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American Morning
New Runaway Toyota Claim in California; Tornado Hits Western Oklahoma; Obama Fired Up Over Health Care; Liz Cheney Under Fire for Attack Ads; Fighting Foreclosure; Helping Baby Patricia; Shortening the School Week
Aired March 09, 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. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, March 9th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
There's a brand new report of a runaway Toyota this morning. A man says he was standing on the brakes of his Prius as the car broke 90 miles an hour on a hilly San Diego highway. Hear him relive what could have been his last ride.
CHETRY: Wow. Well, President Obama tapping into his old campaign-style fire as he heads into battle yet again on health care reform. He's ripping into people he says are standing in the way. But is this new strategy enough to save his plan? We're live at the White House with details.
ROBERTS: And a scary sight in western Oklahoma. A tornado touching down taking power lines down along with it. This amazing video was shot by storm chasers who got dangerously close to the twister. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us across the country tonight.
CHETRY: First, though, a developing story we're following for you this morning. A new terrifying account of a runaway ride in a Toyota. The company is now sending investigators to California where a driver is claiming that he almost flew over a hill at more than 90 miles an hour in his Prius yesterday. The Prius was only recalled for braking problems not the acceleration issue. Deb Feyerick has all the details for us this morning. First of all, describe what this gentleman is saying happened to him?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And this is what's fascinating because there have been so many more reports people are so much more aware that they are taking steps. We heard him say that the floor mat was perfect. So is this more evidence than the problem really is?
Well, what's so interesting is that the driver, Jim Sikes, said he was traveling east on Interstate 8 outside the San Diego area when he attempted to pass a slower vehicle. He says he pushed down on the gas pedal and it just -- something wasn't working, something funny was happening it just didn't come back. It was stuck there.
Now, the car hit 90 miles an hour as he was trying to slow down, avoid other drivers and avoid going over a cliff. And in a news conference yesterday afternoon, he relived part of that runaway ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SIKES, PRIUS DRIVER: My thought was going over the side of the hill because there's too many hills, too many angles. That's why I want to shut the car off because there was no straight place to do it and then nobody to protect me from behind. There were a few times that I got really, really close to vehicles especially a truck twice, once early in the game and then another one when he was on the side of me -- came real close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Sikes said he called 911 for help and dispatchers talked him through instructions on how he might be able to stop the car but nothing worked. So at one point, he said, he reached down to try to pull the accelerator up but it stayed right where it was. That's a quote. Now a California Highway Patrol officer was able to catch up to Sikes' Prius and use the patrol car's P.A. system to help him bring that car to a stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES SIKES, PRIUS DRIVER: I was just holding on the steering wheel with my left hand and I was down in an angle trying to pull it -- just tried to pull it back. I thought it was maybe stuck. I mean, my mat was perfect. There was nothing wrong with my mat. And the pedal, it wouldn't do anything. It stayed right where it was.
He got up on the side and told me what to do and I was standing on the pedal -- standing on the right pedal looking out the window at him. And he said, push the emergency brake too then laid on both of them. And it finally started slowing down right then, down like 55. It had been at 94, I know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Toyota issued a statement saying it was notified of the incident and has sent a field technical specialist to San Diego to investigate the report and offer assistance. You know, what's really so interesting about all of this is that, in fact, many people have been reporting a similar thing that's going on where the pedal is simply not speaking to the engine. That's where the whole electronic component part comes in. In the older car, there used to be a wire connecting the pedal to the engine so there was contact. There's no contact any more.
CHETRY: Right.
FEYERICK: It's all electronic.
CHETRY: Although -- FEYERICK: And so they're looking into that because they don't know.
CHETRY: And Toyota has denied and has said explicitly that it is not a problem with electronics.
FEYERICK: Right. Well, what's so interesting is you look at that Prius sitting there on the highway. And right now, that's a piece of evidence. And so that could be really interesting to look at the car, try to figure out what happened because Toyota keeps saying, we cannot duplicate this. We do not know what is happening. And so now at least maybe they have a car. Maybe they can begin to break down the components and see exactly why this occurred.
CHETRY: It's fascinating.
FEYERICK: Yes.
CHETRY: And disturbing to a lot of people who have Toyotas.
FEYERICK: Scared. Really, really scared. Yes.
CHETRY: And this guy got very lucky.
FEYERICK: He did.
CHETRY: Deb, thanks.
ROBERTS: Well, hundreds of families in western Oklahoma are still without power this morning after a tornado touched down in the town of Hammond. Storm chasers captured these amazing pictures getting within 80 yards of so of the twister. Several homes and a county farm were destroyed as well. No injuries they're reporting.
