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American Morning

Iran Releases Tape of Navy Standoff; Sending More Troops to Afghanistan; Genetic Trigger for Autism; More Turns in the Presidential Race

Aired January 10, 2008 - 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: Those elections were rescheduled after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, two weeks ago -- Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: New tape of a standoff at sea between the U.S. Navy and armed Iran speedboats. And this time, it's coming from Iran's point of view. Iranian state television aired it just this morning in an attempt to show that things didn't get as heated as the U.S. Navy claims.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is watching this one for us. Because on the other tape we clearly heard, it seems to be some sort of threat saying that you were going to blow up any moment?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, its perhaps most interesting, Kiran, is apparently everybody out there in the Strait of Hormuz has a camera these days filming the incident that occurred in front of them. This was from the Iranian point of view. Broadcast on Iran's English language television. They released it just a little while ago.

The U.S. Navy says now they do believe it's an accurate tape, that it is the incident that occurred, but that the Iranians edited it to take out the part where the encounter actually occurred. Let's just watch and listen for a minute to part of what the Iranians showed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRGC CRAFT: Coalition warship 73, this is Iranian navy patrol boat requesting side number, present course, and speed.

U.S. NAVY SHIP: This is coalition warship 73. I am operating in international waters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: What you see there, of course, is just your standard -- you just see your standard hailing of ships back and forth in the Straits of Hormuz. The Iranians just at an idling position. They do have a camera, handy, to filming the whole thing. Warship 73, of course, being the "USS Port Royal," one of the three ships that was out there that day.

The Navy says that the encounter then happened after this. That these five Iranian speedboats began to maneuver aggressively, very provocatively and that they came close to having to shoot them out of the water before the Iranians finally turned away. Still, an awful lot of tension about all of this -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon with the latest developments. The Iranian side, as you said. Thanks.

ROBERTS: And at two minutes after the hour, a lot of other stories making headlines overnight. Our Alina Cho here now with the very latest developments.

Good morning, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, John, Kiran, good morning again and good morning, everybody.

We begin with the plan to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The Pentagon is getting ready to send 3,000 more marines anticipating an escalation of violence by the Taliban this spring. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the tour would be a one-time seven-month-long deployment starting in April. And that would boost U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to their highest point since the 2001 invasion, up to 30,000.

We're hearing from that former CIA agent who gave the order to destroy videotape that showed the interrogation of terror suspects. His name is Jose Rodriguez. He now says he will not testify without immunity. He was supposed to be questioned in Washington next Wednesday. Rodriguez ran the CIA's undercover service back in 2005. He ordered the destruction of tape showing a terrorist suspect being water boarded, where he's made to feel like he's drowning. Critics have called that a form of torture.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has a new job. Blair would be an adviser on world, political, and strategic issues for the Wall Street Bank JPMorgan Chase. His annual salary could be worth up to a million bucks. Blair left office in June after a decade as prime minister.

And stay tuned, because we're about to show you the world's cheapest car. Take a look. The cost, just $2,500. Today, the Indian auto maker Tata Motors unveiled the car, which is called the Nano. It looks like the smart car. It makes car ownership affordable for millions of people but some say the Nano will make India's already crowded and polluted streets even worse. The company's chairman says the car will not be a polluter and will meet safety standards.

So the basic model, Kiran. No air conditioning, no radio, no power steering or power windows, but $2,500. It's only available in India right now. But, anyway.

CHETRY: All right. It will. How about it? I guess you'll have to upgrade if you want to hear the radio or stay cool?

CHO: That's right. There are upgraded models.

CHETRY: How about that? Alina, great to see you. Thank you.

CHO: You bet.

CHETRY: Well, researchers have found what could be a genetic trigger for autism and it can apparently increase the risk 100-fold. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the medical update desk. It comes at a very interesting time.

Just yesterday, we are talking about how, even though they had removed a mercury derivative from vaccines for children in California, they were still seeing autism rates on the rise. What can you tell us about this new study?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's exciting to be able to report this study, Kiran. This may be some of the strongest evidence to date looking specifically, binding a genetic component for autism. Very interesting.

What researchers and this is published in the "New England Journal of Medicine," what researchers did was look at about 1,400 children with autism, who fell on the spectrum. Many of their parents as well, and a lots of controlled people, people who do not have autism, about 19,000, they tried to figure out what are the genetic differences that are here, and something started to emerge, Kiran, as they started looking at this, specifically with regard to chromosome 16, as you see up there.

They are calling it a hot spot. There may be many more of these hot spots, but what they are looking for specifically were duplications or missing parts of DNA. And what they found was that if you had those missing parts of DNA or those duplications, as you said, it raised your risk of developing autism by 100 fold.

Now, that's something you just mentioned. And what's found in just 1 percent overall of autism cases, that's an important point. Just 1%, but you know, the prediction of about one million children with autism in the United States, we're still talking about very large numbers here. So a possible real genetic sort of basis for autism. This certainly not the whole story here by any means, but some evidence to that extent, nonetheless -- Kiran?

