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American Morning
Severe Weather Continues in Texas; Al Gore's Son Found in Possession of Drugs; White House Loses Another Supporter; New Director Of Nat. Hurricane Center Gets Turbulence From Employees
Aired July 06, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, rain and rising water in Texas. New storms sparking new flood fears on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you and thanks very much for joining us. It's Friday, the 6th of July. I'm John Roberts.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning John and good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kiran Chetry this morning.
ROBERTS: I hope that you can join us and hang around for another hour and 15 minutes if not all the way through the show or all day here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Hopefully all the way through the show.
ROBERTS: Al Gore is going to be joining us in an hour and 15 minutes to talk about the series of Live Earth concerts coming up this weekend.
NGUYEN: All seven continents.
ROBERTS: Yeah, we'll also ask him a little bit about politics as well and of course you know, what the deal is with Al Gore III, who as we all know was arrested earlier this week. This just in by the way to the CNN Newsroom, police in Las Vegas say a man walked into the New York New York casino this morning and just started shooting. Three people were hurt before the suspect was wrestled to the ground by off- duty military personnel. All of the injuries are said to be minor. No word yet on what set the man off.
Texas under a storm watch. Another round of heavy thunderstorms is expected to dump up to three inches of rain across Texas with flash flood warnings issued overnight. Right now, all of the state's major river basins are at flood stage. That's the first time that that's happened in 50 years. Forecasters are predicting another day of triple digit temperatures up and down the west coast. How hot is it? How about this Boise, Idaho, way up north, just south of the Canadian border, 107 degrees, that's a new record. It hit 100 in Spokane, Washington on Thursday. Heat advisories and watches are up all across the west today and remain in effect. The National Weather Service says the extreme heat could last all the way into next week.
NGUYEN: Well the U.K. terror investigation is taking a new turn in Australia this morning. Police raided two hospitals in Western Australia, taking computer files and other materials. Police say a suspect arrested in Australia last week may have used those computers. We are also hearing this morning from one of the militant clerics holed up inside the standoff at a school and mosque in Pakistan. He phoned a TV station this morning and says he would rather be a martyr than be arrested by government troops surrounding that complex. Up to a thousand may still be trapped inside by Islamic extremists battling the Pakistani government.
ROBERTS: The alleged D.C. madam is making waves in Washington again, free now to open up her little black book. A judge lifted the restraining order preventing Jeanne Palfrey from distributing her phone list. She says it contains the names of 15,000 people, including some Washington big wigs. Palfrey is accused of running a prostitution ring. She claims though that it was a legal escort service.
Someone is apparently trying to blackmail the reigning Miss New Jersey into giving up her crown. Amy Polumbo says someone has been sending her personal photos of herself demanding to go public if she doesn't step down today.
NGUYEN: Pentagon officials confirm that up to 10 marines are under investigation for the killing of unarmed Iraqis. They allegedly -- the scene allegedly happened during a seize in Fallujah in 2004. That story came to light when a fellow marine was taking a lie detector test for a job with the secret service. This is the third war crimes investigation of marines based at Camp Pendleton.
The White House has lost another major war supporter. Republican Senator Pete Domenici says he's going to support a bill that calls for most U.S. troops to leave Iraq by next March and he spoke out from his own state of New Mexico. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PETE DOMENICI, (R) NEW MEXICO: We need a new strategy for Iraq that forces the Iraqi government to do more or else. I'm not calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a reduction in funding for our troops, but I am calling for a new strategy that will move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to continuing --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A new round of debate on the war begins next week in the senate.
ROBERTS: Al Gore III is said to be in treatment, days after facing drug charges in Los Angeles. Police say they found several prescription drugs in his car when he was pulled over for speeding. Authorities say Gore also said that he had been smoking marijuana. His father talked about it briefly with Larry King last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: He's doing very well. We're treating it, of course, as a private family matter. We're very happy that he's sought and is getting the treatment that he needs.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The younger Gore faces three felony counts and one misdemeanor charge for drug possession. As for a future run for office, the former vice president once again said, he is not interested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORE: I ran for president twice. I've kind of fallen out of love with politics, but I deeply respect those who are involved in the political game. But what politics has become is something that requires a tolerance for these sort of spin messages that I don't think I'm very good at.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Al Gore also has his hands full with the Live Earth concerts tomorrow. He is going to be our guest here in the studio in about an hour and 10 minutes. Hope you can hang around for that.
NGUYEN: Yes John, and those Live Earth concerts are expected to raise a whole lot of money. But where will at all go? Jason Carroll is live at the North American concert venue that is Giants Stadium in New Jersey! Jason, what did you find?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is all about being green, but concert organizers say raising money actually, Betty, isn't their top priority. It's all about raising awareness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Live Earth, a 24-hour concert, 100 acts, eight cities worldwide.
