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American Morning

Plane Explodes Over Cuba, Killing All Passengers; Experts Debate Intentions Behind Cargo Plane Bombs; Hurricane Approaching Haiti; Netflix Crashing the Web?; CT Scan and Cancer: Promising Development in the Fight Against Lung Cancer; Don't Ask, Don't Tell, What Now?; Little Boy in Girl's Costume; O'Brien's New Late Night Show Debuts Monday; Hurricane Tomas Hits Haiti

Aired November 05, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Seven a.m. here in New York on this Friday. Good morning to you. It's November 5th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us, and here are this morning's top stories.

President Obama ready to take off on a four-nation trade mission to Asia. First stop, India. The White House reports (ph) that the trip is going to cost taxpayers $200 million a day as Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann claimed. Whatever the cost, a lot of people are wondering why the president is headed to Asia at all.

CHETRY: CT scans could be the key to reducing lung cancer deaths. Early results from a big government study are in, and they show a pretty dramatic drop in deaths when the scans are used as a screening tool for smokers.

ROBERTS: And an E. coli outbreak to report this morning. More than two dozen people sickened by cheese that was sold at Costco. Five states are affected and we're finding out this morning those Costco outlets that were offering free samples of the contaminated cheese to the shoppers.

CHETRY: Up first, a devastating storm bearing down on Haiti. Tomas now a category one hurricane with winds of 80 miles per hour as well as heavy rains. It's another potential disaster in the making. More than a foot of rain could trigger massive flooding and landslides in a country we know is still reeling from January's earthquake and then the subsequent cholera outbreak.

CNN's Reynolds Wolf is tracking Tomas in the extreme weather center. We heard in the last hour when we spoke to one of the relief workers who is there right now that at least the winds don't seem to be that bad yet.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a very, very good point. One thing that's interesting about Port-au-Prince is it's surrounded by a ring of hills. And where the city happens to be located, you've got a little bit of almost a defense mechanism in terms of these mountains. Where the problem lies in is that we might have something we refer to as orographic lift, where you have high terrain that enhances the amount of rainfall. Some places may get as little as five to six inches of rain, but you might have as much as a foot to 15 inches of rain.

And when that rain hits the mountains gravity is going to pull it to lower elevation. So Port-au-Prince in this basin, that rain is going to come down. Notice these areas that are shaded. Those are not necessarily streams, but places where you happen to have drainage areas. And that's where the water could pile up because many, many issues in tent cities. It could be a big problem for a good part of the day and perhaps into tomorrow, as well.

The storm itself, still very strong. We've got 25 days left in hurricane season, this one still strong at 80 miles per hour. Some gusts have been up to 100 miles per hour. It's moving to the northeast at nine. The latest forecast at the national hurricane center shows the storm should continue to make its northeasterly path. It's going to do so about nine miles per hour, perhaps gaining a little more speed by tomorrow.

But for today, I say especially the next six to eight hours, you're going to have the roughest conditions in western Haiti, also over parts of Cuba and Jamaica. But Haiti certainly under the gun for a good part of the day today.

That's the latest we've got for you. More coming up, including your travel forecast around the nation. Back to you.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that, Reynolds.

Developing story from Cuba tonight, a passenger plane carrying 68 people has crashed. There were no survivors. It was an Aero Caribbean flight headed for Havana from Santiago. It went down last night. Officials say 28 foreigners from ten countries were onboard that flight.

CHETRY: And a faulty engine design may be responsible for forcing a Qantas airbus a-380 to make an emergency landing in Singapore. However, the airline's CEO says they could be back in the air this weekend once the cause of Thursday's disaster is officially determined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're having a team of Rolls Royce engineers come here to Sidney and a team of Qantas engineers going to Los Angeles to conduct those checks. We believe then over the next 24 to 48 hours those checks will be complete on all of the A-380s. And we don't find anything adverse out of the checks, the aircraft will resume operations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce also denied claims that the engine failure may have been as a result of cost-cutting on maintenance. He called those suggestions, quote, "outrageous."

ROBERTS: And reinforcing the notion that these things happen in threes, a small plane carrying 22 people crashed overnight in Pakistan. Witnesses say the plane burst into flames on impact.

