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American Morning
Obama Declares H1N1 National Emergency; Senate to Vote on Public Option; NORAD Not Notified Immediately of Wayward Northwest Plane; White House Urges More Aid to Small Business; Michael Jackson's Estate Raking in Millions
Aired October 26, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: That brings us now up to the top of the hour. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's Monday. It's the 26th of October. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here's a look right now at the big stories we're going to be telling you about in the next 15 minutes. First, there are new concerns nationwide about the swine flu. Now that President Obama has declared it a national emergency. We're going live to the White House for what that really means for you, and we're also going to be looking at and updating you on what the government is saying about delays with production. At one point, they thought they would have 120 million doses of swine flu vaccine. Right now, they only have 13 million.
ROBERTS: Two Northwest Airlines pilots missed their mark by 150 miles. Radio silence for nearly 78 minutes; yet, the military is not notified immediately. How does this happen in the wake of 09/11? We're live from the Pentagon with new concerns about that incident this morning.
CHETRY: And in death Michael Jackson is staging the ultimate career comeback, his new album and movie ready to be released this week. The King of Pop is poised to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars. Special report, "The Legend Lives On" ahead in just about 30 minutes.
We begin now with a story that's sure to have people talking as you head out to work or especially to school this morning. The swine flu, with the number dead now topping 1,000, it's been declare a national emergency by the president.
The H1N1 virus has now been confirmed in 46 states and 100 children have been killed by it. The Centers for Disease Control is saying 20,000 people have been hospitalized as well because of H1N1.
So those are some sobering statistics, and it's sending thousands of Americans to long lines in search of hard to find vaccines. Out Kate Bolduan is now live at the White House.
And Kate, first of all, explain officially in practical terms what this national declaration of an emergency actual means.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Get away from the bureaucratic language we hear so often. Kiran, good morning. What this is really meant to do is to help hospitals and local governments bypass red tape that could possibly hamper a speeding response if needed. And while the White House has declared H1N1 a national emergency, White House officials stress it's not yet an emergency situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Long lines and long waits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought it was the end. It goes around the parking lot.
BOLDUAN: The scene in Fairfax, Virginia this weekend as people young and old searched for H1Nn1 flu vaccinations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're just all scared about this whole things.
BOLDUAN: In a move described as "preemptive," President Obama late Friday declared H1N1 a national emergency. "The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities," Mr. Obama said in a statement.
The declaration allows hospitals to cuts to cut through bureaucratic red tape in the event of a surge of H1N1 patients, reducing paperwork requirements, relaxing rules for setting up medical tents near hospitals where patients could be treated, also making it easier to transfer patients from one facility to another.
According to one administration official, the move is meant to essentially help free more doctors and nurses from administrative burdens so they can focus on patients. It comes as the government admits vaccine production is way behind.
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: We're nowhere near where we thought we would be by now. We're not near where the vaccine manufacturers predicted we would be.
BOLDUAN: Despite the delay, rare bipartisan agreement Sunday, lawmakers saying they are pleased with the federal response so far.
SENATOR ORRIN HATCH, (R) UTAH: I think the government is doing everything they possibly can, and the Centers for Disease Control.
SENATOR BEN NELSON, (D) NEBRASKA: I think they are making every month possible. I think it's a better indication that this is a monumental challenge and the monumental challenge is being met.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: When asked about the timing of this declaration, an administration official told CNN it's not tied to any current number of H1N1 cases, another official saying that this is a proactive measure and not a response to any new developments. But clearly the goal here Karen, as we've been talking about, is to ramp up vaccine production to avoid ever having to move into this type of emergency mode. But that's a problem in and of itself as you know.
CHETRY: Kate Bolduan for us this morning, thank you.
And also, why declare a national emergency for swine flu now? Dr. Anne Schuchat is the senior health officer with the CDC's H1N1's response teams. She will be discussing that and also about production and distribution, how it's coming along on the swine flu in just about 10 minutes here on "American Morning."
ROBERTS: We could find out today if the so-called public option makes it into the Senate health care bill, a modified version of it at least.
And aid to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid telling CNN he is close to a decision that would allow states to opt out of participating in the government-run option.
Both supporters and critics were fired up about it on the Sunday talk shows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: The only real way, or one of the best real ways to bring costs down, is a new entity competing. The insurance company industry will not do it on its own. The government would.
And the one other thing I would say, and this is really important. You're not required to take the government option. It's not a government plan being forced on people. That was the rhetoric in office. It is an option.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: We had the first vote in the health care debate last week, and there was bipartisan majority, 100 percent of Republicans and 13 Democrats agreeing that we should not borrow a quarter of a trillion dollars at the outset, in other words not send a bill to our grandchildren in the very first vote of the health care debate.
So we'll see how it unfolds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And Senator Chuck Schumer also said Democrats are close to have the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.
CHETRY: An arrest in the brutal murder in the Roman Catholic priest in New Jersey. Police now charging a janitor with beating Revered Ed Kims (ph) and stabbing him 32 times with a kitchen knife. Prosecutors says that the two argued over the janitor's job at the church. ROBERTS: And new questions after that Northwest Airlines flight flew 150 miles past its destination. The two pilots have been interviewed by federal investigators.
