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American Morning
Republicans Calling for Reid to Step Down Over Racist Remarks; Why Light Hurts During Migraines
Aired January 11, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thanks very much for being with us on this Monday, the 11th of January. It is the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. We are glad you're with us this morning. We have some big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First there are calls this morning for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to step down following comments he made about race and President Obama, remarks made public by a provocative new book that's exposing 2008 campaign secrets not meant for the public to know about. This morning, we're live with the fallout.
ROBERTS: Then an exclusive interview with General David Petraeus, America's top military commander, telling CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour that America will not be sending troops to Yemen even though the threat from al Qaeda is worsening there. In just a moment, how the US does plan to assist Yemen in its battle with terrorists according to the general.
CHETRY: And "Big Stars, Big Giving". Our Alina Cho goes one-on- one with Ben Stiller. He's stealing from other charities -- ideas, that is -- to give to the poor. He'll explain.
But first, though, Washington this morning is consumed by a book that's pulling back the curtain on some of the messiest moments of the 2008 Presidential Campaign. These are secrets that politicians don't want you to read, and this morning one of those secrets has top Republicans saying that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should lose his leadership post.
Our Carol Costello is live in Washington with more on what all of this about. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
It's about Senator Reid trying to dig himself out of a hole. He made a racially insensitive comment about the president, but, his "sorrys" aside, it isn't enough for Republicans. They're calling for the Majority Leader to step down, as in right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: There's a big double standard here, and the thing about it that's -- that's interesting is that when Democrats get caught saying racist things, you know, an apology is enough.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The uproar stems from "Game Change", a book due out today. Senate Majority Leader Reid is quoted as saying then Senator Obama would do well in the 2008 presidential election because he's a "light-skinned" African-American and "has no negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
STEELE: Whether he steps down today, or -- or I retire him in November, either way he will not be the leader in 2011.
COSTELLO: Senator Reid immediately made a public apology, including one to President Obama, for the comments leaked on Friday. Tim Kaine, chairman of the DNC, says Democrats have put the issue behind them.
GOV. TIM KAINE, CHAIRMAN DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: The comments were unfortunate, and they were insensitive. I think Senator Reid stepped up, acknowledged that they were wrong, apologized to the president, he's accepted the apology, and we're moving on.
COSTELLO: Senator Reid's comments about the president's race drew comparisons to those made by then-Senator Joe Biden in 2007, when he said Obama is, quote, "The first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Biden apologized.
And there were more controversial revelations in "Game Change." Then-Senator Hillary Clinton initially refused the secretary of state job because of Bill Clinton. The authors told "60 Minutes" last night...
JOHN HEILEMANN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: At that point, she says, "You know, there's one last thing that's a problem, which is my husband. I mean, you've seen what this is like. It will be a circus if I take this job. There will be a new controversy every day that you'll have to deal with."
MARK HELPERIN, TIME MAGAZINE: You have Hillary Clinton saying something she says to almost no one, admitting that her husband is a problem. In the same time, Obama comes back and shows vulnerability to her. He says to her, "Given the economic crisis, given all that I have to deal with, I need your help."
COSTELLO: The authors also say, according to unnamed sources, then-vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin was ill-prepared when prepping for network interviews.
HEILEMANN: She still didn't really understand why there was a North Korea and a South Korea. She was still regularly saying that Saddam Hussein had been behind 9/11.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, this book has Washington talking and it's likely the chatter will get even louder today. The book is full of juicy revelations.
We did contact Governor Palin's people, they told us the governor describes these events in her book, "Going Rogue," and that her descriptions are accurate, not these authors' description. And she ought to know because she was there and they were not.
As for Senator Reid's comments, the Congressional Black Caucus, this is from the chairwoman, she said, "There is a deep unease about race which cannot be swept under the rug. I appreciate Senator Reid's apology and look forward to our continuing work."
So, it seems, Kiran, the Democrats have, you know, forgiven Senator Reid, and the Republicans have not, and I would expect more rhetoric from Republicans today.
CHETRY: Yes. But whether or not, ultimately, that matters as long as Democrats are, you know, standing behind Senator Reid, that remains to be seen.
Thanks so much, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, I think where it will matter is in Nevada, where Harry Reid is up for re-election.
CHETRY: Right.
