Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Manhunt For Fugitives; Donda West's 911 Tapes Released; Wiretap Powers: Dems Put Bill on Hold; Eavesdrop Immunity
Aired December 18, 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: -- Mom died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: Because she had a heart attack and she's not breathing and she's not moving and I'm trying do CPR.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The emotional struggle to keep her alive and the mystery that still surrounds her death.
Buyer beware. Some every day products pose a cancer risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Asbestos has not been banned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The list of things to look for in your home and under the tree on this AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm sorry, we're going to lay it all out for you again. Concerns about safety when it comes to toys for children.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It just never seems to end, does it?
CHETRY: It doesn't. Greg Hunter is looking out for you this morning. Meanwhile, it's Tuesday, December 18th. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Armed, dangerous, and on the run. A massive manhunt going on right now in New Jersey. Two inmates made a daring movie style prison break over the weekend. Police say Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt concocted an elaborate scheme which involved digging through their cell walls and then jumping over a 30-foot high metal fence covered in barbed-wire. The brazen duo left behind dummies in their beds and a note wishing their prison guards, "Happy holidays." Did they get inside help?
Jason Carroll is following the story and joins us live now with an update. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, John.
You know, it's the kind of prison outbreak one might see played out on the big screen, but what happened at the Union County Jail in New Jersey was all too real, and it has left officials there wondering how in the world two inmates there got the best of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Jose Espinosa was looking at 17 years for manslaughter. Otis Blunt was facing robbery and weapons charges. Together, they hatched a plan to chip their way out of doing hard time.
TED ROMANKO, UNION COUNTY PROSECUTOR: I'm angry that two prisoners would escape a secure facility and not even know when they did it.
CARROLL: Guards noticed both inmates missing from their high security cells at the Union County Jail at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. They found this metal wire and say they believed Blunt used it as a tool to chip away a hole into Espinosa's adjoining cell. Then, they use it to chisel an 18-inch wide hole from Espinosa's cell to the outside. The holes were concealed with pin-up posters.
If their plan sounds a little familiar, that's because that's basically what a character in the critically acclaimed film "The Shawshank Redemption" did to escape.
ROMANKO: I really prefer not to compare it with any movie, although I can understand why you might because it does to a certain degree, it does look very similar to some of them. Except I think in "The Shawshank Redemption," they had a better poster on the wall.
CARROLL: In the movie, the character crawls to a sewer pipe to freedom. Blunt and Espinosa took a different path. The hole they created opened up to a third floor landing. And once outside, authorities say they presumably took a running jump 15 feet out, clearing a razor wire fence and landing 30 feet below.
The duo left a note to a guard reading "Thank you officer for the tools needed. You're a real pal. Happy holidays." It was marked with a smiley face.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And the inmates used rolled up sheets, put them underneath their blankets to make it look like they were sleeping inside their cells. There was no sign of blood outside the cell where they made their escape, but there were footprints each heading in different directions. Turns out Blunt had tried to escape before in September using the exact same method. Authorities would not elaborate at this time whether or not they have any leads as to where these inmates might be -- John.
ROBERTS: What about this idea, Jason, that they might have had help on then inside? CARROLL: That is one of the possibilities that they're looking into, John, that perhaps someone inside did try to help them. They're also going to be retaking a different look at the security measures that they have in place there. We're also being told that they're going prohibit any inmate from putting up posters inside their cells.
ROBERTS: I would expect they're pretty embarrassed about the whole thing this morning. Jason Carroll, thanks. We'll get back to you a little bit later on -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Baghdad this morning on a surprise visit to Iraq, where she'll be meeting with Iraqi leaders. The video now coming in of her meeting with members of a civilian military reconstruction unit. This was earlier in the morning in Kirkuk. U.S. officials say violence is down in the city and several rival groups fighting over oil hubs have started to cooperate.
Meantime, there is new tension in the region. The Kurdish army sending about 300 soldiers into northern Iraq chasing Turkish rebels. Two days ago, Turkey's military fired missiles at rebel positions in Iraq. Turkey is saying it believes that several thousands PKK fighters are hiding in the mountains there, and the Turkish government is now threatening to launch a full scale military offensive against the separatists.
Fifteen people are dead this morning after a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan. They were Afghani employees working for an American security contractor. It happened in the Farrah province near Kabul. Nine others were also wounded in the attacks. The contractor, U.S. Protection and Investigations, is based out of Houston, Texas. One Afghani official says that most of the trucks were burned, but one was taken by the Taliban.
ROBERTS: It's five minutes after the hour now, and it's time to check in with Alina Cho for other stories new this morning. Good morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, John, Kiran. We've been hearing about this more and more. Another close call in the skies to tell you about this morning. The FAA says a military jet, I think I've got some problems with my microphone here.
