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American Morning
Jena Hearing: Mychal Bell Could be Granted Bond Today; Update on Iraq Boy's Surgery; Patient or Prisoner: Does TB Patient Blame Authorities?
Aired September 21, 2007 - 08:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Breaking news. A tornado touches down in central Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the roof come off. And I seen the debris flying through the living room.
ROBERTS: On alert in the Gulf for what could be Tropical Storm Jerry. The latest forecast and live reports.
On the mend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Youssif was scared, but he's a trooper.
ROBERTS: Fresh from the operating room, Dr. Sanjay Gupta pays us a house call on your efforts to help 5-year-old Youssif.
Plus, you know you want one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Twinkie is one of the finest examples of modern engineering.
ROBERTS: But what's in one? Just what makes a Twinkie a Twinkie?
On this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: A great example of modern engineering, the Twinkie.
It's Friday, September the 21st. Thanks very much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Glad you're with us.
We begin with some extreme weather in Florida. A tornado ripping through the town of Eustis. This is just north of Orlando. And these are live pictures that we're getting right now. Rescue crews, as well as -- as well as residents just out in the streets right now because there were some homes that are now considered uninhabitable. Twenty at least destroyed, 50 others sustaining some sort of damage, and that's just the count right now. At sunup they were doing damage assessments, getting the choppers up in the air, getting there on the ground to see what's going on.
They say there's going to be quite a cleanup going on there. They still have downed power lines and sporadic power outages throughout the area.
The good news out of this though is only one person was hurt. It looks like there were no fatalities, even though there is a big mess. As you can see, RVs and some of the trailers up-ended in many of these areas.
CNN's Rob Marciano has been tracking things for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: We're also following breaking news out of Dover, Delaware, today, the campus of Delaware State University. It's on lockdown right now after two students, a man and a woman, were shot early this morning. A spokesperson for the university updated the situation a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS HOLMES, DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY: I think it's safe to say that the male student, he's in stable condition. I think he's out of danger. I can't say the same for the female student.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Classes are canceled today. Employees told to stay home. The word went out very quickly after the shooting. Students were notified over night about the lockdown and the fact that a shooting had occurred, unlike the situation at Virginia Tech last year -- or earlier this year, rather -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, there's a hearing in Jena, Louisiana, today, the day after the huge rally there in support of six black teenagers. This hearing is for one of the teens accused of attacking a white classmate, Mychal Bell, and it could determine weather or not he's released on bond today.
Sean Callebs is live in Jena with the latest for us this morning. About three hours from now is when this hearing begins.
Hi, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Exactly right, about three hours from now, we expect Bell and his attorneys to be in the LaSalle Parish courthouse behind me.
Yesterday, 15,000 to 20,000 demonstrators filed into this town saying that they want the Jena 6 free. Well, they could get their wish in the case of Mychal Bell later on today.
Now, all this comes because Bell's attorneys filed an appeal once his conviction on aggravated battery was overturned last week, saying he's been in jail since December, it's time to set a bond for him. So a three-panel judge and the appellate court agreed, so the case will be heard beginning at 11:00 Eastern Time here.
The defense attorneys say they're very bolstered by this news. They say this is the best chance they believe they've had to get Bell out of jail since he was incarcerated back in December. But it's by no means a done deal.
The district attorney in this case, Reed Walters, who has dug his heels in, saying time and again that he believes Bell was the instigator in an ugly school beating that sent one white teenager to the hospital and also six African-American teens were charged in that beating, they became known as the Jena 6.
We'll be monitoring this throughout the day and of course we'll let you know what develops in this. But again, the defense attorneys very bolstered by this. They could come up with the information to have Bell released on bond today, something that the demonstration here yesterday made clear that they wanted to see done -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Sean Callebs live for us in Jena this morning.
Thank you.
Also a couple of other new stories this morning from Iraq.
The U.S. Embassy is saying that Blackwater Security has resumed escorting American staff in Baghdad, according to The Associated Press. Now Iraq had accused the private security firm of an unprovoked attack on Iraqis that killed at least eight people.
Iraq kicked Blackwater out of the country, but it did not leave. Blackwater is insisting that its contractors were initially the ones ambushed.
And a NATO convoy carrying French troops hit by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Police say that one soldier was killed and several Afghan civilians were hurt. The attack in western Kabul blew the windows out of a civilian bus and at least one vehicle was burning. It came just hours after some 40 militants were killed in a new NATO operation in the southern part of the country.
