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American Morning
Manhunt; The Struggle To Save Kanye West's Mother; A Critical Meeting On-Tap Today
Aired December 18, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now. Manhunt. Two dangerous criminals literally crawl out of prison using one of the oldest tricks in the book. How the old dummy in the bed trick threw off guards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had a heart attack and she's not breathing and she's not moving and I'm trying to do CPR.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The struggle to save Kanye West's mother. Her final moments on tape when friends called 911.
Help on the home front. A critical meeting on-tap today. The fed expect it's unveil plan to stop another mortgage meltdown on this AMERICAN MORNING. That's right. Maybe not hope necessarily for people already in crisis but how to avoid another one in the future.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly.
CHETRY: Rule changes.
ROBERTS: Do anything to avoid that.
CHETRY: Yes, meanwhile, good morning to you. It is Tuesday, December 18th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts.
Arm, dangerous, and on the run. A massive manhunt going on right now in the state of New Jersey. Two inmates made a daring movie style prison break over the weekend. The inmates, both in jail in connection with violent crimes. Police say Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt concocted an elaborate scheme which involved digging through their cell walls and then jumping over 30 foot high metal fence covered in barbwire. The braising duo left behind dummies in their beds and note, wishing their prison guards happy holiday.
Did they get inside help? Our Jason Carroll following the story, joins us now live with an update and the latest details. How did this all happen, Jason? JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really started unfolding on Saturday at about 5:15 that's when guards at the Union County Jail in New Jersey noticed that these two inmates were missing. What they did was they rolled up their bed sheets, John, to make it look like they were sleeping in their cells. And apparently, what happened was they used a piece of wire that was left behind by one of the guards, used that as a tool to actually chip through their cell wall to the outside to make their escape.
And in order to cover up the wall, what they did was they took a page out of one of the movie "The Shaw Shank Redemption." Maybe many people out there have seen it. They basically covered up the wall with posters of naked women and this is what they did in this movie. This is what these two inmates did to make their escape.
ROBERTS: So, Jason, they managed to chip away all of that mortar with a piece of wire? Any idea how long it took them?
CARROLL: Well, that's a good question. We do know that these two men, Jose Espinosa and Otis blunt were in cells side-by-side for about two weeks, so officials out there can do is theorize is that it probably took about two weeks for them to chip through the mortar in that wall.
ROBERTS: Now, what are police saying about this two escape convicts at this point?
CARROLL: Well, they are dangerous obviously. They obviously are looking throughout the state for these two men but they're not telling us if they have any leads at this point, John, as to where these two inmates might be at this point. They are offering rewards for these two men at $8,000 each.
ROBERTS: Intriguing story this morning. Jason Carroll for us on the prison break case and thanks.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Board is meeting today and they are expected to announce plans that would be aimed at protecting home buyers from shady lending practices. That certainly played a role in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with a preview. Usually, we look to the fed to see whether or not interest rates are going to be dropped.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have lots to drops.
CHETRY: Exactly, but that's usually what we in the general public think. What are they going to do today?
WILLIS: Well, it's going to be a big conversation about how to change rules that would help people who are suffering this subprime crisis. They would actually think about doing some really important things like putting more better disclosure on proper incentive. Prohibiting unaffordable loans. So, that means that lenders out there, they couldn't give you a loan that you couldn't afford in the first place, that was going on the biggest complaint out of the mortgage meltdown and of course, limiting prepayment penalties. This is going to be a discussion that will take place today.
There will be a comment period from the public and they will decide whether or not to make these rules, the law that everybody has to go by but I'm going to tell you, Ben Bernanke, the head of the fed, is already been talking about a lot of these ideas. So, it seems sort of a foregoing conclusion that's exactly what's going to happen.
CHETRY: This would be more voluntary.
WILLIS: It's not voluntary. When the fed tells lenders they have to make changes, they have to make changes.
CHETRY: They have to do it. OK, so, how does that then go into what is going on in Congress which is sort of like a parallel situation right now? They are trying to figure out whether or not they need to consider a bill that would actually give homeowners relief.
WILLIS: Well, you know, there is an old-fashioned administration called the Federal Housing Administration. These people were the law makers, the rule makers on many of these kinds of issues that we're talking about. They're going to modernize the FHA. They're going to pass the subprime bill maybe as early as the end of the year. There's a Senate bill going on and we do a lot of interesting things including raising the maximum load amounts to $417,000. The old rules of the FHA, they were unacquainted. They just -- they didn't speak to today's market, they're going to lower the down payment, they'll make it easier for people out there who are in trouble now to get a new loan if they need one.
CHETRY: All right. So, hopefully one of these combined or a combination of both will help out.
WILLIS: Right.