CHETRY: I thought it was just me and my ear.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: No, I think I've got some problems.
CHO: Are we good now? Ah, we're good now.
Let's tell you about it now. You know, we've been hearing about the story more and more and there was another close call at about 23,000 feet. It happened on Sunday, a military jet came within three miles of a commuter plane that took off from Chicago's O'Hare airport. The near-miss happened over northern Illinois, and the FAA admits it was the air traffic controller's fault. Fatigue has been a common complaint. Officials say the United Express jet was told to go to the wrong altitude, but the planes we're told were never in danger of colliding.
Well, if you like to snack on microwave popcorn, a story you won't want to miss this morning. There's a new push to make the popcorn safer. The nation's leading popcorn makers are changing their recipes because they want to remove a chemical linked to a respiratory illness known as popcorn lung. The chemical gives microwave popcorn it's buttery taste, but it's also been linked to lung problems in popcorn plant workers. The major popcorn companies say they'll change the recipes by next month but could take several months for the reformulated popcorn to make it to the stores' shelves.
We're going to fix this microphone problem. We'll get back to you.
ROBERTS: A little technical issue this morning. All right. Thanks, Alina.
CHETRY: That you think you're being safe by eating the popcorn, right. Oh, you're being healthy, you're not having potato chips. And then that.
CHO: It's this chemical that nobody knew about.
CHETRY: That's right. Alina, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Rob Marciano tracking extreme weather here in the city, in New York. The weather is actually not here in New York, Rob is. What are we looking at today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The real extreme weather, John, is way out west, a series of storms is going to slam into not only the pacific northwest but California as well from northern California all the way down to southern California.
You see that plume of moisture coming to satellite pictures. San Francisco getting hit the hardest right now. Here's what's happening south of San Francisco. We do have the green areas which are flash flood watches that have been posted for areas that have been burned from the fires this past couple of months. Winter storm warnings are also posted. We could see a couple of feet above the 7,000 foot mark. That would include places like Lake Tahoe and Mammoth.
And there's your rainfall right now across the Bay Area and just north of the Bay Area, urban stream advisories for potential flooding there. Look at your Oregon (ph) in Carson City.
Some heavy rain rolling into this. Several storms that are rolling in, a powerful pacific storm jet stream with heavy rain, heavy mountain snows and winds especially tonight until tomorrow across the Oregon coastline with this next system then cold across the northeast. And if you made your way to work here in the city, you know what I'm talking about John and Kiran, bundle up out there. It's winter time.
ROBERTS: All right. Yes, it's cold out there this morning, Rob. Thanks.
For the first time, we're hearing the dramatic 911 call made just before Kanye West's mother died. A friend of Donda West tried desperately to revive her. In the recording, a dispatcher tells her how to perform CPR.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: Because she had a heart attack and she's not breathing and she's not moving and I'm trying do CPR.
911 DISPATCHER: Ma'am, how old is this person?
CALLER: She's 58-years-old.
911 DISPATCHER: 58?
CALLER: She just had surgery.
911 DISPATCHER: 58? Now, you're doing CPR?
CALLER: (INAUDIBLE)...
911 DISPATCHER: Ma'am? Is she not breathing at all?
CALLER: ... her medication... She complained she couldn't breathe... hands were clammy.
911 DISPATCHER: Ma'am? She's not breathing?
CALLER: She can't breathe.
911 DISPATCHER: OK, is she breathing?
CALLER: No, she's not.
911 DISPATCHER: She's not breathing.
CALLER: She threw up and has black stuff around her mouth, and we're trying to do CPR on her.
911 DISPATCHER: OK, so she's not breathing at all?
CALLER: She's not responding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. They did not perform CPR on her until approximately five minutes into the call. Paramedics arrive a short time later, but they were not able to save her. She died one day after undergoing several cosmetic surgical procedures. A coroner has performed an autopsy. Results of that autopsy are still pending -- Kiran. CHETRY: A British foreign model with a surprising secret. How plastic surgeons helped the reality TV star born with a serious facial deformity that could help millions of children. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now to talk about this amazing reconstructive surgery.
Good morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Yes, you know, it's an interesting condition, rare condition known as microtia. And basically what that means is where your ear is, instead of an actual ear, you actually have a nubbin of skin. There are all sorts of different grades of this, but it's obviously very noticeable, very cosmetically disfiguring to see this all nubbin of skin and sometimes it affects the entire ear canal as well, Kiran.
So in addition to not having an ear, you can't hear there either. You can't even -- because you have no skin there, nothing to sort of frame something, you can't even put a hearing aid on there. So it can be a pretty devastating problem as you mentioned, Kiran.
CHETRY: So what's it -- what were they able to do with her?
