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American Morning
Forecast: Historic Floods; Osama bin Laden's Fate Debate; Air Force Soldier Discharged After Being Outed by Local Police; Hyundai Builds Plant in Alabama; Tiger Woods Returns to Golf; U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Washington's Political Powerhouse; Waging War on Cancer; "Kill the Bill!"
Aired March 17, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the morning to you, and happy St. Patrick's Day.
It's Wednesday, the 17th of March. Thanks for joining us in the Most News in Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, a warning that this is only the beginning. Volunteers are stacking up 1 million sandbags in Fargo, North Dakota. Meantime, forecasters are saying that the U.S. will face an historic flood threat this spring. Rob Marciano is going to show us who's at most risk and the destruction that the wild weather has already caused.
ROBERTS: Attorney General Eric Holder says Osama bin Laden with never face trial in the United States because he will, quote, "be killed by the U.S. or he will be killed by his own people so that he's not captured by us." We're live in Washington to break it all down for you.
CHETRY: And Tiger Woods hitting the links again. The biggest golf star in the world is heading back to the greens next month for the Masters after his tabloid-style sex scandal. What this will mean for Tiger's business empire and his future in the sport of golf. We're breaking it down with our Christine Romans and "Sports Illustrated's" David Dusek.
ROBERTS: But we begin with an all-out effort to hold off the water and get out from underneath it in two areas of the country this morning. In both the Northeast and the Upper Midwest, the race is on to save entire communities.
We begin our coverage in South Dakota this morning where the Red River is set to surge for the second year in a row. Volunteers were being bused into neighborhoods near the river to help unload 1 million sandbags.
CHETRY: Further east in New Jersey, people are already paddling out. They have as much as five feet of water in their homes. Many people had to be rescued by boat or in some cays by construction vehicles.
All of this comes as forecasters are issuing an urgent message to millions of people this morning to get ready and be prepared for potentially historic flooding in your community. Now, parts of 35 different states could be in danger this spring.
Rob Marciano is live in Atlanta with more on why this is happening this year.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Hi, John.
We'll set up east of the Colorado Rockies certainly has lent itself to some spring flooding. We're already seeing it. The storm system that rolled across the Northeast didn't help the situation and the snow pack and the cold winter across the Upper Midwest not helping the situation for the folks along Fargo.
Last year, they had what they considered to be a 100-year flood. This year, they may have the same flood just one year later.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): In Fargo, North Dakota, residents are trying to stack 1 million sandbags in hopes of pushing back the Red River, which could crest 20 feet above flood stage late they are week. Last year, about 100 homes in the area were damaged and thousands of people were evacuated when the Red didn't go down for a record 61 days and crested twice.
In the Northeast, a wild storm has left hundreds of thousands of residents either without power or with most of what they own under water. Trees ripped down power lines, tore up sidewalk, crushed cars. The storm is being blamed for at least seven deaths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm living in the school right now because I got flooded out. A bunch of other people got flooded out are helping to pump up the cellars.
MARCIANO: Many had to leave their front doors by boat or in the arms of heavy equipment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're at the breaking point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I can't even get to my cat right now and it's upsetting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: You want to blame El Nino? That really is not the whole story. The bigger story is why this is happening, because we had such a cold winter, such a snowy winter, as well, and that has to do with what's going on in the Atlantic Ocean. Just a blocking high, what's called a North Atlantic oscillation, Arctic oscillation, and it hasn't been this strong in 100 years. And that just pours the cold air down in the eastern two-thirds of the country and rides that storm track up the east coast. It's one of the reasons that it's been so cold across the Upper Midwest. Bismarck set a record for seeing 81 days not getting above the freezing mark. So, that ground is frozen solid and this snow pack, which has here the equivalent of five to 10 inches of water, of rainfall, that snow pack has been slow to melt. Now, we're seeing temperatures rise over a frozen ground and that's why we're seeing rivers rise quickly.
As I mentioned before, the Red River has risen 13 feet in only the last five days. Expect it to crest at 38 feet over the weekend. That would be two feet shy of last year's flood. But last year was historic.
So, they are battling and they've got a couple weeks to battle this thing as the spring melt continues -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano for us, breaking it down on why this is happening -- thanks so much.
Also new this morning: the U.S. and Israel stepping back from the diplomatic brink, so to speak, trying to ease their deepest rift in decades triggered by Israel's announcement last week during Vice President Joe Biden's visit that it plans to expand settlements in east Jerusalem. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called that insulting. Yesterday, though, she reiterated that the countries have a, quote, "close, unshakable bond."
