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American Morning
Chile Earthquake Aftermath; Senator's Stall Costs Jobs; "It is Only a Matter of Time..."; Medicare: Brace for Boycott; Two Natural Catastrophes; Senator's Stand Costs Jobs; Wonders of Wii
Aired March 02, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Tuesday, March 2nd. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And John Roberts is off. I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks for having me over.
CHETRY: Good to have you up here from Washington.
ACOSTA: Good to be here with you.
CHETRY: You brought the good weather with you.
ACOSTA: I tried. I heard it's been rough up here.
CHETRY: It has been terrible, actually. We've been digging out. But you guys actually had it rough.
ACOSTA: You had it much worse. You can't complain up here.
CHETRY: All right.
ACOSTA: I'm convinced of that.
CHETRY: No complaints. Glad you're with us though this morning.
ACOSTA: Here are the morning's top stories. More aftershocks rock Chile as authorities try to contain the chaos following one of the strongest earthquakes on record. The death toll now more than 720 and rising, and we're seeing for the first time the panic reaction when the quake hit. A live report just ahead from the heavily damaged city of Concepcion, Chile.
CHETRY: This morning a senator is accused of playing politics with people's lives. A move by Republican Jim Bunning, outgoing senator, has put 2,000 people out of work. He took shelter in an elevator when he was asked about it. We're going to talk to one of the people who is now feeling the impact of the actions.
ACOSTA: And hundreds turn out to mourn a SeaWorld trainer who was killed by a giant orca last week, and some are now wondering if her death could have been prevented. A government safety agency in California actually warned this would happen back in 2007, but after pressure from SeaWorld, those warnings were never made public. CHETRY: Well, we begin with the earthquake in Chile and this morning we're actually getting our first look at this monster 8.8 magnitude quake as it happened. It was video that was just posted on YouTube. It captures a scene at a night club in Chile when the quake hit. It happened about 3:34 in the morning local time Saturday morning. You can hear the screams and the music actually drowned out by the panicked crowd.
Meantime, the city of Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, is now in ruins. Fires are still burning out of control three days after the quake, and rescuers are fighting exhaustion. They're trying to do all they can to find people that may still be buried alive in the rubble. More than 700 people have died and the number of dead is expected to rise. There are also more strong aftershocks that have continued to shake the country.
Meantime, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in Chile in a couple of hours. This is with the first wave of U.S. aid, much- needed communications equipment and she's expected to leave Uruguay this hour.
Well, despite curfews and Army patrols, looters are still roaming the streets in the earthquake zone. Our Soledad O'Brien finally made it into the city of Concepcion, traveling from the south, one of the hardest hit areas. And she joins us now on the phone -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hey, Kiran. You know, the extent of the curfew we heard yesterday. So the word we're getting is that the curfew is extended until noon today, which might pare back a little bit on those looters.
Last night, it was really a night of aftershocks. Of course, that scares the people, who many of them are kind of staying outside and also think it's virtually impossible for the bomberos (ph), the search and rescue teams to get into the buildings, especially the four apartment buildings where we've been trying to camp out, trying to see if they can get in and pull out any bodies or rescue any people who might still be alive. The number of missing people is in the dozens in just one building, so we expect that death toll number to rise. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): On the side of this building in Concepcion, you can see the numbers, one through 15. Fifteen floors, toppled sideways into a heap of rubble. The numbers on the chart of these rescue workers, even more grim. Forty-eight missing and the count of the dead goes floor by floor.
(on camera): Of the 48 people who are inside, what's the likelihood that they're alive?
GUSTAVO RUDOLPHY, CHILEAN FIREFIGHTER: I don't know. We are looking. There are some spaces there that, perhaps, we can find some persons. But in these floors down here, I think there's not too much chance. O'BRIEN (voice-over): These Chilean rescue workers were heroes in Haiti just a few weeks ago, digging out survivors of that earthquake. Now, they're in their homeland doing the same after an earthquake estimated to be 800 times more powerful.
Just a block away, crowds watch a massive fire spread out of control. It was set by looters and local firefighters were running the search and rescue victims and couldn't attend to both. A drive down a main street becomes dangerous. Looters are breaking into open buildings, breaking into garages, in clear view of military guards.
The military said it had to take all groceries from the market to a distribution point, but at this mall, they're way too late. There is nothing left to distribute and nothing left to take.
The water hoses were turned toward looters and people walking in and out of stores without resistance. I confronted two women carrying a bag full of goods and asked what they had taken and why. They ran off, in plain view of the military, no explanation, no reason.
