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American Morning

Upset Flight Attendant Makes Dramatic Exit; House Recess Interrupted to Vote on Jobs Bill; Police Say Stabbings Could Be Linked; Money Can Buy Happiness; Prison Escapee Manhunt; Pentagon Belt-Tightening; Palin's Spirited Debate; Flight Attendant Flips Out

Aired August 10, 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: Well, good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Tuesday, it's August 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us today. A lot to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.

A huge costly disruption or the greatest resignation ever. A JetBlue flight attendant now facing criminal charges for allegedly cursing out passengers, then cracking open a beer and popping the door open and sliding down the emergency chute at JFK. More on this dramatic exit in just a moment.

CHETRY: Washington in August. It's a sight that Congress rarely sees, but lawmakers have been called back into session to vote on a $26 billion spending bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says cannot wait. A live report from Capitol Hill just ahead.

ROBERTS: You have the big house, the fancy car, the designer clothes but does it really make you happy? Researchers say money can indeed buy you happiness if you know how to spend it.

But first, fallout from the flight attendant who was mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Steven Slater did something yesterday that maybe a lot of people would love to do to a rude customer or even an obnoxious boss.

CHETRY: Yes. The JetBlue employee is now facing criminal charges, mischief and reckless endangerment after giving passengers a bye-bye that could go down in history. Allan Chernoff has more on the meltdown this morning.

When we first read this, you know, when we first started crossing yesterday evening, I thought to myself this cannot be true. This has got to be a joke.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Fact is better than fiction sometimes. Talk about a dramatic exit.

Flight attendant Steven Slater told a passenger to sit down when JetBlue's Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh pulled up at the gate yesterday afternoon. The passenger refused and continued removing his luggage from an overhead bin. And that luggage accidentally struck the flight attendant.

Slater demanded an apology. The passenger declined using a not- very-nice four-letter word. That set Slater off. He turned on the public address system and addressed that very same four-letter word to the passengers, in particular to the man who had declined to sit. He then activated the inflatable slide, grabbed a few beers from the galley and slid his way out of a career as a flight attendant.

Slater quickly got to his car at JFK, drove home but it wasn't long before New York City police and Port Authority police showed up to arrest him. He's now facing two felony charges, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Theoretically that could land him in prison for seven years. It's safe to say that Mr. Slater is no longer presenting a flight risk.

ROBERTS: Yes. From what we understand, he really did enjoy the perks of working for an airline. We know he loved the free travel. I guess the beer every once in a while.

CHERNOFF: Yes. Exactly.

ROBERTS: His MySpace page says, "My airline affiliation allows me amazing traveling privileges. I love to max it out with trips around the world, sometimes at a moment's notice. Let's go."

So Mr. Slater certainly clipped his own wings here because it's not likely JetBlue will invite him back nor with any other airline after this.

CHERNOFF: Absolutely. I think he has said goodbye to a career where the perks can be very good. But boy, what a dramatic way to go. And just imagine the flight attendants who inside probably were just cheering. You know, that's the way to go.

CHETRY: I mean, it really is still unbelievable. You know, a couple of things, it's very interesting. They talk about flight attendants needing to keep their cool. Yet at the same time when you read some of the stories, they talk about the increased demands, the pressures, passengers that aren't happy with, you know, things being cut down to bare bones. A lot of people say, look, being a flight attendant in a post-9/11 world is not fun.

CHERNOFF: I mean, flying is not fun for most of us. There are just so many hassles that we have to deal with. But in the situation here with JetBlue in particular, the "Wall Street Journal" had a wonderful article just a few days ago about the flight attendants at JetBlue pointing out that a good number of them are retired New York City police officers, New York City firefighters. Why do they hire them? Because they know how to keep their cool. I don't think Mr. Slater is a former firefighter or police officer.

CHETRY: Also ironic because didn't JetBlue win in the customer service/satisfaction survey they did, saying that they were the friendliest flight attendants? CHERNOFF: And they do try to keep it fun on the plane.

CHETRY: Maybe that was Southwest. Not this guy.

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Allan, thanks so much.

CHETRY: Thanks, Allan.

Well, you know, we got a lot of comments of this story that keep coming out. After we heard about it, we put it up on our Web site, so let me read you a couple of them.

One, "Mega props to this guy. I'm sure he reached his BS threshold dealing with ridiculous passengers. Got to hand it to him, telling off passengers from the PA system then cracking a beer before you deploy the emergency slide for your grand exit. Epic."

