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American Morning
Arrest in Thailand; Tornado Outbreak; Philippines Blast; Winehouse Arrested; New Warning Labels; Google is Golden
Aired October 19, 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: International police have been investigating the case for about three years after they discovered more than 200 photos of a man sexually abusing children that he circulated on the internet.
An Interpol special agent that we talked to here on AMERICAN MORNING said it was a difficult hunt it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, a worldwide hunt, and that is when they began what really turned out to be the major break in the case. They were able to get German computer experts to unscramble the photo. They were able to use that. He was digitally disguising his face before this. Well then, after they restored the images, they sent them out all over the world and got hundreds of tips within the first couple days of doing this. That is how they eventually ended up getting their hands on this wanted suspected pedophile.
CNN's Matthew Chance is live in Bangkok with more details for us on this break.
Hi Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Kiran.
Well, this is being called a triumph of cooperation between international police forces. It took just eight days for when this pedophile suspect, Christopher Paul Neil, arrived in Thailand to when he was arrested here today and the authorities here are so proud of what they have done. They organized a photo opportunity. The suspect, Christopher Neil, being brought through a crowd of waiting journalists with a blue t-shirt hiding his face. He was later escorted into a police press conference with his face actually showing. He sat right there looking cold, looking unmoved with a pair of dark sunglasses on staring ahead in front of him. He said nothing to the media despite being asked many questions by them. He was led away to face further questioning by the police forces here.
The police officers that I spoke to at that media conference said that so far he had not confessed to guilt to any of the accusations of abuses against teenage boys and underage boys that he had been accused of here in Thailand or elsewhere in the region. He had only confirmed his name as Christopher Paul Neil, that Canadian citizen, 32 years old. The investigations here are continuing to establish if he admitted any crimes in Thailand. If he did, he'll face a serious trial here, perhaps a serious sentence as well if he's found guilty here.
CHETRY: All right. Matthew Chance, live for us in Bangkok, thank you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to extreme weather and major tornado outbreak from the great lakes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. At least three people were killed in two states.
Video right here from Pensacola, Florida, captured through a police car's dash cam video. The storm also damaged a shopping mall and a day care center in Pensacola. Teachers say that they heard the warnings, grabbed the kids and followed the drill and because they did that, no one was hurt. We're going to have a live report in Pensacola coming up in just a moment.
Tornadoes also reported in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. 80- mile-an-hour winds and golf ball sized hail damaged several homes in Indiana. Police say thunderstorms also injured four people in a trailer west of Louisville, Kentucky. And a trailer was completely lifted off its frame and tossed three-quarters of a mile in Monroe County, Missouri. Two people who were inside at the time were killed.
Rob Marciano at the weather update desk tracking the extreme weather.
Rob, please tell me it's a little less active this morning than it was yesterday.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is but you know it got quiet for a little bit yesterday morning and then got very active yesterday afternoon and you're showing the pictures of that extreme weather event.
We do have the threat for severe weather today. I want to bring you the latest radar scope for you. Ironically enough it is in Pensacola at least right now we're seeing a ton of rain just hammering the Florida panhandle here. Yesterday they saw, in 24 hours, they saw almost ten inches of rainfall and it continues to filter in here so on top of the damage they saw from the tornadoes, they are getting hammered with rainfall.
South of Atlanta we're getting rain. North of Atlanta, where we need the rain, we're not. The domination of it being robbed to our south and also the air is just so darn dry it is having hard time getting saturated.
Here's a larger system. Here is where we expect to see strong thunderstorms rolling across the Appalachian Mountains. Here's your forecast weather map for severe weather this afternoon. Front will push off to the east. And where you had record high temperatures yesterday namely in places like New York City almost 80 degrees there, you will see a light risk for seeing severe weather later on this afternoon.
That's the latest from the weather center here. Another active day expected. Hopefully not quite as damaging as it was yesterday.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll be counting on you to keep us updated. Rob, thanks very much. Just showed you some of that tornado damage in Pensacola, Florida. That's where our Sean Callebs is live this morning with more on the big cleanup ahead.
Sean, rains coming down yet again today. Storms behind it or just rainstorms there?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been storming intensely throughout the night. Really it hasn't let up since shortly after the tornado blew right through the western portion of Pensacola about noon time eastern yesterday. The big concern right now is actually going to be flooding in a lot of low lying areas. So really Pensacola facing a two-fold problem.
They will try to continue the cleanup after that tornado blew through. You know John, people in this area are used to threatening winds from a hurricane but from a tornado it is extremely rare. We talked to a lot of people who have been here for years and years and this area never hit with anything like that.
