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American Morning
Job Cuts May be Slowing; U.S. Marines Say Supply Lines Running Low; California Wildfires Forces Evacuation of Thousands of Residents; Drew Peterson Indicted on the Murder of Third Wife; High-Tech Hackers Target FAA; Maria Shriver Discusses New Documentary "The Alzheimer's Project" ; Why Did Manny Do It? And How Prevalent Are Steroids in MLB?
Aired May 08, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again. Thanks so much for being with us. It's 7:00 on the nose right here in New York. I'm Kiran Chetry, along with Carol Costello in for John Roberts.
Glad you're with us this morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and happy Friday. You said it at the top of the hour, 7:00 Eastern Time. Here's what's on our agenda this morning. The big stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
A key test of whether we really turned the corner. The monthly jobs report for April due out in just about 90 minutes. Some reports suggest we could hit a 25-year high, but there are signs that the number of people being laid off could actually be slowing.
More than 30,000 residents in Santa Barbara told to get out as the California wildfires continue to burn out of control. The fires are only 10 percent contained as the winds picked up again last night. Emergency officials saying at least 75 homes have been destroyed and more than 12,000 more could be in danger.
And dozens of Marines setting foot in Afghanistan, the first of President Obama's surge of 21,000 new U.S. forces. Much larger waves are expected in the coming weeks, but troops on the ground say supply lines are running too slow. And they weren't afraid to tell the defense secretary just that on his trip to the war zone. Chris Lawrence though will have the latest from Afghanistan just ahead.
But we begin the hour with the latest news on your bottom line, your job. Wall Street looks likely to rebound after a day of down arrows. And in just about 90 minutes, the Labor Department will pull out its monthly jobs reports for the month of April.
And, Chris, you never know what to make of these things. So we always turn to our Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I know what to make of these things. That's what I'm here on this Friday for.
You were looking for the highest jobless rate probably in 25 years. That, you know, shows there's a lot of pain going on for people in the workplace, people who have been laid off. But, here's what we really want to know - are the pace of mass layoffs slowing?
I mean, we could see 600,000 people lost their jobs in the month of April. And that sounds like a huge number and it is. But it would be the smallest huge number since last November.
We've seen these little signs that things are starting to show, at least the losses are slowing in the jobs market. We saw a private sector report this week that showed job losses slowing pretty significantly.
We've seen layoff announcements that have slowed, according to Challenger Gray & Christmas. And the first-time jobless claims, that number we tell you about every Thursday was the lowest in about 14 weeks.
So these are small little signs. Some are hoping of a bottoming in the labor market. The worst of the - of the big job losses. Here's the conundrum for people.
You are seeing the mass layoffs slow down, but you're not seeing hiring in its place yet because businesses are still concerned about what's going to happen over the next six months. They're very careful about protecting their little profitability, any profitability they can get.
A quick note for people who are getting Social Security benefits. You will get a check in your Social Security, $250, a little bit of a boom from the stimulus. That starts this week. So, no matter what we hear about the jobs report, what something you're going to feel immediately for a lot of people, millions of people, really, is going to be the Social Security benefit. So from the stimulus, I'm going to watch out for that.
COSTELLO: OK. See, there were bright notes in there and I like that.
You know, you have to joke about it. And you know, late-night comedians do joke about it.
David Letterman joking last night saying he doesn't need no stinking jobs report to tell him whether the economy has turned a corner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Everybody is excited about the economy getting better and you kind of feel it. Everywhere you go, people have a smile on their face and a spring in their step.
And here's how you know the economy is actually starting to turn around a little bit. I saw Donald Trump earlier today. And that thing on his head was wagging. Well, that's how you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go.
COSTELLO: Why does he do that with his hair?
ROMANS: Oh, God...
COSTELLO: Donald, why? Why?
CHETRY: You know, everybody has a hairstyle they feel comfortable with.
ROMANS: It's his look. He could never change it now. It's totally a brand, right?
COSTELLO: It's his brand.
CHETRY: Imagine if he came in with a crew cut one day? Wouldn't work.
Well, today is Defense Secretary Robert Gates' final day in Afghanistan. He was there as the first wave of Marines arrive in that country in what's expected to be a surge of 21,000 troops ordered by President Obama. But many troops already on the ground are saying that they don't have what they need to get the job done.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is traveling with Secretary Gates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On to one aircraft and stepping off another. Defense Secretary Robert Gates dashed from Kabul to Kandahar with several bases in between to hear firsthand what troops need. Several Marines told him communications equipment.
ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I heard this on several occasions today that the equipment is coming in behind our troops, and is not here and available for them when they arrive.
LAWRENCE: The U.S. is rushing 21,000 more troops into Afghanistan to secure upcoming Afghan elections. And in that rush, Marines say they're beating some of their equipment here.
GATES: One of the reasons that we are bringing forces into the country as quickly as possible from the United States, which is part of a logistical issue, is to provide security before the elections take place.
LAWRENCE: Secretary Gates also inspected MRAPs, vehicles that protect troops from roadside bombs, and he promised them more are on the way. Gates budgeted nearly $3 billion to buy 1,000 vehicles this year, specifically designed for Afghanistan's mountainous terrain.
GATES: Thank you, guys, for being out here and for what you're doing. LAWRENCE: He also told one Marine, don't worry when the Marine asked if American troops will be sent into Pakistan to fight the Taliban there?
GATES: I think that's only falling in the category of a rumor. We won't be putting ground troops in Pakistan.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Gates also said that the Marines' equipment is not arriving late because it's tied up in Iraq. He says it's a logistical problem and one that he's determined to look into.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Chris, thanks. And a major development and a turning point in an 18-month investigation.
The former police sergeant, Drew Peterson, has been indicted for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He was arrested last night during a traffic stop in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Peterson also remains the prime suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who's been missing since October 2007. That was again not why he was arrested, though. It was in connection with the murder of his third wife.
And the suspect in a Connecticut university shooting is in police custody this morning after a nationwide manhunt. Stephen Morgan charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Wesleyan University student. Police say that Morgan may have been targeting the university and the town's Jewish residents. Sources telling our affiliate WFSB that journals seized by police reveal Morgan wrote about turning Wesleyan into a "Jewish Columbine." Morgan is being held now on $10 million bond and will be arraigned this morning.
COSTELLO: And turning to a developing story now, firefighters still battling an out of control fire in Santa Barbara County, California. As of this morning, at least 30,000 people being told to get out of their homes. Thousands of acres have been scorched.
Our Kara Finnstrom joins us live with the latest.
Kara, what are fire officials saying this morning?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're very concerned, you know, as fear those winds did whip up again overnight. And what it did was it pushed this already destructive fire into some new neighborhoods.
We did get up in just some of those neighborhoods and took some pictures overnight that we want to share with you. And what struck me is that unlike the homes that we saw burned to the ground yesterday which were in more kind of remote areas up in the canyons, these were in more traditional neighborhoods, if you will.
And I just spoke with a firefighter a short while ago who said the good thing about that is they have easier access now and they're getting in there, and they're really trying to tackle this head on. But as you can see from these pictures, they do have one fire fight on their hands.
The good news today is it is cold out here this morning, and the winds are expected to die down throughout the day. So that shift in the weather will hopefully be an aid for firefighters who are out there trying to get this thing under some type of control - Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks for bringing us up to date. Kara Finnstrom live in Santa Barbara County, California.
CHETRY: All right. Let's take a look at some of these other stories new this morning.
Public reaction to the nonstop warnings over swine flu seems to be enough already. After all the media coverage, the warnings of a possible global pandemic, so far the outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus has proven to be rather mild.
The World Health Organization though still issued another new warning saying that two billion people could still get sick if swine flu becomes a global epidemic.
Also fed up, America's major broadcast networks, the Hollywood reporters saying top executives of the big four are upset over primetime preemptions from President Obama. The report says this year's news conferences from the White House have cost them $30 million in ad revenue. FOX, the only network to refuse so far sticking to original programming during the president's most recent primetime conference.
And Drew Peterson now indicted for the murder of wife number three, but the search is still on for wife number four. Potentially disturbing testimony in his trial and we're going to have much more on what he's facing.
It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'm going to do a little Rob Marciano impression now.
It's cloudy and 57 degrees right now. But later, scattered storms and 71 degrees. So I guess the temperature is good.
It is now 7:12 Eastern Time. Let's fast forward to stories that will be making news later today.
We're, of course, expecting those big jobs number reports from the Labor Department. Jobs are also the focus at the White House today.
President Obama will give remarks on job creation and job training today at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, and we'll have that live for you right here on CNN.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with her Romanian counterpart today at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. This rounds up a busy week for Secretary Clinton. Earlier, she met with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Russia's foreign minister.
And the president's plane buzzed the Manhattan skyline last month sparking eerie flashbacks to 9/11 and it was all for a White House photo-op. Today we may get to see that official photo of that event.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration would issue a report on the incident by the end of the week, including that photo - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Carol, thanks.
