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American Morning

Case of Destroyed Al Qaeda Interrogation Tape; Brand New Poll Numbers Out This Morning In Race for White House; Major Victory for President Bush

Aired December 19, 2007 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Wednesday, the 19th of December. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. We have some brand new developments this morning, in the case of the destroyed al Qaeda interrogation tape. Critics are asking why? And a judge now is going straight to the White House for answers. The "New York Times" is reporting in this morning's edition, that at least four White House lawyers including Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well former White House council Harriet Miers where in a talks with the CIA over whether or not to destroy those interrogation tapes.

A federal judge has now set a hearing for Friday. The top Republican on a House Intelligence Panel says he may also push for subpoenas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This leading statements that came to the Intelligence Committee from the community regarding these tapes, you know, we have a constitutional responsibility to do our job and to hold the community accountable for the work that it has done or the work that it has not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The Justice Department saying a court proceeding could disrupt its own investigation into the destroyed tapes.

ROBERTS: Brand new poll numbers out this morning in the race for the White House. The CNN/WMUR, New Hampshire Presidential Primary Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows that Hillary Clinton has regained a substantial lead in the granite state. She now has 38 percent support. That is 12 points ahead of Barack Obama. A week earlier, a poll showed them to be in a virtual dead heat. John Edwards still trails with 14 percent that is actually down a couple of points.

On the Republican side, Mitt Romney still leads with about a third of likely primary voters supporting him. John McCain second with 22, followed by Rudy Giuliani with 16 percent. Mike Huckabee with about 10 percent. A lot of other stories making headlines overnight. Our Alina Cho joins us with the very latest developments. Good morning.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Including "Time" magazine's Person of the Year. We'll get to that in just a moment, guys. Good morning, everybody. New this morning. Reports of a pretty big earthquake overnight in Alaska. It was a magnitude 7.2 and it happened just after 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Epicenter of the quake was deep underground and offshore, so there are no reports of injuries or damage. A tsunami warning was issued but it was quickly canceled.

In just three hours, the U.S. Transportation Secretary will unveil steps to improve air travel this holiday season. The announcement is also said to include some plans to ease congestion in the New York area by the summer, especially at Kennedy Airport where the delays are the worst. Report say the plan is to shift some flights to off-peak hours but for now the federal government reportedly will not reduce the number of takeoffs and landings, just move them around. Have to see if that works.

A major victory for President Bush. The Senate has overwhelmingly passed a $555 billion spending bill. A massive total budget includes $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without timetables for bringing the troops home, that has been a sticking point. Today, the House is expected to approve the revision which also finds every government agency except the Pentagon until next October.

The U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq will be staying there for at least one more year. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to approve the extension and that means that more than 150,000 troops in Iraq will stay there until at least the end of 2008. The overwhelming majority of the troops of course are American. Iraqi officials say they hope the mission and the troops end sooner.

A major disaster in Pakistan. A passenger train packed with holiday travelers derailed overnight. The AP is reporting at least 58 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Rescuers are actually using metal cutting equipment to reach those that are trapped. About 900 people were on the train including a large wedding party. At this early stage, the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Authorities have dropped the charges against three suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. An appeals court says prosecutors simply do not have enough evidence against them. The three were rearrested back in November, you'll recall. Natalee Holloway hasn't been seen for more than two years. Slain NFL star Sean Taylor has been posthumously elected to NFL's pro-bowl by fans, coaches, and players. Taylor was leading the fan voting at his position which is free safety when he was shot and killed in his home in Miami on November 27th.

And "Time" magazine's Person of the Year, drum roll, guys, is Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Time" says it chose Putin for his force of personality and focus on Russia's stability which is vital for the 20th century and beyond, of course. He could play a vital part in the future of the country as prime minister if his longtime aide is elected to replace him in March. Now, a couple of things you guys should know. General David Petraeus, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling interestingly enough, and Al Gore were also among the top contenders for the honors. So, Al Gore already got the Nobel Peace Prize so I don't think he is too disappointed. But interesting, J.K. Rowling among the people in the mix there.

ROBERTS: Yes. It would be interesting to see two (INAUDIBLE) power. Putin hangs on to the next year.

CHO: Yes. He may move from president to prime minister so we'll have to see.

ROBERTS: Alina, thanks.

CHO: You bet.

CHETRY: Thank you.

Well, there are some new figures into CNN to detail the rate of foreclosures in the state of the housing sector. Ali Velshi is at the business update desk to explain what the numbers mean this morning.

Hi, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. These are new numbers this morning about foreclosures in November in the United States. A bit of a mixed picture. There are some good news. The good news is that, there has been a 10 percent drop in foreclosures compared to October and that's the first time we've had a drop that's been sort of double digit since April of last year. Now, the problem is we're still 68 percent higher than we were in November of last year.

