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American Morning
Final Formalities of Health Care Reform: Senate Vote Set for 7.20 am; Back-Room Deals Deliver Reform; New Runaway Rules for Airlines on Delays; Government Searches for Tech Wizards; Hotshot Hackers; More Pay Raises in 2010!; Being "Stillerstrong"
Aired December 22, 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: Good morning to you. It's about a minute before 6:00 here in New York, on this Tuesday, December 22nd. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in today for John Roberts. Here are some of the stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
The Senate just moments from moving one step closer to a final vote on health care reform. Yes, of course, they had the big vote we saw late Sunday night. They're dealing now with some final formalities, so a few more votes to go before getting to a final one. A lot of questions still about how to pay for this deal and even more about how to actually get it done.
CHETRY: Well, relief in sight for millions of travelers trapped on the tarmac during plane delays. There are new runway rules designed to hold the airlines accountable, but airlines are warning the rules will actually cause more chaos and cancellations. We're digging deeper for some answers this morning.
HOLMES: And, you know the move, right? The "Blue Steel." Give me the "Blue Steel," Kiran. Alina Cho is giving us the "Blue Steel." There you go. You better move it right there.
CHETRY: A little early for that.
HOLMES: Yes, of course, that's Ben Stiller. That's the move from his movie "Zoolander." But Alina going one-on-one with Ben Stiller. You'll hear about his parody of a charity that's actually seriously raising money for kids who need it.
CHETRY: But first this hour, the Senate is about to do some last-minute housekeeping on its trillion dollar health care reform bill. Senators will return to the Capitol this morning and they begin their vote 7:20 Eastern.
There's a live look right now of the Capitol, and we'll have live coverage coming up in the next hour. If all goes according to planned, Democrats will be a step closer to a final Senate bill by Christmas Eve. Now that has Republicans steamed. Party chair Michael Steele accusing Democrats of, quote, "flipping the bird to the American people." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid firing back calling that comment crass.
Late-night sessions behind closed doors a lot of winking and nodding did get Senate Democrats this far in the health care reform battle. Politics as usual in Washington, D.C., but this president promised a different culture under his watch and now Republicans are seizing an opportunity to strike. Dana Bash now on the wheeling and dealing that goes into getting any deal done.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a series of back-room deals that secured Ben Nelson's vote, the last Democratic holdout. One sweetener given only to his home state of Nebraska. Here on page 98 of the compromise. The federal government will pay 100 percent of Nebraska's tab indefinitely for expanding Medicaid for low-income Americans. And when we asked the Democratic leader, he revealed Nelson wasn't the only one getting special deals.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: Dana, I would say this. If you read the bill, which I'm sure you will. You'll find a number of states are treated differently than other states. That's what legislation is all about, compromise. It's compromise. It's -- we worked on different things to get a number of people's votes.
BASH: Like Bernie Sanders, the liberal senator was unhappy Democratic leaders dropped a public option and said this a few days ago.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: It is not for sure that I will vote for that bill.
BASH: Suddenly his home state of Vermont got some extra help from Medicaid, too. But to clinch Sanders' vote, Democrats added his pet project, $10 billion for community centers nationwide.
SANDERS: One new provision that was placed in the health care reform bill by Majority Leader Reid, and I want to thank him very much.
BASH: Republicans accused Democrats of bribery.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Chicago style back-room buyoffs at the expense of the American taxpayers.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: Sweetheart deals which make this thing begin to stink to high heaven.
BASH: But Democrats didn't just slip things in to win votes to pass health care. Leading Democrats also added provisions aimed at helping themselves back home. Chris Dodd's support was never in doubt. SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: This bill is long overdue and critically important.
BASH: But the Connecticut Democrat facing a tough re-election battle buried $100 million in the measure for a new hospital. Other states can compete for it, but he put it in hoping Connecticut gets the hospital.
DODD: It doesn't involve just my state, although my state is very interested.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And it doesn't stop there. There are lots of other senators getting different things for their own home states. Like there's extra Medicare funding for Montana, South and North Dakota. And the Democratic leader is unapologetic about it. He says this is just the way it is. He even appeared to mock senators who didn't get things for their states saying it doesn't speak well of them -- Kiran and T.J.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Well, joining us at the bottom of the hour to discuss the merits of the Senate bill and how we pay for it, Pete Morici, former economic director of the U.S. International Trade Commission, now the University of Maryland business professor, as well as Kenneth Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University.
HOLMES: And a few other things we're keeping an eye on this morning. A Brazilian Supreme Court could reunite a New Jersey dad and his 9-year-old son within the hour. David Goldman has been locked in a five-year custody battle with the family of his son's Brazilian mother who died last year. The decision delayed until this morning. Goldman spoke to "AC 360" last night from Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GOLDMAN, FIGHTING FOR CUSTODY OF SON (via telephone): I have been doing this for an agonizing over five years now and time and time again I come down here, bring home my son and I get the same thing. And just the plain, simple fact that Sean and I should be together is not happening. It is very, very sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right, again, we're going to continue to follow that story throughout the morning. Meantime, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani expected to announce today he is not running for the Senate next year. "The New York Times" and "The Daily News" reporting he is also ruling out a governor's run saying he'll endorse Republican Rick Lazio. Giuliani plans to continue working as a security consultant and occasional TV commentator.
