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American Morning
New Afghan Vote Could Lead to Decision on U.S. Troops; U.S. Troops to Protect Afghan Voters and Polls; Americans Are at Odds With Obama, but Still Give High Marks; Obama Scolds Wall Street; "Disabled People are not Dogs"
Aired October 21, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It is October the 21st. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us this morning. Here are the big stories we're going to be talking about in the next 15 minutes.
First, new overnight developments in the race for Afghanistan's political future. President Hamid Karzai's main rival is agreeing to go back on the ballot as Senator John Kerry who helped put all of this in motion gears up for a meeting with President Obama today. We're live in Washington and Afghanistan with more on what it means for you.
ROBERTS: New polling finds for the first time since he took office Americans disagree with the president on critical issues like health care and Afghanistan. He's still popular, though, but not the most popular person in the Obama White House. And you may be surprised who is the most popular.
CHETRY: Also, a stunning admission from the American Cancer Society that routine testings for breast and prostate cancer may, in some cases, miss the most deadly forms of the disease and also may expose healthy patients to expensive and perhaps needless treatments. The new assessment takes a tough look at whether modern medicine has overpromised its benefits especially when it relates to breast and prostate cancer.
ROBERTS: But first, history and hope unfolding right now in Afghanistan. Overnight President Hamid Karzai's chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, agreeing to a runoff election. Karzai was close to rejecting a second round vote but changed his mind after marathon talks with Senator John Kerry. And fresh from his mission in Afghanistan, this afternoon Senator Kerry will meet with President Obama, because what's at stake goes beyond Afghan politics. American lives and money have all been invested and sometimes lost in a country that is still very much at war today.
Our Chris Lawrence is live in Afghanistan for us this morning, but first the back story from our Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, a senior administration official put it this way saying it really was a full-court press to try to get Hamid Karzai to agree to this decision. It involved Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator John Kerry as you mentioned, all of them trying to bring some legitimacy to the Afghan government before there is a decision to be made about U.S. troop levels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Obama is trying to wrap up one war while stepping up another. In Iraq, it's about getting out. A pledge he reiterated to Iraq's prime minister.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That we will have our combat troops out of Iraq by August of next year and all of our troops out of Iraq by 2011.
MALVEAUX: President Obama needs those troops for the war in Afghanistan, anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000, depending on who he's talking to from inside his war council. But Mr. Obama is first trying to assess whether he has a legitimate partner in the Afghan government after international monitors concluded the election was a fraud.
OBAMA: This has been a very difficult time in Afghanistan.
MALVEAUX: Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has agreed to a do-over on November 7th after urging from a high level U.S. delegation including Senator John Kerry. President Obama called and congratulated Karzai for his cooperation, but it's still uncertain who, if anyone, will provide a stable government for the U.S. and NATO allies to partner with, to take on the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
OBAMA: We will continue to work with our ISAF (ph) partners as well as the Afghan government, however, this election turns out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So, John, on the one happened, this runoff election it does buy some time for President Obama in making a decision about U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, but on the other hand, it really presents this challenge here of whether or not Afghanistan really can be a democratic government, a democratic society, whether or not it's even worth it to send those troops when it comes to blood and treasure.
ROBERTS: And, Suzanne, as we said, Senator Kerry meets with President Obama today. What exactly are you hearing about the senator's role in helping to iron out this runoff election on the 7th?
MALVEAUX: Certainly is amazing when you think about it. Senator Kerry, he was over there visiting with U.S. troops in Kabul. It was the U.S. ambassador who approached him through Secretary Clinton saying look, this whole thing looks like it's going to fall apart. We need your assistance. That basically moving forward meant about 20 hours over five days of talks between Senator Kerry and Karzai, sometimes in the garden of the palace there just trying to figure out what to do next. Kerry really telling him this is something that you have got to do. He even brought up his own personal frustrations back in 2004 when he was running for president against Bush, the count in Ohio, he was quite frustrated with that. And he said look, this is something that has to be done. It even happens here in the United States, these kind of second looks at the ballot counts, at the results and ultimately he with the help of Secretary Clinton and others convinced Karzai that this was the right move to make -- John.
ROBERTS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux for us live at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks so much.
CHETRY: We're tracking developments this morning on the ground in Afghanistan. Our Chris Lawrence is in Kabul.
