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American Morning
Suspicions Raised about Possible Balloon Hoax; Is Obama Moving Too Slowly on Campaign Agenda?; Obama Appeals to Democratic Supporters; No Pay for Bank of America CEO; Woman Relates Near-Death Experience
Aired October 16, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. We've hit the top of the hour. I'm Carol Costello in for Kiran Chetry. Happy Friday. It's 7:00 a.m. eastern.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's October the 16th. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us, and here are this morning's top stories. We'll be telling you about them coming up in the next 15 minutes.
Was it a stunt? A six-year-old Colorado boy feared trapped in a homemade helium balloon 7,000 feet in the air, a massive rescue effort. Then the boy is found hiding in the attic. This morning, questions about the story because of something the child said to CNN.
COSTELLO: Yes. Was it faked? We'll explore that scenario.
It was a nightmare scenario in Pakistan, militant attacks on the rise in one of America's most crucial anti-terror allies. This morning at least 11 are dead after another attack. The government now pushing back but still losing ground.
In a moment, how is this chaos impacting White House discussions on how to proceed with Afghanistan? We're live at Pentagon.
ROBERTS: And "CHEATING DEATH" -- 56 minutes with no heartbeat. A school bus driver survives without brain damage, and she tells Dr. Sanjay Gupta what she saw during that time. Did she get a glimpse of life after death?
"We did this for a show." Those six words spoken by a precocious 6-year-old boy took all of the air out of a global feel-good story. Millions of people were riveted to TVs and computers around the world yesterday as a homemade helium balloon built by a storm-chasing dad somehow became untethered, flying thousands of feet in the Colorado sky.
A family fearing that their little boy was trapped in the compartment underneath.
Hours later, a big exile. Little Falcon Henne had been found alive hiding in the attic the whole time.
Our Thelma Gutierrez is live in Fort Collins, Colorado this morning, where this all started. Thelma, a lot of people are wondering this morning whether this entire ordeal might have been a publicity stunt.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. In fact, the Henne's had said themselves they have no idea why their six- year-old would have even said those six words. He went into the attic, crawled into a box, because he said he was afraid that his parents would be mad at him.
But now that raised so many questions about exactly what has happened. They adamantly say that this was not a publicity stunt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear us calling your name at any time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, why didn't you come out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that we did this for a show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): It was that curious response from a fidgety Falcon Henne that went over like a lead balloon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did he mean, "We did this for the show"?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me interrupt this real quick because I think I see the direction you guy are hedging on this.
GUTIERREZ: Could it be that the Hennes staged the disappearance of their 6-year-old son for publicity? The family is not camera shy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my brother, Falcon, and we're in the middle of Hurricane Gustav.
GUTIERREZ: They're storm chasers, appearing on TV many times before, frequently submitting iReports to CNN. They've also been on ABC's reality show "Wife Swap" twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I really, really don't want to hear that.
GUTIERREZ: That background and Falcon's comment about doing it for a show had many CNN viewers questioning the integrity of the story on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" last night.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": I'm guessing 90 percent, 95 percent of the people think this is some kind of a hoax.
GUTIERREZ: Law enforcement officials say they have absolutely no reason to believe Falcon's ordeal was a publicity stunt.
SHERIFF JIM ALDEREN, LARIMER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: They were besides themselves with worry, and it was real obvious from their demeanor early on that they thought he was in the balloon.
GUTIERREZ: Still, the questions, the doubts clearly upset Falcon's father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm kind of appalled after all the feelings that I went through up and down that you guys are trying to suggest something else.
We were on "Wife Swap" a couple of times. So the camera crews out there, I would imagine, they'd ask him a couple of questions in reference to this. And I believe, you know, he meant something to do with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: So Henne's saying they believe their son may have been confused. After all, yesterday there were many cameras out in front of the family's home.
Now, the Larimer County Sheriff's Department says they don't believe that this was a hoax, but their investigators will come out and talk to the family again.
After all, this was a very massive search. You had the FAA involved, DIA had to divert some of their flights, many local resources involved in the search for this boy - John.
ROBERTS: And with all those resources, a huge cost involved as well. Thelma Gutierrez in Fort Collins, Colorado this morning. Thelma, thanks.
We're going to hear from the Henne family to find out how everyone is doing the morning after. They're joining us live at the bottom of the hour, about 25 minutes from now here on AMERICAN MORNING.
COSTELLO: And you know it will be interesting to hear what they have to say. I was reading TheDenverPost.com this morning, and this is what they said about the whole Henne drama, "Did life imitate art or did art imitate life, or is it possible anymore to tell the difference?"
ROBERTS: That's one of the aspects of this case that is really interesting. The 6-year-old boy says, "We were doing this for the show." What exactly was he talking about? When you're involved in that age in reality TV, does life become a show?
COSTELLO: And he's been on reality TV for a couple -- he's only had six years of life, so it's like his whole life. So maybe everything's a show to him.
ROBERTS: You never know. We'll ask those questions this morning.
COSTELLO: It will be interesting.
