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American Morning
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy Restored; Winning Back the West; Bank Fees on the Rise; Marijuana's Illegal?; Dems Prepare for Worst; What Pilots Won't Tell You; "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Restored
Aired October 21, 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. Thanks so much for being with you on this Thursday, October 21st. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. It's good to have you with us today. Let's get you caught up on what's happening this Thursday morning.
Opening the door and then slamming it shut. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" back in effect this morning. A federal appeals court has now blocked the ruling that briefly allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military, putting the president in a strange position this morning. We're live with reaction from the Pentagon.
CHETRY: Also, angry confrontations in France may come to a head today. There's a huge rally that's set to start in central Paris. In fact, in just a couple of hours, protesters rallying against a plan to raise the retirement age in that country, and it's all but crippled transportation. This week, we're going to have the latest on what's going on in France.
ROBERTS: And when you fly, is it really necessary to turn off your cell phone or your laptop computer? And when airlines brag about their on-time performance, are they flat-out lying? The top 50 pilot secrets revealed this morning.
CHETRY: Up first, though, new developments in the fight over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Just a day after a lower court decision allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military, the Obama administration asked for and got a federal appeals court to block that ruling. Chris Lawrence has reaction live from the Pentagon this morning.
So yesterday, we're talking about something completely different. People going to sign up for the first time saying I'm gay, and I'd like to enlist. What happened?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically what happened was the appeals court granted a temporary stay to that judge's order. And the key word there is "temporary" because the group that brought this case, the log cabin Republicans and lawyers on that side, they're going to keep pushing and pushing the court to reject that stay. So, you know, this isn't the end. This is really just the middle of this argument. And what it does is it has now created sort of a seesaw effect, where you have a policy in place one week. That policy is different the next week and different again the week after. It is confusion.
And again, you know, you're talking about recruiters who were just told to process these applications for gay applicants. Now, they're going to have to be told, stop and don't do that.
The Pentagon's response to this officially very simple, very straightforward, for the reasons stated in a government submission, we believe the stay is appropriate -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So the question for the Obama administration who pledged that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will end under this administration, yet at the same time, they're the ones asking for this stay. What's their -- why are they doing it?
LAWRENCE: Because basically, they -- President Obama said he wants "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to go away. So has Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So you think, OK, well, they all want it to go away. It should probably go away. But the thing is they're asking for more time. They want to get that survey back from the members of the military. And the military is saying it needs time. If this was ever repealed, it would need time to implement it.
Well, they're running a race, you know, on the legislative track with Congress trying to get it overturned that way over time. Well, there's another race being run. It's more like a sprint. And that's going through the legal system. And we've already seen some of the lower courts say "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is basically illegal and overturn that decision. So you've got a strange situation where the Obama administration is now in a position of fighting to keep a law that ultimately it wants to get rid of.
CHETRY: And in the meantime, a lot of people asking what the political cost of that could be because a lot of gay and lesbian advocates are very upset about this.
Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: It could get even uglier today on the streets of Paris. Demonstrators plan a major rally against the government plan to raise the national retirement age from 60 to 62. The French Senate could vote as early as tomorrow. More than a million people have already protested and that has led to violent clashes and hundreds of arrests. Even high school students have skipped class to join the strikes.
CHETRY: In a Mexican border community where bloody violence is all too common, there is a new sheriff in town, an unlikely one at that. Marisol Valles Garcia is just 20 years old. She's still in college studying criminology. And she took the job after 19 other candidates refused it. Police officers there have been abducted, killed by drug cartels. Garcia has two bodyguards and she says she's adding more women to her force.
ROBERTS: The salary scandal that rocked one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County. Today, eight former city officials from Bell, California are scheduled to be arraigned. They're charged with taking more than $5.5 million in city funds. One of them, former city manager Robert Rizzo faces 53 criminal charges. Rizzo in the hot seat for his nearly $800,000 a year salary. That is almost double what President Obama takes home every year.
CHETRY: Well, the founder of "Penthouse" magazine has died. Bob Guccione losing his battle with lung cancer in a Plano, Texas hospital. He was 79 years old. Guccione started "Penthouse" magazine back in 1965, competed with "Playboy" for the attention of American men for decades.
ROBERTS: We've got four minutes after the hour now. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano back from his trip to Louisiana. And he's in the weather center at Atlanta this morning.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Yes, everybody in Louisiana and Texas and Florida across the Gulf Coast have their eyes on this, tropical depression number 19, which could become our next tropical storm, Richard, here in the next -- well, maybe today.