GORE: That's global warming.
CARROLL: Former vice president Al Gore developed the idea to help protect the planet.
Over the past few decades there have been several global concerts with different causes, all with the same basic goal, raise money. Not this time.
GORE: It's actually not designed to raise money. It's designed to raise awareness and to spread word about the solution.
CARROLL: Organizers won't put a dollar amount on expected money raised. Profit will go to Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, a nonprofit he founded to help reduce global warming. Gore hopes the music will inspire people to go to the Live Earth Web site and follow the seven point pledge which includes fighting pollution and planting new trees. Critics say Live Earth's goals are too vague.
EVAN SERPICK, ROLLING STONE: I think it is pretty ambiguous. I think they could have done a much better job much earlier on being very clear about hard goals.
CARROLL: Bob Geldof, the man behind two global concerts for poverty is quoted as calling Live Earth a hollow spectacle. But even with profits, getting the money to those in need can be challenging. In 2005, live aid hoped to influence world leaders to commit more money to poverty. Those leaders committed $50 billion by 2010 but at least one watchdog group says they're not on track. On the other hand, concert from Bangladesh in 1971, to date, has raised $15 million. According to UNICEF, 87 cents of each dollar went to children in Bangladesh.
CARYL STERN, PRES., U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF: Concerts really do make a difference.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And, tomorrow, here at Giants Stadium, you're going to have artists like Alicia Keys, The Police, Bon Jovi, Kanye West. They're all going to be out here, organizers say all the artists that are participating in Live Earth are participating and performing for free. Betty?
NGUYEN: It's all for a cause. Thank you, Jason, we appreciate that. John?
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour. A new storm is swirling around the director of the National Hurricane Center. Half of the center's employees signed a letter and sent it to the Commerce Department on Thursday saying that Bill Proenza is too political and needs to go. The letter reads, quote, "The center needs a new director... The effective functioning of the National Hurricane Center is at stake." The letter was signed by 23 employees, including forecasters and Proenza's secretary. Proenza has been critical of efforts to replace an aging satellite called the quick stat. He says he has no intention of stepping down.
Time now to check in on some of the other big stories that are going on this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents. Any relief in sight out west for the extreme heat?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: New research this morning into that sick feeling that you sometimes get when flying overseas. Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta now with more on that. So what's behind it Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Some people when they get off a plane and they don't feel well they think oh, it must have been the turbulence or maybe it was the airplane food. But a new study says it might be something else, it might be altitude sickness, the same thing that people get when they go to the mountains. So when we come back, I'm going to talk about what you can do to keep yourself feeling better on an airplane.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. Elizabeth Cohen for us in Atlanta. Elizabeth thanks very much. Told you a moment ago about Miss New Jersey being blackmailed. It's all over the New York tabs over photos of her supposedly online. Jacki Schechner has been digging into this for us, what have you found Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Well John, Amy Palumbo's not just new Miss New Jersey, she's also a college senior at Wagner College. And if she's like other college seniors it's entirely possible she put some photos online, maybe even on the social networking site Facebook.com. Palumbo's attorney says someone is trying to blackmail her. They sent her a package of photos that may have been on the web years ago. Coming up I'm going to tell you what we found on Facebook and why if she did put some photos online that may have been the best place for her to do it.
ROBERTS: All right Jacki, thanks very much. Betty?
NGUYEN: Well it's a fine day for "Scooter" Libby that tops our quick hits. Libby has already paid the $250,000 fine that was part of his sentence in the CIA leak case. President Bush commuted the 30- month prison portion of his sentence. A judge hears arguments next week about whether Libby needs to serve probation.
Some suspected kiddy kidnappers are busted in Enid, Oklahoma. Police say two sisters, get this, 10 and 12 years old, broke into a neighbor's house, took a 1-year-old baby and left a ransom note asking for $200,000. The girls' mother recognized the baby and he was returned to his mom. Those girls have been taken into custody.
There is a new recall out today on three toys made in China. You might be surprised how much of what we buy and what we eat comes from China and you might never know about it. So who is responsible for protecting the U.S. and us? That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We do have this just in to CNN. Reports about a plane carrying Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf being fired upon. Let's take you now to Nic Robertson who is in London. Nic, if this is true, this wouldn't be the first attempt to assassinate him, correct?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Correct Betty. A couple of years ago, al Qaeda, at least according to Pakistani government, it was Al Qaeda behind two assassination attempts on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He narrowly escaped death when a bridge he was driving over blew up just as his car passed over. This we're being told by intelligence sources now inside Pakistan may not have been a credible threat on the president's life. They say the shots that were fired did not occur when his plane was taking off from the airport and now we're being told that the guns, the two weapons found on a roof of a building near the airport in Islamabad in the early hours of the morning, were in fact, large heavy machine guns not even they're saying at this time anti-aircraft guns. So not possible with these weapons according to Pakistani intelligence sources not possible to target the president's aircraft, although police are still investing or on the scene right now there. Betty? NGUYEN: OK well aside from this attempt of an attack there, he's also dealing with this standoff situation at a mosque in Islamabad where I understand that about a thousand people remain holed up and they're running out of water and food and all sorts of things.