Behind me you see a church. That's where the day care center is. You are exactly right in saying that the staff inside did precisely what they were supposed to and they are being credited with making sure those kids were not injured at all. There were four people hurt in all in the Pensacola area. They were treated at local hospitals and released. Nothing serious. Power was off to 6800 customers. They got that back up. That was very difficult too, John. Lightning throughout the night, that was going to be the big concern. We'll keep you updated here and let you know about flooding and how the cleanup goes.
John.
ROBERTS: You know Sean, we said that they heard the warning and they got the kids to safe ground. Any idea how much time they had with that warning between the time that the sirens or whatever it was went off and the tornado hit? As you said, tornadoes in that area are rare. It's not something people are really acutely aware of.
CALLEBS: That's a great question. They actually only had a matter of minutes. Less than 15 minutes from the time the county was -- knew that the tornado was moving into the area and then got the information out. The staff at this day care center probably only had a matter of minutes. They acted quickly. They acted precisely. That's the reason there are a lot of happy parents this morning.
ROBERTS: Sean Callebs for us this morning in Pensacola, Florida. Thanks, Sean. We'll be talking to you a bit later on.
Kiran.
This morning Also new this morning, the number of people dying now climbing this morning from those bomb blasts in the convoy of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The number keeps going up. 136 people confirmed killed and more than 380 others hurt after a suicide bomber threw a grenade and then blew himself up. TV cameras caught that blast on tape as thousands lined the streets to welcome Benazir Bhutto back from an eight-year exile. Security was tight. Officials feared something like this was possible but nothing could prepare them for the aftermath. Bhutto herself was not hurt.
And massive panic in the Philippines. Shoppers thought they were in the middle of a terror attack. Reports say as many as five people were killed and 40 wounded during lunch hour at a shopping mall when a cooking gas cylinder exploded. That area has been targeted by terrorists before but police say this explosion was not related.
John.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, unimaginable joy and relief for the family of an autistic teenager lost for four days in the wilderness. Jacob Allen is resting in a West Virginia hospital this morning after a team found him hungry and tired lying in a clearing yesterday. He's in good condition. Allen has severe autism. He's non-verbal. He got separated from his parents during a hike on Sunday. He had no food, no water but managed to survive frigid nighttime temperatures that dipped well into the 40s.
Overseas, British singer Amy Winehouse was arrested in Norway overnight. Winehouse has openly battled drug addiction. She was arrested for marijuana possession in her hotel room in Bergen, Norway. Police say her husband and another person were also arrested.
A mystery this morning surrounding magician David Copperfield. FBI agents in Las Vegas raided his warehouse. KLSATB is reporting that they confiscated a computer hard drive, a digital camera and $2 million in cash. Copperfield's attorney confirmed the raid took place but would not comment on the investigation.
And Grammy awarding winning rapper T.I. back in an Atlanta courtroom this morning. A judge will decide if he should be released on bond until his trial. T.I., who's real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested on Saturday when he allegedly tried to buy three machine guns and two silencers. An illegal purchase since Harris is already a convicted felon.
In the presidential race, Senator Sam Brownback is expected to withdraw later on today. He's a conservative from Kansas who has been struggling to raise money and his poll numbers. Brownback may run for governor of Kansas in 2010. That makes two people to drop out of the race.
And the Red Sox stay alive in the American League Championship Series. Sox's slugger Manny Ramirez pulled up during a play at the plate and then later tried to call time-out after a long single that he thought was a home run. In the fifth inning there was a bit of a bench clearing war of words but fists didn't fly. Boston topped Cleveland 7-1 to cut the lead three games to two in the series.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well there are some new warning labels coming to Viagra and other drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction. There's a new side effect that's turning up. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the medical update desk with us to explain the latest side effect.
Hi Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran.
They're talking about possible risk of sudden hearing loss in association with some of these medications. In fact, the FDA has approved some new labeling changes so they actually appear on the labels of some of these medications including Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra.
A couple things to put in perspective here. First of all, the class of drugs that these fall into are known as phospho diesterase five inhibitor. The name's not important but you should know that since 1996, over 10 years now, there have been 29 adverse effects reported, hearing loss, or ringing in the ears or dizziness or something like that. Numbers quite small. The FDA is taking this pretty seriously saying that they need to make sure that all of the consumers have informed choices when actually looking at these medications. In about a third of the cases, that hearing loss was temporary. In two thirds it was more ongoing and more significant problems.
Take a look at the statement there as well. We put it up there for a second from Pfizer. We did ask all the manufacturers for statements and they said, "It is not possible to determine whether the reported events are directly related to the use of these PDE5 inhibitors or other factors such as patient's underlying medical condition, risk factors for hearing loss or other factors." But still, enough of a concern there to induce these labeling changes.