And, Chris, when we talk about this runoff, how much will this perhaps distract American troops from fighting the Taliban or conducting the counterinsurgency missions they're doing right now, or is this really separate?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, a senior defense official told me that this runoff election will not distract the troops from their overall mission primarily because a lot of them are already fighting this counterinsurgency which means getting into the villages and trying to protect the population there rather than directly taking on the Taliban in a lot of cases.
Also this time some key differences. There will be more troops and fewer polling places to protect. There are more U.S. and Afghan forces in the country now than there were back in August. And a United Nations official tells me there were about 2,300 polling stations in the first election, but some of them had turnout so low, they're only going to reopen about 1,600 of them. So there will be fewer stations to protect.
A defense official also says that they were able to pinpoint certain problem areas last time that they will focus on during the runoff -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And the White House is saying that this election is really part of their military strategy, but does the military have that kind of time to wait?
LAWRENCE: Well, if you hear from the U.S. commander here on the ground in Kabul, General Stanley McChrystal, he says this war is not winnable indefinitely. He has been making a hard push to get those troops and says he needs them and needs to be able to turn this around within 12 months and the clock is ticking.
And I think when you look at this request, it's not so much that the troops could get here and make an immediate impact. It takes many, many months to get brigades mobilized and then transported over here, get them up and running. And very, very soon here you will have the Afghan winter set in and more than likely you're going to see a big drop in the fighting and the violence. It's more that the request be authorized in time to get these units mobilized so that they are in place for the spring thaw when it's expected that the fighting and the violence will escalate again -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence for us this morning in Kabul. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, a shifting school of thought on fighting cancer. For years the assumption has been that routine screenings saves lives, but now the American Cancer Society is reportedly working on a new message, warning people that those tests may miss the most deadly form of breast and prostate cancer and in some cases lead to dangerous unnecessary treatment. The problem is that screening can't yet detect which tumors are harmful.
"The New York Times" says doctors do not want all screenings for these cancers to go away. They just want patients to understand that cancer screening comes with risks as well as benefits.
CHETRY: And Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito now defending his fellow Catholics on the high court. In a speech yesterday, Alito voiced frustration over what he called persistent questions about the court's Roman Catholic majority saying that the issue has been settled long ago, thanks to the constitution's guarantee of religious freedom. Alito was one of six justices on the nine-member court raised Catholic including new justice, Sonia Sotomayor.
ROBERTS: And the Yankees win, the Yankees win. Now one win away from going to the World Series. They beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-1 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the American League championship series. The Yanks were led by Alex Rodriguez who homered for a third straight game in fifth time this postseason. C.C. Sabathia pitched brilliantly on short rest. The Yanks could clinch the series with a win in game five Thursday in Anaheim.
CHETRY: There you go, and then possibly take on the Phillies. That would be an exciting, exciting match-up for the World Series.
ROBERTS: Yes, that would be a good World Series.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, there's a new poll that shows some mixed results for our president. Also, he's not the most popular person in his own administration anymore. Guess who is?
Eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The NTSB is asking federal agencies to test commercial pilots, bus drivers, sailors and engineers for sleep apnea. It comes after several deadly accidents and close calls over the past few years. One incident involved the plane that flew out to sea, passed its destination in Hawaii because the pilots were asleep, ended up turning around and landing safely.
ROBERTS: Snapshot of convicted con man Bernie Madoff's prison life. The former Wall Street big shot now sleeps on the bottom bunk in a prison cell that he shares with a drug offender. And according to court papers filed by an attorney for some of Madoff's victims, he also eats food cooked by a convicted child molester and spends time with a mob boss and a convicted spy. Madoff's attorney would not comment on these new details of prison life.
CHETRY: And welcome to the about book club. Oprah announcing that she will finally have former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her show. They're going to sit down November 16th, a day before Palin's memoir "Going Rogue in American Life" goes on sale. It will be the former Alaska governor's first interview since she stepped down from office.
ROBERTS: It's crunch time for President Obama on controversial issues like health care and Afghanistan. In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll finds for the first time since he took office, a majority of Americans do not see eye to eye with the president. But it's not all bad news for the White House. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is digging deeper for us.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran and John. This poll is a mixed bag for the president. He has been in office for nine months, and he's still on overall a pretty popular guy. But the wear and tear is starting to show.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: What did I say during the campaign? I said change is hard. And big change is harder.
CROWLEY (voice-over): And he's got the polls to prove it. As the president navigates his way through a series of issues as controversial as they are vital, he's getting a yellow flag from the American people.