GUPTA: Well, you know, there's a few different options. If the child or somebody even a little bit older has this condition, for a long time they would just use prosthetic devices, essentially create a device and sort of snap it onto the ear, but that's obviously not a very got long-term fix.
What they did here, it's so interesting. What you're looking at there, actually amazingly is actually rib cartilage from the breastbone, from the rib just adjacent to the sternum. They take some of that cartilage, and they actually form it.
Using the other ear, they form it into an actual ear and they just let that grow underneath the skin for a little while so let the skin sort of wrap around that matrix and eventually that becomes sort of a new ear. What you're seeing there actually in that picture was actually rib from her sternum, from the rib around her breastbone.
CHETRY: That is unbelievably remarkable. When you see that picture, it looks exactly like an ear.
GUPTA: I know.
CHETRY: I mean, exactly like an ear. What's the little tiny bump there right by the ear lobe?
GUPTA: Well, you know, the skin doesn't always grow perfectly over that area. So you're looking at -- the reason cartilage, and this particular cartilage is so useful, Kiran, is because think about it, every time you breathe in and out, that cartilage in that area of your rib sort of expands and contracts, so it's perfectly malleable, exactly what you want for an ear. Think about it. Your ear is very perfectly malleable as well. The skin doesn't always attach perfectly to it which is why you get little bumps like that, slight imperfections. But as you mentioned, I mean, that's a very good looking ear in terms of what it started off with just a little nubbin on the skin.
CHETRY: That's pretty amazing. We want to ask you another quick question because I know you've been doing your fit nation, and we want to tell you about San Francisco Mayor Gavin. He's now proposing a tax on drinks containing high fructose corn syrup. His idea is to charge big box stores a fee when they sell sugar soda, especially soda containing high-fructose corn syrup.
He says it's putting a strain on the city's health care system. So we asked our viewers this morning about the "Quick Vote" question. Should there be a tax on sugary drinks?
And the vote right now, 38 percent of people saying yes. The majority of those, 62 percent saying no. We'll update the votes throughout the morning, CNN.com/AM.
But Sanjay it really speaks to this issue of, you know, how much personal responsibility is there versus what the government and local municipalities should and can do when it comes to keeping people healthy?
GUPTA: Absolutely and this is something -- we did a whole documentary on this very issue, Kiran. As you know, I'm just fascinated by this. But, you know, a couple of things to keep in mind. We spend so much money sort of on corn subsidies in this country, basically funding what ends up becoming high fructose corn syrup. And where does end up? In this very drinks that you've been talking about.
That Mayor Gavin Newsom's talking about in terms of actually providing some sort of high calorie low nutritious substance. Whether or not if you tax it and take it back to sort of a price point where, you know, before the corn subsidies, I don't know if that's a good idea or not and obviously a lot of the viewers don't think so either.
But this idea of taxing food substances whether they be, you know, fast food or sugary drinks is something that's very controversial as we found out. And it's very different than taxing tobacco, for example. When you're taxing food, for example, it's something that people need on a daily basis and, you know, this is obviously can be a lot of opposition to attacks.
CHETRY: All right. Very true. And we'll keep checking in with the viewers on the "Quick Vote" throughout the morning. Sanjay, thanks for your take.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It is dangerous, potentially deadly and traces of it are popping up in things that you may have at home, including at least one popular toy. The asbestos watch list, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up now to 16 minutes after the hour. Late last night, Senate Democrats put a bill on hold that would give the government more power to listen in on Americans' phone calls. The White House wanted phone companies that help the fed spy to have immunity from lawsuits under the bill.
Republican Senator Arlen Specter is offering an alternative plan. He joins me now from Washington D.C.
Senator, first of all, let me ask you, what's your reaction to the fact that Senate Majority Leader Reid pulled this bill until the New Year?
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, I'm disappointed. I think that it's a very important bill that expires on February 1st. We will get back fairly later in January on the current schedule, and that doesn't give us enough time. I think it would be a better approach to work through it now.
ROBERTS: Yes. This is known as the FISA Bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Of course, everybody knows it is warrantless wiretapping. You wanted today to offer an amendment to the bill that would immunize the telephone companies against any lawsuits regarding the invasion of privacy, and instead substitute the federal government as the defendant. What was your goal in doing that?
SPECTER: Well, it would substitute the government for the telephone companies. I believe that it is very important on our checks and balances to have the courts as part of the picture, regrettably the Congress has been very ineffective in oversight on what the executive branch does for a variety of reasons.
Now, there are lawsuits pending. And I think that it is true that the telephone companies have been good citizens in this whole matter and they ought not to be held responsible. So I think the government ought to be substituted as a party defendant with exactly the same defenses that the telephone companies would have.
ROBERTS: Now, some people might -- some people might suggest that if you name the government as the defendant, you're at least aiming in the right direction. But the American civil liberties union is concerned whether or not you'd be able to successfully sue the government. Saying, quote, "First it will play the state secrets card, arguing that a court cannot hear the cases because they include classified national security matters.
