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Subway Worker Attacks Person; Disabled Carnival Ship Safely Harbored; Stranded at Sea: Carnival Cruise Passengers Tell Their Ordeal; Madoff's Stuff on Auction; Lawsuit on Airport Security Scans; Iron Man Suit for Soldiers; Let Them Sleep...
Aired November 12, 2010 - 07:00 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 on this Friday, the 12th of November, and thanks for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here's the look at the top stories this morning.
The TSA's new body scans causing quite an uproar. One group is, in fact, planning a protest that could disrupt Thanksgiving travel. And they're not the only ones complaining about the new security standards at airports.
ROBERTS: Another big car recall to tell you about this morning, more than a half of million Nissan cars and trucks. The problem this time, the steering column, and the separate issue that could leave some cars on the side of the road without a battery. Details of that coming up.
CHETRY: Also, new video of transit worker attack in Boston. The woman taking wild swings at a commuter landing a few. She's now out of a job, but there's another side to the story. How it started and what set her off? Ahead.
ROBERTS: First, kept in the dark while adrift at sea. Now that everyone's back on terra firma and the vacation from hell is finally over. We're learning that Carnival cruise passengers were not told about the engine-room fire that left them stranded for four days. Just listen to this home video. You'll hear the crew's announcement on the ship's PA system shortly after the fire broke out on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a smoke situation, lots of smoke in the engine-control areas. You are all smelling that smoke if you're on deck one, two, possibly deck six, as well, if you're on the back of the ship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The smoke situation, that's what passengers were told. They didn't find out how serious the fire was until they got off the ship yesterday in Southern California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just now, they actually told us there was a fire on the boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did not know that there was a fire on the boat until now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They never told us what the issue was. All they told us was there was smoke. There's lots of smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they told us on the ship was that it was a flameless fire, and I don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke, there's fire. They said that the motor (ph) had caught afire, I guess, or there was a flame by (ph) electrical wires that went out. And eventually, that got into the forward engine, which then cut all the power to the entire ship. That's what they told us. It was a flameless fire is what they told us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In just a few minutes, we're going to be joined by Natalie Martinez and Angela Evans. They were two passengers onboard that cruise ship this week. They'll tell us the five things they wish they had in their survival kit.
CHETRY: They said they'll bring them next time they go on a cruise just in case.
This ordeal at sea was certainly not funny for the 3,300 passengers and 1,200 crew members who had to endure it. But it was of course perfect fodder for late-night TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Everyone knows this story by now. Adrift for three days, no electricity, surviving on pop-tarts and Spam. That's what they airlifted to these people.
ANDY RICHTER, ANNOUNCER, "CONAN": Which is a delicious sandwich.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: That's what I did in college. I don't know what the big problem is. The ship was towed to San Diego, safely docked. I'm told it's now ready and I think it's going back to sea.
RICHTER: Really?
O'BRIEN: Yes, on the way. There it is! It's back.
RICHTER: Oh, wow. O'BRIEN: Hey, look at it. Good luck, you guys!
(APPLAUSE)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": The president of Carnival Cruise lines spoke to the press today. He says he has everything under control. Show the press conference today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, the safety of our guest and crew.
(LAUGHTER)
Second, we want to get them home as quickly as possible. And third, we're trying to make it comfortable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And we can also finally close the door on this Spam-gate controversy. The media report suggesting that the stranded passengers on Carnival cruise ship were forced to dine on the gelatinous meat substance while waiting to be rescued.
Well, the folks at Carnival then tweeted "Despite media reports to the contrary, Carnival Splendor guests were never served Spam." Apparently the Spam was delivered to the ship, but never actually consumed.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, subway rage caught on tape. A commuter says he was left scratched and bruised after a Boston transit worker slapped him around. Stewart Wilkerson says the woman gave him the wrong train directions to Providence. He asked for her name and when she refused, he tried to take her picture with a cell phone.
That's when she lost it. The worker has now been fired, but an MBTA spokesman said the victim didn't exactly handle it the right way either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DAVEY, MBTA GENERAL MANAGER: It looked as though he may have been a bit aggressive putting the cell phone camera, as I understand it, almost in the employee's face. The reaction the employee was far too aggressive, and, again, nothing that we will tolerate at the MBTA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A union rep for the worker says the tape does not tell the whole story, that she was just trying to defend herself.
CHETRY: Well, if you drive a Nissan, the company's saying it's recalling more than 500,000 frontiers and Exteras in the U.S. The recall also includes about 18,000 Nissan Sentras to replace a battery cable that could lead to the car stalling out.