Let's go to Rob Marciano. He's in the weather center today for a closer look at this storm and what else is going on across the country. Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Let's go to that again because it's pretty amazing stuff. Remember the month of February we only saw one tornado, a very weak one in California. To see one this strength in Oklahoma, eye opening and a reminder that we are heading into the teeth of severe weather season now that we're in March, April and May certainly prime time. With destruction four to six homes in Hammond and other homes being damaged, certainly dramatic stuff there.
Two reports of touchdowns. Let's go to Google Earth to give you an idea of where this was in the Texas, Oklahoma panhandle and just to the east there. Hammond and then touching down again in Butler near Custer County. So two reports there.
All right. Where's the storm going? We go the radar to show you that. It's weakening thankfully as it begins to broaden its reach. Some showers and thunderstorms across parts of Louisiana heading into the Tennessee Valley. These should not be severe. But tomorrow will be a pretty good severe weather day.
As a reminder usually in the month of February, we get 22 tornadoes. We had one. And we'll wrap in May with an average getting close to 200.
That's the latest from here. Much more weather, John and Kiran, in about 30 minutes. See you then.
CHETRY: Pictures were unbelievable though. Wow. Thanks, Rob. We'll check in with you a little later.
Meanwhile, President Obama is launching his final push for health care reform. He was fired up and sharpening his attacks against the health insurance industry as well as Republicans. Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House this morning.
So he went on the road to get his message out there to the people. How much did this help in rallying support, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hard to tell if it's going to do anything in the long-term. But certainly, Kiran, in the short term, it was no surprise, no mistake. It looked like a campaign event, felt like a campaign event, sounded like a campaign event. He was clearly resurrecting his kind of fired up ready to go message because actually that was the one way that he was able to garner support in the campaign for his agenda. He's trying to do two things, trying to rally support for health care reform but also produce these kinds of pictures of audiences and people cheering wildly.
This crowd very friendly at the suburban Philadelphia College. They even cheered when he took off his coat. But there are some real concerns when it comes to that area. Philadelphia has shown really to be a place where doctors are not likely to sign off to Medicaid patients because it takes so long to get reimbursement payments in the state of Pennsylvania. These are the kinds of things that the president talked about and it's the kinds of things that he had hoped to rally the crowd. Just take a listen, Kiran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I'll be honest with you, I don't know how passing health care will play politically. But I do know that it's the right thing to do. It's right for our families. It's right for our businesses. It's right for the United States of America. And if you share that belief, I want you to stand with me and fight with me. I ask you to help us get us over the finish line these next two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Kiran, you can see the excitement from that particular crowd and like a campaign event as well. There were a few hecklers that actually would chime in every once in a while saying health care is not abortion or hold up some signs and he would try to drown them out or the crowd would try to drown them out. But clearly trying to get a lot of enthusiasm, excitement around this particular issue. He's going to be going ahead to St. Louis tomorrow to try to do the same, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning, live up early at the White House. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, one of the last two American missionaries being held in Haiti is free and back in the United States. Charisa Coulter and nine others were jailed from more than a month on suspicion of kidnapping after January's deadly earthquake there. Coulter's father says his daughter needs time to recover. Laura Silsby, the leader of the group, is the only one still in a Port-au-Prince jail this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEL COULTER, FATHER OF CHARISA COULTER (via telephone): She's going to definitely need some time to reflect on what she's been through and, you know, some time to kind of recover from the ordeal. But at the same time, I think she still, you know, wants to work, do anything she possibly can to help Laura's case and ensure that Laura is released soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the future of Laura Silsby's case is still unclear. She was back in court yesterday and she also poke to our Sara Sidner who is in Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA SILSBY, AMERICAN MISSIONARY JAILED IN HAITI: I'm very happy that Charisa went home today. Very happy for her, for her freedom, and I expect that mine will soon follow.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why are you the last person left, though? Why do you think you are the last person?
SILSBY: Because I am the leader of the team. They're still finishing their process.
SIDNER: Did you do anything wrong? Did you try to kidnap these children?
SILSBY: Oh, of course not. I came here to help the children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, if anything breaks on this case this morning, we'll, of course, take you there with the very latest.