ROBERTS: Saving Social Security, prescription drugs, and reinventing health care -- the Democrats running for president debated all of it at a forum for the AARP last night in Iowa.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not the plan. It's the man or the woman pushing the plan. It really is going to take someone who is going to be able to take on the insurance industry.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think America doesn't have universal healthcare because of drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They stand between America and the universal healthcare that we need.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's time that Americans had access to the same healthcare choices that members of Congress and federal employees do, and it will also be based on shared responsibility. But everybody is going to have to do something. Individuals, businesses, our healthcare providers, and, of course, the drug and insurance companies are going to have to dramatically change the way they do business as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Opponents have criticized Senator Clinton's health plan which was released earlier this week because she has been taking money from those industries.
The FBI says it has secret recorded telephone calls between Alaska Senator Ted Stevens as part of a corruption sting. A source tells CNN the phone calls are between Stevens and an oil contractor named Bill Allen. Allen has pleaded guilty to bribing lawmakers and is cooperating with the FBI.
FBI agents raided Stevens' home back in July in connection with renovations to his house by a government contractor. The senator has denied any wrongdoing and saying that he paid every bill he was presented for the work. Several Alaska legislators are under suspicion for corruption -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, John.
Well, we have an update for you now on a story that's captured international attention, the saga of 5-year-old Youssif, the Iraqi boy badly burned by masked gunmen in Iraq. And thanks largely to CNN viewers who heard his story and logged on to Impact Your World, Youssif was able to come to the States and get top-notch medical care, and he had his first surgery here in the U.S.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, was able to scrub into the surgery and is here now with more on how this went.
It's going to be a long and painful road for him, but it's fabulous that he is getting this type of medical care.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. I mean, and, you know, keep in mind as well they had to risk their lives quite literally to be able to get here. His father's image is still blurred whenever we show that because he doesn't want to be identified.
But I did get a chance to actually scrub in and watch this operation. I wanted to point out to you, because this is pretty interesting stuff, what you do for a burn patient like this. Several different things took place.
First of all, in this area around his forehead lots of different scarring areas as a result of the burns. These were all injected with lots of steroids, which is an anti-inflammatory, to try and decrease the scarring, decrease some of the swelling around that. Some of that was done around his ear as well here. And I don't know if you can see this, Kiran, but some of this area as well was burned.
The critical part over here in the middle of his face was a little bit harder to address. What surgeons actually had to do was literally take this area out and remove all of the scarred area. And they actually just took it right out of his sort of face and covered it with some other skin. So that area of his face is now gone, covered with skin. And then...
CHETRY: That's actually cadaver skin for now.
GUPTA: It is cadaver skin for now, exactly. They're subsequently going to replace it with his own skin. But that cadaver skin allows the blood vessels to sort of grow and sprout a little bit better, which is going to be important for him.
What they also did -- and this is sort of interesting. You may be able to tell, Kiran, his cheek over here was actually preserved. It did not get burned. This is all good, healthy skin.
So what they did, they basically created a little pocket in here and put what's called a tissue expander or a balloon. And over the next several months this is sort of going to just balloon up all of the skin, giving you a lot more of this healthy skin. They can use that to cover part of his ear, use that to cover part of this area, which was removed. And they also put another one of those tissue expanders in his neck, which was also preserved.
So that's what was done. On Monday he's going to go back and have, as you just pointed out, some of that skin replaced with some of his own skin.
CHETRY: Have they made major advances in this? I mean, will he -- whatever they're able to do now, will he look more normal than what we've seen in the past from burn victims?
GUPTA: I think so. I think a lot of it -- there's a lot going on in the laboratory with regards to actually trying to make skin. You know, laboratory-grown skin for people who have severe burns all over their body.
The good news, if there is good news about Youssif, is that most of the rest of his body was preserved. It did not have burns on it. So he does have other skin from which to draw. So that's good.
This whole idea of tissue expansion as one of the sort of ladders of reconstruction for him is really important, and the fact that he has that, I think, and that they know how to use this better is something that they probably didn't do as well 15, 20 years ago. So he is going to look a lot better than he does now, but I think, you know, the expectations of what he is going to end up being, you know, he is always going to be -- you'll always be able to tell that he had a burn, for sure.
CHETRY: Poor little guy. Is he in a lot of pain right now going through this, or are they helping with that?
GUPTA: They're certainly helping with that. I asked the same question.
