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American Morning
Airport Screeners Miss Explosives; New O.J. Simpson Trial; Health Headlines
Aired November 15, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Bombshell report. Airport security under fire. Screeners missing bomb parts packed into carry-on bags.
Toxic holiday. A consumer warning before you trim the tree or hang the wreath. Why are they selling decorations with lead?
Plus, from boom to bust.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pushed the entire economy under. A live look at ground zero in the mortgage crisis.
We're live from Las Vegas, where the Democrats are putting it on the line on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: A beautiful shot this morning from Las Vegas.
It is Thursday. It's November 15th. It's also John's birthday, by the way.
So happy birthday!
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey. Thanks very much.
Good morning. I'm John Roberts in Las Vegas.
Do you know who else's birthday it is today?
CHETRY: No, who?
ROSEN: Bill Richardson, the big 6-0 today. And he'll be here on the stage tonight.
We have got our big debate coming up tonight, Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and myself. We'll be asking questions. Suzanne Malveaux moderating questions from the audience as well.
And the big question, will Hillary Clinton do better this time out than she did in Philadelphia, at the last Democratic debate? Everybody's waiting to see.
We start this hour though with a CNN terror watch. A scary report for flyers and an embarrassing one for airline security.
The government says investigators were able to sneak bombs past airport screeners, smuggling liquid explosives and detonators past checkpoints at 19 airports. Some of the things that they used anyone can buy at your average hardware store.
Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is in our Washington bureau. She joins us now live.
And Jeanne, this report is very troubling for anybody who travels through an airport.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Troubling indeed. And the head of the TSA, Kip Hawley, is going to get grilled about it at a congressional hearing this morning. Hawley expected to say the TSA is deploying more effective screening machines in the nation's airports, has multiple layers of security, and is constantly testing and training screeners.
CNN was given exclusive access to that. We saw a simulated bomb being put in a carry-on bag. The bag is then taken to a checkpoint and put through an x-ray machine. But in this instance, the screener misses the bomb. A trainer immediately shows him his mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TSA TESTER: What does this look like inside here?
TSA TESTER: Jumping out at you.
TSA TESTER: Exactly, so what do you have there?
TSA TESTER: We have an IED.
TSA TESTER: That's right. You just missed that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: In another test, CNN saw the screener did find the bomb component. By doing this daily at airports all over the country, the TSA believes it is improving screener performance, but in testing completed just last July, GAO investigators did get past screeners with bomb components hidden their carry-on bags and on their bodies.
GAO video shows you what some of these devices could do if the components were put together, enough damage, the GAO says, to severely damage the airplane. In the tests at 19 airports, screeners sometimes just missed prohibitive items. In other cases, the screening machines and pat-down policies just were not good enough to find them -- John.
ROBERTS: They're keeping the methods that they use to get those through security classified, but troubling, nonetheless.
Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in Washington.
Jeanne, thanks. Now let's go back to New York, and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: Also new this morning from the terror watch, he once applauded the September 11th attacks. Now a radical Islamic cleric could be coming to the U.S. to faces terror charges.
A British court cleared the way for Abu Hamza al-Masri to be extradited. He faces charges here of trying to set up terror training camps in Oregon back in 1999 and 2000. Al-Masri also wanted for plotting to kidnap 16 westerners in Yemen. That was back in 1998.
He's currently serving a seven-year sentence in the U.K. for inciting murder and hate. The British home security must still approve extradition and the U.S. must still formally request it.
Police in the Philippines say that they have killed three suspected militants and arrested three others during a raid. Police say they also found evidence linking the militants to a bombing earlier this week inside of the House of Representatives. The blast killed two people.
In Pakistan, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is calling for a national unity government to take over for President Pervez Musharraf ahead of elections that are set for January. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Bhutto says that she is contacting other opposition parties, seeing if they can join forces and get on board with this. Bhutto is currently under House arrest in Lahore, Pakistan.
ROBERTS: The House has approved another war funding bill that appears to be heading nowhere fast, just like all the others. Democratic leaders narrowly passed a $50 billion emergency war funding bill last night. President Bush had asked for $200 billion to fund the Iraq war.
Now, the bill also calls for the president to withdrawal all American forces from Iraq by next December. Republicans fought bitterly against the timetable in the House bill. It's got little chance, by the way, of passing the Senate or making it to the president's desk.
The longest-serving Republican speaker in the House in history is expected to announce his retirement today. GOP sources say Congressman Dennis Hastert will make his last speech on the House floor. No word on when it will become official, but his early departure will mean a special election in his district in Illinois, a district he has represented for 11 terms.
