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American Morning
Major Medical Company Stopping Shipment of Crucial Component of Pacemakers; Is Al Qaeda in Iraq Crippled?
Aired October 15, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CHETRY: And Rob Marciano is tracking all of this for us.
It's that time of year, certainly, tracking extreme weather from the CNN Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: The southbound lanes of Interstate 5, near Los Angeles, have just reopened in time for this morning's rush hour. Two dozen big rigs were caught in a giant pile up on Friday, that turned the tunnel, as you can see, into a raging inferno. That caused the concrete inside the tunnel to explode. Three people were killed, including a baby.
The semi-trucks stuck in the tunnel were burned beyond recognition. Look at the burned out shells here, not much there that resembles a truck. The cause of that crash still under investigation.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency. Interstate 5 is California's main north/south artery. To have it back open today is going to take a lot of the pressure off that we saw over the weekend -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
In Colombia, rescuers were searching for almost a dozen people believed trapped when a landslide buried them in a makeshift gold mine. This happened in rural Colombia over the weekend, at least 21 people killed.
Back in this country, three University of Texas students rescued are doing well today. They were trapped in a cave for more than 30 hours. The group made up of two women and a man went into Airman's Cave, as it's known, in Austin, Saturday morning. They told friends to call 911 if they were not back by midnight Saturday, smart preplanning on their part.
Searchers were able to find them Sunday afternoon. They had become disoriented in a 500-foot crawl space where could you literally only crawl about the width of a sewer.
Rapper T.I. appears in court today to face some gun charges. He was arrested over the weekend in an undercover illegal weapons sting. The feds say the 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was planning to pick up machine guns and silencers from his bodyguard in an Atlanta parking lot. Three firearms were found in Harris' vehicle, including a loaded gun.
One of O.J. Simpson's friends involved in the hotel room confrontation will head to court today. Charles Cashmore is expected to plead guilty to being an accessory to robbery. Cashmore's attorney says he will testify two of the men who entered the room with Simpson were armed. Simpson claims that no guns were used when they went to the room to get his personal stuff, as he puts it, back -- John.
ROBERTS: To Iraq now, and the growing tensions between Turkey and Kurdish rebel forces or the PKK. Over the weekend, Turkish forces stepped up their campaign against the rebel forces, shelling several Kurdish villages along the Turkish/Iraq border.
The volatile cross-border skirmish could impact U.S. troops fighting the Iraq war. The United States urging restraint, appealing to Turkey to find a diplomatic solution to the escalating conflict.
Our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson is up there, way up in northern Iraq, right along the border there. We hope to get him live in just a little while. He did join news the last hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. He is near a village that has been shelled, talking to the people there about their concerns. But he believes that at this point, at least from his read on the ground, that it looks like Turkey may not go past the shelling to an actual incursion, at least not this winter. This may be more posturing than anything according to Nic, at least for the time being -- Kiran.
CHETRY: There's a new study that's out this morning that's really good and promising news in the fight against cancer. Overall cancer death rates are now falling. One of the biggest successes is in colorectal cancer. Death rates in men down 5 percent, 4.5 percent in women.
Can you tell if your child has autism just by looking at her or him? The Autism Speaks website is now posting videos of different behaviors to help us understand what is normal behavior, versus what might be signs of autism. The website is Autismspeaks.org.
A major medical company is stopping the shipment of a crucial component of defibrillators, or pacemakers, saying it could have contributed to the deaths of five people. Our Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta with more details on this for us today.
Good morning, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Kiran, yes, this will be very shocking news to folks to have this type of defibrillator. It's made by a company called Medtronic. And the name of this specific device is Sprint Fidelis. It's a line of defibrillators that Medtronic makes. And what they found is that five people have died, possibly in connection with the malfunction in this defibrillator.
The problem with it? The leads, those are the wires that actually go to the device. It's not the device itself, but the wires. About 268,000 people have this type of defibrillator and in addition to the five deaths, there have been 665 chronic fractures, is what the company is calling them. So if you have this type of defibrillator, it is very important that you go talk to your doctor -- Kiran.
CHETRY: That's really scary. Because that's one thing that you're really counting on, your pacemaker to work, if you need it to.
COHEN: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: What do you do if you think you have one that has this faulty lead?
COHEN: Well, you go talk to your doctor. You might think, oh, gee, Doc, get this out of me. I've heard that this has possibly contributed to five deaths. Medtronic is making it clear that you don't want this taken out unless there is some evidence that there is a malfunction.
Now the reason for that is that replacing a lead to a defibrillator -- it's no small thing. I mean, it is a somewhat invasive process. They have to go in, they have to take the leads out, and put the new leads in. It's a surgery. So you don't want to do it unless something's gone wrong. You want to do is go talk to your doctor, who can help you figure out if you have wires that may be -- where there may be fractures, where you may be having problems.