ROBERTS: President Obama arriving in Japan just a little over an hour ago, the final stop on his Asia trip. A couple of hours before that, he wrapped up the G-20 summit in South Korea and made some news saying he does plan to meet with leaders of both parties next week to discuss extending the Bush tax cuts, but he is against extending permanent tax cuts to the wealthy.
CHETRY: Well, it's a beast of a merger in the media world. "Newsweek" joining forces with "The Daily Beast" to form the "Newsweek Daily Beast" company. "The Daily Beast" announcing it by saying "We're getting hitched." The current editor in chief Tina BGrown will be in charge of both staff.
ROBERTS: And the Rockefeller Christmas tree is on the way to New York City this morning. The 74-foot tall Norway spruce donated by the family of a 9/11 first responder. The tree lighting scheduled for November 30th this year.
CHETRY: We get a check of this morning's weather headlines.
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the criticism about the full-body scans at airport security checks is getting louder this morning. Pilots unions are already urging members to avoid the full body scanning at airports. They represent more than 16,000 pilots. They say the screenings are both an invasion of privacy and a health risk.
And business leaders are saying the screens are cutting into their flights. Travel industry executives will take on the topic today in a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In a statement it says "You can't talk on one hand about creating jobs in this country and getting this economy back on track, and on the other hand discourage millions of Americans from flying, which is the gateway to commerce."
ROBERTS: If you're planning on flying the day before Thanksgiving, be ready for long security lines. A group of flight attendants opposed to the security procedures are calling on travelers to opt out of the body scans on Wednesday, November 24th. That's one of the busiest travel days of the year.
The protest would force security workers to give travelers a pat down instead of going through the body scan. The idea is to cause long delays and send a message to the feds. Yes, that one's going to work.
Coming up at 7:30, we're going to talk to the executive director of the privacy information center. His group is suing the TSA in attempt to end the use of those body scans.
CHETRY: If you're wondering what it was like onboard the stranded Carnival cruise ship, stay tuned for our next guests, two passengers who survived it. They tell why they may never go swimming or eat a hotdog again.
ROBERTS: And the Bernie Madoff auction, the 10 carat diamonds, and how many things could one person possibly monogram? A look at how the biggest con man in history spent everyone else's money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's ten minutes past the hour.
If they'd only brought along peanut butter. Our next guests are two passengers who spent four days stranded on a Carnival cruise ship, no showers, meals in some cases consisting of bread, lettuce, and beans. Natalie Martinez and Angela Evans say after what they went through, they'll never take running water for granted again. Thanks for being with us this morning.
ANGELA EVANS, PASSENGER ON CARNIVAL SPLENDOR: Thank you.
NATALIE MARTINEZ, PASSENGER ON CARNIVAL SPLENDOR: Thank you.
ANGELA EVANS: Well, you guys look great. You don't look like you went through the ordeal that you did. Let me start with Natalie. Tell us a little bit what it was like. I know you had a late fun night Sunday night, you were trying to get shut-eye and you noticed something unusual. What was going on?
MARTINEZ: Well, I did get to bed late, probably like 4:00 a.m. And so around 6:00 before the announcement, I felt a shudder. And I thought it was just like we hit some waves or something like that, just the water.
But shortly after that we got the alpha alarm, and the cruise director made the announcement that there's been smoke down in the engine room and he encouraged all of us to evacuate our cabins and to go to the upper deck.
CHETRY: And Angela, were you guys scared? Were you guys scared at this point?
ANGELA EVANS: More like confused. It was kind of surreal. We were just waking up. So I would say scared just more confused than anything I think at that point.
CHETRY: And some of the other passengers were saying they weren't notified that this was, indeed, as serious as it was in terms of the fire. Do you guys feel they were straight with you about what was going on?
ANGELA EVANS: Well, apparently now I guess they weren't. They said it was a flameless fire and it was just smoke. So now we're hearing that there was an actual fire. So I suppose they did keep some information from us.
CHETRY: Angela, you also say that on Monday, not only were you without electricity, but there were plumbing issues, as well. How bad did things get?
ANGELA EVANS: It was pretty bad. I had to use the public restroom on the main deck there. And when I went, it -- to use it, it was pretty bad. I've seen port-a-potties better than that. And it was still closed down for a while after that.
