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American Morning
Bishop Long Sex Scandal; GOP's "Pledge to America"; The Richest Americans; A Real Cliffhanger; Before You Were Born; An Illness With No Name
Aired September 23, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's Thursday. It's the 23rd of September. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.
It's also the official start of fall, even though we're going to be 90 degrees.
ROBERTS: Ahead to come. Yes, at least the weather still feels like summer, even if the calendar doesn't.
CHETRY: Exactly.
Well, we have a lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
Georgia mega church pastor, Eddie Long, is facing new allegations that he coerced teenage boys into sex. He's now decided not to address the scandal publicly, he says at the advice of his attorneys. Bishop Long canceled a planned radio interview and news conference today.
We have our Ed Lavandera who broke the story with new developments this morning.
ROBERTS: The GOP unveiling its "Pledge to America" today, telling voters what they would do if they win control of Congress in November. We have a copy of it. We are analyzing it. Democrats are calling it a pledge to special interests.
We'll talk with one of its authors and show you some of the sweeping changes that the GOP is proposing.
CHETRY: And how important are those nine months before you were born? A body of new research says there's a lot more to think about for moms to be from nutrition and an environment to even your mental state. There's some important information for couples considering having kids -- ahead.
ROBERTS: Yes. This is really fascinating stuff.
And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: And now to the growing scandals surrounding Bishop Eddie Long. Three men are now accusing them -- accusing him of luring them into sexual relationships when they were teenagers.
ROBERTS: The mega church pastor has yet to address those allegations publicly. We thought that would happen today, but Long suddenly decided against it.
Our Ed Lavandera, who broke the story, is following new developments. He's live in Atlanta for us this morning.
What do we know today, Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bishop Eddie Long's attorney says that it was his call to pull the bishop away from doing these interviews. He was scheduled to do a radio interview with our CNN colleague Roland Martin on the "Tom Joyner Radio Show" this morning. That did not happen.
But the attorney did go on and says -- he read a statement that was written directly by Bishop Eddie Long.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ATTORNEY FOR BISHOP EDDIE LONG: I have been through storms and my faith has always sustained me. I'm anxious to respond directly to these false allegations and I will do so. However, my lawyers counsel patience at this time.
Let me be clear: the charges against me and New Birth are false. I have devoted my life to helping others. And these false allegations hurt me deeply. But my faith is strong and the truth will emerge.
All I ask is for your patience as we continue to categorically deny each and every one of these ugly charges.
Finally, I have done as -- as I have done for thousands of others over my decades of preaching, I ask for your prayers for me, my family and our church. On Sunday, at New Birth, I will respond to my congregation.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: The interview lasted a little bit longer after that.
Roland had asked him about -- directly about the trips, the lavish trips around the world that these lawsuits say that Bishop Long had taken these three young men who are now in the early 20s. The attorney didn't deny those trips had occurred. He said that this wasn't out of the ordinary. That part of his mentoring process to many young people was to take them around the world, show them life experiences and that sort of thing.
Beyond that, there wasn't much more in the way of specifics -- especially the specific allegations that are levied in these lawsuits.
But one interesting theme kind of emerged throughout the line of questioning with Roland this morning and that is essentially the attorney saying that these allegations, these lawsuits, are not only attack on Bishop Eddie Long but an attack on the 25,000 members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. That theme was repeated over and over throughout the course of the interview.
ROBERTS: Did the attorney say anything of why Bishop Long e- mailing pictures of himself in a bathroom wearing a muscle t-shirt?
LAVANDERA: No. We didn't get any kind of answers that would explain that at this point. And so, beyond those trips kind of talking about that, it was very little in the way of specifics.
ROBERTS: All right. Ed Lavandera this morning -- Ed, thanks.
LAVANDERA: You got it.
ROBERTS: New this morning: Rahm Emanuel may step done as President Obama's chief of staff as soon as next month. That's according to sources close to him. The former Illinois congressman has been mentioned as a likely candidate for the mayor of Chicago. If Emanuel does leave, one name floated as a possible replacement, White House deputy chief of staff Pete Rouse.
CHETRY: Well, in just a couple of hours, President Obama takes to the world stage. He'll be addressing the U.N. General Assembly. In his speech, he'll urge member nations to support Israel and the Palestinians in the peace process, or risk more bloodshed in the Middle East.
