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American Morning
Back to the Drawing Board for Dems on Health Care Bill; Video Shows Bloody Arrest of BART Officer and Passenger; England Experiences Worst Rain in a Thousand Years, How to Stay Safe When Crowds Turn Ugly on Black Friday; Black Friday Survival; Jobs and Recovery; Border Children
Aired November 23, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday, November 23rd, a couple of days until Thanksgiving.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.
CHETRY: It's moving fast, isn't it?
ROMANS: Almost there.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans in for John Roberts. Here are the stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
It's back to square one for Senate Democrats and their health care reform bill. Sixty shaky votes Saturday night moved the measure forward but with Democrats so divided not a single Republican on board, we could be in for several more weeks of bitter debate.
A violent takedown caught on tape as a San Francisco transit officer arrests an out of control passenger. Now a police department who's already under scrutiny has some more explaining to do. We're going to show you what went down and how it happened and what police are saying about that incident this morning.
ROMANS: Are you ready to hit the stores? The day after Thanksgiving is a shopper's dream with stores promising big discounts on big ticket items. But as we count down to Black Friday, those door busters can make crowds go crazy causing fights, even deadly stampedes. Susan Candiotti will tell you how to stay safe while hunting for bargains.
CHETRY: Our top story this morning, it's back to the drawing board for health care reform in the Senate. Even though Democrats managed 60 shaky votes Saturday night to move the bill forward. It is clear that the party is divided on the details.
Brianna Keilar is live in Washington for us this morning. So they voted to, you know, begin the debate, I guess you could say all over again after that late night session on Saturday. Now it continues after Thanksgiving.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, it does, and this is just one hurdle that was cleared Saturday night. As you mentioned, a vote just to begin debating this bill on the Senate floor but a vote fraught with political consequences for moderate Democrats who still have major reservations about this health care bill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yeas are 60, the nays are 39.
KEILAR (voice-over): For a moment Saturday night, it looked Senate Democrats and their health care reform bill were gathering momentum after months of political posturing.
HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: All we're asking today is have a debate on it.
KEILAR: And prodding from the president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people.
KEILAR: The Democrats had their 60 votes, enough to send the measure to the Senate floor for debate but with so much dissension in the ranks.
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: We need to do a much better job in making transparent what things actually cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're telling people you have to buy insurance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I worry about a government-run plan that would be subject to recommendations that might be applied universally without respect to patients.
KEILAR: It became clear the bill won't fly as written and Republicans looking to slow down the process seized the opening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It might take longer, but it would also provide a better result. And most Americans think we should get it right rather than try to hurry it up.
KEILAR: Majority Leader Harry Reid got his 60 vote majority, but it's how he accomplished it that speaks volumes. Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana voted yes after scoring a provision in the bill that boosts spending for her state by $100 million to $300 million.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: I'm proud to have asked for it. I'm proud to have fought for it, and I will continue to. That is not the reason I am moving to debate.
KEILAR: Still with so many Democrats on the fence and no Republicans leaning their way, there are still plenty of hurdles to come for Democrats and this bill.
REID: The road ahead is a long stretch, but we can see the finish line.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: The next step here, debate on the Senate floor to begin after the Thanksgiving break Congress is on right now. And the goal for passing a final bill by both the House and Senate slipping out into the New Year. Democrats' ultimate goal, get this health care bill to the President Obama's desk before his State of the Union address at the end of January, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. A lot of challenges ahead but one hurdle cleared. All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Meantime, critics and supporters of the Senate bill are making a lot of claims about what's in the measure. Some of them true and some of them false.
Coming up in about 25 minutes, PolitiFact.com's Bill Adair breaks out the truth-o-meter to help us separate fact from fiction.
ROMANS: Other stories new this morning, dramatic video coming out of California. A San Francisco transit officer arresting an allegedly unruly passenger this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should get off the train. You should get off the train. Please get off the train now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Bay Area Rapid Transit officer seen grabbing the passenger and taking him off the train, then the officer appears to push the man's head into a glass window on the platform. The video was posted on YouTube. A BART spokesman tells CNN they're planning a full investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF LINTON JOHNSON, BART SPOKESMAN: This video was posted by somebody who has jumped to conclusions as to what he believes happened. And we're not saying that that person is wrong or right. But we do need to say to that person and to the rest of the world that we're going to look at all the facts, not just what you see on the video and then we'll make a conclusion as to what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The suspect, Michael Joseph Gibson, is charged with felony battery of an officer. Police say the officer is unable to work because of cuts and a concussion and has been placed on leave. CHETRY: Well, authorities in Southern California say that a 12- year-old who was attacked by his classmates may have been the victim of a Facebook posting targeting redheads. The boy was beaten in two separate incidents Friday at his middle school in Calabasas, California. The Facebook page proclaimed Friday, "kick a ginger day," urging students to beat up redheads. Police say it may have been inspired by an episode of "South Park."
