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American Morning

Air Traffic Controller Allows Children to Instruct Pilots; President Calls For Final Congressional Vote on Health Care Reform; Chile Recovering From Massive Earthquake and Aftershocks; Retirement: A Distant Dream for Americans; Is the Filibuster Busted: No Speeches or Napping on Cots

Aired March 04, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Thursday, March 4th. I am Kate Bolduan sitting in for Kiran Chetry. Thank you, John for being here.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: You did a great job, so far. One hour dancing more to go.

BOLDUAN: Here we go.

ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts. Good morning. Thanks for being with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.

New fallout this morning after not one but two children's voices are heard over the air traffic control radio at New York's JFK Airport this morning. Their father and his supervisor had been suspended. We're live today with the FAA's response.

BOLDUAN: In Chile, more strong aftershocks rattle the country overnight adding to the tsunami fears five days after the huge 8.8 magnitude quake killed more than 800 people. The military is working to get aid and security forces into the hardest hit areas where the need is still desperate. Our Sara Sidner joining us live from Chile with more coming up in just 5 minutes.

ROBERTS: President Obama saying the time for talking is over. He wants Democrats to do what they have to do to get around the GOP filibuster and pass health care reform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said, and just about everybody has said it.

(LAUGHTER)

So now is the time to make a decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: So are Democrats united enough to get this done by themselves? Dana Bash is looking at why a simple majority may be complicated today.

But first, it's the story that everybody is talking about and asking what was he thinking? An air-traffic controller at one of the nation's busiest airports not only let his son direct several planes last month, but now we're learning the next day he let his other child do the same thing.

BOLDUAN: This morning that air traffic controller and his supervisor have both been suspended with pay. Our Susan Candiotti has been following the story. She has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Children directing planes at New York's JFK airport not once, but twice? The FAA says a controller allowed his son in the control tower to talk directly to pilots, and on the next day, his daughter, according to an informed source, had a chance to radio two more planes.

PETER GOELZ, AVIATION CONSULTANT: This is just unbelievable. How dumb can you be?

CANDIOTTI: Former NTSB official Peter Goals says with runway safety such a critical issue, what happened is senseless.

GOELZ: It's one thing to have your children into the tower to get a look at it. It is a completely different story when you are putting them on the microphone with hundreds of different passengers on these planes.

CANDIOTTI: The incident comes on the heels of other eyebrow- raising events involving controllers and pilots in the last year. Two pilots had their licenses revoked after overshooting a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles. But said they were using their laptop computers. The pilots are appealing

In Teterboro, New Jersey, moments before a midair collision over the Hudson River, a controller was making a personal call and the supervisor has left the building. They were both put on leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very unsafe, and I just can't believe that something like that was allowed to happen, how it even occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I was flying and I heard a child's voice on the radio, I would have to question any commands they might have given me.

CANDIOTTI: The FAA suspended both the JFK controller and the supervisor and called the tower distractions "totally unacceptable," and added "This lapse in judgment not only violated FAA's own policies but commonsense standards for professional conduct."

The Air Traffic Controllers' Association chimed in, quote, "We do not condone this type of behavior in any way. It's not indicative of the highest professional standards that controllers set for themselves and exceed each and every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Pilot web sites are buzzing about this. Some pilots say it's no big deal, and others call it outrageous.

But a former NTSB official said 99 percent of the time nothing is going to happen. But then he cited an incident in 1994, an air flight over Russia, and the pilot had his teenage son at the controls. He accidentally turned off the autopilot. The plane crashed killing all 75 passengers.

ROBERTS: As we said last hour, the pilots radioing back and forth did not seem to mind. The guy from JetBlue seemed to get a kick out of it. But at the same time you have to remember where you are and what you are doing.

CANDIOTTI: And yet one of the people we talked with yesterday outside the airport turned out to be a pilot and he said if I heard that voice, I would question the judgment of the command power of the people who are in that tower making decisions for us. So you hear the argument both ways.

ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti, good to see you this morning.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Susan.

And in a different scare this morning, at another busy airport, an ex-security chief for Chicago's O'Hare International says there are "potentially catastrophic terrorist opportunities there that includes unscreened cars parking in sensitive areas."

In a law suit the ex-security boss, who was fired last year, says authorities are more concerned with delays to a $5 billion airport expansion than with safety. He's suing for more than $2 million and to get his job back.