ROBERTS: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will address the general assembly later on this afternoon. Last night, on "LARRY KING LIVE," Ahmadinejad lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Prime Minister Netanyahu was a guest recently on our program, and he said, quote, "The greatest threat facing humanity" -- humanity, that's the world -- "is that Iran would acquire nuclear weapons." If Israel feels that strongly, and you don't directly assure them, don't you fear that they might do a first strike?
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): So you think that we are concerned -- we should be concerned about allaying Mr. Netanyahu's fears and concerns?
KING: Yes.
AHMADINEJAD: Why should we be doing that for him? Who is he?
KING: He is the head of a country.
AHMADINEJAD: Who is he in the first place to begin with?
He is a skilled killer. All dictators in the world have condemned others. And he's one of many of them. He should be put on trial for killing Palestinians, for placing Gaza under siege, which is against the law and against the spirit of the charter of the United Nations. He should be put on trial for killing women and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ahmadinejad also deflected questions about Iran's nuclear program, telling Larry, "We are not seeking the bomb."
CHETRY: All right. Well, we know very little about this, but we do want to get it out there. We have learned that a Delta flight from JFK to Greece actually had to make an emergency landing in Manchester, England, just landed moments ago. All we know at this point is reports of smoke in the cabin, forcing this emergency landing.
We're, of course, working all of our resources, our CNN bureau in London to get more information and find out exactly what may have gone on with this plane. It's Delta plane that was bound for Greece from JFK, ended up having to make an emergency landing in Manchester.
ROBERTS: All right.
Rob Marciano is tracking the forecast across the country. He is in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
And what are we looking at today, Rob, weather-wise?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't think you can see the thunderstorms we saw yesterday, but another rough afternoon for the folks who live in the Northeast corridor. Today, it's just going to be hot and especially down to the south and east. Where you will see most of the rain will be across the Midwest, kind of around all the bubble of hot air that is baking places like St. Louis, Atlanta and Dallas.
Some of that moisture is tropical and from Arizona up through Minnesota, not only we'll you see the threat for severe weather but the threat for seeing some flooding from all of that rain. It's been a pretty wet summer for folks, some folks, who live in the Heartland and the Corn Belt, especially.
And it's been very warm summer for much of the eastern third, but problem is today is the first full day of fall. And look at these numbers, it feels like July or August -- 92 in St. Louis, 92 in Atlanta, it will be 91 degrees in D.C. And I believe this is the hottest summer on record in D.C. And we are starting off fall the same way we ended summer for them.
Enjoy, guys. Back up to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks so much.
Well, we are going to be following more about this emergency landing a Delta Airline plane from New York's JFK that was headed to Athens, Greece, forced to make an emergency landing in Manchester airport in the U.K. because of reports of a smell of smoke in the cabin. We're going to get more on that.
And also, the new Republican agenda. A closer look at the GOP's "Pledge to America." Congressman Paul Ryan contributed to the plan that they're unveiling today. He's going to join us live to explain it -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Eleven minutes past the hour right now.
Laying out the blueprint -- today, Republican leaders will tell voters how they would govern if they take back Congress in November. It's 21 pages and it's called "The Pledge to America."
Here's a bit from the introduction. It says, quote, "In a self- governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent."
Well, Congressman Paul Ryan contributed to this plan. He's on Capitol Hill and he joins us this morning.
Thanks for being with us.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: Hey, you bet. Nice to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: So, just to give people a broad overview of some of the highlights. You guys have broken this down into five parts: jobs -- which, obviously very important to many; spending; health care; government reform; and national security.
What are the priorities? If the GOP takes control of the House after these midterms, what would be first on the plate for you?
RYAN: Well, first of all, this is a governing agenda we can put in place right now is what we're suggesting. But number one, job creation -- do what you need to do to remove the uncertainty that the government is imposing on the economy to get jobs growing; control and cut spending; and clean up the way Congress works.
I mean, you have people around here voting for 1,000-plus-page bills that they haven't even read. We got to clean this up and restore trust and accountability to the way Congress works.
And that's what we're saying -- we're saying we're not trying to reinvent the country, we're trying to reclaim by reapplying those timeless founding principles, like "government by consent of the governed," that made us such an exceptional country in the first place.
CHETRY: So, you offer outlines here. But is there specific legislation that has been drafted that you're ready to go with? Are there bills?
RYAN: Well, sure. So, we're not trying to put a new party platform or a big long-term agenda or like contract where we have a whole list of bills. But behind each one of these policies -- yes, indeed, there is legislation that can enact it. For instance, the spending cuts. We've already put out legislation that totals $1.3 trillion in spending cuts that we can enact right now if we could -- if, for instance, we got control of Congress.