ROBERTS: Some people don't feel the same way though. One person writes, "I expect professionalism from the flight attendants. How sad that you don't expect any better behavior from the professionals than you do from the public at large."

CHETRY: And then there's this one. "Idiot passengers who think they should be first pushed this guy over the edge. The cops need to arrest the pinhead who got up before the plane stopped taxiing to the exit."

ROBERTS: It's the story that everybody is going to be talking about this morning, particularly folks at the airport who are watching us. Keep those comments rolling in. Let us know what you think at CNN.com/amFIX.

CHETRY: And also, the interesting thing we were asking about the one of the charges that he has about possibly causing harm to people. Apparently if that emergency chute goes down as fast as it does, the slide, if somebody is underneath it, they can be killed.

ROBERTS: Oh, yes, he did know. You know, there's a lot of people who, you know, wing walkers and things like that who are alongside the aircraft when it comes in. So, yes, he could have hurt somebody. There's no question.

CHETRY: Well, he's lucky he didn't in that case.

Still ahead also developing this morning, members of the House forced to put some vacation plans on hold. They were summoned back to Washington for a rare session during recess to vote on a $26 billion spending bill.

ROBERTS: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it's a critical measure that's needed to save thousands of teaching jobs, but Republicans call it another opportunity for Democrats to spend money that we don't have. Our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar outside the capitol this morning.

Good morning, Brianna. It's unusual for Congress to be called back during a recess.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very unusual, John and Kiran. It was December of 2008, almost a year-and- a-half ago, the last time that Congress was called back during a recess. That was to pass federal assistance to automakers. You may know it as the auto bailout. And before that it was the summer of 2005. That was the last time they were called back in the summer and they came back a few days early to pass emergency funding in the days following Hurricane Katrina. So this happens very rarely and when it does, guys, it's pretty dramatic.

CHETRY: Also, why the urgency this time? According to Nancy Pelosi, she said it couldn't wait.

KEILAR: Well, and certainly this time Democrats, you know, they want to seize the moment. They don't want to wait four weeks to come back. But what it really comes down to is this was an unexpected development.

The House went on recess a week before the Senate. They didn't think the Senate was going to really pass anything that they would have to take care of. And lo and behold it happened, a $26 billion bill that in the Senate they picked up a couple Republicans on and they were able to pass. It includes $10 billion for teachers who have either been laid off or who might be laid off here in the short term. And there's also $16 billion to help states with their Medicaid costs so that they don't fall short in other areas and have to lay off firefighters, police officers, and all of the like.

So this is an opportunity for Democrats to say, look, we care about jobs. We came back in the middle of recess to take care of this. And let's face it, guys, one of their big liabilities going into this election season is that 9.5 percent unemployment rate. So they're saying this is going to save more than 300,000 jobs. Those are the numbers that Democrats are quoting. But as you said, John, Republicans say, no, no, this is just an election year payoff to teachers unions and this is more government spending -- John and Kiran.

ROBERTS: Sure, everybody's got a perspective on it. But did the Democrats have the votes to get it through?

KEILAR: Speaker Pelosi is confident that she has the votes, and she's actually already planning on having an enrollment ceremony. So a bit of a spectacle after the vote today. And we're expecting that President Obama will then sign it later tonight. But Democrats realize this is going to be a tough vote for some fiscally conservative Democrats. They're going to lose some of those perhaps Blue Dog Democrats. One of the aides, John and Kiran, saying to me it's really difficult to ask fiscal conservatives to vote on a $26 billion package even if it doesn't add to the deficit in this election year climate, guys.

CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning at the Capitol, thanks so much. Also new this morning, BP crews are close to completing the first relief well that would allow them to seal the damaged gulf oil well from the bottom shutting it once and for all. Incident commander Thad Allen says that the relief well is nearing the main well for, quote, "intercept and cementing from beneath the floor of the gulf." BP expects that to happen by week's end.

ROBERTS: A new test may help predict whether you are likely to get Alzheimer's disease. A study in the archives of neurology found spinal fluid can reveal certain proteins that are telltale signs for the disease. Those biomarkers, researchers say, were found in 90 percent of patients who were diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Sanjay Gupta is going to be talking about this later on this morning.

CHETRY: All right. We look forward to that. He's going to break it down for us when he joins us, coming up, 7:50 Eastern Time.

Well, meantime, continuing with this theme of people sort of having inappropriate reactions.

ROBERTS: Behaving bizarrely?

CHETRY: Yes. When people want their McNuggets, apparently they really want their McNuggets.