Across the street, a family sat outside defending their tiny store and home. They can't go inside because of the powerful aftershocks, still shaking their vulnerable house. They're afraid of being outside because people are trying to steal what little they have left.
JULIA MONTOYA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): We don't know what we're going to do. We're sitting out here, waiting for somebody to help us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And, Kiran, we heard that refrain a lot. A number of people said, you know, we're sort of waiting for someone to come and help and certainly for protection. A number of business people got together and sort of blocked off their street with tires and, you know, sort of rubble from the earthquake because the looters were kind of just wandering randomly down any street, stealing anything that wasn't nailed down, even some things that were nailed down.
So they said, well, if no one is going to protect us, there's only a minimal presence for security, then we're going to have to guard our own places and so there's a lot of frustration, a lot of anger on the streets -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Oh, understandable. Soledad O'Brien for us from Concepcion this morning. Thanks, Soledad.
Also a little bit later in the hour, at 6:30 Eastern, Sara Sidner takes us to a Chilean village that's been hit with a devastating one- two punch. First the earthquake, and also dealing with the aftermath of a tsunami.
ACOSTA: They were working last week, now thousands of Americans are waking up without a job this morning. President Obama says they have one senator to thank for that, retiring Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning, a man who once threw a perfect game in the majors threw what some in Washington are calling a screwball, blocking federal highway funding that keeps people employed. On the floor he said, it was so important we should pay for it, but he also seemed concerned about his beloved Wild Cats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: I want to assure the people that have watched this thing until a quarter of 12:00 and I have missed the Kentucky/South Carolina game that started at 9:00, and it's the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Our Dana Bash tracked down Senator Bunning to get some answers, but he wasn't that interested in talking. She has the latest from Capitol Hill.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim and Kiran, Jim Bunning is a hall of fame pitcher who played 17 seasons in the major leagues and here in the Senate, he's still playing hardball.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): It's a package of $10 billion to extend funding for laid-off workers, road projects and more. But one senator, Kentucky's Jim Bunning, is blocking it and he angrily refused to answer questions about why.
BUNNING: Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --people who are unemployed.
BUNNING: I've got to go to the floor.
BASH (on camera): Senator, could you just explain to us why you're holding this up? I'm sure you have an explanation?
BUNNING: Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned about those that are going to lose their benefits? I guess we have our answer.
BASH: OK.
(voice-over): Bunning's move is having a real world effect. Construction workers here started the morning on the job, rebuilding a bridge outside Washington. But as the clock ticked towards noon, workers on this $36 million project were told to stop and leave, the site locked up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Told everybody to go home at 12:00. Told everybody to go home.
BASH: The Department of Transportation says it furloughed 2,000 workers around the country because Congress failed to pass legislation to extend funding for the projects. The $10 billion measure Bunning is blocking also includes unemployment benefits for some 400,000 people, COBRA health subsidies for laid-off workers and small business loans.
Bunning did go to the Senate floor and did explain. He is for extending benefits, but he wants to pay for them, not add to the deficit.
BUNNING: If we can't find $10 billion to pay for something that we all support, we will never pay for anything on the floor of this U.S. Senate.
BASH: Bunning even formally offered a measure to pay for the benefits. Democrats objected.
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: Where was my friend from Kentucky when we had two wars that were unpaid for during the Bush administration? Tax cuts that cost more than a trillion dollars, unpaid for? Where was my friend and the Republicans objecting to that?
BASH: Democrats immediately saw the political benefit in playing up a GOP senator blocking legislation that would help hard-hit Americans. The Department of Transportation's press release carefully detailed for reporters examples of popular projects halted because of Bunning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Democrats say they disagree with Bunning. They call this emergency spending that shouldn't have to be paid for. Now, Democrats could use Senate procedure to work around Bunning, but right now, sources say they have no plans to do that. They see a political upside in their standoff -- Kiran and Jim.
ACOSTA: Dana Bash at the Capitol.
And coming up at 6:30 Eastern, we'll take a look at more of the real-world effects of Senator Bunning's decision. We'll talk to a woman from Bunning's home state who lost her benefits because he is taking a stand.
CHETRY: All right, we'll have much more on that and also the political implications.
ACOSTA: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: Senator Bunning is actually not running for re-election this year.
ACOSTA: That's right. And a lot of Republicans are glad that he's not running.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ACOSTA: And we'll get into that later this morning. CHETRY: Yes. Crowley will join us a bit later as well.
Meanwhile, it's nine minutes past the hour. Also, a check of other stories new this morning.