CHETRY: It raises similar questions that people ask about being able to identify the breast cancer gene. As you said, it really still shows up in only a small number of people who get it. Do you open up the door to false concerns and worries?

GUPTA: Well, you know what I think this says is that there's more evidence than ever before that there is some genetic component to them. This is not certainly all environmental. I think there was a lot of belief that that was already the case, but now you have some science to back that up. But I think what this says is, you know, more work needs to be done still.

This is only one percent of the cases. What's accounting for the other 99 percent of cases? Are there other genetic hot spots, so to speak, that they can find that are going to give people better sense, a better screening test, better idea of who is and who is not going to develop autism?

I should also point out, as I mentioned, Kiran, that the parents were also screened as part of this. And what they found as well, it did appeared to be inherited in some cases. For the most part, it seemed to be a random event, developing these problems on chromosome 16. So it does not appear to be directly inherited from parent to child.

CHETRY: Are there any other theories as we talk about autism and is it something that is of huge concern to many parents, what else may cause it?

GUPTA: It was sure, you know, and as you mentioned, we talked about the vaccines yesterday and the thimerosal and obviously that weakened the idea that thimerosal would cause autism. There is obviously still a lot of concerns by some people about vaccines. Most of the scientific community thinks vaccines are perfectly safe, but there is a lot of, I think, evidence or movement about this idea that you may be born with a potential to develop autism.

But in something environmental sort of triggers it and trying to piece that together is, you know, a lot of people, Kiran, we talk to people all over the country were thinking about that, trying to figure out exactly what is happening.

CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thanks for the info on this study. We'll be watching it.

GUPTA: All right.

ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour now. More turns in the presidential race. The candidate with perhaps the most foreign policy experience, Governor Bill Richardson, may be calling it quits. The politician with the most money of all, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, may be jumping in. What's going on here? Joining me now, senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

And so we learned last night that it's not really an official exploratory committee that Bloomberg is launching but he's certainly testing the waters out there to see what might happen. Do you think he'll jump in?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he's spending a lot of money. He has a lot of money on research to see if there's an opening there for a candidate of the center, which is the way he fashions himself. And he's going to look and see -- it is market research, it's what it is. There is a market for that. I can tell him, free. There's a market for someone who can bring the left and the right together, Democrats and Republicans, and form a workable governing coalition. But it's going to be there only if the parties nominate candidates who can't reach to the center.

If the Democrats nominate Barack Obama, who has a lot of appeal to Republicans and Republicans nominate say John McCain, who has in the past had appealed to Democrats, there's not going to be a room for Michael Bloomberg and he probably should hang it up. ROBERTS: I was reading the results of a Quinnipiac College poll that could hear in New York. It said 52 percent of people in New York think that Bloomberg would make a good president, but only 34 percent said that they would vote for him. So he's got an uphill challenge if he plans to run for president.

SCHNEIDER: And that's here in New York, isn't it? Yes. So, yes, they think he make a good president. He's successful mayor. He's widely admired. But when you ask people how they're going to vote, most people vote their party. They're going to be angry and upset and open to Bloomberg if their party's nominating people who can't reach across the spectrum. That's what he has to figure out and he's waiting until after February 5th for a good reason. He has to find out whom the parties are going to nominate? Is there room for him in this race?

ROBERTS: Bill Richardson expected to drop out in an announcement later today. There in Santa Fe. How does his departure affect the race? Where might his supporters go?

SCHNEIDER: Well, there weren't many. He came in fourth in Iowa and New Hampshire. He is the only Latino candidate in the race. And Latinos - everything I've seen suggests that they're inclined to vote for Hillary Clinton, although all of those polls were taken before Barack Obama won in Iowa. So at this point, we don't know.

Heavily Hispanic union, the Culinary Worker's in Nevada is endorsing Obama. So we're not sure. He has a long foreign policy resume, like Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. He was running on his experience. But that doesn't seem to count so much in this election. They're all out.

ROBERTS: And on Tuesday, we see the contest. It's significant for Republican, not Democrats, because the Democratic National Committee has excluded Michigan basically because they went before February the 5th. This is shaping up to be a real do or die situation for Mitt Romney. He was born there. His father was the governor. If he doesn't win is he toast?

SCHNEIDER: I think he's going to have to do some serious reassessment of whether his campaign is viable. He's pulled his ads out of South Carolina. He is -- he seems to be betting everything on the win in Michigan. He really does have to win in Michigan. Michigan is a state with an open primary. They don't have party registration. Democrats who have no action on their side can vote if they want, in the Republican primary. That is how John McCain won the Michigan Primary in 2000, when he beat George Bush. He'd be in there because Democrats and independence voted in that primary and they can do it again.

ROBERTS: So if Democrats decide, hey, we've got nobody to vote for in this primary. Let's go play in the Republicans, they might break for McCain?

SCHNEIDER: They've done in the past. States with open primaries that rule makes a big difference. And another one is California. In California, independents can vote in the Democratic primaries. They can't vote in the Republican primary.