Take a look at where the foreclosure activity is the highest in the United States. Nevada still topping that list. One in every 152 homes is in foreclosures, then Florida, Ohio, Colorado and California. So, we are not seeing a big break from the foreclosure activity and there's a lot of warning that starting in 2008, we're going to see a whole new set of mortgage resets. But for now, at least, a little bit of better news in a flurry of bad news about the housing sector.

Kiran?

CHETRY: All right, Ali. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Six minutes now after the hour. Another big story we're following for you. The extreme weather. New wave of weather storms pounding the Pacific Northwest with freezing winds, rain, and snow. Our Rob Marciano at the weather update desk tracking it all. Good morning, Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, nearly two million Americans tan indoors everyday. Doctors say there is increasing evidence of the known cancer risk, but a new study says, doctors can provide more specific warnings if they identify your tanning patterns. We're paging Dr. Gupta with more on this, CNN's chief medical correspondent in Atlanta with details. Hi, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. That number kind of surprised me, Kiran. Two million every single day, still in this day and age. 30 million people, individual users, actually use tanning beds still. That's actually double over just a decade ago. So, it's remarkable the number of people actually using tanning beds still very, very high. And yes, you know, it's interesting. Doctors maybe not doing enough to explain the risks of tanning bed specifically to individual users. There are lots of risks.

First of all, who is using these beds? 70 percent of the users are Caucasian women between the ages of 17 and 49. That is the, sort of, majority of the users. Lots of different potential risks here. As you might imagine, some of them. First of all, consider this. The amount of radiation you get from a tanning bed is usually 15 times that of the sun. Both UVA and UVB lights. Skin cancer obviously a concern. Premature aging which is something that nobody wants obviously.

Eye damage can also weaken your immune system. You send lots of cells. Lots of your immune cells to try and kill the damage from these tanning beds, so lots of potential considerations here. But I know people who use the tanning beds still, Kiran. It's amazing somebody in our Medical Department uses one pretty regularly and I'm trying to get her to stop. It's very addictive for a lot of people once they start, Kiran.

CHETRY: You're right. I ask my friends about it too because I say, they have always great self-tanners now. You know, the sunless tanners that you can just put on your body, bronzers. But they talk about getting a specific feeling of well-being by being under those lights.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, and it's interesting, there's been lots of different things that people talk about just being exposed to sunlight. The least of certain, endorphins. Those are the feel-good hormones. There's also evidence that are release of some Vitamin D, which is important obviously for your health. But regard to tanning bed specifically, Kiran, the risks so outweigh the benefits with regards to Vitamin D. You could just take a thousand international units of that in pill form everyday and be much safer and still get a lot of the health benefit so tanning bed is not a good answer for that.

CHETRY: Absolutely. All right, Sanjay. Hopefully, they will start listening to you. You are a doctor after all and they should. Thank you.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: Well, more medical news. The latest hot gift for the holiday season. How about those one, medical gift cards. Not a gift card from Macys or Bloomindales but a medical gift card. They are from Visa and they are accepted for health-related services. Everything from prescriptions to contact lenses, even cosmetic surgery and they can be only purchased online for amounts up to $5000. There's a $5 handling fee. And what you put on the card can also be used as medical expenses on your taxes.

ROBERTS: Yes and I thought a Starbucks card was a hefty headline. 5,000?

CHETRY: Well, I mean, I guess, they say, I think it's about the max, up to 5,000. But hey, how about it?

ROBERTS: Well, who will get that card these days?

CHETRY: I know, exactly.

ROBERTS: Well, more mama drama in the Spears Family. This time its Britney's little sister who is pregnant. We'll tell you what Britney said about it, coming up.

And two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses. The candidates are traveling to state, drumming up support. We will get a live report from Candy Crowley. She is in Des Moines. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: 14 minutes after the hour. Its just 15 days before the Iowa caucuses and caucus-goers make their voices heard. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is in Des Moines, Iowa with the latest. You've been following Hillary Clinton's likability tour across the state. How is that working out for her?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, so good. I guess, we'll know come January 3rd. But yesterday, she had Magic Johnson, Bill Clinton out with her. She said, look, I understand that people need to know who I am. We started out this tour, the "Hillary I Know" tour with a childhood friend who told us that Hillary was captain of the crossing guards when she was in elementary school. There are people who come and say, look I was a constituent. She helped me privately with my sick child.

Yesterday, she was Denison, Iowa talking about her faith and her religion in lo and behold. Her Sunday school teacher was in the audience. A surprise says the Clinton campaign. So, we're getting these little bits and pieces that they want to use to fill in and to negate what her campaign thinks has a caricature of Hillary Clinton. So, in these final days, she is addressing what has always been seen as her vulnerability and that is, that she is cold, and she is calculating that she is not compassionate.