CHETRY: One high-profile person that has one of these Medtronic defibrillators is Vice President Dick Cheney. In fact, he had a new one replaced back in 2001. Do we know whether or not he has this?
COHEN: Right, and then he had another defibrillator procedure done this past summer. Kiran, we did check with the White House. And they have said no, he does not have this specific line, this Sprint Fidelis. It's only this specific line. It's not all Medtronic's, it's this specific line that could possibly have the problems, and the vice president doesn't have it.
CHETRY: So the bottom line is if you know you have it, talk to your doctor now. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Oh, so fess up here this morning, have you ever Googled your own name to check out what's out there? Thanks to a professor at the University of Berlin you may be able to show off your electronic ego with a vanity ring. It displays how many hits returned by a Google search on your name. There it is, right there.
At night you plug it into a docking station and your Google stats will be updated. The only problem with this system is that Google shows the most common results, so you automatically win your last name is Pitt or Spears. You can't buy the vanity ring just yet. It's a design project, but probably one that may be out in time for Christmas this year. Would you like one? CHETRY: No, because you have more on me right now so I'm going to get you one instead. It's 700 bucks if it comes out, possibly.
ROBERTS: Yikes!
CHETRY: And you have to spend all your time charging, now your iPod, your Blackberry and now your Google ring? Where would you find the time?
ROBERTS: It's 700 bucks? Get me three iPods instead.
CHETRY: All right, the Shuffle, the Nano, and the video one, Merry Christmas.
Still ahead, "Motor Trend" magazine picked the 2008 model Mazda CX-9 as it's sport utility vehicle of the year. It's going to be featured in the magazine's November 6 edition. There are tests showing the CX-9 was, quote, "arguably the most enjoyable sport utility to drive."
Plus, one man's quest for quiet on the subway is interrupting cell phone conversations, throwing egg sandwiches at people, dumping coffee on their heads. This guy's been arrested 10 times, none of the charges, though, have ever stuck, why? We'll find out what his deal is coming up.
Also, victory in Iraq. Some U.S. generals are apparently ready to say that Al Qaeda in Iraq is crippled, and all but beaten. We'll talked to a retired general to see if he agrees, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now. Fireworks at a vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand. The annual event is a celebration of vegetarianism and body purification. In fact, organizers ban herbs like garlic and coriander because they say they believe it stimulates sexual desire.
Extreme flooding in Central America after six days of heavy rains. You can check out the tractor trailer here. It's stuck in the mud, on it's side; happened at the Pan-American Highway in Nicaragua. More than 4,000 people have been forced out of their homes. A banana growing region has also been put on red alert.
And these look like scary pictures, but they're actually just part of a mock terror drill on the high seas. A Japanese bioterrorism unit getting hosed down during the Pacific Shield Exercises near Tokyo. Ships and planes from seven different countries taking part in the drills. They are aimed at intercepting dangerous weapon technologies -- John.
ROBERTS: Devastated and crippled, some of the words being used to describe the state of Al Qaeda in Iraq. It has got some top generals in this country ready to declare victory this morning. Brigadier General David Grange is a CNN military analyst. He joins us this morning from Chicago.
So, General Grange, what is your assessment, as you know it, of the state of Al Qaeda in Iraq? And would it be right to declare victory at this point?
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, from what I'm hearing from my contacts, those returning, and those still in country, I think it's too early to declare victory. However, almost to a person, that I've talked with, they're doing very well against Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is dispersed, it's weak. It's a bit desperate. But now is the time to keep up the momentum and keep the pressure on, so they cannot grow again.
ROBERTS: The president keeps telling us at every opportunity this is the central front in the war on terror, that you've got to keep the pressure up against Al Qaeda. Is he right in saying that? You said, obviously, you need to keep up the pressure at this point, but is it still the central front in the war on terror?
GRANGE: Well, the central front is where you can find Al Qaeda. That's the problem. Globally, I mean, they're dispersed. They are sleeper cells. So wherever you can find them, you can almost say that's the central front. If your mission is to defeat them, to kill or capture them. Now to get to the root causes, then they have to get into other areas where they're doing heavy recruiting. I think Iraq is one of the top areas right now to keep the pressure up, yes.
ROBERTS: General Ricardo Sanchez, going into the weekend, said some pretty interesting things about the Iraq war. He was the coalition commander there in 2003 and 2004. He called it, quote, "a nightmare with no end in sight". And suggested to reporters that American political leaders have cost American lives with their lust for power. What do you think about what he said?
