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American Morning
Obama to Roll Back a Major Bush Environmental Policy; Economists Warn of More Job Cuts; Army Field Manual to be the New Guide to Interrogation; Obama Going Green; How the GOP Views the Stimulus Package
Aired January 26, 2009 - 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: Coming up now to the top of the hour. And here are this morning's top stories. This just in. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has reached a $68-billion deal to buy rival Wyeth. If the deal goes ahead, it will be the largest merger in the pharmaceutical industry in nine years since Pfizer bought Warner Lambert back in 2000. That is according to the "Wall Street Journal" today.
President Obama begins his first full week in office and it's all about the economy. He's expected to talk job later on this morning at the White House, and tomorrow he heads to Capitol Hill to try to get Republicans behind his $825 billion economic recovery plan.
The president also making a move in the Middle East today. New U.S. Special envoy George Mitchell is expected to be in Israel by Wednesday. The former senator's talks are expected to focus on reviving peace negotiations.
And breaking news this morning as President Barack Obama begins his second week in office. He is set to roll back a major Bush environmental policy by allowing California and more than a dozen other states to set their own standards for fuel efficiency. The states requested waivers from the Federal Clean Air Act to impose their own stiffer standards on auto emissions and fuel efficiency, but the Bush administration said no.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux broke the story. She's live at the White House for us this morning. This move, Suzanne, makes good on an Obama campaign pledge. It's also a major reversal from Bush policy.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, it really is putting a stamp on environmental policy. It is reversing some key initiatives from the Bush administration. These are the kinds of things he talk about on the campaign. People wondered whether or not he would come through. Well, today it is expected that he will. He's going to be issuing an executive order, essentially allowing California and 13 other states to put forward their own auto emissions standards.
This is stricter, greater than what is required by federal law. Essentially they want their air to be cleaner. They want their cars to be more fuel efficient. And now this is something that Arnold Schwarzenegger had asked President Bush. Bush had said no essentially because he thought you can't enforce this. It will be too confusing to have all these different standards.
Well, President Obama believes that this is different, that this can be worked out, that they are going to figure all of this out. He's also going to be calling as well for greater fuel efficiency standards nationwide for automakers to improve the quality there. The average now is 27.5 miles per gallon. They're now going to ask for 35 miles per gallon. That is going to be a directive to the transportation department.
But all of these things, John, really Barack Obama showing the American people that he is very serious when it comes to tackling climate change in a very different way than President Bush -- John.
ROBERTS: Suzanne, the president also heading up to Capitol Hill tomorrow, part of his lobbying effort to get this $825 billion economic stimulus plan through. But on the Republican side at least, he's not meeting a very receptive audience. John McCain yesterday said he would vote against it and there are other Republicans who are saying they'd do the same.
MALVEAUX: Congressman John Boehner as well. He spoke over the weekend saying look, this thing is just too big here. I mean, there's too much money that's thrown around. There's not a sense of accountability, at least not in the way that they want to see it. So we saw some details that were being outlined by the administration, the Obama administration, putting this out over the weekend saying, look, this is going to provide $1,000 tax cuts for 95 percent of American working families that there's going to be modernizing, 10,000 schools, using this money to do that and also some water, some waste water projects about 1,300 or so relating that to this whole idea of renewable energy.
So Barack Obama and his administration trying very hard, John, to convince those Republicans and even some Democrats that they know where the money is going, they've got a purpose for it, and that this is key in signing this in the next couple of weeks, John.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux live from the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks so much.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR: This morning the nation's economists are warning of more hard days to come. In fact, a brand new survey out just this morning finds that businesses are now preparing for more job cuts and a shrinking economy. The headline, the recession will get worse this year.
CNN's Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." Hey, how about that on a Monday morning. It's going to get worse.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes. Who are these economists, right? These are economists who work for private sector companies and work in the industries, so they're not think tanks and they're not in, you know, in the ivory towers of academia. These are the people who are working with their businesses and telling their bosses, the CEOs what to look for going forward. And what they're seeing is more layoffs, tough times for this year and essentially saying that they expect companies and industries to horde cash over the next year, not to put it to use just to try to survive here.
Thirty-nine percent expect more job cuts. Forty-seven percent say demand is falling. It's interesting where they are seeing companies adding jobs and industries adding jobs, still is in the service sector. So there are still some areas where they're not cutting jobs, and they're actually adding jobs, but the worst area really is still goods producing. We've seen this for now for a couple of years. Anything that's making something, they see tough times ahead here.
So this is the worst survey of business conditions since this particular group started putting it together in 1982. Now what are you saying about it? What are people saying about it?