And this whole tour is design to try to counter that as those final voters or caucusers in Iowa try to make up their minds. And we're told, there's a big chunk of them that are really on the fence and that could change their mind. Some who haven't decided at all. So, this is aim at those who look at her and say, she is smart, she knows policy, she can walk right into the oval office and know what she is doing but have reservations about who she really is. John?

ROBERTS: Right. And you know what, our new poll of New Hampshire shows that 4 in 10 Democrats still haven't made up their mind in the State of New Hampshire. At the same time that she is out there and this likability to her, Barack Obama is taking on a much more somber tone talking about foreign policy. He tried to close the deal on experience there in Iowa?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. It's kind of like they took each other's playbooks and swapped yesterday. He brought his foreign policy advisers out. Two of them former Clintonites. And talked about, look this isn't just about the Iraq war, this is about what comes after. I have the judgment. He fielded a number of questions about the Middle East, about Israel, about Darfur, those sorts of questions. So, what is his weak point? What has been the thing that has held voters back? Is he experienced enough?

So, this yesterday was about, look, here is what you look at. Here is my experience and here is my judgment which, of course, he contrast to Hillary Clinton particularly when comes to her vote for the Iraq war. He said look, I've always been against that my judgment from the beginning was this was a bad idea. So, again, kind of a role reversal here as each of them try to address what has made voters hesitant about each of them.

ROBERTS: In the home stretch now, we'll see if either one of them can close the deal. Candy Crowley for us this morning in Des Moines. And just a programming note for you, we should point out again, Kiran, that Rudy Giuliani is going to be joining Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room" today.

CHETRY: All right.

ROBERTS: He is in Missouri today, which is rather odd.

CHETRY: And we'll talk to him about that. Maybe, he is busy on fruitcakes there. According to his new Christmas campaign, where he talks about buying fruitcake for all.

All right. We'll still ahead. A firefighter doing what he says he just thought was his job. Trying to help people and put out fires. Well, now he is being punished. We're going to explain why he was told not to show up at a fire. And why some residents in the area are furious.

Also, a baby for Britney Spears baby sister. 16-year-old Jamie Lynn announcing her pregnancy. We're going to explain coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to a subdivision that is taking solar power to new heights and deaths.

LIZ REESE, DRAKE LANDING RESORT: We came all the way from Seattle to support this solar community because it was cutting edge and it was new and exciting.

O'BRIEN: Liz Reese and Lyle McRae moved north of the border to a place called Drake Landing near Calgary. There are solar panels everywhere here. 800 of them in all. They don't generate electricity. They heat up water in pipes that snake through the community of more than 50 homes.

LYLE MCRAE, DRAKE LANDING RESIDENT: And it comes to our air exchanger. And this air exchanger gets the water and distributes throughout the house and then it cools off and then it sends it back, so you can heat it up again.

O'BRIEN: But there is more to it than that. In the warm summer months, the hot water flows to a network of 144 pipes deep underground. The pipes warm up the surrounding soil to more than 170 degrees Fahrenheit. A heat bank for the winter. If all else fails, there is a gas burner backup.

REESE: The thing that I liked about it is that it was really easy for us to just buy the home, turn the key and go in and not have to figure out any of the technology.

O'BRIEN: Liz and Lyle say they have cut their heating bills in half and they reduced their greenhouse gas production by five tons a year. Just like all their neighbors. Miles O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: 21 minutes after the hour. New pictures just in to CNN from affiliate KPTV from near the summit of Mount Hood, Oregon. The mountain seemed more than a foot of snow. It is still snowing right now. They high wind warning now, and effect for the Oregon coast. Forecaster say snow and heavy rains could cause more mudslides in the region.

For weeks now, people in the Pacific Northwest have had their lives turned upside down by rain, flooding, and severe mudslides. Chris Lawrence is in one of the hardest hit areas Vernonia, Oregon and joins us now from inside a family home devastated by the rain and mudslides. Christ, what's the family dealing with this morning?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Take a look, John. It's actually the mayor's home. Just one of hundreds that had the flood waters just rush through here, a couple of weeks ago. You can see all the damage here. And these folks here, because of that, are just very, very anxious about that rain that is starting to fall outside now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: In early December storm flooded hundreds of homes in Vernonia, Oregon. For too many residents, it wasn't the first time and won't be the last.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Always worried, always wondering.

LAWRENCE: Now, more rain is falling and everyone is bracing for the worst.

SUSAN JENKINS, FLOOD VICTIM: We're ready for this. It wasn't even in anybody's mind that it would happen this week.

LAWRENCE: Susan Jenkins says the water that flooded her home would be bad enough by itself.