ROBERTS: Democratic leaders in the House coming short on the 216 votes they need to pass the Senate's version of health care reform. It's unclear if Speaker Nancy Pelosi will try a controversial tactic to deem that the bill has been passed. Minority Leader John Boehner is vowing to block that procedure, calling it, quote, "the ultimate in Washington power grabs."
CHETRY: And Honda now plans to recall more than 400,000 minivans and trucks, saying problems with the brakes could make those vehicles hard to stop. This recall affects 2007 and 2008 Odyssey and Element models. The carmaker says the brakes may start to feel, quote, "soft over time" and should be repaired to prevent a crash.
ROBERTS: In Detroit this morning, an SOS, save our schools. Officials are rolling out a $1 billion plan that would shut down 45 public schools, consolidating some and demolishing others. They're trying to fix three growing problems: a huge drop in enrollment, a massive debt and some of the highest dropout numbers in the country.
CHETRY: Oprah Winfrey will be in a Philadelphia courtroom later this month. The talk show host will testify in a defamation suit brought by a former head mistress in a South African girl school. Winfrey is accused of implying a cover-up of the abuse when she said she, quote, "lost confidence" on the head mistress and was cleaning house from top to bottom. ROBERTS: And Peter Madoff says the nearly $200 million lawsuit against him is an attempt to blame anyone with the Madoff name for his brother's fraud. Several family members are trying to get the suit thrown out, but a trustee in charge of liquidating Bernie Madoff's assets says his family profited from the Ponzi scheme and that they should return the money. Madoff is serving 150 years in prison.
CHETRY: Still ahead: some surprising comments by the attorney general about Osama bin Laden and why he thinks the U.S. will never catch him alive.
It's seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Osama bin Laden's fate was the subject of a heated exchange on Capitol Hill. Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday said the world's most wanted terrorist will never face trial in the United States. His reason: bin Laden will not be taken alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're talking about a hypothetical that will never occur. The reality is we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it is --
HOLDER: That's the reality. That's the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve is in our Washington bureau for us this morning, and Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with the military aspect of this.
Jeanne, let's start with you. Some surprising comments from the attorney general yesterday, but perhaps also a realization of what would probably happen if American forces ever closed in on him.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John.
The statements actually track what senior military and intelligence officials have been saying for years, but that the attorney general said it and in this language was striking. Holder said the chances of catching bin Laden alive are infinitesimal, that bin Laden will either be killed by the U.S. or he will be killed by his own people so he can't be captured. He made these comments in the midst of a very testy debate over where to try terror detainees, civil courts or military commissions -- which included this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are treated by the military as enemy combatants captured at time of war. And the question is --
HOLDER: But they're not put up against the wall and shot. They have the ability to confront those who accuse him. They have the rights to lawyers. Many of the same constitutional rights --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Severely restricted rights and the military tribunal is the problem. We're at war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: The attorney general told the committee terror detainees would not be coddled in civilian court, that a detainee would be treated like a mass murderer, like Charles Manson. There has been a lot of congressional and other pushback on the attorney general's decision to try the self-professed 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in New York. That is being reconsidered and Holder said a new decision on how and where to deal with him will be made in weeks, not months -- John.
ROBERTS: All right, Jeanne.
Let's bring Barbara Starr who is at the Pentagon this morning.
And, Barbara, give us some broad brush strokes here of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Is the military really out there actively looking for him, or is it sort of if they come across him they' be happy about that? And is there any attempt to take him alive? Or do they just basically want to put a bullet in him and say, "All is done"?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, all options on the table I suppose, John. Look, by all accounts, he's hiding in Pakistan, and U.S. forces are not in Pakistan.
But look at it this way, what Holder is really talking about is, if you will, the last 100 yards to Osama bin Laden. If you thought he was behind a door and you had Delta Forces, U.S. commandos, ready to kick that door down and go in and get him, what would they face? Well, Osama bin Laden's not going to let himself be taken alive. Either he has poison that he will take, that may not work fast enough. He always carries a weapon, he may try and shot himself and kill himself.
But it is also widely believed in military and intelligence circles that the security men who are with him at all times have taken a vow to the death that they will shoot and kill him so he cannot be taken alive by U.S. forces. So, even if they dropped a bomb on him, it's that last 100 yards. If you know he's there, how do you get to him before he kills himself or has his aides kill him -- John.
ROBERTS: So, what happens if or when bin Laden is either captured or killed?