Hastert stepped down as speaker when Democrats took control of Congress last year. He replaced Newt Gingrich back in 1999.
An Illinois woman is suing the distributors over-the-counter cough and cold medications claiming her 4-month-old son died after taking them six years ago. According to her lawsuit, she gave him Infant Tylenol Cold Decongestant Plus Cough and Walgreen brand Pediatric Drops Cough Plus Cold. The coroner's report says the baby died from toxic levels of a key ingredients in the medications. A Walgreen spokeswoman says company attorneys have seen the lawsuit and are wondering if the boy might have been given medications in combination at the same time.
Drug makers recently recalled infant cough and cold medicines over concerns they don't work and can be harmful -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning.
In a little more than two weeks, O.J. Simpson will head back to a Las Vegas court for a felony arraignment. A judge ruled yesterday that prosecutors do have enough evidence to take the former NFL star to trial for allegedly robbing memorabilia collectors at gunpoint.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is following the story for us from the National Update Desk.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.
Some are already calling this the trial of the century part two, and it hasn't even happened yet. O.J. Simpson will face 12 charges in all, including kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Serious stuff.
All of this stems from a September 13th incident during which police say Simpson and five others burst into a Las Vegas hotel room -- one man allegedly carrying a gun -- in an effort to recover sports memorabilia Simpson says was rightfully his. Now, after a four-day pretrial hearing in Las Vegas, a judge ruled late yesterday there is enough evidence to proceed with the trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE JOE BONAVENTURE, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA, DISTRICT COURT: Mr. Simpson, under Nevada law, you may introduce evidence on your own behalf at this proceeding. Do you understand that?
O.J. SIMPSON, FACING 12 CHARGES: Yes I do, sir.
BONAVENTURE: Have you discussed this with your attorneys?
SIMPSON: Yes, I have, sir.
BONAVENTURE: Do you have any questions for me about that?
SIMPSON: No.
BONAVENTURE: Your attorney just represented that you will not be presenting any evidence or testimony. Is that a correct statement?
SIMPSON: That is correct, sir.
BONAVENTURE: Thank you. You may have a seat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That is the only time we heard Simpson talk, by the way. He did not make any comments to reporters after the judge's ruling.
During the hearing, meanwhile, three of the men who were with Simpson on that day testified against him in exchange for a plea deal. Simpson's lawyer said the men had no credibility and that their testimony was bought.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YALE GALANTER, O.J. SIMPSON'S ATTORNEY: I mean, these are not good people. They are not credible people. And they shouldn't be believed, and somebody's liberty definitely should not be at stake based on their testimony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now, Simpson is not the only one facing trial. Two co- defendants will face the very same charges. All three will be arraigned on November 28th.
In the meantime, Simpson is back in Miami this morning already. His lawyer says he plans to play some golf and spend time with his family, but he will be back in Las Vegas, Kiran, in less than two weeks. Meanwhile, a trial is not expected until at least the spring.
CHETRY: All right. Alina Cho, thanks so much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: There's some disturbing video just coming to light this morning. This is a tasering at an airport in Canada. It turned out to be deadly. And we want to warn you that some of the video you're about to see is very graphic.
It happened at Vancouver International Airport involving a passenger from Poland who didn't speak any English. There you see him getting very upset. He threw a chair, he threw a laptop.
Witnesses say that he was confused and tired when he arrived at the gate. It was his first plane ride. He then had a 10-hour wait at baggage claim. Some confusion over where he was supposed to meet his mother. They never found each other.
Well, later, when he tried to walk away, police zapped him with 5,000 volts.
There he is. Actually it was 50,000 volts that came out of those tasers from the Mounties. They said that he put up a fight. Then the video surfaced, but they say that it doesn't tell the whole story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CPL. DALE CARR, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: It's only one piece of evidence and it's one person's view. It's through the view finder of one individual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, it was enough for his mother. The man's mother says that she believes her son died for nothing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOFIA CISOWSKI, TASER VICTIM'S MOTHER: That taser, they should do something, because that is killer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There are now several investigations planned by the coroner and police, and that could take months.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us now with more on this and some of the other health headlines of the day.
But first of all, getting to the tasers, you know, they're considered nonlethal. I mean, even the Department of Justice says that they're not supposed to be deadly, that they are pretty much safe, yet you see this incident where this man, he died.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and there might be certain people who are predisposed to having some sort of problem with that. But let me say, first of all, that fatalities from tasers are not common. In fact, 99.7 percent of people are going to be just fine.
