Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Rep. Oberstar Says FAA Lacks Oversight; Bush Presses NATO to Send More Troops to Afghanistan; Proper Way of Wearing Seatbelts to Protect Fetus
Aired April 02, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: No retreat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is about the next generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Hillary Clinton stands her ground, but Obama picks up another high-profile endorsement overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's what this election is about. Giving you a voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: High risk, a suspicious passenger and a bomb scare as the safety watchdog smashes the FAA.
And plain truth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the higher you are, the more catastrophic it would be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A pilot pulls the trigger. A door flies off on takeoff. Why air travel may be safer than you think on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And despite all those problems, this aircraft is still pretty resilient.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, and that's the good news. And we do have some concerns as it pertains to the airline industry, though we begin with the focus on safety in the skies.
United Airlines now telling customers to be prepared for delays, even cancellations this morning, because it is making more safety inspections on its Boeing 777. United saying that a review of its records revealed inspections were missed on part of the fire suppression system in the cargo area.
Now, all of this is as a result of a top U.S. lawmaker calling out the airlines as well as the FAA for relaxed safety enforcement, Congressman James Oberstar. He heads the committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and says that we're in the midst of the most serious lapse in aviation safety that he has seen in the past 23 years. FAA officials are expected to speak out in just hours.
And our Drew Griffin of CNN Special Investigations Unit has been following all of this and joins us now with more. Hey, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, really this news breaking overnight with United, kind of enforces what Congressman Oberstar has been saying. That these maintenance checks have been lax. He pointed that out with his committee's investigation in the Southwest Airlines thing.
But let's take a look at United. The 777 overnight, United announces it needs to go back and inspect all 52 in its fleet. The company said these checks related to compliance. United will not operate these aircraft until the tests are complete. United will conduct a check on all 52 of its 777 aircraft in the company's fleet.
What's going on here is this company has reviewed the maintenance records and found out that it did miss a check. Missed a check that Congressman Oberstar would most likely say should have been spotted by the FAA inspectors who oversee the airline industry, Kiran.
CHETRY: And that's one of the things that he's talking about, or that they want to hear from the FAA about -- a little bit later today that perhaps there are these charges that they're too cozy of a relationship with the airlines and that may have been a little bit lazy when it comes to making sure that these are followed through?
GRIFFIN: Yes. And if you look at what's been happening in the last couple of weeks, it's all because of Congressman Oberstar announcing that he is going to have this big hearing, which is actually tomorrow in Washington, D.C. So the FAA is trying to get proactive saying look, as soon as we heard about the Southwest issue where an FAA inspecting supervisor now allowed the airline to kind of relax its inspection schedule. The FAA sent out notice to the airlines, inspectors, it wants crackdowns.
So we've seen United, Delta, American doing these surprise inspections that have led to a lot of disruptions. Congressman Oberstar says par for the course. Take a listen to what he said yesterday about what he fears is happening between the FAA, the regulatory agency, and the airline industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES OBERSTAR, CHMN. HOUSE CMTE. ON TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE: My observation was that complacency has set in at the highest levels of FAA management. That this reflects pendulum swing away from vigorous enforcement of compliance toward a carrier favorable, cozy conduct at the FAA. (END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: The FAA doesn't agree with that, of course. They'll have a news conference later today. Bring out the brass and they'll tell us that they have found very high compliance rates in their inspections.
But, you know, Kiran, the bottom line is this is really a headache at the beginning of the spring break, summer travel season as these airlines now have go back and do the checks that they should have been doing all along.
CHETRY: All right. We'll hear what they say today. Thanks a lot, Drew.
GRIFFIN: You bet.
ROBERTS: Well, some frightening moments at Orlando's International Airport. The FBI arrested a passenger who was carrying materials in his luggage that could have been used for an explosive device. Security agents say they saw Kevin brown acting strange as he was getting ready to board a flight to Jamaica. They found galvanized pipes, end caps, BBs, batteries and unidentified liquid, and bomb- making literature in his luggage. The Feds say there was no security threat to the public, though. Brown is scheduled to appear in federal court in Florida later on today.
And the airline Pilots union says federal rules may be increasing the risk of guns accidentally firing in the cockpit. Officials say it may have contributed to an incident last month onboard a U.S. Airways flight when a pilot's gun accidentally went off. The law passed in 2002 prohibits armed pilots from carrying guns outside the cockpit without a trigger lock. So pilots are often attaching or removing the locks during flights which could potentially lead to an accidental discharge.
But how can a plane keep flying with a bullet hole in its skin? Our Miles O'Brien is investigating that and shows us coming up in just a few minutes' time.