Right now, winds of 35 miles an hour. I've been watching this all week long. Just kind of spinning its wheels there south of Grand Cayman. It's drifting to the southeast right now. And the forecast is for it to continue to loop around and then head towards the Yucatan Peninsula. So here it is from the National Hurricane Center. Bring it to hurricane strength rather rapidly. This is a very potent part of the Atlantic basin this time of year, so we do expect it to somewhat explode in intensity.
And you know, the later days of this forecast get a little bit less confident. But right now, we're going with it sliding into the Yucatan Peninsula and then potentially emerging into the Gulf of Mexico. We'll talk more about that a little bit later.
Meanwhile, a little front sliding across the northeast. Maybe some rain upstate New York. It may slide down to the Big Apple later on today. But right now the major metropolitan cities are dry. It will be stormy out west and sunny at least for now, down south.
Continues to be a very busy hurricane season, guys. Hopefully, this one will miss us, too. We'll delve into the details a little bit later on in the program. Back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Hey, are you a Conan O'Brien fan, Rob?
MARCIANO: Oh, yes, of course. Who isn't? And now that he's on the team, he got away with (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: There you go. Team Coco, that is. Thanks, Rob. If you are a Conan O'Brien fan and you don't want to wait until the show actually airs November 8th, you're in luck. They have something called the live coco cam online. This has been going on for 24 hours now.
There's a look at what's going on right now, which is not much. But just a while ago, they were dancing like crazy. This is in the headquarters. It's been streaming live since yesterday.
ROBERTS: Some of the highlights that we've seen so far if you've been watching the coco cam, an '80s aerobics session. It's nothing like those purple tights. Plus dogs, or a guy in a dog suit playing poker. Also, Shakespeare and fruit?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the father like took and her to incest did provoke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Nothing goes together like Shakespeare and fruit in a box, of course. Conan's new show debuts on our sister station, TBS, November 8th, 11:00 p.m. Can't wait for that.
CHETRY: Yes. At least we'll still have the coco cam live. Let us know if anything interesting happens overnight.
ROBERTS: And there was a dirigible flying around New York City yesterday with "Conan" written on the side of it, so the buzz is starting.
CHETRY: And do people think it was a UFO?
ROBERTS: No, they didn't. They thought it was a blimp.
CHETRY: OK.
ROBERTS: Actually, it was dirigible.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, the top secrets of flying. For example, does your cell phone really interfere with signals in the cockpit? Where's the safest place to sit on a plane? And why you should worry when flight attendants take their seats.
Seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes after the hour this Thursday morning. President Obama is in Seattle today, one of six cities that he's scheduled to visit this week on a West Coast campaign swing. With only 12 days to go before the midterm elections, the president kicked things off in Portland, Oregon, last night, telling 10,000 supporters if Republicans take back the House next month, the rich will get richer and middle class families will be left to fend for themselves. More now from senior White House correspondent Ed Henry who's traveling with the president.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, the president was interrupted by chants of "yes, we can" here from the crowd in Portland, fitting because this is the city where he had his largest rally of the 2008 campaign. And the president was basically laying the stakes out for this midterm election fight saying that he needs to get the same people who voted for change in 2008 to stand with him now in 2010.
Aides telling me that the president believes he has the biggest megaphone of all in this campaign and he plans to use it aggressively on this West Coast swing. The president basically charging in his remarks that the Republican plan is amnesia, trying to get Americans to forget that they caused this economic mess. The president also charging that if Republicans take power, they're going to roll back a series of reforms for health care, Wall Street and the rest. The president is saying we can relitigate the past. He just doesn't want to relive it and adding that if Democrats can mobilize, it's not too late to turn the tide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't want them rolling back health reform so insurance companies can deny you coverage because you're sick. We don't want them rolling back Wall Street reform so now credit card companies can go back to hitting you with hidden fees and penalties. We don't want their plan to cut education by 20 percent so they can give a $700 billion tax break to the wealthiest two percent of Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Next stop is Seattle where the president will be campaigning for Senator Patty Murray. She's in an extremely tight race, one of many Senate battles that will determine control of that chamber. Then California, Nevada and Minnesota over the next few days. This is the president's longest campaign swing of the year. Bottom line, all of these states are states that Democrats wanted to have wrapped up long ago. It's supposed to be their turf, but instead, they're playing defense right now. White House aides acknowledge that but basically say what the president is all about in these next final days is identifying likely voters for Democrats and getting them to the polls -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: Ed Henry for us this morning. Thanks so much.