GRANGE: I don't know about lust for power. Possibly it was kind of just not listening to people, what was really needed. I think I would say that. Most of the problems we have today in Iraq occurred, were developed, during General Sanchez/Paul Bremer's time.
The counter insurgency doctrine of that time, I think, was flawed. Yes, excellent operations on killing and capturing insurgents, but poor operations, poor strategy, and getting to the root causes, getting people to work with you, the tribes, the locals, in order to get a lid on this thing. It grew during that time. So I wish he would have brought that up, maybe, two years ago.
ROBERTS: Yes, General Sanchez has been criticized for not saying this while he was on duty there in Iraq. Should he have spoken up? What would have happened to him, had he had done that?
GRANGE: Well, he should have. And maybe he did behind closed doors. Normally you don't speak up publicly when you're in uniform. It's always behind closed doors. That's a common occurrence, but if he did not, he should have.
ROBERTS: All right, General David Grange for us from Chicago. Always good to see you, General. Thanks for your thoughts.
GRANGE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the daily commute can be a headache for many. It's not just the time spent, but the fellow commuters pushing, shoving, talking loudly on cell phones, chitchatting in groups. One ex-cop is making it his mission to stop it, at least on his train. John Clifford is writing his own set of rules when it comes to finding peace on his ride to work.
This is a picture of him from the "New York Post", from pouring coffee on someone, to interrupting cell phone conversations, this is guy is determined to stop the rude behavior with what some say is rude behavior of his own. In fact, some say he is the bully of his 802 train to Penn Station; some other fellow commuters even cowering in fear when they see him.
He's actually been summoned to court eight times in the past four years, but none of the charges ever stick because his accusers never show up in court. The Long Island Railroad says the actions of the so- called train terrorist will not be tolerated
ROBERTS: Bully of the 802.
(LAUGHTER)
A deadly Tasering incident at the airport in Vancouver, British Colombia tops your "Quick Hits" now. An autopsy is planned today on a man in his 40s that died after being Tasered by police Sunday morning. Officers shocked him after he started throwing luggage, chairs, and a computer. They don't know yet if the Taser was the cause of death.
A program to beef up security in America's shipping ports kicks off tomorrow in Delaware. After six months of delays, the feds will begin issuing biometric identification cards to port workers. The cards will include personal information and fingerprint scans. They will eventually be needed to get into the country's busiest ports, long seen as places where terrorists could try to slip into the country.
Her head scarf kept her on the sidelines of a weekend soccer game. What are the uniform rules when it comes to religion? Find out when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, cracking down on illegal immigrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole point is to make illegal life in the United States tenuous, and hard, and unpleasant. So the people who are here leave. ROBERTS: Immigrant nomads, they travel from town to town in search of immigrant friendly environments. What's it like to live on the run? We take you inside one family's emotional journey ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. Time for your "Quick Hits".
The Colorado Rockies flying high in the post season. A win yesterday over the Arizona Diamondbacks has them the leading the National League championship series 3 games to none, now. One win away from a trip to the World Series.
The New England Patriots took down the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL's battle of the unbeatens. Tom Brady tossed five touchdowns, leading the Patriots to a 48-27 win. The Cowboys said it was almost like he knew what they were going to do. Just kidding. The Patriots and the Colts, now the only two teams in the NFL left unbeaten.
Less than 24 hours after losing to the English in the Rugby World Cup the French suffered another crushing defeat to the Brits. The World Conker Championships, that's right the World Conker Championships. England beat out France with what we here in the U.S. would call a chestnut or buckeye competition, with just two shots. The point of the game is to swing your conker against your opponents, smash it to win. And 300 people flocked to Ashton, England to compete in the 43rd World Conker Championship. Over the years, though, the event has raised millions of dollars for the blind.
CHETRY: That's wonderful. Can you imagine if you missed and hit a knuckle? Ooh that, would smart.
ROBERTS: Now there is a spectator sport if ever I saw one.
CHETRY: Well, it is 21 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" morning.
Hello.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
CHETRY: You're a conker champion, yourself. No one really knows that.
VELSHI: I've never seen that. I was fascinated. I've actually forgotten what I was here to talk about.
But I'm not remembering that I'm here to tell you that you're going to be watching a lot of us over the course of the next few months, because you are not going anywhere. You are going to have to cancel your road trip. You're going to have to cancel your overseas trip. And put on a warm sweater, because oil is up again.
It is more expensive. A barrel of oil is now running you, well, let me tell you on Friday, it settle the at $83.69, the highest it's ever settle at. But since then, it up further, this morning it topped $85 a barrel. Right now, it's pulled back a little bit, but it's still way more than $84 a barrel.