Meantime, Alina Cho here right now with other stories new this morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning. The end of a political era after 11 years as Ireland's prime minister. Bertie Ahern announced this morning he will step down on May 6th. His resignation will follow a previously planned visit to the United States. Ahern, whose popularity has fallen to a new low, has been under growing pressure to explain a number of cash payments he received from developers dating back to the early 1990s.
Well, when the space shuttle program wraps up in the year 2010, so, too, will the jobs of thousands of workers. NASA says more than 8,000 contractor positions could be eliminated when the shuttle missions are scrapped. The biggest cuts may be at the Kennedy Space Center where up to 80 percent of workers could be sent home. NASA says the number could change depending on who wins the White House in November.
A glitch apparently has wiped out all the grades at three high schools and a middle school in Evansville, Indiana. Can you believe that? It's good news for some students.
The city says five weeks of grades disappeared over spring break. Why? A rare combination of hardware problems and backup settings, we're told. Fresh start for some kids who were close to failing. But if you have a -- my kid is an honor student bumper sticker, probably not too happy this morning.
And everybody freeze. That's what happened in Beijing, Brussels and other cities around the world as hundreds gathered to stop whatever they were doing. Got to look closely at this video.
The so-called flash mobs gather on busy streets. They do a bit of that. Kiss, freeze, in time for a couple of minutes, and freak people out. You know, as we were saying earlier, guys, really what's interesting is not so much -- that's really interesting but it's really the reactions of the people who were walking by there.
ROBERTS: And we would play those for you with the exception that they're in Chinese for the most part. And so, something might be lost in translation.
CHO: Yes, exactly. But, yes, really incredible crowds of people doing it. And we were talking about this earlier as well. They did it at Grand Central Station a couple of month back, and it really got a lot of attention on YouTube. But really incredible. You can sit around and look at this all day.
CHETRY: Right. That's the only way. You can get someone's attention at Grand Central...
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: ... is to stop moving.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: Most of time you are just rushing around. Exactly. Thanks, Alina.
CHETRY: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, the "Most Politics in the Morning" right now. And a big endorsement for Senator Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials, potentially. Today, former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton will announce that he is backing Barack Obama. His endorsement comes just weeks before the state's May 6th primary. There are 84 delegates at stake there. Hamilton co-chaired the 9/11 Commission as well as the Iraq Study Group and chaired the Committee of Foreign Affairs as well. He told "Bloomberg News" he was impressed by Obama's approach to national security and foreign policy.
And Senator Hillary Clinton announcing a new plan today to keep jobs in America. She is proposing a $7 billion in tax incentives plan if companies promise not to send jobs overseas. At a campaign appearance in Pittsburgh, she'll also suggest eliminating tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs.
Well, Senator Clinton had a bombshell idea for resolving the bitter delegate battle with Obama. After watching him bowl a few frames, she appeared in front of reporters with a dead pan expression and offered this plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off. A bowling night, right here in Pennsylvania. Winner take all. I'll even spot him two frames. It's time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all of the pins to be counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: OK. So a little bit of background as to why. Didn't he bowl a 37, I believe, at that campaign event? Now, I used to be in a bowling league, 37. Not terribly impressive.
ROBERTS: You used to be in a bowling league.
CHETRY: That's right. In Erie, Pennsylvania, it was a blast. Two hundred and above is, you know, decent.
ROBERTS: I don't see you as a bowling league person.
CHETRY: I'll show you the tape.
ROBERTS: Excellent.
CHETRY: And, of course, Senator Hillary Clinton went on to say OK, it was an April Fools joke. She did tell reporters, though, that she bowled quite often when she was the first lady. See that. And she even had her own bowling bowl and her own shoes.
ROBERTS: There you go.
The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, is taking some heat that he is not doing enough to mediate what's increasingly becoming a divisive campaign. He addressed that criticism on CNN's "ELECTION CENTER" last night. Dean is expected to meet with Democrats from Florida today to talk about finding a way to seat the state's delegates at the national convention.
Meantime, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain took a break from the campaign trail to make a stop in New York and trade jabs with David Letterman. Letterman started by taking some shots at McCain's age, and McCain fired back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: He looks like a guy who's always got wiry hair growing out of new places. He looks like the guy who points out the spots they missed at the car wash.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You think that stuff is pretty funny, don't you?
LETTERMAN: Well --
MCCAIN: Well, you look like a guy whose laptop would be seized by the authorities.
LETTERMAN: What?
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: You look like a guy caught smuggling reptiles in his pants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator McCain will be speaking at the Naval Academy in Annapolis before moving on to Florida later on this evening.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, right now we turn to Rob Marciano, tracking extreme weather for us in the northeast. So a little bit of wind to talk about this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran. Yes, windy yesterday and the winds will continue today. That may very affect your travel if you're flying because you know how that goes across the northeast airports.
