Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Setback in the Gulf: Leaking Cap Halts Integrity Test on Well; New Containment Cap Leaking; Feds Push for Safer Cribs; Nine States Backing Arizona; Panel Advises FDA on Avandia's Fate; Pain Pill Abuse Up 400 Percent; Chalk One Up for the Chicken
Aired July 15, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's Thursday, July 15th. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Acosta. John Roberts is off today. Good to see you.
CHETRY: Good to see you as well.
ACOSTA: It's been a long time.
CHETRY: I know.
ACOSTA: There's a lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it. Another agonizing setback in the gulf. The equipment BP is using to stop the leaking oil has a leak of its own. It was discovered just a few hours ago. And that means integrity tests on the well and the drilling of those two BP relief wells are both on hold right now.
CHETRY: Parents take note. The feds are proposing new rules that would ban the sale of certain cribs. The new standards would make almost every crib in the country at least drop side not up to code. We're live with new details on the safety of your child.
ACOSTA: That's very important stuff.
And an FDA panel of medical experts recommends keeping the diabetes drug Avandia on the market but with tighter controls. We'll take a closer look at that decision which was far from unanimous. And could the Avandia controversy change the way the FDA approves drugs and monitors their safety?
And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, back to our top story this morning. There's been another setback in the battle to save the gulf. All of the attempts to stop the oil leak have been halted now at this hour on the 87th day of this disaster. BP discovering a leak in the new cap that it's using to try to kill the spill. ACOSTA: That problem has to be fixed before integrity tests on the well can move forward. They are suspended indefinitely right now. And those tests are vital because they'll determine whether the gushing well could hold up under extreme pressure once the flow of oil is stopped.
CHETRY: Our David Mattingly has been monitoring all the new developments with us this morning. He's live in New Orleans.
And, David, so the hopes were so high that this 75-ton cap just a few days ago would be able to actually, perhaps, finally stop the leak. What went wrong?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is definitely not what we wanted to see this morning. We were watching with a lot of hope last night. It was very encouraging when they closed that initial ram, that valve that they were closing to start this process. When they did that, it shut off the flow off the top of that new cap. So that showed that everything was working so far as it was supposed to.
But as they shut that off, that's when they determined that there was a leak in the choke line. That is one of two lines coming off this device, the choke and the kill line. There is a leak in that choke line and they now say they have that leak isolated and that they will fix it and will continue with this test. But they are not offering any timeline. BP is not saying when they will be able to have this fixed or how they're going to fix it, or any sort of details about how bad this leak might be. Only to say that they have a leak in the choke line and that it has been isolated and they will fix it.
Yesterday, Admiral Thad Allen was talking about this process saying there were no guarantees. Again, not raising any sort of expectations but assuring everyone that eventually they will have enough containment operations on the service to collect most, if not all, of the oil that's now leaking out. So here's what he said as he was talking about the expectations for this project.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: As far as containment, I'm very optimistic because we now have a cap in place. Regardless of whether or not we can shut the well or not, we now have the cap in place that will allow us to go to four production platforms. Now one of the problems will be is we may not get 100 percent containment, but it will be much more than we have right now and we have capacity that's in excess of the flow rate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now containment is a good thing, but the idea here is to find a way to cap this well and to shut off that flow. The idea they want to make this hurricane proof, that make this well hurricane proof because they would have to disconnect all those containment devices on the surface if a storm does come through. So being able to make this cap work gives them the capability of not only shutting off at least temporarily the flow of this oil, but gives them that ability to be able to disconnect the connection devices at the top so that they won't continue this large spill.
This part of the operation was supposed to be what they've been looking for all along. A way to either contain or stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. So this hitch is very big right now. We're looking for a way now for them to get around this.
CHETRY: David Mattingly for us this morning in New Orleans. Thanks so much.
Joining us in six minutes, Michio Kaku. He is a physics professor at City University of New York. Also hosts the "Sci-Fi Science" on the Science Channel. We're going to get his assessment of the latest setback for BP. Also the odds of stopping the spill with the company's new containment cap.
ACOSTA: Also new this morning, new evidence of the tough political climate facing President Obama. In a "Time" magazine poll you're seeing for the first time this morning, 49 percent of Americans say they approve of President Obama's performance. Forty-five percent disapprove. When it comes to the crucial midterm election, 43 percent said they plan to vote for a Democrat. That compares to the 42 percent who prefer their district be Republican. And if the presidential election were held today, drum roll, please, the choices between Sarah Palin and President Obama, 55 percent would cast their vote for the president. Thirty-four percent for Sarah Palin.
CHETRY: I don't know why they put him up against Sarah Palin.