Chicago's department of aviation won't comment on the lawsuit but in a statement says "We want to assure the public that the number one priority for the Chicago department of aviation is the safety and security of individuals who travel though and work at O'Hare and Midway International Airports."

ROBERTS: New developments now in the massive Toyota recall. It looks like the automaker's fix may need fixing. Federal safety regulators confirm that they have received at least 10 complaints about sudden acceleration from Toyota owners who have already had their recalled cars repaired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART STOGEL, TOYOTA CAMRY OWNER: So they did a computer software revamp, from what I'm told, as well as working on the carpeting and the gas pedal. But in the end whatever they did didn't work, because I almost got into a serious accident last week after the fix was done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: These latest complaints are bolstering claims from many experts that the problem for recalled Toyota cars isn't the accelerator pedal or the floor mat, it's electrical.

BOLDUAN: And the situation on the ground in Chile this morning is still desperate in the hardest hit areas after Saturday's huge 8.8 magnitude quake. More strong aftershocks rattled the country overnight adding to tsunami fears.

The military is using helicopters and trucks trying to get aid to those who need it most. Security is also a huge concern. For the latest, let's bring in Sara Sidner. What is it like this morning, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This morning, it's still really, really bad. This place is decimated. There are homes after homes after homes that are completely flattened in this area, and a lot of the families have opted to move out of this area because there's just nothing here.

And if you look behind me, you are seeing some of the rubble left, not only by the earthquake, because this area happens to be along a river that connects to the ocean, the tsunami damaged much of the town.

We know there is a family we spoke with that right now just returned. They are still searching for their four-year-old son. He disappeared on Saturday when the tsunami swept him and his grandfather away. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And at the same time they are looking for their loved ones and have the threat of aftershocks. Thank you so much, Sara. Please stay safe. Great work out there.

ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning -- a week after firing all of the teachers at one of Rhode Island's worst performing high schools, the superintendent has agreed to explore other options. Francis Gallo says she is working with the Central Falls teachers after their union accepted changes to improve school quality. She hopes their differences could be resolved.

BOLDUAN: And more controversy for Oscar favorite "The Hurt Locker." A real life army vet, Sergeant Jeffrey Sarver, is suing the producers for allegedly ripping off his life story. He says the film's lead character is based on him and claims he even coined the term "hurt locker." Screenwriter Mark Bol was embedded with Sarver's unit in Iraq in 2004.

And stay tuned to CNN on Hollywood's big night for the road to gold. We will be live from the red carpet at 7:00 eastern Sunday and have post show coverage at 11:00 eastern on HLN.

(WEATHER BREAK) ROBERTS: President Obama says the time for talking is over. He wants an up or down vote on health care. Will Congress act? Our Dana Bash will walk us through the complicated final steps coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Let's get it done, that's what President Obama is telling Congress about health care reform.

BOLDUAN: And after a year of facing tense opposition, the Democrats are on the verge of doing it all along. But are they united enough? Dana Bash is live on Capitol Hill to take us through the final critical steps. "Critical" I think is the key word right there.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The president said yesterday that it is now time for a simple up or down vote on his health care plan. But for Democrats right here in Congress getting that done is going to be anything but simple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: The idea is for House Democrats to pass the same bill already approved by the Senate in late December. But House Democrats don't like some of what is in that Senate bill, so they won't do that without making changes, a separate package.

Those changes are what Democrats are planning to push through without Republican votes using that process known as reconciliation. Reconciliation means Democrats only need a simple majority, 51 votes in the Senate.

Democrats say the first and most important step in making all of that work is getting that package of changes just right, especially to muster enough votes here in the House.

Some examples from the House speaker.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: That would be affordability for middle class, closing the doughnut hole for seniors, ending the Nebraska fix and having state equity for all states, and fourth, just to name the major ones, changing the pay-for from the excise tax.

BASH: Another obstacle Democrats are grappling with is trust. Democrats in the House don't want to be left twisting in the wind. Some of them simply don't trust that their brethren over here in the Senate will actually follow through and pass the package of changes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are working on having that faith verified.

BASH: Another hurdle, and it's a big one, is whether Democrats themselves have enough agreement, especially in the House, to find the votes for all of this. And it's election year. Democrats are already nervous about getting reelected, and Republicans are stoking that by warning the health care bill will bring them down.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I want to assure our Democratic friends that if they are somehow able to pass this bill in the House, it will be the issue in every race in America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: So you see there both politically and procedurally this so-called simple up or down vote is very complicated. And Democratic sources up here on Capitol Hill that I talked to say that the president wants to get this done in the next couple weeks. That is going to be a very heavy lift, probably unlikely that that will happen. And they say that they appreciate the president's new pressure but it doesn't necessarily mean -- it certainly doesn't guarantee, John and Kate, that this will get done here.