Gasoline prices $2.75 for a gallon. It's not moving up with oil, but as we know, it's going to eventually. That's what happens if you want to drive somewhere. If you want to drive to Canada, forget it. That dollar is weaker again. The U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar is weaker. It's weaker against most major currencies for those of you planning a trip; buck, 42 to buy a euro, and $2.04 to buy a pound. And I just came back from Toronto, where they accept the U.S. dollar inter-changeably at stores, and give you change, in U.S. dollars, if they have it. But in Canadian money otherwise.
ROBERTS: Wow.
VELSHI: Yes, so no deals, pretty much anywhere. If you're in the Northeast and you use oil, turn the heating down, put on a sweater on and enjoy your mornings with us here at CNN. There are going to be a lot of them.
ROBERTS: I'm looking in here for the silver lining, but --
VELSHI: There's no silver. You'll notice this is a vest, it's paying off, because I can turn my heating just a little bit lower as a result.
CHETRY: You have about seven layers on.
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: You'll wear them through February. All right, Ali.
ROBERTS: Thanks for all that bad news.
VELSHI: Yeah, thanks.
ROBERTS: Story coming up now in our next half hour, that you just can't miss, bear versus Boy Scout. What a quick-thinking 14-year- old boy did to save his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MALASICS, SURVIVED BEAR ATTACK: The bear comes over to my side, he just sits on top of the tent or stands on it, or whatever. He opens it up and then he gets his mouth and spin me around, and I see him, he's standing there, up on its legs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Yikes.
CHETRY: So, imagine being woken up in the mild of the night by a bear ripping you around in your sleeping bag. This young Boy Scout was so smart. He did the right thing and it saved his life. We'll meet him a little bit later. ROBERTS: We'll have that story and the headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot of the sun coming up this morning over New York City; it's 51 degrees right now, going to warm up to 67. Partly cloudy, but we'll probably get a good deal of sunshine as well today. It is Monday, October 15th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us. Good to see you around. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: I got a couple of looks this weekend walking through Central Park. I did have a hat and scarf on. It felt cold to me at 51.
ROBERTS: It was a little chilly. It warmed up during the day, nice sunshine.
CHETRY: It got a little better. Too early for gloves, I wouldn't wear them.
ROBERTS: You always get a look, though, no matter what you're wearing.
CHETRY: Well, the southbound lanes of Interstate 5, near Los Angeles, are now all open. They had been shut down since Friday's massive chain reaction pile-up and a fire in a truck tunnel beneath I- 5. Two dozen big rigs caught in this crash that turned the tunnel into a raging inferno. In fact, three people were killed. Crews have been working around the clock to shore up the tunnel's structure, because the crash is still being investigated right now.
Also, the first sentence comes down today in the Alaska political corruption scandal. Former State Representative Tom Anderson convicted of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and money laundering. Federal investigators are looking into the oil industry's influence in Alaska. Senator Stephens and Congressman Don Young are under scrutiny. But both deny any -- doing wrong. And they have not been charged with a crime.
ROBERTS: The president takes his budget battle on the road today. After a weekend at his ranch he is headed for Arkansas and Tennessee where he's expected to talk about the economy. He could offer a preview of the coming weeks, as he prepares to face off against Democrats over 12 spending bills totaling almost $1 trillion. The president may also say he's willing to compromise on the S-CHIP issue, State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Starting today presidential candidates have three weeks to get their names on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary. There are some forms to fill out, a $1,000 fee to be paid by November 2nd, but the date of that primary? Well, that still has to be worked out. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he is waiting on some other states to schedule their primaries before he settles on a date. New Hampshire, by state law, has to be the first primary in the nation.
CHETRY: Well, despite a reported threat on his life, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Iran today as scheduled. They Interfacts News Agency cites sources in the Russian special services saying suicide bombers would attempt to kill Putin in Tehran. Iran's foreign ministry dismisses the report as, quote, "completely baseless" and an attempt to undermine relations between the two countries.
Thirty suspected Islamic terrorists are on trial in Madrid in the very same courthouse they're charged with plotting to blow up. Prosecutors say the suspects plotted an attack in 2004. They wanted to use a truck bomb to kill judges, prosecutors and workers at the national court. They also wanted to destroy files of other suspected terrorists, including those charged in the Madrid train bombings.
ROBERTS: At just about the half hour and in about 30 minutes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. Condoleezza Rice in the region hoping to salvage a U.S. planned Middle East peace conference next month. Yesterday she met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Our Zain Verjee is monitoring things from the State Department. She joins us now.
