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American Morning

Southeast Facing Major Ice Storm; Iraq Resolution: Rival Measures Combined; Pregnant Driver Asks Police to be Taken to Hospital but Goes to Jail

Aired February 01, 2007 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Storm front. Snow in the Plains, ice expected along the East Coast. Hundreds of flights already canceled, as you just heard from Chad.
Outrage on tape. Police detain a pregnant woman even as she begs to see a doctor. The department is now under fire after that mother to be has a miscarriage.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And raising a red flag on children's soccer. Just how many kids are hurt, who goes to the hospital, who stays in the hospital? New numbers coming out on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Thursday, February 1st.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

In the Southeast this morning, a huge mess in the making as they brace for the worst kind of winter storm -- ice. Smack dab in the middle of it all, the nation's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson. Four hundred fifty flights canceled already, and that, of course, will have a ripple effect all across the country.

So call or log on ahead.

We have complete coverage for you. Reynolds Wolf in Charlotte, North Carolina; Rusty Dornin, live from Atlanta; and Chad Myers also in Atlanta at the CNN Center.

Let's begin with Reynolds in Charlotte.

Hello, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi. Good morning.

The winter storm warning continues for the Charlotte metropolitan area, as well as the Foothills, and even the Piedmont section of western North Carolina. Right now it's all snow. And we have seen quite a bit of it this morning, I'd say easily an inch, maybe an inch and a half of snow on the ground. And it is a very damp, wet snow. Take a look at this live image that we have from the downtown city, queen city of Charlotte. It looks pretty good. We're seeing the snow continue.

We have had some issues out at the airport. We've had some cancellations there. We have had, of course, quite a bit of snow and slush on sidewalks, which are going to make it really tough for people to get their way around town.

However, the roadways for the most part are still in pretty good shape. They did treat the roads yesterday afternoon with a brine solution, a combination of both water and salt. And for the time being, roads appear to be pretty good.

However, in to the afternoon, we're expecting much of the snow to switch on over into sleet and then freezing rain into the late afternoon hours. So, it certainly is kind of a wait-and-see kind of issue here no for the time being.

That is the latest we have from Charlotte. We're going to have more information, more updates for you throughout the rest of the morning, and, of course, throughout the rest of the day as well.

Let's send it back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Reynolds Wolf in Charlotte -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's some tough times if you're a commuter in Atlanta, too.

Let's get right to CNN's Rusty Dornin. She's there this morning.

How is it looking, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Atlantans can breathe a sigh of relief, Soledad. The ice man never came this morning.

As you can see, this is what is known as the downtown connector. It's Atlanta's own personal nightmare for commuting. It's where the highways intersect downtown, and traffic is moving very smoothly. Most of the ice and snow was in or is in northeast Georgia.

Now, out at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport, the world's busiest, they did cancel 450 flights. Apparently, the temperatures never got below freezing, but they ended up de-icing a couple of planes -- about six or seven planes, anyway, just to be safe. But it looks like that flight operations by 10:00 a.m. this morning, they say, are going to be operating at normal. But, of course, there are going to be backlogs because there are a lot of arrivals and departures that never happened because they canceled so many flights -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Rusty Dornin watching it for us.

Thank you, Rusty.

Good news from Atlanta, then, but where is the storm going?

Let's get right to severe weather expert Chad Myers, who's watching it all and the big picture.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The storm is going to Charlotte and the storm is going to Asheville. And these two cities and all points in between are really under the gun.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thank you.

MYERS; You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: And of course you can still get the latest forecast for hundreds of cities. Just go online. Go to CNN.com/togo. Find out how you can set up e-mail alerts, and they get delivered right to your cell phone. That's a nice, convenient way to figure out what's going on weather-wise when you're stuck at the airport.

M. O'BRIEN: Iraq is trying to get control of its porous borders with Iran and Syria. The government is banning flights to or from Syria, shutting down a key border crossing into Iran. The goal, to stem the flow of weapons and militants bent on using them into Iraq.