HOLMES: Now, Eurostar has resumed its high-speed rail service between Paris and London after a three-day suspension. Up to 40,000 people were stranded. The chaos began Friday night when there were some unusually dry, powdery snow that immobilized six trains in the Chunnel (ph) Tunnel. The snow forecast actually has a little more supposed to be coming, so we'll see if after they're up and running they continue to be up and running.
Now we have all been there before. Sitting on the runway waiting for your plane to take off, delayed for hours sometimes. Relief we're told now is in sight for all of us who've been trapped on the tarmac. But critics now warned that these new rules will create more delays than they'll save. Our Lisa Sylvester has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anxious JetBlue passengers were stranded on this airplane for ten hours at New York Kennedy airport in February 2007. Same storyline for passengers of Continental and two smaller airlines left on a tarmac overnight at the Rochester Minnesota airport in August.
VOICE OF LINK CHRISTIN, AIRLINE PASSENGER: There wasn't any room. The planes were getting warmer. There were at least two babies near by me who cried and screamed almost the whole night.
SYLVESTER: Under new rules announced by the Transportation Department airlines in the future will have to allow passengers to get off the plane, if the flight is delayed more than three hours. If not, the airline will face a fine of more than $27,000 per passenger. The only exceptions, if there are safety or security concerns or if air traffic controllers say it would disrupt airport operations. That news came as a relief for holiday travelers at the Reagan National Airport.
JIM HOSETH, AIRLINE PASSENGER: Definitely better. Three hours is still kind of long, in my opinion, but it's quite an improvement.
SYLVESTER: The Air Transport Association which represents the largest airliner says it will comply with the new regulation, but warns it could lead to more headaches.
JIM MAY, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: A hard and fast three-hour window and it is very clear to us that that plane has to be back at the terminal or back to a point where we can deplane passengers has to be within that three-hour window is going to lead to more cancellations and conceivably greater inconvenience for passengers than they would have had otherwise.
SYLVESTER: but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood disagrees. He says passengers will have more options instead of having only one choice to sit and wait on a plane.
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: They can go back to the terminal, re-board the next day, go home or figure out if they want to get back on this flight if they know it's going to be delayed. It gives them the option so they're not sitting there trying to figure out what's happening in their life.
SYLVESTER (on camera): The new rule won't help travelers this holiday season, though because it doesn't take effect for 120 days. Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Thanks. It's eight minutes past the hour right now. We get a quick check of the morning weather headlines with our Reynolds Wolf. He is in the extreme weather center this morning.
Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. You know, you're talking the next story about the idea of possibly having to sit on the tarmac. Well, take a look what we have here.
We could a situation like that setting up today in parts of the Midwest. We go to the weather maps you're going to see right across parts of, say, Indiana, perhaps even say as far south as Cincinnati, you could see some snow showers. Same deal in Chicago and then back into the corn belt.
Meanwhile, into the Rockies, as well as portions of the Sierra Nevada, look for chance of snow. Windy conditions for the four corners and you could see some snow out in the cascades out in the Pacific Northwest. But for the southeast and up, the eastern seaboard a very dry and relatively cool day. certainly a welcome break after the rough storms we've seen.
And coming up in our next weather, we're going to talk about a big storm system that's going to be coming across the nation and affecting millions of people just in time for Christmas. Yes, that's how it works out. We're going to have that coming up in just a few.
CHETRY: Yikes. All right, Reynolds, thank you. I think.
HOLMES: Thanks. We'll see you shortly.
Well, they say sometimes it takes a thief to catch a thief. Well, that applies to hackers, as well.
It's eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It gets lonely in the audio booth sometimes.
CHETRY: I got to spice it up. I didn't know Santa Claus is doing audio today.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: What a nice treat. Is this only for Christmas week or is this all the time?
HOLMES: No. I'm sure this is not all the time.
CHETRY: All right. HOLMES: It's 11 minutes past the hour. It's time for an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see right here on AMERICAN MORNING. But first, we do have a quick check of what's new this morning.
CHETRY: The Los Angeles coroner is now saying that actress Brittany Murphy was suffering flu-like symptoms the days before she died. A coroner completed an autopsy on the 32-year-old yesterday, but it will still take four to eight weeks for toxicology results to come back. Prescription medications reportedly recovered from her home but the coroner has reported there were no signs of any foul play.
HOLMES: Now Citigroup denying reports it was the victim of a security breach, but according to the "Wall Street Journal," the FBI is investigating an attack by a Russian cyber gang. According to people familiar with this matter, the thieves stole an estimated tens of millions of dollars.