ROBERTS: So many things to make this race interesting. Bill Schneider, as always good to see you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

ROBERTS: Kiran?

CHETRY: All right. We're sounding the alarm this morning at four of the busiest airports in the country. Some new claims that may scare you this morning about just how safe you are in the sky and we're going to be talking to the head of the Air Traffic Controllers' Union just ahead.

We're also watching another morning of heavy fog and smoke in Central Florida with a heavy interstate -- a major interstate rather, still shut down because of that heavy fog. There you see the road closed. This is Interstate 4. Scene of a horrific, deadly crash yesterday. 70 cars piled up because of those conditions. We're going to a live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: And there is a live look right now at the air traffic tower. And you know, there are some real concerns this morning about the people in charge of keeping those safe and keeping the planes in the skies safe as well. An alarm being sounded by some air traffic controllers who say they're facing a "Staffing Emergency." Their union says experienced controllers are retiring too quickly. They say on that on a busy day, in a busy city, it could be a recipe for disaster.

Patrick Forrey, the president of the Air Traffic Controllers Association joins me now from Washington. Thanks so much for being with us.

PATRICK FORREY, PRESIDENT, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Pleasure to be here, Kiran.

CHETRY: Explain the staffing shortages that you're referring to?

FORREY: Well, in the last year we lost 1,600 controllers in the FAA and up to this point since October, we're going to near 500 controllers -- veteran controllers leaving the agency. We don't take this very lightly. We don't come out and say that we believe the system is increasingly becoming unsafe, but there's too many facts and figure, too many independent agencies that are looking at this and saying there's a serious problem out here.

CHETRY: So what are the problems when you talk about less experienced air traffic controllers? You would assume that if people were, you know, trained and able to do the job, that they could handle the situation even in a very busy city.

FORREY: First of all, it takes nearly three to five years to certify a controller from no knowledge and even limited knowledge to be a certified professional controller. It's not something you just learn overnight or just plug and play. That's a big problem. And we right now, just to give you an example, the four major areas I'm talking about in New York at JFK, there's 22 controllers there. 22 veteran controllers when there should be about 39. They've lost 40 percent of their work force since 2001 and they've increased traffic by 40 percent.

You have Californian -- Southern California that feeds Los Angeles, San Diego and many of those major airports out there. They've lost 40 percent of their work force in that radar facility and just yesterday, the Los Angeles City council passed a unanimous resolution that they need the FAA to get out there and put more experience controllers in those facilities and find a way to keep them there. They're leaving in droves. We're going to lose about 500 by the end of this month.

CHETRY: OK guys, I know the FAA is weighing in, and as far in your saying we wouldn't be operating air traffic facilities if we thought they were unsafe. Is there any element of sounding this alarm in order to try to get a better labor agreement? I know you guys are still in negotiations.

FORREY: Well, actually we're not in negotiations. The agency cut off negotiations over a year ago and imposed their work and payrolls essentially, which is what's driving controllers out of the FAA. There's absolutely no incentive to stay. The numbers are so short. These controllers don't want to be left holding the bag when disaster hits.

I mean, when you have the GAO stating that the controller ranks are so slow -- so low, that they're fatigued, and that there's going to be a serious accident on catastrophic runway accident in the near future, I think the FAA needs to stand up and quit saying, we have adequate staffing across the country.

I mean, they just came out yesterday, I think the administrator or yesterday, the day before saying that their goal is 8.8 deaths per 100 million operations. Well, I tell you what, I don't want to be one of those eight. I don't know about you.

CHETRY: Well, I hear what you're saying and in fact, the NTSB recommended that you guys try to work with the FAA in an effort to reduce this controller fatigue. You talk about the negotiations being cuts off at this point. So what is on the horizon for air traffic passengers?

FORREY: Well, I think on the horizon for air traffic passenger is that the agency is going to have to take some kind of action to ensure that the system stays safe. And right now, I don't believe it is in many of these major places. That could mean delays, that could mean restrictions, that could mean a whole lot of things but that's the agency's responsibility and they need to do something about it. They need to find a way to keep experienced veteran controllers leaving and having a labor agreement would be a good start.

CHETRY: All right, Patrick Forrey, thanks for your input today and thanks for giving us your point of view.

FORREY: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Speaking of tax man pay, you're "Quick Hits" now. The government's own taxpayer advocate says victims of IRS mistakes should get a so called apology refund of up to $1,000. On of those mistakes, more than a million people missed out on tax breaks from rule changes that hit at the end of the year. The IRS has not said if it will follow her recommendations.

A new governments report says the coast guard is stretched too thin to protect oil and gas tankers from terrorism and also says ports cannot respond quickly to an attack, because they don't have the money for equipment or trained workers. More than half of the U.S. Crude oil and gasoline comes in through tankers.

And a parrot at a Massachusetts pet store being hailed as hero this morning, coming up. We'll tell you how this bird managed to scare off a couple of crooks.