ROBERTSON: They've had the food, the water, the electricity cut off. The leader of the students inside that mosque, it's a religious school, a madrassa as well, says they will fight till the death. The government is worried that there may be young students in there being used as human shields. This is a situation that's been building up for sometime. The students there have been trying to institute, put in place Islamic law right in the heart of the capital of Islamabad, Pakistan. The government has sort of largely ignored the situation for a long time. Confrontation broke out. Several tens of people dead so far and indeed some parents tried to go into the mosque last night, 26 of them, to try and get their young students out of the mosque. The people inside the mosque fired at them and one of the parents killed. This standoff is still going on right now. Betty?
NGUYEN: Yeah it is under way at this hour. We will be watching it. Nic Robertson joining us from London with the latest. Thank you Nic.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 17 minutes after the hour. A recall is out today on three toys made in China. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says jewelry sets called essentials for kids have high levels of lead. Also recalled mag stix, magnetic building sets and shape sorting toy castles. Both have small pieces that can be swallowed.
There's ongoing concern about food from China like ingredients in products that we may never even know about because we don't know that they're in our food. Michael Hansen is a senior scientist at the Consumers Union, he joins us this morning. Michael, can we trust anything coming from China at this point?
MICHAEL HANSEN, SR. SCIENTIST, CONSUMERS UNION: Actually, I think it's pretty much caveat emptor (ph), buyer beware. The Chinese do have some regulations but they're horrible at enforcing them.
ROBERTS: How is all of this happening? Is it just strictly a matter of regulation? Is it people out there trying to make a buck in this fast-growing economy, what's behind all this?
HANSEN: It's actually both. People in China are trying to make a buck and so whatever corners they can cut they can do that. When it comes to shipping that stuff to the United States the FDA has a big problem because we don't have the laws to basically tell a country you can't ship its unsafe food products. We have to catch them at the border.
ROBERTS: Right. When we do catch them at the border, it's almost unusual because only a fraction of what we're importing is being inspected.
HANSEN: That's correct. We inspect about 1 percent of imports. ROBERTS: Why is that?
HANSEN: Well, because there is very little money for inspection. We've decided to cut our inspection. We have about 600 inspectors and they have to look at over 60,000 shipments coming in every year.
ROBERTS: Then they only catch a fraction -- they catch a fraction of what's coming in. Isn't there a statistic that 60 percent of food that's recalled comes from China?
HANSEN: Yes. Actually, for seafood, they're responsible for 20 percent of seafood imports into the U.S. but 63 percent of all seafood that was rejected last year came from China.
ROBERTS: So you have to wonder what's getting through.
HANSEN: Exactly. The stuff that's coming from China that's getting through there is problems with illegal animal drugs that some of them are carcinogenic that are on those fish. That's why the FDA took action.
ROBERTS: Even if it doesn't say made in China on the label because we're also told, in recent weeks, to look for toothpaste that says made in China. But even if it doesn't say made in China can we be assured that there are no products from China are in it?
HANSEN: Well for seafood there are supposed to be country of origin labeling, but it turns out China has cornered the market on many basic food ingredients, vitamin C, vitamin A, certain other ingredients and those don't have to be labeled. For processed products, no, you don't know.
ROBERTS: As we saw in the pet food, the tainted pet food problem. It was wheat gluten that was traced to China. Would that have been on the label?
HANSEN: It would have been on the label but it wouldn't have told you that's from China. That's one of the big areas that the Chinese deal in is wheat gluten both for pet food and then also for animal feed and also for human food.
ROBERTS: So is this Michael just a Chinese problem and an inspection problem? What about these corporations that outsource to China trying to save money? Should they be held responsible for this as well?
HANSEN: Yes, it's actually part of the problem is China's because of the anything goes there mentality of the Wild West, but part of the problem is the companies that buy from there. It's up to them to make sure they're getting safe products. Now some of them are starting to test but some aren't. Some are just going for the cheapest products. Then, no the U.S. side, our inspectors need to do a lot more, particularly from the FDA.
ROBERTS: So the bottom line, though, here, buyer beware if it comes from China, at least for the moment? HANSEN: Exactly, caveat emptor.