Developing, too, this morning, Pakistan hit with another round of deadly and brazen violence. Today's target, a police station in Peshawar, 11 people killed, and that's on top of yesterday's attacks, which killed at least 37 people.
Remember, this is America's key ally, a country with nuclear weapons, a shaky government, and an army many say is not up to the task. It's also getting billions of dollars in American aid.
Our Barbara Starr is live at Pentagon this morning. Barbara, right now a lot of debate whether Pakistan is really in any position to help the United States deal with Afghanistan.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, Carol, the White House has been talking for weeks now about a comprehensive approach dealing with both the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
President Obama just yesterday signed a $7 billion aid package for Pakistan, but this is now a country in deep trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): The nearly daily chaos is raising more questions about the ability of Pakistan's security forces to maintain control. The last two weeks of attack are largely the work of an increasingly powerful Taliban organization. It's all impacting the White House discussion about how to proceed with the war.
BRUCE RIEDEL, BROOKING INSTITUTION: One should have no doubt about the relationship between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.
STARR: Experts say as the White House struggles to decide whether the priority is fighting Al Qaeda or the Taliban, it must first understand it's facing a web of interconnected networks in Pakistan.
JOHN NAGL, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: It's impossible, I think, to separate the Taliban in Afghanistan from the Taliban in Pakistan. They're both gaining strength, and they present a real threat to the security of this entire region, this nuclear- armed region. So it's enormously worrying.
STARR: Remember Mullah Omar, the one-eyed Taliban leader who fled the invasion of Afghanistan for Pakistan? He's back big time.
RIEDEL: Mullah Omar has presided over one of the most remarkable military recoveries in our time. An organization which was thoroughly defeated and discredited at the end of 2001 is now, in its mind, on the eve of victory.
STARR: Another Taliban faction known as the TTP also growing in strength. One senior U.S. official says recent intelligence suggests the group aims to wage attacks beyond Pakistan, perhaps even sending suicide bombers abroad.
The Taliban factions are benefiting from Al Qaeda's inability to launch significant attack. Financial backers are seeing a surging Taliban and an Al Qaeda on the run.
RIEDEL: Donors, particularly those rich donors in the Persian Gulf states, have been sending their money to those who have been successful in the business of terrorism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: U.S. analysts don't anticipate this wave of violence ending anytime soon in Pakistan, a nuclear power as we keep pointing out, with the Taliban bent on destabilizing the government there if not outright overthrowing it - Carol.
COSTELLO: Scary stuff. Barbara Starr live at Pentagon this morning. Thanks.
Remember when people were saying that President Obama was moving too fast? He was implementing all of these programs. It was all moving too fast? Well, a lot of people are saying he's moving too slow.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: You can never win when you're a president, whether you're a Democrat or Republican.
COSTELLO: You've got that right. We'll follow that...
ROBERTS: Can't satisfy everybody.
COSTELLO: That's right. We're going to put that conundrum to our political panel after the break. It's nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
President Obama is pushing back against criticism he's been too slow to make good on campaign promises. Speaking to Democratic supporters last night, the president asked for their trust and patience to get health care and other priorities passed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This notion that somehow we figured we'd come in and after nine months, OK, got that taken care of.
That's not how the campaign worked. You remember us grinding that out? All of those phone calls, all of those knocking on doors? Doors slammed in your faces. People couldn't pronounce my name. You remember that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Let's bring in our political panel. From Washington, Karen Finney, former DNC communications director, and David Frum, columnist for TheWeek.com and a former Bush speechwriter.
Good morning to you both.
DAVID FRUM, FORMER BUSH SPEECHWRITER: Good morning.
KAREN FINNEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So Karen, let's start with you. So the president says, you know, sometimes you've got to move slowly. But you know, I remember back when people said that the president was moving too fast. Now some people are complaining he's moving too slow.
FINNEY: Sure. That's right.
COSTELLO: So what do you make of this? Who's right?
FINNEY: Well, maybe it's just about right.
Look, the president obviously has a lot on his plate. He came in under one of the worst financial crises our country has faced and obviously had to deal with that.
And if you think about it, from Iran to North Korea to Afghanistan to Iraq to health care to global warming to the economy, any one of those issues is particularly complicated and takes some time. I think he's moving at a good pace.
But look, I think it's a good thing for people to be impatient. That's part of how our system works. That's part of how we hold our elected officials accountable.
COSTELLO: Karen, I think people get that you have to take your time deciding on something like Afghanistan or Iraq. But "don't ask, don't tell," for example, the president could take care of that just like that, right, David?
FRUM: Well, he could if he dared. But this president, as any president does, becomes weaker and weaker and weaker with each day in public office. You are never more powerful than in your first three months. The nine months after that, you're a little less powerful. The year after that, less powerful again.
Anything big the president does tends to be in the first year of the first term, and if there's a second term, within the first six months of the second term.
So people are observing the presidency and its pace of achievement are not wrong to think that there are a lot of indications that President Obama is not going to be able, not going to amass, put together the coalition to achieve a lot of the things he wants to do.