And feel like you're paying more for the milk and eggs that you're eating this morning? We're doing the math for you and showing you why it might be harder to balance that family budget this year. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, a parrot in a Massachusetts pet store saves the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARROT: Hello?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Hello? Well, police say this Blue and Gold Macaw named Mallen (ph) managed to scare off some thieves who broke into the store. The bird was on the back and when he heard people coming in, he started yelling, Rhonda, Rhonda.

ROBERTS: Maybe he was yelling, help, Rhonda.

CHETRY: The robbers thought it was a person, because he can imitate the actual voice to perfection. This bird -- they don't just talk. They talk in human voices, and anyway, so the robbers ran. They got away with a few coins. The owner of the pet store says Rhonda was Mallen's previous caretaker. How about that? Congrats to the bird. Extra seeds all around.

Well, our hot shot this morning and this one is just so cute. That we have to say move over new, to the other polar bear. Because look at this new one. This is a Germany's new polar bear, still in the spotlight. He's a new born. Just four weeks old now. He can't even open his eyes yet. Zookeepers say the cub isn't fully developed, so they can't tell if it's a boy or a girl. Obviously, the birth took a lot out of him. He's been sleeping a lot. They say he is just under four pounds, feeding at high-fat milk every four hours and the cub is so cute. There is he is having a dream he's swimming. He's practicing already.

ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE), some people call it such old news now, right?

CHETRY: How adorable. Wait, just for one second. Let's just show him drinking at the bottle. He is so adorable. Well, they don't know it's a boy or girl.

ROBERTS: That's the cutest shot ever.

CHETRY: How about it? Well, if you've got a hot shot, send it to us. The address is amshotshot@cnn.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from, a little about the picture or video. At least make sure the image is yours and not someone else's.

ROBERTS: Love to tape those bears. They are just the cutest things.

CHETRY: And then they grow into enormous, ferocious animals.

ROBERTS: You probably already know that you're paying more for almost everything. But you might be surprised just how much in the last couple of years.

CHETRY: Yes. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis has been crunching the numbers that are crushing your family budget.

ROBERTS: So the question is, how much of a hit is the family budget really taking?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you're not dreaming. You're really are under pressure with your money. Let's take a look at some of those numbers. This is a little different than you might expect. For example, these numbers, they describe the increases in prices, as you experience them. Look at transportation, up 23 percent. That's the cost of a new car, partly it's also oil. There's a lot of things rolled into this number. It's really your transportation budget.

Another big category here, health care. It includes your visits to the doctor, includes hospital stays. So it's really measuring a lot of things you might experience during the year. Transportation as well. We just talked about housing. Look at housing. Now, this isn't the cost of new houses, because that would be up some 50 percent over the last five years. Instead it's rent. What it cost you to live in a house. The cost of insurance. So all told, your total is up about 16 percent, which isn't nothing.

ROBERTS: Over the course of five years, that's about a 3 percent per year?

WILLIS: Yes. It's not too bad and would be nice if your income was keeping up with that. But it's not really. It hasn't grown as much. As a matter of fact, it's only up 9 percent over this four-year period. We don't have final numbers in yet. They take a while to report in, but you got think if it's up 7 and 9, even 10 percent, it's just not keeping pace. You know, we're having trouble making our budgets and it makes a lot of sense.

CHETRY: What about some of the foods that we buy everyday. What should the average of the foods, that when you break down where things are getting costly?

WILLIS: Well you know, when you go to the grocery store, you think, holy cow, what's going on there? Those eggs are expensive. 77 percent higher than they were five years ago. It's unbelievable. Milk up 43 percent. Beef up 33 percent. You know, your bill is just going up, up, up. You're not losing your mind. In fact, it is more expensive, and of course, we also want to talk a little about energy, if we could.

Kilowatt hours up 33 percent. Gas -- it's up a lot. 111 percent. Look that. You knew that was coming because we talk a lot about it all the time. And the big underline, the big story here is that your income isn't keeping pace with these increased costs.

ROBERTS: Not good news. And you seem to be shedding a tear over as well.

WILLIS: I know. My eyes are watering today. It's allergies or maybe was that story about the parrot.

CHETRY: She started crying up. Miracle but when you teach them to talk, they'll say it at the most inopportune time as our family learn that hardly too.

ROBERTS: Exactly. Don't forget. We're going to be talking more about this on "OPEN HOUSE," right?

WILLIS: We will.

ROBERTS: Saturdays 9:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. And then Saturday and Sunday afternoons it's at 3:30 p.m. on "HEADLINE NEWS." Gerri, thanks very much.

WILLIS: Thanks for the Kleenex.

ROBERTS: You bet, welcome.

It's Thursday and that means that Sanjay is answering your questions including a potential new secret to a longer life. How about a beer after a run? Sound good? Might be just the ticket. Sanjay's mailbag straight ahead.