New polling finds for the first time fewer than half of Americans agree with the president on issues important to them. A majority, 51 percent, disagree. That's a ten point jump since April.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you.
OBAMA: I love you back.
CROWLEY: Despite the majority disagreement on issues, the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll also found the president's approval rating remains in the healthy mid-50s. And two-thirds of Americans say he has the personal qualities a president should have.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: It's awfully early yet, but this president might be shaping up to be a little like Ronald Reagan where people actually didn't often agree with Ronald Reagan's ideas, but they love the guy.
CROWLEY: A popular president who's less popular on the issues. There's a way to work this.
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: They still like the messenger. That's important for Obama because he'll be able to look presidential and Americans may respond to that as he's trying to make a pitch for his health care plan, financial reform, whatever he decides to do in Afghanistan and Iran.
CROWLEY: And about that Nobel Prize even the president seemed stunned he got.
OBAMA: To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize.
CROWLEY: Americans agree only about a third believe the president deserved the prize. Fifty-six percent say they disapprove of the decision by the Nobel Prize Committee to give to him. Still there's a hometown hero effect here with almost 70 percent of people saying they're proud an American won it.
And then further proof of that old adage that Americans like their politicians most when they're not running for anything, the most popular person in the Obama administration is not the still-popular president.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Good morning.
CROWLEY: It's his secretary of state. You remember her, once seen as a sharply divisive politician, the also ran of the 2008 primary season, Hillary Clinton is now viewed favorably by 65 percent of Americans outshining even Michelle Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: And in those numbers for the secretary of state is the fundamental variety of public opinion. It changes. Most Democrats eyeing the 2010 election cycle believe that a health care reform bill signed, sealed and delivered will turn around what has been steadily declining numbers on a variety of issues -- Kiran and John.
ROBERTS: That's the problem with being president.
CHETRY: Exactly. Ands as she said, everyone likes their politicians when they're not running for something.
ROBERTS: Exactly. It's interesting to see Hillary Clinton being so popular.
CHETRY: Well, there's some huge fund-raising dinners taking place, one last night. President Obama, the headliner, and he had a message for Wall Street firms. Christine Romans is going to be here, though, and asked the question can you chastise at the same time collect money from the same people?
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning, and we're talking about this big fund-raising dinner that took place last night. The president was there - here in New York, and he had words for the Wall Streeters.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, he had some words all right. He was - I think this was a president who sounded pretty disgusted about the fact that Wall Street isn't living up to its mutual obligations, as he said.
And the president getting pretty stern with Wall Street executives saying, look, when he hears stories about small and mid- sized business who can't get funding but he sees that he banks, the big banks are profitable again, he doesn't understand how that - that can be. And he also basically saying that he's challenging Wall Street to come up and help him come up with new rules of the road and to make sure that this whole big disaster that we've lived through doesn't happen again.
The president speaking at a fund raiser here at the Mandarin Oriental, just right around the corner, really, a fund-raiser for about 200 people, $15,200 a plate. And - and the president spoke directly to Wall Street executives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: So if there are (ph) members of the financial industry in the audience today, I would ask that you join us in passing what are necessary reforms. Don't fight them, join us on it.
This is important for our country. And in the long run, it will be good for the financial industry to have a level playing field in which everybody knows the rules and everybody knows that the rules will be enforced, and people are competing not by how confusing you can make things and how you can avoid rules, but competing because you're offering innovative good products that are helping grow the American economy and putting people to work out on Main Street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He's talking about new derivatives regulations, a consumer protection watchdog. He's talking about things that have been frankly fought by some in the banking industry and some of the big lobby firms who have been working against these changes and these rules that are on Capitol Hill.
Fifteen thousand two hundred dollars a plate - the president showing that he can polish up his own capitalist - capitalist techniques, as well...
ROBERTS: So thank you for your money, now join us in new regulations that will limit your ability to be able to contribute as generously as you have.
ROMANS: And there were a lot of big private investors in this crowd too. I don't know how many Wall Street bank executives were in there, but he had stern words for insurance companies and the banks. And look, they are - he - they know that there's a political problem here, a serious political problem with you have a huge record bailout and then you have record payouts less than a year later. The record bailouts started after the Bush administration. This administration, of course, sort of inherited the $700 billion bailout.
ROBERTS: And continued to support it.
ROMANS: And continued to support it. That's right.