ACOSTA: Definitely a hypothetical match-up at this point. But the polls have been everywhere on the president lately.
CHETRY: And the president, meantime, trying to look past the polling. Meeting with House Democrats after Press Secretary Robert Gibbs ruffled some feathers a few days ago by suggesting that his party could lose the House this fall. We're told that last night's meeting focused on the party's future economic policies and not past comments by Gibbs. By the way, Gibbs backed off of those comments saying that he believes Democrats will retain control of both the House and the Senate after the November midterms.
Well, it's five minutes past the hour right now. Time to get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center for us this morning. And one thing that we do know is it's going to get hot.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. And it's already hot across the nation's midsection but that heat will be sneaking up into the northeast. And tomorrow will be a scorcher for you folks. And some folks will touch 90 today.
Heat advisories up and down the midsection of the country and even out towards the southwest, too. So heat indices could be up and over 100 to 510 (ph) degrees again today. Dangerously hot weather. We had dangerous thunderstorms yesterday roll through the upper Midwest. Wisconsin just got hammered. Ten reports of tornadoes. That cell, or cluster of cells has weakened as it moves across Lake Michigan. But Milwaukee, you're about to get clobbered with some thunderstorms, possibly severe ones. Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, looks like this -- at least this batch is missing Chicago for now. But severe storms will fire along this front later on today.
And yes, the heat will be the big story, I think, right on through Saturday. Friday and Saturday for the northeast are going to be the warmest days with highs getting into the mid-90s. And that doesn't include the humidity.
We'll talk more about that in about 30 minutes. Jim and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob.
Well, coming up, a story that every parent is going to want to know about. A consumer alert this morning. The feds are proposing new rules that would render just about every crib, including the one in your child's room, not up to proper standards. And we will tell you why. It's an important story that parents would want to know about. That's coming up.
CHETRY: Also, after weeks of mixed reviews, complaints, e-mails, blogs, Apple appears ready to address the new iPhone 4's so-called death grip flaw. We're going to tell you what the tech giant plans coming up.
Six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: All right, welcome back. It is 6:09, almost 6:10. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
When it comes to stopping that oil leak at the bottom of the gulf, it seems BP just can't catch a break.
CHETRY: Yes. Let's look once again at the live feed of the oil giant's ruptured well. There you see it. And they've been attempting to test the integrity of the new cap that's been put in place. But they are putting that on hold right now. It was suspended earlier this morning after BP discovered a leak in the new containment cap that it's using, or at least in part of the valving of that containment cap.
ACOSTA: Right. Exactly. It's complicated stuff. But joining us now to break down the physics of that cap and to explain why BP just can't seem to get it right right now, Michio Kaku, physics professor at the City University of New York and host of "Sci-Fi Science" on the Science Channel. And we don't want to overstate things and say, well, they're just not getting it right because we were discussing this before the break. And you were saying that this is light at the end of the tunnel, even though there's a tiny setback right now.
MICHIO KAKU, PHYSICS PROFESSOR, CUNY: That's right. We could be entering the final chapter in this tragedy. For the first time in 87 days, we actually have a hold on what to do and perhaps maybe even able to choke and cap this leak. So it is the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a minor setback.
Look at the big picture. For the first time, we know what we're doing. We were floundering for almost three months because it's a science experiment in action.
ACOSTA: Yes. Right.
CHETRY: Right, and a mile down which makes it even harder when you can't get your hands on it.
KAKU: That's right.
CHETRY: You know, you're relying on the robots. Explain a little bit more about what this setback is though, when we talk about a leak in the valving system.
KAKU: Think of a fire hydrant that is raging away tremendous amounts of water. If you cap it too quickly, then the pipeline could burst and create mini leaks and aggravate the problem. However, if there's already a leak there, then the pressure will suddenly drop.
Now the leak is in the cap itself. It's not in the pipeline. That would be the worst case scenario. A leak in the pipeline itself because then you have mini leaks springing up, and that is a disaster I don't want to even think about. That would make it much worse. Irreversible damage to that pipe.
ACOSTA: And it would severely limit the number of options left to BP and the federal government in terms of how to resolve this.
KAKU: That's right. It depends on where the leaks are. When we have the relief well, we finally choke it off at the bottom.
ACOSTA: Yes.
KAKU: Hopefully the leaks will be on top of where the choking takes place. So, again, the worst case scenario is a leak in the actual pipeline because that could have been damaged in the original explosion 87 days ago.
CHETRY: But you're saying they still don't know that and they're not going to know that until they can actually move forward with the testing and with the closing of -- the slow closing of the cap.