Our most recent CNN/Opinion Research poll on the matter says that you are also expecting tough times ahead. How long will it take for the economy to recover? Now you've got 27 percent of people polled say one to two years. Two to three years, 23 percent of people say two to three years. So what the business economists who are right there inside the business decisions of corporate America, what they're seeing you're seeing that out there, too.
HILL: So, and so, then that's correct too in those numbers that people saying, 27 percent was the highest there, one to two years. Is that basically what you're hearing from the economists that that's probably the minimum it will take to start to see a recovery?
ROMANS: They're looking for more tough times this year in 2009. I guess it depends on how you measure it. I mean, if this recession is already 13 months old, I mean, you're looking at the longest post-war recession that we've seen. The question is how deep it will be. I mean, right now, it's all trying to gauge and measure when the worst is behind us and we just don't know.
HILL: We probably don't know until it's behind us.
ROMANS: That's right. And when I have any indication, I'll come here with bells and whistles.
HILL: Perfect.
ROMANS: The worst is behind us.
HILL: Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Thanks.
HILL: Well, as we mentioned today, President Obama is clearing the way for states to set their own emission standards. Coming up this morning, we're going to speak with the ranking Republican of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator James Inhofe, and his take on that. Also new this morning, the American public giving some high marks to President Obama's first days on the job. A new Gallup poll finds 68 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing. Now we should point out this isn't exactly unusual for presidents to start pretty high in the polls. The president, though, is actually pretty far ahead of his last two predecessors. President Bush and President Clinton entered office with a rating of 57 and 58 percent respectively.
Democratic speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defending a move to add birth control funding to the economic stimulus package. Republicans have criticized the millions earmarked to expand family planning services, but Pelosi says contraception is good for the economic bottom line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, "THIS WEEK": Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: Well the family planning services reduce costs. It reduced costs. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crisis now, and part of it what we do for children's health or education and some of those elements that are to help the states meet their financial needs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial begins today, but he's not going to be there because he says he won't get a fair trial. The governor instead telling his side of the story in a number of TV appearances. In an interview with the "Today" show, Blagojevich talked about his arrest last month on corruption charges. Now the governor says at first he thought it was a practical joke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you since then, prepared yourself for the possibility of prison?
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), ILLINOIS: No, I haven't. But that was an unbelievable day and it's still very surreal to me.
6:00 in the morning, I -- the alarm clock was set and it rang. I had my running clothes out, and when the alarm went off, I told my wife, five more minutes. And then before the five minutes, the telephone rang and it was a changing kind of telephone call. I thought at first somebody was playing a practical joke on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Blagojevich has denied any wrongdoing. He'll tell his side of the story to Larry King tonight right here at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: The guy who could be out of a job very soon.
HILL: A practical joke.
ROBERTS: Yes.
HILL: I don't know that I would have thought that, but very seriously.
ROBERTS: No, when the feds are on the other end of the phone saying, you need to come downtown with us.
HILL: Not April 1st, but hey, who knows.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Wow.
President Obama's first week in office was punctuated by a military strike and a message that Afghanistan is now considered the central front in the war on terror. Our Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon with more on that change in focus.
Barbara, Obama issued executive orders to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within a year but is Guantanamo just the beginning here?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is just the beginning, John.
Make no mistake, President Obama is remaking the war on terror and he started off talking about it just last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Another urgent threat to global security is the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So that was week number one. What to expect now on week number two? President Obama is likely to come over here to the Pentagon this week perhaps as soon as Wed to sit down with the joint chiefs of staff and talk very substantially about how they can find more troops to send to that war in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who by all accounts wants to sign more orders by the end of the week that would send additional troops, but they really have to work out the final details about how they are going to find the troops to send to the war.
Why is it so important? Because in that tribal region, that border region that the president is talking about, security is just downright lousy. The insurgents are on the rise. There are many towns and villages there that are essentially being run by the insurgency. The president's policy to send more troops to get more security and billions of dollars in aid and reconstruction to try and stabilize things, but with the economic situation the way it is, it's hard to see where that kind of money is going to come from, John.
ROBERTS: A lot of questions yet to be answered. Barbara Starr for us this morning from the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks.
HILL: Death on the football field. Is a high school coach to blame? We'll tell you why he's being charged. Details of this unprecedented case just ahead.
ROBERTS: And we'll tell you why President Obama's swift move to ban torture has some people concerned. Could a softer stance on interrogation actually put our nation at risk? We'll find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Quick look for you now on what is on President Obama's agenda for the day. The economy still issue number one. This morning, he will meet with his economic advisers. Then at 10:30 Eastern, he'll give remarks on job, climate change and energy independence in the East Room.