And just after the earthquake in Haiti, we brought you the amazing story of a tiny infant girl who was pulled from the rubble alive. She was flown to Miami. Well, now a couple claiming to be her parents say they want their daughter back. Coming up in 20 minutes, we're going to get an A.M. follow-up from our Elizabeth Cohen. ROBERTS: Well, scientists are giving us a sense of just how powerful the quake was that hit Chile. They say the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country last month -- listen to this -- moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet to the west. Concepcion is Chile's second largest city. It was not far from the epicenter. It was just a little bit further north. The quake also moved Chile's capital of Santiago about 11 inches to the west. More than 900 people were killed in that horrible earthquake.
CHETRY: Well, still to come on the Most News in the Morning, never known to shy away from a fight. Now Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Liz is under fire from some in her own party. We're going to talk more about this controversial ad she might have been behind and why it's raising so much controversy among conservatives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 13 minutes after the hour. Police in Milledgeville, Georgia, confirming that they do plan to interview Super Bowl winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the next few days. A 20-year-old college student claims that Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her last week in a Georgia nightclub. His attorney insists that there was no crime committed. Roethlisberger is also being sued by a woman who alleges that he raped her two years ago in a hotel in Lake Tahoe.
CHETRY: Former Congressman Eric Massa says that he decided to step down this week because he was set up by his own party. The Democrat from upstate New York insists that party leaders forced him out so that he wouldn't be able to vote against health care reform. Massa announced last week he wouldn't be seeking re-election because of health problems. He claims he became the target of an ethics investigation and then decided to resign.
ROBERTS: Shifting explanations there, let's say.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, also new this morning. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is under fire from some conservatives. Cheney's group Keep America Safe launched a series of attack ad where they question the loyalty of Justice Department lawyers that have previously represented Guantanamo Bay detainees.
ROBERTS: But now more than a dozen former officials in the Bush administration are pushing back. CNN's Brian Todd is in Washington with the new debate inside the Republican Party.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran. The conservative backlash over Liz Cheney's salvo against the Obama Justice Department could cause more division within the Republican Party. Then again, the Cheney faction may be getting just what it wants. More political stir over the Obama administration's record in the war on terror.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD (voice-over): She's her father's close confidant, sometimes thought to be even more politically combative than him. Now, the heat from her own side of the spectrum is growing more intense for Liz Cheney. Several prominent conservative lawyers, including former independent counsel Ken Starr, are taking sides against Liz Cheney and defending the Obama Justice Department.
It started with an ad by posted by Liz Cheney's group Keep America Safe. The spot blasted Attorney General Eric Holder for hiring for his department several lawyers who'd represented suspected terrorists, and accused Holder of stonewalling senators who wanted to know who they were.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Whose values do they share? Tell Eric Holder Americans have the right to know the identity of the Al Qaeda 7.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: In response, that group of Conservative lawyers issued a statement, calling the Republicans' criticism of Holder's team shameful and unjust. In addition to Ken Starr, one of the signatories is Bradford Berenson, an attorney in the Bush-Cheney White House.
(on camera): Where does this ad go out of bounds, in your view?
BRADFORD BERENSON, FORMER BUSH ADMINISTRATION ATTORNEY: I think it's quite unfair to suggest that these lawyers in some way or another sympathize with al Qaeda or with its aims or with its ideology.
These lawyers, by and large, took the positions they did because they had views on some very significant and important legal issues, views that in some cases ultimately were endorsed by the Supreme Court.
TODD (voice-over): We contacted Liz Cheney for a response to Berenson and the others. She declined to go on camera with us, but referred us to a web posting from Conservative columnist Bill Kristol, who's on the board of Cheney's group, Keep America Safe.
Kristol writes they aren't criticizing Holder for hiring attorneys who represented detainees but for taking months to disclose who those lawyers were and for having them work on U.S. policy toward suspected terrorists. A Justice official tells us the lawyers' identities were always public information and the rules don't prohibit them from making detainee policy.
Politican analyst Craig Crawford says the Liz Cheney spat not only divides Republicans, it may give more backbone to the Obama team over detainees.
CRAIG CRAWFORD, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY: We've seen some signs of wavering on changing how they try these detainees. This may give them an opportunity not to waver and stick to their original plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): Still, Republicans are likely to keep up the pressure over the fact that the Obama justice team has one attorney who represented Osama bin Laden's driver and another who was a lawyer for so-called American Taliban John Walker Lindh. A Justice official told us both attorneys have written briefs for the department going against detainees.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Brian Todd for us this morning. Brian, thanks so much.
Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, some new help for homeowners who are at risk of losing their homes. Our Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" just ahead.
Seventeen minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour right now. That means it's time for "Minding Your Business".
Christine Romans is here joining us this morning. Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I'm talking about a new tack today the government is taking to try to help people who are facing foreclosure.