There was a study released last month that found that one out of 1,000 cases, about 99.7 percent of people, had little or no injuries at all. Most of the injuries, incidentally, are from people falling after they've being tasered, as opposed to something like this.
But could it stop the heart or do something else? That may have been what happened here.
Also another health headline.
Millions of Americans use the drug Avandia to manage their Type II Diabetes. We've already talked about this a little bit, but everyone who does will now see the strongest warning to date about its association with an increased risk of heart attacks. And remember, people with diabetes often already have an increased risk of heart attacks.
The FDA urged a revised black box warning for Avandia, but didn't conclusively say whether this drug increases your risk for a heart attack or not, so it's confusing for a lot of people. The drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline, insists that the drug is safe, it's effective, and emphasized the research on whether Avandia increases your risk is inconclusive. They're doing more studies which will come out in 2014, six years away.
And finally a story that caught my eye. First monkeys, and then man, in what's being billed as a breakthrough. Organ researchers report that they've successfully cloned embryos of a primate and have retrieved stem cells from them that could be transformed into heart and nerve tissue. That's something that a lot of people have been looking for.
Here is how they did it.
They actually took skin cell from a 9-year-old male monkey, inserted the DNA from that cell into a hollowed-out egg, and they allowed it to divide like an embryo from which they successfully grew two stem cell lines. Now, scientists have previously cloned embryos from animals from a variety of species, including rats, dogs, cattle, but had been unable to clone monkeys specifically. So the organ researchers say it's a new method they developed to actually distract these stem cells from this cloned embryo.
CHETRY: And they thought it was -- there was some catastrophic failure every time they tried to clone a primate -- down the road perhaps a human. And so this is a scary step for some. I'm sure scientists are lauding it as breakthrough, though.
GUPTA: Yes. I mean, this -- it's not the Holy Grail, so to speak, but exactly that. This was sort of a defining moment in terms of cloning primates. A lot of researchers that we've been talking to say it's given them the techniques and possibly the ability to clone humans.
A lot of people don't want that, as you know.
CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Of course its effects are being felt across the country, but Nevada is ground zero in the subprime mortgage crisis. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, has been looking how Vegas went from boom to bust and what it might mean come election time.
Her report on that is coming up.
And a change in address changed her politics. What drives voters in the West and why what happens here could swing the election -- ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 17 minutes after the hour.
In a preview of what may lay ahead in tonight's debate, the Obama campaign is lambasting Hillary Clinton for saying that as president she would not support drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants. It was New York governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to do that that tripped her up at the last debate.
Democrats accused her of waffling, giving calculated answers, changing her answers. On her latest pronouncement, the Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says, "When it takes two weeks and six different positions to answer one question on immigration, it's easier to understand why the Clinton campaign would rather plant their questions than answer them."
That a reference to a question from a college student to Hillary Clinton in Newton, Iowa, that she was encouraged to ask at the behest of the Hillary Clinton campaign.
A new CNN/Opinion Research poll of Nevada voters just out this morning shows Hillary Clinton with a clear, clear lead over her next closest competitor. It also shows a race, though, between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani that would be too close to call, with Giuliani getting 47 percent, Clinton 46 percent. A match-up with Mitt Romney appears to be a better fit for Hillary Clinton. She gets 51 percent to Romney's 42 in that Nevada poll.
Eight Rocky Mountain states hold 44 electoral votes in total. Once solidly Republican, more of those states are now extremely competitive and could turn the entire election.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Chris Lawrence has been speaking with people and voters in the Rocky Mountain states and he joins us this morning.
What are you finding out from these folks?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, if you look at the Democratic governors and senators that have won elections here in the Rocky Mountains, they are moderate. In fact, some would say a Montana Democrat would be a Republican in New York or Massachusetts. But the Democrats are hoping that this massive influx of new arrivals to the region means that they may be able to pick up some seats come the next election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice over): Born in California and having lived in Texas, this working mom is new to the Rocky Mountain region.
JENNIFER HERRERA, REGISTERED VOTER: That's good. Can you find another one?
LAWRENCE: Jennifer Herrera is an example of how a change in address can change a person's politics.
HERRERA: I wasn't political before I came to Colorado. I got political because of the atmosphere that was created, and it was because of my representative in Congress.
LAWRENCE: Specifically, she didn't like Republican Tom Tancredo's tough talk on illegal immigration.