President Obama is heading to India today. And the White House insists the trip will not cost taxpayers $200 million a day even though some conservatives keep tossing that number out there hoping that with many people it will stick.

President Obama is embarking on a trade mission to four Asian nations where his approval ratings are higher than they are here at home. He's planning stops in India, Indonesia, Korea, and Japan, four countries that he considers critical to America's economic recovery.

Our Sara Sidner is live in New Delhi this morning. What are we hearing from authorities there in India about this claim that the president's visit is going to cost $200 million a day?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you they have no idea what the cost is. There has been some speculation about it but certainly everyone believes that number is inflated to say the least. We've heard the number $60 million total for the trip here to India, which is four days.

But what's happening is that the India media is reporting this. And so Indians are wondering if their government is footing any of that bill. And the answer was flatly no. So no one really knows the numbers. I know they've been knocked down by the White House. Everyone's speculating on that at this point, John.

ROBERTS: Obviously, though, security is a huge issue any time the president travels, particularly overseas. What's the Indian government doing on its end to ensure security for the president? I heard they've gone so far as taking coconuts off of trees?

SIDNER: Yes. There's a lot of stuff going on. First let's start with the security forces who are out there. Hundreds of security forces out around the Taj Mahal palace and tower. That is where the president is supposed to go first. He is supposed to stay the night there. And so that is a fortress at this time.

And if you've ever been to Mumbai where there's up to 18 million people that swarm around that city, it won't look the same in the area where President Obama is.

But then we can talk about some of the other issues, like, for example, the U.S. Navy is going to have vessels in the waters off of Mumbai because, as you know, the Taj Mahal sits right there on the water. So they're taking precautions there, as well, John.

And about those coconuts. Well, yep, when it comes here to Delhi, there has been a move reportedly of people going into the coconut trees and taking those off just in case they fall. They have been known to injure and every now and again kill someone because they're so high up. So they've done that. They've also put out the Langor monkeys. We talked about this during the commonwealth games and made sure the other mischievous monkeys are not around to give anyone any trouble.

ROBERTS: Boy, some of the things you would think that the secret service would never have to worry about, coconuts and monkeys. Sara Sidner for this morning, thanks.

CHETRY: Well, also new this morning, Democratic incumbent Patty Murray declaring victory in the Washington state Senate race. Her challenger Dino Rossi conceded yesterday after he was down two points with 82 percent of the vote counted. There are also two independents who caucus with the Democrats.

ROBERTS: The race is on to contain whooping cough outbreak in Chicago. At least two schools now reporting cases of the extraordinarily contagious disease. The outbreak has affected a total of 18 students so far. And city officials are recommending vaccinations for any students who have not had them.

CHETRY: Also the Dow opening at a ten-year high after soaring 220 points yesterday. Our Christine Romans joins us. Some are saying this rally perhaps on the heel of the fed announcement that they're pumping billions into the economy.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is that, and the end of the political uncertainty around the midterm elections. Indeed, it was a big day for stocks, in fact the best level now for the stock market in two years.

Remember two years ago? Two years ago as a very scary time in the economy. And now we can tell you with certainty that the stock market has recouped all of those losses from that terrible time. Why? As Kiran mentioned, the Fed's $600 billion stimulus, $600 billion, think of that. When you talk about stimulus from congress, that's something that has to be passed and argued about incessantly. The Fed's been arguing about it behind closed doors and decided to do the own stimulus of $600 billion.

That's something that Wall Street likes because they think that's going to get oxygen flowing in the economy and help the recovery. Retailers reported strong earnings, and also, as I mentioned, the end of political uncertainty.

I want to bring it back to all of us at home who may not eat from our 401(k)s. And I want to point out the commodities are also very, very high here. Gold at a record high, silver 25-year high, caffeine at a 13-year high -- I mean coffee, and I could use some more caffeine. Corn, wheat, beans, meat, all of these things, the price of your pizza will be going up. People are going to feel this weak dollar and the move from the Fed, you're going to feel it in your grocery bill.

CHETRY: It's going to cost you more and your money won't go as far.