BOLDUAN: Yes, maybe confusing but it is a very important process that people are going to be watching. Thank you so much, Dana.

BASH: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: So you dream of retirement? Well, it may just be a dream. Can you afford to retire? Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 18 minutes after the hour and time for "Minding Your Business."

There may be a new face on the $50 bill if Congressman Patrick McHenry gets his way. The North Carolina Republican wants Ulysses S. Grant gone after 96 years. In his place, "The Gipper," Ronald Reagan. McHenry points to a survey of historians by the "Wall Street Journal" where Reagan consistently outranks the legendary union general.

ROBERTS: Well, Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" this morning.

People dream of retirement. It may just be a dream for many people. A lot of people are, you know, afraid that the money will run out long before the year as well.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that's exactly -- and women in particular are more concerned about this because women live longer and they have to save a little bit more money.

Look, a new survey from Careerbuilder.com (ph) found that seniors are even most pessimistic today about their ability to retire than they were last year in 2008, in the heat of the crisis. Today, 72 percent of seniors report they can't afford to retire. In 2008, that was 60 percent. For women, 76 percent of women -- these are workers over the age of 60 say they are worried that they are not going to be able to have enough money to retire, and men at 68 percent.

And again, that fear of retirement among women is -- the heightened fear of retirement among women is really well documented in a lot of different surveys because women do live longer and because women are pretty active in that age in the job market, and frankly because they have accumulated less wealth from working over the course of their career because they're paid less on the dollar.

Now, why are seniors delaying retirement when they can? According to the survey, these are workers, again, over the age of 60. They're delaying retirement because most of them they can't afford it, 72 percent. Seventy-one percent, though, are delaying retirement because they enjoy their job, and this is another interesting angle on this, too.

There are a lot of companies that prefer to keep the senior workers because they know they're going to retire eventually and they're solid good workers. And some seniors have been able to hold on because they enjoy the job through the recession and half of them are because they need health care. So these are the reasons why seniors are delaying retirement.

I wanted to really quickly bring up to you, guys, too, a recent survey by the AARP. They found an even higher level of distress, financial distress among African-Americans 60 and older, particularly among African-American men 60 and older. This report was really stunning for the picture that it paints too of this particular demographics.

So these are issues, even in the last hour I was talking about the economy showing signs of growing again, we still have a great (INAUDIBLE) older Americans who are close to retirement or trying to come back because they don't have enough money to live on.

ROBERTS: You know, and as the baby boom generation, which was the active generation gets close to retirement, a lot of those people aren't going to want to retire.

ROMANS: That's absolutely right. And also, they're also, they've got kids coming out of college --

ROBERTS: Yes.

ROMANS: -- they can't get a job. So now they've got other people -- they're trying to keep -- or they're trying to keep jobs so they can keep their kid on health insurance. There are a lot of different variables here so even as we begin to talk about a recession being over, there's some fundamental family issues going on about our money right now.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting. Very interesting. And time now for "Romans' Numeral." Christine gives us a number that's driving a story about your money today. So, Christine, what is today's Roman numeral?

ROMANS: This one is 37.4 weeks. And this has to do with the demographic that's 55 to 64-year-old workers. 37.4 weeks. ROBERTS: I got it.

BOLDUAN: I am guessing average numbers of week for unemployment.

ROMANS: It's very close. It's the average length, if they lose a job, they can expect to be out of work.

ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness.

ROMANS: Thirty-seven weeks.

BOLDUAN: Oh, really.

ROMANS: And that's more than what we've been telling you. You heard me tell you before that it's about 30 weeks for the broader, general, you know, overall population. It's much longer if you are 55 to 64.

And think of it. You're, you know -- if you lost money in the market, you lost money in your retirement, especially if you were still really invested in stocks and didn't diversify. So, you know, this is crunch time for a lot of those folks. That's why these surveys are showing that they feel they can't afford to retire.

ROBERTS: I know. Christine Romans, great to see you this morning.

A lot going on in Washington lately, and not just in Washington either but New York state as well. You've got the Charlie Rangel scandal.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

ROBERTS: The Governor Paterson scandal here. You had Senator Jim Bunning standing in the way of the jobs bill.