And this morning in Washington, a deal is struck. Democrat Carl Levin and Republican John Warner joining forces on a new compromise resolution that opposes the president's troop buildup plan but promises to keep funding for troops in place.

CNN's Dana Bash on Capitol Hill with more on the deal-making.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

You know, the White House and its allies here on Capitol Hill had been trying to figure out how to keep Republicans who were quite concerned about sending more troops to Iraq from actually voting against the president. And the deal that was hashed in the Senate last night is going to make that a whole lot harder.

There had been two competing measures opposing the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. One sponsored mostly by Republicans, the other mostly by Democrats. But now they have joined forces with one goal, and that is to pass a bipartisan measure repudiating the president on that plan.

Now, here is the main line of the resolution as it reads now.

"The Senate disagrees with the plan to augment our forces by 21,500." That's a lot less confrontational than what Democrats had proposed, which was that it is "... not in the national interest of the United States..." to increase troop levels in Iraq. Now, the measure also makes clear in order to appeal to more Republicans that Congress will not cut off funding for the troops in Iraq.

Miles, this is pure, practical politics. Democrats want to pass something, they want to pass something in a bipartisan way, so they cut a deal with Republicans.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana, a lot of Iraq issues will come to a head today as George Casey, who led the effort over there for a couple of years, now faces confirmation hearings as the Army chief of staff. The Senate Armed Services Committee, there might be kind of a little bit of friction there today, huh?

BASH: It definitely will be a hearing to watch, there's no question. It's going to start in about an hour and a half.

General George Casey, as you said, he commanded troops in Iraq for two years. He has now been nominated to be Army chief of staff. And what several leading Republicans, including John McCain, say is that they're not sure that he is really the man for the job, that he should get a promotion after, from McCain's point of view, he did not prosecute the war in Iraq right.

Now, what we are going to see are some tough questions about his conduct, the way he executed the war, the way the military in general executed it. What Senator McCain said to us yesterday was he was involved for years in saying he had a sufficient number of troops and that they had a successful strategy. Senator McCain and other senators making very clear they don't think that was the case at all -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash, live from the Capitol -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Some senators have said that any resolution could be demoralizing to the troops. So, what do the troops think?

AMERICAN MORNING'S Sean Callebs is live for us this morning at Ft. Stewart, Georgia.

Good morning to you, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And the people in this area, it seems that everybody in D.C., is talking about some kind of resolution regarding the president's decision to send more troops to Iraq. Now, the soldiers that we had a chance to speak with yesterday say they're simply trying to ignore the political fray, saying that their deployment date has been moved up by several months, so they're more focused on their mission at hand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice over): Real bullets, real rockets, and members of the 37th Cavalry know the reality is, resolution or no resolution, they are getting ready to join soldiers being sent to Iraq.

PVT. CHRISTOPHER WEISENBERGER, U.S. ARMY: You can always train more, but we train with the time we have, and we get to see our families when we get to see our families. So I'm ready to go.

CALLEBS: But before reaching Baghdad, soldiers at Ft. Stewart are caught in a different kind of battle, a struggle between President Bush and senators who are supporting a non-binding resolution that says adding 21,000 more troops is against the U.S. national interest.

SGT. LARRY MITCHELL, U.S. ARMY: Reality is reality. So, you can ignore the negative stuff, but it's still going to be there.

CALLEBS: Training to go house to house, door to door, troops know just what to do. But a confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration is something else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see our solders that were focused on what we have to do, and making -- making sure that we're going to make a positive difference with the Iraqi people and with ourselves. And we'll let the rest of it take care of it.

CALLEBS: It's a sacrifice for people like 25-year-old mother of two Carlia Mulholland. She is getting ready to say good-bye to her husband, a tank commander who is heading to Iraq for the third time.

CARLIA MULHOLLAND, WIFE OF SOLDIER: I don't really like going -- having him go back over again. And sometimes, you know, you get to the point where you're like, it's been enough. But he's our president.