ROMANS: And it's already happening.

CHETRY: Christine Romans, thanks.

ROMANS: Sure.

CHETRY: Coming up. We're learning now that one of the bombs found on cargo planes last week was diffused minutes before it was to blow up.

ROBERTS: And a new fight against cancer. A new study shows a high-tech way of screening can drastically reduce the number of lung cancer deaths. This is something you want to listen to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 12 minutes past the hour. We're on security watch now. Stunning new details this morning about the cargo bomb plot uncovered last week. Evidence now of an extremely close call involving one of the explosive parcels. Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is following the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: KIran and John, a U.S. official says new information gathered about the bomb plot over the past several days points very directly at Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP. The official would not elaborate on that new information, but we are learning more about the bomb.

A startling statement by the French interior minister -- one of the bombs found last Friday was just minutes away from exploding.

BRUCE HORTEFEUX, INTERIOR MINISTER OF FRANCE (via translator): One parcel has been diffused and diffused only 17 minutes before the time of the blast.

MESERVE: The French interior ministry did not confirm or clarify the remarks. U.S. officials say they cannot confirm their accuracy. But no one disputes this was a dangerous situation. U.S. officials say the devices contained syringes like the underwear bomb allegedly worn by Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Christmas Day.

But on these bombs, the syringes were filled with the chemical lead commonly used as a detonated. Cell phones were components, but with the SIM cards removed, meaning it could not be triggered by a phone call.

JIM CAVANAUGH, FORMER ATF OFFICIAL: The cell phone function is a timer. The power source would ignite a wire inside the improvised detonator inside the syringe, would then heat up and cause it to explode and that would detonate the main charge.

MESERVE: U.S. officials believe the bomb maker is Ibrahim al Asiri, a Saudi member of AQAP who is accused of constructing the underwear bomb. Experts say he is likely already adapting, devising a new method to attack. CAVANAUGH: And every day he's free, I say there's no doubt that he's either making a bomb or thinking about how to make a bomb or putting together some chemical or devilish mixture that's going to kill innocents somewhere in the world.

MESERVE: Cavanaugh theorizes they addressed them to Chicago rather than an east coast city because it increased the chance that the bombs would explode over the continental U.S. U.S. officials aren't weighing in on that, saying the forensic studies of the devices is not done yet.

John and Kiran, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning with that troubling news. Jeanne, thanks.

Is Netflix destroying the Internet? Demand for the company's streaming videos is ramping up and some experts worry the web is about to slow down perhaps even crash. We've got that story coming up.

It's 15 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes after the hour. And here's some of the stories we got us talking this morning in the newsroom.

Is the Internet on the verge of crashing because of Netflix? With demand for streaming videos growing by leaps and bounds, experts are worried that the web's broadband capacity has been stretched to the limit. And Netflix is the chief culprit. The firm now has more than 15 million subscribers accounting for 20 percent of all downstream Internet traffic during peak home usage in North America.

CHETRY: Yes, I got it. Yes, I got it because I have an iPad now. So I thought this is neat to watch movies all the time. But you need to have a wi-fi connection.

ROBERTS: Yes. And a fast one at that. Yes.

CHETRY: Yes. In order for it to work. So I'm still getting them in the mail.

Well, after 69 days trapped underground, a 26.2-mile marathon just a piece of cake for one of the Chilean miners, Edison Pena. He says he's ready for Sunday's New York City marathon. He's going to be running in it. And before he was rescued last month, he ran several miles each day through dark, underground tunnels in his mining boots. He appeared on Letterman last night. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Have you run a marathon before? EDISON PENA, CHILEAN MINER (through translator): A big marathon like this one? No, never. Little ones. This is a huge challenge.

LETTERMAN: But you know, I've never run a marathon, but I do know that the people when they see you on the course will give you the support to finish.

PENA (through translator): Yes, I don't doubt it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Very happy guy, isn't he?

CHETRY: He is.

ROBERTS: Yes.

CHETRY: Well, it was interesting that he's talking though. I thought that we talked about how they were all deciding whether or not they were going to tell their story together.