COSTELLO: By the way, we want to know what you think about this whole controversy. If you'd like to comment, send a comment to our blog, CNN.com/amFIX. Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, tough fight ahead of him even before this controversy. So, we'll have to see how that goes.
COSTELLO: Because of health care.
CHETRY: Carol, thanks so much.
Also coming up, we're going to break down whether these remarks will hurt Harry Reid to the time where, as Carol said, that he's facing a tough re-election struggle and trying to struggle to pass health care reform at the same time. We'll be joined by Republican strategist Ed Rollins and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who Reid called, by the way, and apologized to.
ROBERTS: Well, if you thought that Reid's comments were surprising, wait until you hear this, disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is taking aim at President Obama. In an interview with "Esquire" magazine, Blagojevich says, quote, "I am blacker than Barack Obama." He goes on to say, "I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundry mat in the black community not far from where we live."
So far, the White House is not commenting.
Also new this morning, its business as usual again at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. A transformer explosion cut power at terminals for more than seven hours on Sunday, stranding some 800 travelers. The problem was weather-related, sort of. An airport spokeswoman says road salt gradually swept into the air and corroded power lines which eventually caused the explosion.
CHETRY: Yes, that's comforting.
Well, there is a debate raging about just how safe full body airport scanners really are. Congress has already appropriated money for 450 scanners to be installed at U.S. airports. They're called backscatter scanners. They deliver about 1 percent of radiation of a dental X-ray. Overtime, though, some experts say the scanners could cause some fatal cancers.
The influential National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements says it cannot rule out that possibility.
ROBERTS: The father of the so-called "balloon boy" starts a 30- day jail sentence in Colorado today. Richard Heene, who apologized for the scam and pled guilty, now says it was not a hoax. He claims that he only cut a he deal to keep his wife from being deported.
CHETRY: And across the nation, particularly in the southeast, another day of record low temperatures. In Florida, more crops ruined by the severe cold, oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, all of them freezing. Miami hit 35 degrees Sunday. That's the coldest temperature in Miami in four decades.
ROBERTS: Yes. So, let's see if it's going to continue today or if things are gradually going to warm up. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme cold at the weather center in Atlanta. Good morning, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks so much.
Christiane Amanpour coming up with an exclusive interview with General David Petraeus about the way forward in Yemen. Will U.S. troops potentially be involved in the fight against al Qaeda there? Find out -- coming right up.
Six and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eight minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We have a CNN exclusive for you this morning. The commander, the U.S. commander of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sat down for a wide-ranging interview with CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.
ROBERTS: General David Petraeus revealing new information about the U.S. strategy for fighting terrorism, following that attempted attack in a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day. Christiane Amanpour, the host of "AMANPOUR" joins us now with the details.
So, you sat down with General Petraeus not long after he met with the Yemeni president, Saleh. What did he tell you?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, several things. One, that he believes that they are in process of getting, of really understanding that al Qaeda in Yemen is a threat to them, not just their secessionist rebels. He said that, yes, the United States will not be going in directly, no boots on the ground.
President Obama has said that as well -- apparently, the "People" magazine interview that's scheduled to come out on Friday -- because there's a lot of controversy over whether the U.S. will put boots on the ground.
Also, General Petraeus has said that it's not just bombs and bullets alone. He does believe that there needs to be a bigger, broader strategy for development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CNN'S AMANPOUR/SATURDAY)
AMANPOUR: Do you think there needs to be a systemic change to issues such Yemen, which is so obvious, so many people say, that the grinding poverty there is such a recruiting tool?
GEN. DAVID H. PETRAEUS, U.S. ARMY, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I think that's exactly right. I think, really, that we have arrived at that conclusion. I think we've recognized that these are not short-term problems; these aren't campaigns where you muster a forest, take the hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade. These are endeavors that have to be comprehensive in nature and they have to be enduring in their timeframe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So, General Petraeus also said that while Yemen is an issue, and al Qaeda is popping up there, it's not, quote, "industrial strength" yet. The epicenter is still in the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. And he also talked about the catastrophic failure of intelligence in Afghanistan, as we've seen with that double-agent who blew himself and the CIA agents up in Khost.