CALLEBS: As the war goes, in many ways so does Hinesville, Georgia, home to Ft. Stewart. Those who have loved ones in Iraq say harsh reality means more than heated rhetoric.

CAROLINE CRISSMAN, WIFE OF SOLDIER: Frustrating to deal with. This all fighting over here when, no matter what you decide, my husband's still over there and still in harm's way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: The commanders we had a chance to speak with say they are trying to insulate all of their troops. And while the Senate will be debating whether to approve this resolution or not, the troops here will continue to train.

And Soledad, they say if there is one thing that they are focusing on, the troops, that is, it's the fact that no matter how people across the U.S. may feel about the war, it seems to them that support for the U.S. fighting men and women has remained positive overall.

S. O'BRIEN: It certainly seems that all the elected officials are making -- taking great pains to underscore that support.

Sean Callebs for us this morning at Ft. Stewart in Georgia.

Thank you, Sean.

And it's not quite an apology, but Virginia is a step closer this morning. The Virginia House Rules Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed a measure expressing profound regret for the state's role in the slave trade and other injustices against African-American and native Americans. The full legislature still has to vote on that -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, President Bush arriving at the national prayer breakfast a short while ago. Live picture there as we look at the prayer breakfast, just about getting under way right now at the Washington Hilton. I believe they're actually saying a prayer right now.

President Bush, the first lady, as you can see, beside him, joined by more than 3,000 others representing each state, the Congress, the diplomatic corps, and 100 nations. A big political event there in Washington. We'll watch it for you.

Senator Joe Biden trying to get his wing tip dislodged from his mouth this morning after calling Senate Barack Obama a "clean and articulate candidate." Biden facing the cyber world this evening to take some questions. He'll have a Web chat at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can some information about that at joebiden.com.

The Senate voting today on its version of the new minimum wage bill, upping it from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. The Senate bill also contains about $8 billion in goodies, tax breaks for small businesses -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Very disturbing videotape just being made public. A pregnant driver is pulled over in Kansas City and she asks more than a dozen times to be taken to the hospital. She says she's bleeding. Instead, she goes off to jail and now she's suing.

Bev Chapman with our affiliate KNBC has our report this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a fake temp tag in your back window.

BEV CHAPMAN, REPORTER, KNBC (voice over): The actual stop lasts about 30 minutes. During that time, Sofia Salva asks for help 21 times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says she is three months pregnant.

SOFIA SALVA, PREGNANT DRIVER: I'm three months pregnant and I'm bleeding.

CHAPMAN: Salva tells police she wants to go to the hospital. Officer Melody Spencer (ph) responds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is that my problem?

CHAPMAN: During the course of the stop and search of her car, police will learn she has outstanding warrants, including mistreatment of children, trespassing, and driving with a suspended license. Officer Kevin Shnell (ph) tells her he watched her place the fake tag in her window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I think there's still a little bit more than what you are telling us. You sure are playing hard to get lying to us.

CHAPMAN: Salva's attorney says that officers approached the situation expecting to find criminal evidence, expecting this person was not telling the truth. They did nothing, he says, to ask questions to find out what was going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't cop an attitude with me. It's called a menstrual cycle.

CHAPMAN: Salva was taken to jail. Nine and a half hours later she was released to a hospital where she delivered a premature boy who died after one minute.

SALVA: Can I go to the hospital?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can go to the hospital when we're done with you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: That was Bev Chapman of our affiliate KNBC with that report.

A police department spokesman says they are investigating, they plan to get to the bottom of what happened. Salva's lawsuit is asking for $25,000 in damages, and the two officers, believe it or not, remain on duty.

M. O'BRIEN: Wow.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's a little shocking.

M. O'BRIEN: So at this point they haven't had any disciplinary action by the department?

S. O'BRIEN: Apparently, from what we heard on Wednesday, they remain on duty as the investigation, the internal investigation goes on.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll follow that one for you.

Coming up, some new evidence in that deadly Rhode Island nightclub fire from 2003. We will look at what it might reveal about the case.