The polls are opening for the Texas primary in just two hours. Most of the attention right now is on the Republican contest for governor. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison challenging Governor Rick Perry who has embraced an anti-Washington, anti-tax message. Perry recently has been consistently leading in the polls.
ACOSTA: That's right, Kiran. And Toyota rolling out new incentives to get you in the showroom. Starting today, the automaker will offer zero percent financing for five years and free maintenance for two years on certain models. Toyota's reputation and sales are taking a huge hit after more than 8.5 million vehicles were recalled for safety issues.
CHETRY: And Toyota not the only automaker in a bit of trouble when it comes to recalls. General Motors now recalling 1.3 million cars. They need to replace the power steering motor in some of these models. They include U.S. models, the 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, also the 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G-5s. The problem is that the power steering can fail which would make it difficult to steer below 15 miles per hour.
ACOSTA: And the U.S. Postal Service is taking steps to shorten its workweek to five days in order to save money. The agency is asking an independent commission to hold hearings before it goes to Congress. Federal law requires six-day delivery. The agency has already borrowed $10 billion because of a decrease in volume.
CHETRY: And icy conditions are being blamed for a crash outside of Cleveland. It was all captured on video. Here you have a look.
ACOSTA: Oh.
CHETRY: Ouch. This was the police officer. He stopped to help a driver Saturday. You know how dangerous it can be when the roads are icy. You literally have no control of your car.
ACOSTA: Wow.
CHETRY: Well, the driver skidded out of control and we'll see it again here in a second. There he is standing there trying to help this guy and it's captured on his dash cam. He actually is in fair condition. They say he's going to do OK, but he's got a long road to recovery. Several broken bones after that.
ACOSTA: They do dangerous work out there.
And AirTran we should note is canceling about 40 flights out of Atlanta this morning. Right now, the area is under a winter storm warning until midnight.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's 11 minutes past the hour right now. We get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Our Rob Marciano is in Atlanta this morning. So you guys, it's your turn now to get some of the bad weather, huh?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, a little bit, yes. But you know, we are into March and Mother Nature is saying, you know, it's getting a whole lot of snow anywhere, including the southeast. It's going to be a tough go, but there is that chance and there has been some flakes flying across parts of the southeast.
Here it is on the radar scope showing you a pretty intense storm system not only rain and snow and a mix thereof, but also some pretty gusty winds with this. A strong line of storms moving through Tampa, into Orlando. Jacksonville, if you're flying out of those airports, it's going to be an issue as well.
No word from Delta if they've canceled any flights. But there will be some snow mixing later on this afternoon, and maybe as much as an inch or two of wet snow on grassy surfaces a possibility. You see the snow trying to mix in there as far south as Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
So here you go. Your winter storm warning now is north of Atlanta. Advisories in effect from Atlanta up towards Raleigh with anywhere from one to four inches expected in some of those spots.
All right, guys. We'll track this storm as it heads toward the mid-Atlantic. Is it going to make a turn up the East Coast for another blizzard?
ACOSTA: Please don't say that.
MARCIANO: It won't be another blizzard. But will it make a turn up the East Coast? We'll talk more about that in about 30 minutes.
CHETRY: With the rate we're going, I'm going to bet yes. All right, Rob. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Well, it was three years ago that a government safety group actually warned SeaWorld that it was not a matter of if, but when a whale would kill one of its trainers. At 6:15, CNN investigates why that warning was suddenly retracted when SeaWorld turned up the pressure.
ACOSTA: And at 6:21, we're minding your business. More and more doctors dropping Medicare patients. Find out why and what to do if you become one of them.
CHETRY: Also at 6:30 Eastern, why some Hawaiian tour companies were happy to say Aloha, as in goodbye, to the Obamas. It's 13 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Sixteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It was back in 2007 that a government safety group in California actually predicted that a whale would eventually kill a trainer at SeaWorld, but then the agency actually backed off that warning. Sadly, that's exactly what happened last week in Orlando. A 40-year- old veteran sea trainer, Dawn Brancheau, was killed by a giant orca.
Hundreds of mourners turned out yesterday in Chicago to say good- bye to her. But why did the investigators abruptly reverse their warning?
Randi Kaye, "Keeping Them Honest."
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, Kiran, some experts say SeaWorld suppressed a report with dire warnings about swimming with killer whales in captivity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): Look closely. This whale trainer is in the fight of his life. A tourist took this video in November, 2006 at SeaWorld in San Diego.