ROBERTS: I guess when you get invited to a place to come and, you know, participate and do whatever, you look at the money and say, OK, maybe there are other things in life.

There are other things in life. Bacon being one of them. Now it's been said that everything tastes better with bacon.

CHETRY: Including --

ROBERTS: Including bacon. Well, J&D's Foods, the maker of bacon-flavored products, and Jones soda, the maker of bizarre soft drinks are pooling their talents to make, yes, you got it, bacon- flavored soda. At first, they were having some problems tweaking the taste. The new bacon beverage tasted a little too much like ham. Uggh. But they've tweaked the recipe, apparently. You can decide for yourself because it's available now on store shelves. Bacon-flavored soda.

CHETRY: That's just gross. All right.

Well, coming up, there is a new Congress in town, but not yet. Is there a chance to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy? We're going to speak with Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence. He has a live report for us just ahead.

ROBERTS: And a promising development in the fight against lung cancer. Doctors may have a better way to detect the disease sooner and in the process save thousands of lives. We've got that story coming up.

Twenty-one minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Lung cancer kills 160,000 people each and every year. It's the deadliest of all cancers. And doctors say they could do much better with those numbers if they had a better way to detect the disease earlier.

Well, the National Cancer Institute has just finished comparing the number of deaths in heavy smokers who were screened with standard chest x-rays against those who were scanned with sophisticated spiral CT scans. The results are compelling. Those who were screened with a spiral CT had a 20 percent lower rate of death.

Joining us now live from Washington to discuss this development is Dr. Douglas Lowy. He's the deputy director of the National Cancer Institute.

Doctor, these are pretty significant numbers when you look at the statistics. Twenty percent of 160,000 deaths is 32,000 people every year.

DR. DOUGLAS LOWY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: Yes. But I don't think that we can yet be sure that the screening would be applicable to all of the people who get lung cancer. It's important to remember that the study that was conducted was really in a special group of high-risk people who have been smoking for many, many years. And although smoking occurs predominantly -- lung cancer occurs predominantly among heavy smokers, there are other people who develop lung cancer who have smoked much less.

ROBERTS: Right. You know, Dana Reeve being one of them. Could this be applicable, you know, if somebody like Dana Reeve, how do you assess their potential risk? But if somebody who's never smoked can die of lung cancer like she did, should everybody get screened?

LOWY: Yes, I think this is an excellent question. And it's the kind of question that's going to be addressed as more information from the trial becomes available. The problem is that there are potential downsides or disadvantages to having the screening, such as exposure to radiation. And there are also a lot of false positives because many of the abnormalities that are picked up turn out not to be cancer and yet they may result in surgery or biopsies that have their own complications. So as we go forward and get more information about the study itself, it will be then easier to try to make determinations. Who is most appropriate for screening, how frequently, and how -- and for how many years.

ROBERTS: There's also the issue of expense, as well. These things aren't cheap. And it makes you wonder, would insurance companies be willing to do preventive screenings on people annually?

LOWY: Yes. This always is an issue. At the moment, screening CT is not covered by insurance or by Medicare. Diagnostic CT, on the other hand, is, once you have identified an abnormality. It remains to be determined whether insurance companies or Medicare will end up covering it. But clearly as recommendations are made in the future by various groups such as the American Cancer Society, for example --

ROBERTS: Right.

LOWY: -- my expectation is that there will be coverage.

ROBERTS: Now, it's obviously very compelling research and very exciting for some people. One spiral CT advocate, Dr. Claudia Henschke, believes that these scans could be even more effective. The study was done over a period of two years and then the participants in the study were followed for an additional three. She says she believes that if the studies were done over 10 years and done on an annual basis, you could save 80 percent of people who would have otherwise died from lung cancer. Do you -- do you see that sort of promise in this?

LOWY: Well, I think that it certainly is possible that if people were continued to be screened as long as they were in a high-risk group that you might see even greater benefit. But the key point about this trial was to ask whether this procedure actually confers benefit by reducing mortality. And the trial itself unequivocally shows that the answer is yes. The trial will not answer all questions and these kinds of issues may actually require further research.