ROBERTS: Michael Hansen from Consumers Union. Thanks very much for joining us, appreciate you coming in.
HANSEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Betty?
NGUYEN: A courthouse confession tops your quick hits right now. A man charged with killing three people in New Hampshire, confessed to reporters on the way into court. Michael Woodbury said he killed the men because he, quote, "needed the money." The killings followed a bank robbery, arson and armed robbery.
New York City cracking down on movie pirates. Yes, the first arrest was made under new stiffer laws. The man who took a video camera into a sneak preview of the transformers was arrested and could get six months in jail.
A beauty queen blackmailed. Miss New Jersey isn't giving up her crown despite threats that pictures of her will be released. We have that story next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some medical quick hits for you. Does racial discrimination play a role in breast cancer? A new study says African-American women who reported more incidents of racial discrimination, had a higher risk of breast cancer. The study followed 59,000 African-American women for six years.
Overweight women are known to have a better chance of giving birth to larger babies. New research suggests that taking off weight right before pregnancy does not change that. Doctors say mothers who maintain a normal body weight do have the best chance of giving birth to a baby with a normal birth weight.
Good news for wine drinkers. Just in time for the weekend! A glass of wine may fight the bacteria that causes cavities in your teeth. Researchers in Italy marinated the bacteria in wine and the wine killed it. But it's too soon to be gargling with merlot as lab tests don't necessarily translate into the real world. But there's no harm in experimenting.
NGUYEN: I was going to say, there's nothing wrong with gargling with merlot. In fact, I could use a little bit of wine dealing with those cavities.
ROBERTS: Did you see the movie "Sideways?"
NGUYEN: Yes.
ROBERTS: You'd be wanting to use the pinot (INAUDIBLE) then.
NGUYEN: That's true. Don't go for the merlot. All right well, Miss New Jersey, she's facing a blackmail threat this morning. Either step down by the end of the day or embarrassing photos from your past will be revealed. The pictures reportedly came from Facebook. Our Internet reporter Jacki Schechner has been looking into this for us. Jacki, so have you found the pictures? What have you found?
SCHECHNER: Well Betty, if there were photographs of Amy Polumbo on Facebook.com they are not there now. The 22-year-old senior from Wagner College may have been a part of the social networking site. It's entirely possible but the way that Facebook works is you have to decide if somebody can get into your profile. Now we did go on to Facebook and take a look and there is a network for Wagner College. It has close to 3,000 members. But the activity on it is blocked because that's how Facebook works. You have to have a Wagner College e-mail address in order to get into the network. It's one of the privacy features that Facebook has in place. Now we did a search for Amy Polumbo's name and it does come up in one spot on Facebook as part of an arts and entertainment group. She was quoted in a write-up of this nonprofit activity saying that she was getting pleasure from torturing her roommates by making them sleep in an un-air conditioned room. But that is the only mention on Facebook that we found of Amy Polumbo. Now this is just a proto page of Facebook here, but this is what a profile looks like. It's a very popular site with college kids. They put a lot of photographs of themselves and their friends and they tell each other what they're doing. The reason why it is so popular compared to some of the other sites or one of the reasons is because of these privacy features. It's not likely that she had anything on there frankly Betty that would have been all that incriminating. People put photos of themselves hanging out with their friends, socializing, that kind of thing. It would be very unlikely that if it were on Facebook it would be something that she wouldn't at least want her friends to see.
NGUYEN: Yeah that's true. So that makes you wonder what are these pictures of. You know and a lot of people have been told just stay away from those, especially if you're trying to get a job because employers may go searching and find some things about you that you don't want them to know.
SCHECHNER: Well I don't ever advise people to stay away from social networking sites, because I think they're really great. I think you just have to keep in mind that anything you post online should be something that you're comfortable with your parents seeing, your possible employer seeing, that kind of thing.
NGUYEN: Maybe your priest or pastor, too, if you're religious.
SCHECHNER: Yes.
NGUYEN: Thank you Jacki.
ROBERTS: A storm brewing inside the National Hurricane Center, the director under fire, half of the center employees demanding new leadership. It's a full-blown mutiny as we head into the peak of hurricane season. We'll have that story for you coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, how to escape a sinking car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ (voice-over): Divers are also trying to un-jam the door to let me out but are unable to do so. Admittedly, it's a chilling moment.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: CNN's Rick Sanchez takes us under water and demonstrates what to do if you're ever trapped. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hey, good morning. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for joining us. It's Friday, the 6th of July. I'm John Roberts.
NGUYEN: Yes, happy Friday, everybody. Good morning, John. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kiran Chetry this morning.
ROBERTS: Really appreciate you coming up this week to join us.