BOLDUAN: Oh, right, there is that one, too. Of course.

ROBERTS: Right. And some Republican scare tactics to tell you about this morning as well. We'll run that past our panel in just a couple of minutes.

Twenty-three minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Your top stories just five minutes away now. But first an "A.M. Original." It's something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.

A late night vote in the Senate this week is putting an old school tactic back in the spotlight, the filibuster.

BOLDUAN: But we didn't see the hours and hours of talking on end. No senators napping on cots, so what's changed? Has the filibuster lost its political punch? Our Jim Acosta is breaking this one down for us live from our D.C. bureau this morning.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kate. That's putting it mildly. The truth about the filibuster is that it's not what it used to be. The rules or lack thereof make it easy for any senator to hold up legislation without a lot of effort. To most people the word filibuster means to talk something to death. In the Senate, that's not how things work anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): When it comes to the filibuster, times have changed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wild horses aren't going to drag me off this floor until those people have heard everything I've got to say, even though it takes all winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: In the 1939 film classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Jimmy Stewart puts on a filibuster that lasts 23 hours. Segregationist Strom Thurmond set the record in 1957, filibustering for more than 24 hours against civil rights legislation. In those days, senators had to sleep on cots to wait it out.

ALFONSE D'AMATO, FORMER SENATOR FOR NEW YORK: We didn't have a plan that was deep down in the heart of Texas.

ACOSTA: There have even been singing filibusters, but these days senators are no longer required to speak for hours on end to hold things up.

DON RITCHIE, U.S. SENATE HISTORIAN: You won't find the filibuster in the rules of the Senate.

ACOSTA: And because there are no rules, Senate historian Don Ritchie says a filibuster is in the eye of the beholder.

D'AMATO: File (ph) my seat.

ACOSTA: A senator can talk for days or simply object over and over to a vote on legislation, as Jim Bunning did this week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there an objection?

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: There is. I object, and let me --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objection is heard.

BUNNING: Excuse me. ACOSTA: And then slipped down the senator's only elevator. Unless the majority can come up with 60 votes to end debate, a procedure known as cloture, the filibuster is on.

The filibuster has gotten so easy the cots are rarely dragged out. More and more senators have private unmarked hideaways inside the Capitol. Filibuster is all about the power of one.

RITCHIE: That means that every individual senator is a very powerful player and doesn't have to be here for decades to prove seniority, to have an influence.

ACOSTA: But a few Democrats are pushing to change this old Senate tradition.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D), COLORADO: During this session of Congress, the right to filibuster has been abused.

ACOSTA: Even some Republicans admit they were wincing during Bunning's filibuster of unemployment benefits.

SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R), MAINE: Do you really have to exercise or think judgment in that sense and who you're hurting at the moment in time. And I think that's what what's so difficult about this.

ACOSTA: Maine's Olympia Snowe blames both parties for a "my way or the highway" attitude that's out of control.

(on camera): And you would agree with the feeling out there that the government is broken, that the Congress is broken in many ways?

SNOWE: Absolutely. Absolutely. I am here. My constituents are home. I understand it. I feel it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: There's no way to track the number of filibusters. Imagine that. Just the number of cloture motions, those votes to cut off debate. The current Congress could break the record number of cloture motions. The record was set in the last Congress just two years ago, 112 cloture votes. And, John and Kate, this Congress is on a pace to beat that pretty easily this time around.

ROBERTS: In a lot of cases, Jim, you know, they don't get to a cloture vote. They just count votes, right, and say, oh, there's no reason to proceed because we don't have it?

ACOSTA: That's right. And all that really needs to happen is the minority leader has to inform the majority leader that a filibuster is on. A note is passed and so there's really very little effort that goes into a filibuster these days. If you look up filibuster in the dictionary, most people will see that it means talking something to death, but that is not how it works in the Senate. Not anymore.

ROBERTS: You know, Kate came to me this morning. Well, actually, she had gone to me. She said that in the middle of the newsroom, she said, you know the origins of the word "filibuster," and I had to say, no. So --

BOLDUAN: I was told by various producer in Washington, Evan Glass (ph), said it comes, derived from a Dutch word for pirate, which I will not attempt to pronounce the Dutch word. But there you have it.

ROBERTS: There you are.

BOLDUAN: Just as effective but a little less exciting these days.

ACOSTA: You learn something new every day.

BOLDUAN: We try.

