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American Morning
Police Arrest 37-year-Old Chester Arthur Stiles; Senator Larry Craig Speaks Out
Aired October 16, 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 ANCHOR: Senator Larry Craig on the infamous bathroom sting, his appeal and his future.
Terror drills -- they cost us millions, but what do we learn?
Plus, on top of the world. The teen who set a new Rubik's Cube record, one hand behind his back, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. It's Tuesday, October 16th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. The fellow we're going to have on this morning one handed a Rubik's Cube, solved it in 19 seconds.
CHETRY: And this isn't your normal Rubik's Cube. This is the one that's even harder. It has, instead of three -- or does it just have three?
ROBERTS: I think it's just got three.
CHETRY: He can do the other one, too. He did it on our show a week ago. That was the four by four.
ROBERTS: Extraordinary. So you'll meet him coming up a little bit later on this hour.
We begin, though, with a personal appeal from Idaho Senator Larry Craig. He's speaking about his ordeal, his job and the personal fallout from that incident in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. He was interviewed by our affiliate in Boise, KTTB Television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Idahoans have taken a heck of a beating here. I'm one of Idaho's senators, and I'm very proud of that. And they've taken a heck of a beating, and for that, I'm embarrassed, I'm regretful that it happened. But it has happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Craig's wife, Suzanne, sat beside her husband during the entire 70-minute long interview. Craig has just filed an appeal to overturn his guilty plea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CRAIG: It is an important next step. We don't know what the appellate court will say to us or to me. You know, I could honestly say appeals courts tend to defend the courts below them. At the same time, my attorneys think we do have some solid arguments that must be made. And we're going to make them. It is my right to do what I'm doing.
I've already provided for Idaho certainty that I think Idaho needed. I'm not running for re-election. That's already started the next political cycle in Idaho. So I'm no longer in the way. I'm no longer blocking the political process of Idaho, but I am pursuing my constitutional rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And still resisting the notion of stepping down. Craig also discussed his relationship with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, saying, quote, "Not only did Romney throw me under his campaign bus, but he backed up and ran over me again."
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, some extreme weather to talk about this morning. Golfers had to be rescued by a raft after heavy storms pounded northern Texas. There's a look at the rescuers bringing them back to safe ground after the flooding that took place there. Roads flooded, damaged buildings. Power knocked out to thousands of homes and businesses. All of this around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. One person actually died when his car slid into the path of an oncoming truck.
And heavy rain also causing problems in parts of Iowa. There you see pictures there of flooding, closing roadways, flooding farmland in two different counties there. And conditions may still get worse. The forecast calling for more showers and more thunderstorms for Iowa today.
And it's the exact opposite problem in the southeast of the country. There is a major drought. It has mayors in towns from North Carolina to Georgia urging residents to conserve water. By some estimates, northern Georgia has less than four months of water supply left.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: After a nationwide manhunt in this country, police in this country arrested 37-year-old Chester Arthur Stiles late last night. He is seen on a sex tape that surfaced last month in Nevada, Stiles with a then 3-year-old girl. Police pulled him over last night in Henderson, Nevada. His car had no license plates. Officers began questioning him, and they say Stiles gave himself up.
AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live in Las Vegas for us this morning.
Good morning to you, Chris. What's the latest from where you are?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, Chester Stiles is being locked up in a jail right behind me. But as you said, this was just a routine traffic stop. If that car had a license plate, he might never have been pulled over. When he was pulled over, the officers say that he couldn't remember his Social Security number, and he handed them a driver's license with a picture on it that didn't look anything like him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER MIKE DYE, HENDERSON POLICE: When me and Officer Gower (ph) were questioning him, because we didn't believe his story or who he was, he finally told us, hey, I'm Chester Stiles. I'm the guy you're looking for. And at that time, he said, I'm sick of running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: This case goes back to a four-year-old videotape that was found in the desert, and it shows a little girl being raped. And when we say a little girl, I mean, she really is not much older than a baby. One of the detectives who saw the tape says it was one of the most horrible things he had ever seen in his life.