And also, this new report that's been put out by Major General Flynn of the U.S. intelligence, who's talked about intelligence -- military intelligence in Afghanistan being, quote, "clueless and ignorant."
I asked General Petraeus about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETRAEUS: Well, in fact, we have not devoted the kind of resources to it that is necessary. I know what it takes. We built an intelligence structure and an entire organization overall in Iraq to conduct counterinsurgency operations. And it requires a significant commitment. We are now making that kind of commitment to Afghanistan, but we had not before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And did he talk anymore about the end-game or a timeline as well? Because a lot of people want to know, they understand what the mission is, but for how long?
AMANPOUR: Exactly. He won't put a timeline on it. But interestingly, again, another study that he commissioned by retired U.S. General Barry McCaffrey who's said that it's unlikely in the extreme that U.S. military political goals will be achieved in 18 months, that it's going to take somewhere between three to 10 years to build up sufficient strengths within the Afghan forces to allow U.S. forces to withdraw.
ROBERTS: So, going back to Yemen again -- it sounds like counterinsurgency versus counterterrorism. And in some case, counterinsurgency starts to get awfully close to nation-building. So, where does he draw the lines there?
AMANPOUR: Well, as you know, and as we all know, the word "nation-building" for some reason in this nation is a dirty word.
ROBERTS: Yes.
AMANPOUR: However, the reality is, and we are now hearing it from the State Department and elsewhere, particularly with Yemen, that it does need some systematic development strategy, not just aid thrown here and there, not just money and arms throwing at it, but some systematic development strategy. So, I think that is going to be interesting to see whether that develops.
Also, he's talked about the drones. Now, he, again, won't go into details about drones. But it does seem that the drone attacks, and the unmanned vehicle attacks, are taking out a lot of the top al Qaeda leadership. And they're going to continue -- and, in fact, their pace has stepped up, particularly in the Pakistan area.
CHETRY: That's interesting, because you mention nation-building being a dirty word, I guess you could say, here. One of the concerns obviously when we talk about that is the long-term commitment of our troops. And are we spread too thin? I mean, if he said no to troops in Yemen, but how many fronts can we continue to fight with our limited volunteer Army?
AMANPOUR: Well, I think that's always a question for the United States military, that fact that they're at two hot wars. One, obviously, is drawing down in Iraq. But, obviously, in Afghanistan, really ramping up and the timeline could be longer than people here think.
They're talking about a new front in Yemen in terms of boots on the ground. But yes, this is going to be something that's going to be in the U.S. sights for a long, long time, because al Qaeda is something that's still out there.
But interestingly, it's brought up a whole other debate about how strong is al Qaeda. Is it still as strong as it was before? Can it create the kind of catastrophic destruction that it did on 9/11? Or is it more of these individual attacks, which is nonetheless terrible and potentially terrible.
ROBERTS: Yes.
AMANPOUR: So, this has all brought up a whole new debate, particularly with the Jordanian agent. How did this guy managed to fool so many people?
ROBERTS: Fool the Jordanians and CIA.
AMANPOUR: Al Qaeda, Pakistan Taliban, Afghan Taliban, all just joining up now of these different extremists and militant groups.
ROBERTS: All right. Christiane Amanpour for us this morning -- Christiane, great to see you.
By the way, you can catch Christiane's exclusive interview with General David Petraeus in its entirety today on our sister network, CNN International. That will be shown at 3:00 Eastern.
CHETRY: We'll look forward to it. Christiane, thanks.
Sill ahead: Stephanie Elam is "Minding Your Business." Coming soon: could we be seeing $3-a-gallon gasoline again? She joins us with more on that.
Fourteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: What the kids are listening to these days.
ROBERTS: Can we - can we just make a pact right here, everybody?
CHETRY: Yes, sure.
ROBERTS: Any song that uses an auto tune, never put it on the air ever again. That is...
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: That's like the disco of - of the 2000s. Seriously!
CHETRY: All right. We'll get Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune" for you for the next hour.
ROBERTS: Please! We put it out (ph) all the time.
CHETRY: Well, welcome back to the most news in the morning. Seventeen minutes past the hour. It means it's time for "Minding Your Business" and let's talk about "Avatar" for a second. Speaking of bad messages, remember how Elizabeth Cohen just did that story about bad messages in TV? They still have Sigourney Weaver's character smoking cigarettes. I mean, you know, it's supposed to take place in 2150 and she's smoking - what (ph)? Stephanie had gone crazy over there.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Because it's part of her character in the movie. The reason she was smoking was just showing her allegiance. There's a point to her smoking.