And if he makes good on his campaign promise to Afghanistan, and I disagree with you about it taking a long time. He had two years to think about before becoming president. He made a lot of promises. If he's now rethinking all of his campaign commitments, that's also a sign of indecision and trouble.
COSTELLO: Karen, you were...
FINNEY: Wait a second, I just want to -- yes. I want to add, specifically to Afghanistan. I mean, obviously, the conditions have changed dramatically in Afghanistan.
FRUM: No, they haven't. No, they have not.
FINNEY: Yes, they have.
FRUM: There is...
FINNEY: The election that we just had, that now is called into question is not a huge change?
FRUM: Sorry. It is not a huge change.
FINNEY: It is a huge change.
FRUM: I was in Afghanistan exactly a year ago.
FINNEY: And I say when you talk to military analysts they say there is some concern about putting our troops in the middle of such precarious political situation.
FRUM: No. That's a total -- I was in Afghanistan...
FINNEY: Well, that is your opinion.
FRUM: No. No, it's not.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's leave -- can I move on to health care? It's something that's left contentious.
FRUM: No. There is an answer to this.
COSTELLO: Really, let's talk about health care now because I really wanted to get into the issue.
FRUM: No, I won't let that pass. And I think that's the wrong way to approach it. I was in Afghanistan exactly a year ago. Candidate Obama had been...
FINNEY: A year ago? You're saying nothing has changed in a year.
FRUM: May I just finish this point? You'll find it interesting to hear it.
FINNEY: Sure. FRUM: Candidate Obama had been there six weeks previously. We were told then about the likelihood of fraud in future presidential elections. Candidate Obama got obviously better briefings than I would. Everything that we knew about this election was known as a problem in advance. You can't make that your excuse for changing your mind because it was there to be known if you wanted to know it.
FINNEY: Again, I think the American people appreciate the president taking his time making a thoughtful decision before putting our young men and women in harm's way.
FRUM: He made the commitment on the basis of information.
COSTELLO: OK, let's move on. We must move on, David, I apologize, to something less contentious like health care. Let's talk about the public option.
FINNEY: Sure. That's easy.
COSTELLO: Some people suggest that President Obama should come out and take the public option off the table, and that would really get the health care legislation moving now that Senator Olympia Snowe has voted with the Democrats. What do you think, Karen?
FINNEY: I think he can't do that because a clear majority of the American people want a public option. Time and again, poll after poll it shows Republicans and Democrats and independents alike want a public option. So I don't see that as a viable option.
I think Congress is going to have to make a tough choice. Do they want to side with the American people or the insurance companies? We've seen that the House has made it very clear they're going to stand firm on the need for public option, so it's for Congress to deliver the president a bill that includes a public option.
COSTELLO: David, what do you think?
FRUM: Danny Moynihan told Hillary Clinton in 1993, anything important passes the U.S. Senate 70-30 votes or it doesn't pass at all. The determination or the attempt to do this in a way that we cram through a very contentious matter like this, a huge change like this in this way, is a formula for failure.
FINNEY: Can I ask a question? So with health care we've been discussing and debating this for months and months and months and months and months, and Republicans say we're cramming it through. With Afghanistan, we've just seen the McChrystal report about two weeks ago and we're moving too fast.
FRUM: No, with Afghanistan, president...
FINNEY: I'm just -- I'm just saying, I'm just saying, David.
FRUM: No, with Afghanistan -- sorry. The shape of the president's decision has been known for a year and it commands broad support among both parties. If he now only reneges on his commitment, that's a new change. With health care he has an opportunity to build a 70-vote majority in the U.S. Senate over a series of reforms in the way...
FINNEY: Is it about...
FRUM: ... insurance is delivered. If he turns his back on that, he's going to -- what he's going to discover is his own party isn't really with him either.
COSTELLO: All right. David, Karen, we're done. Thank you so much. Now we have a sample of what it's like discussing these issues on Capitol Hill.
FINNEY: There you go.
COSTELLO: Thanks to both of you this morning.
FRUM: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. The holidays are coming up. Thanksgiving is just a little more than a month away now. People are booking their holiday travel. You're also maybe looking ahead towards the Christmas holidays.
COSTELLO: No.
ROBERTS: Are you going to get some bargains -- no, what do you mean, no?
COSTELLO: It's too early.
ROBERTS: Well, then, you're going to pay top dollar, actually, because already fares are going up. Find out how much you're going to pay in two minutes.
It's 18 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just for you this morning for rushing the season.
COSTELLO: I know. It's barely Halloween yet, for God's sake.
ROBERTS: Halloween, we've got it right by Thanksgiving. Are you kidding? Come on.
COSTELLO: We're on to Christmas.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It may be time to scale down that holiday wish list, OK, I'll go along with the Christmas thing. Turns out you'll more likely to get a new sweater or pair of socks instead of that video game.
According to a new study, just 20 percent of shoppers say they plan to buy games as gifts and, of course, that is down from last year.