HERRERA: It made me concerned and wanting to get involved. LAWRENCE: Now she's a registered Democrat in a traditionally Republican state that could flip sides next year.
CURTIS HUBBARD, "DENVER POST" POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, it doesn't take a lot. It doesn't take a huge shift in order to make the region, you know, the region that will tip the presidency.
LAWRENCE: Eight states make up the Rocky Mountain region, and some of those 44 electoral votes are solidly Republican. But at least three o those states were extremely close in 2004.
HUBBARD: There's that notion that if John Kerry had won New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, he would be in the White House.
LAWRENCE: Democrats are trying to attract some of the region's new voters like Jen Herrera. She initially got involved because of the immigration issue, but is now looking for a candidate who represents both her economic values...
HERRERA: I'm a very fiscally conservative person.
LAWRENCE: ... and her socially moderate side.
HERRERA: Live and let live. I don't believe in meddling in people's lives to the degree that we sometimes want to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, and we kept hearing that over and over again from some of the voters out here, that they have a real independent streak. And there is a sense of self-reliance out here that they want the government to stay out of their business and let the people govern themselves.
ROBERTS: And they know now too that not necessarily individual state by state, but as a group they may have the same power in the 2008 election as the Pennsylvanias, the Michigans, the Ohios and the Florida do.
LAWRENCE: Exactly. I mean, if you look at this area, John, I mean, it -- this has been over the last 20 years the most solidly Republican region in the country.
ROBERTS: Right.
LAWRENCE: Even more so than the South. So this is an uphill climb for the Democrats, but it is also changing so quickly. You know, this -- from 2000 to 2005, this was one of the fastest-growing regions. And with the region changing so quickly, Democrats are thinking there's an opportunity there.
ROBERTS: And it could be said, too, that as goes Nevada, so goes the rest of the country. Only once since 1912, and that was in 1976, have they not voted for the next president.
Chris Lawrence. LAWRENCE: That's pretty good odds, especially here in Vegas.
ROBERTS: It's not bad. I'll take that.
Thanks for joining us. See you again, Chris -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, we've been talking a lot about high gas prices and how they are draining the wallets of a lot of Americans, but not the big oil companies. While gas prices go up, so did their profits.
Earlier, I spoke with the president of Shell Oil, who explained why his company is making so much money and what they're doing with it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HOFMEISTER, PRESIDENT, SHELL OIL: But our numbers are big because our volumes are so big. And so the point is that, to invest in new oil fields, we need our profits to pay for the costs of additional production, whether it's in this country or whether it's somewhere else in the world. And that new production is coming from more expensive fields and more expensive technologies, so the profits are going back into the business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Hofmeister also said the oil company's profit margins are actually about seven percent lower than many other American industries, like the pharmaceutical field.
From boomtown to bust, people in Las Vegas losing their homes. Personal finance editor Gerri Willis looks at ground zero in the mortgage meltdown.
We're back to Vegas for a live report coming up.
And also, first you have to worry about toxic toys. You are hearing so much about the recalls. Now a warning that Christmas wreaths could be a problem as well.
Why does one of the country's biggest retailer chains still have them on the shelves? We're going to be talking to a customer who did her own investigation.
What she found out coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
He's got a new survey on how satisfied people are about their car rentals.
Boy, did we have a lot to talk about.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the whole conversation has happened already.
My car rental decisions, by the way, are made based on who has got the GPS, because I can't keep directions. But J.D. Power, this company that ranks all sorts of things, has come out with its new ranking of car rental companies. Satisfaction has generally dropped in the last year.
Part of that might be attributed to the fact that satisfaction about everything to do with traveling has generally dropped over the last year, but Enterprise, for the fourth year in a row, comes out number one, followed by Thrifty -- Hertz and Thrifty and National. The survey ranked the cars, the reservation system, the shuttle buses and vans that are used to get you there, the pickup time, any fees and the ease of returning the car.
Here's the interesting thing. Part of the dissatisfaction is that renting a car is amongst the longest on-average part of the travel process. It's 22 minutes to pick up a car on average, and that compares with 13 minutes to get a boarding pass and check your baggage, 15 minutes to get through security, and 18 minutes to retrieve your checked baggage.
So people are sort of saying this process is taking too long. And it was a pretty thorough survey. About 6,000 travelers who rent cars at airports.
By the way, this is about airport rentals mainly. But the general satisfaction level in renting a car is lower than it used to be -- Kiran.
CHETRY: How about that? But as you said, people looking for the GPS these days, right?