Now that report on cyber warfare underscores the difficulty of protecting you and millions of other from hack attacks. But in a story you'll only see on AMERICAN MORNING, our Jeanne Meserve looks at a new effort to find the best and brightest hackers. Not to stop them and arrest them, but to get them to help us secure this country.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: T.J. and Kiran, cyber vulnerability has been called the United States soft underbelly, its greatest strategic threat. You might never have thought computer hackers would be the nation's best offense, but a new effort is underway to find them, train them and enlist them in the fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Hackers hunker down in hoodies and headphones in a cut-throat competition to gain control of computer systems and keep others out. Here, it's legal. A game called NetWars with more than a thousand people playing online. It's part of a cyber security talent search based on the premise that someone who can exploit a system knows how to protect it.
ALAN PALLER, THE SANS INSTITUTE: It would be silly for us to sit back and say, well, we don't want to teach people to hack. We're not teaching to hack. We're finding the ones who are good and we're giving them a chance to get better.
MESERVE: Dan Crowley who goes by the handle info nut (ph) acknowledges a lot of hacking is done in the shadows for money or mischief.
DAN CROWLEY, NETWARS CONTESTANT: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, check your spam folder, if you don't believe me.
MESERVE: So, what's the incentive to do it in the daylight?
CROWLEY: Well, for one, you don't get thrown in jail.
MESERVE: And you do make contacts. The reward for his performance here a pocketful of business cards.
PALLER: There is a gentleman here yesterday from the New York state police.
MESERVE: Making those connections is one of the goals of the competition.
PALLER: We're hoping we can rapidly, radically increase the speed with which these talented kids get into the workforce.
MESERVE: Right now, there is a disconnect. The winner here is a part-time student looking for a job, and the runner-up sells grapes for (ph) a vineyard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a waste in talent, I guess, but --
MESERVE: The Chinese military reportedly holds competitions to cultivate its computer talent. The cyber exploits of Chinese hackers have contributed to the beliefs that future conflicts will be largely fought with a mouse, a keyboard and code. The former director of National Intelligence says right now the U.S. is wide open to attack.
MIKE MCCONELL, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The nation is at strategic risk and unless we find these youngsters, develop their skills, offer them opportunity, offer them education and then enlist their help and support and skills in combating cyber attacks, the nation will have catastrophic consequences.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: McConnell calls the cyber challenge useful, but not sufficient. Estimates are the nation needs 20,000 to 30,000 people with advance offensive and defensive cyber skills. Right now, it has about 1,000.
T.J. and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: There you go! Who was the -- the guy that was an expert at forging checks? Remember they do have...
HOLMES: From the movie, right?
CHETRY: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: You need those guys to help catch those same guys. You need a thief to catch a thief sometimes.
CHETRY: Takes one to know one sometimes, right?
All right, well, still ahead, Christine Romans is going to be joining us. She is "Minding Our Business," a little bit of good news. There are going to be more raises doled out by companies in 2010, so if this year wasn't so great, just hold on.
Sixteen minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Elvis. Love it. We're really getting in the spirit today.
Nineteen minutes past the hour, and that means it is time for "Minding Your Business." We have some business headlines for you.
HOLMES: Yes. This is one a lot of people will be interested in, a lot of online stores now extending deadlines for that free shipping.
CHETRY: We talked about this yesterday, remember?
HOLMES: And you were railing against it yesterday, so you spoke and they listened, Kiran.
CHETRY: If only it was that easy.
HOLMES: So many people, of course, were snowed in and couldn't get out to shop, couldn't leave, so they were in their living rooms over the weekend, doing a lot of their shopping. An analyst say online sales were up 24 percent on the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas compared to last year.
CHETRY: Well, you may want to hit up your boss for a few new perks while holiday cheer is still in the air, but you also may want to quit while you're ahead. Careerbuilder.com. I mean, it's amazing they even polled for this. They asked managers what were the most ridiculous requests that they've heard -- and this is true. "Can we install a tanning bed in the break room?" "How about beer in the vending machine" -- I'm sure that one came from our show. And one person even asked for a special smoking section and also to allow for medical marijuana use in that smoking section.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Wow!
CHETRY: Careerbuilder.com -- strange requests for managers. There you have it.
ROMANS: My career advice is if you want to keep your job in 2010, don't ask for any of those things. In fact, don't ask for anything at all.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: But you might be able to ask for a little bit of a -- well, maybe you wouldn't be able to ask for the raise, but, actually, there's a thawing going on in the labor market and there will be fewer companies lifting their hiring and their pay freezes next year.
According to Mercer -- it's a consulting and outsourcing consulting firm -- or a consulting firm that does this kind of stuff -- there will be 14 percent salary freezes next year, but look at that! That's less than the 30 percent this year. The average raise will be 2.7 percent -- 2.7 percent raise. Now, that's down a little bit from this year, but at least those salary freezes may be lifting a little bit.