If that is rebuffed, then it's on to the executive privilege claim." And then on to another one, that they call the A-bomb of all of these arguments, sovereign immunity, in which the government cannot be sued without consent. So can you successfully sue the government on these national security matters?
SPECTER: Well, the answer is yes, if Congress says so. And my bill answers all of those considerations because my bill provides that the government would be exactly in the shoes of the telephone company and that means they could not use sovereign immunity to get out, and they could not use executive privilege to get out.
ROBERTS: Yes.
SPECTER: The state secrets doctrine is a very important one and the telephone companies and the current litigations have that available. And on my substitution of the government, the government similarly would have the state secrets doctrine so that procedurally you can construct it exactly as you want to. And Congress has the final say here, of course, with the president's signature or an overwrite if he were to veto it.
ROBERTS: Well, I guess we won't be hearing about this now until January. So let me move on and ask you about the destruction of the CIA tapes. You and Senator Leahy, the chairman of the judiciary committee, sent a letter to Michael Mukasey, the new attorney general, last week asking for information about this joint DOJ/CIA investigation. You were rebuffed in that request.
What do you plan to do now? I know that you've got the deputy attorney general before the committee tomorrow for his confirmation hearing. You plan to bring it up then?
SPECTER: Well, absolutely. We intend to fight it. I'm very disappointed in what the attorney general did because it runs exactly counter to the assurances he gave us in his confirmation hearings very, very recently, but he understood congressional oversight. And on the law, it is conclusive that congressional action, congressional inquiries supersede the Department of Justice's investigation on criminal matters because the Congress establishes the overall rules, whereas the department of justice investigation goes to specific cases.
There are many, many precedents and there's an outline of it giving the citations and authorities on the Supreme Court which I took up with Judge Mukasey, now Attorney General Mukasey, when we had our conversation.
ROBERTS: Yes.
SPECTER: And he assured me he respected that so I'm surprised and disappointed that we don't intend to let it drop. Senator Leahy and I are going to fight it.
ROBERTS: All right. And you like Congressman Hoekstra also support a full congressional investigation of all this. So we'll see where it goes.
Senator Arlen -- sorry?
SPECTER: Well, absolutely, that's the congressional prerogative. It's just another case where the executive branch is throwing up every road block they can.
ROBERTS: Yes.
SPECTER: That's why when you're in court with the telephone companies, you ought not to shut off judicial review to have proper separation of power.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll keep watching to see where it goes. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary, thanks for being with us.
SPECTER: Nice being with you.
ROBERTS: Let's get a legal brief now. Sunny Hostin joining us. So this idea of substituting the federal government for the telephone companies, would it work? Would people be able to sue them? Or like the ACLU says, there would be too many road blocks in a way to make claims?
SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL ANALYST: I think -- I agree with ACLU on this one. I think there will be too many roadblocks, but it is fascinating, what the Senator had to say was fascinating. And the bottom line is the fourth amendment protects Americans from these unreasonable searches without a warrant and that's what was happening.
ROBERTS: Yes.
HOSTIN: You know, the phone companies were giving phone records to the United States government without our permission, without a warrant or without a judge looking at it. But again, there's this concept of sovereign immunity and I don't think that the government is going to stand in the shoes of the phone companies, and the telephone companies were following the law as it stood then because we did have a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
And so while it's admirable and I think it's fascinating, I don't think that we're going to see the federal government standing in the shoes of any phone company.
ROBERTS: Well, at the very least we're not going to find about it this year or it carries over into 2008?
HOSTIN: I can't wait to hear what happens.
ROBERTS: All right. Sunny, thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Everyday items containing a dangerous cancer causing substance. What things in your home may contain asbestos. And wait a minute, isn't asbestos banned? Our Greg Hunter is looking out for you coming up?
Also, a little girl in hot war water for something she used for her lunch. Why she ended up in handcuffs and is now suspended possible facing a felony charge? Did the school go to far. We're going to take a look at this unusual case coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: 7:27 right now here on the east coast. Ali Velshi joins us. He's "Minding Your Business" this morning, and you're making fun of me.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I totally make you funny. Yesterday, if you were -- if you were watching yesterday, you saw our "Quick Vote" question about people who sent Christmas cards. This is batch one of Kiran's set of Christmas cards. Batch one.
Now you see, but this is interesting. This works right into what I'm saying because commodity prices are all up. This paper is costing you more, which is why my people who won the poll yesterday, the people who don't send cards are winning. It's going to be a lot cheaper for us, but it's not just paper. It's all sorts of commodities.