JENKINS: It's the mud that comes with it that is terrible. Just sludge.

LAWRENCE: All in your house?

JENKINS: All in my basement. Three feet of it.

LAWRENCE: The town's clinic is operating out of tents, after the building took on four feet of water. Some of the schools have been shut down and plans are under way to move them to higher ground. Some community leaders want to go even further, and relocate the entire town of 2,000 people. But other residents say a move isn't feasible in a valley like this one.

SYKES MITCHELL, VERNONIA RESIDENT: You got 300 houses out here that are in flood zone and there isn't enough high ground around here to do that and start all the infrastructure again.

LAWRENCE: This round of rain isn't expected to be as fierce as the last storms that pounded the Pacific Northwest. But any significant rain could be enough to sink this battered town.

You just live with that fear?

JENKINS: If you want to live in Vernonia, yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, which are also going to have to deal with this basically ripping your house apart for at least a few months to fix all that damage from the floods. Now, the town is looking at several long-term solutions, including damming the creek that runs just behind all these homes, dredging the river to, you know, let more water fill up there, and, yes, even physically moving the town. But I tell you, whatever they decide, they're going to need some help from the federal government to pay for it.

John?

ROBERTS: Physically moving the town. They would need a tremendous amount of help. What are officials there are saying about the weather pattern that's setting up? Is it expected to last into the New Year?

LAWRENCE: Yes. It looks like they might get more rain. They're not expecting to get anything like they got a few weeks ago, but, you know, its compounding damage. You know, these people are already pretty vulnerable. I mean, you can see a lot of homes are like this one. You know, they have their walls had to be ripped out because the water was so high. You know, you even get a little more rain, a little more flooding, just going to add to the damage that's already there.

ROBERTS: Yes. Flooding is terrible stuff. Chris Lawrence for us in Vernonia this morning. Chris, thanks.

A new report out this morning on the number of home foreclosures, by the way.

CHETRY: And depending on how you look at it, the news is a little better that it has been. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with details. So, month-to-month better, but year-to- year not so good.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, John, good to see you guys. Yes, the foreclosure numbers out yesterday from reality track. They actually came down 10 percent. Good news. But if you look at the comparisons year over year, I got to tell you, the picture not so great compared to last year foreclosures up pretty much. And then, in March there is going to be, another wave of resets. That is some folks with adjustable rate mortgages will see the rates on their loans go higher. They could be at risk for foreclosure as well, so might a great outlook.

ROBERTS: So, the Federal Reserve is trying to prevent this all from happening again with a new set of rules and guidelines. What is the buzz about them?

WILLIS: Well, very interesting. Federal Reserve yesterday, saying that there needs to be some action taken to help people out there who are struggling with these loans. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: This acts of practices, hurt not just borrowers and their families but the entire communities and the economy as a whole. They have no place in our mortgage system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: And of course, the Federal Reserve chairman there saying that they favor the kinds of things like changing these loans, so the folks could get some help out there, making sure that brokers have some rules out there that they have to abide by, all kinds of changes. But I have to tell you guys, there was so much criticism of this plan yesterday, it was amazing. Chuck Schumer came out. He doesn't like the plan. Chris Dodd came out. He doesn't like the plan. And as a matter of fact, we also had another criticism of the plan, I wanted to show this to you. Check this out.

Barney Frank saying "We now have confirmation of two facts we have known for some time. One, the Federal Reserve System is not a strong advocate for consumers and two, there is no Santa Claus." So you can see, there's a lot of criticism out there of his plan. I think, the main thing that people are saying is it comes so late in this crisis. They are really surprised that they had to wait this long for regulators to come to the table and say that there needs to be some changes.

CHETRY: Gerri, thanks so much.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

CHETRY: Still ahead, it starts out like a cold and then becomes a killer virus. How do you find out before it's too late? Many of the symptoms are the same in the beginning. We're paging Dr. Gupta with more on that ahead.

And still ahead. He is the man behind some of the funniest political parody ads right now sweeping the Internet. We're going to meet him coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Those are pretty shot this morning of the Dallas, Texas Skyline. WFAA. Right now, it's 39 degrees, shaping up to be 67, partly cloudy, but, wow. Beautiful shot this morning out of Dallas.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Anywhere where it's not snowing and 25 degrees is a good place to be.

CHETRY: Exactly. Well, it's Wednesday, December 19th. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.

New this morning. The case of the destroyed Al Qaeda interrogation tapes. "The New York Times" is reporting that at least four White House lawyers were in on the talks over whether to get rid of the tapes. They included former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former White House counsel Harriet Miers as well as David Addington who is now chief of staff to the Vice President. Federal judge has set a hearing for Friday.