Well, new developments this morning. Former Chicago area police Sergeant Drew Peterson now accused of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Her body was exhumed after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished.
Stacy's body has never been found and police are hoping that this trial could lead to answers surrounding Stacy's disappearance and possible death as well.
Joining us now from Chicago is criminal defense attorney Steve Greenberg.
Steve, thanks for being with us this morning.
STEVE GREENBERG, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.
CHETRY: So right now we have Will County state's attorney, James Glasgow, saying that Peterson drowned his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and that the state's evidence is strong. They, as we said, exhumed the body, did another autopsy, and determined that she did die from drowning and that they called it a homicide even though it was at first ruled accidental. Do you think there is a strong physical case against Drew Peterson in Kathleen Savio's death?
GREENBERG: First of all, I don't expect any prosecutor when they bring a murder prosecution to say anything other than we have a strong case. Let's look at the case that they've got though, and sort of try and assess it.
They've got two separate opinions from their own medical examiners, one saying it's an accident, one saying it's a homicide. Homicide means death at the hands of another.
Those two opinions are going to conflict. It will be treated by a jury no different as if there was a defense expert and a prosecution expert...
CHETRY: Right.
GREENBERG: ... who gave differing opinions. So the first thing the jury has to decide is which of those two people they're going to want to believe. What they've also supposedly have in this case, though, is statements made by Stacy Peterson that Drew admitted committing this crime.
CHETRY: Right, and let me get to that real quick just to give people a background on that.
GREENBERG: All right.
CHETRY: Apparently in the reporting - the "Chicago Sun-Times" has done a lot of reporting on this. But they're citing apparently a meeting with her pastor where she told her pastor that her husband told her he killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio. And he, of course, said that she did not want him to go to the police about it and she didn't go to the police about it. How is that going to factor in given that Stacy Peterson is missing?
GREENBERG: Right. And they've got his just absurd - you know, we all want our clients to keep their mouths shut obviously in this case. His attorney hasn't advised him of that. His absurd explanation that she had a crush on the pastor and she was sexing herself up when she was telling him these stories.
Here's how it's going to play in. There's something called forfeiture by wrongdoing. If they can show that he killed Stacy Peterson or had a hand in her disappearance in order to keep her from telling that story, then a jury will hear that she made that statement if a judge believed that this statement is reliable. And it was made to a priest.
CHETRY: Right.
GREENBERG: And a priest is testifying about it. So the judge is probably going to find that it's reliable. And the jury is going to hear that he had a hand in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. They're going to be told, well, you're not supposed to consider whether he's guilty of that murder.
CHETRY: Right.
GREENBERG: But they're going to have to decide if he was involved in her disappearance. So you've got this strange...
CHETRY: OK. I want to get to one other thing though real quick - I just want to get one other thing...
GREENBERG: Sure.
CHETRY: ... because then apparently according to "Chicago Sun- Times" their two long-time friends of Drew Peterson who claimed they cooperated with the police wearing wiretaps and recording for seven months intimate conversations with Drew Peterson. Now, if they do have these recorded conversations as well, how significant could his own words on tape be?
GREENBERG: Well, I think Drew Peterson, if he is guilty of these offenses is one of the smartest and most cunning criminals we've ever seen. And I sincerely doubt if he admitted to these friends after he was - there was this firestorm, he admitted to anybody doing anything wrong. My guess is there's nothing on those tapes. They probably just want their free trip to New York to talk on the shows.
CHETRY: All right. And then, of course, the last thing is his stepbrother Tom Morphy, who apparently is going to be testifying or made some sort of deal with prosecutors. This is also the reporting from the "Sun-Times" that he says he helped move a barrel that he described as feeling warm and weighing about 120 pounds.
GREENBERG: Right.
CHETRY: So if he goes there and gets that type of evidence regarding Stacy's disappearance, is that also going to factor in to Kathleen Savio's case?
GREENBERG: Well, that's part of the testimony that will be heard by a judge beforehand when he determines whether Drew Peterson had a hand in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson and whether her statement should be used in the murder prosecution for Kathleen Savio. It's got a lot of interesting twists and turns. His attorneys definitely have their work cut out for them at this point.
CHETRY: Certainly sounds like it. Steve Greenburg, Chicago criminal defense attorney, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks.
GREENBERG: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Cyber spies have tried attacking the Pentagon, the country's power grid, and now they're going after our eyes in the sky. Is the FAA doing enough to keep you safe while you fly?
And someone in Maria Shriver's family has the second most feared illness in America, and she's going to tell us how they live with it. The first lady of California live.