Now, at first police didn't even know who the girl or the man was or whether the girl was still in danger. As it turns out, she's now 7 years old, and she's living with her mother, who had no idea this had even happened. Apparently, the assault happened while the mom was at work and the little girl had been left with a babysitter.
I think one of the big questions now is going to be, was she the only one? we know that some of the police officers investigating this case will tell us they're not sure. They don't know if they're going to find some other victims. We do know that, even before this case happened, Stiles was wanted for allegedly groping a 6-year-old girl about four years ago. And there's another allegation that goes back even further. A little girl who may have been assaulted as far back as 2001. The detectives are going to take another look at that allegation as well -- John.
ROBERTS: I'm sure they have a lot to ask him over the next few days. Chris Lawrence for us this morning in Las Vegas. We should mention, by the way, that according to the little girl's mother, she's absolutely fine, and apparently has no recollection of the incident.
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: It's over-the-counter pain medication used by millions of Americans, but now there is new concern for people who take pills like Advil and Aleve, so-called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, and don't tell their doctors about it.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta with the details.
What's the latest research on this, Sanjay? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.
The latest research actually shows that most people who take these medications, including what are called nonsteroidal anti- inflammatories, like Aleve, or Ibuprofen or Naproxen, or even Aspirin, don't tell their doctors about it, and about one in five of them don't tell their doctors about it, which is pretty remarkable. This is a type of medication that can cause bleeding within your stomach, and that's the big concern here. Doctors have known this for some time. The problem is about 30 million Americans take it, and they may take the pill from time to time. When the doctors ask them if they're on any meds, a lot of them will say no.
What we now know is that about 60 percent of people will have some sort of side effect from taking these medications -- gastrointestinal side effect. They have bleeding. It may lead to ulcers down the road. And here's an interesting statistic as well -- kidney problems, heart problems, 20,000 people actually die every year as related to problems from taking these medications, too much of these medications or to the point where they cause some of these problems, John. So it can be dangerous, and a lot of patients simply don't tell their doctors about it.
ROBERTS: Right. So what's the problem with not telling your doctor? Is it that they don't know to look for potential problems, or they might prescribe other medications that could aggravate the problem?
GUPTA: Well, there's a couple of problems. One is that it could have interactions, drug interactions, with other medications you're taking.
Also, both Aspirin and anti-inflammatory medications can actually increase your likelihood of bleeding. And this is particularly important, John, as you might imagine, if you're going to be scheduled for surgery or have some sort of procedure. And if you don't tell your doctor about it, all of a sudden you might have a significant bleeding problem that was otherwise unanticipated.
ROBERTS: All right. So any time you go see your doctor, and he says what meds are you on? Talk about the prescription stuff that you might be taking, but also tell him about the over the counter, him or her about the over-the-counter stuff you might be taking?
GUPTA: That's right. And let me just add as well. A lot of people say, well, you know, if these drugs are so dangerous, what else could I take? Well, Tylenol, for example, doesn't fall under the same class. So less likely to cause bleeding. That's one type of medication you might take. Also, sometimes you can take another medication that sort of coats your stomach. They're called antacid- type medications, to basically thwart the effects, if you will, of some of these anti-inflammatories.
ROBERTS: Good tips. Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning. Doc, we'll see real you soon -- Kiran. GUPTA: All right, sir.
CHETRY: Still ahead, what was it like inside of that Cleveland high school, where a 14-year-old opened fire on teachers and students last week before killing himself? Well, this morning a teacher tells us what the teen said to him seconds before pulling the trigger.
Also, millions of tax dollars spent on terror drills. How real are they, and why don't we ever get to hear the results? A reality check ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
CHETRY: In our Terror Watch this morning, realtime terror drills. They're designed to see how well the government and first responders would actually do in an actual attack involving weapons of mass destruction. They're going on right now. They cost millions of dollars. But some are wondering whether or not we actually learn valuable lessons from them.
Jeanne Meserve is live in Portland, where one of the drills is taking place today.
Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One critic compares the top-off exercises to a highly choreographed Japanese kabuki dance.