Zain, a bill hill for Condoleezza Rice to climb.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN, STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, absolutely, it's a really tough task for Secretary Rice. What she's really got to do here is try and bridge the gap between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. What they're to trying to do is to come up with some kind of framework that Secretary Rice wants to use as the basis of a U.S. conference to be hosted here in this country next month. The problem is that both the Israelis and Palestinians are at odds over the actual document itself. The Israelis want it to be relatively vague and pretty general. The Palestinians are saying that they want a timetable, they want to deal with some of their preliminary final status issues like refugees, borders, the status of Jerusalem and security overall. So Secretary Rice really does have a challenge here. She's got to try and bridge the gap because there's no way that she can host a successful conference here in the U.S. without attacks. John.
ROBERTS: Any chance of a break-through, Zain?
VERJEE: Well, she really downplayed that to reporters that were traveling with her. She said that a break-through is really unlikely. I talked to a senior state department official who said that this just in the preliminary process. Both sides are now going to sit down and actually put pen to paper, which is a big deal in and of itself and the prospects it's too early, this official said, to decide. But what's important to note, too, though, John, is that this is a major diplomatic initiative by the U.S.. It seems for the first time in President Bush's administration that he and Secretary Rice, the U.S. seems ready and willing to get stuck into the issues here, and we'll see what Secretary Rice comes up with this time around.
ROBERTS: Not a whole lot of time left, though. Zain Verjee from the state department this morning. Zain, thanks. Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: President Bush says he wants to compromise with Democrats on health insurance for poor children. He's expected to talk about the state children's health insurance program or s-chip in a budget speech today. In his weekly radio address, President Bush said he would be willing to accept a larger increase for a children's health insurance program, larger than the $5 billion increase he has proposed. Democrats are planning a vote Thursday to override the president's veto. If they fall short they say they will introduce a new version of the bill.
Well, we want to know what you think. Should President Bush's veto on child health care, on the child health care bill stand? Cast your vote at CNN.com/am right now. 26% say yes. 74% say no. We'll continually update the results for you throughout the morning.
And controversy over arrests called down in Florida. A 15-year- old Muslim girl taken out of the game during a soccer tournament after a referee ruled that her headscarf violated uniform rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK VILLAIZAN, UNITED SOCCER ASSOCIATION: Once the referee steps on the field, he is the governing body of that field.
IMAN KHALIL, BANNED FROM PLAYING IN HEADSCARF: I thought, well, it's not fair. I should be able to play because I've been doing it for the longest time, and I'm going to let my team down a little bit.
VOICE OF LISA ALLEN-KHALIL, IMAN'S MOTHER: She sat out the first half and phone calls were made and it came back that it was OK for her to play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And the United Soccer Association apologized for the mistake and said that referees have been brought up to speed on any rule that sets up any religious article of clothing can be worn in a game as long as it doesn't pose a threat to any of the players. Despite being forced to sit for the game, Khalil cheered her team on to a 4-0 win. And she was back on the back for yesterday's game.
ROBERTS: They've had that rule since 2002. You wonder how the ref didn't get the word earlier.
The battle of the bulge tops your "Quick Hits" now. New research this morning about overweight teens suggests that teasing them or pushing them to lose weight might not be the best approach. The study suggests that parents should focus instead on having healthy family meals and promoting physical activity and the building of self-esteem.
Extreme weather slamming the central plains, strong gusty winds, hail and heavy rain causing lots of problems in Oklahoma. Where is the storm system headed next? Your Monday forecast coming up.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. Bear versus Boy Scout. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MALASICS, SURVIVED BEAR ATTACK: He opens it up and then he gets his mouth and spins me around and I see him standing there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A routine camping trip almost turned deadly. A bear bites, claws and tosses a boy scout around like a rag doll. Hear about the face-to-face encounter with a black bear ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano checking in on the extreme weather across the country. Going to start in Colorado. Did they have that annual weather summit there at Steamboat Springs again, Rob, and are you going again this year?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, as you know it's an annual pilgrimage if you will, that happens in January after they build their base and we get all of our experts together so that we can Kumbaya. Kumbaya over this video from Colorado. They got a fair amount of snow last night. Many of the ski resorts, from Breckenridge to Veil and even Beaver Creek reporting anywhere from four to eight inches of snow and at the lower elevations getting a little bit of snow. The kids enjoying it, too. Go get them. It will be a long winter for sure.
What fell as snow in the Rocky Mountains fell as rain across the plains, same system but just went from white to wet. Here you go. Oklahoma, serious amounts of rain there not only for today or last couple of days but for the last several months, places in Oklahoma received an inch and a half to anywhere from an inch and a half to two and a half inches and for the year, Oklahoma City has received over 53 inches of rainfall. They tip the record for a yearly rainfall is 52 inches and we still have two months left, so unseasonably wet to say the least there in Oklahoma. Here is your storm systems, Kiran. We're watching it as it moves slowly to the east. It will trigger a couple of showers and storms that could become severe across northern Texas and through parts of Arkansas. So that's our target spot today for rough weather as this system moves its way to the east. Back up to you.