ROMANS: And an attorney for the Fort Hood shooting suspect Army Major Nidal Hasan says Nidal is paralyzed from the chest down and doctors believe the paralysis is permanent. Hasan is recovering from gunshot wounds at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He'll remain under confinement until his court-martial. The Army psychiatrist is charged with killing 13 people in the Fort Hood massacre earlier this month.
CHETRY: Rescuers are working around the clock to save lives after the most rain ever recorded in England. Police are on rooftops, rivers overflowing, and bridges, like this one just wiped out. A total of 12 bridges closed across the country. That's where the -- that's actually in one county in particular where a hard-hit area, the town of Cockermouth is located. Local newspapers are reporting some communities could be in trouble for months. Nic Robertson now with an up-close look at the devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In Kevin McNicholas's house, everything on the lower floor has been destroyed. When we arrived, he's only just got back in.
KEVIN MCNICHOLAS, COCKERMOUTH RESIDENT: Everything had been lifted and moved around, passed around and then dropped again and left totally accompanying (ph) sludge.
ROBERTSON: Family and friends are working frantically to clear what they can in case floodwaters return. The rain is falling and more is forecast.
MCNICHOLAS: It's been really difficult. In the first moment, people were helping and then (INAUDIBLE) the third night and obviously continuing now.
MARGARET BANCROFT, COCKERMOUTH RESIDENT: Swarm to the bottom of the stairs.
ROBERTSON: A few doors along, grandmother Margaret Bancroft measures herself against the high water mark on her living room wall. Among her treasures, a few photos saved.
BANCROFT: That's one of the local heroes that were searching around with his boat yesterday morning rescuing people.
ROBERTSON: Who is he?
BANCROFT: (INAUDIBLE) ROBERTSON: For 45 years, she says she's lived in this house.
BANCROFT: Yes. I've never seen anything like this at all. Never been flooded, you know.
ROBERTSON: One in a thousand years.
BANCROFT: Yes. Well, I guess I'll miss the next one then.
ROBERTSON: And it's not just Grandmother Bancroft who's laughing. Incredibly spirits here seem high.
(on camera): The tidy up is only just beginning and for people here they really don't know when they're going to be able to get back into their homes. They're being told right now it could be as long as six to nine months.
(voice-over): The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, came to show his support and offered help. $1.5 million additional funds for the flood damage.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Really we'll do what we can to help the cleanup happen quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you.
BROWN: We'll provide extra -- extra help to make sure that that happens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much.
ROBERTSON: And the town is going to need all the help it can get. Seven thousand people live in this tiny (INAUDIBLE) community. They are coming together to put right what the town's two flood swollen rivers came close to destroying. The cleanup is only just beginning.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Cockermouth, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, also new this morning, authorities are investigating a radiation leak at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant over the weekend. A hundred fifty workers were sent home. The company that operates the plant says they are now testing employees for possible exposure to radiation but say it appears that the contamination was confined to the building. The unit has been shut down for a month for refueling and maintenance. The plant, you may remember, was the site of the worst ever U.S. nuclear disaster in 1979 forcing its second reactor to be permanently shut down.
ROMANS: A lawyer for one of the five men facing trial for the 9/11 attacks says all five will plead not guilty. The attorney says the men will not deny their role in the attacks but will tell the jury, quote, "why they did it." Critics say the Justice Department's decision to hold a civilian trial gives the men a platform for propaganda.
CHETRY: Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy and a Roman Catholic bishop in the state are involved now in a nasty public feud over proposal expanding the nation's health insurance system. Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, attacked the church's support of provisions that would prohibit federal funding for abortions. Bishop Thomas Tobin has publicly questioned Congressman Kennedy's faith and now admits that he asked him back in 2007 not to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion.
ROMANS: It was a night of welcome comebacks at this year's American Music Awards. Nine months after Rihanna missed her performance at the Grammy's due to an assault by then boyfriend Chris Brown, she was back performing a new single, a single from her new album.
We all know Lady Gaga's performances, they tend to be a little bit over the top, right? Last night no question wearing an outrageous bodysuit. She brought the crowds to their feet singing "Bad Romance."