KAKU: That's right. We are actually operating in the dark. We're blind. We know very little about the state of that pipe. And that's why they're very slowly beginning to close the cap, re- pressurize it and hope that no new leaks spring up because that could cause, quote, "irreversible damage," unquote, and make the leak much worse.
CHETRY: However, I mean, the --
ACOSTA: Yes.
KAKU: -- even if that's the case, that's still only for a finite period of time because the killing of the well, the drilling of the relief wells is still happening.
KAKU: That's right. That's the gold standard. Relief wells almost always work. However, they never work on the first try. So don't get your hopes up. When they try to hit that dinner plate at a distance of three miles below sea level, they may miss, in which case you have to redraw the drill, seal it with cement and drill again. And that process actually has gone on for months at previous oil spills. So just remember that this is the gold standard. It almost always works. But it's trial and error to a certain degree.
ACOSTA: And does the delicacy of this operation call into question the wisdom of whether or not that kind of deepwater drilling should be going on? Just think about the agonizing process that we've been through to get to this point and this is not even a sure thing.
KAKU: People ask the question why now are we getting a hold on exactly what's happening there. Why couldn't we do it three months ago?
ACOSTA: Yes.
KAKU: And the reason is they didn't do the basic testing. The basic testing, the analysis of conditions at 5,000 feet were not done. So these procedures will actually work at 200 feet below sea level. They actually do work. But at 5,000 feet below sea level, it's a science experiment. They've never done anything on this scale at that depth before where you have high pressure. That's the name of the game -- high pressure. We're simply not used to working there.
ACOSTA: What do you mean by that? Why is the pressure important?
KAKU: Because down at that level, divers would be crushed almost instantly. It's 2,000 pounds per square inch. Take a Toyota and put it on every square inch of your chest. You would collapse like an eggshell within half a second. Divers can't go down there. Even military subs cannot go down there.
ACOSTA: Right.
KAKU: You have to have special mechanical robotic subs to make repairs. And it's very clumsy.
CHETRY: And that goes back to Jim's original question then. Are we sort of playing Russian roulette if you will, with this deepwater drilling if they don't have the ability to fix problems because of how deep they are?
KAKU: Well, it is a fear that perhaps we're going to go into unexplored territory. However, with this relief well, we're confident that we can choke it off. But it may take time. We may miss it on the first time. A previous experience shows it could go on for months. So remember, the agony is not over. We're entering act three of a three-part play. Act one --
CHETRY: Right.
ACOSTA: We hope it's the third and final part, right?
KAKU: Act one was when the explosion took place. Act two was all this floundering and not knowing what to do, making things up as you go along. We're now entering act three.
ACOSTA: Well, Michio Kaku, thanks for breaking it down and thanks for that note of enthusiasm this morning. We -- we really could use it, and we hope you're right. Appreciate your time.
KAKU: Thanks a lot.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us.
Well, still ahead, the feds are proposing a massive overhaul of the nation's cribs to make sure that your babies are safe. In a moment, we're going to break down some of the new standards that could likely go into effect soon.
Fifteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eighteen-and-a-half minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
New this morning, Apple is about to break its silence over complaints about reception problems when you hold the new iPhone 4 in a certain way. The company will hold a press conference. It's taking place tomorrow.
In typical Apple fashion, very few details have been released about it, other than it's about the iPhone 4. There's some speculation, though, that the company might be offering free covers which appear to fix the signal problems.
So stay with us. Coming up in our next hour, CNN.com technology writer John Sutter is going to be joining us to talk more about the possibility of an iPhone recall. Some of the tech blogs, as you know, have actually said that's the only way to go. Others have said that's not likely.
ACOSTA: Duct tape.
CHETRY: Yes. "Consumer Reports" said they can fix the problem with duct tape. But, you know, if you're looking for the sleek design of the iPhone --
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: -- that sort of gets in the way of that.
ACOSTA: Yes. Spending $200 to put duct tape on something --
CHETRY: Or in some cases $500. Right.
ACOSTA: -- to make a phone call. Yes. It kind of goes against that.
Well, if you're a parent, you need -- you'll want to watch this story. You know, there's been a steady drum beat of crib recalls recently, and the government's how -- now hoping to change all of that.
CHETRY: And the Consumer Product Safety Commission is now proposing new standards for cribs which would essentially render every crib in this country not up to code.
Our Allan Chernoff is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
You know, we've heard about these recalls, 82,000 recalls from Pottery Barn and --
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that's just a small part of it. There -- actually, there have been 9 million recalls since 2007, so this is a huge issue.
And we were just chatting.
ACOSTA: Right.
CHERNOFF: None of us had any problem at all with our cribs, and so, to a lot of parents, this might seem like too much government intervention. But try telling that to the families of 32 infants who died over the past decade because of drop-down cribs, and that is the biggest issue right here.