ROBERTS: Jim, thanks very much. Good to see you again.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now, and checking this morning's top stories. The military now in control on the streets of Concepcion, one of the towns hardest hit by Chile's massive 8.8 magnitude quake. Aid is starting to get to those who need it most, but the country was rattled overnight by strong aftershocks and tsunami fears are making relief efforts extremely difficult there.

BOLDUAN: The air traffic controller who let his kids direct planes at JFK airport in New York City and his supervisor have been suspended. Officials say the tower controller not only let his son radio departing airplanes last month, but the next day he allowed his other child to do the same thing. Federal aviation officials say the air traffic controller failed to use common sense.

ROBERTS: And at least 10 Toyota owners have filed complaints about sudden acceleration in cars that have already been repaired under the company's recall. That's raising questions whether electrical problems might be to blame for Toyota's safety problems.

Listen to this Camry owner from Mt. Vernon, New York, who claims he was nearly killed after his recalled Toyota was fixed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART STOGEL, TOYOTA CAMRY OWNER: Eventually I put -- I jammed my foot on the break and eventually the break was able to disengage the engine. The engine override, which the computer was supposedly modified to do, it didn't work. It didn't work. I was only saved by a few feet and about a second from going down an embankment. You know, we had a lot of snow here in the New York area at that time, and going down the embankment and smashing into a brick wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Scary stuff. Federal safety officials are now interviewing the owners who filed these latest complaints. Toyota says it stands behind the recall repairs that it has been making.

It has been an interesting week in the nation's capital, highlighted by a former pitcher who hand cuffed the Senate with a one- man filibuster. The sequel to that side show may be coming soon but Democrats moving toward reconciliation to get healthcare reforms for Congress.

Here to break it all down for us this morning in New York, Katrina Vanden Heuvel. She is the editor and publisher of "The Nation." And in Washington, Tony Blankley, conservative columnist and former press secretary for House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Good to have you both here.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, EDITOR "THE NATION": Thank you.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you. Katrina, let's start with you.

President Obama demanding an up or down vote on health care. He didn't use the word reconciliation yesterday but said that he sees the procedure as other votes have been cast in the past, you just need a simple majority, which is reconciliation.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Yes.

ROBERTS: ... which has Republicans incensed.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Does it really? I'm shocked.

ROBERTS: Is it a good idea for him to take that route?

VANDEN HEUVEL: I think it is. I think we need -- listen, the Congress is staggeringly dysfunctional. We have staggering problems. 25 million without jobs and 45 million without health care. We talked for a year now. It IS time for action. And you know, reconciliation, you can listen to the Republicans talk about jamming it down your throat.

It has been used 22 times since 1980, 16 by Republicans to pass 2001, 2002, 2003 tax cuts under President Bush. I think this is to improve conditions of peoples' lives, and it's time to use it. And I think your first report, it's also time to reform and end the super majority anti-Democratic filibusters.

ROBERTS: All right. Let's hear from Tony on all of these. What do you think, Tony. Is reconciliation the correct path?

TONY BLANKLEY, EXECUTIVE V.P., EDELMAN: Look, I think Americans believe in playing by the rules and the rules permit these kind of parliamentary procedures. I don't know of any legislation that has come back to bite the party, either party on the bottom because of the procedure followed if the legislation is population. On the other hand, the Democrats I think are in danger, because if the bill passes and it's unpopular, then the use of this procedure I think will sort of super charge the opposition. So they're sort of doubling down on the risk. But -- and there is a lot of fast and loose talk about what is permitted under the reconciliation.

I think the parliamentarian of the Senate is likely to be, give honest judgments on that and unless the vice president as the president of the Senate over rides it. The procedures will be followed, but the danger is the bill is very unpopular.

(CROSSTALK)

VANDEN HEUVEL: Tony, I think what is unpopular is the fact that we haven't seen action out of this Congress. I think that there has been too much attention to the sausage making --

BLANKLEY: I know that's your view, the bill --

VANDEN HEUVEL: -- to the process.

BLANKLEY: The bill is very unpopular.

VANDEN HEUVEL: No. Even out of Massachusetts, the polling showed it wasn't the bill that was unpopular, it was the Congress and the lack of action on the part of improving the condition of peoples' lives. I think once it gets passed, that it begins to play a role. I mean, social security --

BLANKLEY: Well, that--

VANDEN HEUVEL: -- and Medicare was opposed by the Republican Party and now those are fixtures, an important parts of our lives.