It's right there in his title but a D.C. firefighter could be punished for fighting a fire. Lt. Gerald Burton was on his way to a training class in a fire truck when he heard a call go out just a few blocks away. Burton offered to help but was ordered to go to the class instead. He says he was faced to either sit in there watching the house burn or responding and people were urging him to respond and he chose to do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GERALD BURTON, D.D. FIREFIGHTER: If is a baby is trapped inside. Seconds count. Save lives, smoke detectors and at that point it's go do your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Well, Burton is accused of violating department policy for not waiting for backup. The 21-year veteran of the department now faces a two-day suspension without pay. That fire reportedly caused 150,000 dollars in damages and it should be pointed out some local businesses are outraged over the story and offering to pay him the two days that he has been suspended.

And a Connecticut woman accused of getting naughty with a mall Santa Claus. A former employee with the Danbury Fair Mall charged with fourth degree sexual assault and breach of peace, both are misdemeanors. The mall said it told police that the woman touched him inappropriately while sitting on his lap. The woman denies she did anything wrong. Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, should there be laws in place to stop internet harassment? The mother of a young girl who killed herself said yes and she is taking her fight to lawmakers. Tina Meier appeared yesterday before Special Task Force in Missouri and she says it should be a crime to taunt and harass people online. Her 13-year-old daughter committed suicide after being teased on her myspace page by a fictional boy who in reality was a mother and daughter from the girl's neighborhood. The task force may draft a law to submit to the Missouri legislature in January.

And in other legal news, a House committee this morning will hear a case we first brought you on Monday. This was Jamie Lee Jones saying she was drugged and raped in Iraq two years ago by her coworkers at contracting firm Kellogg Brown and Root. Here is how she described it to us on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE LEIGH JONES, ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: After two drinks, I wouldn't blank. I don't remember anything after that.

CHETRY: And then the next morning, what happened?

JONES: I woke up and I had a severe disfigurement in my chest. I had bruises on my inner thighs. Bruises on my stomach and wrists. And I was hurting so bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: AMERICAN MORNING legal contributor Sunny Hostin joins us now with more on the case. There are a lot of legal ins and outs of the situation because no one was charged. There are questions about how her company handled it from Iraq and, in fact, it's the subject of a hearing today that's going to be going on to see if there is any jurisdiction within the Justice Department to prosecute this.

SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think there absolutely is jurisdiction. And let me say this, when she was here Monday and you interviewed her, I spoke to her at length afterwards and what she wanted me to say is that she said that she had two drinks and what she really had was two sips. So, that's one thing because a lot of people are saying she was drunk and that is why this happened.

CHETRY: She seems to think that perhaps she was given some sort of drug.

HOSTIN: Exactly. And so, there are allegations of rape here. And the Justice Department really does have the authority under the military extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act and that act applies to crimes committed abroad that carry at least a one year sentence of imprisonment and we're talking about rape here. It does allow usually federal criminal laws only extends to our nation's borders. But this act extends those borders to all over the world when you have a subcontractor of the Defense Department. And I was looking at the KBR website and one it says it's the largest contractor for the U.S. army but two it says it's the top ten contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.

And finally, it says it's the world's largest defense services provider. So I don't know how they don't come under the expanse of this law. I think there is no question that the government, the Justice Department, my fellow, you know I'm a former federal prosecutor, I know, I think that they have the opportunity to prosecute those crimes.

CHETRY: In fact, you specialized in sex assault case rape?

HOSTIN: That is right.

CHETRY: So you know just how important getting that initial evidence is. Here is the problem. There wasn't that type of situation where a crime scene was closed down where they could make sure that things didn't happen. In fact there is talk that perhaps a rape kit that was taken is missing?

HOSTIN: Yes. Well, what is interesting is that and terrifying if this is true, you know, she is saying there was a rape kit and that rape kit was taken and she was examined by a doctor and found to have been brutally raped and that rape kit has disappeared after it was turned over to KBR officials. And that is something that is crucial evidence. But, you know, with rapes, it really is up to the victim to not convince a jury, but it's the victim that the jury has to listen to and she has been here, she's been on television, she stuck to her story. She explains I think quite eloquently what she believed happened to her and it's going to be up to a jury if this goes to a jury to determine credibility.

CHETRY: Is there any way this far down the road they can't do any determinations to prove whether or not any date rape drug was used either, right? That would have had to be taken at the time as well?

HOSTIN: Exactly but it really is up to what she says. You know, it's up to a jury to decide should it get there.

CHETRY: Sunny Hostin, always great to see you. Thanks.

HOSTIN: Thank you.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: Coming up to 36 minutes after the hour now.

Sticking up for a jailed teammate is going to cost five Atlanta Falcons. In last week's game, Roddy White scored a touchdown and lifted up his jersey to reveal a t-shirt that said free Mike Vick. White fined $10,000 and teammate Joe Horn fined $7,500 for helping him. Three other players were also fined $10,000 apiece for wearing black which read MV7. Michael Vick and his number 7. The league called the uniform violations "displaying an authorized personal message."