Also, a Mississippi couple expecting millions of dollars in Katrina damages gets some disappointing news. We'll tell you what a judge said.

And later, a new report on kids and soccer injuries. Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us who is at risk and how we can keep our children safe on the field. You put them in soccer because you think it's safer than football, right? Well, you better stay tuned. We'll tell you about it.

The most news in the morning right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN AMERICAN MORNING.

Stories we're watching for you.

Two men due in court next hour for that P.R. stunt in Boston. Those light, bright looking things were posted all throughout the city. Somehow people got it in their head they were bombs. It was just a P.R. stunt for a cartoon show and it kind of went horribly wrong, to say the least.

Snow and ice bearing down on states from Tennessee to North Carolina. And you know what that means. That means that Atlanta, Georgia, is right in the middle of it. So that means flights all across the nation are going to be affected today. We are tracking that for you.

As a matter of fact, Chad Myers is all over that. He slept underneath the computers there, practically, in the weather center.

Well, they gave you a room, anyhow.

MYERS: They did.

M. O'BRIEN: But you have been working on this all night. Are you glad you didn't go home?

MYERS: You know, I thought it would be bad if the weather guy can't show up because of the weather.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: It just would look really bad on my resume. And I would need a resume at that point.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: A top story out of Washington this morning is that new bipartisan resolution against the president's Iraq strategy. It's now headed for a vote by the full Senate. Is this the first sign that the president is facing a GOP revolt?

David Gergen is a former presidential adviser. He's now with the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He's in Boston this morning.

It's nice to see you, David. Thanks for talking with us.

DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. When you look closely at this resolution, you see that on one hand it's not binding, it doesn't have a lot of teeth, it doesn't have some of the language that Carl Levin said he wanted originally. But on the other hand, what's the fallout? In terms of the presidency, what does it mean?

GERGEN: Yes, this is an important development. There were two competing resolutions coming forward, Soledad. One was sponsored by Democrats, which had more teeth in it, and it had almost unanimous support from Democrats but very little Republican support. And Senator Warner, who has a somewhat weaker but still important and tough resolution expressing disagreement with the troop surge, which had -- did have some Republican support and could round up a number of Republicans but didn't have much Democratic support.

And what happened was, basically the Democrats agreed to go with the Warner proposal. And now Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, is going to substitute the Warner proposal for the Democratic proposal. And the hope among Democrats is -- and a few Republicans -- is they now have a proposal that is important but does not -- you know, is not -- is not vicious, doesn't have that many teeth. But it allows Republicans, as well as Democrats, to express their disagreement there and their anxiety about what the president is doing. And they have got a real chance of passing this.

Now, certainly they will have over 50 votes for this. The next big hurdle is, do they have the 60 votes to break a likely Republican filibuster coming from the more conservative elements of the Republican Party?

S. O'BRIEN: And that's a good question. And we'll have to wait and see about that.

GERGEN: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, to me, it seems like mad Republicans fall into two camps. They sort of have people who are mad about the midterm elections and fearful about what this could mean in '08 because of the president's stance on the war and the building up of the troops. And then you have people who are mad because the president says things like, "I'm the sole decider," kind of dismissing out of hand the role that Congress has.

Is that a fair analogy?

GERGEN: Well, that's right. I think that's -- I think there are -- there's very clearly a lot of Republican -- there are 20 Republican senators up for re-election in 2008. And among those, a number are both angry and scared, just as you said. And they are -- they are very likely -- probably as many as half, or a little less than half, have expressed their deep anxiety and their frustration.

And then there are a few like Senator Specter, who are -- object to the sort of insertion of executive authority at the expense of Congress. The Constitution has been quite clear that the Congress and the executive share responsibility for war. And it's as if they've been written (ph) out of the picture.

And then others like Senator Warner, who fundamentally just objects to the course the war is taking. They are just in disagreement on the substance of the war. They think the -- and, you know, that's why will you're going to have, when General Casey is up now for -- to be -- to be confirmed today as Army chief of staff, and you reported earlier you're going to hear a number of Republicans speak out against the prosecution of the war and expression their frustration.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that could be a pretty tough hearing for him this morning.

