Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
President Obama's Afghan Decision Within Days; President Obama Hosts Indian Prime Minister to a State Dinner; Studies Show Defective Chinese Drywall Causes Structural Damage and Health Risks; Debit Cards: Fees Vs. Rewards; Keeping You "On Time"
Aired November 24, 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. It's 6:00 here in New York on this Tuesday, November 24th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us today. Here are the stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
The decision whether to send more troops to Afghanistan just days away. That's the word from the White House after a late night closed door huddle between President Obama and his national security team. We're live at the Pentagon with brand new developments this morning.
CHETRY: President Obama is also preparing to host the prime minister of India at an official state dinner at the White House tonight. There's a lot on the agenda, Afghanistan as well as climate change. Plus, why the president's trip to China last week has a lot of people in India upset. Jill Dougherty on why India matters.
ROBERTS: It is the biggest crib recall ever. More than two million drop-side cribs recalled over a safety hazard that could cause babies to suffocate or take a dangerous fall. We'll have all the information that you need to know this morning.
CHETRY: First, though, brand new developments in what is arguably the biggest decision facing President Obama, whether to send tens of thousands more troops to war in Afghanistan.
The White House is now saying that President Obama has the information he needs to make a decision. We got that word late last night after the president met with his national security team for a ninth time.
Our Elaine Quijano was working the story from the Pentagon. And, Elaine, what are you learning about the president's decision?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, we know that meeting was slated to start last night in the White House situation room around 8:00 local time, and we're told that it wrapped up some two hours later at 10:00 p.m. Afterwards White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs described the meeting as a rigorous final meeting and he said that President Obama now has the information he wants and needs to make a decision. He also said as you noted that the president plans to announce that decision within days. Now the president has met with members of his war council since September nine times. One thing that was interesting to note in that photo that the White House released of last night's meeting, we saw someone there who's not traditionally thought of as part of the president's war council. That is the president's budget chief, Peter Orszag. You can see him seated on the right-hand part of that photograph next to the U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice. The White House budget chief clearly there to take part in the conversations in these final stages as the White House weighs all of the costs of war -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And we're also getting a brand new snapshot of just where the American people stand on the Afghanistan decision and possibly sending additional troops. A new CNN poll just released a minute ago, what can you tell us about that?
QUIJANO: That's right. That's right. Sources have described one of the options the president is looking at is adding 34,000 additional troops on top of the 68,000 already committed to Afghanistan. And this new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll asked Americans about that possibility.
It found that people are pretty evenly split on that idea, Kiran. Fifty percent say they would be in favor of that idea, 49 percent are against that. Now, at the same time, what's also interesting here is that there is broad agreement when it comes to how Americans are feeling about the way things are actually going for the United States in Afghanistan. Take a look at this.
That number is now 66 percent. People feeling that things are not going well, things are going badly for the U.S., and that is a number that has been steadily on the rise throughout the year. You see it was 61 percent back in May, 55 percent in March. So that is the backdrop, Kiran, the environment in which the administration is going to be making this decision. Again, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs saying that the president is expected to announce this decision within days -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Elaine Quijano for us this morning at the Pentagon, thanks.
ROBERTS: President Obama welcomes the prime minister of India for an official state visit today. It is the highest honor the White House can bestow to a foreign dignitary.
Today's schedule capped off with a lavish state dinner for 400 on the South Lawn of the White House, the first one ever hosted by the Obamas and it is a very big deal.
Our Jill Dougherty live at the White House this morning. And, Jill, why is the administration showing such interest in India?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, John, first of all this actually is the second visit, the state visit, by Prime Minister Singh to Washington. He was here in July 2005, guest of President Bush, and that's really when the relationship took off.
But now some Indians are questioning whether President Barack Obama is making India as much a priority as President Bush did. So a lot of the fanfare we're going to be seeing today is meant to answer that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY (voice-over): It's the world's largest democracy. Population almost $1.2 billion. It's a nuclear power, a major trading partner with the U.S.
Now, President Barack Obama puts India center stage, hosting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his first state dinner. So large, the White House is constructed a massive tent on the back lawn.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Now this is a very important relationship with a very important country that we have in the world. That's why India was chosen to be the first visit.
DOUGHERTY: The relationship started with economics and trade. President George W. Bush reached a landmark civil nuclear deal, which allowed the U.S. to do business with India on nuclear technology. Now, no matter what the issue, India's importance is growing. Counterterrorism, nonproliferation, climate change, the conflict in Afghanistan.
MANMOHAN SINGH, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: I sincerely hope that the world community would have the wisdom to stay engaged in that process and any premature talk of exit will only embolden the terrorists elements who are out to destabilize not only our part of the world, but civilized worlds everywhere.