Wow. But the night belonged to Taylor Swift. The 19-year-old pocketed five awards, including the biggest Artist of the Year. And Swift was just one of many last night who paid tribute to Michael Jackson. His brother, Jermaine, accepted the late singer's four posthumous prizes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: The message that Michael had will live on forever. Start with love and let's love each other. Thank you very much. We're going to miss you, Michael. You will always be in our hearts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift, the two kind of big stars last night.
CHETRY: Michael's love on as well.
ROMANS: Yes, yes.
CHETRY: Lady Gaga's outfit, I mean, hey...
ROMANS: Wow.
CHETRY: ... she can cross the street in the dark and never have to worry about it, you know.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: We'll see her coming.
ROMANS: We should put (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, holiday shopping season is upon us. Of course, as we know, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, people try to get to those door-busting sales last year with tragic results at one Wal-Mart. Susan Candiotti takes a look at how some big retailers have made changes to make sure that customers stay safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirteen minutes past the hour straight ahead on the Most News in the Morning. The Senate is pushing forward with the health care debate. A lot of claims about the bill being floated around, so we're going to separate fact from fiction just ahead with Bill Adair, editor of PolitiFact.com.
ROMANS: All right. Black Friday equals bargain-hungry customers. But most of you heading to the major stores may not be buying gifts. According to a new survey, a lot of you out there say you'll be shopping for yourselves.
The retail industry says it's expecting a big turnout. However, it may not translate into a profitable shopping season overall because consumers say they want to see discounts of at least 50 percent before they buy. Now many sale items offered on Black Friday are limited which is why die-hard shoppers camp out for hours before the store opens but that can lead to a mad dash and sometimes tragedy. Here's our Susan Candiotti.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran and Christine, good morning. If you plan on getting some hot deals this holiday weekend, be careful. OSHA, the agency that regulates workplace safety, has warned stores they better have their crowd controls in place to avoid a repeat of last year's fatal stampede.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The mad dash for bargains can be funny to watch, but last Thanksgiving weekend in New York, it was horrific. A Long Island Wal-Mart security guard was trampled to death in a stampede on Black Friday, arguably the biggest shopping day of the year.
EMMANUEL MOULTRIE (ph), BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPER: People screaming, people coming in the store, passing out, falling out. It was a horrible site.
CANDIOTTI: Emmanuel Multry (ph) took us back to that Wal-Mart. He says when the doors opened at 5:00 a.m., an hour later than expected, the crowd surged forward, glass shuttered and guard Jdimytai Damour (ph) was caught in a human steamroller.
MOULTRIE (ph): I mean, you had at least seven to eight people on top of each other. You didn't even see him. And it was on top of him, and they were stuck because they were squashed, compacted in there.
CANDIOTTI: Multry (ph) says he felt like he was swept up in a tidal wave, trapped against a vending machine.
MOULTRIE (ph): I said I will not hit that ground. If I hit that ground, it would have been, I couldn't even get my arms from my side.
CANDIOTTI: Wal-Mart avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing, among other things, to improve crowd control at all New York stores. The giant retailer says it's also voluntarily instituting changes nationwide this week.
Wal-Mart declined a CNN interview. Instead, the company provided a pre-taped statement that said sports and entertainment crowd control experts gave them help.
DAPHNE MOORE, SPOKESPERSON, WAL-MART: We're committed to looking for ways to make our stores even safer for our customers and our associates this holiday season.
CANDIOTTI: Changes may include snaking lines outside and inside stores similar to airport checkpoints and scattering sales items. Some stores will remain open 24 hours starting Thanksgiving Day through the weekend, so when Black Friday sales start at 5:00 AM, shoppers can already be inside, possibly avoiding chaos.
For shoppers up before dawn for door buster deals at any retailer, this safety advice from police.
JOHN TIMONEY, CHIEF, MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT: If you see pushing and shoving, arguing for no valid reason, you know, you know you have a potential problem right there. And if that's the case, I walk to the end of the line, let them all go in.
CANDIOTTI: Emmanuel Moultrie (ph), who received a settlement from Wal-Mart, says he wouldn't be burned again.
MOULTRIE: (INAUDIBLE) to a store and you see that's not -- that that behavior's not being demonstrated, you need to leave, fast. Leave fast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: As part of this agreement with prosecutors Wal-Mart paid nearly $2 million to a victim's fund and a community grant. OSHA cited the retailer for exposing its employees to danger when it should have known better. In a statement, Wal-Mart says safety is always a top priority -- Kiran and Christine.
ROMANS: And, you know, so many of those -- so many of those specials are just very limited or they're -- sometimes they will have 50 of -- of the thing with the good price, and so people are really going out there and getting crazy, and they might not be able to get the deal. So something to really keep in mind when going to the malls.