MIKE HOPMEIER, UNCONVENTIONAL CONCEPTS INC.: Everything is detailed, scripted, it's know well in advance what will occur, and people simply step through the motions. There's no way to learn anything, because aren't supposed to make mistakes.
MESERVE: The fumbled federal response to Hurricane Katrina, proof, the critics say, that lessons are not being learned and implemented -- the storm hit after three multimillion top-off exercises.
The last top-off was held in 2005. Some members of Congress are irate that two years later the report laying out weaknesses in preparations, response, and recovery has not been shared with all 50 states and their local governments, who will be the first-line responders in the next real emergency.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MISSISSIPPI: Our state and locals are not the enemy. They are our friend. They are our partners in this effort.
MESERVE: Federal officials say those after-action reports expose too many vulnerabilities to be made public, but they insist the problems revealed by top-off are being incorporated into federal disaster planning.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECY. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: If you don't exercise, if you're a football team and you never actually play a scrimmage game, you're never going to know what's working and what's not working.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: That was Jeanne Meserve reporting.
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: And oil prices keep surging higher and higher. They are now hovering around $88 a barrel in early-morning trading. Is there any relief in sight? We'll tell you, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's a victory for a soldier's mom. Check it out. Silly string, about 80,000 cans, collected by Marcel Schreiber (ph) are now headed to Iraq. The troops actually use silly string, which can be sprayed 10 to 12 feet, to locate trip wires for bombs. When they enter a room to search it, they spray the string. If it hangs in the air, a trip wire could be there. Aerosol cans are hazardous to ship, so it took months to finally get through all the red tape. But she's finally found a company that's willing and qualified to handle shipping the silly string to Iraq.
By the way, we've reached out to Marcel, and she's accepted our invitation to appear. We're going to talk with her later this week about her silly string project.
ROBERTS: Yes, great. It'll be good to talk to her about that. Terrific idea, too.
CHETRY: Inventing new ways to be safer and to do their job better. And in this case, it was silly string.
ROBERTS: It's amazing, too, that it's the parents of these soldiers who are coming up with some of these ideas.
Speaking of shipping things, it could cost a lot more to ship things in the future because the price of oil just going out of sight.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a good thing to remember, that when we're thinking about the price of oil, a lot of people wonder about the comparison between oil and gas. But really the price of oil affects everything you do. So yesterday the price at which oil settled at NYMEX was the highest that it ever settled at before, $86.13. That was up $2.44. It's up since then. That's showing you the $86.13. That's the highest price oil has ever settled at.
But less than an hour ago, it was trading within cents of $88 a barrel. That is remarkably high. Now the price of gasoline right now is $2.76 a gallon for a gallon of unleaded self-serve gas. It hasn't been rising along with the price of oil over the course of the last few weeks.
But what you do need to worry about is heating oil if you live in the Northeast. And when oil goes up, so does natural gas, and as John said, so does the price of shipping and trucking. There's one estimate that about 80 percent of all the goods that we buy in stores in the United States get trucked to their location. And if in many cases they're coming from other places like China, they're getting shipped. All of that uses oil, and all of that contributes to the prices that we pay.
And, John, a lot of what we manufacture, a lot of the things that we actually buy, have oil in them as a product. So $88 for oil is a big deal, and the bigger question is, does it keep trucking up to 90 and 100?
ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, it's only within $12 of $100. Who would have thought it would be up there?
VELSHI: We wouldn't have been talking about that a long time ago, yes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. We need to find a silver lining in this somewhere.
VELSHI: I'll look.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks.
CHETRY: Well, we want to know what you think about it. Will these rising oil prices actually force you to cut back spending? It's our Quick Vote question today on CNN.com/am. And right now this is almost unanimous at this point -- 91 percent say, yes, they will be cutting back on spending because of the price of rising oil; 9 percent saying no. We're going continue to update the poll throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: Can I ask you a question?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: What are you doing here?
CHETRY: Well, I was trying to solve the Rubik's Cube the old- fashioned way, which often involved, when I was 7 at least, peeling these off. I know exactly where they went. I'm putting them back in the proper locations. We have somebody who actually can do this the right way joining us a little later.