This is the first time we're seeing video of this drive-through attack that took place. This is at a McDonald's in Toledo, Ohio. It was New Year's morning when Melanie (ph) Dushane became enraged when she was told that McDonald's was only serving breakfast.

It was 6:00 a.m. She got out of the car, punched an employee right in the mouth, then she tried to climb through the window. When that failed, you see there, she took out an open beer bottle and hurled it through the glass before taking off.

Well, last month, the woman got 60 days behind bars, three years probation for the tantrum. It was much worse than a tantrum. People could have gotten badly hurt but they are going to -- there you go.

ROBERTS: The next customer drives --

CHETRY: The employee opens the shattered window, keeps her cool. Maybe she needs to be working for the airlines. Keeps her cool and goes -- and goes out and hands the order off to the next customer. But yes, there you go again. That's the beginning of that rage attack that was taking place with this woman.

ROBERTS: Yes.

CHETRY: They don't serve lunch at 6:00 a.m.

ROBERTS: So, the woman in the car not a good flight attendant. The woman behind the counter, good flight attendant.

Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center. Kind of a bizarre spate of news this morning that we're talking about here, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Safe to say that being a flight attendant or, you know, a fast food clerk there is not easy business. And you know, let's at least salute them this morning and enjoy the video.

CHETRY: Yes, especially the worst shift of all shifts is New Year's morning. Right? New Year's Day morning when you're at a 24- hour McDonald's. Yikes.

MARCIANO: And I suppose at that hour, that day, there's a lot of people who want lunch.

ROBERTS: I think the fact that she had an open beer in the car kind of says it all.

MARCIANO: You need something to wash down the fries, don't you?

All right, guys. Hey, listen up, we talked about the tornadoes yesterday across parts of Minnesota over the weekend. A lot of rain in places like Iowa. Flash flooding in central and southeastern parts of that state, specifically Webster County really got hit hard. So flooded roadways and the like.

But check out, some of these numbers are startling. For the last two months in parts of Iowa, two feet of rain. So it has been unusually wet for that part of the country. It's also been unusually warm.

Check out some of the heat warnings and advisories we have out again for the central part of the U.S. -- 105, 120 heat index expected later on this afternoon. So that is going to be an issue. Also, it will be warm across parts of the northeast, but not before you get a couple of showers mostly, say, north of Trenton, northeast of that. And then we'll get into temperatures that will be in the lower 90s for you folks.

I'll talk more about that and unusually cool weather for our west coast friends in 30 minutes. If you're feeling warm, we'll talk California just a little bit, just to kind of get you in that surfer/fun mood.

ROBERTS: All right. It continues. We're expecting temperatures close to 100 degrees here in New York today.

CHETRY: Yes.

MARCIANO: It's going to be steamy today, but the weekend once again doesn't look bad. We'll get through it.

ROBERTS: Rob, thanks.

MARCIANO: Bye, guys.

ROBERTS: After 15 stabbings in Flint, Michigan, police in Virginia and Ohio think that attacks there could all be linked fitting the same pattern. The FBI now involved. We're going to have the latest on this bizarre case just ahead.

Twelve minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour. Police in three states and the FBI are on a manhunt this morning searching for a suspect believed to be behind a series of brutal stabbing deaths. The attacks started on May 24th in Flint, Michigan.

CHETRY: Now police in Leesburg, Virginia and Toledo, Ohio say that crimes committed there fit the same pattern. Our Jason Carroll has been tracking this developing story for us this morning.

So they got their hands on one of the suspects they believed were working with this group, and then now they're still on the search for two others. Do they have any leads?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually they received some 200 tips so far, which is helping them develop some leads. That's certainly encouraging news.

But, even so, it's a story that has people on edge in several towns. Investigators are calling these crimes of opportunity, saying they believe the suspect is, quote, "very desperate and very dangerous." Police in Flint say they now think 15 attacks there are linked, five of them deadly.

The suspect is described as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s. He's stocky, unshaven and muscular. He stands about 6'0" tall, 180 pounds, and usually wears a baseball cap. Police say some -- in some cases the man first lured his victims closer to his car in the early morning hours by asking for directions or help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID LEYTON, PROSECUTOR, GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: What's in the mind of this assailant. We have no idea why he's doing what he's doing. Obviously there's something wrong with the individual.

CARROLL (voice-over): Well, the attacks started on May 24th in Flint. The most recent in Michigan was August 2nd. By the next day, the stabbings in Virginia started, possibly leading up to one in Ohio on Saturday.