And heavy fog and smoke up letting up in Central Florida keeping a major interstate closed this morning. Latest pictures and a live report coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Welcome back to CNN. It's Thursday, the 10th of January. Breaking news this morning. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

The latest out of Pakistan right now. We're following the news of a major terror attack that took place there. Pictures taken just moments after a suicide bomber in Lahore killed at least 23 people. Most of them police officers. Nearly 60 people were injured, and dozens of officers were manning a barricade outside of a court building preparing for an anti-government rally when that explosion went off. Police say the bomber ran up to them, blew himself up.

No claim of responsibility yet, but a wave of terror attacks taking place against politicians and security forces has been sweeping Pakistan ahead of the February 18th elections. The parliamentary elections are rescheduled after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto two weeks ago.

ROBERTS: Stay tuned. President Bush's Mideast trip. He's made this first visit to the Palestinian territories. New video of him touring the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today. The traditional site of the birth of Christ.

Earlier, he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and predicted that Israelis and Palestinians would reach a peace agreement before he leaves the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order for there to be lasting peace, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert has to come together. And make tough choices. And I'm convinced that they will. And I believe it's possible, not only possible, I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office. That's what I believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Optimistic pronouncement. President Bush says he is pushing both sides to make some tough choices in order to come up with a peace treaty.

New this morning, because of lagging support from allies, 3,000 more marines could be on their way to Afghanistan soon. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering sending the troops to deal with the Taliban's expected string offensive. The Pentagon spent months asking NATO allies to send their troops but they refused. If they get the green light, the marines tour would be a single seven month long deployment that will begin in April.

And some exciting news today. A potential breakthrough in Alzheimer's treatment. Doctors may have found a way to reverse symptoms within minutes. Here's how it works. Doctors say Alzheimer's patients have too much of a certain protein in the brain. Something called tumor necrosis factor. So, they are injecting a molecule that can neutralize that protein. It's actually a drug that's used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Almost immediately, patients appear to think more clearly.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta says it's a small study so far, but if it continues to go well, those treatments could be available within a few years' time -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Very exciting news for sure.

We're looking at pea soup thick fog in central Florida this morning. This shot coming to us from Polk City, Florida, from WKMG. A dense fog advisory up right now. Warning drivers of the dangerous conditions, and we saw firsthand just how dangerous those conditions can be. A major stretch of interstate 4 closed after four people were killed in a 70-car pileup near Lakeland, Florida. There's a look at some of the aftermath.

Big rigs, cars all involved in this and there are questions now about how it happened. Well, smoke from a brush fire that got out of control was mixed with heavy fog at the time. CNN's John Zarrella is live in Polk City, Florida, this morning looking more into the investigation for us today.

Hi, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.

We're going to tell you a little good news, at least the fog is beginning to lift just a little bit. The sun is beginning to burn through. And we can actually see the interstate 4 sign behind us there. We still can't see the highway, though.

Now at one point this morning, visibility was reported by the sheriff's office here in Polk County as down to one foot in places. Three feet in other places, but, again, finally beginning to lift, but interstate 4 remains closed today, and joining me, Sheriff Grady Judd, Polk Country. Sheriff, thanks so much for being with us. And any idea when you expect this highway will be reopened?

SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: No. Actually, crews worked until 3:00 this morning, when they had to stop, because the fog was so thick, they couldn't see on the interstate to work. So they will resume work as soon as they can see again, and then from that point it depends on how long it takes them to fix the road and then D.O.T., to approve the travel on the road. We certainly want to open the interstate as soon as possible, but at this time, please, stay away. There is no way to travel interstate 4 right now.

ZARRELLA: I wanted to ask you, what's the message you want to get it out there? There are lots of tourists that come through this area and clearly they don't know the roads as well as the locals do.

JUDD: U.S. 92 runs east and west, south, of where we are. Also highway 60 at the south end of the county. What's most important is to understand, please don't even try to come here. We've got not only the interstate but feeder roads blocked off as well. There are probably 30 or 40 deputies and highway patrol officers right now doing that. But it's important to understand that safety is the first priority, and right now, people are safe here.

ZARRELLA: Sheriff, thank you so very much for taking some time out to talk with us this morning.

And again, as you heard, the sheriff, Kiran, saying please, if you can avoid this area, still no idea, the sheriff said, as to when interstate 4 is going to reopen, and the investigation into what caused the accident is still under way, and probably will take some time to sort everything out -- Kiran.

CHETRY: You can still see how thick it is. There's a car over your left shoulder but you can barely make out in the background because of that fog and smoke.

ZARRELLA: And we may well have this fog come back again tomorrow, and the sheriff is saying they are going to err on the side of caution. And if they have these conditions again tomorrow, even if the road reopens against later today it is quite possible they'll be forced to shut it down once more -- Kiran.

CHETRY: John Zarrella for us, thank you -- John.

ROBERTS: South Carolina is shaping up to be a crucial battleground say that could make or break a number of presidential campaigns. Mark Halperin is the senior political analyst at "Time" magazine and author also of the "Undecided voters guide to the next president" and he joins me now from Charleston.

