Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama Health Care Deadline May Not Be Met; Pregnant Women in Peril; Democrats Hold On To Health Care; Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy caused by Neglect; Toxic Air; Her Name Was Steven; Enquiring Minds
Aired March 12, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Friday, March 12th. I am Jim Acosta, in today for John Roberts. Good morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you with us.
ACOSTA: Good to be with you.
CHETRY: Happy Friday. I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you guys are with us as well.
We have a lot of big stories to tell you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
First, Democrats say they're cautiously optimistic as they make a final push for health care reform. President Obama has set a new deadline for passage. There are some House Democratic leaders, though, saying that they still have some arm twisting to do.
We're going to be live at the White House in a moment.
ACOSTA: Hundreds of women will die in America this year during their pregnancy and many of those deaths could have been prevented. Those findings headline a new report that details the growing dangers facing the country's expectant moms. Details of that shocking study -- coming up in just a moment.
CHETRY: Also, just how dirty is the air that you breathe at 30,000 feet? We collected samples from a transatlantic flight and put it to the toxic test. Allan Chernoff with the special CNN investigation.
ACOSTA: But, first, Kiran, after a year-long debate, Democrats believe the end is in sight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has put Republicans on notice that they'll use reconciliation to avoid a filibuster and force an "up or down" vote on health care reform. But before that, Democrats have to a get a bill to the House first. Right now, they're not sure they have the votes for that.
President Obama's deadline of March 18th is coming close. House passage for that vote is not a sure thing. And before they get done, House and Senate lawmakers want to get all that accomplished because they have an Easter break right around the corner.
And here's what lawmakers are saying about it just in the last 24 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: We will take up the bill when we are ready to take up the bill. But it is not something that we want to drag out.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Americans aren't in any rush to pass this or any other 2,700-page bill that poses as reform but actually raises the cost of health care. And members of Congress shouldn't be deceived by these theatrical attempts to create a sense of urgency about this legislation.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ACOSTA: It is definitely going to get theatrical.
Suzanne Malveaux is joining us at the White House this morning.
Suzanne, we're coming up on yet another deadline for health care reform in the House, and that deadline just might not be met, Suzanne. We've seen this movie before.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's called Groundhog's Day, Jim. Obviously, some people are calling it theatrics, but the White House aides who I speak with say this is necessity here, that the president is trying to just push this forward as quickly as possible, try to build on the momentum, otherwise, they just don't believe this thing is going to get done.
And here's the timetable that we are seeing here, some critical dates. The president is hoping that the House will at least pass the Senate version of health care reform -- step one -- on March 18th. That's next Thursday, when the president leaves for Indonesia and Australia. Not likely to happen, Jim.
So, they're looking at another critical date. That is March 28th. That is when both the House and the Senate will take their Easter recess. It is hoped that at least they will try to move forward to stage one of this before they get to stage two, which is a reconciliation bill.
This is a strategy that has been very consistent by the White House. We saw this before when he tried to push this through, give Congress an artificial deadline at the August recess. It did not happen. We also saw it when the president said, let's get this done by the end of last year. That is why we actually saw the Senate -- on the Senate side -- getting something passed on the eve of Christmas.
Having said that, since all of this developed, there had been numerous meetings involving the president, his chief of staff, the Democratic leadership, and essentially, what they've been hearing from lawmakers is, look, don't push us this too hard, don't push this too fast here, we need more time. And the White House is trying to adjust to that reality.
Take a listen, Jim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Our hope is to get this done as soon as possible. If it takes a couple extra days after a year, it takes a couple of extra days.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You are backing off the 18th day?
GIBBS: No. I'm -- I am -- I am saying that the president wants, as do -- as does everybody here wants to get this done as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Jim, really, the reality, the truth of the matter is, is that it is Congress. It is Speaker Pelosi who controls the calendar and the dates. All the White House can do, all this president can do is simply try to push and that is what we are seeing.
And, obviously, there is a big job ahead. You are looking at trying to change 37 House Democrat's vote of no on the Senate health care reform legislation last go around to yes. And there are some real issues involving that, including very controversial issues like abortion as well as immigration reform -- Jim.
ACOSTA: And the speaker is not known to schedule votes unless she has them.
Suzanne Malveaux at the White House --
MALVEAUX: That's right.
ACOSTA: That's right. Thanks very much, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: OK.
CHETRY: Well, "Deadly Delivery" is the title on a new report on dangers facing pregnant women in America. It's from Amnesty International. It shows that hundreds of women will die from pregnancy-related complications this year and half of those deaths are believed to be preventable.
Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live in Atlanta this morning.
You know, one of the things that really stood out in this report seemed to be these shocking disparities in maternal health care in this country.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it is really quite amazing, Kiran. When you look at the difference between death rates among white American women and African-American women, the differences are huge.
But first, let's look at the overall differences. Overall, in 1987 in this country, for every 100,000 births, you had 6.6 deaths, maternal deaths. And then in 2006, that number jumped to 13.3.
Now, when you see that goal line down there, what that means is the United States government has the goal of four deaths per 100,000. So, obviously, we are really going in the wrong direction.
Now, Kiran, you mentioned those disparities. And let's take a look at those. When you look at white American women, you are looking at 9.5 deaths per 100,000 births. Black women, 32.7. Obviously, a huge difference.
And I want to add here that a death during pregnancy or childbirth is rare. It rarely happens in this country. But it does happen and the rates are climbing, and that's what really disturbs experts.
CHETRY: What are some of the reasons behind the trend are they saying?
COHEN: There are a couple of different reasons. One of the reasons is that the obesity rate in this country is up, and that means that more and more moms are having heart problems and diabetes and things that put you at risk for a very tricky pregnancy.
Another reason is that C-section rates are climbing. When you have a C-section, you have a higher chance of dying from things like blood clots.
And the third reason is, there are more uninsured people in this country than ever before, and not getting prenatal care is a big issue. If you want a healthy mom and a healthy delivery, you need prenatal care and some women just don't have access to it.
CHETRY: Unbelievable. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning -- thanks.
ACOSTA: Also new this morning, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in serious condition after her minivan was rear- ended by a tractor trailer on Interstate 95 in Virginia. The crash broke Landra Reid's neck, broke her back and her nose. Reid's daughter was not seriously injured. The trucker was charged with reckless driving -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, an autopsy showing actor Corey Haim had an enlarged heart as well as fluid in his lungs. The child star was found dead in his home on Wednesday. The corner's office has not yet determined an exact cause of death.
ACOSTA: And a second child has died from a meningitis outbreak in an Oklahoma elementary school. Four other students are being examined for possible symptoms. Parents, teachers and staff are being treated with antibiotics to help contain a rare blood infection. The school is also closed today.
CHETRY: Well, it is now seven minutes past the hour -- time to get a check of this morning's weather headlines. And if you live along the east coast, you better pay attention because we're getting some whoppers or some rainstorms this weekend.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.
Yes, we got a storm that's going to be intensifying as we go through the next 24 to 48 hours in the weekend, at least, the first three quarters of it. It looks to be a washout. It starts up with the -- the starters of this storm across the southeast, it's been producing severe weather in the past two days, and yet another line of rough thunderstorms moving down the I-20 corridor. Birmingham got hit hard, and Atlanta is next on the docket, and those storms should wind down just a little bit.
Rough yesterday weather across Florida, central Florida to be specific. Citrus and Polk Counties and Pinellas County near Tampa Bay got hit the hardest. Now, it's just the soaking rains.
Speaking of soaking rains, it will be developing across D.C. and Philly, marching up the I-95 corridor throughout the weekend and intensifying as well the wind. And with an inland snow pack, two to four inches of rain on top of that snow that's melting, we're going to have some flooding issues right on through Sunday.
So, that's the threat for you guys this weekend. Get what you have to get done today. Rough weather is rolling your way for Saturday.
More details coming up a little bit later in the program -- Jim and Kiran.
CHETRY: You talked about these flooding concerns as well. Thanks a lot, Rob.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob.
Coming up after the break, Candy Crowley is joining us. So, she'll breaking down some of the big political stories in Washington that she'll be talking about on "STATE OF THE UNION," health care reform, first and foremost among them.
CHETRY: Yes. And the interesting thing that we're going to be talking to her about as well is there some sort of -- I guess, what would you call it, a housekeeping thing?
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Couching (ph), that could throw the whole the entire thing off?
ACOSTA: Yes, some legislative housekeeping could throw a monkey wrench in all this. Candy will break it down for us.
It's eight after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Twelve minutes past the hour. It kind of makes you want to dance, doesn't it?
ACOSTA: "Calle Ocho," I like that. Nice.
CHETRY: Yes. There you go. Well, we have a great deejay on the show. I have to tell you.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 12 minutes past the hour.