VELSHI: That's right. And more and more of them are offering it. The big improvements in rental cars? More GPS, more online reservations.
CHETRY: Those things speed things up, that's for sure.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Don't want to be lost in an unfamiliar city.
VELSHI: I don't.
CHETRY: Or in your own city, right? That's even worse.
VELSHI: Yes. New York has numbers, and, you know, that's a hard one. But other than that, outside of New York, I need the GPS.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: A beautiful shot from WSB of Atlanta, Georgia. Downtown Atlanta this morning. Don't call it hot-lanta though. It's only 48 degrees right now, going up to a high of 53 and sunny today. They did get a little bit of rain there yesterday, 0.14 of an inch, not enough to ease the water woes. Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, November 15th. I'm John Roberts in Las Vegas. Good to have you with us today.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Hi there, John. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
And we start with O.J. Simpson who's back home in south Florida this morning. This is brand new video from our affiliate WSVN. Simpson arriving at the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport around 5:00 this morning. A Las Vegas court yesterday ruled Simpson will stand trial again. This time on kidnapping and armed robbery charges. All stemming from a reported attempt to recover stolen sports memorabilia. The kidnapping charge alone carrying a life in prison sentence.
Also new this morning, the New York State Health Department urging some 600 patients in Long Island to be tested for hepatitis and HIV after it was discovered their doctor reused needles and syringes. Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, treated the patients between 2000 and 2005. A former mechanic, one of at least two people who contracted hepatitis C. He said he want to get treated for a bad back and, instead, "got a death sentence." Authorities say they had to negotiate with Finkelstein's attorneys to even get the name of patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS SUOZZI, NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE: The idea that the doctor would lawyer up to protect themselves and he would not share the information readily, instead of doing what you would expect a doctor to do which is think of the patient's health first, do no harm, and release the information immediately is completely unacceptable.
CATHY SCHMITT, FINKELSTEIN'S FORMER PATIENT: He not only fixed me as a patient, but now my entire family. You know? My husband. My kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Dr. Finkelstein says that the state has investigated him and found no misconduct. He since improved he says his infection control practices.
Well, in Houston, Texas police investigators are searching for a body under tons of rubble following that controlled implosion of a building last weekend. Authorities say that a home video tipped them off that someone had sneaked into the 13-story Crown Plaza Hotel before the blast brought it down. They are now reviewing tape of the implosion looking for clues. John.
ROBERTS: Wow, bizarre story. Here in Las Vegas, one of the things that people are thinking about the most is the foreclosure crisis. The state of Nevada and Las Vegas both hit particularly hard. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis has been looking into it and she joins us now. Why is this so important in this state? GERRI WILLIS, CNN, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I got to tell you, you know, foreclosures are an epidemic across the country. As you know, California, New York, Florida, record numbers of foreclosures and these people are losing their homes. And right here in Nevada, the situation is the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER COOK, LAS VEGAS HOMEOWNER: Good afternoon. Ace Office Supply, may I help you some.
WILLIS (voice over): Roger Cook has lived in his Las Vegas home for 30 years but next month he could lose it.
COOK: I've been here 30 years. If you check my record, you see that over the last 15 years I've never been late on payment up until recently.
WILLIS: Roger used equity in his home to start a small business but the business hasn't been as successful as hoped and now he can no longer afford the monthly mortgage. Roger is one of nearly 17,000 homeowners caught in Nevada's foreclosure crisis. Realty (inaudible) which follows foreclosure data says 1 out of every 48 Las Vegas homes is in foreclosure, the fifth highest rate of any major city. As the real estate market boomed in the last few years, builders, out of town investors and residents jumped to take advantage of what seemed like a sure bet, a soaring housing market in which prices nearly doubled in just three years. But the gamble didn't pay off for many.
MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ECONOMY.COM: The Vegas economy is in recession because of the housing downturn. It's now so severe that so many people employed in housing-related activities and they're losing their jobs and it's pushed the entire economy under.
WILLIS: And political watchers and economists alike think more voters may be looking for a change when they head to the polls.
ZANDI: The situation in places like Vegas, California, Arizona and Florida, parts of the Northeast, the industrial Midwest is indeed getting worse. If this will become a very significant political item and could be at the very top of the political agenda during the presidential election.
WILLIS: Roger Cook is working with Acorn, a non-profit trying to help him avoid foreclosure and even though he will need to find $9,000 to keep his house, he says he's not planning to move.