DOUGHERTY: President Obama's recent visit to China and his attention to Beijing makes India nervous. So does his focus on India's neighbor and rival, Pakistan. This visit is one way Mr. Obama will try to alleviate those concerns. But long term, India's burgeoning economy and its effect on global warming, says one expert, could be a key issue between the U.S. and India.
TERESITA C. SCHAFFER, CSIS: I will also be listening for what, if anything, they say about climate change, where India and the United States are actually both having a little difficulty taming this issue domestically. We both had serious domestic problems with what we'd like to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: And this visit comes just as President Obama is completing his strategy on Afghanistan and actually India plays a key role in that equation. The United States thinks that the animosity between India and Pakistan is actually having a bad effect on the efforts in Afghanistan with India more focused, sometimes, on the threat from Pakistan than it is on the threat from the Taliban -- John.
ROBERTS: Jill Dougherty for us this morning at the White House. Jill, thanks so much.
In the next hour and a half or next half hour, rather, Suzanne Malveaux has a behind the scenes look at what it takes to throw a state dinner. And wait until you hear about the guests who actually come to these dinners and leave with the silverware?
CHETRY: Nice and classy there.
Well, also new this morning, a critical warning for new moms and dads. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling 2.1 million cribs. This is the biggest crib recall in history. They're telling parents to stop using Stork Craft drop-side cribs. You see the picture right there.
Officials say that the drop sides have defective hardware and that they can detach unexpectedly that creates a space between the crib and the crib wall and the mattress, and that's where infants and toddlers can become trapped and suffocate or even fall to the floor. The agency says four babies have died from being trapped and another 20 fell. We have more details of that recall on our Web site, CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: The bishop of Rhode Island responding after it was revealed in 2007 he asked Congressman Patrick Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion. That's because Kennedy breaks with Catholic teaching and supports abortion rights. Last night on "THE SITUATION ROOM," Bishop Thomas Tobin was asked if he was singling out the congressman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BISHOP THOMAS TOBIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF PROVIDENCE: There is a difference between someone who is the average Catholic in the pew, they, too, have to be prepared to receive Holy Communion, and someone like the congressman who is in a very high-profile position, who is in a position to effect legislation that enables or facilitates abortion.
Then, very quickly, we get into the question of scandal and division and confusion in the Catholic community. So in a sense, people in public positions are held to a higher standard because of their responsibility, because of their authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Kennedy says he still considers himself a Catholic and still receives the sacrament.
CHETRY: Fans apparently can't get enough of Susan Boyle and they can't wait to get their hands on her new CD. It's called "I Dreamed a Dream." The singing sensation we've talked to here on AMERICAN MORNING. from the reality show "Britain's Got Talent" just shattered amazon.com's record for the most preorders for an album in its history. The CD was released yesterday. Boyle performs also the Monkey's "Daydream Believer" and Rolling Stone's classic "Wild Horses."
ROBERTS: It's amazing how someone's life can change so dramatically so quickly. Unbelievable.
CHETRY: Good for her. She's such a nice lady.
ROBERTS: A lot of people down in the south's lives have changed rather dramatically after -- when they got their houses renovated after hurricane damage or whatever. They had Chinese drywall installed, corroding pipes, corroding electrical wires, also causing some health problems, potentially.
What is in that Chinese drywall? The Consumer Product Safety Commission says it knows and we'll tell you what, coming right up.
Nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eleven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Iran's president is saying that the courts will decide whether to free three American hikers or punish them for entering the country illegally. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that the hikers did, indeed, enter Iran illegally but that he hopes a judge issues a lenient verdict.
Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were charged with spying on November 9th, more than three months after they were arrested for crossing over an unmarked border from northern Iraq. The U.S. says they were just innocent tourists.
ROBERTS: An attorney for Fort Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Hasan says his client will likely plead not guilty and could pursue an insanity defense when the case goes to a military trial. The lawyer says Hasan's mental state must be considered because the allegations go against his lifestyle and his military career. Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and remains in intensive care.
CHETRY: A majority of American women say they will ignore controversial new recommendations about breast cancer screening and that they will continue to get routine mammograms before they're 50. A "USA Today"/Gallup poll shows that 76 percent of women disagree with last week's controversial recommendations by a government panel, telling people to wait until the age of 50 to get a routine mammogram in most cases. The prior recommendation was to wait until the age of 40. The poll also shows many women sharply overestimate their risk of developing breast cancer.
ROBERTS: New developments this morning in a story that we have been following for you for months. Thousands of American homeowners have suspected Chinese-made drywall and they say it's to blame for corroding pipes and wires and filling their homes with a noxious odor that fouls the air.