But it's not just what happened inside the cockpit that's under for review. CNN is learning that fighter jets were ready to scramble if needed, but not until air traffic controllers had been out of contact with the plane for quite some time.
Our Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us this morning. And Barbara, what are you learning about all of the timing in all of this when they lost radio contact with the plane and when the jets might have been scrambled?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, in the post- 9/11 world it seems inconceivable, but CNN has learned from U.S. officials involved in the incident, Flight 188 was radio silenced for one hour before NORAD was called and told there might be a problem with a passenger plane in the skies. Officials directly involved in the timeline of the incident confirming that to CNN.
Let's put up the timeline for everybody. All of these times converted into east coast time so it matches up and is easier to look at.
First of all, it was 7:56 p.m. the flight goes radio silent. No radio communications. About one hour later, 8:58 overshoots Minneapolis. 9:14 communications reestablishes.
But leave that up for a minute, John. What we now know is it was only after the plane overshot Minneapolis that NORAD was notified and scrambled jets had jets on the runway and pilots in the cockpit, was ready to go in 15 minutes, but they hadn't been called for over an hour.
So by the time they were ready to go in the 15-minute period the incident the FAA said was over.
But still confusing because we know the FAA asked those Northwest pilots to do some special maneuvers to demonstrate they were in control of the plane, that this was not a hijacking.
So senior officials tell us this is all very troubling to them. One hour before the military was even notified there was a passenger jet in the skies with a potential problem -- John?
ROBERTS: So how unusual is this Barbara? They are in the Washington area. I remember time after time White House was evacuated and jets in the air even when a little aircraft strayed into air space over Washington. But that's heavily restricted.
If you've got an aircraft that's kind of flying with no radio communications out over the Rocky Mountains or in the Great Plains, is it that much of a concern until you find out it overshot its destination? STARR: Some people say it wasn't presenting any kind of threaten scenario, it wasn't flying in a threatening profile. What's the problem?
We've spoken to very senior officials involved in the military aspects of this and their issue is, they say, if you're going to wait an hour to call us and it's a problem and we don't know it, an hour is awfully late in the process to get going.
They would much rather be notified very quickly, launch jets. As you point out, John, so many times since 9/11 we've seen fighter jets patrol the skies and escort problematic planes down to the ground. No real answer why it didn't happen this time.
ROBERTS: At the very least, go up and have a look, I would say. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks.
And stay with us. coming up at the bottom of the hour we'll dig deeper to why national security forces were slow to react when we talk with Fran Townsend, our national security contributor, and Peter Goelz, the former managing directors of the National Transportation Safety Board.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan killing 14 Americans before dawn today. One of those choppers went down in the western part of the country killing seven U.S. service members and three U.S. civilians who worked for the government.
Then just before that crash security forces killed more than a dozen enemy fighters while searching a compound. Also in the south four U.S. service members were killed when two choppers apparently crashed in mid-air.
ROBERTS: Parents takes note, a new study shows at least one in five American children don't get enough vitamin D and could be at risk for health problems because of it. The numbers are even higher for black and Hispanic kids.
Coming up we're going to talk with medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen about how much vitamin D kids need and how to make sure they are getting it.
CHETRY: And yes, she can. President Obama's first coed golf game. Chief domestic policy adviser Melanie Barnes, part of a group of four that hit the links with the president yesterday.
The president catching some flack recently for playing basketball with only male Cabinet members and lawmakers.
ROBERTS: And the Yankees win. The Yankees are going to the World Series for the 40th time in their history. The yanks beat the Angels 5-2 to win the American League Championship series in six games, deftly and strategically losing game five so that they could bring it back here...
CHETRY: Perfect, of course.
ROBERTS: ... the ALCS championship at the new Yankees stadium.
Next up, the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, game one of the World Series Wednesday night at the new Yankee stadium.
CHETRY: That looks like no fun for the photographers by the way, with all their expensive equipment.
ROBERTS: That's how good the Yankees are. Let's lose this one in Los Angeles. We want to bring it back home.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Let's stretch it out.
ROBERTS: I think they would have liked to have won it in four games if they could have.
CHETRY: There's still a lot of questions about swine flu -- will we have enough vaccine? They are not calling it a shortage but a delay in getting it out there. But what does that means as 46 states have swine flu?
We'll be speaking right now in just a moment live with Dr. Schuchat of the CDC live from Atlanta on what the national swine flu emergency really means.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
"National emergency," those are words sure to get your attention. And here's why President Obama made that declaration to deal with the swine flu outbreak.
There are 46 states now with active cases of the H1N1 virus, more than 1,000 people dead, including 100 children.
Dr. Anne Schuchat at the Centers for Disease Control is the chief health officer for the response for H1N1 virus and she joins us now from the CDC headquarters. Dr. Schuchat, thanks for being with us this morning.
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: Good morning.
CHETRY: In practical terms for people at home watching, what does this declaration of a national emergency actually mean?