Where will they be lifting? Consumer goods production, also in high tech, you could see 3 percent raises -- 3 percent. I know, it's not -- look at that beautiful skyline. There it is. Three percent consumer goods -- 3 percent high-tech. That's the kind of raise you can expect. The smallest raises happen to be in the places where we have the most jobs growth -- teachers, health and medical insurance and those kind of places. Just about 2.4, 2.2 percent.
CHETRY: All right. Well, everyday Christine brings us a Roman's Numeral, as we call it. This is a number driving a story about your money. What is it today?
ROMANS: Well, it's 4 percent, and it's meant to put that pay raise in perspective.
CHETRY: Cost of living went up 4 percent?
ROMANS: Four percent is how much more your company and my company is getting out of us every hour. That's our productivity increase this year. So you're working 4 percent more every hour, but you're only going to get a 2.7 percent raise.
CHETRY: That's right. We read faster to pack in more news in the three hours. That's our productivity.
ROMANS: Are you working 4 percent harder?
CHETRY: Heck, yes!
ROMANS: I am, too, actually. I would say more like 10 percent harder, but, yes. Productivity is up, so you might get a little bit of a raise. If you're lucky, you might get a little bit of a raise. But...
CHETRY: There you go.
ROMANS: ... you're working a little bit harder.
HOLMES: I'm probably down 2 percent this year.
ROMANS: You think so?
HOLMES: Yes, I mean...
CHETRY: You worked so hard last year, you had to...
HOLMES: Yes. It's hard to keep up with that pace.
ROMANS: You know, he's such a machine that he can't keep adding those productivity gains or he'll (ph) blow up.
HOLMES: Nah! Stop, stop.
All right, Christine, thank you so much. We'll see you again here shortly.
Well, a lot of folks out there, you remember the Live Strong bands from...
CHETRY: Of course!
HOLMES: ... Lance Armstrong? Those were huge.
Forget about those. Throw them out. Forget about them. "Stillerstrong" is coming now. The new rage, "Stillerstrong" coming from Ben Stiller, who is sitting down with our Alina Cho. That is next.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Here we go. It's 25 minutes past the hour. That means our top stories are just five minutes away.
First, though, an "AM Original," something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. And this week, we're highlighting celebrities who are truly giving back this holiday season, not only over the holidays, but, really, all year long.
HOLMES: And today, Ben Stiller. Yes, he's a funny guy, but doing some serious work. And he has a parody (ph) of a charity -- has a great name, you're going to hear, and it's really making a real difference.
Here now, our Alina Cho with her special series "Big Stars, Big Giving."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He makes a living making people laugh.
BEN STILLER, ACTOR, LAUNCHED STILLERSTRONG CAMPAIGN: Well, I guess the look I'm best known for is "Blue Steel."
CHO: But talk about philanthropy, and suddenly a side of Ben Stiller you see.
CHO (on camera): You're actually skeptical about philanthropy.
STILLER: Yes. I -- I think I've always come at it from a -- a pretty cynical point of view, maybe just charity fundraisers and the whole show business aspect of it. I made fun of it in the past, and -- but I -- I think as, you know, you see what's going on in this -- in our world, it's kind of hard to sit back and not do anything.
CHO (voice-over): It all began this summer. The actor traveled to Haiti with the charity Save the Children. He saw how kids didn't have access to clean water, how they weren't going to school, and he wanted to help. STILLER: It's really sort of overwhelming when you see the level of poverty that these people are living with every day. It's just a different reality.
CHO (on camera): They know who you are?
STILLER: Not -- not really. Some do. Most don't, though. I mean it's...
CHO: Most don't?
STILLER: Yes.
CHO: Really?
STILLER: Yes. It's not -- it's not about me. I think these people are just, you know, more focused on -- on just getting through their day.
CHO (voice-over): The problem is serious, but Stiller, by nature, is not. So when he thought about how to raise money, he turned to what he does best -- comedy.
STILLER: And basically I'm going to sell these headbands $300, $400, $500 a pop, OK? And you get one. All the money goes to the school.
CHO: STILLERSTRONG -- the slogan, "Stealing great ideas from other charities to build a school in Haiti."
CHO (on camera): You came up with this really brilliant, original idea of STILLERSTRONG.
STILLER: Well, I thought it was original, so I came up with the idea of a headband...
CHO: Right.
STILLER: ... a yellow headband.
CHO: Yellow?
STILLER: Yes. It's great because it's -- it's useful. I -- I later learned that Lance Armstrong had, I guess, done something with a...
CHO: Bracelet.
STILLER: Bracelet, yes. Sort of like a little...
CHO: Also yellow.
STILLER: Yellow -- also yellow, but it doesn't really do anything.
CHO: Right. STILLER: So the great thing about the -- the headband is that it actually wicks away sweat.
CHO (voice-over): Go to stillerstrong.org and you'll find a social media bonanza, what some call the future of fundraising.
OWEN WILSON, ACTOR: What, you give $400 to wear it? I'm happy (ph) just to wear it.
STILLER: No, no. I think you pay $400.
WILSON: I pay you to wear it?
STILLER: No, no, no. For the school, to support the school.
