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American Morning
Ravine Rescue: Trapped in Car for Days; Myanmar Crackdown; Airline Delays
Aired September 28, 2007 - 08:00 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. Lorenzo blows up into a hurricane overnight before storming ashore.
Trouble in the skies.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got a problem. We understand there's a problem. And we're going to address the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, I think you should call the executives at the airlines and tell them to fix the problem.
ROBERTS: The fight to keep your flight on time.
Plus, cracking the cube. Secrets from the world class wizards making an old school puzzle new again on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And good morning. Thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back.
It's Friday, the 28th of September.
I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Glad you're with us this morning.
An incredible story of survival to tell you about today. A woman who is right now still in critical condition but very lucky to be alive after her car swerved down an embankment and she was stuck there for eight days until she was finally rescued.
Police finally locating Tanya Rider's car on the side -- on its side, totally wrecked. They had to cut her out of it.
Police say that it plunged 20 feet and then was buried by deep brush. It was the pings from her cell phone that eventually led rescuers to her.
I had a chance to talk with her very relieved husband this morning on AMERICAN MORNING. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: I can't imagine how relieved you must be this morning. How is your wife Tanya doing?
TOM RIDER, WIFE RESCUED FROM RAVINE: She's still in critical condition. They're afraid they're going to have to take one of her legs. She's fighting for her life.
And the scariest part is that she didn't want me to put her on my insurance because she just started a job and she was going to get her own. So I don't know what's going to happen from here. All I know is that she's here and she's alive. And that, in itself, is a miracle.
CHETRY: It really is. Tell our viewers just a little bit about how she got in that crash and then how long it took her to be rescued.
RIDER: Well, I don't know exactly when the crash happened. All I know is she was on her way home from work and didn't get there. And I reported her missing to Bellevue police. They took the report right away but found evidence of a video of her leaving work, getting into her own car. So they told me I would have to file in King County because she was leaving their jurisdiction.
So King County I called up, and the first operator I talked to on the first day I tried to report it flat denied to start a missing persons report because she didn't meet the criteria.
CHETRY: Wow. So you think there was delays in finding her because of just red tape?
RIDER: I know -- I know there was delays because of red tape. They didn't start...
CHETRY: Now, eventually, it was her cell phone, right? The cell phone signal? How did you get them to look into that?
RIDER: I basically hounded them until they started a case and then, of course, I was the first focal point, so I tried to get myself out of the way as quickly as possible. I let them search the house. I told them they didn't have to have a warrant for anything, just ask.
This morning, they called and asked for me to come sign for phone records so they could try that. And I came, I signed. And they asked me to take a polygraph test and I, of course, immediately agreed. And by the time he was done explaining the polygraph test to me, the detective burst into the room with a cell tower map and a big circle on it and they started explaining for about 30 to 45 seconds about the blip they were picking up on the cell tower. And then finally announced that they had found her vehicle.
CHETRY: Are you pretty sure that she's going to be OK in the long run?.
RIDER: She's alive after eight days. If God was going to take her, he would of taken her before that. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Tom Rider also saying that his wife suffered kidney failure and dehydration from being trapped for so long.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, joins us to talk a little bit about this.
Eight days with injuries and no food or water. It appears she was not able to eat or drink anything. She wasn't even able to dial the cell phone herself. So she literally was just there and she survived.
Is that pretty amazing, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it is pretty remarkable. I mean, if you look at sort of a general rule of thumb, people obviously need air to survive, water, food. And people have talked about the rule of fives, for example -- five minutes without air, five days without water, and five weeks without food. But that is really pushing it, and it's obviously sort of -- it's affected by the resources that you have, whether she had anything in the car -- it doesn't souped like it -- the conditions outside.
And also, I was particularly interested to hear her husband talk about her leg. It sounds like she had a significant injury to her leg, probably a crush injury as a result of the accident. And that puts a -- that puts a huge demand on your body in terms of resources as well.
So without water, she's already, you know, diverting fluid away from her kidneys. That's probably why she is in critical condition. And now her leg, it sounds like he was referring to the idea that it might need to be amputated. So, significant injuries for that period of time, it's pretty remarkable that she is even alive.
CHETRY: So what is her recovery going to be like?
GUPTA: Well, I don't know what the extent of her kidney damage is. My guess is that she has it. Whether she's going to need dialysis, that's going to take some time to probably determine, and then to implement if she needs it.