NGUYEN: Great. Sure.
ROBERTS: Great to have a chance to work with you, as well.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
ROBERTS: Always seen you from afar.
NGUYEN: From afar, on TV, right?
ROBERTS: Let's get to the latest news this morning. The U.K. terror investigation takes a new turn in Australia this morning. Police raided two hospitals in Western Australia taking computer files and other materials. A police say a suspect arrested in Australia last week may have used those computers.
In Pakistan, this morning, reports that a plane carrying President Pervez Musharraf was fired on while landing. Authorities recovered two machine guns that were installed on the roof of a house near the airport. The president was not hurt.
And a standoff at a school and mosque in Islamabad is growing more tense every hour now. Up to a thousand students may be inside held by a radical cleric. Food, water and electricity are cut off as government troops surrounding the compound try to force the cleric, and his armed followers, to give up. He says he would rather die than surrender.
NGUYEN: Well, the TV reporter who is the other woman in the marriage of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is now on leaving -- actually, on leave of absence from her job. Her employer, Telemundo, says it is reviewing the matter. A source says Mirthala Salinas told her bosses about the relationship and asked not to be involved in reporting on the mayor's divorce.
There's another round of heavy thunderstorms expected to dump up to three inches of rain across Texas with flash flood warnings issued overnight. Right now all of the state's major river basins are at flood stage. The first time that's happened in 50 years.
Also forecasters are predicting another day of triple-digit temperatures up and down the West Coast. Like 107 in Boise, Idaho, way up north. That is a record. Heat advisories and watches remain in effect today. The National Weather Service says the extreme heat could last into next week.
ROBERTS: The peak of hurricane season is just around the corner but it's the storm inside the National Hurricane Center that is making headlines this morning; 23 employees sent a petition to the Commerce Department yesterday asking for a change in leadership. They want director Bill Proenza out, saying he is hurting public confidence in their ability to forecast hurricane tracks. But Proenza told CNN he has no intention of stepping down from his post.
What is fueling the controversy and could it hurt forecasting this storm season? Bob Swanson is assistant weather editor at "USA Today." He joins us now from Washington.
Bob, what is going on inside the Hurricane Center? There's a full-blown mutiny under way?
BOB SWANSON, ASST. WEATHER EDITOR, "USA TODAY": There sure is, John. It's been brewing for the last several months ever since Bill Proenza took the position back in January. He took over for Max Mayfield, a very public figure, the American public got to know him fairly well in 2005, during the busy hurricane season.
Bill Proenza took over in January and started to make some changes and that has tended to ruffle some feathers, both in NOAA, the overall arching administration that is over the Hurricane Center as well as internally. Some internal differences have caused some of those forecasters at the Hurricane Center to call for his resignation.
ROBERTS: Yes, let me read a just part of that letter they sent to the Commerce Department from 23 employees, again, half of the staff, including Proenza's secretary. Saying, quote, "The Center needs a new director. The effective functioning of the National Hurricane Center is at stake."
I mean, is it really? This is a guy would he started out being critical of this idea that NOAA wanted to spend a whole bunch of money on its 200th anniversary, money he thought would be better put into forecasting and he's also been sounding alarms about this quick SCAT satellite, which is due to soon go out of service. Saying they need to do something to upgrade it or replace it more rapidly than 2016, I think, which is the time the next satellite is going up.
I mean, he just sounds like a guy who just cares about the Center.
SWANSON: I agree. I spoke to Bill Proenza last night and he's sounding that same message; that he works for the American public and is trying to not only make the most of the resources the Hurricane Center has currently, but he's also trying to look out for the Center's best interest in the future, going forward, trying to push for a new generation of satellite technology that will improve hurricane forecasting and hurricane watching from the Hurricane Center's viewpoint.
ROBERTS: We should mention to you, that, obviously, you're on the landing pattern for a National Airport there, Bob.
Let me ask you this question, though. NOAA investigators showed up at the Hurricane Center earlier this week trying to poke around; doing a bit of a review to find out if Proenza is actually hurting things at the Hurricane Center. When the NOAA bean counters show up, is that the beginning of the end?
SWANSON: I won't say it's the beginning of the end, but I think Bill Proenza views the mutiny, or the letter that was issued yesterday, not as a direct result of his actions, but as a reaction to the NOAA inspection that came in on Monday. He fears that some of his forecasters are just concerned about their jobs, the stability of the Hurricane Center and, therefore, they feel the pressure from above; and they're, of course, then trying to line up and call for his resignation.
ROBERTS: Max Mayfield, the last head of the Hurricane Center, was a veteran of the Hurricane Center, he was a forecaster. He came up through the ranks. Proenza did work there a while ago, but he was brought in from the outside. Is there some bad blood you think there, because he's an outsider?