We heard from one woman who talked about how her nephew was attacked.

PRISCILLA VANSICKLE, VICTIM'S AUNT: Stabbed. He was stabbed and was stabbed, and he's still in the hospital. He's not doing good at all.

He's a serial killer. Yes. And he's crazy. He need to be locked -- locked up.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL: Most of the victims are African-American, so police think that race could be a possible motive. And authorities were able to link the crimes through descriptions of the suspect's vehicle, a dark green, early '90s Chevy Blazer.

You know, what's interesting about this, we spoke to one of the investigators yesterday. He was actually reluctant to use the word "serial killer" because it's such a loaded term, but obviously the people there in those communities believe that's -- that's exactly what they're dealing with here.

CHETRY: Wow. Amazing. But you said they've received several hundred tips. Maybe they will catch up with him soon.

CARROLL: Yes. And the same investigator says that he's confident they're going to catch this guy.

ROBERTS: And if they got (ph) a description of the vehicle, they should be able to, you know, give an APB out there --

CARROLL: It should definitely help.

ROBERTS: -- get some eyes on there.

Jason, thanks so much.

CARROLL: All right.

ROBERTS: Coming up, by the way, we're going to be talking more about this terrifying case, about 10 minutes after the hour, 50 minutes from now, with the Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton, who you saw in Jason's report. We'll talk to him about, you know, whether or not there -- there's a specific pattern to these attacks that people could be aware of and -- and given where the attacks were, where they think he might be, because it looks like he went from Michigan to Virginia, then maybe back toward Michigan again.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we look forward to finding out more about this and getting to the bottom of it.

Meantime, you've heard the old adage that money can't buy you happiness, right? But the way that you spend your money could actually make you indeed happier. We'll explain.

Eighteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour.

We've all been told, right, money can't buy you happiness? Well, it turns out that that may be wrong. Researchers say that it actually can, you just have to spend it the right way. And you don't necessarily have to have a ton of it to be happy.

Helping us "Mind Your Business" this morning is Thomas Gilovich, the man behind the research, a psychology professor at Cornell University. Thanks for being with us this morning.

THOMAS GILOVICH, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: Happy to be here, Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, it's a fascinating just whole area of research that you guys touched on, because it's not necessarily how much you have. I mean enough to be, I guess, comfortable, not worrying week to week about how you make ends meet. But what is it about how you spend your money that can make you happier?

GILOVICH: Well, what we found is that people who spend money on experiences, as opposed to material possessions, tend to be happier. Your experiential purchases tend to make people happier and more enduringly happy.

CHETRY: So you're saying if had to pick between going on that week-long vacation to somewhere you've always wanted to go or buying the flat-screen TV, you end up in the long run happier by going on the vacation?

GILOVICH: Yes. That's correct. And that can surprise many people. Many people have the intuition that, well, the vacation will come and quickly go, but I will always have the flat-screen television.

But one of the great enemies of happiness is adaptation. We get a lot of satisfaction out of the things that we buy initially, but then they sort of disappear psychologically. We don't much notice them.

But, strangely, the experiences, even though in a material sense they come and go, they tend to live on in the stories that we tell, the memories that we have, and they provide more long-term satisfaction.

CHETRY: That's interesting. What about something that's sort of in the middle? Let's say you buy a bicycle which is technically a material purchase but do you it so that you can explore, you know, an area, a park, a state park, something near your home that is also experiential, as you put it. How do those fall on the rankings?

GILOVICH: That's a very good question, and it gets at the issue of exactly what does mean by a material possession or an experience. Many material goods are essentially vehicles for experiences, and the more a material good provides experiences, the more it will provide enduring happiness.

CHETRY: Is there -- you know, there's also been research, what I was reading through some of the research that you guys conducted, you talked about people in wealthier countries tend to be happier. We always thought that that was not necessarily the case.

GILOVICH: No, it is the case that citizens of wealthier countries tend to be happier than citizens of poor countries. Within a country, people with more money tend to be happier than people with less money. It's not, as you might expect, an overpowering relationship, but it is there.

CHETRY: It's not necessarily about material goods, though. That's what you're talking about, which is interesting.

What about the role of debt? I mean, we've seen, you know, in this very tough economic time right now where a lot of people are either unemployed, looking for jobs, under employed, living paycheck to paycheck and dealing with a large amount of debt. How does all of that factor in to just a sense of well being, wondering whether or not you're going to be able to continue to provide for yourself and your family?