I mean, this is -- this is very painful, there's no question. And this whole idea of taking the skin off, putting it back on, they give plenty of pain medications, but it's really impossible to get rid of the pain altogether. So it's going to be a miserable few days for him, but eventually he's going to have a pretty good result, I think.
CHETRY: Well, it's really unbelievable that you were able to be a part of this, and also to how many CNN viewers, 13,000, donations made...
GUPTA: Yes. From (ph) our goal.
CHETRY: ... because a lot of people care about this little boy.
GUPTA: Yes. Yes, and I think there's a lot of other children around there like that, and hopefully he'll pave the way for them as well.
CHETRY: Very true.
Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: People impacting their world this morning.
He was confined to jail and lost a lung. It's been a tough road for a TB patient in Phoenix. And his legal troubles still not over. Does he blame authorities for his condition today?
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Looking at the latest pictures now live from Eustis, Florida. This is about 20 to 25 miles northwest of Orlando.
A tornado touched down there late last night. There was a number of thunderstorms in the area and this tornado developed. People said that they were standing on their porches -- or sitting on their porches watching the storm and suddenly heard that telltale sound like a train coming in. There seems to be fairly extensive damage in a six-block area. Some 20 homes destroyed, we're told. Some 50 others suffering some form of damage.
It looks, according to Rob Marciano, like it was not an extraordinarily powerful tornado because it has ripped the roof off of a lot of these homes, but many of the structures themselves, the walls and that, remain in tact. Of course, lighter items that are around like motor homes, boats on trailers -- and, of course, there are a lot of those in Florida -- have been tossed around like children's toys.
Thankfully, no one died. Injuries are said to be fairly light at this point. But we'll keep watching this story.
What you're looking at now are inmates who are walking around. Don't know if they have been taken out of a nearby facility because it was damaged or they had been brought in to help with the cleanup.
It looks like they are helping with the cleanup, though. Some sheriff's deputies keeping a close eye on these folks. One of them carrying a chainsaw there.
So they brought out some readily available help to try to clean up here in Eustis.
We'll keep an eye on this story this morning as it's developing. Again, a single tornado touching down in Eustis, Florida, in the central part of the state, north of Orlando, last night. As you can see there, a lot of damage, mostly roofs torn off of homes. And no one killed. Injuries said to be fairly light this morning -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, we've been following this story. It's the story of a Phoenix man with tuberculosis locked in a desperate battle.
He had a highly drug-resistant form of TB like Andrew Speaker, of course, the one who caused international controversy over his cross- country travels. Well, this guy was thrown behind bars for months. And we did an interview actually with him back in May when he was in forced isolation in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT DANIELS, TB PATIENT: You know? I mean, I know I've got TB. I'm sorry that I was not wearing a mask. I really am sorry. But I'm really mentally being killed here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He described that as being mentally killed. Ended up getting treatment, though. Lost a lung.
His name is Robert Daniels. He is out of jail and out of the hospital now but his legal troubles continue.
Robert joins us now this morning with his attorney, Linda Cosme.
Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
Robert, why don't I start with you. How are you feeling?
DANIELS: Well, better. Much better. Thanks.
CHETRY: How did you -- do you know -- did you ever learn how you contracted this highly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis to begin with? Were you traveling internationally?
DANIELS: Well, yes. I had to, I guess, because I had TB when I traveled back here to the United States. But I didn't know about it.
CHETRY: Now, Linda, he's been required, your client, to wear this GPS ankle bracelet. Apparently he's not wearing it this morning, but is he legally required to wear this ankle bracelet?
LINDA COSME, DANIELS' ATTORNEY: At this point, no. The county has filed a petition asking a judge to issue an order so that a GPS ankle bracelet can be attached to him to track his locations.
CHETRY: Why is that?
COSME: The order hasn't -- well, the county -- you know, the county has a position that he might become contagious. He might have a bug. And they would like to follow his whereabouts in the event he does become contagious.
CHETRY: OK. But right now he is not considered contagious.
I interviewed Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- he is the sheriff of this county -- about the case over the summer. And I want to get your reaction to what he said in the interview.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So if he recovers from this TB, you're hoping to still get your hands on him and get him back in jail?
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Well, he -- as far as I'm concerned, we're investigating his conduct, putting the public at risk, and I'm going to pursue it. Very simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Linda, do you think your client is being unfairly targeted?