(CROSSTALK)

BLANKLEY: Look, I think you should be free to say that. That's what the Democrats are saying to themselves. If you are right, then everything will be swell in November for the Democrats. If you are wrong in that assessment of what the public feels about the bill, based on all the polls that most of us have seen, then there's a risk for the Democrats.

VANDEN HEUVEL: But John, could I just --

BLANKLEY: It's right for the Democrats to take a risk.

VANDEN HEUVEL: I think Tony and I might agree on one thing. I think there are deeper dysfunctions in our society, in our country. Two things in this Congress. Until we reform the way the special, the wall of special interest money corrodes our politics and until we end the lobbying corruption, which is a trans-partisan problem, I don't see how as "The Nation's" cover story last week, by Lawrence Lessig, "How to get Back our Democracy." How we do that?

ROBERTS: Tony, is that likely to happen? BLANKLEY: Look, I disagree pretty fundamentally. I did a column last week. I think the question of whether the policy is working, the government and its electorate. The electorate gets I think pretty much what it wants. I've been in Washington for 30 years. We, Republicans got what we wanted when the public was with us, we've been blocked in the process when the public is not with us.

The problem is we have some big problems like the deficit, the publics wants all the benefits, and they don't want high taxes, so we are getting high debt. When the public decides that the debt is more dangerous than the benefits are good, then I think this town will probably quickly respond to the public's will.

VANDEN HEUVEL: You know what, I would never speak for the public, Tony. I think what we need to look at -- first of all, there's a philosophical divide between the two parties. And that's what it should be? We should have more parties?

BLANKLEY: Right.

VANDEN HEUVEL: But what is more important? Jobs or the deficit? And secondly, Senator Durbin said a few months ago, the banks own this place talking about the Senate. We need a peoples' lobby, not a bank lobby.

BLANKLEY: Katrina, that's the debate. The country is divided. You are on one side and I am on one side, millions of Americans are on each of these sides and this town, the Washington government reflects that division. And both --

(CROSSTALK)

VANDEN HEUVEL: -- let's get outside the beltway. Sorry --

ROBERTS: This has been a tremendous debate so far, and I've been happy to let it go but I think I want to jump in here and just change the topic a little bit.

Politico obtained a Powerpoint presentation, and there is nothing as exciting, I should say, as a Powerpoint presentation, but this one is from the RNC financial leadership meeting at which they have one slide that sort of details the evil empire here.

Let's take a look at it. It's got that Joker face of President Obama. It's got Nancy Pelosi as Cruella Deville. Harry Reid as Scooby Doo. You know, another slide here in the presentation says that fear is a major motivating factor in raising money. Tony, is this election going to divide America politically even further than it already is?

BLANKLEY: Every election is designed to divide America by the bonus (ph). Both parties in their fund raising use all kinds of devices. Bulls eye. All kinds of -- you know, you have seen them over the years. You go to your contributors and you try to induce them to give you money and you come up with all sorts of thing. My old boss, Newt Gingrich, was used by both Democrats and Republicans to try to raise money. Ted Kennedy, the same way. This is all part of the regular process.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Someday, I hope our politics will shift from the fear mongering which does fill it. I think these -- listen, I love Scooby Doo, but I think the Joker image of Barack Obama verges on a racialized image and I think it's sexist that Cruella Deville talks about Nancy Pelosi.

BLANKLEY: But it wasn't -- it wasn't -- we found out --

VANDEN HEUVEL: But it's so pathetic. The evil empire, we can do better, Tony, in this country.

BLANKLEY: We found out --

(CROSSTALK)

BLANKLEY: That's wrong.

VANDEN HEUVEL: The issue --

BLANKLEY: The media found out who designed it, and it was a left wing person, I believe -- it was not a right-winged white guy.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Those Joker posters have been at the tea party events.

BLANKLEY: There's no racial implications at all.

ROBERTS: We've got to go, folks.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Let's take back our democracy and end with all the silly (INAUDIBLE)

ROBERTS: That was great to wind up and let you go. Thanks very much. Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Tony Blankley, good to be with you --

BLANKLEY: Thank you.

ROBERTS: -- this morning. Thanks. Good to sit here and watch. It's like a sport. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Teachers and students rallying against budget cuts on a day of action. CNN goes inside the classroom. How one teacher is coping with shrinking budgets and increased class sizes.