Well, conservative activist, Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, apparently keeping a lower profile this morning. You may remember that she dredged up a decades-old controversy surrounding her husband when she asked her former aide, Anita Hill, for an apology. Hill's allegation of sexual harassment almost derailed Clarence Thomas' nomination nearly 20 years ago.
Well, now comes word from "The New York Times" that Virginia Thomas has backed out of two appearances yesterday, not wanting to distract from her group's pro-Tea Party message.
ROBERTS: The latest campaign ad for Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle ad has been pulled off of YouTube because of a copy right claim made by a Las Vegas company. It's not clear what portion of the ad is in question, what might violate copyright.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden is campaigning for Angle's opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Biden says Angle should be ashamed of herself for promoting the privatization of VA hospitals.
CHETRY: Well, Ed Rendell says it's time for Democrats to quit acting like, quote, "wusses." In case you missed it, the Pennsylvania governor appeared last night on CNN's new prime time show "PARKER SPITZER," warning fellow Democrats that this is no time to be wishy- washy with 12 days to go before the big vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIOT SPITZER, HOST, "PARKER SPITZER": Where is the Democrat story that's an affirmative story that explains how are we going to solve the problem?
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, you're absolutely right. I have said consistently during this campaign season, we're a bunch of "wusses." We're running from the things that we've done, running from the things we believe instead of saying here's what we stand for. If we're going to lose, let's go down fighting for the things we believe in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And Kathleen Parker is going to be a guest on our show, coming up at 8.10 Eastern this morning.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that.
And Porta-Johns for John. "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart scrambling to find enough portable toilets for his "Rally to Restore Sanity," which is going to be held on the National Mall next Saturday. Last night on an appearance on "LARRY KING," Larry helped the cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Open the curtain, please.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": This is the curtain. Oh, my God.
KING: There it is. The first potty for the rally.
STEWART: Can I tell you something?
KING: And our executive producer almost used it.
STEWART: That is -- please tell me that that is not the capsule that they keep you in. Is that the hyperbaric chamber when you're not working?
All right. Somebody store King until tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: How do you think Larry keeps going even now, right? He could never have enough Johns. Tough times for banks mean bigger fees for you and me. Up next, Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" with tips to avoid unwanted bank and credit card charges. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Some news from Toyota, out with a major recall this morning. It's a fluid leak that could affect the brakes on some 740,000 cars and trucks sold in the U.S. Certain 2004 and 2006 Avalons and non-hybrid Highlanders are on the list. Four different Lexus models also included.
There've been no reports of accidents so far, but drivers are warned to watch for a brake warning light on the dash, and customers can get free repairs at the dealer.
ROBERTS: Oh, the woes still affecting Toyota this morning.
Well, the latest laptops from Apple Computer are the thinnest, the lightest yet. They are about wafer-thin. A new MacBook Air, unveiled last night, weighs less than three pounds. They're slim, just over three quarters of an inch thick.
No hard drive or DVD player, though, just 64 gigs of flash memory. No hard drive in there, as we said. Prices start at just under $1,000.
Boy, things have changed. I remember I had the Apple IIe computer, and -
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Me too.
ROBERTS: -- and I was so excited because we had the - we had the expanded memory, 128 K.
ROMANS: Oh, it's (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: That one picture now - that's one picture that someone would send you.
ROBERTS: It's a small picture.
ROMANS: But we still have it. We used to have a Texas Instruments computer too, and old Texas Instruments, way back in the early '80s, late '70s even.
It's just amazing to think how far it's gone. I mean, you could lose that computer in your newspapers. You have to be careful.
ROBERTS: Remember the old Commodore 64?
ROMANS: Oh, yes. I remember.
ROBERTS: Oh, those were the days. CHETRY: Played Donkey Kong on that thing.
ROMANS: I want to get my cane and tell you a little bit here about what I'm talking about this morning. I want to talk about bank fees, because we're hearing from the bank - the banks about their earnings, and we can see now that after Congress shut off that fee spigot, you could really see it in the bank. I mean, Bank of America, for example, billions of dollars, that effect of - of not having those bank fees.
And the CEOs of the banks are reporting that it's kind of a challenging environment out there for the consumers. Still, no surprise. You've been telling us this, right? So what this means is you can probably expect to see these banks trying to find new ways to raise revenue, and that revenue is in your pocket.