New this morning, the FBI is now looking into the possibility that a New Jersey man may be a member of al Qaeda. Here's his picture of 26-year-old Sharif Mobley. He was arrested in Yemen and is now being treated in a hospital. He allegedly shot and killed a guard when he tried to escape. Mobley worked at several power plants in New Jersey before moving to Yemen two years ago.
ACOSTA: New York City has agreed to pay up to $657 million to thousands of rescue workers who got sick working in the ruins of the World Trade Center attacks. Most of the money would come out of $1 billion federal grant. The deal must still be approved by a judge and the workers -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Also, a federal appellate court upheld the words "under God" in the Pledge of Alliance for schools in western states. The ruling does not endorse -- they ruled that the language of the pledge doesn't endorse religion and it's a patriotic exercise. The lawsuit was brought by a group of atheist parents in California who argued that the words interfere with their child's upbringing. The parents say they now plan to bring the case to the Supreme Court.
ACOSTA: And now to some of the biggest political headlines of the day. Democrats -- as you know, Kiran -- are making their final push on health care. A lot of private meetings and high level negotiations are underway to get a bill that the Senate and the House can agree on. But, as you know, Kiran, it looks tough.
CHETRY: Yes. It's looking more and more likely that the president's latest deadline is going to come and go.
And here with her insight this morning, our senior political correspondent, and the host of CNN "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley, joins us this morning.
Hey, Candy. So --
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CHETRY: What -- how -- is it helpful, I guess, to set a timeline knowing how much arm-twisting needs to go on right now to get anything passed?
CROWLEY: Well, let me tell it to you from the White House's point of view, and that is: they think if they don't set deadlines, nothing will happen, that, you know, the Senate or the House expand to the amount of time given it and then some.
So, that's one way they look at it. And the other thing is, they don't think, in the long run, that the process, that is, "Here, we set this deadline and we see that deadline, it didn't happen." They don't think that matters. They don't think that the American public really cares and will care assuming -- and they do -- that a health care reform will pass. They don't think the public is going to look back and go, yes, but they didn't meet that deadline.
ACOSTA: And, Candy, an interesting little development popped up yesterday on the Hill, where the Senate parliamentarian -- a lot of folks at home may not realize that we don't have a parliament but we have a parliamentarian -- issued a ruling that essentially said that the White House, the president would have to sign health care reform, the House would have to pass the Senate's version of health care reform and then send the bill to White House to be signed into law before the Senate could pass that reconciliation bill that we've heard so much about in the last couple weeks. That is -- that's making a lot of members of the House very nervous about this process.
CROWLEY: It is. And let's be clear here. We are looking at an interpretation -- we are interpreting the interpretation of what the parliamentarian said.
ACOSTA: Right.
CROWLEY: Right. You know -- it right away tells you the problems they have up there, because I have to tell you, that the more of this goes on, the longer -- the more you think, that people really know how this whole process works. And it sounds like the parliamentarian does.
ACOSTA: Right.
CROWLEY: But I have to tell you, that there are those on the Hill, Democrats, who said that's not what the parliamentarian said. And basically, the interpretation largely from Republicans and the way it was interpreted in the media was: you have to send a Senate bill and have the president sign it into law and then can you do the fix-it package. Well, the House doesn't actually trust the Senate that much to do the fix-it package. And so --
ACOSTA: Right.
CHETRY: Right.
ACOSTA: And they are nervous about voting on things like the cornhusker kickback which is still in the Senate version.
CROWLEY: Sure. There's a lot of stuff in that bill they hate --
ACOSTA: Right.
CROWLEY: -- and which, by the way, the president wants to fix. So, everybody is -- you know, he would essentially sign a bill into law that he doesn't like, that the House doesn't like. But there are now -- there's now some pushback from folks saying, no, that's not true, that you can actually amend a law before you have a law.
CHETRY: Wow.
CROWLEY: Again.
ACOSTA: Sausage making.
CHETRY: Let's talk a little bit about Steve Hillebrand, by the way, who said some, this is what he said this week. He is a former Obama deputy campaign manager, he is somebody who is credited with helping put Obama in the White House and he said that we, meaning Decmocrats are going to get "slaughtered" in elections this fall, if we are not leading efforts to reform Washington.
We talked to him, we said, you know, that media conversation that you have behind the scenes but why are you talking about it now. He has talked about his frustration, the frustration of many Democrats, that perhaps this administration and this congress are actually doing more harm than good to Democrats.