CHETRY: Why would impotence drugs affect hearing at all?
GUPTA: That's a good question. You may know this. A lot of people do that Viagra was actually a medication designed originally to open up some of the blood vessels around the heart and they found it had this other side effect, if you will. So you would be surprised that it would cause any kind of blockage of blood vessels but that seems to be what's going on. When you have sudden hearing loss it's usually because the blood vessel to the ear that's providing blood flow has become blocked for some reason. Why exactly that's happening, they're just not sure. Keep in mind it is a very small number. 29 adverse effects only reported.
CHETRY: All right, Dr. Gupta. Great. We'll see you, Sanjay, in a couple minutes.
ROBERTS: This morning republicans are lashing out at democratic Congressman Pete Stark of California for his stinging comments on the house floor yesterday. He lashed out at republicans and President Bush for funding the war in Iraq but not expanding children's health care. Take a listen to what he said. REP. PETE STARK (D), CALIFORNIA: You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement.
ROBERTS: Republicans are demanding a retraction and an apology. We would like to know what you think. Should Congressman Stark apologize? Cast your vote this morning at CNN.com/am. 11 percent say yes. 89 percent say no. We'll continue to tally the votes throughout the morning.
12 minutes after the hour now and a true milestone on the quick hits. Oil prices have broke the $90 a barrel mark for the first time in history. It hit an all time high in after hours trading. The surge is being blamed on tensions along Iraq's northern border between the Turks and the Kurds.
A partial blackout is planned for San Francisco tomorrow. The city is turning off the lights on landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz for an hour to promote energy conservation. A spokesman says road lights on the bridge will stay on for safety reasons.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a blonde head of hair. He rolled over. He was hungry and thirsty.
ROBERTS: Inside the massive search effort that reunited a missing autistic hiker with his family. How searchers found him and an update from the teen's family all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING, 7:15 eastern time. Here are some of the shots that we just have to show you this morning. An implosion in Vegas it took only 20 seconds to bring down. We actually missed it by the time I turned around. The historic Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. That's where Frank Sinatra as well as Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli, Cher, some of the famous names who played there in the past. And of course, going up in its place a mega casino will be built there.
Police in Alexander, County North Carolina looking for a burka wearing bandit. They say this suspect walked into a bank, demanded money, pointed a gun at the teller and left with a bag full of cash. They still don't know if the person is a man or a woman.
Extreme weather caught on tape in western Kentucky. Strong lightning and a possible tornado destroyed a hotel. They reported 80- mile-per-hour winds knocking down trees and power lines and at least eight people were hurt when their mobile homes collapsed.
John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 17 minutes after the hour. A teenager with autism mussing since Sunday in the wilderness in West Virginia is back with his family this morning. 18-year-old Jacob Allen was found yesterday hungry and weak yesterday but unhurt. Karen Allen is Jacob's mother and she's with Jacob's brother and sister, Brittany and Micah Allen, who join us from the hospital where Jacob is recuperating.
Good morning to all of you. Good to see you. Karen, a couple days ago we talked with Brittany and Mica and they were worried about their brother. How are you folks feeling today?
BRITTANY ALLEN: We're feeling great.
KAREN ALLEN: Surprised. He's in great health.
ROBERTS: That's terrific. You've been obviously to the hospital to see him. Can you describe how he is? I know he's nonverbal so there's not much communication going on there in terms of conversation but there are other cues that you are getting. Tell us how he is today?
ALLEN: I just spent the night with him of course across the street. He's restless. He's asking for food. He uses a picture communication system and he understands receptive language so he uses a lot of body language to let us know that he wants to eat. So it's great. I'm tired because I was up all night with him but I'm happy that he was awake and alert and asking for food and water.
ROBERTS: If he's hungry, it's a great sign. Micah, you actually got out there and you helped the searchers out a bit. Can you tell us a bit about the area that he was in? What was the terrain like? Was it dense woods? What was it like?
MICAH ALLEN: I was actually not out when they found him. I wasn't up there. I was up there the day before. It was pretty thick and just really woodsy and lots of difficulty finding someone in that stuff.
ROBERTS: Boy Brittany, four days from the time he went missing and the time you found him. Did you have a difficult time keeping up hope or did you know he would be able to make it through?
ALLEN: I just kept my faith strong and tried to keep my feet on the ground. I had a lot of friends and family here supporting me and everyone just kept really great spirits that we were going to find him and every day people told him we would find him and being out there searching was so frustrating. We would come back and couldn't find him. As soon as we got the news we couldn't believe it. It was the best feeling in the world. Just a sigh of relief. Really great.
ALLEN: You know --
ALLEN: Everybody just came together in this effort. It was amazing.