And Mark, all eyes will be on what happens between John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney here, particularly between Huckabee and McCain. It was the end of the road for McCain back in the year 2000. How might he do coming off his win there in New Hampshire this time around?

MARK HALPERIN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, "TIME MAGAZINE": I think he is pretty well positioned here. Remember, not that long ago when he was the national front-runner, he was also strong here. He's got a lot of that Bush support. He could become what Bush was in 2000, the establishment candidate. Historically, in South Carolina, the republican primary, two things have been true, the establishment candidate has won the primary and the winner of this primary has been the republican nominee. So, this is as you said, really big.

ROBERTS: In fact, John McCain seems to be wrapping himself in President Bush. Let's take a quick listen to what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm also proud of this president, because despite having the prediction of every expert out there after 9/11 that we would have an attack on the United States of America, we haven't. And why don't we give the President of the United States a little credit for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: As you said, Mark, McCain trying to peel off the Bush vote there, but there is also a huge evangelical population in South Carolina. Might that play in the Mike Huckabee's favor?

HALPERIN: Well, there's no question. And one of John McCain's best friends in that case is someone that you didn't mention before, Fred Thompson. Again, not so long ago, Fred Thompson was seen as a big player in this nomination fight. He is putting everything on South Carolina. And one of the advantages McCain has, he'll have to come out of Michigan, and we'll see how he does there, but one of the advantages he has here, is that Thompson is working very hard for that evangelical vote along with Huckabee that could give McCain the chance he needs.

ROBERTS: And on the democratic side of the fence there, it would appear that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are going to be playing against each other for the votes of African-American women. Who is best positioned to try to attract those voters? Is it Barack Obama? Because of his background? Or is it Hillary Clinton because of her win in New Hampshire?

HARPERIN: Well, and of course, also because of her gender and also because the Clintons have always done very well, been very popular with African-Americans. Again, just like with the republicans, we got Michigan coming up. The Democrats have a contest in Nevada before they come here. I think that may well set the table for south Carolina.

Their primary here, a little bit later, but the black woman vote is going to be hugely important. Obama's having a rally here in Charleston today. Clinton will be here many times as well. They're going to have to work really hard. That contest also will be really important. South Carolina is going to be first in the south and in some ways, they may end up more important than Iowa and New Hampshire.

ROBERTS: And just back to Nevada for a second. Yesterday, Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of the Culinary Workers' Union, which is a huge union there. Might that be enough to push him over the top in the silver state?

HALPERIN: Well, he's got that union, very important. Clinton has a lot of establishment support from office holders and from local elected officials. A lot of the flight there is going to be over what it was in Iowa and New Hampshire as well, though. How well does Clinton do with women? How well does Obama do with men? How well does Clinton do with down-scale voters, low-income Americans where she has been better? How well does Obama do in that state? Low-income voters are a big part of the electorate.

ROBERTS: So many questions and it's going to take us a better part of another month to get the answers to all of that. Mark Halperin for us this morning in Charleston, South Carolina. Mark, good to see you. Thanks. Kiran.

HALPERIN: Great to see you, John. CHETRY: I've been following a strange story out of New York that sounds something more like out of the "Weekend at Bernie's" movie. Friends using their dead roommate's body to cash his checks. A story you won't believe until you heard more details, just ahead.

Also, the secret to a longer life and maybe you don't have to give up the fun. Sanjay is opening up the mailbag straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: 18 minutes now to the top of the hour. Retail numbers for the month of December are coming in and it's not looking very good. Ali Velshi is the business update desk with more for us this morning. How bad was it, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not happy to say this, but this is what we all thought would happen. It looks like it may have been the worst holiday shopping season in five years, despite that nonsense people were talking about how it is stronger than expected. The only reason the sale was even remotely strong was because of gasoline.

Look at these numbers, there are only two major retailers that enjoyed gains so far. The numbers are still coming in. Cosco got 5 percent. That's versus all the same stores that were open a year earlier. Cosco had a 5 percent increase. Wal-mart had 2.4 percent which possibly says that people were downsizing. They were going into discount retailers in many cases.

Take a look at the losses. And there's way more then I even have space to put on TV. Nordstrom down 4 percent. The Gap down 6 percent. Limited Brands down 8 percent. There a few more that have just come in. Target down 5 percent. JCPenney 7.5 percent. Kohl's down 11.4 percent.

So we are looking at a much rougher December than we thought. You combine that with the other information that we've been getting in and it just adds fuel to that whole fire of the fact that this economy is slowing down. I'm not trying to talk it down, John, but that's the reality. People shopped less in December. We thought that was coming and that's exactly what happened.

ROBERTS: So, what is to say going forward about this idea of the United States slipping into recession?

VELSHI: Well, you know, a recession is very much a state of mind. If people are worried about their jobs and they hear people talking about recession, they might become a little more cautious with their money. That can be very bad for the economy. On the other hand, Americans spend more than they earn. They take more credit than perhaps they should. So the fed might reduce interest rates at the end of the month, and it's going to make it easier for people to borrow money so that they can keep on spending.