GILOVICH: Well, one of the -- the nice messages of this research on spending money on experiences or possessions is that those experiential purchases don't need to come at a great cost. It doesn't cost that much to get a pass to a national park, many trails, bicycle and hiking trails are free. So even in difficult economic times, being oriented toward experiences is I think a nice avenue for happiness for, really, for everybody.

CHETRY: It's not about the Rolex after all. Well, that's some good food for thought for people especially in these times. Thomas Gilovich, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

GILOVICH: Thanks for having me.

ROBERTS: Well, what started as a prison break has now turned into a massive multi-state manhunt for a couple considered armed and dangerous. We've got the latest on the two suspects who describe themselves as a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

It's 25-and-a-half minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour.

A massive multi-state manhunt intensifying this morning in the West for an escaped felon and his cousin, who is also his lover. They fancy themselves as a modern day Bonnie and Clyde and they are suspected of two murders while on the run.

Our Brian Todd is working the story this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Though he's a convicted killer, authorities say Tracy Province was still relieved to have been captured outside Yellowstone National Park.

Still at large in that area, armed and dangerous, John Charles McCluskey, along with Casslyn Mae Welch. Officials told CNN affiliate KTVK she is his fiance and his cousin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have learned that McCluskey and his -- his partner who helped break him out of jail consider themselves Bonnie and Clyde. They joke about it.

TODD: Officials believe they've cut a swath of murder and fear since that breakout on July 30th. That's when Casslyn Welch, according to prison officials, threw wire-cutting tools over the fence of this medium security prison in Kingman, Arizona. They say McCluskey, Province and another inmate cut through that fence.

The third inmate was caught quickly, but officials say McCluskey, Province and their alleged accomplice, Welch, hijacked an 18-wheel truck, released the two drivers in Flagstaff. Made their way to Jake's Corner, Arizona, where they allegedly got help from McCluskey's mother, then were seen near Phoenix.

They're suspected in the killings of a couple whose bodies were found in Sta. Rosa, New Mexico last week. The couple's truck then found in Albuquerque. Then according to officials they made their way into the Yellowstone area.

Geoff Shank, deputy assistant director of the U.S. Marshal's Investigative Division has pursued more than 3,000 fugitives. I asked him about the challenge of chasing John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch.

TODD (on camera): How do couples operate in a situation like this? Do they pose as honeymooners? What do they do?

GEOFF SHANK, INVESTIGATIVE OPS DIVISION, U.S. MARSHALS: Well, believe it or not, they suffer from the same problems and obstacles that normal every day couples have, yet it's times 1,000 because of the pressure of being on the run.

TODD: Right.

SHANK: And it might lead for one of them to break down or they get simply get into a fight and storm off in the heat of the moment.

TODD (voice-over): John McCluskey was previously convicted of attempted second degree murder. If he makes his way back to his mother's place in Arizona, he has this warning from his own distraught stepfather.

JACK WASHBURN, ESCAPED INMATE'S STEPFATHER: I told the U.S. Marshals, I haven't got that long to live. But if I can ever see you, what you did, I'll shoot you in front of them and serve my time.

TODD: Authorities tell us they no longer believe that John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch are actually inside Yellowstone National Park and they say they never evacuated the park even when they believed they were inside because the place is simply too big. It's about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined and gets about 30,000 visitors a day at this time of year. But officials say the couple is believed to be in the general area outside the park and is believed to be driving a gray Nissan Sentra sedan.

John and Kiran, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Brian Todd for us this morning.

Stay with us, in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we'll talk with Fidencio River. He's the chief deputy for the U.S. Marshals in Arizona, about the massive effort to stop these two before they strike again.

CHETRY: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. It means it's time for a look at our top stories.

The plane landed and he took off. A JetBlue flight attendant is now facing criminal charges this morning after he allegedly flipped out on passengers, grabbed a beer and slid down the emergency chute on a flight at JFK. Well, he now has a Facebook fan page, of course, this morning. And it's growing by the second.

ROBERTS: The millions affected by some of Pakistan's worst flooding ever are now bracing for days of more heavy rain. The flooding has left more than 1,200 people dead and one U.N. official says up to 7 million people are in immediate need of food and other basics. And making the matters worse, the warehouses where relief supplies were stored are now under water.

CHETRY: Jury selection today in the murder trial of Omar Khadr, the youngest detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the last westerner being held there. Khadr pleaded not guilty yesterday in a pre-trial hearing. He's accused of terrorist acts and killing a U.S. soldier. A judge ruled that Khadr's confessions to interrogators can indeed be used as evidence against him.