Up until now, the government programs have been about keeping people in their homes. April 5th, the new program starts that's meant to help you strategically get out of your home, the home that you can't afford.
Look, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are in homes right now who cannot afford them. They are in the wrong home for them. This is a program to help you get paid for what's called a short sale. This is where you walk away for the home short of a foreclosure and the bank accepts a big loss.
Effective April 5th, the borrower is given $1,500 in relocation assistance to help you move out of that home and the lender gets a $1,000 servicing bonus to give them a little bit of something to try to help them to do this.
Many banks have been loath to negotiate these short sales because it means they have to take a big loss on their books earlier than if they were to maybe push this out another year, and in some cases, look, they are trying to weigh where they lose the most money, right, in a foreclosure, in a short sale or something else.
Here is something about the eligibility for you. You have to be -- it has to be the principal residents. You have to be firstly mortgaged. You have to be seriously delinquent. Here's the big conundrum for people, and, you know, the bank wouldn't even talk to you if you're current on your loan, so by the time you're seriously delinquent you're in trouble and don't have many options, right?
The unpaid balance has to be, under this new adjust and jumble (ph) loan balance, of $729,750, and your monthly mortgage must be more than 31 percent of your gross income.
Look, a couple of things here. We have been disappointed so far, in large part with the government programs to help you in the -- in your home, simply because the volume of people in homes that aren't right for them, that they can't afford, is so huge. So, many of these programs have been disappointing. You know, it remains to be seen whether this is going to be one that's going to -- that's going to resonate, that's going to help the lenders and the borrowers, both of them.
But I've been talking to people who are -- who are facing foreclosure, who are in this kind of situation and they've been saying it's been very, very difficult...
ROBERTS: I can't imagine anything more frightening too.
You got a Numeral for us morning?
ROMANS: I do. It's 200. Two hundred. I'm hoping we could (ph) -- yes, 200 points is -- is the Romans Numeral this morning, and this has to do with the implications of the short sale. Even if you're able to do a short sale and your bank agrees --
CHETRY: This is how much your credit score takes?
ROMANS: Yes, 200 points, a hit on your credit score.
ROBERTS: Wow.
ROMANS: That hurts.
ROBERTS: That's huge.
ROMANS: A deed in lieu is usually right about the same.
Look, a foreclosure blows you out too. I mean, either way, these people are facing, you know, a credit score that's blown out of financial uncertainty for -- for years to come.
So, look, if -- check -- you can check it out. It's called the Half a Mortgage Program, a Home Affordable Foreclosure alternative. If you're interested you can go on the government's website and -- and check that out, all right?
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, next on the Most News in the Morning, a small baby believed to be an orphan was rescued from the rubble in the earthquake in Haiti, but now two people have come forward and say they're her parents and they want her back. Just who is Baby Patricia? Elizabeth Cohen will join us next with an "A.M. Original".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 26 minutes after the hour. Your top stories just about four minutes away now.
Days after the earthquake in Haiti, we brought you the incredible story of a newborn baby who is pulled alive from the rubble. She was air lifted to Florida where doctors saved her life.
But now, a couple still in Haiti says that girl is their daughter and they want her back.
Our Elizabeth Cohen has got this morning's "A.M. Original".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I was at this hospital in Port-au-Prince about seven weeks ago when I witnessed an incredible rescue of a tiny baby. She was just two months when she was pulled from the rubble. She'd been there alone for five days.
COHEN (voice-over): The baby girl was near death, barely breathing. Doctors from the Project Medishare at the University of Miami fought to stabilize her so they could fly her to a hospital in the United States.
Doctors here thought the baby was an orphan and told the ambulance driver they'd name the baby after her if she got to the plane on time, and she did. The driver's name was Patricia.
COHEN (on camera): I thought it was this simple, happy ending, but it turns out this story is far from simple.
A couple from Haiti has now come forward, claiming that Baby Patricia is their daughter. They say she's no orphan and that her name isn't even Patricia, it's Jenny, and they want her back.
We're told the parents lived here in Canape Vert, in one of these tent cities. I'm going to go try to find them.
Wow, what does that mean? What do those words mean? It's beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time I think about Jenny, I want to go crazy. I want to lose my mind.
COHEN (voice-over): This man, Junior Alexis, and his wife, Nadine Devilme, say they're the baby's parents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is the baby's (INAUDIBLE) card.
COHEN (on camera): And these are all her vaccinations, doctor's notes? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the doctor's notes.
COHEN: OK. So you say this is your baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN HAITIAN)?