ROBERTS: I'm sure there was so much anxiety among the family because you would be there at night and you would see the temperatures dipping down into the 40s or even past the 40s and wondering how he was getting along. What's the first thing you did when you got word from the rescuers that he was OK?
ALLEN: We all just hugged and celebrated. I was all of my family members and family friends we were out searching when we got the news. We all just embraced and prayed and thanked God and we ran back to station as fast as we good. There was anticipation for him to get down the mountain. My parents were the only ones able to go up there. When they brought the ambulance down I ran to him and told him I loved him. He gave me a little smile. He seemed upset and angry. He had an angry look on his face. When we got him to the hospital, he started responding. It was great. He's doing amazing.
ROBERTS: It must have been such a relief to hear he had been found and was safe and sound. Karen, what do you plan to do after he gets out of the hospital? Any kind of special reception to welcome him home?
ALLEN: We haven't planned anything yet. It's all just evolving. Everybody on the mountain was saying Jay we're going to get you some ice cream. Come on and that's what they were doing it call him and here we didn't have any ice cream up there in a rural area of West Virginia here so we'll have an ice cream party and this is home coming weekend in Morgantown at West Virginia University happens to be starting today and we'll have great home coming with our city who has been so supportive. The state, I'm not from West Virginia. We have lived here 15 years but the people here are fabulous.
ROBERTS: Folks there in West Virginia are tremendously welcoming people. Two reasons for celebration there where you are. You better pay off on the ice cream. That's all I can say. Karen, Brittany, Micah Allen, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Congratulations to you. Our hearts go out to you and our prayers are with you. So glad that this came out well.
ALLEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Have great weekend.
ALLEN: Thanks for sharing with us in our joy.
ROBERTS: We'll see you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So wonderful. Four days you know.
ROBERTS: Beginning to think the worst.
CHETRY: Yes. Calling it a miracle.
Well your quick hits now and a traveling tip on your next European flight. Regulators thee are studying a plan that would allow passengers to use their mobile phones in flight. If this proposal gets a green light, individual airlines still have the last word on the technology being used on the flights. Also the once mighty dollar continues its slide trading near record lows against the euro in early trading. In fact, it's about $1.43 to the euro.
Well, Google this. How much did the world's most widely used search engine make in the last quarter? How much money? Well, Ali Velshi will have the results for you.
Also, it's illegal and deadly. Taxpayers in one of America's biggest cities could be soon helping pay to help people do it. Should a health clinic invite heroin addicts to shoot up the right way? We'll have a debate on that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: If this next story is true, sailors have got to be pretty happy with their jobs. A new study out of Britain says it helps to curse at work. Regular swearing can boost team spirit and help to develop relationships. Researchers say the key though is knowing when swearing is appropriate.
CHETRY: How about that. All right. 25 past the hour. Ali Velshi, Minding Your Business, I don't think I have heard you say a curse word.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did when I talk Google earnings. Because back in 2004 when Google first came out, you know we talked about it a great deal and I said this can't be worth $100 a share. Let's see if we have that chart that says what it has been done since then. This will be a good explanation as to why I remain on television and not on a yacht in an island. $100 on August 30, '04. And look at where it is now, $640. The company is world $2 billion. Reported earnings of $4 billion normally reserved for pharmaceutical companies and oil companies. More than a billion of that revenue actually came in as profits. They made a billion in three months. They hired 2,000 workers in that period. They now have 16,000 workers. The company is worth more than Cisco. The only technology company worth more than Google is Microsoft.
ROBERTS: What's the total valuation?
VELSHI: $200 billion, you take all of the shares at Google and add them up, it's worth $200 billion. Quite a remarkable company. 1.2 billion search requests every day. I was sitting with people from Google the other day explaining things like it goes through 700 computers before it gets to you in fraction of a second.
CHETRY: You have made it big when you're a verb.
ROBERTS: What's the ratio of the stocks?
VELSHI: That will take me a second to figure out. I'll have to get back to you on that. The way you measure these companies and whether they are worth it, there are things that are expensive. There are analysts out there saying this will go to $700 a share. They haven't split the share. The old fashioned ways of measuring the stock, price to earnings doesn't necessarily work on some of these companies because traditionalists think how could this company be worth this kind of money? They are doing remarkable things here. They are changing the landscape of how we do this.
Remember, they have You Tube and you can do all of your work in their virtual world.
CHETRY: They want to team up with Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Starbucks and take over the world.
VELSHI: And Apple.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks. We'll see you again soon.
A look at a story coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss, e-mails that flood our inbox, video that everybody sends around to their friends. It's called viral videos.