CHETRY: I know. Well, you and I were talking about this on Friday. You -- you didn't think it was going to be as crazy this year.
ROMANS: I don't think it's going to -- I don't think it should be. I mean, I think people -- if you're making $260 a week for a jobless check, I don't think you should be running out and spending the day after Thanksgiving trying to spend it on a $500 TV. I just don't think it makes sense. But people are still going to do it.
CHETRY: Christmas is Christmas and people -- you know, people's families expect gifts.
ROMANS: But the funny thing is that the survey (INAUDIBLE) for Black Friday show that people -- the majority of people are going to be shopping for themselves, not for gifts. They've been -- they've held out all year and so they're going to try to get a good sale for themselves.
CHETRY: We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile -- so that's one of the things we talked about, consumer confidence, consumer spending. How about jobs and -- and whether or not we've seen a jobless recovery so far and whether or not that may be changing.
Gerri Willis "Minding Your Business" this morning with a look at what some of the top economists are saying.
Eighteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
James Cameron, the man who once proclaimed himself the king of the world on stage at the Oscars, he's -- he's back with a film he says could change the way we make and see movies. Why the man who made Titanic thinks Avatar is the future in 30 minutes here on AM.
CHETRY: All right. And meanwhile, Gerri Willis is here "Minding Your Business" for us this morning at 21 minutes past the hour and we're talking about whether or not we're going to start to turn a corner when it comes to the recovery and jobs. We've called this a jobless recovery up to this point, but some optimism?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Good morning, Christine.
Yes, there is finally some optimism for the jobs market. According to the National Association of Business Economists, they are predicting that the recovery wouldn't remain jobless much longer, that job losses will bottom in the first quarter of 2010 and then turn around in the second quarter which means we'll see jobs gains net (ph) in that second quarter.
Now that's the good news. The bad news is they actually pushed that out a quarter. Originally they were saying it would be the first quarter. But that's something to look forward to nonetheless and -- and they see average unemployment rate of 9.6 percent by the end of next year, so it's going to continue to be a problem, as you can see, and 61 percent of the economists surveyed say recovery of previous lost jobs by 2012, so you know we've lost some 7.3 million jobs through this downturn. You're going to see those start to turn around by 2012. You'll see those jobs regained.
Now, consumers are having none of this. They're not spending money. They're going to continue not to spend money. (INAUDIBLE) a lot about the holiday season, but overall consumers are pulling in the reigns. Personal savings rates expected to average 4 percent next year according to this survey and that's even higher than it is right now. You know...
CHETRY: That's good because before we weren't saving at all, right? These are negative.
WILLIS: Correct. Yes. Absolutely. So this is a positive. So is going to allow people to retire, you know, early. It's all good news when you save more money.
And finally, one very interesting fact out of this, the housing recovery is expected to gain momentum, and these economists say that by 2010 that will be the first year since 2005 that housing has actually contributed to the overall economy, which I think is a very interesting number. Housing prices could go up 2 percent next year. For there, lips to God (ph) here, that's what I say.
So some improvement there in the housing, and that, you know, really impacts how consumers feel, how positive they are about the market.
ROMANS: So we're looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. We can -- we're in the tunnel still, but we can see it out there, just trying to find out when we get to the end of it. Excellent. Thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROMANS: OK. We're going to do Truth-O-Meter. We're running through the health care debate. Bill Adair from Politifact.com. There's nothing more controversial than health care reform, right? Lots of claims and counter-claims, fabrications and truth.
Bill Adair is the one who runs it all through his machine and comes out with fact or fiction. We'll have him right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
They're not even 10 years old and already they're smugglers, bringing goods across what may be the most dangerous border in the world. And these border children put their lives at risk for mere pennies. But they don't have a choice.
Sara Sidner with this "AM Original" from the Afghan/Pakistan border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Children take their families, they take firewood, they take scrap metal, even flour over the border from Afghanistan to Pakistan and back again. It's a terribly difficult job, but hundreds of children do it every day.
SIDNER (voice-over): Hazrat Ali is street smart and tough. He works like a man, but he's still just a boy, age 9. "I need more power to do this," he says. "I'm not strong enough."
Ali is a border child. His mission -- fill up and unload his wheelbarrow at least five times a day, every day. "It's very hard work," he says.
He is one of an estimated 300 children who smuggle items back and forth over the border -- and not just any border, but the border between two of the world's most dangerous places, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(on camera): One of things these children are most afraid of is not surviving the job at all. There have already been two suicide blasts in the last three months at this border crossing.
