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American Morning
Obama's Health Care Fix; Washington's Deep Freeze, New Credit Card Rules
Aired February 22, 2010 - 08:00 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 Monday, February 22nd. Glad you're with us on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.
Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
President Obama hoping to shock his signature-issue health care back to life. In just a few hours he's going to unveil his own plan for reform. In a moment we'll take you live to the White House for new details that we're learning this morning.
CHETRY: And we're asking the question, is our government broken beyond repair? A lot of Americans want to know what happened to the spirit of compromise in the nation's capital.
We'll talk to former Republican congressman Tom Davis who retired in 2008. He said he was just tired of the system. And also, retiring Democratic Congressman John Tanner.
ROBERTS: Plus, a new law designed to change how banks make money off your credit cards take effect today. What's good, what's bad, and what's it going to mean for you?
Our Christine Romans is here with us to break it all down for you this morning.
But first, President Obama taking ownership of health care reform, laying his vision on the line. In just two hours' time the president will unveil his personal plan.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning. She's learning early details ahead of the release.
What do we know, so far, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is the first time that the president is actually releasing his own plan, his own health care plan that he wants to put his signature on. We heard a lot about the proposals from the Democrats, but this one, he is going to own.
We've been taking a look at the White House Web site all morning. This is where they're going to release at 10:00 in the morning, just a couple hours from now, all the details of the provisions of the president's plan.
But we've been speaking with White House officials who've given us a sense of what we can expect. Some early things we are learning. It very much mirrors what the Democrats put on the table on the Senate side, that they want most Americans to be covered by health insurance and that they'll provide subsidies for those who can't afford private insurance.
But there are some differences from the Senate bill. First of all, the president is going to be calling to eliminate some of those sweetheart deals that senators provided for their states, like tax subsidies and Medicaid credits -- things like that, payments for doctors, left a bad taste in a lot of peoples' mouths. So, the president says, "Look, I'm not onboard with that. I don't want to include that in my bill."
Also, he does want to include some measures from Republicans when it comes to cutting cost, the health care cost ,when it come to saving dollars -- those are things that he's going to be taking about.
And then third, there's a new provision that he's s signing off on. He wants to push forward the idea that the government has more power to rein in insurance companies -- private insurance companies -- if they up their premiums excessively, if there's an arbitrary hike. We've seen a lot of discussion and controversy around that, a case out of California, 39 percent increase in insurance premiums. That is something the president is going to address.
John, in all honesty, it's not a new idea. It's something that was proposed by Dianne Feinstein, senator from California, just last week, but it's something that the president says is a good idea.
And all of this is setting up for that big meeting on Thursday, that's going to be that live televised health care summit with Republicans and Democrats sitting down with the president, kind of a "show me what you got" session, if you will, to move this issue forward, John.
ROBERTS: You know, what's the president thinking, Suzanne, about a public option, talk in the Senate that Harry Reid may try to revive that in the Senate bill?
MALVEAUX: You know, we could see that on the president's own version. That is something that, obviously, we're paying very close attention to when we take a look at this Web site. We will know for sure in just a couple of hours.
But there is a real clear sense, there's a good sense that the president has always wanted that public option. That is becoming more palatable. That we heard from Senator Reid that it is a real possibility. So, that is also something that we're going to be looking for.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us live at the White House with some early details and the story that we'll keep following for you today -- Suzanne, thanks so much.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And a developing story now from Afghanistan. It could be a big set back in the battle for hearts and minds there. NATO says that an air strike accidentally killed at least 27 civilians, hitting three vehicles with women and children inside. It comes in the middle of an intense battle for control of a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
The commander in charge of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East says he sees progress but that it could come at a great price.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: They'll be tough. They were tough in Iraq. Look, I am -- I have repeatedly said that these types of efforts are hard and they're hard all the time. I don't use words like optimist or pessimist. I use realist and the reality is, that it's hard.
But we're there for a very, very important reason and we can't forget that, David. We're in Afghanistan to insure that it cannot once again be a sanctuary for the kind of attacks that were carried out in 9/11, which were planned initially in Kandahar, first training done in eastern Afghanistan before the attackers moved to Hamburg and then onto U.S. flight schools.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: General Petraeus also said that the battle around Marjah in southern Afghanistan is the opening fight in a long campaign that could take up to 18 months.
