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American Morning
Chile Quake: The Aftermath; Dems Consider Reconciliation; High Charging in Hospitals; Chicago's Gun Ban Battle; Perry leads in Polls in Texas Gubernatorial Election; Late Winter Storm Rages Across Western Europe; Obama Fit for Duty; Watch that Plane
Aired March 01, 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: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday. It's the first day of March. Glad you're with us. I am Kiran Chetry.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans in for John Roberts today. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
Devastation leads to desperation in Chile. Two days after the earthquake looters take to the streets in some places as the number of dead continues to climb. In a moment, we'll take you live to a city near the epicenter.
CHETRY: Also there's more nasty weather on tap for the northeast today unfortunately. Most people don't want to hear that. Meantime, more than 200,000 homes and businesses are still without power after this past week's huge storm. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the extreme weather center tracking all of it for us.
ROMANS: Get ready to get outraged, behold the $23 cotton ball, $23 cotton ball, one small swab that sums up how health care is bankrupting so many of us. We are taking a look at how things like this are draining our bank accounts in a new "AM Original" series, "Prescription for Waste."
CHETRY: We begin, though, with the latest in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Chile as rescue workers search for survivors after Saturday's magnitude 8.8 earthquake. Officials say that the quake killed more than 700 people and say that number is also expected to rise.
Meantime, on the streets, they are witnessing scenes of looting. Some residents are raiding stores, looking for food and water. Police have been using teargas and water cannons to try to break up the crowds.
Also this morning, we're covering this story like no one else can. CNN's Karl Penhaul is live in Concepcion, Chile; Soledad O'Brien is on the road, making her way to that city.
But we begin with Karl, who's not far from the quake's epicenter.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, so far this morning, we have seen even some incidents of looting at a flour mill not far from here. People broke through the front gates of that earlier this morning and started to carry out very heavy sacks of flour. One man told me, he'd come from 12 miles away and he brought his bicycle and was loading a sack of flour unto his bike to take back home. He said he got no power at home. He said he's got no running water at home, and he said he simply needed something to feed the family.
Now, the police did come on scene very quickly. They don't want to allow looting to spread. In fact, there was a curfew from dusk to dawn in place in Concepcion over night, following heavy looting the previous day, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Karl Penhaul for us in Concepcion this morning, we have a bit of a delay, but thank you for bringing us up- to-date on the latest -- Christine.
ROMANS: -- struggle to get aid to Concepcion, one reason, many roads are simply impossible, either littered with debris or they've been destroyed, washed out. In Temuco, Chile, about 167 miles south, the quake damaged homes and the regional capital. The tremor also took down a bridge over the Claro River.
Take a look at these pictures. The bridge serves as a major artery from Temuco to Concepcion.
Our Soledad O'Brien trying to make her way to Concepcion. She's on the road right now and she joins us live on the phone.
Soledad, where are you right now? And what are the roads looking like there?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We're in the town of Los Angeles and the roads are actually looking OK, unless you're trying to get over a bridge and you see these massive cracks, and they often put authorities or police officers in front of those cracks, sometimes you pass one car at time, other times, they're just not letting anybody by.
There was a big aftershock here about 90 minutes ago. And then about 30 minutes after that, they dispatched a couple of ambulances and we're told that we're going to be heading into Concepcion. Here, the damage is not so bad, but there in Concepcion, we're told, they actually need more of the resources and more of the supplies.
Here in the Los Angeles, it's much more rural, which means that, you know, people who are actually used to quakes, as Karl Penhaul told you a moment ago. You know, they kind of know what to do. They are people who have tents out in their front yards. And it's nothing like the tents we saw in Haiti, because people have much more space. It's more rural. You might have one tent and then 10 acres of land.
Along the roads, you see -- some of the roads actually about to collapse as well, and there's bridges have been blocked off. They collapsed. So, the drive has really been very challenging. Gas lines, we are seeing here, too, I counted 35 cars at one gas line lined up. Some of the stations just closed and gas lines are just people waiting in the hopes that gas will come to that gas station, even though a gas station is not even open yet.
But things are more calm. We saw police officers heading off to guard some homes that have collapsed. But they definitely do not have a looting issue that they are having a little bit farther up north. The problem they are having is Chile is cold. This is the coldest summer that they've had in the long time here, and people outdoors in tents, it's not particularly comfortable for them -- Christine.