CHETRY: Viral videos. We'll show what you is being send. Some of the most popular ones. Veronica De la Cruz, our new internet correspondent, is going to be showing them to us. We'll get a laugh on a couple of these. We'll show you those and have top stories when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. It's hot this morning. (INAUDIBLE) rivers, right. From WTAE in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We looked this up a week ago, right? About a month ago. Go ahead.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Allegheny, (inaudible) and the Ohio.
CHETRY: Ding ding ding.
69 degrees right now. Light rain. 76 with showers. But actually, it's sunny since the Steelers are 4-1 as they head to the mile-high city this Sunday to play Denver. It's Friday, October 19. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
We begin with breaking news out of Thailand in major arrest overnight. An international manhunt is over for a suspected pedophile. Christopher Paul Neil, a Canadian, is accused of sexually abusing at least a dozen young boys. He was nabbed about 130 miles northeast of Bangkok where get this Thai police say he was trying to contact underage boys as a global manhunt was going on for him. This break through in Interpol's three-year long investigation came when the International Police agency released a photo of the face that was descrambled from about 200 child porn photos that have been circulating on the internet.
CHETRY: Now, to an extreme weather and a major tornado outbreak from the Great Lakes to the gulf, 80-mile-an-hour winds, golf ball size hail damaged several homes in the town of Nappanee, Indiana. We're going to get to those pictures. They came into CNN just moments ago. And also, we're live now with the Joel Skipper. He is on Nappanee with the latest on what's going on there. Hi, Joel.
JOEL SKIPPER, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey good morning, Kiran. The tornado came through around 10:30 last night and quite some damage. Take a look behind me. This is one of the many homes that have been destroyed. There are actually two dozen homes that have been severely damaged or completely destroyed in this tornado that came through around 10:30 last night. Now, this is a town of about 7,000 people. The entire town is shut down. It's pretty much in almost a lock down. There is no power. No schools in the area right now have any school and again the town is pretty much shut down. Fortunately, no major injuries. Only just minor injuries during this tornado. So, crews will be out here. Nepsco, which is the local company over here, are working nonstop, pretty much around the clock trying to get the power on back to residents.
Again, two dozen homes severely damaged. There's a barn actually across the street that had the roof ripped off. Now, I want to show you this over here. This is a piece of plywood that impaled itself into the side of the tree. That gives you an indication of just how strong, as we were mentioning, the winds were last night, golf ball sized hail. Exactly how strong the tornado was, no one is sure yet. The National Weather Service will be down here in just a couple of hours to decipher how strong it exactly was. Kiran.
CHETRY: That really just shows it. You just showed us just how potentially dangerous that was. I mean, if that was a person and not a tree. Anybody severely hurt or killed in this line of storms?
SKIPPER: Just some minor injuries fortunately. Authorities say they got things taken care of pretty well. They've gotten everyone out of their homes. Only some minor injuries so there's definitely is a silver lining in all this. And again, crews are going to be out here, non-stop for the next few days. He is making sure that everything is secure and helping any people who are still hurt in the hospital.
CHETRY: Wow, and the beautiful blue sky behind you as the sun starts to come up there. What a contrast to what we saw with damage on the ground. Joel Skipper with thanks for being with us from Nappanee, Indiana this morning.
Republican leaders are demanding an apology now from Congressman Pete Stark for his outburst on the house floor yesterday. The California democrat lashed out at President Bush and republicans in congress for not funding the expanded children's health insurance program. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETE STARK (D), CALIFORNIA: You don't have money to fund the war or children but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for to you send to Iraq, to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Stark has refused to apologize for those comments. We wanted to know what you think. Should Congressman Stark apologize? We ask you to cast your vote at CNN.com/am. Right now, pretty surprisingly, only 11 percent of you think he should apologize. 89 percent that's very rare that we have that many people on that one side say you don't think he needs to apologize. We're going to continue to tally the votes throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: Yes, extraordinary amount of people weighing in on that topic as well.
City health officials in San Francisco may soon be on hand to make sure that heroin addicts shoot up the right way. The city is taking steps to open the nation's first legal safe injection site. Here's how it will work. Users have to bring down site. Users have to bring down their own drugs and then inject themselves. Nurses give them a clean needle, water and a table and chair. The idea is to reduce San Francisco's high rate of fatal drug overdoses and spread of diseases like HIV. The model is based on the only other legal injection house in North America that one located in Vancouver, Canada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If somebody overdoses in the site, our staff is able to provide emergency care. And we've had over 800 overdoses so far and not one fatality to date.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think in our experience what people would tell you, in the community, is that it is a win-win solution for the community and for drug users. Drug users get the health care they need and the community is safer as a result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Obviously it's a matter of great controversy. The White House Office of National Drug Policy says it was "poor public policy to just accept drug addiction and give up."