ROBERTS: Former Secretary of State James Baker says Iran can be detoured but we have to get tough, Cold War tough. He told our Fareed Zakaria that sanctions should be backed up with the promise that the U.S. will fight fire with fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BAKER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We have all these unused strategic nuclear capability. And I think we called them up and said, it takes 30 seconds to re-aim those missiles at you and, by the way, they're not re-aimed at you. And if you so much as blink toward Israel or toward us or one of our allies, moderate Arab states, you know, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf State, we're going -- you'll be the subject. You won't like it. It will be -- it will be bad news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Baker's comments come after a report from the United Nations that Iran's nuclear program may be working toward the creation of a nuclear warhead.
CHETRY: Well, now to another developing story. Another potential dagger in Toyota's reputation. An internal company document that just surfaced shows that Toyota patted itself on the back for saving $100 million by limiting a recall over sudden acceleration problems. That was back in 2004. It's the same problem that Toyota finally had to face head-on this year by recalling more than 8 million vehicles.
Here's the response from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, quoting now, safety now is-- "Safety is everybody's responsibility. It's not just the federal government's job to catch safety defects. It's the responsibility of the lawmakers to come forward when there is a problem. Unfortunately, this document is very telling."
ROBERTS: An A.M. follow-up for you now. The FBI is joining the investigation of a Pennsylvania school district accused of using school-issued laptops installed with webcams installed to secretly watch students at home. A law enforcement official says the FBI will be looking to see if any federal wiretap or computer intrusion laws were broken. Many parents are worried about what the webcams might have captured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE ROBBINS, DAUGHTER USED SCHOOL-ISSUED LAPTOP: Whether she comes out of the shower or she is getting changed, you know, nobody really knows if anyone was watching her at any point, and, you know, that's a little bit disconcerting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Officials for the Lower Merion school district acknowledged that some webcams were turned on remotely but they claim they were only trying to find computers that were missing.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronaut crew are back home now. Endeavour landed at Cape Canaveral around 10:20 Eastern last night. They just completed their two-week mission where they delivered and installed a new tranquility module for the international space station and open a seven-window outlook which provides incredible views of Earth. Only four shuttle missions are left before NASA retires the fleet.
ROBERTS: It was no miracle on ice, but Team USA's 5-3 victory over Team Canada in Olympic hockey yesterday was at least a mild upset. That it was the first in 50 years that an American Olympic hockey team beat the Canadians. The U.S. now is vying to the quarterfinals in Vancouver. Team Canada has to play its way into the final eight.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Great game, eh?
CHETRY: Well, it could be -- not for the Canadians. They were very, very disappointed, clearly, but, you know, they could be matched up again. Canada has just to pull out another win.
ROBERTS: Wouldn't that be something?
CHETRY: Yes, it would be fun.
Our Rob Marciano following (INAUDIBLE). I'm sure you are watching all the Olympic action at home on your couch, hanging out.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Among other things, yes. And that's all the ribbing you're going to give John Roberts when his Canadian team loses to the USA? I mean, I know it wasn't --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: No, no, no. The USA is his team now. He's a U.S. citizen. He was not rooting on Canada at all, in any way, shape or form.
MARCIANO: That's very diplomatic.
ROBERTS: I'm just going to stay out of all of this and let you two discuss it.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: That's diplomatic.
MARCIANO: Look at this storm -- from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, this storm is definitely affecting a lot of people across the U.S. and even our friends up there north of the border, where snow will be falling today. I think north of I-80 is where you'll see most of the action. Maybe six, in some cases, eight inches of wintry six, and heavy rain east of the Mississippi as this storm system makes its way towards the Atlantic Ocean.
We're already seeing some delays in places like LaGuardia and Chicago, for Chicago-Detroit, and Atlanta will see the highest delays because of weather today.
Here it is on the radar again -- a lot of snow expected. Mostly north of I-80, up north of Michigan.
And then we have another storm that's coming through the desert southwest. That will track south and maybe bring -- well, it will bring another round of snow for places like Texas. So, the winter continues here the last week of February in an unusual form.
Back to you, guys, in New York. We'll see you in about 30 minutes.
ROBERTS: You got to love El Nino. Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: Our special series "Broken Government" -- problems and solutions. We'll be joined by former Virginia Congressman Tom Davis, and outgoing congressman, John Tanner, from Tennessee -- coming up. Find out if anything can be done to fix the situation.
That's coming up now at nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Gridlock -- these days, many Americans feel that's all they're getting from a government that is broken.
Joining me live this morning to examine the problem and potential solutions: two men who decided to get out of government. Tom Davis served 14 years as a Republican congressman from Virginia. He retired in 2008, is now the president of Main Street Advocacy. And Congressman John Tanner, a Democrat from Tennessee. He announced his retirement in December, after more than 20 years in office.