A little later in the day, 1:30 p.m., White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs gives the daily White House briefing to reporters in the briefing room. And then at 4:30 Eastern time, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush will speak at the National Auto Dealers Conference. Now this is the first time since the bailout, car dealers can meet face to face with auto industry top brass -- John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Erica. President Obama has made it abundantly clear to the world that the United States will not torture, but after he signed the executive order banning harsh interrogation techniques, there are new worries. Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve tells us why. She is live in our Washington bureau for us this morning.
Hey, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. With President Obama limiting how and where detainees can be interrogated, some analysts are asking if intelligence agencies will be able to get the information they need to keep the country safe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): The man who planned the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was waterboarded, and as a result intelligence officials say he gave up valuable information about al-Qaeda operatives and planning. Waterboarding which simulates drowning and is considered torture by many was allegedly stopped several years ago, but the Obama administration wants to end other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.
DENNIS BLAIR, NATL. INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR NOMINEE: Torture is not moral, it's not legal, it's not effective. The U.S. government will have a clear and consistent standard for treatment of detainees.
MESERVE: That standard would be the army field manual which spells out 19 non-coercive methods of interrogation. If Osama bin Laden is taken into custody or if the nation is facing the prospect of another attack, will those softer techniques elicit critical information from detainees?
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: I do think that the army field manual is too limiting in dealing with people who, you know, have the will and the capability to attack us again like they did on 9/11.
MESERVE: With the closing of Guantanamo Bay and secret overseas CIA prisons, future detainees may stay in foreign custody. Those countries might not have the same constraints on interrogations. They could share what they learned or like U.S. intelligence sit in.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATL. SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: While you're able to say that you don't have U.S. secret prisons, in effect, you may be able to get the benefit through your relationship with foreign intelligence services.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The Obama administration has left open the possibility that in some circumstances U.S. interrogators could use harsher techniques than those in the army field manual, but we may never know what they are because they're only effective if they're secret. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks so much for that.
HILL: Well, the economy and the environment, President Bush (ph) has a plan to help earn more green and to be more green, but he is getting some pushback. We'll speak with the Republican Senator James Inhofe straight ahead on the "Most News in the Morning." It is 15 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes after the hour. He won't be a rubber stamp for Obama. Senator John McCain has long championed bipartisanship in Washington but now that his former rival has been sworn in, McCain has come out with a strong statement about what he sees as his new role in the Obama administration, loyal opposition. On FOX News Sunday, he put it like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I view it as the loyal opposition. We'll help and work together where I can and stand up for the principles in the party and the philosophy that I campaigned on and have stood for, for many years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain also said he believes he can help the president with devising a strategy for dealing with Afghanistan.
President Obama's new Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, is headed to the region today. Mitchell is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the cease-fire in Gaza and restarting peace talks. He's also going to make stops in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The Senate is set to meet tonight on Tim Geithner's nomination as treasury secretary. Democrats on Capitol Hill have spoken of the urgent need to quickly confirm Geithner due to the financial crisis across the globe. Geithner is expected to easily win confirmation.
HILL: And of course also on deck today, John, President Obama expected to issue this presidential memo that would actually take a look at the emission standards, certain emission standards that California and 13 other states are pushing for that would, they believe, cut emissions by a third, by 2016, four years ahead of the federal timetable and that has a few lawmakers more than one unhappy about them.
ROBERTS: Yes, fuel efficiency standards as well. This was something that Governor Schwarzenegger wanted, right?
HILL: Right.
ROBERTS: And here's a Republican asking a Republican president to help him out here because he wants to make his own rules, thinks that's the best thing for a state and the Republican president says no. Now a Democratic president is saying --
HILL: Is saying yes.
ROBERTS: Governor, here you go.
HILL: There you go, but now we're actually -- with another Republican who's saying this is still not a good idea. Senator Jim Inhofe is a ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee. He is against President Obama's plan. The senator joining us on the phone this morning from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Senator, good to have you with us this morning.
VOICE OF SENATOR JIM INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: Yes, nice to be with you.
HILL: Tell us, sir, why do you think this is a bad idea?
INHOFE: Look, it's a bad idea. They've been trying to do this for quite a while. And if they're successful and, of course, if he says -- the position he's taking right now would allow Californians and some, what, 12 other states to set their own emission standards and as bad off as the auto industry is right now, I just can't imagine how they're going to be able to do this.