CHETRY: The future?
WILLIS: Well, this is really a patchwork solution at this point. The bill would only help 250,000 people. What the fed's doing, it was helping people in the future. There is not one solution out there, there is many.
CHETRY: All right. Gerri Willis, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Coming up to six minutes after the hour. Two women tried desperately to revive Kanye West's mother. Dramatic 911 tapes of Donda West final moments were released last night. In the recording, a dispatcher tries to tell her friend 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 to do CPR.
911: Ma'am, how old is this person?
CALLER: She's 58 years old. She just had a surgery.
911: 58? OK, 58. Now you're doing CPR? Ma'am? Is she not breathing at all?
CALLER: (INAUDIBLE). Her medical, she complained she couldn't breath, hands were in her tummy.
911: Ma'am, she's not breathing?
CALLER: She can't breath.
911: OK, is she breathing?
CALLER: No, she's not.
911: She's not breathing.
CALLER: She threw up and has a black stuff around her mouth and we're trying to do CPR on her.
911: OK, so she's not breathing at all?
CALLER: She's not responding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The CPR didn't begin until approximately five minutes into the call. A couple of minutes after that paramedics arrived but they were not able to save West. She died one day after undergoing several cosmetic surgical procedures. The coroner has performed an autopsy. The results of that thought were still pending.
Time to check in now with our Alina Cho for other stories new this morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, John, Kiran, good morning to both you and good morning, everybody. Another close call in the skies to tell you about this morning. The FAA says a military jet came within three miles of a commuter plane that took off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Now, the near miss happened over Northern Illinois and the FAA is actually admitting 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 plane we were told were never in danger of colliding.
Happening right now, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes a surprise visit to Iraq. She arrived in Baghdad for a meeting with government leaders and a news conference with Iraq's foreign minister. Now, the trip is meant to underscore the drop in violence in that country. Secretary Rice will stress the need for political reconciliation as well. Earlier this morning, she visited Kirkuk, a city where several ethnicities have been fighting for control oil hubs. U.S. officials are praising new cooperation there.
And 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 it safer. Why? Well, the nation's leading popcorn makers are changing their recipes because they want to get rid of a chemical that's been linked to a respiratory illness commonly known as popcorn lung. Apparently, the chemical gives microwave popcorn its buttery taste but it's also been linked to lung problem in popcorn plant workers. They want to get it out.
The popcorn companies say they'll change the recipes by next month but naturally, it could take several months for the reformulated popcorn to make it to store shelves. It's a good thing chocolate is my choice of snack. And for people who eat microwave popcorn, something to keep in mind.
ROBERTS: Not surprising either really that the FAA blamed the air traffic controller for that mistake. No exactly a love-fest between the two organizations.
CHO: No. In fact, they've called for an emergency meeting with the FAA and from what we understand; the FAA has not gotten back to the Air Traffic Controllers Union just yet about that meeting.
ROBERTS: Interesting.
CHO: We'll keep you posted.
ROBERTS: All right, Alina, thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
Meanwhile, dark and very cold days after a deadly ice storm hit Oklahoma. The power companies now saying that close to 100,000 homes and businesses are still out more than a week after the extreme weather hit. The state's largest electric utility has set up temporary walkup stations for customers to report power failures. Hundreds of people found a hot meal though and a warm place to sleep and shelters over the weekend when temperatures dipped into the teens.
Rob Marciano was tracking extreme weather here in studio for us in New York this morning. And it's a tough situation that ice was so devastating, cracked, and knocked down so many of the power lines because it's heavy and they are having a tough time getting at all back.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: "Quick Hits" now. It just became a little bit easier to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Students will be given grants instead of loans, the free financial aids is extended for middle and upper middle class students. Penn cost about $46,000 a year with room and board. Harvard has already replaced loans with grants for many people. Yale will do the same thing next month.
It looks like 2007 is going to go down as the year that cell phones took over from landlines. They are close to 250 million cell phones in use that compares with 170 million land lines. In a new report of industry analysts expects that for the first time people will spend more on mobile service than traditional phones. Last year, households spent an average of $542 on land lines, about $20 more than they did on cell phones. All of that is going to change.
A bird in the Senate but it wasn't a hawk or a dove. The flapping distractions that's just ahead.
And Ron Paul leads the pack in cyberspace, raising a lot of money on the Internet. Is this radical Republican sneaking up on the front- runners? Next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Fourteen minutes after the hour. And some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now. Playing defense, Japan has become the first U.S. ally to pull off a successful missile intercept at sea. Japan says it shot down a ballistic missile in space, high above the Pacific Ocean. Part of the joint efforts with the United States is to build a missile defense shield against a possible attack.