Gentlemen, great to see you.
Congressman Tanner, let's start with you. Evan Bayh famously said last week when he announced that he was going to stand for reelection that Congress is not functioning as it should. Do you believe Congress is broken?
REP. JOHN TANNER (D), TENNESSEE: I do. And I think it goes back really to 1962 in a case from Tennessee, Baker versus Carr, where the Supreme Court of the United States ruled every congressional district, for that matter, statehouse and state senate as well, based on population, had to have approximately the same number of people. That's been refined, and now, the gerrymandering that goes with that.
I'll -- I'm a Democrat, I'll give (INAUDIBLE) Republicans and vice versa, that's going on all over the country. And what it means is the most partisan elements of our society, those on the left and right who believe their party is always right and the other guy is always wrong, are electing to the best of our count over -- almost 350 members of the 435 members here in the House.
ROBERTS: Congressman...
TANNER: And so, people are responsive to the people that elect them. So, you have the left and the right here, and there are very little in the middle.
ROBERTS: Congressman Davis, do you agree with that? That redistricting is a problem. You know, we had a poll out last week, 63 percent of respondents think that most members of Congress don't deserved to be reelected. Yet, on average, in an election, 90 percent of House members return.
TOM DAVIS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF REPUBLICAN MAIN STREET PARTNERSHIP: Well, 80 percent of the members come from districts where their race is their primary. It's not the general election.
So, they don't get rewarded for compromising, they get punished if they compromise with other side. By the way, the voting rights act in concert with Baker versus Carr, because the voting rights act has you packed minorities which means Democrats into districts and that has made the districts even more partisan.
The difficulty is: a lot of these members races are in primary elections, not in generals. And in primaries, you don't get rewarded for compromising with the other side, you get punished.
ROBERTS: All right. Congressman Davis, you have introduced -- four years running now, I think -- legislation to change how congressional districts are laid out. But it doesn't seem like anybody is willing to go along with what you're proposing.
DAVIS: It's Tanner.
TANNER: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: Oh, sorry. Tanner.
TANNER: Yes, we have -- we have. We're not working on a bill, we don't think that bill has much of chance because of the obvious reasons. A lot of people are invested in the system. We are now going to introduce and almost have it ready, what's called a transparency bill, which will hopefully allow for more public input and disclosure as this very technical process of redistricting unfolds next year.
If -- I have argued that the way the present system is, really, it could be considered unconstitutional in that people who are deliberately put for only a political reason into a 70/30 or 80/20 district have basically, if they're part of the 30 or the 20, have basically had their vote taken away from them and they don't know it. They can't help -- the 80 percent -- the 20 -- they don't -- 80 percent don't need them, they can't help the 20 percent, and they don't even know what's happened to them.
ROBERTS: Congressman Davis, is there something else at work here as well? Even though our poll found 63 percent of people believe that most members of Congress don't deserve to be re-elected, the majority, 51 percent, said they believe their member of Congress deserves reelection.
Our polling director, Keating Holland, calls it the BIMBY syndrome, Better in My Backyard, that people feel that their -- you know, they don't lack -- you know, their judgment isn't lacking to the point where, oh, the person I voted for last time around doesn't deserve to get reelected. So, is that a problem as well?
DAVIS: The individual members I think come to Washington with the right motivation. They want to do well and then they get caught up into a system that was designed to be deliberative, and we know it's not efficient and sometimes it's bordering on dysfunctionality or even being broken. Because leaders get elected. Leaders report card is do I get my members re-elected. And they spend their time making sure that their party is looking good, as opposed to working together to get legislation through. It's a system that has been going on for decades now.
ROBERTS: Congressman Tanner, if you can't fix this through redistricting, which is what you have tried to do, is there any other way to get congress functioning as it should?
TANNER: Well, it will be ultimately up to the people of this country who see that the system itself is flawed. The members here, as Tom said, by and large come here wanting to do something good for the country. Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter.
But, this system has bred almost away from our representative system. It has bred this almost a parliamentary system. It makes no sense, it is irrational for me as a southern conservative democrat to vote every time on every issue with a northern urban liberal, or Western rancher or whatever, yet you see time and again here, all the Democrats voting one way and then the Republicans voting another way, except for the blue dogs to which I belong, blue dogs Democrats I belong to. That's irrational, and it does not represent what our country represents, and that is not a parliamentary system, but a representative system.