ROBERTS: If you are traveling for Thanksgiving or Christmas, don't plan on making last-minute, getting any last minute deals. Travel experts say that unlike last year when airlines slashed fares after a sharp drop in travelers because of the economy going in the toilet, this year ticket prices are already on the rise. And not only will you pay more for a ticket, but many airlines also hitting you with a $10 peak travel charge in addition to all the other charges.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. There is one bright spot, however, if you must travel this coming holiday. Ticket prices right now are still about seven percent to 12 percent less than they were last year at this time. So experts warn, buy now or you will pay for it later.
ROBERTS: Well, one person who may not be buying any gifts this Christmas is Ken Lewis because he's not going to have money to do it.
COSTELLO: Poor Ken.
ROBERTS: Because they're taking away his salary and his bonus. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning. And to say that he won't have any money is just a joke.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: A joke beyond jokes.
ELAM: I'm sure he's still with that because they'll go work that out. It will be OK. But you're right. This is a case of, I guess repercussions in a sense for what happened last year.
Ken Lewis is the outgoing CEO of Bank of America. He's leaving at the end of the year, and we've found out that he's agreed with the pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg. You know what, I'm just going to leave. No bonus, no salary for the whole year. In fact, he's even paying back more than $1 million that he's already gotten compensation for this year.
Here's the quote that's coming from the B of A spokesperson saying, "Mr. Lewis felt it was not in the best interests of Bank of America or him to get into a dispute with the pay master."
OK. So, great. Like I said, he's got some money, still. He'll be OK. He's been with Bank of America for 40 years or so.
ROBERTS: Retirement package.
ELAM: So he's got this huge retirement package. He's got $53 million in pension benefits. He's got other stock awards. He's got deferred compensation.
Now here's the deal. The way things are set up right now, the pay czar cannot mess with anything that happened before 2009, but a lot of people at Bank of America are not sure whether or not his pay schedule for everything before 2009 is under scrutiny. They're saying, who's to say that they're not looking at that and saying things won't change on that level?
Now, if you take a look at why this all became an issue, last year, remember, Merrill Lynch was supposedly on the brink. Bank of America stepped in to rescue the company. The issue was, the government felt they were not forthcoming about the losses at Merrill Lynch and also the bonuses that were paid out to executives at Merrill Lynch. And this is why it became a big issue.
So obviously, shareholders voted before they found out about this at Bank of America and that's what they wanted clarity about. And then, you know, Feinberg is saying, or I should say, Ken Lewis saying that he felt that he was being pressured to go ahead through with this deal. So some people think that this is way too harsh of a penalty for someone who is trying to work with the government at that time.
ROBERTS: All right. I'm sure that we haven't heard the last of this one.
ELAM: Oh, I'm sure it's not done.
ROBERTS: Right.
ELAM: For all of the banks. And also I should mention, third quarter earnings will be out this morning. We'll be looking for Bank of America.
ROBERTS: All right. Looking forward to that. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning. Steph, thanks.
COSTELLO: Well, we've been telling you, credit card companies and banks are upping rates and fees. Well, how about this one?
A man in San Diego got a credit card offer in the mail and the rate on it, 79.9 percent.
ELAM: You can't even say that with a straight face.
COSTELLO: And this is the picture being offered, just so that you would believe it. The story was spotted by KNSD (ph) in San Diego. As for the man who got the offer, he said, "I think they're trying to take advantage of me."
ROBERTS: It's pretty amazing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta all this week has been treating us to his special series on cheating death. Amazing stories of people who either die -- either came close to dying or actually were dead for a while and then came back to life, and some of the things that they saw as they were maybe crossing over to the other side. He's got a great story this morning of a person who went almost an hour without a heartbeat and lived to tell the tale. Wait until you hear what he has to say.
Twenty-five and a half minutes -- or she has to say, rather.
Twenty-five and a half minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Is there such a thing as life after death? Many Americans report near-death experiences, which leaves doctors trying to explain what happened. All this week our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking at how science and medicine is redefining the notion of death.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this near-death experiences, John and Carol, probably happen a lot more than we realize. Maybe up to 800 times a day according to some of the studies that I've looked at. This idea that people have gotten a glimpse of what happens right after death and been able to come back and talk about it. It's fascinating certainly as a doctor and I wanted to hear firsthand so I went to a woman named Laura Geraghty. Here's what she told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): For Geraghty, who's a grandmother and a school bus driver from North Attleboro, Massachusetts, that day started like any other. She was on her final morning run to Newton South High School when the trouble began.
LAURA GERAGHTY, HAD NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE: My stomach hurt really bad. Just a really sharp pain that I've never had, and I thought it was heartburn.
GUPTA: She was able to park the bus, but then something happened.
GERAGHTY: Pain went right up my arm and right into my chest and at that point I said, uh-oh. I'm having a heart attack.
GUPTA: Newton South nurse, a CPR trainer came running with the school's new automated external defibrillator. The next 30 seconds went fast. She felt weak, and then she couldn't catch her breath.
(on camera): And then like that, she was unconscious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was definitely gone.