Something interesting that Bank of America said. They said that 70 percent of their overdraft fees were collected from 10 percent of their customers. That means there's 90 percent of us out there who they're going to try to figure out how to get - to raise revenue from, and revenue means new ways to do this.
So I would say keep an eye out for no more free checking. We have not seen a wave of this yet, but a lot of experts say they expect checking - free checking to be more and more rare, and that if you're not keeping big balances in your checking account, you can expect to pay fees.
I would say walk - use your feet. Walk to a credit union, check bankrate.com and other websites, including CNNMoney, for - for free checking, because they still exist.
Look for higher base interest rates for your credit cards. You're probably going to see this, charging for paper statements. And foreign currency fees, something that is not regulated by any of these reforms for - for banks and credit cards. So watch out for that.
CHETRY: And also, I heard, if you try to call and talk to a teller or actually go there in person, you may be charged as opposed to doing electronic banking?
ROMANS: Yes. It's true. And - it's true. And the other thing is -
ROBERTS: Taking a tip from the airlines here.
CHETRY: I know. I know, right?
Look, they made - it costs about - between $100 and $200 to set up - to - to maintain your - your checking account. Now they're not getting the money from the overdraft fees, so they're going to find other ways to do it.
Now, I wanted to give you a good story here about -
ROBERTS: OK. ROMANS: -- Santa Claus coming to town with jobs - jobs, jobs! - and how to keep them if you get a temporary job for the - for the holiday, making them permanent. CareerBuilder.com out with a great survey. This is the 40 percent of employers who are hiring for temporary work are going to make those jobs permanent.
ROBERTS: Interesting (ph).
ROMANS: Forty say - 40 percent says the jobs may turn permanent.
How to - how to get those jobs permanently? Provide great customer service right up front. You got to do a good job on this job if you get a - you have a temporary job. Let the hiring manager know right away, look, I know I'm just here for a season work, but I'm interested in doing this full time.
And know something about the company and tell them about the company. Proactively ask for more responsibility. Present new ideas and how to incorporate something new, maybe help them make money. Have ideas. Don't just be a drone in that position and ask questions about the organization.
Wells Fargo is hiring, HM (ph) is hiring, UPS is hiring, Toys "R" Us is hiring some 45,000 - I even saw one of these now Toys "R" Us express - express stores for the holidays. They'll be hiring, you know, top to bottom there.
So some of these -- some of these positions will be - not all of them. Some of them will be full time, if you're looking for it. It's great for teachers. Great for teachers who have lost their jobs. They should be hustling for these jobs.
ROBERTS: Show some dedication and who knows? Maybe you'll get the position.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, it's supposed to be only for medical reasons, but it seems that getting a prescription for marijuana in California is pretty easy. We're going to take a look at the controversy ahead in an "A.M. Original".
It's 23 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
Just days from now, voters could make California the first state in the nation to fully legalize marijuana. Right now, though, you need a doctor's prescription to get marijuana. It's the law, but, in reality, it's really not that hard to get high even without Proposition 19.
Ted Rowlands shows us just how easy it is for some to beat the system.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, a lot of people think that marijuana is basically already legal here in California. The penalty for possession is about the same as a traffic ticket.
And if you want a medical marijuana card, it's simple.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Twenty-one-year-old Justin and his buddy, 19- year-old John, are using their marijuana prescriptions to buy some hash and a bag of pot at a dispensary in Oakland. It's John's first time getting medical marijuana. John claims he suffers from insomnia. Justin says he has anxiety and trouble focusing.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Do you really need weed?
JOHN, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: Oh, yes.
JUSTIN, MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER: It's much safer. You don't have to deal with anybody that's going to - to rob you, out to get you, out to get your money.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Some people at the clinic seem legit like Chris Ellis who says cannabis helps him with the pain of being shot seven times. But a lot of other people seem to fall into Jane Klein's category.
JANE KLEIN, MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT: I use it for emotional balance. In our society, we tend to use external substances to help us celebrate, help us recover from a shock, and I use cannabis that way probably since - since the "Sgt. Pepper" album was released.
ROWLANDS: California voted yes to medical marijuana in 1996. Many people assumed at the time it was for cancer and AIDS patients. Fourteen years later, many argue it's a free for all.