STARR: Well -- I mean, this is really the fundamental problem for the United States in this propaganda war that is engaged in with the fundamentalist movement. The U.S. has to have a -- this is the assessment -- a dead body to show with recognizable facial features to show the world that bin Laden has been killed. That in itself is a problem. If you drop a bomb on the house where you think he is, you don't have a body left to show the world. If perhaps he is shot and killed and people set his body on fire or go to bury him very quickly, you don't have a body to show.
What the U.S. knows is if bin Laden is dead, they've got to show him to the world and have to do something so he is not made a martyr to fundamentalists -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, along with Jeanne Meserve in Washington -- thanks, both. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour. Tiger Woods' master plan: he's returning to golf in time for the Masters. We're looking at who will benefit the most -- ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes after the hour now and time for "Minding Your Business." Christine Romans is here this morning. Because of his announced comeback, we're talking about the business of Tiger.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And the business of Tiger and Tiger's money. Here is Tiger's money. Tiger Woods by the numbers. Look, this is incredibly important because everyone is looking to April 8th, right? The comeback of Tiger Woods. His salary, 2008, more than $7 million, endorsements, $92 million, total take home, according to "Sports Illustrated," almost $100 million. "Forbes" interestingly says, over his career, he's almost made a billion dollars. Tiger Woods was actually asked about that recently at a press conference, well, not recently, before he got into this little, shall we say, indiscretion, and he actually laughed about that, said, no, I'm not a billionaire, I'm far from it.
The sponsors who dumped Tiger after his problems began -- Gatorade, AT&T, and Accenture, you might recall, he was the face, he was the image of Accenture. They had to very quickly change gears. The sponsors who stood by Tiger, Nike and Electronic Arts, and Tiger's role was de-emphasized in these two. The watchmaker also Gillette.
You know, this is going to be a very big deal for the broadcaster. And they are already starting to stir it up about what a big deal they think it will be. I have an opinion here on this for the broadcasters already saying maybe 20 percent increase in viewership, there were 14.3 million viewers at the Masters last year.
It is not the lunar landing, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, there's a lot of hype about what this is going to mean and I'm sure that they are going to keep pushing the hype, but it is the comeback of Tiger Woods, a lot of money involved here. Another interesting note quickly, AT&T dumped him as a sponsor but AT&T is a sponsor of the Masters. So that is kind of interesting. AT&T kind of gets to play it both ways on that.
ROBERTS: There you go. All right. Christine, thanks. So, we talked about Tiger's business empire, but what about the actual sport of golf?
CHETRY: Yes, and what will Tiger's return mean for the game, for his career, and does Team Tiger still have some damage control to do? Joining us to talk about all of these, David Dusek, deputy editor with "Sports Illustrated Golf." So, what's your take on his return to the Masters?
DAVID DUSEK, DEPUTY EDITOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GOLF": I suppose it's not really surprising. There was a lot of news that was starting to come out last week at about this time that there were reports of Tiger Woods was going to be coming back. Originally, we thought it was going to be in Orlando. I never really bought in. The Masters makes a lot more sense for Tiger Woods to make his return. So, surprising that we got the news probably yesterday, but not surprising that it was coming. We were anticipating this.
ROBERTS: If America loves anything, David, it's a comeback story.
DUSEK: Sure.
ROBERTS: And this is really a chance for Tiger to redeem himself over the course of just four days. How does the venue of the Masters play into all this?
DUSEK: It's the perfect sort of setting, I mean this is the most golfy kind of place you can possibly imagine. It's as idyllic as they come. And it's the most pure form of almost any sporting event you can possibly imagine. There's no corporate village or signage. You're not going to see banners plastered all over with different logos and things. It's just about the golf course, the venue, the sort of idyllic, tranquil place that really is a bastion of the sport. It's literally the holiest ground of the game.
Tiger has won there four times. The fans, the patrons, excuse me, as they line the golf course, are the most knowledgeable and respectful fans that you could ever see. All these things will help to sort of increase Tiger Woods' level of comfort in what's got to be a very traumatic sort of return. There's no avoiding that part, but in terms of the softest landing he could have created, this is the place to do it.
CHETRY: Two questions about the -- how much it matters, how well he plays.
DUSEK: How much it matter? I think for Tiger Woods, this is the first step. For golf in general, it matters a lot. It brings golf back into the buzz. It's the beginning of the championship season, the run for the Masters. The U.S. Open -- CHETRY: It matters more for golf, how well he does, than in terms of Tiger himself?
DUSEK: In terms of how he actually scores, yes. It means a lot more for golf that he is just out there competing. That he is out there and he is becoming hopefully more positive stuff, the Tiger has stopped hit bottom and is rallying at this point.