ROBERTS: And not only can he do it the right way, but he can do it with one hand. I tried even just -- now this is a four-by-four as opposed to a three-by-three. He does the three-by-three. Just moving these things around with one hand is a little bit of a problem.
CHETRY: Nineteen seconds.
ROBERTS: You've got to have incredible dexterity. Yes, his average was like 21 seconds after a number of different tries.
CHETRY: He's great. He's going to be joining us a little bit later, because we had him on a week or two ago when he was heading to the Rubik's Cube world championships in Budapest, Hungary. And today he's back and he's victorious, so he's going to show us how he did it.
ROBERTS: Terrific.
CHETRY: What was his technique?
ROBERTS: Well, it was obviously better than mine, because I can't even move this.
CHETRY: We're going to have that story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Grassie says he thinks the school dropped the ball by not having a working metal detector or security guards in the school.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: After a nationwide manhunt, police in Las Vegas arrested 37-year-old Chester Arthur Stiles last night. He is seen on a sex tape that surfaced last month in Nevada, Stiles with a then 3-year-old girl. Police pulled him over last night in Henderson, Nevada, for a routine traffic stop. Officers began questioning him, and they say Stiles eventually gave himself up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICE MIKE DYE, HENDERSON POLICE: I asked the driver what his social security number was, at which time he said he couldn't remember. And from my training and experience, that sounded a little suspicious too. So upon further questioning, the gentlemen said that he was Mr. Stiles, a person wanted, on "America's Most Wanted" and so he came out with his name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Stiles has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt. He is wanted on 21 felony counts in connection with the acts seen on videotape. The girl, now 7 years old and living with her mother, who says her daughter is healthy and safe and has no memory of the incident.
The police may be closing in on another suspected pedophile this morning. Interpol asked for the public's help to find the man whose image was unswirled by German technicians and reveal. In the last hour, Interpol, the International Police Organization has told us they have tracked this man to Bangkok.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
ANDERS PERSSON, SPECIALIZED OFFICER, INTERPOL (on the phone): I can confirm that we know who the man who is called Vico is, and that was through information from the public who responded on our request for help.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
ROBERTS: They are officially referring to the suspect right now as Vico. That's a combination of Vietnam and Cambodia because hundreds of pictures of him abusing children in those countries were posted on the internet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Iran right now, talking with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Iran's nuclear program. At a news conference this morning, President Putin said Iran is cooperating with Russian nuclear agencies and he believes Iran's nuclear ambitions are peaceful. The U.S. disagrees. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says in fact there should not be any doubt about Iran's designs for a nuclear program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: This administration is keenly aware of the threats posed by Iran. It is also keenly aware of the challenges we and our allies face with a regime that seems increasingly willing to act contrary to its own national interests. With a government of this nature, only a united front of nations will need to exert enough pressure to make Iran abandon its nuclear aspirations. We must also keep all options on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The famous all options phrase means that the Bush administration is keeping open the possibility of military action to take out Iran's nuclear facilities. Gates is calling for "robust" far reaching and strongly enforced economic sanctions against Iran. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, after decades of being considered a terrorist nation, accused for blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Libya is apparently turning over a new leaf, in fact, earning a seat at the diplomatic table of the United Nations Security Council. CNN Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth joins us now with more. Thanks for being with us, Richard. Good to see you this morning. So, how did this happen?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN, SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, you might say that the rehabilitation is now nearly complete. Libya, a few years ago, renounced any weapons of mass destruction, said it would give up terrorism, and said it would help share intelligence data, which it has done, with the U.S. so this is just one more step. However, Libya has not completely paid money that the families of those killed on Pan Am 103 that Libya was deemed responsible for. They are behind in those payments, and one of the mothers of those killed on board that plane is outraged. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHLEEN FLYNN, SON KILLED ON PAN AM 103: It's been 19 years, and I think everybody feels, OK, it should just go away, and we should just let, you know, sleeping dogs lie and let it all go away. But it can't. I mean, they murdered my child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The families say it's pathetic that Libya will now sit on the Security Council for a two-year term. They won't have veto power. One diplomat from a western country actually said, well, we can at least do deals with Libya. Libya is seen as even leaning more to the west than some of the other countries from that area who might sit on the council.