It starts out just like a cold but it can kill. A dangerous virus to look out for this winter. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta got the warning signs for you.

And he became a youtube sensation by making fun of the presidential candidates. Now his political ad parodies have gotten hundreds of thousands of views. We'll talk to the man behind the mockery. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, our next guest is not an overnight sensation. It actually took independent filmmaker Lee Stranahan, about two weeks to become a star on youtube. His parodies of political campaigns ads have now been viewed more than 280,000 times and counting. Here is a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're a republican voter in Iowa, Mike Huckabee wants you to know he just got a voice mail from god. All you have to remember is who Mike Huckabee isn't. Mike isn't a corrupt cross-dressing corrupt addict from New York City whose friends are either indicted or gay. Mike isn't 178 years old. Mike Huckabee, strong conservative. Not a crook or a weirdo or a Mormon. Let's leave it at that, OK? OK. This parody was not approved by Mike Huckabee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right. There we have it. Lee Stranahan joining us live from our L.A. bureau. You know, you're not really a political operative per se. Instead you have a whole other job but now your parody ads are a big sensation. How did you get started doing it?

LEE STRANAHAN, PRODUCES POLITICAL SATIRE VIDEOS: Well, I've been producing video about 20 years, you know, on and off. As you mentioned, I work in the industry. That means that I don't do anything aside from what they pay me to do. It's just my job. A few months ago, I decided I really needed to start doing something more creative on my own. A couple of weeks ago, my wife was sick and I did the first ad which is a Rudy Giuliani ad parody. And I figured it would take a couple of hours. So, six hours later, I finished. It's 3:00 in the morning. I sent off an e-mail to a couple of sites and I woke up the next morning and there were like 5,000 hits on it. I was like, how did that happen? I uploaded it to youtube a few hours earlier. By the end of the day it had 70,000 hits, 70,000 views which was completely crazy. That was the first one that I did. So, I kind of decided well I should keep doing these so I've done another seven or so in the past two weeks and it's just been crazy.

CHETRY: Yes, we've been looking at it. They certainly have taken off. Now, in the effort of full disclosure, you have donated to a few of the presidential candidates, including Barack Obama. You also sold the video to a left leaning blog, talking points memo. Are you trying to influence the outcome of the election, get people to elect a certain candidate or is this more than for fun?

STRANAHAN: well, you know, I mean I would guess no more so than "The Daily Show," or "Click o berry four" or any of those shows that I miss being on the air right now. You know, I have my political views like everybody else. But really I'm about comedy and the most gratifying thing for me actually is when someone says you know, I'm a Hillary supporter and that ad made fun of Hillary but it was hilarious and I liked it or somebody says I'm a Huckabee supporter but that's funny and that's really gratifying. In fact, one of the weird things about doing comedy on youtube like this is you get real instant reaction from people. If people like it or don't like it they tell you right there.

CHETRY: Right, and they actually start to look forward to seeing what you will do next. In fact, as you said, a lot of your parodies is, are aimed at republicans. You do have one for the democrats. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama. You seem confused? You say you're a democrat? Why does it seem you drag Hillary Clinton from becoming president? So, Mr. Obama, we will put this as lightly as you can. If you interfere with Hillary Clinton's destiny, you will tear apart the very fabric of time and space, crushing all lives and causing the universe to blow upon it's itself. That is something no American wants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Pretty funny as well. How long does it take you by the way to put these together?

STRANAHAN: You know, it really depends. A few hours. You know, five or six hours. I usually, I write the voice-over first and I have no idea what I'm going to do for the picture most of the time. By the way, you just made my daughter famous. So thank you.

CHETRY: She was adorable, by the way.

STRANAHAN: Thanks.

CHETRY: It's funny. Because as we've seen, I mean history tells us the ability to put a good message out there can make all the difference. Would you work for one of the campaigns if they asked you to?

STRANAHAN: They wouldn't ask me to. So,

CHETRY: If they did, what would you say?

STRANAHAN: You know, I like doing comedy and you know, really what I'm trying to do in a lot of these videos is political parodies. This is kind of the political ad that the candidates would make if they have been deprived of sleep for a while and could just say whatever the heck they wanted to. Therefore that is the kind of stuff I like doing so I don't really think they would really want me to do those ads. They're a little too honest.

CHETRY: All right. Lee Stranahan, certainly an internet sensation producing his political satire videos. Thanks for being with us this morning.

STRANAHAN: Thank you very much, Kiran.

ROBERTS: If he likes comedy, maybe he could work for Huckabee.