ROMANS: Soledad O'Brien -- thanks, Soledad.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, a trip in the works before the Chile quake is taking on new meaning for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is on her way to Chile as part of the previously briefly planned five-day trip to Latin America. Secretary Clinton will be meeting with Chile's president and president-elect. She also plans to survey the damage.
ROMANS: The suspected suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan last year is now appearing in a newly released video bragging about the attack, claiming to have tricked stupid Jordanian and American intelligence officers as a double agent. In the video, he claims the CIA team was not his original target. It was a gift from God who sent vulnerable prey.
CHETRY: All right. Well, more than 200,000 homes and businesses are still without power in parts of the northeast. Utility crews are scrambling, but it's still quite a winter wallop. Parts of Maine are getting more snow on top of the mountain of snow and ice from last week's storm. That's down, though. They did have more than a million customers at one time that were in the blackout at the peak of the storm -- but again, slow going getting all those people back up online.
Right now, we are following the latest on the extreme weather with our own Jacqui Jeras. She joins us now from the Weather Center.
Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.
You know, hard to believe, but that amazing storm is still sticking around. This is a storm that doesn't want to go away. But the good news is, I think today is the last hit and it's finally going to be pulling out there.
So, New England getting the worse this time around, particularly the coast of Maine where winds are going to be gusting 40-plus miles per hour. There you can see Portland got sustained winds, 20, 25 miles per hour. These winds are going to be strong enough, say, from Portland all the way down to Philadelphia, and that could cause some travel delays today. We do have a wintry mix into the coast. That's going to be changing rain but could pick up a couple of inches in the interior.
The other storm that we're dealing with: an upper level system that's going to be a slow mover across Texas today. And you can really see that spin or that swirl associated with that low. That is going to bring some showers and even some thunderstorms as it heads towards the Mississippi River Valley, eventually into the Deep South and some cold air on the backside of it will bring a light dusting of snow to many of these areas in the upcoming days as well.
High pressure is the big controlling feature up to the north and things are relatively quiet out west before our next system moves on in there for today. We'll be watching places like Dallas for delays. We just got word now that Houston Intercontinental, has a ground stop, meaning that people can't take off to fly into Houston at this hour.
Expect more delays in probably New Orleans as well as Philly and up towards New York City because of those winds. So, that wicked winter weather doesn't want to go away even though it's meteorological spring starting today.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui Jeras for us -- thanks.
ROMANS: All right. You know, this reconciliation in the dictionary -- reconciliation, right? It sounds like a nice word, a good thing. There's also reconciliation in Washington, a completely different matter altogether and it's something you've been hearing with health care reform, right?
Jim Acosta has that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Nine minutes past the hour right now. Time for a look at other stories new this morning.
Lawyers for former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling are trying to cut some time off of his 24-year sentence, saying a law used to convict is too big to be constitutional. The Supreme Court will actually hear arguments today. Specifically, they got a 28-word addendum in the fraud statute that was used in the case. It's unclear whether a successful challenge would actually overturn the convictions for the fallen energy executive or whether it would mean Jeffrey Skilling gets a new trial.
ROMANS: Doctors have declared President Obama in excellent health and fit for duty. He had his first physical yesterday since taking the oath of office. The president's doctors say he still hasn't kicked smoking and his cholesterol has crept up a bit to border line high level.
CHETRY: The president is getting a clean bill of health, but the passage of health reform, not quite so certain. The White House is backing the use of a controversial rule that would let Senate Democrats force what they call a reconciliation vote. That means they would pass a bill with a simple majority instead of using a 60-vote supermajority, one that Republican senators said it would be, quote, "political kamikaze mission" for the Democrats to jam it through.
ROMANS: President Obama was talking about your health care in his weekend Web address, saying, "Let's get this done." Democrats are on the verge of taking a dramatic step, one that could leave Republicans powerless to stop the bill.
Jim Acosta is here to explain the reconciliation process and its political consequences.
Hi, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. It could have a lot of consequences. It's being called controversial but it's not unprecedented. And just because the Democrats are talking about reconciliation on health care reform, it doesn't mean both parties will be joining hands in singing kumbayah on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): With health care reform clinging to life in Congress, Democrats are about to try a radical procedure to save the patient. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," they'll do it with or without Republican support.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: But they have had plenty of opportunity to make their voices heard.
ACOSTA: To likely pass ahead would require some tricky legislative surgery. First, the House would vote to approve the Senate bill that's already passed. And then the Senate would use one of its little known rules called reconciliation to fix its original bill, removing portions that were unpopular, like the last-minute sweetheart deal to Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: I think Americans should know that when we hear the words about reconciliation, it is simple -- simply a majority vote.