For those of you out there right now eating your Wheaties, go slow, because the price of wheat yesterday went up above $10 a bushel for the first time ever. The price of wheat has doubled 100 percent higher than it was one year ago. Why? Well, for a lot of reasons. One, there's been bad weather in Australia and Argentina which are big wheat suppliers.
Number two, we know that there's wheat demand all over the world. The Chinese and the Indians and other countries where their population is getting richer, they're eating more food. They're having more refined food so it's causing the price of cereal , pasta, bread, cookies, all that stuff to go up.
Number three, and I keep saying this. In this country, we have the strange obsession with using corn in our gas tanks and as a result, it becomes more lucrative for farmers to get the wheat out there and put corn in its place. It is not a brilliant idea for a country to take food out and put corn in its place to fill your gas tank. It just doesn't make sense.
But as a result of that, you got corn prices up, soya bean prices up, soar gum, wheat, milk -- anything that has to do with livestock and farms is more expensive. So don't worry. Your cereal prices isn't going up tomorrow. It's been going up already because Kraft and General Mills and Kellogg, they all -- they lock in their prices for wheat, but it's going to go up so it's something to think about.
ROBERTS: If you wouldn't put corn in your gas tank, what would you put in?
VELSHI: Something that you don't have to replace food. You know, things that are growing as food. Use something that doesn't ...
ROBERTS: We're not there with cellulose and (INAUDIBLE)
VELSHI: That's what the answer really ...
ROBERTS: And we don't have enough sugar cane.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, there you go. Corn means you're taking wheat out of the ground, and wheat's food.
CHETRY: All right, Ali. Thanks, Ali. I think yours is in here somewhere.
VELSHI: Yes, thank you. So it's final, I'm still getting one.
ROBERTS: Take it out. Yes.
She's just 10-years-old. The police hauled her out of school for something she packed with her lunch. What she had and whether the school went too far. That story's coming up.
And it's a potentially dangerous and deadly substance, but it hasn't been banned. Now, some of those who suffered a personal tragedy at the hands of asbestos has got a warning for you. Everyday items to look out for because asbestos is still with us. Next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Look at the daybreak in the city of New Orleans this morning. Thanks to our friends at WDSU for that beautiful shot. 48 degrees there right now. It's going to go up to 67 degrees. Going to be kind of a cloudy day, but what a lovely way to start it.
CHETRY: See that Christmas tree on the side of the building? And welcome.
ROBERTS: It's Tuesday, the 18th of the December. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We get some new details this hour about U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice's surprise visit to Iraq. She's in Baghdad right now meeting with the country's leaders. Earlier this morning, she met with a reconstruction group in Kirkuk. U.S. officials say this is a sign that there's finally some cooperation among the ethnicities fighting in the city. However, Rice did not meet with Kurdish leaders asking for greater inclusion in the government. There is concern if Kurds gain control of Kirkuk's oil it would encourage them even more to seek independence.
Well, a lot of question today about Russia's Vladimir Putin. He announced that he will accept a demotion to prime minister when his term as president ends. But with one of his top deputies likely to win the presidency in March, many Russians are saying that Putin will still wield the power in the Kremlin.
New figures indicate the government is promising some $45 trillion more than it can deliver on social security, Medicare and other benefit programs. The Bush administration's financial report for 2007 says the gap between benefits that have been promised and projected revenues is up more than 67 percent from four years ago. To hear the head of the Government Accountability Office tell it, quote, the administration has made a lot of promises in the long-term that it cannot possibly keep.
ROBERTS: It looks like the shows must go on despite the writer's strike. The Writer's Guild refused to grant a waiver for its writers to work in the Golden Globe Awards which airs on January 13. The writers for now are also forbidden to work for the Academy Awards in February. The Guild is trying to block the use of movie clips during the Oscars as well. Meanwhile, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien will resume their shows on January 2 with or without writers. They say the move is being made to save the jobs of non-striking members of their staffs. Other late-night shows could follow suit.
There's a massive man hunt on right now in New Jersey for two prisoners who made a daring escape from prison. Police say Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt concocted a scheme that involved digging through their cell wall, similar to what happened in the movie, "The Shawshank Redemption." They say the two used improvised tools to move cinderblocks and then wriggled their way through an 18-inch hole. They then jumped a razor wire fence 20 feet high to freedom. The inmates made dummies of sheets and pillows, left them in their beds to delay discovery of their escape. They also hung pictures of women to hide the holes in the walls.
A Florida girl just 10-years-old is arrested for bringing a steak knife to school to cut her lunch. Teachers saw her cutting the meat and called police. She was taken to a juvenile center. School officials say although the girl did nothing wrong, they had no choice in the matter. She now faces a felony charge and the principal suspended her for 10 days --Kiran.
CHETRY: It's been proven to cause cancer and now we're finding out that asbestos is still part of several household items including a popular game for kids based on the hit show CSI Crime Scene Investigations. Late last week we heard from CBS that it's calling for the CSI kits to be pulled from the shelves. It's not the only product though posing a risk.