Veteran trainer Ken Peters, gently rubbing a 5,000 pound killer whale, desperately trying to get the female orca to release his left foot from its jaws. Just minutes before, during a trick, the whale trapped the trainer under water for nearly one minute. He survived with some broken bones.
The attack prompted a major health and safety agency in California to release a scathing report of SeaWorld and issue a stern warning. In 2006, OSHA investigators predicted a whale trainer would be killed by a whale at the San Diego park, concluding, quote, "Swimming with captive orcas is inherently dangerous, and if someone hasn't been killed already, it is only a matter of time."
Orca biologist Naomi Rose agrees with the findings.
DR. NAOMI ROSE, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: If they decide to act out, there will be nothing the trainer can do about it.
KAYE: Rose says since the 1970s, at least two dozen people have been injured by killer whales, four killed.
In 2004, this trainer at SeaWorld in San Antonio nearly drowned when the whale suddenly began diving over him during a show, repeatedly forcing him under water. He eventually made it to the side of the pool.
KAYE (on camera): Back to the OSHA report, it also found trainers, quote, "recognized this risk and trained not for if an attack will happen, but when."
SeaWorld was furious and said the report was full of, quote, "inaccuracies and speculation." It convinced the agency to re-write it without any predictions or warnings. ROSE: They didn't want it to seem as if, you know, killer whales were inherently dangerous. They wanted it to seem as though working with killer whales in the water was inherently safe.
KAYE: "Keeping Them Honest", we called SeaWorld to ask why it quashed the report. A spokesman told us the OSHA employee who did it was, quote, "uninformed and reckless."
When we asked OSHA why it agreed to rewrite the report, the agency told us it was inappropriate and speculative and that scientific analysis could not support the statements.
ROSE: It's unbelievable that a commercial corporation was able to influence what should have been an objective investigation by an agency whose sole function is to protect worker safety.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: The original report was 18 pages, the revised report, 10 pages shorter. What was lost in the rewrite, our orca biologist says, could have saved a life -- Jim, Kiran.
CHETRY: Randi Kaye for us, looking into that. Just, you know, shocking. And, I mean --
ACOSTA: Incredible.
CHETRY: -- everybody who knew her said that she was a veteran trainer. She was very, very comfortable and one of the only people that seemed to have a relationship with that orca, Tilkumin (ph) -- Tilikum. But, still, he's a wild animal, at the end of the day.
ACOSTA: Beautiful creatures, but wild. And when you introduce them into that kind of environment, it gets unpredictable, even when you have highly-trained people.
CHETRY: Yes. Sad story, though.
ACOSTA: Very sad.
Well, just ahead, they survived Chile's monster quake only to face a tsunami. We'll take you to a fishing village still reeling from a devastating one-two punch.
It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) control room sense of humor this early in the morning.
ACOSTA: Even at this hour, they can have fun.
CHETRY: Yes. Of course.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. CHETRY: It's 23 minutes past the hour. If you're just getting up with us, welcome.
It's "Minding Your Business" time right now. Christine Romans is here with us now, and she has a little bit more on whether -- what you do, I guess, in this whole unemployment situation. (CROSSTALK).
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is the Bunning fallout.
CHETRY: -- going on right now.
ROMANS: The Bunning fallout, right? Because I want to talk first about Medicare, a potential boycott of Medicare by your doctor because part of this -- part of this whole debacle over politics in this -- in this bill in the Senate means that -- that there's going to be a 21 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement for doctors.
That was something that was going to be fixed by the same thing that was going to extend unemployment benefits. So doctors are warning of a Medicare boycott. They're going to see a 21 percent cut in their Medicare reimbursement.
Forty-three million people receive Medicare, so people who are advocates for seniors, people who are advocates for anybody who's on Medicare, saying, look, this is really a crisis and you're already starting to see doctors who are saying they're not going to take new patients who are reimbursed by Medicare.
If your doctor drops Medicare, fantastic advice on CNNMoney.com this morning, ask for referrals. They're supposed to give you maybe four weeks to tell you, look, we're not going to accept you anymore because we're not getting paid enough by the government. Be aware --
CHETRY: Referrals for doctors who will take Medicare.
ROMANS: Yes. Be aware of patient abandonment laws. They can't just -- they got yo give you advance notice. They can't just dump you on the spot.
You're going to have to go to urgent care centers or the emergency room, that's expensive, everybody. And retail clinics -- now, retail clinics, you know, like they're in your pharmacy. They're in the WalMart. They're not really appropriate for older Americans who need constant maintenance of their situation of age-related issues.