Here are the spots where the wind is going to be the strongest, anywhere from 25 to even 50-mile-an-hour winds mostly across northern New England, but that does include the Boston area. And as far as what kind of winds we saw yesterday, upwards of 60 miles an hour. Sixty-one miles an hour in Fort Drum, New York. Detroit, Michigan, 56-mile-an-hour winds.
So that's enough in spots to take down some of the tree limbs for sure, even a 52-mile-an-hour wind gusts in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. So just about everybody getting into the act.
Where you'll see the delays today, New York City. All of the airports there will probably see some wind-related delays. Definitely Boston and D.C. might get into the act as well. Other than that, it's looking to be a day -- one day of fairly dry weather. But after that, here it comes.
Look at this. This bull's eye in a spot that we do not need it. Locally, four-plus inches here in the next 48 hours. And that may be doubled as we go through the weekend. So not good news for the folks who are still dealing with some rivers that are up and over their flood banks.
The only real significance at the bottom of the radar scope, just the northern suburbs of Dallas seeing a couple of showers and renegade thunderstorms just north of Denton, but they should be rolling out. Tomorrow, though, Dallas will be under the gun for severe weather. So we're tracking that spot.
Kiran, back up to you now.
CHETRY: It's only 7:13, you're cracking people up in Atlanta. I heard all this giggling in the background. What the heck is going on in the weather center?
MARCIANO: Oh, I'm sure it wasn't me. You know, we are in the middle of the newsroom. They're just busy deciding editorially what we're going to cover today as we go on through --
CHETRY: I'm glad it's cracking them up. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, guys.
ROBERTS: New this morning. Fast moving developments at the NATO summit in Romania. Overnight, President Bush continued to call on NATO to increase troop levels in Afghanistan, and the president is walking a treacherous path with Russia on the missile defense shield and two former Soviet Republics joining NATO, Georgia and Ukraine.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is live in Bucharest, Romania for us this morning. Elaine, the president's call for more troops in Afghanistan, was there any kind of movement there on the part of NATO?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing just yet. We hope to learn a little bit more about that later tonight. There's going to be a working dinner with the leaders of the NATO members state.
But John, President Bush here at his last NATO summit is really tackling the issues on the foreign policy side. They have dominated his presidency including the war in Afghanistan. Where as you said, President Bush is appealing for more NATO troops for the fight there. A resurgence of the Taliban in the southern part of the country has led to heavy fighting there.
So at a news conference just a short time ago that President Bush had, along with the president of Romania, Mr. Bush was asked how many additional NATO forces would be enough for Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We expect our NATO allies to shoulder the burden necessary to succeed. And to this end, as you know, I've committed 3,200 -- 3,500 additional marines to send a clear signal that we're willing to do our part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, earlier at a speech here in Romania, Mr. Bush warned of dire consequences if NATO countries do not contribute more troops saying that innocent civilians could pay the price -- John.
ROBERTS: Elaine, as we mentioned, this idea of NATO membership for both Georgia and Ukraine is a real sore point for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as that missile defense shield. President Bush will be meeting with the Russian president on the weekend. What is he expected to say to him on those two issues?
QUIJANO: Well, that's a good question. Certainly, all eyes will be watching as well when President Putin himself attends the NATO summit. It is going to be interesting to see what happens. That meeting that you're talking about is expected to take place on Sunday at the Black Sea Resort, the Russian port city, Sochi.
And many analysts say this is really a chance for President Bush to essentially try to patch things over as best as he can. Patch things up rather as best as he can with Vladimir Putin. There has been a lot of tension.
As you know, Russia does not like the idea of including the countries of Ukraine and Georgia, former Soviet Republics, as part of NATO. They don't like the idea of that in Moscow because they feel that perhaps Russian influence would be diminished. So at the same time, missile defense is another area where Russia has been very vehement in its opposition.
So President Bush is going to be tackling all of those issues. We'll wait to see what comes out of that meeting. It's unclear whether or not, John, there is going to be an agreement when it comes to the issue of missile defense which, as you know, has been a sticking point between the U.S. and Russia for many, many months now -- John.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano for us in Bucharest, Romania, this morning. Elaine, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Still ahead, buckle up while pregnant is easier said than done for some. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. And I can speak from experience on that one.
Sanjay Gupta is going to show us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a new study that says pregnant women should buckle up every time they are in a vehicle, debunking a long-standing myth that wearing a seatbelt could actually be worse for an expectant mom.
Well, chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the medical update desk with details. I can just picture you in the car right now with your wife, buckle up. Buckle up.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I tell --
CHETRY: Go ahead.