GUPTA: As far as onlookers could tell, Laura Geraghty was dead. Flat on her back right there, not 50 feet from the doors of the school. But Geraghty says, in fact, she was somewhere else.
GERAGHTY: I floated right out of my body. It just -- my body was here, and I just floated away.
GUPTA: What did you see?
GERAGHTY: What did I see? I've seen light. It was very peaceful.
GUPTA: When you look at your body, were there people working on you?
GERAGHTY: I've seen people but I kept going. I went to see my mom and I see my ex-husband. And they both came and it was very peaceful. It was so peaceful, and it was bright and it was beautiful. I remember trying to reach out to my ex-husband, and he would not take my hand. And then they floated away, and then I was just there. This massive energy, just powerful, very powerful energy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I tell you, John and Carol, a lot of the things that Lora Garaghty was describing can be explained by what's happening in the brain. For example, during a cardiac arrest you're not getting enough blood flow to your brain, specifically your retina, and if you lose your peripheral vision, because of your retina, then you start to see those tunnels that Laura was describing.
Also, the bright lights, can be explained the same way and even that out of body experience. There's an area of your brain responsible for spatial relationships. You're not getting enough blood flow there it could sort of stimulate an out of body experience. Having said all that, and having interviewed lots of people like Laura, I think these near-death experiences are a perfect example of that intersection between science and spirituality. Worth exploring.
John and Carol, back to you.
ROBERTS: Definitely worth exploring.
COSTELLO: I like the spirituality part better than the science part. Because you know, you always hope there's something more and you hope that what these people see in near-death experiences is reality.
ROBERTS: You know, there are some people who actually speculate that there is a weight to the human soul as well.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: All of this to be explored in the future. Don't miss the primetime debut of Dr. Gupta's special series, "CNN PRESENTS: ANOTHER DAY, CHEATING DEATH," tomorrow and Sunday, 8:00 p.m., Eastern, only on CNN.
COSTELLO: Crossing the bottom of the hour right now. Actually, already crossed the bottom of the hour. It's 7:31 Eastern. Here are this morning's top stories.
Crews are searching off the South Carolina coast for the pilot of one of two Air Force F-16s that collided in midair. It happened during night training exercises. Officials say one of the fighter jets was able to land safely at Charleston Air Force base. It's presumed the other plane went down in the water. So far without a trace.
ROBERTS: Is it winter already? Not quite, but it sure feels like it here in the northeast, and a nasty storm bringing heavy rain, high winds and snow. That's right, snow, to parts of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and New Jersey. Temperatures in some places are 30 degrees below normal this morning.
COSTELLO: And hallelujah this morning. Richard Hatch, the first winner of TV's "Survivor" gets out of jail after serving a 51-month sentence for tax evasion. Hatch went to prison in 2006, was released earlier this year to home confinement but he was tossed right back into the slammer to serve the rest of his term after giving unauthorized interviews.
Hatch will have to serve three years of supervised release complete with a mental health program and, oh, yes, he has to pay back taxes on that $1 million winning.
ROBERTS: And in addition to that penalties, I'm sure.
The plan was to improve stroke diagnosis, and one of the nation's top hospitals, and we are now learning the CT scan, a critical tool, was misused leaving more than 200 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center exposed to excessive doses of radiation. Here's CNN's Kara Finnstrom with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD BIGGLES, PATIENT: The side of my face went numb and my speech was starting to slur and I'm like, uh-oh.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifty-one-year- old Donald Biggles suffered a stroke in September of last year. Since then he's been grateful to the doctors who treated him at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but now a frightening discovery about a test used to diagnose his stroke.
Cedars-Sinai is admitting to a major programming error with a CT scan machine. During a period of 18 months the hospital says every stroke patient, 206 in all, received radiation doses six to eight times more than intended. Biggles say he was one of them.
BIGGLES: This paperwork is what they gave me when released me from the hospital.
FINNSTROM: Medical experts say nobody knows exactly what risk Biggles' faces but agreed that risk grows over time.
DR. BRUCE FAGEL, PHYSICIAN ATTORNEY: They are now in the subset population that is by definition high risk for the development of various types of cancers. We don't know what kind. We don't know how long it's going to take for it to occur.
BIGGLES: They say cancer it takes about 20 years for cancer to actually show up. I'm like - so you're telling me I'm going to wind up with cancer around up about age 70. And that's it. Five years after retirement, I get cancer. I'm like what? I don't understand this. FINNSTROM: Biggles is struggling to make sense of it all. Three weeks ago he says he got a phone call out of the blue from Cedars- Sinai. Dr. Barry Pressman, the chairman of the hospital's imaging department had some questions.
BIGGLES: He asked me, had I had any blurred vision, headaches or hair loss. I said, well, hair loss, yes. I had a perfect ring around my head. I do like this and there it was.
FINNSTROM: But he says Dr. Pressman never said anything about a radiation overdose.
BIGGLES: He never mentioned the word "radiation" or that they had over radiated me. He just said, something, there was an error with the procedure.