Now it appears those suspicions are being confirmed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sean Callebs is following that story for us. SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, the most conclusive evidence to date, that there is a direct correlation between tainted Chinese drywall and a host of problems for homeowners across the country. The big question now -- who is going to pay to remove that tainted Chinese drywall and will it cause any long-term health risks?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN GLICKMAN, HOMEOWNER: I couldn't get rid of the smell.
CALLEBS (voice-over): The federal government is confirming what Joan Glickman of Pompano Beach, Florida, suspected all along. Tainted drywall from China is giving off a harmful gas that's turning her air conditioning wiring black causing it to fail. It's also destroying electrical wiring and corroding metal throughout her home. But what the Consumer Product Safety Commission can't tell her is whether the hydrogen sulfide gas coming from the tainted drywall is making her sick.
GLICKMAN: They can't tell me what's happening to me now, and more importantly, they can't tell me what's going to happen to me in 20 years. You know, am I going to end up like an asbestos person with lung cancer?
CALLEBS: Federal investigators say they will need more time to determine health risks. But Florida Senator Bill Nelson, whose state has seen more complaints than all others combined, agrees with Joan Glickman.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), FLORIDA: I said, when are you going to know? They said we're going to do another test, and they said they didn't know when that was going to be done. Well, our people are tired of waiting.
CALLEBS: Hydrogen sulfide is a noxious gas that smells like rotten eggs and corrodes metal throughout affected households. Environmental health and engineers did the study for the CPSC and says warm, humid conditions magnify the problem.
JACK MCCARTHY, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & ENGINEERING INC.: We found a direct relationship between temperature and humidity levels that are in the homes and the amount of hydrogen sulfide that was being given off by the wall board.
CALLEBS: There had been thousands of complaints about Chinese drywall, and on the heels of this new report, the government is expecting more answers. But still to come, a plan for fixing the problem.
JOAN GLICKMAN, HOMEOWNER: It was a huge letdown because it still didn't tell me how to fix it, who's going to fix it, how we go about fixing it, where the money comes from. This has left us in such a mess.
CALLEBS: For now, Glickman and her family have moved in her with her mother. Her mortgage company is giving her a temporary break on payments. But she and homeowners like her will have to wait, wondering if their dream home is actually a ticking time bomb.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: The federal government believes it has a handle on all the existing inventories of tainted Chinese drywall so no more sheets make it into the marketplace. At the same time, the feds say they have also been successful in making sure no more Chinese drywall came into the United States in 2009 - John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Sean Callebs for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Facebook, you know, it's a great tool to stay connected to your friends, but can it also make you more likely to lose your job? Three new cases showing that if you post your pics, it seems be ready for the fallout.
Sixteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We mentioned (ph) the Retail Federation is painting an upbeat picture for Black Friday, for retailers anyways, not those of you looking for deals. A brand new survey just out this morning shows 16 percent more people are heading to the stores in the busiest shopping day of the year. The question is, how much will people buy?
But, like always, buyer beware. Some of the biggest deals being advertised are quite often found in limited supplies only. Those door-crasher specials, they only got three of them.
And it's not an Elmo doll or the latest from Nintendo that's got most parents searching toy stores this holiday season. This year's hottest toy is a fury motorized hamster. Analysts say Zhu Zhu Pets are selling out across the country at all the biggest stores, including Toys 'R' Us, Wal-Mart and Target. They usually sell for less than $10, but on-line prices are now hitting ten times that amount.
CHETRY: There you go. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" and, you know, of course they also sell all the accessories. You have to build your own little hamster situation for them and...
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You have the little cage...
CHETRY: Yes. These little beds and...
ROMANS: A real hamster might be cheaper.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: What's - what's society coming to where you got to buy a fake animal? CHETRY: Would you - what would you rather be - because you can throw it in a toy box and shut the lid when you're done. You don't have to worry about feeding it.
ROMANS: The whole consumer experience, I - I tend to be a little...
ROBERTS: Buy your kids a book.
ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly.
ROBERTS: There you go (ph).
ROMANS: No. Don't even get me started. And don't pay for them on - with a credit card. Pay for it with a debit card, right?
I want to talk about debit cards here a little bit because debit cards are exploding and a lot of people these holidays are going to be paying for their purchases on debit by cards because it's like real cash, right? It comes right out of your bank account and it doesn't - it doesn't mean you're going to be racking up a whole bunch of new credit.