We're in a rough period. There's no question. What it does mean is you might see lots of sales coming up in the course of January because a lot of stores like The Gap said they just couldn't move their inventory out over the holidays.

ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us this morning with a little more depressing news about the economy. Ali, thanks -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, Dr. Phil had been criticized publicly for talking - being criticized for talking publicly about the hospital visit he paid to Britney Spears. She was admitted a week ago today after a custody dispute with her husband. Dr. Phil invited her family, not by Britney herself, though, and then he later talked publicly about it saying that he felt Britney needed psychological help.

Well, now a Spears family spokesman says Dr. Phil was "not invited to make this part of a public display." AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, joins us now.

I don't know if it's legal or perhaps ethical issues, but in terms of what Dr. Phil did, did he do anything wrong?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Well, you know, he is not a licensed psychologist anymore. He certainly got a Ph.D. in Psychology and so he is a doctor, so he is a Dr. Phil.

But apparently since he's not licensed, there really is no recourse. What do you do? You can't revoke his license to practice. He really is just not monitored, not regulated. There really isn't anything legally you can do. You can civilly sue him. There wasn't anything criminal. In terms of ethics, we know that he's on sort of this Texas state board of examiners, board disciplinary sanctions list at least as of August 2007. His license, all of these things that need to be done.

CHETRY: You got your hands on this, interesting.

HOSTIN: I did.

CHETRY: What was the infraction?

HOSTIN: Well, apparently 12 months after, apparently, a young female patient filed a formal complaint against him, and he was found to have violated the code of ethics, and also he was charged with sort of having this relationship in order to regain his license, he would have to have his practice supervised for one year. He would have to complete a professional ethics course, and he would also have to have a physical and psychological evaluation.

CHETRY: Not a licensed psychologist?

HOSTIN: That's correct.

CHETRY: But you're saying because of that, there also is no legal recourse?

HOSTIN: No.

CHETRY: If anything was amiss?

HOSTIN: No ethical recourse. Even as a lawyer, you know, you can be disbarred. And that's sort of the hammer for a lawyer. And you can be sanctioned and publicly reprimanded. Same thing for a doctor. Same thing for a psychologist. Those sort of constraints are not there for him right now.

CHETRY: Another interesting thing having to do with this whole situation is that at least one Web site that follows Britney's every move, TMZ, reporting that her family members may be trying to get her either voluntary or involuntary mental health help. How do you do it involuntarily if the patient won't go when they're of age?

HOSTIN: I have to tell you that it's extremely difficult. And I was also reading the TMZ report. At least in California it's difficult, and it's difficult everywhere else. In order to get someone involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, you have to show that they're a danger to themselves or others, and by all accounts, that has not been determined yet. What's interesting, Kiran, is that we do have this custody battle.

So, there is sort of a court overseeing this. I think it's probably, if she is bipolar, as TMZ is reporting, now would be the time to try to do that. However, we know that she was evaluated for 72 hours, and apparently she was released. So at least as of recently, she was not found to be sick enough, or to meet that standard, to be committed involuntarily. The best case scenario is for her to agree to get treatment.

CHETRY: Of course, always.

Another interesting story out of New York that made headlines. Two New Yorkers wheeling the dead body of their roommate actually down several blocks in an office chair to a check cashing store, in an attempt to cash his social security check. I mean, right out of "Weekend at Bernie's," of course, that famous movie where people did the exact same thing but with the person who owned this summer home they were at.

HOSTIN: I love this story. So shocked when I heard it. The bottom line, the check was about $300. They've been arrested, but I called friends, their lawyers. I spoke to one of my colleagues, that is a former Manhattan D.A., it is not a crime to do what they did. I've been looking all over the New York C Criminal Code.

CHETRY: It's not a crime to try to cash somebody else's security check.

HOSTIN: Apparently, it's not a crime to walk around with that dead body. You would think it would be a crime.

CHETRY: You would think it would be like a desecration of a corpse or something like that. They're saying they dressed him up, wheeled him down the street. It has nothing to do, apparently he died of natural causes. Sadly, because it had nothing to do with his actual death they can wheel him up and down a street? HOSTIN: They can. Viewers, please don't go around doing this. The bottom line is I could not find any criminal law that prevents it, someone from doing that.

ROBERTS: It's never a good Irish wake, really, unless you've got the body with you. Right.

HOSTIN: You know?

CHETRY: All right. Well, as you said, they did nothing wrong in that ...

HOSTIN: They can be charged with petty larceny and some other charges as well, but certainly not the wheeling of the body around.

ROBERTS: Unbelievable.

HOSTIN: Very creative.

ROBERTS: Thanks very much.

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John. That's right. New terror attack on the NEWSROOM rundown today.

Dozens of people killed or wounded by a suicide bomber in Pakistan. Is it the work of Al Qaeda? We'll talk about that.

And a stretch of Florida's interstate 4 still closed this morning. 70 cars and trucks crashed in heavy fog and smoke. We'll have the very latest.