CHETRY: Oh, well, all I saw was it was making her cough.
Anyway, the...
ELAM: That's part of the - the point too.
CHETRY: ... did very well. It's still flying high at the box office. It's number one this weekend for the fourth week in a row. It's now pulled in $429 million here in the US and a $1.3 billion worldwide.
ROBERTS: A warning for parents. Some Chinese manufacturers are putting the dangerous metal cadmium in children's jewelry. "The Associated Press" conducted laboratory tests of more than 100 items purchased in New York, Ohio, Texas and California and found levels as high as 91 percent.
Cadmium is linked to some cancers, affects brain development in young children even more so than lead does. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating.
CHETRY: And NBC making those rumors official, announcing it will move Jay Leno back to late night. His 10:00 PM show has gotten dismal ratings since its premier three months ago. The changes would push current "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien back to midnight if he agrees to that deal. Media critic Howard Kurtz weighing in. He says this TV drama is far from over.
(BEGIN AUDIO TAPE)
HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA CRITIC: NBC still has a problem on its hands. I mean, if they're paying Leno and Conan so much money that maybe everybody will go for this new arrangement, but Conan is clearly not happy. I mean, he waited five years to get "The Tonight Show". That's when it was announced, five years ago. After a few months, he's now getting kicked out of that 11:30 time slot, pushed back to midnight.
He could walk. He could go to FOX, which would love to have him, or he could just grit his teeth, do a lot more anti-NBC jokes and take the money and stay there.
(END AUDIO TAPE)
CHETRY: That sounds fun. NBC says that Leno's primetime show will end when the Olympics begin next month. ROBERTS: All right. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning. She's here now with gasoline prices and what do you think (ph), could $3 gas prices be back again? For folks who live in places like New York, it's already in the rearview mirror.
ELAM: Yes. It - it's - for a lot of people, it's not out of the question. California, Bay Area, right (INAUDIBLE) more expensive there too.
But, yes, we are looking at the possibility of $3 gasoline, and that is because you may noticed it's been really cold this winter, so that's been driving up oil prices.
Let's take a look at where things stand right now, where we stand. Today, we are clocking in at $2.75 a gallon. That's per gallon of regular. Last month we were $2.62. A year ago, we were at $1.79, so you could see that - we - we've obviously done some lifting here.
Over the last five days, we've been up. We've been rising over the last three weeks, if you take a look at gas prices, and a lot of this has to do with heating oil driving up demand, people just freezing, so they have to heat up somehow. Same thing with - with your gas prices.
So, with all that in mind, gas prices could go over $3 a gallon. But here, if you need something to hold on to, eventually we'll have a thaw, March will roll around and I will say, at that point, we should see heating oil and gas prices go down. And, hopefully, Mother Nature will work with us and things will also warm up a bit here.
ROBERTS: Thank goodness, though, that we're having the freeze this year as opposed to last year, when heating oil prices went through the roof.
ELAM: It would be really bad. If you think about it - think about July. That was July 2008, when we hit that $4.11 a gallon. Think about what that would do through all the economic crises and everything that was going on if that were to happen. We're still, like 33 percent lower than that right now. So, things are a little better, I mean, if you put them in perspective, but still expensive.
CHETRY: Yes, but we will have to see. As Rob said, usually you're talking about these, like, deep freezes that we see for extended periods of time toward the second half of winter. We're still in the first half. A lot of people...
(CROSSTALK).
ELAM: ... technically, right?
CHETRY: Yes.
ELAM: So we have a long way to go. Hopefully by March things will warm up, not cool off.
ROBERTS: Stephanie Elam, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Steph, thanks so much.
Coming up after the break, a new book out. It's called "Game Change". John Heilemann and Mark Halperin - Mark Halperin will be very familiar to most of you because he's a frequent guest in this program. Excerpts from the 2008 Campaign that are causing quite a stir, including remarks from Senator Harry Reid that the GOP says should get him kicked out of office.