So, until you get to the root cause, and I think if we can -- until you get to the root cause, I don't know how you make end roads into really fixing the problem here.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we will keep on examining it all this week here on CNN, all throughout the day. Congressman John Tanner, Congressman Tom Davis, thanks for joining us this morning with your thoughts. We really appreciate it.
TANNER: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It's 17 minutes after the hour. A series of "Broken Government" continues tonight. 8 o' clock Eastern. Campbell Brown breaks down the 10 greatest hits of congressional incompetence. And on Anderson Cooper 360, are the lobbyists running Washington? An investigation reveals how beltway lobby shops are really just waiting rooms for incoming politicians. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, still ahead, we are going to take a quick break and when we come back we are talking about the new credit card rules. They are going to effect today for many of you they could mean higher fees among other things. Our Christine Romans is going to break down what you need to know to protect yourself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour and Christine Romans is here, "Minding Your Business". She joins us now. The song, Shopping For Labels, and if you need to use your credit card, there are some new rules that are going into effect today that you should be aware of.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You are going to be able to see now how expensive it really is to borrow money. Protection is going into effect today. You might have noticed them already on your credit card statement. It's going to very clearly say right on there, how long it will take you to be debt free, what you have to pay every month to be debt free in three years. This is important visibility for people who just, really did not know, how hard it was to rack up debt and how expensive it was.
Among the benefits to consumers of this important legislation that goes into effect today, no rate hikes on your existing balances. When they raise your interest rates, they can't do it for things that are already there on that balance. You get to keep that old interest rate on that balance. 45 days notice on any new interest hikes. And they say this should save you about $10 billion annually.
So, this is meant to keep money in your pocket and not rack up these unnecessary fees. But, with these new credit card rules there are people who will be shut doubt and there are traps. I want you to be very clear about what these are. Company cards, small business credit cards, business credit cards, this doesn't apply to them. This is for consumer credit only.
Late payers, if you are late a couple of payments, forget it. I mean, look, you are late, now you have been identified as somebody who has a risky credit history, they can raise your interest rate. Risky borrowers might be shut out of new credit cards, and you might see your credit limits dropped. People have seen this already, even people with good credit. Also, very important, if you are under 21, how many of us racked up credit card debt when they were 21? I certainly did.
ROBERTS: I don't think there was such a thing as a credit card when I was 21.
ROMANS: Oh, John, please. Yes there was. If you are under 21, you have to have a co-signer, or you have to have proof that you have income, decent income, before you can get a credit card. No more campus inducements. They cannot stand outside the book star with a big table and give you the free T-shirts and stuff.
And it's going to be harder for people to get a card. This is one I am a bit worried about, because if your parents are in a foreclosure and your parents don't have a lot of money and you finally made it to college and you are in and you maybe got loans to go to college, you might need a credit card to get you over the edge. It's going to be harder to get one. You can get a prepaid card, you can get a debit card, there are some other things that you can do, or maybe grandma and grandpa can help you out, but it's going to be harder to rack up a lot of...
CHETRY: She is bringing grandma and grandpa into this. Maybe they don't want to help out, maybe they are worried about paying for their prescription drugs.
ROMANS: Or maybe, they want to help you start out responsibly with credit. That is what this is all about. It's about young people being responsible with credit, not racking up 3,000 dollars in credit card debt.
CHETRY: Very true.
ROMANS: John, they did have credit cards. They charge cards, right?
ROBERTS: Of course they do.
CHETRY: He had to pay for his dinosaur in cash. Okay, they would not allow it.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Building up America, Tom Foreman is on the CNN express for a week-long road trip, why Austin, Texas, is thriving despite hard times. We will tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Now we are 26 minutes after the hour. That means it's time for an A.M. original, something that you will see only on American Morning. The right, the left and almost everyone in between can agree on one thing, our government does not appear to be working.
CHETRY: So all this week CNN is focusing on broken government, how we got here and also how to fix it. Our Carol Costello live in Washington today. Carol got a chance to talk to a lot of middle-class Americans to find out what the prevalent sentiment is among many. The G-rated version, what did you hear?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, I can't give you the real version because that would be too much for the morning. We do know though, middle-class Americans are seething, I don't need to tell you that. And the president says he gets it, Republicans say they get it, well maybe they do. But there are plenty of Americans who don't believe, that they believe government did not just break. As far as middle class Americans are concerned government has long been broken and has not been honest with them for decades.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): The American dream, 1950s style. Middle class America seemed to have it all then. A nice home, a car, economic security. 60 years later, the Bindenners, and much of the middle class think thanks to Uncle Sam, all of that is disappearing.