So, yes, behind all of these policy initiatives are legislation that we think are the first steps we need to take to get this country back on the right path.
CHETRY: And for a few years, you've actually, personally pushed the idea of at least a partial privatization of Social Security. But that didn't make it into this pledge. Why not?
RYAN: Well, again, this is an exhaustive pledge. These are the initial first steps we need to get the country back on track.
And I did not -- I would argue that I'm not proposing to privatize Social Security. My plan, which is something that I myself wrote, is a consensus of one person, me, says if you're 55 and above, we're going to protect your Social Security benefits as they're designed today.
But for people like you and I, Kiran, who are below 54, who don't have Social Security coming to us because it's going bankrupt, give us an opportunity of having a plan like I have as a congressman, like every federal worker or the government, Social Security, invests a portion of the payroll taxes and account in our name so we can grow our money better and have a better retirement benefit that's safe and secure. Not privatized but harnessing the power of compound interest so that we can have a better benefit. It's a voluntary choice and option that I personally have proposed.
But this is not an exhaustive list. This is basically the key first steps we need to take --
CHETRY: Right.
RYAN: -- to get this country back on track.
CHETRY: Now, I understand that. But one of the big, big problems for us all and the reason why we are facing, you know, these massive, massive debts and deficits --
RYAN: Massive deficits.
CHETRY: -- in the future is because of the entitlement programs. There wasn't a lot specifically addressing entitlement programs in this. Why?
RYAN: Well, there is -- there is a discussion on a need to fix the entitlement problem.
CHETRY: Right.
RYAN: The other thing we have to recognize in this document is we -- if we do get the majority, we are coming into what we call a divided government situation. So we don't want to put something out there making the promises that we know we can't keep because President Obama is the president. So we have to recognize that we're going into if we get the majority an era of divided government and so we want to talk about deliverables.
We want to talk about aspirations and then key first steps we need to take to get this country back on track. That's what we are talking about cutting and controlling spending, preventing big tax increases which will cost us jobs and slow down the economy and just cleaning up the mess that's become the way Congress operates these days.
CHETRY: Now I know, when you talk about the deficit, it just seems that you know the numbers just don't add up and I know that' not just from your party --
RYAN: They're amazing.
CHETRY: But you know you talk about $100 billion savings by rolling back some government spending. You specifically I think talked about the Department of Transportation, perhaps the EPA. But then you are also talking about extending the Bush tax cuts for everybody so how do you do that with no new revenue coming in and not a lot of cutting.
RYAN: Sure. So the best thing to do to improve the budget situation is to grow the economy and create jobs and cut and control spending. That's why that's the cornerstone of this pledge to America. Raising taxes as is being proposed this January on successful small businesses, raising tax rates on half of all small business income will slow down our economy, which is where 70 percent of our jobs come from will slow down our economy, cost us about 1.2 million jobs according to the Congressional Budget Office and actually worsen our budget outlook.
So the idea here is not to raise taxes because that slows down the economy and creates job loss. The idea here is get the economy growing and control spending. Those are the best two combinations for the fiscal situation improved. We are in such a huge deficit and debt hole.
Yes, Kiran, obviously, we have to deal with entitlements. That's something to come to consensus with around here and move forward but in this divided government situation we find ourselves in, these are what we think are the immediate first steps that we can do right way to get this country on the right path.
CHETRY: Well we want to thank you for joining us and presenting your point of view. We are also going to link it up with your website so people can read all 21 pages and judge for themselves. RYAN: Great.
CHETRY: As well if it's ideas that they like. Congressman Paul Ryan out of Wisconsin, thanks so much for joining us.
RYAN: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: More and more bookworms going for convenience embracing electronic readers. So will e-books kill the paperback? Alina Cho sits down with one of the bestselling authors of all time, Stephen King, coming up next.
And speaking of rich people, who is the richest person in America? The "Forbes" list is out and there are some interesting moves in the rankings to tell you about. We have that straight ahead, 18 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. Got an update for you on the "Breaking News" this morning that a Delta plane flight 250 from JFK to Greece had to make an emergency landing in Manchester, England, today after pilots detected a smoky smell in the cabin. The plane landed safely. They've checked it out, apparently everything is just fine with that flight. So nothing to worry about. Folks on board are going to cool their heels for a day, though, in Manchester. Enjoy the lovely food there and then head back to Athens on - tomorrow, the 24th of September.