NADINE DEVILME, CLAIMS RESCUED BABY IS HER DAUGHTER: (SPEAKING IN HAITIAN).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Jenny is my daughter.
COHEN: Now, how does it feel, as a mother, to know that your baby has just flown off without you to another country?
DEVILME: (SPEAKING IN HAITIAN).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said I have a lot of problems. She said I can't sleep, and it give -- it's giving me a lot of problems.
And this is a Bible that I've had since the baby was born, and the Bible was under the baby's head always, and she found the Bible.
COHEN: So this Bible says Jenny Alexis, born November 1st, 2009 --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At 10:00 P.M.
COHEN: -- at 10:00 P.M.
I've told their story to many people, and some people say this is just a couple in Haiti that wants to get to the United States. They're claiming a baby that's not theirs. What do they say to that?
JUNIOR ALEXIS, CLAIMS RESCUED BABY IS HIS DAUGHTER: (SPEAKING IN HAITIAN).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know about that, he said. He said we just have a baby that they took. They're helping us. They took the baby.
But we're here, and then we're happy that they're helping the baby, but -- it's a help, but we need our baby.
ALEXIS: (SINGING).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, I spoke with a Florida official who said that he's -- he has no doubt that these are indeed the real parents, that he says an upcoming DNA test will prove it -- John.
ROBERTS: So how did they lose track of the child in the first place, Elizabeth?
COHEN: Well, what happened was is that their home was decimated by the earthquake, and Nadine says she was at home with the baby. She was knocked unconscious -- the mom -- and brought to a hospital, and she said when she regained consciousness she told her husband to look for the baby, he couldn't find her and that's their home, that's the rubble that he looked through.
But a cleanup crew on day five after the earthquake found a baby and brought her to the hospital, but the parents only heard that she went to a hospital, they didn't know which, and by the time they figured it out, she was already in Miami -- the baby was already in Miami.
ROBERTS: So -- so they're making the claim, they've -- they've got the Bible that detailed that a child was born, but does the couple have any photographic evidence, anything else that could really prove that they're the parents?
COHEN: No. They really don't. They don't have photos of themselves with the baby. They say that those were ruined in the earthquake.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Elizabeth, thanks so much.
That brings us to the half hour and checking our top stories now.
A man saying that his Toyota Prius took him on a runaway ride in California claims that he was standing on the brakes as the car broke through 90 miles an hour on a hilly San Diego highway, and it was definitely not a problem with the floor mat. In fact, he says the accelerator got stuck down. He tried to pull it back but just couldn't. Toyota says it's sending investigators out to check out the claim.
President Obama has come up swinging in the fight for health care reform. At a rally in Pennsylvania yesterday, the president lashed out at Republicans and insurers for obstructing his plans. But Republicans are pushing back. House Minority Leader John Boehner called the president's latest pitch, quote, "heavy on snake oil and light on reality."
An American missionary Charisa Coulter is back in the United States. Coulter spent more than a month in jail in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, accused with nine others of kidnapping more than 30 children after Haiti's deadly earthquake. Coulter's father says his daughter will be working through this ordeal for some time. The group's leader, Laura Silsby, is still behind bars in Haiti this morning -- Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks.
Half past the hour right now. It's a story that everyone is talking about, shortening the school week to four days instead of five. About 100 districts in at least 17 states in the U.S. have now made this switch, most times because of budget concerns. Dozens more are now considering the move in an effort to save cash.
Supporters believe that it is a smart way to avoid teacher layoffs while keeping struggling schools open. But there are a lot of educators and parents who are concerned that this trend is taking us in the wrong direction.
We're joined this morning from Colorado Springs by Lynette Pantello. She's the president of the board of education in Pueblo, Colorado. And her district just voted to implement this four-day school week. With me in the studio is Randi Weingarten. She is the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Thanks to both for being with us.
RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: Thanks.
CHETRY: So, Lynette, let me start with you. Yours is one of district that did just vote on switching to this four-day week. Why?
LYNETTE PANTELLO, PRESIDENT, PUEBLO BOARD OF EDUCATION: The main reason we switched to the four-day week was due to budget concerns. We have close to $6 million we need to cut out of budget. And by going to a four-day week, we're going to save anywhere between $800,000 to $1.1 million.
CHETRY: And walk us through some of the things practically speaking that we're -- that you're going to see change within your district and within your schools. How are you going to work this?
PANTELLO: Well, the main change to a four-day week is when you do away with your fifth day, your four days that you go to school which for us will be Monday through Thursday will be longer days. So, you're getting the same amount of hours of one on one time with your teacher. It's just put into four days.