CHETRY: Natalie, you also have pictures of what the food situation was like. You talk about waiting in line for two and a half hours and some of the unusual combinations you had to come up with. Tell us more about that.
MARTINEZ: They definitely tried to be creative with what they had available. But most of our meals consisted of vegetables, beans, strange combinations with sandwiches, and like surprise dishes.
At one point, I saw chocolate ice cream so I definitely was happy to see it, but there was like bagel pieces in there and some of the different sandwiches had, I don't even know what it was, maybe hot dogs. They tried to be creative. But it was definitely an interesting experience.
CHETRY: And overall, Angela, just tell me, overall, how did people react? I mean, was it pretty calm? People making the best of the situation, or did things get ugly?
ANGELA EVANS: No, actually, we all made the best of the situation. It was pretty calm considering, you know, that our vacation was pretty much ruined. But everybody came together and made the most of it, you know. They gathered around a piano at night and with the crew and the people and sang songs. And everybody's attitude was pretty good considering.
CHETRY: And Natalie, we're joking that they waited two days to break out the booze. They had warm beer and wine. What was that like when they finally said, OK, free booze for everyone?
MARTINEZ: Well, I think before then, everyone broke into their mini bars and cleared that out first, us included.
(LAUGHTER)
And -- but when they started to, you know, have the beer and wine, you know, I think that lightened up the mood a little bit more and made for, you know, the remainder of our, you know, vacation a little more tolerable.
CHETRY: So the bottom line, would you guys ever do this again? I know they're offering a full refund and then a free cruise. Are you going to take them up on it?
MARTINEZ: Well, we have two years to decide, but I think, you know, we would just not any time, you know, in the --
EVANS: We'll wait.
MARTINEZ: Yes, we'll wait at least a year maybe.
CHETRY: Yes. And if you guys do decide, you came up with a checklist, Angela, this is pretty cute, about the Angela and Natalie cruise survival kit. This is what you wish you'd brought with you. Flashlight -- because your rooms were dark, right? I mean, the cabin, you went into your cabin. So it was just pitch black in there?
MARTINEZ: Yes.
CHETRY: That doesn't seem fun.
MARTINEZ: Yes.
EVANS: Absolutely.
MARTINEZ: Definitely.
Our night vision definitely has improved at this point.
CHETRY: Wow. You also would bring peanut butter and chocolate.
MARTINEZ: Yes.
CHETRY: Some Febreze. I gather it wasn't so fresh a few days there.
MARTINEZ: Yes.
CHETRY: And wipes, handy wipes.
EVANS: No, it wasn't.
MARTINEZ: Yes. And we just came up with a battery-operated clock, as well.
CHETRY: That's another good one, right? It's probably a little strange to not have electricity and not know what time it was.
EVANS: Yes.
Well, you guys certainly kept a good attitude about it. And I know it wasn't easy, but you made it through. Natalie Martinez and Angela Evans, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
MARTINEZ AND EVANS: Thank you.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: One of those wind-up radios is always a good thing too.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: That way you can stay in touch with everybody.
Can you really see Russia from your house? Sarah Palin kind of answers that question in her new reality show, Episode one on TLC this weekend. Taking you on the ice and inside her home. Some are calling it a long and expensive campaign ad. We've got a sneak peek for you just ahead.
And another store raising the stakes in the holiday retail war. Shop online and pay no shipping fees. Bring on cyber Monday. Seventeen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. And here's some of the stories that got us talking this morning in the newsroom. It's already being called the longest campaign ad ever. "Sarah Palin's Alaska," a new show from the king of reality TV, Mark Burnett. It premieres Sunday evening on TLC. It takes you fishing, bear-watching, ice-trekking, and mushing (ph) with the former governor and maybe 2012 presidential candidate. In the trailer for the show, she even says jokingly, you can see Russia from here. Almost.
CHETRY: Well, making Larry, Moe and Curly proud, a pie fight for the ages and an attempt to break the world record. Six hundred fifty New Jersey prep students and 1,400 chocolate pies, there they are going at it. It was all a fundraiser to benefit a local soup kitchen. They had more than enough people. They had more than enough pies, but Guinness still has to make it official.
ROBERTS: All right. Now when you look at this next video, you're really going to want to stop laughing. You really are. But it's kind of difficult watching this clip of high school girls hurdles. It's going viral on the web right now. All the young ladies are trying to make it over their hurdles, but getting the toes caught there. And the poor one right there is really having a lot of difficulty.
Oh, the lady in red goes down.