CHETRY: But just a quick question about when he said he's wondering - the president wondering why some of these small and mid- sized businesses can't get loans and they can't free up the credit market. The banks that are doing incredible, they don't have a lot of exposure to consumer debt, right? I mean, that's not their - I mean, the banks that do are the ones that are still struggling.
ROMANS: Right. Look at Citibank, for example, and Citi - you look in Citi's numbers and you can see exactly the story of the American consumer in those Citi numbers, you know. The more exposure they have to the consumer, the - I mean, and even JPMorgan Chase, they're not making any money on - on credit card debt, for example. Credit cards are losing money for them.
CHETRY: And is Goldman Sachs giving out small business loans?
ROMANS: No. Goldman Sachs is not known as a big small business lender. No.
But, look, everyone - all of these other banks, regional banks are trying to shore up their balance sheet, they're trying to prevent themselves from being in a tough situation, maybe, so they are reigning in a little bit. And we've seen the numbers for small business lending.
Small business lending has been - had been tough, and the president says mutual obligations - we have mutual obligation, and just a year later he doesn't understand how the banks can, with a straight face, be paying out record bonuses and the likes, though. There's some optics (ph) here that they need to address.
ROBERTS: Yes. We'll be covering that aspect later on today, too.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Quick programming reminder, by the way. Join us in our 7:00 hour, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer who was nicknamed "The Sheriff of Wall Street" during his days as the state's attorney general. He'll be here to explain why he thinks financial reform could be doomed to fail.
That's ahead on the Most News in the Morning. CHETRY: Also still ahead, we're going to be talking about an insurance company that ended up pulling coverage, calling one patient - calling patient one of the quote, "few dogs?"
Well, our Jim Acosta is going to explain. Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Yes. And there's a high school in Illinois that is shut down for the rest of the week after nearly half of the student body signed out absent yesterday, 972 out of 2,200 students with flu- like symptoms. What's going on there in Illinois? We'll be talking to the superintendent of the school district, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- five minutes past the hour right now.
The debate over health care reform heating up yet again, but we're trying to cut through the politics, show you some of the real people on both sides of the issue, and this morning we want you to meet a gentleman by the name of Ian Pearl.
ROBERTS: He requires care 24 hours a day in his house and a ventilator to stay alive, but his insurance company is trying to yank his coverage for being one of, quote, "the few dogs" on the rolls. Yes, you heard that right. "One of the few dogs."
Our Jim Acosta live in Washington with his AM original (ph) this morning. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
You know, advocates of health care reform have a new Exhibit A in their case against the insurance companies. His name is Ian Pearl. He is disabled. He is about to lose his insurance, and he has his battle cry, "I am not a dog."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Ian Pearl lives with muscular dystrophy, but only because of the round the clock nursing care he gets in his home. Confined to a wheelchair, he needs a ventilator to survive, but it comes at a high price.
IAN PEARL, MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY PATIENT: My expenses are $1 million a year to keep me alive.
ACOSTA: Last year, his family got this letter from their insurance company, stating their policy was being discontinued. A new policy was available, but with limited in-home nursing care.
So when you got this letter from Guardian, you said what?
SUSAN PEARL, IAN PEARL'S MOTHER: We said immediately that this was related somehow to Ann's (ph) claims. ACOSTA: Their insurance carrier, Guardian, which made $386 million in profits last year, wasn't just dropping Pearl's policy. Guardian was pulling some of its policies out of entire states - policies that included Ian's plan.
S. PEARL: The insurance industry has evolved from risk management to risk elimination.
ACOSTA: So they sued, claiming discrimination. Their lawyer discovered this e-mail from a Guardian employee, an e-mail that company acknowledges. In it, a Guardian employee brings up the line of policies covering the Pearl family and asks what the financial upside might be, quote, "if we eliminate this entire block to get rid of the few dogs."
I. PEARL: I want to know why myself and others like me who depended on this policy and are paying premiums, did nothing wrong, and we're suddenly targeted as dogs because we're disabled? Disabled people are not dogs.
ACOSTA: As for that e-mail, a Guardian spokesman tells CNN, "It's an unfortunate choice of words. We certainly don't condone it, and it certainly doesn't represent this company. In a statement, the company adds, "Guardian acted legally, appropriately and in full compliance of state laws."