SCHUCHAT: This is a proactive mean, a continuation of our preparedness efforts. We want to be ahead of things, and this means there will be less paperwork, it will be easier for the hospitals to take care of extra patients should things get busy, easier for emergency care, easier for transferring patients.
So it's not something the average member of the public will see, but it's one more thing we're doing across government to be ready for challenges.
CHETRY: And speaking of challenges, the federal government originally was hoping at least optimistically that 120 million doses of swine flu would be available by now by the end of October. Right now, as I understand it, only 13 million to 16 million of those doses have come through.
Can you explain why the hold up and when people can expect this vaccine to be available in their communities?.
SCHUCHAT: This is a really frustrating situation. Influenza vaccines are produced through biological staffs, like baking bread. You're really growing viruses in eggs. Individual each eggs are inoculated with the virus and then each egg is cracked and you try to see how much virus you've gotten.
Well, we haven't gotten as much virus or the manufacturers haven't gotten as much as they would have expected. So we're really just seeing a big delay. What this means though for people is the doses are coming out, more and more doses every day, but it's going to take longer for there to be lots vaccine in each community.
I know parents are frustrated. This is a hard time to see increase in disease in your communities. What it means for public health and the health system is we have to use every dose that comes out very carefully and get it out quickly.
CHETRY: And when you say very carefully, are there people who should forego getting the vaccine because there are others who are perhaps more vulnerability?
SCHUCHAT: We're focusing on target populations that include children and young adults, 6 months of age, through 24 years of age. Health care workers, pregnant women very high risk. So we really want pregnant women to be vaccinated. Adults 25 through 64 who have chronic conditions and parents or other caretakers of baby.
Now, for healthy adults over 25 and for seniors, it's time to wait. Stay back. Let others get the vaccine first, because those focus groups that I mentioned are at higher risk for complications. But as the government...
CHETRY: Now, let me ask you a quick question -- sorry, going back to pregnant women.
SCHUCHAT: Sure.
CHETRY: When I was pregnant, they recommended me to get the flu shot. They also recommended me to get a thimerosal-free, a preservative-free version of that, that they make for the young children. Women that are being encouraged to get the swine flu vaccine who are pregnant. Do they make this? Is this being made thimerosal-free?
SCHUCHAT: That's right. We've produced some doses that are thimerosal-free. There's not a specific link between thimerosal and problems either in pregnant women or in children, but we know that some consumers have concerns, so we have purchased doses that will be thimerosal-free. So, women will be able to ask for that.
Of course, right now, we're in a limited vaccine availability time. So whether exactly both formulations will be available where you are, I'm not sure. But we have procured those doses because we know women want -- many women want that.
CHETRY: Right. And, Doctor, I want to ask about this as well. We have talked about they say that look, by the time January and February roll around, we'll probably in surplus when it comes to swine flu vaccine. Right now, it's not really necessarily a shortage but a delay. How concerned are we that swine flu itself is going to be continuing, meaning is it too late in January and February to get a shot?
SCHUCHAT: I think it wouldn't be too late. What we know with influenza it's unpredictable, and so we don't know how long this current increase will go on. We could see things continue to increase and then decrease, but we might see another wave after the first of the year. So, I think it's going to be important for people to take steps to protect themselves. Unfortunately, I can't predict exactly what's going to happen.
CHETRY: All right. Well, Dr. Anne Schuchat for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thanks for joining us this morning.
SCHUCHAT: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Well, times are tough all across the board because of the economy, particularly in small businesses hard though. Is there help on the way? Is there a way to get them out of what Christine Romans calls a perfect storm of bad news. She'll be joining us in a couple of minutes.
It's 18 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Hello, New Hampshire, courtesy of WMUR. This morning a live look. Thirty-eight degrees right now, going up to 60 though, and it should be mostly sunny today.
ROBERTS: I could listen to that song all day.
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
CHETRY: It just reminds me of the poor, beat-up principal walking along the bus with his pants ripped up.
ROBERTS: Bueller, oh, Bueller.
Christine Romans here "Minding Your Business" this morning, talking about small business.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, the president in his weekly radio address, the whole address was devoted to small business. And last week, all the talk was about the pay cuts for the big, you know, TARP recipients but the White House really focusing on small business, 29 million small businesses. And a senior administration official last week saying it's a perfect storm of bad news for small business and they've got to do more.
The White House saying we realize we have to do more. And this is what they want to do. More aid coming, larger SBA loans. They need Congress to help them do this, but this is what they're putting together and asking Congress for.
More help for regional banks. They want to get credit, low-cost financing to small and regional banks so they can be the ones out there loaning to small business because the credit has really been a problem still for small business. And the senior administration official told me health care reform, don't think that's not part of their strategy to try to help small business, because that's the number one thing. For a period of maybe 10 years, the small businesses have been complaining about when they say we need help. They need help with health care reform because really, if you're a small business with fewer than 10 employees, you only have a 46 percent chance of even offering health insurance. So if you work for a small business, you are more likely to see your health benefits go away than if you work for a big company.
Also, another bit of data here that shows the growing burden of health care for small businesses. Look at this. By 2010, by next year, there's a 15 percent increase. Look at that. That's the expected premium increase for small businesses. That's about 460 bucks a month per employee.