ACOSTA: Under reconciliation, only 51 votes are required to pass a bill, no filibustering allowed. While the procedure was designed for budget matters, it's been used in the past to expand health care and then some. Reconciliation was used to pass welfare reform under President Clinton and a push through tax cuts under George W. Bush.
When they were in the majority, Republicans also tried reconciliation to authorize new oil drilling in Alaska.
SEN. JUDD GREGG (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: If you got 51 votes for your possession, you win.
ACOSTA: Now, in the minority, GOP leaders see it differently.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Just because it's been used before for lesser issues doesn't mean it's appropriate for this issue.
ACOSTA: Republicans are waving this letter written by one of the creators of reconciliation, Senate Democrat Robert Byrd, who said last April, using the procedure to pass health care reform would do serious injury to the constitutional rule of the Senate.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: The danger of what's happening right now in terms of using reconciliation is the purpose of the Senate is going to be defeated, and that is to bring consensus to big issues in this country.
ACOSTA: But Democrats argued they tried bipartisanship by dropping the idea of a government insurance plan or public option from what's likely to be in the final bill.
PELOSI: Let me say this: the bill can be bipartisan, even though the votes might not be bipartisan, because they have made their imprint on this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: If you look at the reconciliation scoreboard and yes, they have one in Washington, you'll find that Republicans have used it more when they've been in the majority 16 times, compared that to the number of times used under a Democratic majority, just six times.
And, Christine, reconciliation has been used for the children's health initiative, the CHIP program and COBRA. That's that program that allows you to take your health insurance with you if you lose your job.
ROMANS: Interesting. All right. Thanks so much, Jim Acosta, on reconciliation.
ACOSTA: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, Chicago is the first front line for historic gun battle that's now being waged before the Supreme Court. On one side, there are those who say, look, their Second Amendment rights are there, they have the right to keep and bear arms, and those rights have been violated. On the other, parents and teachers who swear that their city's handgun ban is saving lives on some very rogue streets.
Our Kate Bolduan from Chicago South Side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the most important gun rights cases in our nation's history and it's putting the spotlight squarely on Chicago.
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): In one of Chicago's roughest South side neighborhood, a rare safe haven for some of the city's most at-risk youth.
DIANE LATIKER, FOUNDER, KIDS OFF THE BLOCK: They walk looking backwards. If you would stay here two days, you'd realize our young people walk looking backwards every time, because of drive-bys. BOLDUAN: When Diane Latiker opened up her own home to start the nonprofit Kids Off the Block seven years ago, she was fighting to stem the tide of gang activity in her neighborhood.
Now, Latiker says, she's just fighting to keep the kids alive, up against some of the worst gun violence the city has ever seen.
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: And it has grabbed headlines. According to city statistics, Chicago has the highest rate of youth homicide in the country: 36 killings in the last school year alone -- 36 reasons Latiker supports Chicago's handgun ban.
(on camera): So, why have the ban in place if people are going to get them anyway?
LATIKER: Because I'd rather something be in place than nothing be in place.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): That ban is now being challenged in a case that has made its way to the Supreme Court, a case brought by another Chicago community activist, 76-year old, Otis McDonald.
OTIS MCDONALD, CHICAGO ACTIVIST: We wouldn't want to go down to the right here.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Why is that?
MCDONALD: Because that's a hot area, where drug dealing and stuff goes on.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): McDonald says, like Latiker, he too fears for the safety of the community, but argues it's his constitutional right to protect himself and his family from the violence. He wants the handgun ban lifted.
MCDONALD: That's all I want. It's just a fighting chance. Give me the opportunity to at least make somebody think about something before they come in my house on me.
BOLDUAN (on camera): The supreme court almost two years ago struck down a similar ban in Washington, but because D.C. is a federal district, the court left largely unanswered how gun laws apply to states and cities.
When it comes down to it, why take on this ban?
MCDONALD: We are in a war. Simply that. The innocent law abiding citizens against the drug dealers and gang bangers, that's what it is. That's what it boils down to.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): But Diane Latiker fears making handguns legal again will only mean more guns on the streets and more names she will have to add to this memorial.
(on camera): How many are in there now?
LATIKER: Two hundred and one.
BOLDUAN: You said you were five short?
LATIKER: Yes, we are always behind. We are always behind.