The problem is that sometimes they can become unhinged and all of a sudden you have a V situation. The child can strangle itself. Tragically, that has happened. So the Consumer Product Safety Commission has said this has got to be a very, very big issue. They are cracking down on this, and they're essentially going to ban dropdown cribs.
Now, that's not the only factor. They're also looking at a number of other very important issues. They want better mattress support. They don't want to see part of the mattress fall down and all of a sudden there's a corner that the child can get stuck in. they want sturdier hardware because too often cheap screws can come undone and, again, the whole issue here is to prevent gaps. They also want better quality wood. Sometimes an infant can get their head, their neck stuck. If one of those slats comes out, watch out. So there have been so many problems with this. These new standards would be put in place, and these would happen next year. The vote would happen in December, the final vote. Remember, these are proposed standards. The vote would happen, then, six months later, the standards would go into place.
Now, the manufacturers, they're working hand in hand with the government on this, so they're actually supportive. Let's have a look at a quick statement from them. They're saying, "The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association fully supports the commission's efforts to enhance crib safety."
However, the vote was 5-0 among the commissioners. One of the commissioners, though, is dissenting just a little bit. She is Anne Northup, and she's saying basically, hey, you know, this may happen too quickly. Let's have a look at that quote. "The commission's mandatory standard this year will make every crib in this country obsolete overnight and unable to be sold, regardless of whether that crib was ever subject to a recall or ever considered unsafe."
So we may perhaps see a bit of a comment about that from the industry, and so maybe it will be pushed off a little bit. But since the industry is behind this, it looks like these rules are going to go into effect.
ACOSTA: Yes, and it raises the question, what do you do if you have one of these cribs?
CHERNOFF: The Consumer Product Safety --
ACOSTA: I have one of these cribs.
CHERNOFF: You do?
ACOSTA: Yes. Absolutely.
CHERNOFF: OK. Do you use the drop down?
ACOSTA: I do use it. Well, I don't use it because I'm tall enough where I can reach in and put our little guy in there. But, you know, other members of the household, including the grandparents who come in, they like that drop down.
CHERNOFF: And as I did as well.
And this, I think, is also going to be the orthopedists employment act because it's going to make it tough for people to --
ACOSTA: Yes. They may have to lower the -- maybe the -- the height of the cribs maybe or something like that long term? Right (ph)? It could be a long term solution.
CHERNOFF: What the -- what the Consumer Product Safety Commission is saying is don't use the drop down. Keep the crib up and they're going to ask the manufacturers to provide free material that will actually immobilize that drop down. But, you know, as you -- as you accurately point out, this certainly could be difficult for a lot of parents reaching in, getting that baby. It could certainly hurt the back.
CHETRY: You can change the -- you can change the height of the mattress, you know, how high you put it and how you (INAUDIBLE) as well, and when they get older and they can stand, you can get them out easier.
I never had a drop down. I was terrified of the drop downs, personally.
ACOSTA: Wow. Good call (ph).
CHETRY: I don't know. I just never --
ACOSTA: I never thought of it.
CHETRY: -- trusted whether or not it could just drop down on them, you know?
ACOSTA: Right. Right. Well, that's important information, Allan. Thanks so much for that. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: Thanks, Al.
ACOSTA: Well, now we want to tell you about the immigration story we've been following. Nine states are officially throwing their support behind Arizona's controversial immigration law. We'll tell you if you're living in one of them.
Plus, you'll hear from one Tucson cop who's filed a lawsuit against the legislation.
It is 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour right now.
New this morning, nine states officially on the record and on board with Arizona's controversial immigration law. Led by Michigan's attorney general, the states filed what's known as a friend of the court brief supporting the legislation. And you can see the other states involved up on the map right now. You got Florida, Alabama, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, as well as South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Texas.
The attorneys general in each of those states are all Republicans. Three of them are running for governor this year.
Well, back in Arizona, one suit against the law is headed to court this morning, and it's just one of several against the new legislation. Another was filed by a Tucson police officer who is Latino and says the law is unconstitutional and making police out to be the bad guys in Latino neighborhoods. Our Thelma Gutierrez has his story in this "A.M. Original."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OFC. MARTIN ESCOBAR, TUCSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I have to do my job. I have to serve and protect.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not often a police officer speaks out publicly against the laws he's sworn to uphold. But Officer Martin Escobar, a naturalized citizen and a 15- year veteran of the Tucson Police Department says he can no longer remain silent.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Hi, Officer.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): We met to talk about the new Arizona law that Escobar calls unconstitutional. And as a police officer, he says he doesn't want to have to enforce it. As a private citizen, he's challenging it in federal court.