ROBERTS: Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to see some belt-tightening at the Pentagon. The centerpiece of his budget plan: getting rid of U.S. Joint Forces Command, a move that could cut 3,000 jobs.

CHETRY: Barbara Starr joins us live from the Pentagon with this morning's "Security Watch."

Is this -- are these cuts or more reallocation when it comes to where this money's going to go?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's a little bit of both. Some cuts, some cutting, and having somebody else take over the job. Defense secretaries have talked about this kind of thing for decades. Every defense secretary comes in and says, "I'm going to cut the budget." But right now with the wars and everything else, spending here in the Pentagon, about $700 billion a year. So, Gates is looking for a very significant belt- tightening.

He's proposed several things. As you said, cutting an entire command, something called the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia; cutting down on the use of contractors.

He even wants to trim the number of generals and admirals in the military. And that's pretty tough business. Some of this may have to be even approved by Congress.

Listen to a little bit of why the secretary says he's doing this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint. Toward this end, I am directing that any new proposal or initiative, large or small, be it policy, program or ceremony, come with a cost estimate. That price tag will help us determine whether what we are gaining or hope to gain is really worth the cost, either in dollar terms or in the diversion of limited manpower and resources from other missions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: No price tag to this specific proposal right now. Gates has already trimmed several weapons programs for what he says is an eventual $300 billion in savings. But there is plenty more out there that they aren't touching right now, including military health care spending. That's one of the issues that's very political and right now, appears to be untouchable in these budget cuts -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning -- thanks so much.

Well, we're going to be talking more about what it means to be an empowered patient. Elizabeth Cohen wrote a book about why it's so important to ask questions and to prepare when you speak to your doctor.

It's 35 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning -- 38 minutes past the hour right now.

Patients in the U.S. schedule more than 900 million doctor visits each year. And the average amount of time that you actually get to spend with your doctor: 13 minutes.

ROBERTS: The missing personal touch can lead to mistakes, miscommunication, and that can be hazardous to your health. So, how can you be sure that you're getting the best care during each appointment?

A new book out today, "The Empowered Patient," has some answers and the author just happens to be our very own senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

It is based on a weekly column that you've been doing for CNN.com, but the inspiration for this really was a situation with your mother who was in end-stage renal failure, recently had a kidney transplant.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. She got a kidney transplant in December. And we're very grateful to our cousin who gave her the kidney.

But she never sort of needed it. She had kidney problems that went misdiagnosed when she wasn't feeling well. And when her blood pressure went up, the doctor pat on her head and said, just relax. And really, she had serious kidney disease and they missed it.

And it made me realize, you have to be advocate for yourself. You have to be out there. There she is with her cousin, David Cantor (ph), who gave her the kidney. And she's doing great. Thank goodness.

CHETRY: You also say that all of this came to be actually at a very, very vulnerable time for you. You just had a newborn baby. She had to be in the NICU, intensive unit for newborns, and you realized that she was getting spinal taps after the doctor said she didn't need them anymore and you couldn't sort of bridge that gap between explaining to the nurses that she didn't need to undergo that painful procedure for a little infant versus what your doctor had told you.

So, what happened?

COHEN: Well, what happened was, she was supposed to receive some spinal taps, as you said, and she did. And then the doctor said, "OK, no more." But then I went down and she had just received an unnecessary one and was about to get another one.

There's my daughter Shir right after she was born.

And I said to the nurse, she's not supposed to get anymore. No more spinal taps. She said, "Oh, no, she is. She's getting another in an hour and you have to leave, visiting hours are over."

And I was just so upset. I just given birth and I just cried and cried and cried. And about an hour later, another nurse saw me and said, "What's wrong?" And she then went and fixed it. She's my guardian angel to this day.

CHETRY: But what do you do in those situations? I mean, did you get lucky that this other nurse was willing to hear you out?

COHEN: Oh, I was very lucky. And several nurses were willing to hear me out. I was just sobbing so much that I just couldn't speak until the last nurse came to me.

In that situation, what I should have done is tried to calm myself down and said, you do not have my consent to do another spinal tap, because either my husband or I would have to give consent, and that's what I should have done. You -- for the most part, they can't do things in the hospital unless you give consent. And it is your legal right to say stop.

ROBERTS: Yes. You know, so people have had similar situations to that of your mother. My brother died because his doctor wouldn't give him an X-ray that would have discovered the lymphoma in his chest at the earliest stage. So, you say in your book that it's OK to be a, quote, "bad patient."