CHETRY: Like Syria?
ROTH: That's right.
CHETRY: ... is one. How is Libya expected to perform, I guess, on the Security Council?
ROTH: Well, I think it will be, it's an open question. I think that they may indeed side with the U.S. on some angles. But they are looking to establish themselves as the leader of Africa actually, not maybe necessarily the Middle East. So you're going to see Libya even more involved. They're trying to even chair, and they will chair peace talks on Sudan, Darfur. You're going to see Colonel Khadafi, once again, trying to play more of a leading role on the world stage though he may be contained somewhat by the other members, of powerful veto carrying members on the council.
CHETRY: Richard Roth, thank you. John.
ROBERTS: Thirty five minutes after the hour now. A horrific bus crash in Peru tops your "Quick Hits." 60 people were on board, police say 22 of them were killed and dozens more hurt. The bus was about 6 hours from the capital city of Lima. According to a local television station, some witnesses say the driver fell asleep.
Heathrow Airport is investigating this morning how two planes ended up bumping each other last night. Both planes were taxiing on a runway at the time. One was a British Airways 747. The BBC reporting the other was a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus 340. Nobody was hurt.
Remember these guys? We'll check in with one of our Rubik's cube masters to see how he did in the world speed cubing championship in Budapest. That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 22 minutes to the top of the hour. Rocky Mountain High in Denver, Colorado. The brooms were out last night in Coors field as the hometown of the Colorado Rockies swept the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach their first ever World Series. It was the team's 21st win in their last 22 games. What an amazing way to finish out the season. They will now wait for the winner of the Red Sox- Indians series in the American League.
Federal authorities displayed the firearms that were confiscated from the home of rapper T.I. at a news conference yesterday. Quite an arsenal there. The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris was arrested over the weekend. Police say he was trying to buy machine guns and silencers from his bodyguard, who at the time was cooperating with the feds.
And an anniversary to tell you about. It was 20 years ago Baby Jessica McClure, just 18 months old then, was rescued after following into a narrow opening in an abandoned well in midland Texas. It took nearly 59 hours for rescuers to bring her to the surface. Today she's 21 years old, married, and a new mom. Hopefully watching out for wells in her backyard. Kiran.
CHETRY: We all remember her story. Wow.
Well, hundreds of baby sea turtles washing up along the Florida coast. People started finding them yesterday just days after 1,500 of them were released back into the ocean. Normally, seaweed protects the little guys, but strong currents over the past two weeks have been pushing the seaweed onto the beaches.
Time now 39 minutes after 7:00 here on the East Coast. And Rob Marciano has been following weather. You have a lot to talk about today. Boy, we've been seeing some extremes all across the country.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, those little turtles struggling with those currents. That's too bad. It's cool to see those things hatch actually. If you ever see turtle nests, leave it alone. Give them a few weeks, and they'll pop out of there and swim to the ocean.
Florida's OK today although still decent currents, the wind should die down, and it shouldn't be as big of a problem. Northwestern Florida, Pensacola,the Panhandle, Mobile Bay, some showers and thunderstorms rolling in off the gulf here. These are pretty heavy, most of them staying offshore. It would be nice to get them onshore, get them into Tennessee, get them into Alabama, north Georgia, where we desperately need the rain. But the 48-hour rainfall forecast keeps it just outside where everybody needs the rain. So, that's not the best of scenarios.
There will be a chance of rain later in the week for the drought- stricken southeast, but it will come likely with a price. This storm system, which brought the severe weather yesterday is kind of hitting the brakes and losing its punch as it heads towards the north. We've got another couple of systems rolling into the west coast. They'll team up in the Rockies, and then tomorrow and Thursday, they'll tap moisture from the gulf of Mexico, strengthen, and it looks like we'll see a pretty decent batch of severe weather, including large tornadoes possible and large hail as well. So a two-day severe weather outbreak, possibly starting tomorrow afternoon. John, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, you were mentioning Tennessee. Any idea how that famous spring in Lynchburg, Tennessee, is doing these days?