The judge handling Pearl's case sided with Guardian, saying the law permits an insurer to terminate a particular type of coverage. This congresswoman wants the Obama administration to step in.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: We're going to take this all the way to the top because it's just outrageous and it's another example of why we need health care reform so badly.
ACOSTA (on camera): So this is your study?
I. PEARL: Yes. This is it.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Ian doesn't have much time. His policy is set to expire on December 1st.
I. PEARL: People may ask why, why do I need this sort of coverage? Why do I need this sort of assistance? They do for me what I cannot do for myself, which is everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (on camera): Ian Pearl worries he will be forced to move to a state nursing home away from his nurses who he says have saved his life time and again. The Pearl family is now appealing the case in court and the Department of Health and Human Services says it is actively investigating what it calls "very serious concerns" -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: It's mind-boggling. ROBERTS: It really is. I mean, this fellow obviously needs this care and he can't get it and it's about to run out and, you know, what kind of future will he have (ph) without it? Amazing story. Jim, thanks so much.
Check of our top stories now as we come close to the half hour. Officials say schools and universities across Pakistan are closed for the rest of the week. That's after back to back suicide bombings killed at least six people and wounded dozens more at a university in the capital city of Islamabad. Excuse me.
While the schools are closed, authorities plan on increasing security.
CHETRY: Your money helped avoid a meltdown, but at a big cost. That's the assessment from the man in charge of tracking the $700 billion financial bailout. His report came out early this morning and it says that the program helped rescue the economy, but that it also led to anger and mistrust because of the way that the government handled it.
The TARP watchdog Neil Barofsky will be joining us live at 8:10 Eastern to tell us where we stand one year later.
ROBERTS: Right now the - excuse me. Right now the FAA is investigating how a Delta flight from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta landed on a taxiway instead of a runway early Monday morning. The FAA says there were no planes on the taxiway. No one was hurt, but there was a report of a medical emergency onboard before the landing. Was that a factor?
Our Jeanne Meserve is getting answers near the top of the hour for us this morning.
If you need a sign that flu season is here, look no further than St. Charles East High School in Illinois. It's closed for the rest of the week. 45 percent of the student body is sick. Staggering numbers. 972 out of 2200 students home with flu-like symptom, triggering fears of a swine flu outbreak there even though health officials have not confirmed a single case of the disease.
Dr. Donald Schlomann is superintendent of the St. Charles school district, and he joins us this morning.
Mr. Schlomann, when did this epidemic of absence start? What were the very first signs that you had a real problem there in that school?
DR. DONALD SCHOLOMANN, SUPERINTENDENT, ST. CHARLES SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, really our first sign was Monday morning. We ended up with about 600 some students called in sick. On the previous weekend, we had had a homecoming event and we suspect that might have contributed to that where a lot of students being very close together. And we ended yesterday actually with 972 students. So over the two days, it really grew quite a bit.
ROBERTS: That's pretty staggering. Close to half the student body.
What about the symptoms? Any signs here that this might be swine flu that's tearing through that building?
SCHOLOMANN: Well, we suspect that that's contributing to it. We also suspect that there is regular flu symptoms, as well as the other items like bronchitis, et cetera. But it was clear to us that operationally it was very difficult to continue to operate with our school district with 45 percent of our students gone. And also for the safety of all of our students, we wanted to go ahead and close for the remainder of the week.
ROBERTS: You said that you think that the swine flu might be a part of it, at least one of the culprits here.
Have you done any testing? Do you have any confirmed cases?
SCHOLOMANN: Well, as my understanding, physicians right now are not testing unless the student is hospitalized. And so what they're doing is saying that they're testing for influenza A, and in that case what they're saying is that you have symptoms consistent with a swine flu.
ROBERTS: Why wouldn't they test for swine flu even if you don't have a hospitalization? Shouldn't they know what they're dealing with here?
SCHOLOMANN: Well, John, I'm not really sure. I'm not the expert in that, but my understanding is that there's not a lot of places that can actually do the test for H1N1. And so what they're doing is reserving that testing facilities for people that are hospitalized.
ROBERTS: And are you comfortable with that?
SCHOLOMANN: I am right now. I think parents are making the correct choice. They're making the choice to keep their children home. That's the correct choice.
ROBERTS: All right. The outbreak so far is pretty much isolated to the St. Charles East School.
Any idea how this outbreak exploded in this particular facility as opposed to the other ones?