So this is -- this is a problem. Now, I just want to say that federal agencies are trying to find a way to stretch some of their rules so they could hope that the Senate's going to come through and fix this.
ACOSTA: Right.
ROMANS: So they're starting to do some of that maneuvering that's kind of mysterious. ACOSTA: But it wouldn't help everybody.
ROMANS: But I wouldn't help everybody.
Now in terms of the unemployment benefits here, they're also trying to figure out a way to get these unemployment benefits extended again. But I want to be clear, there are millions of families who are very concerned this morning about their unemployment benefits because of this and -- and just keep in mind, it's -- 11.5 million people are on unemployment benefits, and -- and --
These are not normal times, and some of the talking points we're hearing out of Washington about whether we should have unemployment benefits, whether it's putting in a new kind of welfare or what -- come on, these are not normal times. There are more people receiving food stamps today, everyone, than are going to college.
That's an upside down country. Everything is upside down, and that's what all of these bills are about.
ACOSTA: And if you Google Jim Bunning, you will find newspaper articles across the country where people are losing their jobs this week because of this action that happened down in Washington.
ROMANS: That's right.
ACOSTA: Roads work projects just went to a halt --
ROMANS: That's right.
ACOSTA: -- when this happened.
CHETRY: All right. So we're going to continue to follow all of this throughout the day. But good advice as well about what to do with Medicare (ph), if your doctor is no longer accepting it.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business." Thanks.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Christine.
And we'll be talking about Jim Bunning all morning. Is a U.S. senator playing politics with people's lives?
We're talking to a woman who felt the immediate impact of the senator's decision when she lost her unemployment. What does she want to say to him?
It's 25 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
After surviving Chile's magnitude 8.8 earthquake, residents of one seaside town breathed a sigh of relief. But the worst was yet to come.
Sara Sidner reports from a fishing village still reeling not just from one natural catastrophe but two.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jose Araya Rojas and his wife, Belliamira Neira, pick through their crumpled home, looking for anything they can salvage.
BELLIAMIRA NEIRA ROJAS, SURVIVOR (through translator): I tell myself the only reason I am thankful is that I am healthy and I am alive.
SIDNER: The family lives by the seaside and survived up (ph) the sea.
JOSE ARAYA ROJAS, SURVIVOR (through translator): I lost all my materials, my scuba diving gear, the net, one boat is missing.
SIDNER (on camera): In the seaside town of Penco, not only did the residents here have to survive the massive earthquake, they also had to survive a tsunami.
(voice-over): Resident Irma Lagos Bahamondes says immediately after the ground stopped shaking, she ran to the hills with her children, worried about a killer wave. But she says when authorities announced there was no tsunami, she returned home. It was intact. Hours later, the waves came.
"The sea started rising from the bottom and it began to make noises and it started coming and my son started screaming, "Mama, mama, mama, a tsunami is coming."
The tsunami swept it off its foundation and jammed a boat into its side.
Along the Chilean coast, the tsunami left a jumble of broken homes. A quick drive from the city of Concepcion where the army is very visible, people say no help whatsoever has arrived, not from authorities or aid agencies.
Sarah Sidner, CNN, Penco, Chile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Rescue operations continue in Chile. To find out how you can help, head to CNN.com/Impact. You'll find a list of approved charities and relief organizations.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's half past the hour right now. And time to look at your top stories.
Two thousand federal workers are temporarily out of a job this morning as some politics play out in Washington. Democrats are pointing fingers at retiring senator, Jim Bunning, who blocked action on a bill that would have extended transportation funds, saying that it will only add to the budget deficit.
In less than a minute, we're going to be talking to a woman who is feeling the direct impact of the failure of the Senate to approve this measure.
ACOSTA: Congress with more questions for Toyota. Top executives, including Toyota's chief quality officer and a top engineer, will testify before a Senate committee today. It's the third hearing in a week. The company is still facing doubts that the problems related to out-of-control speeding are because of floor mats and not the electronic systems, which are much more complicated to fix.
CHETRY: Tour companies in Hawaii are now saying to the feds, "You owe us for lost business," during President Obama and his family's two-week holiday visit. The firms say that the family visit's trip in Oahu in December cost them $200,000 because no-fly zones actually grounded air tours as well as other small planes.
Well, back to our top story this morning. One senator's decision to block legislation is having an immediate impact on hundreds of thousands of lives this morning. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky staging a one-man filibuster that ended up holding up unemployment benefits and actually closing down some job sites.
ACOSTA: The retiring senator says he's for the extension, but he says he wants Congress to pay for it first. That's about all he's saying.