CHETRY: Exactly or one of the, you know, I didn't ask him about crossing the picket line. He says he misses those shows. The writers' strike we haven't been seeing a lot of those really funny late night shows.

ROBERTS: He does seem to be keeping himself entertained in the meantime.

A medical mystery this morning, a virus that starts like a cold but becomes a killer. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with details. Sanjay, this is very frightening that something as common as the cold can suddenly turn deadly.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this used to be called sort of a 98-pound weakling of viruses. The specific virus that we're talking about here. The concern is it can be serious and can even cause death. The people that it causes death in can be otherwise young, healthy people. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): 18-year-old Joe Spencer's life has taken on a different rhythm. Last spring he was a varsity jock in good health until...

JOE SPENCER, NEARLY DIED FROM ADENOVIRUS: Vomiting, chills, fevers. I just thought it was, you know, just a really bad flu and I'm going to get over it but...

GUPTA: But it wasn't the flu. Before doctors could diagnose it, "it" nearly killed him. Spencer found himself in intensive care. His lungs filled with water. His body starving for oxygen.

DR. DAVID GILBERT, PROVIDENCE PORTLAND MEDICAL CENTER: I thought we were at risk of losing the patient. GUPTA: The diagnosis is adenovirus, known mostly for causing colds and pink eye.

GILBERT: We were very surprised when we ran into this much more aggressive form of adenovirus that took otherwise healthy people and put them into our intensive care unit with life-threatening pneumonia.

GUPTA: Adenovirus 14 is a scrappy, ubiquitous virus on our noses, on countertops or pens. It spreads through contact and the air we breathe. This year it's infected more than a thousand of Americans in a handful of states. At least ten have died.

DR. DEAN ERDMAN, CDC: What we're asking physicians is to be alert. Not be, you know, panicked, but to be alert.

GUPTA: Sophisticated diagnostic tests can identify adenovirus within hours but doctors stress the key is recognizing its symptoms before they become life-threatening.

GILBERT: If they develop a bronchitis with a high fever and if they feel short of breath, they should get professional help, sooner rather than later.

GUPTA: Spencer is still taking things slowly these days and doing a lot of hand-washing to prevent a repeat of his illness.

SPENCER: People need to be aware that there's a killer out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: 51 different types of adenovirus. This was adenovirus 14 specifically. It hasn't been around for sometime but they come and they go. This is a particularly problematic virus, rare but problematic if you get it. John.

ROBERTS: We know there are ways to prevent the flu vaccine. Is there any way to prevent adenovirus?

GUPTA: No, there really isn't. The flu shot is not going to cover against the adenovirus specifically. The flu is set up to cover a few different strains of virus and adenovirus 14 is a relatively rare one so it's not part of the flu vaccine. But you bring up a good point because the flu is still far and away much bigger problem and much bigger killer so still important to get that flu shot.

ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. Don't forget, Sanjay will be back tomorrow with his weekly mailbag so get your questions in to cnn.com/am.

CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center now with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: Hey, John. Good morning to you. A mystery on the NEWSROOM rundown for you this morning.

Deep snow, rugged terrain and rescuers searching for a dad and his three children. They vanished while hunting for a Christmas tree.

A new Pacific storm taking aim at Washington and Oregon. Folks there have barely dried out from the last blast.

And can you have two mini Christmas lights? One man has so many glowing bulbs. City official wants him to pay police for traffic control. You are in THE NEWSROOM. We get started just minutes away in about 13 minutes or so, top of the hour here on CNN. John, back to you.

ROBERTS: Tony, we will see you then. Thanks very much. Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, NASA says it figured out what is wrong with the space shuttle "Atlantis" fuel gauge. The agency says it's a bad connector on the fuel tank that's been responsible for this intermittent problem and it could delay the next shuttle mission further. The problem already forced two delays.

Britney Spears' younger sister, Jamie Lynn expecting a baby of her own. She just announced the news. We're going to get reaction from our Lola Ogunnaike, coming up.

Also, take a look at this amazing video, a woman falls 5,000 feet after her parachute fail. She lives to tell the tale and discovers something even more amazing when she is in the hospital getting treated. We will hear her story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, there's another baby on the way for the Spears family. This time, it's Britney's sister who's having the baby. 16- year-old Jamielyn Spears confirmed her pregnancy to "OK Magazine." For more on the story, we're joined by our Lola Ogunnaike.

When I first read it, I thought it was unbelievable. Because all of the mags alleging that Britney Spears is pregnant again and then you hear her sister, 16 years old only confirming that she is pregnant.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they got the wrong Spears. It's actually her younger sister. She is 16. Her boyfriend, Casey Aldrige is actually 19. They met in church. Clearly, they've been doing some unholy things. And they've been dating for a while but she said she informed her mother shortly before Thanksgiving. She is three months along now. She took about two weeks to decide what she was going to do but ultimately she decided she was going to have it.