BOB WEINER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY SPOKESMAN: What we have found is that law enforcement is saying that between 90 percent and 95 percent of the people that go to the medical, quote-unquote, "clinics" in California are going there just to get marijuana and aren't really sick. So that's a fraud to begin with. It's a front, a fraud and a - and a red herring.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Getting a card is simple. It took me about 20 minutes and cost $80. I told the doctor that I was suffering from back pain and that I had some trouble sleeping. I did not have to undergo a physical exam and didn't have to provide any medical records. I found my doctor on the Internet, but there are some doctors here in L.A. that actually advertise on billboards.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): One of them is Dr. Sona Patel, who in Los Angeles, is known as Doc 420. DR. SONA PATEL, PRESCRIBES MEDICAL MARIJUANA: I'm not doing anything wrong. I strictly follow all the laws. And since I really believe in what I'm doing, I see nothing wrong with aggressively marketing.
ROWLANDS: Dr. Patel says she screens all her patients rigorously. Reading the law, there's a list of very serious illnesses that qualify patients to use medical marijuana. But at the end of that list it adds any other illness, which opens the door to hard-to-prove complaints like insomnia and back pain.
ROWLANDS (on camera): It's pretty easy to get a medical marijuana card. Is that accurate?
PATEL: The law's worded loosely (ph). There's a lot of loopholes on there and a lot of people are - are capitalizing on that.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): And a lot of people are legally getting high.
ROWLANDS (on camera): There's no government database keeping track of medical marijuana patients, so nobody knows how many actual cards are out there. Estimates have it at about 300,000 people. Critics say a very small percentage of those cardholders are actually sick, John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So you're - you're remarkably watching this that, you know, it's easy to prescribe very, very powerful opiates and -
CHETRY: Yes. And narcotics - I mean, narcotics -
ROBERTS: -- the state doesn't have a problem with that, right?
CHETRY: -- for back pain.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, there's a lot of the very powerful medications that you're allowed to take out there for insomnia that lead to, in many cases, addiction. So -
ROBERTS: It will be interesting to see, too, if they pass this proposition in California on November 2nd, what the federal government does, because the federal government is insisting that it will enforce federal law.
CHETRY: That would be a very interesting state's rights battle in California -
ROBERTS: It will.
CHETRY: -- that could happen.
ROBERTS: Of course, they were having that battle over medical marijuana and they kind of folded on it, too. So, let's see where this goes. It will be a really interesting one to watch, no question. Top stories this morning as we cross the half hour.
"Don't ask, don't tell" back on the books this morning -- just one day after a lower court's decision allowed gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military, a federal appeals court boxed the ruling.
CHETRY: All right. In about an hour and a half, there's going to be a huge rally in central Paris. You've seen the video of the violent protests that have been taking place, rallying against the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. They've all but crippled transportation across the country this week. Unions are ramping up the pressure with a vote in the French senate expected as early as tomorrow on the issue.
ROBERTS: In California, 10 infants have now died in the state's worst whooping cough outbreak in 60 years. Health officials say nine of the infants were less than 8 weeks old. That's too young to be vaccinated against the highly contagious disease. Officials are urging parents and anyone who comes in contact with infants to get the whooping cough vaccine saying it is a preventable disease.
CHETRY: Now to the Most Politics in the Morning.
And crossing the Political Ticker right now: Democrats are preparing for the worst this morning with the midterm elections less than two weeks away. There are some new poll numbers that have Democrats behind in some critical races.
ROBERTS: Our CNN political editor Mark Preston is live in our CNN politics newsroom for us this morning. He's taking a look at the ticker and we heard this from Nathan Gonzalez from the "Rothenberg Report" the other day that Democrats could lose 50 or more seats in the House. Ouch!
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, John. And Nathan really has his thumb on what's going on here in Washington and certainly what's going on across the nation -- bad news for Democrats. You know, this is a very anti-establishment, anti-Washington year. It's also a year that's been marked by these very strange twists and turns. And, in fact, our new CNN poll really reinforces that.
Let's look at Alaska first. This is a race where we have the Tea Party favorite who wins the Republican nomination but we have the Republican senator who lost the nomination who's not going away. And, of course, that's Lisa Murkowski.
Up there, we just have a poll out that shows that that race is tied at 37. So, they don't know up there -- voters don't know if they want to go with the Republican nominee or if they want to stay with Murkowski. The Democrat Scott McAdams is back very far.
Let's move on to --
CHETRY: Hey, Mark.
PRESTON: Yes?
CHETRY: Oh, sorry. I just want to ask you a quick question about that, because you would talk about this before that she has -- people have to write-in her name. So, will that change the actual outcome? Right now, she's on the poll that people can choose from.