SWANSON: Possibly. He did work there early in his career as, I believe, he was a flight forecaster. And went on to the hurricane hunter missions in the '60s, and then left the Hurricane Center and continued to work for the National Weather Service in a variety of positions, working in a variety of offices and eventually worked his way up to the director of the Southern Region Headquarters, meaning he was in charge of all the National Weather Service offices in the South Central part of the country.
So he is no stranger to administration, no stranger to Washington politics. But perhaps not at this level and not to this level of public attention, because of the position of the National Hurricane Center, it is very visible. And I don't think he's quite used to this level of scrutiny.
ROBERTS: You got to wonder, though, even if he does survive this can he effectively run the National Hurricane Center with so much bad blood out there. Bob Swanson, the assistant weather editor for "USA Today", thanks for joining us.
Sorry to put you out there in the flight path this morning, but we appreciate you joining us. SWNSON: Thank you.
NGUYEN: The teenage girl's SUV washed away by high water in Missouri. Witnesses say they saw her drive by and then just seconds later, she disappeared when flood waters washed the SUV down the river; 16-year-old Britt Baxter was unable to escape and she died. She had just received her driver's license last month.
We do want to give you an AMERICAN MORNING update right now. Police in Connecticut say a fourth victim has died after a van rolled into a pond. It happened on the Fourth of July. The driver chased after the minivan and tried to climb in to save her son, nephew, and another child.
So if you were in a similar situation, trapped by rising waters, could you get yourself and your kids out? CNN's Rick Sanchez went through some training that could actually save your life, and he joins us now in Atlanta.
This was no easy task, Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. As a matter of fact, this is a survival series that I had done, which has been really popular with CNN fans but especially with Jon Stewart viewers.
The interesting thing about this, Betty, when I went there I figured, well, there is enough law enforcement there and experts who are going to show me how to do this so I, myself, don't get trapped under water. I was wrong. I actually did at one point, while I do this, I get trapped under water. I tell you something, it was hairy for a while. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice over): It's a Saturday morning on the banks of one of the thousands of waterways that crisscross the state of Florida. Miami police, who now do extensive training on submerged vehicle safety, have agreed to demonstrate how to get out alive. It's a daunting lesson that I'm about to receive, but one these police officials are convinced can save lives.
JULIUS WIGGINS, DIVE MASTER, MAIMI POLICE: As soon as the car hits the water, you have your seat belt on, you want to get rid of that seat belt as soon as possible.
SANCHEZ (on camera): OK.
(Voice over): To say that Miami Police Officer Julius Wiggins, who is also a dive master, is passionate about teaching people how to get out of a sinking car, would be an understatement.
His goal, to reach as many people with what he calls the basics.
WIGGINS: Seat belt first.
SANCHEZ: OK. WIGGINS: Then unlock the car door.
SANCHEZ: Right.
WIGGINS: OK? Then roll down the window.
SANCHEZ: OK.
WIGGINS: And then start climbing out. Then what you're going to do is work your way out here and push like this. Once you're sitting here, all you have to do is just push yourself off.
SANCHEZ (voice over): If ever there has been an appropriate use of the term "dry run", this is it.
WIGGINS: It's going in the water. Seat belt first, lock, roll down the window. Start climbing out.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Got it.
(Voice over): And, now, the real thing. The car plunges into the canal head-first and then bobs back, allowing enough time to put the basic plan into action. With me, inside the car, photographer Rich Brooks, who is a certified diver. From his pictures, you can see I'm working fast to take advantage of what is a perfect scenario. The car has leveled out, giving me time to open the window and get out before it sinks.
However, on my second attempt, the car turns slightly, forcing the water in faster, slowing my exit. With the seat belt off, the lock undone, the window rolled down, I take a final breath and climb out. My third attempt takes a bit longer. But I'm realizing window exits seem most effective. Whether it's a roll down or electric, it doesn't matter, as long as you don't remove the keys from the ignition.
Remember, even under water, your battery will continue to operate the windows. What happens, though, if the window is stuck or, for some reason, simply isn't working?
From inside the vehicle, you can see how it looks when I leave the window rolled up. The water is now seeping in from elsewhere and quickly filling the cabin. I try to push on the door, but it seems jammed. Outside the car, divers are also trying to unjam the door, to let me out, but are unable to do so.
Admittedly, it's a chilling moment. I grab for the emergency air supply left in the front seat. Rush it to my mouth and wait nervously --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up, pull up.