COSTELLO (on camera): Do you think government is broken?
No, but I think it's bruised.
Yes, that's a good term. COSTELLO (voice-over): And not exactly working for Moira and Michael Bindenner, like many Americans, they are one financial crisis away from falling out of the middle class. Both had to find new jobs, which shrunk their income by $30,000 a year.
You don't go to the dentist. You do not get the car repaired until it's desperate, you know and we have 165,000 miles on the Ford Focus, and every repair is $600. The retirement plan went out the window.
COSTELLO (on camera): President Obama says he gets it now and is talking about job creation. He is talking about giving tax credits to small businesses. Do any of these things make you think hopeful?
GIRL: I'm not sure because over the last year I have got, the only thing I think that came out of Washington is more and more gridlock and game playing.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The Bindenners say Washington has lost its moral compass and has not really cared about the middle class pocketbook for decades. Commerce department statistics show from 1990 to 2008, middle class incomes rose just 20 percent, and most of that happened in the first decade. Income stagnated after 2000. Yet home prices shot up 56 percent, college cost 60 percent, and health care cost shot up 155 percent.
So, how did it happen when president after president after president after president went to great lengths to show middle class Americans, they got it?
Money matters a lot more in American politics than it used to.
COSTELLO: Jacob Packer is a political scientist who wrote "The Great Risk Shift."
There is a lot of pressure for politicians to appease those who have the most money in the system.
COSTELLO: As in big political donors and lobbyists.
Democrats aren't listening.
Republicans are ramping up their attack machines.
COSTELLO: Packer also says partisanship has hurt the middle class.
It's all about slow down and stop and no.
They want...
None of them are willing to do the unpopular things, which means they are not willing to raise taxes and they are not willing to cut spending. So we are at an impasse.
COSTELLO: And until Washington comes together, the Bindenners say they keep hanging in there, hoping that financial catastrophe does not happen.
It just feels like the rug has been totally pulled out. And it's really challenging on a day to day basis to accomplish everything with the paychecks coming in the door.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Experts say the traditional protectors have lost enormous clout. Unions are as powerful as they once were. Many companies don't provide guaranteed pensions anymore, 401(k)s are in, but employer contributions are getting smaller, and all of this, John and Kiran, is affecting the middle class pocket book.
ROBERTS: All right, Carol Costello for us this morning. And Carol, you have been talking about what you are doing tomorrow and all this week as you follow broken government. What is on tap?
CHETRY: Well, tomorrow, I will get into why small banks are not willing to lend government to small businesses. What is broken in the system to let that happen, because as you know many community banks are doing quite well. I talked to one banker in Boston, and he said in 2009 it was his best year ever to get new customers. I will explore that.
And I also want to know what you all thing out there about the middle class squeeze. Email us out there. E-mail us out there. I want to know what you think. Vent if you want -- CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: After that invitation you should get some pretty interesting communications.
CHETRY: Thank you, Carol.
We are crossing the half hour right now, and time to check our top stories. President Obama for the first time will layout his plan for health care reform this morning. His proposal expected to give the government the power to ban excessive rate hikes by health insurance companies.
Just last week Anthem Blue Cross of California temporarily postponed premium increases they were planning of up to 39 percent because the administration demanded the company justify that rate hike.
ROBERTS: A Toyota internal company document shows a Toyota executive in a memo called not recalling "a win."
CHETRY: And a major inconvenience for air travelers across the globe this morning. Lufthansa pilots walked off the job this morning and are striking for the next four days over pay and contract issues. Today, more than 800 flights have been cancelled, leaving many passengers stranded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit inconvenient for everybody flying with them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big mess. I think it's not the right time or moment to do such things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The German-based airline operates out of 17 cities in the U.S. and offers 40 nonstop flights to Germany each and every day.
Two American missionaries are still behind bars in Haiti this morning, but eight others are now free and back in the United States. All of them deny the child trafficking charges against them.
Jim Allen was one of the missionaries last week, and he joins us live to give us his side of the story. Along with Jim we have his attorney Hiram Sasser. Thanks to both of you for being with us.
JIM ALLEN, FREED FROM A HAITIAN JAIL: Thank you.
HIRAM SASSER, DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION, LIBERTY LEGAL INSTITUTE: Thanks for having us.
CHETRY: Jim, first of all, you go to Haiti, you are trying to do good and help with construction projects there for orphanages, and now you find yourself in a situation accused, along with nine others, of child trafficking. What has this experience been like for you?