So we'll be kicking that around with Ed Rollins and Donna Brazile, coming right up. It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 24 minutes after the hour. That means it is time for an "AM Original", something that you'll see only on "AMERICAN MORNING", and this week we're highlighting celebrities who do more than just talk the talk when it comes to giving back.
CHETRY: And we're featuring Ben Stiller today, and only he could pull this one off. He launched a parody of a charity that ended up really raising a lot of money, and our Alina Cho is here to explain. It's part of her series, "Big Stars, Big Giving".
So, Ben Stiller - he had an idea.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did. It's called STILLERSTRONG.
Sound familiar, guys? We brought you this story first around the holidays, but it got so much attention, so we wanted to show it to you again, an encore presentation. And, you know, Ben Stiller, one of the funniest people on the planet, of course, so when he started to think about philanthropy, he wondered why not use comedy to try to make a difference?
It's working.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (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've 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. You pay $400 to support...
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 DeNiro 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 didn't think I'd put on the headband, did you? CHETRY: No, I didn't.
ROBERTS: No, you...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Are you kidding me?
ROBERTS: You - you actually make it look good. I put on a headband, I look like a mushroom. You look good!
CHO: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: You did look (ph) a little mushroom too, but it's all for charity.
CHO: Yes, and you know what I want to tell you guys, that just since we brought you the story, STILLERSTRONG has raised an additional $50,000, for a total of $200,000.
CHETRY: Because you put on the headband.
CHO: That's - it's because - in part. I mean, listen, I don't want to take credit for it, but I was a big part of that. But - but that's two-thirds of the money needed to build one school in Haiti. It's incredible, you know? The - the school costs about $300,000. And so he'll be building several schools in Haiti, I think. That's my guess.
ROBERTS: Fabulous. Great piece.
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Alina.
And also, you can see much more of Alina's interview with Ben Stiller, including why Stiller has a beef with Matt Damon. You can head to our blog, cnn.com/amfix for more.
ROBERTS: Well, we're coming close to the half hour here, and that means it's time for this morning's top stories.
The Senate has invited an accused terrorist's father to testify. Alhaji Umaru Abdulmutallab tipped off US authorities about his own son's extremists behavior before he boarded a plane, allegedly with explosives smuggled in his underwear. The father has not yet responded.
CHETRY: Also, a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage heading to federal court in San Francisco today. Two gay couples are scheduled to be the first to testify. Gay marriage supporters argue the constitution does not permit states to outlaw same-sex marriage.
ROBERTS: And more of today's youth are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues than previous generations. That's the finding from a new study which used a questionnaire dating back to the 1930s. Experts say one reason may be pop culture's growing focus on wealth and looks.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid playing defense this morning about some comments he made about then candidate Obama's race. The remarks appeared in a new book that is creating quite a stir in Washington. It's called "Game Change".
Joining me now to talk about it, CNN Senior Political Analyst and Republican Strategist Ed Rollins here in New York, and at Washington, CNN Political Analyst and Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile. Good morning to both of you.
ED ROLLINS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning.
ROBERTS: Good to see you.
Donna, let's go to you first. This is the quote from "Game Change," this is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talking about then candidate Obama's potential to become president. It says, quote, "He was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama, a, quote, "light-skinned African-American" with, quote, "No negro dialect unless he wanted to have one as he later put it privately."
As I understand it, the senate majority leader called you to explain himself. What do you say?
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first of all Senator Reid has called several people across the country because he is clearly upset with the poor choice of words that he used to describe the potential of then Senator Obama's candidacy.
The truth is, John, those words were offensive. They are part of the last century, they are not part of this century and centuries to come in terms of how far we have come.
But at the same time Harry Reid has been a champion for civil rights, social justice issues. He has been on the right side of history when it comes to equal opportunity for all Americans. He believes in a color-blind society.
So I think the reason why Harry Reid reached out to so many African-Americans and other Americans, people from all walks of life, he apologized not to the president but he's apologized to everybody else because he understands the words were very unfortunate. But it's time we take the dialogue beyond just talking about the words...
ROBERTS: Let me ask you this, Donna, his words, you said they were unfortunate, intemperate, last century. Were they forgivable?
BRAZILE: Yes. I am sensitive to race, clearly. When I look at my birth certificate, which I pulled that out last night, and I am listed as a negro. That's because I was born in that part of the century when we were called "negroes."