CHETRY: Much like a cruise, they are going to have a day excursion and then head on.
ROBERTS: There's no better place to have it than Manchester.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: For all of you Manpunians (ph) this morning in the audience you'll know what I'm talking about.
Time for "Minding Your Business" this morning. Bill Gates still the richest man in the United States. According to the latest "Forbes" 400 list, the Microsoft founder is worth cha-ching $54 billion. Coming in behind him, the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett who is now worth $45 billion and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg now 245 percent richer than he was last year, he passed fellow techie Steve Jobs to take spot number 35 on the list. He's what, 26. Shoot me now, please.
CHETRY: There you go, he had a good idea. People wanted to reconnect with their high school classmates.
ROBERTS: You ever have a good idea like that? I mean that's not a good idea, that's an amazing idea. CHETRY: Well, CNN is confirming that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg will donate $100 million of his vast wealth to Newark, New Jersey's public school systems. Zuckerburg, New Jersey governor Chris Christe and New York Mayor Cory Booker will officially make the announcement on Oprah tomorrow. The money is going to be used to upgrade the Newark schools. Only half of the city's students graduate high school.
ROBERTS: Well, the times they sure are a-changing. In three years, the kindle has become the most popular e-book reader in the nation. The website, amazon.com is now selling more e-books than hardcovers.
CHETRY: And don't forget the iPad either. Well many people believe that the next generation with video could leave the printed word in the dust. AMERICA MORNING'S Alina Cho sat down with one of the most famous authors in the world to talk about the craze.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stephen King does have a lot to say about it. You know he does know a thing or two about death and dying. More than 40 books to his name. One of the bestselling authors of all time. But did you know, he is also considered by some to be a father of e-books, one of the first to publish a story online. So what does he think about e-books? Could it mean the end of traditional books? Or is it good for the industry? King says the answer is yes and yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
CHO (voice over): "The Shining." "Misery." the mere mention of Stephen King's titles evokes fear.
(on camera): Do people ever say to you when they meet you, you know, you know I thought maybe I might be scared of you? All the time, right?
STEPHEN KING, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: Sure. A lot of people think they're scared of me but I'm civilized.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay right here please.
CHO (voice-over): The best-selling author built a career on frightening people for the written word. He sees things in ways others don't. So years before most authors even thought about e- books, king published a novella online. It shocked the industry. And got him a lot of attention.
KING: I got on the cover of "Time" magazine and for once in my life, I got noticed by the guys in the suits and ties. They would say, how did that work? How did that sell? They were fascinated by the business aspect.
CHO: That was a decade ago. Today, the e-book industry is on fire. Amazon is selling more e-books than hard covers making up more than 8 percent of publishing revenue, up from 3 percent a year ago. On track to hit 50 percent by 2015. Some studies show when people own e-book readers like kindles and Ipads they buy more and read more, the future. But does it mean the death of traditional books?
(on camera): The internet in many ways killed the music industry. So why won't it do that to books?
KING: Well, I'm not sure that it won't. The book is not the important part. The book is the delivery system. The important part is the story and the talent.
CHO (voice-over): Content, pardon the pun, is King.
(on camera) Well I feel like there are twice as many people working here than a month ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are.
CHO (voice-over): Jane Freedman won Harper Collins. Today she is the CEO of Open Road Integrated Media, a company that publishes, you guessed it, e-books. Open Road is also among those adding video to e-books by authors like Pat Conroy who wrote "The Prince Of Tides."
PAT CONROY, AUTHOR: Do not be afraid of critics, other writers to write something so bold.
CHO: Hoping to enhance the e-book experience.
JANE FRIEDMAN, CEO, OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA: I actually was very involved in starting the audio book business and we have people said why would I listen to a book? I like to turn the pages. The e- book is just another format.
CHO: Why King reads both books and e-books.
(on camera): Do you go back and read your own books?
KING: Very rarely. I know how they come out. Books will always exist. Will they be what they are now? Absolutely they will not.
CHO (on camera): Does that make you sad?
KING: Oh, man. Does that make me sad? If I say yes, everybody will understand that. The answer is the future is going to be what the future is going to be.
CHO (voice-over): With one potential drawback.