ESCOBAR: I said, OK, you know what? It's got to be done. It's -- it's the right thing for me to do. Sometimes you've got to stand up for what you believe.
GUTIERREZ: Officer Escobar took us to the area he patrols on Tucson's south side. It's where he grew up.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): What is this neighborhood like?
ESCOBAR: This is a predominantly Hispanic community, predominantly Mexican community here.
GUTIERREZ: Lots of new immigrants?
ESCOBAR: Lots of new immigrants come into here. A lot of people that don't know how to speak English.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): He says he and other officers work hard to gain trust in their communities. It's how crime gets solved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really (ph), I don't want to stay here by myself because I have no family here.
GUTIERREZ: But now, even the children are running scared he will deport them.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): They are afraid of you?
ESCOBAR: Of course. Of course. I don't want them to be afraid of me. Officers -- police officers are supposed to be the good guys. We're not the bad guys.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Under the law, Escobar would have to investigate the immigration status of everyone he stopped, detained or arrested if he suspected they were in the country illegally.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Under this law, you can be sued if you don't investigate.
ESCOBAR: Yes, that's correct.
GUTIERREZ: Does that worry you?
ESCOBAR: Yes. Of course it does.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Within a week of passing the new law, Arizona lawmaker amended it tightening provisions that critics claimed would lead to racial profiling. The state's governor says racial profiling will not be tolerated in Arizona.
But Escobar knows how things work on the streets.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Are you saying that in Arizona, if you come upon a person with an Irish accent and a person with a Spanish accent, you'll investigate the person with the Spanish accent?
ESCOBAR: Most likely the person with the Spanish accent is going to get investigated.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): It's that assumption that bothers him most.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): It sounds like you can relate to what some of the people are feeling right now (ph).
ESCOBAR: Well, that's exactly what I'm saying. And if you -- that's why some people are not going to understand what the feeling is unless they've been through it. I've been through it.
That's a school picture of me in elementary school. I didn't have one -- one word of -- of English. I remember then at that time being called a wetback, you know? They used this thing so bad.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Officer Escobar remembers being questioned by border patrol agents as a child. And he says he knows exactly what some of these children are feeling.
He argues in his lawsuit that determining who is in Arizona illegally should not be his responsibility. He says, under federal law, that job is reserved for trained federal immigration agents.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Meantime, Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, has responded to Officer Escobar's lawsuit. It's one of at least five suits her office has filed to dismiss. And in her response, Governor Brewer says that Escobar has, quote, "failed to establish any real and immediate threat of harm."
So again, we'll see where this one goes.
ACOSTA: Yes. And it's going to go for a while, I think.
It is 6:30 and that means it's time for this morning's top stories.
BP's new containment cap. The one that's supposed to finally top the leak in the Gulf has a leak of its own. It was discovered just a few hours ago and it will have to be fixed before integrity tests on the gushing well can move forward. Those tests have been suspended -- and they are vital to determine whether the well can hold up under extreme pressure once that oil cap stops the flow.
CHETRY: And a chilling new video has surfaced reportedly showing Faisal Shahzad before the failed Times Square bombing in May. On this tape, broadcast by Al Arabiya, Shahzad says that the Time Square bombing would be a, quote, "revenge attack carried out in the name of all oppressed Muslims." Shahzad, a Pakistani-American, pleaded not guilty last month to the attempted Times Square bombing.
ACOSTA: And the CIA reportedly paid an Iranian scientist $5 million to provide intelligence on Tehran's nuclear program. "The Washington Post" quotes U.S. officials saying Shahram Amiri was working with the CIA for more than a year. Amiri returned to Iran this week to a hero's welcome after claiming he was abducted by CIA agents and offered $50 million to stay in the U.S.
CHETRY: FDA's top officials will soon decide the ultimate fate of the controversial diabetes drug Avandia. An advisory panel made its recommendation yesterday saying that despite some studies showing increased risk of heart trouble and heart attacks, the drug should stay on the market.
ACOSTA: Right. The vote reflected their serious concern about the safety of Avandia, specifically its link to heart trouble. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is following this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were these data submitted to the FDA?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was two days of intense debate -- and emotion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that I am pleading for my life. Before answering the questions posed by the FDA, please think about those of us that have flourished on Avandia, particularly those that can't take Actos and have physical limits on exercise. For those people, a negative position on Avandia may be a death sentence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel that the drug is causing him an increase in M.I. (INAUDIBLE), but also heart failure and other outcomes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As President Obama famously remarked recently you, can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. So, I have to confess that the data do not speak to me with as much clarity as -- or certitude -- as they appear to have done to others.