(voice-over): Sabar Mina witnessed one of those terror attacks. At only 8 years old, she already has war stories just from working here.
"When the bomb exploded, I was in Afghanistan with my sister," she says. "We were crying, and then we ran away to the Pakistan side."
Sabar is from Pakistan. She lugs sacks of flour over to Afghanistan. The haul comes with its own hazards, especially since Pakistan banned exports of flour due to a spike in food prices there.
"When we bring the flour, the Pakistani police stop us and they hit us. They beat us," she says.
But most of the time these children aren't hassled, so the goods get through, and for shippers, they're cheap labor, about $0.20 for the short trip through the checkpoint. But in their lives, every single cent makes a difference.
SIDNER (on camera): So the children are literally not allowed to come home unless they make a certain amount of money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.
SIDNER (voice-over): This man works for an organization that helps border children, but we can't show you his face.
SIDNER (on camera): Have you been threatened by the Taliban?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. I may say yes.
SIDNER (voice-over): Every move this group makes to educate these children is being watched, he says, in case it goes against Islamic law. The Taliban knows everything he's doing. The group says it has put more than 300 children in school, but there are many parents who will not let their children quit this work because the families can't survive without the money.
Sara Sidner, CNN, on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: It's 29 minutes past the hour. Here are this morning's top stories.
Conservative Democrats making it clear that we could still be a long way from health care reform. Senate Democrats moved the historic debate to the Senate Floor on Saturday after achieving total party unity, but now some are making it clear the bill wouldn't fly as written over familiar sticking points like the cost and the so-called public option.
CHETRY: Charges have been dropped against one of five Blackwater security guards accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians. You may remember the shootout at a Baghdad traffic circle back in September 2007. Seventeen people were killed.
The Blackwater guards say their convoy was ambushed. Prosecutors say that the shootings were unprovoked. It's not clear why the charges were dropped now.
ROMANS: An H1N1 mutation has now made forms of the virus resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. The CDC says four patients in North Carolina and at least five in the UK have a form of the virus that isn't responding to the drug.
Tamiflu has been touted as one of the most effective ways to produce swine flu symptoms. Some doctors say this could be one of the results of over-prescribing it. But despite that, the CDC says swine flu cases have decreased slightly.
Has the virus tapped out? Dr. William Schaffner from Vanderbilt University Medical Center will be here to answer our questions live in one hour.
CHETRY: Well, the real war of worlds isn't going to be starting until after Thanksgiving and it could last for weeks. The Senate is passing a measure late Saturday to officially open debate on its health care bill with a razor thin 60 to 39 vote. Already though, both sides are trading shots. So, who's on the up and up and who's bending the truth?
Well, back with his Truth-o-Meter is Bill Adair, Washington bureau chief for the "St. Petersburg Times."
Thanks for being with us, Bill.
BILL ADAIR, "ST. PETERSBURG TIMES": Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Also editor of PolitiFact.com, of course. And you guys have been fact-checking one of the most hotly contested issues in this whole health care, which is taxpayer funding of abortion.
And House Minority Leader John Boehner made this claim. He said that the Senate health care legislation will, quote, "levy a new abortion premium fee on Americans in the government-run plan." How did the truth-o-meter rate that statement, Bill?
ADAIR: We gave that one a false on our truth-o-meter on PolitiFact. And what we did, we talked to experts, we read the bill. There really is no such premium the way that Boehner describes it.
He's referring to really what is the bookkeeping that the government is going to do to try to segregate the money. If a private insurer provides abortion coverage when they offer coverage in the health insurance exchange, they just have to separate the money so that federal funds are not used if they are receiving any federal subsidy.
CHETRY: So, you pointed out, the Senate bill does require that abortion coverage through the exchange be paid for with these private premiums. But, as you also said, Republicans, some of them were saying it's just a matter of accounting, that really, in the end, it will pay for abortion.
So, how will the insurance companies have to segregate that money for abortion coverage under the Senate's bill?
ADAIR: Well, the bill provides that the secretary of health and human services would calculate the actuarial cost of abortion coverage, basically by looking at how much an insurance -- a typical insurance policy would have to pay to cover abortion coverage. And then take steps to make sure that only private money is set aside for that.
So, they are correct that it is a bookkeeping thing. It's definitely not a premium the way that Boehner said it. So, he gets a false on the truth-o-meter.
CHETRY: All right. And it could be a big, big sticking point as this bill attempts to move through the Senate. So, we will continue to track that.