This is what I'm - I'm here to tell you about about the plastic power play. This use of debit cards is exploding. This use of - the use debit cards is exploding. Debit card transactions up 5 percent, debit card accounts up 14 percent, credit card accounts, though, down 8 percent. Now I want to really warn you here. Free rewards on debit cards is really, in most cases, an oxymoron, so be careful. Annual fees are up to $55 now, benefits for using your debit cards comes with big spending.
A study by the Tower Group found that for $100 in travel rewards on a typical debit card, you have to spend $33,333. Average income in this country for a family of four is about $51,000, so you can imagine, for most people, using a debit card you're not going to be racking up a whole bunch of cashback savings, you're not going to be racking up a whole bunch of travel rewards. This means you really have to shop around for your debit cards.
So this is the new normal, really, people having to use their own money to buy things and it is a huge cash cow for the banks because if you go over your limit, if you use your debit card too much and don't have the money in there, of course they rack up (INAUDIBLE) fees.
CHETRY: Right. But you say shop around for one, I mean, don't you just get one? If you have a bank account with Citibank, you get a Citibank debit card.
ROMANS: You can shop around for different kinds of reward programs and the like depending on where you bank, depending on where you're getting it. But yes, there's - and if you go to CNNMoney.com there's a really interesting list of the different kinds of programs with different places you can get a debit card - to open up an account and get a debit card and the different kinds of rewards programs that they have there and how good they are. ROBERTS: What's the "Romans Numeral" for this hour?
ROMANS: The Romans Numeral is $23.7 billion. And it's a reminder that using your own money isn't free.
ROBERTS: That's the - that's the ATM fees over the course of a year?
ROMANS: It's checks, debit, ATM withdrawal fees last year, $23.7 billion. So you're using your own money, right, when you use a debit card so that you don't have to rack up all the fees for using credit, but be careful. And as we pointed out a couple weeks ago, I think, we spend more on debit card fees than we do on books, than we do on fresh vegetables or Zhu Zhu Pets.
CHETRY: Postage steps or Zhu Zhu Pets.
ROBERTS: The concept of having to pay to use your own money is a uniquely American experience.
ROMANS: It really - and so are, you know - and so is Black Friday.
CHETRY: You pay for convenience.
ROMANS: Only in America.
CHETRY: You pay for convenience. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: All right. Delta Air Lines, how they keep your planes running as we head into this holiday travel season. You know, we're looking at the couple most busy travel days of the year. Our Rob Marciano live in the nerve center this morning to tell you how they get you from here to there and hopefully on time.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We all know by now that tomorrow is one of the busiest travel days of the year and the weather could make or break anyone's Thanksgiving plans.
CHETRY: Yes. Fingers crossed.
Well, our Rob Marciano is invited inside Delta's operational nerve center for a behind-the-scenes look at how all the moving parts come together to get you where you're going and that's where he joins us live this morning, right near Atlanta's Airport. So a mission control feeling in that room, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. You know, guys, you - you sat on the tarmac, you've been in airplanes. You've been waiting for flights where some things have gone wrong and you wonder, you know, what's happening behind the scenes? Are - is anybody out there helping? Well, indeed they are.
This, the Operations Control Center of Delta Air Lines, since the Delta/Northwest merger they had to make this even more grand and more complicated than it already was. So newly renovated, and for the first time today, a media outlet has been allowed to broadcast live from within here.
So we hope to at least unveil the mystery, the - the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, so to speak, of what happens in - in the nerve center here, the Operations Control Center. So we took a tour last week. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Operations management is going to show me a - a little bit about what this very intimidating room does to keep Delta flying.
DAVID HOLTZ, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: It's - this is the nerve center. This is the place where we run the operation, the entire system of Delta Air Lines.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Eighteen different departments working together to get 2,500 flights up and down safely and hopefully on time every day.
One of those departments is Weather. Stephanie Klipfel's team of meteorologists work to help the pilots steer clear of trouble.
MARCIANO (on camera): I mean, what's the most important part of your job? Is it what's going on at the upper levels for the flight or what's going on at the lower levels for takeoff and landing?
STEPHANIE KLIPFEL, METEOROLOGY SUPERVISOR: We have people who are looking at our airports, at our hub weather, helping to plan the operation for bad weather that may be experienced there. And then the other half of the department is really monitoring for safety of the upper air - upper atmosphere, watching the airplanes en route.
MARCIANO: Obviously weather plays a huge role into having a successful flight, so the Weather Department will speak directly with the aircraft dispatchers. One of those is Jeff Hubright, also a former meteorologist.
Jeff, what kind of strategies do you put in place to have an airplane get where it needs to be?