GUPTA: I tell that all the time certainly. I think, you know, maybe this is common sense for a lot of people out there. Pregnant women thinking about buckling up when they're driving. But there has been a concern, as you pointed out that could the seatbelts actually be doing more damage?
So researchers at the University of Michigan decided to put this to the test. I thought it was a pretty interesting study. Actually looking at pregnant women over 20 weeks and trying to figure out just exactly what the outcomes were in women who wore seatbelts versus not wearing seatbelts.
And what they did was they sort of split it into -- split the outcomes into two groups. Good outcomes and bad outcomes. A good outcome meant that if the baby was born near term and it was healthy, a bad outcome usually meant something known as abruptio placenta. And what that basically means is the placenta separated too early or ruptured and led to a bad outcome.
What they found out was pretty interesting. Again, there was an 84 percent reduction in bad outcomes if women wore their seatbelts. Now, I want to point out something here. Maybe clear up some of the misconceptions.
Take a look at some of this video. This is crash test dummy video, actually looking at pregnant women specifically. This is a woman who's obviously buckled in. In slow mo, you see an accident. This is 20 miles an hour.
What maybe a little bit hard for you to tell, even in slow motion there, is when the seatbelt is starting to tug, it's actually tugging along the sides much more so than the front. And now, if you look at a video of a pregnant woman who is not restrained in the middle of a car accident and you'll see basically what happens in slow mo. Lots of hard surfaces coming in contact with the abdomen, increasing intra- abdominal pressure and that could potentially be very harmful to the unborn baby.
This is one of the most common crash tests that pregnant women typically endure. And again, that outcome significantly reduced, the seatbelt was worn.
CHETRY: And as you said, you know, it pulls a little bit tighter on the sides. So it appears that it's not going to do as much damage as you probably fear. There is, though, a right way to wear the seatbelt that you have to think about, right?
GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. This is sort of interesting as well. Again, maybe common sense, and maybe it just fits in a certain way. But, you know, I think the best way to really show this is to demonstrate it. That's exactly what I'm going to do for you here. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: There are a couple of things you want to keep in mind when buckling your seatbelt if you're a pregnant woman. Simone (ph) here is 31 weeks pregnant. She's agreed to help us. Well, go ahead and put your seatbelt on here. Simone (ph) will demonstrate.
First thing, you have two straps. The abdominal strap, you want to make sure this is low and tight as possible. One common misconception, if there is an accident, it actually tightens up on the sides here as opposed to on the belly. So it shouldn't be really dangerous to the baby.
Also, if it doesn't fit you can think about using a seatbelt extender. As far as this upper strap, you want to start just as Simone (ph) did across the side of the stomach, come up the middle of the chest, then land sort of in the middle of the collarbone on the one side here. That's the best way to put the seatbelt on. Again, low and tight, and across the middle of the collarbone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: And I'll point out another quick thing if I can, Kiran. Another misconception about air bags. That was a question we got a lot as well.
All scientific studies show air bags are fine for pregnant women and for other passengers as well. What the big goal of those is again to keep the abdomen here and the fetus from hitting any hard surfaces. Air bags do a very good job at that. So very safe as well, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Good advice.
GUPTA: Buckle up, Kiran.
CHETRY: Buckle up. Absolutely.
GUPTA: Talking to you.
CHETRY: Every time. I know you're talking to me. Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: All right. Take care.
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 23 minutes after the hour. Gluttons for pork. We are hemorrhaging cash in the United States, but Congress just can't stop spending. The projects that just couldn't wait until after the economic slowdown, coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Howard Dean, Democratic chair, party chair, dismissing some criticism that he is not strong enough to end the Democratic nomination battle. The party chairman says that each side wants him to force their point of view on the whole party. Dean told CNN's "ELECTION CENTER" that one side will always be upset, and he's going to continue playing by the rules. He's meeting with Florida Democrats today to discuss a way to try to seat the state's delegates at the national convention.
It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Do you think that Howard Dean is acting strong enough at this point to bring peace to the Democrats? Forty percent of you say yes. Sixty percent of you say no. Cast your vote CNN.com/am. You can also e-mail us your thoughts on the subject at CNN.com/am as well.
ROBERTS: Market is up three percent for the quarter. Of course, the quarter is only a day old. The Dow jumped almost 400 points yesterday. What are we looking at today?
Gerri Willis with more on the market rally. Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Huge rally. That's right. Good to see you, guys. As you said, 400. Almost 400 points, 391 points on the Dow, 3.2 percent. Here is what was happening.
Two European banks had major write-offs for bad mortgage bets. Deutsche Bank and UBS. And the takeaway that the market took was that hey, maybe all these credit problems are starting to resolve themselves. Maybe the economy is going to tick up.
Here is what happened to the global markets overnight. They also rallied. Big changes there in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Good news there as well, but I don't think we're over with this credit crunch yet, John.