COSME: Absolutely. If, indeed, my client was a threat to the public more than a year ago, I don't understand what's taking the sheriff's office so long to act on that. If I was the public and I had been exposed to a particular infection, I would be really angry if it took a year, a year and a half before I was notified that I had been exposed.
So, yes, I'm concerned about, you know, the use of threats of potential criminal charges. Robert was outside. He's admitted to being outside. He should of worn his mask.
CHETRY: Yes, Robert, why didn't you wear a mask? Sheriff Arpaio is claiming that all they asked of you in the county was that you wear a mask to make sure you don't spread it to other people and you did not do that.
Why?
DANIELS: Look, I just -- I just want to make it clear that when I came here, I was living at this place, and, yes, they told me to wear a mask, but I'm from a country where masks are not required. Nobody wears a mask, even doctors.
So I thought it was really a big overreaction, and I thought I shouldn't wear it when I come -- come in and out of the store or something. So it wasn't really a threat, because I lived there for six months. Everybody knew that I was going out without a mask.
But when they found out that it's XDR, which was actually MDR, but they just decided to isolate me. And use, you know, that I wasn't wearing a mask against me, and made a big lie about not taking my medications, by the way.
CHETRY: All right.
So, Linda, where does it stand now for your client? He needs to go back to Maricopa County. He's apparently living there in housing that's provided to him from the health department. So legally, what's next?
COSME: Well, right now, there's a couple of things going on. We are challenging, of course, the request to place an ankle bracelet on Robert.
You know, he's been really compliant. He voluntarily had his left lung removed. He takes his medication, not so much to protect the public now, but to ensure his own survival that he does not get TB again, because I doubt he'll survive.
He's got a federal case. It's a civil rights case. The county violated his rights by isolating him under very inhumane and torturous conditions. And that case is still viable and pending in federal court.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we are going to continue to follow it. We'll see what happens next.
Robert Daniels recovering now from the tuberculosis, and Linda Cosme, his attorney.
Thanks for joining us.
COSME: Thank you.
DANIELS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Fighting foreclosure. Our Gerri Willis with some help for homeowners who may be living on the edge. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour now.
We have been following the mortgage meltdown, the crisis that's meant hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes, rocked markets. And now getting a new mortgage just got a little bit more expensive because rates on 30-year mortgages have edged up slightly.
CNN's personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is here though with some solutions being offered to protect you.
Finally some good news here.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right, John. Some good news finally on this topic.
Let me tell you, there are solutions coming from all corridors -- the federal government, state government, even community groups. One program that's already in place out there is something called FHASecure. Now, this is a program that targets people who have already messed up. They are behind paying their mortgage payments, they're subprime mortgage holders, they're people who aren't quite making it. But interesting here what the federal government is offering them.
Let's say you had $200,000 mortgage. You were paying $1,400 on that mortgage, your rates go up, they reset, that adjustable rate resets. You're suddenly paying $1,800.
You can't afford it. What happens? You get into FHASecure and suddenly your payments are back to $1,421, which is very good news for people like that.
Now, I should mention, John, this is only going to help about 80,000 people in the next year. So it's not the complete answer, but it is an answer.
You should call FHA to find out more or go to FHA.org.
ROBERTS: You mentioned in there, Gerri, that states are also offering some help to people. What are they doing?
WILLIS: Well, the states are busy too. You know, they see this firsthand, they see people in trouble all over the place.
Let me tell you about a few of the programs that are summarized in a report by the National Governors Association. First off, there's a mortgage rescue scam legislation that a lot of states are passing in Illinois, New Hampshire, Indiana. Now, this helps people who were in foreclosure scams. They were already in trouble, scam artists come after them.
There are also refinance programs all over the country -- Ohio, Maryland, New York. Now, these are programs that help get new loans who are in deep trouble.
Michigan has an interesting program where, if you lose your job, they'll come in and give you $1,500 a month for six months to help tide you over. So lots of great programs out there.
NGA.org if you want to know about programs in your state.
ROBERTS: And also, you know, these people who are in foreclosure, obviously they've got a lot of questions. What do they need to know and where can they find that information?
WILLIS: Well, we want to show you some phone numbers here that will give you places to go for advice, for counseling.
You see individual states -- Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa. That Homeownership Preservation Foundation, that hotline is for everybody all across the country. It can help everyone.
And I should mention, Colorado is bringing four out of five homeowners back from the brink of foreclosure. So, I'm telling you, even if you think you're in trouble, make that phone call because you can really get some help.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. You know, you've got to affect some solutions here and you got great ones there so hopefully it will help some people out.