CHETRY: And, Randi, you're opposed to the four-day school week. What are your biggest concerns with this?
WEINGARTEN: Well, look, you know -- let me just take it in context and say these are really bad choices because of all of budget cuts. And ultimately, you saw last year when he had that stimulus money, the investment money, we were able to stave off these really bad choices. So, I have several concerns.
One, when you actually do double and triple periods for kids, it is not as engaging to them, and student engagement is really important.
Number two, it's not as good for little kids.
And number three, it goes in the wrong direction. We need to be opening schools more. We need to have, particularly for kids who are at risk and schools that are challenged -- we need to them available, schools open more time, not less time.
CHETRY: What do you do -- I understand that you basically have said that these are -- you're picking from a lot of bad choices right now. You're seeing tax revenues shrinking in districts. You're seeing -- you know, because of unemployment, because people losing their homes, that there just isn't the revenue there. So, what are the other choices?
WEINGARTEN: Well, this is bone of the things why we are pushing so hard to get an extension of that Investment Act that we have last year. There's a House bill on the floor in the Senate right now.
If we -- you know, this is bottom line, you can't either cut your way or tax your way through the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression. That's why you need investments from this federal government in order to stave this off, because kids don't get a second chance.
And the other thing I worry about is parents, because if parents are working five days and their kids are going to school four days, then there's a whole another child care issue.
So, you know, ultimately, it's been tried in Montana, in rural places. It's had good results and bad results. But long term, it's not good for kids who need more time. It's not good for parents who need the child care issues as well. We need actually just that help from the federal cash (ph) for -- to stave off these budget cuts.
CHETRY: Lynette, let me ask you about a couple of those concerns. One is the notion of overworked kids and overworked teachers that trying to cramp five days worth of learning into four can be taxing.
PANTELLO: Absolutely. And I feel right now that our kids and teachers are overworked trying to cram what they do into five days. In our district, we have no intention of closing our buildings on that fifth day. We have numerous programs that we're looking at creating for the fifth nontraditional day of learning. Because I agree with Randi, you don't want kids on the street. You don't want empty buildings. But it's going to be a different way of educating the kids on that fifth day.
CHETRY: How are you saving money then if you're keeping the school open? Because -- I mean, in a lot of these places, they are saying they save money because the custodial services, the bus drivers, the school is actually shut down, they're not paying electricity cost. And so, that's how they're sort of finding ways to fill the budget gaps. If you keep the school open, how are you saving money?
PANTELLO: We are saving our money in custodial costs and transportation costs and substitute costs. You're going to have one less day for subs. Teachers are going to be able to schedule their appointments on that off day.
The programs on Friday are not going to be run by the school district. They're going to be run by the taxpayers and the community and the parents. But they can be in the schools. The schools will be open and available for our community and our kids.
CHETRY: And one of the other questions about the child care issue. I know that some areas, they've been able to fill the gap through big brothers, big sisters programs, boys and girls clubs. Maybe some churches that are offering low income -- I mean, low cost child care on that fifth day. But have parents talked to you about being concerned, "I have to work full-time, what am I supposed to do with my child on that Friday"?
PANTELLO: Absolutely, it's probably one of biggest concerns we've heard from parents. We have a district that has three different regions to it. Right now, we have commitments in all three regions from different community organizations to offer child care to come in and take care of the kids.
CHETRY: Bottom line, before we go, Randi, what do you think needs to change that we will start to? Do you think that this is a temporary problem? Meaning that once we pull ourselves out of the recession, we'll see some of these problems ease.
WEINGARTEN: Look, it has to be a temp -- it has to be temporary. It's not good for kids. Ultimately, as I said before, we've seen this in junior high schools for example, when in a quest to try to get test scores up, there's double or triple periods of math or English, it didn't work.
We need to make sure the kids are engaged, that they have the panoply of activities during a five-day school week, that they have other activities on the weekends. Actually, we need to be opening the schools more and make them community centers for kids. This is one of the reasons why -- as I said before, if we -- what the federal government did last year with the stimulus package --
CHETRY: Right.
WEINGARTEN: -- was really good and it staved off some of these really bad choices.
CHETRY: Randi Weingarten and Lynette Pantello -- thanks to both of you for joining us.
WEINGARTEN: Thank you.
CHETRY: An interesting discussion. Thanks.
PANTELLO: Thank you.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll have much more news ahead.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
ROBERTS: It's 20 minutes now to the top of the hour, and this breaking news just in to CNN.