And a pregnant marine missing from camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Maria Lauterbach, vanished before she could testify in the criminal case. All the latest moves and the presidential politics, of course, in the NEWSROOM, top of the hour on CNN -- John.

ROBERTS: Heidi, thanks very much. We'll see you soon.

It's Thursday, and that means Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with his mailbag including what could be the answer to a longer life? He's going to surprise you. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, at eight minutes until the top of the hour it is time to answer your medical questions once again.

CHETRY: And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as he does every Thursday, reaching into his mailbag. Are you ready, Sanjay?

GUPTA: I'm ready.

CHETRY: Let's get you started. This first question come to us from Nancy in Idaho. She says that my daughter's, my employer's daughter has a severe allergy to latex. Is there anything that she can do?

GUPTA: Nancy, you're so nice to write in about your employer's daughter. How kind is that? Well, latex allergies can actually be tough. In fact, in hospitals if someone has a latex allergy sometimes they have to be in different room, sometimes they have to have special carts, equipment, so it can be difficult. Avoidance is really the biggest key when it comes to latex allergies, in particular.

Also, something else for your employer's daughter to keep in mind is that the same thing that sort of causes the allergic reaction from latex can also be present in avocados and sometimes bananas. So, there are certain foods that are bothering you as well, you might want to get those investigated, to make sure you're not sort of getting cross-allergic reactions.

ROBERTS: Our next question, Sanjay, comes from Hilton in Florida. Recently I donated blood and was sent an analysis result saying something might be wrong with my liver. What should or shouldn't I be doing? I assume first of all you have to find out what the underlying disease might be?

GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. You know, as you know, John, and Hilton, they do check your blood obviously when you do donations for all sorts of different things. So, I don't know specifically what the concern was here, but could it be an infectious agent, such as hepatitis that might be a problem or just a liver function test somewhat elevated? Those can easily be checked out by going to your doctor.

Look, there are all kinds of medications out there that can sometimes increase your likelihood that your liver to have some problems, to not work it as well. Even things like Tylenol in doses that are too high can be problematic. Drinking alcohol, we know, can affect your liver, even being overweight sometimes causes something known as fatty liver. What should you be doing? Go to your doctor and get it checked out. It's worth it.

CHETRY: All right, let's ask one more question. We got Ron in St. Petersburg, Our final question today, wants to know is there any optimal exercise for longevity?

GUPTA: Ah, Ron is trying to live forever, chasing life, like so many people. He's chasing life. You know, you're go going to get a lot of different responses on this but for the purposes of longevity, 30 minutes a day, five days as week is a good exercise routine. If you try to lose weight, 45 minutes a day. Seems to be better.

There was an interesting study as well that just came out yesterday that's worth talking about, and that is that doing exercise in regular amounts, and adding moderate amounts of alcohol is actually a pretty good prescription for longevity they find. Moderate alcohol, about a drink a day for women and about a drink or two per day for men and, John, I know you like to exercise every day so maybe a beer or two afterwards will keep you around for a long time. ROBERTS: Yes, you know, particularly when you're bicycling. You don't want to do it before you exercise.

GUPTA: You've already fallen once. Don't want to do it again.

ROBERTS: No, thanks.

CHETRY: That's all you need. One beer to put you over the edge.

ROBERTS: It's a nice reward at end of the day, though. Sanjay, thanks very much. See you again next week with the mailbag.

CHETRY: Thanks, Sanjay.

Here's a quick look at what the NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM -- suicide attack in Pakistan. Dozens of casualties.

President Bush on his first trip to the west bank predicts a peace treaty.

The U.S. may boost troop levels in Afghanistan.

In Florida, fog and smoke keep a stretch of interstate closed after a 70-car pileup.

And a pregnant marine, missing in North Carolina.

NEWSROOM, just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Just about a minute left before the top of the hour. And some new video coming in to us here at AMERICAN MORNING. you can see that huge fire there. What's going on? It's in Detroit. A tanker truck fell off of what looks like that off-ramp there. Part of interstate 75 in the southwestern part of the city. It landed on a home, and exploded. Obviously, that whole area there on fire. No word yet of any injuries. Both directions of i-75 closed right now. Stay with CNN NEWSROOM for the latest on this breaking story out of Detroit.

CHETRY: That's terrible. Well, a final check before we leave you, this morning's Quick Vote question, we ask would New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have a realistic shot at winning a third party, as a third party presidential candidates? We asked this question because of an exploratory situations happening, taking some poles in states to see if he'd be viable. 30 percent of you saying yes, 70 percent saying no. So, all of you who voted this morning, thanks so much.

ROBERTS: America probably perhaps not ready yet for an independent candidacy that would actually win the White House.

CHETRY: Very interesting. We want to say thanks so much for joining us here on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you and be back here again tomorrow.

ROBERTS: 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 to everybody.

Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday morning. Here's what's on the rundown: new terror in Pakistan, a suicide bomber leaves dozens dead or wounded outside the courthouse.

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