But also, this leg issue, if she has developed gangrene, for example, in her legs, are they going to try to treat that with antibiotics or are they going to attempt an amputation? These are all sorts of things that I obviously don't know, but just listening to her husband talk about that. We're talking about weeks, if not months, of recovery after something like this.
CHETRY: All right. Well, hopefully, as he said, you know, she made it this far. So we will track her recovery and check in with you again.
GUPTA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: All right. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Six minutes now after the hour.
And to developments this morning in Myanmar, where the military government is cracking down again on massive national demonstrations. Shots are being fired for the third day today. Police are said to be beating protesters. At least 10,000 people are marching today.
The government has cut off access to the Internet. That has been the main link to the outside world as people there post cell phone video and blog accounts of the violence.
And disturbing new video coming in to us today. If you look at the center of this protest scene, there is a man being shot and falling to the ground.
We're not seeing that video just yet. Hope to get it up for you there.
That video, by the way, was supplied by a group called the Democratic Voice of Burma. They say the man who was shot was a Japanese journalist.
Here's the video right here. You will see a body laying on the ground in just a second. There we go.
But here's the scene that started it, right in the center of your screen there. Boom, you see the man fall to the ground there. A gunshot from a Myanmar soldier. Myanmar government television says nine people have been killed in the crackdown so far this week.
Our Dan Rivers is tracking the situation from nearby Bangkok, Thailand.
Dan, information very difficult to come by since they shut down the Internet. What are you picking up from where you are?
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a pretty grim scene, by all accounts, in Yangon today, John. We've been talking to various different sources, some tourists who were there, western tourists, some Burmese families. Everyone talking about further clashes today, further shootings. We haven't got a definitive death toll today, but we have reports of people having been shot dead, people having witnessed people being shot dead, but we don't know exactly how many.
One witness who talked to someone that I've been in touch with, one of our sources, has said he saw rows of bodies lined up on the pavement in central Yangon earlier on this afternoon. Now, we haven't been able to talk to that person firsthand, but if that's true, clearly that would indicate that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people being shot.
ROBERTS: You know, Dan, we're hearing protests coming from other countries, particularly the United States. But is there anything really that the outside world can do to try to put pressure on this secretive, oppressive regime there?
RIVERS: It's pretty difficult to know what they can do. Even Gambari, the U.N. special envoy to Burma, is supposed to be arriving fairly soon. I think within the next 24 hours or so.
It will be interesting to see what kind of access he gets to the senior leadership, including General Than Shwe, the man that leads this country. If perhaps he can sit down face to face with General Than Shwe, there may be a chance he might be able to reconcile a broker, some sort of cease-fire. But I don't think that is particularly likely.
I think the country that holds the key to all of this is China. China is the country that has by far the most contact supplies, the most arms, and does the most trade with Myanmar. China could be the country that could bring all this to a halt if it could apply the right sort of pressure.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see how long it sits on the sidelines.
Dan Rivers for us this morning from Bangkok in Thailand.
Dan, thanks. We'll check back with you a little bit later on.
A developing story this morning from Pakistan. Pakistan's supreme court says it will allow President Pervez Musharraf to run in next week's presidential election and keep his role as army chief -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, there are new efforts this morning to fix problems with the nation's airports. We're going to show you a live look right now at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. One of the busiest and crowded runways have led to a rising number of delays so far this year.
That actually doesn't look quite that crowded right now. In fact, it looks pretty clear. But if you've been someone who's had to sit on those runways as they tell you you're 23rd in line for takeoff, you know how frustrating it can be.
President Bush is dispatching his secretary of transportation to New York to start to look for solutions. And our Alina Cho is live at LaGuardia Airport, also a place that's no stranger to delays, both arrivals and departures.
Hi there, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.
You know, if you think about it, this is really the heart of the problem. One-third of the nation's air traffic comes through the New York region. New York is the worst of the worst in terms of flight delays, and that has a real ripple effect, causing delays in two- thirds of all flights across the country. So a real big problem. What's being done about it? As you mentioned a moment ago, President Bush met with transportation officials in the Oval Office yesterday. They came up with a number of proposals.
Among them, charging airlines fees for landing during peak hours; possibly restricting the number of airplanes that can fly at any one time; and giving passengers a bit of a break. In other words, increasing compensation for those stranded from $200 to $600.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A lot of the air travelers are not only inconvenienced, they're in some cases just not being treated fairly. And there's a lot of anger amongst our citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't think they're able to do it. I don't think they're capable of doing it. I think that they're so overwhelmed by all of the rules and regulations and everything that's going on today that it's probably too difficult for them to sit down and make a plan without cutting out a lot of flights. And a lot of people wouldn't be able to fly anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now, the airlines say all of this sounds great on paper, but the bottom line, the reality is, if they get charged landing fees, for example, those fees will only be passed on to the consumer in terms of higher fares. And no one wants that.