ALLEN: It has been difficult. It has been kind of -- it has been hard. But even through all of it, you know, I had a place to stay and a roof over my head, and I think I had it better than the people living on the street.
CHETRY: Did you think it was unfair that this situation happened? Or do you understand why Haitian government officials stopped your group at the border and said that you did not have the correct paperwork to take the kids over to the Dominican?
ALLEN: I don't think they did anything unfair. We thought we had the correct paperwork we needed and knew if we did not they would help us obtain what was required, and that's what we were about, and that is what they did. I think they did what they need to do.
CHETRY: There is still some questions about your group's leader Laura Silsby knew that the children on the bus had mothers or fathers, and authorities in the Dominica Republic said you could only bring children that had no parents.
And some of the parents ended up being contacted by CNN that said they were alive and willingly gave their children over to the Americans because they wanted a better life. Did you know what was going on in terms of whether or not these children were orphans?
ALLEN: My understanding was is it was a requirement that they had no mother or father. And that question was answered -- or was asked and answered many times. I was not involved in all of the conversations, but as far as I knew, none of these children had any parents.
CHETRY: Do you think that Laura new differently, Hiram, after some of the parents willing to speak about it said, yes, they did give over their children as they were worried about illness and they thought if I could get them over to the Dominican and they can get roofs over there head and get fed, they will be better off.
SASSER: I don't think we know what Laura knew because there are conversations she had with people that Jim and others did not have privy to. If Jim would have known they had mothers or fathers, he would have reported that to the authorities.
CHETRY: Do you feel that perhaps Jim was duped in some way, there were things that were happening that were not on the face, the way they were supposed to be?
ALLEN: I don't know if we will know, you know, if it was a cultural language break down or barrier there that people did not understand what questions were being asked. I don't know -- I don't know what all the conversations are.
I think obviously Jim went over there to do good, do construction projects and whatever needed to be done, and, unfortunately, he ended up in jail. But we have always known that when the facts of the case were known Jim would come home, and here he is.
CHETRY: Are these charges now dropped?
SASSER: Our Haitian attorney, the former minister of justice, the attorney for Jim down there in Haiti, he tells us that he is very optimistic that this will get wrapped up soon.
CHETRY: And Jim, you said your biggest regret is that you were not able to help anybody because of the circumstances. Do you think you would go back? What is it like for you to know you went there to try and help and this has been the outcome?
ALLEN: I don't believe my wife would allow me to go back. I don't have a lot -- I possibly would, but I don't think she would allow it.
CHETRY: We talked to her. What was it like, your homecoming?
ALLEN: It was really overwhelming. I knew there would be people back in the states praying for me and my family and keeping up with what was going on. But I had no idea the magnitude of it.
CHETRY: We are glad you are home, and hopefully this whole situation will get resolved. As we said, there are two women still in custody facing further questioning because of a prior visit before the earthquake.
Thanks to both of you for talking with us this morning.
ALLEN: Thank you very much
SASSER: Thanks for having us.
CHETRY: It's 38 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: In our "Building up America" report today, we are looking at a city where many are saying, what recession? Austin, Texas, is just booming. People there say the way they do business could be a blueprint for your town.
Tom Foreman is joining us this morning from Austin, a stop along the CNN express line. There he is with the bus in the background. What is going on in Austin that makes it a great place to be?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, I guess it's what is not going on here. What is not going on here is people feeling terribly bad about the recession. We are looking at how individuals and businesses and communities are finding a way to do well despite the hard times we are all facing right now.
Some economic forecasters are already saying this is one of the areas that will lead the nation in the recovery in almost every single way. And you don't have to ride around very long before you see why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: At Jenny's Little Longhorn Saloon, the crowd is always happy when Dale Watson is on the bandstand. He is a country music legend that lives here, but their community is building up its economy even while the recession is holding much of the country down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel like we have felt it as much.
FOREMAN: Dale's fans have an ideal why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of types of businesses here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People support their local businesses, small businesses.
RUSSELL WILLIAMS, ECONOMICS STUDENT: Businesses want to come here because it's a tax haven, and that creates a growth during the period of recession.
FOREMAN: With a strong base of steady jobs and government's higher education and the private sector, this is after all home to Dell computers, Austin is hanging tough. While Nationwide unemployment is around 10 percent Austin's is closer to seven percent.
While foreclosures continue to rock many communities, real estate analysts are predicting Austin will be one of the country's strongest markets this year.