Our Greg Hunter is looking out for you. He joins me this morning and here we have it. It's a popular toy, especially around the holidays. In fact, I bought this for my nieces a couple of years ago and a big problem is I think that we have here a little bit of this fingerprinting dust that contains asbestos.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the kits had up to five percent according to this group. Well you know, that's right. Asbestos can be found though in other everyday products. Because, listen to this folks, it is not banned even though it's known to cause cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDA REINSTEIN: My husband, Allen Reinstein, was 63-years-old when he was finally diagnosed with mesothelioma.
HUNTER: Linda Reinstein's husband later died from asbestos exposure. His death led her to form the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization. REINSTEIN: This is not yesterday's story. This is today and tomorrow's story. Asbestos has not been banned.
HUNTER: The Environmental Protection Agency banned asbestos in 1989 but the ban was overturned by a federal appeals court two years later. The EPA does issue a list of products that may contain harmful fibers, but Reinstein says it's worthless without brand names.
REINSTEIN: We started testing things we thought might have asbestos in them.
HUNTER: A government lab tested hundreds of products and found asbestos in a number of them including that dusting powder in a CSI fingerprint kit for kids. CBS, the TV network that airs CSI and licenses the name said that two independent tests "revealed no levels of asbestos." CBS has pulled it from the shelves anyway. Saying, "Until we are all in agreement with the testing, and most importantly, the product's safety."
Reinstein's group also found asbestos in products like 3M brand high performance duct tape and Dap spackling and window glazing. Dap and 3M both say their products are safe and do not contain asbestos. 3M goes on to say, "Because asbestos is a common mineral, it may be present in extremely low levels within other minerals used to manufacture duct tape and other everyday products."
Dr. Stephen Levin researches asbestos related disease at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. He says any exposure to asbestos is harmful.
DR. STEPHEN LEVIN, MT. SINAI HOSPITAL: Most people believe it should be banned and at the minimum, most people believe there ought to be labels on products that contain asbestos.
HUNTER: Linda knows firsthand getting information out may save lives.
REINSTEIN: Within six to 12 months, the average patient dies and dies a painful, horrible, unnecessary death.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: Recently Congress asked Reinstein for her group's findings so it can look into this asbestos issue and there's a bill heading to Capitol Hill banning asbestos. For more information about asbestos or if you have a story idea for me you can log on to CNN.com/AmericanMorning.
CHETRY: There seems to be a lot of common sense questions that are missing here. Why isn't it banned, knowing it causes cancer?
HUNTER: The courts thought in 1991 that it would be more detrimental to the economy because there are some good uses for it to ban it as opposed to letting it be in products. So it is in some products intentionally, but in some products it's not intentional and that's because asbestos is a very common material. It gets in as a contaminant. Companies don't have any duty to test for it, or a requirement to test for it so it get in untraceable.
CHETRY: When you look on the ingredients it's not going to say asbestos. How are people going to know when they buy a product that it's a problem?
HUNTER: They don't know unless they go to the EPA Web site. They don't list products. That's what Reinstein's group did. Incidentally they found many more products. They'll be giving those results over to Congress.
CHETRY: Keep us posted on that, Greg. Thank you -- John.
ROBERTS: Politics and religion, even rocks aren't safe from the debate. One woman claims she found a rock with two faces on it. Who? We'll tell you, the story coming up.
And another shot in the war on America's waistline. One city's mayor now wants to lay a tax on stores that sell soda and other high fructose corn syrup drinks. Will it work? We'll talk with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes now to the top of the hour. Rob Marciano checking extreme weather for you this morning. It's winter, it's cold.
MARCIANO: I knew you were going to say that, John. It's a little chilly out there, but with the fresh snow pack on the upstate, look at it. It's 9 degrees in Albany, 7 degrees in Montreal. This does not include wind chills. Wind chills are well below zero because of that. Most of these areas are the ones that have snow back from the last bout of winter weather.
Talk about snow pack and ice, let's go down to where they have the ice problem. In Oklahoma City, you're above freezing, that's great news. Tulsa, 42, you're above freezing and temperatures will only go up from there. So folks still without power, temperatures are moderating somewhat.
All right. We'll turn our attention to the west coast. San Francisco, San Jose, a big storm coming into Eureka and Preston City. This is going to cause some problems is the way of rain. We're seeing it already across parts of northern California and in southern California you could see some flash floods because of it.
There you go. There's your moisture. It turns to pink up in the Sierras. Heavy snow warning there. You could see one or two feet of snow not only tonight but over the next several days. We have got three systems that are moving in, similar to the pattern we saw two weeks ago that brought those devastating winds and floods, although these should be ratcheted down one category. It's still going to be nasty weather, but not so bad.