FINNSTROM: In fact, Biggles says the only reason he learned about the overdoses was this week's flurry of local news reports. State house officials were alerted to the problem by the hospital, and investigated.
Two years ago Cedars-Sinai faced state censure in another high- profile mistake. The newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid were given 1,000 times the intended dosage of a blood thinner. The twins survived and the Quaids launched a foundation to draw attention to hospital mistakes that kill as many as 100,000 American a year. Biggles says he understands mistakes are made. What he wants are answers.
BIGGLES: They've taken me from my normal comfort zone to now I'm in a worry zone. I have a wife. I have a family. I'd like to see - be around to see my son graduate college and get married and, you know, that's my life expectancy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FINNSTROM: Biggles says his next step will be to talk with his personal doctor about the risks he may face. Cedars-Sinai did turn down our request for an interview but the Dr. Pressman released a statement saying in part "As a physician speaking with patients, the goal is to address any side effects that may occur without unnecessarily alarming them. We continue to respond to patients' questions and concerns and I sincerely regret if any patient feels they did not receive the information they needed" -- John, Carol.
ROBERTS: Kara Finnstrom for us this morning.
Well, the nation, in fact, the world was transfixed for four hours yesterday as that balloon was flying across the Colorado sky. Was there a 6-year-old boy inside or not? It had a happy ending but a lot of questions still remain about what exactly went on. We got the Heene family coming up right after the break.
Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: For nearly three hours, the world was captivated by a home-made helium balloon gliding across the clear Colorado sky. Everyone was terrified that there might be a little boy trapped inside. When the balloon finally landed it was empty. The child later found safe hiding in an attic.
To find out why the family believed that their little boy was in that balloon and what has happened since then, we're joined by the Heene family - Richard and Mayumi the parents joined me this morning. Good morning, thanks for being with us. I know it's been a long night and long morning for you so far.
RICHARD HEENE, FATHER OF FALCON HEENE: Good morning. Yes. It's been extremely long. I haven't slept.
ROBERTS: I'm sure. You've had half a day to digest all of this, and looking back on everything that happened, I'm wondering what are you feeling this morning? What are you thinking?
R. HEENE: Well, I'm feeling very, very grateful that - among us. We went through so many emotions yesterday. It's something that I don't want to experience ever again, and we hope we never have to.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, no parent wants to see their child maybe flying away in a balloon. You were kind enough to let us use some videotape that was given to another program this morning of the actual liftoff of that aircraft. I think your young son, Bradford, was on the video camera as the balloon sort of slipped its tether and was flying away. There you can see it in your backyard. What led you to believe at that point that your six-year-old son Falcon was in that net cell in the bottom of the balloon? You can see your reaction. You're very, very upset think was all happening. Obviously thinking that he was inside. What was it, Naomi and Richard to believe that he was inside there?
R. HEENE: Well, I believe that what we're looking at, I was upset because I was under the impression that Naomi didn't tie the tethers. I mean, the tethers are there, and she told me she tied them. So I have to - I simply believed she tied them, as she could. So I was upset that the project was pretty much down the tubes, because we had about, a couple hundred experiments we were going to work with, and, of course, the whole thing had just been washed down the tubes. That's what you were seeing.
ROBERTS: I see. So at that point you didn't even know that Falcon might have been inside, Mayumi?
MAYUMI HEENE, MOTHER: No. At that point we didn't know he could be in.
ROBERTS: And how was it that you learned? You see that thing, the bottom of the balloon, I take it that's the nesell (ph), the compartment where you put instruments. How is it you were led to believe that he might have been in there?
R. HEENE: Earlier in the day we had told him several times not to play inside of it, and finally I ended up raising my voice telling him not play in it, and that seemed to have gotten him pretty upset, and Bradford told us that he was inside.
ROBERTS: Got you.
R. HEENE: So we had no other reason to not first look into it, search the house.
ROBERTS: Got you. So people around the world, as we said, were watching this. I mean, every eye in our NEWSROOM and so many others across the country were glued to the television set watching as this balloon was floating across the Colorado sky, went adrift to some 50 miles from Fort Collins there to just northeast of Denver International Airport. It finally came down. When you got the word that he wasn't inside, what went through your mind?
R. HEENE: It was - like the worst thing I ever heard in my life, because all I could think of was that perhaps he had fallen out.
ROBERTS: Right
R. HEENE: And somebody that was here suggested maybe jumped out. You know. We were kind of hopeful maybe that might have had occurred, but -
ROBERTS: I mean, I could imagine as a parent myself you were fearing for your child's safety. And to find out that he's not there? It's like, oh, my god, what happened and then where is he? You said you were sitting around - you said to Wolf Blitzer last night - you were sitting on the couch I guess obviously distraught trying to figure where he might be and suddenly he came walking in, Naomi?
M. HEENE: Yes. He walked in by himself. Felt like from nowhere. When I first saw him, I couldn't even believe it, and I couldn't comprehend right away, and next moment, I just jumping, calling his name and scream and cry and I just - enjoyed that moment, I guess.