It's 17 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Oh, my gosh. I think that's sun in Chicago.
The sun is out in Chicago. It's 57 degrees. Later, it will be partly cloudy. But I should say it will be partly sunny and 74 degrees.
Top videos right now on CNN.com.
In Forestville, Maryland, firefighters respond to reports of a gas leak at a strip mall. And just as they arrive on the scene, the building explodes into this huge fireball. Eight firefighters and a gas company employee were injured.
Also, this video out of Montgomery, Alabama, an SUV gets caught up in raging floodwaters and it gets carried away. No one was inside the car at the time. Eventually, the fast-moving waters sweep the car down the river though and it went underneath the bridge.
And this woman in Charleston, West Virginia has the winning touch. Brenda Bailey has hit the lottery a whopping five times since last September. Her winnings add up to more than $160,000 and she plans to use the money to fix up her home and take care of her pets. And I'm sure she'll play again.
CHETRY: Good for her. All right.
Well, a disturbing report this morning about a possible new danger in the sky. An inspector general says that serious cyber attacks have occurred on FAA computers. So what does that mean for our flight safety?
Lisa Sylvester shows us the risk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2006, a cyber viral attack spread from the Internet to the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system forcing the FAA to shut down part of its operations in Alaska.
In 2008, hackers took control of the FAA's critical network servers and had the power to shut them down. They also obtained tens of thousands of FAA employee user IDs and passwords. And three months ago, cyber attackers gave unauthorized access to personal information of 48,000 current and former FAA employees.
These are among the findings of a troubling new report by the inspector general of the Transportation Department. One IT security expert says the hackers are getting smarter.
TOM KELLERMAN, CORE SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES: There is a very robust and highly sophisticated hacker community out there in the world that is targeting these types of critical infrastructures for various nefarious gains.
SYLVESTER: The inspector general's office and its auditor, APMG (ph), identified 763 high-risk vulnerabilities. The reports states, "In our opinion, unless effective action is taken quickly, it is likely to be a matter of when, not if air traffic control systems encounter attacks that do serious harm to ATC operations."
The FAA in response says, "There were some vulnerabilities in the administrative network that were pointed out. We put patches in and we're continuing to work on them."
While the FAA's operation system has been affected, an FAA spokeswoman insists it is separate from the administrative system and has never been directly hacked. But congressional members are worried because a modernized FAA system is coming on-line in a few years and the two systems would be linked.
REP. TOM PETRI (R), WISCONSIN: We have all kinds of guards as to try to guard against passengers and goods as they're moved through the system. But we need to do a better job of guarding the system itself.
SYLVESTER (on camera): Here's another problem. The inspector general report found that the FAA is not well positioned to even detect breaches. There are only 11 out of 734 air traffic facilities that have sensors to monitor intrusions.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: President Obama's borrowing billions of dollars in taxpayer money. So can he and the rest of the country afford universal health care right now? A look at some of the tough choices facing the White House.
It's 24 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Look at that. What a gorgeous, gorgeous shot this morning. It still always takes my breath away to see the Statue of Liberty, doesn't it?
COSTELLO: Even when the sun isn't out, it looks beautiful.
CHETRY: Hey, it looks like the sun might be coming out.
COSTELLO: Get out, Carol.
CHETRY: Just for you, Carol.
COSTELLO: I thought it was an optical illusion.
CHETRY: Well, you know, it's fair and 57 right now. Sadly, a little later, we're going to have some thunderstorms here in the Big Apple. But meantime, the news just out this morning coming from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the Statue of Liberty - and we should go back to the picture again - because the crown of the Statue of Liberty will be reopening July 4th.
It was closed to the public after 9/11 because of security concerns. The base, the pedestal, and the lower observation deck have all since reopened. But, again, I still remember how breathtaking it was to go in my first visit to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. You know, it's 168 steps that you climb up to get there to Miss Liberty's crown. So again he's saying that it is going to be reopening in July.
COSTELLO: July 4th.
CHETRY: July 4th. Independence Day.
COSTELLO: That's awesome.
It is 27 minutes past the hour. Time to take a look at our top stories. Wall Street looks likely to rebound today. Futures showing a positive starts for the Dow, Nasdaq, and the S&P. The Asian and the Nikkei markets both closed with solid gains and Europe's main markets all shot up at the opening bell.
North Korea vowing this morning to bolster its nuclear arsenal, responding to what it calls persistent hostile policy from Washington. White House special envoy Stephen Bosworth is traveling to Seoul today trying to lure the secretive state back to the negotiating table.