BOLDUAN: The court's ruling has the potential of overturning decades of gun control laws across the country and may finally answer the question where does the power of the second amendment lie, with the individual or the government?
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Coming up next, our AM series, "Prescription for Waste." Our Elizabeth Cohen is going to tell you about some incredibly high prices you are paying for things at a hospital. Think of a $1,000 dollar toothbrush, a $100 Tylenol tablet -- one tablet, how about $4,100 dollars for a bag of saline. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 19 minutes past the hour and that means it's time to "Mind Your Business."
Two thousand federal transportation workers are temporarily out of a job this morning as Washington plays politics and President Obama says they have Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning to thank. The republican blocked action on a bill to extend transportation funds saying it would add to the budget deficit.
CHETRY: The Senate second ranking republican says he expects GOP lawmakers to vote to extend several unemployment benefits this week.
Now, as we were talking about, these benefits are set to expire today for millions of Americans who rely on them as their only source of income as they still cannot find a job. How many days did you say it is being unemployed and poor people can find a new job.
ROMANS: Two hundred and eleven days out of work before most people are finding other jobs.
CHETRY: So, it's proven to be quite difficult. So far though the senate has failed to pass an extension of the benefits.
ROMANS: Toyota's president is making his apologies in China today. The Chinese car market is now the largest in the world. This is actually Toyota's second visit to the country, and comes on the heels of last week's trip to Washington where he was grilled by lawmakers.
Also, this morning, a big announcement from AIG, that means, this announcement means the return of billions of dollars to the government coffers. The troubled insurance giant agreed to settle its Asian Life Insurance Business to Britain's Prudential, the price tag, $35.5 billion dollars. Here's what the deal looks like, Prudential will put up $25 billion dollars in cash, and $10.5 billion in stock and securities.
Now this is good news for U.S. taxpayers. Ladies and gentlemen, you own a majority of this company, the $25 billion dollar cash component is slated to go back to them. This is taxpayer bailout money coming back. This is one of the biggest chunks of AIG to be sold as part of this company's push to pay back the $181 billion dollars in bailout money. Other sales over the past 14 months brought in about $5.6 billion dollars.
CHETRY: There you go. All right, we are going to take a quick break. When we come back, it's a series that you really want to see. Our "AM Original" "Prescription For Waste." Elizabeth Cohen looking a little closer at some of those hospital bills. Forty-two bucks for a cotton ball? Getting charged for using up 42 bags of saline when you are only in the ER for two hours? It's why you pay more for your hospital bills.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Right now your top stories are just five minutes away. First, an "AM Original," something you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
Imagine someone spending $1,000 for a toothbrush. Might be amusing, if it weren't your money. But consider this, every dollar that we spend on health care 50 cents of that is actually wasted. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now to kick off our new series, "Health Care: Prescription For Waste."
Some of the stuff you uncovered are simply astounding, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it really is. When I look through these medical bills and I see these ridiculous charges, I started to understand how we waste in this country a trillion dollars on medical bills.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: When you and I go shopping for a toothbrush, how much do we pay? $2, $3 maybe $4 dollars. Well, guess what one hospital once charged a patient for a toothbrush, $1,000 dollars. Can you believe it? $1,000 dollars for a toothbrush. And you know who ends up paying for that? You and I. We end up paying for it. It comes out of our pocket in one way or another.
And that's not the only crazy hospital cost I ran into. Come on, come with me.
And at the store, how much does a bottle of Tylenol cost? $10 dollars for 100 pills. Well, we know of someone who at the hospital was charged $140 for one Tylenol. Can you believe it? One hundred and forty dollars, for this.
Now, here is a box of disposable gloves. When you buy them here at this store, they come out to 24 cents a pair. But I know of a hospital that charged $53 for a pair of gloves. That's right, $53 dollars for a pair of disposable gloves. What the heck is going on here?
So, I am here in the home office of a medical billing advocate. This is Cindy Holtzman, and she helps people go through all of these crazy charges and she has all sorts of examples.
I got to tell you Cindy, this is one of my favorite ones. This is just like a little alcohol prepare swab. We've all had these. How much did a hospital charge for these ones?
CINDY HOLTZMAN, MEDICAL BILLING ADVOCATE: Twenty-three dollars apiece.
COHEN: Twenty-three dollars for this little tiny piece of cotton.
HOLTZMAN: And on one bill there were 44 of them. It becomes very expensive.
COHEN: Oh my goodness. But this is not even the craziest thing you have ever seen. Tell me about one of your crazier charges?