I would not use that term today to describe anybody. But the truth is, it was an unfortunate choice of words. But I look at Harry Reid the person, the man, his record, and this is a person who has stood for equal justice under the law for civil rights. And that's what I measure Harry Reid by, not just by the poor choice of words but also by his record.
ROBERTS: Let's bring in Ed Rollins in here, because Michael Steele, the chairman of the RNC, is saying that Reid should step down. There are other members of the Republican Party saying he should step down over the remarks.
If the president has forgiven him, and if Donna Brazile has forgiven him, if other African-Americans whom he called to apologize have forgiven him, should the Republican Party still make an issue out of this?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Michael really had part of the story right. We should beat him in November. He is sitting with the third approval rating, probably the worst numbers anywhere, and this certainly isn't going to help him.
I don't think that we have any say what goes on with Democratic politics. If the president was willing to forgive him, at the end of the day, I believe the Napoleonic maxim, never interfere with your enemy while they are in the process of destroying themselves.
And I would rather see Harry Reid sit there and try to explain this away over the next several months and continue to be a leader, then we'll beat him in November.
ROBERTS: Let's stay with you, because this is your purview, the Republican Party. There are also some pretty interesting things in "Game Change" about Sarah Palin. And Steve Schmidt, one of John McCain's principle advisers was on "60 Minutes."
Anderson Cooper quoted him as saying "If Palin becomes the nominee in 2012, it would be catastrophic for the party." What do you think?
ROLLINS: Well, I don't know whether she'll be the nominee or not, but certainly Steve Schmidt and John McCain put her front and center. They chose her, he talked about it last night in the interview and in the book, that Lieberman would have torn our party apart.
So I think at the end of the day, you live with what you sew. And she is a frontrunner today, and we will see over the course of the next two and a half years whether she can be a viable candidate or not.
ROBERTS: And Donna, the book has new revelations about Sarah Palin to contradict what she said in her own personal tone "Going Rogue," that she didn't understand why there was a North and South Korea, was still saying Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, and couldn't explain who her son was going off to fight in Iraq.
Does that sound like somebody who is of presidential timber?
BRAZILE: I think the American people have already made their judgment on that.
She had a large learning curve coming from -- as a governor, she was not familiar with many of the issues. She was a quick study, as Steve Schmidt said last night on "60 Minutes." I give Sarah Palin a lot of credit for energizing the Republican Party. I was at the convention last year. She turned the four care funeral into a real campaign.
So going forward, I think Sarah Palin has to prove to the American people that she is up to the task. I don't believe that she is, but that's something she will have to prove.
John, I want to make one last point. This coming week, as you know, we will turn our attention to serve the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, and I hope as we go forward, whether the Republicans intend to make this another political football, devaluing the whole issue of race, I hope that we once again as a certainly turn this page as a country and understand we have come a mighty long way.
We still have a ways to go. This is an opportunity to reflect, to have a serious dialogue on race, and to move beyond just pointing finger, but think about tomorrow and the future for our country.
ROBERTS: Donna Brazile, Ed Rollins, great to see you both this morning. Thanks so much.
BRAZILE: Thank you.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, still ahead, we will talk more about the body scanners, the machines that take photos of you, very private photos. The TSA has been saying all along that these photos do not get saved, there is no ability for them to be saved or sent. Now in a CNN exclusive we are learning quite the opposite. Jeanne Meserve reports.
It's 36 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 39 minutes past the hour.
A CNN exclusive now, new concerns about full body scanners at U.S. airports and how they may impact your privacy. The Transportation Security Administration is insisting from the start that those scanners really cannot store any personal images. But in a new document there are questions being raised about just how upfront the TSA has been about that.
Jeanne Meserve joins us from Washington with this developing story this morning. Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
A privacy groups says the government misled the public about what the whole body images machines can really do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The images produced by whole body scanners don't leave much to the imagination. But the Transportation Security Administration has said repeatedly, even on its own Web site, your privacy will be protected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The system has no way to save, transmit, or print the image.
MESERVE: A 2008 press release says the machines have zero storage capability, but a TSA document written just three months earlier spelling out requirements for potential manufacturers said the machines had to have the capability to capture images of non- passengers for training and evaluation purposes.