GUPTA: Wednesday afternoon, it's time to vote. First up, is there a link between Avandia and heart attacks? Yes, the panel said. A higher risk of death? No. Not enough evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disturbing to be this late into the process as to how many people have been treated for how long they've been treated to have the paucity of information that we actually have on these major end points such as death, stroke and M.I.
GUPTA: And then the big one. Should Avandia be taken off the market? The panel was split. Twelve members voted to pull the drug. Seventeen said to leave it -- but with tighter controls like a stronger warning label or limits on who can prescribe. Three wanted no changes.
Split vote, split reaction.
DR. DAVID GRAHAM, FDA: There is insufficient evidence to adjudicate the cardiovascular risk associated with Avandia, and that was quite obviously deflected in the panel's vote today.
GUPTA: That's Dr. David Graham. He's the author of one major study for the FDA showing a link between Avandia and heart trouble. The doctor who first sounded the alarm with an article three years ago said he was happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we got much of what we wanted from the advisory panel. Unrestricted access to Avandia is very likely not to continue.
GUPTA: GlaxoSmithKline, the company that makes Avandia, said this in a statement: "We believe that when used in the appropriate patient and in accordance with labeling, Avandia is a safe and effective treatment option for type 2 diabetes."
And now, Avandia's fate lies with top FDA officials, including Dr. Janet Woodcock.
DR. JANET WOODCOCK, FDA: Will come to a decision as soon as possible and we will announce that publicly.
GUPTA: So, what's a patient to do? Since the first reports of potential trouble, many doctors have already switched their patients to other medications. And diabetes, there are many options. More than 2 million people still take Avandia, but sales are down by more than one-third in the past three years.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And in the next hour, at 7:10 Eastern, we'll talk with FDA drug safety expert, Dr. David Graham, who believes the panel's decision is the beginning of the end for Avandia.
CHETRY: Still coming up: Are we a nation of addicts? There are new federal numbers showing that the abuse of prescription pain pills is up a staggering 400 percent in the past decade -- men, women, even children of all races, all socio-economic backgrounds.
We'll be breaking down the numbers with the White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske. He joins us next.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now.
There is a new front on the drug war. And it's right in your medicine cabinet. A new federal study shows that across the board -- we're talking all ages, all races, men, women, even kids as young as 12 years old -- all abusing prescription pills, a huge uptick in the number of Americans abusing pain medication.
So, how did we get here and how can we tackle it?
Well, joining us live is White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske.
Thanks for being with us again this morning.
GIL KERLIKOWSKE, WHITE HOUSE DRUG CZAR: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: It's something that you've joined us to talk about before. A growing problem it seems. We're talking about a 400 percent increase, according to this latest survey in the substance abuse admissions, people seeking treatment from 1998 to now.
What struck you most about this latest survey?
KERLIKOWSKE: Well, one of the things that's most important is this cuts across all racial lines, gender lines, economic lines. This is an equal opportunity abuser.
CHETRY: When you talk about exactly who this abuser may be -- and we talk about kids as young as 12 years old -- are they getting these prescriptions from their parents' medicine cabinet? From their friends at school? I mean, how are we seeing this growing in the younger population?
KERLIKOWSKE: Well, you're exactly right. This is something we can do a lot to prevent. And that's why we're really trying to call attention to it.
You mentioned later on this morning, our partners, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a part of HHS, will be releasing that report and we'll also have the acting administrator from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Michelle Leonhart, to talk about how we can prevent this -- educating parents about what is in their medicine cabinets, take back programs so that these can be disposed of, these unused, unwanted medications in a way that's safe. There's an awful lot that can be done.
CHETRY: I mean, I'm just thinking. When we were younger, I mean, it just would never occur to, you know, us, to go searching for prescription pills. But on the flip side, the prescriptions that are being written by doctors have increased, you know, many fold as well. We've seen from 1996 until now, the number of prescriptions actually out there for opiate narcotics growing.
How are you tackling that aspect?
KERLIKOWSKE: Well, that's an important part also and because we need to educate the prescribers. We need to make sure that the prescribers, one, don't overprescribe.
Remember, these powerful painkillers used in the right way can be very useful to the people who very much need them. But we also need to educate the doctors about being able to be aware of the signs of dependence or abuse. And that is something that's prescription drug monitoring plans. These are statewide databases that can help detect either overprescribing or they can help detect people who are doctor shopping.
And later on this morning, Governor Markell from Delaware, who will be with us, will be up in Delaware and he signs a new bill in that state to help protect the people that he's responsible for.