HOLTZMAN: Well, recently I had somebody that was charged for 41 IV bags when she went to the ER for a two-hour visit.
COHEN: Oh yes, you heard that right. A woman went to the emergency room with a migraine headache, and they gave her one bag of saline and then they charged her for 41 bags of saline, to the tune of $4,182 dollars. Now, the really crazy thing about this, is that her insurance company paid the bill. They did not even question it. So, why did her insurance company pay for this when it was obviously wrong?
HOLTZMAN: There is not many people working at these companies anymore, they are very busy and usually any kind of bill that is under $100,000 dollars, they don't look at the detail.
COHEN: So, they just write a check?
HOLTZMAN: They just write a check.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, we asked the insurance company, why did you write that check when the charge was wrong. They said they couldn't talk to us for privacy reasons. The hospital did at the patient's urging, to fix that erroneous charge. When we called the hospital, they did not return our calls -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Some people might say yes, it's a shame we see this stuff go on all the time, it's waste, but hey if I have insurance why should I really care?
COHEN: Right, the reason why is that all of our premiums are going up. You have seen it come out of your paycheck and I have seen it come out of mine. Premiums are skyrocketing. The reason, one of the major reasons is all of these wasteful spending. When you are charging $1,000 for a toothbrush, that's going to send the premiums go up. We are seeing this come out of our wallets.
CHETRY: And when we talk about reform, we talk about insurance reform and we also talk about ways to cut spending. Are individual hospitals cracking down on this and saying we have to find a way to reign this in. This is not right what is happening?
COHEN: You know, some of them are, that's what we are told. But you know what, some of them aren't. Some of this keeps going on. We are told that these are mistakes, they are not trying to make money. But when you are charging for 41 bags of saline instead of one bag of saline, we are told those errors still continue.
CHETRY: Well, very interesting piece this morning. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
And tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we go shopping for health care. Elizabeth's going to show us how we can save hundreds when it comes to our own medical bills. That is tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: It's about 29 minutes past the hour, and that means time for this morning's top stories.
Developing news from the disaster zone in Chile. The death toll climbing in the wake of Saturday's devastating huge earthquake. Officials say more than 700 people were killed and that number is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to arrive in Chile to meet with the country's president.
CHETRY: The busiest runway at JFK airport in New York is closing today for repairs. It will not be handling a single plane for four months and it could mean delays for millions of travelers even if you don't come near New York City, and it could also mean higher ticket prices since the purser will be fewer arrivals and departures from that airport.
ROMANS: And President Obama will have to pay up after Canada beat Team USA in the gold medal hockey game. The President owes Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper a case of Canadian beer.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also lost a bet. He will have to wear a team Canada jersey for an on air White House briefing. It's hard to look presidential during a White House briefing.
CHETRY: That's a little risky.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, the tea party movement is a movement growing and gaining buzz, but now we are seeing it may have sway in the lone star state.
ROMANS: Tomorrow Texas voters will head to the polls for the Republican gubernatorial primary. The race pits popular, long time senator Kay Bailey Hutchison against incumbent governor Rick Perry. Hutchison seemed like a shoo-in, but not so much anymore. The tea party changed the game completely in the last year.
Joining us this morning is Wayne Slater. He's the senior political writer for the "Dallas Morning News." When you look at the polls from last year to this year, the shift for Kay Bailey Hutchison has been incredible. She was up I think 20 points last year, and you now you have the governor Rick Perry fighting for the Republican votes here.
And then Debra medina, she is getting a lot of the tea party votes. Is this all about anti-Washington? Is it Rick Perry tapped into anti-Washington sentiment?
WAYNE SLATER, SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER, "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS": That's exactly what it's about. Kay Bailey Hutchison a year ago was ahead by double digits. She was expected to win fairly easily. Now Rick Perry goes into tomorrow's primary ahead in double digits, and the dominant reason is because he saw early on the power of this tea party movement, this anti-Washington, anti-spending wave, seized on it, framed the race so that he is about Texas and sovereignty and states' rights.
CHETRY: It's really interesting, because earlier on, people said he was off the reservation, he is talking about states' rights, would Texas secede from the United States. And this was considered "crazy talk," and it is now it's clearly helped him, at least seizing on some of that, he calls her Kay "Bailout" Hutchison.
This anti-Washington fervor, how has it spilled so much into Texas politics?