Our Dana Bash tried to talk to him yesterday about what happened. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: What is the issue? Are you concerned about --
SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: Excuse me.
KARL: -- people who are unemployed?
BUNNING: I've got to go to the floor.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator, could you just explain to us why you're holding this up? I'm sure you have an explanation.
BUNNING: Excuse me.
KARL: Yes. Are you concerned about those who are going to lose their benefits?
I guess we have our answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: We should note that was a senator's only elevator as the senator pointed out to Dana and Jonathan Karl there.
CHETRY: He told them many times, right? Reporters as well as others riding that elevator.
ACOSTA: It's at the senator's discretion. And I don't think he was in the discretionary mood.
CHETRY: I guess not.
ACOSTA: Ultimately, millions of people could lose their benefits in all seriousness and already thousands have been cut off.
CHETRY: Yes. And that includes our next guest, Linda Calvin. She happens to be from Kentucky, which is Senator Bunning's state, and she was a case worker for a head start program until last May where she lost her benefits now as of Sunday night.
Linda joins us in Louisville this morning.
Thanks for being with us.
LINDA CALVIN, UNEMPLOYED HUMAN SERVICES WORKER: Good morning.
CHETRY: Let's talk a little bit about your back story. You were fired from your job actually back in May of 2009. Your employer tried to get out of paying benefits. You contested that in arbitration and actually won the dispute. You started receiving your benefits in October, and now, as a result of this stalemate in the Senate, they are running out.
How are you dealing with the situation? And what's it been like for you since October?
CALVIN: It's actually -- I don't really believe it's sunk in yet. I just was getting back on my feet and going around putting in job applications and sending out resumes and have not found anything and here I am in the same situation again with no income.
ACOSTA: And, Linda -- I mean, the question that comes to mind for me is: do you think Washington gets it?
CALVIN: No. Washington doesn't get it because they are not unemployed. They're not affected by the unemployment rate. They're not affected by the people who can't pay their rent. They're not affected by the people who can't buy groceries for their children. They're not affected by any of these things.
CHETRY: And I understand that you were actually forced to move in with your daughter for a bit. Just recently, as you said, you got back your own place and you were trying to help take care of your niece as well. So, what are you going to do now if, in fact, this isn't passed and that there are no benefits and the checks stop coming?
CALVIN: Actually, I probably have to apply for welfare and food stamps and medical card, and maybe that will pay for food, but it won't pay for our living arrangements. I need a job or I need my extended benefits desperately.
ACOSTA: And, Linda, what are the prospects like out there?
CALVIN: Well, I've been unemployed since May of 2009 and I have sent out hundreds of applications and resumes, and I have not even had a call back. The economy is bad. Businesses are closing. There are no new jobs coming to Kentucky for people to even apply to.
ACOSTA: And what would you --
CALVIN: It makes it difficult.
ACOSTA: And what would you say to Senator Bunning, if you could?
CALVIN: Senator Bunning -- I would say to him, bring some businesses here. Do something to bring business here. You're trying to save money, but fine, bring businesses here. Put the people to work.
The economy will improve. When people have money, they pay bills, they work, they shop. They encourage the economy. They uplift the economy.
If you're cutting off people's pay, the economy is going to go down. And it's not going to be a pretty picture.
CHETRY: It's interesting. I'd like to get your thoughts on this one as well. Republican Senator Jon Kyl made the case yesterday -- as all of this was being debated in the walls of Congress -- that actually continuing to give unemployment benefits dissuades people and is a disincentive for people to try to get out there and get back into the job market.
What do you think?
CALVIN: That's ridiculous. People don't want to live on free money. You can't have a future. You can't make goals. You're stuck -- when you are dependent on one particular income and there's no way out.
ACOSTA: And do you understand, at least one of Senator Bunning's points, that if we're going to pass programs to keep people on unemployment insurance and to provide other programs, that these programs should be paid for? And his complaint was, is that they weren't being paid for. Do you understand that point at all?
CALVIN: It's kind of hard to grasp, but I understand that unpaid bills are unpaid bills. But we're talking about people's lives. We're talking about children that are going to go hungry. We're talking about -- where's the money going to come from to take care of these people?
Is Jim going to come out of his pocket to pay it? No. And, you know, President Obama, we're in America. You know, we need to take care of our people. I'm not the only one unemployed.
And the reason I'm sitting here now is because this state is in a big unemployment and it's growing and growing. Businesses are not coming in. People are not finding work. People that have had jobs are taking menial jobs --
CHETRY: Right.