CHO: And this plea from Stiller and Robert De Niro to Ashton Kutcher who has millions of followers on Twitter.
STILLER: So Ashton, please, retweet it. Thanks.
ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: Retweet it, Ashton.
CHO: It worked. Within seven minutes, Kutcher complied, the power of celebrity.
STILLER: Which color would you like? The yellow?
CHO (on camera): I like the yellow because it's kind of the...
STILLER: All right. You go for the yellow, I'll go for the red because -- see -- see what I mean by it looks cool? See? You look -- you actually look great in this.
I like to wear multiple -- multiple bands sometimes, just for a different kind of look.
CHO: I think that's very cool.
STILLER: Yes. If you happen to be abducting somebody and you don't want them to talk. Hey, kidnappers out there.
CHO (voice-over): Kidding aside, Stiller knows comedy can help shed light on the world's problems, and maybe even begin to solve them.
STILLER: You know, when you're somebody who's, you know, people know celebrity or whatever, it doesn't mean that you know anything. I'm not claiming to be an expert on Haiti. I've been there once. But it affected me, and I'm trying to do something.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: You know, STILLERSTRONG launched just three weeks ago, and already, thanks to one big donation and several small ones, the charity has already raised more than $170,000. That's about half the money needed, guys, to build one school in Haiti. But he's actually working with somebody who is advising -- what are you laughing at? The band around my head?
CHETRY: I was -- if you happen to be abducting anybody. I mean he does -- he makes a joke about it. You looked great in it, by the way.
CHO: Why, thank you.
CHETRY: But, no, but it is a neat idea to sort of -- it is a little bit of an original idea to play off of other charities, so it really gets attention, and then all you need is one Ashton retweet and you have it made.
CHO: Right, because how many millions of followers does he have? Four million and counting or something like that. And I asked him about that. I said, why comedy? And he said, you know, really, when I thought about doing something to make a difference, I had to do something that made sense for me, right? And what makes sense for Ben Stiller? It's comedy.
So, anyway, it's -- it's great stuff and, you know, obviously, if you want more on the interview, you can go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
You know, Matt Damon, one of his friends, started a charity called water.org and Ben Stiller says water.org -- what, does he own water? I'm going to claim fire. I'm going to claim air.
But anyway, there's -- there's more of that. You can go to our website.
CHETRY: He seemed like a neat guy.
HOLMES: And not so -- yes, not so much comedy tomorrow. Man, big one tomorrow!
CHO: That's right. I'm going to be talking about Madonna. I sat down with her over the weekend at her home here in New York. Really a rare one-on-one interview. She talks about something that's very close to her heart. A $15 million school for girls that she's building in Malawi. That's a small country in Africa where about 500,000 children are orphaned by AIDS.
Now many people know that Madonna adopted two children from Malawi, David and now, Mercy. She is hoping to help more children there now. But it was a really interesting interview, and we'll be bringing that to you tomorrow.
HOLMES: We're looking forward to it. Thank you so much, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
HOLMES: Now, time for our top stories at the bottom of the hour here now. Up first, President Obama extended subsidized Cobra health insurance premiums for thousands of unemployed Americans. They were supposed to expire after nine months under the president's economic stimulus plan. But they were extended yesterday by up to 15 months. Sixty-five percent of Cobra premiums are now paid by the federal government for workers laid off after September 1st, 2008.
CHETRY: There's been another police shooting near Tacoma, Washington. Two sheriff deputies were shot last night responding to a call involving a fight between two brothers. One of the brothers opened fire. He was killed after critically injuring one of the officers. It was just three weeks ago that four Lakewood police officers were shot and killed at a suburban coffee shop in Washington.
HOLMES: Also, no need to put breaking news up on the screen for this story. Texting and driving is not a good idea. Researchers in Utah found drivers who text are six times more likely to crash. Making it riskier, and actually talking on a cell phone or even to a fellow passenger. And when it comes to breaking, the study found drivers reacted much more slowly while reading a text as opposed to composing one.
CHETRY: Oh, wow.
All right. Well, Democrats are close as we know to passing historic legislation that would provide health coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans. There is, though, still a lot to be debated, like the cost of the plan both in the House and in the Senate, and whether or not we can afford them.
I'm joined now by University of Maryland international business professor Peter Morici in Washington.
Welcome, Peter.
And also joining us...
PETER MORICI, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Nice to be with you.
CHETRY: Thank you. You, too.
And also joining us from Atlanta this morning, Kenneth Thorpe.
Kenneth, thanks for being here, as well.
KENNETH THORPE, HEALTH POLICY PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Well, good morning.
CHETRY: And Kenneth let me start with you. When it comes to the cost, President Obama has said that if we don't pass health care reform that people's premiums will go up anyway. The federal government will go bankrupt. Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable. Is it disingenuous, though, to say that this bill is actually going to result in lower health care costs for the average person?