GERGEN: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me ask you a question about Senator Joe Biden, who within, it seems, like 25 seconds of making his campaign public and official, suddenly he's dancing around answering questions about some of the things he said about Hillary Clinton in a "New York Observer" article, about John Edwards -- he was blunt -- and then these sort of weird/offensive comments about Barack Obama, saying he's articulate and bright and clean, and nice-looking.

Is his candidacy over before it even gets started, do you think?

GERGEN: It's not over, but he certainly -- it's very strange. And I think he's once again undercut himself.

I mean, Joe Biden is one of the most capable members of the United States Senate. He represents his country overseas on many, many missions in ways that I think would impress most Americans. And yet, each time he runs for president he slips on banana peels.

I mean, he did this some years ago. You know, it was like 18 years ago when he ran. He is a very attractive candidate, and he got accused of essentially plagiarizing or lifting portions of speeches from British politicians without citation and he was forced out of the race.

I don't think this is going to force him out of the race. And it's his comments about Senator Obama that have really, you know, set people abuzz.

And it's very clear he did not mean to insult Senator Obama or give offense. And yet, if you are a black candidate who has run in the past, as Jesse Jackson is, for example, or Al Sharpton, they have taken offense. And it's definitely undercut his early efforts.

I don't think -- don't write him off. He is one of the most experienced voices in foreign policy. And we're going to have a lot of foreign policy debates in the weeks ahead.

S. O'BRIEN: David Gergen.

Always nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us this morning. GERGEN: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: A pleasure -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a surprising discovery at Ground Zero here in New York City. It's raising questions about what else might be there.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning right here on CNN. Take a look at what we're following for you right now.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: In Alaska, a new federal study says the Exxon Valdez spill is still affecting Prince William Sound. It's been 18 years now. It remains a hazard to sea otters, sea ducks and shore birds. Researchers say there's still 26,000 gallons of spilled oil in the Sound.

Amazing.

Speaking of that, ExxonMobil out with a profit report, and it's a gusher, I guess.

A little past 25 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."

Hello, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, ExxonMobil out with its profit report, its third quarter profit -- its fourth quarter profit. The last three months of the year weren't fantastic. It was actually a little year. But for the year, the largest profit in U.S. corporate history, coming in at $39.5 billion. That beat 2005's full-year profit, which was $36 billion and a bit.

Exxon coming in with $39.5 billion. That's the biggest one in U.S. history.

There's a case going on in Atlanta right now in federal court. Coke -- a Coke employee -- a former Coke employee is on trial, accused of stealing corporate secrets and attempting to -- or conspiring to sell them to Pepsi.

That court -- that trial is at the jury stage right now. The jury started deliberating yesterday. They are deliberating charges against two defendants. One of them is a 41-year-old woman who was the secretary to Coke's head of branding, corporate branding. She is alleged to have taken secrets, samples, documents, things like that, about products that have not been launched, handing them over to a second person who is also on trial who was supposedly intending to sell these to Pepsi. The government has accused the woman of these crimes. She says not the case. And the jury is deliberating. We'll have to see what happens with that -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Ali Velshi. Appreciate that.

It is Thursday.

Crew, are you ready now? What does Thursday mean?

S. O'BRIEN: MilesCam!

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: MilesCam Day!

M. O'BRIEN: Significantly improvement -- significant improvement there -- yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We worked on it in the break.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much for your rehearsals.

Send me your questions. I'll give you the answers after the program.

The e-mail address, milescam@cnn.com. Any old question you'd like.

We've got a big series on global warming. We haven't been talking much about it, but it's coming up and you'll see that in a few minutes. Why don't you watch that? That might provoke a few questions on your mind that you could send to me.

I'll answer them at cnn.com/pipeline, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Always check out Pipeline. Worth doing.