CHETRY: Once you start falling, you know, you lose your --
ROBERTS: And watch this. OK, almost got over that one. Now, let's try one more. Here she comes.
Oops, they were all OK. And, of course, as always happens on the web, people are putting this to music and, of course, the remixes are all coming in, as well.
CHETRY: So I avoided track. It's a lot harder than it looks.
Well, throw them away with the phone books. Phone companies now fighting to stop mass producing the white pages. They say that most people just go to Google now anyway, and it will help the environment and their bottom lines by saving on all the paper and ink. In the past month alone, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida told Verizon it's OK to stop delivering the white pages to residential areas.
ROBERTS: So many things are changing these days with the Internet.
Well, she dresses the turkey after they're dead and sauces them up before she offs them. Martha Stewart told Stephen Colbert that she treats her birds to one last drink before they become dinner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST: How many turkeys are you responsible for killing?
MARTHA STEWART: My time is a year. This year six.
COLBERT: Have you ever killed one with your bare hands?
STEWART: Oh, yes.
COLBERT: Really? Have you watched the life drain out of its eyes?
STEWART: Well, I give them, you know, those little bottles of, like, cognac and bourbon that are on the airplanes?
COLBERT: Mini bottles, they call them.
STEWART: Yes, mini bottles.
COLBERT: Yes.
STEWART: Well, before the bird is slaughtered --
COLBERT: You get the bird drunk? Do you have your way with the bird?
STEWART: No.
COLBERT: That's the way to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She didn't like that. She didn't like him asking that.
ROBERTS: It's marinating from the inside, I think.
CHETRY: Yes, letting them have one last drink before they become dinner.
Upping the ante in the holiday retail war. Wal-Mart now says it will offer free shipping for online purchases through December 20th no matter how cheap your order is. And this comes just a day after it was leaked that Target is offering appliances as low as $3 on Black Friday.
ROBERTS: Well, still to come this morning. How did Bernie Madoff sleep at night? Now you can find out. Want to buy his bed? One of several personal items up for auction. In "Homes," the biggest con man that we've ever seen left behind when he went to prison, a look at how he spent other people's money just ahead.
CHETRY: And he's suing the TSA over controversial full body scanners. Why our next guest believes that airport security has gone too far this time.
It's 23 minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, to the highest bidder go the spoils of Bernie Madoff's lavish lifestyle. Some of the Ponzi schemere's personal items go on the auction block tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business." She's got a preview this morning. So what do we want to bid on?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've raised about $900,000 so far. We want to bid -- I think I'm going to bid on the Steinway piano. Anybody out there who hasn't been just crushed by the recession, got some money in your pocket, you can have some of Bernie Madoff's -- some of Bernie Madoff's things that really didn't belong to Bernie Madoff. Actually, they belong to the people he stole from.
Here's what's on the chopping block, on the auction block this weekend. You know, Bernie Madoff, of course, the architect of one the biggest frauds in history, the Ponzi schemer. The government trying to come up with money to pay back up to $5.5 billion in claims. Big- ticket item is a ten-and-a-half carat -- ten-and-a-half carat diamond ring VS-2 in clarity, F in color for those of you experts. Extremely fine in proportion, $350,000 for this one.
How about play it again, Bernie? This is a Steinway & Sons grand piano. It takes about a year, according to Steinway, to create one of these handmade beauties. This one is circa 1917. The bench we're told is included, $16,000 is what they're expected to fetch on this one.
Perhaps in the priceless category, this is just because you want to walk a mile in Bernie's shoes, perhaps, Bernie's shoes. A bunch of Belgian shoes, 18 pairs of them. Mr. Casual style, if you're wondering, size 9 wide. And after a long day of stealing billions, maybe you want to take those 9-wide shoes and slip into these velveteen slippers with gold embroidery, BLM, his initials, size 8 1/2, red quilted lining. We have no idea how much this is going to go for. This would obviously be for someone maybe who's a Wall Street buff, maybe who's a history buff, someone who just wants to have Bernie's slippers.
CHETRY: Who would want all his shoes? It just seems so creepy.
ROMANS: I know. And I saw yesterday a picture. They were holding up his boxer shorts. You know, I mean -- I mean, I don't want Bernie's boxers.
CHETRY: No.
ROMANS: I don't want Bernie's --
ROBERTS: So we don't need to ask that question, right?
ROMANS: And you know, I know that many of the victims they just want Bernie's money. They want their money back. CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: I don't think they're ever going to recover close to what he told people that he had and what people thought they had.