And Pope Benedict XVI starting a visit to the Middle East today. The pontiff is scheduled to touch down at any minute now in Amman, Jordan. His week-long trip will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
It's the first papal trip to some of Christianity's holiest sites since Pope John Paul II made a similar pilgrimage nine years ago. This is the pope's plane. You're seeing it landing live in Jordan.
And you know, he's arriving in the Middle East to little fanfare and he's going to bless the small Catholic population that lives in Jordan. But, you know, he ruffled some feathers in the Middle East by saying some things that they didn't like in one of his speeches and he's really trying to repair relations with the Muslim world by traveling to Jordan and other places in the Middle East. So we'll see how that goes.
In his 2010 budget plan, President Obama setting aside hundreds of billions of dollars to overhaul America's health care system. It's an issue that's plagued presidents for decades. So can the president really deliver on this one?
Our next guest says it could make or break President Obama's term in office. Joining me live from Washington, "Time" magazine columnist Joe Klein.
Good morning, Joe.
JOE KLEIN, COLUMNIST, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning, how are you?
COSTELLO: Good. You know, many people are wondering with, you know, all of the bailout money and all that the taxpayers are responsible for, is this really the time to come up with universal health care?
KLEIN: Well, you know, it seems to work on 15 to 20-year cycles. Nixon tried it, Bill Clinton tried it, and now Barack Obama is trying it. But he's doing it in a different way.
You may remember that it was the centerpiece of Bill Clinton's first term in office. The first lady, Hillary Clinton, had a special task force and it became a very dramatic defeat for them.
This time, the president is flying below the radar and all of a sudden we are in to very much into debate in both the House and the Senate. You're likely to have those by August. And it looks like it may well pass, although there's still a lot of fighting to be done.
COSTELLO: Yes, a lot of fighting to be done but now is the time when heavy Democratic control in Congress. Remind us again what's included in the president's health care plan.
KLEIN: Well, we don't know quite what's included yet. They're negotiating it out.
That's another thing that's different. Clinton presented the Congress famously with a 1,300-page bill with all kinds of details. Obama is letting the Congress work it out.
But what will most likely be in there is universal coverage, which means that everybody or nearly everybody in the country, except for illegal immigrants, will be covered. And that nearly everybody will be required to - to participate, including employers of larger companies and individuals who don't work for big companies. That's been very controversial in the past.
Also, the insurance companies are going to have a mandate too. They're going to be required to cover everybody regardless of pre- existing conditions and they're going to have to cover everybody at pretty much the same rate.
So those are the things that are being negotiated now.
COSTELLO: You know, well something you said might scare some American voters. You said that the president is going to leave the details up to Congress. Americans don't have a very great view of Congress and what it can do. And, of course, you have mostly democrats in control. And, you know, whether you're a democrat or republican, doesn't there need to some sort of checks and balances? Wouldn't it be better if there were some republicans in there adding to the mix?
KLEIN: Well, there are, first of all, you know, the administration really is guiding this. I mean, you know, Obama is not going to sign a bill that he doesn't like. And there is a chance that a number of republicans will sign on to this in large part because you're not getting the opposition from the business community and the insurers that you've gotten in the past.
There is opposition to a so-called public plan which would be an expansion of Medicare to the rest of the population. I don't know that that will be included in the final bill. But the fact is that health care costs have become one of the greatest problems that American corporations are facing now. And so they're looking a little bit more kindly on a universal government effort.
Now, one of the things that's going to have to be decided here is just what procedures are covered. You know, that's sometimes called rationing.
The president did a very bold thing the other day. In an interview, he talked about the fact that his grandmother, who was dying of cancer, was given a hip replacement by Medicare three months before her death. And he's saying this we're now going to have to have a discussion. And this is the most sensitive discussion imaginable about what Medicare and other health care programs will cover and what they won't.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens.
Joe Klein, thanks for joining us this morning.
KLEIN: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, last night on "The Daily Show," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar sat down with funnyman Jon Stewart. Stewart has some pretty basic questions for Salazar starting with, who are you? And what do you do?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": The current secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, will be joining us. I'll be asking questions him questions like, who are you? And what do you do? What is the interior responsible for?
You have the parts - but also aren't you sort of the oil company landlord - they pay you - you lease the public lands to the oil companies and then they pay you for it?
KEN SALAZAR, U.S. SECRETARY OF INTERIOR: That's right.
STEWART: Now you're looking at me like you don't know. For a second there, you were looking at me like I'm not sure about that one.