CHETRY: We have some fresh new polls out this morning from CNN, looking at two of the major values issue of today on the subject of abortion. 60 percent agree that abortion is wrong compared with 36 percent who believe it's not. Also on the topics of gay marriage, 56 percent of the public say marriage between homosexuals should not be recognized as valid by law.
This weekend is also what's known as the values voter summit, where all of the Republican candidates will show up and will be speaking and it could serve to gauge just who is going to be getting backing from the influential conservative base. And our CNN chief national correspondent, John King, is live outside of the values voters' summit in Washington this morning. Good to see you.
JOHN KING, CNN, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. CHETRY: It looks like the people that will there to come out and vote will have one less person to back. Senator Sam Brownback is going to announce today that he's dropping out of the presidential race. He was very conservative. He was getting, polling at 1 percent in the national polls but who will maybe, be able to gain out of the candidates left from Sam Brownback calling it quits?
KING: That's an interesting question, Kiran. Who will gain out of this weekend's value voter summit is a great question. What little support Senator Brownback had did was come out of the Christian conservative wing of the Republican Party. You will have, as you noted, all of the candidates coming through here today including Rudy Giuliani even though the organizers of this summit say their number one political goal is to block his candidacy, to block him from becoming the Republican nominee. The other leading candidates will be here too but all of them have (INAUDIBLE) scars or question marks in the eyes of these voters. Senator John McCain and former Senator Fred Thompson for example, they opposed abortion rights but they also oppose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts was publicly in favor of abortion rights and now he says he has changed his mind. So, these social conservative voters and the leaders of social conservative organizations have not coalesced around any one candidate which is why the Republican race is so wide open and why the summit this weekend could help shape what happens from here on out. Only ten more weeks to the Iowa caucuses, where social conservatives are the most important republican constituency. Kiran.
CHETRY: And when it comes to social conservatives, there's one who really seems to have the resume intact and that is Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He hasn't been able to raise as much money to pop out into the top tier. But you had chance to sit down with him. What is he thinking ahead of this value voter's summit?
KING: Well, he hopes he comes out of it as a new favorite, if you will of social conservatives. His resume is actually a perfect fit for this group. Before he got into politics, for 12 years he was a preacher at a small parish in Arkansas, a southern Baptist preacher. He opposes abortion rights. He opposes same-sex marriage. He says he could be the consensus candidate for social conservatives and yet at same time he's delivering a tough message to the leaders of this summit. Some of them have publicly said if Rudy Giuliani gets the Republican nomination, a candidate who of course favors abortion rights, has marched in gay rights parades. They say if it is Mayor Rudy Giuliani, perhaps they will break off and start a third party, pro-life candidacy for president. I put the question to Governor Huckabee, is that a good idea?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not a good idea. I mean, I think what that does is similar to what happened in 1992 when Ross Perot came in. It would ensure the election of yet another Clinton. We have potentially 28 years of only two families in the White House. I don't think that's a good idea either. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: But the leaders of this organization say they will keep that option, Kiran, and the third party option on the table. Their main goal is to somehow derail Rudy Giuliani but they say they have to keep the third party option on the table. They say it's a matter of principle because of their fervent opposition to abortion rights. Kiran.
CHETRY: We know just how enormously helpful and vital the support of the conservative base was for George W. Bush was in 2000 and even in 2004. Do they have the same power going into 2008, John?
KING: That's a great question because it really depends whether you go state by state. One of the key questions is supposed these leaders go the third-party option. Will the flock follow them? And that is a huge open question in social conservative circles. In the state of Iowa, in the state of South Carolina, two of the three early contests social conservatives are the dominant force in the Republican Party without a doubt. As you move on from there though, the state of New Hampshire much more libertarian, then come the big states like California, Illinois and Florida, a much smaller role for social conservatives in those states but early on they do matter which is why all of the candidates will be here today and over the weekend. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. John King covering it all for us. CNN chief national correspondent, thanks.
ROBERTS: 90 minutes now to the top of the hour with more schools being closed for cleaning. A lot of you have questions about the deadly superbug that's spreading across the nation. You have been e- mailing our Dr. Sanjay Gupta and he's got some answers for you. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: The last couple of days we heard reports from more than a half a dozen states of students being diagnosed with antibiotic resistant staph infections. So, how widespread it is? What can you do to prevent it? We've been getting a lot of questions from viewers who have specific concerns. We're paging our Dr. Gupta now for a reality check. Sanjay joins us from Atlanta but first give us the 30,000-foot view here, Sanjay. How serious is this outbreak?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are paying a significant amount of attention to this. The 17-year-old student who died obviously has gotten the attention of a lot of people. There was a new CDC report this week that sort of coincided with that death saying that 90,000 people in a single year got this methicillin-resistant staph infection. It's called MSRA (ph) or MRSA. Some people called it the flesh-eating bacteria. Those numbers are higher, I think John, than anyone expected. And about 19,000 people also died so the death rate higher as well. This is a bacteria that is present on our skin right now but when it becomes resistant to the antibiotic as we know, as you know it becomes particularly problematic.