Now I think that this is something that's going to nurture the disadvantage of people who live in states like California because how are they going to buy automobiles if they have to make special emission standards for those. I would think a lot of them would be going across to whatever states are nearby, Nevada or something like that. And -- but it's just would cost a lot more for every automobile that's put together here in the United States of America and on foreign cars.
HILL: But there is --
INHOFE: I just don't understand why he did it and he keeps talking about the economy. He wants to do something for the economy. I personally talked to him about that, and the next thing he'll do is come up with other kind of CO2 emissions that are going to be very, very expensive.
HILL: I know you mentioned the economy, sir. Obviously, that is issue number one for everybody these days. There's also been talk though, that, hey, you know, this could actually push Detroit and the big three, and I know this was part of that, that $25 billion bailout that we talked about. But this could push them to move along a little faster, to be more competitive with some of the other automakers, foreign automakers that have taken away some of the American market. Why not try to push that a little sooner?
INHOFE: Well, because the other automobile manufacturers are going to have to do the same thing. It's going to cost a lot more money, a lot more money. And for each state to be able to do this, stop and think about it. They're going to have to make a different kind of a car for each state. Right now, it's 13 exceptions. Probably there will be more to follow, my guess would be. And I think this would be the final -- it will be just devastating to the automobile industry and you're going to see them coming in for more bailouts now as a result of this.
HILL: Sir, if there are more that follow, though, couldn't they do it all at once?
I'm sorry, sir. Go ahead.
INHOFE: I think you're going to see them coming in requesting more bailouts now as a result of this.
HILL: If as you mentioned though, it's going to make it more difficult in your mind because there would be two separate standards here, two separate cars that needs to be made, but if the automakers just move to that one standard a little earlier than was initially planned, could this end up being a good thing because it could perhaps make them more attractive to some American buyers?
INHOFE: I cannot think -- I cannot think of any scenario by which this would be a good thing. And when you say an exception, we're talking about perhaps as many as 13, 14, 15 emission standards by that many states. It would be, you know, economically, there's no scenario you can put together whereby it's going to be of benefit.
HILL: Senator James Inhofe, we appreciate your time this morning, sir. Thank you.
INHOFE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Has the giant love fest for Barack Obama on inauguration day triggered a backlash? He hasn't even been in office a full week yet, but there are new concerns over a rise in white on black crime.
President Obama reaching out to Republicans to stimulate support for his economic stimulus plan. It's one of the main GOP concerns and will they play ball? We'll find out.
It's 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First things first, we've got to spend more rationally, reasonably and transparently to move the financial institutions, to loosen up credit. And it's about credit for people.
They have to be able to purchase their cars. They have to be able send their kids back to school. They need some mortgage abatement. So that's what we're focusing on in this 350 -- this remaining, this next 350 and we'll go from there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Vice President Joe Biden talking about the second big whack of money in that recovery plan, the toxic assets recovery plan. It's one step at a time in the president's economic recovery. Mr. Obama expected to reach out to Republicans this week to stimulate some bipartisan support for his $820 billion stimulus plan. Some say that they cannot support the bill as it's currently written.
GOP leader and Georgia Congressman Tom Price is scheduled with the president tomorrow. Congressman Price joins us this morning from Marietta, Georgia.
REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: Hi, John.
ROBERTS: Congressman, it's good to see you. As you said, you're going to be in this meeting tomorrow. What are going to tell the president?
PRICE: Good to be with you.
Well, I think what we're going to say is that we're interested in what the American people are interested in and that is a solution, and what we see on the table right now is not a solution. If borrowing and spending would have gotten us out of the challenges that we have right now, we would have been out of it long ago. But there are solutions that we put on the table and that is decreasing taxes, decreasing tax liability for families all across this nation, allowing increasing tax credits for children and for education.
Increasing -- decreasing taxes on businesses, small and large, so that we can create the economic engine that will bring back the economy and this nation and then decreasing the amount of spending at the federal level. Again, borrowing and spending is not the solution to the challenge that we have right now. ROBERTS: But even if you have tax cuts, you have to borrow to pay for the tax cuts as well. And Larry Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, say we just can't afford more tax cuts. Let's listen to how he put that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: It's a bad idea because we simply can't afford it. The president has inherited $1 trillion deficit and a deficit with a baseline that is terrible as far as the eye can see. We've got to spend money now while we have a recession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Congressman, whether you have tax cuts or whether you have spending, you have to borrow to fund it and the Democrats are saying it would be much better to target that money with government spending as opposed to putting it in the pockets of American citizens.