They say the real problem is with the FAA, that they need to modernize and update what they call an antiquated computer system and move from radar to GPS. And that essentially would allow more planes to fly closer together, because they would be able to track those planes better with GPS.
But make no mistake, this is a big problem, it's only getting worse. The White House is hoping to put some of these quick fixes in place by next summer, but, Kiran, that certainly doesn't help the people who want to travel during the holidays. And some people believe that significant process is years away.
In fact, we spoke to a couple of people who said it's like saying there's too much traffic on a California highway during rush hour, fix it. Some say, Kiran, that's impossible.
CHETRY: Yes, it appears that way, doesn't it, Alina? All right. Thanks so much.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT) CHETRY: Still ahead, if you can't sell your house, renting is always an option. It could help you survive the housing plunge, meaning you would rent out your house, become a landlord. But before you decide to become Mr. Roper, there are some things you need to know.
The basics of becoming a landlord coming up next.
And how about this one? Remember these things, a Rubik's Cube? Well, we are talking to some Rubik's Cube experts, world champions, the kind of people who can solve the cube in mere seconds. Even blindfolded.
The secrets of that game that drove us crazy in the '80s, and it's back for more damage. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN at 19 minutes after the hour.
World leaders are meeting at the U.S. State Department today to discuss ways to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. And CNN has spent the last several months looking at the various threats to the environment for a special documentary called "Planet in Peril".
Anderson Cooper takes us to Yellowstone National Park now to help us understand the challenges facing the world's greatest creatures.
Yellowstone national park.
A crown jewel of America's park system. Its beauty is worldly. Greatest creatures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Yellowstone National Park, crown jewel of America's park system. Its beauty is other worldly.
A fully intact ecosystem, scientists say this is the natural world as it should be. But it hasn't always been this way.
(on camera): Sometimes it's hard to see the impact the loss of one species can have on an entire ecosystem. In order to demonstrate it, you sometimes have to look at the reverse, what happens when one species is reintroduced to an ecosystem.
We've come here to Yellowstone Park because in 1995 gray wolves were brought back to this park. A total of 41 wolves were brought back here over two years. And since then, their numbers have increased steadily and they've had a major impact on this entire area.
(voice over): To get a sense of that impact, we wanted to see the animal for ourselves. It's late afternoon in the park and the light is fading fast. It's not easy to find the wolves. They're elusive and very sensitive to the presence of humans. There's a lot of running, ducking and hiding.
(on camera): There's a bison which died several hundred yards from here along a little river. At night, the wolves are going to come and feed on it. They were out here last night. It's a good chance they will be back tonight. So we're trying to get as close as possible. We don't want to scare the wolves off by getting too close.
There's a wolf right there. He's standing on a rock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
COOPER: You see him?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Our "Planet in Peril" CNN special with Anderson Cooper airs Tuesday and Wednesday, October 23rd and 24th, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern in spectacular high-definition. So make sure that you tune in for that.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, there could be a way around the housing market meltdown if you become a landlord. You can survive and even save if you do it the right way.
Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here.
So how does this all work? Let's say I've got a house I want to sell and I can't sell it.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, I've got to tell you, it's tough. It's really tough.
And you've probably seen the numbers this week. They were dismal. Existing home sales down, new home sales down. You name it. The prices are down. So a lot of people out there opting to rent their house.
But first of all, you've got to know your market. You've got to know whether your market will even take another rental house.
Is it the kind of place where people actually rent or is it not the kind of place where people actually rent homes? One thing you can do, obviously, you can talk to other landlords. But you can also put a test ad in the newspaper to find out what kind of response you might get -- John.
ROBERTS: OK. So let's say you've decided to rent and you put your test ad out there and you got some queries back. What do you need to do to get ready?
WILLIS: There's all kinds of information you're going to need. You're going to have to do some real homework here. First thought, check out the paper to understand the typical rent. It would be nice if your rent would cover your mortgage and all your carrying costs, but it may not. So you've got to do a little homework there.
You also need to get the application, the rental agreements, et cetera. MrLandlord.com is a great place to go for that if you're looking for just the actual forums.
And you probably want to go to your Department of Consumer Protection to find out what kind of special laws there might be in your state about collecting deposits, when have you to give them back. You k now, the devil is in the details here.