Gerri Willis, thanks very much. And of course Gerri is going to have a lot more on this on "OPEN HOUSE" this weekend right here on CNN. Be sure to tune in.
Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks a lot John.
Well we're following breaking news out of central Florida, a tornado touching down in the middle of the night. We have more pictures this morning as choppers are in the air and it's light outside and they are able to assess the damage. We're going to have the latest on what is going on when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. We're continuing to follow breaking news this morning on this Friday, September 21st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. The breaking news this morning, a massive cleanup in central Florida. A tornado overnight gave people in Eustis, Florida, that's near Orlando, a rude awakening. 20 homes said to be destroyed. Another 50 or so damaged. Roofs were ripped clear off some of those homes and trees uprooted and power lines down, some cars, boats, recreational vehicles tossed around.
Authorities are putting prisoners to work to help clear up all of the debris. There you see a group of prisoners under the close eye of local sheriff's department. One of those prisoners carrying a chain saw to start cleaning up some of those trees that came down. The good news, just one injury reported so far and nobody died in that tornado.
Our Rob Marciano is taking a look at the aftermath of that, plus what could be ahead with a possible tropical storm, Rob, this morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a distinct possibility, John. It's what caused this tornado is this area of spinning air out in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, an area, by the way, that was devastated by two killer tornadoes back in February. That would be Lake County.
This in between those two past tornadoes. There is Eustis in the center of your screen and the radar from last night. You see the storms rolling from the south up towards the north. All clear right now. Here's a current radar showing you exactly where the storms are now and how they're spinning. Pretty much for the most part they are off the shore and into the Florida panhandle but they are rotating onshore and some of these could certainly spin up a tornado or two.
Typically the tornadoes that fire in these type of systems this time of year are of the smaller variety as opposed to the kind that come through during the wintertime.
There is your spin in the clouds. National Hurricane Center has dispatched the hurricane hunter aircraft. Actually, they are starting to send back some data with high winds.
The question is, is this a tropical system? Is it a warm core system? That is key because if it is, then it will strengthen off the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. If it's not tropical, it won't strength quite as fast.
Here are the forecast models, a handful of them, and their respective tracks over the next 36 to 48 hours. Some of them bringing them toward the Pensacola area and others right into New Orleans and others scoot past New Orleans into southeast Texas.
So still some uncertainty with the storm. Whether or not it's a tropical storm or how strong it's going to get and what direction it will head in and we will watch this carefully over the coming hours.
John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Thanks Rob.
CHETRY: All right, well other stories new this morning, updating some of the other top stories.
We were also following the breaking news out of Dover, Delaware, a shooting at the Delaware State University. University spokes people saying that the campus is still in lockdown. Police are still searching for the gunman who shot two students. Both of those students in the hospital, one of them said to have serious possibly life-threatening injuries. Classes are canceled today and employees of the campus were told to stay home.
There's also a hearing taking place in about an hour and a half, a day after the huge rally in Jena, Louisiana. It all centers around Mychal Bell. He's one of six black teens accused of attacking a white classmate. He has a bail hearing today. Martin Luther King Jr.'s son weighing in. He says the justice system isn't always applied the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN LUTHER KING III, PRES. & CEO, REALIZING THE DREAM: This is about justice. Justice for the six young men and even justice for the victim.
BOB NOEL, MYCHAL BELL'S ATTORNEY: The big problem in this case is that it's a manipulation of the system. Obviously, they wanted this child to be tried as an adult.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is he?
NOEL: So he was charged initially with an enumerated offense, and then prior to trial, they amended it to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree aggravated battery which, under our law, you can't try a juvenile for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was the attorney for Mychal Bell. The D.A.'s office insisting they still believe it was Bell who was the ring- leader of that violent attack. There was an appeals court last week overturning Bell's conviction. They did rule on that but right now he is still in jail.
ROBERTS: Coming up to 37 minutes after the hour and time for the Friday edition of political hot topics. We call it our ballot jackpot because no one knows what we're going to pull out of our ballot box. We put one hot topic on each ballot and stuffed it into the box. Now it's time to draw them out.
CHETRY: That's right, one at a time. Our first - first, we're going to introduce our panel. We have with us Democratic strategist Steve McMann in Chicago this morning.
Good to see you, Steve.
STEVE MCMANN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
CHETRY: Also Republican strategist Jennifer Millerwise Dyck joins us from Washington this morning.
Jennifer, great to see you as well.