CROWLEY: Sure, but he would not be the first outsider Democrat or Republican, depending on who is in office to say, wow, they are going down the wrong road here. Essentially, he did not say they are going down the wrong road. He said you need to pay attention to reform because the public is really angry and he is frustrated, too.
I think that the White House would tell you, I know that the White House would tell you, look right now they see the polls, they understand. But the problem with polls is they really are about right now and they are not about November. The white house is feeling really good in this sense. They believe that if health care, again they believe it will pass, health care reform passes, that it will answer some of that anger, because they believe the anger is you guys never do anything.
So, once they have a product, the White House believes that some of the anger, at least at Democrats dissipates because something has been done. They think a lot of that anger about we don't like Obama health care reform is really anger about why don't we have anything after more than a year.
ACOSTA: They think the law will be more popular than the bill. Candy, what do you have this coming weekend on state of the union?
CROWLEY: We will ask David Axelrod, we know is quite close to the president and senior advisers, so we'll ask him lots of questions about health care and where they are. And also, what is going on in the future. After health care, what? We spent a year on it. Also, John Boehner, who we know is the Republican leader in the house. And how Republicans are viewing all this and what they have in store for the rest of the year and obviously we will talk about the elections.
ACOSTA: Sounds great. Thank you, Candy. Be sure to watch Candy Crowley's exclusive interview with House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. That is this Sunday, State of the Union from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. And noon to 1:00 PM Eastern. It's going to be a great show.
CHETRY: Well, flying is considered as one of the safest ways to travel. But, there are concerns about the air you are breathing on these flights. Our Allan Chernoff uncovered some startling evidence that could affect your health. It's part two of our series, "Toxic Flights". It's coming up next. 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 8:20 and it's time for "Minding Your Business" with Christine Romans. Christine, good morning. Thank you for joining us. Talking about Lehman brithers.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Lehman brothers bankruptcy examiner has concluded after 2,200 pages and a year and $30 million of investigation, that Lehman did it to itself, and this collapse that hurt all of us was, you know, an unmitigated mess, and the scathing reports concludes a few things. In particular that there was serious lapses by top executives, and accounting gimmicks, the company withheld information and then there was an abject failure by its auditor. Reports concluding that its auditor, Erson Young, basically performed professional malpractice in terms of moving -- in terms of how they hid their big leverage, and some of their debts, they used something called the repo 105. You are probably hearing more about that. but the repo 105 use the repo markets to park $50 billion in debt outside of its books. And they have been doing this for years, actually.
The $50 billion in 2008 made it looks like the books were a little bit better than they thought. They found all kinds of accounting tricks to make things look better than they really were.
Also, points a finger at JP Morgan and Citigroup saying that those two investment banks helped accelerate the slide by demanding collateral back, about $16 billion in collateral. But also, says basically that the investment banking model was too flawed for all of the investment banks. There was just too much risk and also blames regulators for not doing their job in making sure that these investment banks were watched.
I will tell you that all the people who are sort of blamed and chastised in this very interesting and scathing report from the bankruptcy examiner, they all say either they were not culpable, that they did not know what was happening, or that they did not do anything wrong. Erson Young in particular tells us that the bankruptcy occurred in 2008, so last full audit of the company was November 30th 2007, and they say of course this was unprecedented adverse events in the financial market that caused this. ACOSTA: It bothers people that to this day, we still do not have new regulations to put a clamp on these sorts of practices, and yet we have these scathing reports telling us that perhaps if we had been minding the store, these would not have happened.
ROMANS: You know, we picked through the record and try to figure out what we could have done better, but I will point out, we did have all kinds of oversight. The federal reserve of the United States is charged with protecting consumers. Now we are talking about having a consumer protection agency housed within the fed, that's why some people are saying, wait a minute, was not the feds supposed to be protecting consumers in the first place?
CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us this morning. Thanks.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Your top stories four minutes away. First an "AM" original, something you will see only on "American Morning." New concerns this morning about flying. The air that you are breathing inside the cabin at 30,000 feet, could actually be toxis.
ACOSTA: That's right. Allan Chernoff has been looking in to this so-called fume events, who ever heard of such a term. He's here with the second part of his investigation. Allan, you actually tested the air onboard a flight.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: We did, but for good reason. As we have reported, fumes can actually come in from engine oil that can seep into the cabin air supply, and that's because the air comes through the engine.