SANCHEZ: For the car to be hoisted out of the water. With me still inside breathing, waiting, and with a much better understanding now of how important it is to know the basics, how to act fast, and how to get out alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: You know what is interesting about this is? I grew up in South Florida. This kind of thing happens all of the time, because there are so many canals along the interstates, and along many of the roadways. On that particular day, we went to a canal that was supposed to be very clear. You would be able to see in front of you no matter how far forward you looked, but something happened and for some reason, the water was extremely murky. So it was a little bit more difficult.
What happens, though, if the windows don't go down and, like me, you're unable to push the door to get out? I will show you a lesson that can save your life.
NGUYEN: All right, very good --
SANCHEZ: See this?
NGUYEN: Yeah, what is that?
SANCHEZ: This is a punch. You use this. If you think through this and you just keep it in your glove compartment. If you're ever in this situation, what you do, and let me do it to the camera right there. You go with this, like with your hand forward. Hit. All right? You hit the windshield it will completely shatter because of the pressure coming in from the outside and the water, and you will be able to swim out. Follow the bubbles to the top of the surface and you will be able to get out. If you don't have one of these, you won't be able to shatter it, and, unfortunately, most likely, you'll drown.
NGUYEN: So, you can use just something in the vehicle to punch -- I mean, you have to have one of those specifically?
SANCHEZ: No. I mean, you can use this. I mean, any object that looks like this that is really hard, that you can use. It has to have the punch mechanism, so it's solid, so it's metal, and so it's got a tip on it, it will break the windshield.
NGUYEN: Where do you get one of those?
SANCHEZ: You can get it at any hardware.
NGUYEN: OK.
SANCHEZ: You can just go in and you just get a straight punch. It's what they usually use, carpenters, to put nails in.
NGUYEN: Gotcha.
SANCHEZ: They say a lot of people have had these and it's actually saved their lives because of this. Because if you have battery operated windows sometimes, they can get stuck.
NGUYEN: That is good information. By the way, Jon Stewart is on the phone for you.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: See you later, Rick. Glad you got out safely.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Don't you do it, Sanchez!
Doctors think they have figured out why we often get sick when flying and it's not the food or the tight quarters. Elizabeth Cohen is along with that story, it's coming right up for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning here on CNN. It's 46 minutes after the hour.
If you fly a lot you probably felt achy or light-headed feeling, especially after a long flight. It turns out that you might be suffering from altitude sickness. CNN's Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta.
We've heard of altitude sickness when you're in the mountains, but what does it feel like on an airplane?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, John, it's a tamer version of what you feel in a mountain.
And flyers, people who fly on airplanes they don't really expect this. You think, well, the cabin is pressurized so why would I feel any kind of altitude illness? This study shows some people feel some level of illness. The best way to describe it, and I know this isn't very technical, is you just generally feel yicky, you feel kind of achy, you feel uncomfortable. And you don't quite know why.
Well, it's not necessarily the turbulence or the airline food. It may be that you're high up in the air, you're not getting as much oxygen as you're used to feeling.
ROBERTS: But as you said, it's pressurized. It's a pressurized usually, what, 5,000 or 6,000 feet, which isn't particularly high. That would be like going to Denver. People who maybe travel through the Denver airport, or they go there skiing, they know if you exert yourself when you just get on the ground there, you do get a little shorter breath.
But can you really get like an acute mountain sickness like you would at much higher altitudes?
COHEN: No, in this study people weren't getting acute mountain sickness but they were getting sort of these tamer, lower-level symptoms. They were feeling a bit achy and feeling a bit light-headed. In this study they attribute it to the altitude because can't perfectly pressurize an airplane. It's never going to be perfect.
ROBERTS: Any way to overcome this? COHEN: All you can really do is just keep yourself in the best shape possible and do kind of common sense things. For example, don't drink a lot of alcohol. That's going to make things even worse, because you're going to get more drunk, and more uncomfortable if you're drinking at higher altitude than you were if you were at a bar on the ground.
Of course, drink plenty of water. Using moisturizer and eye drops that will make you feel better, because it's going to be drier in the plane, also. And also moving and stretching is going to make you feel better. Obviously, you're still at a high altitude, but you're just going to feel better if you move around. Also, you would hopefully prevent deep vein thrombosis, which is an even bigger worry on an airplane.
ROBERTS: Drink lots of water, as well.
Elizabeth Cohen, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
NGUYEN: All right, here is something for you to talk about on this Friday: When it comes to gabbing, are men and women equally opportunity offenders? We have done a special research, and have a special word count to find the truth. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So when it comes to talking, do men or women do it more? Well, the latest research may leave even a chatterbox speechless, but Jeanne Moos is never at a loss for words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS (voice over): Yak, yak, yak!
(on camera): Who do you think talks more, men or women?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, women, definitely.
MOOS: You're --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you kidding me? It's like no contest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women!
MOOS: Why do you think that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm married.