PRESTON: Yes, you know, and that is a difficult barrier for Murkowski, even though the poll, Kiran, shows that 37-37, the fact is, Lisa Murkowski needs every one of her supporters to correctly put in her name. And you know something, in our poll, we asked a follow-up question and said, look, if it's too difficult for you to write-in her name, will you vote for somebody else? Three percent answered yes, they would either vote for McAdams or Joe Miller, the Republican.
And if that happens, that means she loses. So, again, a difficult barrier for Lisa Murkowski up in Alaska.
You know, and moving on, on to Arkansas, you want to talk about a race that I'm surprised about, you have the agriculture committee chairwoman, Blanche Lincoln, down 14 points. She is the Democrat. And what's really surprising by this is that she's losing the women vote in this race to John Boozman, who is the Republican. This is the perfect snap shot of a race that we're seeing that is anti- establishment, anti-Washington.
Blanche Lincoln, who had a difficult primary challenge, really fought off this challenge from the left. I thought she would be strengthened going into the midterm election, showing her independent, showing that in fact that she's a moderate, which is very important in Arkansas. However, down 14 points.
And in Florida, what a bizarro race there is down there. Marco Rubio, the Republican, right now has a strong double-digit lead, not only over the Governor Charlie Crist, but also his Democratic challenger Kendrick Meek. A three-way race down in Florida, Marco Rubio showing signs that he is going to win in November.
Of course, we have a Senate debate with Candy Crowley on Sunday with those three candidates -- Kiran, John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. All right. Mark, thanks so much. Good to see you this morning.
CHETRY: Thanks, Mark.
PRESTON: Thanks.
CHETRY: By the way, a reminder: for all the latest political news, go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.
ROBERTS: Well, folks out there who fly and they wonder, what's the real deal? Well, the top secrets that pilots don't want passenger to know about and some of the ones they do. They're published in this month's "Reader's Digest." We're going to talk to the editor-in- chief, Peggy Northrop, just ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Thirty-eight and a half minutes after the hour.
It's the industry that we just love to hate but we can't do without.
Did you ever wonder why an airline's on-time performance can be so high even though it seems like your flight is always leaving the gate late and sitting out there for half an hour waiting to take off? Could they -- could they possibly be fudging the numbers? And why do they always tell us to turn off the cell phones and laptops? Can they really interfere with the pilots' instruments?
Well, the cat's out of the bag in the upcoming issue of "Reader's Digest," which details the 50 secrets that your pilot won't tell you, some of them though he'd like you to know -- he or she that is.
Joining us now to divulge some of those secrets gathered from 17 national and regional pilots from across the country, Peggy Northrop. She's the editor-in-chief at "Reader's Digest."
Great to see you this morning.
PEGGY NORTHROP, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, READER'S DIGEST: Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: So, we've broken this down to some categories. First category is secrets that pilots actually would like to you know. Now, this I take is, pilots at major airlines would like you to know you're not always flying on a major airline?
NORTHROP: That's exactly right. And what they really want you to know is it's not the size of the plane because often, you pull up to your plane, you booked online, and you think, oh, you're flying on some major American airline, and it's a little plane with 50 seats, and you think, well, is this really the airline?
It's actually a regional affiliate and those pilots do not have to follow the same training and safety rules. And their entry-level jobs that paying about $20,000 or 30,000 a year.
ROBERTS: As we learned with the Colgan crash in Buffalo. In fact, here's how one pilot put it. Here's his exact quote. He says, quote, "You may go to an airline Web site, buy a ticket, pull to its desk at the curb and get into an airplane that has a similar name painted on it, but half the time, you're really on a regional airline not held to the same safety standards."
So, there's the secret that major airline pilots would like you to know about.
Now, here's something interesting that they don't want you to know about. And it has to do with how much fuel they're carrying.
NORTHROP: Yes. I was really surprised about by this, that they're under a lot of pressure not to carry fuel because, of course, that raises costs. But there you are circling around and you're on delay and sometimes, they have to land somewhere else because of those rules. So, they're really playing that margin very, very close.
ROBERTS: Because if they do carry more fuel just to have as a reserve, that actually cost more to fly the plane --
NORTHROP: That's right.
ROBERTS: -- because the plane is heavier. So, with all this cost-cutting and all the margin so slim, the airlines are cutting back on how much fuel they carry.
When to worry? This is an interesting one that I found. Here's one thing that pilots told you, quote, "It's one thing if the pilot puts the seat belt sign on for passengers. But if he tells the flight attendants to sit down, you'd better listen."
NORTHROP: That's when you pay attention.