We are getting reports this morning of a deadly shooting on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. Police say one person is dead, two others injured, after someone open fire inside a maintenance building that was near the campus' power plant. Police also say they do not believe that any of the people involved are students and that they do have a suspect in custody.
We'll have more on this breaking story as we get additional information. Thanks to our affiliate WBNS for these pictures, by the way, this morning.
CHETRY: Well, it really is an eye-opening example of the squeeze that this recession has put on middle class. A G.M. worker was faced with a choice: he could basically follow his job south or try to start all over with two kids, a wife and a mortgage.
ROBERTS: So, instead of uprooting his entire family, he now commutes to work. If you think your commute is bad, well, how about this? He commutes from outside Milwaukee to outside Dallas.
Carol Costello takes us on that grueling ride in this "A.M. Original."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, brother, be seated (ph).
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 5:00 p.m. on Monday and Steve Kerl is off to work. Wisconsin is his home. But it's not where he works.
STEVE KERL, G.M. WORKER: I have a job in Texas that pays me good.
COSTELLO: You heard right.
Twelve hours after saying good-bye to his wife and two teenaged kids, Steve Pearl arrives at the G.M. assembly plant in Arlington, Texas. His 1,000-mile journey has taken him from Janesville, Wisconsin, where there used to be a G.M. plant, to the Milwaukee airport, and then a two and a half hour flight down to Texas.
Steve puts fenders on SUVs, 10 hours a day, sometimes, six days a week.
S. KERL: It's tough out there. It's everywhere. It's not just the auto industry, it's everywhere. I feel fortunate that I got the job.
COSTELLO: One thousand nine hundred thirty-three G.M. workers lost their jobs when the Janesville plant closed in December of 2008. What happened next is another side of the recession's toll.
S. KERL: And that house there was a General Motors worker, too. So, there's one, two, three, four gone.
COSTELLO: About a quarter of the Janesville workers accepted jobs at G.M. plants outside of Wisconsin. But that forced them to choose between selling their homes at huge losses or staying put while a parent moved out of state. The Kerls chose to stay. The sacrifice is palpable.
S. KERL: I missed all of my daughter's gymnastics meets. I missed her birthday.
KRISY KERL, HUSBAND HAS 1,000-MILE COMMUTE: Sixteenth birthday.
S. KERL: Sixteenth birthday. I missed my boy's birthday. I missed her getting her driver's license. So, they are things that you're never going to get back.
JENESSA KERL, THE KERL'S DAUGHTER: It's overall been very hard. I mean, what other 16-year-old doesn't want their dad around.
COSTELLO: For husband and wife, the pain of separation often goes like this.
K. KERL: Steve talked to me on the phone and, you know, get me through it, hang in there. And then there's the days that the calls come in, that he's like, you know what, I'm not doing this any more, you know? I want to come home. And I'm like, no, hang in there.
COSTELLO: On one of his rare weekends home -- we found Steve working the barbecue, taking the family to a local basketball game and playing surrogate dad to Jenessa's friend, Grace. She's staying with the Kerls until her parents get settled after moving to work at a G.M. plant in Indiana.
S. KERL: She's a good girl. We like to have her here.
COSTELLO: As much as the Kerls love Wisconsin -- the separation in the end has proved to be too much. They just sold their house at a loss and decided to move to Texas.
S. KERL: This will always be our home.
K. KERL: Yes. We'll never take Wisconsin out of us no matter where we're at.
S. KERL: Yes. It's always going to be our home.
K. KERL: And we'll return some day.
S. KERL: Yes.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Boy, that is a tough commute.
CHETRY: It's just amazing -- amazing what people have to do to make things work.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's the modern world these days. Wow.
CHETRY: Well, it's 44 minutes past the hour right now. We're going to have Rob Marciano getting a check of the morning's travel forecast right after the break.
ROBERTS: And in 10 minutes time, if it was good enough for God, well, it's got to be good enough for Sarah Palin, right? Jeanne Moos with round two of the Sarah Palin writing notes on her hand controversy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty- seven minutes past the hour right now. It's time for your A.M. House Call.
Can you slim down by paying up? A team of researcher who studied the diet of more than 5,000 adults suggests that if pizza and soda were subjected to an 18% tax hike, people would consume less and on average lose about 5 pounds a year. Researchers say that the tax would help fight obesity which cost the United States an estimated $147 billion in health care costs each year.
ROBERTS: Wow. That's a lot of money.