CHETRY: How did she describe her mother's reaction?

OGUNNAIKE: Her mother was shocked because Jamie has always been the conscientious one, she said. So she was very surprised that she would be the one who would come home pregnant. I'm equally surprised. I think everyone is shocked. You think that Britney Spears would be the ultimate cautionary tale. She is ten years older than Jamie Lynn and she is having a tough, tough time with motherhood.

CHETRY: Or a bad influence, cautionary tale or bad influence?

OGUNNAIKE: But you would think you would watch how difficult it has been for Britney to be a mom and I think I'm not even going there but she has rushed right in and obviously this is going to be tough for her career. She is on the show "Zoey 101." She is a star and it's a huge show with the tween set. Showing up pregnant on the set of the show doesn't really help.

CHETRY: It raises a lot of questions to the Nickelodeon show. She is extremely popular and she's a rising star of that. So, what is going to happen with that? Still up in the air?

OGUNNAIKE: She has blown a prime opportunity there. And you know, the wholesome girl department is dwindling. It's really only Hannah Montana who's left and I doubt, you know, this is going to be difficult for her career. Nickelodeon is saying that this is a difficult time, you know. They put out a statement trying to be supportive but they've said nothing about the future of her show. They have completed a fourth season though. So she could quietly sort of sneak off into the night and they have a full year done.

CHETRY: Right. She also said, because I think she was asked by the reporter of that magazine what message does this send about premarital sex to your teen fans and she said that she doesn't think it's a good idea and that waiting is better.

OGUNNAIKE: Now she is preaching abstinence. You know, her mother was supposed to come out with a parenting book also that is to come out next year. And it's been postponed indefinitely. I think she should still come out with a book though, probably what not to do as a stage mother.

CHETRY: Read this and don't do it.

OGUNNAIKE: Exactly.

CHETRY: All right. Lola Ogunnaike, thanks so much.

OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.

ROBERTS: It is just about 54 minutes after the hour now. And a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.

HARRIS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The search for a California father and his three children missing after a Christmas tree hunt.

A train off the tracks.

New CNN poll numbers from New Hampshire.

She says she was gang raped by Americans in Iraq. Jamie Lee Jones tells her story to Congress this morning.

Did deputies cross the line while restraining an inmate? NEWSROOM just minutes away at the top of the hour, on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A final check at this morning's quick vote. Are the bonuses being paid to Golden Sachs employee justifies the average employee this year is getting more than $660,000. But, of course, some will be getting tens of millions and others will be getting barely anything at all. Right now 18% of you say yes. 82% say no. To all of you who voted, thanks very much.

CHETRY: One of our e-mailers wrote in and said if they are making all of the money, who is losing it? How are they getting it?

ROBERTS: If you missed Larry King last night and this amazing story of survival. One woman shared her story of falling thousands of feet when both of her parachutes failed. Shanna West was making just her sixth solo jump back in October 9, 2005. Five thousand feet from the ground, she lost control of her main chute and her reserve then became tangled sent her spinning to the ground uncontrollably. She landed in parking lot at 50 miles an hour, shattering bones throughout her body. On the video, you can hear her instructor screaming at her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN, HOST: Did you think, as you're falling, I'm going to die?

SHANNA WEST: Oh, yeah. Many times, I though for sure I was going to die. And it was after attempting all these different alternatives to fixing it and it didn't work that is when I really realized that I had no other choice. I had no backup. Everything they told me didn't work and I really truly saw my life ending. And I didn't think there was any other option but to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Her instructor, Rick West and Shanna began dating after the accident. They eventually married and get this Shanna was two weeks pregnant when she fell. She found out when she was being treated in the hospital. The baby boy is fine. She still gets some aches and pains but is thankful, as you can imagine, just to be alive.

CHETRY: How about it? Hey, speaking of baby boys. We have a new addition to the CNN family. We want to congratulate Campbell Brown and her husband Dan Senor, had a baby boy, Eli James Senor, born yesterday at 10:00 in the morning, right on the nose, weighing in at 8 pounds 21 inches. A bouncing baby boy! Congratulations to both of you.

ROBERTS: And she will be starting her show sometime in February. So she will take a few weeks off and congratulations to you all. Looking forward to this blessed event one of these days, too. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. You're off for a few days for the holidays?

CHETRY: That's right.

ROBERTS: So, I'll see you next week.

CHETRY: Have a wonderful time holding out the fort and thanks to all of you for watching. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Hi, there everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live right here on this Wednesday morning, December 19th. Here is what is on the rundown. A family goes in search of a Christmas tree. Now, their the object of the search. What happened to the Dominguez clan?

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