CHETRY: We talk about better tracking. We talk about cracking down on pill mills where people can just go in there, talk about any type of pain. But what other concrete measures are either, you know, being talked about or in the pipeline to try to crackdown on doctor shopping and over-prescription of opiate painkillers.
KERLIKOWSKE: Well, here's another piece of that, too. And that is that -- and you mentioned this a little bit earlier, that young people don't see these as particularly dangerous because they go -- well, after all, they are prescriptions or they are in my parents' medicine cabinet. These are very deadly drugs. These are addictive pills and we've seen the rise in fatalities in this country as a result of drug abuse. That is primarily driven as a result of prescription drugs.
Did you know that more people are now dying from drugs than are dying from gunshot wounds in this country?
CHETRY: It is scary to think about. The other question is, though, where do we -- where did, along the line, we change what is acceptable to prescribe these types of painkillers for?
When I talk to doctors who work in substance abuse, they say that -- I mean, these are going to be addicting. If you give somebody a narcotic painkiller, you know, a heroin derivative, a synthetic heroin derivative, that over the course of a few weeks, somebody will become addicted or at least get a tolerance that requires them to get more and more. Yet people can get it for dental pain. I mean, people can get it -- I sprained my ankle, I was asked, you know, when I went to the emergency room, "Do you need anything for the pain other than, you know, Advil?" And I said no.
But, you know, the question is, why are we prescribing drugs that we know, down the road, there's a good chance the person taking them will become addicted?
KERLIKOWSKE: Well, when you go to medical schools, and I've recently been to both Howard and also Morehouse in Atlanta, they are doing an excellent job in those schools of spending time with the doctors to be helping them understand addiction, helping them understand pain management.
You know, a lot of medical schools are not devoting the time that we would like to see to making sure that doctors have in their toolkit this kind of knowledge. How much to prescribe. How often to see that patient that they've given that prescription to and what questions to ask to actually help to identify whether or not there is a dependence or, as you said, a tolerance that could be destructive.
CHETRY: All right. And it's not to say that there aren't people who are in, you know, severe amounts of pain and need this medication. But the numbers don't lie. We're talking about a 400 percent increase both in prescribing -- fourfold increase in prescribing -- a 400 percent increase in substance abuse. So, it is certainly a growing problem.
Gil Kerlikowske, drug czar, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
KERLIKOWSKE: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Well, it's 6:44. It has been a long and hot summer. It's going to get hot today in the south and southwest. Rob Marciano will have this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
CHETRY: Also in 10 minutes, after the baby, the breakup and then some Alaska-style friendly fire -- but Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol headed back to the altar with Levi Johnston. Jeanne Moos has her take -- coming up.
Forty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: It's good thing they didn't take that shot five seconds earlier here in the studio.
CHETRY: Just swing to the beautiful music.
ACOSTA: That's right. You're looking at Washington, D.C. this morning. It's 75 degrees right now. It doesn't look too bad. It's going to be 93 degrees later today. Not bad weather for that vote that's expected today on financial regulation. That vote has been expected for some time now. If that passes, the White House will be very happy about that. They've been working for that one for a while.
CHETRY: And we'll be keeping an eye on that today. Meantime, the age-old discussion, what came first? The chicken or the egg? British scientists claim they've uncovered the answer to that question. It is, drum roll, please --
ACOSTA: The chicken.
CHETRY: The chicken. That's right. Research --
ACOSTA: It's only because I saw it there.
CHETRY: It's only because you saw that adorable little hen there.
ACOSTA: There you go.
CHETRY: Researchers at Sheffield and Warwick University say they have isolated a protein that is found only in a chicken's ovaries and that it's vital for the formation of an egg. So, therefore, the study concludes that --
ACOSTA: Look at those little guy.
CHETRY: An egg can only exist if it's first created inside of a pre-existing chicken. Now, answer me this, where did the original chicken come from?
ACOSTA: That's a very good question. That's one of those -- it's like when you look in a mirror, and there's another mirror in front of you, and it looks like, you know, it just goes off to infinity.
CHETRY: Right. You have one of those.
ACOSTA: What you just said just gave me that exact feeling right now.
CHETRY: I don't want you to have that feeling. I'm sorry. One mirror is enough.
ACOSTA: That's right. No, it's sort of one of those, you know, mind-bending, mind altering questions.
CHETRY: Rob knows. Rob knows.
ACOSTA: Let's ask Rob. I think Rob would know.
CHETRY: I'm going with the chicken came from the farm. How about you?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't mind that one. But even beyond that, I saw this recently driving. I saw a fish with some feet on it. And I think that's probably how it came to be.
CHETRY: You saw this while you were driving your car?