MARCIANO: I have no idea but now that you mention it, are you talking about the one with the still?
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, we had heard a couple of months ago that the Jack Daniels distillery might be in some danger of losing its water supply. We should maybe check into that.
MARCIANO: If that's not a cause for a national emergency, I don't know what is.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. All right. Thanks, Rob.
A new study takes a look at the two major ways surgeons try to heal a damaged heart, angioplasty and heart bypass. How do you know which procedure is right for you? Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta with the details. How do you tell?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it can be difficult, John, to know. But let me give you some good news first when talking about heart disease. We talk about heart disease being the biggest killer of men and women in this country. There are procedures to try and treat you to try and prevent you from having a heart attack. And they appear to be safer than ever before, John. Looking at some of the data here, 98.5 percent of people will survive either procedure, either a bypass or angioplasty, some good news there. But as you pointed out, John, it can be a difficult thing. First of all, what are the two procedures? When you talk about bypass, some people call it CABG, it's basically an open operation.
You actually open the chest, actually take a blood vessel from somewhere else in the body, and literally bypass diseased blood vessels. So, it's open heart surgery. Angioplasty is where you actually take a little catheter, and you thread it through the groin, through a little artery in the groin, thread that up through the heart, and then sort of open up the blood vessels, sort of plasty it open, which is where the name comes from. But the question for a long time has been, which is better? How do you know? Many people will prefer angioplasty, because it is less invasive, and you don't have to be under general anesthesia. But for the most part, these two procedures both have very good survival rates in the longer term, John.
ROBERTS: So, if they're comparable, Sanjay, why would you go through the hassle of having your chest cracked open and coronary bypass grafting which is the CABG that you talked about? I mean it seems that you would be at far greater risk and discomfort.
GUPTA: There are few different reasons, John. First of all, some people aren't candidates for angioplasty. If you have multiple blood vessels that are diseased, actually going in there and trying to open each one up may not be a possibility. So you may have to have the surgery. But there's some real advantages and disadvantages to each, which we tried to put together here. If you think about with bypass specifically, you have less chance in the short term of having chest pain again.
So, it really takes care of some of those symptoms. Also, you have a slightly higher risk of strokes. That's one of the down sides. But you have less chance of repeating the procedure. So you may only need the one procedure. With angioplasty, the other part of your question, risks and cons. Less invasive, obviously, we talked about that. But your higher risk of actually needing repeat operations down the line. And chest pain, the symptoms that sort of take you to the doctor in the first place, less likely to be treated with the angioplasty, at least in the short term. So, while survival rates are comparable, sort of depending on your specific situation, one of those two procedures might be better for you.
ROBERTS: All right. As always, discuss it with your doctor at length. Sanjay, thanks. See you again soon.
If you've got a question for Dr. Gupta, make sure that you e-mail it to us. Go to cnn.com/am. Sanjay will answer your questions on Thursday, as he does every week here on AMERICAN MORNING. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, you saw them here first. Now one of them is the world champ. The Rubik's Cube king joins us in studio. They're friends but they also had some friendly competition. Which one took it all, the top prize in Budapest? We're going to find out, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 13 minutes before the hour now. If you're just joining us, here's a look at what is new this morning.
Idaho Senator Larry Craig speaking out in detail about what's happened to him since his arrest in the Minneapolis Airport men's room. He has apologized to his constituents in an interview with our Boise affiliate, KTVB.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: Idahoans have taken a heck of a beating here. I'm one of Idaho's senators, and I'm very proud of that. And they've taken a heck of a beating. And for that, I'm embarrassed. I'm regretful that it happened, but it has happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Craig's wife Suzanne sat beside her husband during the 70-minute interview. She says she was taken aback when her husband didn't immediately tell her about the incident.
One of America's most wanted is in police custody this morning. Chester Stiles was arrested late last night in Nevada. He was wanted in connection with the videotaped sexual assault of a then 3-year-old girl.