SALAZAR: That's not all that we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. That's not all that he does.
Because today, we just said a couple of days ago, he made an announcement of -- the secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, that the crown of the Statue of Liberty is going to be opening up on July 4th. That's important. That's one of the most recognized landmark in America.
COSTELLO: That is his most important function, but I hate to be sitting with Jon Stewart while he puts - but I think he handled himself pretty well.
CHETRY: He sure did. And you're in a tough situation. Because you don't know, I mean, am I supposed to be funny here. I mean, I'm technically, you know, an administration official so...
COSTELLO: Well, he did well. Congratulations, Mr. Salazar.
CHETRY: Now everyone knows who you are because you were on "The Daily Show." Now, dozens touched down with more than 20,000 on their heels. The first wave of Marines, they are in Afghanistan, to start President Obama's surge to try to take on Al Qaeda and the Taliban. We're going to be live from the Pentagon at the top of the hour.
Also, with the second most feared illness in America behind cancer. Maria Shriver has it in her family. The first lady of California will be telling us new ways that families are trying to deal with Alzheimer's disease. We'll also get an update on her Uncle Ted's condition as well. It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: A shot of Atlanta this morning. It's 67 degrees. Going to be stormy, going up to a high of 86 in Atlanta today. The top of the buildings getting lost in the clouds there this morning.
OK, it wasn't a free car. But free is free and it's Oprah. So there was a lot of excitement over the giveaway, but this time something went wrong.
Here's Alina Cho on Oprah's chicken dinner mess.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY, TV TALK SHOW HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": We called up the fine folks at KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Here's what they're going to do for you. You're going to get two pieces of grilled chicken complete with two sides and a biscuit. Don't forget the biscuit - for you and your family, for free.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That Harpo hookup caused a nationwide frenzy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My free chicken meal.
CHO: KFC was flooded with customers, all waiting, coupons in hand, for a free $4 meal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless Oprah. Feeding everybody. I love it.
CHO: Not so fast at some locations. The response was so great, they ran out of grilled chicken, cut customers off.
The blogs went crazy. "What is up with that?"
"I'm melting."
"Hungry for the chicken."
JOSHUA ROMOFF, KFC CUSTOMER: Oprah said free chicken. I'm here for free chicken. So is the rest of the world. And apparently they cut it off and a lot of disappointed people. ROGER EATON, KFC PRESIDENT: The stores are being completely overwhelmed. Oprah is clearly a superstar.
CHO: To appease customers, KFC says everyone with a coupon more than 10 million people will eventually get their chicken. A company promised. Oprah said even she was surprised by the power of O.
WINFREY: I thought it was a nice gesture. I thought it was a nice thing. What I realize is that people are hurting even more than I recognized.
CHO: The KFC coupon craze even bigger than this. Remember when Oprah gave every member of her audience a free Pontiac. Imagine what those are worth now? Yet in this recession, these people are satisfied with free KFC and everyone knows if anyone can sell it, it's Oprah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From magazines to TV shows, even Tom Cruise going crazy on her show.
ROMOFF: Oprah has some definite power. I tell you that. You can't deny it. It's the O, you know? The O in Oprah says it all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Don't we know it, KFC says if you're one of the millions with the coupon right now, bring it in, fill out a rain check form and you will get an actual rain check. Essentially a new coupon redeemable for a two-week period at a later date. You will still get your chicken, two sides and a biscuit. And KFC says as a way of saying I'm sorry, they are also going to throw in a free soft drink. Isn't that nice?
CHETRY: Yes, but somebody is wishing that they didn't do this right now?
CHO: You know what, they had long lines. In some cases reports of sit-ins and so forth. I mean, I don't think anybody thought it would be that popular. I mean, other people say like the container store. You know they had these sort of coupon things before. They say they actually have a plan in place because they know what happens when Oprah mentions the product. You know...
COSTELLO: Unbelievable.
CHO: ... people go crazy.
CHETRY: The Midas touch. There you go.
COSTELLO: Maybe we can get her to say watch AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Yes. Please, Oprah. She loves Alina. Maybe she will.
CHO: Talk to her.
COSTELLO: Can you talk to her?
CHO: I got people.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
COSTELLO: This morning's job report would be a ray of sunshine? I hope so. It comes out in about 15 minutes. We got some of the best minds in business to break down what it means for you and your job.
And Maria Shriver's family dealing with Alzheimer's disease. The first lady of California.
It's 41 minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Alzheimer's is the second most feared illness by Americans behind cancer. With good reason - what could be more devastating that having someone you love not even recognize you. It robs patients of their memories and it takes a tremendous toll on families.