JEFF HUBRIGHT, FLIGHT SUPERINTENDENT: Well, there are two things, Rob, that are really important to us. Obviously the surface weather and then we're looking at turbulence forecast for the end route phase of the flight. I use that information to tailor my fuel load, my flight level and maybe even the route. There are times I may flight plan a route several hundred miles off the most direct course to avoid severe weather and to avoid areas of turbulence. MARCIANO (voice-over): And if your flight gets diverted or canceled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then we will try to find alternate routing, alternate flights for those customers to make sure that they get to their final destination as quickly as possible.
MARCIANO: All in an effort to get ahead of the delays and get you where you want to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: And you are looking right now at one of the information screens, one of the many huge screens here in this very mission-like control feel, and that gives numbers that describe the Atlanta performance of whether flights are taking off and arriving on time.
You're looking at the bridge, as they like to call it, a number of managers in here working together to make sure that the crews are working together, the equipment is working, and - and the people, more importantly, are getting to where they need to be, hopefully on time and certainly safely.
So that's going to be the challenge as we go through the holiday season and tomorrow the biggest day of the year. Today they are looking at issues across to the Northeast because of weather.
Take a look at the radar. Some low visibility and volume also is going to be an issue here the next two days, so they'll struggle with that across the typical airports there in the Northeast. Also, a little low visibility across parts of Minneapolis, so expected delays today are in those highlighted areas, including the Atlanta Airport right here in the ATL for low clouds and - and low visibility, at least in the morning.
As far as what you can expect tomorrow and Thursday, the highlight again is going to be I think across the Midwest and maybe a sliver of snow through the Great Lakes and Northern New England.
We'll be broadcasting live throughout the morning, John and Kiran. If you have any flights that you're taking today or tomorrow, I'll try to get you some inside information and we will pass that along to you.
ROBERTS: Tomorrow, 11:00 a.m., LaGuardia to Atlanta, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: There you have it. You know, and the funny thing is, all of that high-tech equipment, all of those people working at that nerve center and the bottom line is, we're still all at the mercy of Mother Nature, right?
MARCIANO: Absolutely. That's their number one concern in that piece. I mean, I try to find out something else besides what the weather, that's -- but that, in essence, is really what they're worried about. There's always going to be little pieces of equipment that break down, but they seem to have a contingency plan for that.
The one thing they can't control is Mother Nature and it gives me some job security, I guess.
CHETRY: That's right.
MARCIANO: We'll talk with the meteorologists, the huge department here in the airline business for Delta and will speak with them later on in the morning as well.
ROBERTS: As we saw last week when the flight plan computer went down, the backup plan, you know, contingency plan, not as streamlined as supposed to happen.
But, Rob, thanks. We'll check in with you a little bit later on.
CHETRY: Thirty-one minutes past the hour right now.
We'll look at the top stories this morning.
The White House is saying that President Obama is within days of announcing his new strategy for Afghanistan. Last night, President Obama met for the ninth time at the White House with his top advisors. And while the president is said to have all the information that he wants and needs, there is no decision expected until after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Well, many young adults don't have to go far to get homes for the holidays. Why? Because they're already living there. A study by the Pew Research Center says nearly one in seven parents with grown children have a boomerang kid move back into the home with them in the past year. Fifteen percent of young adults say that they postponed getting married due to the recession.
Sarah Palin's memoir is flying off the book store shelves. "The Associated Press" reports in its first week, "Going Rogue" sold 700,000 copies. The publisher, Harper Collins, has upped the first printing by 1 million, making it 2.5 million copies. Meantime, former McCain/Palin staffer Nicolle Wallace told NBC News that some of the claims in the book are, quote, "fiction" -- John.
ROBERTS: Pew Research found 35 percent of adults across the nation are using social networking to some degree, but three cases involving Facebook are raising serious questions. Is our privacy and, in some cases, even our safety at risk online?
Here for the A.M. Breakdown is Paul Callan, a professor of media law at Seton Hall University, and Parry Aftab, the executive director for WiredSafety.com.
Let's for our first case. This is a young woman in Quebec who is diagnosed with depression by her doctor. She was seeing a psychiatrist. She's been disability leave for a year. She says that her psychiatrist encouraged her to try to have some fun with friends and family. She went on a vacation. She went to a bar. She went to a party.
Photographs were taken, posted online. Her insurance carrier Manulife in Canada takes a lot the pictures and says, "You can't be depressed. You're doing all this fun stuff. We're cutting you off."
Was the insurance company, Paul, within its legal rights to do that?
PAUL CALLAN, SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: They were perfectly within their rights to do it. If she posts this information publicly, any entity, including an insurance company, has a right to download it and consider it.
What's a harder case here, though, is, you know, because she posts happy pictures, does that mean she's not depressed? I know she said in response, "Hey, what am I going to post, pictures of myself frowning?" So, I don't think the insurance company's got much of a case based on the pictures. But I don't think they broke the law.