So how do we know the air onboard our flight is actually safe. We collected samples onboard a trans continental flight. We are not going to mention the airline because this really is an issue that affects all airlines. And even though I was very well aware of the risk, the results were surprising.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Could the air onboard your next flight be toxic? Ventilation air comes through the engine, so an oil leak could result in engine oil mist contain neurotoxins to seep into the cabin.
CHERNOFF (on camera): So we are going to test the air on this flight. I am turning the air monitor on, and for 90 minutes it will sample the air. Toxins in the air would leave residue on the surfaces in the cabin. So I am swabbing here to bring samples back to the laboratory so we can determine if indeed there have been toxins in the air here.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Toxicologist, Chris Van Netten, at the University of British Columbia has studied air quality on board planes for years. Van Netten places the air filter and alcohol swabs into test tubes. His research associate, Tim Mah, adds solvent to extract whatever chemicals our samples captured. They also analyze some of our producer's hair to see if it collected toxins from her seat back cushion.
Tim runs the resulting chemicals to a mass spectrometer, a device that measures molecular weight, and chemical composition. The finding, our swabs of the air cabin surface do contain the neurotoxin Tricresyl Phosphate, known as TCP, which is in engine oil.
CHRIS VAN NETTEN, TOXICOLOGIST, UNIV. OF BRITISH COLUMBIA: It's the pattern that really nails it down to the actual engine oil. And this is the pattern you find in engine oil and this is the pattern you'll find in the swab sample that you took from the aircraft.
CHERNOFF: Tim Mah has analyzed surface swabs from 40 different flights and says he almost always finds TCP.
TIM MAH: And on virtually all of it, you find it? Pretty much so, yes. The wipes are at a significant level --
CHERNOFF: Significant, but not large. The biggest amount we found, 44 billionth of a gram, not enough to have any kind of health consequences. Our air samples do not show any traces of TCP, that means toxic residue has collected in the surface of the cabin from either a prior fume event or from gradual accumulation of toxins.
VAN NETTEN: There is a fair amount of remnant material floating around literally in the ventilation system and this comes out on a regular basis, and that's what you are measuring.
CHERNOFF (on camera): So even if the flight you are on has not had a fume event, there are toxic fumes in the ventilation system and it's coming out?
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Van Netten explains, his research shows when engines are shut down some oil can leak overnight. When a plane starts up in the morning, a mist of oil can spread through the cabin.
CHERNOFF (on camera): So, you don't want to be the very first person on the plane in the morning when they turn it on?
VAN NETTEN: That's what pilots are. Pilots are the ones that turn on the engine.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Lourdes hair shows traces of TCP as well, though only 1 trillionth of a gram.
MAH: Her hair probably picked it up from the seat, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. CHERNOFF: That would say when you get off the plane, you should take a shower probably?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should take a shower anyway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: You better believe I will.
The two leading aircraft manufactures say the system provides good and safe cabin air quality. The amount of toxins that we found on the cabin interior are not going to cause health problems. The people at the greatest risk are the people that work onboard the plane, flight attendants and pilots.
CHETRY: Great reporting, Allen, thanks.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Allen.
CHETRY: Right now it's 30 minutes past the hour. It's time for a look at your top stories.
Two suicide bombings killing at least 39 people and injuring over 100 others overnight. It happened in eastern Pakistan. The blast targeted military vehicles patrolling the city of Lahore.
ACOSTA: Right now the West Bank is sealed off from Palestinians. Israel army is keeping the ban in place for 48 hours. There have been violent protest following an announcement from Israel that it plans to build hundreds new apartments on disputed land, land that has been claimed by both the Israelis and Palestinians.
CHETRY: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is set to announce he is running for lieutenant governor in California. Newsom took out nomination papers this week and paid a filing fee. A recent poll gave him 33 percent of the primary vote.
ACOSTA: And Kiran, nothing makes a good tabloid headline like a star losing their cool. In the sports world there was the chair- throwing basketball coach, Bobby Knight, and Serena Williams and her f-bomb tirade.
CHETRY: And in the fashion world Naomi Campbell has been accused more than once of using her cell phone as a weapon. And on Capitol Hill this week we saw outgoing congressman Patrick Kennedy taking his shot at the media.
ACOSTA: He went a little --
CHETRY: Yes, he was shouting and gesturing. But is this just moments of anger of these people or is there a medical reason behind anger? Here for an "A.M." house call this morning is Dr. Emil Coccaro, head of the Department of Psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Thank you for being with us this morning.
DR. EMIL COCCARO, RESEARCHES MOOD, ANXIETY, AND PERSONALITY DISORDERS: Glad to be here.