For Tiger Woods, in terms of how well he's going to play, what is he going to do on the course, he's never broken 70 in the first round of the Masters. If he doesn't go really well and have a great score, I can already see the headlines, Tiger Woods and the effects of the scandal and how this is affecting his game. I think that his comfort level gets better and better through the week, he will do better and better. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if come Saturday and Sunday, he could be in the mix. It's his home course.
ROBERTS: They say that golf is a game of inches, the six or seven inches between your ears is 90 percent mental. So, we'll see how he deals with the pressure.
DUSEK: That's always been Tiger Woods' strongest part.
ROBERTS: As Christine was pointing out, about less than a tenth of his income comes from his winnings on the golf tour. The majority, the bulk of it is in endorsements. And we have seen, you know, outfits like Gatorade, AT&T, Accenture pull out, but if he does well and this puts him onto the road to a comeback, could we see all of those sponsors flocking back in with new endorsements? And is there a possibility, I mentioned this earlier today, that at the end of this year Tiger could be even bigger than he was before this whole debacle.
DUSEK: If Tiger Woods somehow wins the Masters or wins the U.S. Open and clearly shows that his game has not taken a big hit nearly as much as his reputation and his marketability, at least, at this point, then, yes, you can see maybe in two or three years that he sort of goes back. I can't see him going back to the $100 million a year person at this point, because he was so broad, so widespread, and so universally loved, the pitch man was just perfect.
I think there are vacancies in the stable right now. For example, an automotive company, a different type of a company, for example, in the business world, Accenture pulls out, that creates openings. And I think that, as he comes back, as his cue rating improves, and over time if he's winning, everyone wants to associate with a winner. As he gets closer to Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships, everyone is going to want to latch on.
ROMANS: Will this really be the big, big, big TV event that everyone is making it out to be? Is it going to bring new people in?
DUSEK: Super Bowl.
ROMANS: You think it's Super Bowl.
DUSEK: If Tiger Woods is in contention going into Saturday and Sunday, CBS will get Super Bowl.
ROMANS: New eyeballs. Who are not Masters viewers.
DUSEK: Sure. Of the ten most highest rated television golf events that we've had since 1977, all of them have been Sunday Masters.
ROMANS: People want to see what he looks like. People who don't even care about golf want to see what he looks like and how he plays, how he's perceived.
DUSEK: That's what makes this Super Bowl kind of number because it's not just the golf or it's not just the Masters, now it's the whole thing globally.
ROBERTS: Dave Dusek, great to see you this morning. Thanks for coming in.
DUSEK: Thanks a lot.
CHETRY: We'll take a quick break. When we come back much more ahead on the Most News in the Morning. It's 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: One of Washington's largest lobbying groups is flexing its financial muscles in the fight over health care reform. Last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce doled out $42 million for anti- reform bill television ads. Overall, it spent more than the two main fund-raising and grassroots operations for the Democratic and Republican parties, and the chamber's broader impact on elections is yet to be seen.
Our Carol Costello joins us live from Washington with a closer look. Awful lot of money being thrown at this, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gobs and gobs of cash, John. The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce is spending millions of dollars not only to fight health care but to influence the midterm elections. It has become a major player in national policy, something critics say is just another sign lobbyists are increasingly controlling what happens in your life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Ohio!
COSTELLO: The fight over health care reform is hotter than it's ever been. President Obama is in overdrive.
OBAMA: That's why we need health insurance reform right now.
COSTELLO: And those who want to block the current bills are in overdrive too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To ram through their same trillion dollar health care bill.
COSTELLO: They're spending in the millions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell Congress, stop this health care bill. We can't afford to pay.
COSTELLO: A powerful business coalition is behind this ad. It was paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the richest, most powerful lobbies in the country.
Dave Arkush is from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.
DAVID ARKUSH, PUBLIC CITIZEN: It is the way the game is played in partially, but they've got more resources to play it better than anyone else.
COSTELLO: Once upon a time, the Chamber of Commerce was known mainly as a business association, an ally for the local shop keeper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take that one. I just (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's swell.
COSTELLO: Today, critics like Public Citizen describe the Chamber as too political, with enormous influence over national policy.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, between 1998 and 2009, the Chamber spent $606,758,180 to lobby lawmakers, pay for political ads and grassroots organizing. In 2009 alone, it spent $144.5 million on lobbying a variety of different issues.
COSTELLO (on camera): That's a lot of money.
BRUCE JOSTEN, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, it is a lot of money, but I didn't hear a lot of concern about the union spending $420 million in the '08 elections to elect this majority.