ROBERTS: That was billions. And how much did they raise so far from this auction?
ROMANS: They've raised about 900,000 from the auction so far.
CHETRY: More than 900,000.
ROMANS: They've sold some boats. Well, there's a million dollar property and stuff, but the auction of the personal items, just the personal items, they've raised about $900,000.
ROBERTS: So they still have a billion to go, right?
ROMANS: Yes, and they're selling off properties. They made a couple million on the Montauk mansion, I think, but it went for last night (INAUDIBLE). They sold the penthouse on Park Avenue, actually Lexington Avenue, but you know the Park Avenue penthouse, I think $66 million. So there some more to go.
ROBERTS: I like the piano.
ROMANS: You can have it at the New York Sheraton this weekend.
CHETRY: I like the 10-carat ring.
ROMANS: Wow, ten-and-a-half carats. I mean, I don't even -- 10 1/2 carats, that's a lot of diamonds. That's a lot of diamonds.
CHETRY: Yes. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Imagine what that diamond could buy if you were to give it to charity.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: That would be a good thing.
ROBERTS: Buy it and give it away.
CHETRY: Well, we're crossing the half hour right now. President Obama arriving in Japan this morning on the final leg of his 10-day trip to Asia. Earlier in Seoul after wrapping the G-20 talks, the president said that his top priority is preserving middle class tax cuts and he denied comments by senior adviser David Axelrod suggesting he's caving in to Republicans who also want tax cuts extended for the wealthy. ROBERTS: Yahoo is dismissing a report that says it plans to cut 20 percent of its workforce. The company calls the report on the blog TechCrunch both "misleading and inaccurate." But they are not ruling out any layoffs. The Yahoo statement says it's always evaluating expenses to align with the company's financial goals.
CHETRY: And 3,300 Carnival cruise passengers back on land this morning. Some of them are angry because they say they were never told that there was an actual fire in the engine room that left them stranded for four days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN KING, CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: Just now they actually told us there was a fire on the boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did not know that there was a fire on the boat until now?
KING: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what did they tell you why that the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion?
KING: They never told us what the issue was. All they told us was that there was smoke. There's lots of smoke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Carnival cruise officials are not commenting about those claims this morning, but they are quick to deny the widespread media reports that they fed passengers Spam during the ordeal. They say it was shipped but it was never served.
ROBERTS: Too bad, because you can whip up so many dishes with Spam.
CHETRY: I know.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) did anyway.
The debate over those full-body scanners at airports. Pilots unions are warning all pilots to opt out. And now a group of flight attendants is promoting an on-line movement to get everybody opt out for a day, which happens to be a day before Thanksgiving.
Our next guest is suing the TSA to try to get the device pulled out of airports completely. Mark Rotenberg is the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, E.P.I.C. as it's called. He's in Washington for this morning. Mark, good to see you. What's your beef with these scanner?
MARK ROTENBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, E.P.I.C.: Well, John, I think the basic problem is that the agency doesn't have the legal authority to put these devices in the airports. We understand the need for airport security, but it was a very big step they took when they decided to make the body scanners the primary screening technique, and that's what we're objecting to.
ROBERTS: You're saying that they didn't follow appropriate procedure in putting them in. But here's what the TSA said in response to a letter that you sent them. This comes from their chief counsel Francine Kerner. She said "TSA is not required to initiate APA," which is Administrative Procedure Act, "rulemaking procedures each time the agency develops and implements improved passenger procedures." What do you say to that?
ROTENBERG: Well, we think they're wrong, as a matter of law, we think they're wrong, which is the reason we've gone to federal court to try to get the program suspended. There are a lot of objections here. There are health concerns, the privacy concerns. We're working with religious groups, and I think the whole thing is offensive and I think the American public has become increasingly frustrated. We can't let the TSA decide what its legal authority is. That's a decision that has to be made by a court.
ROBERTS: You're talking about these, these health concerns. And we know that the Airline Pilots Association representing a couple of airlines including American and I believe US Air have voiced their concern about the radiation risk. Are you concerned yourself about the risk? Or are you only concerned that other people are voicing that?
ROTENBERG: No, I think those are legitimate concerns. Our expertise is not in the health field. We know more about the technology and the privacy issues, and those are the issues that we focused on in our lawsuit. But we have spoken with a lot of medical experts. And I think these questions need to be looked at more closely.
Right now, it's just the TSA telling the American public not to be concerned. I don't think that's adequate. And I think the responses of the pilots groups and the stewardesses and others is very important.