PRICE: Well, what history will tell us in President Kennedy's administration, President Reagan's administration, is that if you allow people to keep more of their hard earned money, in fact, what you do is expand economy. So you don't need to borrow to create tax cuts. In fact, if you just allow people to keep more of their hard earned money, not send it through the safe in Washington, we'll be able to jump-start this economy in ways that are remarkable and have been tried and true in the past.
What I do know and what all individuals know in their heart and all Americans know is that borrowing and spending and putting this on the backs of future generations is not the solution to the challenge that we currently have.
ROBERTS: Now, let me just get you on the record n this. Do you believe, in fact, that we have not had to borrow money to fund the Bush tax cuts over the last few years?
PRICE: No, look, as you decrease taxes, what, in fact, you do is increase revenue to the federal government. It's happened every time it's been done. It happened earlier this decade. It happened when President Reagan did it. It happened when President Kennedy did it.
What we need to do is embrace the things that have made America the greatest economy in the history of the world.
ROBERTS: OK.
PRICE: And those things are not increasing the deficit and increasing the debt.
ROBERTS: Let me just ask you a about a couple of things that are in the economic stimulus plan. Some people have questioned whether or not they're appropriate stimulus.
$200 million to rehabilitate the National Mall including planting new grass. $276 million to fix computer systems at the State Department. $650 million to repair dilapidated forest service facilities. $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. And then there's this plan that later (ph) Pelosi was talking about, about increasing funding for family planning services because that saves states and the federal government money. What do you think about all of that?
PRICE: Well, you can go line after line after line after line and as Americans look at this, they'll appreciate that it's not a stimulus. It's not increasing the economic productivity of this nation. One of my favorite is $600 million to prepare the nation for nationalize health insurance.
This isn't stimulus This is paying back political friends. This is making it so that they can reward individuals that assisted them in their most recent election.
But what is tried and true, what has been known every time it has been tried is that if you allow American families to keep more of their hard earned money, if you allow businesses the opportunity to create jobs and provide incentives to create jobs and you decrease spending at the federal level, in fact, what you'll do is grow the economy.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: There certainly are people who would argue that point with you though. Congressman Tom Price, it's good to talk to you. Perhaps we can catch up with you after that meeting.
REP. TOM PRICE: Thank you, John. History is tried and true.
ROBERTS: All right. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: All right. John, I've got one for you that you're not going to believe. This just coming in while you were in your interview. Apparently Governor Rod Blagojevich saying that he was actually considering Oprah for Obama's Senate seat.
It takes a minute to process. I know, I was right there with you. This is something that we're following. We are going ask more about this -
ROBERTS: I'm sorry if I'm speechless.
HILL: I think we need to put a call into Larry King and say can you get more information on this. Of course, he's going to be with our Larry King tonight. But that's right. He said he was considering Oprah for Senate. No idea if she was interested in the job. I'm thinking, no.
ROBERTS: There are plenty of people though who would think that she may want to enter politics at some point. Remember, they were talking to her as an ambassadorship.
HILL: And there have been movements, grassroots movements to get her to run for president at one point, if you'll remember and she said repeatedly look, I'm not interested in that. But who knows maybe she was interested in the Senate seat.
ROBERTS: This Rod Blagojevich just gets more bizarre with each turn of the screw, doesn't?
HILL: It does. It really does.
ROBERTS: Wow.
HILL: It keeps us occupied, that's for sure. All right. So we'll keep following that.
ROBERTS: In a macabre, bizarre sort of way.
HILL: We'll keeping digging on that one as well. Exactly. In the meantime, I want to turn to this, the internet based hate against the country's first African-American president we're learning is on the rise. In fact, it may have triggered an increase in crimes against African-Americans as a whole. Last week, a 22-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested for killing two people as part of a plan to kill non- whites. Carol Costello has more.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, you know, this is really sadly predictable, right? You knew it wouldn't be too long before well the haters would spew their garbage online. They've been doing it ever since President Obama announced his intention to run but they ratcheted it up after the inauguration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Inauguration day, billed by many as Woodstock without the mud. It was all about peace, love of country, racial harmony and diversity if only for a day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brought tears to my eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brought everybody closer together.
COSTELLO: But now Washington's Woodstock is being used by others as a tool for hate. Racist groups are using January 20th to recruit budding white supremacists.
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POLICY LAW CENTER: These groups are holding up the specter of a kind of a black family moving into the White House as a horror show, a kind of slap in the face that is supposed to wake up white America and bring thousands of people into these hate groups.
COSTELLO: The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks racism including what's on the internet. It says some hate groups claim their websites crashed because of heavy traffic and one claims thousands of new members have signed up since the inauguration.