So the president, the White House saying that yes, they get it, that there is still a problem here. The senior administration official saying we are well aware of the challenges of small businesses and homeowners remain. Small businesses in particular have this still two-week labor market. They have -- people can't buy their products or go to restaurants or go to their stores at the same time if there is still this credit problem.
So, the White House really pushing forward on this. The question is, will they get some traction because we've seen other initiatives in the stimulus and the like that small business people tell us, look, it's still hell out there. They're not seeing a lot of help yet. So, they'd like to see more and see if this is going to be the step in the right direction.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, "Romans' Numeral" for us at this hour?
ROMANS: It is. It's 65 percent. And this is why so many people say, and the president in his weekly radio address say that it's so important to get help to small business and credit to small business.
CHETRY: This is the drop in small businesses created?
ROMANS: This is -- you know what, it could. I mean, in the end I hate to say that, that could also work for this number, too.
It's the percent of new jobs created by small business in this country over the past 15 years. Think of that. Sixty-five percent of new jobs are created by small business. And small business owners say they're in hell right now. So if you're going to get real, good job creation, and the president is saying it's an engine of growth. We've got to get help for small business. So now we just have to figure out how to get it there and get it working.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. Christine, thanks so much.
So we're learning today that it took an hour for the authorities, the FAA, to identify NORAD that there was a plane flying across the Rockies, across the Great Plains. This is Northwest Flight 188, had made contact with anybody. So how long is too long to alert the people who are charged with defending this country that a plane is...
CHETRY: What if it had been hijacked?
ROBERTS: Yes. What if it had been hijacked? They didn't alert NORAD until after it crossed over Minneapolis and somebody said, oh, guess we've got a problem here.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: So, should they have notified them earlier? We'll ask that question.
CHETRY: Also, we're going to look at the estate of Michael Jackson in the wake of his death. The millions of and millions of dollars to be made, or some of the projects he had in the works. His album releases today, "This is It" and a movie that goes along with it. We're going to be talking much more about that coming up.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Michael Jackson's new CD goes on sale today. And on Wednesday, a documentary about his final days with all of the footage of his last rehearsals debuts around the world. The CD and film are both called "This is It" and they're expected to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars for Jackson's estate. As Kareen Wynter reports, Michael Jackson may be gone, but his legend lives on.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, good morning. Michael Jackson left behind a musical legacy that his estate is only beginning to profit from.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL JACKSON, POP STAR: "This is It."
WYNTER (voice-over): He never got the chance to take his final bow on stage for that sold out European concert tour. But some say the "King of Pop" in death may have pulled back the comeback of his career.
An article in the latest "Fortune" magazine shows how the entertainer's lavish lifestyle, costly litigation cases and excessive borrowing had drained his finances. Writer Richard Siklos says another factor was that Jackson hadn't worked much in recent years. His last original studio album "Invincible" came out in 2001, and hardly matched the success of previous Jackson records.
RICHARD SIKLOS, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: He had no comprehension of the value of money because he just always thought he could go and get some.
WYNTER: Siklos says Jackson was solvent when he died but owed more than $400 million, much of that in creditors' claims. Now in death, Jackson's financial worth has a potential to skyrocket.
SIKLOS: At least $100 million of new money has come into the estate just on deals since his passing and not including probably another $50 million to $100 million in just music.
WYNTER: Sony paid $60 million for an upcoming documentary on Jackson using footage from the final concert rehearsals before his death. And 90 percent of the profits will go to Jackson's estate, an estate that also includes a half billion dollars from his part ownership of the Sony Beatles catalog. Siklos says Jackson borrowed hundreds of millions against the bad investment as well as another music catalog worth 100 million. The singer also owned a small stake in his Neverland Ranch.
While Jackson's empire is now raking in millions, his assets still must be managed properly especially with his outstanding debt.
MINA SIRKIN, ESTATE ATTORNEY: As days go by, there is additional creditors that keep appearing in this case. And the biggest issue in this case is going to be actually the estate taxes.
WYNTER: The artist who left his mark on music could also make history by amassing a financial empire surpassing even Elvis in death.
(on camera): Jackson's mother is the beneficiary of his estate but she's engaged in a little battle with the people Jackson named as executors of his will. What's at stake? Control and management of the estate -- John, Kiran.
Kareen Wynter for us, thank you.
CHETRY: And our series, "The Legend Lives On," continues tomorrow morning. From Sinatra to Elvis, Kareen Wynter examines just how lucrative it can be for a celebrity's estate and their heirs once they are gone.
Meanwhile, "This Is It," the new Michael Jackson documentary hits theaters in two days. And Michael's sister, LaToya, has expressed some concern about the film's release. She claims Michael would not have wanted the public to see footage of final rehearsals, saying he's a perfectionist and wouldn't have wanted them to see a practice, a dry run. Well, we're going to ask the director, Kenny Ortega, about that in the 8:00 hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: And as we cross the half hour, checking our top stories this Monday morning. A wildfire in California Santa Cruz Mountains is threatening 150 homes and 100 businesses this morning. It's only 20 percent contained so far. A wildfire in the same area last year destroyed 29 homes.