ROBERTS: And who do you decide who to rent to? And are you governed by laws that say...
WILLIS: You are governed by laws.
ROBERTS: Yes.
WILLIS: There are lots of laws, obviously. You have to be careful who you rent to, obviously. And the main thing is, the main thing you should care about is, can they pay the rent and are they going to be good renters?
There are two Web sites I want to tell you about that you can actually find some financial details on, folks. It's not free.
National Tenant Networks and ChoiceTrust.com give you information on renters. Are they a good bet? Do they pay their rent? Are they good folks? So that's critical if you're going to do this.
ROBERTS: All right. Some great tips there. More and people are going to be doing this as well.
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Gerri Willis, thanks very much.
You can learn more about being a landlord on Gerri's show this weekend. It's called "OPEN HOUSE". Plus, how a move to help Latino homeowners could help everyone.
"OPEN HOUSE" airs Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
CHETRY: All right. Well, coming up, a story that you can't miss. You remember this little guy, right, from the 1980s?
ROBERTS: Oh, the Rubik's Cube. Although this is the complicated one. This is the...
CHETRY: They added four layers.
ROBERTS: ... the four-layered... (CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They added an extra layer to the cube. Well, apparently, as we, you know, sit here and try and work really hard, there are people that can solve it in 10, 15 seconds.
ROBERTS: Well, you're good at this, right?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: You give it a whirl.
CHETRY: Well, all right. Let me start you a quick -- by the way, did you see him over there right there, that guy? Done!
ROBERTS: Oh, you are good.
CHETRY: All right. Just kidding. It's impossible.
ROBERTS: Obviously you're kidding.
CHETRY: It's been impossible since 1982.
ROBERTS: We saw the whole thing on TV.
CHETRY: Oh.
ROBERTS: You're no David Blaine here.
Where are the guys outside?
CHETRY: There they are. Those are the real experts. They can click around, turn this cube, and, boom, they're done.
They're actually headed to Budapest, Hungary, to compete in the world Rubik's Cube championship.
ROBERTS: Of all places.
We're going to go down there, outside the Time Warner Center this morning, and see just how quickly they can get that Rubik's Cube solved.
That's coming up.
Lots else here on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Half hour now. Thanks for being with us on this Friday, the 28th of September. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for joining us. We have some talk about this morning about a) Are we going to get a passenger bill of rights and b) can anyone fix the problem with flight delays?
ROBERTS: It would be nice if they could. There are new efforts to fix problems with the airlines. Record number of flight delays so far this year. It has led to stranded and frustrated passengers. President Bush has been looking into the problem. Earlier this morning, we spoke with Kate Hanni who is advocating a passenger's bill of rights. She wants the president to do more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE HANNI, AIRLINE PASSENGER "BILL OF RIGHTS" ADVOCATE: Well, what I heard him say was that he wanted her to investigate, come up with a system, and see if there was something that could be done. I didn't hear the action words that I would have wanted to hear.
ROBERTS: And those action words are?
HANNI: Put a time frame for deplanement, figure out a way to let people off the planes. Mr. President, with all due respect, I think you should call the executives of the airlines in right now and tell them to fix the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: President Bush met with Transportation Secretary Mary Peters yesterday and they are considering ways to clear crowded runways at the nation's busiest airports.
This morning reports of a violent crack down on protesters in the Asian nation of Myanmar. Witnesses say they heard shooting today in the streets of Yangon, in the country's largest city. At least 10,000 protesters are said to be marching today. Myanmar is governed by one of the most secretive regimes in the world. It's been hard for foreign journalists to enter the country to cover this. Bloggers and citizen journalist had been a major link to the outside world, posting news and pictures on the web. But right now the country's access to the internet has been cut.
And disturbing new video showing a man getting shot by troops. They say the man is a Japanese journalist. The government says nine people have been killed in the crackdown this week.
CHETRY: Also, new this morning. A husband speaking out after his wife turns up alive eight days after her car was totaled and dropped to the bottom of a 20-foot ravine. Police finally detected a cell phone signal. They were able to find her from that, cut her out of the wreckage. Tom Rider says his wife is badly hurt, dehydrated and with kidney damage after being trapped for so long. He spoke with us about it earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM RIDER, CRASH VICTIM'S HUSBAND: She is still in critical condition. They're afraid they have to take one of her legs. She's fighting for her life. She's alive after eight days, if God was going to take her, he would have taken her before that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, he also told us that police were inching closer to naming him a suspect, that he was even seated and ready to take a polygraph test when one of the detectives burst in and said we've located a cell phone signal and that eventually again led them to his wife.