ROBERTS: Well, there are some people though, who seem to have at least the earliest indications that it might be over. Is it possible that the economy could be in for an uptick?
WILLIS: Well, I think we have to wait and see. There's a lot more information we are waiting to come out. And, of course, I think, individuals will think the credit crunch is over when you start getting mortgage loans again. One interesting thing going on today and I think what you are seeing are investors on the sidelines right now.
Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, will be testifying in front of Congress today. This is the first time that he is really going to be in a position of answering questions about the Bear Stearns deal, the bailout that went to the nation's fifth largest investment bank. I expect some pretty tough questions for the Fed chairman.
ROBERTS: That will be interesting testimony today. Gerri, thanks very much.
WILLIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: They call them earmarks. We call them pork. Any way you cut it, it's usually a huge expense of your money. The first look at this year's pig book and where your tax dollars went.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, mile-high myth. What really happens when a gun goes off inside an aircraft or a door falls off?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The higher you are, the more catastrophic it would be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Miles O'Brien climbs aboard a 737 to test what we think we know about airplanes, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A shot of the nation's capital this morning. And it's right now actually that we're going to find out, actually in just a couple of minutes about these big pork barrel spending projects. The pork report is out. Where did the earmark money go? Big question this morning.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: They call it the pig book, rather direct, but effective. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning. Good to see you.
New this morning, Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern abruptly announcing he will step down on May 6th. He is one of Europe's longest serving heads of government, having served almost 11 years. His hold on power there steadily weakening since investigators accused him of accepting undocumented cash payments from developers dating back to the 1990s. Speaking this morning, Ahern said he never put his interests ahead of the public good.
Also, new this morning, President Bush is in Romania and is challenging U.S. allies to step up their efforts on the war on terror. Overnight, President Bush called on NATO to increase troop levels, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. There is about 47,000 NATO forces in Afghanistan right now. Some countries are reluctant to send any more. Canada has said that in fact, it will pull its 2,500 soldiers out of Afghanistan and if NATO does not come up with a at least 1,000 troops to help them in Kandahar.
Today, the Federal Aviation Administration will announce the results of a new round of airline safety inspections as it prepares to defend itself on Capitol Hill. Congressman James Oberstar says that the FAA is putting hundreds of thousands of fliers in danger with lazy enforcement of inspections. The issue came to light last month when a congressional investigation revealed that Southwest Airlines flew hundreds of flights without performing required safety inspections. Two whistle blowers who provided records to Congress will testify when hearings begin tomorrow. Oberstar who is the chairman of the House transportation committee says the FAA's relationship with the airlines is too cozy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES OBERSTAR (D), MINNESOTA: Ultimately, 117 aircraft a year ago were allowed to fly with full knowledge of the FAA until Southwest could schedule those aircraft for inspections without disrupting their commercial schedule. That's unacceptable. That's putting the flying public at risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The FAA will announce the new inspection results at 2:00 this afternoon.
CHETRY: Well, it's the federal weapons law that's come under fire after a pilot accidentally fired his gun mid flight. A pilots organization says there is a rule that requires pilots to remove their gun and holster, place a lock on the trigger and secure all of it in a bag before leaving the cockpit and they say that's just too strict. Remember the U.S. Airways pilot was stowing his gun when it went off. It blasted a hole in the cockpit. There you see the mark left behind. The pilot was able to land the plane safely.
But how? Well, it turns out a bullet in the cockpit is not as dangerous as you might think. I guess depending on where it fires or where it actually lands. We asked our own Miles O'Brien to bust up some common airplane safety myths. I mean, you think once a gun goes off in a plane that's it.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And you don't want Barney Fife flying the airplane for sure. So.
CHETRY: No.
O'BRIEN: So, yes, you got to think about aviation for just a minute. It is really a lot safer than you think up there. When we hear stories like that and you think otherwise, of course. The studies show many fewer people die from air travel than driving, for example. Taking the train. So, we went out to the experts to try to explain why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): In the movies, a bullet hole piercing the skin of an airliner means big trouble. This scene is from "Gold finger." So, how come when a U.S. Airways pilot accidentally fired his begun at 8,000 feet, the plane landed safely? I went to Purdue University for some answers. The 737, this is a vintage 737.
DR. THOMAS CARNEY, PROFESSOR, PURDUE UNIVERSITY: It is.
O'BRIEN: That's the Aviation Department head, Tom Carney. We walked around the 737 they use to teach budding airplane mechanics and he showed me a big hole in the plane. There by design.
CARNEY: This is an outflow valve for the airplane. You can see it is a fairly large hole.
O'BRIEN: That big hole is how they keep passengers breathing easy at high altitude where the air is too thin for human survival.