CHETRY: Long-time friend of Bernie Madoff who allegedly made more than $7 billion in profits by investing with him has been found dead at the bottom of his Florida swimming pool. Police say the body of 67-year-old philanthropist, Jeffrey Picower was discovered yesterday by his wife at their mansion in West Palm Beach. Now, in the last year, he's been battling legal problems because of his alleged role in Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
ROBERTS: And a 49-year-old woman is suing the Dallas Police Department for giving her a ticket because she doesn't speak English. There is a federal law requiring commercial drivers to speak enough English to identify their loads but it doesn't apply to Ernestina Mondragon. She was driving a passenger car and her daughter, Brenda, says the ordeal has been quite a shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDA MONDRAGON, DAUGHTER: At first, I thought it was a joke. I said, "I can't believe it." I actually laughed. I was like, "Oh my God, Mom, I've never seen this before." We moved from California two years ago, so I was like, well, maybe it's a law here.
SGT. WARREN MITCHELL, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We regret this happening and although we believe it was a sincere mistake, we're just -- there's no excuse for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The Dallas police chief confirms his officers have written 38 similar citations in the past three years. Those funds are being refunded and the charges dismissed.
Well, investigators are trying to break the silence that led to a Northwest Airlines flight missing its airport by more than 100 miles. The two pilots have been interviewed. The crew could speak with investigators today. And it's not just uncovering what was happening at 37,000 feet, there are also serious questions as to why the military on the ground was not immediately tipped off to the wayward flight. Joining me now to talk more about this, Fran Townsend, our national security contributor and a former Homeland Security adviser for President George W. Bush, and Peter Goelz. He's the former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Fran, let's start with you. Our Barbara Starr has learned that NORAD wasn't contacted about this flight until they had been out of communication with it for an hour. It wasn't until they overshot Minneapolis that somebody picked up the phone to NORAD and said, "I think we might have a problem here." Did they handle that correctly?
FRAN TOWNSEND, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I mean, John, this is one of the fundamental questions they're going to have to address. Of course, not. I mean this is the sort of thing that -- there's an immediate air bridge the FAA will set up as soon as they recognize they have a problem with a flight, which was presumably a good deal prior to the hour into it.
Once they don't make contact, they set up the air bridge and people dial in so that there's a common interagency approach to what's going to happen. That would have put NORAD -- NORAD would have participated in that early on and been listening to this unfold so they could have been making suggestions and participated in what the response was going to be long before then.
ROBERTS: So what are your sources telling you? Did somebody drop the ball here?
TOWNSEND: Well, I mean I think, you know, people are trying to be pretty quiet about this right now. But I think what we're going to find is they're going to have to review the approach. And they should have contacted NORAD sooner, allowed NORAD to participate. And what we're hearing is NORAD is very unhappy that they weren't really notified until they were told to scramble those jets.
ROBERTS: I'm sure they're not.
Peter, let's talk about what was going on in the cockpit 37,000 feet above where the problems were occurring on the ground. The crew failed to switch air traffic control frequencies as required. They lost track of time. They didn't notice warning messages that were coming in from their controllers on their consoles in front of you. Is it conceivable that they could have been that distracted by conversation, to forget to switch frequencies, forget to monitor what was going on in terms of communications, miss all of this stuff?
PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: Well, it's conceivable, but either explanation, you know, that they were asleep or they were distracted really is unacceptable. So I'd say both of these pilots are in very serious difficulty. The NTSB is going to be talking to them. They're going to be looking at the flight data recorder, which will tell us whether the plane was being manipulating, you know, whether anything was happening in the cockpit whatsoever. But they're going to be in trouble.
ROBERTS: Now, as we understand it, it's just a 30-minute cockpit voice recorder. So because they went 150 miles past and then they turned back around and I could be incorrect here, but I assume anything that happened in the cockpit prior to that has been recorded over and we may never know exactly what happened?
GOELZ: That's right. This is an older recorder. The newer ones go two hours. This one only went 30 minutes. I am sure there's not going to be very much of use on the recorder because by the time the recorder started these pilots will have been well aware they were in hot water.
ROBERTS: You know, Fran, so many times in the wake of 9/11 over Washington, D.C., now granted this is restricted air space -- I remember being at the White House. We were all evacuated when some little plane penetrated that air place and fighter jets were scrambled from Andrews Air Force base. You weren't evacuated. You were sent to the Situation Room.
But, as we said, that is heavily restricted air space. Is it that much of a concern, a jetliner flying over the part of the country it was that's out of communication? Should jets have been scrambled at the very least to go up and take a look?
TOWNSEND: Well, first of all, NORAD should have notified so they were on strip alert and they could have gradually, you know, increased their level of alert and the scramble quickly.
You worry whenever it's over -- you know, of course, we have particular sensitivity to New York and Washington and major metropolitan areas. But, you know, let's not forgive we've got some large civilian populations. So, yes, it is a problem.
And particularly, look, John, the further they went past Minneapolis, the closer they got to international air space with Canada. And one's got to wonder if that's not what caused them to realize they had over flown Minneapolis when they were getting near intentional air space. This causes all sorts of concerns. They practice. You know, the FAA and NORAD practice drills so that they're better prepared than certainly this appears to have gone off.