Meanwhile, there are also a number of senators who say that they want health care reform to happen but they strongly oppose the public option aspect. One of those is Joe Lieberman. He says the Democrats engage in a bait-and-switch when it comes to the public option. He told Politico last week that if you look at last year's presidential campaign, you can't find a mention of public option. He says the Democrats only introduce this after President Obama was in the White House.
What's the verdict on that statement by Senator Lieberman?
ADAIR: Well, the part that we rated was his claim that there wasn't any discussion of it during the campaign. We gave that a mostly true on the truth-o-meter. And the reason is that Lieberman is correct, there really wasn't much discussion at all. It was really only mentioned briefly in the Obama campaign materials and Obama as a candidate didn't really emphasize this. But it was in the materials.
So, we rated this one mostly true on our truth-o-meter.
CHETRY: All right. And one of the Republican's criticisms of the Senate health care bill is that it's basically a huge piece of legislation. It's hard to understand. It just adds to the bureaucratic nightmares.
And to make that point, they've been comparing to one notoriously long literary master piece. Senator Orrin Hatch, he released a press release saying the 2,074 bill is longer than Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace."
What does the Truth-o-Meter say about that one?
ADAIR: That one got a barely true on our truth-o-meter. The true part and -- it depends on how you measure the length of the bill -- the true part is that if you measure by pages, yes, he's correct, that it is longer than "War and Peace." The bill clocks in about 2,000 pages and "War and Peace" is about 1,400 in the edition we looked at. But that's misleading, because, of course, you can -- the way you format a page can change how many words are on it. And there aren't as many words on a page in the Senate bill.
But a more accurate way of measuring, we felt, was to count words. And in this -- in this count, the health care bill does come up short. "War and Peace" has 560,000 words and the bill has about 400,000.
So, Hatch got a barely true on the Truth-o-Meter.
CHETRY: I love what you guys wrote, "Take away, Democrats aren't as wordy as a Russian novelist."
(LAUGHTER)
ADAIR: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right. Well, keep fact-checking them, Bill, because we'd love to hear from you. Bill Adair from PolitiFact -- thanks so much for being with us this morning.
ADAIR: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Also, you can read more of the claims that Bill runs through his Truth-o-Meter on our Web site. Head to CNN.com/amFIX to check it out.
ROMANS: And, you know, the world needs its heroes and CNN Heroes, really an amazing, amazing program. You can meet the 2009 Hero of the Year. You can see the big program on Thursday night.
Let me just tell you about this hero quickly. He's a guy with a push cart, who turned that push cart into a classroom for poor children in the Philippines who would no other way of getting an education. He was giving them books and learning over gangs, literally changing the world. We'll have that for you soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 38 minutes past the hour right now.
You know, it's a real point of pride for us here at CNN, and over the past few weeks millions of you have voted to select CNN's Hero of the Year.
ROMANS: And in this past weekend, we honored the 10 selfless individuals who are making the world a better place. Anderson Cooper hosted the star-studded event and CNN's Brooke Anderson has the preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a night of tears...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless this country.
(CHEERING)
ANDERSON: ... and triumph. A night to honor everyday people doing extraordinary things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? It's the Oscars of giving.
ANDERSON: Ten finalists for CNN Hero of the Year were recognized for helping others around the world. Among them, a 20- year-old amputee who's getting artificial limbs to kids who need them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's every amputee's goal is to not be limited or defined by their situation.
ANDERSON: The heroes night began on a star-studded red carpet in Hollywood and continued inside the Kodak Theater, home of the Oscars, where musical greats paid tribute in song.
Some of Hollywood's biggest stars joined in.
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: Let's honor our hero, Betty.
ANDERSON (on camera): How cool is tonight?
PIERCE BROSNAN, CNN HEROES PRESENTER: Truly cool. Truly memorable. Truly wonderful. Keep doing good things.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Two-point-seven million votes were cast online to determine which of the honorees would be named CNN Hero of the Year. The honor went to...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Efren Penaflorida.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ANDERSON: Penaflorida created a classroom on wheels in his native Philippines to educate his country's forgotten children.
EFREN PENAFLORIDA, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Each person has a hidden hero within.
ANDERSON: He received $125,000 to continue his work. The nine other honorees were awarded $25,000 each. No dollar value can be put on the inspiration they provide.
Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: It's what one person can do with a good idea and now, hopefully, a little more money to continue to spread all of those good works. You're going to see more amazing, inspirational stories when the star-studded tribute airs right here on CNN. Don't miss it this Thanksgiving night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
CHETRY: It does give goose bumps, though.