ROBERTS: Perry, is this a case of, again, be careful what you post online? Or are insurance companies or employers, other folks out there, and other investigators potentially, out there trolling for information about subscribers or their employees, their clients or whatever?
PARRY AFTAB, WIREDSAFETY.ORG: Everyone's looking at what you're doing online -- whether they're law enforcement, or your bosses, or your kids, or your neighbors, or your mother-in-law, or insurance companies. It's cheaper than private detectives.
ROBERTS: Another case, and this one comes from your home turf of New Jersey, Burlington County, the school board there, a custodian was posting online on his Facebook, I guess he was a little upset at how the school board was handling the H1N1 swine flu. He posted one message on his Facebook page that he thought that the school board was keeping the fact that a couple teachers had H1N1 from parents, and then, a couple days later, he posted this. I guess there was some pending event coming up.
He said, quote, "Let's hold a huge event here at the school and possibly spread more infection instead of doing the smart thing and canceling it for the greater good and health of the community. Then again that would make too much sense."
He was summarily fired for posting that.
Paul, why you think the school board compelled to fire him?
CALLAN: Well, I think, his case is an interesting case because I looked into it. And, you know, the school board fired him not for what he said in the post, but for using his cell phone to make a post during working hours. So, they latched on to sort of a technicality with respect to a rule they have about employees.
They were worried, of course, that -- you see, his post was a private post and you needed a password or you had to be listed as a friend on Facebook to get into it. So, the school board was afraid they would have a problem if they sued on that basis. So, they did an end run and I think they're probably going to be OK. They probably fired him for a legitimate reason.
ROBERTS: That was the technicality...
CALLAN: Yes.
ROBERTS: ... where they thought they could get him. But why do you think -- why would they want to fire somebody over that?
CALLAN: Well, I think this is legitimate in the sense that if you go out and post something derogatory about your employer, if you -- and particularly with respect to a school district, I mean, they have public health officials who are dealing with how to deal with the public and the H1N1 virus. If the janitor is sending posts out to parents saying, "Hey, don't bring your kids to school, there's a crisis going on," it can disrupt the whole school system.
So, I say the school district does have the right to fire somebody who does that.
ROBERTS: There was another recent case, again in New Jersey, Houston's Restaurant a couple employees were on their Facebook page saying derogatory things. The boss, their boss, managed to get into that account, got the password, read what they were saying, fired them both. The courts ruled in the employees' favor, saying the boss had no right to do that.
So, how is this case different?
AFTAB: Well, it really isn't that clear. It was also MySpace. It was a closed network and the reason that the ruling came out the way it did, was because they asked an employee to let them in. And the question was, whether she was coerced into letting them in or not, and if she was coerced, it wasn't consensual and it's plain old wiretapping. So, in that case, it was whether or not they truly had the consent of somebody to get into that private list.
Bottom line: what we need to recognize is, in the United States, you can fire anybody for any reason as long as it's not against public policy and they don't have a contract in place. So, if you're going to give your boss any excuses to do that in this economy, think again.
ROBERTS: All right. Again, just beware of what you post online.
Parry Aftab and Paul Callan, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.
CALLAN: Nice to be here.
AFTAB: Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, the president and first lady are getting ready to host their first official state dinner tonight. We're going to get a look behind the scenes of everything that goes into putting on one of these huge dinners. Suzanne Malveaux joins us.
Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Certainly going to be a good night for those lucky enough to get invited to the White House tonight.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
That was a live look at D.C., 48 degrees right now, going up to 53 a bit later today. But tonight, that's when everyone's going to be watching what's going on there. The White House will be the setting for President Obama's first state dinner. And for it to be held (ph) in Washington, it means a lot of wheeling and dealing trying to land a coveted invitation, because it's not just a must-see event, it's an event where you must be seen.
And as Suzanne Malveaux reports, putting this party together takes an awful lot of planning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the most treasured and formal honor the president can offer: the first couple literally roll out the red carpet. The event is timed down to the second. A state dinner is the ultimate prize.
AMY ZANTZINGER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY: ... invitations from the White House.
MALVEAUX: Social secretary for President George W. Bush, Amy Zantzinger, coordinated a few of these special dinners. But she says this one will be different.
ZANTZINGER: First, savoring the newness, the, quote, "newness of the whole day," because this is their first big dinner.
MALVEAUX: The big dinner will not be in the White House, but under a big tent on the South Lawn. Several hundred lucky guests will have the invites.
(on camera): How do I get an invite to the dinner? How hard is that?