ROBERTS: Yes, you know, Peter, I don't know how much this is in your area of expertise but what about the air marshals if they were air marshals on board. Are they trained to notice differences in the flight? Are at the watching their watch to say we should be descending about now or are they only looking for some sort of deliberate activity in the cabin itself?
GOELZ: Well, the number of air marshals is still, you know, classified. And there's not enough of them to cover every flight. And they are trained to notice if there's anything unusual.
But in this case, there was nothing apparently in the back of the plane that gave any indication that they were in, you know, anything unusual.
ROBERTS: Well, the investigation continues both in what happens in the skies and the ground. Fran Townsend, Peter Goelz, good to talk to you this morning, thanks so much.
TOWNSEND: Thank you.
GOELZ: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still ahead, we're going to show you, something we're very proud of here at CNN, the unveiling of the new CNN.com. Very user-friendly, a lot of neat, new things that have been added and also, ways to just make it easier to navigate. We know how many millions of people use CNN.com to get their news and so we found a way to make it even better. So we'll show you some of the coolest new aspects of CNN.com in just a minute.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out there is the busiest air strip supposedly in the world. Flights landing all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're unveiling today the new CNN.com. So when you go to our page on the Web, you're going to find a lot of really new and interesting ways to view your news on the web.
ROBERTS: Yes, we've taken the CNN.com Web site and completely redesigned it to make it much more user-friendly, faster to use and all of that.
And we've got it lined up on the magic wall to show you some of the really interesting features of it, one of which is "News Pulse." If we load the "News Pulse" up -- you know, we knew this was going to happen, didn't we? If you load the "News Pulse" up, it's -- you know, you're probably familiar with iTunes' popularity, you know, in terms of the bars across here. This shows you what people are watching and people are looking at in the most popular stories on CNN.com. For example, one of the most popular here is Jane Doe found in New York City, identified.
And it's not just news story you can look at as well. You can also go to video here. And if you want to take a look at video, you can preview it actually in this page. As opposed to opening up a brand-new window, you just hit your preview right here and away you go.
CHETRY: Yes, Michael's performance. We're going to be talking a little bit more about that later.
ROBERTS: One of very cool aspects.
CHETRY: It is. It's very neat because, as you said before, you can look at it much more quickly. Also, check out iReport. Now, iReport has made such a huge difference in even the way that we gather news. People on the scene of various things going on can actually bring us these photos that we can then bring to air.
Two hundred and ninety-four iReports in the last 24 hours have been filed, 17 vetted, which means they're clear to go on the air. And then we have about 1,400 people commenting. Let's look at this one. This was a big story over the weekend, the Puerto Rico explosion. This is the iReport. You pop it up and then you actually just scroll.
ROBERTS: Let's see if we can make that a little bit bigger too.
CHETRY: Yes, once we make it a little bit bigger, we can scroll through the various photos, some unbelievable shots explaining the fire, how people in the community were responding and some incredible shots of just the aftermath. And all of this available on iReport.
You also mentioned another cool element of iReport. Let me get back to it at the bottom of the page.
ROBERTS: And that's the assignments. We' re not on iReport there. Let's go back to iReport. There we go.
CHETRY: Click on iReport. Yes, and then go up, as you said, "Assignments." We issue a challenge to find a way to bring your iReport...
ROBERTS: I think I might be able to get it if I go back here.
CHETRY: There it is, "Assignments." I just saw it.
ROBERTS: You got it? All right, there we are. Do your assignments.
And if you log in to CNN.com, you can put together your own profile. And it will tell you the assignments that they're looking for video on and then you can contribute to that as well.
CHETRY: Pretty neat.
ROBERTS: Yes. We're still working the bugs out here in the studio but if you go online, it's really simple stuff.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Cruising through the CNN.com Web site because you're all excited about the unveiling of the new stuff. And on the top bar, I noticed there's titles for everything, from lifestyles to travel, to sports but I didn't see weather. And I'm upset.
CHETRY: You know why, is because directly under it is the weather. I'm looking at it right now.
ROBERTS: You don't need a button, Rob.
CHETRY: Yes, it's right there.
ROBERTS: You're on the main page. Who needs a button when you're on the main page?
MARCIANO: Where?
CHETRY: Well, I'm talking about the one over here. Hold on, Gary's rolling the camera around. Just for you, he's bringing it over here and he's going to show it to you in just a second. All right, Gary, go ahead show -- right there. I can see it from there, 49 degrees. Can you see it?
ROBERTS: Yes, there it is.
CHETRY: There's the weather right there on the front. You like that?
MARCIANO: Oh, that's lovely.
ROBERTS: Weather and news right here.
MARCIANO: I didn't see that when I had CNN.com. I guess you got to become a user.
CHETRY: Yes, well, we didn't put it on yours because we figure you already know the weather.
ROBERTS: No. You go to the home page and about mid -- just down below the top, like there's a Lexus ad and you're right below the Lexus ad.
CHETRY: You see that?