Let's get a quick check on this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Weather Center in Atlanta. He's tracking it all. What do we got today, Rob? Looks like some snow flurries in the west there.
MARCIANO: You know, I just want to stand up for Coca-Cola because we're in Atlanta. I mean, think about all the people that Coke will have to lay-off if we put a tax on that stuff? And then Dominos. There's a slew --
CHETRY: And when you want pizza, you'll pay anything to get that piece, right?
MARCIANO: Especially depending on the time of day, yes, that's for sure. Okay. We're looking at this storm which brought this. If you haven't seen this video, pretty dramatic stuff coming out of Western Oklahoma. A tornado touching down in Hammon, Roger Mills County. About four to six homes completely destroyed. That looks like the Wizard of Oz there. No injuries thank goodness. No word on how strong this tornado was, but obviously strong enough to do some serious, serious damage.
All right. Thank goodness. Let's look at what the map says today for severe weather threat. Not tremendous amount. That's good news. It's kind of weakening the system. It is spreading some rain across part of the south and all the way up towards the north, and there's a bit of a fog issue once again today from Chicago up to Minneapolis. If you're traveling through those cities, there may be a couple of delays because of that. Also, some wind out in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, and those thunderstorms will pop up across parts of Houston.
What we expect tomorrow will bring a threat for severe weather as the temperatures begin to build once again in Dallas with temps in the mid 70s there. The severe weather threat tomorrow will be in the favorite spot this time of year which would be the Tennessee and the lower Mississippi valleys. John and Kiran back up to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much. We'll see you again soon. This morning's top stories are minutes away, including a new runaway Toyota claim. A man relieving a terrifying 20-minute ride in his Prius yesterday. Why this could point to even bigger problems for Toyota?
CHETRY: Also at 12 minutes after the hour, a Democratic congressman stepping down. He claims he was the victim of a power play in Washington. Is he out because he stood in the way of health care reform?
ROBERTS: And at half past the hour, raining hellfire on the Taliban, Peter Bergen gives us an interactive look at the drone war that the United States is waging on the enemy in Pakistan. Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifty- four minutes past the hour right now. It's time for the Moost News in the Morning with Jeanne. Folks are still talking about Sarah Palin's appearance at the conservative tea party convention in Nashville last month.
ROBERTS: Palin was criticized for writing crib notes on her hand, but she says if it was good enough for God, it's good enough for her. Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We swear to God, God has now gotten into the Sarah Palin writing on her hand brew ha ha.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR: Hey, if it was good enough for God scribbling on the palm of his hand, it's good enough for me.
MOOS (on-camera): Just when we thought we washed our hands of this controversy, it's back.
MOOS (voice-over): Remember how she was ceaselessly mocked by others writing on their hands, paper isn't expensive and even writing on their feet or did you forget that, too? Even the White House Press Secretary evoked groans for mocking Palin.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I wrote eggs, milk, and bread.
MOOS: And he was mocked in turn having all his ums edited together. And now, some are saying even God writes on his hands. It's in the Bible.
PALIN: Then somebody sent me the other day, Isaiah 49:16.
MOOS: Yet, will I not forget thee, behold, I have engraved thee on the palms of my hands.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Okay, I'm in good company.
MOOS: There's some still joked about exactly what God had written on his palm that said memo to self -- no more Sarah Palins.
Of course Palin, herself, has joined in the fun.
UNKNOWN MALE: We're not using --
UNKNOWN MALE: What are we using?
PALIN: Hey, Jay, we're going old school tonight.
MOOS: Palin's palm reading even made it into a campaign commercial.
Jane's is a TEA party independent running for Congress from Tennessee who is inspired by Palin to come up with words for what's missing in Washington.
UNKNOWN MALE: We come through together in a day, and it was kind of done on the cheap, cost me less than $20 to do the video.
MOOS: Bill Maher went from ridiculing that ad to his own hand me downs.
BILL MAHER, HOST: Heidi Montag as -- oh, Tiger Woods as -- Amy Whitehouse, what does she have written --
MOOS: And now the right is highlighting a Democrat, Diane Feinstein, who had notes on her hand during a 1990 debate.
UNKNOWN MALE: She was violating the debate rules.
MOOS: But at least now, Sarah Palin isn't looking down.
PALIN: We got to start reigning in the spending --
MOOS: She's looking up.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
ROBERTS: I had engraved thee on my hand.
CHETRY: What did you write?
ROBERTS: No --
CHETRY: No, what did you write?
ROBERTS: What did I write?
CHETRY: Top stories coming your way in 180 seconds?
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: Really?
ROBERTS: We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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