COOK: I don't have any plans because I don't plan to lose the house, you know? Like I say, we've been here 30 years and I just can't even imagine losing it. I can't even see it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS (on-screen): Well, the foreclosure crisis is just one of the head winds that is hurting the economy throughout the country. There's also rising oil prices and there's also the weakened dollar. All of these issues could combine to really influence voters at the polls and if they decide to vote their wallets, John, it will be interesting to see what happens.
ROBERTS: When we talk about the subprime mortgage crisis and who is getting hit by the foreclosures, very often people want to know is it investors or is it actually homeowners? In a place where the construction crane could be the state bird, how much here in Las Vegas is investor and how much are people actually losing homes?
WILLIS: Well, a little under a third of the homeowners impacted here are investors. We had a ton of investors come in to Vegas who wanted to get in on the excitement here, buy homes, buy houses, buy condos but at the end of the day it's about 24 percent, 30 percent of the buyers here who are impacted, but that plays out in other markets, too. Miami, lots of investors there on the west coast. I know folks are worried about are we going to have to bail out these people who are investors and just walk away.
ROBERTS: We'll see what happens. This could be the next shoot or drop of the subprime crisis.
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Gerri, it's always good to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Something toxic at Target. You may already have it hanging on your front door. A warning about Christmas wreaths and why exposure could lead to cancer. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 19 minutes to the top of the hour. A little bit of drought relief in some areas of the south, some areas more than others. Our Rob Marciano is off today and Reynolds Wolf at the CNN Weather Center, tracking extreme weather on the move. Where is it going today, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It is moving away from Atlanta. It's moving away from Georgia and moving on to the Atlantic. We wish it could have stayed here in Georgia for a bit longer. We didn't get much in terms of the rainfall. Just about 0.14 of an inch of rain. Now, it's moving down towards Savannah, southwards, just north of Jacksonville even in Tallahassee. But on the other side of this frontal boundary in the northeast, we're seeing a lot of rain popping up from Burlington southward to Rutland.
In New York, you are going to be dealing with some rain before long and that should stick around until much of the afternoon and into the evening hours. Back over to Michigan, you're dealing with not just rain but a little bit of snowfall. Lake effect activity from (inaudible), southward to Grand Rapids and even to (inaudible). Now we're going to take you on the other side of the planet. We're watching this monstrous storm, largest storm on the planet. That would be tropical cyclone Sidr. And this particular storm very powerful, right near a category 5 storm and expected to make landfall tomorrow with winds around 105 miles per hour. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: All right, Reynolds, thanks very much for that.
Now let's take you back to New York and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: We have a holiday health alert for you now, John. A long list of lead-tainted toys that you don't want under your tree. Of course, you've heard about the recalls throughout the year. Well, now there is concern that the tree itself might be toxic or the lights or the wreath that you hang on your door. In fact, this wreath right here that we have up on our table had a warning spelled out. In fact, the warning is right on the back of the box. It says handling the plastic used in this product exposes you to lead, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects and other reproductive harm. Then it goes on to say wash hands after use. That's right here on the back of this box. Well, Ana (Elm) bought the wreath containing lead at Target, she found out that the shelves are full of them and she joins us now from Tampa. Thanks for being with us, Ana.
AUNNA ELM, BOUGHT WREATH CONTAINING LEAD: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: So, the warning's right here on the box. It's not very big. Actually, you could pretty much miss it because we're so used to seeing these types of warnings. If this a humongous box, here is the tiny little warning right here in the corner. So, what did you do after you brought this home?
ELM: Well, that's correct, I did miss it completely. I hung this wreath on the door, my little boy helped me. He was thrilled. He is 3 years old. It's his first holiday seasonal wreath. And I had never even gave it a second thought. I honestly presumed that the tag said, you know, it just said where the product had been made. A couple of hours later, I decided to retrieve the tag just in case I needed to return the item, read the label, read it again, and I read it again. I literally could not believe what I was reading. Two hours later, after handling the wreath with my child, it said that we had been exposed to lead.
CHETRY: Yes, and you know, it is unbelievable when you see that, wash your hands after use. You decided to pack this up and take it back to Target. What was the reaction when you went back there?
ELM: Well, I can, the manager that I did the return with looked as stunned as I did. They didn't know how to answer my question which was why are you selling this product if it contains lead? I should say this could have happened anywhere. I just happened to be shopping at Target. My understanding is this is the same product that all of the major retailers are carrying.
CHETRY: It says made in China also. Over here on the label. You've done some research. What part of this wreath did the they say is the part that contains lead? ELM: My understanding is it's the green part. It's the covering over the wirings. It's the same covering that is in the trees, it's in the wreaths, it's on the lights, it's basically lead. It's a lead covered wiring.