MARCIANO: That's probably what distracted me. That's a good looking car.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
Still, ahead a warning going out to parents to keep in mind that maybe their kids are not getting enough Vitamin D. We use sunscreen. The kids are all slobbered up with sunscreen. And well, actually, exposure to the sun in small amounts is the best way to get Vitamin D. It's also in a bunch of the different things that we drink. But anyway, millions of kids could be at risk. Elizabeth Cohen's going to break it down for us.
Fifty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning New York City, where it's sunny and 46 degrees right now. Later on today partly cloudy, with a high of 62, but should be a pretty nice fall day.
And our Rob Marciano is tracking weather across the country. We've got some more storms down in the South today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Across parts of Texas, so if the leaves are changing in spots there like they are in Central Park, they may very well be coming on the ground.
Here's where Dallas is and down around the Southeast of Dallas, Southeast of Waco, we have - excuse me - a flood warning that's in effect right now and that will continue until 7:30 local time. Two to four inches of rainfall expected from San Antonio to Houston up to Dallas and back through Southern parts of Arkansas. And with that you're going to see rainfall on top of already saturated ground. You know the routine.
Moisture here will be on increase through the Gulf of Mexico. This is kind of stalled frontal boundary going to hang out for only a day, probably through tomorrow and that's why we're looking for the flooding to be on the rise.
Where it's going to be dry is across parts of the East Coast, east of the Mississippi for the most part and Southern California and Northern California will once again see a day where you may see the Santa Ana winds blow.
I want to show you this video out of Falls River - oh, no, this is supposedly a meteorite that - that fell and created this little firestorm and a huge 50-foot crater. I want to do a little bit more research on this, and I'll talk more about that in the next hour, because you never want to, you know, talk about something you're not sure is completely non-bogus. You know what I'm saying?
South of Dallas to Houston, looking at rainfall there and temperatures today will be fairly nice, temperatures in the 70s from Memphis to 60s in D.C. and New York City and 57 degrees in Boston.
I was cruising through the cnn.com Web site, guys, because you're all excited about the unveiling of the new stuff. And on the top bar there, I noticed there's like - there's titles for everything, from lifestyles to travel to sports, but I didn't see weather, and I'm upset.
CHETRY: You know why? It's because directly under it is the weather. I'm looking at it right now.
ROBERTS: You don't need a button, Rob.
CHETRY: Yes. It's right there.
ROBERTS: You're on the main page. Who needs a button when you're on the main page?
MARCIANO: Where?
CHETRY: Well, I'm talking about the one over here. Hold on. Gary's - Gary's (ph) rolling the camera around. Just for you, he's bringing it over here and he's going to show it to you in just a second. All right, Gary (ph). Show... Right there! I can see it from here - 49 degrees. Can you see it?
ROBERTS: Yes. There it is.
CHETRY: There's the weather, right there. Right on the front. You like that?
MARCIANO: Oh, that's - that's lovely.
ROBERTS: Weather and news, right here.
MARCIANO: I didn't see that on my cnn.com.
CHETRY: Just for you.
MARCIANO: I guess you got to - you to become a user (ph) and out your...
CHETRY: Well, we didn't put it on yours because we figure you already know the weather.
ROBERTS: No. You go to the home page, Rob, and about - just - just down below the top, like there's a Lexus ad and you're right below the Lexus ad.
CHETRY: See that?
MARCIANO: That's probably what distracted me. That's a good looking car.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
CHETRY: Still ahead, a warning going out to parents to keep in mind that maybe their kids are not getting enough vitamin D. We use sunscreen - the kids are all slobbered up with sunscreen. Well, actually, exposure to the sun in small amounts is the best way to get vitamin D. It's also in a bunch of the different drinks that we drink.
But anyway, millions of kids could be at risk. Elizabeth Cohen's going to break it down for us.
Fifteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Oh! Now there is a sunrise to behold. Good morning to all the folks in Miami this morning. Thanks to our friends at WSVN, Rick Sanchez's old home, for that picture. Sunny and 82 right now...
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) right now in the studio.
ROBERTS: You do (ph). He never left. Scattered thunderstorms, a high of 86 degrees later on today, so a really lovely day in South Florida.
Welcome back to the most news in the morning. A recent study says millions of children across the country between the ages of 1 and 11 are not getting enough vitamin D, putting them at risk for a variety of health problems.
CHETRY: They also show that the number is even higher for minority children. So exactly how much vitamin D should children get and what are the best sources to give it to them?
Well, Elizabeth Cohen is here with more on the new study and also some advice for parents this morning. Hey, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Kiran, this is yet another study that shows that US children just aren't getting enough vitamin D. When these researchers at Harvard looked at blood levels of vitamin D, they found that nearly 1 out of 5 children between the ages of 1 and 11, they had low levels of vitamin D in their blood, and when they looked at minority children, as you mentioned, it was even worse. For example, about half of African- American children had low levels of vitamin D.
Now, the problem with low levels of vitamin D, as many people know, rickets, but it's really so much more than that. Let's take a look at some of the consequences if your kid isn't getting enough vitamin D.