And while in many places gloom has prevailed, here in even something as simple as the annual chili cook off at the Jewish community center, you can find people pulling together in the face of adversity, across religious, ethnic, and economic lines.
ROBERT CULLICK, AUSTIN PRESIDENT: There is 1,000 reasons to be separate, and the great thing about this community is that we are finding all sorts of reasons to be together.
FOREMAN: Back at Jenny's, that's a sentiment Dale Watson shares.
FOREMAN (on camera): The town has reacted differently.
DALE WATSON, MUSICIAN: Yes, it has hit here, because we don't feel it because we support local businesses more here, and that goes from Dell Computers to Joe's Coffee Shop downtown.
FOREMAN: Big and small, it's all connected, and that's part of what has kept Austin swinging.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: There are a lot of details to that, of course, and that's what we will look at all week around this area and down through the region, how business and individuals and the government are all finding ways here to build-up their part of America.
The idea being, of course, John, if they can do it here maybe other people can do it where they live if they can see their ideas.
ROBERTS: Austin is a fantastic place to be. And you will be hanging around on Sixth Street for a couple days, will you?
FOREMAN: Yes, I will try and send you some barbecue.
ROBERTS: Thank you so much, Tom Foreman for us this morning.
CHETRY: Is he really going to do it?
ROBERTS: Send me barbecue?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: No, it's just a hollow promise.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: It's like when we say be careful, Tom, and have fun -- you don't mean it, do you?
ROBERTS: Of course I do. I'd like Tom to be careful, he's just not going to send me barbeque.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we have snow and some rain moving east yet again. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the latest travel forecast. He will join us after the break. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Well at Chicago, Illinois this morning. It is cloudy and 33 degrees right now a little bit later. They are in for some snow actually tonight and then they're going up for a high of 36 degrees. So there you see Chicago this morning.
Our Rob Marciano is keeping track of things for us. We talked about some snow and possibly some rain moving east. What is going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Snow and possibly some rains moving east, so there you go. A couple of other storms to speak of, though, Kiran; most of the snow with this first one is pretty far north. And that's already piled up some spots in the State of Missouri where 12 inches of snow is falling into Chillicothe. And Liberty seeing eight inches, we'll see about that maybe a little bit less in places like Michigan where it's snowing right now. And mostly again north of I-80 from Chicago to Detroit is where we're seeing most of the snow.
Now we are seeing some delays at the Chicago airport; O'Hare reporting a one hour and 30 minute delays and Atlanta also seeing some delays because of the rain that moved through here earlier today. The snow will pile up anywhere from four to eight inches and mostly across parts of Lower Michigan. And these highlighted red counties which indicate the winter storm warning in effect for the next few hours.
Pretty intense line of thunderstorms rolling quickly down the I- 16 corridor towards the Georgia and South Carolina coast lines and mostly heavy rain and some claps of thunder. Mostly some valley rains, cool rains and mountain snows across parts of the desert south west, a very El Nino like storm again, six to 12 inches possible in this part of the world.
And then as this storm ejects into the plains, mostly it will take a southern trajectory. And that means Texas is going to get most of this and there'll be air that's cold enough to produce anywhere from two to six inches of snow across northern and western Texas during the day tomorrow. And it may get as far south as Austin.
So Tom Foreman might be snowed in and we will give you an update on his progress later today and tomorrow. John and Kiran back up to you.
ROBERTS: Well, I hope not, because you know, if Tom can't get out that means that the barbecue that he's going to ship us can't get out either.
MARCIANO: I -- I -- that's the first thing I thought of as well. So we'll...
ROBERTS: Do you want to get in on that action?
MARCIANO: I'd love too.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Order a rack of ribs. Ok, Tom if you can hear us another rack of ribs for Rob, please. Thanks. All right, let's check in with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM" for a look at what's ahead in the next hour. Good morning Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Did you say rack of ribs?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: I think it is.
PHILLIPS: It is 8:49, and that sounds really good right now.
CHETRY: All right, now make it four, Tom, if you're watching. Everyone is hungry this morning.
PHILLIPS: There you go, maybe we should brag about the ribs that your -- one of your crew makes all the time, very, very good.
ROBERTS: Oh, there he is.
CHETRY: Look at Tom, look at Tom taking the orders.
ROBERTS: Yes, there is Tom and he's taking the orders. Gary makes, Gary makes some of the best ribs around.
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
ROBERTS: I want to back him in the restaurant front if he ever decides to do it.
PHILLIPS: I like his beef jerky, personally, but that's a whole other story.