Stepping outside. Happening right now. Two astronauts are inspecting joints on the international space station. Today's space walk will mark the fourth expedition for the crew. It's also the 100th mission dedicated to space station construction.
And more than 2 million Muslims praying on the Mountain of Mercy near Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It's the site of the prophet Muhammad last servant 14 centuries ago. It's a ritual that marks the climax of the annual Hajj or Muslim pilgrimage which is one of the five basic obligations of the Islamic faith.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Thanks, John. Well, he is the $6 million man this morning. Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raise the record-breaking sum for his campaign in a single day. It was on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and it's not the first time. Last month's 24-hour money bomb detonated to the tune of 4.2 million dollars. Can he translate those dollars though, to votes? Congressman Ron Paul joins me now from the campaign trail in Des Moines. Great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us, Congressman.
RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Nice to be with you.
CHETRY: Well, so we haven't seen this record broken, I think it was after John Kerry in 2004 won already the Democratic nomination that he raised slightly less than the amount you raised in one day. The polling though still has you at 6 percent of registered Republicans. Those are the one who say they would vote for you in the primary. There is our CNN poll. How do you translate that money into more success in the polls? PAUL: Well, you got to spend the money and get the vote out. That will be a challenge but we also have to consider the fact that the polls may not be exactly accurate. Because, we appeal to a lot of independent voters and descrambled Republicans. Republicans who have drop out, who might not have voted in the last (INAUDIBLE), so they're not being polled. We also attract a lot of young people who have not voted before and they are energizing the campaign, so they won't have been called and a lot of them have cell phones anyway.
So, I think the poll numbers aren't completely accurate but there is no reason for us to think that this is going to be an easy thing to do. We have to take that money and do the conventional things and advertise and get the vote out and that is what we're doing right now.
CHETRY: When you say it's not completely accurate, do you anticipate that you would be in double digits if people came out to vote? Do you think you would be one of the leading candidates in some of these states?
PAUL: Well, it's real hard to say but I would say we're doing a lot better. I wouldn't be saying that we know, that were in first or second but I bet we're a lot better than they claim we are. Because, where is the enthusiasm coming from? We had 57,000 people donate on Sunday and 25,000 were brand new, so there is something very significant going on and I don't think anybody quite has understood this, but the people are very unhappy in this country and they're going to be voting differently this time and that is what this message is telling us.
I mean, this is pretty unbelievable because, you know, on Sunday, we raised $6 million plus, but the next day, it seems like people just couldn't get on us, Sunday we raised another $500,000 and this doesn't cost us anything. You know, we don't pay commissions.
CHETRY: Right. Well, I just want to ask you about this, though. How do you then translate that to this well-oiled machine that needs to be up and running in all of the precincts and all of these main early states like Iowa, like New Hampshire? You know, for example, we have Trevor Lyman. He is the man behind some of your fund-raising. In fact, they in crated with a big fund raising but he is a 37-year- old music promoter. No political experience and as you said, has never voted before.
How do you fold him in officially to your campaign, so that you guys can get a machine up and working in some of these places?
PAUL: Well, there are a lot of people just like him but they've already registered and they're not being polled and they are working hard and they're donating money and the final answer has to be, you know, in the final, in the primary, so...
CHETRY: Are you going to add him officially to your campaign?
PAUL: Well, you know, I've only talked to him, I think just once. I don't know him. He just dedicated to the views that we express in the constitution. So, no, there hasn't been any talk about him becoming official member of the campaign but he is an official member of this group of people who are disgusted with what is happening in this country and he is just one of millions I am convinced.
CHETRY: Right. Let me ask you about this then, because so many of your views and a lot of your campaign is generating support outside of the mainstream. Would you consider running as an independent?
PAUL: I haven't considered that. I have no plans of doing this. And we have this money. We have this momentum. It's so early. We haven't had one vote. So, I have no intention of doing that.
CHETRY: Why not, though? Why do you want -- a lot of your views are very divergent from the Republican Party and from the voters that traditionally the Republican Party picks from to gain momentum. Why not consider an independent run?
PAUL: Well, because, I think I've been a Republican all my life. I've been elected ten times. I think a Republican Party is used to stay for physical conservatism. They used to believe in the constitution, they used to believe in a humble foreign policy, they used to believe in getting rid of the Department of Education. I would say that maybe the Republicans that are running right now don't fit the Republican mold and I do.
CHETRY: Before I let you go, by the way, you talked about foreign policy. There is an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal" that says its because of your foreign policy that makes you a non-serious candidate in today's terror world, that it really is your noninterventionist that is going to work against you, in terms of getting votes. Do you agree?