ZANTZINGER: It is very hard to get an invitation. It is very hard. Some invitations are complete surprises to people when they get them and others are a bit more expected.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Like foreign dignitaries, cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, lawmakers, artists, and entertainers.
ZANTZINGER: The word's out that the state dinners are a tough one to crash.
MALVEAUX (on camera): OK. Just in case I'm planning.
ZANTZINGER: Exactly.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Seating is critical. Deciding not just who should sit together, but who should be kept apart, especially for politicians.
ZANTZINGER: It's always nice to be aware of who's run against who and how bitter was the race.
MALVEAUX: The White House pays close attention to every detail.
ZANTZINGER: The appetizer with the lobster.
MALVEAUX: From the silverware...
ZANTZINGER: Some people get overwhelmed by the number of forks and spoons and knives...
MALVEAUX (on camera): It's overwhelming.
(voice-over): ... to the finger bowls.
ZANTZINGER: You can always see people looking around to figure out what are they supposed to do with this. You just hope people don't drink it. Don't drink the bath water, OK?
MALVEAUX: And, of course, there's the menu.
ZANTZINGER: The chef will have done tasting menus prior to the dinner for the president and first lady to taste.
MALVEAUX: The first lady will choose the flowers, the tablecloths and the china to be used that night. She will be presented with a completed centerpieces and place settings to pick from.
(on camera): Do you ever find people take the china or take a silverware as memento?
ZANTZINGER: It's very sad. Unfortunately, it does happen and it's really upsetting because they are part of the White House history.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Coordinating the wardrobe is so important. Aides talk ahead of time to make sure the dresses don't clash.
ZANTZINGER: The personal aides will sort of communicate and it's really more of so that they don't duplicate, you know, for them both not to be wearing the same color.
MALVEAUX (on camera): What about the heads of state, the president and the head of state?
ZANTZINGER: They have it easy. They're just in black tie.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): But just in case, there's a spill or a split, the usher's office is at the ready.
ZANTZINGER: Mending issues they've dealt with.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Wardrobe malfunctions.
ZANTZINGER: Exactly, wardrobe malfunctions.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): But surprisingly, what makes a successful dinner is what you don't plan. During President Reagan's dinner, Princess Diana and John Travolta took to the dance floor.
ZANTZINGER: You had one of the most beautiful women in the world with one of the best dancers in the world come together in this incredible place, and I think the spontaneity of it and the combination of the two of them was perfection. It really livened up a dinner.
MALVEAUX: Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, talk about stress. A lot going into making that happen.
Well, stick around. In the next half hour, we're going to be joined by Anita McBride. She's the former chief-of-staff to First Lady Laura Bush. And also, Lisa Caputo, the former press secretary for First Lady Hillary Clinton. They were both involved with the planning of state dinners and they're going to tell us why tonight's event is so important, also politically, for the White House.
ROBERTS: I can't believe the guests are stealing the silverware.
CHETRY: Yes, that's a little tacky.
ROBERTS: It is. Take a little glass and put it in your purse. My goodness.
Well, a court rules that hormone replacement therapy can give a woman breast cancer. So, why are women still taking them? Our Elizabeth Cohen is looking into the controversy coming right up.
It's 45 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Millions of women take some combination of estrogen and progesterone to relieve symptoms of menopause, but there is evidence that these hormones may increase the risk of breast cancer, and some women are blaming the drug manufacturers.
Two women have just been awarded more than $100 million. They took a drug made by Wyeth which is owned by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Joining me now to break all of this down, the CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. These are huge sums of money, Elizabeth. What kind of message was the jury trying to send here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are done. They are really eye-popping amounts of money. Let's take a look at these two verdicts that have come to light recently, one of them for $34 million; these are just one plaintiff; another plaintiff won almost $78 million.
The message I think that the jury was trying to send is that there was this 2002 study that came to light that said that there appeared to be a link between breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy, but I think what the jury was trying to say was we listened to the evidence, and they found or they seemed to have been convinced that Pfizer or Wyeth knew about this link between breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy, even before the 2002 study and worked to minimize those risks to the public.
Now, let's take a look at what Pfizer had to say. They had to say that they were disappointed with the verdicts and both of these cases. The company believes that neither of the verdicts were supported by the evidence or the law, and Pfizer says we plan to challenge both decisions. I should note that these are not the first two cases. There have been many others over the past couple of years and, in fact, some of the large amounts that were awarded were reduced when Pfizer appealed -- John.
ROBERTS: So, this major government study out years ago found what they said was a definite link between hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer. It's still being widely used, though, for women who are at menopausal age. How do women make the risk/benefit calculation here of whether or not to use hormone replacement therapy?