JENNIFER MILLERWISE DYCK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: Let's get underway.
ROBERTS: Ladies first. Go ahead and pick one here.
CHETRY: There's a lot of good ones today. Totally unscientific. One of our favorite topics, Hillary health care. She came out with her comprehensive plan last week. She was on all of the major shows and now she's getting criticism from both sides. The Dems and the republicans are criticizing her. What do you think, first, Jennifer?
MILLERWISE DYCK: Well, Hillary Clinton's problems with health care are really the same problems that are dogging her entire campaign and that is she has a legacy from the 1990s. When people think of Hillary Clinton and health care, they think of socialized medicine. They think of a government takeover and think about her position in the '90s. When you're reading the headlines right now, you're seeing Hillary Clinton in the news for campaign scandals. It reminds you of the Lincoln bedroom. People didn't like her in the '90s. She is trying very hard to reinvent herself. But the fact is, you're going to have candidates on both sides of the aisle who are going to be constantly reminding voters of the Hillary Clinton of the '90s who they just didn't like.
CHETRY: She is getting it from the democrats, too. Elizabeth Edwards says I wouldn't call it Senator Clinton's health care plan. I would call it John Edwards plan delivered by Hillary.
Steve.
MCMANN: Well, the fact she is getting it from both sides actually ought to tell you something. You look at it and you say it's an awful lot like John Edwards plan and you look at Mitt Romney's plan from Massachusetts that he passed and it looks an awful lot like that plan, too. The fact is there are no government mandates. There's no socialized medicine. The private health care system is protected. People are going to be covered. They're going to have the same insurance they have today. In fact, have access to the same insurance that members of Congress and senators have. So it's a great plan and the fact it's been attacked from the left and the right is probably a pretty good sign that it's right where America is.
ROBERTS: All right. Let's go for question number two here this morning. Pull one out. Moveon condemned. The Senator Cornyn measured in the senate yesterday to condemn Moveon.org for that ad that said General Petraeus, General Betray Us. Steve, why will Democrats not criticize this organization?
MCMANN: Well John, a lot of democrats have criticized the ad. I think the organization and the ad are two different things. You know it's a clever line and I'm sure I can understand why a copyrighter would love it but I can also understand why people would be offended. But the fact is you know you've got the Republicans in Washington who are more concerned about condemning an ad than changing course in Iraq. I think that pretty much tells it you what need to know about republicans in Washington.
ROBERTS: Jen, what do you have to say about that?
MILLERWISE DYCK: Moveon.org's ad blew up in their face. It had the exact opposite consequence of what they wanted to have. What you currently have is you gave Giuliani a platform to talk about his position on the war on terror. You have what looks like a solidifying of Congress of the senate behind the Petraeus and Bush plan for Iraq and you have all of the democratic presidential candidates refusing to condemn this atrocious ad which just shows the American people what a grip these left wing groups have on their party.
CHETRY: All right. Let's grab another topic real quick. Obama, missed opportunity. We talk about missed opportunity on two fronts, getting some criticism of course about not weighing in as strongly as some felt he should on the situation in Jena, Louisiana. But also, he's getting a little bit of criticism this morning in some of the papers for not firing back at Jesse Jackson's alleged comment saying he is acting white when it comes to this situation. What is the deal with that, Steve?
MCMANN: Well, you know, Barack Obama is in a difficult spot. Because this whole conversation about is he African American enough, frankly, is insulting. He shouldn't have to react to Jesse Jackson or anybody else. He is running for president of the United States. He should be treated just like every other candidate. He is trying to change the tone of the campaign and trying to change the tone of politics in Washington. I think a lot of people want that and I don't think he should ever have to respond to Jesse Jackson or anybody else wondering whether or not he is African American enough or not.
CHETRY: Jennifer, he seems like he is in a tough position though if he can't please anybody.
MILLERWISE DYCK: It does seem like a tough position. And I'm actually going to have to agree with Steve on this to some extent. I do think it's an unfair position and an unfair standard for Jesse Jackson to have to respond to him. I wouldn't do it if I were him.
I think some of the problems that Barack Obama is having when you talk about missed opportunities, you know, you see he wasn't a part of the democratic debate last night. He's withdrawing from some of those things is because he is having some real problems when is out there doing debates. I think Barack Obama has some real stumbles in recent weeks and I think it's only going to help other candidates.
ROBERTS: All right. Folks, we have to leave it there. Jennifer Millerwise Dyck, good to see you. And Steve McMann joining us this morning from Chicago.