KING: If you drop a book in the toilet, you can fish it out and dry it off and read it. If you drop your kindle in the toilet, you're done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: John Roberts just loves that. You know if you think e- books are just a fad, think again. How about library with no books at all? Guys it is happening at the University of Texas at San Antonio. There are no actual books in that library. Its entire collection of 425,000 volumes and 18,000 journal articles only available online. It is certainly the way of the future.
CHETRY: Amazing when you think about, I mean, I remember back to college. Do you remember having to carry --
ROBERTS: I can't remember back that far.
CHETRY: Well we'd have to purchase a ton of money. I mean I had to get a second job for the jobs that were required. Right? E-books, just literally --
CHO: There is one college in New York, which one? The name escapes me but at least one in New York right now encouraging all of its students to buy Ipads so that they can read their material online.
CHETRY: Carry this instead of that enormous pack back pack filled with the huge books.
CHO: It does makes sense. Now there are those old school people who say, I love just the feel of the book. I love to smell the binding. I love to turn the page. I like to know how much I've read. Right? You know?
CHETRY: That is a totally valid point.
CHO: Exactly, sure.
CHETRY: And for enjoyable, you know, reading that you just do curled up on the couch, fine. If you're a college student and trying to get the last book that's out of the library.
CHO: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Where do they get the pink kindle?
CHO: It is interesting. He has the only pink kindle in the world. Why? Because Jeff Bezos who runs Amazon when the kindling was coming out and so he wrote a story about someone with a pink kindle. Voila, one appeared at his office.
CHETRY: Cute.
ROBERTS: So that's the only one. You won't be able to get one.
CHO: Sorry, guys. That's right, you bet.
ROBERTS: As fashionable as they might be. Thanks so much.
President Obama in trouble? Real estate mogul Donald Trump says things are not looking good for the president. In fact, he says they're looking bad. His thoughts on president Obama coming up into his second -- third year. Yes. Coming into the midterm elections, as well. Twenty eight minutes after the hour. I wouldn't do
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Crossing the half hour now. Time for a look at your top stories.
It appears that Bishop Eddie Long's first public comments on the growing sex scandal will come from the pulpit on Sunday. Three men are now accusing him of luring them into sex when they were teenagers. Bishop Long canceled a radio interview and a news conference set for today. His attorney instead addressed the civil lawsuits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATTORNEY FOR BISHOP EDDIE LONG: These false allegations are an attack on bishop long personally. They are an attack on New Birth, all of its 25,000 good people who attend that church. And it's an attack on the mentoring program that's helped thousands of young men. It is deeply, deeply unfortunate that these allegations have been made. They will be met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the attorney read that statement from Bishop Long saying that he denies the, quote, "ugly charges" and is anxious to respond to his congregation on Sunday.
ROBERTS: The Republican Party unveiling its "Pledge to America" today. It outlines Republican positions calling for smaller government, rolling back the economic stimulus plan, and repealing the health care reform law. Democrats are calling it a "pledge to special interests."
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are investigating the recent salmonella outbreak that led to a massive regular egg recall. The owner of the farm at the center of the outbreak said he is horrified that eggs from his company might have gotten people sick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTIN DECOSTER, WRIGHT COUNTY EGG: I apologize to everyone who may have been sickened by eating our eggs. I have prayed several times each day for all of these people for improved health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the owner of another farm involved refused to answer questions about conditions at his operation.
ROBERTS: It's 33 minutes after the hour. Time now for the latest news from "The Best Political Team on Television." And crossing our Political Ticker this morning, Stephen Colbert is about to head to Washington, not to rally, but to testify.
CHETRY: Yes. Senior political editor Mark Preston live at the CNNpolitics.com desk this morning. So is he going in character? He has to be sworn in. He has to go as Stephen. MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. No question. Look. Stephen Colbert, of course, you know, you talk about rallying and here on October 30th for the "march to keep fear alive rally," part of the counter rally he's it with Jon Stewart, which is called the "Rally to restore sanity."
But tomorrow, Stephen Colbert comes and testifies before a House judiciary subcommittee on the issue of immigration. He's worked for a day as an immigrant farm worker up in New York. I suspect that Stephen Colbert will probably not be in character as you say because fact is you have to be sworn in.
But I'll go on a limb and suggest that Colbert will probably will be siding with the idea that it's OK to have these migrant farm workers come across the border and work on our farms because what the farm working community is tells us is that Americans don't want these jobs. So Stephen Colbert did something on the show last night. We'll see something tonight on that, will be here in Washington tomorrow.