California' first lady Maria Shriver has been battling the illness in her own family. She's the executive producer of the new documentary "The Alzheimer's Project," that premieres Sunday on HBO at 9:00 p.m. and she joins us this morning from New York, to talk a little bit more about it.
Great to see you, Maria. Thanks for being with us.
MARIA SHRIVER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "THE ALZHEIMER'S PROJECT": Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: Well, this is an issue that you're dealing with in your own family. Your father, Sergeant Shriver, was diagnosed, I believe, six years ago. And more and more families are finding themselves in this same position. An estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's and they're saying that that number by 2040 could jump to 11 million.
Is there anything that you've been able to learn about how they can try to prevent the advancement of this disease?
SHRIVER: Well, I think there's a lot going on, which is the good news. There are about 92 clinical trials, some of them in phase three. So there's a lot of hope out there when it comes to Alzheimer's.
There's nothing right today that you can do once you've been diagnosed to get rid of Alzheimer's. There are no survivors. You don't go in to remission. You don't stay in your job.
But the point of this entire project is to let people know that there is hope out there. If we come together, if we push for research, the brain is the new frontier. We know little about it.
CHETRY: That is the amazing part that it's so hard to figure out, especially if you're dealing with elderly people.
SHRIVER: Yes.
CHETRY: Is it dementia? Is it, you know, a pre-existing condition that has to do with maybe heart disease or is it Alzheimer's?
What has been your personal experience dealing with your father? And you had some very touching things to say about that, about how you had to introduce yourself every time you go to visit him.
SHRIVER: Well, that's true. And I think, as one doctor said to me, once you've seen one case of Alzheimer's, you've seen one case of Alzheimer's. For some families, it's the beginning of a 20-year battle. For others, it's a five-year battle. For some, their parents can be kept at home or their loved one. Seventy percent of Alzheimer's patients are kept at home and 75 percent of the uncompensated care giving in this field is done by women.
So it's very hard sometimes to determine when you talked about dementia versus Alzheimer's. And people are very confused as to when they should take a loved one to a doctor. And I always say it's not when you forget your car keys, it's perhaps when you open the refrigerator, your car keys are in the freezer that you should be concerned.
CHETRY: And this "Alzheimer's Project" was inspired by a children's book that you wrote about dealing with grandparents who has Alzheimer's. Let's watch a little bit of a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was it that made you fall in love with her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, she's a pretty little girl. And I didn't have any other girlfriends. And still I fell in love with her. On sight.
ALISSA, AGE 13: I wish I could have known her as she was before because she must have been a really amazing woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It's just heartbreaking to see it. And this is a young girl who is making a film about her grandmother. She wanted to learn more about what she was like before she got it.
SHRIVER: Yes.
CHETRY: It is heartbreaking to watch it. And you say that these kinds of conversations can be really important even though they're difficult.
SHRIVER: I'm a big believer that in talking to young children, be it about cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, whatever the disease is in your family. It's really helpful to young people. It acknowledges their feelings, it acknowledged their fear, and their confusion.
And young people are very good at teaching their parents on how to deal with the disease. I've learned a lot from my children who always have reminded me to deal with my father as he is today as opposed to trying to make him who he was.
And I think that's a personal journey for everybody in Alzheimer's to get over the hump that the person sitting in front of you isn't the dad you grew up with. And in fact is a new and different person that you have to introduce yourself to, that you have to have a different kind of conversation with. But it's one that's very much in the moment.
The children's one which airs on Monday, May 11 is so moving and so heart breaking. But it's one of the only things I've ever shown to my four children and at the end of it they said, is that all there is, isn't there more? That was really good.
CHETRY: Wow.
SHRIVER: So I think that's a good sign.
CHETRY: Yes. It's hard to keep kids' attention these days. You're right.
SHRIVER: Thank you.
CHETRY: You said in "LARRY KING" last night that you think Alzheimer's is going to become, "will single-handedly break the health care system in this country as we know it."
And of course we are talking about one of the goals of this administration to come up with an overhaul of health care. Is universal health care the answer? And how can we as a country afford especially when we're dealing with so many diseases like this that require a lot of care and for year?
SHRIVER: Well, it's not only me that thinks that Alzheimer's will single-handedly break the health care system. They just did a two-year study that Speaker Gingrich and former Senator Bob Kerry, Justice O'Connor chaired and where they reported that fact alone. I think in overhauling the health care system, this administration will look very much at Alzheimer's and how you pay for it, how much research has to go in to it to prevent that from actually happening.