SLATER: I was talking to a Republican member of Congress from suburban Dallas the other day who said, you know, it's so strong here this anti-incumbent, anti-Washington fervor, if I were not a member, the state representative from Washington in the district, I would be leading the charge against the representative from Washington in the district.
It's defining everything, not just the governor's race, but legislative races here. And you see it nationally in places like Massachusetts and elsewhere. It is a power to reckon with, especially in thank you primaries.
ROMANS: Let's talk about specifically the tea party activists and what candidate you think they will end up backing. Sarah Palin also a big name in the Republican Party. Where do we see the big names falling in line in this particular race?
SLATER: That's a great question. You look at Sarah Palin, very popular and charismatic. The smart guys, the orthodoxy of the party understands or believes that she did not be the nominee, and it would be unlikely.
What they are trying to do, and Senator John Cornyn told me this yesterday, what the Republicans are trying to do is take this enthusiasm from the tea party movement and put it to use with the orthodox candidates.
Whether that's Mitt Romney or New Gingrich or congressional and Senate people who can speak the language of the tea party is yet to be determined. But that's what the tea party movement's affect is, and that's what the Republican Party is trying to do, take it as its own.
CHETRY: It's also interesting, though, there is an interesting article called "conservatives Clean House" in the "Politico" over the weekend, and it talked about the conservatives, some of the more mainstream leaders realizing they do have to separate themselves from what people call racially-tinged comments, what Tom Tancredo said at the convention, and some of the other talk that could probably serve to actually do them more harm than good in some of these main elections.
How is that element being worked in here as well, because, as we said, Rick Perry said things that some people may have thought were controversial in the past, especially when it came to state's rights or secession?
SLATER: Yes, when Rick Perry talks about states' rights, it comes from the experience of the 1960s civil rights movement, so that has a potential downside.
On the other hand, there is a fringe element, and I think "Politico" has it exactly right, that the Republican Party has to avoid it, especially if it appears racial or appears extraordinary intolerant.
The Republican Party wants to seize on the fiscal responsibility message, but not this xenophobia at the border or possibly racial intolerance that could kill the Republican Party's effort.
ROMANS: And fiscal responsibility actually played into Rick Perry's hands, because this is a state that has been coming out of the recession many say earlier than others and its unemployment rate is better than the rest of the country as well. For him the economy is playing into his hand, isn't it?
SLATER: It is. And it's always great when you are the incumbent, in this case, the incumbent government of a state doing better than California and you are able to say that we are doing better than Arnold in California, which I have heard him say.
Whether that's his fault or responsibility or to his credit, he is taking the credit and responsibility for it.
CHETRY: Quickly, just for people who have not followed Texas politics, some people say why is this incumbent governor in a state that is not seeing as much unemployment as other states are seeing? Why was he so far behind before? SLATER: Why was Rick Perry so far behind?
CHETRY: Why are we saying it's surprising that he is now gained on, you know, Kay Bailey Hutchison in the polls?
SLATER: Well, both of these elements, the relative economic prosperity, and I use that word cautiously in Texas, and this anti- Washington message, was able to show Rick Perry, who was not very popular actually, absolutely in the lead.
We have not talked significant about rising insurance costs and children problems in terms of insurance. We've not talked about other big issues here, because this tea party fervor, which Rick Perry has seized on, has washed away a lot of since. CHETRY: Very interesting stuff. Wayne Slater, Republican political writer with the "Dallas Morning News." Thank so much for joining us this morning.
SLATER: Great to be with you.
ROMANS: Meanwhile, Western Europe, once in the past ten years, and it's the first time we have seen this, battered by a deadly and unforgiving monster storm. There have been fatalities. We have that story coming up for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A violent storm system named Xynthia is blamed for 58 deaths across Europe, and most of the victims are in France where hurricane force winds triggered huge waves that flooded coastal neighborhoods. The French prime minister is calling it a "national catastrophe."
CNN's Sasha Herriman is following developments for us from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASHA HERRIMAN: Xynthia is one pretty severe weather system. It's impacting across Europe from Portugal all the way up to the Netherlands, very, very high winds. They have been battering the coastline along the Atlantic coast, and here in the UK it's causing problems with the extremely high winds in northern England.
Let's get a few details on how Europe has been affected.
In the wake of Xynthia, a trail of devastation leaving dozens dead. Xynthia's hurricane winds to aim first at Portugal and Spain. In Spain both fire and flood as gusts of 160 kilometers an hour battered the country.