There's a showdown heating up in Washington over expanding health care for children. 18 Republicans will join Democrats in the Senate to pass a bill, despite President Bush's threat to veto it. He says it's too expensive and would cover people who could afford insurance. The Senate has the votes to override this veto but there are not enough votes to do the same in the house.
Well, they were invited to discuss issues of importance to minorities in the country. Republican presidential candidates debated the issues last night at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Five candidates shared the stage with four empty lecterns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't have to have more courts and more prisons. We need to repeal the whole war on drugs. It isn't working. We have already spent over $400 billion dollars since the early '70s and it's a waste of money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the candidates who were there also took some shots at the four top Republicans who decided to take a pass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for our party and I'm embarrassed for those who did not come because there's long been a divide in this country. And it doesn't get better when we don't show up.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I apologize for the candidates that aren't here. I think this is a disgrace that they're not here. I think it's a disgrace for our country. I think it's bad for our party and I don't think it's good for our future. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson all said they couldn't make it because of scheduling conflicts.
ROBERTS: Time for our Friday edition of political hot topics. We call it the "ballot jackpot," because well we have a ballot box here and the jackpot is we don't know what we're going to pull out of here.
CHETRY: That's right. We put a hot topic on each ballot, stuff them in the box and we draw them out one-by-one. And we have our guests weigh in.
ROBERTS: Joining us today from Washington, Democratic strategist, Steve McMahon, and Republican strategist, Cheri Jacobus. Welcome to both of you.
Kiran, you want to do the honors here? You want to grab the first one.
CHETRY: Sure. Let's pick one. Look. I'm looking!
ROBERTS: You can't look at them!
CHETRY: Sorry. Here we go. Empty stage. Of course, we were talking about the decision by McCain, Romney, as well as Fred Thompson and Giuliani to skip that debate at Morgan State yesterday. How big a hit are they going to take or maybe was it a good thing? Sherri, let's start with you.
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I think it has to be up to each candidate and each campaign to make their own decisions. This is a republican primary where you're supposed to go where the votes are in a primary. So, I'm not going to slam any of those campaigns from making the decision not to make this a priority.
CHETRY: And I'm interested, Steve. Some political analysts were saying maybe it was a good thing because they didn't have to weigh in on topics that maybe would get them into a verbal tangle.
STEVE MCMAHON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I mean, you know, Cheri said she's not going to slam them. Let me just take the opportunity to do that. I agree with Newt Gingrich and with Ken Mehlman and other Republicans, Jack Kemp, who think it's disgraceful these candidates didn't show up. I mean after all they're too busy to meet with black people and discuss issues that are important to black people? And this wasn't the first time this has happened; it's the fourth time. They skipped a debate that Univision held that Hispanic audiences would have been interested in. They skipped another Hispanic forum and they skipped another African-American forum. So, I think this shows where the Republican Party's values are. They will run down to Bob Jones University and give speeches there but they won't go on African-American or Hispanic television.
JACOBUS: They're still be speaking to black people, I think.
ROBERTS: All right. Let's pull another topic here. We want to try to get through a lot here on Friday. And after get us to the weekend, Obama's dream. Michelle Obama saying the other day if we don't make it through Iowa, the dream is over. Steve, she caused a little bit of controversy about this. Do you think that she was speaking metaphorically, just trying to fire up voters or is there maybe some plan here that if he doesn't make it in Iowa, he knows that it's over for him?
MCMAHON: That's one of those moments when you're inside the campaign and you hear about it and you say ouch. I'm sure they're walking back from that today. I think it does make it difficult if he doesn't do well in Iowa but I think they expect to do well in Iowa. So I think they're hoping that that won't happen.
ROBERTS: Right. What about you, Cheri? We hear a lot of pronouncements from spouses that somehow, you know, kind of have an impact on the campaign. Do they need to really watch the language here?
JACOBUS: This was a real serious faux pas on her part. You know, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. This sounds like she was repeating a private conversation she had had with her husband. I mean the whole point is if he comes in second in Iowa they're supposed to say oh that's great but this could hurt him all the way around. I think it's a serious faux pas.
CHETRY: Let's get another one. Oh, this is taking your money. John Edwards one of the first top tier candidates looks like deciding that he will accept public financing for his presidential campaign. Is this really the kiss of death for candidates? Many of them have tried to avoid doing this because of the perception they can't raise money. Steve?