ROBERTS: Yes, California and the desert west coast could use some of the moisture they're getting. MARCIANO: You can't order it like that. We give it to you when we give it to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. It's an effort to shrink the waistline of an entire city. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a tax on drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup. He wants to charge a few for stores that sell soda and similar sugary drinks. Will a tax do the trick? And is that the place of local municipalities in cities around the country?
Well paging medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta with the story. Good morning, Sanjay. Great to see you.
GUPTA: Good morning.
CHETRY: Mayor Newsom is hoping this tax is going to be a deterrent. Should we be avoiding foods that contain high fructose corn syrup in general?
GUPTA: This is one of the more controversial areas when you're talking about trying to curb the obesity epidemic. A couple of things to keep in mind; first of all, high fructose which is corn syrup, a lot of people have heard this term before. High calorie, low nutrition substance. We know that. We also know it's in just about everything, obviously these sodas that you're talking about but ketchup, things like that. A lot of these have fructose in them.
Mayor Newsom believes there's a direct correlation between fructose and the obesity epidemic and he's not alone. A lot of people believe that and the tax is one obviously of trying to deter that. Obviously passing the tax, some of these stores eventually is passed onto the consumers and the thought is they may buy less of this stuff. This is, again as I mentioned a controversial thing because you're taxing a food item. Even though it's still sugary soda, some people still consider it a food item, very different than a tobacco tax for example. There's a lot of different strategies out there to try and combat the obesity epidemic. Now a major city is actually adopting it.
CHETRY: Is it targeting the consumer or eventually hoping to target the producers of food. They love to use this additive because it's cheap. It makes things taste sweet. It is cheap so is it the hope that that's going to trickle to the producers of these items?
GUPTA: I think initially the producers, but definitely the consumers for sure. The thought is they may buy less of this. You hit on a very important point here. If you look at the history of this substance, I think this is very important. We subsidize a lot of corn production in this country. We have been subsidizing it for a long time to support the corn farmers which is a good thing. If there's a problem, maybe we make too much corn and some of that corn gets turned into this high fructose corn syrup.
There's a lot of extra corn that gets turned into this. It's now being used as a sweetener in lots of different products that's what makes it cheap. What Mayor Newsom and others have proposed you bring it back to a normal price point for these substances, it's going to be more expensive. People are going to be less likely to buy it. It's going to offset if you the subsidies.
CHETRY: You could talk forever about this but I know we're out of time. It makes you wonder if you're going to do it with the soda, do you do it with the ketchup? Because it's everywhere as you said. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for weighing in on that.
It also brings us to our Quick Vote this morning. Should there be a tax on sugary drinks? Cast your vote at CNN.com/am, right now 39 percent say yes, 61 percent say no. We'll continue to update you throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: Well forget window panes or grilled cheese sandwiches. Now the image of Jesus has been found on a rock. But this rock is one with a split personality. Ray Oliver says the rock on one side resembles Jesus, the other side George Washington. Talk about the intersection of politics and religion. The Arizona woman found it last week while walking along the Santa Cruz River. She's been keeping it on her mantle and selling it on e-Bay is also a possibility. Which side do you display on your mantle?
Sixteen days and counting now to the Iowa caucuses. Both the Democrats and the Republicans are kicking off their push into the homestretch. Some are showing emotions. Some are bringing out the celebrity big guns. We're live on the campaign trail next on AMERICAN MORNING.
And a basketball referee is alive this morning thanks to some quick thinking by a teenage girl. She's being hailed at a hero this morning. Her story, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Almost ten minutes before 8:00 here on the east coast. And if you're just joining us, a look at the headlines today. Two inmates still at large this morning after their daring escape from a New Jersey jail over the weekend. Police say Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt concocted an elaborate scheme that involved digging through their cell walls, that digging disguised by a poster they had up. Sound familiar? They jumped a 30-foot barbed-wire fence to freedom. There is now an $8,000 reward for their capture.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice making a surprise visit to Iraq this morning. She's in Baghdad right now meeting with the country's leadership. Earlier this morning, she was in Kirkuk where U.S. officials say there was a decrease in ethnic fighting. Rice did not meet with Kurdish leaders that are asking for greater inclusion in the government. There is concern if Kurds gain control of Kirkuk's oil it would encourage them to seek independence.
Raising some speculation about Fidel Castro's political future. In a letter read Monday on Cuban TV, Castro says he doesn't want to destruct the rise of younger people by clinging to power. The 81- year-old dictator hasn't been seen in public since undergoing intestinal surgery 16 months ago. Raul Castro has been serving as interim leader since July 2006.