The procurement document was recently obtained by EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
MARC ROTENBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EPIC: We think it's obvious the machines are designed to restore and record images.
MESERVE (on camera): The TSA's been lying?
ROTENBERG: Yes. I would use a more polite word if I could but it would be less accurate.
MESERVE (voice-over): The document specifies that to protect privacy during passenger screening there will be no storage or exporting of images, but EPIC fears that the ability to save images during the test mode leaves open the potential for abuse by insiders and outsiders.
The document says the machines must have hard drives for storage, and USB ports and Ethernet connectivity that could allow downloading of images. An unspecified number of users, including TSA headquarters, maintenance contractors, and so called super users, have the ability to export raw image test data and can also change the ten privacy settings built into the machines.
ROTENBERG: I don't think the TSA has been forthcoming with the American public about the true capability of these devices.
MESERVE: TSA officials tell CNN, yes, the machines can retain and export images when they are at TSA testing facilities. But it says those functions are disabled by the manufacturer and machines are delivered to the airports without the capability to store, print, or transmit images.
The TSA says there is no way for someone in the airport environment to put the machine into the test mode or change the privacy filters. The TSA says all images are deleted from the system after they're reviewed by a remotely-located operator, and it says the machines are not networked and cannot be hacked.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: But EPIC isn't satisfied. It wants to see the documents that prove these steps are being taken, that they are effective, and that privacy is fully and completely protected. Until those questions are answered, EPIC says the deployment of the machines should be halted. Kiran?
CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning in Washington. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Sleet, snow, bitter cold from the Midwest to the east coast, and growers down in Florida are dealing with the potential disaster when it comes to the citrus crop. And Rob Marciano is tracking all of the extreme weather and he will be joining us in just a couple minutes. It's 42 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Atlanta, where it is fair and lots of sunshine there. Look at it glinting off of that tower. It's pretty cold there, though. It's only 19 degrees right now; later on today, mostly sunny with a high of just 40.
And our Rob Marciano tracking the extreme cold across the country and the dilemma that the Florida growers have and trying to protect their crops. How is it looking across the country today?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Thanks.
Well, back here on land in New York, we are used to seeing strange things on the subway, which is probably why many people didn't even blink an eye yesterday when hundreds of people took to the subway in no pants. It was the 9th annual "No Pants" subway ride. The street theater "Improv Everywhere" organized the event.
Its mission by the way is to quote, "Create scenes of chaos and joy in public places." There you go, that has joy written all over it, doesn't it? Well, the "No Pants" movement by the way is a yearly fixture in 16 countries.
ROBERTS: Yes, I hope you never have to run anywhere very quickly with your pants down around your ankle.
CHETRY: Yes, for you know, there's a...
ROBERTS: Be a potential problem.
CHETRY: There's that gap in the subway, you know, between the platform and the train that could be quite difficult with your pants around your ankles.
ROBERTS: Yes, not just, not to miss the fact that it was pretty darned cold here in New York yesterday, but they had a lot of fun, it looks like.
CHETRY: So, still ahead, we're going to check in with Elizabeth Cohen. We talk about migraine headaches.
A lot of people wonder why is it when I get a migraine I cannot be in the light, that they like makes it way worst. It's not just in your head, it's not just part of your imagination, it really is something that makes migraines worse.
Elizabeth Cohen is going to be along to explain why and also what you can do.
Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. Fifty one minutes past the hour.
Now, if you're one of the 30 million Americans who suffer from migraines you probably already know that when your head is throbbing a dark room is a good place to go. But until now no one knew exactly why light made the pain worse even in the blind.
Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with more of what they've learned when it comes to why light seems to make migraines headache so much worse. Hey Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.
Kiran, migraine sufferers as you said, they know this, light is the problem well, it's not all in their heads so to speak. There's actually science which shows that light really is a problem.
You've got to take a look at this brain images. This is an image of someone's brain who is suffering from migraines. So what you'll see is that certain neuronal pathways are lit up, this one, this one, this one. Now, look at this, this blue one, this neuronal pathway is inactive. And that's really crucial. And I'll show you why right now; that one inactive.
So what happens is when someone has a migraine and when they're exposed to a good bit of light, the neuronal pathway that was inactive over there all of a sudden it becomes active. So they can actually see in these images that there was a part of the brain that's sort of at work so to speak that was not at work that wasn't doing anything over here.