PAUL: Exactly the opposite is true, because if you don't understand what I'm talking about, terrorism will get worse. Because terrorists come here because we occupy those foreign countries. They don't come here because were free and prosperous and if we don't understand that, we can't solve it. That when we invade foreign countries, impose our will on them and tell them that we're going to tell them how to live and they see us attacking their religion and stealing their oil, there's always going to be a few radicals who will be willing to commit suicide terrorism against us.
If we don't understand that, we cannot solve this. So, I say, I have the answers, they're confuse. If they don't change, terrorism is going to continue.
CHETRY: Congressman Ron Paul, Republican presidential candidate. Thanks for talking with us this morning.
PAUL: Thank you.
ROBERTS: He is such an incredible grassroots supporter. I came into Penn Station last night on the train and literally at every entrance were Ron Paul supporters out there, trying to spread the good word. CHETRY: And anecdotally speaking, anytime we have a political "Quick Vote" question has anything to do with Ron Paul his viewers vote early and often because usually we see a big (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: 15, 20,000 votes isn't unusual. Hey, things don't usually happen fast on Capitol Hill unless of course, you are a road bird taking over the press room. We'll show you the mad dash to catch the feathered friend coming up.
And can a simple massage reduce the after-effects of surgery? Just how 20 minutes can make pain and anxiety disappears. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us with that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsroom is proposing a first of its kind tax on drinks containing high fructose corn syrup. His idea is to charge stores a fee for selling this sugary sweet soda. The mayor says that the syrup is putting a strain on the city's health care system. It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. And that is should there a tax on sugary drinks. Those are bad for you. Cast your vote, cnn.com/am. This has gone up throughout the morning. Right now 42 percent of you say yes and 58 percent of say no. We're going to continue to update the votes throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: It's a frustration for many people following surgery. Lingering pain, as well as anxiety. But there could be relief in the form of a simple back massage. 20 minutes could be just what the doctor ordered and our doctor is in this morning. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. You know, I first heard about these years ago as part of a complimentary medicine project that they were doing up in Columbia, seems to be catching on.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does. And I think for a long time, it had caught on in a big way, John. But because of the way the medical system is it is very hard, for example, to reimburse for a lot of these types of therapies and for a large time, they were unproven. Theoretically, it seems to make sense. But now, there's added data actually showing that massage, as you just pointed out, 20 minutes of the back seems to significantly help with post-operative pain at least in the short-term. I'm talking about pain frequency, talking about pain intensity.
This study came out of Ann Harbor University of Michigan. They actually studied people with chest surgery and abdominal surgery, 600 patients, and followed them along, those who actually got massage seemed to have the best scores in terms of pain intensity in the short-term, at least. It didn't seem to make a huge difference interestingly, John, in the long run. They still were in the hospital the same amount of time. They still ended up taking the same amount of pain medications, but in the short-term, their pain scores seem to come down so, good, especially people who are scared of taking pain medications. ROBERTS: So, I take it that you have to have somebody who is trained to this. I mean, you can't just have your spouse go on your back and feel better, right?
GUPTA: That's right. So, these were actually people who are trained in massage. And the way that they actually did the study interestingly is they had three groups. They had people who had no sort of intervention at all. They had people who just had a visitation by someone who was a masseuse but didn't actually perform massage and then they had the people actually performing the massage and they found those who got the massage actually did the best. So, it wasn't just the social interaction here that made the difference. Why is it beneficial?
Loosens your muscles, obviously. One thin, if you're bed-ridden, John, your muscles get sore, they get stiff. They can be a big source in the pain even if the operation was on your chest or your abdomen, so just relieving that back pain can lead to decreased pain scores at least in the short-term, John.
ROBERTS: Just that overall tension and anxiety. Sanjay, interesting stuff. Now, if we can get reimbursement, then we will be further down that road.
GUPTA: That is another story. Absolutely.
ROBERTS: We'll do that one of these days. Sanjay, thanks.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, the feathers were flying on Capitol Hill yesterday. It was a small bird that made its way into the Senate radio and TV studios. Reporters seemed surprised to see it flying around. In fact, one man held out his hand. I guess, he had some sort of a granola bar or little something crumble up to try to entice the bird. It worked.
ROBERTS: Sees the bird whisper.
CHETRY: How about it? St. Francis of Assisi, right there in Capitol Hill. Well, he was trying to, didn't have much luck. He also tried to use the net. Everyone seemed to pitch in there, but eventually the bird flew off to another part of the Capitol. Hopefully, he'll be able to make his out right.
Trying to warm up her image. Senator Hillary Clinton shows us a softer side on the campaign trail. Also, there are in new video. Its just days away now from the Iowa vote. We're going to talk about.