CALVIN: -- because they just can't find anything, and it's a desperate time.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Well, listen, I want to thank you for coming on today and talking to us a little bit about it. It's not easy to, you know, show your personal story about things like this. And, Linda, we wish you the best of luck with your job search.
CALVIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: And, by the way, if anybody out there happens to see you, I know that you said you've been conducting a job search, you've applied everywhere, even your own cable company --
CALVIN: Yes.
CHETRY: They can contact us at our blog at CNN.com/amFIX if they want to -- they have something for you. Linda Calvin, good luck with everything.
CALVIN: Yes. Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us.
ACOSTA: Good luck, Linda.
CALVIN: Thank you. Bye-bye.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. When we come, we're going to talk more about this fallout from Washington.
It's 38 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- one minutes past the hour right now.
After years of legal battles, lawyers for Fred Goldman and O.J. Simpson have agreed to donate the suit that Simpson wore when he was acquitted of murder to the Smithsonian Institution. It's not clear whether the museum actually wants it. Goldman was suing to get the suit as part of his $33.5 million O.J. was ordered to pay after being -- actually, he was found in civil court of wrongful death.
ACOSTA: And some high-tech scammers are busted for shutting fans out of some of the biggest concerts like Bruce Springsteen and sporting events. Prosecutors say four California men virtually cut in line during on-line ticket sales and resold the tickets for $29 million in profits. That's just wrong.
CHETRY: All right. Well, also, New York City prosecutors have cleared three ACORN workers of criminal wrongdoing after they were filmed -- as you remember, in the video -- giving what appeared to be legal advice to a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute. In a statement, the D.A. said that no crime was committed. A spokeswoman for the organization says they're gratified by the decision. The videos were made by conservative activists.
ACOSTA: And residents in Fargo, North Dakota, are taking steps to save their city. This morning, they'll resume filling sandbags. The sandbags will be used to reinforce levees. The Red River reached a record level in Fargo last spring. And the National Weather Service says major flooding is expected again this year.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Well, it's now 42 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is going to be joining us after the break with the travel forecast today. And he talked about some flights being canceled -- AirTran, I believe, in the Atlanta area, because of bad weather.
ACOSTA: That's right.
And in 10 minutes, is there a new iPhone app for cheaters? Jeanne Moos has the latest on TigerText, tailor-made for those who want to cover their tracks.
It is 42 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUIS SORIANO, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN (through translator): In the villages, life goes on in a stationary way. There is no change.
Reading has made me laugh and dream. It has also shown me things I won't see in my lifetime.
Alfa, Beto, and I share the fact that we always lived here. My name is Luis Soriano and my classroom is not traditional.
My Biblioburro consists of books placed in saddles on top of my donkeys. It's not easy to travel to these valleys, the burning sun or too much rain. You sit on a donkey for five or eight hours, you get very tired.
It's a satisfaction to arrive at your destination. We go to places that are not on the map, where a child has to work or ride a donkey for up to 40 minutes to reach the closest school.
When they learn how to read, the child discovers a new world, like I did. Someone once said to me, "You've educated a lot of people. You've ridden the donkeys like no one has."
These children need it. Of course they want to learn. That's what keeps motivating me to ride.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- seven minutes past the hour right now and that means it's time for your "A.M. House Call," stories about your health. Older Americans who feel the need to nap frequently may actually be at greater risk of Type 2 diabetes than those who don't.
There's a study that analyzed nearly 20,000 Chinese adults age 50 or over and they found that those who napped four to six times a week were 36 percent more likely to have the disease, so it really means that you, perhaps if you are napping a lot, you may have diabetes as opposed to napping causes diabetes.
In the meantime, researchers say that America's health care system could save $73 billion a year if we all just cut our salt intake by about 10 percent. The Stanford University study concluding that if that happened today, nearly a million fatal strokes and heart attacks could be prevented among U.S. adults age 40 to 85. It's estimated three out of four Americans eat more than the suggested maximum of 2.3 grams of salt per day.
It turns out that Wii games can actually speed the recovery for stroke victims. In a recent study, stroke patients were divided into two groups and the first group spent two weeks playing Wii tennis as well as Wii cooking mama, and the second group played cards and block stacking games like Jenga, so the Wii patients actually wand up with much greater arm strength. Now, doctors are considering using the video game as part of a regular rehab program.
It's really interesting. They're going to have to change their mind about video games being bad for you. There was another study that we did when we were doing a story on autism that showed that they were actually using some of those video games as well to get autistic children to recognize faces and it was actually helping them as well.
ACOSTA: I think video games are good for you.
