods that I think the first group of people who turn over to these things are going to be people who know Apple, who know Mac, who know iPods, that sort of thing.
And then the issue becomes for the later adopters how do you convince folks who didn't have one of these before and didn't think they needed one to pay that kind of money, because they kind of give cell phones away for free these days when you sign up.
M. O'BRIEN: They kind of do, don't they?
VELSHI: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Ali. Thank you very much.
Some of the other stories we're watching this morning. CNN.com's popular stories we want to share with you.
The Chinese tested successfully after three failures a missile that obliterated a satellite. It was one of their own satellites, a weather satellite up there at about 500 miles in orbit that was no longer in use. Used it essentially as target practice.
But this has caused some real concern in the U.S. military, because so much of the U.S. military advantage in any theater is its capability with communications and missile guidance by satellite. So presumably, the Chinese shot is a shot that is heard, definitely (ph), around the world -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: From "USA Today" this morning, costs keep students from their first choice colleges. Only one in five attending their second choice college said they were doing that because they couldn't afford their first choice.
On the plus side, though, the same survey found that more than two-thirds of college freshmen are attending their first choice school.
Coming up at the top of the hour, Rob Marciano is here with the big weather story this morning.
Good morning again.
MARCIANO: Snow across the northeast. That's the big story this winter, at least. And it may get even worse next week, but all eyes are now not only on the snow that's falling across the northeast, but also across the snow that will pepper places that already have ice. We're going to talk more about that.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
M. O'BRIEN: Back to Iraq. New pictures of Defense Secretary Robert Gates making an unannounced visit to Iraq. We're live in Baghdad.
S. O'BRIEN: And here we go again. Several U.S. states are still recovering from brutal ice storms. And now they're bracing for a weekend blast of stormy weather again. We'll have the latest forecast from Rob straight ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: And a follow-up to the story you saw first here. The FBI responding to this video of a person spilling a toxic substance on a subway platform in L.A. We'll ask about terrorism concerns on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Friday, January 19. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.
Wild weather making news once again this morning. Snow, ice, freezing rain bearing down on the Southwest U.S. as we speak, and tens of thousands are still without power from those ice storms this past week.
Reggie Aqui is in Krebs, Oklahoma this morning, watching things for us.
Good morning, Reggie.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
And here in Krebs, you can see...
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