CARNEY: What we do to maintain the cabin pressure altitude we want is to control how much goes overboard.
O'BRIEN: And that outflow door would automatically close a little to compensate for the air rushing out of the bullet hole. Now, if the pilot have blown out a cockpit window, that would have been a lot worse.
CARNEY: The higher you are, the more catastrophic it would be.
O'BRIEN: But the gun went off at about 8,000 feet. Where humans can breathe just fine. Which brings us to another odd incident. This corporate jet lost its door shortly after takeoff in Colorado. The plane landed safely. No one got sucked out. That's because the plane was so low, the cabin air was not even pressurized. Speaking of pressure, what about those tires that blew out on a couple of recent hard landings?
CARNEY: Occasionally, a bad landing can occur. If one tire blows on a main landing gear truck, the other tire is probably going to maintain the weight of the aircraft.
O'BRIEN: A 747 is an 18-wheeler, plenty of backup there. Carney says that even if all the tires blow out one side as they did in Houston the other day, the crew can still safely, although not smoothly, steer the plane. Should people would be worried about tires on an airplane when they get on them. I mean,
CARNEY: Oh, no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Airline industry reported no fatalities, experts say we are in the midst of a very safe period in commercial air travel history. Last big airliner incident was here in New York in 2001. So, it is a good stretch, knock on Plexiglas.
CHETRY: Yes, knock on wood for sure. It is funny because we do talk about these things, like the plane door just falls off in mid air. But we are in the safest stretch we have been in.
O'BRIEN: Yes. It's interesting. I mean, what you have here is you have a safety record right now that really sadly is written in blood. A lot of bad accidents have led to a very safe system. But what the system is all about is human beings trying to make a system human being-proof because that in the end is where the mistakes happen. And there are still cases where crews and maintenance and there are humans that cut corners that make mistakes and you end up with accidents.
CHETRY: We are also going to hear from the FAA today, right? They are talking in Washington, accusations from one congressman, particularly that they have been a little lax, maybe too close with the airlines.
O'BRIEN: Yes, there's that. And there is also that you have an industry that's under a tremendous amount of stress right now. The airlines are not making any money. We all know that. And the question is, how much temptation is there out there to cut corners on maintenance? Obviously, safety is number one. It is very important to be safe. But there is a lot of pressure on this industry now.
CHETRY: All right. Miles O'Brien, good to see you. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Pleasure.
ROBERTS: Twenty-two minutes now to the top of the hour. Coming up, we're going to get the latest check on gas prices. And we're going to tell you where all that money goes. And CNN is covering Autism Awareness Day today. We asked you to send in your personal stories. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will share some of those with us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 19 minutes now to the top of the hour and in time for AMERICAN MORNING's daily gas gauge. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.29. That is up 60 cents from a year ago. So, you're saying why is it so expensive? Where is all this hard- earned money of mine going? We are going to tell you here. It might surprise you but the gas station only gets a small part of that $3.29, only about seven to ten cents for each gallon. So, where does the rest of it go?
To get the gas to the stations, from the refineries costs about 23 to 26 cents in transportation fees per gallon. The government takes about 40 cents a gallon. Eighteen cents goes to the federal taxes. Twenty-two cents to the state on average. Some states are higher, some are lower. The refineries that turn the crude oil into gasoline that you fill up your tank with get about 24 cents for every gallon. The people cashing in the most are the producers of the crude oil itself, taking in more than $2 for every gallon of gasoline that you pump. So, that $100-plus per barrel, that makes up the majority of the costs of your gammon of gasoline -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, thank you. Like to know where our money is going. You know what I mean.
Well, turning to politics now. A key endorsement for Democrat Barack Obama coming out today. He is picking up the backing of former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton. Hamilton was co-chair of the 9/11 Commission and also the Iraq Study Group. He told Bloomberg News he is impressed by Obama's approach to foreign policy. Indiana's primary is May 6th, by the way. There are 84 delegates at stake for the Democrats.
And Howard Dean facing some criticism today that he's not being strong enough to fix the Democratic nomination fight. The party chairman says both sides want him to force their point of view on the whole party. Dean told CNN's "ELECTION CENTER" will always be upset so he's going to continue to play by the rules.
It brings us to this morning's Quick Vote question -- do you think Howard Dean is doing enough to bring peace to the Democrats? Forty-two percent say yes. Fighty-eight percent say no. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. And also e-mail us. We have been asking for e- mails and we got some this morning. In fact, Terry in North Carolina says -- "if Howard Dean was strong enough the Democrats in Florida and Michigan would have had their votes mean something in this campaign. This guy should step down."