ROBERTS: We should point out too Sanjay that the death rate from this MRSA is greater than the number of people who die in this country every year from AIDS. A couple questions have come in from our viewers who understandably are concerned about this. Here's one from Sherrie of Granteville, South Carolina.
"My son has had the MSRA staph infection. He has had 4 outbreaks. He is only 7 years old. What can I do to get rid of this?"
GUPTA: Well, this is a, we got this sort of question quite a bit. First of all, there are several tell-tale signs. When you think about this infection as it starts, it may start just as a pinpoint sort of wound on someone's skin. It can look like welts. There is usually more than one. If you have something like this if you see something like this on your child and it is not going away, again more than one welt, you should probably get that checked out.
John, we talk a lot about the common sensical things to do, including hand washing, including making sure that things like sports equipment are washed really thoroughly and this infection unlike other infection is spread through the air and is actually spread through skin to skin contact or off surfaces. So making sure that the surfaces are really clean makes a huge difference. And obviously getting it treated. There are treatments for this. Not just the methicillin, more powerful antibiotics work if you catch it early enough.
ROBERTS: So basically get to the doctor as quickly as possible. Next question Sanjay is from Leslie in Belleville, Washington, she writes, "I've been diagnosed with MRSA outbreak on face, two times, 9 months apart. Does staph lay dormant until another outbreak?"
GUPTA: Great question, Leslie and Sherrie. I hope you're paying attention to this because this applies to your son as well. It does lie dormant. In fact, people can have this MRSA actually in their nose. It can lay there and it can colonized, so to speak, by just sort of hanging out there and not doing much but certainly present and for some reason all of a sudden it spreads to other parts of your body. So, it can absolutely lay dormant. Here's the message here more than anything else. You may have this wound and you may start taking the antibiotics that your doctor recommends to get rid of it but as soon as people starts to feel better they stop taking it. Wrong thing to do, you got to make sure you get rid of the entire infection with the first course of antibiotics; otherwise, it will keep coming back. And that's a real problem, not only for the individual but the individuals around that person where it can spread.
ROBERTS: And not only it could come back but it could be more drug resistant as well. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.
GUPTA: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Good answers. Good tips. And don't forget to join Sanjay for his own program "HOUSE CALL" Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, here on CNN. More on the MRSA outbreak coming on that. Next week, Sanjay sits down with the Dalai Lama. His only interview while here in the United States and talk about alternative medicine and happiness. Something we can all use a little bit more of. Sanjay is even going to show his holiness a little brain surgery. What would you like Sanjay to ask the Dalai Lama? Send your question in to CNN.com/am and we'll have the Dalai Lama's answers next week, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Oh, that will be neat.
ROBERTS: That will be great.
CHETRY: Well, in this age of information overload, your inbox is also getting hit, too. Now there's a name for all of the mail that's been flooding your e-mail. It could even harm your computer. We're going to talk about that and also tell you why federal agents raided a warehouse belonging to magician David Copperfield. All of that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Ten minutes now until the top of the hour. If you're just joining us, here's a look at what's making headlines this morning.
Breaking news from Thailand overnight. A Canadian school teacher, suspected of essentially assaulting 12 different young boys, was arrested in Thailand. Christopher Paul Neil was the subject of a three-year-long international manhunt. Leads started pouring in after Interpol used computer technology to unswirl images found online revealing Neil's identity.
At least 136 people are dead and more than 300 wounded in Karachi, Pakistan, following a bomb blast in the convoy of the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She was not hurt in the attack.
FBI agents in Las Vegas raided a warehouse belonging to illusionist David Copperfield. A local television station reporting they took a computer hard drive, a digital camera system and nearly $2 million in cash. Copperfield's attorney confirmed the raid but did not comment on the investigation.
And a teenager with autism missing four days in the West Virginia wilderness has been found safe and sound. Rescuers found Jacob Allen lying on the ground hungry and cold. He's in the hospital but he's in good condition. Kiran.