MCMANN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: We will be back with another edition of ballot jackpot on Monday. Join us then.
CHETRY: Coming up, Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates the secrets of food that we eat and love. For example, the mysterious Twinkie. You know what is in that beloved dessert? He will show us straight ahead.
ROBERTS: Some of the best stuff, right?
CHETRY: Yes, of course.
Also, Rob Marciano, he visits the house that Ruth built. He's a huge Yankee fan. He had a chance to see what it's like for the grounds crew.
MARCIANO: I may not be a major league pitcher but I spent the day with the New York Yankees grounds crew and a lot more goes into maintaining this mound and this pristine field than you think. A full report is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Finally the secret's revealed not just what Sanjay's body contains large amounts of but what's in a Twinkie?
ROBERTS: We found out he's pure corn powder today.
What's really in a Twinkie? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been looking into it for a CNN special this weekend, "Fed Up America's Killer Diet." Legend has it that these things will last forever on the shelf because of what's inside.
CHETRY: Can I have one bite before you destroy it?
ROBERTS: You do not need a sugar rush.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Go ahead. How is it?
CHETRY: Delicious, of course!
GUPTA: It's one of the most famous processed foods of all time and we've been told it can sustain a nuclear war only 25 days actually. Why does this require taking such a simple food and trying to make it so complicated and what really goes into constructing a Twinkie? We found out.
With more than 500 million sold every year, chances are pretty good you've tasted a Twinkie but have you ever wondered what is in one?
We asked Christopher Kimball, host of "America's Test Kitchen," to deconstruct the Twinkie for us.
CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL, AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN: The Twinkie is one of the finest examples of modern engineering and here is why. It started out in 1930 as a basic sponge cake with basic ingredients you know milk, butter, eggs, et cetera and they filled it with cream and it lasted well maybe a couple of days, three days, on the market. Hence the problem, how do you create something that is going to be shelf stable and is not going to change over time?
GUPTA: To do that, Hostess replaced the egg yolks with Lecigran.
KIMBALL: It's an emulsifier which means it takes lots of ingredients and sort of let's them blend together.
GUPTA: Cellulose gum replaces fat.
KIMBALL: It brings in moisture, holds moisture and gives you the feeling you get from fat.
GUPTA: Artificial colors take the place of natural ones.
KIMBALL: Those colors actually come from oddly enough a chemical industry from benzene, aniline and other chemicals which, in quantity, is actually poisonous but in the small quantity as used here, the FDA has approved.
GUPTA: In response, Interstate Bakeries, maker of Hostess products, say the core ingredients have been the same for decades. Flour, sugar and water and adding that deconstructing the Twinkie is like trying to deconstruct the universe. Some people look at the sky and think it's beautiful. Others try to count the stars. Urban legend would have you believe a Twinkie could last for years. Hostess says just 25 days.
CHETRY: Cellulose gum, yummy!
ROBERTS: Cellulose gum.
GUPTA: The high fructose corn syrup, plenty of that is in here as well. It was a simple sponge cake and it got turned into 39 different ingredients all the things that he was talking about there but this is what you end up with.
ROBERTS: It is like deconstructing the universe and the big bang theory. When you eat enough of those, bang, it hits you like this!
Are they really that bad for you?
GUPTA: Well you know, they're about 150 calories. You get a package of two, that's about 300 calories. So in terms of calories itself, it's not that bad but these are empty calories and don't do anything for you and they again have a lot of those high calorie, low nutrition stuff in there.
CHETRY: This is the nature of process of food to give it long shelf life and why the ingredients are not so fresh.
GUPTA: Foods that went bad when it first came out made people sick a long time ago. The idea you could create high shelf-like foods made it a lot of sense but we've taken it to a whole different extreme with Twinkies. I'm not picking on Twinkies. There's lots of foods out there that do the same thing. But it was interesting sort of deconstructing it. Finding out all the things, using cellulose instead of fat. You know they got rid of trans fats in Twinkies but they replaced it with a beef sort of substance now so I'm not sure it's any better at all.
ROBERTS: Thank you Sanjay for that.
GUPTA: Here is breakfast.
CHETRY: Thank you!
ROBERTS: Now eat the other one!
CHETRY: By the way, be sure to catch Sanjay's special "Fed Up! America's Killer Diet" on Saturday and Sunday 8 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: The "CNN NEWSROOM" is minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what is ahead.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. That's right.