SCHOLOMANN: Yes. Well, we have 17 schools, about 14,000 students all together. And we really suspect that a lot of this contributed to the fact that we had homecoming events with parade, a football game and dances. And I suspect that that contributed to that.
ROBERTS: Right. Now, the school has been closed for the rest of the week. The tentative plan is to reopen it again on Monday.
How will you know that it's safe to invite the students back?
SCHOLOMANN: Actually, our staff is continuing to work. We didn't have a major staff outage, which was fortunate for us. And so our staff actually are going to divide up all 2200 students and call them each day to make sure, check on their wellness and from that we'll be able to ascertain whether we can open on Monday.
ROBERTS: In the meantime, are you cleaning the school at all?
SCHOLOMANN: Yes, we really are. Obviously with no students in the school, we're able to clean the school much more deeply than what we normally would and provide a safe environment when students come back.
ROBERTS: Of course, the big question there in Illinois, there's this big rivalry between St. Charles and St. Charles North. The big football game was supposed to be Friday night. What's happening with that?
SCHOLOMANN: Well, Friday night football game right now with our subsequent for us, a big money raiser for the American Cancer Society has been postponed for right now. We're going to look at rescheduling that at a later date.
ROBERTS: OK. So for sure it's off for this Friday, though.
SCHOLOMANN: For sure it's off for this Friday. We're going to let the public know as we kind of talk to our students as to how their wellness is, whether or not we can reschedule it. Potentially maybe even for this weekend.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, good luck there. We sure hope that you get the situation solved. It also would be nice to know if there is swine flu there, at least for some people's peace of mind.
Dr. Donald Scholomann, superintendent of the schools there. Thanks for joining us this morning.
SCHOLOMANN: You're welcome, John.
ROBERTS: Wow. Can you imagine half the student body sick?
CHETRY: How many of them, though, are sick through the power of suggestion.
ROBERTS: I mean, how do you tell?
CHETRY: I know. I'm just saying that in high school -- but, wow, the big home coming game. Hopefully everybody else start feeling better.
ROBERTS: Yes. I'm sure they will. You know, this stuff is pretty self limiting and it burns out fairly quickly. So as long as it's not swine flu and keeps going. But then, you know, maybe it hits another school, too. You just never know.
CHETRY: All right. Well, what about this?
We're talking about health here. Babies born today they say most likely will live to 100. And that will just be the new norm.
ROBERTS: Yes. Some studies show that 50 percent of babies born today will see their 100th birthday.
CHETRY: Well, you better start saving money now if you're going to live that long.
But on top of everything else, how do you not only extend your life but actually make it a high quality life years and years after getting older? You still feel great. You can still move around. Well, now they're trying to build the bionic man. We'll explain.
Thirty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, it's not the quantity of life, but the quality of life that scientists are looking at these days.
CHETRY: What if you could live until 100, but act decades younger? All you have to do is go to the doctor for a tune up.
Phil Black takes us inside the building of the bionic man.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the fourth day of what could be a very long life. Federico Hernandez was born on October 16th at 1:15 p.m. at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He's a lucky baby. He's entered the world in an age where scientists now believe most babies born in developed countries like Britain will live beyond 100 years of age.
MARIA HERNANDEZ, MOTHER: It's very exciting to think that my baby boy is going to be living 100 years.
BLACK (on camera): But even happy, good looking babies like this little guy who grow up to become healthy, active adults and then live long into a ripe, old age. The time will come when parts of the human body deteriorate. So scientists are working to ensure that we don't just live longer, but we can work longer and play longer, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can make him better than he was.
Better, stronger, faster.
BLACK (voice-over): The scientific goal sounds like something out of the '70s TV series the "$6 Million Man."
Britain's Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering is working to design spare parts for the elderly. Artificial hip joints aren't new. They often need regular replacement. So the next generation of joints must be as tough as their elderly recipients.
JOHN FISHER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS: What we're doing is trying to improve the quality of life and meet their increasing expectations because a 60-year-old today really wants to do a lot more than a 60-year-olds of 10 or 20 years ago.
BLACK: New durable joints are just one idea in the lineup of spare parts aimed at solving the common problems of age. $80 million over five years will also target the circulation system -- mouth, spine, and heart.
FISHER: To be able to deliver living heart valves to younger patients will last a lifetime.
BLACK: The most cutting edge research involves what scientists call biological scaffolding. Tissue sometimes from humans or animals that when transplanted allows the body to repair itself. The scientists' goal is to have this ready and improving lives in five years.