ROBERTS: So on a diagnostic level, what is it about spiral CT that is so much better than conventional x-ray?

LOWY: Well, that's a great question. What we think is going on is the ability to detect cancer at an earlier and more treatable stage. But the analysis within the trial has not been carried out far enough to actually confirm what we think is the most likely explanation. However, as the analysis is done over the next few months, we will be able to determine what are the real benefits and who benefits most from the CT scans.

ROBERTS: Well, we look forward to the results of that analysis. And let's get you back on in a couple of months to talk more about it.

LOWY: Well, thanks so much. A pleasure being with you.

ROBERTS: Appreciate it. Dr. Douglas Lowy of the National Cancer Institute.

CHETRY: Very promising.

ROBERTS: Yes. You know, it could be anything, you know, to save people's lives is a good thing. But again, as he said, somebody like Dana Reeve, it was such a shock.

CHETRY: I know.

ROBERTS: And not long after Chris died, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Never smoked a day in her life, so how do you know?

Well, crossing the half hour now and our top stories this Friday morning. A passenger plane carrying 68 people has crashed in central Cuba. There were no survivors. The AeroCaribbean flight was headed for Havana when it went down last night near the village of Guasimal. Officials in Havana say 28 foreigners from 10 countries were onboard that aircraft. CHETRY: A report says that BP's vast network of pipelines in Alaska get a failing grade for maintenance. At least 148 of BP's pipelines on Alaska's north slope received an F-rating, which means the pipeline walls are 80 percent corroded and could rupture at any time. The company spokesman trying to put a positive spin on the report says it means they have a higher priority repair plan.

ROBERTS: And Costco shoppers, listen up. If you've recently bought any, and this is any Dutch-style gouda cheese made by -- here's the manufacturer -- Bravo farms, do not eat the cheese. Return it to the store. Federal health officials say the cheese has been linked to an outbreak of E. coli bacteria. So far, 25 people have gotten sick. The cheese was sold in Costcos in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and San Diego. We're also finding out this morning that those Costco outlets were offering free samples of the contaminated cheese to its shoppers. So there are lots of folks out there who probably already have been exposed.

CHETRY: Well, President Obama pledged to repeal the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward gays in the military but so far has not. Now in the wake of the Republican control in Congress, he may have lost the chance and it cost him big time in 2012.

Our Chris Lawrence is following that for us live at the Pentagon. How does the hand over of Congress to the GOP leadership now affect "don't ask, don't tell"?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, it gets the clock ticking. You know, some high-ranking Republicans on the new Congress have already said publicly they don't want to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." You know, some of the troops that I've spoken with, they feel the same way. But this issue means something to a lot of gay and lesbian activists. And now the president's got about four weeks left with this old Congress to get something done for them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Some of President Obama's strongest supporters remember the leader who twisted arms and pushed hard for financial reform. But say that guy was nowhere to be found on repealing "don't ask, don't tell."

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time for us to move this policy forward.

OMAR LOPEZ, U.S. NAVY VETERAN: I'm truly disappointed because, you know, when he was running and campaigning I was pro-Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy.

LAWRENCE: Omar Lopez was kicked out of the Navy for being gay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep you promise, Obama.

LAWRENCE: He says the president squandered a huge majority in Congress and had his Justice Department fight to keep "don't ask, don't tell" in place after an Appeals Court ruled it unconstitutional.

LOPEZ: Now, this is not a Bill Clinton administration law. Now it's turn into his law because he's pushing against it, you know, of lifting it and taking his sweet time. It's already been two years that he's been in office and hasn't taken any - any action.

LAWRENCE: The old Congress has one more shot before the new one is seated. And Senator Harry Reid determines what bills get brought up and when. The senators begin the lame duck session November 15th to debate the repeal, pass it and reconcile with the House of Representatives could take three to four weeks. If Reid doesn't bring up the bill until after Thanksgiving, there's likely not enough time.

The Pentagon's study on what troops think is due December 1st. So senators might have those results by the time they actually cast their vote. But again, they'll probably go home around the 22nd.