We're talking about that Delaware state shooting on the "NEWSROOM" rundown. The university under lockdown right now. Police are searching for a suspect. Two students wounded in the attack.
Dozens of homes in central Florida damaged by a suspected tornado. Look at all of that. We'll talk about it for you.
His conviction overturned. Why is a Louisiana high school student still in jail? Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell in front of a judge this morning. He could be released. Breaking news when it happens. You're in the "NEWSROOM" top of the hour right here on CNN.
John.
ROBERTS: Just about 10 minutes from now. Heidi, thanks. We will see you then.
CHETRY: And still ahead, we're going to get to do something pretty fun. When we come back, we are going to be headed to the field of dreams. At least it's the dream of our own Rob Marciano takes to the field with his favorite team, the Yanks. He gets to hang out with the grounds crew for the day. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the New York Yankees call it home and our Rob Marciano went to bat with a Yankees ground crew to see how it is that they keep the field in such great shape. He is here to tell us about the house that Rob built, right? Of course. Yesterday at least.
MARCIANO: There's a lot that goes into making that field the way the. Of course, weather is involved, of course. That's the way I pitch the story. Nothing to do with the fact I wanted to put my feet on the soil.
CHETRY: That is where you were.
MARCIANO: What a great experience it was. There's a lot involved as you would imagine and the people who do the hard work to keep that field in pristine condition, we spent the afternoon with them. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been with the Yankees 19 years now. We've seen the full array of weather. Good, bad, and bad.
STEVE RUGGIERO, GROUNDSKEEPER, N.Y. YANKEES: Look at the radar as you can see, we're pretty good. There's nothing out there. You see what the forecast is for today. We also have the TV, you know? Those weather guys on TV can be pretty good accurate forecasters.
MARCIANO: Depends who you watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, the 20 percent dirt is 80 percent of the game. We're constantly trying to improve it, so to speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do this one?
MARCIANO: This is your high tech gear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the latest in technology there.
MARCIANO: How is my technique?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty weak, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our main concern here is safety. And play ability and on the right side of the infield and the left side of the infield you don't want it to be hard on one side and soft on the other. You want to keep it the same so the play ability is constant throughout the whole field.
MARCIANO: I hear you're the leader of the YMCA dance, is that true? Are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MARCIANO: Can you give me a little routine? How does it happen? Come on, don't be shy. YMCA, come on! YMCA
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it!
MARCIANO: Do you have friends constantly calling you for tickets?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few. I'm everybody's good friend from April to October, you know.
MARCIANO: I bet. Can I have your number by the way? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll give it to you at the end. As the game progresses, you have cleat marks, traffic player and stuff. So bad hops are part of the game. Hopefully not at Yankees stadium.
MARCIANO: I've never seen a bad hop at Yankees stadium.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: I'm looking for free tickets!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: That was great! Did you get them?
MARCIANO: I'm shameless and have questionable values. I did call for free tickets and full disclosure, they wouldn't. It's a ticket in high demand so our legal department will be happy that I didn't participate in that.
CHETRY: You could have stayed just to make sure everything went OK. No bad hops.
MARCIANO: The fact of the matter is they were tired of me and kicked me out but it was a thrill. It will be there another year and a half and they are moving a few hundred yards away to the new stadium.
CHETRY: That's right. So they are getting a new stadium, the Mets are getting a new stadium as well?
MARCIANO: Only in New York that kind of money flows around here.
CHETRY: A lot going on. Well, pretty cool you had a chance to go out there and do that for the day. They listen to you guys. See that? They listen to the weathermen.
MARCIANO: Maybe their biggest problem. It was fun.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks.
John.
ROBERTS: Washington is getting a new stadium, too! Don't sell us short.
Here is a quick look what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
COLLINS: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Two students shot at Delaware State University in Dover.
Central Florida waking up to possible tornado damage this moaning. Several dozens home wrecked.
One day after a massive protest, a hearing for Mychal Bell this morning. The Jena 6 defendant could be released. A woman tasered multiple times even after she is handcuffed. "NEWSROOM" top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well that's going to wrap it up for this big happy family. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: That's right. We're so glad that you were with us today as well as Rob will be here all week in New York.
MARCIANO: Thanks for letting the kids come here.
CHETRY: Go, Yankees.
Sanjay, as always, great to see you as well.
GUPTA: All my food is gone! I wonder where it went?
CHETRY: We ate at all, Twinkies included!
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