THORPE: Well, it will for millions of Americans, for sure. If you buy coverage today in the individual market, you're self-employed, for example. 18 million of those individuals will actually pay about 60 percent less for their health care than they would if we didn't pass this reform bill. About 93 percent of Americans with health insurance today according to the Congressional Budget Office would actually pay a little bit less for their health care.
And, finally, we're really on the road to trying to get the Medicare program more efficient and better quality. So a lot of the savings built into the program are really dealing with efficiencies. Reductions in readmissions to the hospital, preventing unnecessary admissions to the hospital. So it's a good start absolutely going in the right direction. Could we do more? No question. But I think this is a bill that if we don't pass it, Americans would be worse off.
CHETRY: Peter, you're critical of it. I read your column yesterday about this. You believe that some of this is really back loaded, as you put it, and that some of it is accounting maneuvers that aren't necessarily going to lower costs.
Why do you think this is ultimately not going to result in lower health care costs?
MORICI: Well, for one thing, most of the additional revenues come in the first five years, and then we have a lot of burdens from years 5 through 15. If you look at the period between 2014 and 2024, this thing is likely to substantially add to the federal deficit.
We're going to increase the demand a great deal for health care services. This bill assumes that costs will go down. For example, it's going to cut Medicare reimbursements next year by 21 percent. That's absurd. That's not going to happen. The history of these things tells us that, and then keep them constant.
Now, there's a lot of assumptions in this bill that really are kind of nefarious, and I believe that the typical American family will pay $1,000 to $2,000 more for coverage for a family of four.
CHETRY: Kenneth, what about that. There are a lot of different ways to analyze this. There are some groups who are drawing on their actuarial charts and tables that say it will end up costing more, obviously, for people who don't have insurance now and pre-existing conditions. Those people are going to see a benefit here. But, ultimately, how are costs going to go down? How are they going to be realistic about things like dropping Medicare costs, lowering Medicare and Medicaid costs over the next few decades?
THORPE: Well, Kiran, you're right. I mean, millions of Americans that don't have coverage today are certainly going to see a substantial benefit with this legislation. Individuals that can't get coverage because they have a pre-existing condition.
Here in the state of Georgia, if you're self-employed and you got diabetes or if you got skin cancer, you can't get coverage. They'll be able to get coverage under this bill.
Fortunately, we have a non-partisan group that's looked at this. The Congressional Budget Office. And they've come up with the following conclusions. First, it will reduce the deficit by triple digits, not only over the next ten years, but over the next 20 years. So they are the experts that Republicans and Democrats rely on to be non-partisan and impartial in this. And they decided through their analysis that this will be deficit reduction.
And as I mentioned, as you buy coverage in the individual market, people in that market, 18 million of them will pay about 60 percent less for their health insurance. Could we do more? Sure. I think a lot of us are dissatisfied with the extent of the changes in it, but, boy, it sure better than doing nothing.
CHETRY: Peter, who do you think the winners and losers are in this if you had to break it down simplistically?
MORICI: Well, the winners are those that have to buy insurance individually. The self-employed, who are not part of some sort of group, say a realtor that can hook up to the real state association. And those people that can't get it.
Now, in many states, we do have community rating and insurance companies are required to take all comers. For example, Maryland, where I work. That's the case. We could accomplish those reforms without as much as what's going on in this bill. The losers are people that typically are moderate income, maybe make $40,000 to $100,000, have group coverage with their employer. The cost of that coverage will go up quite substantially and either their employer will pay them less or charge them more.
And also a lot of these employers will have incentives to do rather strange things. Turn them into contractors so they can qualify for subsidies under this, you know, quasi government plan. Whatever ultimately emerges. A lot of employers may end their programs and just tell them, I'll pay the tax, the fee for not covering employees and tell their employees to go get insurance on their own.
The fallout from this is going to be rather significant than substantial. I examined the Congressional Budget Office studies, and as an economist I can tell you, they're making an awful lot of courageous assumptions. The kinds of assumptions that should not be made in something this large over 15 years.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to have to leave it there. Very interesting discussion this morning.
Peter Morici, Kenneth Thorpe, thank you.
THORPE: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Well, coming up here next, CNN is getting extraordinary access to an astronaut who is training for a mission. This access is so extraordinary, so up close that by the time John Zarrella gets through reporting on it, he is going to practically be an astronaut himself.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A little Zac Brown Band. A little "Chicken Fried" for you this morning.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The time now -- 40 minutes past the hour and time now for a story that you will only see right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
It's a CNN exclusive. A year-long series -- "Counting Down Cady." Our John Zarrella has been following NASA astronaut and mother Catherine "Cady" Coleman as she prepares for a December 2010 trip to the International Space Station.
Here now is our John Zarrella with this morning's "A.M. Original."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Claustrophobic? Don't even consider it. There's no wiggle room inside the Soyuz spacecraft.
CADY COLEMAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: Paolo is on the left. Commander in the middle and I'm on the right.
ZARRELLA: This is the Expedition 26 crew. For two days next year as they hurdle towards a rendezvous with the International Space Station, the Soyuz will be home to Cady Coleman, Italian Paolo Nespoli and Russian commander Dmitri Kondratyev. It's rare catching all three in the same place at the same time. The training schedule is brutal.