OK, speaking of stories, I have an outrage story of the day. I don't even know why convicted sex offenders are let out of jail anyway, but listen to this. A convicted rapist cut off his GPS ankle bracelet and then he went back out on the street and raped again.
Take a listen to what his father said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR GUDE, FRENCH'S STEPFATHER: I guess he blew off the handle when they decided to put one of those leg bands on him. And he couldn't handle it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Oh, I'm sorry he couldn't handle the ankle bracelet anymore so he decided to rape again. His name is William French. He was on parole, why he was on parole as a convicted sex offender, I'm not quite sure. As you can see, he had no problem raping again. But he couldn't show his face in court.
We're going to talk about the laws and why this guy was even back out on the streets. That's coming up in the next hours, guys. ROBERTS: Looking forward to that, today's outrage. Kyra, we'll see you soon. And thanks so much.
So new research, do power naps make you smarter? You'll want to hear what researchers found. Nine minutes to the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Six minutes now to the top of the hour. That means it's time for an "AM House Call", stories about your health.
A Senate report concludes that the diabetes drug Avandia is linked to tens of thousands of heart attacks and heart failure. It also says the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline knew about the risks for years but kept the public in the dark about it. Senators were also critical of the Food and Drug Administration for keeping Avandia on pharmacy shelves.
CHETRY: More than 30 years after the first test tube baby was born, researchers say there are only a few medical differences between these kids and those conceived the natural way. The findings were announced Sunday by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Some test tube babies do run the risk of some birth defects and have lower birth weights. Researchers say that test tube babies now account for about 4 percent of all live births.
ROBERTS: And new research shows -- you're going to want to hear this -- that taking regular naps during the day can boost your brainpower. In a recent study, scientists at the University of California in Berkeley found a group of adults were able to remember more after a nap than those who were kept awake all day.
CHETRY: There you go. You know also said that earlier bed times are also very important in that aspect. That if it's time for your brain to sort of reboot.
ROBERTS: And given our schedule, it's just about midday.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: So what do you think? We'll have a nap?
We'll be right back after this. Stay with us.
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CHETRY: It's 58 minutes past the hour. Time for "The Moost News in the Morning" with Jeanne and the only reason this next guy actually put his hands up was to get a cell phone signal.
ROBERTS: Our Jeanne Moos has the 411 on what happens when you call 911 on the cops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So there you are waving your arms around and being wrestled to the ground by a highway patrol office, who are you going to call? Kevin Allen called the police on the police.
KEVIN ALLEN, CALLED 911 ON THE POLICE: I am being dragged out of my car. This is ridiculous. I am being assaulted. He's yelling at me and grabbing me and he has maced me once, ok? This is not cool.
MOOS: After being stopped for speeding on a 55-mile-per hour interstate, Allen pulled his cell phone on a Florida highway patrolman and dialed 911.
ALLEN: Get Channel 2, Channel 5, Fox 35, all of them down here.
MOOS: Police say that Allen passed a marked police car, that he was doing 72 miles an hour, and that when they pulled him over he refused to hand over his license and registration.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He told the troopers afterwards it was a matter of principle. That he felt he did nothing wrong and therefore he decided to break the law and battle a law enforcement officer.
MOOS: Allen thought the law enforcement was battering him.
ALLEN: I'm going to hold the phone as long as I can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Sir.
ALLEN: I'm not even fighting you. I'm not even fighting you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, you need to listen to what the trooper is saying.
MOOS: Hey, we are all listening thanks to Allen's cell phone. Allen was charged with resisting arrest and battery on an officer and was released on $2,700 bail.
Now there is something odder than calling the police on the police, but it's when the police call the police on themselves. Current TV made an animated cartoon out of this classic 911 call from a few years back. A Dearborn, Michigan policeman called for help saying he and his wife had overdosed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Overdosed with what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marijuana.
MOOS: Remember, this is a real 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please come, I think we are dying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, we're on our way. How much did you guys have?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, we made brownies, and I think we are dead. I really do.
MOOS: He did not die, but his career as a police officer did when he resigned.
We may be in the age of the cellphone but that won't necessarily keep you out of the cell.
ALLEN: Get off of me.
MOOS: The question remains...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EXCERPT FROM "GHOSTBUSTERS")
MOOS: When you get busted.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: I still can't believe the cop that called 911 saying, "I'm so high. I don't know what to do."
CHETRY: "I think we are dead."
ROBERTS: Bad idea.
That's going to wrap it up for us. We'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Thanks for joining us.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, the news continues right now, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips - hi, Kyra.