COSTELLO: Still, by far and away, you guys spend the most money on lobbying.
JOSTEN: So? We're a lobbying organization.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The Chamber does support health care reform but doesn't think the president's plan is a good one.
JOSTEN: I think where the public kind of gets a little askance when they hear we're going to cut half a trillion out of Medicare over here, we're going to create a new long term care entitlement trust fund over here, and, oh, by the way, $50 a day is not very much for long term care in any assisted living center anywhere in the free world.
COSTELLO: The Chamber says its stand on health care and other issues like climate change resonate beyond its membership. That's why it's been reaching out to non-members.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, we need you to join the fight.
COSTELLO: The effort in political speak is called grassroots organizing, and many organizations do it.
JOSTEN: What is grassroots? It's people like you. It's individuals, not just business people, across the country who happen to share the views on some positions that we as an institution have developed, by the way, with their input.
COSTELLO (on camera): Do you really have 6 million of them out there, working for you? Is that the goal or do you have those - that amount of people already?
JOSTEN: We - we have a database of about 6 million names of people that we can reach out to and activate. Yes.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Critics like Arkush says the Chamber has too much influence.
ARKUSH: The Chamber just recently announced it's going to spend $200 million to challenge vulnerable Democrats in the elections this fall. That is really frightening to members of Congress, and it makes them listen to the Chamber's lobbyists.
COSTELLO: And this week, the Chamber's lobbyists and hundreds of other lobbyists, backed by dozens of other organizations on both sides of the issue, are concentrating their efforts on one thing --
OBAMA: It's time to vote.
COSTELLO: -- health care.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Of course, the chamber isn't the only lobbying organization to show its muscle. A few months ago I did an in-depth piece on the Service Employees International Union and its efforts to pass health care reform. It boasted a war room with 400 full-time people to get the president's plan passed.
By next week, John, we may or may not see who won. Who knows? It's supposed to be over this week, right?
ROBERTS: Yes. No apologies from the Chamber of Commerce either. You said you spend a lot on lobbying. He says we're a lobbying organization.
COSTELLO: It represents its members and spends an awful lot of money to do that. No apologies.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello this morning, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Sure.
CHETRY: Crossing the bottom of the hour right now, time for our top stories.
The Red River getting set to surge. These are the latest pictures right now in North Dakota, Minnesota, volunteers trying to save hundreds of homes from floodwaters. This is the second year in a row for this hundred-year flood. It comes as forecasters warn us that a third of the country could be dealing with similar threats this spring.
ROBERTS: Attorney General Eric Holder says Osama bin Laden will never face trial in the United States. Testifying before a congressional hearing, Holder responded to criticism about the possibility of trying the terror leader in a U.S. courtroom by saying, quote, "The reality is we will be reading Miranda rights to a corpse."
CHETRY: And a follow-up to a story that we've been following on AMERICAN MORNING. Baby Jenny rescued by doctors taken to Miami after Haiti's devastating earthquake in January. She's one step closer to being returned to her family in Haiti.
Our Elizabeth Cohen, who has been following this story from day one, says DNA samples from the couple in Haiti who claim to be her parents are indeed a match. They've been looking for their daughter ever since the earthquake happened.
Another story we've been following for you. For nine years, she kept a secret. Jene Newsome didn't tell anyone in the Air Force she was a lesbian. Then just as momentum was building to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Jene was outed by a third party. It was actually her local police department in South Dakota after they saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home.
ROBERTS: She's now discharged from the Air Force. Jene and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a complaint against the Rapid City police department, saying that the officers violated her privacy. The police department, meanwhile, maintains they were simply following routine procedures.
Jene joins thus morning via Skype from Fairbanks, Alaska. Good to see you this morning. Just set the stage here, you got married, as Kiran said, in Iowa last October to your partner, Cheryl Hudson. You were sticking by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until this incident with the Rapid City Police Department.
What happened, and how did your sexual orientation get reported up to the military?
JENE NEWSOME, DISCHARGED FROM AIR FORCE UNDER "DADT": Well, they just came to my home back in November, and like they said, they said they seen the marriage certificate and pretty much reported it to the military. But I think they were upset that I didn't cooperate as well as they wanted me to during the situation.
ROBERTS: Now, just in terms, by way of fur explanation and why the police department was at your home, they were there to serve a felony arrest warrant on your partner?
NEWSOME: Correct.
CHETRY: And how did they see your marriage certificate?
NEWSOME: They said they seen it on the kitchen table through the window, supposedly. It doesn't make much sense to me, but that's what they said.
CHETRY: So, what do you think really happened?