COMMANDER DMITRI KONDRATYEV, EXPEDITION 26: We have some training with Paolo and Cady in space center. With Paolo, some weeks ago, and Cady, maybe one month ago.
PAOLO NESPOLI, NASA ASTRONAUT: What gets me worse, I think, is the constantly changing of training environment and, on top of that, being jet lagged.
ZARRELLA: On this trip to the Johnson Space Center, the three met for the first time with their flight director and his team.
COLEMAN: They used to realize that both Dmi and I had that training and Dmi is somebody who lives, eats and breathes robotics.
ZARRELLA: With their flight less than a year away now, planning for the six months they'll spend on the station is taking shape.
Nespoli spends time in the virtual reality lab. Here he gets a feel for what it feels like lifting a large mass in space.
There's also a lesson for Cady and Paolo simulating with computer animation.
COLEMAN: According to the manual, blue to blue.
ZARRELLA: The capture of a cargo carrier using the station's robotic arm. Just as critical as polishing their skills, solidifying a bind. KONDRATYEV: As for me, I enjoyed every moment training with Cady.
COLEMAN: Good answer.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Are you going to say that though after -- do you think you'll say that after six months in space with her?
KONDRATYEV: Hopefully I will.
ZARRELLA (voice over): Getting along is important. You can't bring much from home to keep you busy during down time. Get this -- the limit for personal items is a measly two pounds. Dmitri is packing family pictures and CDs. Paolo he calls himself a minimalist.
NESPOLI: Maybe a kilo is too much. Two pounds is too much. I don't know, maybe not. We will see. I have -- still have no good answer for that. And if you have any suggestion, I'll take it.
COLEMAN: I'm probably going to bring my flute.
ZARRELLA (on camera): Bring your flute?
COLEMAN: That's probably about two pounds right there.
ZARRELLA: OK.
Dmi, you're going to have to put up listening to her play the flute now.
KONDRATYEV: Sure, of course.
ZARRELLA (voice over): Their selection to fly together purely random. Now, permanently linked. The crew of Expedition 26.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now the crew is telling me that, you know. they have really developed a special bond because all of them have young children.
Dmitri, the Russian commander, he has a 4-year-old. He's expecting another son in January. Paolo has a 7-month-old. He and his wife, a little girl. And Cady and her husband have Jamie, their 9-year-old son.
So, they empathize when things are going wrong, the kids are sick, so, a special bond there is developing as well -- T.J.?
HOLMES: You have to have one when you're going to be in that close of quarters with somebody for six months. You can't get away from them. Then you have her over there playing the flute. You better enjoy it.
But you talk about the families there. They're going through all this training. It's hard to get a break from it. So, are they going to be able to spend time with their families? Will Cady be home for the holidays?
ZARRELLA: Yes, absolutely. In fact, she got home last weekend and right away they decorated the tree. And guess what? She told me space ornaments on the tree. Yesterday, they were talking about maybe trying to make a gingerbread space station.
But I got an e-mail from her this morning. She said we ran out of steam and didn't get that far. Maybe I'll push her to do one of those today.
HOLMES: That's awfully ambitious. Ginger bread space station. John Zarrella, great stuff. We're looking forward to the bright stuff. We're good to see you this morning.
CHETRY: She doesn't have enough to prep for, right? Now, she got probably get a gingerbread house.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: It's amazing how moms juggle that stuff sometimes. They do it all; you all do it all.
CHETRY: You're so sweet, T.J.
Forty-five minutes past the hour right now. Rob Marciano is actually -- you know who? It's going to be Reynolds Wolf actually that is going to have the morning travel forecast for us right after the break.
HOLMES: Yes. We love having Reynolds. We love having Rob, so most likely either one of them.
Also, in ten minutes, talk, about a scrooge. A D.C. detective brought a gun to a snowball fight. Jeanne Moos with a video that has gone viral and what will happen to that police officer. That's right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- eight minutes past the hour now and that means time for an AM house call. Stories about your health. Maybe the wise men were on to something. It seems that MIR maybe good for your health. Researchers say that the ointment which comes from the resin of trees helped lower bad cholesterol in rats. It's still not clear though how people might actually consume it.
Parents usually have to wait to find out their baby's gender when they have an ultrasound at the end of the first trimester, but now, there is a new study out of the Netherlands saying that expecting parents can find out as early as 5 weeks with the blood test. The researchers say that this test from the mother's blood can determine the baby's gender correctly 100% of the time.
And it's not just the holidays that mess up your diet. A study at the Pittsburgh found that weekends can actually be just as detrimental. Researchers found that some people eat up to 400 more calories on a Saturday and Sunday than they do on a typical weekday. See that. How does it work for you? You work on the weekends. Do you think you eat more?
HOLMES: I absolutely do. Right around kickoff time.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: That's when the chicken wings come out.