In some case, police say talk of hate on the web could be fueling violence against minorities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shot a few times in the back. COSTELLO: In Massachusetts, police say a man told them he went on a brutal rampage to kill nonwhites a day after President Obama's inauguration. He allegedly shot three black people, killing two before police stopped him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is being described as I think a methodical, premeditated event done by an evil individual.
COSTELLO: It's unclear whether Obama's presidency was a catalyst but police wonder telling me the suspect spent hours educating himself on white supremacist websites. The FBI also says threats against President Obama have increased since his election and they're closely watching hate on line.
JOSEPH PERSICHINI, FBI: I think we've been very, very aggressive inning at the potential of white supremacy or domestic terrorism group to take some sort of action.
COSTELLO: This despite what appear to be words of caution from some prominent white supremacist like former U.S. representative David Duke. Duke is telling his on-line supporters that any violence against the president by a deranged white person would be a catastrophic act for white Americans because it would inflate Obama's stature.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: I don't even know what to think about that. Of course, all this talk, this garbage is free speech and that is protected in this country. You can say any nasty thing you want if it isn't threatening. The FBI says it is watching though and feels it got the situation under control. Erica.
HILL: All right. Carol, thanks.
A coach charged in a player's death. Was it simply a tragic accident or homicide? Details on the unprecedented legal case coming up. It is 35 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON STINSON, PLEASURE RIDGE PARK HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH: I lost one of my boys out there that day. I lost one of my boys, the boy that I love and a boy that I cared for and a boy that meant the world to me. That's the thing that people forget. And don't ever forget that because that's a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
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ROBERTS: A Louisville, Kentucky, high school football coach is in court today facing charges of homicide. It comes five months after one of his players died on the practice field. Alina Cho joins us with details in the case that seems to be the first of its kind. Setting a real legal precedent here perhaps for future episodes.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, it is getting a lot of national attention this case. I mean we've heard about civil cases but never criminal it appears. John, good morning. Good morning, everybody.
You know, 15-year-old Max Gilpin died just three days after he collapsed during a high school football practice. Heat stroke was the cause. It happened back in August. It was blisteringly hot day. There are reports that the coach did not allow players to take water breaks which begs the question, was that coach negligent?
Well, today Coach David Stinson is being arraigned on charges of reckless homicide. Prosecutors say Stinson was negligent in the vigorous way he ran the team's practice on the day when the heat index rose to 94 degrees and they say that negligence while not intentional did lead to Max Gilpin's death.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best example is like someone shooting into a building, not knowing anybody is in there but then killing somebody. They didn't know they were in there but they should have known that shooting into a building where people normally are is something dangerous.
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CHO: Now, Coach Stinson's lawyer maintains the his client's innocence and the coach himself broke his silence this weekend.
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STINSON: I lost one of my boys out there that day. I lost one of my boys. A boy that I loved and a boy that I cared for and a boy that meant the world to me. That's the thing that people forget. Don't ever forget that because that's a burden that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
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CHO: If convicted Stinson faces up to five years in prison. He is also looking at a possible civil suit brought by the victim's family. But of course, John, we've heard about this before. You know, heat exposure death among football players is not uncommon. You remember Cory Stringer back in 2001, the Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman. He died of heat stroke on the field, but this is the first of a kind in terms of a criminal case. The coach being held responsible in that way. So we'll to have to see how it plays out.
ROBERTS: You know, the NFL has gone to great lengths since Corey Stringer's death to make sure that it doesn't happen again or at least lower the possibility of it happening again, making sure that all the players stay hydrated. They now mix Gatorade and pickle juice and have new helmets that are measuring temperature. CHO: Well, that's big question about, you know, was the coach negligent? You know there were several reports, both locally and some national reports that the coach did not allow the players to take water breaks. I mean, that will be a key question if the case moves forwards, of course, in terms of negligence.
ROBERTS: I'm sorry. It's not the helmets that measure a person's heat, they measure the impact, did they actually swallow a pill and then that checks their core temperature.
CHO: Well a lot is being done. I mean, it's hard because you know it was 94 degrees.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHO: When he got hot the to the hospital, his body temperature was 107 and then he died three days later. And so you're right, hydration is key in this case, we'll have to see how it plays out.
ROBERTS: Alina, thanks very much for that.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, by the way, is going to be along in our next half hour with some more perspective in this case. Erica.
HILL: All right. John, thanks.