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BOLDUAN: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Dozens nationwide protests are planned today in defense of education. Demonstrators in more than 30 cities taking to the streets, and tired of budget cuts that are bloating classrooms and burdening teachers. Casey Wian now with one first grade teacher in California who is trying very hard to cope. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): John, Kate, here at Maywood Elementary School in southern California, there is a growing problem, and it's about to walk through that door. It's not him or him or her, or any of the students individually, but it's just that there are too many of them in each classroom.

And throughout California, budget cuts are forcing class sizes to increase dramatically.

(voice-over): Lorena. Cisneros used to have 20 students or fewer in her first grade classroom. State funding incentives kept kindergarten through third grade classes small. California had suspended that program to save money. So this year her class started with 27 students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Melanie, what are you doing over there?

LORENA CISNEROS, FIRST GRADE TEACHER: One of the biggest problems in my classroom right now is going to be the seating, you know, just finding a seating arrangement for all those children.

Are you OK, Bailey (ph)? Yes. Can you make up a little bit of room for Bailey (ph), please?

All the work that four teachers would do, now three teachers do it, and that's been a challenge as well.

WIAN (on camera): As you can see, there are no students in this classroom. That's because Maywood Elementary lost five teachers last year. It's now being used as a meeting room. Last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District send out 8,000 layoff notices to teachers and other employees. About 2,000 actually ended up losing their jobs.

This year, more than 5,000 additional layoff notices are going out, and by the end of next year, the district will have cut more than $2 billion from its annual budget.

CISNEROS: We just spend a lot of money from our own pockets, sometimes a trip to the teacher's store is $60 to $100. For example, those books, I purchased them myself.

WIAN (voice-over): Lupe Hernandez is Maywood's principal. She has presided over four years of rising test scores and she knows some of her best teachers will get pink slips.

(on camera): What has it done for morale for teachers and other staff members here at the school?

LUPE HERNANDEZ, PRINCIPAL, MAYWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: You know, our teachers really work hard because we have had such great success. It's hard for them. They are staying here longer. They are in fear of what is next. WIAN (voice-over): Educating a room full of six and seven-year- olds while keeping them safe is not a job for those distracted by the threat of losing their jobs.

CISNEROS: It's just too many students that will be without an efficient teacher. Because you're stress, you are thinking of the bills that you have to pay. You're thinking of your mortgage. You're think of your own family. It's very hard for all the children to learn when you have a stressed teacher.

WIAN (on camera): Later today, teachers, staff, students and parents will be gathering outside Maywood Elementary to protest budget cuts. From kindergarten through college, similar demonstrations will be happening in campuses all over the state. John, Kate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: So we want to hear from you. Are cuts to education effecting you? Sound off on our blog, just head to cnn.com/amfix.

ROBERTS: Got some chill in the northeast and some strong winds as well. It might affect air travel. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the weather forecast for you and he will be with us in just a moment.

Coming up on 15 minutes now at the top of the hour.

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ROBERTS: Little Calle Ocho music.

BOLDUAN: Yes. How can you not (INAUDIBLE) that one?

ROBERTS: The Calle Ocho festival is one of the truly traditions in this country.

Morning Miami, where it's fair. Forty-nine degrees right now. Later on today it's going to be sunny. But it's only going to go up to 67 degrees. So you've got to push it if you want to be on the beach today.

Our Rob Marciano tracking the extreme weather from the forecast center in Atlanta.

Boy, if Miami is only going to be 67, what's it going to be like in the rest of the country?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's pretty chilly down there. Wind chill advisories out for central and southern Florida with temperatures feeling like they're in the 30's and 40's in some spots.

It feels like it's 19 right now in Atlanta. And feels like 29 degrees in New York. So the wind with the cold certainly keeping things a bit chilly.

A bit of a warming trend here across parts of the plains. And if we skip across the pond, just to kind of change gears just a little bit, we're looking at a very active weather in Europe.

A video out of parts of the Mediterranean, where a wave crashed into a cruise ship and killed two people. I mean a 26, 27, 28-foot wave hitting this cruise ship and not only that, but injured six people. So unbelievable the kind of waves that they're experiencing in the Mediterranean.

This storm brought winds 60 to 70 miles an hour. And this on the heels of a storm earlier in the week that had winds of 106 miles an hour along the Eiffel Tower. My goodness.

All right, we have a storm in the east coast, not quite as bad, obviously. But the remnants of the little thing that came through yesterday across parts of the northeast still creating wind and some eastern New England snow.

Here's your wind chill advisory across parts of Florida. Right now it feels like 40 in Orlando. And as far as what's going on out west, we do have winter storm watches and advisories up. For parts in the inter-mountain west could see 10 to 20 inches of snow with this storm rolling into the Rockies.