Plus holiday cheer rising while fewer people may be hitting the depths of depression when Santa Claus comes to town. We'll explain coming up.
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KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: All right, here's a shot this morning of Tower camera coming from Salt Lake City, Utah. This is coming to us courtesy of KTVX. And some nice lights. A lot of sky. We don't know the temp but you know what I'm sure Rob Marciano does and he'll fill us in in a second.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: All right. Cathy was there over the weekend doing some skiing at Utah.
CHETRY: She is one of our producers. I bet you it was a blast out there.
ROBERTS: I love skiing in the state of Utah. It's just beautiful. The champagne powdered snow. Nothing like it.
CHETRY: Welcome once again. It's Tuesday, December 18th. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
With the Iowa caucuses just over two weeks away, Senator Hillary Clinton is going warm and fuzzy on us in the Hawkeye state. Joining me to look at that and more is senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. She joins us from Des Moines, Iowa. Candy, in the last couple of weeks there was thinking that the attack Hillary wasn't really doing too well in the campaign trail that it was playing too much into her negatives. Is this new warm and fuzzy Hillary as we said a result of that?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I think it's a couple of things. And one of them is you're right. This has been a rough month for Hillary Clinton. All of the kind of momentum seemed to be going to Barack Obama. There were a couple of missteps in the campaign. So it's been a hard month. And it also coincided with her fighting back against some of the attacks that her rivals has sort of aimed at her. So, you know, you put those two together and you've got something that really does play into her negatives. People think she is harsh or that she is cold. This is the sort of thing also in the last two weeks of a campaign you want to get away from.
You want to be reminding people of the things they like about you. They, obviously, know that people look at Hillary Clinton and see someone who is smart, someone who is competent, someone who could step into the Oval Office right away. They got to deal with that likeability factor so they are bringing out old school chums, constituents that she has helped on a one-on-one basis and colleagues who have worked with her to offer these sort of testimonials and they've gone up on a Web site as well offering these to people who want to kind of click in and see what these people have to say about Hillary Clinton, the person.
ROBERTS: On the republican side of things, Candy, there certainly has been no let-up in the attacks that Mitt Romney is leveling at Mike Huckabee. As Huckabee's number continue to soar and Romney continues to drop. But at Huckabee's side of things, he is also going warm and fuzzy, too. Let's look at a campaign ad that he just put out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you about worn out about of all the television commercials you've been seeing mostly about politics? I don't blame you. At this time of the year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So there you go, you have Huckabee with his Christmas message being one of those candidates not afraid to say the word Christmas and also more than a subtle message in that commercial where you see the cameras panning by the window. That is nothing, if not a cross, is it not, Candy.
CROWLEY: Absolutely. And let's remember where Huckabee gets a large portion of his support and that is from evangelicals and conservative Christians. A couple of things about this ad. First, it's a lot easier to be Huckabee at this point because you're on top and what you want to do is hold on to that lead and you don't do that by going angry. The other thing Mike Huckabee, part of his appeal is he's kind of laid back, affable guy. I mean that's his persona.
So, he wants to kind of hold on to that and then again you got the timing. This is sort of a, not just the holiday season but these last 2 1/2 weeks of the campaign where again you want to leave voters with a kind of an uplifting message as opposed to the kind of going to your opponents.
ROBERTS: And telling evangelicals, he is their man. Candy Crowley for us this morning in Des Moines. Candy, thanks.
CHETRY: And this just in to CNN this morning. The Commerce Department releasing its November report on new home construction. Ali Velshi at the business update desk with more and how this could impact the markets today.
Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran. It's softening the market futures a little bit. This is again a low number. Housing starts for November, that is the number of homes that began construction November, dropping 3.7% and now at its lowest level in 16 years. For those of you listening, I don't know how you make sense of the math because we give you one number that's the lowest in 25 years and one that is the lowest in 16 years. The bottom line is these numbers continue to be challenged. 3.7% lower on housing charts and we even have a drop in the number of building permits that were issued. Those are for new houses.
So, by the end of the year, the estimates is we will have built about 1.2 million new houses in the United States. And new houses account for about 15% of the housing market. It's not the big part of the market but remember new houses mean construction jobs and material sales and things like that. So it's a big deal when we're not making many houses. The bottom line is that there are fewer new houses under construction in November, down to the lowest level. The growth on that is the lowest left in 16 years, down 3.7%.
We have positive news that is helping markets continue helping futures stay higher and that is the Goldman Sachs reporting earnings that are better than normal. Remember, Golden Sachs is the gold standard of the investment bank so it was expected to do better. That doesn't mean the entire banking industry is doing better. Also Best Buy reported earnings better than expected.