CHETRY: We showed the classic road rage and airline rage. Is rage part of the social culture? Has this been a problem all along?
COCCARO: Well, anger and rage is a normal emotion, so you are going to see it in people from time to time. The question is, is it too frequent and does it get you into trouble?
ACOSTA: What is a normal anger response? There is something called the intermittent explosive disorder, and I have not heard of it before but it's something you're familiar with in your field?
COCCARO: Yes, it's been in the DSM since the very beginning. And really it characterizes people blowing up frequently and getting in trouble because of it.
ACOSTA: Like an IED?
COCCARO: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
And the DSM-V may change the name of it, actually.
ACOSTA: Is that right? And obviously here is the normal and the abnormal response. There are two types of responses.
CHETRY: How do you gauge what is a problem? In some instances, isn't it about what is socially accepted as well? Is there an element of society accepting bad behavior and anger more readily than, let's say decades ago?
COCCARO: I don't know. It really depends on how public it is to some degree. It depends on how often it happens and the context in which it happens.
So if you're in a high stress environment, people will cut you slack for having some outbursts, but even there if you have it too often and it interferes with work or interpersonal relations, it's a problem.
You have the floor where you start out in the day, and if your threshold is low, you don't need a lot of strains to get you over that threshold. And so people have had a terrible day and then they reach the threshold and explode.
Normal people have a very high threshold, so you need a lot of stuff to get them over that threshold. But the people that have a problem with it have a low threshold and are predisposed to overreacting when something happens that would irritate anybody.
CHETRY: So how do you treat that? If somebody goes to talk to somebody and they find out they have an anger disorder, what is the next step?
COCCARO: First off, there's a biology, genetics, and neuroscience to these types of problems. They can be treated with a specialized form of psycho therapy, and they can be treated with certain medications, such as Prozac-like drugs. And what the cognitive-behavioral therapy does is it helps you deal with what is in the moment so you have other options of how to respond to what might irritate you.
CHETRY: There was a quiz linked on our blog, and it was an anger quiz. You had to answer some questions -- first of all, your car stalled in traffic and the person behind you keeps blowing his horn. Are you mildly irritated or not at all or extremely upset or very, very upset.
And Jim and I answered these. And Jim and I took all of these, and surprisingly enough we turned out to be relatively peaceful.
ACOSTA: The doctor wants to know how we scored. And this was anger management, and not "anchor management."
COCCARO: I took it too.
CHETRY: What did you get? I got 57.
COCCARO: I got an 18.
ACOSTA: My, goodness!
COCCARO: Well, my wife did not think I got an 18.
ACOSTA: Were you conscience when you took the quiz?
COCCARO: Yes, but I was very peaceful when I took the quiz. And it does depend on what state you're in.
Five years ago there was an article that came out and got a lot of publicity and I was on lots of talk shows. And that evening I was in the parking lot at the hospital and somebody was blocking me from getting out and they were screaming at me because I was trying to get through.
And I sat there drumming my fingers on the driving wheel because I thought all I need for me to have happen is an explosion so in the papers the next day "Anger Doc explodes in hospital parking lot."
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: You were letting your mind rule, not your emotions.
COCCARO: That's right.
CHETRY: He got a 51.
COCCARO: That's normal.
CHETRY: The things that made Jim angry, like you got upset on one of the questions about you got a stain on your shirt or ripped your pants, and that type of stuff I didn't get angry about. The thing I got most angry about was having to with driving.
So it seems every individual have different triggers. Is it figuring out what makes you mad and being more aware of it?
ACOSTA: And having fewer triggers?
COCCARO: Yes, absolutely. That's what happens in therapy, you find out what the triggers are. My own trigger is somebody treating me as if I am not important and not worth their time. So that's what gets me triggered.
But it depends on what state you are in. If you are frazzled that day, being behind somebody who is not moving in traffic is --
ACOSTA: Well, Dr. Coccaro, this was well worth our time and we appreciate very much. You are important and we do appreciate your time.
CHETRY: And our producer said if we don't wrap this up, he will blow, so I can't risk that.
(LAUGHTER)
Dr. Coccaro, great to have you on the show this morning, thanks.
COCCARO: Thank you so much.
CHETRY: It's 38 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Leaving one fight to come face-to-face with another. More than 30,000 troops return to the U.S. with serious injuries, but one expert builder is giving vets a place to call home. Dan Walresh (ph) is CNN's "Hero of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I went to go see Dr. Moore, this is what he seen. Would you like to see it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I developed skin cancer from too much sun exposure. When I see this, I have a hard time looking at this.