Mark in Maryland writes us this morning, "Howard Dean is capable of bringing peace, just not by himself. If these campaigns are about to change, let it start in how the campaigns are run. There is a mentality that politics have to be dirty and that's not true. The ability to out spin is hardly a basis to nominate a candidate for the presidency."
And Barbara in Michigan writes - "You have two issues in your question. Strength and peace. Howard Dean has strength but will he use it to do the right thing and promote peace and fairness?" So, thanks to Barbara as well. We continue to read your e-mails throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: John McCain is going to be campaigning in Maryland this morning. Speaking at the Naval Academy in Annapolis but there are signs this morning that he is still battling to unite the party. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, writes in this morning's "Wall Street Journal" that he thinks McCain is driving conservatives away. Dobson cited McCain's support for stem cell research and his opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage.
A very strong candidate is ruling out a run for the White House. Larry King asked Jesse "The Body" Ventura about speculation that he might join the race. The former pro wrestler and ex-governor of Minnesota said no, he's not going to get in. He said there are too many hurdles for an independent to get on the ballot. He also refused to support a major candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: You are going to have to vote for one of the candidates.
JESSE VENTURA, EX-GOVERNOR, MINNESOTA: No. I'm not. I never vote Democrat or Republican. I'll pick someone else. There will be a libertarian on the ballot, there will be someone else on the ballot. I will not vote for a Republican or a Democrat. And I don't do it every election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ventura also dismissed speculation that he would run for the Senate in Minnesota. That contest at present pits Republicans Senator Norm Coleman against Al Franken of "Saturday Night Live" fame. So, notice that Jesse lost the beer braids for his appearance on "LARRY KING."
CHETRY: But he kept the hair back here.
ROBERTS: The ever changing look of Jesse Ventura. CHETRY: I guess so. Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center tracking extreme weather this morning in the northeast for us. Jesse Ventura, childhood hero for you. I'm sure. A big follower of pro wrestling, right?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: No, are you kidding me? That plus Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka from the top rope.
CHETRY: How about it?
MARCIANO: Are you kidding me? Both those guys...
CHETRY: You hurt yourself as a child doing that one.
MARCIANO: Me and my brother had at it for sure in the backyard. Hey, looking at some wind advisories across the northeast, has some big-time gusts yesterday. Storm intensifying and heads across the Canadian maritime. So, strong northwest flow could see 25 to 50-mile- an-hour wind gusts during the day today. Had some yesterday. Here's how it wraps up. Fort Drum, New York, that's in central upstate New York, just outside of Rome, 61-mile-an-hour winds there. Detroit, Michigan, 56. Rochester, New York, 55. Johnstown, Pennsylvania 52. Cleveland, Ohio, getting in the act with wind gusts at 50 miles an hour.
So, with these winds today, like yesterday, La Guardia, the usual spots will have their delays as we go through the afternoon, especially Boston, that's where your highest winds will be as the storm begins to exit. Stage right. On the radar scope this morning, you go west towards Nebraska. A mixture of rain and sleet and snow. Nothing that should accumulate terribly too much. We had a renegade shower move just north of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area just north of McKinney and heading across the Red River there. This will be more active I think during the day tomorrow.
As we get a severe weather outbreak that could prove to be quite significant. On top of that, we've got flash flood watches and warnings that have been reissued because we are starting to see a situation develop that could bring more significant rainfall across the same spot that already have completely saturated ground. And we go through not only tomorrow and in through Friday, but right through the weekend we could see some spots that have already been flooded with eight or more inches of rainfall. So, a serious situation could be developing again over the weekend. We will continue to watch this as we go through today and tomorrow. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks.
ROBERTS: And it is Autism Awareness Day today. And CNN has got it covered for you. There is a new study about how soon doctors can spot autism in a child. We are paging our Dr. Gupta with more. Good morning, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, one of the biggest goals here is to try to figure out some signs that your child may have autism early. One of the earliest signs is something that I'm going to talk to you about in just a couple of minutes. Also, we have some stories, John, you can't watch these stories and not have your heart touched by them. We'll have those as well.
Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just touching ten minutes to the top of the hour. Today is designated as Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations. And CNN is devoting its worldwide resources to helping unravel the mysteries of autism. We are breaking news on that front this morning. Scientists may have identified a new risk forecast factor. Babies born extremely early. Researchers in the journal "Pediatrics" say a quarter of preemies studied showed signs of autism.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live from the medical update desk in Atlanta. Sanjay, you know, so often we hear from parents of autistic children that they appeared to be developing normally until about 18, 24 months and then all of a sudden they started to see these signs. So, is it possible to recognize symptoms of autism in infants? Particularly premature infants?