ALEX NICHOLSON, SEVICEMEMBERS UNITED: If this bill gets brought up under less than optimal procedural position, that'll be Senator Reid's decision alone. If it gets brought up after Thanksgiving versus before Thanksgiving, that'll be Senator Reid's decision alone.

So Senator Reid is a very important player in this.

LAWRENCE: "Roll Call's" Ben Roth said what Reid decides now will impact President Obama later. Remember what Omar Lopez said?

LOPEZ: Now, this is not a Bill Clinton administration law.

LAWRENCE: Gay rights supporters may punish him at the polls.

BEN ROTH, "ROLL CALL": I think again, it's going to be harder in 2012 when he's going to be really trying to build up his base. And some will say when you had 59 senators, I mean, you couldn't get this through, and what was the problem? And you waited too long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, the key to this four-week session is going to be some of these moderate Republican senators who said they will wait to hear about the Pentagon study before making their decision. Folks like Scott Brown, Olympia Snow. They would have to allow this bill to go forward for now knowing that they would see the results of that study before they actually cast their vote next month. Kiran?

CHETRY: We'll have to see what happens. Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Thanks.

ROBERTS: Thirty-three minutes after the hour now. And still to come, a mom in Missouri takes to her blog to vent after other mothers disapprove of her little boy's choice to wear a girl's costume on Halloween. Little did she know that thousands and thousands of comments and page views she'd get. She joins us coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Welcome back. Thirty-seven minutes past the hour right now. A Missouri mom caused quite an uproar for defending her five- year-old son's Halloween costume. Here's a look at the picture. Her little guy wanted to be Daphne from "Scooby Doo." And so his mother said, OK. And even in his class, the kids loved it but some of the other moms at a school Halloween party were a little bent out of shape about a boy dressed in a girl's costume and they let that be known to the mom.

That set off her blog rant that ended up getting over one million hits in two days. And this morning 19,000 comments and counting. Sarah doesn't want us to use her last name, she wants to protect her family's privacy but she joins us by phone now from Kansas City. Also here with me in the studio is clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere to help lend perspective on this, as well.

Sarah, thanks so much for talking to us this morning.

SARAH: Thank you for having me.

CHETRY: Did you have any idea that when your son said I want to be Daphne that he's loved this entire "Scooby Doo Show" ever since he was little, did you realize it was going to end up as huge as it is? So many people commenting on your blog posting?

SARAH: Absolutely not. Before the other day, there were, you know, a handful of friends that read it. Never in a million years did I suspect that anything close to this would happen.

CHETRY: So tell us exactly what happened? How did your son get the idea that he wanted to be Daphne? And how did you guys figure out from there what you were going to do?

SARAH: Well, he has wanted to be Daphne since last Halloween. And as any parent of a five-year-old child knows, they do have a tendency to change their minds. So I asked him several times leading up only because I didn't want him to change his mind and have to go buy another costume. But when he insisted that is what he wanted to be, then we absolutely ordered it. It's Halloween.

CHETRY: What was the reaction when you brought him into the class? When you brought him into school that day from the other mothers?

SARAH: Most of the other mothers knew what he was going to be. His best friend is a little girl and they both decided to be Daphne. Most of them were high fiving him and giving him hugs just like they do every other day. And there were a small handful of the mothers that were not thrilled with the choice.

CHETRY: And Jeff, what do you think about that? That they actually did come up to Sarah and sort of register their displeasure either nonverbally or verbally. She likened it to almost being bullied.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I can tell you, I think it was a natural reaction, even though it may not have been the right reaction towards this little boy. I have to tell you, I worked with many heterosexual as well as gay couples and it is the worst nightmare of both the heterosexual and the gay couples to have to fathom that their child may be gay. We're not saying this child is gay because he's dressing in this girl's costume. But certainly I think that's at the forefront of everyone's minds.

I think for Sarah to be able to handle the situation and say, "hey, I don't care whether he's gay or whether he's straight, I support my child. I support his creativity and freedom." I think that's a very admirable thing. But I will say to Sarah, with all due respect, whether your child is gay or straight, I think you kind of outed him by putting him in the blog.

So I think the blog was a very good thing to explain how you feel and I think it's the support for many parents who may have to deal with this situation. I kind of question putting that picture out there that will be out there forever.