DR. ALAN MOORE, CNN HERO: This cancer was so far advanced eventually it would have killed him. He felt that he could not afford to have the surgery. In this economic time, our friends and family can't wait. They need this health care now.
All right, bud. How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous.
MOORE: You'd be a little crazy if you weren't nervous. That's OK.
He's now back for the operation to reconstruct his nose. We're going to give you some joy juice. I'm Dr. Andy Moore. I'm a plastic surgeon. We perform free surgical procedures on people that have no health insurance.
When I started 26 years ago, now we just simply make the call to the hospital and say I've got somebody I'm going to do for free. It became more complex with computers and HMOs and insurance company. These people don't have health insurance, and I think it's our duty to reach out and help those type of people as often as we can.
It's about what I went into medicine for. It's about taking care of people and not necessarily expecting something in return for it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A shot this morning of Jacksonville, Florida. It is 62 degrees right now a little bit later going up to 67.
ACOSTA: That's right, it is 8:46. We are almost out of here.
But first, let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in Atlanta.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right.
ACOSTA: Good morning.
MARCIANO: Yes, it sounds like you've got one foot out the door there, buddy.
ACOSTA: Counting down the minutes here.
CHETRY: Can you believe that? Can you believe it? And you know --
ACOSTA: My friend, it's raining in New York and I've got a shuttle to catch.
MARCIANO: You have the opportunity to sit next to Kiran Chetry for three hours a morning.
ACOSTA: This is a good point. So, let me re-examine my priorities.
MARCIANO: No, listen we've all got it -- it's Friday, I hear you but you know. Kiran, you're great, you know, but it is Friday and I feel -- I feel Jim's pain there. Hey listen, Chattanooga to Nashville, seeing a little bit of rainfall. Some of these were severe earlier, they are starting to weaken a little bit here, but there's more filling in behind on the radar. And so up to Birmingham you are about to get hit again with some thunderstorms.
Rain across much of Florida was more in the way of severe weather yesterday. Check out some of the damage across parts of Tampa and through Citrus and Polk counties a little further England. Yes. A couple of tornadoes touching down there, about 40 people had to be moved from these residences, because obviously they are not livable anymore. So that's not good and then the rain has now continued to come down across the Sunshine State today.
We'll see localized flooding.
We'll see more uniform flooding I think as we get through the weekend from D.C. up through New York. The rain will begin to fill in here as these severe storms begin to kind of combine and finally start to move up to sea -- the Eastern Seaboard and it will also create some heavy winds here, east winds off the ocean will create heavy rain.
And on top of the snow pack that's already in place at least interior areas we're probably going to see a decent amount of flooding especially as you go west of the I-95 corridor and just a plain old mess, through most of the day tomorrow.
So Jim, I don't know why you are begging to get out of that seat, because the weather does not look very -- very good for much of the weekend.
ACOSTA: It's not going to improve at all. That's encouraging. But you know what, that's you know -- rainy weekends in March, you know, this is not unusual.
CHETRY: No, it's a time to catch up on all the good movies, right? Just stay inside --
ACOSTA: Right, exactly.
CHETRY: -- and have a nice time.
MARCIANO: And enjoy the week, Kiran and Jim. I'll see you on Monday.
ACOSTA: Thanks Rob.
CHETRY: You too Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break, when we come back Jeanne Moos shows us a smack down Barbara Walters versus the head of the "Enquirer" magazine. It's 49 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. Fifty-two minutes past the hour right now.
In a ground breaking documentary, premiering this weekend CNN is telling the story of one man's private choice that has very public consequences. Steven Stanton, a father and husband was working as city manager in Largo, Florida when he announced he was going to have a sex change and become a woman.
Well, that started a fierce public backlash, the town held a hearing to decide if Stanton should keep his job.
Here is a preview for the CNN documentary "Her Name was Steven."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a serious responsibility here tonight to support Mr. Stanton and evaluate him based on his job performance and not his decision to change his gender.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What my concern is, is if this is the decision process that Mr. Stanton made and what kind of decisions will he make in different areas?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having a meeting with a city manager, who is a man wearing a dress preparing for a sex change is going to make people extremely uncomfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire him or give him more testosterone and let's move on.