Also, we're continuing to follow the comments we just told you about. Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois now saying that he was actually considering Oprah Winfrey to bill Barack Obama's Senate seat. Is this the case? What would Oprah have to say about it? We are working all of our sources on this one. You can bet we are going to continue to follow it and update you throughout the morning right here on CNN. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING. It is 41 minutes after the hour.
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HILL: Welcome back, everyone, to the most news in the morning. You're looking at a live picture from Chicago. Looks pretty, but let me warn you, it is cold. Bundle up there, the ice and snowstorm are coming.
Right now, the temperature in the windy city, eight degrees but it feels like negative one. Here's the upside, the high today will be a balmy 17 and yes you can expect a little snow with that. Sounds like a lovely forecast for the day. Rob Marciano standing by for us live at the CNN Weather Center. Wow, that's all I can say. I'm glad I'm inside.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It looks so pretty, Erica, on the big screen.
HILL: It's gorgeous.
MARCIANO: You know. HILL: Yes.
MARCIANO: It's kind of dawn just on the horizon there. That somewhat beach tropical music in the background kind of makes things a little bit weird.
HILL: Warm you right up.
MARCIANO: All right. Kind of a mess today on the map, Erica, we've got - well the northeast is cold right now. It should be all right. Chicago OK for now. But obviously what's happening in the middle is where cold air is meeting some Pacific moisture and also some warmth here across parts of the south. With that, we're going to see not only snow in spots and in some spots we'll see heavy snow but in this purple area, freezing rain will break out later on this afternoon.
Not a whole lot showing up on the radar scope yet but we can anticipate and we anticipate the increase through the overnight period tonight. We could see anywhere from a quarter inch of rain, freezing rain to maybe three quarters of an inch. So that will take down some trees and power lines and we will see power outages because of it. Maybe an hour delay in St. Louis and Kansas City because of snow. Snow in the Denver and Salt Lake.
We're seeing some fog this morning in places like Tallahassee, Jacksonville and in Atlanta. So we could see some travel delays there. But the cold air in place, no doubt about it, 18 degrees, nonwind chill number in Chicago. 30 in New York. 35 in D.C.. So this moisture that's going to be breaking out of Texas later on today, where it will be freezing precipitation just north of Dallas, will be icing and through parts of the Ohio River Valley and mostly a snow event from Baltimore, Philly and New York beginning tomorrow afternoon.
So we'll talk more about that everybody getting a little piece of this action but right now, it's chilly in Chicago and at least for this morning it's dry.
HILL: All right, I will get the sledding gear ready for tomorrow, Rob, here in New York. Thanks.
President Obama making some big changes. John has more on that.
ROBERTS: Yes. That when it comes to fighting the war in terror as well as the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, issuing all kinds of executive orders. In a moment, we're going to take a look at the message that the president is sending to Al Qaeda.
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HILL: Some good news for you young ladies out there. Britain's Prince Harry, available. Apparently he split now with his girlfriend of five years. He is single again. 23-year-old Chelsea Davis reportedly dumped the prince after growing tired of his playboy ways. Apparently, get this - she has already changed her Facebook status to say she is single. And if that is not telling the entire world, John, I don't know what does. Because the minute you change it on Facebook, everybody knows.
ROBERTS: Everybody knows and he's got to be devastated because where is a prince, an heir to the British throne, ever going to come up with another lady?
HILL: You know, the poor guy is crying alone in his beer for years.
ROBERTS: He's going to be single for the rest of his life. He'll die a lonely man. Such a shame.
HILL: Somehow, he'll recover, I think.
ROBERTS: Well you know, it's not safe to text on your cell phone while driving but what about while walking? How many times have you stepped off the curb in New York City while you're texting like this. It seems to depend on your age though just how much danger you're in. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us this morning from Atlanta. I've narrowly been missed by a cab on occasion. I can imagine other people have too, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And you're a mature, responsible adult, right?
ROBERTS: Oh, no, I am not! I'm a kid at heart.
COHEN: Well, some researchers wondering kids who are real kids, not just kids at heart, how safe are they when they are using their cell phones? They were thinking about that tween age, the kids who are eight to 12. Obviously, they are not driving but when they cross the street on their cell phones, are they safe?
It's a good question because a lot of tweens these days have cell phones. Let's take a look, 46 percent of tweens use cell phones. I was surprised, that's almost half. That's a big number. And not only are they talking on their cellphones, more than half of them, 55 percent of them are also texting on their cell phones.
So what they did is they thought, well gee, we can't just give kids cell phones and watch them cross the street and see if they are hit by cars. That's not very ethical. So what they did was they made up a virtual reality game where they had kids sort of pretending. You can see it here. They are talking on their phone and they sort of pretend to cross the street. Look at that. Well, there is a near miss right there.