That's the latest from here. John and Kate, back up to you.

ROBERTS: All right, Rob, thanks so much. John and Kate. It's got a certain ring, doesn't it?

BOLDUAN: Plus -- no.

ROBERTS: Plus eight? Nine?

BOLDUAN: Probably it'd be around here.

ROBERTS: Ten. Probably 10 actually, so there you go. John and Kate plus 10 this morning.

This morning's top stories just minutes away including when dad lets his son into the control tower. He's got to be Even Steven with his daughter. The fallout for letting two kids cleared flights for take-off at one of the nation's busiest airport.

BOLDUAN: At 10 minutes after the hour, the president wants a health care vote. Whether ramming a health care bill through Congress is what the doctor orders.

ROBERTS: And at 40 minutes after the hour, does Hollywood really know war? Barbara Starr asked the Pentagon if "Hurte Locker" and "Avatar" get a thumbs-up from the Pentagon.

Those stories and more coming your way at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." It's 53 minutes after the hour, and time for your "AM" house calls, stories about your health. Today Dr. Sanjay Gupta makes a one-year checkup on a woman who should probably be dead right now.

ROBERTS: But doctors say a cancer vaccine that they've developed is working on her. And what seems like a medical miracle could one day become the norm.

Here's Sanjay with her remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. JOHN SAMPSON, PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER: I heard you also volunteered to do a spinal tap today for us?

KAREN VANEMAN, BRAIN CANCER PATIENT: Yes.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Karen Vaneman. She's bracing for another painful procedure. You see she's got cancer. Brain cancer. A killer tumor called glioblastoma.

(On camera): Glioblastoma, glioblastoma, (INAUDIBLE), GBM. This is typically thought of as the worse type of tumor. Why?

DR. ALLAN FRIEDMAN, PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER: Because left untreated, the patient succumbs to the disease very quickly.

GUPTA (voice-over): Even with aggressive treatment average survival is barely a year. Chemotherapy, radiation -- all the usual treatments hardly slow it down.

(On camera): Good to see you.

VANEMAN: Good to meet you.

GUPTA: How are you?

VANEMAN: I am fine, thank you.

GUPTA: You OK today?

(Voice-over): But here at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Karen found hope, an experimental vaccine.

(On camera): When people hear the word vaccine, they think this is something to prevent the disease.

SAMPSON: Right. Right.

GUPTA: That's not what's happened here exactly.

SAMPSON: No, it's not.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. John Sampson helped develop the vaccine. SAMPSON: Essentially, all the cells in our body have a fingerprint. The fingerprints on your cells are different from the fingerprint on my cells. But the immune system can recognize the differences in those fingerprints.

GUPTA: The vaccine has a futuristic name. It's called CDX 110. It uses the body's own immune system to attack tumor cells. It won't work on every GBM patient. Just the 40 percent or so whose tumors make one particular protein. In those patients it goes off like a smart bomb.

SAMPSON: So unlike chemotherapy which really hurts all the budding cells in the body, or radiation, the immune system can be absolutely precise. And so we get a very tumor specific attack with very low toxicity.

GUPTA: Which means the patients don't get sick. Now Karen gets a shot, a painful one every month, but look at the results.

We were able to pay her another visit. A full year later. Remember, most patients don't even live that long.

VANEMAN: As long as the vaccine works, then I'll be getting a monthly shot, and when it doesn't work, then I am in trouble.

GUPTA (on camera): What can we say about this vaccine now in terms of educating a patient about it? What do you tell them in terms of what it promises?

SAMPSON: We're always careful not to over promise what something can deliver. And this is still in an experimental stage. But patients are living two to three times longer with the vaccine than we would have expected.

GUPTA (voice-over): As much as six years in some cases. With no sign of returning cancer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: So John and Kate, as you can see there, Duke has been doing this for about six years now, but this is obviously just one center. Plan now for many centers around the country to see if they can duplicate, replicate these same results.

That's going to be the real key question here. To see if the same impact can be felt across the board, and when those results get released we're really going to have a better answer as to whether or not this deadly tumor can be more safely and effectively treated.

John and Kate, back to you.

ROBERTS: Remarkable stuff. And you know there are other scientists working on vaccines for melanoma that are showing some promise as well so.

BOLDUAN: Vaccine for that type of thing, just amazing. ROBERTS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You can only hope.

We're back with top stories after the break.

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