In France, where most people were killed, more than 1 million homes lost power. People were rescued from rooftops as the water rose, and many expressed shock of what they had gone through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): Basically, the waves were coming up to the roads.
HERRIMAN: Southwest France was worse hit. Many roads were impassable because of floods and trees. Flights and trains were cancelled. It's the worst storm in a decade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): it's a national catastrophe. My first thoughts go to the victims and their families, to whom I'm presenting condolences from the government and the nation.
Now the priority is to bring all the people left homeless and all those still threatened by the rising waters to safety. All services are immobilized to reach that goal as soon as possible.
HERRIMAN: French President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting the worst affected areas. A similar picture in Germany -- the late winter storm brought driving rain and high winds. Rail services were disrupted.
As the Atlantic storm continues across Europe, the number of dead is expected to rise as many people are still missing.
HERRIMAN (on camera): Of course, in the aftermath of those severe winds, that very, very severe weather, what is the cleanup operation going to be like? That's going to cause a lot of problems, and it will cost an awful lot of money because it will cost the national government to help to mobilize firefighters, all those emergency services, and in some instances soldiers have had to be called out to help people.
So what will the cost be? That remains to be seen.
Sasha Herriman, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Sasha Herriman for us, thanks so much.
Still ahead, we're going to be talking a little bit about -- the president gets an annual physical. The doctor sort of gives him a clean bill of health, which he got. But there was something about this one that raised a few eyeballs. Elizabeth Cohen with details of how our commander is when it comes to his physical well-being.
It's 42 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The Vampire Weekend -- how about it -- in Miami. That's a girl's weekend in Miami. So all girls here today. Maybe you care to joins us, Christine. We'll all head down there.
WSVN this morning is where our shot is coming from. Everyone wants to be there because it's going to be 72 degrees a little bit there. A nice respite from what we've been dealing with here in the East Coast.
ROMANS: Seventy-two isn't enough to get me out of here. I mean --
CHETRY: Well, you need 80 before you can take a girl's weekend. I get it.
ROMANS: I need 80 degrees. I need 80 degrees.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Jacqui, what do you think?
JERAS: I'm in on the 80. Absolutely. Got to be hot enough to get in the water.
CHETRY: This is a tough crowd.
ROMANS: Then if you're going to wait in an airport you really have to have hot weather at the end.
JERAS: Absolutely. It's going to rain there tomorrow by the way, so won't be quite as great in south Florida for those of you that are suffering in the cold, the snow still. Two feet of snow on the ground, hundreds of thousands of people without power across the northeast, still from this storm that just doesn't want to quit.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JERAS: Temperature wise, overall we are seeing a lot of the U.S. below average. Hang in there, spring is right around the corner. But unfortunately we're expecting below normal temperatures for the southern part of the United States in the next couple of months on average.
ROMANS: And she says it with a smile.
JERAS: I know it's not what you wanted to hear.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: No, not at all.
ROMANS: Not being a business reporter the last two years.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROMANS: Never anything anybody wanted to hear.
JERAS: I know.
ROMANS: All right, thank you so much, Jacqui.
Elizabeth Cohen -- she's coming up next with the details of the president's first physical since he took office. And there's something -- one thing is going up. I'll give you a hint. One thing is going up. And another thing he just quite can't kick. We'll have that for you right after -- right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifty-one minutes past the hour right now. Time for your "AM House Call," a story about the president's health.
As we know he likes to shoot hoops and we also know that perhaps he has not been able to kick the smoking habit. Doctors did, though, declare President Obama fit for duty.
He got his first presidential physical yesterday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to tell us how he's doing, how his physical turned out, and how do they know, by the way, that they think he's still smoking?
COHEN: I think he admits to smoking. I mean I don't think there's any mystery there, and I'll tell you, that is the number one thing when doctors look at this report card that he needs to change, he needs to quit smoking.
So let's look at the bottom line of this health report card. Stop smoking. Doctors want him to keep continuing with his efforts to quit, because we all know that smoking can kill.
Also he needs to lower his cholesterol -- it's been going up a bit lately -- and also needs to watch his blood pressure which is also creeping up.
Let's take a look specifically at those cholesterol numbers. What we're told is that the president has a total cholesterol of 209, and they'd like to see that closer to 200 or below. Also his LDL, that's the bad cholesterol -- his LDL is 138. They want to see that at lower than 130.
Now some doctors with these numbers would consider putting the president on a statin, on a cholesterol lowering drugs, but we're told that his physicians have told him change your diet, stop smoking and let's see if that works to lower cholesterol -- Kiran.