ROMANS: It really does. I love the push cart. I mean, the guy -- it's such an amazing story, putting a classroom in the push cart to bring it to the children, for people to have chance.
CHETRY: Yes. Amazing. And we've seen it with medicine where they bring the clinic right there, and why not do it with education? It's amazing.
Well, still ahead, you know, the president and first lady are holding their first state dinner.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: It's going to be on Tuesday. And so, now, the rumors are flying, who's going to get the invite, who's going to make the cut? We're going to talk much more about that coming up.
Forty-one minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- four minutes past the hour right now.
Time to fast forward through the stories that you'll be watching later on CNN.
At 7:18 a.m. Eastern, astronauts from space shuttle Atlantis will perform the final space walk of their mission. One is a proud papa, Randy Bresnik, his wife had a baby girl back on earth yesterday. This is not some funny back on earth."
Also, a little later today -- the results of a new study from the "Journal of Pediatrics." It suggests that preschoolers are spending a lot of time watching TV, up to two hours a day in day care and few more at home, and that adds up to more than a third of a preschooler's day.
Tonight, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at their Naval Observatory home. The guests of honor are wounded service members and their families who are currently being treated at military and V.A. medical center in that area. So, a little bit of an early Thanksgiving at the Biden household.
ROMANS: And that tots and TV story.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: A third of a preschooler's life watching the tube.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: That just prepares them for what real life is.
ROMANS: Right. Like they're watching the weather is one thing, right? I mean, they're getting prepared for -- hi, Rob. Rob spends a third of his life watching TV, don't you, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, that's award- winning transition into weather, I like that. We don't want to discourage kids from watching television. I mean, after all, it's our bread and butter, right?
CHETRY: That's true.
MARCIANO: All right, guys. Listen up. A lot of people getting on the road obviously this week, so it's a big week traveling wise, and interesting weather certainly shaping up as we go through time. Let's talk about what's going on today. There is some rain just South of D.C. This will sneak up into the beltway, inside the beltway, but other than that, I don't think it will get all the way to New York.
This is what brought heavy rain to parts of the South over the weekend, and some cases, flooding from Southeast Texas across the Gulf Coast. It is beginning to weaken just a little bit. Some rain across parts of Minneapolis. That may sneak into Chicago and some snow across parts of the Intermountain West, so if you want to get yourself in the mood for the holidays, take a look at some of this coming out of Oregon over time. The mountain pass way, they had two and three feet of snow over the weekend from a series of storms and also wind damage.
We'll show you that next hour, so a little bit of a slow go traveling up and over the mountains to grandmother's house we go. All right. Where there's not rain today, there's going to be some fog, so New York metro D.C. and also across the center part of the country, that's where I expect to see some travel delays today due to low visibility. Let's talk Wednesday. Little storm here across parts of Florida, and this storm, I think most of the problems on Wednesday are going to be across the Midwest, so hubs like Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Cincinnati, that's going to be the issue on Wednesday.
This whole thing moves towards East on Thursday and then Friday gets a little bit more interesting, but as far as seeing a huge snowstorm for the biggest day of the week on Wednesday for travel, I don't think that's going to happen, but there will be some snow flakes flying across parts of the Midwest, especially the upper Midwest on Wednesday. All right. Kids, do not tune us out, even in preschool. Watch television. It's good for you.
CHETRY: If you're 2 or older, watch television. All right. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
CHETRY: You're cordially invited. These are the words of VIPs all over Washington are hoping to hear. President and First Lady Obama holding their first state dinner on Tuesday night, and rumors are flying about who will make the list cut.
ROMANS: The dinner honor is India's Prime Minister. The guest list remains a secret, but speculation includes, the more obvious members of Obama's administration, Vice Preside Joe Biden, his wife Jill, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president, Bill Clinton, the queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey.
CHETRY: That one's to roll up the red carpet because with a donor list including Hollywood stars, top recording artists, and major league athletes, no telling how stars that event is going to be, so we will just find out on Tuesday.
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: This morning's top stories just a minute away including at the top of the hour, the long road still ahead for health care reform. The debate on tweaking the bill is dividing Democrats again and won't begin until after Thanksgiving. We're live in Washington to find out where we stand now.
ROMANS: At 7:04 Eastern, a bloody arrest caught on tape. You can see and hear a suspect's head go through a window after an officer yanked him off the bay area train. Why the department is saying, don't jump to any conclusions.
CHETRY: Also 7:30 Eastern, swine flu cases, are they peaking now, when will we see them go down with the coldest months still ahead? We're going to be talking more about that as well. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: All right. That's a scene from "New Moon" rising. The vampire flick had the third biggest opening weekend ever, pulling close to $141 million as it was spawned by a lot of young girls.