CHETRY: Well, how do you feel about that, Sarah? Because your blog, I mean, it went viral. Let's just put it that way. More than a million people and counting have seen it. And the title of your blog with a picture of your son says "my son is gay." And then when you click on it to actually read it, or he's not, I don't care, he's still my son.

SARAH: Well, part of it is the word gay has two meanings. One of which is happy. And if you see his face in that costume, you see that he is absolutely thrilled. So truly I was doing a bit of a pun, but yes, I - I understand where people are coming from. I, however, do not feel that I did out him. If you read the blog, then you do see, first of all he's five years old. He's neither - he's made no sexual conscious choice, which I don't believe it is.

But he's made no overtures either way at the age of five. So I sort of feel that people are reading into it in a negative way if that's where they're coming from. I would like to say, however, between the teachers and the staff at his preschool and the - literally thousands and thousands of comments, very, very few of them are negative.

And this seems to really have struck a chord, not just with gays, straights, bisexual, transgender, but a lot of biracial or special needs families have contacted me saying, "you know, thanks for supporting your son regardless of what he is, is not. If he's left- handed, right-handed, blond, blue-eyed."

GARDERE: I think we're going to agree to disagree on outing this little boy. I think the bottom line is Sarah's done something that has been very, very courageous. And in a time where we see, again, we don't know whether the boy is gay or straight. He may not know. But I think at a time when we see that suicides for gay youths are four times more prevalent than straight youth, it's important that we have mothers like her who say support your child no matter what it is that he wants to be in life. So for that I give her kudos. CHETRY: And Sarah, I just want to ask you one other quick questions. Because a lot of bloggers, you're right, the majority of comments were very supportive, a lot of people shared their own personal stories. But I noticed a theme of people that were not supportive. And a lot of people asked, where's his dad? And so I'm curious, what did your husband think about this entire thing? The costume and the blog posting?

SARAH: My husband who is a police officer. I talked about that on my blog is 100 percent supportive of him. My older daughter often wears clothes purchased in the boys' section for sports and nobody bats an eye about that. Halloween is a night to dress up. You get to be something that you are not. And he loves Scooby Doo. He, my husband, is 100 percent supportive, flabbergasted as I am myself that this has gotten so big, but proud of me and my son.

CHETRY: Well, Sarah, we want to thank you so much for sharing your story this morning. Thanks for calling in. And Dr. Jeff, thank you, as well.

GARDERE: Always a pleasure. Thank you.

CHETRY: John?

ROBERTS: Counting down to Conan. He finally returns to late night with a new show on our sister network, TBS, Monday night. We've got a preview for you coming up.

And a cold and rainy start to the weekend for many people along the East Coast, Reynolds has got this weekend's travel forecast right after the break. Forty-four minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Yep, you're not wrong. That's Christmas music.

CHETRY: Starting a little early.

ROBERTS: Pushing the season maybe just a bit.

Chicago picks its holiday tree. It's a 70-foot blue spruce that's going to arrive at Daily Plaza tonight. Yes, they're getting ready for Christmas in Chicago already. Now this is significant. You're asking, why? Well, because for years the City of Chicago used fake Christmas trees. And then decided, nah, that really kind of goes against the spirit of Christmas, so we're going to use a real one.

They held a contest last year looking for a local spruce or fur and they found one in McKendry, Illinois, a northern suburb. The family that won is going to help Mayor Richard Daley flip the switch at the tree lighting ceremony the day before Thanksgiving.

CHETRY: That's pretty funny. So they have Christmas starting there. Meanwhile in Los Angeles and in parts of southern California, it's 100 degrees --

ROBERTS: 100 degrees, yes.

They're lighting the tree the day before Thanksgiving.

CHETRY: That's right.

ROBERTS: That's pushing the season.

CHETRY: No.

ROBERTS: They were -- like Rockefeller tree like December 6th or something.

CHETRY: Really?

ROBERTS: What do you mean, scrooge?

CHETRY: Well, it is 48 --

ROBERTS: I was just called scrooge in my ear. I'm not scrounging anything. It's just -- I'm with Lewis Black who is here the other day saying that Christmas stuff is starting a little too early.