CHETRY: I love them.
ACOSTA: It all goes back to Atari.
CHETRY: Yes, frogger.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: It all back like a frogger and asteroids.
ACOSTA: Exactly. Pong even I think is --
CHETRY: Oh, man.
ACOSTA: Appropriate. Let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in Atlanta now. Rob, you played some video games in your day. That sort of a video game behind you, I think, isn't it?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know and --
CHETRY: The magic wall.
ACOSTA: The weather Wii.
MARCIANO: I do miss the days of pong and that was a good one for sure. You know, Atari might just do it today if you live in the southeast looking for any sort of indoor entertainment. Pretty strong storm system now moving across the area. We've seen winds gusting over 40 miles an hour from Texas to the Louisiana coastline.
You can see the classic signature at least here on the radar with rain down to Florida, wrapping around north of Atlanta, trying to start to see some mixing in of some wintry precipitation. The pink is the mix and the white obviously the snow. Even some of the snow trying to get into parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
This dry air will move in over the next hour or two and then we'll get out of it by later on this afternoon and tonight, but before that happens, the cold air comes in. Winter weather advisories up for the Atlanta metro area. We probably see about an inch or so of wet snow later on this afternoon.
Right now, it's fine, 2 to 4 inches of snow expected at the higher terrain in the mountains of North Georgia and Western Carolina. How far north is this system going to get? It will get up towards D.C. and Philadelphia, but we don't expect a whole lot of snow, maybe an inch but that should be about it.
I think greater impacts will be the wind. Atlanta and charlotte, you'll see a slowing down, if not, cancellations of flights because of this weather and also Miami and Orlando you're seeing some strong thunderstorms heading your way. It will be dry across the mid-section of the country, and it will be wet across the western half.
Let's go to Atlanta and show you this live shot. Temperatures right now dropping into the 30s where it is wet, but the wet may turn to a little bit of white later on this afternoon. That's the latest from the ATL, back to you guys up here in the Big Apple.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good, Robbie. Thanks.
MARCIANO: See you.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob, and we'll be right back after this quick break. It is 50 minutes after the hour.
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ACOSTA: It is 53 minutes after the hour and that means it's time for the Moost News in the Morning. There is a new iPhone app that could have saved Tiger Woods a lot of trouble. CHETRY: Yes, I guess so. If he actually got away with some of this, not surprisingly, it is called tiger text. It's tailor made for anybody who wants to see those incriminating text messages self- destruct. Here's Jeanne.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Tiger Woods was texting his alleged mistresses, he never imagined his messages would one day end up being animated for all to see.
UNKNOWN MALE: Quietly and secretly, we will always be together.
MOOS: But now the quietly and secretly part stands a chance. Introducing tigertext, their slogan, to cover your tracks.
UNKNOWN MALE: I said wouldn't it be great if you could send a text and it would just self-destruct in 30 seconds.
MOOS: Sounds familiar? Remember how the "Mission Impossible" team used to get their secret assignments.
UNKNOWN MALE: This disk will self-destruct in five seconds.
MOOS: The makers of tigertext say their iPhone app allows you to automatically delete text messages from the sender's phone and the receiver's phone.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Wow.
MOOS: You set the time from delete on read, the message disappears a minute after it's read, to a month later, and it also vanishes from the server.
UNKNOWN MALE: When it's gone, it's gone.
MOOS: In the tigertext demo, someone messages how did the job interview go? The reply, I told you don't send me stuff like this. Don't worry, I set it to delete on read. There's a countdown until the message vanishes, replaced by tiger paws.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: I don't know, tiger texting? Maybe we can call it something else.
MOOS: The makers of tigertext say, they're not referring to Tiger Woods. They mean the ones with four legs. Supposedly because they're hard to track, "PC World" called it the app for spies and cheaters.
UNKNOWN MALE: It's not about salaciousness, it's about the need for privacy. Judy, how many times have you sent a text message and closed with the words "please delete after reading."
MOOS: And it's not just for the iPhone. Tigertext is coming soon to a blackberry near you.
UNKNOWN MALE: Truthfully, I think it's very sketchy.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: It's very sneaky.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Wow. I don't know. I kind of like it. People should be able to have their privacy.
MOOS: The biggest catch is that both sender and receiver need to have the app for it to work. If only tiger had it.
UNKNOWN MALE: Can you please take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.
MOOS: One website called tigertext the morning after pill of messaging.
UNKNOWN MALE: I think I'll get it. If it --
MOOS: You have a guilty laugh.
(LAUGHING)
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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