HOLMES: Yes, but it's worse that you always eat a lot in the holidays and now it's the weekends. We will work for the weekend where the holiday falls on a weekend.
CHETRY: Then you're really in trouble, and there's a football game on. Then you're really in trouble.
HOLMES: That is the fact also. Reynolds Wolf I know you know all about that. We have done plenty of games and what not on the weekend and eating a lot of food down there in Atlanta together.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Dude, you're absolutely right. During football weekend my astrological sign is extra crispy.
(LAUGHING)
CHETRY: I was just wondering, is that a potato skin in your pocket or what is that? It looks like you're eating now.
WOLF: When you like now. That's right.
(LAUGHING)
WOLF: Let me show you what is going on right now. Let's going flip over to weather. I don't want to get in trouble or get you guys in trouble. It's weather time. Let's show you what we got. Could see late day storms in parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley, and meanwhile, back out to the Rockies. There is a chance we could see some snowfall especially in the highest elevations and low-lying area.
Some rain, but the higher off you go, the cooler area. It's going to interact with the moisture. As we can see the snow pileup. Same story for you in high elevations of Arizona maybe and flagstaff and back in the Sierra Nevada and certainly into the cascades, but the roads are really dry day for you along much on the eastern seaboard. Enjoy it while you can because we're going to see some dramatic changes later today into tomorrow.
Certainly as we get towards the end of the week because we got this big storm system. It's going to come roaring out of the Rocky Mountains and into Wednesday into Thursday. Take a look at the combination you're going to see. Some heavy snowfall may lead into the parts of the Midwest, the Central Plains, and back towards the Rockies a little bit but then even mix of ice and of course could have some sleet mixed in there also, and then a chance of severe storms. We're talking not just severe thunderstorms but maybe, potentially some flash flooding, large hail, damaging winds, and of course, some tornadoes as we get into Wednesday and Thursday, so certainly, something to watch out for. Very quickly your high temperatures for the day fairly comfortable for you in parts of the Southeast. It's going to be a little bit warm in the areas such as the case, 57 degrees in Atlanta, 43 in Denver, 32 in Salt Lake City, 27 in Boston, and 33 in New York.
That is the latest on your forecast. Let's send it back to you in New York.
CHETRY: Thank you much, Reynolds. We appreciate it.
HOLMES: Thanks, Renny (ph)
CHETRY: All right. Renny. (INAUDIBLE) At least, it's not tough guy like it was yesterday.
(LAUGHING)
CHETRY: This morning's top stories are just a few minutes away including at the top of the hour, getting pregnant could get you court-martialed. There is a controversial new order by a general in Iraq. Can he really follow through on that, though? We're going to get reaction from the Pentagon.
HOLMES: Also this morning at 7:15 Eastern, another test for health care, the senate casting votes, once again, live next hour. Now, this is supposed to be formalities, but we're still watching for any possible surprises.
CHETRY: Also at 7:54 Eastern, health care in the real world. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta answering your questions and you have a lot of them. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is 55 minutes past the hour, and that means it is time for the Moos News in the Morning.
CHETRY: That's right, and you don't bring a gun to a snowball fight. The D.C. detective who drew his gun when his hammer was hit by snowballs. He is now on desk duty. It turns out he was being taped from every angle, and Jeanne Moos has the video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Times Square to a British talk show.
UNKNOWN MALE: Happy Christmas.
MOOS: Snowballs flew, but in Washington, D.C., they flew until a detective drew his gun? It started happily enough.
Around 200 young people firing snowballs at each other.
Across Washington's 14th street.
An invitation to D.C. snowpocalypse on Facebook and Twitter attracted the snow ballers, bring your mittens and killer instinct. No mention of a gun.
A detective's hammer got smacked by snowballs and out he came drawing his gun. In no time, pictures were popping up on YouTube and Flicker, and to think just moments before the snow ballers had rescued a police car, but things turned tense after the detective pulled his gun. For video artist, Robin Bell (ph), who was taking this video --
UNKNOWN MALE: It was kind of freaky.
MOOS: At first, no one realized he was a detective and someone called 911 reporting a man with a gun at a snowball fight. No wonder uniformed officers arrived with their guns drawn.
The uniformed officers looked for the man with a gun.
(CROSSTALK)
MOOS: Now, he's being hit with an internal affairs investigation. He's been put on desk duty; though, he has his defenders.
MOOS (on-camera): They say you shouldn't have a snowball fight at a major intersection. That it's no picnic driving along, getting pelted by snowballs, scary.
MOOS (voice-over): Back at the snowball fight, the crowd broke into a chant.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: There's so much about that that is unbelievable, but as you were commenting, the fact that these days, everything is taped. Everything is on tape from all angles.
HOLMES: Angles they got enough to edit a movie with all the stuff that they have.
CHETRY: And they already have a title "don't bring a gun to a snowball fight."
HOLMES: To a snowball fight. Amazing that they went this far.
All right. We got more top stories coming your way in just 90 seconds, don't move.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