The age of the bionic pensioner is coming. Federico's generation will be around to see it and their parents might be, too.
LUIS HERNANDEZ, FATHER: It's very exciting to know it, but as long as you have a good quality of life, and, yes, 100, 150, 200 years will be great.
M. HERNANDEZ: Exactly.
BLACK: Phil Black, CNN, London.
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CHETRY: It's just amazing.
ROBERTS: Almost kind of frightening to think that you'd live to be 100. Because society still is not geared to really embracing people who are over the age of 65, so can you imagine for 35 years it's like, well, what do you do?
CHETRY: Maybe those attitudes would change.
ROBERTS: I would suspect that they would probably have to. You know, there's some day -- I went to a memorial for Don Hewitt, the "60 Minutes" creator. He worked until he was 81 years old. I mean, God bless him.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: It was a terrific thing.
CHETRY: And also when you look at -- when I was at my parents, I mean, they seem so young to me in their 60s than my grandparents did when I was a little kid. I mean, times have changed.
ROBERTS: And my mom turns 96 next week.
CHETRY: Amazing.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's pretty incredible. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather across the country today. We got storms on the radar, some snow. Is it going to affect travel? Stay tune. Rob has got the forecast coming up next.
Forty-two minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
That's a live look at Atlanta this morning, where it is 44 degrees, but it's going up significantly to 73. And it's expected to be mostly sunny there finally today.
Time now to fast forward through the stories you'll be hearing about on CNN today. This afternoon 12:40 Eastern Time, President Obama welcomes Senator John Kerry to the White House. Kerry will brief the president about his trip to Afghanistan as well as his meeting with Afghan's President Hamid Karzai.
This morning at 11:00 Eastern, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver what the administration is calling a major address on the steps being taken to reduce nuclear weapons here and abroad.
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CHETRY: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning". That's a live look at Atlanta this morning where it is 44 degrees, but it's going up significantly to 73 and it's expected to be mostly sunny there finally today.
Time now to fast forward through the stories you'll be hear about on CNN today. This afternoon, 12:40 Eastern Time, President Obama welcomes Senator John Kerry to the White House. Kerry will brief the President about his trip to Afghanistan as well as his meeting with Afghan's president Hamid Karzai
This morning at 11:00 Eastern, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver what the administration is calling a major address on the steps being taken to reduce nuclear weapons here and abroad. Additional state, Secretary Clinton will also insist the world and its "cold war thinking."
And at 9:30 Eastern this morning, an H1N1 summit. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee scheduling a hearing to figure out how well prepared we are to deal with the swine flu epidemic. Among those testifying, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and by the way, she is going to be joining us in our 8:00 hour to talk a little bit more about what she is going to be testifying about when she goes before that committee today.
But you know the big question on a lot of people's mind is why the delay? They expected to have 50 million doses out by this week, and it looks like it's going to be closer to 28 to 30,000. ROBERTS: We got issues like a school in Illinois where almost half the student body is sick with some sort of flu, and I think that you want to get that flu vaccine out there quickly.
Rob Marciano is with us this morning. He is tracking all of the extreme weather across the country. And Rob, it looks like we got some snow in some areas where there are major airports and maybe some other weather as well. We got some flight delays on the way.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, I think on the way. Not right now, but Denver when it opens, although they can handle snow fairly readily. They have a little bit of early winter event happening for them. Everywhere East of there, at least Chicago, you're in for a beautiful day. High pressure in control.
So where is cool? It has been cool for the past couple of days. A big warm up and suddenly flow kicks in and then flew just about everybody East in the Mississippi. But, here in Denver, there's the snow. Shouldn't see a ton in Denver proper, but probably some wet snow piling up on the ground and especially across the front range.
And then Dallas the other area of concern here with just some general rains moving into DFW at the moment. That may increase throughout the day today. Also Minneapolis and Chicago, some rain and low clouds, Dallas and Houston to mention that. Maybe some thunder in the afternoon as well, and low clouds, and morning rain and snow expected for the Denver area.
Daytime highs as mentioned will be quite mild across the East, 72 in the Memphis, will be 74 degrees in Atlanta, and 68 degrees in New York. And one last thing, on tropical storm Rick, 65-mile-an-hour winds right now heading towards miles and make that landfall later on this afternoon. This thing dropped off the table as far as how fast it strengthened and how fast it weakened yesterday, and we're all thankful for that as it's not even going come on shore as a hurricane later on today. John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: All right. We look forward to some snow there in the Denver area. All right. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Still ahead, the Heene family at the center of controversy after the mylar balloon situation, the fears that their 6- year-old was...