NEWSOME: I think that they were just looking, looking for something, or they might have seen it a little bit and could tell it was some type of document from Iowa. But I think that they looked into it further.
ROBERTS: So the real point in all of this, Jene, is why the police department reported your marital status up to the military. We know that one of the officers who was there at your home is a member of the Army National Guard.
Was there any reason in your mind for the police department to report the existence of this marriage certificate to the military?
NEWSOME: I don't think there was much of a reason. They wanted me to come home from work so I could open up my home to them, and I was unable to leave work. And I think the officer was upset over the situation and that's why he reported it.
He explained to me that he knew how the military worked and he explained to me that he was in the Army National Guard and he would just let the military handle it.
ROBERTS: In your knowledge, is it common for the police to report to the military if the spouse of a member of the armed services is involved in some sort of criminal complaint?
NEWSOME: No. No, it's not.
CHETRY: Well, here's what they're saying, the Rapid City police officers. They gave us this statement, and I'd like to get your reaction. They said the arrest report was later forwarded by a detective to the United States Air Force consistent with long-standing practices of communication when military personnel have contact with local law enforcement.
They go on to say they regret that the information led to your discharge and they say it's best addressed by the Air Force. They say they were following long-standing practices. You say you don't necessarily believe that. Why?
NEWSOME: I don't believe that because usually if the military member is in some kind of trouble with the law and committed a crime of some sort. And that wasn't the case with me.
ROBERTS: And in your knowledge, again, that doesn't extend to the spouse or a family member of a member of the military services?
NEWSOME: No, it doesn't.
ROBERTS: OK. The police department is make nothing apology, as we said, saying that the officers acted properly according to department procedure.
But last month the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, said that the military would, quote, "raise the bar of credible information need to institute an inquiry in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", and might even stop dismissing troops based on third-party accusations, which is what happened here.
You were discharged back in January. I'm wondering if, based on what Secretary Gates said, you might make a case for reinstatement. Do you think it's maybe too late, or would you even want to do that?
NEWSOME: Well, if they decided to drop "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" altogether, it's a great consideration.
CHETRY: How frustrating is it for you knowing that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was pending, the repeal of it, knowing that it's something that has been called for now by many, and knowing that you've been discharged because a third party outed you?
NEWSOME: It's very frustrating. I was looking forward to the change. I believed in the change. And it was a great disappointment when I found out that I was being discharged, especially under the circumstances.
ROBERTS: Jene Newsome, thanks for joining us this morning to tell your story. We do appreciate it.
NEWSOME: No problem.
ROBERTS: Thanks again.
It's 37 minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's 39 minutes past the hour.
It has been a tough couple years for the auto industry, but one carmaker is on a roll, and despite being headquartered in South Korea, Hyundai is helping build up America in Montgomery, Alabama. Our Tom Foreman has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just south of Montgomery at the gleaming new Hyundai plant, almost every minute another new car rolls off the line. And just about as often, you can find someone like Yolanda Williams singing the company's praises.
YOLANDA WILLIAMS, HYUNDAI TEAM MEMBER: I love it. I enjoy what I do every day.
FOREMAN (on camera): Did you ever have any idea you'd be making a living from the car industry in southern Alabama?
WILLIAMS: No, I didn't. It's changed a lot of people's lives now.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Winning this massive economic prize over other states that wanted it had local leaders scrambling at one point, making sure Hyundai knew how transportation services, power grids, and most of all, the local community could and would meet all their needs.
RICK NEAL, VICE PRESIDENT, HYUNDAI: So this location was great.
FOREMAN (on camera): And they made sure that you had everything.
NEAL: Everything.
FOREMAN: The land, the communications, the transportation.
NEAL: Yes. Utilities.
FOREMAN: And it seems like it's working.
NEAL: It is working. It's working for them. It's working for us.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Last year, Hyundai was just one of three car companies to increase sales in America, the success for the community.
(on camera): So you're just looking to see if there's anything wrong with this piece.
(voice-over): Good jobs.
JASON THOMAS, HYUNDAI TEAM MEMBER: Means the world to me, and I know a lot of other people feel the same way.
FOREMAN (on camera): How secure do you feel in your job?
JAMES LENOIR, HYUNDAI TEAM MEMBER: I feel really secure. I really do.
FOREMAN: Enough to buy a house, enough to move forward?
LENOIR: I have.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Hyundai doesn't make everything it needs, so that means that lots of suppliers have sprung up all throughout this region to make bumpers and sunroofs and dashboards, and that has created many more jobs. About 800 have come from Mobis, another Korean company that followed Hyundai here.