CHETRY: And you're talking about the wires that we see on all of the Christmas lights, that familiar hunter green colored wiring. We did talk to Target and we asked them to respond to your story. They said in a written statement, guess safety is a top priority for Target. The label indicates that "certain chemical may be present, but exist in trace amounts which are within federal safety limits... products with the label do in fact meet all applicable product safety requirements." Now, does that make you feel any better, Aunna?
ELM: It does not. I don't know that this is taking into account that a small child is going to have a lot of repeated exposure with these products. Unlike an adult, a child is going to be putting their hands in their mouth. I would like to see these warning labels on products outside of California. I, as a consumer, want to know.
CHETRY: Yes, well, you know, good digging on your part. Obviously, you're going to be much more vigilant and aware of this type of situation in the future. Aunna Elm, thanks for being with us.
ELM: Well, thank you. Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: You know, so we want to bring in Sanjay now. Apparently, the reason that it says (inaudible) in the state of California is because that is one of the only states that requires that type of warning. It says that label is only required in California. But because they sell these everywhere, they don't want to have to repackage them in boxes but if it's what we're talking about which is that hunter green covering that you see on all things that you plug in around Christmastime, is that something that we should be alarmed about? Being exposed to?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: California created a list of banned substances and this is were a lot of what we're hearing about is this list of banned substance and phalates and some concentration of lead on that list. We also talked about this recently, Kiran. You remember with Ipod headphones as well, the little headphones people were concerned so much about, the ear buds but actually the wire that itself that actually goes to the ear buds. The answer should we be concerned is we just don't know really for sure.
But I will say something about lead in particular and I've been researching this quite a bit. Given everything we've learned about some of the products from China this summer and that is that if you look back to the '60s, 60 micrograms per deciliter was considered a high level, fast forward 49 years, and now it's considered ten. What happened in the last 40 years? Lead stayed the same. We learned more about what it does to our body. So, how much of a danger is a wreath like this? We don't know for sure but the science seems to be catching up here. CHETRY: Yes, I just don't understand why, I mean, even though study after study are showing it's dangerous but they still use it. They're still using in things that we use every day.
GUPTA: They still use it and we know that now they say 10 mcg per deciliter is a safe amount but you know, a few years from now it might be five. It's an unknown sort of thing, an unknown entity right now and people of people are erring on the side of caution and some people are saying the science isn't there yet.
CHETRY: Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: All right. Thank you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: We'll be looking forward to that as you hmmm that song from 1962. That's Tony Harris down here at Atlanta. We asked for your help and medical question. Now, it's time to answer them. Coming up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us live. Among his topics this morning, cluster headaches. He is digging into his mailbag. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Tony Harris in Atlanta with a look at what's ahead. Did you enjoy that rain yesterday, Tony? Oh, it was good and woke last night to the sound of thunder last night? Anyway, good morning, John.
Airline security on the NEWSROOOM rundown for you. Undercover agents sneak bomb parts past airport screeners. One Asian was stopped because of his shampoo but his liquid explosive was way through. Deadly jolt, police taser another passenger after he arrives in Vancouver. The man dies and hundreds of Maryland parents could be headed to jail. They have refused vaccinations for their children for safety or religion reasons. Our guests weigh in.
Also, Vegas debate preview with Wolf Blitzer, NEWSROOM starts at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.
HARRIS: John, good to see you. Have a good day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. If you got a medical or health question for Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's time for us to dip into our mailbag. We're paging Dr. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, here with us live today. Good to see you this morning.
GUPTA: Yes, my favorite segment of the day.
CHETRY: Ready to answer some of these questions. All right. Roehit from Brooklyn, New York writes my father had Alzheimer's, passed away four years ago. Am I at increased risk. I'm scarred every time I forget a name.
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting. With Alzheimer's, we know Roehit that there's actually a genetic component and it seems to be even more profound if both parents actually have Alzheimer's disease. So there's really something there in terms of, we don't fully understand, it's not a specific gene. It's been isolated solely for this. But there are other types of Valencia. And we also know that there are ways to really try and prevent this. So, if your parents had it, really keeping good heart health for example using medications that reduced the amount of inflammation in your body, things like fish oil seemed to make a huge difference. So keeping the heart smart, keeping the brain smart. They all seem to tie together.
CHETRY: Can you take any of those, I mean, the DHA and the things that they recommend that you take for cognitive. I guess longevity.