MCMAHON: Well, I don't think it's a kiss of death. But let's just put it this way, it's not exactly a sign of strength. That doesn't mean that John Edwards, with a strong performance in Iowa, if he wins Iowa it's going to be a new race and he'll have momentum and he'll have a real opportunity to be the nominee but it puts more pressure on him in Iowa.
ROBERTS: Cheri, there's also talked that John McCain may have to take public matching funds as well if he can't get his fund raising machine up a and running a little bit better.
JACOBUS: Well, it definitely solidifies your underdog status if that's what you have to do. But you know if that's what it takes to stay in the game, then that's what it takes. Again, it's so different for each campaign. But it's not the greatest thing in the world, I agree.
ROBERTS: John McCain loves being that underdog though.
JACOBUS: Yes. That could work for him. ROBERTS: Listen, we'll get one more topic in here on this Friday morning. Fund-raising deadline. We were just talking about money there and this weekend is the third quarter reporting. Who is going to come out on top here, Cheri, on the republican side of things?
JACOBUS: You know, it's hard to say. There's going to be a numbers game. Romney tends to do really well. Giuliani does well but if Thompson does better than expected then that's a bigger victory for him even if he doesn't have the same amount of money the others have. And again, we were just talking about John McCain. If he does better than the expectations that were laid out for him, then he is actually the big winner. So, it's not really the dollar amount. It has to do with the expectation thing.
CHETRY: OK. And Steve, how about high expectations for Barack Obama, of course, because he led the last time? Steve.
MCMAHON: Right. The big question for Barack Obama is whether he is continuing to bring in those new donors. If he is, he's probably in great shape. I think, obviously John Edwards announced today, pre- announced that he wasn't going to have a very good quarter. And I assume Hillary Clinton will have a good quarter but they will all have enough money to compete.
CHETRY: All right. We want to thank both of you for being with us. Steve McMahon, Cheri Jacobus.
JACOBUS: Thanks.
MCMAHON: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still ahead. Homeland Security deadline tops your "Quick Hits" now. Passports will once again be required for air travel returning to the U.S. this starts Monday. The State Department has cleared most of the backlog from a surge of passport applications this summer. Largely with the help of some of the interns they enlisted to help them get things moving.
Jurors deliberating today in the sexual harassment case against New York Knicks coach, Isaiah Thomas. A former employee is suing him and Madison Square Garden, owners of the Knicks for $10 million.
Well, what about sports drink? Do they qualify as junk food? Should these be banned at school? It's a big push on to get sodas out of school, should they do the same with things like Gatorade and Powerade? Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to take a look at exactly what is in the drink ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. It's coming up to 16 minutes to the top of the hour.
First it was soda and now sports drinks. Parents and politicians talking about banning them from schools. So, what's in the sports drink that has everyone so worried? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from our Washington Bureau. So, what is so bad, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is so fascinating to me, John. You know, there was this voluntary ban on a lot of soft drinks about a year ago, to try to take them out of the vending machines in a lot of schools and many schools around the country. And I think that was an important step but what we're seeing is that they have been replaced a lot by some of these sports drinks and vitamin waters. So we want to get a better sense of what exactly is going on here. Some of the sports drinks, for example, to read the label you would actually see they have fewer calories, about 50 calories and maybe 14 grams of sugar but if you look a little bit more closely, John, you realize that is for eight ounces and the fact that this is a 20-ounce bottle. Same sort of numbers with the vitamin waters, too. There's a lot of calories and a lot of sugar in many of these sorts of drinks.
Now, granted they are bigger bottles but a lot of times people will drink the entire bottle. We talked to the American Beverage Association specifically about this and they released this statement to us, saying that 'sports drinks are indeed inappropriate beverage choice for high school students and essential choice should be made available for students participating in physical activities." That sort of how they put it but keeping in mind thought that you know, you've replaced one soft drink here, granted a smaller drink with a lot of calories and a lot of sugar in another sort of drink. John.
ROBERTS: But if you were to, not quite double but certainly increase the size of that can of the soft drink to 20 ounces wouldn't you get twice the sugar you get in the sports drinks? So, therefore isn't the sports drink a better choice?
GUPTA: Yes, I think so. We're not trying to indict anybody here saying it's absolute bad or evil. I think the childhood obesity problem has become such a huge problem in this country that you're looking for ways to solve it as opposed to sort of making little stop gaps here. And the question is, you know, you get a lot of calories and a lot of sugar in this oftentimes you're adding processed foods, and there's also 110 milligrams of sodium in these sports drinks. That's a lot of sodium. The idea is that you're going to replenish sodium that you lose but a lot of times kids aren't exercising necessarily to a point where they lose sodium if there's still getting a lot of extra. And hypertension is something we're starting to see in younger kids.