(on camera): I'm guessing a lot of people are pretty happy about this. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are. As a matter of fact, I'm one of them.
(voice-over): In all, local officials estimate more than 20,000 jobs have rippled out from the Hyundai deal, building up south Alabama one job, one car, one minute at a time.
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FOREMAN: And this is really more than the story of a company's success. We can all see that as you look at the sales of cars around the country. It really is the story of a community's success in finding a way to draw in a big business at a time when they really needed it here.
Not only did it work, but it's paved the way for others. Now Kia is opening a big plant just over in Georgia, and likewise there will be a rippling out of jobs from that plant that will come over here to Alabama, as well.
So, many, many, many people here very happy about the efforts that their leaders here made to build up this part of the country, and it's helping them build up their individual communities as well. And Hyundai is not unhappy about it either.
CHETRY: Absolutely. A great success story, and it's good to hear. Tom Foreman for us, thanks.
ROBERTS: Forty-two minutes past the hour. Your jus minutes away from an "AM House Call." Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning talking about progress in the war on cancer. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Chicago where they'll be very soon dyeing the Chicago River green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. It's 36 degrees there right now. But listen to this, beautiful today, sunny and a high of 60.
CHETRY: Very exciting. And it's going to be like that in Chicago, in Boston, here in New York today is going to be in the mid- 60s. So --
ROBERTS: All the big centers for St. Patrick's Day a great weather today.
CHETRY: And we deserve it, right Rob? It's 45 minutes past the hour.
You are looking at all of the poor people in New Jersey right now, I mean, the river still hasn't crested. I mean, they could use a break.
MARCIANO: They could certainly use a break and a little sunshine to bring the spirits up on this St. Patrick's Day will do the trick. Definitely temperatures will be warm from the upper Midwest and the western Great Lakes into the Northeast. A little bit cool and at times showery down across parts of the south. So Florida not the best today, the panhandle included and parts of southern Alabama and Georgia, but other than that, it shouldn't be all that bad.
Flood risks still there. And you bet it's going to be here for a couple weeks. They are just scurrying to get those sandbags implemented across the Red River. It could probably see a flood that's -- or at least the river rise close to what we saw last year.
Unbelievable that this is happening two years in a row, but the fall rains, a lot of cold air and snow on top of -- now the snow melt is leading to that.
But they're not the only ones in the mix here. A high flood potential for the Northern Plains but above-average flood potential for parts of the southwest and the East Coast because of all the snow that you folks have had and the rainfall. It's been relatively wet. But for a lot of folks today it will be relatively dry. So everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, right, guys?
ROBERTS: Well, there's two different types of people, there's the Irish and then everybody who wishes they were.
MARCIANO: So I'm told.
CHETRY: There you go. Even Italian Rob is Irish today. Have a nice one.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
CHETRY: Forty seven minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour.
It's time for your "AM House Call" stories about your health.
This morning we're focusing on cancer. And some people are claiming, even though we talk a lot about advances made and cure rates, that we may be losing the war against the disease.
ROBERTS: We have spent nearly $100 billion in federal money searching for a cure in the last four decades.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us live this morning from Atlanta. And where exactly do we stand in the war on cancer today, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's a bit of a tricky question. And first of all, with regard to the $100 billion that you're talking about federal funding. That doesn't count all the money that's been spent by private sector, pharmaceutical companies, lots of other areas and also spending money, probably closer to $200 billion if you tally it all up. Where do we stand? It's tricky in part because since this war on cancer was declared 40 years ago the population has increased by about 30 percent in this country. The number of people who are 55 or older has gone up by twofold, so it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
But still over the last decade you see about a one percent per year annual decrease in cancer deaths rates. You see a 16 percent decrease in overall diagnoses. So there's seems to be some glimmers of improvement.
What I thought was most interesting about looking at the study, was how you can draw a line between how much funding was given to a particular cancer and how much it's had an impact overall on the outcomes from that particular cancer.
So for example, when you're talking about breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and back in 2007, for one year, look at the amount of money that was given to these particular cancers; pretty significant amount, again, from the federal government alone. And some of the cancers that have the worst outcomes still, cancers we talked about all the time, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, these are cancers that got some of the least funding.
So you can draw these lines pretty clearly. Cancer is still a big cause of death in this country; over 500,000 people die every year. But you know, being able to try and follow the money and seeing its impact is sort of an interesting exercise.
CHETRY: And, you know, there's been some debate over how to best spend this money fighting cancer. Can you break down the arguments for us?