MARCIANO: You know, those little fish symbols on the back of the car. Some of those fish symbols will have little feet indicating that everything came from the ocean.
CHETRY: Gotcha.
ACOSTA: There you go.
MARCIANO: It's an evolutionary thing in that -- at least that's what they're selling. Of course, you can just think that the chicken was molded.
Either way, we're molded some thunderstorms across parts of the Western Great Lakes today, and yesterday, we had some rough and tumble ones. Check out these tornado reports. Ten of them across Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not sure if this is a confirmed tornado, but the damage done from this video showing you parts of Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis, definitely some wind damage. And we had over 160 reports of wind that had the potential to do damage.
And this out of Baldwin, Minnesota, certainly did that tearing off the side of this garage. Not only this house, but several houses in this particular area. So, we don't expect to see that widespread damage event today, but there will be thunderstorms that fire along this next front that will potentially be severe. Four inches plus at Mt. Holly, New Jersey. Wilmington, North Carolina, another day yesterday where we had just a wide range or, as far as places go, where we had rainfall that was pretty severe.
We're going to see some severe weather across this front, but again, the heat is going to be the ongoing issue. Central part of the country down to the south, down to the southwest, and eventually, building into the northwest, northeast and we'll see heat indices up and over 110 degrees in some places today. So, even a chicken might not be able to handle that heat. Get back into the henhouse for sure.
ACOSTA: Back to the chicken thing.
CHETRY: I got an omelet waiting for me back here. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: Thanks, guys.
CHETRY: Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, is headed back to the altar with Levi Johnston.
ACOSTA: I hadn't heard that.
CHETRY: They rekindled their love, and we're going to find out Jeanne Moos' take coming up. Fifty-two minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is time to check in with Jeanne Moos. Who really saw this coming? Not Sarah Palin. Her daughter Bristol and Levi Johnston, the father of her baby, Tripp, are now taking a second chance at love.
ACOSTA: That's right. They announced they're engaged again to "Us Weekly." And we were told this morning it's not U.S. weekly it's "Us Weekly."
CHETRY: I already knew that one. You were told that this morning? That's all right, Jim. You're always reading "The Economist." You have no time for --
ACOSTA: That's right. High-minded stuff, that's all I read. Inquiring minds want to know (ph). But anyway, before the breaking news to Levi's future mother-in-law, Jeanne Moos breaks it down for us. What was that breaking news? Something about Levi and Bristol getting back? Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even when Levi Johnston was uncovered on a cover, it was less of a shock than this cover announcing his engagement to Bristol Palin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yikes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?
MOOS: The news was dispensed with musical accompaniment from reunited -- to the wedding march.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was that theme song? Love, exciting and new.
MOOS: It was exciting and new all right, especially to Bristol's mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The craziest part is that Sarah Palin doesn't even know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knows now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought mama grizzly knew where her cubs were all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Must you turn this into an attack on Sarah Palin. This lovely news --
MOOS: All we got from Sarah Palin was a written statement on her daughter's engagement to a guy Palin herself isn't so keen on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To a degree, most of us --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Struggle to put into practice --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In our daily life.
MOOS: Amen. The "Us Weekly" folks released lovey dovey video of the reunited couple kissing and caressing. It was after a joint visit with her son that Levi sent Bristol a text message. I miss you. I love you. I want to be with you again. And if texting doesn't sound romantic, how about how he gave her the ring?
MELANIE BROMLEY, US WEEKLY BUREAU CHIEF: He put rose petals all over her bed in the shape of a heart, and in the middle of it, had put the box with the engagement ring.
MOOS: Sure beats the guy who proposed to his girl the other day at a baseball game dressed up as broccoli.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you please marry me?
MOOS: Next thing you know, they are locked in a steamy broccoli kiss. With a Bristol and Levi cover on hand (ph), we hit the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is for real?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who gives a (EXPLETIVE WORD).
MOOS: For those who do give a (EXPLETIVE WORD), the couple plans a small wedding in a month or so.
BROMLEY: Camouflage is going to be a big part of this wedding.
MOOS: Bristol told "Us Weekly" she wants Levi and baby Tripp to wear camouflage vests.
MOOS (on-camera): And just in case the happy couple needs a couple of suggestions for camouflage wedding wear, have we got a Web site for them.
MOOS (voice-over): At tackyweddings.com, you'll find camouflage galore. Camo garters. Guys decked out in camo suits and hunting vest. Even camo wedding cakes. And even if Bristol and Levi isn't the shotgun wedding, they could still say I do packing guns.
Jeanne Moos --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!
MOOS: CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Cute. Come on.
ACOSTA: Right out of "The Economist."
CHETRY: Or "U.S. Weekly."
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming your way in just two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