Let's move to Delaware. This is the hottest Senate race in the last week or so. We have new poll numbers of CNN and opinion research corporation poll for this very, very interesting Senate race. It shows that Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party favorite down 16 points to the democratic nominee Chris Coons.
But let me just show you what would happen if O'Donnell lost this race to the establishment favorite Mike Castle, Castle, losing to O'Donnell last week. Had Castle won the primary, our poll shows he would be up 18 points.
So Republican establishment figures here in the Washington D.C. quietly saying we told you so. But, of course, plenty of time for Christine O'Donnell to make up this time.
Let's close it with what John had said at the top. The fact is Donald Trump is speaking out about President Obama's presidency and saying he's not sure if the president can recover right now from the economic situation that we're in right now. He says that he looks at President Obama as a president who is in trouble.
Right now, Trump says, there's a level of animosity and hatred that he has never seen before. He told Wolf Blitzer all of this yesterday. We have the video on CNNpolitics.com. I should point out that Donald Trump endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: All right, you know, talking with Ed Rollins and Susan Molinari yesterday. They're both Republicans, of course, but they think that O'Donnell may pull out a win in Delaware.
PRESTON: It all comes down to how much money she can get in over the next couple of weeks and energize the conservative voters in Delaware.
ROBERTS: She's getting a lot of money in. Mark, thanks so much. A reminder -- for the latest political news go to our website, CNNpolitics.com.
CHETRY: All right, so you know as a pregnant woman, always worried, doing the right thing by your child.
ROBERTS: I worry about that every day.
CHETRY: What do you eat, what dads worry about, what the moms are doing, too. It is not just what you're eating, the vitamins to affect the outcome of your child, not only physical health but mental health, as we. It's a fascinating foray of what really happens in the womb, coming up. We'll be joined by journalist Annie Murphy Paul when we come back right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: We're human. But there's a lot that goes into that. You know, for soon to be mothers, fretting over the baby starts way before birth. There's worries about whether you're eating the right thing, drinking the right thing, taking the correct vitamins, not making -- not eating too much fish because of mercury concerns. It's enough to stress you out.
ROBERTS: It is. Well, new research warns that stress levels, pollution, and infections can also affect your baby, not just in the womb but as a child growing up and all the way into adulthood.
Annie Murphy Paul wrote a cover story for the top in "TIME" magazine, and her new book on the research "Origins" is due out Tuesday. She joins us this morning. We heard don't drink, don't smoke, take folic acid. Eat well while you're pregnant. This goes well beyond all of that.
ANNIE MURPHY-PAUL, CONTRIBUTOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: That's right. There's an emerging science known as fetal origins that suggests that a lot of the things that women experience in pregnancy affects fetus in that way that lasts throughout the childhood and into adulthood.
CHETRY: So breaking down the things we are talking about here, one of the concerns and one of the things they have actually amended over the years is how much weight you gain during pregnancy. And this is, of course, a source on both sides of the issue. People worry so much about gaining too much weight and then others saying it's a chance to eat for two and if I balloon up 70, 100 pounds, it is OK.
What are they learning about what obesity or even just a significant weight gain does?
MURPHY-PAUL, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR WHO COVERS BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES: Well, as we all know, Americans are getting heavier and heavier and that weight gain are starting earlier and earlier and the new thinking is that predisposition to obesity actually begins in the womb with an overweight pregnant woman or a woman who gains excessively during pregnancy. This programs the fetuses appetite and metabolisms to make them in turn more -- more likely to become obese. So we're rethinking the guidelines on how much pregnant women should gain.
ROBERTS,: And it can also lead to diabetes, things like that, as well, which we'll get in to.
But what about stress? You wouldn't think of stress as being something that could affect your baby's development. You think it something that affects your mother and there's a couple of types of stress. One could have a deleterious effect; the other one can have a beneficial effect. What about extreme levels of stress that the mother might be under particularly in the first trimester?
MURPHY-PAUL: Yes. Extreme stress can have very damaging affects to the fetus. In the "Time" magazine article I write about a disastrous modernization campaign in China in the middle of the last century known as "The Great Leap Forward." And this led to an enormous famine that affected many women who were gestating children at the time and those children grew up to have twice the rate of schizophrenia.
ROBERTS: Really?
MURPHY-PAUL: As young adults -- so we're talking 20 years after they experienced that malnutrition in the (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: And you found that mirrored in a study of women pregnant who are pregnant during the six-day war in Israel, as well.
MURPHY-PAUL: That's right, that's right.
CHETRY: So this is talking about life and death situations.