And Britney Spears turned herself in to police last night. She was booked on two misdemeanor counts stemming from a car crash back in August caught here by Celeb-TV when she allegedly smashed her car into another one in a parking lot.
If you're in northern Texas right now, you know how bad the thunderstorms were, more than five inches of rain, triggered widespread flooding and traffic accidents. Police say one person was killed in Denton when his car slid in front of an oncoming truck.
It's an all time high for oil. The price for a barrel opens this morning above $86. Why? OPEC says crude production in some countries is leveling off as global demand for oil is rising.
So we want to know what you think. Is the price of oil going to cause you to cut back on other spending? It's our quick vote this morning. Go to cnn.com/am and answer the question right now. 88 percent of you say yes. 12 percent say no. We'll continue to update our poll results throughout the morning.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Ryan Patricio can do one-handed in 20 seconds what most of us can't do with two hands in 20 days.
ROBERTS: Or 20 years.
CHETRY: That's actually solved this thing, the Rubik's cube.
ROBERTS: He joins us now. He was among hundreds of competitors from 33 countries at the Rubik's Speed Cubing Championship in Budapest, Hungary.
CHETRY: That's right and he set the new world record as the fastest one handed Rubik's Cube competitor in the world. Ryan, you were here on the show a couple of weeks ago. You did it right on our show in just a few minutes. Few seconds actually. But you held it together the entire world competition. Were you nervous?
RYAN PATRICIO, RUBIK'S CUBE CHAMPION: Oh, yes. I was.
ROBERTS: What was it like? What was the pressure like to be there to perform?
PATRICIO: Well, actually, I came back from lunch. So I was late for the one-handed finals, but I was relaxed, and I just went up on stage and did my thing.
ROBERTS: Wait a minute. Hang on. Hang on. You came back from lunch. You were late for the one handed. You go all the way to Hungary, and then you're late. How does that happen?
PATRICIO: Well, me and my friends were like, well, a buddy of mine.
CHETRY: They do Geneva mountain time, military time. It got you a little bit confused.
PATRICIO: Yes, a bit confused.
CHETRY: It didn't actually hurt your performance. They do this in heats with various people or all at once? PATRICIO: This was the largest WCA competition. So we had groups.
ROBERTS: What's extraordinary is the fastest time you did it in, which I believe is a new world record. Right?
PATRICIO: Average?
ROBERTS: 19.31 seconds. And your average was what?
PATRICIO: My average was 21.13 seconds.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable.
CHETRY: let's see it again. This is the one he likes because it's nice and loose.
ROBERTS: Can we just like randomize it?
PATRICIO: Any way.
ROBERTS: I'm going to start you from anywhere. Well, this thing really flips around easily. I don't want to take too much time.
CHETRY: It's loose.
ROBERTS: You do it. One handed.
PATRICIO: All right. Let's see. Timer?
CHETRY: Three, two, one.
ROBERTS: I couldn't even move it like that.
PATRICIO: Done.
CHETRY: All right. 25 seconds on the nose.
ROBERTS: Oh, my god. That was unbelievable.
CHETRY: That was incredible.
ROBERTS: You got to meet the guy who invented this as well?
PATRICIO: Yes.
ROBERTS: What was that like?
PATRICIO: He's a really nice guy.
CHETRY: Erno Rubik, the creator of the Rubik's cube. Now, I don't understand why you got only $700. This is a worldwide competition. They should have put a couple more zeros.
PATRICIO: Yes, but the main emphasis was on the three by three speed solve at 5,000 euros. CHETRY: But yours was the one-handed three by three speed solve.
ROBERTS: When you met Erno was he astounded at your ability to be able to do this one handed? Or is he pretty used to seeing that now?
PATRICIO: No, I don't really think so for one-handed. I'm told that one-handed is a very popular event, and everyone is just amazed by one-handed.
ROBERTS: It's incredible to watch you do that.
CHETRY: It's a popular spectator. People like to see that one.
PATRICIO: I think the blindfold event. That's my favorite event, blindfolded.