ROBERTS: Oh, I can imagine how relieved you must have been.
So you say this was all genuine, that this just completely happened by accident. Authorities believe the same thing, but the - the internet and e-mail is lit up with speculation and doubts about this whole thing. After an exchange on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night with our Wolf Blitzer, you were there. When Falcon was asked why he didn't come out from hiding - let me just play that moment from last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
R. HEENE: Did you hear us calling your name at any time?
F. HEENE: Yes.
R. HEENE: You did?
M. HEENE: You did?
R. HEENE: Well, why didn't you come out?
F. HEENE: You had said that we did this for the show.
R. HEENE: Man (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It was that statement there, Richard and Mayumi, where he said you said we did this for the show, the people have picked up on - some people have taken that to be a reference to the "Wife Swap" show, a couple of episodes on which you appear, but you also did shows on storm chasing. Bradford was there with his video camera. There were assembled media outside. What - what do you think he was referring to?
R. HEENE: Well, right when he had answered, I've got this thing in my ear. I can hear you, I couldn't really hear what he was saying. So it was asked to us again, then I heard it more clear, but Wolf was asking us - so, anyway, after the first set of interviews in the front yard, I told everybody to come in, my wife and kids. I thought that they were behind me, and I ended up walking to the garage, opening up the garage door and Falcon's climbing in the joist, showing the media - the garage door's wide open, and it was like 30 guys out there with cameras, showing...
Somebody had asked him if he would show them how he got out for some TV show. So he told me that that's what he was referring to when we were talking about it.
ROBERTS: I see. So, his reference to that, it was the confused mind of a 6-year-old that was not quite clear about exactly what he was talking about, so he said that he climbed up in there to show the cameras.
And here's just a question that I had, you know, because you have been involved in reality TV. You've got the storm chasing show. How much do these kids live in the spotlight? How much of their life has become kind of a reality show?
R. HEENE: Well, you know, it was - the "Wife Swap" thing was the only thing that we had ever done, but when we go out storm chasing, we have to go on our own dime. So, early on, in the early stages, the first tornado her and I and the family had caught years ago, we called the National Weather Service, told them about it like you're supposed to, and - and then the media and then they later on "The Denver Post" contacted us and the "Wife Swap" contacted us to be on the show.
So, I mean, you know - it - you know, it just unfolded that way.
ROBERTS: Got you. You know, there was one other thing that came to light yesterday, and that's this rap video that the kids did and it looked like, you know, you were you trying to get them involved in music or - or whatever. That's what you told our Wolf Blitzer last night. But when you look at the content of that video, I had a couple of questions that came to mind.
They - they used - and we're looking at a little bit of it right here. The kids used the "P" word that was made famous by George Carlin. They also uttered the "F" word, and the other "F" word that derogatorily refers to - to homosexuals. I'm just wondering, what is that all about?
R. HEENE: (INAUDIBLE) any homosexual reference is in that. I really doubt...
ROBERTS: Well, they - well, they talk about the - the "F" word up in the tree about to pee on me.
R. HEENE: Right.
ROBERTS: I mean, it's there. I heard it.
R. HEENE: Well, we believe that having trophies of...
M. HEENE: Oh! Falcon!
R. HEENE: Falcon...
ROBERTS: Falcon up in the tree...
M. HEENE: It's not the "F" word.
R. HEENE: ... is the "F" word. Yes.
M. HEENE: The lyrics says Falcon, not the "F" word.
ROBERTS: Oh. It sure sounded like the other word. But they do use the "F" word and they do use the "P" word, right?
R. HEENE: Yes. Well, we believe in positive reinforcement in our family, so we hung around our home our children's paintings, and that encourages them. They walk by and they're proud of it, and they see it so they want to do more painting. They always ask us about it.
And so we feel like if we put trophies around the house of their accomplishments that they're going to want to be encouraged to do more of that. Mayumi's a very talented musician. I play harmonica. Ryo's an extremely talented whistler. And, you know, it just - it just kind of unfolds that way. Mayumi starts playing the guitar and the kids want to play.
ROBERTS: Yes. But I was just wondering about - I was just wondering about the language for, you know, kids who are 6 to10 years old.
R. HEENE: Oh. We - our rule is that the kids can cuss in the house. They're not allowed to cuss outside. I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'm not going to tell my kid you can't cuss, and yet they hear me do it? I'm not going to do that.
ROBERTS: All right. But - but when it's on - but when it's on YouTube, as it is now, and it has received thousands of hits, it's out there in public.
R. HEENE: Yes. You know, we were looking at it like a Beastie Boys thing and we figured that, you know, some funny comments would come in, the kids would go, hey, that's cool, you know, I can't wait to take the next music lesson.
You know, and quite frankly, you know, they're very enthused about playing instruments.
ROBERTS: OK. All right, well, we're certainly glad that Falcon was up in the attic as opposed to on that balloon, as I'm sure you are.
Richard and Mayumi Heene, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. I know it's been a long day for you.