MURPHY-PAUL: Life and death.
CHETRY: There's famine, war.
What about every day things, stressing about your job, fighting more, feeling moodier, more hormonal? Or did those things have a bad effect on -- on the fetus?
MURPHY-PAUL: Right. Well, the good news is that scientists have found that moderate levels of stress, every day levels of stress actually have a beneficial effect for the fetus, accelerating the development of their nervous system and leading to higher developmental scores later after the -- the babies are born.
It's as if when you're taking a test you have a little bit of stress and that helps you perform better. It's the same kind of thing.
ROBERTS: So a little bit is a good thing, isn't it?
MURPHY-PAUL: That's right.
ROBERTS: You've -- you've also found through your research that things that a mother eats and the way that she takes care of her fetus can actually have a long-lasting effect on the baby's ability and through childhood and adulthood to resist diseases like cancer?
MURPHY-PAUL: That's right. That's the kind of cutting edge of fetal origins research has done and much of this research right now I think done on animals but there is a really striking study in which pregnant mice were given a chemical that was derived from cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussel sprouts and their offspring were able to resist cancer for the rest of their lives even when exposed to a cancer-causing chemical and I only -- they only encountered this protective chemical in the womb but lasted for their entire life.
ROBERTS: Do we know how this works?
MURPHY-PAUL: Well, there's compounds within these cruciferous vegetables that have cancer-fighting properties so that kind of supplement isn't available for pregnant women now but it can never hurt to eat your broccoli.
CHETRY: We both have children about the same age.
MURPHY-PAUL: Yes.
CHETRY: Two and four, one and half and four, for you. You know how terrified you were when you were pregnant that you were doing the right thing that you weren't breathing in the wrong things, that you weren't eating the wrong things.
I mean, how do, you know, balance this and look at this academically without being so fearful of everything you put in your mouth or everything that you encounter while your baby is growing inside of you?
MURPHY-PAUL: Yes, yes.
Well, that's very much how I felt the first time when I was pregnant and that's part of what made me want to write this book to really understand and put into perspective and context this science that we get in dribs and drabs from the radio or from newspaper headlines.
So the second time that I was pregnant, and I was pregnant while I was researching and writing this book, I actually came away with a much more positive and proactive view of pregnancy as a molding and shaping of the fetus. And the -- the scientists that I talked to were not full of dire warnings. They were full of excitement about this as sort of new frontier of promoting children's well-being and health while they're still in the womb.
ROBERTS: And so as opposed to something else to worry about, maybe, hey I can make a difference here.
MURPHY-PAUL: Exactly.
ROBERTS: And make a positive one.
MURPHY-PAUL: Exactly, exactly.
ROBERTS: Well, it's great to see you this morning.
MURPHY-PAUL: Thank you.
ROBERTS: The article is fascinating and looking forward to the book coming in next week.
MURPHY-PAUL: Thanks very much.
CHETRY: Thanks for being here Annie Murphy-Paul, great to talk to you this morning.
MURPHY-PAUL: Thank you too.
CHETRY: All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's 49 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Today on "House Call" now, the emotional, incredible story of a little girl fighting for her life against a disease with no name.
CHETRY: Imagine how terrifying for her family and a team of doctors, doctor detectives, really. They have been working to try to diagnose this unknown condition. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been working on this for months and joins us now.
This has got to be one of the hardest and most challenging things about your profession when you just don't even know what you're dealing with.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And it happens I think a lot more than people realize. We have an expectation, you go to the hospital. You get an answer. You get a diagnosis but in a lot of cases it's simply not true. And people are told over and over again we don't know. There's nothing we can do about it.
But there is this place that exists. It's called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program where this is what they do. When no one else has an answer, this team is called to try and figure it out. And Kylie McPeak, a 6-year-old, was eventually accepted into this program. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Kylie McPeak was sick and getting sicker. Her parents had spent nearly two years with specialists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect.
GUPTA: No one could diagnose was what was happening to Kylie. Her voice tremors. The twitches that were convulsing the entire right side of her body. GINA MCSPEAK, KYLIE'S MOTHER: I'm a bad parent. We're like, why can't I help my kid? So --
STEVEN MCPEAK, KYLIES FATHER: I can't really put it into words, just helpless.
GUPTA: Kylie had once been a perfectly healthy toddler. Until it was as if an invisible force was at war with her body. Her parents videotaped their little girl's descent.