GUPTA: Yes. You know, this is an interesting question from the science perspective. And it's one of these things that, you know, there's been over a million and a half papers written about cancer over the last 40 years, a million and a half papers. And to some extent, this idea of just generating more knowledge has become the goal in many ways as opposed to always having that knowledge be translated into treatments for people.
That's part of the issue. Do you fund just knowledge or do you fund treatments?
The other thing is when you talk about cancer spreading throughout the body, most people think when the cancer has spread through the body there's really nothing more that you can do about it. And part of the reason they think that way is because the metastatic or spread of disease gets very little funding in terms of its research, less than one percent of funding of those numbers that we just talked about.
So not only in the lay community but also in the science community they just don't -- they don't spend the money on researching things that are actually killing people from cancer. Localized cancer that's just confined to one area doesn't typically kill people. It's when it spreads. We should be spending more money in those areas as well.
ROBERTS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning with an update. Doc thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thanks, guys.
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 54 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Lawmakers are not the only ones battling over health care inside the Beltway. Hundreds of protesters from the TEA party movement rallied in the capital with one simple message -- kill the bill. Here's Jim Acosta.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill. Kill the bill.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As an Army of TEA party protesters prepared to flood the halls of Congress --
ACOSTA: -- the message was consistent. The bill to kill was health care reform.
JENNY BETH MARTIN, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: Hi there. If your representatives meet with you, stay all day long if you have to.
ACOSTA: Debbie Dooley, a TEA party organizer from Georgia, wanted to track down as many Democrats wavering on health care in the House and sound off.
DEBBIE DOOLEY, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: We believe in health care reform, but we believe in free market solutions.
ACOSTA (on camera): Such as?
DOOLEY: Being able to purchase health insurance across state lines, tort reform. We believe --
ACOSTA: If you don't mind me saying that sounds like what the Republican Party is saying. I thought the TEA party was different.
DOOLEY: We are different, but we do support the free market solutions with health care.
ACOSTA: Moments after she finished her thought --
DOOLEY: Tom. How are you doing?
REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: God bless you. Thank you for coming.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Georgia Republican Tom Price came to give her a pat on the back. PRICE: This is what the American people have been trying to tell Speaker Pelosi, trying to tell the president for the past eight to ten months. This isn't the bill that the American people want.
ACOSTA (on camera): Here comes another Republican right here. Hello, sir.
(voice-over): Then came Arizona Republican Trent Franks.
(on camera): You don't feel so outnumbered with all these TEA party folks around here.
REP. TRENT FRANKS, (R), ARIZONA: No, we don't. You know, the fact is we're not outnumbered. We're outvoted but we're not outnumbered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're quite angry, actually. We're not being represented.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But for one group of TEA partiers gathered outside the office of undecided Democrat Jerry Connolly, the reception was different.
In Georgia, are they going to get a chance to see their Congressmen?
REP. JERRY CONNOLLY (D): I don't even know if she's a constituent. She hasn't signed in.
ACOSTA: One of Connolly's aides complained some of the protesters weren't even from the Congressman's district.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone else here --
CONNOLLY: And where do you live?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, excuse me, I'm --
CONNOLLY: I've had enough. Do you live in the 11th district?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what --
ACOSTA: the tea partiers found more sympathetic lawmakers at their main rally of the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grandma isn't shovel ready.
ACOSTA: Where Iowa Republican Steve King issued a dire warning if health care passes.
REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: If the liberal elitists are determined to impose socialized medicine on America, there will be a reckoning. The best that we can hope for is that reckoning is in the ballot box. I hope it stays peaceful.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ACOSTA: We hope so, too, but the TEA partiers aren't going to get what they want by just courting just Republicans. Even organizers told us it's the conservative Blue Dog Democrats who are the catch this week, John. They have the votes to make or break health care, as we all know.
ROBERTS: Yes. We were talking with one Democratic member earlier today who is still undecided, saying that he doesn't like some of the things in the bill, doesn't like this potential for the process of deem-and-pass either they're talking about.
But the TEA party members, did they make -- we saw what happened outside Jerry Connolly's office -- did they make any headway at all with Democrats?
ACOSTA: Not with Jerry Connolly's office, they didn't get in there, but my sense is a lot of these wavering Democrats are very much staying in hiding. We were able to talk to one earlier this morning as you mentioned, but a lot of them, they are keeping their votes to themselves until they actually vote their position on this.
And we may not find that out until this weekend when the vote is potentially going to happen.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll keep watching it closely. Jim Acosta thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
CHETRY: All right. And that's going to do it for us.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: The news continues on CNN with Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