White House visitor logs are public documents. A judge ruling the Bush administration cannot claim executive privilege and must release them. The White House says Justice Department lawyers are reviewing the decision and the administration will appeal that ruling -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to nine minutes to the top of the hour and to politics. With 16 days to the Iowa caucuses, the battle for the White House is heating up this morning. The celebrity big guns are coming out. Hillary Clinton getting emotional. Both Barack Obama and Fred Thompson are literally revving their engines on bus tours across the United States.
We've got all the angles covered this morning. Suzanne Malveaux is covering the democrats. Dana Bash in Manchester, Iowa this morning. Suzanne, let's start with you. It seems we see a warm and fuzzy Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail these days. Was the attack Hillary not working?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is a way that their campaign is dealing with it. They're strong when it comes to issues. She has fine-tuned her message. Iowans know what they're all about. But of course there is that one vulnerability that the poll showed consistently that is likability. So they are taking this on. You see these ads that the Hillary that we know, friends and family were giving testimony. We also see as well these ads where you actually have her with her daughter as well as her mother. We see these kind of events where she is with friends and family and she's tearing up, getting emotional.
Just take a listen, take a look at the tone, the change in the demeanor from Senator Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here in Iowa, I want you to have some flavor of who I am, you know, outside of the television cameras, when all the cameras and the lights disappear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And John, she was asked last night at an event about not being liked and she simply said, look, it breaks my heart that some people will never vote for me. But she makes the case here that those people don't know her. She says those are people who disagree with her on issues or those are people who are trying to make money off of her because they think that will get ratings on. The argument they're making, get to know me, you will like me -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. She may not be going on the attack anymore but her husband, his likability factor is way up. He's the one who's now taking on Obama, calling him a potential big risk for America if he's elected.
MALVEAUX: And that certainly is a calculation that the campaign is making here. Bill Clinton obviously having the kind of task as a president himself says he gave up the opportunity, when he was younger, when he was governor in 1988 to run for president because he knew he wasn't qualified, he wasn't ready, that is the case they're making about Barack Obama. This may backfire. They don't know how far they can take this. It is telling however that you heard over the weekend, very strong words from Bill Clinton, but last night at two events in South Carolina yesterday, no mention of Barack Obama.
ROBERTS: We'll see if this change in tone starts to work for Hillary Clinton, see if her numbers start going back up there. Suzanne Malveaux in Des Moines for us this morning, thanks.
Let's now turn to Manchester, Iowa. That's where Dana Bash is. Let me ask you about Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee if I could. Mitt Romney continues to take on Mike Huckabee, this new ad whacking him on crime. Let's take a look and then I'll ask you about it, Dana.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney got tough on drugs like meth. He never pardoned a single criminal. Mike Huckabee, he granted 1,033 pardons and commutations including 12 convicted murderes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So Huckabee, according to polls, is anywhere from nine to 15 points ahead of Romney. Are these attacks going to work for Romney? They certainly didn't work when Hillary Clinton was attacking Barack Obama.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They certainly didn't and there is a reason why this is a very specific targeted strategy here that Mitt Romney is trying. What he's saying is that people really don't know the real Mike Huckabee, that people see the sort of nice guy, man of god image on the stump and in debates and what he's trying to do, and this is the second time he's trying to do this, is talk about his record in Arkansas, area where is he thinks he might not play very well and this is a classic issue for Republicans, the issue of crime.
Now Mike Huckabee, hits back, his campaign that says, the facts of this ad are true, in terms of number of clemencies he granted while he was in Arkansas. But the law is such that it's very difficult for governors because there are a lot of a lot of requests that he actually denied about 80 percent of the requests for clemency, also Huckabee himself pointed out that he actually allowed 16 cases of the death penalty back in Arkansas, something that Mitt Romney simply couldn't do because it's not allowed in the state of Massachusetts.
ROBERTS: What about Fred Thompson? His numbers are going down when Huckabee is going up. He's back out there on the trail. Not much time left, only 16 days, can he do it? BASH: That is really the ultimate question, you know, this is the bus he's going to take, he's going to be on it for 15 of the next 16 days and the goal here for him is to try to catch fire in a way that he simply has not done since he got into this race late. He has had some good news here in the state of Iowa.
Lately, he did by all accounts did well. His campaign insists he is finally getting his mojo. The question is whether he can really catch fire in a way that really shows in the polls. They're banking on the fact that Iowa republicans, no matter how close they are, they simply do break late. They're hoping he's going to have those core principals that differ from Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.
ROBERTS: Well, look what happened to John Edwards in 2004. Maybe he's got a chance. Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Congressman Ron Paul certainly turning a lot of heads with his record breaking fundraising. $6 million in a day. Who is backing him and can they help him shake up the republican presidential field. He's going to be our guest coming up in the next hour.
Also dramatic 911 tapes as friends of Donda West, Kanye's mother, tried to save her life. We're going to play some of those tapes for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