CHETRY: Yes, but it's always so sad when everything has to come down.

ROBERTS: It is. I don't like that.

CHETRY: A little depressing.

ROBERTS: Just don't push it so much.

Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center for us keeping an eye on a bunch of things. Weather in the northeast and down there in Haiti, as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: It is. I agree. I agree.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There's time for everything.

ROBERTS: You're a scrooge, too, now, so there.

WOLF: Absolutely.

ROBERTS: Hey, scrooges in arms. I'm with you.

WOLF: Here you go, bro.

CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour right now.

A suspected design flaw may have been what caused an engine to blow in midair forcing that Qantas airbus to make an emergency landing this week. We're going to get the latest on that investigation. ROBERTS: And we're waiting for the latest jobs number, taken not a little more than half an hour. We're going to break down what they mean for you and your job. Keep it right here. Ten minutes to the top of the hour.

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CHETRY: Well, are you ready -- oh by the way, it's Christmas tree lighting, they moved it up this year. John's all worried about them starting too early. Last year it was December 2nd. Now they've move it up to November 30th. They're pushing the season on you.

ROBERTS: They are! I don't like it! I'm starting to sound like Lewis Black.

CHETRY: Maybe you'll like Conan when he makes his debut. The former "Tonight Show" host's long-awaited return to late night is actually this Monday on TBS.

ROBERTS: CNN's Kareen Wynter now on what we can expect from Team Coco, coming up.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONAN O'BRIEN, LATE NIGHT SHOW HOST: Hey, is it November 8?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conan O'Brien makes his return to late night TV Monday, with his new show on TBS, the sister network of CNN. He warmed up by making a surprise appearance on "Lopez Tonight," which is moving to midnight to make room for Conan.

GEORGE LOPEZ, HOST, LOPEZ TONIGHT: Welcome to TBS, and -- and, really, welcome to basic cable.

O'BRIEN: It's thrilling. Basic cable --

WYNTER: "The Hollywood Reporter's" Matthew Belloni has written about Conan's return to late night.

MATTHEW BELLONI, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: For the cable universe, the expectations are high. He's a big star. He's coming over from network TV.

WYNTER (on camera): Coming over from NBC, to be specific, and his departure from the "Tonight Show" in an awkward game of musical chairs with Jay Leno is the stuff Hollywood nightmares are made of.

WYNTER (voice-over): The TBS show represents a chance to prove once again he's one of comedy's best.

WYNTER (on camera): So, for Conan, what do you think here? Is this is a shot at redemption? BELLONI: It's absolutely a shot at redemption for Conan O'Brien. I mean, he -- the way that he was sort of cast out of NBC, he took it very personal.

Conan is starting from scratch. If it succeeds, it's a huge personal redemption for him.

WYNTER (voice-over): And O'Brien has given few hints about the look of the new show beyond saying it'll have a more intimate feel than his "Tonight Show" did. He will be joined by long-time sidekick Andy Richter.

ANDY RICHTER, ANNOUNCER FOR CONAN O'BRIEN: Back to you, Conan.

WYNTER: They posted a faux preview online, complete with mini band.

As he gets ready to return, Conan's feeling the love from Hollywood.

MILLA JOVOVICH, ACTRESS: We're always happy to see him, because he's rad.

WYNTER: From Milla Jovovich to "Dancing with the Star's" Jennifer Grey.

JENNIFER GREY: Conan's smart. Conan's tough. Conan's special.

WYNTER: Conan's return sets off an unprecedented battle in late night between some giant talents.

BELLONI: Now you have three heavy weights overlapping. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are also players in this, in addition to Jay Leno and David Letterman.

WYNTER: But, in the crowded late night landscape, Conan's always had an edge.

O'BRIEN: I stand out. I'm 6'9" with orange hair.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: It's difficult to hide him.

CHETRY: Yep. He can really dance for 6'9". He's got the moves.

ROBERTS: He can hit his head, too. Remember that time that he did that?

CHETRY: Yes.

ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way after a quick break. Stay with us.

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