But what exactly is a bad patient? Is it bad patient like fussing or is it just, "Hey, I've got rights here, and I want to have a conversation with you and I want to make sure I'm getting the best treatment"?

COHEN: Right, that's what I call being a bad patient. If you say to someone, for example, something's wrong here. I think I need, you know, some kind of X-ray or something like, "Doctor, you say I'm OK but I think that something's wrong here, can we do more testing?" There's an excellent chance you're going to annoy that doctor. They might not like that and they might consider you a bad, annoying patient.

But in that situation you should be the bad patient. This is your health. And you're going to advocate for, you know, yourself better than the doctor's going to advocate for yourself usually. So, go in there, be a bad patient, annoy people if you need to.

CHETRY: You know, the other thing is, being armed with information. I mean, it seems like a double-edged sword. You can Google anything, any medical condition on the Internet these days and just read and read and hear horror stories and the whole nine yards. By the same token, it is helpful to be informed when you go to your doctor.

But how do you approach a doctor's visit when you do have concerns, you've maybe read about things, you maybe don't necessarily believe the diagnosis you've been given.

How do you make sure that's a productive conversation?

COHEN: Right. Because there's this huge -- I call it the biggest divide between doctors and patients right now. Everyone is on the Internet and a lot of doctors are annoyed because patients come in and hand people -- they hand the doctor this big stack of Internet printouts.

So, what you do is you go on the Internet, you go to trusted sites like Mayo Clinic, CNN.com/health, and you distill what you've learned, so you're not handing them pages and pages of a printout. You say, "I learned ABC, Doctor, can we talk about this?" And maybe hand them one page.

But I think it's when doctors, what did you say 13 minutes, when doctors have 13 minutes, and you give them 25 to 30 pages of printouts, they can't read that. So, you need to boil down what your questions are.

ROBERTS: Yes, it's always good to just come in with a real good sense of what it is that's troubling you --

COHEN: Right.

ROBERTS: -- instead of "I've got a pain." Describe it a little more.

COHEN: Yes, absolutely.

ROBERTS: Great to see this one. Give me the book so I can hold it up and plug it for you.

COHEN: Oh, sure.

ROBERTS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, here's the new book, "The Empowered Patient." And it's really a terrific little guide to tell you how you can help get yourself the best medical care. Great to see you. Congratulations.

COHEN: Thank you.

CHETRY: Thank you, Elizabeth.

ROBERTS: And next month, tune in to Elizabeth's special report, "The Empowered Patient: Taking Control of Your Health Care," September 25th at 8:00 p.m., here on CNN.

CHETRY: All right. Meantime, it's 43 minutes past the hour. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, Rob is going to be back to give us our morning travel forecast. It's going to be hot -- again -- in many parts of the country.

ROBERTS: And in 10 minutes' time, let's hear it from the boys. The Boy Scouts giving President Obama an earful. Jeanne Moos tells us why.

It's 43 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS,: Good morning, Atlanta where it's 77 degrees, a few clouds out this morning. It looks a little wet there. Does that look wet? Looks like it just rained. Later on today, clouds and 95 degrees. It's going to be another hot one in hot-lanta.

CHETRY: Oh, yes, and a lot other places around the country as well today, quite steamy here on the East Coast. Rob Marciano is following all the weather headlines for us this morning. So did it just rain?

MARCIANO: No, it just looks that way. It hasn't rained in a day or two. But it's probably going to rain across the northeast later on today. And you know what, between not having a window and like the three-inch monitor I'm looking at right now, I can't even see it. 105 degrees to 120 is your heat index values today across the midsection of the country. These are where the advisories and warnings are, but there are also advisories out for places like Philadelphia and New York City. As you mentioned, temperatures here will be well into the 90s and a little bit of showers that's trying to squeeze out of the clouds here in the New York metropolitan area, the Tri-State area, and that will only make it even more steamy. So, it will be hazy, hot and humid eventually today and uncomfortably so in many spots and also in the central part of the country as well. And we are seeing some thunderstorms already almost to strong to severe levels across parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

They don't need anymore rainfall, that is for sure. Temperatures once again, obviously, well above normal and well below normal across parts of the west coast. I want to tell you about what's going on out in Russia. Look at all this. This is smog, this is smoke, this is ash debris, and this entire area is just massive. You've heard about the health problems in Moscow. Let's go over to the U.S. and kind of give you an idea just how large this area is. It would take up almost the entire U.S. from coast to coast.