And also, they say that it doesn't make any sense to them that the stewardesses in turbulence can be pushing a cart down the hall, you know, down the aisle, and yet when they're going five miles an hour, pulling up to the gate, they have to be strapped in like they're in NASCAR.
ROBERTS: Exactly, with the three-point harnesses.
NORTHROP: Yes.
ROBERTS: Interesting myth, too, about infants on laps. You know, you got an infant -- a baby in arms I think is what they call it. What happens in an emergency situation with that baby?
NORTHROP: The pilots say that you can very, very easily lose hold of your baby, it could become a projectile. I would never do this again. I guess the government's thinking is that they made you buy an expensive seat, you might drive instead.
ROBERTS: Right.
NORTHROP: And you're actually not as safe if you drive, but still, after reading this, I would never have the baby in my lap.
ROBERTS: So, they allow you to carry an infants in arms even though if you're going to get in an emergency situation, there's probably no way -- because the baby's, what, 12, 15 pounds.
NORTHROP: Right.
ROBERTS: Do you think you can hang on to 12 or 15 pounds when you're in some sort of collision like that? Probably not. When not to worry? Because passengers always overreact when they're getting in to turbulence. And here's one of your favorites. You said, quote, "Pilots find it perplexing that so many people are afraid of turbulence. It's all but impossible for turbulence to cause a crash. We avoid turbulence not because we're afraid the wings are going to fall off but because it's annoying."
A pilot by the name of Patrick Smith told you that one.
NORTHROP: That's right. And the other one that I really like was lighting. Lightning doesn't scare them at all. I mean, they hear a boom, they say airplanes are built to take this. So, it's really not a problem.
ROBERTS: We've seen some spectacular video of planes getting hit by lightning and there's the plane flying along in the sky and the lightning comes down and goes in one end and comes out the other. So, they're shielded. So, you're going to hear a noise, maybe a flash, but nothing to worry about.
NORTHROP: That's right.
ROBERTS: But the turbulence one is an interesting because anytime I -- and I fly (AUDIO BREAK) it starts to get bumpy, people start to get white?
NORTHROP: Yes, they do. They do. But, you, it's really -- it's the sudden up thrusts (ph) that are the problem because those you can't see on the radar at night and you can hit that like 500 miles an hour hitting a speed bump.
ROBERTS: And those are -- those are what cause problem, people flying around the cabin, that sort of thing.
Silly rules. Explain. Now, this one -- I mean, this is a pet peeve with me. Cell phones.
NORTHROP: Yes, cell phones.
ROBERTS: Do cell phones really affect the airplane?
NORTHROP: Well, and I worry about the iPad, which has, you know, it's the equivalent of a watch battery. But still, they say that if 12 people are making phone calls, it could give them a false reading. And you really -- I don't really want that to happen.
ROBERTS: So, it's not the one person using a cell phone.
NORTHROP: It's not the one person. It's collection of people.
ROBERTS: Gotcha. Peggy, it's great to talk to you this morning. It's a fascinating article out this week's "Reader's Digest."
NORTHROP: Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Thanks for being with us. NORTHROP: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. I don't know if I feel safer or more scared after this one. Probably a little safer.
Well, Rob's going to have this morning travel forecast for us right after the break.
Also, coming up in 10 minutes, the cover girl of Russian spy scandal -- you remember her? Turning head, accused spy Anna Chapman exposing more than secrets. Jeanne Moos shows us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Here's a shot this morning of Columbus Circle. It's always nice to see a police car's lights flashing there. It's 6:46 here in New York. Fifty degrees right now, going up to a high of 61, but we couldn't be looking at some morning showers, partly cloudy as well.
ROBERTS: That's actually inside that little --
CHETRY: I know. How did he get in there?
ROBERTS: He drove in, I assume. But the fact that he's in the middle probably says that something is going on. It's 47 minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. He might just be helping somebody out there, you know.
CHETRY: Yes. Helping somebody swimming in the fountain at 10 of 7:00.
MARCIANO: Exactly. Maybe, somebody just needed to wet their whistle at this hour. Good morning, guys. Boston, New York, and Philly right now were dry. We have a little weak front that's sliding this way. So, there could be some showers in any of those cities in the next few hours as this thing begins to roll off towards the east. Upstate New York seeing some rain with this some heavy stuff from Rochester moving in towards Syracuse, and highest elevations might see a little bit of snow from this on the backside.