M. HEENE: You're welcome. Thank you.
R. HEENE: Yes. Thank you.
COSTELLO: I guess my parents were hypocrites. Interesting stuff.
We're getting some breaking financial news into CNN right now, Bank of America reporting a major loss in earnings this morning. Our Stephanie Elam crunching the numbers for us. She'll be with us right after the break.
It's 51 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The nation's largest lender is reporting a $1 billion loss in the third quarter this morning. Bank of America, hit hard by customers defaulting on loans.
Stephanie Elam has been crunching the numbers for us - oh! And the stock market just hit 10,000.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, psychological barriers that we hit (ph). But, you know, there - we knew that there was going to be some pain at Bank of America. This part is not a surprise. We're really looking at a loss of $2.2 billion for the third quarter for Bank of America. This compares to when they actually made money of $704 million last year, so this number, worse than what Wall Street was expecting them to come out with.
Now, they are hurt by credit losses, a lot of that having to do with consumer issues, consumers still feeling the pain out there. We know that that directly affects the banks there. It's mainly the consumer businesses, but they did say delinquencies are leveling off, and their credit care businesses were showing that consumer may actually be getting a little bit stronger, so that's helping them out. Also taking a look at Merrill Lynch, they're saying that continues to boost results of adding to their overall growth, so they're saying that it's getting better and it's on track for that merger to go through the integration there.
Also, they took a $1.2 million - billion charge - excuse me - for paying off preferred share dividends, some of which went to the US government because, you know, the government still owns a large stake of the bank. But after this number came out, Bank of America shares down in pre-market trading, as you might expect, so we could see this one playing into our overall trading for today.
ROBERTS: Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business". Steph, thanks so much.
It's now 54 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. She is the only Republican, so far, to support a Democratic health care reform plan. Democrats are praising Maine Senator Olympia Snowe for breaking party ranks.
COSTELLO: But her stand-alone stance could be the new voice to Moderate Republicans. "Just Sayin'," is the senator's vote really a gift not to bipartisanship but to the GOP?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ms. Snowe? Ms. Snowe, aye.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Senator Olympia Snowe - ever since President Obama publicly admired her bipartisan courage, that courage has been publicly excoriated by Conservative talk radio.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: This voice by the way is the voice of the new castrati, those who have lost all manhood, gonads, guts and courage throughout our culture and our political system.
COSTELLO: Still, Snowe has inspired something many politicians are not these days - admiration. On CNN's Political Ticker, half the comments went like this: "Leave it to a woman to keep things moving," "Good for her. I like independent thinkers," and, "I wish both the Senate and the House were filled with people like her."
"Just Sayin'", is Snowe's vote a gift for Republicans?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Olympia Snowe could help to rally what remains of a moderate Republican group. That is important. If the Republican Party wants to be a national majority, they need moderates.
COSTELLO: Many analysts believe the Republican Party has been hijacked by Conservatives, to its detriment. According to a CNN opinion research poll last month, just 43 percent say Republican lawmakers would move the country in the right direction. Still, can one Republican bipartisan vote really change that perception?
MARTIN KADY, POLITICO: I don't see where the current leaders of the Republican Party are going to try to rebuild their party around the Olympia Snowe brand. But the folks who are going to be successful next year in 2010, they may very well be Olympia Snowe-type politicians.
COSTELLO: In other words, analysts say conservatives may have the loudest voices right now, but party leaders surely know that including moderates in the Republican tent is a key factor in rebuilding the party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And that could be why you haven't heard Republican leaders blasting Snowe publicly for her vote and why she likely wouldn't face any serious consequences for bucking the party line.
She may have company, too. Maine's other senator, Republican Susan Collins, signaled she's willing to work with Democrats on health care legislation despite a move by Republican leaders to slow down the debate.
ROBERTS: So the question going forward in the midterm elections next year is which is going to be the more powerful voice in the Republican Party, the Conservative wing of the Party that - that believes you need to get back to Conservative values to rally the base to get back to success, or the Moderate wing of the Party which says, hey, you've got to reach out to that great middle of America if you want success.
COSTELLO: There are a lot of Moderate Republicans running for office in 2010. That will be the real test. Will they get elected? Who knows.
We've been asking for your comments on our blog, cnn.com/amfix. We'll just read a couple. The question was, "Is Olympia Snowe's vote really a gift to the GOP?" This from Peter. He says, "Her courage is not going to get her re-elected in 2010. It might if she follows in step with Specter and joins her real friends, but her courage has been misunderstood by you, Miss Costello."
A lot of other people were saying, "Gift? No." - "Gift? No! She knows this is about the American people and nothing else. She's her own person. I admire her greatly for walking around the big boys, but in the end," he says, "it probably wouldn't her or the Republican Party because a lot of people saying Rush Limbaugh has become the mouthpiece of the conservative - of the Republican Party.
ROBERTS: Well, she is being true to herself, if anything, right?
COSTELLO: That's true. That's what she says.
Keep the comments coming. Write to me on my blog at cnn.com/amfix.