CHETRY: We have to listen to this next story. It was just an ordinary camping trip, it turned into a near-death encounter when a black bear ripped through the tent that 14-year-old Boy Scout Chris Malasics was sleeping in. With the bear standing above him, he quickly relied on his training to survive. He's here to share his story along with his dad, Rich. Thanks for being with us, both of you. OK, so you actually brought the tent you were in, Chris. You were in here sleeping and this you could obviously tell where the bear just ripped his way through. How did it start?
CHRIS MALASICS, SURVIVED BEAR ATTACK: My friend got pulled out from the other side and he came and woke me up. The bear pulled out the pad he was sleeping on, like a little mattress, and after awhile, he came in, woke me up and the bear came over, stepped right here, collapsed the tent, the poles were all bent, these are poles from a different tent and then he cut that open and grabbed me out.
CHETRY: We have your jeans, you can see where he literally tore through the pocket, this part, and were you hurt?
MALASICS: Yes, I got a seven inch and four inch mark on my butt.
CHETRY: How did you get the bear away from you?
MALASICS: Well, I just played dead, because that's what they told us in training, when we went New Mexico.
CHETRY: And at this point, obviously, how did the other campers and the other counselors that were with you know that you were being attacked?
MALASICS: They were woke up because they heard something going on in the tent and they got the flashlight on the bear and got the truck lights on.
CHETRY: So they started banging pots and pans. The bear eventually ran away. Oftentimes they say its food that attracts them. You guys didn't have any scraps. Nothing?
MALASICS: Nothing. The rangers went through. The leaders went through, nothing.
CHETRY: Dad, what did you think when you heard about this?
RICH MALASICS, FATHER OF CHRIS MALASICS: It was 1:00 in the morning when you're getting a phone call that your son was attacked by a bear is quite unnerving. Fortunately, everything worked out well. He's been trained in Boy Scout training, so he knew what to do.
CHETRY: You know, they can tell you a million times to play dead but if you're face-to-face with a black bear, isn't it your instinct to scream and run.
MALASICS: I was kind of freaked out at that point but I didn't want to do anything stupid.
CHETRY: So the playing dead worked, clearly. Because we also have another shot. It's hard to see but it really is unbelievable, this is his pillow. There are teeth marks. These are the top two incisors, I guess, and these are the bottom two. I mean, this is how huge the bear's mouth was, bit your pillow, bit you but you're doing OK. Would you go back out there and camp again?
MALASICS: Yes.
CHETRY: And you would let him?
RICH MALASICS: Sure. These are the original poles that came with the tent. CHETRY: Let's check them out. The bear certainly did some damage. Did you get any estimation of how big you think he was?
MALASICS: No, they said it was on its back, all fours the back was about up to here.
CHETRY: Wow. You certainly have a camping story to tell you, and you're not any worse for the wear even though you say you are a little bit sore. Well, Chris, thanks for telling us your story. Thank goodness you got out of there alive.
RICH MALASICS: These jeans got all torn up.
CHETRY: What did you say?
RICH MALASICS: The jeans he had on at the time have all of the bear marks teeth in them.
CHETR: Yes. It's unbelievable to see. Good thing you had jeans on. It looks like you were provided a little bit of protection. Well, thanks for being with us and sharing your story.
ROBERTS: Boy, one lucky young fellow.
Your "Quick Hits" now, Tyler Perry's play turned major motion picture is king at the box office. "Why did I get Married" debut as the weekend's top film, taking in more than $21 million. It was a three-way tie for second between Michael Clayton, that stars George Clooney, "We own the night" and "The Game Plan.
New York City is expanding the use of cash rewards for public school students who do well in advanced placement students. High school students who get the best score in the test will earn $1,000. It's a private initiative, it comes as New York City begins its own program to pay students for taking and doing well on standardized tests.
Which SUV is numero uno? We'll tell you which "Motor Trend" magazine thinks is king of the road, coming up.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, cracking down on illegal immigrants.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CTR. FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: The whole point is to make illegal life in the United States tenuous and hard and unpleasant so the people who are here leave.
ROBERTS: Immigrant nomads, they travel from town to town in search of immigrant-friendly environments. What's it like to live on the run? We take you inside one family's emotional journey, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 46 minutes after the hour. If you're just joining us, here is a look at today's top headlines. New this morning. We're watching some extreme weather that's pounding parts of the Midwest this morning. These pictures are from Oklahoma City late last night. Heavy rains soaked the area for several hours as the storm moved slowly east. We'll tell you where it's headed, coming up with Rob Marciano.