Thirty to 60-minute delays both in Boston and New York metros because of the wind. And D.C. and Philly will see similar numbers with this little system that's rolling through. 87 in Tampa. It'll be 67 in Albuquerque. Pretty strong system moving into the southern plains, and I think we'll probably see some strong thunderstorms with that later on today. All right. Tropical depression number 19 about 119 miles south of Grand Cayman.
This thing has been flaring up for the past couple of days, and now, it's really starting to take shape. So, the forecast in the National Hurricane -- and by the way, very dry, same setup as Paula where we were protected two weeks ago. Will that hold? We'll have to wait and see, but as far as the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center, it does bring it quickly to hurricane strength and move it more towards the north and west.
Does it go into the Yucatan? Does it go into the Gulf of Mexico? Does it go this way? The last couple of days of these forecasts certainly are questionable, but nonetheless, some of our computer models want to take it into a very Wilmaesque (ph) track into Southwest Florida. So, everybody who lives along the Gulf Coast might keep an eye on this. We are in hurricane season right through the end of November. And Mother Nature is certainly playing her part. Back to you guys in New York.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks so much. We'll see you again real soon.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, this morning's top stories just minutes away, including another about-face for gays in the military. Don't ask, don't tell now back on the books just a day after it was off. The president with a lot of explaining to do to many people who supported him in 2008. Ed Henry has reaction from the administration this morning.
ROBERTS: And the gene that tells you when you've had enough. A breakthrough discovery and why doctors say this may lead to treatment, new treatments for alcoholism.
CHETRY: Also, look away. Cheech and Chong, the equivalent of 340 million joints up in smoke, Mexico's massive marijuana burning. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. It's time now for the Moos News in the Morning with Jeanne. A notorious Russian spy is striking a bond girl pose on the cover of a popular men's magazine.
ROBERTS: Anna Chapman got plenty of exposure after her cover was blown. Now, she's exposing more than just secrets. Here's Jeanne Moos with a look in the way that only Jeanne can do.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not what you would expect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wish I had that body.
MOOS: To spy a Russian spy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not under cover anymore is right.
MOOS: Anna Chapman went from her busted spy mug shot to her cover shot in the Russian version of "Maxim."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, she's hot. She's definitely hot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like my wife more.
MOOS: She was the spy that media couldn't resist digging up old tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was so excited.
MOOS: Everyone was so excited by her looks, she became an action figure. You can even play poker with her using this iPhone app. After being arrested, she and nine other spies were swapped for Russian prisoners. And now, she's maximized her assets in "Maxim."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.
MOOS: But the U.S. has its own beautiful spy, and when we sprang the "Maxim" cover on her --
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look at this picture over here on the new issue.
(LAUGHING)
BLITZER: The Russian issue of --
VALERIE PLAME, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Now, we know why she was hired.
MOOS: Outed operative, Valerie Plame, noted her Russian counterpart is 20 years younger asked for her own offers.
PLAME: I was asking to be on "Dancing with the Stars," but I politely decline.
BLITZER: But nobody asked you to be on "Penthouse" or played warrior?
PLAME: That e-mail, I think, got lost in, you know, in all the e-mails I get every day.
MOOS: But she does of actress Naomi Watt playing her in the new film, "Fair Game," featuring Sean Penn as her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) love her as all over the world.
MOOS: The way females spies are portrayed in other films bothers Plame.
PLAME: It's very much sexuality, physicality, how good she is with an AK-47, and you know, this is your best weapon.
MOOS: But in "Maxim" Anna is wielding a hand gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her grip is completely off. I go to shooting range. I have a boyfriend who's an ex-marine. I've been trained. This chick is definitely not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a gun? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Jessica Rabbit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks like Jessica Rabbit.
MOOS: Oh, Anna's getting some money. She's a cross between an Austin Powers girl and a bond girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing here? Looking for show?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm just looking.
MOOS: Same goes for fans of honor, and judging from his comments to Leno, the fan club includes vice President Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have any spies that hot?
(LAUGHING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyday is clear. It wasn't my idea to send her back.
(LAUGHING)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Joe!
CHETRY: That's pretty funny. That was a good line.
ROBERTS: I'd never heard that before. So, what do you think?
CHETRY: She's pretty.
ROBERTS: I have my own smoking hot redhead. Who needs Anna Chapman?
CHETRY: And you don't want her on "Maxim."
ROBERTS: Yes. She's 42 years old. She's a mature woman, and a younger woman too. Best of all worlds. Fifty-six minutes after the hour. Stay with us.
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