That's because despite the fact that luxury goods and women's apparel and a lot of things are not doing well this holiday shopping season, electronics are doing well and Best Buy in particular is able to take advantage of that. So that's the news we've got. Futures are still higher this morning.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi, thank you.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: The Omaha-Nebraska department store where a gunman killed eight people less than two weeks ago, will reopen on Thursday. The Von Maur store at the Westwoods Mall will hold a brief ceremony in memory of those who died before it reopens. On December 5th, Robert Hawkins killed six store employees and two shoppers inside before committing suicide.
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. They called police. Deputies did not handcuff her but they did take her to a juvenile center. The school officials say that although the girl did nothing wrong, they had no choice because of their zero tolerance policies about weapons. She now faces a felony charge. The principal suspended her also for ten days.
ROBERTS: Thirty-six minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano here is checking on extreme weather. Folks in the southwest just can't get a break. It's either too hot or it's too dry or it's too on fire or it's too wet. My goodness.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: But when it's not those things it's a pretty pleasant place to live. You got to pay the piper at some point. Here's the satellite picture out of California. The Pacific jet stream really is starting to take aim on the West Coast. There you see the plume of moisture one of several storms about to roll in here.
Let's break it down for you. Strong jet. Couple of fronts. Three of them onshore. High winds, heavy rain and heavy mountain snow expected with these systems as they come on board. Probably the strongest is going to come on board tonight and tomorrow with some wind. Here is your precip expectation over the next 48 hours. We could see several inches in the spots that have seen already the land and begin to move. Where it won't move is in the Sierra Nevada and it will pile up in the form of snow, the dark purples over 12 inches, in some spots over 7,000 feet and will probably see over two feet of the white stuff. Right now, it's raining heavily in Eureka, California back down to San Francisco and San Jose and to Mountain View, Santa Cruz. Turning to pink and white up across the Sierra Nevada. The moisture is yet to get down to southern California but when it does, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and almost down to San Diego but the Los Angeles counties inland especially and those burned out near Malibu under a flash flood watch with the anticipation of that heavy rain potentially unleashing some debris flow. And here is your winter storm warning across the West Coast. And I tell you what John, Utah, your favorite place to ski, may get a little bit of snow as well.
ROBERTS: I like Colorado as well but Utah is great skiing.
MARCIANO: That is a politically correct thing to say. They're all great.
ROBERTS: I've never skied in Idaho but I like to. Rob, thanks. Kiran.
CHETRY: "Quick Hits" now. On the Senate approving a permanent do not call list and block telemarketers from being able on call you forever. The House approved a similar bill last week and merging those two bills seems to be just a formality meaning the final bill should be approved by the end of the year. So if it passes you don't have to re-register. Right now, you would have had to register to remain on the do not call list.
Also, reaction in New Jersey's decision to ban the death penalty. The father of a 7-year-old girl whose death inspired Megan's law calls the move a slap in the face. Megan Kanka's killer is among the eight men on death row now spared by the decision. The move is being hailed across the world as a victory against capital punishment.
The Golden Globes will have to go on without the writers. The union refusing to grant striking workers a waiver. We're going to tell you what that means for that awards' show as well as the Oscars and some of the late night shows that have been in reruns since the strike started.
Also, it's not the most wonderful time of year for some. Now, there's new research though that says fewer people are battling holiday depression. Why the shift? We're paging Dr. Gupta ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Coming up on 17 minutes now to the top of the hour. It's a story sure to have a lot of people taking sides. A 10-year-old girl in Florida facing charges for bringing a steak knife to school. Now, she brought it to cut her meat at lunch. Teacher saw her using it and they called police. The girl was arrested. Is this zero tolerance completely out of control? AMERICAN MORNING legal contributor Sunny Hostin is here now with a look.
Let's look at the facts in this case. Her mother gives her the knife to bring to school because she gave her a piece of meat. The knife was to cut a piece of meat. She shouldn't threaten anybody with is. Didn't, according to the school do anything wrong and yet she's suffering all these repercussions for it.
SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: It's really unbelievable. I think that this should be a school issue. Schools, you know, have administrative policies and the suspension albeit harsh maybe that is the right thing to do but that is the principal's call. They are saying there's just no tolerance so they call the police immediately and the county school representative is saying we're going to stand by that decision. I don't know.
It doesn't make a whole bunch of sense on to me and now you have the officer saying that when we're called we have to do something so we put her in the back of a police car and arrested her and now she has this arrest record. I think what's going to happen though is that now it's up to the prosecutor, something I used to do, to make the judgment call, to make the tough decision and to charge or not to charge.
ROBERTS: So, how do you make that call? Because is it not, actually this girl is 10 years old. Is it not the parent who should be at fault here?