GUPTA: Well, possibly, John. In full disclosure, I think these scales are very difficult to interpret. A lot of times as far as whether your child should be doing a certain activity by a certain age, I'm always a little reluctant to put those out there because kids just develop at all different ages. Having said that, there is a new study coming out of the journal "Pediatrics." They specifically looked at 91 premature babies and here is what they found. They were born around 10 weeks early, weighing less than 4 pounds; 25 percent showed signs of autism. Now, that's much higher, obviously, than the general population incidence. That got a lot of people sort of thinking, is there a relationship there between prematurity and the development of the brain and subsequent autism.
John, as you know, if a child is born prematurely there is a whole host of development problems from cardiac problems, GI problems. I think for a long time probably doctors and then researchers alike just didn't pay attention to what may have been more subtle signs of something that may have developed into autism. So, I think that's why we are hearing about this now. More to your point, John, are there some signs? Well, again, these scales take them with a grain of salt. No social smile by 3 months, that can be tough to tell. Failure to make eye contact. No single word by 15 months, or two-word phrases by 24 months. But again, these are just very general guidelines, John.
But this is some new information and researchers are going to be looking into this more. And, John, as you mentioned we have been covering autism for some time now. Today is World Autism Day. And we have recruited stories from all over the world. Personal stories that I have been watching for the last bit of time here. They are very touching. We want to give you a small sampling of some of the stories that have been sent to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVEN ISAAC: Hi. This is Steven Isaac and this is my home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although they are identical twins, the autism affected both of them differently. When they were younger and we would go to the store, something would freak out. I carried with me at all times the paperwork from the doctor of him saying that they had autism. It has gotten better now. They are 15 years old. They are just very sweet boys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nila was diagnosed with autism at 18 months. When we started, early intervention on her, they had to teach her emotions. They would reward her with things she like, like candy. But in the end, she would want to just -- she wanted praise and hugs. She got so excited when she got praise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joshua, he had pledge admission to fill in this life. He loved every person no matter your situation, status or anything yet he had a 2-year-old brain. Joshua died of a heart that was two times the size. I feel like he had a mission of love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: And we are going to be talking about autism all day long. Again, John, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, if you're concerned about autism to certainly have your child screened by age two years and that's a message that you're going to hear over and over again today, John.
ROBERTS: And as we mentioned, Sanjay, this is all in conjunction with the U.N.'s World Autism Day on April 2nd today. What else will you have in your coverage today?
GUPTA: Well, we're going to be covering all day long, one of the next stories we are going -- talk about, excuse me, on AMERICAN MORNING is really dealing with the perception and misperceptions about autism. There are a lot of them out there and there are a lot of unanswered questions still. But we have been really digging for some time, John. So, we are going to give you the very best knowledge that we have right now to present that to you in a just a little bit.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much. And stay with CNN to hear all the breaking news and new information coming in on autism. We are unraveling the mystery of autism. The CNN worldwide investigation all day today only on CNN -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, one family decides to give the gift of life after their son's sudden death. Then they learn what really killed him. It was cancer. And his diseased organs made it into other patients. So how did it happen? We are talking with them. They share their heart breaking story coming up in the next hour.
Also, one-on-one with John McCain. His thoughts on the economy, the war in Iraq. Just ahead.
Also, we'll show you a wild stand-off in New York. Police captured a man who is throwing Molotov cocktails off of a rooftop. The man's excuse, he said he was having a bad day. More details on that when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Where's the party? Clinton and Obama fight to the finish. The Dean of the Democrats takes it on the chin for not doing more.
HOWARD DEAN, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I'm going to play this one by the rules.
ROBERTS: John McCain, one-on-one. His famous temper. The war. And the economy. The most politics in the morning.
And medical mixup.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like he has done it all over again.
ROBERTS: How did a cancer patient's organs end up in someone else? On this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's such an unbelievably tragic story. They thought that the organs were OK and when they implanted them, boom, these problems suddenly occurred.
CHETRY: And we're going to hear from the parents this morning about that story. And welcome back. Glad you're with us today. We start off though talking politics this morning.
Senator Barack Obama with a key endorsement. He picked it up today. Former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton announcing he's backing Barack Obama. Indiana holds its primary May 6th, 84 delegates up at stake for the Democrats. And Hamilton is somebody who could be key in helping bolster, perhaps his foreign policy credentials. He chaired both the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group and said that he is impressed by Obama's approach to foreign policy.
Senator Hillary Clinton will be making a pitch to fix the economy today. She is hosting an economic summit in Pittsburgh. Clinton is proposing $7 billion a year in tax incentives if company's promised not to send jobs overseas.
Also, Senator John McCain speak to his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis this morning. Our own Dana Bash had a chance to sit down with Senator McCain and talk to him about key issues like the mortgage crisis. Dana joins us from Annapolis, Maryland this morning. Hey, Dana, good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