ROBERTS: Now the TSA is suggesting that you're going after the wrong people by filing the lawsuit against them that they have a mandate from Congress to deploy equipment like this.
ROTENBERG: Well, that's -- I saw that. I almost couldn't believe that they wrote that.
ROBERTS: Well, let me put it up on the screen, if I could, Mark. Just so the folks at home know what we're following here. They wrote, "The Secretary of Homeland Security shall give a high priority to developing, testing and deploying at airport screening checkpoints, equipment that detects non-metallic, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons and explosives in all forms on individuals and in their personal property." That was a mandate they say was given to them by Congress.
ROTENBERG: Well, they have authority to develop new technologies, they certainly have authority to use puffer machines, for example, or to look closely at baggage. But when the Congress actually considered the question of whether they could make the body scanners a primary screening technique, they passed legislation. I think there are over 300 members of Congress that voted against exactly what TSA was trying to do.
Now, the bill never went to the Senate. But to the extent that Congress has considered this issue, I think they flatly rejected the TSA's position.
ROBERTS: Now, there's some question too, Mark, as to how effective these machines are and could they have detected the kind of explosive that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to employ on Christmas day last year? What are your thoughts on that?
ROTENBERG: Well, that's actually a critical question, John. I think it's one of the reasons we feel most strongly about the need to suspend the program. If we thought it was effective, that it really would guarantee the safety of travelers, we'd have a different view. But you see, before we filed this lawsuit, we filed another lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act.
And we actually obtained the technical specifications for the devices. And we looked at those specifications, talked to the experts and we all reached the same conclusion. These devices are not designed to detect the type of powder explosive, the PETN that was used by Abdulmutallab and others.
In other words, they're not even the right technology to deal with the current threats. And that, I think, is one of the most important points about this program.
ROBERTS: And on that point, the TSA was a little less clear than some of the other points it was making saying that the typical metal detector certainly won't detect that type of explosive and that these advanced imaging technology machines are the best current tool for detecting these and other non-metallic threats. So they left at least a little ambiguity there.
I'm wondering, though, that in the court of public opinion. I know that's not the one that matters to you. The actual courts are the ones that matter to you but in the court of public opinion, I'm wondering if you're swimming upstream a little bit here because regular air travelers when asked in a "USA Today" Gallup poll, 78 percent of them approved of the use of these body scanners, only 20 percent disapproved.
ROTENBERG: Right. Well, I saw that poll it came up some time ago. And it was a poll, you know, I think the TSA, in fact, helped put together because when we went back to the agency and asked for the traveler complaints, you know, we found hundreds of complaints, we've now received thousands.
And if you ask the question today, not back when that poll was taken of the American traveling public, I think you'll get a very different response. I think you see this increasingly now in the growing opposition to the use of the body scanners in U.S. airports. ROBERTS: Well, we'll keep watching this and see where it goes because certainly there's a lot of opposition being raised to these machines. Mark Rotenberg from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Good to talk to you this morning, thanks for stopping by.
ROTENBERG: Nice speaking with you.
ROBERTS: All right.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour now.
Half man, half robot. Future soldiers may be wearing a metal "Iron Man" suit designed to give them super strength like lifting 200- pound weights without breaking a sweat and punching through three-inch wood blank planks. How does it work? Wow! Looks pretty incredible. We'll show you coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: That was the song I couldn't guess, right? When I was the -- "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" celebrity ask an expert. You made fun of me.
ROBERTS: I did?
CHETRY: Yes, because you said -- this is Black Sabbath, right?
ROBERTS: Yes, I think Ozzie did a solo version of it, as well. It was (INAUDIBLE) favorite song. That was (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: That was (INAUDIBLE). She looked so thrilled to hear it this morning.
Well, outfitting soldiers like superheroes. We told you about this yesterday. It's one of "Time" magazine's 50 best inventions of 2010.
ROBERTS: It's an "Iron Man" suit that could revolutionize the field of battle. Our Chris Lawrence got the chance to test out these high tech armor. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rick Jameson, it's got a Tony Stark as "Iron Man" sort of ring to it. Stark runs a defense contracting country, Jameson just works for one. But (INAUDIBLE) test engineer is no playboy billionaire.
TONY STARK, "IRON MAN": I've successfully privatized world peace.
LAWRENCE: Married, three kids, but just maybe wearing the prototype for future soldiers.