What they found is that when these kids playing these games, when they were on their cell phones, they were 20 percent less likely to look both ways before crossing the street. Also, they were 43 percent more likely to get hit by a car or to have a close call. And that has led both the researchers and the cell phone industry to say that parents ought to counsel their kids about safe cell phone usage. John. ROBERTS: Aren't there also concerns that cell phones aren't the best things for children, particularly in that age group, regardless of what they're doing?
COHEN: Right. There are concerns about radiation in cell phones, particularly among developing brains. This story was a big story this past summer. University of Pittsburgh researchers came out with these shocking images. What they found was they tried to measure the penetration of a cell phone. You can see sort of the yellow thing on the bottom just like an ear.
So the radiation goes into the brain somewhat for an adult, a lot more for a 10-year-old and even more for a five-year-old. That led these University of Pittsburgh researchers to say that they think kids ought to be using cell phones only in case of emergency. They shouldn't be yakking away on them. However, the cell phone industry says that all of the data is not in, specifically this is what they have to say.
"The overwhelming majority of studies that have been published in scientific journals around the globe show that wirelines phones do not pose a health risk." So really, John , this is one where it's a little bit confusing and parents have to sort of make the call themselves. How much do they think radiation is really a problem and how much do they want to limit their kids' cell phone use?
ROBERTS: Yes, those two little words that mean so much, common sense.
COHEN: Right. Exactly.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth. Thanks so much, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: It's 53 and a half minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Outrage already from the mom-in-chief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is sickening and a horrible thing.
ROBERTS: The First Lady fights back over Sasha and Malia dolls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not healthy for them psychologically.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live in the land of the free and the home of the dollar.
ROBERTS: Plus, major upset at the SAG Awards. On the red carpet and back stage with the latest. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HILL: Right after Barack Obama was elected president, Al Qaeda unleashed a stream of verbal tirades against him, calling him among other things, a hypocrite, a killer of innocents and an enemy of Muslims. A torrent of hateful which some say could actually be the sign of a desperate propaganda campaign. Joining me now is CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen who joins us this morning from New Orleans.
Peter, good to have you with us. A "Washington Post" article yesterday actually referred to Al Qaeda's recent increase in messages since the election as, "deliberate, even desperate propaganda campaign." Is Al Qaeda threatened by President Obama?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, you know, Al Qaeda has historically been sort of bipartisan in its disdain for presidents of either party. If you go back to the Clinton era, Al Qaeda was using pictures of President Clinton for target practice. So it's not surprising that a new president is somebody that they will be critiquing because in Al Qaeda's mind it doesn't who is the American president. They want a complete change of American foreign minister in the Middle East, the abolition of the state of Israel, et cetera. Things that no American president is really going to do. So the fact that they are critiquing Obama, to me, is not particularly surprising.
HILL: What about the fact, though, that Obama is more well received in the Middle East than former President Bush? In fact, there is even a little bit of a honeymoon period there. Could this be an attempt to knock away at some of that?
BERGEN: Well there's no doubt that, obviously, President Bush was not popular not in the Middle East, but around the world. And really President Obama is popular. But I think that if Al Qaeda or anybody allied to it thinks that somehow American foreign policy is going to be dramatically shifted under President Obama, they're going to be unpleasantly surprised. I mean, I don't think an Obama administration is probably unlikely to talk directly to Hamas.
The Obama administration is not going to pull out quickly out of Iraq. They will be very careful about it and of course, again with 30,000 or more American soldiers in Afghanistan by the end of this year. So there is going to be a fair amount of continuity between the Bush administration and Obama administrations in some of the key foreign policy areas. Erica.
HILL: What change though of course would be the announcement of the closing of Guantanamo Bay. How do you think that could affect Al Qaeda messages heading forward?
BERGEN: Well, it's going to be one less propaganda point for them. I think you know it's a very important development and it's something that I think people around the world have welcomed.
HILL: So heading forward, do you think, though, Al Qaeda is going to be more or less of a threat based on the way this president has already started his administration? How much of that can he control? BERGEN: How much does the president control in terms of a threat from Al Qaeda? I mean, you know, I think that, clearly, the Bush administration policy to launch many missile strikes into the federally administered tribal areas in Pakistan is something the Obama administration is continuing and that has been somewhat effective policy and really eating away at some of the leaders of Al Qaeda.
HILL: All right and we'll continue to follow it. Peter Bergen, always good to have you here to put things in perspective. Thanks.
BERGEN: Thank you.