I don't think it' s possible to rehaul the health care system as we know it without considering Alzheimer's at the top of the list.
CHETRY: All right. California's first lady Maria Shriver, also the executive producer of "The Alzheimer's Project." And again this airs on Sunday, 9:00. We encourage everybody to watch it.
Thanks so much for being with us.
SHRIVER: Thank you for having me. COSTELLO: An Iraq war vet ready to serve and fluent in Arabic kicked out of the military because he's gay. Coming up, you'll meet Lieutenant Dan Choi and hear his message to the Obama administration.
It's 50 minutes past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Wow, I think I can see Central Park there in New York City. It's a gloomy day here in New York. We're expecting thunderstorms later today and 74 degrees.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, more boots are on the ground now in Afghanistan. A small advanced group of Marines officially launched President Obama's troop surge to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ahead, we're going to be taking you live to Pentagon for the very latest.
Also, news sending shock waves through baseball. Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez now suspended for taking a performance-enhancing drug. We're going to take a closer look at the latest black eye for our national pastime.
Fifty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Hey, this just happened. Manny Ramirez of the Dodgers was suspended for 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy. Suspicions were raised last Saturday when Manny came in third at the Kentucky Derby.
Gentlemen, come on. That's a jockey riding Manny Ramirez. That's....
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's just so sad, isn't it? Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Dodgers general manager Ned Colleti calls it a dark day for baseball. The news of Manny Ramirez's drug suspension took many in baseball by surprise. Really? It didn't take anybody I know by surprise. Ramirez is famous for his cartoonish antics that spawned their own catch phrase, you know, Manny being Manny. He is one of the few sluggers in recent baseball history not tainted by steroids or other banned substances until now.
Ryan Smith is a sports attorney and BET talk show host and he joins us now.
I think the thing that really surprises me most about this - it doesn't really surprise me that he's accused of taking performance- enhancing drugs but it surprises me he would risk it right now, because he knows baseball is testing for it.
RYAN SMITH, BET TALK SHOW HOST: That's the thing, and that's what's so surprising here. He has apparently taken a drug called HCG, which is really a - in essence, it's a female fertility drug. But the thing is, what it does, what dopers realize that it does, is it raises testosterone level after you finish the steroid cycle.
So when you're taking steroids, your testosterone level goes down because now the steroids are producing testosterone for it. This replaces that. What's crazy here is, if he really was taking it as an ED drug, erectile dysfunction. What really makes it interesting here is he could have check with team doctors on his baseball team. He could have gotten an exemption possibly from MLB because MLB sometimes gives exemptions if you're taking drugs that is on its the banned substances list but you need it...
COSTELLO: Yes. I'm sure they'd give him an exemption for women's fertility drugs. Somehow, I just don't think that's true. But let's beyond that to what this says about baseball in general. You know, one of my heroes is Cal Ripken. When I think of a moral baseball player, that's who I think of.
SMITH: Right.
COSTELLO: And he's quoted today in the - what is this newspaper "The Daily News." He says, you know, he's surprised and saddened by Manny Ramirez. And he says, you know, "I would love to sit down and talk to A-Rod for a while."
Of course, he was always accused - actually, he admitted to taking steroid.
SMITH: Right.
COSTELLO: He says, "I'm sure the right time wouldn't be now to talk about it, but at some point you would like to sit down, get n someone's head and try to understand what causes steroid use, then maybe I could speak more intelligently about this."
SMITH: He doesn't...
COSTELLO: He can't figure it out.
SMITH: No. He doesn't even have to. I can tell you. What the thing is, people want to do well. Baseball is about money right now. And I hate to say this, because there's a lot of baseball purists out there that want to believe it's about the love of the game but right now baseball is big money. And every athlete out there...
COSTELLO: Cal Ripken made big money.
SMITH: Exactly.
COSTELLO: He's a very wealthy man. He didn't take steroids.
SMITH: But people feel the need to do whatever they can do in order to keep up with the Jones, in order to keep up with the other guy who might be in that same locker room who is taking performance- enhancing drugs to get better. Now, I'm not saying that every baseball player is doing this. There's a lot of baseball players out there that are doing the right thing. They're clean. But I'm not saying that Manny necessarily took a steroid or took something that was illegal.
But what I am saying is when you have that kind of competitive environment, there is so much competition to be good, people are doing what they have to do to keep up. And I wish we could say it was just about people doing the wrong thing and a few bad apples but unfortunately what we're seeing is a lot of people are doing this.
COSTELLO: Ryan Smith, thank you for joining us.