So this is a very exciting finding that explains sort of what people have experienced for obviously a very long time with migraines -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And will it lead them hopefully to finding treatment or possibly even down the road a cure for migraines?
COHEN: You know, Kiran, hopefully in the long run it will help them but nothing immediate. I mean, you can't go in your brain and start rearranging your receptors and your pathways. But they're hoping at least this knowledge it'll come to a chair, maybe down the road.
CHETRY: And you know, the other question is, is the meantime, I mean people are looking for any relief if you suffer from a migraine headache. I mean, I know there's medication out there but are there other things you can do to try to make this pain less severe?
COHEN: Yes, there are several things you can do before they sort of work out all of the science. So let's take a look at what you can do when you have a migraine.
First of all, turn out the lights. That certainly helps and now we know why that helps. Also, take your migraine medication. As you mentioned, hot or cold therapy, so in other words you put in a heating bad on your head around your neck, or a cold pack, those two things help.
And also this is sort of -- goes against what you would think would be the truth. Drink a caffeinated drink, when you feel a migraine coming on, drink a little bit of caffeine. It can actually helps stop the migraine. Now, long term, you don't want to drink a lot of caffeine, that can trigger a migraine.
Well, when you feel one coming on a little bit of caffeine can actually help you -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, that's why some of the pain medications for migraines do actually contain a little bit of caffeine in them.
COHEN: Right. That's right.
CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen for us. Thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Well, our Jeanne Moos who loves to troll the Internet to find new and exciting things has found something that you probably never seen before. It's the new critter-cam, whether it be alligators, prairie dogs, sheep, any kind of animal, if there is a camera, they'll put an animal behind it. This is the armadillo cam; more of that coming right up.
Six minutes to the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 56- and-a-half minutes after the hour. It's time for the "Moost News in the Morning".
With cameras mounted on their heads, the animal kingdom is taking over an unlikely place, the Internet. CHETRY: Viral videos giving us the inside look into the lives of cows, armadillos, alligators, even the most exotic wildlife out there, our own Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an armadillo going from Web site to Web site, a mole burrowing its way through the Internet. An alligator worth surfing the Web for as it surfs the marsh land.
They're all making the rounds but the place they call home, or at least home page is the museum of animal perspectives. From chick cam to lamb cam, the animal-borne cameras let you get up close and personal entering their habitat, leaving the viewer happier than a pig mud. But not to be out done -- with these, we can examine the habitat of the urban reporter.
(on camera): OK, I'm going to make up now.
(voice-over): Camera mounted on glasses, partially obscured by hair...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to cut to the control room.
(on camera): You're going up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, down.
MOOS: Where did you get these glasses, Steve?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found them.
MOOS (voice-over): We also found the creator of the museum of the animal perspectives. Sam Easterson was happy to chat on the phone.
Video naturalist.
That's how he describes himself but he wouldn't do an on-camera interview.
I can't believe you won't go on with it. But anyway, I get it.
For almost a decade, Easterson has been compiling animal videos like this one, featuring a rhino.
He's not exactly Russian, he's sort of -- oh, sniffing.
He considers what's now going viral on the web to be his old stuff. These days he is into dwelling cams located in a prairie dog's tunnel, or the nest of a laughing kookaburra.
It also seems to me that you have sense of humor about this. I mean if you're putting on like pals licking each other. You cannot get any closer to a cow or wolf than this, digging furiously, snarling at another wolf. There are similarities between a camera mounted on a bison as it chows down on grass, and a camera mounted on a reporter grazing the salad bar, the difference is...
I'm taking them off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MOOS: I can't stand it anymore. The sheep stuck with it. No wonder the flock won't let him join; candid camera is enough to make anybody sheepish.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: I am still wondering how the heck they got that the camera on the alligator.
ROBERTS: Yes. Or the wolf, too.
CHETRY: Yes. Tread lightly and hope it sticks.
Well, there you go. You can continue the conversation on all of today's stories by heading to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. And thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: The news continues on CNN with Heidi Collins in the "CNN NEWSROOM" -- hi, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, guys, and good morning to you, everybody. It's a busy day in the NEWSROOM.