ROMANS: Yes. CHETRY: And as our producer putting some older ones like you and Christine, holding a Dark Knight and Spiderman 3 have done better, and he's older than us, by the way. They also set records for single-day performance with $73-million midnight showings as well. I know some of my friends who had to set their alarm for 2:00 a.m. to go pick up their daughters.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Oh men, that's love. That's parenting love. More than 26 million, also 80 percent of tickets sold were to women.
ROMANS: One of my nieces got grounded, and how was she grounded? She couldn't read any of the books for a week.
CHETRY: That was the worst grounded like I think go.
ROMANS: Funny, these girls love this stuff. Rounding out the top three, Sandra Bullocks's "The Blind Side," rather.
CHETRY: You saw that, right?
ROMANS: I did. I just see it, and the end-of-the-world thriller, "2012."
Now, the man who made the biggest block buster ever is hoping to top that this Christmas with a movie called Avatar. If you haven't heard of it yet, welcome back from (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Promotion for it is everywhere, and for Director James Cameron, it's literally a dream come true. Our Jason Carroll sat down with them to talk about it. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Are we the demo for this movie?
CARROLL: You know, he would say yes, because it's not just an adventure, it's also a love story, but you know, you're not a load on this. There are a lot of critics out these who are panning it before it even gets off the ground, but remember, they did that with titanic.
CHETRY: That's right.
CARROLL: They did, so he's battling that these go around, it's going to work. You know, it's been a decade since James Cameron has made his last picture film. It took him four years to produce "Avatar." Four years, he has spent millions, some of his own money to make all of this happen, but will audience buy into this 3D adventure, like you two? Cameron says they will.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): He made millions terminating mankind. Battling aliens and when critics thought he couldn't top himself.
James Cameron sunk the Titanic, making the highest grossing film of all time, winning 11 academy awards.
JAMES CAMERON, DIRECTOR, "AVATAR": I'm the king of the world!
CARROLL: Cameron has a thing for worlds, this time it's Avatar's world.
CAMERON: We challenged ourselves on this film to go beyond what we collectively knew.
CARROLL: This is Cameron's imagery planet, Pandora, inhabited by luminescent creatures and blue-hued indigenous aliens, humans can survive on Pandora. Special technology allows them to live through Avatar's which look like the planet's giant blue natives.
Cameron calls it a classic adventure with a love story. Due in theaters December 18th and still unfinished.
This is an actual sound effects editing session. Opinions here are encouraged, but it's clear who the boss is.
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: Cameron knows Avatar is under intense scrutiny, costing 237 million and counting, it could be the most expensive movie ever made.
A lot of money spent on avatar, lot of pressure. Are you feeling the pressure?
CAMERON: Sure. I mean, you always do on a film. I think pressure is good for film makers.
CARROLL: Cameron showed me where much of the money is being spent, visual effects.
CAMERON: There's like 3,000 visual effects, and the way we did it.
CARROLL: Three thousand visual effects?
Yes. Pretty much every shot in the film is a visual effect.
CARROLL: That's a lot.
CAMERON: That's what the studio said too, good God.
(LAUGHING)
CARROLL: Cameron actually updated technology, allowing him to make 3D computer animation and live action to bring actors like Zoe Saldana to life.
CAMERON: So, the trick was to get everything that she had done into her character.
CARROLL: Fans can't wait, but some critics already saying Cameron's Avatar's look more like giant smurfs.
Is it like nervous, what is it to?
CAMERON: Actually, honestly, a bit of relief. I think if everybody was embracing the film before the fact, the film could never live up to that expectation.
I think the film stands for itself, and we're going to get our fair day in court.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (on-camera): Well, that fair day in court is December 18th, and that's when the Avatar opens nationwide. You can see more of our interview of what Cameron did on the blog. You can go to cnn.com/amfix.
You know, I was talking about it. It took him four years to produce, and comparison to titanic, he took 2.5 years to produce. Three thousands effects in Avatar, in Titanic, 500, so that's where a lot of his money is.
ROMANS: And interesting about that, he doesn't want to over promise and under delivery. He said it's fine that people are going crazy about how great it is, because that means some like us will go in, I will be like, wow! It was really good.
CHETRY: I'm still going to see "New Moon" first, aren't you?
(LAUGHING)
CARROLL: We'll see. We shall see.
ROMANS: All right. Top stories coming up your way in about 90 seconds.
CHETRY: That's right. Fifty-seven minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
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