ROBERTS: Because of the salt retention, yes.
GUPTA: Because of the salt retention.
ROBERTS: What if the kids are working hard and out at recess, they're working hard, maybe they're taking gym class, can they have access to a sport drink?
GUPTA: You know, I think so, again. But you know we've looked the data on a lot of the stuff. For the vast majority of people who go out and do 20 minutes or so of exercise, the body is very good at sort of balancing its own electrolytes. It's really when you get into very rigorous competitive athletics that you start to lose enough electrolytes where you might actually need the extra sodium. So, if you're drinking it to quench your thirst or you're not exercising that hard it may not be the best choice because you may be getting a lot of things you don't need and it could potentially be damaging.
ROBERTS: So, should these be banned then from the school vending machines along with soft drink?
GUPTA: Well, you know, right now there's a bill before the Senate to take that voluntary ban and make it a permanent ban when it comes to soft drinks and a lot of people are looking at these sugary sports drinks as well. I'm not sure that's the answer. Maybe it needs to be a choice but I think right now as it stands, people are probably taking too much of it and getting too many of the things that are sort of driving this obesity epidemic.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, maybe if the students really needs to have a sports drink because they're playing basketball or something like that where they do sweat a lot or football maybe the parent could send it with them and it's not so available to them.
GUPTA: That's right.
ROBERTS: Sanjay, thanks very much. Don't forget to join Sanjay for his own show this weekend, "House Call." He's looking at the most common mistakes that doctors can make and solutions for America's health insurance crisis. "House Call" airs Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 a.m., right here on CNN.
Just about 12 minutes to the top of the hour.
Rob Marciano is watching our extreme weather this morning. How is that hurricane or once hurricane looking right now?
MARCIANO: Yes, it's winding down now. But now the focus is going to be on the Sierra Madre Mountains and a lot of this moisture is going to be squeezed out. So, always a concern will be flooding and landslides. It's the center of it, believe it or not. It's right about there, about 40 miles south, southwest of this area (INAUDIBLE). Definitely losing its organization but it got its act together yesterday in a hurry and got into hurricane strength. All right, speaking of hurricanes. This is not one but it's tropical storm, Karen.
Just want to point out that Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center has adjusted the track of this towards the latter part of the forecast period to possibly bring it into play into the United States. Or at least force us to keep an eye on it. Front coming through last night across the northeast. You got some rough and tumble weather as far as thunderstorms. You'll see a little bit of wind today. Could be some delays. Storm coming onto the west coast. This will create some critical fire danger ahead of it and unusually cool air coming in behind it. We'll see some rain and some higher elevation snow and some of the mountain passes in the Cascades might see a coating of white. We're changing the season, that's for sure. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Hey Rob, just a real quick -- looking at Karen there. That's a similar forecast track the one that we saw back in 1992 that suddenly developed into Hurricane Andrew. Any chance that could happen?
MARCIANO: Well, it's a different time of the year. Andrew came on. It was in August. Typically these Cape Verde storms would have less of a chance to recurring that time of year. We'll have to watch it but it's an interesting point that you make.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks very much.
The CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Tony Harris is at the CNN Center down there in Atlanta along with Rob with a look at what is ahead. Good morning to you. Happy Friday, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: Yes, happy Friday to you, John.
Ravine rescue. Boy, it is a story you've been following on AMERICAN MORNING and it's on the NEWSROOM run down as well. She spent eight days trapped in her crumbled SUV. A woman fighting for her life this morning.
Mystery off South Florida. Just a fascinating story here. Still trying to figure it all out. Two suspects in court this morning. The crew of the charter boat Joe Cool missing since Sunday.
Screaming babies, stinky toilets and passengers literally had to bang on the overhead bins to get off only to be put back on an airplane? An eight-hour travel nightmare to tell you about. See you in the NEWSROOM, just minutes away, top of the hour, right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: Tony, we will see you then. All right.
Kiran has made her way downstairs with the world's fastest hands in the world. What have you got down there?
CHETRY: Do you remember this? It made for many frustrating hours back in the '80s, John. We have with us two Rubik's cubes' champions, Ryan and Lee. He can solve it with one hand behind his back. He can solve it blindfolded. And I'm just going to sit here and watch because there's no way I'm going to solve this one. We will show you how they do it and where they're headed, the big Rubik's Cube Championship coming up.