ROBERTS: The mylar balloon situation.
CHETRY: Yeah, on that balloon.
ROBERTS: The alleged hoax.
CHETRY: Yeah, the alleged hoax. Now, there's even more controversy surrounding them, and this happened right outside their home. Jeanne Moos will take a look for us. It's 47 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Just when you thought that the hot air was out of the balloon boy soap opera, the Heene family's Colorado neighborhood turns into a battleground. This time, weren't balloons that were flying but fists. Jeanne Moos got the blow-by-blow for us this morning.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The balloon boy story may be losing helium, but the testosterone level was up.
It was neighborhood guy versus the news media camped out in front of the Heenes' home.
He then called the police. Samir Tavacoli (ph) was fed up with the press. Fox 31 reporter Jon Bowman says Tavacoli (ph) drove by several times, yelling slurs.
JON BOWMAN, KDVR-TV CORRESPONDENT: Next thing I know, he jumps out, I got you now, I'm going to get you, people, out of the neighborhood. And he comes up and he grabs me by the collar.
MOOS: Tavacoli (ph) says someone elbowed his car window. He chased Fox 31's cameraman around their live truck and then Tavacoli (ph) got tackled from behind by another press person coming to the cameraman's rescue. The two landed harder than that now famous balloon. The press has been outside the Heenes' house ever since the balloon chase bored.
Except for the times when balloon boy's dad surfaces.
Or his mom leaves the house and the media glommed on to the car like locusts. These two glommed on to each other. Until the neighborhood guy started punching.
It doesn't pay it tangle with the media. After deputies showed up and talked to both sides, guess who got a citation for fighting in public and careless driving?
Yep, the neighborhood guy. He tells us he's hiring an attorney. Things outside the Heene house have since quieted down. The circus has moved on online. Where parodys about the balloon boy hiding. And T-shirt signified that the story maybe on its last legs.
Back on the Heene's door, the sign says, "We are not taking any interview anymore, we are tired." And so as this T-shirt, "I don't want to hear another word about balloon boy. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a hoax."
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: I think it's going to jump the shark, what do you think?
CHETRY: Oh, yes. It sure has.
ROBERTS: So when just start jumping the neighborhood, it's definitely jumped the shark.
CHETRY: Exactly. We're talking about Afghanistan. The runoff election getting a green light, but are we any closer to a decision on what to do about the U.S. troop presence there.
ROBERTS: And Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer joins us. He was known as the sheriff of Wall street. What about new regulations for Wall Street? Those massive bonuses that some of he's investment houses are going to be giving away. His thoughts on that coming up. It's 54 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Fifty-six minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The president wants to reform the way big financial firms do business. But Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, once known as the sheriff of Wall Street, says it might be next to impossible to do that. Find out why when he joins us live in 15 minutes -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Right now, the FAA is investigating how a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta missed its runway, instead landed on the taxiway right next to it. All of this comes just a couple of weeks after the feds reported that serious close calls were actually down. Our Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington looking for answers this morning. So, is this just a freak incident that happened?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is an instance where you heave a deep sigh of relief as what it is. This incident happened at 06:05 Monday morning Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. If you take a look at this animation, you can see that runway 27-R runs parallel to taxi way M.
On Monday, Delta Flight 60, a Boeing 767 arriving from Rio de Janeiro, landed on the wrong one, the taxiway. Even though the runway is marked with white lights and the taxiway with blue lights. And even though Atlanta is home base for Delta. And pilots might have been expected to be familiar with the airport.
Now, Hartsfield is one of the busiest airports in the world. Fortunately, at that early hour, no other aircraft were on the taxiway. If another plane loaded with fuel had been sitting there waiting for takeoff, the results could have been tragic. The Federal Aviation Administration and delta both say there was a medical emergency reported on the plane, but they're not elaborating.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are now both investigating what went wrong. Delta issued a statement saying the safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. We are currently cooperating with the FAA and the NTSB in their investigation as well as conducting our own internal investigation.
The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations. This incident, by the way, comes just two weeks after the FAA touted a 50 percent reduction in the number of runway incursions. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. You're right, very lucky that it turned out the way it did. Thank you.