COHEN: Right. Hormone replacement therapy is being used by fewer women than it used to be used by, but you're right, it's still being used, and the decision that women and their doctors make is look, if a woman is having terrible signs of menopause, is really having trouble functioning, it might be worth it for her to go on these drugs for as short of time as possible at the lowest dose as possible.
Other women say, you know what, my symptoms aren't that bad, I don't need to take any medicine. It's an individual decision that a woman needs to make with her doctor. ROBERTS: Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning with the latest on that. Elizabeth, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: And we were hearing that the President has a decision -- is ready to make a decision on Afghanistan within days. Looks like it's probably going to be after Thanksgiving. We're going to talk more about the ninth meeting with his advisors as he discusses whether or not to add more troops to Afghanistan. Also still ahead, can local stores actually compete with the huge national chains like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, some of the other big ones, Costco? You know, our Jason Carroll went looking, he has an a.m. original, success in sour times. Fifty-one minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-four minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There is a live look at St. Louis. Thanks to our friends at KSDK. It's 50 degrees, heading up to 55, but showers are in the forecast. Seems like there's showers in the forecast everywhere this morning.
Let's fast forward through the stories that we'll be making news a bit later today. Before you hit the stores with your kids wish list, may want to check out the 2009 troubling toy land report. Each year the U.S. public interest research group releases this list. They're going to do it at 9:30 this morning, Eastern time. It details what toys they say are toxic and could be hazardous to your kids' health.
This afternoon, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Los Angeles could vote on some new rules to regulate the hundreds of medical marijuana outlets across the city. Officials say that many of these distributors are simply illegal drug-selling operations that are reaping huge profits.
And live from space, 8:00 a.m. Eastern, the 12 astronauts on the space shuttle "Atlantis" and the International Space Station will hold a news conference. They're going to be taking questions from reporters in Houston, D.C., and Cape Canaveral in Florida. Today, in fact, is the last day that the crews have together, both "Atlantis" and ISS, before they undock from one another.
ROBERTS: Still won't be home for Thanksgiving, though.
CHETRY: No, not in time for that, but they're having it in space. Freeze dried turkey, not so bad.
ROBERTS: With all the trimmings, of course.
You know, criminal suspects can do the darndest things. Take, for example, the alleged bank robber caught on tape trying to eat the evidence. And as Jeanne Moos tells us, it's not the first time that the evidence trail has led straight to the suspect's stomach.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's no picnic, dining on the hood of a police car. Maybe you've seen the alleged bank robber eating what police believe was a holdup note saying "give me the money or I'll shoot.". You may have seen it, but the Twinsburg, Ohio, police checking for weapons didn't see it until police from the city where the bank was robbed called.
VOICE OF DETECTIVE SGT. GREG FEKETIK, TWINSBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT: They contacted our department and say, hey, by the way, did you guys find a note? And then that's when the officers were checking their dash cam video and, there's this guy eating a white piece of paper.
MOOS: But eating the evidence is nothing new. Whatever this lady is eating in a Chinese courtroom, at least she had the sense to wash it down. The most common thing suspects eat seems to be pot, as seen on this episode of "cops."
UNKNOWN MALE: Can I see what's in your mouth again real quick, please? Please open your mouth? What is that? What's in that? Just spit it out. It's okay. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
MOOS: And then there was this North Carolina teenager, who at least ate appetizing evidence after allegedly trying to rob a store.
MOOS (on-camera): Police say the suspect used a banana stuck under his shirt to simulate a gun, and then the owner and a customer jumped the suspect and sat him down to hold him until police came, but before they arrived.
BARRY MABE, STORE OWNER: The boy pulls his banana out and peels it and eats it. He had ate the evidence.
MOOS: But not all of it. He couldn't eat the peel so police photographed it as evidence.
MOOS (voice-over): Sometimes, the evidence eaten isn't the main course. Police in the bank robbery case say they still have surveillance pictures and money found in the car with an exploded dye pack and a gun.
MOOS (on-camera): So they don't have to like sit around and wait for the guy to pass the note?
FEKETIK: No, I don't think so, and I don't know if we'd get anybody to volunteer for that job.
MOOS (voice-over): At least a note is low in calories, high in fiber. Jeanne Moos, CNN...
Maybe he didn't have any breakfast.
FEKETIK: That could be.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's bad enough that you're busted but caught on camera eating the note.
ROBERTS: At least they didn't try to eat the gun or the money.
(LAUGHING)
CHETRY: Exactly.
All right. Still ahead, President Obama has the information to make a decision on Afghanistan. We still don't know what it is, but some are now asking, if it is, indeed, to send more troops, how does he pay for it? Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