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CHETRY: Frankly, I'm astounded because when left, when we last left you for the commercial break this was a big mess and Lee had actually solved it. This is the four-part Rubik's cube. This is even harder. We're going to explain a little bit more about this. Joining us now is the fastest fingers on the planet; both national Rubik's Cube champions and they're set to compete in the big world championship that's taking place in Budapest, Hungary. The guy who invented the Rubik's cube is from Hungary. This is taking -- there are 43 quintillion different configurations, how the heck do they solve it? Joining us to talk about it is Leyan Lo. You're the reigning blindfolded champ of the 3 x 3 cube and joining us also is Ryan Patricio and you won many different ones, one for one hand behind your back as well as the national championship. Welcome to both of you.
LEYAN LO, RUBIK'S CUBE CHAMPION: Thank you.
CHETRY: First of all, obviously there's a secret to it. How did you even get started learning how to solve this thing so quickly?
I think in my school I got in a tournament. And I knew how to solve a cube but I wanted to pick it up. And it brought me this far.
CHETRY: And practice makes perfect is how it goes?
LO: Practice makes perfect.
CHETRY: This was a big thing in the 80s and you guys look pretty young. How did you even know about a Rubik's cube?
RYAN PATRICIO, RUBIK'S CUBE CHAMPION: Well, I didn't hear about it until about three years ago when one of my friends, (INAUDIBLE) he was really, really into the Rubik's cube.
LO: From his brother.
PATRICIA: His little brother taught him how to solve it. He came back to school and taught all of his friends how to do it and started posting this competition at Cal Tech and actually got the whole nation like started.
CHETRY: It was the 25th anniversary back in 2005. Did a little bit of a research. We have a countdown clock in the control room and so we're going to mess them up and we're going to see how long it takes. They're trading them back and forth. So, go ahead Ryan and Leyan. Wait, don't start yet.
LO: I'm messing them up.
PATRICIO: I'm messing mine up because he is, too.
CHETRY: They're so fast that I just don't know. OK. There's no clock but somebody has a timer, right? Give me a countdown. P.D. has a countdown. Go ahead. Go, guys! You're good! This is, mind you, what we spent hours on when we were kids. The glare of the camera just makes you more nervous. Done.
LO: Yes. I win.
PATRICIO: No. oh, so close!
CHETRY: How long was that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 16 seconds. CHETRY: 16 seconds here.
We're still going. We're still going, 25. That's all right. You got all the time in the world to practice. It is hard to do under pressure.
LO: One time, you actually got lucky in that one. I could of --
CHETRY: He got lucky. Let me ask you this, obviously it's not a just a matter of slowly flipping them around. Is there a formula to this?
LO: No. Okay. The trick to the Rubik's cube is, the center, the pieces don't move. And so the centerpieces don't move that's like the color of that face.
CHETRY: OK. So, it's all working from the center on out?
LO: Yes. Just like in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness."
LO: Will Smith said that centers don't move.
CHETRY: They were referring to the Rubik's cube.
LO: Yes.
PATRICIO: So, when (INAUDIBLE) attack the cube what they do is look for certain color patterns. There are move sequence you can do on depending on what you see, depending on what case you have you apply the different sequence. So, you learn on this, you practice them.
CHETRY: In anyway they jumble it, you guys can figure it out?
PATRICIO: No matter how it's mixed up. If you mixed them up randomly, you can solve it from any state.
CHETRY: Well, it's quite impressive. Let us know how you do and we will be rooting for you at the world championships. Ryan and Leyan, thank you both so much.
PATRICIO: Thank you.
LO: Thank you for having us.
CHETRY: Time now to check in on what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Rescued and fighting for her life. A woman trapped for eight days at the bottom of a ravine.
Shots fired today in Myanmar. The military junta in the third day of a crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Only four Republicans show up at a presidential forum on minority issues.
And a bank robber who stole an ATM. Yes, the entire machine. NEWSROOM just minutes away, at the top hour, on CNN.
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CHETRY: Well, John, now you got something to do this weekend trying to solve the Rubik's cube.
ROBERTS: He did it in 16 seconds. I couldn't do it in 16 years.
CHETRY: I feel the same way. Hey, that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for everyone who joined us this week on AMERICAN MORNING. See you back here on Monday.
ROBERTS: All right. See you then, Kiran. Have a great weekend. See you in the NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.
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