Top stories of the morning are up next. Snow and ice crippling the Southeast. The ripple effect from hundreds of canceled flights could slow down the entire air traffic system.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian. A PR campaign creates mass confusion here in Boston yesterday. How did it happen and who's going to pay.

AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back. It's Thursday, February 1st. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin with the weather, shall we? In the southeast this morning, it's a huge mess as folks there deal with the worst kind of winter storm -- an ice storm. Smack dab in the middle of it all is the nation's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson Airport. And the conditions there getting a little better, but already 450 flights have been canceled. That of course is going to have a ripple effect across the country. Elsewhere, snow and freezing rain is making roads treacherous. Let's get right to our complete coverage for you this morning.

We've got Reynolds Wolf. He's in Charlotte. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center. Let's begin with Reynolds.

Hey, Reynolds, how's it looking?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's looking pretty good actually. We do have that winter storm warning that will continue for the Charlotte Metropolitan area through the evening. And we've seen the trifecta in terms of winter weather. We've seen some snowflakes, we've seen a little bit of freezing rain, and also some sleet that you may see on the front of your television screen at home falling from top to bottom on the screen.

Now behind me, you have a stretch of I-77 that was treated just yesterday with a brine solution. We've had several salt trucks that have come by, dropping their salt on this road. You see Charlotte is actually using 30 of them. We've had no issues on this stretch of roadway.

However, numerous accidents have been reported around Charlotte. Thankfully, though, no fatalities. I will tell you also that public schools have been closed for the day. There have been some delays. There has been some cancellations at the airport. But it is still operational at this point.

Now we are expecting most of the precipitation to switch over to freezing rain, which of course could cause problems on trees as well as power lines. No major outages to report, though, which is certainly some good news, and what's even better news is that by tomorrow we can expect a 20-degree temperature swing, temperatures in the 40s and the 50s, which means a lot of this wintry mess will be long gone.

Let's send it back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Happy news for commuters, sad, sad news for those kids who are out of school today. All right, Reynolds, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Now more on that -- those light brights that turned out to be not such a bright idea. Two suspects will be arraigned in connection with a bomb scare, triggered by an ad campaign gone wrong in Boston. The trouble started when folks started spotting these things, little cartoon character, a Mooninite (ph) I think is what they call it from this cartoon program, and of course he's with the obscene gesture there.

Anyway AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian has more on that.

Dan, somehow people decided these were improvised explosive devices, and the rest, well, we know is history -- Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes. No, you're right. The attorney general says while it might appear harmless, and if you saw these things lit at night you might think, well, this is nothing suspicious. She points out that when you're looking at it in the daytime, it looks like a circuit board. There are wires sticking out. There are little tubes. There are batteries, and that is why we saw that massive response starting early in the morning during the commute hours, and then rolling out throughout the afternoon.

We are standing in front of the Charlestown district court, around the corner from where that first incident occurred yesterday morning, and this is where in about 20 minutes or so the two suspects who were arrested yesterday will be arraigned. The first suspect, 27- year-old Peter Berdovsky (ph). He was picked up shortly after 8:00 p.m. last night. Twenty-eight-year-old Sean Stevens (ph) was picked up late last night. Both are apparently seen on their Web site allegedly setting up these devices across the city, across the area, both allegedly working for the Cartoon Network as part of a campaign.

They were hired by a third party, Interference Incorporated, which is an ad firm out of New York. And as you mentioned, Miles, this really did disrupt life here in Boston where bridges were -- other roadways were closed. Even the Charles River was shut down for some time yesterday.

Now Turner Broadcasting, which is the parent company of the Cartoon Network and also CNN, released a statement saying, in part, quote, "We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger. We appreciate the gravity of this situation and, like any responsible company would, are putting all necessary resources towards understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible."

But still, obviously, a lot of people upset. You hear the people screaming on talk radio and Mayor Menino saying that Turner Broadcasting should be held accountable.

M. O'BRIEN: It's interesting, those same devices were put in several other cities and nobody took notice there. All right, we'll watch that unfold. Dan Lothian in Boston -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the political climate change. The science then, the Congress is in, the other camps. Just how much heat will the bush administration feel about global warming?