HOSTIN: Well, the parent wasn't in possession of the knife in school grounds. But I think that as a prosecutor, this is a no charge kind of case. You get this on your desk, prosecutor and you look at it and you say, nothing was done here. She didn't brand the ship, it wasn't used as a weapon, let the kids go home.
ROBERTS: Would it make a difference if the school cafeteria had steel cutlery?
HOSTIN: I think so. Absolutely. Because if the school had provided it and she had it, we wouldn't be here talking about it today. But she brought it form home and we know that schools have implemented these policies because of the Columbines and because of all of the stuff you see, but let's not take the judgment making away from the professionals, from the principals, from the teachers.
ROBERTS: Some people might say another example of the death of common sense.
HOSTIN: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Sunny Hostin, thanks. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right will the holiday blues have long been thought to lead to a rising rates of depression, even suicide around this time of the year. But now there is a new study saying that could all be a myth. We're paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, to talk more about this new study. And what type of light it sheds on just what happens during the holidays when it comes to depression and suicide. Hi, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. It's interesting because this has been something that's bee perpetuated for quite sometime the rates of depression and the rates of suicide go up during the holiday months. We now know as you said that is simply not true. A lot of people have believed that for sometime. And to be fair there is what is called a seasonality to impression. There does appear to be variations based on the season but it's just the opposite of what you might.
In fact, spring and summer appear to be the worst. What we find is that the rates of suicide, the rates of depression actually seem to go down in the winter months according to a study that is actually looked at this for the first time. 30 to 40% decrease in suicide attempts during the winter months and also 60% decrease among isolation of people which is something that has always been sort of thought of as a cause of depression and possible suicide. So, backward thinking, still some seasonality to it but very different.
CHETRY: Why do we hear so much about depression during the holidays? We also hear about an uptick in domestic violence calls let's say during the holidays.
GUPTA: I think there's a couple of reasons. One is this shouldn't discount something known as seasonal affective disorder which is a sort of form of depression that is attributable to the shorter days, to less sunlight. It is, that is something that does go up but it's a much small component of depression overall. One of the biggest reasons I think is probably because depression and suicide attempts are much more profound. They get told among family members. They get told among societies if something like that happens during the holiday months. A lot of people pay attention to it because it's usually a time of families getting together.
Well, what we now is because families get together there's a lot more social contacts that is probably the reason the rate of depression and suicide go down. That social support is important and seems to play a positive role.
CHETRY: very interesting. Sanjay, good to see you as always, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
CHETRY: By the way, If you have a question for Sanjay, e-mail us, go to cnn.com/am. Sanjay answers your questions every Thursday when we open up his mailbag here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: A Minnesota high school basketball referee is alive this morning after a teen spectator comes to his rescue. 49-year-old Dale Wakasugi collapsed during a game on Friday and suffered from a serious heart attack. 16-year-old Lindsey Paradise jumped into active and tried giving him CPR. when that failed she used one of the school's emergency defibrillator. Thanks to training she had recently received in a health class.
Wakasugi says she's a hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DALE WAKASUGI, SUFFERED HEART ATTACK: God sent her to be in that place at that time for a reason. So many things had to happen for me to be alive and they just all fell into place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Dale was hospitalized and a stent was placed in his heart. He was discharged four days later.
"Quick Hits" now - the Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote this morning on whether to allow television broadcasters to also own a newspaper in the nation's 20 largest media markets. Some members of congress want to delay the vote until the FCC does more study on how media consolidations affects communities.
And a North Dakota bank rather is giving it's full-time employees a thousand dollars each to pay it forward. The workers have to use the money to help people in need. The bank wants its employees to document their good deeds with a video camera.
A teenage girl gets sick on a cruise ship hundreds of miles out to sea and the navy springs into action to keep her safe. Details of the rescue are just in and so are the pictures. We'll have the story for you next.
Plus, a few of your favorite television shows are coming back. We'll tell you who will be doing the new shows even without striking writers. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: It's nine minutes now to the top of the hour.
ROBERTS: The Navy aircraft carrier "Ronald Reagan" is due back to port in San Diego and carrying a very special passenger. A 14- year-old girl rescued after her appendix ruptured during a cruise in the Pacific. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon and this really was the case of the Cavalry to the rescue here, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. An amazing medical rescue at sea by the U.S. Navy. The pictures we're showing you were provided by the Navy. 14-year-old Laura Montaro of Illinois is now resting comfortably on board the carrier "Ronald Reagan" after being rescued by the navy. Saturday night, she and her family were on a cruise ship off the Baha coast of Mexico when she started experiencing a ruptured appendix. The closest medical care was the aircraft carrier "Ronald Reagan" but they couldn't land a helicopter on board that cruise ship, of course, there was no room.