RICK JAMESON, : It doesn't fly. That seems to be the big thing that "Iron Man" does.
LAWRENCE (on camera): If you're Tony Stark, I mean, where's the sports cars? Where's the scantily clad women? The penthouse and all that?
JAMESON: I roll in a minivan, man. It reacts to the force of your feet. So you want it to react immediately.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Branded the XOS-2 is deadweight until it's juiced by outside power, then the hydraulic fluid starts pumping. Steel and aluminum arms make everything lighter.
(on camera): So to you, this 200 pounds feels like --
JAMESON: Less than 20 pounds. It's the weight of my arms does most of the work.
You don't have this immense feeling of strength, it's just when you go to do something that you couldn't do without it. And that's when you notice it.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So this is probably three inches of pine, thick enough to hold up the second story of a house.
JAMESON: I'm not even going to tell you how much that hurt. Show off.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): But here's where fictional meets functional. "Iron Man" can fly and shoot (INAUDIBLE) rays out of his hands. This suit is still tethered to its power source. Mobile batteries like lithium ion either don't last long enough or can't be strapped to a soldier's body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They get breached. They aren't gentle in the way they explode.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So for safety, liability reasons, they can't power up the suit with me in it, but I've at least got a feel what it's like inside.
Without the hydraulics, the first thing you notice is how heavy this is. I mean, it's tough to take a step forward. But I still feel like I've got my dexterity, the range of motion.
(voice-over): That's important to supply units where being tethered to a supply source wouldn't matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The logistics personnel in the military typically move 16,000 pounds a day, which is an awful lot of load.
LAWRENCE: And can keep lifting for hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things that would just destroy your back, this thing picks it up no problem.
LAWRENCE: Today's troops are carrying up to 150 pounds in Afghanistan. But the suit can make armor and equipment feel 17 times lighter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means that you exert one pound and it exerts 17. That's a major amplification of strength. And that's all load the person doesn't have to carry themselves.
LAWRENCE: Chris Lawrence, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: You see, that's the part I think that is most amazing, the dexterity. I mean, you think you'd have to make these robotic movements, but you can really --
ROBERTS: Very fluid. And Chris moving around without it powered up, it looks like it's not all that heavy. But you were saying a great way to use it would be in a moving company.
CHETRY: A moving company, yes.
ROBERTS: One guy brings the piano in.
CHETRY: Very right.
ROBERTS: Where would you like this, ma'am?
CHETRY: Where would you like your --
ROBERTS: No, no, over there. No, no, not there, over here.
CHETRY: But it could, as you were saying. Because everyone here was pointing out all the flaws and you were saying this is just the first generation.
ROBERTS: I know. It's like the (INAUDIBLE) of negativism here today. What is with you guys?
CHETRY: They weren't that impressed with the "Iron Man" suit.
ROBERTS: But the only problem I can see is that you have to plug it in.
CHETRY: Yes, but the batteries are going to get thinner, they're going to last longer. This thing's going to get, you know, slim down.
ROBERTS: And one of these days, for sure, they'll make it fly. So we'll be all right.
Warm temperatures in the east plus tracking storms in the Midwest that could bring some flash flooding and, of course, the inevitable travel delays. Our Reynolds Wolf has got it for you this morning. Coming right up. Forty-four-and-a-half minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Well, if you're in a Georgia state of mind, you've got a beautiful day for it today. Right now, in Atlanta, sunny and 44. Later on today, sunny with a high of 72 degrees. Fabulous there.
CHETRY: Looks nice and sunny, 47 minutes past the hour, let's check in with Reynolds Wolf right now. He's taking a look at -- there's one big middle part of the country that's dealing with that system. Everyone else is pretty dry.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, pretty much the case. Out east and out west, we don't have major issues, but the problem is right in the middle of the country, we've got a big, ugly mess.
Mostly showers and storms, but we have snowflakes actually mixing in as we speak. From Madison, Wisconsin, out near the campus of University of Wisconsin, clear over to Omaha, it's mainly a rain event. South of Minneapolis, the same deal.
See a little bit of a touch of some snowfall developing across parts of the cornbelt and back into northern Wisconsin. What we're going to see later on today and over into tomorrow, even into Sunday is possibly more of that.
We already have winter storm watches in effect in near Lake Superior along the shoreline not far from Thunder Bay, 2 to 8 inches possible from, I'd say again later tonight into Sunday. So we get a long stretch here. Slow the snow event and near Sioux Falls and west of Minneapolis possibly anywhere from 6 to 12.