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, another fast food chain joins McDonald's in the battle against transfats. We're going to tell you just who's cutting the fat now. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: This morning's House Call -- you might think soccer is the safe choice for kids. But a new report finds that soccer moms and soccer dads are making lots of visits to the ER. And a lot of girls go to the hospital more than the boys.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got a House Call for us from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, that surprised us as well as we started investigating this a little bit. It was interesting, the first thing we tried to find out is how many kids are playing soccer out there. Surprisingly, a hard number to figure out. This is certainly a sport that has exploded, but you know, about 18 million kids is the best number we could find playing organized soccer, and perhaps tens of millions of more playing backyard soccer or just pickup games.

But among girls, as you correctly pointed out, Soledad, this sport has exploded more. You had about 30,000 girls playing 30 years ago, now it's in the tens of millions perhaps, girls that are playing organized or even backyard soccer. But the injuries is something that was another question that people have been trying to answer, trying to figure out, is it a safe sport, and if it's not, what are the types of injuries that people typically incur? They looked at emergency room records, these researchers did, between 1990 and 2003, and found out that girls actually visit the emergency room more often, but boys, when they go, are actually hospitalized more often. So whether it's the severity of injury thing or what, it appears these two things at least are true.

A relatively safe sport, 1.6 million ER visits, but still some significant injuries, particularly among the boys -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That is. I mean, what would explain the difference between the girls and the boys? More girls going, more boys admitted to the hospital?

GUPTA: Well, there's a couple of things. One -- and we talked to a few of the investigators about this. One is that because it has been more popular among boys for a longer time, there's some precedent as when boys should go to the emergency room and when not. As there's been so many more girls playing more recently, they're still not sure, haven't really set the standards as far as what constitutes something that you should go to the emergency room.

But also it appears to be the nature of injuries. There are all sorts of different types of injuries that soccer players would typically incur. Knees and ankles, for example, most common. ACL, which is anterior cruciate ligament, is one of the stabilizers in the knee, those could be a very severe injury, sometimes requiring surgery, even in a young person. Wrist, hands and fingers.

But head, neck and face, those tend to be most severe injuries, and those are the ones that boys tend to have more often than girls. And just so you know, when we talk about head injuries, it's not typically from heading the ball, but rather from two players going up for the ball at the same time and heading each other and then falling to the ground. Boys get those more often, and that may be why they end up getting admitted more often.

S. O'BRIEN: So what's to take away if you're a parent? I mean, how do I keep my little 6-year-old from, you know, ER visits, which she hates, and I hate, at the same time. How do I keep her out of the ER?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it is a fast-growing sport. So I think in some ways the sport grew faster than some of the safety around it. Speaking about the headers, first of all, there's no specific age recommendation on when heading of a soccer ball should be allowed, and that may be something that changes. But if your child is part of a team that allows heading, make sure they're getting professional coaching there. Also make sure they play according to their skill level, not necessarily their age level. That's something that parents and coaches need to be cognizant of.

We talk a lot about professional soccer; there's been a lot of studies down on that. But when it comes to kids soccer, you also need to make sure you have footwear, shin guards, all the appropriate padding. Think of it like any other sport, and possibly mouth guards for goalies as well.

And stretching, warming up, just like with football, baseball, basketball, any other sport, you've got to think about this with soccer as well.

S. O'BRIEN: See if you can get the little ones to stop sitting down in the outfield.

GUPTA: Stop fidgeting, right.

S. O'BRIEN: Fidgeting. All the other challengers as well. All right, Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" is just moments away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.

S. O'BRIEN: Hello, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We've got these stories coming up on the "NEWSROOM" rundown, Miles -- two men due in court this morning, accused in a publicity stunt gone bad. An electronic version of a cartoon character stirring a big security scare in Boston. We'll tell you about that. And a pregnant woman pulled over for a traffic violation. She needs medical attention, but police ignore her 21 pleas for help.