MOOS (voice over): So is the author of the new study in the journal, "Science" entitled, "Are Women Really More Talkative Than Men?"
(on camera): Were you surprised?
MATTHAIS MEHL, PROF. UNIV. OF ARIZONA: I was surprised.
MOOS (voice over): Psychology Professor Matthais Mehl, at the University of Arizona, says almost 400 male and female college students wore a voice recorder, like this one, that sampled sound for several days, picking up casual conversation.
MEHL: It's like they're really nice.
MOOS: When researchers extrapolated the number of words spoken per day, it was almost the same for men and women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow! 16,000? Whoa.
MOOS: Actually, men spoke about 500 words a day less. But the researchers called that statistically insignificant.
MEHL: One person, the most talkative participants who happened to be male who used 47,000 words a day.
MOOS (on camera): Wow, he never shut up.
(Voice over): Here you thought men only used their mouths to eat and drink and talk to the TV.
(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP, "THE BREAK UP")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The over talking is really starting to drain me, and now I have to watch the highlights later to see what I missed here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honey, look --
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's important!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just take a shower!
(END MOVIE CLIP, "THE BREAK UP")
MOOS: Now, we find out men gab just as much as women.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to cut you off now. Hold on.
MOOS (on camera): Who talks more, men or women?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly do, in my family.
MOOS (voice over): If this sounds like the opposite of what you had heard before, maybe you're thinking of "The Female Brain". That book quoted statistics showing women spoke 20,000 words versus a mere 7,000 for men. But the author now says her numbers were not based on reliable data.
(on camera): Do you think you talk a lot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely.
MOOS: Do you think you talk a lot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
MOOS: Do you talk a lot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trust her.
MOOS (voice over): Most folks we talked to didn't trust the new study.
(on camera): How many words a day do you think she is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, definitely 55,422.
MOOS (voice over): Her nickname is FM, because she talks all of the time, like a radio.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't fight with him. He just switches off.
MOOS (on camera): Do you think you talk a lot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so. But a lot of men think I do.
MOOS: Took her 10 words to say yes.
Stereotyping starts young.
(on camera): Who do you think talks more, you or your mom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So, what do you think? Do you have an opinion here?
NGUYEN: I think, I talk a lot more than a lot of guys that I know, including you! You're to the point.
ROBERTS: Here is the difference between my wife and I
NGUYEN: Uh-huh?
ROBERTS: She talks a lot on the phone. I'm always on the Blackberry, which makes her nuts!
NGUYEN: She talks, and you just type. ROBERTS: Exactly. Man of few words unless of course, I'm writing them down.
Al Gore has a busy weekend ahead. Hosting the 24 hour, worldwide Live Earth Concert. But he's not too busy to stop by AMERICAN MORNING. He'll joins us live, in the studio, coming up in our next hour.
What is in a date? Tomorrow is 07/07/07. It is seen as a lucky date. And thousands will be rolling the dice hoping for wedded bliss in Sin City, Las Vegas. Next on AMERICAN MORNING
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up to 59 minutes after the hour. Stephanie Elam here "Minding Your Business".
There's a famous song by the band, Bare Naked Ladies, "If I Had A Million Dollars".
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly.
ROBERTS: What would I do with that?
NGUYEN: What would you do?
ELAM: Yeah, that's what we thought we try to look at, as far as homes are concerned. Actually, CNN.com/money does a quarterly survey, If you had $1 million and you went to different markets across the country, what would you do with it?
Let's go first to Raleigh, North Carolina, there you can get a five-bedroom house, four baths, square feet, 6,300. And that's a 998,000. It's a gourmet kitchen, two landscaped acres, and three-car garage, separate library and office, first-floor guest suite.
ROBERTS: So, why is John Edwards spending $20 million?
(LAUGHTER)
ELAM: There you go.
That's Raleigh. Move to Philadelphia, and there, for exactly $1 million, you get three bedroom, two and a half bath and 2,200 square feet. Has a roof deck, 20-foot wide garden, three floors, gourmet kitchen, a one-car garage. You don't get as much there.
If you move onto Atlanta for the price of $1.5 million, you get five bedrooms and five and a half baths, and 3200 square feet, the front porch, California closets for him and her, and some bookcases and side veranda. You get a lot if you go to the South.
NGUYEN: But not here.
ELAM: Right. But not so much in Philadelphia.
ROBERTS: If you go to New York you get a California closet, and that is it.
ELAM: It would be really nice, though.
NGUYEN: That's the whole house. Stephanie, thank you.
ELAM: Sure.
NGUYEN: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS (voice over): Summer sizzler. Triple digit temperatures from Arizona to Washington State. The push to keep people inside and power systems on line.
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