Before the rain came the strong winds. These pictures from Warren, Oklahoma. The camera crew caught in the middle of a huge dust cloud headed right for them. Thankfully no one was hurt there.
The southbound lanes of interstate 5, north of Los Angeles are now open. That's where a fiery truck pile-up inside a tunnel on Friday night killed two men and a baby. Amazingly, about a dozen people escaped unharmed. The fire was so hot it melted steel and pulverized chunks of concrete. While the lanes of the highway are still open that tunnel section is still closed.
One of five men who was with O.J. Simpson when he had that confrontation in a Vegas hotel room will plead guilty today. Charles Cashmore's plea is part of deal that also requires him to testify in Simpson's armed robbery case. Cashmore's attorney says his client was told Simpson just needed help moving some things.
Rapper T.I. will be arraigned in an Atlanta courtroom today after being arrested Saturday on federal gun charges. Police say he paid his bodyguard to buy machine guns for him and arranged to pick up the weapons just hours before an appearance at the BET hip-hop awards. He's a convicted felon and not permitted to possess firearms.
Senator Larry Craig scheduled to file an appeal stemming from his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting. Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex at a bathroom at the Minneapolis Airport. Earlier this month a Minnesota judge told Craig he couldn't withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct. Now you're up to speed this morning.
CHETRY: And a closer look now on immigration crackdown has people taking to the streets in suburban Dallas, Texas. Supporters and protesters in Irving this weekend faced off over a program, which allows local police to turn illegal immigrants over to federal authorities. Programs like Irving's have illegal immigrants on the run in other states, heading to other states where they feel safer. One of those states is Little Rock, Arkansas, and that is where our Ed Lavandera takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The boxes are still packed. Kids rummage for books. Only pictures make this feel like home.
This is an illegal immigrant family on the run. They moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, a few weeks ago. They asked us not to use their names. Why did you move here to Little Rock?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, to stay in Oklahoma was really stressful. LAVANDERA: Oklahoma is one of dozens of states and local governments fighting illegal immigration on its own, like making it harder for illegals to rent property and training local cops to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
What did do you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nothing.
LAVANDERA: Now thousands of illegal immigrants are scrambling for safer places to live and that's usually in states with the smallest illegal immigrant populations. This map shows the states with an unauthorized population of under 50,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think where people is looking, places where you're going to be to be fine, that you think where maybe the laws are not really strict.
LAVANDERA: Supporters of local immigration crackdown say it's also caused some illegal immigrants to leave the United States.
MARK KRIKORIAN, CTR. FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: The whole point is to make illegal life in the United States tenuous and hard and unpleasant. So the people who are here leave and new ones think twice about sneaking across the border.
LAVANDERA: But this family is settling into a new home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to be moving from city to another city, do it like that. We just want to be normal family.
LAVANDERA: And that means playing in the parks and going to church, praying they won't have to pack up and move again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And as this reshuffling of the illegal immigrant population continues across the country, it means places like this, where you find an Hispanic grocery store and a taco restaurant start popping up in more and more places in the areas you'd least expect to see them. But even that's getting more difficult. So far, 43 states have passed laws making it tougher for illegal immigrants to work and live in those areas. Kiran.
CHETRY: So, it really is interesting to see local municipalities taking it on themselves. We see the flipside where there are sanctuary cities where they will offer protection and will not turn people in to immigration enforcement officers within those various cities as well.
LAVANDERA: Right and many of these illegal immigrants keeping in touch with each other about how this works so they're very aware of the places they should be or couldn't be or where it's tougher to exist and obviously looking for the areas where it's easier just to go to work and come home and take care of their families.
CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us, thank you.
ROBERTS: 51 minutes after the hour. Some "Quick Hits" now. Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro appearing live for the first time since February. Castro called in to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a television and radio broadcasts. It happens minutes after Cuban TV showed a videotape of the meeting between Castro and Chavez said to have taken place this weekend.
Pope Benedict XVI pleading for the release of two Catholic priests kidnapped in Iraq. The priests served the Syrian catholic church in Mosul. The church's archbishop says they were ambushed on Saturday on their way to a funeral. About 3% of Iraq's 26 million people are Christians.
Coming up, Jay Leno scheduled to hang it up in 2009 but maybe not yet ready to say good night. Will tell you about that.