It could mean a higher chance of having respiratory infections, a higher chance of having Type 1 Diabetes, and a higher chance of having weaker bones - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. So, Elizabeth, for parents, how do you make sure that kids are getting enough vitamin D?
COHEN: You've got a couple of options here, Kiran. First of all, you can use supplements, vitamin D supplements, or you can also try to get it in the diet. The American Academy of Pediatrics says get 400 international units a day. Now, you're not going to sit there and count it up, so let me give you sort of a day's worth of vitamin D that would be the right amount according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
If your child had a cup of milk, a bowl of cereal, two eggs and a tuna fish sandwich that would get them enough vitamin D, but, really, what they need is a lot of sun, but that's very controversial. John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Any idea, Elizabeth, what accounts for the differences among minority children? Is it that they're not getting enough things like eggs and milk, or is it they're not getting out enough? What - do we know? COHEN: You know what, John, I asked the author of this study that, and I thought it might be food too, but he said no, it has to do with sun, that the darker the skin, the harder it is for the sun to get in and help the body make that Vitamin D. It's all about the sun.
ROBERTS: So they actually need more time in the sun?
COHEN: They need more time in the sun. Right. And luckily, they have a lower chance of burning, but this is where it gets tricky. Dermatologists say kids ought to be wearing sunscreen every second of every day if they're outside. Other doctors will say, you know what? Ten minutes on the playground without sunscreen, for most children, as long as they're not red haired and freckled, is really going to be OK and it will help them with Vitamin D, but dermatologists freak out when they hear that.
ROBERTS: Sure.
COHEN: So this is very controversial at this point.
ROBERTS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. With that, Elizabeth, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: So, a man had to get health insurance for his wife who had cancer, and he couldn't do it, and so what lengths did he go to to make sure that his wife was covered? We'll tell you, coming right up.
Four minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. As lawmakers work to come up with a health care plan, one issue that they're dealing with is pre-existing conditions. Having one, like cancer, can prevent you from getting coverage.
ROBERTS: One man found himself out of a job with his wife facing cancer. He decided, at the age of 39, in order to get health coverage for her that he was going to enlist.
Jason Carroll joins us now with that story. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A really difficult story. You know, it's basically a story of a family dealing with cancer, no job, no...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): ... she had always dreamed of. A stay- at-home mom, happily married to her high school sweetheart. The couple had three children, and for 21 years her husband worked at a plastics company called PolyOne, not far from their home in Sussex, Wisconsin.
Then, this past February, Bill Caudel lost his job.
MICHELLE CAUDEL, CANCER PATIENT: Technically, the economy put me in this situation. You know, if his plant wouldn't have closed, I wouldn't be here right now.
CARROLL: Their situation is this. Three years ago, doctors diagnosed Caudel with ovarian cancer.
CAUDEL: You know, with ovarian cancer, it's so quiet. It just kind of creeps up on you.
CARROLL: Surgery has not worked, neither so far has chemotherapy. This past May, the cancer returned. No job meant the Caudels had no insurance and few options.
CAUDEL: Kind of in May we knew that the cancer was probably coming back, and when it came to him finding employment, insurance would be a key factor.
CARROLL: So, at the age of 39, Bill Caudel decided he would get insurance and a job by doing something he had always thought about - joining the army.
CAUDEL: I just kind of laughed, you know, and then all of a sudden he was down there at the recruiter's office and, you know, and I decided, because I've been through this cancer and he's been there for me, that I would support him.
He's been there for me. Cleaning the house - I mean, he'd go to work, he'd come home, he'd clean the house, he'd make supper. He would take care of the house for me. And that's what I said. I said, when he left, who's going to be there to baby me?
CARROLL: A few weeks ago, Caudel left for boot camp at Fort Knox. We wanted to speak to him about his family's story, but he says he wants to focus on training and let his wife do talking.
CAUDEL: How little he'd look.
CARROLL: For her part, there is frustration the economy has turned on the family, but Caudel also feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
CAUDEL: I am proud of him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Bill Caudel was scheduled to complete his basic training in December. At this point, it's not clear what his assignment will be after that. As for Michelle Caudel's prognosis, she has beaten the cancer twice and though it has come back for a third time, she will continue the chemotherapy and hope for the best.
And, you know, this brings points to a much larger issue. You know, Fort Knox, Tennessee, was also at Fort Jackson and Fort Campbell not too long ago -- I keep hearing the same thing over and over again, that these recruits are changing. It's no longer just the 18-year- old, the 25-year-old, the 30-year-old who's lost a job, who needs something.
ROBERTS: You know, it's a noble thing to do to enlist in the armed services, there's no question about that.
CARROLL: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: But the lengths that people have to go to in order provide health insurance, she would love to have him around...
CARROLL: Exactly.
ROBERTS: ... because she needs him there, to help her with things, and certainly, the company, and in order to get her health insurance, he's got to leave.
CARROLL: Right. And they looked for -- he looked for jobs everywhere you could imagine, tried to find a job, tried to find some way of stretching the health care -- could not do it, decided that the army was probably the best way for them to go for now.
CHETRY: What people have to go through is amazing.
Jason, thanks for bringing us that story.
CARROLL: You bet.