GUPTA: I think there's enough evidence now to suggest that it's a good idea for people who are worried about dementia, also for pregnant women as well.
Interestingly, it seems to impact fetal development in a very positive way. So, I think there are medications to boost your memory. If you start to develop dementia, we're not talking about that. We're talking about preventing it in the first place.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we got another e-mail from Raymond, Columbia, Ohio who says I suffer from chronic cluster headaches. Would you please describe what causes them and any treatment options? And boy for people who have this, it's really debilitating.
GUPTA: Yes, Raymond, I feel for you. For sure here. A cluster headache is one of the worse kind of headaches. People think about migraines but cluster, let me show you an image here, Raymond, which may elucidate what we're talking about there. There's tangle of nerves, if you will, sort of all along the side of the facial. You're looking at someone's eye, their nose obviously.
But look at all those nerves, and yellow there. That innervates an entire part of your face. You can get eye pain, you can get head pain, you can get neck pain and it can really, really be awful. There are some medications Raymond that seems to work and another thing that works well but it's not very practical sometimes - just using 100 percent oxygen. Just putting 100 percent oxygen right on your nose and mouth and it seems to really take care of those cluster headaches. Also, look and talk to your doctor about some preventatives again. Some medications to keep the headaches from ever coming out in the first place.
CHETRY: All right. And also, our last question is from Donna in Fairfield, Connecticut. How do you tell the difference between ADHD, I guess, attention deficit hyperactivity and just a normal active four-year-old. I'll give you $1 million if you answer that one right.
GUPTA: A two year old? It's interesting and obviously children are going to have loss of impulse control all the time. I mean that happens as part of being a child. I think there's a couple of things that make a difference. One is that, it seems to be sustained. So the behavior, the ADHD behavior, loss of pulse control, happens at severe but it's sustained and experts will say, well for a six month period, it just never seems to get better but even a more significant component of this Kiran, I think is the idea that it really impacts a child's way of life. So, they're unable to go to school, maybe they're unable to participate in social activities. They're just not active in the same way that a four year old is active in participating. That's when you start to think about it and maybe even talk to the doctor about it.
CHETRY: And do they outgrow it?
GUPTA: That is what the study shows is that don't think of as a flaw of the brain as a delay to some extent in development. That's good news. A lot of people say it will get worse as children get older, not so. It really seems to get better and I found that really good news in the new study out this week.
CHETRY: Absolutely, that's heartening for sure. Well, Sanjay thanks. As always, for dipping into your mailbag and answering those questions for us as he does every week, every Thursday. Good to see you in person.
GUPTA: Thanks, good to be here.
CHETRY: Well, here's a quick look at what the CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Undercover agents smuggle bomb parts past screeners at several airports.
Clean up today in Tennessee and Kentucky after storms and a possible tornado.
A New York doctor accused of reusing needles. Patients get warning letters about HIV and hepatitis.
And hundreds of Maryland parents could face jail time. They refuse to get their kids vaccinated. NEWSROOM just minutes away, at the top of the hour, on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cashing in frequent flyer miles can be challenging.
BARNEY GIMBEL, WRITER, FORTUNE: More airlines are flying fewer planes which means fewer seats and which means fewer opportunities to redeem those miles. So, how do you do it? If you have a luxury of time consider booking 3 to 6 months ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And flexibility is key.
GIMBEL: Sometimes you can (stack events) in your favor by picking the right airports to fly into, the less traveled ones. Don't just rely on the airlines website to book your reward travel. Sometimes it's worth paying $10 fee or whatever to call up and talk to a human being.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's because airline reservation agents can access inventory from partner airlines.
When it's time to redeem you want the best bang for your buck. The trick is trying to get at least 1 1/2 cents of value per mile.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seven candidates on stage tonight getting ready to mix it up on politics and policy. The big question, will Hillary Clinton be able to regroup from her stumble in the last democratic debate back in Philadelphia? Certainly some of her opponents are getting ready with the barbs. The Dodd campaign, the Obama campaign continue to be very critical of her and we'll see how it plays out. Join Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and me tonight at 8:00 Eastern, Las Vegas, the CNN democratic presidential debate. Hope you can join us. That wraps it up for us here on this AMERICAN MORNING. Kiran, we'll see you again tomorrow.
CHETRY: All right, we look forward to watching tonight. By the way, happy birthday, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
CHETRY: Meantime, CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins start right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins in New York today. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday morning, November 15th. Here's what's on the rundown.
Undercover agents smuggle bomb part through airport screeners.
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