And icy crash. Look closely. A car with two teens plunges into a cold Idaho River. We've got their amazing survival story. Join Tony Harris and me in the "NEWSROOM" coming up top of the hour here on CNN -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Heidi -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. And coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, does the changing political climate in Washington forecast a change in attitude on global warming? We'll take a closer look straight ahead.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.

Now Melting Point, our continued focus on global warming. This morning in Paris the world's leading scientists are poised to release a smoking gun report on climate change. The U.N. report due out tomorrow will make a crystal clear link between the burning of fossil fuels and rising temperatures all around the world. That's just one reason there is a big change in the political climate in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): When the gavel changed hands in the Senate committee that oversees the environment, the political wind shifted in an instant. The outgoing chairman, Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma. He has called global warning hoax.

SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: We are going through a warmer cycle now, and I've contended, as many scientists have, this is due to natural causes.

M. O'BRIEN: Inhofe's successor in the new Senate, Democratic Barbara Boxer of California. She says global warming is real, and is mostly caused by human beings.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: What we need to do next is focus our attention on how we can fight this serious threat.

M. O'BRIEN: The power shift in Congress is just part of what is turning up the heat on this issue. Scientists now say there is a crystal-clear link between the burning of fossil fuels, and rising temperatures. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita raised concern about the powerful storms generated by a warmer atmosphere. And the Iraq war is prompting a related discussion about weaning ourselves from foreign oil.

BOXER: I would say at the moment, we have to act now. We're very close to the tipping point.

M. O'BRIEN: Boxer is pushing hard to pass legislation that would impose mandatory limbs on industry. Caps on the amount of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere.

In the House, it is no different. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is poised to create a new committee focused solely on climate change.

Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts would lead it.

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The overwhelming weight of scientific evidence is that this is a large and growing threat to our planet, and once we have the debate, I'm convinced that we will be able to legislate.

M. O'BRIEN: But not so fast. There is still a lot of opposition out there. Lobbyists who represent oil companies and utilities are planning big roadblocks, or at least speed bumps, for any legislation that would impose emission caps. Scott Segal is one of those lobbyists. He rep sense a Texas utility that would like to build 11 new coal-fired power plants. The worst greenhouse gas offenders.

SCOTT SEGAL, LOBBYIST: I do believe that global climate change is a longer-term issue that allows the Congress and the administration some time to choose among competing alternatives.

M. O'BRIEN (on camera): So we do have time?

SEGAL: We do have time.

M. O'BRIEN: And what about the White House? While the president did mention...

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Global climate change.

M. O'BRIEN: In his State of the Union Address, the conservation measures he proposed stopped well short of emissions caps.

The president's point man on global warming is Jim Connaughton.

(on camera): What's the matter with capping the emission of these greenhouse gasses.

JAMES CONNAUGHTON, COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: The president supports approaches that reduce greenhouse gases in a way that produces an investment in technology and real reductions in our own country. There are other proposals that would impose a huge cost that would reduce emissions by putting people out of work and moving those emissions to countries overseas.

M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): The president's goal is to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent in the next decade. That equates to about 2.5 percent of total U.S. carbon dioxide emission projected in 2017. Cap programs are much more ambitious. The plan, just signed into law by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, would reduce carbon emissions there by 25 percent in the next 13 years.

(on camera): So this is something for the next president?

BOXER: In terms of attacking this problem to the degree that we must, unless George Bush, you know, has some kind of conversion on this, a lot of the job will fall to a future president. But we need to do something now. And we intend to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now that United Nations climate report will release while you're sleeping tonight, but I'll be up, and we'll have full details for you, along with some special guests tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.

And today, a little later, you know what it is? It's Thursday, and that means it's...

CROWD: Miles-cam day!

S. O'BRIEN: Questions for you about global warming.

Gets better every time. Thank you. And send me your questions about global warming, if you like, or whatever else is on your mind. Milescam@CNN.com is the e-mail address. The place to watch, CNN.com/pipeline, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.

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