CHETRY: There's a link, right, between high cholesterol and smoking? And they usually can drop several points if you just kick the habit.
COHEN: Absolutely. That's right. And that's why they're hoping that once he quits, that cholesterol will go down without a drug.
CHETRY: All right, let's talk about the high blood pressure, the slight flag in the blood pressure as well. I mean it's a stressful job being the president. I mean, every day -- I mean the types of things that you have to worry about -- you know, about the entire nation, I imagine that could be taxing on your blood pressure.
COHEN: Yes, I would think so. I would think that anyone's blood pressure would go up, and his has gone up. But the good news is it's still pretty low. His blood pressure is quite low. You can see there, it is 105/62. But in 2007 it was 90/60. So it's crept up a little bit, and they don't want that to happen.
His cholesterol, by the way, has also crept up. It was much lower two years ago, so this job has definitely appears to have taken its toll.
CHETRY: All right. And how about the exercise. We know that he is pretty religious about wanting to work out, right? And giving it a chance. Sometimes he's on the road. I mean, it's hard. I know they try to make accommodations so that the president can find a way to exercise, but how do you keep up with that on a regular basis when you're so busy?
COHEN: Right. He faces the challenge that many Americans face, which is how do you work and exercise? But I'll tell you, if he can do it then the rest of us have no excuse.
Let's take a look at his exercise regimen. We're told that he does cardio, sometimes basketball, sometimes other activities, three days a week for 45 minutes at a time. And he also does weight lifting three days a week. So that's a good workout for someone with a job as busy as his.
CHETRY: Right. If he finds the time, none of us should have an excuse, right?
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Exactly. Elizabeth --
COHEN: Just throw those excuses out the window.
CHETRY: All right, Elizabeth Cohen for us with a presidential checkup. Thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Christine?
ROMANS: I don't know about all those people working for me who could make sure I've got a gym if I need one. That's a problem here, the difference -- one of many differences (INAUDIBLE), right?
OK, when we come up, Jeanne Moos, she's got a look at all of the crazy places that pilots have landed their planes, and we're not talking about runways. You don't want to miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's three minutes to the top of the hour. That means it's time for the "Moost News in the Morning." It may not measure up to Sully Sullenberger's miracle on the Hudson.
CHETRY: You know, but there were other landings that were quite memorable in their own right including one cockpit emergency that was caught on tape from the inside. Here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can bet it wasn't a pilot that said silence is golden. Not when it's your engine that's silent.
You could have copy Leonard DiCarpio as Howard Hughes crash landing and harvesting beets simultaneously. When a Florida pilot's engine died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That field?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going for the road.
MOOS: Kyle Davis opted for setting it down on the road he normally drives to work on. He ended up parked in front of a closed furniture store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our motto around the office now with Kyle is if you don't like the way he flies, stay off the road.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch your wing. Watch your wing. Watch your wing.
MOOS: Watch the wing is what this pilot in England should have done during a forced landing in a pasture.
(On camera): Did you see that? That plane clipped a cow. Watch the pilot turn his head to see what he hit.
According to the accident report, the plane was slightly damaged but the cow was uninjured.
(Voice-over): As the pilot hit it, "I have to say it's the first cow I ever hit in 22 years flying."
The next best thing to putting your plane out to pasture, playing fields in Anchorage, Alaska. Watch the home plate umpire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a plane coming down on to the field, folks, right now. We've got a crazy landing going on. Here it comes, right on to the field, right behind the field.
MOOS: All four people aboard the plane lived to tell about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy!
MOOS: "Oh boy" is right. Look what a dash cam on a Wisconsin state patrol car captured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We have him landing on the highway. 911, are you calling about the airplane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We got it and landed.
MOOS: License and registration, please.
Sure James Bond made it look easy, landing and right going up to the closest gas pump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fill her up, please.
MOOS: Now this is something 007 would attempt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landing on the world's shortest runway.
MOOS: But don't try that on Interstate 70 here in Indianapolis where this pilot was forced to land without so much as a turn signal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I skid slightly ahead of the car for a little bit just to give the driver an idea that I was about to touch down.
MOOS: Of course, there's the little matter of taking off again. They had to close the interstate, but watch your language when you land.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MOOS: Better make it holy cow.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's the most excited those cows have had in months.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Anyway, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We survived a Monday. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROMANS: That's right. Here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips.