G. MCPEAK: Turn your head towards us. Good girl. Look at mama.
GUPTA: But not a single doctor knew what was happening to Kylie.
(on camera): Kylie and her parents made their way from Reno, Nevada to Bethesda, Maryland and the NIH in hopes of finding out what in the world could be wrong with Kylie.
Kylie's tests begin in early morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beautiful.
Can I tell you something? You are all done. Good job.
GUPTA: And go late into the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A baby boy.
Ok. Kitty cat. Say kitty cat.
S. MCPEAK: It's hard. It's really hard. Hopefully it's for a good cause.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. This will help but not hurt.
GUPTA: By Friday, the tests are complete. Now Dr. Gahl and his team are planning what they're going to tell Kylie's parents. Waiting in another room, Kylie's mom and dad are anxious, hopeful.
G. MCPEAK: they might have some things back from that so it's exciting and I'm nervous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we want to document that for --
GUPTA: But the doctors have no diagnosis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking at all sorts of things that have yet to come back for us to consider.
GUPTA: Instead they explain how the results will guide their investigation.
DR. WILLIAM GAHL, UNDIAGNOSED DISEASES PROGRAM: And we'll continue to work together on this.
GUPTA: For Kylie's mom and dad, Gina and Steven, the emotional toll of the week is just so overwhelming.
GAHL: We don't consider this to be a final diagnosis.
The parents are really having sort of a tough time and this is quite typical of this program.
G. MCPEAK: So it's just I think too much for me at that exact moment. So --
S. MCPEAK: It scared me because I didn't want it to be the end.
GUPTA: For the next several months, the UDP team will chase every clue hoping it leads them to a prime suspect. What is killing Kylie? And how to stop it.
S. MCPEAK: Maybe someday we'll get that phone call, hey, we think we might know what it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Wow. The poor little girl and the parents, too, worrying about it. What a tough week for her. Do they come up with a diagnosis? Do they find out what's killing her as you said?
GUPTA: Well, it is still in progress right now and sometimes going back and looking at the DNA of other siblings, of the parents. Trying to figure out is there some genetic clue, for example. That's really where this is headed.
But you know, if you talk to these doctors, as much as it is about treating patients, the reason they bring these patients in is because they believe they can advance science by unraveling some of these individual mysteries. So through Kylie they think there will be a big advancement in terms of genetic profiling of these sorts of problems.
Is it a variant of Huntington disease, for example? That hasn't been described in kids. So all of a sudden you have these big leaps in science.
But it's hard. I mean there's no question about it. They wanted a diagnosis; they want it now. And now they leave without it. I think that was just a heartbreaking moment.
CHETRY: Right. They say that the investigation's going to continue. That's what the doctors are saying but in the meantime do they come any closer to any type of ability to ease or relieve some of these symptoms? I mean it must be horrible for her to have that twitching and the convulsing. I mean have they been able to get that under control.
GUPTA: They've been able to help, you know, significantly with that. Treating symptoms is something they're much better at than figuring out what's causing it. And also, you know, the interesting thing about these doctors is that we're trained to look for the obvious things. That's what we do in medicine is that we look right in the middle of the bell curve to see does it fit here?
What these guys are always doing is looking at the edges. What's in this, you know, less than 10 percent, greater than 90 percent percentile problem and it's a very different way of approaching problems but as a result they get some answers that are completely non-intuitive. It's just fascinating to watch.
ROBERTS: Just like "Dr. House".
GUPTA: Just like that -- not as grumpy.
CHETRY: One last thing before we go I just want to get your thoughts really quickly on what former president Clinton said. That he went on this plant-based diet and it's actually healing his heart disease.
GUPTA: And everyone has said that that's impossible. Once you start to develop arterial sclerosis, which is the hardening of the arteries, the process is progressive or at least not reversible. Dean Hornish who we talked about, you guys have interviewed before has said for some time that actually doing a plant-based diet changes the expression of some of your genes and you actually start to see a shrinking of that plaque within the blood vessels.
And, you know, this is precisely what President Clinton's talking about. He's talked to Dean Hornish about this and he believes that if he were to get his blood vessels studied now, he'd have less plaque than he did when he was having all these heart problems.
ROBERTS: Well, we can tell you that not only is it possible it's happening.
Thanks, Sanjay.
A couple of minutes until the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hey, just a reminder to watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's 360 Special Investigation on rare medical mysteries tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
CHETRY: That's going to do it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Meantime, the news continues, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Good morning, Kyra.