That is what is coming. Let's talk again about what's happening right now in terms of snow. You see a little bit of the western half of Amarillo and you can see the transformation that has taken place in the last couple of hours.
People there are waking up to rain drops and now it's all switching over to snow possibly 1 to 3 inches of snow before all is said and done. Well, before your day is done, those temperatures are going to warm up in the 50s for Boston. Same deal in New York, About 55 to 58 degrees possible, 57 in Boston, 77 for Orlando.
In places like Atlanta, we just showed you some live images a while ago, pretty much the same deal, very dry. Mid to low to 70s across the area back into Phoenix, 74 degrees, 52 in Portland, Seattle also pretty nice day.
And when you head out towards the San Francisco southward into L.A., a little bit of that marine layer, but that should burn off by mid-day giving way to plenty of sunshine.
What we are going to be seeing out towards the east, even though it's nice. We are going to have that wind picking up in Boston also in New York metros. All you major airports and that wind might leave you stranded near from 30 minutes to about a full hour.
In Minneapolis, the rain, right now a 15 to 30-minute wait. We have a little bit of snow mixed in. That delay may be a little bit optimistic. It may stretch out and into Saturday and Sunday. If that snow really picks up in earnest, well, you know how those winter delays can be.
Yes. We could see them stretch in possibly an hour or maybe 90 minutes or maybe longer. It is this time of year. Hard to believe. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds, thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, your top stories just minutes away including back from the cruise from hell. Smelly toilets. Cold showers instead of midnight buffet, mayonnaise sandwiches. More tales from the inside the ship and will they'll ever go back for more.
ROBERTS: After the break, wake-up call for daydreamers. Why a wandering mind may belong to an unhappy person. Ten minutes to the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: We are showing a picture of Phil and now talking about a wandering mind. Your A.M. house call.
ROBERTS: Do they go together?
CHETRY: Talking about daydreaming this morning. Apparently, if you do that a lot, means it's not really happy for you. It means you may be unhappy.
In fact, a Harvard study in the Journal Science says the people who daydream a lot even about pleasant thoughts are unhappy about something. And if your daydreams contain unpleasant thoughts, those can make you even more unhappy than you already were.
ROBERTS: Wow. That's serious stuff. Kind of Like the constant feedback loop.
Well, if your teenager is having a tough time in school and you can't seem to motivate them, you might try letting them sleep in.
CHETRY: Phil Black's live in London this morning. You spent some time at the high school outside of Newcastle. How's it working out?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Kiran, good morning. If you visit that school at around 8:00 in the morning, you'll find the place completely empty apart from a few teachers that's because most of the students' alarms only going off at that time.
As you say, they don't need to show up to class for still another two hours after that until 10:00. The school says it is doing this, it's bumping back its whole timetable based upon what it describes as compelling scientific evidence, which it says proves that teenagers can be a little grumpy, moody, difficult even lazy in the morning, but crucially they say it proves it is not their fault.
Scientists say that teenagers' brains are wired differently. Add that to the chemicals and hormones and the end result is they need a little more sleep than the rest of us. So the school says it makes perfect sense to bump the learning back to a time of day when students are most receptive to it.
The people behind this change who are really driving it, a teacher, (Paul Kelly) and Oxford professor named (Russel Firsty). He's a Neuro scientist. Take a listen to their thoughts and why they believe this is a good thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big change in the way that we think about students looking at their health and their mental health before we decide how the school system's going to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a remarkable body of evidence now, which suggests that teenagers genuinely have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: So far, the teachers are reporting happier students and better attendance and hope with a bit more time to report back on better academic results, as well. John, Kiran --
ROBERTS: So I'm sure that the students at least and probably the teachers are happy with this. What about the parents? What's their reaction been?
BLACK: Yes, you're right. The whole community initially voted on this, teachers, students, parents, the end result was 70 percent in favor, 30 percent against and the majority of that no vote were parents.
There is a bulk or a group of parents up there who believe that firstly this is inconvenient for them. They need to get the teenagers off to school, get on with their working day, which obviously largely starts before 10:00.
And they also believe that this is just simply indulging teenagers and won't prepare them for the real world, but that 10:00 start time is in fact a compromise because the scientists believe that 11:00 is, in fact, the ideal time for teenagers to start school and start their learning for the day.
CHETRY: And the kids probably think that 12:30 is the ideal time to end it. Phil Black for us this morning, thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. Your top stories coming up.
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