So, a rescue began to be organized. They flew the helicopter over the deck of the cruise. And lowered a basket, lowered some military personnel, got her in the basket, raised it up and flew her off to the "Ronald Reagan" and performed emergency surgery on this young girl. It certainly must have been amazing for everyone on the cruise ship to watch and on board the carrier where they do have surgical care they were able to give her that emergency surgery she needed. She is now resting comfortably. She will be brought back into port and a very happy family and the navy absolutely thrilled that they could spring into action and really save this young girl.
ROBERTS: You bet. You don't hear much about the things like that or you don't hear about things like that very often, Barbara, but amazing when they did swing into action there. Barbara Starr, the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.
STARR: Sure.
ROBERTS: And some amazing pictures just coming in to CNN from Saudi Arabia. Take a look at this. 2 million Muslims lined up for miles filling the streets as they arrive in the plain of Arafat near Mecca. It is the site of the prophet Muhammad's last sermon 14 centuries ago and the climax of the Muslim pilgrimage known as the Hajj. It's something each Muslim is required to do at least once in their lives. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the Golden Globe and the Academy Award shows will have to go on despite this continuing writers' strike. A couple of the late night talk shows also plan to do that as well. Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien will return to the air January 2nd but without their writers if no deal is reached by then. With the latest news on the writers' strike, we bring in our Lola Ogunnaike. All of these shows may be coming back but they are going to look very different, explain that.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: They are going to look drastically different. Conan and Jay Leno will be back at the top of the year, January 2nd but they can't have monologues. They're not going to have any skits or any sketches. So essentially, you wonder what exactly will they have. They will have music guests. They'll have celebrity interviews but for the most part which you have to come to know from a late night show won't be there for that, those two specific shows.
For Letterman meanwhile, he is negotiating with the Writers' Guild right now and he may be able to bring back his actual team of writers so his show will look exactly the same, if not better, compared to the other two shows.
CHETRY: Yes. He may take over in the ratings. You never know because he has his own production company so he can negotiate separately with those writers.
OGUNNAIKE: Exactly. As far as the Academy Awards...
CHETRY: Yes, how about these award shows? What are we going to see? The shortest in history, we'll know that for sure.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, they, too, they're not going to have writers. The writers' guild said no to their request to have writers and they also is not going to be able to have access to movie clips or past Academy shows. So, essentially what do you have there?
And then you have to worry about the celebrities who may decide not to cross the picket line either. I mean, Jon Stewart is scheduled to host the Oscars but he may not cross the picket line. He hasn't been on air since, you know, his show went off nearly two months ago. We'll have to see.
CHETRY: Right, (inaudible) have to go on because they can't cancel them because they've had the advertisers pay into it and everything like that. It will be interesting, there won't be any music played with the speeches because they can have all of the time in the world now. Nothing else to go to.
OGUNNAIKE: You can thank your mom, you can thank your grandma. You can thank your second grade teacher now because there will be more than enough time.
CHETRY: All at the top of your head now. Do not write it down. Lola, thank you so much.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to seeing those monologues in the late night shows as well.
Here's a quick look at what the "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on from the top of the hour.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Did they have inside help? Escaped inmate leave a note. The pair chiseled cinder block and the bolted.
L.A. paramedics missed an elderly traffic accident victim. Police say she was apparently hidden by an airbag.
Turkey sends troops inside Iraq to chase Kurdish rebels. Striking workers won't work the Oscar or Golden Globes.
And mature calendar girls take it off. NEWSROOM, top of the hour, on CNN.
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ROBERTS: Hey, before we go this morning. We just got this picture and we wanted to share it with you. There is the 14-year-old Laura Montaro and her parents along with a couple of crew members of the U.S.S. "Ronald Reagan." There she is after her surgery to correct a ruptured appendix. She was whisked off the "Don Princess," a cruise that she was aboard by a navy helicopter, taken to the "Ronald Reagan" and went into emergency surgery and on her way back now to San Diego. A happy ending for everybody, smiling face there.
CHETRY: She certainly has quite a story to tell.
ROBERTS: Remarkable rescue at sea. One very lucky young girl.
CHETRY: She is. Hey, we want to get out final check at the quick vote, before we say goodbye today. We asked, should there be a tax on sugary drinks? The mayor of San Francisco is proposing possibly doing this, 43% of you said yes and 57% said no and to all of you that voted this morning, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We will see you back here again tomorrow.
CHETRY: That's right. CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins starts right now.
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events coming into the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday morning, December 18th. Here's what's on the rundown. A made for TV jailbreak. Inmates chiseled through concrete, leap from a roof top and leave a taunting note for jailers.
The show will go on but without striking writers.
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