And now arriving, the largest thing ever to fly the skies, what it means for your next flight, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Jay Leno may be giving his bosses at NBC some late night heartburn, according to this morning's "L.A. Times." Sources close to Leno say he's been hinting he may not be ready to hand over the reins, leave "The Tonight Show" inn 2009, hand over the reigns to Conan O'Brien as was planned. NBC, Universal and Leno made this deal where Leno would leave and Conan O'Brien would take over. The "L.A. Times" says that NBC is trying to convince Leno that there are other opportunities at NBC. Life beyond late night.
How about Drew Carey, come on down. We talked about this forever but actually today is his debut as the host of the new "Price is Right." Taking over for Bob Barker, who retired after 35 years and over the weekend, Carey as if that wasn't enough of a change for him, he asked his girlfriend to marry him as well. So, a lot to be happy for. Congratulations.
ROBERTS: That's true. That's a lot of stress in one week. Don't you think?
CHETRY: I don't know what to say.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to four minutes to the top of the hour now. Now arriving at gate 25, the biggest thing in aviation.
ALI VELSHI, "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS": A year and a half late, the A-380 got delivered today in Toulouse, France, the headquarters of Airbus, which is the company that makes it. Delivered to Singapore Airlines 18 months after it was supposed to be due. Now, I supposed you think about this, this is the biggest thing to fly, the biggest passenger jet ever to fly. For about 40 years, the 747.
CHETRY: That is a plane? That big?
VELSHI: That's the fancy version of it. It depends how you configure the thing, it's two decks. This particular one, Singapore Airlines. Yes, that's me. I enjoyed this one at first drop in. You can format this different ways. But the one that Singapore is getting, has 12 luxury first class suites, 60 business class seats and 399 of these things that I'm sitting in, the economy seat. It's going to...
ROBERTS: So unlike you.
CHETRY: You've never been back there in real life.
VELSHI: I wanted to, you know, get a feel for the whole plane. The first flight with passengers is actually going to be on October 25th and all of the seats on that plane were auctioned off on ebay for charity. $1.25 million. So Singapore gets this one. Emirates gets the next one and they're the biggest buyer, they bought 47 of them. The idea is more people burning less fuel, although the wing span of this plane is too big for most airport gates so anybody who is buying them has to sort of refurbish their gates in their airports. But you know when I was on that one we rode by a 747, it looked downright puny in comparison. It's quite a remarkable story for Airbus and for the future of aviation. So no U.S. Airlines have bought any of them by the way.
ROBERTS: Really? But we will see a few here.
VELSHI: You'll see them coming here. They're for the longest of haul flight. It's opposite the way U.S. Airlines have been working. We've been going to smaller planes and more frequent flights. This is going to be about less frequent flights, way more people on the plane.
CHETRY: So, the A-380 drops today. How about that? Thanks.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. See you soon.
The story coming up in our next half hour here on CNN you just can't miss. The American Cancer Society says that we may truly be turning the tide in the battle with cancer.
CHETRY: Some great news. They have cancer death rates. They do an annual survey, dropping drastically. We're going to talk about some of the reasons behind that. Are we changing our life styles, are there better prevention and diagnostic tools? We're going to get Elizabeth Cohen to break it all down for us. Some great news.
ROBERTS: We'll talk about the cancer, where they're making a lot of progress and unfortunately somewhere there's still not.
That's coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Extreme weather. Hail, dust storms and rain pound the plains. Your forecast for a messy Monday.
Commuter chaos. The first morning rush gets moving right now, after a deadly pile-up inside an I-5 tunnel.
Plus, Tetris (ph) all stars, a who's who of supermodels, looking to you to help kids around the world, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Just in case you missed that Petra Nemcova will be here with us in the studio.
CHETRY: I watched doing your research this morning, looking through the calendar like this.
ROBERTS: I just wanted to see who's inside it.
CHETRY: Yes, of course.
ROBERTS: Because they're all (INAUDIBLE) which is interesting too. Every one of them.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Monday the 15th of October. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us. We start with extreme weather in the Midwest and a storm front that stretches from the Gulf Coast to Minnesota. Pictures coming in from Wichita, Kansas. And you can hear the hail pounding down on the roadways. Hail and heavy winds pounded the area last night into the overnight hours, as much as three inches of rain also coming down across parts of Kansa.
Also, this system pummeling Oklahoma. These pictures from Oklahoma City late last night. Heavy rains soaking the area for several hours as this storm slowly moved east but before the rain came, strong winds hitting the area as well. These are some pictures from Warren, Oklahoma. A dust storm in the far southwest corner of the state, a camera crew in the middle of a huge dust cloud headed right for them. No one was hurt.
Also, in Colorado, several inches of snow fell on the Rockies. At least an inch of rain fell in Denver. The snow caused some fender benders along interstate 70 through the mountains. They reported no serious accidents and of course, a lot of fun in the first big snow. All the kiddies of course, headed out there.
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