ROBERTS: How can you do it blindfolded?
PATRICIO: Oh, you know.
ROBERTS: You have to memorize it?
PATRICIO: Yes. It's not what people think. It's fairly easy.
CHETRY: When you do it blindfolded, do you know you're done or somebody has to tell you?
PATRICIO: You know you're done.
ROBERTS: So, everybody wants to know, what are you going to do with the $700?
PATRICIO: Yes, I get asked a lot. Pay back my family a bit. And get a 360 with halo.
ROBERTS: XBOX 360 with halo. OK.
CHETRY: How old are you, Ryan?
PATRICIO: 18.
ROBERTS: That's an interesting thing for a Rubik's Cube Championship winner. Ryan, that's just astounding. You have blown us all away this morning. Congratulations.
PATRICIO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And another American champion.
CHETRY: I know, the world champion.
ROBERTS: They've got to make this an Olympic event.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ryan.
ROBERTS: See you. CHETRY: Still ahead, can a five-minute eye exam be a secret window into a mysterious disease? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to show us coming up at the top of the hour.
Also, a warning from the fed chief about your investments. Ali Velshi has that. He's "Minding your Business" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just about three minutes to the top of the hour. By the way, Ryan wanted us to pass along. If you want to learn some solutions to a Rubik's cube go to www.rubiks.com. It will give you all the techniques you need.
CHETRY: He supposedly says it's very easy to solve. Yeah, right.
ROBERTS: It's like putting a man on the moon was easy.
Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Being called a silver tsunami, you're looking at the first ripple. A retired schoolteacher from New Jersey, the first baby boomer to apply for social security. An estimated 10,000 boomers a day are expected to join her in retirement over the next 20 years. This will bankrupt the social security system by the year 2041, which is why people say it's so urgent to enact social security reform.
CHETRY: She is the official first baby boomer ever. How about that one?
ROBERTS: Millions in line.
CHETRY: The first lady that started it all.
Three minutes before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding your Business" today. We aren't getting many hints from the feds about what they plan to do?
ALI VELSHI, "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS:" No, the next fed meeting is on October 31st and you have to remember the one in September. They dropped interest rates by half a percentage point. But Ben Bernanke gave a speech last night in which he said it is not the fed's job to insulate investors against bad decisions. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Although the Federal Reserve can seek to provide a more stable economic background that will benefit both investors and noninvestors, the truth is that it can hardly insulate investors from risk even if it wished to do so. Developments over the past few months reinforce this point. Those who made bad investment decisions lost money.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: Plain and simple, if you're one of those people who made bad investment decisions and lost money, didn't give a hint as to what the fed is going to do on October 31st, but here's what he said that might be of interest to you. He said the housing slump that we're in will continue until at least early next year. And that's actually more optimistic than what we've heard from some people who says it stretches all the way through 2008 into 2009. He also says that this credit crisis that we are in is likely not to get much worse because people have learned from their mistakes and that the financial system is likely to emerge more healthy and stable than it was going into this thing. So, a little bit of a silver lining.
ROBERTS: Every time you have a crisis, you figure it out how to avoid the crisis the next time around.
VELSHI: Avoid the crisis the next time around.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks very much.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Here's a story coming up that you can't miss. It's a cheap and painless way perhaps to get an early indicator as to whether or not you're at risk for getting multiple sclerosis. Very fascinating.
ROBERTS: And while researchers are looking into a quick eye scan to monitor the disease, maybe even identify it to begin with. We'll have that story for you coming up. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
CHETRY: Historic meeting. Vladimir Putin shrugs off death threats and lands in Iran. What the trip means for the new cold war.
Speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: I'm embarrassed. I'm regretful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Senator Larry Craig on the men's room sting and his fight to take back his guilty plea.
Plus, convenience store shoot out.
A bump at the counter leads to a wild west gunfight on the street. The dramatic new video and 9-11 call that captured it all on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. And thanks so much for being with us on this Tuesday, October 16th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. After a nationwide manhunt, police in Nevada arrested 37-year-old Chester Arthur Stiles late last night.
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