PASTOR RON SANDERS, LIGHTHOUSE BAPTIST CHURCH: I was disgusted, outraged basically I've talked to some -- to some other pastors, too, about it. And I've mentioned that of course, it's against the scripture and I believe that the other side was going to be there, the tolerant side that thought that it was ok and that -- that basically Christians should be there and give their side of the story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Jesus was here tonight and I'm very familiar with the bible I'll guarantee to you he would want him terminated. You make no mistake about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is with absolute horror that I look at the kind of mob mentality at play and this is a mob mentality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you go. Well, don't miss the premier of "Her Name was Steven" this Saturday and Sunday night here on CNN at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Now do you miss your Conan O'Brien fix, Kiran? I know you do. Well, you're in luck. The out-of-work "Tonight Show" host is coming to a city near you. He's launching an appropriately named "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour next month. He will visit 30 cities and 20 states, and I cannot wait.
CHETRY: I have to say. That's a better chance of us seeing him than in this time slot.
(CROSSTALK)
ACOSTA: Good point, exactly.
CHETRY: Or the VTR.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: Anyway. So you know that people on Facebook have spoken and they are getting their wish. 88-year-old Betty White is going to be hosting "Saturday Night Live" on May 8th. Now the show's executive producer Warren Michaels (ph) says that he can't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day weekend than with White.
ACOSTA: It's about time.
CHETRY: Yes, congrats, Betty.
ACOSTA: We love that.
And time for the "Moost News in the Morning" with Jeanne. The most infamous of all tabloids, the ""National Enquirer" is now up for a Pulitzer prize, if you can believe that.
CHETRY: Yes, but that didn't stop Barbara Walters from going after its editor on national TV for some of the old tabloid tricks.
ACOSTA: This is good stuff.
CHETRY: Yes. Here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Barbara Walters was dishing it out, and the main course was --
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "THE VIEW": This is just baloney.
MOOS: With a side helping of --
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, HOST, "THE VIEW": Your crap.
MOOS: It comes just when the "National Enquirer" is finally getting respect, accepted into the Pulitzer prize competition for its coverage of the John Edwards' affair. Edwards had to eat his words of denial.
JOHN EDWARDS, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The tabloid trash is full of lies.
I made a very serious mistake.
MOOS: But it wasn't the John Edwards copy Barbara was reading to the "Enquirer's" editor.
WALTERS: After three months of dating, Barbara has moved Frank Langella, who is an actor, he's a friend of mine a friend of Whoopi's into her New York apartment. And friends say a summer wedding is in the works. I looked all over my house, I cannot find him.
MOOS: He may be the executive editor of the "National Enquirer" but Barbara Walters was the one doing all the enquiring.
WALTERS: Barbara and Frank moved in together in January and he popped the question soon after. Barbara has secured Whoopi's blessing.
MOOS: The "Enquirer" reported Whoopi used to date Langella, seen here playing Count Dracula.
The blood being spilled here was the editor's, Barry Levine's.
(CROSSTALK)
WALTERS: You printed something totally, totally untrue. You never called me.
GOLDBERG: Nobody called me to ask me jack.
BARRY LEVINE, EDITOR, "NATIONAL ENQUIRER": All I can say, Barbara, is that we trust our sources. There's people around you.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVINE: Barbara, did you go out on dates with Frank?
WALTERS: I have lots of friends whom I go out with and so does Whoopi. That doesn't mean that somebody is living in my apartment.
LEVINE: We will look into the story again, I promise you.
WALTERS: Oh, baloney.
MOOS: In the words of Count Dracula --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need your blood.
MOOS: He'll do the tabloids, blood in.
WALTERS: Baloney.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
WALTERS: Baloney.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Don't mess with Barbara.
ACOSTA: Baloney. I just felt like saying that.
CHETRY: Makes me hungry.
Well, that's going to do it for us. Hopefully you get back safely to D.C. ok?
ACOSTA: Thank you so much for having me.
CHETRY: We know that there's thunderstorms in the area, 2 to 4 inches of rain this weekend. So it's going to be quite a mess out there.
ACOSTA: I can, I think I can handle it. But thank you for that.
CHETRY: Good luck with that.
ACOSTA: Thanks for the vote of confidence.
CHETRY: Thanks so much for being with us today. Continue the conversation on any of the stories you saw by going to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
ACOSTA: That does it for us. And it's now time for "CNN NEWSROOM" with our pal, Fredricka Whitfield, down in Atlanta. Good morning Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": All right. Thank you so much. Good to see you. You all just tote around that umbrella all weekend long. It's going to be very soggy.
ACOSTA: We'll try.
CHETRY: Exactly.