CHETRY: We all have gotten those annoying e-mails in our inbox. The ones that have been forwarded what, it feels like a hundred and maybe even a thousand times. Sometimes, they're asking for your prayers, sometimes they show funny images. Well, some of them can actually be quite harmful to your pewter. What should you do, just forward and pray for the best? Our internet correspondent, Veronica De La Cruz explains this whole phenomenon of getting all these e-mails. First of all, they really can mess up your computer? VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: If they have viruses and worms. So, you always want to check your attachments. You want to make sure you know who the sender is obviously. And there's an interesting article today that I wanted to show you, Kiran. It's at CNN.com/offbeat and it breaks down this phenomenon of viral e- mails. Basically, viral e-mails have its roots in chain letters. If you remember those, they were the letters that used to be mailed from person to person and person in paper form and the e-mail that ends up in your inbox might be humorous, it might be asking for a donation, it can be a story that turns out to be an urban myth or legend, better yet, it could be funny pictures, videos, it could be serious pictures. You can take a look at these. No big surprise here. Kiran, prepare yourself because experts are saying that we can expect a huge rise in political joke e-mails in our inbox before the '08 election.
CHETRY: Why do people feel the urge to forward these by the way?
DE LA CRUZ: A professor at Georgia Tech is saying that if we're doing it at work we might be using them to build camaraderie, maybe break the ice but she also says that before you hit that send button you want to ask yourself who's going to benefit from the message and do they share the same sense of humor. Also, don't forget that the internet is immediate, as soon as you hit that Send button, you can send this message to hundreds of people at a time and that's when viral e-mail becomes spam e-mail and something you have to watch out for. In the next hour we're going to take a look at some of the most viral videos of the week. I think my favorite one being the one that you sent me of John Roberts having a laughing fit from youtube.
CHETRY: No, I didn't. Is it on youtube?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
CHETRY: I still remember he had tears. I don't remember exactly why.
DE LA CRUZ: Priceless.
CHETRY: So, I'd love to see that one again.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, next hour.
CHETRY: Veronica, thanks. John.
ROBERTS: It was the hilarious story about Mitt Romney putting his dog on the roof of the car. How were you not supposed to laugh?
DE LA CRUZ: I think there was a more recent one, too. I got to say it was great.
CHETRY: Well, Veronica has it all.
DE LA CRUZ: In the next hour, John.
ROBERTS: That one wasn't on camera, Kiran. Don't be giving away secrets. Surprising new study, do generic prescriptions really work as well as the brand name. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us at the top of the hour. You'll be surprised what one report found.
And a report card just out on the world's ice pack and the animals who depends on it. We'll tell you all about that next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. A report card on the Arctic now - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, found less nice ice, hotter air and struggling wildlife. A case in point, the caraboo and reindeer herds, they dropped up to 80 percent by some estimates in some areas. The herds have problems migrating because of the ice melting. While goose populations are on the rise, which is causing overgrazing in some areas. Scientists also say the tundra is shrubifying, the increase shrub coverage absorbs more of the sun's solar rays causing the climate and habitat to change.
Well, two heavy hitters in the senate are now joining forces across the aisle to talk about climate change. The question this morning - does their bill have any teeth? Jennifer Eccleston is live in D.C. with more on that for us today. Hi Jennifer.
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. But we'll soon find out. But you know, environmental groups have been urging Washington for more than a decade to pass laws that would cap carbon dioxide emissions or man-made greenhouse gases from factories and cars that contribute to global warming. Now congress is finally getting serious about climate change or so they say and they will begin hearings next week on a bill that mandates significant cuts in emissions by 2050.
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SEN. BARBARA BOXES (D), CALIFORNIA: I believe the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will not leave this issue of global warming burning for another generation to address. It is our responsibility, and we must act.
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: The leadership that the United States of America must simply take, Mr. President, on this issue, to join the other nations of the world that have taken a leadership and the only way to do this, we feel, is by law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ECCLESTON: Well, Kiran, the crux of this bill is the cap and trade program which limits industrial emissions but allows companies some flexibility to trade, to save and even borrow emissions allowances. This now sets up a confrontation between the Bush administration, which says mandatory programs would hurt the economy and bill proponents who insist that doing nothing will cost even more in the long run. Democrats and Republicans who introduced this bipartisan bill readily acknowledge this debate will be contentious. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jennifer Eccleston, thank you.
Also, a reminder by the way, CNN kicks off its worldwide investigation of the earth's environmental issues, it's called "Planet in Peril." It debuts next Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00 p.m. Eastern, here on CNN.
ROBERTS: Well, here's a look at a story coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss here at AMERICAN MORNING.
We have been told for years by doctors and the drug companies that generics is just as good as brand name drugs. But are they really equal?
CHETRY: Yes, and you think you know you can get it a little bit cheaper. They're available to more people. Well, there is one new study finding that in one particular class of drugs, the generic might not be as good as the brand name. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to break it down for us and tell us why and what we should do about it. And the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Breaking news. A suspected pedophile arrested overnight. The computer tricks and international manhunt that brought him down.
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