So, what's going on over there is certainly extraordinary. There are still over 500 fires burning in and around Russia. And they have had one of their hottest summers on record, in some cases up to the last 1,000 years. So, if you think it's been hot across parts of the country and in your area, not quite as hot as it's been over there with our friends in Russia especially.

John, Kiran, back up to you.

ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks so much. We'll see you again soon.

CHETRY: Thanks, Rob. This morning's top stories just moments away, including the flight attendant who apparently had had enough sliding to freedom down the emergency chute, beer in hand. Could it land him in jail? We'll have more fallout from the memorable meltdown on JetBlue.

ROBERTS: The former Mexican president answer to the drug problem -- legalize them and let the user make a choice. Could that put drug gangs out of business?

CHETRY: Also, don't come between a woman and her McNuggets. A brand-new video raged at the drive-through. Those stories and more coming up at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifty-two minutes after the hour. Sarah Palin responding to criticism that she appears to roll her eyes during a spirited discussion with a teacher in Homer, Alaska. On her Facebook page, Palin took a shot at the media saying, quote, "Yes, it's come to this. The media has now tried to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. Maybe that's why Botox is all the rage -- if you can't move your eyebrows, your eye rolling can't be misinterpreted." Here's a look at the exchange, and you be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: What I'm out there fighting for Americans to be able to have a Constitution protected so that we can have free speech. And also there --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In what way are you fighting for that?

PALIN: Oh my goodness!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In what way?

PALIN: To elect candidate who understand the Constitution, to protect our military interests so that we can keep on fighting for our constitution that will protect some of the freedoms that evidently are important to you too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By using your celebrity status.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is she a celebrity?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're certainly not responding to the state of Alaska any longer, even though --

PALIN: I'm honored. No, she thinks I'm a celebrity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's representing United States?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I know. You belong to America now, and that suits me just fine. Yes.

PALIN: What do you do here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a teacher.

PALIN: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right. There you go. I mean, basically the woman had put up a huge sign that said you know, "worst governor ever," and Sarah Palin came over to talk to her about it. And they got in that back-and-forth. So, there you go. And you heard one of Sarah Palin's daughters, possibly Bristol, sort of trying to defend her mom in that situation as well. All the while, the cameras rolled. So, there you see it.

Meantime, the Boy Scouts are voicing their displeasure with President Obama claiming that he passed up an invitation to join their big jamboree to appear on "The View."

ROBERTS: No one know was prepared for just how emotionally the scouts would react. Here's Jeanne Moos with her unique take on it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's bad enough getting booed, whether you're busted for dog fighting, or competing for Miss Universe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: USA.

(BOOING)

MOOS: But imagine getting booed by the boy scouts.

(BOOING)

MOOS: And the person they're booing is the president of the United States. Actually, what they were booing was President Obama sending a taped message rather than coming in person to the recent boy scout jamboree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for showing up!

MOOS: Some 45,000 scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of scouting. Two months earlier, the White House informed the scouts that the president had prior commitments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't really bother me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disappointed but, I mean, busy man, what can you do.

MOOS: But just a few days after those interviews --

BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Scouts just like you --

MOOS: Scouts just like these booed the president's message. And this 23-second video made its way on to conservative websites which slammed the president for forsaking the boy scouts to appear on "The View." Some figured the booing tape was somehow doctored. I don't believe for one second that these 23 seconds of film is accurate.

MOOS (on-camera): Believe it. Some boy scouts booed. Trust me, scout's honor.

MOOS (voice-over): The boy scout who shouts it wouldn't do an interview, but he told us that though he didn't boo, there was a moderate amount of booing going on around him. Mostly from scouts annoyed, not because of the president's policies, but because he didn't show up as six previous presidents have. The White House says "The View" had nothing to do with it. That the president was already scheduled to be on the road that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look on the bright side. Boy scouts finally get their merit badge for crushing disappointment.

MOOS (on-camera): Now on the face of it, booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of boy scout law.

MOOS (voice-over): A boy scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind. Wait a minute, courteous and kind? A statement from the boy scouts said the organization does not condone booing. If the president's watching this, the jamboree returns in four years.

OBAMA: I, Barack Hussein Obama, so solemnly swear --

MOOS: That if re-elected, I will try to make it to the next jamboree.

OBAMA: So help me God.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Some of the boy scouts not too happy about getting a tape message.

Top stories coming your way right after the break. Don't go away.

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